BTS V LIVE [J-Hope + Jimin]: 호비팔루자 (HOBIPALOOZA)

Okay, I'm still on a high from watching J-Hope's stage at Lollapalooza tonight.

That was the perfect set list: all the tracks from Jack in the Box mixed in with my favourites from Hope World ("Blue Side"! "Hangsang"! "Piece of Peace"! "Base Line"!), a couple of his solo songs from BTS albums ("Ego" and "Just Dance"), and ending with "Chicken Noodle Soup" with Becky G (the first live performance they've ever done together!). They say K-pop stars are created, but J-hope was born for this. He has an incredible stage presence and raw performance power that cannot be taught or duplicated. I know he's a perfectionist, but I can't even believe he ever doubted that he could pull this off. This man could do an entire world tour with this set list and each show would undoubtedly be sold out. I'm so glad that Jimin flew out to support him in person and gave him the confidence that he needed. This was the most adorable, pure-hearted, post-concert livestream I've seen yet. 

I hope that the whole 19-song (!!!) set list gets officially re-uploaded by BigHit. It would be a real shame if we couldn't re-watch the glory that is J-Hope's first concert as a solo artist. 

With that having been said, I hope Weverse fixes its shit. Never mind the terrible lag between the website and the app. With 14.9 million people watching this at the same time, they really needed to make sure the livestream went smoothly without crashing every 5 minutes. They know how many fans BTS has and can guess just by previous statistics how many people would tune in. I appreciate the fact that they livestreamed this for us for free, but that only means that that many more people would be watching. I won't even get into how this new version of Weverse has completely fucked up the ability to watch any paid content on the website or through a computer. You have to use the app or you're shit out of luck. And any of the Weverse Lives so far also don't have subtitles because it doesn't have the ability for anyone to add them. At least J-Hope and Jimin knew this, said "FUCK IT," and went back to V Live. 

BTS V LIVE [J-Hope]: Saying hello 🔥

YASSSSS, ONE MORE WEEK UNTIL JACK IN THE BOX IS RELEASED!

BTS V LIVE [Jungkook]: 이 뭐선일이고

Watching Kookie literally and metaphorically clean up is immensely satisfying. 😌

BTS V LIVE [V]: 녹화 끝

Tae, responding to a comment: "If the members were still here, I would have convinced them to all come here but they've all gone home."

Tae, responding to another comment: "You want to watch a movie together? STOPPP, a movie is 2 hours! We've already done an hour."

Tae: "Guys, let's turn off the lights and have a brief nap."

Tae, whispering: "I didn't know it would turn out like this."

Tae, to his phone: "Wake me up at 8:57PM."

Tae's Phone: "Yes, I will wake you up in 10 minutes."

Tae: "To be honest, I've wanted to do a livestream while laying down completely."

WHY IS HE LIKE THIS? 😂😂😂

BTS V LIVE [BTS]: Come Back

Namjoon: "The big contents we've prepared haven't been released yet."

BTS: "What is it?"

Namjoon: "You know, the big contents."

BTS: "What? Is it out already?"

Namjoon: "You know."

Jimin: "I don't know what it is, but LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT LATER."

BTS: "Not sure what it is. What?"

Jimin: "He's making me nervous."

Jin: "Is it not out yet? Isn't the schedule announced?"

Tae: "It's out!"

Namjoon: "Really?"

Jin: "It's not out, it's not out."

Tae: "It's out!"

Jin: "[The staff] said it's not."

Jimin: "Turn around and look at them!"

[BTS bickering]

Jimin, pointing behind the cameras: "Look that way, Taehyung. Look that way."

Namjoon: "It's announced that it'll happen!"

Yoongi: "They shared that it'll happen."

Jin and Jimin: "No, it hasn't been announced!"

Tae: "But they said—"

[BTS bickering]

Jimin: "Yet to be announced, Taehyung."

Jin: "Taehyung! SHHHH."

Tae: "But, I—"

Jin: "TAEHYUNG! SHHHHHHHHH!"

Namjoon: "But, wait, let me just say one thing."

Jimin: "NO, DON'T DO IT."

Namjoon: "It's not announced yet even though it's coming up so soon?"

[BTS bickering]

Yoongi: "I thought it was announced on the schedule..."

Tae: "No, it's out!"

[Tae checking with staff]

Tae: "IT IS OUT!"

[Tae making slapping sounds off-screen]

Namjoon: "That [sound] could cause controversy."

Jin: "Taehyung, stop it, this might lead to controversy."

Tae: "Oh, um... Sorry, I tap dance a bit..."

