Ngl, Jungkook inviting us to make ramen and watch Suchwita with him at four o'clock in the morning feels like a leftover habit from living in the dorm.
Jungkook at 4am, standing in the doorway, the hallway light outlining him like a phantom specter, illuminating nothing but the whites of his big boba eyes: Hyung, I’m making noodles. Wanna come join me?
Jin, king of boundaries: *throws a pillow at his head*
Yoongi, already awake: Can’t, I’m working
Hobi: deep in beauty sleep but wakes up and joins without protest because he’s never said no to his baby, and he’s not about to start now
Namjoon: wakes suddenly at the sound of his baby requesting something, deems the request not life-or-death, and encourages Jungkook to go back to sleep
Jimin, eternal nightowl and caretaker: You sit, baby. I’ll make the noodles
Taehyung: understands the importance of Friendship Time. Has already queued up BTS’s J-Hope’s Funniest Moments in the living room and is mamba-ing to the intro music while he waits for the noodles to be cooked
Maybe you're a new ARMY and maybe you're not sure what the hell an ARMY is or why BTS has one.
That's a total lie, we all know why BTS has an entire ARMY. And yes it is all caps. I MEAN LOOK AT THEM OKAY
"Funny", you may be thinking to yourself, "I only wanted to learn their names." TOO LATE YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW.
Top L to R: Jung Hoseok (J-Hope, Hobi); Jeon Jungkook (Jung Kook), Min Yoongi (SUGA, Agust D, NOT MY CAT)
Bottom L to R: Kim Taehyung (V), Park Jimin (JIMIN or Park MFing Jimin or Sir), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Kim Namjoon (RM)
Welcome, Adorable Representative MC for Youth member. (Leave them alone, English is not their first or even second language.)
KAYSO HERE IS STUFF YOU NEED TO BE ARMY:
Nothin'. Maybe an internet connection or a phone. A streaming service (free) is good if you don't need to be buying CDs. That is IT.
BTS is actually quite supportive of ARMY and provides us with tons of free stuff!
If you are ARMY and you are reading MY blog you are already down the rabbit hole because I ain't shit. But in case this hellsite doesn't get enough done for you, here are a few places to go:
First, Weverse and its damnable Weverse Shop. Two apps, both free UNTIL YOU GET BIT BY THE MERCH BUG or desperately need to see In The Soop 1 and 2 or all the Bon Voyages or concerts - because many of those things are available for purchase through Weverse. It's the official retail arm of this Bangtan Sonyeondan Shit and It. Is. Fun. Hit that media tab and enjoy the free RUN: BTS and posts and then if you wanna buy, you can do that. (Unless you're in the UK and a select few other places, because Weverse Global does not ship globally. WEIRD.)
You'll need a free account, use the same one for both apps by getting Weverse first and then loading the Weverse Shop and using your Weverse ID to log in. Here's a whole ass tutorial on how to load and use Weverse and the Shop from Youtube.
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Weverse has a basic post-and-comment style format but it is also the avenue BigHit uses for official announcements and the guys sometimes show up and post pics, comment or make their own posts. If you get a notification that says "Special for Your Username" it's.... NOT. Sorry kids. We all see our own user name in there. And the first time we saw it we all went "ME?!"
Then we have VLive. VLive is basically a video platform the guys use to chat with us. All those Lives and random videos you see getting translated are from... VLive. You can see them later on youtube, but it's so fun to be awakened at 3 AM because your phone tells you someone is Live. And you DON'T KNOW WHO until you get into the app.
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THAT ISN'T A VIDEO YOU GOTTA GO TO VLIVE FOR THAT. They are arranged by date, usually.
Pro tip: If you are watching a VLive NEVER ASK THEM TO SPEAK A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE IT'S FUCKING RUDE. And whatever you do, LEAVE YOUR SHIP OUT OF THEIR SPACES. That goes for every platform they're on, but specifically Weverse, VLive and Instagram. These are grown ass adult men who are not Barbie dolls and do not want to hear what you think about Taekook or Yoonmin FFS.
The official places to buy merch are at Weverse or at the major online retailers. Right now Target has PROOF on preorder for the US.
NOTE: You cannot use the Global Weverse Shop and have album sales count for Billboard rank. They don't get credit. Use the US shop, Amazon, Target, whatever for Billboard numbers and THEN if you NEED the preorder photocard and you're willing to drop a hundred bucks or so for it, you can preorder PROOF as a package deal from Global.
CONFUSED YET? JUST WAIT. Hey Youtube.
