Old Cat Lady

I LOVE it! I think this is my favorite song on the album and to have the visual to accompany it - My heart is pitter pattering. So confused by this award. I was so happy that Joonie is getting recognition but then I read that it's not a real award? So sweet. I'm so happy that Tae is surrounded by 3 good families yeesh... the JJK's are getting bad. Anyone who really loves JK knows that he would want you to love the group

In all seriousness, as JK said, Hobi's always been scary. I'm sure he's just "cool" Hobi since he's an authority figure in the military. I know when I was management, I always felt a need to project a certain image. I really like JK's sweatshirt and lamp, but I'm also trying to be more financially conservative after my giant idiot moment over spending on my bath tub. These days I'm fretting over how behind I am on my retirement savings and am looking at upping my 401k contribution to 25%. So hard to decide how to balance living for today vs. preparing for the future. I loved The Astronaut merch but after I received it, I became nervous about using it because it's all white. I finally took my Wootteo out of the plastic bag but my sweats are hanging in the closet with tags on. I'm scared to wear it anywhere Her stuff is so pretty! Way nicer than what I can do. Unfortunately I work with my hands so my nails always pop off and wouldn't want to spend that much that I know I would ruin. News about BP and a rumor about Tae

Unfortunately I missed it in spite of @rockstaryuzu's best efforts. Logged in to try to catch it and I thought Tae was JK until I saw JK in his hoodie I saw the clip of JK running in front of the camera and I was reminded of BTS at ISAAC relay I think he cut his hair closer than the first 2. He looks almost completely bald

This is so cute. My favorite is Jimin's face in the last panel

You're right. I didn't think much of it since I don't follow anyone but BTS, but it would be all over the general music news that pops up on my timeline as well as all the toxic ARMY's. Looks like it's just 1 more fan war post

Sorry, I know that this isn't on topic but this is such huge kpop news! They're retiring at the top of their career. Makes me so happy for them that they won that VMA - it looked like it meant a lot for them. And JK still hanging on to Global 200 amidst the Christmas influx JK with 3 of the top 10 of Global Excluding US And not much new but this posts validates that Jin, Jimin, and JK will be able to have meals together - makes me so happy to think about. V will be in Seoul so that means he and Yoongi can visit. RM is still a big mystery. How fun! Love seeing the guys being celebrated in general news

Looks like Jin was promoted again And according to someone in the kitchen, the members visited Jin on his birthday That Jin exhibition was quite the extravaganza. I would normally say to celebrate his birthday with big charity/environmental projects, but that project really seemed to celebrate the life of Jin instead of being just an ostentatious display for attention. It was free to enter and there was food and souvenirs. looks like a lot of Korean celebrities visited it. I'm so envious of K-Army - definitely would have been worth taking a couple days off from work to visit. I want that giant Jin blow up Looks like he's a JinKook bias. I love that Jin has this harem of middle aged men I know I poo poo'd these projects, but I'm starting to think that there is some good to them. There's value in bringing joy to people's lives and it might promote tourisms. I think if I travel to Korea some day, I would want it to fall on a member's birthday so I can see the projects And the bartender (?) from Bon Voyage posted his birthday wishes

lol, I'm curious about the top 100

It doesn't change the length of time served, you just get more days off because the work is so hard

This doesn't surprise me. One thing that was obvious about their enlistment plan was that they were trying to minimize down time in order to keep the momentum going. One of the big fears of the entertainment industry is that they'll be forgotten if they spend too much time out of the spotlight. At Festa, they stated that Jin's album would be last, which meant that he'd release while the rest are on in the military. I just hope that ARMY shows Jin the same support that they showed the Maknae line, which has traditionally not been the case. JK is really a voice chameleon. He sounds great with anyone. I think I still like the original better but I'm thrilled for JK that he gets to work with his childhood idols. I'm personally going to resist learning about Usher as a person so that I don't find anything to dislike. I read that the Companion soldier program is there to try to encourage people to enlist that may be otherwise afraid to do so. I'm unsure whether they get to stay together after boot camp. They get transferred to their permanent base after basic training but some are saying that it's random at that point and others are saying that they get moved together. The disadvantage of companion soldiers is that only some bases accept them. The advantage of it is that they get to choose which base they want to go to. The Front Line has an acceptance rate of 2.5:1, indicating that it is one of the least desired places to serve, so it's pretty clear that JK/Jimin only chose that base because Jin is there, which really warms my heart - not that I had any doubt at all for their love of their Jin hyung. Now that I've read more about the military - it makes total sense that Jin was sent to the Front Line (and I have doubts about him being sent there randomly) - it's one of the hardest and most important bases. It's in the Korean military's interest to try to encourage people to apply there. JK/Jimin are also held back because they have visible tattoos. Not all units will accept them and they're not eligible for higher positions, no matter how well they do. One thing I'm concerned about Tae serving in the special forces is that it's the unit that most closely serves the president, making me wonder if he'd be the most susceptible to being used while in service. But the latter is pure speculation on my part. I guess I don't know why you think Tae is softer than the rest. Do you mean physically? Maybe, but he's still insanely fit compared to the average person. If you mean mentally - I disagree. Tae is one of the most independent of the members and they've all had to train under years of brutal conditions. The only thing I'm concerned about with the members is how well they'd do without each other - to me, the ones that I thought would struggle the most are Jin, Jimin, and JK - Jin flourished and Jk/Jimin have each other + their hyung. On a lighter note, logically, you'd think that this should effectively sink some ships, but shipping is more of an emotional thing. The JinKookers and JiKookers are ecstatic. The JiKookers are smugly celebrating the end of TaeKook and TaeKookers are apparently scrambling trying to spread information that JK/Jimin had to serve together because of their tattoos or something. Haven't seen anything by TaeJin'ers and the other ships aren't that big

