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[heathered-beinn]

BangtanTV Youtube Vids 4

130217 SUGA (feat.RAP MONSTER) - YouTube Suga’s Log 17/02/13 (UK date)

So this is Suga’s first log! I love that fluffy black hat he’s wearing!! Obviously the heating is still not great in the studio since he’s also bundled up in a thick jacket ☹ I don’t have much else to muse about for this this video as it’s pretty short and not much happens or is talked about. It’s mostly Suga trying to make a log but laughing and complaining at Rapmonster constantly distracting him in the background. They obviously get on well both as colleagues and friends and it’s nice to see the two of them messing around having fun. So far they have tended to be the quieter, more serious, members of the band so I love seeing them act in a silly manner. I also look forward to hearing more from Suga in the future when RM isn’t distracting him!

흔한 연습생의 Harlem shake.avi - YouTube흔한 연습생의 Harlem shake.avi - YouTube

WTF did I just watch lol?????

The first time we see so many of them together on their official YT channel and it’s 20 seconds of chaotic WTF are you doing ridiculousness. Six of them – not sure who is who except RM and probably Jimin doing the headstand on the couch and maybe Jungkook in red – doing random things to the beat of Harlem Shake. Okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkay Moving on ROFL

 130206 RAP MONSTER FREESTYLE - YouTube Rap Monster Freestyling

No picture just RM rapping. Thanks to Megan R (credit Genius) in the Youtube comments for the translation.

Reading through the translation it seems RM is back on the path of feeling lost “a deserted island among my friends” - only it seems worse this time. He talks about being an adult now but all of his music peers have found success but he hasn’t yet. He doesn’t feel like there is a path for him, that he is stuck, and there’s no fuel to move him forward. His friends are suggesting he goes to college instead but RM doesn’t want to give up on his dream. My heart goes out to him. It really does. What he wants seems to be insurmountably far away to him (although it actually isn’t really – hindsight really) and I want to say I am so proud and very impressed that he got through that hard time to become the star he is today.

 방탄소년들의 졸업 - Making Film - YouTube Behind the scenes of J-Hope, Jimin and Jungkook’s Music Video

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww <3 <3 <3

This was so cute. A short compilation of clips of them messing around, dancing, laughing, and running about, having fun together behind the scenes of their little music video (This was in the last lot of BTV videos I watched). Can I just say wow at Jimin’s running cartwheel!! Lol, at least Jungkook tried. However, Jungkook’s basketball shot was also pretty impressive too!

The three of them seemed to get on well. There is definitely a tight little friendship developing between them – particularly between Jimin and Jungkook. I noticed in the scene where they are in the café and crowded around the laptop that Jungkook was comfortable getting so close to Jimin he was millimetres from resting his chin on his shoulder. It was cute and only of note because he seemed such a shy boy in other series and appeared a bit uncomfortable with being overly touchy-feely (like a typical teenager). It makes me wonder if his discomfort was more rooted in doing those softer kinds of things in front of the camera rather than doing them fullstop. This is another reason I am so keen to watch these videos – we are more likely to see who they really are and what they are like in real life when there is less editing and scripting involved. Even these more candid videos will never be true reflections either unless it’s a moment where they genuinely don’t realise they are getting filmed. I do wonder how Jimin and Jungkook’s friendship pans out over the years though. There wasn’t much in Carpool Karaoke to make a judgement but I remember it was Jimin, J-Hope, and Jungkook in the middle seats which suggests to me they remain fairly close.

My finale musing on this video is, yet again, another moment of marvelling how this little cutie grew into this beautiful man.

 130228 RAP MONSTER - YouTube Rap Monster 28/02/13 (UK date)

There is no translation for this video but I think, I think, he is just rapping along to a famous rap song? Either way, it’s cute lol and he seems to be enjoying himself.

Can I take a moment to point out that we have not seen one glimpse of V in these videos so far!! ☹

 130227 J HOPE & 정국 - YouTube J Hope and Jungkook 27/02/13 (UK date)

Cuties!! <3

As soon as I saw these two I was ridiculously excited. I feel like this, so far to me, is an odd pairing and I can’t wait to see what they are like together :D Thanks to Hopeful Mang in the Youtube comments for the translation.

Okay, now that I’ve seen the video and read a vague translation I can’t help but laugh on rewatching. There doesn’t seem to be anything of note in what they say, however their antics were hilarious and silly and I’m still not entirely sure I understand what they were on about lol. What I most noticed was just how confident and talkative and generally at ease Jungkook was with J-Hope, like just J-Hope’s presence was enough to push back Jungkook’s shyness. It was so lovely to see! It’s clear the two of them get on well and spend quite a bit of time together. There was definitely a big brother / little brother vibe going on and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn if J-Hope was one of the ones who looked out for Jungkook the most back then – and brought him out of his shell. I mean, J-Hope is just a ball of sunshine – who wouldn’t be buoyed up in his presence?!

130304 J HOPE & RAP MONSTER - YouTube J-Hope and RM

Another pairing I’m so excited to see together! Thanks to Hopeful Mang in the Youtube comments for the translation.

J-Hope starts off by commenting the colour scheme is black and white. RM says this is coincidental but emphasises that the band is one that works well together without having to say a word. J-Hope agrees they are an awesome team. So… this is the first time in these BTV vids that I’ve seen RM talking about the band being a team and talking to another member as a teammate, which is an interesting and positive change to behold. Only a month ago (4 videos up) RM was talking as though he had no path and was somewhat lost in what he was doing with his life. This ‘team talk’ is a significant change in direction. How deep RM is in this change remains to be seen but it’s good to see him interacting with the others in a band-like way. I’m wondering if there has been significant movement in forming the band behind the scenes since the start of February. There were barely any logs between this one and RM’s one where he was describing himself as a deserted island so it’s possible their time has been spent working on the band – which, if the case, brilliant!

Lol, RM asked J-Hope what he had done that day. J-Hope said he’d been relaxing and watching a movie and could not be more vague about said movie – he really gave it a stellar review lol. RM said he had been around Seoul looking for music inspiration but ended up resting instead and being distracted by pretty girls. J-Hope says this is pretty typical of RM, suggesting he knows him and his habits fairly well by now.

Then it gets super interesting as they say their schedule for the week ahead is packed because BTS debut day is approaching. I wonder if that’s what’s got RM suddenly talking about teamwork? Perhaps now that things are gearing up for a debut he’s feeling like he finally has a focus – a path. The question is, does he still, deep down. think about himself as a soloist or is he now becoming accustomed to the idea that his future lies in a band? Does he truly think the band will work out? It’ll certainly be very interesting to see how this plays out over the following weeks.

Final musings on this video: RM and J-Hope seem comfortable with each other but not super-comfortable with each other. There’s not the same silliness between them as there was between RM and Suga or J-Hope and Jungkook, which suggests to me that at this point they have a friendly colleague-type relationship but are not yet super-close.

 130304 SUGA - YouTube Suga’s Log 04/03/13 (UK date)

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuga!!!!!!!!!! <3 Thanks to Nana Na in the Youtube comments for the translation.

ROFL!!! Suga starts by saying that because RM isn’t there the log is going to be easy. Funny enough, both RM and J-Hope did a log on the same day in the same studio?! It’s probably much later in the day. Suga tells us that the song playing the background is “Fly” by Epic High, which he says guided him into the world of hip hop. He says this song made RM and himself choose to rap and further explains that in 2006, while in elementary school, it was this song that made him decide he wanted to rap. This small titbit gives us such a little insight into how Suga got into rapping and just how long he’s wanted to be a rap star for. The fact that he knew so early on what he wanted to be and is still working hard to make that dream come true shows just how dedicated he is and just how well he knows himself. He finishes his log by saying when he’s tired and exhausted, like he is today in the video, he listens to this song “Fly” and it inspires him to make good music.

 130309 SUGA - YouTube Suga’s Log 09/03/13 (UK date)

Takes place 4 – 5 days after his last log – same hat! Thanks to Hopeful Mang in the Youtube comments for the translation.

It’s Suga’s birthday!!! <3 He says he used to anticipate his birthday when he was younger but not anymore now that he is older.

Then J-Hope, Jimin and RM come into the studio singing happy birthday and carrying a cake. Suga says it’s too cliché but seems pretty pleased by the gesture. He blows out the candles, J-Hope punches his arm a few times, which Jimin then wants to do but can’t because he’s holding the cake. Suga tells J-Hope to quit with the punching. RM says to turn up the music and Suga ends the log.

It’s sweet to see them celebrating each other’s birthdays. I hope as the years go on we get to see them do this for every member! I wonder if they buy each other presents – with 7 in the band that could get complicated and expensive lol.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Suga, sweetheart <3 Sorry for being belated by 8 years!!!

 130306 정국 - YouTube Jungkook’s Log 06/03/13 (UK date)

This seems to be a few days out of sync with the video for Suga’s birthday but it’s no big issue. Thanks to nana na in the Youtube comments for the translation.

Jungkook is almost painfully cute at this age. He starts by saying he still feels shy shooting a log alone and is not sure what to talk about <3 He says the background music is what he has recently been learning choreography to and finds the dance moves funny and exciting. He also says he is really tired and sleepy but he still has things to do and will go to bed after finishing them because he promised. This concerns me a little. There’s nothing to indicate the time but it does look like it might be pretty late in the day. He’s still young, still at school (presumably a school night since 06/03/13 UK date was a Wednesday) and he’s also working on band things. The fact that he said he promised to go to bed to someone means that someone else – much closer to him than the fans - thinks he has been working too much and not getting enough rest ☹

 130308 J HOPE - YouTube J-Hope’s Log 08/03/13 (UK Date)

Thanks to Hopeful Many in the Youtube comments for the translation.

J-Hope says he walked in as Suga was going to record a log (he calls him by his real name Yoongi, and I forgot that even back then they were probably pretty new to their stage names and probably don’t call each other by their stage names behind the scenes). Suga is quietly sitting up the back. J-Hope says he wasn’t planning on playing any background music but he liked the MR so he let it play – it reminds him of cherry blossoms and first love. He says he thinks he should work on a song like that. However, he is extremely busy as reality is approaching. [I guess he means the band’s debut]. He admits he has been sleeping less and working hard and hopes the results will reflect how much work he is putting in right now. He finishes the log by saying they should all go to the cherry blossom festival, in which Suga agrees. I find it simply beautiful that BTS have grown up in a culture where their masculinity is not questioned because they want to see some pretty flowers.

