Happy BTS-aversary to Me!

13 months ago you could not have convinced me that I would become a BTS fan/stan/army/WHATEVER and that that interest/obsession/adoration would last for A YEAR (with no signs of stopping)!

But here I am…me…who usually steers clear of “popular” things and usually looks for the things that others don’t seem to notice or appreciate…and who is REALLY not a “follower” or an “in with the in-crowd” type. Here I am, a devoted fan of arguably one of the biggest bands in the world.

 

And I’m right in there with them, listening to the music, trying to learn dance choreography, watching all the videos and shows, laughing/crying/enjoying ALL the content they put out (SO. MUCH. CONTENT.). I read blogs, watch vlogs, listen to podcasts, joined a BTS Discord (you don’t know the MEANING of the word “time suck” til you join an obsessive fan Discord, whooeey!), follow the TikToks/Instagrams/Twitter accounts, subscribe to BTS Google Alerts so I Don’t Miss A Thing.

It is a HUGE investment of time. And it is never-ending. There is No Catching Up. I follow a couple TikTok-ers who post “In Case You Missed It” type posts every day, reporting on every appearance, update, new award, new photos, new commercials, etc., that happened with BTS that day. It’s a lot.

It’s a LOT.

They’d been around for seven years when *I* discovered them. And they have been Very Smart with their use of social media and staying in front of fans and the public. So there was a LOT of content to catch up on. And every day, more. So, yeah.

And as much as I adore THEM…what I find almost as interesting, is learning about the k-pop MACHINE. It’s fascinating. Their whole sinister plan strategy is to make you feel like you KNOW them, like they’re there for YOU. It’s a planned imaginary intimacy and BTS is SO GOOD AT IT. Ha. Which I’m very aware of as I’m laughcrying to them trying to travel around a foreign country on $10/day…or falling more in love when they vacation for a week on a secret island and just RELAX (you know, as much as you can relax with cameras on you every day) and enjoy one another’s company and write sweet letters to one another (this is a series called In The Soop from last summer and may be the best “reality” show EVER).

And the machine is VERY good at making fans SPEND MONEY. Wow. There is SO MUCH MERCH. Fortunately, I’m an adult (ha ha) and I have really not succumbed to much of that. I’ve paid for some concert videos and documentaries you can’t see anywhere else…and mumblemumbleyes I did buy a BTS book when it was on clearance at Target, ha ha, but it was CHRISTMAS and Santa WANTED me to have it.

And do I want to see them live in concert? OH HELL YES. That’s right up there in my top three bucket list items. And I’m so anxious that I’m not going to be able to make it happen…their concerts sell out (at the world’s largest stadiums: The Rose Bowl in Pasadena holds 90,000 and sold out in under an hour), Wembley in London, Brazil, NYC, Korea, everywhere. They sell out FAST. And I am not wise in the ways of concert ticket buying.

I was never a concert person. All those PEOPLE. Lines, waiting, noise, pushing, ugh. But I’ll put up with ALL OF THAT to see them live. And I don’t want to just GO to a concert. I want to be right up against the stage. I want EYE CONTACT, ha ha ha. When they’re dancing I want the sweat to whip off their hair and hit me.

I’m in deep, ha ha.

And who knows when they’ll be comfortable (#covid) planning another world tour…AND…they’re currently looking down the barrel at military enlistment in the next year (at least for the oldest two). That’s a WHOLE other issue. They may get a deferment, they may get a total reprieve. They may not WANT the reprieve, preferring to do their duty as loyal South Korean citizens. That whole topic is just a Wait and See. Although they were just named as Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture, and maybe this will be a suitable option to “doing their duty as young Korean men” by going into the military.

They’re not just amazing, talented musicians and performers, they are generous humanitarians and spokespeople for not just the younger generation, but for all generations. In 2020 they donated a million dollars to the Black Lives Matter cause…and their fans (ARMY) matched it for a donation of an additional $1,000,000. They were just re-named as UNICEF’s spokespeople for their Love Myself campaign. They regularly donate to causes they believe in – the arts, children, South Korean issues. ARMY regularly donates things in their (BTS) names for their birthdays, like in 2020 fans of J-Hope (Jung Hoseok) donated towards building a hospital in China to be named “Hope Hospital.”

But so, yeah. In a year’s time I’ve gone from “who are these BLT people I keep hearing about,” to watching “JUST ONE VIDEO,” thinking, hmm, I don’t know that that’s my kind of music (I have since changed my tune, ha ha, see what I did there??), but the music video was certainly grand and dramatic and elaborate and that blonde guy was kind of cute, wonder what his name is.

AND THAT’S HOW THEY GET YOU. Because it is like a major life hurdle just to learn their names. In the beginning, it seems like there are about 17 of them because in every picture you see their hair color is different, so by the time you feel confident in knowing who the three blonde ones are, they are now pink, black, and silver-haired and you’re lost again. By the time you finally GET IT, you’re in deep. You’re starting to know their (charming) personalities, you have a favorite (or three) singer, a favorite (or three) dancer, you know which one speaks fluent English, which one has a hysterical dry whit, which one wants to come back in his next life as a stone, and which one is a literal angel on earth.

You’re in love.

I admit it, I’m in love with seven young South Korean men that I will never meet. Ha. And this whole experience has brought about positive changes in my life (which is more than I can say for other men I’ve loved, ha ha). Some plans for the future (that I’m sorry, I still cannot share), learning a new language, learning the history of a part of the world I’d known very little about (I swear a year ago I thought North and South Korea were the same country…like the US has the north and south) (I’m not proud), attempting (unsuccessfully, but I keep trying) to dance, reacquainting myself with music to the point that I see a piano in my very near future (I know I’ve been saying that for a while but I every time I think I’m prepared to fund that dream something else comes along to take my dollars). They literally cheer me up when I feel down. The term “laughcry” came about from watching their charming, hysterical, chaotic videos.

It has been a journey. Happy BTS-aversary to me.