I'm being very sulky today. I decided not to participate in Map of The Soul: One concert. I didn't buy any tickets, exhibition access, or merch related to this concert. There are several logical reasons for this, the biggest one being my bad experience with BangBangCon The Live. I was very excited about that concert, I bought my ticket, I was ready with my lightstick and all, but it didn't go well. It was very choppy, the stream stopped working, I had to watch from my small mobile screen. In the end, I couldn't enjoy it at all. After the concert, they had to run it through the Korean broadcasting agency (?) to get approval before we can enjoy it as VOD. This process took forever, by the time it was approved, I already lost my interest to watch it.

MOTS:One ticket is very expensive. The ticket price for only one show is almost twice the price I paid for Bangbangcon in my currency. My local currency is weak because of the pandemic, and the price itself is more expensive because the concert is on a much bigger scale than BBC with obviously higher production costs. Moreover, this price does not include VOD. We can re-watch the show delayed one time the next day, and that is it. They probably have plans to release this as a separate VOD or DVD later on. It is too much money to spend on a one-time viewing without any guarantee that it'll work at all with my internet connection. I just cannot make this purchase make sense.

In conclusion, I didn't buy it. On top of that, I'm being very conscious about not consuming paid content that I don't want to pay for. If I don't want to pay for it, I shouldn't consume it. Yes, I do see clips of paid content being posted here and there every now and then, but I do not actively seek out illegal streaming links to watch the whole show for free. Being an idol is a job. There are a lot of people involved in preparing this concert and they all need to be paid. I saw people justifying illegal streaming links by pointing out that Big Hit is a billion-dollar company and watching this concert illegally won't hurt them, but really, to me, it's not about that at all. Watching paid content illegally felt morally wrong. I love BTS and they are working very hard for this. It feels like I rob the very people I love and respect.

I couldn't help but feel left out the whole day as everyone is celebrating the concert while I was trying to avoid it. I have my reasons as I stated above, but deep down of course I also want to see and support the boys. It is sad. I kept repeating how I really wanted to watch them live again this year that I've been preparing since last year. I saved money for the trip, applied for multiple entry visa to Korea, had my membership ready for ticket raffle, had my Discover Seoul Pass, I was ready. I was more than ready.

An ARMY friend contacted me this afternoon asking if there will be any links (for illegal uploads) later because she really wants to watch. She said she loves BTS so much, she doesn't understand it anymore, and she would do so far as looking for the links. To be honest I felt disgusted at her statement because... she has been an ARMY for a while now and she never spent a penny on BTS. She always watches shows for free, never bought anything from albums, merch, or DVDs. I know people have different standards and moral compass, but, if she loves BTS so much and wants to watch it so badly, then she should pay for the ticket. BTS gave us so much free content, and you also want their paid content for free? I wish she realizes that other than the free things, we as fans are only entitled to things that we paid for.

I've said so many times that the industry is oversaturated, I am very aware of it. So I thought I was prepared for anything when it comes to group & fandom names. I understand that every group will try to be unique and different. The thing is, I couldn't help but have high hopes that the next group name will be 'cool' and subsequently the fandom name will be 'pretty'. Obviously, my definition of 'cool' and 'pretty' influenced a lot by the western language, both the sound and meaning.

ENHYPEN? Ergh. I know that they tried to make the group name sounds cool but literally using the word 'hype' trying to get hype is kinda lame. It was confusing, too. They said the name means that the group would be like hyphens that connect two words to make new meaning, so is it enhypen ... or enhyphen? While it would make no difference when pronouncing both words in Korean because there is no f sounding consonant in their language, it would make a difference everywhere else in the world. I know they intentionally changed hyphen into hypen as a wordplay to also include the word 'hype' in the name, but I personally would like it better with the extra h. But okay, fine. I'll make peace with it. It's not awful and we'll get used to it.

And today we got our fandom name.... ENGENE. My reaction was WUT. I didn't submit any suggestions myself, but I did browse some fan suggestion lists just to prepare myself for what's coming, and NONE of them listed ENGENE, therefore, I was not mentally prepared. Just like the group name, it's not awful but still left a big question mark on our heads. Why. When they explained the meaning behind it, I was kind of offended lol. It's pronounced 'en-gene' so we're like the engines that keep ENHYPEN running. You're saying we're engines? Yes, I know we'll function as your ATM machines and hype bots in the future but isn't that a little too on the nose? I know, I know that they didn't mean it that way. Additionally, they also said 'en-gene' because we share the same genes. No, we don't. Go away lol. They addressed us as such two times already today and to every notification that popped up on my phone I said 'Ew, don't call me that'. I guess I hate it more than I thought.

Fans of boy groups are mostly girls, and as an old girl, I can say at least for myself that we like pretty things and we would love to be called pretty words. ENGENE doesn't sound pretty or cute at all to me, it sounds exactly like the word engine, and I can't imagine a cute engine. In fact, today ENGENE was trending on Twitter under 'technology' and not KPop.

However, if we take Korean culture and language into consideration, ENGENE is easy to pronounce in Korean, and there are a lot of common girl names that end in Jin like Yujin, Ryujin, Hyejin, Hyunjin, so it must've sounded a little cuter in Hangul? In Korea, it is also common to name siblings with the same first or second syllable, so it's nice to share the same 'EN' syllable in front of our names. It definitely makes the connection. It would be nicer if the next word is something prettier than GENE though, lol. Anyway, it has been decided and I'll make peace with it.

It has only been two weeks since the last episode of I-LAND, but it really feels like forever. We're getting updates here and there, haphazard spin-off contents, the fucking boring notes videos, awkward vlives, twitter posts, naver posts, weverse moments, but all of those combined still aren't able to replace the joy of watching a fully produced reality tv show. I'll be honest, without 'real' things to be excited about, the kids are boring. I'm bored. The kids are trying too hard to hide their presumably new hair colors and or style, it's getting on my nerves. And it's only been two weeks! We're getting something soon, I'm sure. In the meantime, I'll just go do something else and forget about all this lol.

During this pandemic, I've been obsessed with a lot of things fast, but they've only been able to catch my attention for a bit before the excitement wears off and I moved on to something else. I wonder if I-LAND/ENHYPEN is just one of them or whether this group will truly stay in my heart and mind.