Not much more for me to muse on other than I like J-Hope’s top <3

#bts #bangtantv #youtubeofficial #jin #suga #j-hope #rapmonster #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BangtanTV Youtube Vids 3

Dance practice by 정국 of 방탄소년단 - YouTube Dance practice by 정국 of 방탄소년단 (Jungkook of BTS)

This short dance routine was a nice little insight into the level of Jungkook’s dance skills a few months before the band debuts. I looked up the band’s debut date which is June 2013 and this was filmed in January. From what I can remember from previous vids Jungkook didn’t have much/if any dancing experience when he joined the company so this is quite an impressive start! I am not a dance expert in anyway but I’ll make a few observations using my common sense. This short routine shows he has already developed a good sense of flow, has a good memory for remembering steps, and nice posturing for the style of dance (i.e. it doesn’t look awkward or robotic). His rhythm was off a little in places, which was most noticeable throughout the second set of bell rings. I’m going to make another uneducated observation based on this off-rhythm: throughout this video he seems to be dancing more from memory rather than dancing to the music. Is this a one off or is it because he is still learning (and probably under pressure)? It will be so interesting to see how his skills grow from here on out.

방탄소년들의 졸업 - YouTube 방탄소년들의 졸업 (rough translation: Graduate of BTS)

Oh my goodness <3 <3 !!!! This is so cute!! The song is clearly about them graduating from their respective schools. Dressed up in their school uniforms, J-Hope, Jimin, and Jungkook sing a Korean-ised version of Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa - Young, Wild and Free ft. Bruno Mars on school grounds.

It is like, tooth-rottingly cute – all of them are so young and baby faced! Jungkook seems to be the lead singer already and did a little rapping too. He’s definitely a singer more than a rapper but it still sounded good. J-Hope’s voice is smooth and he oozes confidence. He also looks like he hasn’t aged a bit from then to now! Jimin is just a little cutie. I think he was mostly background vocals and visuals in this little music video which I’m sure was down to his lack of confidence in singing since it was so new to him. *sigh*… there was so much youth and innocence in their voices back then. Okay so their voices were a little unpolished and it wasn’t exactly a blockbuster of a music video but, you know what, it was pretty damn good and definitely an entertaining performance.

Observations: so taking into account that this would all have been edited and somewhat scripted, looking and reading between the lines the three of them seem to be genuinely close already. I know Korean culture is generally less conservative with touching between friends than western (yet more conservative in other ways) but the three seem pretty natural with each other. Either they gelled fast or they’ve been working together for some time already – even before Jimin became an official member of the pre-debut band. I really liked how, rather than pretend to be macho males who dominate the school and ogle the girls, the video is just them hanging together and essentially ‘playing’ like young teenage friends. I had to laugh at Jimin measuring his height against the growing Jungkook. Enjoy the inch while you can darling because it’s going to go fast lol!! Also, you really would think they were all the same age but if I’m right, there is four years difference between J-Hope and Jungkook!

 130208 지민 - YouTube 130208 지민 – Jimin 08/02/13 (UK date!)

Thanks to Grace Lee in the Youtube comments for the translation.

Jimin tells us he went to Jungkook’s graduation with Jin and Suga (hyung). They went because they heard Jungkook didn’t have many friends but it turns out he was surrounded by girls (lol!) and Jimin was a little jealous (jealous of JK having more friends than him, or that they were girls, or that JK has a lot of friends who aren’t Jimin/the band?). He then says that now JK is a year older he will probably become a bit more manly (again, is that a good thing or a bad thing Jimin? Are you afraid he will get taller than you? Or that he might not be so playful? Or are you looking forward to those things…? In all honesty I thought this was a bit of an odd thing to say but then it might be the culture difference). The team are getting a vacation (excellent, I bet it is really needed – although if memory serves, by the time American Hustle Life comes around it’s been a long time since they had seen their family so this might have been the last trip home that they talked about). Jimin says he feels bad that RM and Suga can’t go home early because they have to work on songs but he hopes they can go home soon and rest. (Two things come to me here; one, RM and Suga are already the lead writers at this point and they are under a kind of pressure that they can’t go home until they meet some kind of quota? Look, they are both adults at this point and it’s a difficult industry so this isn’t too surprising that there is a lot of pressure, but it shows how hard they had to work to get to where they are today. It did not get handed to them on a plate. Do I think this particular pressure was unnecessary; yes I do. Do I think it’s the worst thing in the world: no I do not. I can acknowledge that there are much worse things to be doing than writing songs in a studio for hours on end. I also think the that the pressure will probably nurse their passion for the job. However, that doesn’t mean they are not stressed, tired, and mentally drained, so I empathise with them and hope they get the break they deserve soon. The second thing is: a small note about Jimin’s concern and regret that RM and Suga aren’t going home like himself. That shows he has some empathy and that he cares about them. As this is incredibly early in the band’s career this is just an observation of the emerging bonds.

 130208 정국 - YouTube 130208 정국 (080213 Jungkook UK date)

Thanks to Hopeful Mang in the Youtube comments for the translation. Before I even get into the video I want to make the observation that JK is wearing a fur-lined coat in the studio – just how cold is it in there???!!!! He also looks tired/cold, poor lad.

Right, so, according the translation, he says he is finally filming his log and he watched Jimin do his and thought he didn’t speak well but now that it’s his turn he realises he doesn’t know what to say. (Well JK, you were quick to judge Jimin – and quite harshly – but now you realise it really isn’t that easy! I do wonder, now, if JK was in the room with Jimin when he was filming? If so, was Jimin maybe teasing him when he said he, Jin, and Suga thought he did not have many friends and that’s why they went to his graduation? Then maybe he made up for it by suggesting he was surrounded by girls, which he may not have been? Who knows, but that’s another possibility lol!)

JK then tells us that today was his graduation and that he had been looking forward to it but now that it’s happened he’s actually not that happy. (I wondered why? I was curious about him graduating anything at 15 so I googled and figured out that since he’s fifteen he’s just graduated middle school! So now I’m wondering if he’s nervous about going to High School? Or if he’s sad about the pressure to leave a certain part of his childhood behind? Or maybe he’s sad he might not see some his classmates again?) He says it is 11:39 and they’ve just finished dance practice (I am hoping that he is talking about 11 in the morning…) Like Jimin, JK says it’s almost New Year and he can’t wait to go home. He finishes the log by saying he misses his mum and dad and that everyone will be waiting for him at home and he wants to go. (It must be hard for JK to be so far away from home at such a young age. I know that many children are, for various reasons, but I hate the ‘oh don’t worry about it there are other people worse off’ mentality. That kind of thinking helps nobody and only deteriorates a person’s mental health because it doesn’t stop them feeling bad but increases their overall stress because they feel guilty for feeling bad. Anyway, back to JK, I wonder how he copes without his family? Who provides his pastoral care? Are there staff there – like the house staff you’d get in a boarding school who are a bit like a stand-in parent? Or do the other band members, like Jin and Suga, look after the younger ones? What does JK have to do for himself? Does he cook his own meals? Clean his own washing? Organise his dental/hair appointments? What about when he’s unwell? Who looks after him? Does the company provide any of that? I know the band live in dorms so there has to be some sort of living arrangements. Hopefully this will all get answered in time.)

 130212 RAP MONSTER - YouTube 130212 RAP MONSTER – (RM’s Log)

Thanks to Grace Lee in the Youtube comments for the translation.

So RM starts by saying that New Year’s is over and that’s he had a [legal] drink with some long-time friends [ones he’s known for 13-15 years]. (I’m glad he at least got to celebrate New Year – the video doesn’t spell out if he actually got to go home but I really hope he did). He says that he’s realised that real friends are the ones who stick with you through the bad times as well as the good (I’m sad it’s taken this long for you to realise darling but I’m glad you know now). He thinks the band is going to debut soon (it’s about four months off from what I read) and after the break he’s recharged and more determined. Starting tomorrow it’s going to be a storm and he’s going to practice more (which I assume means he’s going to launch into song writing with more vigour and determination and try even harder with the dancing – which great for him!! <3 The break evidently did him the power of good. I hope he manages to keep it going x)

 130212 정국 & 지민 - YouTube 130212 정국 & 지민 – 12/03/13 Jungkook & Jimin UK Date

OMG WHAT CUTIES!!! <3 <3 THEY ARE SO ADORABLE Thanks to Grace Lee in the Youtube comments for the translation.

Jimin starts talking first. (He sounds a bit croaky ☹). He says New Years is over. (That was really quick!!! They last filmed on the 8th and it’s now the 12th – not much of a vacation for them! ☹) Anyway, Jimin tells us that as the two of went to Busan they got to film their log together (presumably because they arrived back at the same time? The two of them seem a little awkward – not with each other – but as though they don’t quite know what to say lol. So I don’t think they exactly practised their log beforehand, which maybe they should have *insert crying with laughter emoji*) Jimin then says that as he predicted he put on a lot of weight. (I am… so sad. It’s been less than 4 days Jimin, even if you were on a drip that mainlined calories into your body 24/7 you would not put on that much noticeable weight in 3 days!!! This fixation on weight from all of them is breaking my heart.) Jimin then also says he caught a cold and his throat is sore (which explains why he sounds all choked-up, poor lad ☹. Then it is JK’s turn to speak and, bless him, the silence is awkward – he’s really going to have to work on feeling comfortable in front of the camera.) JK eventually says that he had a good New Years and that he knows it will be a long time before he gets to go back to Busan again (Jimin nods along with a little sad pout and I want cry for them). JK then says he will work harder because of this (I’m kinda reading between the lines here and taking it that he means he will try to block out how much he misses home by focusing extra hard on their work. Whatever helps, sweetie.)

Jimin echoes this by saying that now they’ve caught up on some rest he’s ready to work harder (I want to go all motherly on his butt by saying; darling you are clearly under the weather and you need more rest, not to work harder right now. Get into your bed and let me make you some tea.) He reiterates this to JK by saying ‘we’re going to work hard? Correct?’. They look at each other and giggle a little shyly as JK agrees they will work hard (absolutely adorable, I’m loving this little friendship already). Jimin then draws the log to an end by saying RM needs the studio and that his throat is in a bad condition. He asks JK if he has anything more to say to which (LOL) JK says no and repeats he will work harder. Jimin awkwardly ends the log.