He does, but the requirement I read was 20/30 so maybe Tae barely needs them whereas RM is practically blind as a bat, if I understand the prescription he posted on his insta

JK's success has really brought out the worst in the Akgaes. I follow a couple Tae/TaeJin accounts because I like getting tidbits of info anywhere and a lot of the videos are really cute, but yesterday I came across a thread of Tae akgaes saying the most vile things about JK (and the group) - made the Blinks look tame. They're under the impression that everyone is against Tae. And now there's the Spotify wrapped and whenever one of the maknae line isn't in someone's top 5, she gets accused of hating that particular member. I guess solos can't do math - 7 members + 1 group = 8 for 5 slots I agree, but I feel that way about several big stars. Based on their success, New Jeans really did deserve it this year. I think they've had one of the most successful debut 1st 1.5 years in history. I think they're going to surpass BlackPink (7.5 yr group) as far as musical chart success goes some time in 2024. Tae's a free spirit and one of the more independent members so I guess it's not that surprising. I'm glad he's getting to turn his military time into an adventure, assuming it's still the standard 18 months. This also explains why Jin was sent to front line - clearly he applied for it. ETA: oops. I guess not. Apparently Jin was sent there randomly but JK and Jimin applied to be there. So because Jin enlisted solo, his camp was random but since JiKook enlisted at the same time, they're considered "companion"(?) and can therefore choose where they apply? I thought maybe that's why RM waited until the end but then I read that Tae and RM aren't going to the same base. I also read that 20/30 vision is required for Special Forces, which I'm guessing RM is no where close to so wouldn't be able to apply for Special Forces even if he wanted to. I'm thoroughly confused now. JK and Jimin seem the most emotionally attached to the group so, in hindsight, this makes total sense that they applied to be in the same base as Jin. These three have been drinking buddies for years and are clearly very close. JK can afford to have his adventures anywhere he wants - If I were him, I'd prioritize being close to my loved ones as well. To be clear, they will be in different squads so Jin won't be training them but I think that they'd be close enough that they can see each other in their down time.

So RM & V are going to the same base and Jimin and JK are going to the same base? Makes me wonder if the Tannies could have been together if they went in at the same time - and I wonder why Jin was the only one put on Front line.

I don't know what the motive is for the Indonesian fans, but I don't think you need to have a common religion to empathize with people's suffering. I'm atheist and I'm horrified by the few things I've read. That's why I suggest the Korea Animal Welfare Association; he celebrated his 26th birthday by making a large donation to them. He seems to favor animal charities in general. He donated his prize money from You Quiz on the Block to "Beagle Rescue Network". And his beloved Jjiangu was a rescue. https://www.allkpop.com/article/2022/01/btss-jin-donates-money-to-an-organization-rescuing-dogs-that-were-victims-of-animal-testing https://www.koreaboo.com/news/bts-jin-birthday-donation-animal-shelter/ But another good option would be UNICEF Korea. Jin was inducted into the UNICEF Honors Club. They recognized him for his donations and he only accepted because he thought that bringing attention to his donations would cause others to donate. https://www.soompi.com/article/1328766wpp/btss-jin-becomes-member-of-unicefs-honors-club-for-his-generous-donations ETA: this clip is all over my timeline. I want to find someone to try this with me. There's a few clips on my timeline that I've never seen before - I assume something got released that I don't know about. Now that we're nearing the end of Run BTS, maybe we can take turns buying the different offerings from Hybe and sharing them, though that'll require using a different format for the Watch Parties

This is cool. I've never heard JK's hidden vocals on ON before. Jin's Chinese fans created a children's library and his Indonesian fans donated to Palestinians. A couple of his past birthday projects were planting trees for a forest - one was named "Epiphany" forest in Indonesia and the other is Jin forest in Seoul. One of his fan sites is trying to raise money for some billboard project and is currently short - I want to suggest donating to the Korea Animal Welfare Association in his name since it's a cause he loves, but I imagine comments from the peanut gallery are not particularly welcome. While I understand that the idol has to see the birthday project in order to feel the fan's love, I'm hard pressed to donate money for something silly that has no real impact - Jin won't even be able to see it this year. https://www.allkpop.com/article/2023/01/indonesian-tv-news-reported-on-the-creation-of-a-new-forest-in-honor-of-btss-jin https://www.allkpop.com/article/2023/02/fan-dedicated-jin-forest-in-seoul-receives-an-award-by-the-general-assembly-of-seoul-environment-association

Lol. RM advocating for ARMY. I wonder what JK's mother thought as she saw a crowd thirsting after her baby boy

I saw on Twitter someone talking about Namjoon being seated right behind her. I would have a hard time deciding which way to look

Any clue what the audience was chanting?

For the 1st time, I'm thinking about getting one of those ridiculously huge curved screens. Think of how incredible it would be to watch this on one of those

I'm missing something. What in the world were the pictures on those paddles about?

I wonder how much of the music video concepts were his vs. the team. A lot of fan theories about the wings and choreography. Baz Luhrman commented that he was proud that JK took inspiration from his Romeo & Juliet I love Hate You!