I remember I also was obsessed with Stray Kids after their TV show, but now I'm just a casual fan. I watched Treasure Box and was very obsessed as well in the beginning, but the debut took forever and while I still do watch their contents, I'm just a casual fan. I also watched some parts of Undernineteen and PD X, but yeah. Maybe, my attention for groups formed by survival shows just doesn't last. It was exciting because of the TV show. Or my love for BTS is just too strong, nothing will be able to replace it. Plus, the fandom is currently enjoying the highest highs, with many achievements and overflowing content. I don't know if any other fandom will ever be able to take my full attention and love away from BTS.

Oh and actually, I've also been keeping an eye on everyone who is debuting this year, and one of the groups I'm quite excited about is DRIPPIN! I'm not familiar with Woollim Ent, to be honest, but I knew the kids from PD X, and I watched their YouTube stuff and they're such a fun group of people! Their contents are much more fresh and interesting to watch due to their personalities. Even Junho who was told he lacked expressions is much more lively and fun now. Hyeop is just loud. Yunseong is such a good leader, I love him, And I've always been fascinated by polyglots, so getting to know Alex, the maknae, has been wonderful. I love him already. His background! His mom is a Korean who works as an interpreter, and his dad is German.

This actually just reminds me of one more thing that bothers me about ENHYPEN. They keep saying that they're a global group, and that's also the premise of the whole show, and we can see CLEARLY that there are more English comments in ANY of the twitter posts or weverse or VLIVEs, but they did not even try to talk to us in English??? Like, almost at all??? This bugs me to no end.

In the beginning, I was sad that the tour was canceled and all, but really, there's a silver lining to everything. Other than the never-ending content we're getting, I'm pleasantly surprised to know that BTS has been gaining more popularity during the pandemic than ever. And if we look at it more closely, Big Hit is probably making more profit by spending significantly less money by doing everything locally. Aside from not being able to meet fans, it's probably better for BTS, too. There's no need for stressful air travel for the whole entourage. There's no need to pay attention to the time difference, no jet lags, no separation from families and family pets, no need for extra security because they're in high risk / public / crowded area, (mostly) no exposure to persistent fansite photographers and paparazzi. Plus as much as I love ON and I would love to be at MOTS Tour in person, I could imagine how taxing the whole set would be for their bodies. I'm okay with not witnessing them dying in the backstage ever again.

With the release and success of Dynamite, they have been the busiest they've ever been. Numerous radio, tv, magazine interviews, lots and lots of performances, magazine cover shoots, all while commuting to their own studio to work on their new album, in the comfort of their own city. This is actually crazy! They hit number 1 on the Hot 100 chart for THREE weeks with Dynamite so effortlessly without even having to release an album, write the song by themselves, display a high-level choreography, or step outside of the country. It's just a fun little magical song! They performed it everywhere but also back home!

All of their performances are in-house production, they are working with studios they're comfortable and familiar with. Because the production company is local, it's easy to communicate and arrange how they want everything to look like from the set, the atmosphere, the stage, the lighting, etc. The camera work is perfect! EVERYTHING is perfect! And these performances get millions of views in just one day, BTS is getting the popularity, and the station/program/whoever inviting them is getting the attention. Win-win. Great.

The downside is probably not having as much material to be sold as movies, DVDs, and photo books as in previous years. We don't know how the situation will be next year, and we're also still waiting for more details on how they'll be handling their military duty.

I said in my previous post I was grateful that I wasn't that invested in K, but turns out the decision to not include him in the final group still affects me a lot. I couldn't sleep at night worrying about him. Before the finale, I convinced myself that I would be okay as long as Jakehoon both make it. I did think about different possible scenarios and combinations the group can end up with, but I didn't scrutinize enough how I would feel if a certain member is left out. In my head, the best possible scenario was everyone but the two youngest contestants will debut. The kids will debut in years to come in the next boy group project. I was hoping for that outcome.

I looked up Japanese comments on the incident, one person said similar things with what I wrote. If we want to justify K being eliminated, we can come up with some of these reasons;
- There's already a Japanese in the group, they don't need more than one
- Age-wise K is 4 years older than the oldest chosen member, which is a big gap already
- Physically K is very tall (almost 187 cm), and will stick out amongst the members

I thought about this over and over. K was constantly in I-LAND, he was never sent to the GROUND because of how good he was. He always gets high scores from the producers. The whole show he has shown what he had. To not be picked in the end because of things he couldn't control like nationality, height, or age, was very cruel. Then, don't include him from the beginning? If you know he's going to be too old, or too tall, or one too many Japanese, then pick younger, shorter, non-Japanese people from the start? Why would they torture him like this?

Some argued that if the other person was not Sunoo, would they still not pick K?

We understand that it's a decision made with a business standpoint, but it's still a hard pill to swallow. It's painful living by just knowing this fact, I can't imagine living it as your reality. I'm still worried about K. I can only hope that the management has an outlet to not waste his talent and time.

Now I can sleep peacefully.

It took a lot of mental preparation for me to face today. I took a day off and painted my walls during the day to calm down. The result is great, the process was easy and it's now exactly how I envisioned it to be, just a little too yellow (?).

The final show was too long. I didn't watch part 1 so I neither know nor care about these other characters. The Into The I-LAND performance was good, though. The kids looked amazing with proper stage make-up and outfit.

My point of this post is: I'm very happy with the debut line-up. Jake made it, Sunghoon made it, 2002 line all made it, and that was enough to give me peace of mind. The group consists of kids born in 2001 - 2005, it's cohesive, it makes sense. I said in my prediction, it's either go up in age with K or down with Niki and can't be both. Because if both make it, the age gap becomes a little too wide (7 years, for a 7 members group).

I'm actually grateful I did not watch the show from the beginning and invested more in K. Otherwise, I would be devastated today. I know he is very capable & talented, he was constantly in I-LAND (never the GROUND) and got the best score several times. It just didn't work for him in the end.

Oh, and the group name ... I'll make peace with it.

I'm so scared, I'm so stressed out! I want both Sunghoon and Jake to make it so badly. I want it more than anything, it's all I can think of. I'm now avoiding many review channels because NONE of them are supporting Jake! I can't do this! Jake has to make it! Why are you people so against Jake making it!

And I hate myself for putting myself in this position AGAIN. WHY do I let myself emotionally invest so much in trainees with no guarantee of debuting! WHY, SELF, WHY! If the kid doesn't make it, I know exactly how this would only end: in PAIN. And I would suffer from long-term irrational hatred towards the debut group even after following them for all this time! I shouldn't be like this! I should be supportive! I shouldn't be judgemental! They all worked hard! This is the path the universe created for them!

