July > Recent Status Updates

Not me putting off reading the last 100 pages for half a year

Just a well-written and very interesting book. Also very quotable, I can't wait for my physical edition to arrive so I can go through it again and highlight my favorite passages (my first time doing that, I'm nervous and excited)

Anyway, feels weird to have finished a whole 540 page book in just about two days after struggling with reading books for so long, the power of BTS!

It's also really fascinating to me that this book covers so much of their 10 year career and yet barely scratches the surface of everything - that's just how big BTS is and how long and eventful their journey was and still is, it's truly fascinating

I guess it had to do with being a relatively new ARMY and only learning about things in a non-linear way and having to constantely update the timeline in your head by jumping from event to event - like, of course I knew about a lot of the things told in the book, but seeing it layed out chronologically and in context like this gave me a deeper understanding of everything

I'll post a full-length review in a few days after letting the book really sink in, but I can already say that it changed how I perceive BTS and their music, in the sense that I feel even more connected to the two and have a deeper understanding of certain things

Okay, that ending came a bit abruptly, but it's also kind of fitting, considering BTS' story is far from over and the best is yet to come

It's over?

Hobi's last words made me tear up, their relationship with each other and with us is so beautiful. 아포방포 💜

Ugh, Scooter Braun, fuck that guy

I was a baby ARMY during the Grammy 2022 performance and I think it was even the first live performance of theirs I watched and I remember gasping and screeching in my bed at 3 am when I saw the Butter choreo

The low-key shade against the Scrammy's, I'm screaming

"So I switched to the side of trying to be more universal and long-lasting. My music can be meaningful to someone, or not … But I thought it would be good if it were more, just a little more timeless." The way you can feel and hear this change in Indigo, I'm getting goosebumps.

I LOVE COLDTAN, THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS SO WHOLESOME

This is so quintessential BTS, every member praising the others for doing so well while saying "but I was lacking/I should work harder to catch up to them." Really speaks to their teamwork and hardworking attitude

3J Butter choreo, my beloved

Blue & Grey is a song I listen to a lot when I'm depressed, bc there's a lot of comfort in hearing someone else feels the exact same way

Also, feeling like the two years of the pandemic were chopped off from the rest of your life is so relatable, like, it doesn't even feel as if these years happened, but I'm suddenly older and certain things are way more in the past than I feel they are

Jimin referring to the pandemic years as a "chopped-off" part of his life hits even harder after the story he tells with FACE

Oh no, the pandemic chapter, this is going to make me sad again, isn't it

I feel like Yoongi would make a very good therapist - he's patient and accepting, he listens really well and his whole demeanor is just very reassuring and grounding

Aw, Jiminie being so excited about the Black Swan choreo 🥹

Basically I just get really sappy reading about their journey to be happier after all the hardships they endured and I feel so thankful that they're sharing these ups and downs with us so openly and candidly

Quick note before I go though - hearing the members describe how they themselves learned to love themselves through the Love Yourself trilogy and subsequently settled more into their international stardom by abstracting their persona from their personality through Map of the Soul is making me emotional, like, they really put their all into their music and it shows

I really wanted to finish this today bc I'm in the middle of finals season and this was the only day I could afford to take off, but I can feel my concentration slipping bc I didn't get enough sleep last night, so maybe it's best to save the rest for tomorrow evening and not rush through it just for the sake of being done

Taehyung talking about how important it is to do things with your heart in them makes me think of his story about Peu-Peu the fairy 🥹

I'm enjoying this book a lot, but I'm also really happy with how fast I'm getting through it - I haven't read anything besides fanfiction for a year now and before that I had a really bad reading slump where I took ages to finish anything, if I did at all. So while I don't think I'm fully back to reading 50-100 books per year, it's nice to see I didn't fall out of love with books completely :)

AND NOW JIMIN COMING TO FIND JUNGKOOK AND ENDING UP LISTENING TO HIM AND COMFORTING HIM, I CAN'T DO THIS

I'm tearing up at the thought that the Tokyo trip made Jungkook and Jimin so happy despite the really bad mental place they were in

God, Namjoon was under so much pressure back then, I can't even imagine