Extra musings; I find it absolutely adorable how awkward they were and it very much came across that it wasn’t that they were awkward with each other - in fact, they appeared to look to each other for reassurance - but that they just didn’t know what to say. I don’t think they aren’t comfortable talking ad hoc in front of a camera. It is really sweet that they clearly tried to help each other through the filming. JK is definitely the most shy out of the two and became a cute little ‘nodding dog’ whenever Jimin spoke as though his friend was saying everything perfectly for him (for anyone reading this who doesn’t understand; the term ‘nodding dog’ is a reference to a cute little toy that sits on a vehicle’s dashboard and nods it’s head to the vibrations. Overtime the term has morphed into a reference to people who sit and nod as someone else speaks – usually during speeches/meetings/lectures. Over-all it is an amusing analogy rather than a mean one and I definitely mean it in a gently teasing way!)

Anyway, these two seem to have a cute little friendship going on, which is nice to behold as we didn’t get to see much about their friendship until American Hustle and that godawful day working at the airport – which I have tried valiantly to scrub from my memory. I really hope to see more of them working together in the future – and maybe they will continue doing logs together <3

130214 J HOPE - YouTube 130214 J HOPE’s log

J-Hope!!!! Sweetheart <3 <3 I love your shirt – you look all sparkly! Thanks to Grace Lee in the Youtube comments for the translation.

J-Hope starts by saying he’s finally filming his first log (and I may or may not have melted into a puddle of goo when he smiled and clapped his hands together – such a beautiful boy, like sunshine personified). His graduation video has just been released (which I assume from my Google research on age and Korean education means he has now graduated high school, well done sweetie and congratulations!!!!). His graduation makes him feel both nervous and excited as it feels like ‘something is starting’. (I wonder if the company were holding back a little on debuting the band until the majority of them had finished high school – which would be sensible considering the band’s workload!). J-Hope says he hopes it’s not too cringeworthy but he wants to talk about his goals (nothing cringeworthy about that and I definitely want to hear about them!). His first goal is to get better at rapping before the band debuts, with the help of RM and Suga (I love how the band members are helping each other and I also admire J-Hope’s desire to improve his skills for the sake of the band). His second goal is to dance more like a pro (after what I saw in American Hustle Life then you have natural talent J-Hope and are already dancing like a pro, I don’t know how you can improve really. You’re definitely the most talented dancer in the group when it comes to hip-hop). He then tells us that it is Valentines Day and that he hopes we are enjoying it, relieving a lot a stress (?) and are eating a lot of chocolate (<3 you too J-Hope, even though I do not celebrate that day in the slightest lol). He finishes the log by wishing us a happy Valentine’s day again.

Further musings: a really cute log and a great start. J-Hope talks naturally in front of the camera and his smile is just beautiful and makes you automatically smile along. Maybe JK and Jimin should take some notes on J-Hope’s confidence and delivery lol.

 130214 지민&정국 - YouTube 130214 지민&정국 – Jimin and Jungkook

Ah the cuties are back!!! And they’re recording their log together again <3 Note: this is 2 days after the last one and the same day J-Hope recorded his first log. Thanks to Grace Lee in the Youtube comments for the translation.

(I may have sniggered at their choice of music playing in the background because I really don’t think they understood the lyrics…) ANYWAY, so, according to the translation, Jimin starts by saying it’s Valentine’s Day but also Graduation Day at his school. (I’m a little lost as to whether he is actually graduating anything specific or even where he might be graduating from). JK chimes in that he graduated today too (which I thought he did the other day? Confused.com). Jimin then says it was a day off school so he didn’t receive any chocolates (I’m guessing Valentine’s Day is quite a celebrated occasion in Korea). JK chimes in that he still received two chocolates (I like how males get gifts too and not just females for Valentine’s Day). Jimin says he got one chocolate. LOL at JK saying he won! Jimin then explains they get chocolates from the girl trainees in the company and that he doesn’t mind just getting one because they are on a diet (cue my angry face because I think I’ve already established I don’t think it’s a healthy diet). Jimin says he looks to Jin to lose weight in which JK chimes in that Jin is good at taking care of his body. (Funny enough, in one of the last Jin logs he said staff had commented on his growing weight, which was a load of bullshit, but Jin was determined to eat more healthily. So which is it? Jin is overweight enough that he needs to diet according to staff (gross and no) or does he have an enviable figure that JK and Jimin want to emulate? I mean what am I even talking about because neither Jimin or JK are overweight anyway and probably have six packs from all the dancing…) Then Jimin says… (and I genuinely want to cry that he says this, I don’t even want to type it) Jimin says ‘in order to not be called cute because of my fat, I will lose weight in anticipation of becoming handsome.’ (I don’t know where to even start with this horrible utterance. Firstly, there is nothing wrong with being called ‘cute’. Cuteness does not just cover looks it also encompasses personality whereas the term ‘handsome’ really doesn’t, at least from where I come from; you can be handsome to the eyes but an absolute dick in personality. Also, being thin does not mean you are handsome either – I have seen some men who are incredibly slender but not physically fit, all ribs and angular bones, and I wouldn’t class them as ‘handsome’. Anyway beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder. Everyone finds different qualities attractive. Also, not to give the game away, I saw what Jimin blossoms into when they appeared on the Late Late Show and he has nothing to worry about. I honestly don’t think it was ‘losing weight’ that truly transformed him either, not in the end. However, I can empathise with the lad, Jimin has a very youthful face that is prone to adorable full cheeks, even when the rest of him is pure lean muscle. I get that he’s at an age too where he wants to be seen and treated like an adult but, Jimin, that comes at a price too – don’t be so quick to try and shake off your youth, it’s precious.) Then JK devastates me by saying he wants to do the same. (Look, there is nothing wrong with wanting to look good – or at least feel like you look good. However ‘losing weight’ – which is ALL they mention so far - is barely part of the answer. So much depends on things like having a ‘healthy diet’ – lots of vegetables etc - being happy gosh that is so vital, getting enough sleep, getting enough exercise, wearing the right clothes, how your hair is cut and how it shapes your face, same with the eyebrows, your personal grooming, getting the right amount of sun, and how you hold yourself – posture. There are so many aspects that can factor in to attractiveness. Also, do you want to attract people who only value you on your looks? Even as an Idol? Surely talent is more important?

Further musings: JK and Jimin seemed at ease together again – JK very much relying on Jimin to lead the log and simply nodding along to whatever he says. I noticed he also clutched his throat quite a bit, something I’ve not noticed before, and I wonder if he caught Jimin’s cold?

Can’t wait to watch more!

#bts #bangtantv #youtubeofficial #jin #suga #j-hope #rapmonster #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BangtanTV Youtube Vids 2

130112 진 - YouTube

Jin’s Log

Thanks to Hopeful Mang in the Youtube comments for the translation

From the translation, Jin seems to have had a restful day by going to a public bathhouse where he relaxed and scrubbed, got some more sleep and ate elvan baked eggs (a Korean delicacy according to google where eggs are baked in a sauna for ~3 hours). He seemingly then goes on to talk about how his manager has commented multiple times that he has put on weight. Now, I’m not familiar with the specifics of Korean culture but celebrity culture is much the same in global terms – whether that celebrity be pre-stardom, mid stardom, or closing-stardom. Quite frankly, regardless of culture, telling someone who is clearly in good health (neither overweight nor underweight) that they are putting on weight in a negative way is an awful thing. And if you are one of the few people out there who thinks, in this video, that Jin looks overweight in any way then, not only are you wrong, but you are a danger to yourself and those around you. To me, it’s already alarmingly and despairingly clear there is an unhealthy pressure on this band, right from the damn start, to look ‘thin’ rather than healthy. This is such a prehistoric and dangerous mentality to have when your biggest demographics are teenagers and young adults.

Jin, however, does go on to say that he thinks his body has become weaker in terms of health. This is something a million times more important than whether he has gone up or down a clothing size or whether you can see enough of x-bone sticking out of his skin or if the gap between y-limb and z-limb is wide enough. Why Jin’s health is weakening is uncertain – he puts it down to sleeping by the window. I’m sceptical; to me it’s a bit too close to that silly saying “wrap up warm or you’ll catch a cold”. What’s more likely is that Jin’s living and working conditions are not conducive to good health; this could be overworking, stress, not enough sleep, poor quality of sleep (perhaps noise from window, noise from room, temperature of room (due to RM opening the window), light pollution etc), poor diet, an underlying health issue such as a post-viral syndrome – there are many factors but now that I know there is weight pressure I can’t help but think his weakened health is to do with the way he’s living and that falls under the company’s management.

 130113 RAP MONSTER - YouTube

Rap Monster’s Log 13/01/13

Thanks to Grace Lee in the Youtube comments for the translation

This is a continuation of RM talking about his struggles with finding his rap style. He had some friends listen to his recent work and they told him he is getting quite polished in a pop sense but his rap is no longer raw and rough as it was before. It comes across to me as though the more he tries to improve/polish his rap talent, the more he seems to be losing that “thing” that made him a raw talent in the first place. He seems to be struggling with what direction he wants to go in. Does he continue to become more well-rounded as a professional, at the possible cost of his rap talent, or does he focus on trying to find his “cool” rap image and hope it nurtures his raw talent once again? I can imagine how lost and confused (and perhaps slightly panicked because of company pressure) he felt at that moment. He started off with having a strong idea of his image – what he wanted to become – but over a year and half he has lost sight of that image and is now struggling to figure which way is the right way to go. The fact that he says he wants to become “cooler”, is indicative, to me, of him being not quite being mature enough yet to be the rapstar he wants to be – it’ll come, he just has to be patient.

 130115 진 - YouTube

Jin’s log 15/01/13

Thanks to Hopeful Mang in the Youtube comments for the translation.

So Jin starts by talking about weight issues again; mentioning he thinks his face has been bloated recently. This makes me so sad because if weight was such a big deal at the start of the band when they had very few fans then what on earth is the pressure like now that they are global stars??!! I don’t think I want to know the answer :S

In this vlog Jin goes on to talk about eating bean soup in attempt to be healthy that day but it wasn’t very tasty and he thinks he should have made it himself. He says he often day-dreams about cooking together with his future wife which is a cute thing to say. Judging by the way these videos are worded, I get the sense that most things said in these vlogs is on the fly and not scripted – although they may decide pre-filming what subjects they might talk about. My point is that I’m inclined to believe that there is more honesty and truth in these videos than in, say, a TV documentary like American Hustle (which is also heavily edited). I’m mindful that public images can be completely different from the truth – particularly when it comes to sexual orientation. So, with all that in mind, I do think this is the first genuine indication that Jin sees himself in a heterosexual relationship in the future. Whether this still holds true a few years down the line, well, that remains to be seen. Whoever he ends up marrying though, I wish him every happiness!