Last night, I was looking up Jake and Sunghoon again, and I saw how international fans go to certain length to get other people to vote for their faves. Giveaways, massive subway ads, fund raising to get more SIM cards to make accounts (?), it's kind of insane. I was even contemplating of copying them by doing giveaways of KPop stuff that I want to get rid of, so I created an account. But now I'm not so sure. I feel like I need some time off of the internet and face Friday with a better, calmer state of mind. HELP ME.

Okay, I am officially obsessed.

I know that they arm-wrestled and also bet who can weight lift more with K just losing it in the back. I don't remember how or why, but I've seen that video. But now that I watch it again with fresh new eyes, WAIT. WAIT WAIT WAIT. At the beginning of the arm-wrestle clip, they were just chilling, a bunch of them. And then SUNGHOON WITH HIS FUcKING FAIR-SKINNED ARM reaches to grab that Pikachu stick from Jake but he dodges so Sunghoon just proceeds to play with Jake's arm and then CARESS JAKE'S HAND FONDLY WHICH IS WHAT THE FUCK and then Jake's like 'yo, wanna arm wrestle?'.

Pause it at the right timing and it looks like they were just holding hands. My heart can't handle this.



Also, Sunghoon has this most adorable smile with a dimple and I don't get how he's struggling to act cute. You're already super cute, you only need to smile.

I looked it up yesterday. Jake's Korean name is Jaeyoon. Shim Jaeyoon. Sunghoon and Jake has so many similarities. They were both born in 2002, Jake in November and Sunghoon in December, both are blood type O, both are ISTJ based on MBTI personality test. No wonder they clicked right away. I can only hope that the universe will let them both debut and be each other's strength.

Regardless of who is going to make it, I really wonder how much of the public will catch on to them, and will their debut even be successful? What is the definition of success? Would they beat physical sales of Treasure, who also debuted this year? Would their song make it to the charts with so many competitions? Will they be promoting overseas more, consistent with their 'global idol' premise? Will the so-called 'global' fans continue to support the group after the show is over?

Because I've seen this before. Other than groups from Produce series which were extraordinarily popular, groups formed by non-agency specific survival shows tend to not do well. Winners of MIXNINE did not even get to debut. UNB and UNI.T from The Unit, 1THE9 from Under Nineteen, TOO from World Klass, all performed so-so if not poorly. Their debut lacked hype despite having been on national television survival shows. The first three disbanded without barely making any dent in the idol industry. UNB sold okay I guess the first time, and I also liked their debut song. UNI.T released one last comeback before disbanding with a low budget MV. The song was a bop (Brave Brothers Bop TM), but no one knows it. That was it, after all of those blood, sweat, and tears we witnessed during the show. It pains me to see this. All they wanted was to debut, but if after debuting your group isn't successful, was it worth throwing your youth away?

The industry is so oversaturated, only a handful can survive. I worry every time I see debut plans even when they are from a well-established agency, let alone from a small company. Back then, there weren't that many competitions. Agencies of 2nd gen groups that used to be top to mid-tier now are debuting younger groups, expecting fandom spillover from their senior groups, and hoping for the public to catch on. That strategy doesn't always work.

Woollim's INFINITE's brother group Golden Child never really catches on? Or their songs are just not my taste. They suffered member departure, they also joined Road to Kingdom. They are still growing their numbers, but it's been two years since their debut and one would hope the numbers were better than it actually is. They are already getting ready to debut another group, I'm not sure how the dynamics will be in the Woollim fandom.
TOP Media's Teen TOP's brother group UP10TION was such a waste. They had so much potential but never really take off. Wooshin was caught in an overblown controversy and then took a time off. They sent two people to Produce X last year which later on caught in a voting manipulation scandal. Now Wooshin and Jinhyuk are doing solo stuff (?) UP10TION is left with 7 (?) members, and the agency already debuted an even younger group (MCND). Where can UP10TION go from here without their most popular members, I personally can't see it.
Jellyfish's VIXX's brother group VERIVERY also struggled to grow. They also went to Road to Kingdom to elevate some public recognition, I don't know if that helped at all.
CUBE's BToB's brother group Pentagon... sigh. So much potential. Hui is a genius, CUBE is a huge agency. Many don't want to admit this, but E'Dawn's departure was a huge blow to the group as they were just taking off with the success of Shine. E'Dawn was the most charismatic member and he was a big part of the group's musical direction. After they lost E'Dawn, now their oldest member Jinho already has to leave for military enlistment, Yanan kept getting sick and stayed in China, Pentagon just never really.... catches on.
FNC's SF9 is doing better I guess, with some music show wins and sales exceeding 100k on GAON. The agency is now gearing to debut a new group, P1Harmony.

This is just a very small example, and even they are somewhat successful and resourceful compared to many, many, other groups whose physical sales never even surpassed 10K, who has no previously somewhat famous brother groups, whose company does not have any money to fund proper comebacks, who only releasing digitally because they can't produce CDs, whose company has to resource to crowd-funding their projects via MakeStar.

We are now at a point where 3rd gen idol groups already have brother groups.

I'm not even talking about talent or song quality. Many of these kids competed against dozens to hundreds of people, survived years of training period, they are the best people their agency can come up with, there is no doubt that they are all very talented groups of people. Many of them also have really good songs, they're just buried in the mountain of constant releases, and only a small number of people give them any chance or listen.

So, where would the group from I-Land stand in this oversaturated industry?

Episode 11 is one before the finale. This was two days ago and I'm still obsessed with it. I have so many favorite scenes, like Sunoo reading Jay's letter out loud and Jay screaming 'SERIOUSLY, STOP IT!!', Jay and Heeseung talking and worrying about their ranking, Heeseung calling his brother, Sunoo's sister and Heeseung's brother both liking Jay. But I think the ones I love the most are just Sunghoon scenes. Sunghoon saying 'it's all fives', Sunghoon being weird, Sunghoon learning the moves, Sunghoon singing the wrong lyrics, Sunghoon trying to be cute, Sunghoon consoling Jake after he was criticized by Sungdeuk. THAT Sunghoon and Jake scene was the sweetest, heart-wrenching, please-never-separate-them-ever kind of scene. This week I'm voting for Jake. In my ideal world, it would just be the original 6 I-LANDERS + Sunoo. But the Top 6 is going to be decided by global votes instead of producers' scores, so I don't know how the outcome would be. I just need my 2002 line to make it. All three of them. PLEASE. Other scenes I enjoyed were Jungwon crying because I've never seen him being so vulnerable, I see him always being safe and a little boring / blend into the background. I think this episode is good in the sense that it gives him a little bit of a kick to do something more. Heeseung crying and hugging Jungwon after was touching, too. I don't mind Hanbin being eliminated because I don't see him align with the concept of the debut group, but seeing everyone crying so hard as they say goodbye still breaks my heart. Oh and I also love the bee scene from behind the scenes, so funny.