Jungkook: "What? What are we talking about now?"

Tae: "DINING TOGETHER."

Namjoon: "Ahh, I feel so relieved."

THE UTTER CHAOS. On that note, I can't wait for the dinner video to come out. My favourite part of Festa!

BTS V LIVE [Jungkook]: Let's Get It

Just as I think we're getting overloaded with content today and it's only fucking 8:00AM, a wild bunny decides to livestream at the beach and HE IS AS ADORABLE AS EVER.

(And here I am trying to get ready to for work but I'm reading live translations on Twitter instead...)

BTS V LIVE [J-Hope, V, Jimin, and Jungkook]: Ppyong 😊

Jimin: "One time, I made ramen and sat on the couch for just a second... and woke up 6 hours later. I mean, the ramen was so soggy, the noodles were enormous."

Tae: "Have you ever fallen asleep on your phone and you wake up like, 'I should wash up now!' But it's already morning?"

I mean, they've gotta be the most relatable celebrities in the world...

BTS V LIVE [RM]: Nam Joon..

"Just like the love you guys give us, to be honest, there have always been people who dislike us. They've always existed. We might be at fault for that, maybe... but often times, that's not the case. There have always been people who hate us. After all, there can't possibly be a team of people who are loved by everyone. The fact that there are people in America who hate us means that we've risen to become part of the mainstream, really, which is actually a good thing. So, especially since it's so taxing for ARMYs when it comes to responding to each and every thing and negative energy, I want to say that there is no need to care so much about such negativity. Moreover, that's what those people want. They want to attract attention. So I ask that you please don't give too much care to those people as it's also a waste of energy to respond to such things."

"We've always been at the position of underdogs. We've always... how should I say this. We've always been the kind of group that people didn't put a lot of bets on. But truly, we were able to come this far thanks to the power of each and every one of you combined. We're just doing what we have always done. I mean, when did we ever do anything to get acknowledgement from anyone? It's not like people acknowledged us then, either. We make something meaningful and share it with people, whether it be through music or concerts. That's the reason why we started doing this. We wish to keep our energy focused on that reason."

This. This is why I became ARMY, why I'm still an ARMY, and why Namjoon is the perfect leader for BTS.

BTS V LIVE [Jungkook]: I'm sleepy🐰🐰🐰

WHY. IS. HE. SO. CUTE???

BTS V LIVE [BTS]: I PURPLE YOU 💜 + I PURPLE YOU 💜💜

Jimin: "Now when we receive an award, to ARMYs — and this was my biggest thought — I thought that we could repay them with this award. That's what was heavy in my mind, so it was regrettable."

Namjoon: "What can we do? Honestly, it's a fact that it doesn't feel so good. But in truth, I think it was good. We can be sad today and we'll be alright tomorrow. Today, we'll just think amongst ourselves to our hearts' content and then we'll go with good feelings." 

Tae: "Right. So, the jackets!"

Yoongi: "Jackets."

Namjoon: "Jackets."

Tae: "You know the part in the choreo where the seven of us have to link together our jackets? And the fact that it wasn't going to work if even one of us made a mistake?"

Yoongi: "The part where everything could go totally wrong if we made a mistake?"

Hobi: "Yes, it was quite a risk."

Tae: "Honestly, wasn't our chance of success 60% to 40%?"

The most humble, gracious artists in the world. This is why they're superstars.

On that note, V Live crashed after a 4-minute livestream, so I hope they were able to record something to upload later and are able to celebrate the fact that they had the most epic, memorable, creative, and unique performance in Grammys history.

(Addendum, 04/04/22: Yep, they uploaded a second video for us. And it just goes to show how fucking good they are at performing because they did THAT performance of "Butter" fucking flawlessly with only one day of practicing together. It is fucking mind-boggling to me that they didn't win the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Again.)

BTS V LIVE [BTS]: Surprise! BTS!!

[RM confirms that Jin is recovering well]

Yoongi: "I tend to get injured in November and December."

Namjoon: "That's the first time I'm hearing this?"

Tae: "I don't get injured."

Namjoon: "Yeah, same."

Jimin: "[Namjoon] Hyung, you don't get injured. The things around you get injured."

Jimin: "Jin-hyung bought the Pokemon bread and gave me this sticker."

Jungkook: "I just like the bread. Can you give me the bread?"

[Attempts at doing the ARMY Time Clapper Event]

Yoongi: "If this were me, I would have given up."