 130118 RAP MONSTER - YouTube

Rap Monster’s Log 19/01/13

Thanks to Hopeful Mang in the Youtube comments for the translation.

Most of this log seems to be RM talking about how tired he is – mainly because he stayed up all night. Why? Well according to the translation he says he was living up to his name. I’m not entirely sure I believe that – I’m thinking ‘over-worked’.

He mentions that they had been dancing that week and he found it fun. Lol this doesn’t quite marry up to his attitude to dance when we seen him in the televised series. Perhaps at this early point he was still enthusiastic about it – maybe the dance routines weren’t so hard/complicated/tiring back then? Or maybe he’s just putting on a brave face for the camera!

I’m going to quote the translation here:

“And I am really thankful for those who comment in our blogs.

I read it a lot during the day. And I feel like those people are truly watching over me - no not me, us.

They give us strength and I am thankful for that.

So I will start off the day being grateful.”

If this is accurate (and I appreciate that it’s hard to be accurate translating from any language to another) then the first line shows that RM is in the transition of moving from a solo image to a band image. Perhaps a Freudian slip there RM? The way he corrects himself from ‘me’ to ‘us’ suggests to me that at this point he was still subconsciously considering a future as a solo act – maybe not having quite reconciled himself with the idea of being in a band. However he is consciously aware of the band which is why he corrects himself in the first place. I’m also guessing at this point BTS (and it’s line-up) were not a sure thing? If anyone reads this and knows better please correct my following assumption if it’s wrong; at this point they were not a definite group as they had not debuted?

I get the feeling that at this point RM was really struggling to figure out who he wanted to be as an artist and reconcile with the idea he might not end up being a soloist. His hairstyle, shades, and general attitude strongly suggest he is trying to be someone he isn’t and maybe that’s why he had been struggling with his rap? The image he purports necessary to being a rapper could be actually hindering his natural abilities because he’s losing that connection to himself.

I’m not worried at this point because it’s clear he finds his path eventually!

 학교의눈물 by 방탄소년단 - YouTube

A rap music video starring Rap Monster, Jin and Suga! Lyrics by Rap Monster and Suga. My musings: a more polished video than the last one. RM’s voice has a certain depth and a nuance which was lacking in the last one. His voice sounds unique and believable and less like a talented teenager imitating his idols. Suga’s rap voice, too, sounded quite natural and actually not much different from his current self. I think he found his voice and style quite early on, which I’m sure gave the band some stability to build from. Jin, as well, was great adding in some vocals to offset the rap. It’s really interesting to see the three of them working together so well so early on.

I don’t understand the lyrics but there’s a consensus in the YouTube comments that RM, Jin, and Suga might be a bit embarrassed to re-watch themselves in this video? Whatever the lyrics are I don’t think the three of them should be embarrassed by this production at all. Everyone has to start somewhere and, for me, this is definitely a step up from the previous video and clearly shows they are improving even in a short space of time! This is a great thing for anyone to watch and it’s also an important life lesson in that even the most successful people in the world have to work on their talent. Only about 1 in a billion people are born with the natural ability to be perfect at something without ever having to practice!

 130122 진 - YouTube

Jin’s Log 22/01/2013 – out of upload order by one place – either mistyped or uploaded late (26/01/2013)

Thanks to Daniel Lunde in the Youtube comments for a rough translation.

A short log where Jin (seemingly – as the translation is rough) is really happy as he has been contacted by a friend he has not seen for 10 years. This friend was someone he used to hang out with almost everyday and was someone he shared a lot in common with. The friend said he missed Jin and Jin admitted he missed his friend too.

As it’s been 10 years I’m thinking that they must have parted ways in primary school/junior high/elementary (whichever is your school system for pre-teens). It’s nice that the friend got in touch at this point – long before BTS became famous – and I bet Jin got a sorely needed emotional boost from it.  

 130123 RAP MONSTER - YouTube Rap Monster’s Log 23/01/2013 – out of upload order – either mistyped or uploaded late (26/01/2013) 

Thanks to idkwhattoname in the Youtube comments for the translation.

A short log with not much to note. It’s 3:30 in the morning there yet RM says he has finished early???!! This isn’t the first ‘early hours’ log and I’m growing concerned with the amount of sleep they are all getting vs amount of work. It isn’t healthy! Don’t get me wrong at that age I was up to the that time in the morning but I always offset it by sleeping later into the morning so I got at least 7 hours of sleep. I don’t think the lads are doing that though.

RM also talks about feeling more positive in general (which is great!). He talks about it being cold (considering it’s January I am not surprised) and wanting to work out so that he can feel confident wearing shorts in the summer. My eyes are really opening to their insecurities in their appearance – and sometimes it’s from the small comments like the above.

 130124 진 - YouTube

Jin’s Log 24/01/2013

Thanks to Katrin in the Youtube comments for the translation.

Between Katrin’s translation and the auto-translate on the Youtube video, Jin starts by saying it’s winter and very cold which is why he is wearing a lot of clothes. The fact he is wearing his coat in the studio suggests to me that there isn’t a reliable heating system in the building, which again, to me, indicates that the business does not have a lot of money to spare. Jin also says he has bad circulation which means his feet and hands are always cold. He’s tried to improve it by eating more vegetables? I’m not entirely sure of the correlation but eating more veggies is good for you so keep it up Jin! This part felt like a continuation of the health issues he mentioned in the last log, which shows it isn’t improving. He also mentions that his family worry about his health as they are not there to look after him. For me, this is the first indication ‘in the logs’ that Jin is living away from his family – which I already knew from watching Rookie King and American Hustle Life. I can imagine it’s been hard for him to learn to look after himself, especially in such a unique environment and without his family around to add a little bit of reassurance. You make it kid, hang in there!

After talking about his health he mentions Jimin. I’m a little confused by the translations but it seems as though he is revealing Jimin is either an official member of the band now or at least a serious contender for a place? Either way he says Jimin’s content is good and that we should look forward to it. We got a snippet of Jimin dancing in the last set of videos and his skill was pretty impressive!

 130125 지민 - YouTube

Jimin’s Log 25/01/2013

OMG it’s JIMIN <3 He looks SO young here. What a little cutie pie he is *_*

Thanks to Grace Lee in the Youtube comments for the translation. So this is Jimin’s first log and he has been contemplating for a while what to say. He admits he laughed from the sidelines at Jin and RM when they did their logs, which means he has been hanging in the background and we didn’t know! I don’t know why that pleases me so much – I guess I like the idea that all of them were hovering around in the background early on, making friendships and setting up bonds.

He tells us that he was revealed on Twitter the day before (presumably as a band member?). It’s interesting to me that this was done quite a while after it became obvious Jin, RM, and Suga were a unit. I didn’t really know much about how BTS were put together and I didn’t realise that their joining dates were so staggered. Anyway, this was a cute introduction – I hope we get to see him interact with RM, Suga, and Jin soon.

#bts #bangtantv #youtubeofficial #jin #suga #j-hope #rapmonster #v #jimin #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BangtanTV Youtube Vids 1

So, I have started to watch the official bangtantv youtube page, which supposedly includes a lot of short reality videos, behind the scenes, interviews, etc. I’m going to watch from the first video (Dec 2013) up to the end of 2014 before continuing with the filmography.

I’m hoping that as the videos posted here are pretty raw in terms of editing that we’ll get better (more true) insight into who each member of the band is, their journey, and the true nature of the friendships in the band.

I’m going to do this in 7 video blocks unless I feel that a particular video needs it’s own post.  

닥투 - RAP MONSTER of 방탄소년단

닥투 - RAP MONSTER of 방탄소년단 - YouTube

Possibly one of the earliest videos of BTS! It was posted on 17th Dec 2012, which was up to 8 months before Rookie King was filmed. The short video features Rap Monster rapping to Kanye West’s “Power” and encouraging his fellow countrymen to vote(?). After watching Rookie King, BTS China Job, American Hustle Life, and GO!BTS this is the first time I’ve seen a clear, solo rap (and music video) from Rap Monster.

(As someone who has little knowledge of rap, my opinion is solely based on what it sounds like at face value. The reason I don’t listen to rap much is because I struggle to make out the lyrics in most songs - something about my brain processing vocals amid multiple sounds. Thus my enjoyment of music is heavily based on the overall sound. Rap tends to have deep, powerful, fast lyrics but loud basic beats which my brain just can’t handle - hence why Rap is one of my least favourite styles to listen to.)

That being said, from what I can hear in this music video, Rap Monster has the articulation and speed for rapid rapping. He also has good timing. The only criticism I would make of his performance, and I really think it’s more to do with his young vocal chords at this point (because he must be barely 18 there), is that his voice was a little non-descript at times or, rather, didn’t inflect much depth or tonal colouring? It may just be the nature of the song though! However; that aside, it is clear he has raw talent.

Let’s Introduce Bangtan Room

Let's Introduce BANGTAN ROOM by 방탄소년단 - YouTube

Very short video. Just as the title suggests; RM (Rapmonster) introduces us to the Bangtan Music studio he works out of using rap. There are pictures and figurines around the small room that show his/their influences such as Snoop Dog, Michael Jackson and Kanye amongst over things. Jin’s sitting in the room too, trying to seem cool and unbothered <3

The have access to a drum machine, keyboard, mic, recording system and a decent computer. It may be small but it’s pretty decent and very much a cool set up – nothing too amateur looking despite Big Hit being a fairly unknown company back then!

 Google translate: Christmas of Common Trainees (????!???)

흔한 연습생의 크리스마스 Video Edit by 방탄소년단 - YouTube

I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure of the point of this short video lol, something to show it’s Christmas time? It’s basically a series of video clips showing different people like Bang Si-hyuk (?), RM and Jin walking through the city, plus random pictures of hamsters/gerbils, Macauley Calkin, a wolf, a comic – just, what? Most of the lyrics are in Korean so I am probably missing the a very important piece of info that links it all together. RM is rapping over the video with clips of him in the studio. Again, he shows great articulation and speed. His voice is smoother this time and he sounds good. Then half-way through the video Jin starts singing “Last Christmas”. Not going to lie, Jin’s voice is lovely and smooth, and his English pronunciation is damn good! It’s so good to hear his voice properly. I likey!!! :D

130107 RAP MONSTER

130107 RAP MONSTER - YouTube

   Entirely Korean, no subtitles. Massive thank you to the Youtube user Grace Lee who has written a translation for everyone – it’s at the top of the video’s comment section.