Next week is the finale! Live! With BTS and TXT! I'm already going insane. Looking back, my favorite scenes consist of Jay and Sunghoon, but I'm voting for Jake. There's something about him, I don't even know what. HE JUST HAS TO MAKE IT. SUNGHOON AND JAKE MUST BE TOGETHER! I think 2001, 2002 x 3, 2003, 2004 is a good main lineup. And one more member ideally either going up in age (K, 1997) or down (Niki, 2005). Jungwon as a maknae would be perfect, though. He is super adorable, capable, and good looking at the same time.

Here are my opinions on the kids:

K - Okay. K learned from Flicker team to listen to people more, and it was really good for him. He certainly is capable. He has been training for a long time, so dancing and singing skills are great. A very hardworking person. If you ask me, I like my group to be somewhat homogenous, so in that sense, K is too tall (?) and old (?) compared to everyone else. I thought he was too serious (majime) but we actually saw a lot of his playful side.
Heeseung - He's a good kid who is capable of a lot of things, and people are comfortable around him. Skill and personality-wise, no problem at all. Some things bother me about him. He really wants the idol life, he's not only dedicating years of his life training, he also got some stuff done to his face. Looking at his predebut pics, it seems like he has his nose done(?), and he got his teeth laminated - which receives criticism. IDK, that bothers me a little bit. He's a good kid, though.
Sunghoon - Is like the perfect, good-looking, cool idol. He's actually super weird and can be really cute, but in front of the camera, he's just feeling awkward. He's used to cameras and spotlight since he was a figure skating athlete since he was little. His face and height are just perfections.
Jay - Jay is crazy. We need him. We just need him.
Jake - There's something about him. He has this charm. Everyone likes him. He knows that his training period was short and he needs to work hard, so he tends to lose his confidence after receiving criticism.
Sunoo - He's very smiley and everyone says how he acts like an idol already. He talks to the camera like he's already seeing his fans behind that camera. Super cute.
Jungwon - Jungwon is so precious. He's so good looking I don't know what to say. If it's up to me, I would want him in the debut line-up.
Niki - IDK. He's a dance prodigy who is really, really talented but I still am not sure if I want him in the final line-up. And if we are taking nationality as a consideration, I feel like there's only one spot for a Japanese in the group, and K is a stronger contender for that spot. Niki is also ... only 14 and I feel like he still has time to learn and grow, compared to K, whose time is running out.
Daniel - I don't know, maybe the producers of the show don't want him in? He barely got any screentime and or praises from the judges. I thought he's popular because he ranked 2nd during the first global voting, but in the second voting result, he did not make the debut cut line. He is also very young though, which makes me think he could be debuting in BigHit's boy group planned for 2022. Or you know, any other groups. I feel like if he doesn't make it, he still has time to find his ground.

They cut our votes from being able to vote for two contestants to just one, I don't know how this would affect the dynamics of the voting numbers.

Wow, I haven't written anything on here since March. Right before the pandemic. Tells a lot about how I procrastinate at work by writing journal entries, and never actually do this at home. Mid-March was the last time I commute to work, back when life was normal. Everything was normal. I went home that day and have been mostly home since. It has been half a year, it's insane. If you'd ask anybody a year ago, nobody would've guessed that they'd be working from home for half a year, and even longer.

Anyway. I've missed so much stuff that has been going on, but I want to write about my current, new, fresh obsession which is I-LAND. I did not intend to watch this show. I was aware of it, but IDK I just wasn't feeling the idea of torturing myself with another survival show that I wasn't going to follow-up after. I was just a little curious at the beginning, but the hype around the show wasn't that good. It's shooting in the middle of a pandemic, they reduce the amount of production staff, there were issues with the safety of the moving stage (?) that a contestant and staff were injured quite badly that they had to withdraw. Plus this is a joint production of Big Hit and MNet, while they're still in the hot water because of that Produce controversy. It just seems like the general public wasn't buying into it at all. Ratings were low, reviews were bad. Of course with me being active in the online KPop world, I was still exposed to it every now and then. I knew there were Japanese trainees, I knew there were ex-Big Hit trainees. Some names keep on popping up, so yeah, I was familiar with some of the names as well even when I have never watched a performance ever.

Here comes Episode 7. BTS guest-starred on it. Well, now I just had to watch it, hadn't I? I got into I-LAND starting at the end of Part 1 and the start of Part 2, which is a good point to start. The number of participants has been reduced to 12. It's easier for new viewers to learn about them, compared to the 23 participants at the beginning of the show. BTS was so much fun to watch. The participants were so excited to see BTS in I-LAND and giving advice on how to overcome their concerns even when they don't meet in person.

My impression at the beginning of watching the show is; I wanted to support Japanese trainees, mainly K and Taki because I've seen their brotherhood on some clips previously. I know Taki is very popular because his name always trends worldwide every Friday after I-Land airs. I did not like Heeseung. I don't even remember why, probably because I read something negative about him and I just believed it, I guess. I also did not like Niki? Simply because he sabotaged Taki at the beginning of the show. I did not have any strong opinions about other participants. I didn't even know that Hanbin was Vietnamese. I quickly learned their names and faces after Episode 7.

Fav scene: BTS answering trainees' questions (Jay's was particularly funny), Taki calling his mom.

Episode 8 was BTS Test. It was tough to watch. Taki was clearly struggling with basically everything. I realized then that he just wasn't ready. I don't see him with the right skills or mental capacity to debut. He had a hard time having to lead the Fake Love team, even with the best members he could ever choose. I regretted voting for Taki. And then there's K and Niki drama which I hate. I did not like watching both of them during this drama. I don't think what K did was wise. He scolded Niki like that and it ruins the whole mood of the team. I don't like how Niki handles that part, too. Even after K pointed out that he shouldn't add that extra movement into the routine, he still just went ahead and did it in front of Sungdeuk. I was not on either side of the argument. At the end of the episode, they showed us the mid-result of the global voting and it was... kind of shocking. Taki came 4th, which makes me even more regretful of my choice to vote for him all week. K came 9th, which I think is influenced by the evil-editing people were talking about. He said he couldn't understand how Sunoo and Daniel ranked 1st and 2nd, higher than Heeseung who has been in I-LAND the whole show. The worst of it all was Jay, who was the original I-LANDER in Episode 7, ranked last (11). I felt compelled to help him. That week I voted for K, Jay, and Jake. Taki ranked last but was not eliminated because of his team. Geonu was eliminated in his place and I do not care too much.

