cyphersonic

Thank you~ Also, I enjoyed BTS's reaction to Twice doing aegyo. Jin leaned forward to hide his smile. It was adorable. I also love whoever the host was on BTS's side when she sang part of their song, and RM did that thumb thing Yoongi has been doing. One glimpse of them, and I am already like MAN STAYING UP WAS WORTH IT. /imgarbage

Has the stream started for you guys? I keep refreshing, but it is still the "starting soon" thing for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l_yxIG-toc&feature=youtu.be [edit] Not complete yet, but further ahead than Peachi's. Just read the description for info on how to get it.

I am out of upvotes because of mess today, but this made me laugh out loud. A++

I used all my upvotes (and downvotes) today with the mess on OH, or else I would be upping all these lovely images. HAVE SOME QUOTE WON. I'm especially feeling that shot of his shoulders from the back in the black jacket. Unfortunately, I am also still team #burntheberets.

I am perched on ARMY Unnie's pages waiting for incremental updates on that variety show. The link peachisoda gave out earlier to openload gave me some scary virus-y windows.

Waiting for apologies from the fandom who came hard like

kimdaily on tumblr made the hilarious observation that Jungkook appears to be cosplaying Yoongi. I thought it was Yoongi for a split second too until he threw a heart like that.

I love hearing what this chick has to say. Especially because she points out things I never notice. Now I am constantly looking to see if Hobi is counting the counter rhythm with his foot.

My sister is bartering with me to trade her RM photocard for my Jimin. I already have an RM photocard from WINGS, and I would like to get one for each member over the course of all my album ordering. HOWEVER, it is extremely tempting since RM looks A++ on his YNWA photocard. (I don't like the styling they did for him on WINGS as much.) We did something similar previously when I had the Jimin/Yoongi version of WINGS and her group order accidentally shipped her the wrong one so OUT OF MY IMMENSE KINDNESS I traded albums with her. So selfless, I am.

Compared to the nonexistent packaging for WINGS? Hah, it totally wins. I only recently got into the physical market... with WINGS. So I can't compare to old physicals. However, I like that it has a hard cover with a soft, finish. WINGS had so many blank pages with very small photos, but most of these pages are filled. The pages are thin with a kind of magazine-like, glossy finish -- but thicker than magazine pages. It doesn't come in a sleeve like I know Young Forever did so it may be easier to damage if you don't have it tucked away on a bookshelf or something like that. So far I have only gone through the left version, but I enjoy the variety of photos. They have some of the very high resolution, full color images, and then a section of stylized/blurry black and white ones. I like this pink effect they did over some pictures at the end: I feel like I will look through this a lot more than my WINGS albums, just because of the variety of the photos. Not to mention little things like this has a spine on it that makes flipping pages easy, whereas WINGS was bound but it felt like you had to crack the spine (something that is a pet peeve of mine, especially when people do it to books) to look at it easily. All in all, for the price, worth it to me~

My Journey to Get YNWA Albums: I have a lot of free time on my hands today, it seems.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5cyac3_eng-170223-m-countdown-up-next-2-bts_tv Subs for this are up, if it hasn't been posted.

This sentence is false. #paradox

On Namjoon.

Yet another positive effect of BTS on my life, I decided to buy this book: It is a fictional, but centers around the uprising of students in Gwangju, which Hobi references in part of his lyrics in Ma City, which is explained here. I will not pretend to know a lot about South Korea's history, but I like learning things, especially through historical fiction. Blurb: In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed. The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho’s best friend who meets his own fateful end; to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, each suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho's own grief-stricken mother; and through their collective heartbreak and acts of hope is the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice. An award-winning, controversial bestseller, HUMAN ACTS is a timeless, pointillist portrait of an historic event with reverberations still being felt today, by turns tracing the harsh reality of oppression and the resounding, extraordinary poetry of humanity. If you want to read it too~

Some fun fancams from Gaon that I don't think have been posted here yet, to my memory. First, watch these total YG stans sing along/groove to Bl**kP*nk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xOgTMHpOas And this fancam isn't even that exciting, but I love M*m*moo and Jimin looks super attractive slowly grooving. (There is another fancam where Yoongi claps along briefly at the beginning, which felt like a huge deal since he is normally stoic.) Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eIaM8zOfEI I don't know why I like watching fancams of their reactions to performances/people reacting to them performing BUT I DO.