So what I’m taking from this video is that RM had a conversation with Bang PDNim and Bang PDNim basically said that while RM was good he would never be as good as the major and underground rappers. RM feels as though over recent times he’s lost sight on what he originally wanted to be – what he wanted to get out of being part of Big Hit Entertainment. It’s the start of a new year and he wants to push himself to be the best he can be and prove himself to others.

This is a really interesting start to his career. We all know what happens in the future and, while it absolutely sucks that anyone should say RM isn’t good enough for anything, in my opinion Bang PDNim made a good call here. BTS would not be BTS without RM and, while I have grown really fond of RM, I do think at that age (18?) he didn’t have a robust enough personality or a big enough USP for being a solo rapper. Not at that point. On the other hand, at that point in his career I do think he was more than talented enough to be a lead rapper in a band and even the lead personality (which is what kind of happened). That is not to say that when he’s older with more experience - in both life and in music - that he couldn’t become a soloist if he wanted – which is true of today. I think, right now in 2021, he could have an okay solo career if he wanted but I would be surprised if that was still his goal after so long.

 130108 RAP MONSTER - YouTube

130108 RAP MONSTER

This was posted a day later than the previous video. Again, it’s 99% in Korean with no subtitles. Soreejillah in the Youtube comments did a rough translation. Effectively it’s 2am there, he’s tired, hungry (but not eating because he’s put on weight) and the company want him to stay until he produces something?

I believe he also makes a comment about how some viewers say he appears awkward on video and that he wants to keep doing the videos to improve on this. I didn’t see him being awkward in videos as such, just more of a typical teen with raw talent?

Not much else to say on this.

 SUGA 의 Maschine mk2 review - YouTube

Suga – machine MK2 review

Yay Suga!! This is the first introduction to Suga on the Official Youtube page. As the title suggests, he is going to talk about the sampling machine. Firstly, it’s obvious right from the start that he’s got a cold. His voice is choked and he keeps coughing, poor guy. Like the previous videos there is little in the way of subtitles (you can try the autogenerated but I had to turn it off after it said “chicken mothers” lol.

All I can take away from this video is that Suga has some skill with that machine and the music he makes sounds pretty cool in the end!  

Dance practice by 지민 of 방탄소년단 - YouTube

Dance practice by Jimin of BTS

JIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIN!!!! <3 Firstly, can I say, if it wasn’t for the title I would not have recognised Jimin here. You can barely see the dancer’s face and the person looks taller and less muscular than Jimin did in Rookie King and American Hustle Life. Secondly, and more importantly, WHAT A DANCER!!!! Where was this during AML Jimin????!!!! Hot damn boi!! That move where he leans back almost 90 degrees… wow. Jimin has musicality; his timing is great, his speed is great, his moves are clean, precise and clever – to the point you can barely keep up with what he’s doing with each body part. Not much else to say about this video other than it’s great to see his early dancing abilities. Definitely check this out.

#bts #bangtanTV #youtubeofficial #jin #Hobi #Sugar #RM #Jimin #V #Jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

GO! BTS musings

So, timelime; it seems BTS American Hustle Life was filmed in early summer of 2014 and aired from late July to September. GO! BTS, according to the blurb, is based off BTS attending KCON in LA, which took place 9-10th of August 2014. Therefore, there is probably only two months or so between the filming of BTS American Hustle Life and GO! BTS. I’m sure Jungkook will have still managed to grow another inch in the interim lol!

Let’s get started.

So after a short introduction we see them arriving at the airport and crikey it’s mobbed. After seeing the reality of other bands getting “mobbed” at airports and how dangerous and scary it can be, I really hate to see BTS forcing their way through that throng like that. Granted it was 2014 and things have hopefully changed by now but… still.

There is fan service, there is publicity, and then there is just plain stupidity which only puts the safety of everyone involved at risk. I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on the responsibilities of managers/publicists/labels/networks when it comes to guiding fan behaviour by setting boundaries to curb the mania (and/or sense of entitlement in some cases). However, I want to enjoy this episode so I won’t say much more on the subject. I do hope that they drop this unnecessary parade in the future though. Also, while I’m aware that by 2014 BTS were big enough to have some international fans, I’m guessing the high press level and fan attendance is more down to the sheer number of KPOP stars arriving? I would expect there were a lot of stars and groups attending KCON who were as big if not even bigger than BTS at that point?

OMG lol, Suga looks tiny here, even compared to Jimin on his left!! And yup, Jungkook looks like he’s grown another inch. Lol at them trying to decide where they want to go now that they are back in America. RM and Jimin want to go to the beach as they didn’t get to go last time while the others either want to go to Disneyland or shopping. Beach it is.

They are so excitable, it’s adorable. It’s only been a few days since I finished American Hustle Life but I feel like I’ve been missing them and their positive energy for weeks. So Jimin grew up in Busan which is famous for its beaches but he only went to a beach there twice. I actually get it; I’ve only visited a handful of the ‘attractions’ in my hometown too. I don’t know the psychology behind it but there is a tendency for a lot of people to not go to the (tourist) attractions in their own town, especially if it’s not within walking distance. It sounds like Jimin might be quite far from the beach anyway if his house is surrounded by mountains lol.

Let’s see which team they all get put in. Aww look at them being all embarrassed about the ‘old’ pictures being used *crying with laughter emoji* So the image game is first and they have to pick who they think is the most popular member with the fans. Gosh it’s hard to make out who is who in those pictures. The quality isn’t great and they are styled in a way that I really can’t tell the difference between Suga, J-Hope, and Jin ☹… I feel so bad!! So their first question: who is the most childish? Ooooh it seems really close between Jin and Suga lol and they settle on Jin because he buys Mario toys! Interesting that they chose the eldest and not Jungkook or Jimin. Jin says he acts childish because he’s 23 and the youngest is 18 (Jungkook) and he wants to fit in. I never really thought about their age difference before. I’ve just googled Jin and Jungkook’s birthdays and there is actually less than 5 years difference. It may have felt like a big gap to them in their teens but it’ll be nothing once they are all in their 20s.

Next question: who it the band’s trickster? Unanimous it is Suga. Lol at Jimin complaining that Suga always sneaks away before the end of dinner so he doesn’t have to help clean up.

Who is the best duo in BTS?

Oooooooooooooh those be fighting words! Also, what do they mean by duo? Best collaborators? Best subunit on vocals? Best visual duo? Best friendship? I’m assuming best-friendship as they choose Jimin and V, The 1995 duo. Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnteresting. In all honesty, we haven’t been shown a lot concerning their friendship – not verbally. They hang around a lot and I remember during Rookie King remarking that Jimin and V gave off the most brotherly vibes – playfighting and teasing each other a lot. However, I also remember in Carpool Karaoke they said Jimin and V were the most likely to argue. Both of these are common sibling traits. Of course, maybe the verbal friendship happens off camera, which fair play to them, but we haven’t seen them having a deep conversation yet. Although this could be said for many other bonds too.

So the final teams are: A= J-Hope, Suga, RM and Jungkook. B (of the Leftovers as RM called them)= Jin, Jimin, and V

So they have missions to complete at Laguna Beach which includes taking a picture of someone with a camera, with someone holding a surfboard, and then teaching someone the BTS chant. Team B won and RM had to eat his words about calling Team B “the leftovers”.

WTH? RM!!!!!! What is he on in this episode lol? First calling Team B the leftovers and now saying Jimin always needs to be the centre of attention (which is kind of true but not in a bad way – like not a narcissistic d*ck kind of way but more a cute attention-starved way kind of way b). Then saying the mini surfboards that were the prizes were useless. He’s being brutal lmao! Aww they all got one in the end – although Jimin (quite rightly lol) didn’t want to give RM his.

Next we see all of them walking to the beach later in the day. They seem excited *so cute*. Jungkook has a camera around his neck – is our maknae a keen photographer? <3 That would make sense in relation to my observation from American Hustle Life about him enjoying being ‘behind the camera’ more than in front.

LOL at Jin saying he’d love to bring his girlfriend to the beach except he doesn’t have one and is sad. There was a moment there, as he was phrasing it, that I wondered if he had slipped and admitted he actually did have a girlfriend – which must suck as an idol if you can’t show/admit you have a significant other. 

LMAO at V in the background chasing the seagulls. I love animals and abhor unnecessary cruelty, don’t get me wrong, but imo gulls deserve a little harmless chasing after the amount of times they’ve aggressively tried to steal anything remotely resembling food out of my hands.

Aww, “Chim Chim” dipping his toes in the water. Was that Suga trying to push V into the surf LOL?

Aww Jimin really is the cutest – he’s so happy that he got to go to the beach <3<3

RM is so unsympathetic about his (and V’s and Jin’s) burning feet against the concrete though *crying with laughter emoji*. He’s really not playing on this trip lol.

Back on the bus and of course they are all hungry LMAO. Suga could eat a whole cow <3 As they are driving, V starts up a camcorder and reveals that some of the band are napping as they travel – which is possibly the cutest thing I’ve seen in weeks <3<3

WTF??? V?????? Is he really calling J-Hope’s leg sexy??? Which it is - don’t get me wrong but… V?! All the ‘yeahs’…. LMFAO

All you can eat Korean BBQ. Yum.

Jimin is so cute here <3

I did take note who was sitting next to whom. As they are all friends I don’t think they really care who they sit next to at the end of the day but they’ll probably subconsciously gravitate to the people who they are particularly close to. My main interest in this is that it’s probably one of the more real moments as it’s less likely to have been ‘dressed up’ for the camera. On one side of the table is Jimin, V, Jin, and Jungkook. On the other side of the table, RM is opposite Jimin, J-Hope next to him, and Suga after that. Does this say much? Well the 1995 Duo (Jimin and V) are sitting beside each other, which fits with their alleged tight friendship, and RM is opposite Jimin, which is nice despite his earlier teasing in the programme. They got on really quite well during American Hustle Life and it’s nice to see a tiny bit more evidence that it’s real and continuing. If RM was really irritated by Jimin’s antics then I would think he’d be sitting where Suga is or the seat beyond him. Interesting that Jungkook is next to Jin; we haven’t seen too much of this bond yet and we don’t really see them interact here. However, I like that we have seen it. In fact, I like how Jin is sitting amongst the youngest full stop. It fits in with how they all said earlier that he was the most childish despite being the oldest.