Fav scene: Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Heeseung goofing in their practice room.

Episode 9 was Flicker VS Dive Into You. This episode does not give me a good feeling about K. He's certainly is really good at dancing, but this episode did not paint him in a good light. Heeseung ranked 1st in BTS Test so he had the benefit of choosing his members and song. He chose K knowing that K is really good, but K ruins the mood of the team. He's bossy, he shows discontent every time someone says something he disagrees with, and he throws responsibility away when he was questioned (vocal coach scene). Well, now I regret voting for him. The 'drama' ended with them talking to each other about the problem which was a good opportunity for everyone to learn how to communicate but still left a bad taste in my mouth. This episode shows Jay on the opposite side of K. He was playful but hardworking, funny but still considerate of others. He assigns roles based on strength of each person. He was just an impromptu leader but we could see how well he leads his team, and everyone likes his presence, unlike K. This week I was still voting for K, Jay, and Jake. Top 3 got the benefit of going out and it was really, really nice to see them having fun. The present scene was sweet. Jake ranked first and got the benefit of double the vote he receives in 24 hours.

Fav scenes: Sunghoon skating!

Episode 10 SEVENTEEN performance team came to I-LAND. The kids were shown messages from the fans and were given fan letters. They were so happy. They were answering fan requests, Jay was shown the scene where he cried, everyone had a good laugh. They also left messages to each other, plus Jay dramatically choose to write letters to each and every one of them because he thought he was getting eliminated the next day. It was so touching and seeing their bond and friendship definitely makes us want to support them to the end. Taki was eliminated and I do think it was time for him to go.

Fav scenes: Hoshi pointing out how Jay and Jun look-alike, Sunghoon feeling tortured by having to be cute, Sunghoon crying after watching the video message from Jake, Jay scolding Jungwon for being pretty even when he cried, Jay writing letters with Doraemon hand, kids being so happy for fan letters, Sunoo asking Jay to turn off the lights from behind the scenes.

Seriously? I don't even know what's going on anymore. I'm numb to all this now and hope that the trend does NOT continue.

When I saw his 'controversy' I thought it was just an old friend joking. I never thought things behind the scenes are so serious it could lead up to Wonho departing from Monsta X, are you kidding me?

MX was the group I was happy to discover when I got back to KPop in 2017. I love them, I have most of their songs and I always check out their releases. However, I was in the middle of moving last week and I haven't got the chance to watch their latest MV/listen to the album. This is comeback week! You can't quit! I thought Woojin quitting in the middle of a comeback preparation was bad, but this is another level. MX had to change their coreo IN ONE NIGHT. They had to deal with this huge crisis in mere hours, accept it, and move on with business like it was just any other problem. They had to appear in front of the fans with happy faces as nothing has happened. THEY JUST LOST A MEMBER THEY'VE BEEN TOGETHER WITH FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS. WTF. This is insanity.

People thought it was an exaggeration/overreaction to withdraw Wonho from MX over a problem that could be solved (the money part). However, I think Wonho knows that there are a lot of things from his past that could be dug up now that will tarnish the reputation of the group and the company bad enough that he insisted to go. He could be blackmailed, IDK. The money problem, drug allegation, aggravated robbery, the juvie, everything is overwhelming and paint a picture of a troubled young person that was Wonho. It was from his pre-MX past, but these are pretty serious crimes.

Days later, fans are still rallying on twitter and IRL in front of Starship building but honestly, I think it's a lost battle. Starship has released two official statements regarding Wonho and I don't think anything is going to change now.

When I saw a twitter account making a list on why the boot was sketchy I was over it. I was like 'please, don't do this right now, I don't want to read this'. The tweet might be written by an angry young fan on a note app with spelling mistakes that make it not look credible, but after reading discussions on Reddit pointing out the same problems, I do agree that this case seems really odd/suspicious.

From a business standpoint, it doesn't make sense to eliminate a member in the middle of a comeback preparation, wasting all of that effort, resources, and capital they've already spent. The team and SKZ members also would have to work to re-record, re-shoot, re-do their performances in a short amount of time. And especially the performance part, this doesn't only affect their upcoming album but ALL songs in their entire discography. They'd have to figure out who's going to cover Woojin's part and how they're going to re-do the coreo. Woojin's a main vocalist too, his range is quite high and I wonder who would do all of his parts.

JYP made the statement and cleared everything about Woojin from their site and upcoming SKZ album preview so fast, it does raise the suspicions that they want nothing to do with him as fast as possible to avoid further damage.

People are speculating on whether Woojin left because he wanted to, or JYP kicked him out. 'Personal circumstances' could be anything, really. It could range from serious crimes which could harm the whole company and group's image like drugs or assault, to stupid shit like violating the rookie dating ban. If it is indeed something bad, then it's clear that JYP wants to distance themselves from whatever happened as fast and as clean as possible, and everyone involved in this signed an NDA so that whatever it is won't leak out to protect the group and company.

JYP's statement is very similar in wording to the case of Day6's Junhyeok back in 2016 after his dating scandal. The difference is that, there was a scandal to relate to back then, and in Woojin's case there was nothing that indicates that he is in any kind of troubles preceding the announcement. Both termination was quick, and without a word from the terminated party. It's hard to tell at this point whether the person involved is silenced by the company or chose not to say anything.

Of course, with the ambiguity of the (translated) statement, it could mean both ways, it could mean anything.
1) Woojin left Stray Kids because of his personal reasons, there are no other options, we respect his choice. He terminated his exclusive contract. Please continue to cheer on both Woojin and Stray Kids.
In this case, personal reasons could mean illness (physical or mental), family matters, creative differences, irreparable relationship with the team due to personality differences, etc.
2) We had to let Woojin go because of his personal circumstances that we can not accept. We terminated his contract. He's on his own now, you can continue to cheer on him if you want, but please focus on Stray Kids.
In this case, circumstances around his personal life could be dating despite the dating ban for rookies, maybe he dated a fan?? Or idk, did drugs, money laundering?? Assault? Did he hit someone?? It could be anything, really.

