Sunday - A.R.M.Y Takeover

Image source: Shinara Hussain

Because the dawn right before the sun rises is the darkest. Even in the far future, never forget the you of right now. Wherever you are right now, you're just taking a break. 

Don't give up - Tomorrow

We all discover BTS when the time is right for us, but who are we? What is it about BTS that connects us all? A.R.M.Y TAKEOVER is a guest contributor segment and it is just for you! To tell your story, how you found BTS and how they helped you. Share your stories and anecdotes, about how you became Army.

16th September 2018

I'm Michelle, and as a 48 year old living in the American Southwest, I might not match your typical image of what a K-Pop boy band fan looks like. Having recently posted a comment online about being at a BTS concert, I was teased by someone who didn't get the hype and was told to try 1D again or become a Swifty. This was my reply...

It often takes a while for westerners to understand what the hype is all about; I didn't get it at first either. When I heard them the first time, I thought, 'Yeah, so? It sound like pop music but I don't understand the lyrics.' When I saw them the first time, I wondered, 'why did they dress the tall skinny one like Peg Bundy?'

But I couldn't turn away either. It helped having Em (my friend) to guide me to the right content, put things in context, show me where to find good translations, and... quite honestly... make me watch things on YouTube and VLive that I NEVER would have watched on my own and would have been quick to dismiss as boring or childish. It can all seem quite sophomoric and superficial at first glance.

However with exposure and context, a compelling story and a meaningful message emerged. Those gave me respect for the performers and their company and all the stylists and production people they work with. And the music grabbed me in a way that I wasn't ready for, precisely because I couldn't understand the language. So I 'felt' it first, loved a song for its sound and emotion first, THEN looked up a translation. Once again to my surprise, the lyrics were beautiful, and that happened over and over. 

Then I discovered the fandom; which I REALLY expected to be disinterested in. And parts of it are in fact uninteresting or sometimes even offensive to me. This is a globally famous act with people of many ages and cultures following them. Not one size or one option fits all. But most of the fandom knocked me over when I realised:

1) How kind and motivated they are to do good by manifesting their love of BTS into tangible acts of kindness and charity in the real world.

2) How deeply BTS has affected people who come from all different countries in the exact same way - over and over and over again.

You see people telling their stories about how BTS has helped them cope with depression, anxiety, and other difficulties. It is really remarkable; they have tapped into such basic human feelings and needs, managing BOTH to market and profit from making music and dancing (which not everyone can do). And from what is completely un-unique about them - their flaws and their fears and their humility; really, just their human-ness. They somehow always put in front and centre, even while performing highly stylised, scripted MV's, TV shows, etc. This is why fans refer to their sincerity as a big part of the draw. This is what drives sales of concert tickets and merchandise. Some people buy a poster because they covet the looks of the person in the picture, others buy a poster because they love the person in it, the way they love their child, boyfriend, friend, or family member.

Guess who is willing spend more and come back for more? There is simply no more powerful marketing than getting a consumer to feel intrinsically motivated to buy your products.

In some ways, the comparison to Taylor Swift there for has elements of fairness to it. She writes about her feelings and experiences and BTS does that too. Their relatability is a big part of their success and the longevity of fan loyalty. On the other hand, there is no comparison, given the cultural and language barriers that they have overcome to be where they are today.

Their work ethic is also rivalled by none. These guys perform a two and half hour concert in which they sing, rap and dance intense synchronised choreography at the same time; it's not such an easy thing to do. They also release entire albums in two different languages (Korean and Japanese); also not such an easy thing. At least one of them is fluent in both languages as well as English, and all of them were able to make brief speeches in English at their concerts which had to be really had to prepare for and intimidating to do.

I have only been following BTS for ten months, and during that time they released three albums that follow a narrative arch in a traditional style of Korean storytelling that has four parts (I always forget the name of the Korean literary tradition; I'm told it differs from Western tradition in that it lacks a protagonist and does not require conflict or a "win"). Anyway, that sort of thing takes so much work and preparation and coordination. It has been very interesting to learn about the kpop industry and how BTS conforms to that industry's standards and also is known for NOT conforming, which has made their global breakout that much more buzzworthy.

I have been saying from day one - I know it's easy to be dismissive and judgemental of boy bands. I have participated in such dismissiveness myself (to this day I am hard pressed to tell the difference between Backstreet Boys and N'Sync, and I'm not entirely sure which one of those Justin Timberlake comes from; but it's from one of them right?). And BTS is, at the end of the day, most definitely a boy band.

But I like to say they are a thinking person's boy band. The looks and the muscles and the tight pants and calendar-worthy pouty faces are all icing on a much more substantive cake than a lot of people are able or willing to focus long enough to be able to see. Perhaps this was also true of 1D and those others, and I just couldn't see it; we all have our blind spots.

So it's OK if you don't get it; I don't expect the people who love me to love them. I expect the people who love me to love me, as I am, as I do you

P.S For the record, where I once saw a skinny guy in Peg Bundy's clothing I now see an impossibly handsome man dressed fashionably. It was I who needed to grow; it was my own mind that needed to open and adjust to an unfamiliar aesthetic. BTS did that (vigorously!) and I'm grateful.

Twitter: @btsARMYemeritus

References:

Image source: Feather Factor

19th August 2018

It all started when I was in middle school. My dad suggested that he should work overseas to earn more money, to financially support us more. When I was in Grade 5, he migrated to another country and it broke my heart since I was the daddy's girl in our household. It took me a lot of time to accept that he'd be with us for only one week in the year. It was manageable because he kept contacting us, calling us and telling us how much he missed and loved us. As time passed I got used to it (him being away), but his actions started to become questionable. 