[Talking about the "Fake Love" performance during the Seoul Day 3 concert where Jungkook's entire jacket became unbuttoned to the absolute delight of ARMYs everywhere]

Jungkook: "The reason I laughed was because I closed the button once but it opened again and I was kind of confounded."

Namjoon: "He was thinking, 'I rather like this...'"

Jimin, laughing: "'I rather like this!'"

Yoongi, pointing at Namjoon: "In the past, you ripped his shirt open during promo activities."

Namjoon: "Yeah, I did that once."

Jungkook: "I did think about it, like, 'Since it's already unbuttoned, should I just unbutton one more? Should I just unbutton the whole thing?'"

Tae: "I wish you'd just take it off and do it one day."

Jimin: "I heard that the fans that day couldn't keep in their screams. The screams escaped their mouths a bit."

Oh, man. I have missed the utter chaos that is a BTS group livestream. T-minus 27 days until I see them live in Vegas!

BTS V LIVE [SUGA]: It's my birthday

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS TO OUR LITTLE MEOW MEOW! Congratulations on looking exactly the same as you did a decade ago!

BTS V LIVE [J-Hope, Jin, V, and Jungkook]: JwiJJwanBooKkweoh

GOD, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM LIVE NEXT MONTH. Until then, I will settle for watching the live viewing of the Seoul concert in theatre next Saturday. I am genuinely curious to see how a BTS concert without cheering is going to sound. 😂

BTS V LIVE [SUGA]: My hair has grown a lot

Yoongi, grant me the strength and luck to get through the BTS Permission to Dance: On Stage ARMY membership presale ticketing tomorrow. 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

BTS V LIVE [RM, Suga, and Jimin]: Belatedly cracking bureom 🌕

Well, look who decided to livestream at 2:00AM. I watched 5 minutes of it and then had to go to bed because I had work today so now I'm just waiting for the subtitles to go up but WOW, I MISSED THEM SO MUCH AND THEY ARE SO CUTE AND HOLY SHIT JIMIN'S HAIR IS SO LONG AND EVEN THOUGH I'M GLAD THEY GOT A NICE BREAK, I AM SO EXCITED THAT THEY'RE OFFICIALLY BACK!

BTS V LIVE [J-Hope]: Happy Hobi Day 🤗

Nothing like this bright sunshine to cheer you up in the middle of an especially tedious work day! (Especially needed with the impending snow storm tonight.) Happy (Korean time) birthday, Hobi!

BTS V LIVE [Jin]: Jin's birthday! 🎂& Super Tuna 🐟Showcase

Wow, am I ever ready for "Super Tuna." This is the kind of content I signed up for.

Also, that is single-handedly the most insane birthday candle I have ever seen in my life.

Happy 30th birthday, Jin! Don't worry, you're still 29 outside of Korea. (Although, your 30s are pretty awesome. Just saying.)

BTS V LIVE [RM and Jungkook]: Joonie Kookie

RM, talking about the Grammys: "Just like the lotto, even knowing it won't happen - even knowing it may not happen - there's an expectant joy in waiting for it. So because we've got a month left, we live with the eager heart looking forward to January. It's fun that way, yeah?"

This makes my heart hurt. Knowing how unfair and rigged the Grammys are, and yet still yearning to win one. Knowing that the Grammys use them strictly for views, and yet still wanting to perform there to stay on the Academy's good side. Knowing that no matter how many awards they win, records they break, different genres they explore, poignant lyrics they write, and production styles they try, it all comes down to an entirely biased, xenophobic group of fuckers called the Recording Academy to deem them "worthy" of winning "the most prestigious award in music." 

It's fucked.

Anyway, all of these post-concert V Live livestreams are making me feel painfully nostalgic. I miss them so much. I just want to see them in person again. That's all I want. The rush of seeing BTS perform live — the energy, the pure joy and happiness, the feeling of complete unity and togetherness — is magical. When will I get to feel that again?

BTS V LIVE [J-Hope feat. Jin, Jungkook, and V]: hope u enjoy 😝

JIN IS SUCH A TROLL, I CAN'T. 😂

God, I can't wait to watch the online stream of the concert tonight. It's the closest I'll get to being there in person.

BTS V LIVE [Suga]: 2nd one down

The regret of not being able to go to the BTS L.A. shows is still very real. If I continue to eat my feelings with carbs (which I am, let's be real), I will gain at least 10 pounds before the new year. These L.A. dates are such a tease. With BTS officially applying for military referral, I'm just praying for an actual tour. Even if it's just in the States. I am hellbent on getting tickets and getting the time off to go.

(Also, I don't normally like orange hair, but Suga is looking goddamn fine here.)