If it's mental problems, JYPE would've facilitated Woojin to get better and give him options whether or not to participate in the next comeback or other activities like TWICE Mina.
If it's creative differences, JYPE would've stated so just like Somi when she terminated her contract.
Unless it's something really bad that resulted in immediate termination, JYPE could've put him in hiatus and then terminate his contract later like Sunmi or Jay Park.

Chan left a message on SKZ's fanship board and this too could be interpreted as anything. People said Chan not even mentioning Woojin's name as a 'red flag' but we don't know. He's trying to address STAYs because, at this point, no one is saying anything other than JYPE and the fandom is confused about what happened. I think not mentioning the name could just be part of the contract to not involve a person in any way anymore as soon as their contract is terminated. Legal reasons. Or out of respect because Woojin does not want to be involved or mentioned. It could be anything. One thing I know for sure is their bond will never be broken. They went through so much together.

People keep comparing the case with Hwall (as I did in my last post) but in Hwall's case, we're aware of his health problem from a year back. Hwall ended his activities with TBZ but did not terminate his contract with Cre.Ker. The circumstances around the two cases are too different to compare.

Honestly, the K-Pop world is full of secrets and most companies are hush-hush about whatever happened internally. Unless Woojin or an insider starts to talk, I don't think we'll ever know what happened. And I also don't know if Woojin is going to pursue celebrity life after this.

I saw Woojin trending high worldwide on twitter today and I had a gut feeling that this is something bad. If it's a celebration of something like a birthday, 1) it would trend at midnight in Korea, 2) It would be a birthday hashtag not just a name. If it's teasers or releases, it would trend at 6PM or midnight. If it's a viral fancam or whatever, it would happen in the afternoon or the evening. Nothing is announced in the morning unless it's bad news. Woojin withdraws from Stray Kids. My heart dropped.

( why )

Speaking of, last week we also heard the same news about Min withdrawing from We In The Zone. In the middle of a comeback preparation. Not to mention it's going to be their FIRST comeback, ever.

I've experienced witnessing group disbandment and member departures, but it never gets easier.

IDK what is it about the group that makes me want to support them. I don't usually follow girl groups but I've been intrigued with ITZY from the start. Probably because I've seen them on Stray Kids two (!!) years ago, they've starred on BTS videos, and they're killin' it. Ryujin has been a very famous trainee on the kpopsphere for a lot of reasons including appearance in BTS highlight reel and Mixnine.

I have to admit, when Dalla Dalla first came out I wasn't having it, but got hooked right after and the song did extremely well on the charts.

Gaon has released their half-year ranking and in download, digital and streaming chart, Dalla Dalla ranked 6th. No other idol groups other than N.Flying, which is a band, made it to the top 10 in any of these lists. Not even artists as big as BTS, at the peak of their popularity with a hit as huge as Boy with Luv. ITZY holds this kind of power. I don't know why the reaction of i-fans on platforms I visit are overwhelmingly negative, while in Korea they are very well-received. I guess I'm just used to it being the other way around.

They can hate all they want, it's never going to change the fact that ITZY is huge and very successful.

Last night, they released ICY MV which is their first comeback ever and I like it right away! I like it so much I watched it a couple of times. Granted, I couldn't tell how the song goes had anyone asked me this morning, lol. But I do remember that the song sounds like a fun jumbled sounds, I love the beat, the moves are slick, and the music video is filled with bright colors and fun outfits. I looove Ryujin's outfit (the colorful jacket) and she looks stunning in pink hair. Yuna is super pretty and her smile is mesmerizing. Lia's voice is awesome. I of course also love Yeji. Chaeryeong's moves are great! I love the music video, I love the concept, I love the girls, I love the song, I just love them despite not knowing that much about them. The music video has been doing good as expected. It's not even 24 hours after its release and it's already on 7M+ views when I see it earlier. Many other groups out there would do anything for this kind of success and popularity.

I get what people are saying about how reading an overwhelmingly negative comment hampers your joy when you're excited about a release. It feels like everyone else seems to hate the song. I went to r/kpop reddit post which has 3.7k upvotes and being granted a platinum, two golds and a silver award but upvote rate was 81%. People are downvoting hard. The comments felt like they're mostly (?) negative, with many dwelling on how the song sounds different and worse from the teaser, or how they can't get into ITZY, or Dalla Dalla, or Zimzalabim by Red Velvet, and people are upvoting those comments while downvoting the ones saying they genuinely like the song. I get it, some type of music you just can't get into like me with NCT's. But I don't go to NCT posts to elaborate on why NCT's music is not for me every time they release anything. Let NCT/ITZY fans enjoy the new release, just like how fans of any other group would.

I'm also curious because unlike their debut, this time they're also releasing a physical album and I need to know how much they will sell to prove my point. All these hate and bashing I'm seeing almost make me want to buy their physical album just because. Almost.

When I woke up this morning the news I saw repeating on my twitter timeline was that Big Hit is acquiring Source Music. My mind couldn't process this news after just waking up. What? Who? How? Why? It's too early for this. I didn't even know which artists are under Source Music and what kind of changes will this acquisition bring.

Later in the day, I continued reading about the news and just realized that Source Music is the home to GFRIEND, a fairly successful girl group from a small entertainment agency, just like BTS when they just started. People also said that Source Music CEO is a good person and has always been close to Bang Sihyuk. GFRIEND's reputation is also good. BTS and GFRIEND has worked together in the past for Smart uniform brand. Overall, positive reactions everywhere and probably nothing much will change except for GFRIEND's addition to weverse and weply platform.

I also have seen 3 trainees under Source Music on PDX101 and one of them was very enthusiastic about performing BTS' stage, Kim Hyunbin. He received positive reactions from the public albeit not making it into the top 20. Which is... good.

All in all, I was reading sources, news, finding out about Source Music to educate myself but I still couldn't tell how I feel about this acquisition. Am I happy? Do I like it? Does this look good to me? Do I want to support this? Do I care??? I don't know how to feel so maybe I'm just indifferent about the whole thing. Besides, nothing will change as each will maintain their own management.