I was in Grade 8 at that time when he visited and I tried to borrow his phone to take photos. He shouted, "Dont touch that!", it was the first time he'd ever raised his voice at me. He and my mom started to argue all the time; he would always tell my older siblings how useless they were. We all held our tongue and hid our feelings because we thought that he might be stressed at work. 

He went back overseas to return to work, he seldom (almost NEVER) messaged us. My mom started to worry because she thought something might have happened to him. My mom loved my father so much that she would give him everything just to keep him safe and healthy. My mom is a loving person, sweet, caring and very supportive. 

It had been a month, where my father had never called her, she was so determined to go after him and messaged to say that she would come over to check he was ok. He replied less than 5 minutes later and told her "Don't come, don't waste the money I am sending you!". It shocked my mom.

She never told us that there was something going on between them. She remained smiling and telling us that our dad keeps on sending messages, and we believed in her. When I was in Grade 10, my mom received a message that made her world collapse, it was from my dad's other wife saying "Stop messaging my husband, this is his new wife, stop asking him for money, it should never be yours". 

No longer being able to hold it in she bursted into tears and called all of us and told us everything. We didn't know how to react but we all felt the same thing, disappointment and hurt. We comforted our mom and told her that we will be here for her 'til forever. Every time I get panic attacks or experiencing mental breakdowns I always always look up BTS videos and listen to their music, it really helped me a lot. Suffering mild depression, I formed a fear of my father because of a dream I had of him (where he punched and kicked me until I became unconscious). 

Months passed, it was starting to be fine, but sometimes bad happen. Our house (which was renovated lately) caught fire and we lost everything. We went to my aunt's place to live for the meantime but they treated us differently, when mom wasn't there they would boss us around. But we suffered silently; we never told our mother because we didn't want her to worry more. My 3 older siblings were studying at different places; so me and my younger sister had to deal with all of it. BTS is my safe haven; every time I am hurting I always visit their vlive account or their YouTube channel just to watch their videos. They never fail to cheer me up. 

When we thought everything was going smoothly, someone messaged my mom with a photo of my father and his new family. It broke my mom mentally and emotionally. We could no longer talk to her properly or even hug her. She always pushed us away. She kept crying every night and isolated herself in her room. Rarely going out she stopped eating and drinking properly. She stopped talking to anyone and kept staring at her wall, not moving from her position, it really worried us. She lost a lot of weight. We barely ate because she didn't give us money to buy good food, (she wanted to save it because in fear of my dad screaming at her again).

We comforted her as best we could, told her that her new lifestyle affected us a lot. After realising her deeds, she then started talking to us, and was trying really hard to cope. She attended seminars, exercised, went out with her friends and even starting her business. It made us happy, but there are still times that she thinks of my father and cries. 

The same what happened earlier this week, I was streaming Epiphany and I heard my mom crying again. I immediately went to her and hugged her, tried my best to comfort her again. When she calmed down, we talked about my dad, my studies, about her and about our family. And then I told her to watch Epiphany because she can relate to the lyrics. She knows BTS because I have been stanning them since debut. 

When she read the first four sentences she broke down. It was like I was watching a child losing her most treasured teddy bear. She kept crying until the music video was over. And when it did, she calmed down. She thanked me, and started praising Seokjin's vocal and visual. She told me to thank BTS because of their lyrics. It lightened my mom's heart and mind. She closed her eyes and smiled at me and told me, "Hey, I suppose I really should let go of something that is lost right? I should just love myself and you guys instead. I love you and thank you." It made my heart clench and I cried too. She then told me how thankful she was because I showed her the Epiphany music video. And even told me to support BTS with all my might. My mom is doing fine now. She keeps on smiling and patting herself everytime she finish something productive. As for my dad, I havent talked to him since January, but its okay. I just want to focus on supporting my mom, because seeing her smile will always be my source of strength. Thank you for reading, and thank you BTS for making the song, for the lyrics and for being there when I am at my weakest point. I love you. 

Yanna, 18 yrs old, Philippines

Twitter: @jimindipretty

References:

Image source: Feather Factor

22nd July 2018

Hello my name is Chase, I'm 25 years old. I am a poet, songwriter, blogger and a lover of all things music. I discovered BTS shortly before the Billboard Music awards this year. 

I was at a stand still in my life; I was at a point where I was too sick to walk or even work. In my art I couldn't even think of a song to write, I was really depressed. 

I decided to get back on twitter and discovered these guys called BTS blowing up my timeline, I actually almost blocked BTS from my timeline. Until the awards came on and I saw all these people going crazy so I decided to ask who these guys were.

I was greeted by some amazing people who showed me the best songs, they all said play "Fake Love". I ended up playing the song 20 times in a row; No, I'm really serious. 

These amazing men have helped me become a more confident artist. They have shown me I can spread love to all, even to those who hate me, and also to truly be there for people. 

They have put my own musical dreams back into motion!! So I guess you can say these guys were the turning point of my life. I'm now back at making music, working, and growing a fan base daily, all thanks to BTS. Just a proud fan boy over here!!

Personally if I could, I would thank these guys. They have made my life better, made my art better, and I finally have friends who truly see eye to eye with me. 

Their music is soft and pure and puts a worrisome heart to rest. If I had to think of my favourite BTS song it would have to be Serendipity. I play that song every day. 

I am now using my blogging and love of poetry to expand my work into new countries and people!! This is an incredibly humbling ride. I truly love all of you.

Instagram:  @operator_16

Twitter: @operator_16

YouTube: Operator 16

We hope you enjoyed reading about our guest contributor today, if you would like to write a piece about yourself then please do email us and mark it: Army Takeover. 

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