Look at these two adorable dorks!

KCON TIME

I love how they can amuse themselves with something as simple as a hairdryer

Or beatboxing. Or rapping

Sometimes I feel a little sorry for staff who must get exhausted after a long day with these bundles of energy. LMAO at Jimin and V trying to diss each other through freestyle rap. They really love to tease each other.

WTF…. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Jungkook rapping; My name is Jungkook, I’m International Playboy

RM: That’s my boy!

ROFL, Jungkook, sweetie, I am assuming that is sarcasm because International Playboys do not run away from a woman just because they say hi into your camera (American Hustle Life).

Cute that they are all praising RM for his English freestyle rapping skills <3

Later on, after rehearsal, Jin has a camera and the band has a little project called Confession Camera.

Jin’s confession to Jimin was that he threw a pillow to wake him up when Jimin was snoring too loud. Hey, that’s a question, I wonder who in the band snores? Also, does it cause arguments? As they share dorms, it would be pretty brutal to be surrounded by loud snorers! Maybe they have a snorer’s dorm hehehe. Jimin’s confession to J-Hope is that he used his moisturiser as he had ran out of his own. J-Hope jokingly won’t forgive him. RM is then J-Hope’s person to confess to. LOL at RM teasing J-Hope that he doesn’t believe there is only one thing his bandmate needs to confess to him about. J-Hope just apologises for teasing him about his snoring. So that’s two snorers in the band lol. Would hate to share their dorms (says the person who snores themselves LOL).

LMAO at Suga confessing to himself in the mirror about having tortured his body preparing for the new album. I wonder why we didn’t get to see Jungkook and V’s “confessions”.

The band are feeling a touch of nerves before performing. This will be a big stage for them according to J-Hope. It’s a pretty cool stage though! And… of course BTS put on a great show.

Although the editing wasn’t great – I think their performance deserved longer air time in the ep – I mean it was building up to that. But hey ho, it is what it is.

Time to go home. It was nice to hear how they enjoyed their time in LA as they walked through the airport. RM sustained a little wound to his face? How??? Was that during the show??!

Cute Jimin stroking the back of Jungkook’s head as they are slowly moving through the queue. It’s those quiet, understated, instinctual, gestures which show how much the band cares for each other.

RM is so cute trying to get Eric Nam to fulfil his mission. It’s a tall ask to complimenet RM on his dance skills!!!!

All in all Go!BTS was a cute episode that was more about fun than of substance – not that there is anything wrong with that! Often all you want is to enjoy a programme without having to think too much. It’s always a joy to watch BTS simply enjoying themselves. Quite frankly I could do that all day. We didn’t learn anything new really except that V and Jimin seem to close friends and that Jimin grew up in Busan but only went to it’s famous beaches twice.

Next I will start watching their Youtube channel and see how they act behind the scenes and with little direction. I think we’ll get bit more sense of what their reality is. Obviously there’s a limit to that as well – everything they post will have to be approved and, probably, edited. I can’t wait!

#bts #Go!BTS #heathered beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep8

Episode 7 recap:

It started with a basketball game; Tony, Jungkook, Jimin, and J-Hope VS Nate, Suga, V, and Jin. Tony’s team won by a point and the punishment was Nate’s team had to buy ice cream for everyone. The next day BTS were dragged out of their beds and sent away to experience ‘working for a living’. RM and Suga joined housekeeping in a hotel, Jimin and Jungkook went to an airfield where they had to clean workshops and planes, Suga, V, and Jin ended up on a yacht and had to clean, polish, and varnish it ready for an event. At the working day they got ‘paid’ and Tony told them they were going to use the money to buy food for people on Skid Row.

While the end was a really good lesson in ‘giving back’ the rest of the episode was not so good viewing. IMO they really wasted an opportunity by not telling BTS that they were going to work – if they had they probably wouldn’t have treated it like a game. If they had taken it more seriously then it would really have put the “earning money” and “giving back” aspects into proper perspective. But it was what is was.

Anyway on to the final episode!

So BTS are getting dragged out of bed again. Did they get any decent sleep this trip? Poor V – he’s been the hardest to get out of bed each time lol.

So their last challenge is to create the best hip hop performance they can using their learned skills.

As a band they set to work on their lyrics for regulate – I’m pretty sure they don’t normally work on lyrics altogether – too many cooks spoil the broth etc - so this maybe made it harder for them. LMAO at V who wanted to include an audience aspect with, “I say V, you say The Best” and RM saying if they weren’t on camera he would have cussed him. LOL the sass and confidence of JK putting a hand across his hyung’s (Suga’s) mouth.

So Suga and RM are in charge (by rights of earning the most money last ep). Suga gives Jin and J-Hope the task of printing hand-outs, while Jimin, V, and Jungkook (the Maknae Line!) are to hand them out and promote the show.

Lol at Jungkook’s method of handing out flyers

Why do I think these were the worst three to promote anything *crying with laughter emoji*. Haha V ends up being shyer than Jungkook.

In fact, Jungkook does rather well with the promotion!

I like the little bit of behind the scenes where they clap to indicate the cameras are rolling. Jungkook really got into it lol. They clearly did other promotion for the show (and relied on their already established international fans?) because I’m calling it out that that amount of people were not the skills of Jimin, V, and, Jungkook on the street lol.

I wonder how nervous BTS really felt about shows at this point. It’s 2014 and they’ve played in quite a few shows at this point and I think been on TV? They have even been to Japan. So they were new but not that new? No doubt there will always be some nerves ahead of a show, it’s only natural, but there’s a difference between feeling antsy and feeling ill. I wonder who out of all the band had the worst nerves and who had the least nerves and why. Questions questions.

So this is really my first time seeing them perform on stage, concert style. I’ve never been much of a fan of rap but I actually quite enjoyed their music – they have some great choruses that you can’t help singing along to. What else can I say? They are well styled. Their performance is polished. Everyone sings confidently. Suga is really good at rapping. Their dancing is on point. They are a great band and it is clear why they made it.

I’m impressed at Jungkook’s stage presence – he’s confident and one of the lead vocals despite being quite shy behind the scenes. Also, I noted Jimin has some versatility to his voice! I thought he was mainly the “high vocal” of the group but I saw one bit in that concert where he had a strong middle range. I’d be interested to see him rapping.

Regulate: Turned out pretty nicely, guys! The dance challenge: Ah ha ha ha actually it was quite fun to watch. I be the audience were like ????? though lol

RM and Jimin killed their bboying. RM needs extra kudos for his efforts.

LOL, Jin and J-Hope tried with their beatboxing – lovely of Fraahz to join them on stage.

OMG Suga, V, and Jungkook’s ‘Oh Happy Day’ was great! It was polished and Jungkook, what a marvellous tone you have – he made all the notes, just cracking!!! <3

All in all, it’s clear the lads have a lot of fun on stage and it’s lovely to see their confidence shine. “Same love” was, again, polished and full of high energy, and so was “No More Dream”, it’s easy to see why BTS made it so big. They have great stage presence, their music is interesting, their performances are energetic, their personalities are fun and engaging, they all seem to really care about each other and are not afraid to show affection (which is a wonderful Korean charm), they work hard, they are polite and friendly, and they seem to have a lot of fun which means we have a lot of fun. They tick pretty much every box for success – well deserved success.

So it’s the last day and they are all packing up. They say some really nice things to Tony and Nate. It’s clear they all got on well and that the two gentlemen made it easier for the band to enjoy their time. Perhaps RM was the most honest when he said there was a lot of hardwork. I think there probably was – more than the camera showed. There was probably some home sickness in the mix as well - 21 days in a foreign country and not able to speak the language must have been quite hard.

 Overall Series Musings.

 I’m not going to lie, there were some seriously cringy moments in this series and a lot of episodes I wouldn’t care to re-watch because of that. However, there were some absolutely magical moments too and some comedy gold. We got to see more of the lads’ personalities and they are thoroughly delightful; all seven of them are fun, playful, affectionate, decent, energetic, interesting, polite, charming, sassy, talented yet beautifully flawed, awkward and just perfectly human. The list is really endless, and I know I’ve fallen even more in love with them because of it. I can certainly see why they won the world over.

Things I have learned and/or observed about the members thus far: Jin is not a natural dancer but if he’s motivated – like when he didn’t want to let J-Hope down – he will work his butt off and his hard work really shows in the end. He’s quite awkward at times and that spills into some of his craft. We learned he had been working towards a career in acting before BTS and that he has a brother who is into hip hop. As the band is so busy he hasn’t even seen the families’ new house. His role in BTS at this point seems to be a bit of parent figure for the younger members.

Suga is quite nervous of woman – like unexpectedly so – worse than Jungkook! I don’t know why this surprised me so much. Does this nervousness around women mean anything? No. Not on it’s own. I’ve just filed it away in my brain in case there is anything else that might connect to it at a later date. Anyway, what else did we learn about Suga? He’s a hard worker and a kind of ‘just gets on with it’ guy. He has a nice affinity with the younger ones, which was a little absent in previous series. This time he spent a lot of time with V and Jungkook and he was pretty soft and indulgent of them. It was lovely to see. His roles in the band are lead rapper and a song writer.  

J-Hope is a literal ball of sunshine. He is also a seriously talented dancer and I was a little taken aback that the band considered him their strongest dancer – that never came across in Carpool Karaoke. He admitted that as a trainee he had felt quite remote from the band as everyone else was a rapper, although I wonder if this was before Jimin joined? J-Hope is really quite talented all round – doing really well with all the challenges – except basketball. His roles in the band are lead dancer and the positivity/glue guy.

RM was RM. I don’t feel we learned as much about him as we did the others. Don’t get me wrong, he was front and centre but I didn’t feel we got to go too deep with him – either that or we’ve learned a lot about him already and there was little new. What did come across is that he is under a lot of pressure and that he cares what other’s think of him. He also wants to care less about what others think of him. His role is still as leader of the band.