Oh actually, one thing that bothers me more is the rumor about a third company. Big Hit is about to acquire another company which is said to being home to 'famous idol groups'. The acquisition is still in process but both sides are positive about it and this will be revealed by next year. I believe the words 'top boy group' and 'several groups' have been thrown around and this bothers me to no end. WHAT GROUP. WHO. WHICH AGENCY. Whyyy would you torture me like this. My mind went to current top boy group names, but I really couldn't tell. I personally don't think it would be any of the well-established, publicly listed agencies like SM, JYP, YG, Cube, FNC, Pledis or Starship, right? People are saying RBW because Bang Sihyuk has been close to its CEO. But that doesn't fit the top boy group theory. Yes Mamamoo is one of top tier groups and their releases always do well in the market but they're a girl group. And while RBW does have some boy groups OneUs, OneWe and Vromance, none of them could be called famous or top tier. Cre.Ker? I love The Boyz but they have a totally different concept and while they're on the rise, Cre.Ker doesn't have any other groups at the moment. WHO THEN. People are saying Pledis because of SEVENTEEN and NU'EST. Both are top groups. Both are boy groups. This fit the narration but they're public company. KQ? I feel like Ateez match the concept of Big Hit more, and some of the members are ex-Big Hit trainees so kinda make sense? But they also housed Block B after lawsuit against their original agency and Zico already left the group so ... IDK if Big Hit want this mess under their wing. Block B could be called top tier? And Ateez is rising FAST. Really, we'll never gonna know until they announce it and I'm wasting my time thinking about this.

I'm so obsessed with Hello BT21 it's ruining my life. I was just so obsessed with it I kept looking for something to consume so I went on twitter wanting to know what people are saying about the game. While on twitter, I found out that people are waay ahead of me on the game and that lit a fire on my butt. I was determined to advance in the game, that was all I do. I didn't mind spending a lot of money on it, too. By now I probably had spent more than $200. The thing that I didn't realize is, by doing so I reached the end of the game. They have no more levels after stage 120. That was it. There's nothing else to do now except for dragging characters to greet each other until they do release more levels. This is absurd!

In the middle of my boredom waiting for new stages to be released, I stumbled upon a tweet of a J-ARMY who mentioned that they're having a 'milk event' in BT21 game, the old BT21 game. The old BT21 game?? I remember vaguely that I did download Puzzle Star back then but I didn't remember why I didn't continue playing. I didn't even remember what the game was about. But I'm bored, it's another game with BT21, and I love BT21! Let's give it another try! I remember they just posted a celebration of one year of the game, which is ... crazy!

I downloaded the game and tried playing and I immediately understood why I gave up on this game. Even though it's essentially developed the same way as Hello BT21, it just felt... really busy. The main page is full of notifications on top, on the bottom and on both sides. You can't do anything without being bombarded with pop-ups. I never get what I was supposed to be doing in each stage, I don't understand the mission, I don't understand the skills of the characters, I don't understand how to use the characters and why I got front version and back version??? I really just don't get this game. I love BT21 but this is not as cute and I don't get as much joy or satisfaction playing it compared to Hello BT21. I just got confused. I tried gacha with the several gacha tickets that I got after signing up, but really, I don't care about this characters at all. I just want Hello BT21 characters.

Hmmm

So like I said, I haven't been following Produce at all. If any, I was one of the people that disliked the series. I don't want to let myself getting hooked on survival shows and especially, temporary groups. And then Wanna One blew up. No one can deny their impact on the industry. MNet, learning that they can get even more money from these groups, extends the length of the temporary group's contract each year. IZ*ONE got 2.5 years, and the upcoming PDX101 group will be bound by a 5 years contract.

There are a lot of factors to be considered, and one of them is public fatigue. It's the 4th season, and like any other shows, no matter how successful the predecessors are, the public tends to get tired of the same concept after a while. I think the 5 year contract length also took away the exclusivity factor that made Wanna One super successful in a very short period of time. The fact that many people in the fandom are still attached to Wanna One and its members is supposed to be considered as well. Will the new season be able to attract at least the same amount of loyal fanbase as Wanna One? Because the ones still clinging to their old fandoms aren't going anywhere.

This is the first season I ever got myself into. I got hooked very easily. I have to admit that the format is very addicting. I was disappointed however, by the song choices for the group evaluation. I kept hearing good things about group stages and was hoping for another 'legendary' performance which sadly never came. The song choices are questionable, the kids aren't interesting enough to carry any of the songs.

Even then, I still love the kids and I cheer for them from the bottom of my heart. I might not be part of the core fandom, but I do hope for their success and I'm watching the show with special interests.

The thing that throws me off is the atmosphere in the fandom right now. I go to reddit expecting interesting, mature discussion around the show. However, it seems like most of the people in Broduce fandom has collectively decided on how much of a failure this season is. I get that people are disappointed after expecting certain things to happen based on how glorious Season 2 was, but this continuous negativity is really not making the fandom a fun place to be in. They keep critiquing the top 10/11 saying things like how talent-less the kids are, even first place trainee is lacking training period, there are too much baby trainees, couldn't understand why Mingyu is popular, etc etc. I felt like there's almost no positive reactions towards the Top 10, 60-80% of which will definitely get to debut at this point. Yeah sure their face is not to your liking because taste in human beauty is relative, but there surely is some good qualities to them that you can support? Do you hate positivity that much, you see nothing but the bad in them?

I mean c'mon. I know Mingyu is far from perfect, his dancing is TERRIBLE. He can't dance. But if you watch the show, you can tell how much effort he made to keep up with others, the good mannerism that he has, his eagerness to be active in class, his articulation when he talks, his politeness, etc. This is what keeps him in the top, people resonates with him.

And accusing Hyeongjun of faking his breakdown? Man, he's just a kid, leave him alone. His hyungs, the literal people who spent countless hours with him actually adore him and they believe in his sincerity and innocence. How do these fans, the people who watch only glimpses of what they've been through on their TV screens, have the audacity to judge that the crying he did was 'fake' or 'unnatural'. Yes, he is weird, he is awkward, he talks with an accent, and is a little bit slow. His uniqueness is what draws people to him, and even his hyungs love him for that and voted him for the visual center interview.

Saying that Dohyun is a useless baby? He is funny and very talented! Which is why he got the A ranking during the initial evaluation. Again, he's a weird, awkward kid but let's give him a chance to grow. Why are we judging solely based on age? He may be one of the youngest contestants, but he's experienced two survival shows and he's one of the most promising trainees in there.

Too many Starship boys! And they are bad! Is it really their fault that they have a loyal following even before debut? If you're that annoyed, support your boy, then. Everyone works hard to be where they are for their effort to be dismissed.

Now that the line-up is smaller, I hope people can get to know the remaining trainees better and warm up to them. I don't know if I'm just being extra defensive because I love these trainees especially Mingyu and Hyeongjun, and I adore their cute friendship. Yes, I know they're lacking, but I'm supporting them to be better and get the chance to grow. Looking at these comments make me sad. I'm one of the rare people who has never seen PD101 Season 2 and the way people keep comparing the two just annoys me.