OH BOY -- catching up on OH this morning after going to bed early has been a wild ride. That dirt road/flower path constant duality in BTS fandom is as real as a needle puncturing my palm. Especially given all the wonderful, record-breaking things BTS is accomplishing right now. I want to wax poetic about the Bubbling Under rank! For one, it is insane to me how close we came. I streamed on Spotify to give them a shot, but I honestly thought that, without radioplay, it wouldn't happen. My sister and I even talked about how worried we were that people were hyping it up so much, that it would set up the boys and our fandom for some taunting if it didn't happen -- even though getting close at all is insane. I think about how tangible their growth has been. That reddit thread AKP shared only bolsters that. I am anticipating a day when I can tell my friends, none of whom listen to any KPOP, that I like BTS... and they will know who that is. The way that ARMY has organized with the recent comebacks, especially the K-ARMY and I-ARMY communication, has been inspiring. I was never someone who voted for them on anything around HYYH/Young Forever because I didn't understand how it worked (and had basically just learned what KPOP was). But leading up to WINGS, there were helpful how-tos all over tumblr giving me instructions, letting me know how the Korean-language sites worked, and it allowed me to help BTS more than I was before. I love this comeback, and I wonder if we will be able to pull off even more with the next one. I love that BTS is continuing its stint of making the Billboard 200 album-after-album. I am a very proud fan. Other thoughts on my hour+ of backtracking: - LOL @ JK pretending to be Mr. Son's security - LOL @ Dad!Namjoon signalling for Jimin to come over by them since his ears hurt (I think it was RM at least?) - T_T @ Jimin's insightful and heartbreaking analysis of Jin pretending he isn't sad to miss his college graduation - Agreed @ several members of BTS sounding a little hoarse. Their schedule is tough right now, and I applaud that they kept it live. Jimin and RM were definitely the most noticeable -- RM had to drop out on his Save Me verse so much, weep -- but even JK had some uncharacteristic shakes. The most obvious to me was him dropping out on his opening lines in Save Me, which I feel like he has never done. Tae seemed okay with only a little hoarseness, and Hobi/Jin/Yoongi sounded normal to me. Hard-working BTS is hard-working. I hope they get some time to recuperate before going on the road. Even with some tiredness, the performance was still strong, and it still sounded good. Professionals.

A++ content, would read again.

This article is amazing. Here are some quotes that resonated with me: "They're building their fandom in the US, the global music market without any support from their company or any overseas expansion strategy." I think a lot about how the reason we are able to get so much BTS content available in English is because of the dedicated fans who devote their free time to make this available for us, not because BigHit translates their extra content like bombs. The grassroots feeling of ARMY helping ARMY is one of the most endearing things about this fandom, at least for me. "Music critic Hwang Sunyeob explained, 'With hip hop as their base, they blend in reggae, electronic, Latin music and various other genres. Their music is stateless and global. Other than the fact that they sing in Korean, the sound or style of their music showcases the global trend well so I think this is why they were accepted more naturally by the US market.'" I am a great example of this. I never listened to KPOP, ever. Never gave it a chance. (Seriously, other than PSY, all I knew about KPOP was this one video of a girl group slipping over and over. Now I know that this was GFriend.) Then I heard BTS, and I was into them within a couple songs. Now I am garbage. Becoming their fan has opened me up more to other groups and Korean culture in general. Simply the best. Also, keep streaming~

My sister and I were just talking about how some of the members don't mention their families much compared to others. Hobi seems to talk about his the most, followed by Tae mentioning grandparents, JK and YG's references to their brothers, RM brings up his mom sometimes. I can't recall Jimin ever mentioning his parents. I feel like I vaguely recall Jin mentioning his dad once? So I am really curious to know if that is Jimin's mom... and also afraid because she looks really young. #pleasedon'tletmebeclosertoheragethanyours

I am not one for long lines, but I reeeeally want that B&W book, like everyone else. I hope they come to the US flush with stock. Very useful for when people come for RM: Like others have noted, I was pleased to see RM next to Jimin near the center for a couple of the dance scenes. Very pleased~

Damn, so many excellent gifs from NOT TODAY to be used against trolls.