Jimin is simply a lovable little ball of energy and laughter. Supposedly he has a temper but even when he’s ‘supposedly mad’ he is laughing about it. It’s hard to talk that seriously. Even the tutor, Tony, fell a little in love with Chim Chim. What else did we learn about Jimin? Well he was definitely calmer than in previous series – although he was still plenty loud. What really came through is that he is a hard worker and can knuckle down. His role is main dancer, high vocals, and comic relief.

V is… a lot of things. He’s overly affectionate at times, wonderfully weird, very random, a little spacey, not always the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to certain things, surprising shy in some situations, and a bit of a sensitive soul. Quite frankly I have a real soft spot for this goofball. His role is a little less obvious but I’m thinking low vocals, face of the band, and the mystery guy.

Jungkook, the maknae, is growing – both literally (I swear he grew several inches between ep1 and ep8 alone and is constantly hungry) and figuratively (his personality is blossoming). He has come out of his shell somewhat – still shy (and nervous of woman) at times – but also surprisingly brave in other situations and growing quite sassy. I think he is more comfortable behind the camera rather in front of it and I hope he gets the chance to be creative with that in the future. His role is main vocalist.

Band relations:      

Some of the musings I made in previous series have been proven right while there are many that I perhaps read too much into. We really started to see the inner friendships more in this series so that has helped put behaviours into better perspective. I think J-Hope and Jin are really tight, they spent a lot of time together and had an ease of two people that had known each other for years. They clearly have a close brotherly bond and it’s just lovely to see. Suga, to my surprise, spent a lot of time with the younger ones in this series and he really indulged them. In fact, he did a great job looking after them and played on their level in a way that made it easy to forget he is their hyung. My new observation for him is that he maybe doesn’t care too much for convention? He is unapologetically him and that’s that, which I take my hat off to. RM and Jimin made a surprisingly great unit – RM is really good with Jimin, even if his (lack) of dancing skills frustrates the younger one at times. RM respects everyone and he gives people time, which I think Jimin needs? Also, I think they get on particularly well because they are quite similar in work ethics and principles. Towards the end we saw Jimin partnered with Jungkook. I can’t put my finger yet on a proper description for their bond. They are certainly comfortable around each other – and get on well and hang out a lot - but they don’t have the same ‘brotherly vibe’ as say RM and Jimin. Jungkook also treats Jimin more like he’s the same age as him. I wouldn’t say he’s disrespectful but there is a lot of teasing and a noticeable lack of honorific behaviour. I also can’t explain why but their bond has not got the same feel as Jungkook’s and V’s relationship, in which Jungkook also treats V as though they are the same age. However, there is a notable warm brotherly vibe between V and Jungkook and certainly more obvious respect from Jungkook’s side. I don’t know... Maybe it’s just the way the programme was edited or maybe I’m talking out my *** I just get frustrated when I can’t explain something. I suppose it didn’t help that Carpool Karaoke didn’t show much of their individual bonds in later life. I guess I’ll find out as we go along whether Jimin and Jungkook have a really close but unique bond or whether they are secret enemies lol.

 ******************************************************************************

The next programme on my list is BTS Go! According to Wiki, this seems to be from 2014 too. However, I recently came across the existence of the BTS Youtube channel where they have hundreds of videos from backstage dating back to 2013! What I think I will do is watch and muse over BTS Go first and then watch all the videos up to the end of 2014 on their Youtube account and then muse over what I see there and what I’ve seen in the tv programmes so far. I expect their personalities and bonds are more candid in the behind the scenes videos so I’m looking forward to seeing those in particular.      

#bts #American hustle life #heathered beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

hey.

I'm val and I'm saving up for my dream.

actually... I only have $400 left to find. I already have $1200 and exactly $400 is not enough for me to buy this baby. if.. you can.. I will be grateful even for $1.

I SELL MY DRAWINGS.

CHECK MY PROFILE.

thank you in advance.

#bts #junjunjungoo #artist

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep7

BTS are in LA to learn about hip hop. Episode 6 was really fun to watch – probably one of the best episodes so far. We saw the final bits of filming for the music video before Warren G decided which team had won. The winner was the only person who didn’t look ready to “mess themselves” getting within a foot of a woman, which was J-Hope. So J-Hope and Jin deservedly won a prize. The bands’ next challenge was to find ‘their master’ and learn some new skills. Jin and J-Hope learned beatboxing, RM and Jimin learned some bboying, and Suga, V, and Jungkook learned some RnB (and gospel). At the end of the ep, the teams had a little competition between themselves to show off their new skills. RM and Jimin ended up losing (slightly unfairly) which saw them getting pied in the face – which, I’m not going to lie, was hilarious.

Hopefully episode 7 will be just as fun to watch.

So, we start off with the band arriving at an outdoor basketball court. Three guesses as to who they think is their best basketball player and the first two guesses don’t count lol. Of course it’s Suga.

So Tony played basketball in college and is 2m 4cm in height. Yeah, I don’t rate BTS’s odds lol! Ahhaha, BTS’ rock paper scissors game has rubbed off on Tony and Nate but they are definitely not as fast at it as the band!

LOL, so Tony picked Jungkook first, then Jimin (I think Tony has a soft spot for him although I can’t put my finger on why I think that just yet). Poor RM is the last to be picked and ends up being the referee-commentator. Team Tony: Jungkook, Jimin, J-Hope Team Nate: Suga, V, and Jin

My money is on Team Tony winning and Nate’s team buying the icecream.

Oh sweet J-Hope is… hopeless lol. Suga is a star as expected <3

I think Suga and Tony are scoring most of the points lol. Aww J-Hope actually scored!!!!! And what a celebration!

Ooooooooooooh it was epically close but Tony’s team won by a point! Ice cream is on Nate’s team. BTS once again sharing ice creams. This sharing spit still blows my mind, it’s awesome.

So they’ve been in LA for 17 days and they don’t have much longer to go. Something special has been prepared for them (I doubt it’s going to be a nice surprise) and yet again they get woken up early. Aww they look so sleepy… poor things. Into the limos they go and they’re in different teams. We’re clued in that they are all going to try ‘working’. Called it. This isn’t a nice surprise.

RM and Suga end up in a hotel and they’ve got to join the housekeeping team for the day and clean rooms. Their supervisor, Candy, it not letting any mistake slip by lol.

Those sheets can’t have wrinkles or smudges! LOL at RM saying he should have been given one of the younger band members so he could have made them clean the bathroom. At least he was gallant and volunteered to stay doing the rooms (which Candy said was harder) and let Suga go to the kitchen to wash dishes.

Aww Jimin and Jungkook are a team. I wonder where they will be working...? Ahahahaha Jimin warning Jungkook that those teamed with him end up suffering. Let’s hope it’s not too bad Jimin.

They end up at an airfield where there are lots of small planes and jets. They are kind of full of wonder and it’s a shame they are going to find out it’s not going to be fun at all. Hehe, their little faces when they learn they have to clean. Their attempt at it is a bit silly though lol.

Jin, J-Hope, and V are out at the mariner and they have to clean a boat. Lol that guy sure does make them work!

Jimin and Jungkook have been ‘talked to’ because they made a tiny error and Jungkook’s sassy response killed me; “When we leave, I want to tell that ajusshi to live while cleaning up the place one in a while.”

LMAO the two of them are going to be supervised while cleaning a plane by a 14 year old! LOL at the air-field owner’s slight panic at Jimin not quite understanding what he was saying about the cleaning fluid and telling him to listen to Jungkook - just about killed me. Then the 14 year old teasing Jimin that Jungkook was younger and doing a better job than him and then ragging on him for the rest of the job. Jimin, bless him, kept his humour but I got the sense he wanted to shove that cloth somewhere other than the inards of a dirty plane. OMG, the airfield owner actually put the two of them in time-out like they were naughty toddlers... *facepalm*. They take it in relatively good humour but it’s interesting that, while Jimin is washing his face, Jungkook says Jimin is probably mad as he usually gets mad about this sort of stuff. While I don’t doubt that Jimin has a temper I do wonder what their version of ‘mad’ is because they tend to laugh as they complain? Never have I seen one of them raise an angry voice yet. See! Jimin is even laughing as he says he wants to hit the 14 year old’s head on the way out. I bet mad in BTS world is them saying something mildly passive aggressive while not laughing uproariously.

Back to Suga and he’s trying to find the kitchen. LMAO when he tries valiantly to explain what he’s looking for in bad broken English and the woman tells him she speaks Korean. He gets to work without much complaint and does rather well. He even gets to eat. Meanwhile RM is up in the rooms all by himself lol.

Hehe, Jin, V, and J-Hope lying to RM and Suga that they are on a yacht eating lobster while in reality they are varnishing. Lol at V saying RM doesn’t do much and Suga orders everyone around so he’s glad to be with Jin and J-Hope when they are cleaning. He also says he enjoys that they talk a lot – Jungkook supposedly gets quiet when he’s on shows and on camera. Then V disses Jin by saying he’d rather be in a team with J-Hope alone.

LMAO at Jungkook telling Jin Jimin’s getting chewed out by a 14 year old!

J-Hope laughing his ass off when Jungkook tells them they’re in time-out.

Just Jimin going for the thigh while he laments that people always suffer when paired with him…

Aww, Jimin got less money at the end of their job and said the manager probably didn’t like him, which Jungkook was smug about. The helicopter thing where the manager took them up about a metre above the ground before landing again and telling them to get out was funny but also mean.

RM finally got some food and he and Suga got paid, yay!

Jin, V, and J-Hope got paid too.

So RM and Suga made $550, Jimin and Jungkook made $500 and Jin, V, and, J-Hope made $450 (suspiciously $50 different each time, do I smell a set-up?). RM and Suga win!

What’s going to happen to the money? Tony says it’s going to feed people on Skid Row – great lessons to teach the band; generosity, charity, and humility. The lads look scared and suitably sad as they drive up skid row and see all the homeless tents and the extent of poverty there.

They get some great advice as they hand out food – there are a lot decent folk on Skid Row who just bummed out of luck and ended up on the streets. I like the advice that one guy gave them about ‘not taking things for granted. You can be poor one day and rich the next and with then with no warning go back to being poor again.’

So that was the episode. I liked the bit at the end but to be honest it was really not my favourite episode of the series. I think it would have been better if they had pre-warned the band they would be working so they would have been prepared to try their hardest and wouldn’t have treated it like a game. At the end of it they would have walked away with a deeper feeling of achievement. I also think if they had worked really hard, thinking there was they’d earn a reward for the concert, and then had to give up the money for food for the homeless it would have made the message at the end hit even harder. But it was what it was and I’m sure the lads got something out of it.