Anyway! Other trainees that intrigued me is; Baek Jin. He bleached his hair and man, he looks like a fairy now. His b-boying skill is amazing. One more kid whose face I like is Song Changha. He's out though, RIP. He's from Kiwi Media which is home to GWSN that I also like. We couldn't get to know Changha because the lack of screentime, but he's cute.

It's only on Episode 3 and it's already affecting me negatively.

Last Friday my plan to hit the gym fell through so I ate to break my fast in the office (the food was too salty) and then went home. I was just chatting with Christine and then I thought, hey, I could watch PDX101 live right now! Surprisingly, everything worked well, the streaming site worked, my internet connection was also much better than other days which is basically a miracle. So there I was, watching the third episode, live, for 2 friggin hours. Not caring about my sleep schedule even though it's currently Ramadan which means I have to be up for suhoor at 4AM.

Episode three is ... okay, but the songs they chose for the team battle are disappointing. The concept is, they pick top tier boy groups in the K-Pop world, and then they pick two songs; their debut song and their newer song (not even the latest smh). The songs are... challenging, which is probably the point of the battle, and debut songs are even more because let's face it, most of these were not successful debut songs. EXO's debut song was from 2012, and BTS' from 2013, 5+ years ago, with a concept they long have ditched, and they didn't even do well back then. It's incomparable to Wanna One's or NU'EST W's debut songs which are from recent years. Especially Energetic was a MASSIVE success, multiple music show wins and chart reigns.

Anyway, kids have to these songs, right. Man I'm already irritated while writing this hahaha. Of course there will be twists and drama about internal conflicts and different dynamics etc.

I think I just have to go back to my principle of not reading comments? I wasn't even really active but I did actively seek out discussion posts to fulfill my emotional addiction.

Things I'm disappointed about:
- When I realized that I have irrational hate/negative view of some of the trainees when they all are just trying their best. Especially when it's over something stupid like how they look or their age or other things that are out of their control. That is not wise. I should support them all! I should not have emotional attachment! I should not have cared this much!
- When I realized how one performance of a contestant could affect me so much. Listen, Mingyu is a good kid. Yes he's pretty, yes he's trying really hard, but one other fact about him is, that he can't dance. He just can't. There's no way he can improve his dancing in a very short period of time with an extra difficult song to practice on. He's a lost cause. I knew that, but somehow looking at how badly he's dancing from his fancam affected me a lot. I'm so disappointed it makes me sad and makes me no longer want to watch the show. Why? What is this emotional attachment? I suppose to be here just to have fun.

BTS is still my ult group, but one month after the last comeback, the hype dies down and I was getting a little bit bored, a little bit tired of the fandom. I thought I'd give PDX101 a watch, and apparently I had forgotten that I am easily obsessed and when I got obsessed, it's bad.

PDX101 has 2 episodes aired so far, and it was basically nothing. Just introduction episodes with initial grading and some clips of the kids practicing. Kim Min Kyu has intrigued me so much I was trying to find out more about him. This is how you fall into the rabbit hole. Once you do this, of course you're going to find more. A LOT MORE. There are X1-MA focus cam of 101 trainees, PR videos, audition videos, fancams of when they do public greeting and fashion show, discussion posts, hidden box mission, bonus clips on different platforms. This is endless amount of content. This is massive. I can't even tell their names yet. Honestly I can't wait until they cut like half of the trainees. I can't be bothered by learning all 101 names just to see them got cut?? However, I searched and based on how it went on season 2, it seems like the first round of elimination is not going to happen until episode 5. That's so far away.

So far, Mingyu and Yohan are constantly in the top 3 during both voting weeks. I must admit, the screen time and angel edit affected me a lot. I find it fascinating how Mingyu is portrayed as this elegant beauty, a diligent kid who likes to study. In reality, this kid is just stiff and boring. I watched his X1-MA focus cam, awful. He was so awkward I was laughing all the way. I watched his hidden box videos and he's basically very boring. He doesn't react to anything. When told to guess what's in the box and there was a LIVE OCTOPUS IN IT, he just grabs it and starts guessing like it was nothing. While Hyeongjun beside him shrieks and pulls his hand out repeatedly. Reaction makes good TV. When told to not drop the apple by holding it in the face with another trainee, he just... follows the instruction diligently. He's very pretty but that is not good TV. MEANWHILE, Yohan was going INSANE for that same challenge. He could not do this. He lets out high-pitched laughs and screams every time his partner gets close and needless to say, they fail miserably. And that was good TV, lol.

At first I wanted to support babies from UP10TION and VICTON but looking at the ranking, right now the visuals are winning, regardless of talent or skill or experience, which is kind of understandable. Honestly Seungwoo has EVERYTHING. He can sing, he can dance, he can rap, and he's super tall, too (184 cm). Now I get why he is the leader of Victon. However, being born in 94, he is in the range of older trainees, and he doesn't have a strong enough storyline to tell, I think? Other than he debuted with VICTON with moderate success. He seems like a diligent person who does everything well, we didn't get to know his personality because he got very little screen time. Now Wooseok. I don't know what is up with him, he probably just have a resting bitch face? Because he is very pretty with his sharp jaw and piercing cheekbone, but his expression never change. He's good but he didn't get that much spotlight, either. Jinhyuk didn't rank well despite his ability, fans just want pretty faces on the throne. Byungchan is also cute and tall and is doing well, but other than that, we haven't seen anything interesting from him. If these babies didn't make it til the end (Wooseok probably will), I hope at least their original group can get some recognition.

I'm so obsessed this is going to be the thing I look forward to the most every week. I'm so obsessed my google search and browser history is filled with PDX101 related things. Although this reminds me, at one point I was also obsessed with Stray Kids and Treasure Box, and now I have zero to very little care about them all. Granted, if they release any new music I still will give them a listen, and I love Stray Kids' last release. But I wouldn't go as far as attending their concerts. These other groups proved no matter how obsessed I am for them at one point, I still will go back to Bangtan, and Bangtan will always be my number one priority. I don't think I can do multi-fandom. I kept thinking if I should go to K-Pop concerts whenever groups I like are visiting, but with the 100 - 200 dollars worth of ticket I could direct the fund to my ongoing BTS-related wishlist. K-Pop fandom releases tons of things every year, this is why we can't afford to do multi-fandom.