WE WATCH ORIGINAL CONTENT IN THIS HOUSEHOLD for what? TRUTH AND CONTEXT. That means if you use Youtube, use it for music videos, fan music vids, comedy, and entertainment. But don't take it seriously and DO watch the source material either on Bangtan TV (Official) or VLive/Weverse.
Beware the Edited Relationship Analysis videos!! DON'T DO IT. Edits are fine, they are fun. And one day we will do a whole "why Jaya has a crush on DT Parker" post. I recommend Cameron Philip's Dubs series if you're not easily offended. Wonsummerknight, amazing. Tons of great content out there from some awesome creators. BUT
BEWARE THE taekook-lives. That woman makes her money by dissing BigHit and playing Jimin as a whore and Jungkook and Taehyung as unstable, controlled puppets of an evil corporation AND SHE CHARGES PEOPLE FOR THIS SHIT AND THEY PAY HER FOR IT. NO. She and Dave Discii are the bane of any decent ARMY's peaceful Youtube existence. AVOID. The Larrys of this fandom live under their tuneless bullshit umbrella and WE DON'T DO THAT HERE because WE ARE ADULTS with FUNCTIONING CEREBRUMS.
And TikTok is.. it's TikTok, it's FINE. It ain't gospel.
Neither is Twitter and @BTS_twt has pretty much deserted the bird app AND YET WE WAIT and kvetch and bitch and moan and cry, but Twitter is a good place to get new info if you're not scared of toxicity and fan wars. Good memes sometimes, too. And NSFW fan edits, I dunno, I see 'em sometimes. It's good for info and not taking things personally.
(I mean they're not wrong, just sayin)
And INSTAGRAM - here are the guys' official accounts as of just now, go follow ALL 7 and enjoy!
I'm told there is a Facebook but do we use that anymore? Like, at all? I don't so Bad ARMY Me or w/e but I really don't care.
I think I've talked long enough, baby ARMY. Go find some cool stuff to look at.
OH!! WAIT!! THE FANCHANT!!
You can't call yourself an ARMY until you can do the fanchant!
Learn it, live it, love it, LOUDLY.
There. My work (for now) is done.
jinmin fighting for their lives trying to stop taehyung from spoiling everything ft. a clueless yoonkook, a ✨️just here for the vibes ✨️ hobi and an amused joon who started it all
In the latest episode of Monuments there was a teaser clip for the next episode showing Jungkook cooking for Jimin in his kitchen but when exactly did this happen?
Last weeks Monuments showed us the inside of Jimin's flat and in particular his kitchen so place is very much established.
December 2021 - Jimin in Quarantine
But when did this happen? Recapping events we find.........
30th January to 5th February 2022 - Jimin in hospital treated for acute appendicitis and COVID
8-9th February 2022 - Jimin's late night movie binge and happy post on Weverse
10th February - Jungkook's IG stories with Fiji Blue's It Takes Two and Still with You
15th February - J-Hope tags Jimin on his IG post and Jimin sends a get well message for V who has come down with COVID on Weverse
20th February - Vlive with Namjoon, Yoongi and Jimin
6th March - Vlive with Jin, JHope, V and Jungkook
11-13 March 2022 PTD in Seoul
19th March - Vlive with BTS minus Jin who is getting an operation on his hand.
28th March - BTS Travel to LA, JK travelled a day earlier and JHope was down with COVID and travelled later.
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So best guess would be sometime between when Jimin was released from hospital on the 5th February 2022 and when Jungkook flew to LA on the 27th March 2022.
"Every single one of our performances was significant to us, they are all precious memories." – Jimin
The song Butterfly starts and I know this episode is going to be hard to watch because I'm already tearing up.
This is a long post. Apologies. There's a lot to say about it.
They are talking about what concert memories mean the most to them:
Hobi says it was their first stadium concert at the Rose Bowl which was the most significant memory for him as far as which concert was the most memorable.
Jungkook says it was Chicago when it was the first time they'd ever performed in the rain:
Jin says it's when they perform IDOL that is his favorite concert memory.
Jimin says even though fans would see what he's talking about through photos but in real life, what they see from the stage is so beautiful, words can't do justice to describe it:
They reminisce about their concert at the Olympic Gymnastic Arena and recalling the emotions they felt then, that they had reached the top in 2016 are a very precious memory to them
Concerts are what they were made to do. Their type of performance, the big choreography, the big songs... big performances... belong on the live concert stage.
And now we're at the series of concerts that were to be their last before they really embark on Chapter 2: PTD Las Vegas.
BigHit/Hybe pulled out the stops for this one. The city of Las Vegas was all in and being the party city it is, it was one of the most fun and extravagant things I've ever witnessed.
I 1000% regret not going. I didn't know it was going to be the last chance for a long time.
They get to do things like attend a few concerts and visit the Bellagio Fountain when the fountains of water are set to the rhythm of Dynamite and Butter. I know Hobi has a video of Jungkook and Tae vibing to Dynamite at the Bellagio Fountain on his camera roll! Show it to us Hobi!!
Jimin, Yoongi and Namjoon went to the Silk Sonic concert.
I think it's curious that they do not mention the 2022 Grammy performance or event at all. When they left Seoul for this trip on March 28, 2022, Hobi was not with them because he had tested positive for covid prior to departure. Jungkook wasn't with them because he'd left the day before for the purpose of a work schedule but I don't remember what it was, and upon landing in the U.S. he tested positive for covid and had to quarantine until he had a negative test.
They were to perform at the Grammy Awards show on April 3, 2022. They were missing two members up until the day before the performance. Thankfully Hobi tested negative in time to catch a plane to Las Vegas:
Jungkook tested negative the day before the performance and was able to practice ONCE with the group. Here he is doing a Vlive while quarantining in his hotel room:
And after all that, they gave a performance of a lifetime during the Grammy Awards:
Anyway... I digress... just curious they make no mention of it at all...
Jungkook brought his boxing coach (Coach Tommy) and this might be the workout he was doing prior to joining Hobi, Tae and Jimin for that Vlive following one of their concerts.
Jungkook says the only thing he regrets about the previous 10 years was that it took him a while to realize certain things and then put them into practice.
Namjoon wonders what it would've been like had they ended things after ON and Yoongi reflects that they would've taken a break from November 2020, if the pandemic had not happened and they would've been on a break for about two and half years (for enlistment). They didn't expect the pandemic to go on for so long (none of us did).
Namjoon wonders if he stayed true to the lyrics he wrote in ON while living his life. He thought they were running straight ahead all this time but as it turns out, they had gone in a circle and were back at the starting line. He contemplates what to do to run forward again.
The last PTD Las Vegas concert is bittersweet for all of us. So much has happened to culminate with this.
Tae says it's time for them to organize their thoughts so they can come back with a better image and performance and they aren't saying they are done, they are saying they've worked hard and now they need the time to grow.
And then we see Jimin in the car, on the way home after their last PTD Seoul concert on March 13, 2020. He is on the phone inviting someone over. Guess who?
It looks like he's taken a shower. He shows us a pot of fish cake soup his dad made for him. Jimin prepares three place settings, fetches 3 bottles of soju, and pardon me but the fact Jimin has a can of spray cheez in his auxiliary kitchen changes everything for me.
Why is he consuming that and why does he store it above the kitchen sink in is extra kitchen? Why do these expensive apartments have two kitchens? Jimin barely needs one kitchen but he has two...
Anyway, Jungkook arrives and they proceed to eat and drink.
While they are having a conversation about what time they go to bed and wake up, Jimin says he might sleep until 4 pm and then this ensues:
When Jungkook makes the remark that he sounds like Yoongi, off-camera, you can hear someone stifling their wheezing laugh. Staff camera man is in on the joke and the documentary editors are too as they cut briefly to Yoongi eating take out chicken.
The editors were wrong for that! HAHAHAHAH!
Then Tae and Namjoon talk about and show us their living spaces and how they feel living on their own.
Namjoon is very particular about his space and he says its very precious to him. He says the way one curates their living space speaks a lot about their personality and taste. I agree 100%. He says he wants to show us his space so we can know what kind of person he is.
Tae says he decorated his own space, commissioning art pieces for it. He has an extensive collection of vinyl records and puts on a yellow vinyl disc that appears to be Betty Wright, a recording of a live performance. He says boredom can be a given when living alone and he says he looks for Small but Definite Happiness in his daily life. SDH. We should all strive to do that.
Then we're back at Jimin's and Jungkook is cooking more food, chopping vegetables. FYI, that Miele induction cooktop is about $3,500.
Watching Jimin retell the story of when one of his friends pointed out that he seemed depressed, was not himself, was one of the most revealing things we've ever heard from Jimin.
And now he feels he's in a very healthy place. I'm gonna elaborate on this in another blog post when I'm done with this series.
All in all, the members had to learn to live alone after living together for 8 years or more for some of them.
Yoongi reflects on running so hard in their 20s. He wonders if they shouldn't have enjoyed themselves more and not let the pressures become overwhelming. Regardless, now that he's reached 30, all those worries and thoughts have disappeared and he feels liberated.
I've realized some of these interviews for these episodes were conducted on the day they traveled from Seoul to Las Vegas because they are wearing the same clothing.