Right, one episode left and it looks like the main feature of it is their LA concert. Can’t wait!

#bts #American hustle life #heathered beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep6

Ep 5 recap:

BTS are still in LA learning about hip hop. After their lyric challenge last episode, they had a little party (bbq) with Warren G to celebrate. Over dinner Warren G asked them if they got to spend much time with their friends and family and we learned the heart-breaking truth that they don’t and that it’s been 2 years since some of them have even been home.

The episode’s challenge was to shoot a music video and their task was to find some women to appear in the video. Cue some hilarious and cringeworthy moments as 7 terrified lads combed the streets trying to speak to the opposite sex. The filming was equally – if not more - hilarious to watch.

Onwards and upwards…

So they are still filming and straight away Jungkook is getting himself into some mischief. I laughed when the stylist hurried out yelping to get out of there because he doesn’t have a spare outfit.

Jungkook makes it back to solid ground and starts recording his self-cam again. ROFL at him running away squealing when one of the ladies plays up to his camera.

Now the ladies are in bikinis and sunbathing and the groups have to sit next to them and film. I almost couldn’t breathe from laughing especially when V, Jungkook and Suga walking away pretty swiftly after they’d finished; Jungkook saying he nearly *died* back there. And Suga grinning like he’d just been released from prison and saying he’s relieved it’s over. I really never expected Suga to be so nervous of women! He’s usually so chill.

Lol at the three of them watching Jin and J-Hope filming with the ladies (and acting fairly naturally) and Jungkook wondering how they can have fun like that as he thought his heart was going to explode and he’d die *crying with laughter emoji*

 Ah, it was really no surprise that J-Hope won the challenge. He was the only one who had fun, could get within a foot of a women and not look two seconds from shitting himself LMAO.

His and Jin’s reward for being the winning team was a collectible figurine/model of their choice? Cool!

Next day…

So Jin and J-Hopes next challenge is to find their beat box master but they have to beat box in the street to draw them out? I totally agree J-Hope, it’s utterly embarrassing. Yep, I had a little fast forward through that.

So they find their master, Fraahz and go back to his place where he goes through the basics of beat boxing with them. Their attempts are cute, although I think that microphone may need to be turned upside down to drain the spit ewwwwww looooooooooooooooooool.

Elsewhere, RM and Jimin’s task is to find their dance master – lol at RM’s pained reaction at having to dance again

Oooooh they’re going to learn some bboying! Wow, Jimin picks it up pretty well – I always thought he was a good dancer (since he led the dance class in Carpool Karaoke) that’s why I was surprised that J-Hope was considered the band’s best. RM does a pretty good job too! They really are such a cute duo. It’s quite a unique friendship they have – hard to describe. Bet they’re knackered after that dance session though.

Yep! Well… RM is knackered.

V(?) teasingly trying to wake him up and RM kicking his leg in retaliation. This band really do act like brothers. It’s like they’ve lived together since they were born.

Lol at Jin and J-Hope repeatedly bursting into giggles as they fail time and time again to get through their beat box and meditation practice.

****************************************** 

It’s the next morning  and RM and Jimin meet their dance teacher in the park for a little exercise (although they claim they didn’t know it was for exercise).

AHAHAHAHA RM almost dead after running a couple of laps. To be fair it’s probably scorching outside which won’t help. LMAO, the dance teacher putting the weight jacket on Jimin as the exercise was too easy for him. Poor Jimin and RM look absolutely floored by the end – I hope the walk back to the dorm isn’t too far for those tired little legs.

They’re back in the dance studio later on and poor RM get’s hit in the head by Jimin’s foot – aww. RM gets revenge by slapping a high five to Jimin’s hand/wrist extremely hard *crying with laughter emoji*. I love these lads so much <3 They are such characters.

Jin and J-Hope meet Fraahz again in the park to go over their beatboxing practice. I was impressed that they managed to get through the meditation without bursting into giggles. That part with them turning animal sounds into beats was hilarious.

******************************************** While the others are working with their masters V, Suga, and Jungkook are chilling at the dorm watching basketball and Jungkook is pretending to shoot people with a tablet… Lol, here comes Tony and N to spoil their fun! What are the three of them going to get? RnB!

Wait whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Hold the **** phone. Did they just say they’ve never heard of Whoopi Goldberg????!!! I ain’t from the states either man but she is a l-e-g-e-n-d. These three lads need to sit down and watch Sister Act 1 and 2 STAT.

Iris Stevenson, the woman Sister Act 2 is based on, is such an inspiration.

OMG they are going to get to do some gospel singing! *squeal*

Wow, Jungkook, you have such a nice voice <3 What an absolute cutie.

This was a great thing for the 3 of them to do. Not only was Iris’s happy and motherly soul something I think they desperately needed but, from what the lads were saying afterwards, I think musically it was important they learned how to feel love for singing again. The amount of practice they had to do as trainees – and no doubt still have to do - and the type of practice, as well as the stress of trying to ‘make it’ seems to have taken a lot of joy away from their art. And that is a real shame. If you don’t like what you’re doing, if your heart isn’t in it, then how can you possibly be happy? You certainly won’t be the best you can be!

Aww V has a wonderful voice for this kind of music too. But he’s not feeling well :( You need to rest up sweetie.

Iris is such a lovely and amazing woman.

Go V and Suga bragging about how great Iris is <3 Wonderful lads.

Okay, so they are going to each show off what they’ve been learning and then score themselves out of 100 “fairly”. Why do I get the feeling that “fair” will be used very loosely lol.

J-Hope and Jin did well with beat boxing although I think Jimin and RM were a little harsh with giving them a score of 69. Bet that gets reciprocated when it’s their turn. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I was right lol. RM did really well with the dancing thought, kudos to him.

Next up it’s Suga, V, and Jungkook. Aww sweet Jimin getting up out his seat to hug V and tell him how much he loves his voice <3 <3 And ten seconds later he rigs the scoring so that he and RM are not last *facepalm*. At least he takes it back at the end and honestly gives them a score of 100 points. This means he and RM lose and the punishment is….

The winners get to smash the losers faces into a plate of whipped cream. LMAO. This I have got to see!!!

Oh Jungkook… <3

“Oh delicious”

But Tony’s “Welcome to America” in reply just killed me

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaha

Look at the happiness on Jungkook’s face *crying with laughter emoji*

*dead*

There are so many crude analogies that I could make here… Jungkook creaming Jimin’s face and them both loving it but I will… refrain.

LMAO RM flinging cream all over the place in retaliation.

So we got to see the music video and it was quite good. I felt it wasn’t very polished though as there was a noticeable difference between the colouring/lighting between the car scenes and the scenes at the mansion that you wouldn’t expect/want in a professional MV. I really like the song though.

Final musings.

Another enjoyable episode. This one was both fun and funny. The boys have got great personalities and can make even silence seem interesting. They are a delight to watch and I’m so glad I’m still at the beginning of the journey <3

Two eps to go: Episode 7 up next…

#bts #American hustle life #heather-beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep 5

Episode 4 recap:  The first third of the episode was devoted to BTS doing chores; cleaning up their (absolute pigsty of a) dorm, doing laundry, food shopping. Afterwards they met the legend Warren G who took them on a tour of where he and a few other legendary rappers grew up. He comes across as a true gentleman and treats the band very nicely. His challenge was for each subgroup to write and record a song based on their lives. This allowed us to hear some of BTS’ thoughts about their experiences when joining the band. We (I) also learned more about each of the bandmembers personalities which hadn’t been so clear in previous eps and series.

All three groups came up with a great song and, while a tough call, Suga, V, and Jungkook won the challenge.

On to Ep 5!

So BTS is throwing party with Warren G; this will either be hilarious or a bit of a cringe fest lol but I’m glad Warren’s in a second episode 😊

Ooft that’s a fire and a half lol. Americans sure have got some bbq skills!

Aww poor Jimin wanting to get on with preparing the vegetables but Namjoon and V just keep eating them.

Lol at V challenging Jungkook to rock, paper, scissors and the loser has to eat an onion. Jungkook looks too calm and smug… and that’s why; V loses and has to eat an onion – and, ten seconds later, loses again. I wonder if it’s a running joke that V often loses at RkPS. These two are pinging me with a mix of brotherly and ‘partners in crime’ vibes.

Haha Jimin telling them both to do some work. He’s definitely coming across as more serious and hard working that in the first two series, bless him. Then he puts Jungkook in his place by beating him at rock, paper, scissors LOL. Jungkook is surprised!!

Jungkook and V then playing to see who the overall loser is and end up tying so they decide Jimin is the loser and make him eat some onion lol.

J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook playing around and dancing is the cutest thing <3

Oh my god, the sass from Jungkook rapping about Jimin being small (where did shy young Jungkook go lol??) and Jimin’s hilarious reaction of immediately trying to kick him <3 <3

Hahaha Suga and Jin trying to be sly about trying the bbq before the others and Jungkook calling Suga out on it. I love them getting Warren G to try Kimchi (Korean spicy pickled cabbage and other veg) and Warren G trying to act cool as the heat hits him.

Warren G asks about their lives and, wow, it seems that BTS spend a lot of time away from their friends and family. I get the feeling that even in Korea they work an awful lot and don’t get much down time. WTH? Jin has just admitted his family moved house quite a while ago and he hasn’t even seen it yet! That’s such a shame! It’s been 2 years since some of them have gone home?! OMG, that must be so hard, especially on the younger ones who might not have been ready to ‘leave home’ at that point. It’s clear they really do miss their families and some of them look close to tears talking about it, but I sense they don’t like to complain to the camera? They are such sweethearts and aww at Jimin saying he wishes he could take his parents to the nice places he gets to visit. Thank you Warren G for raising this topic and for talking about missing his own mother who died when he was in his 20s. You could tell that info hit some of them quite hard as many of them are close to that age.

 *********************************************

So it’s a brand new morning, what’s in store for the band now? Aha, Tony is in to wake them all up. Jimin’s like a toddler in his crib excited to be greeted by his parent. Everyone else is like a teenager and needs to be crowbarred out of bed. LOL,at J-Hope being carried into the living room and plonked down on the sofa still half asleep. Double-LOL at Jungkook being woken up on the couch like a baby by Tony gently shaking a stuffed animal in his face lol.

Awww, bless them, they’re still half asleep – it’s like me when I’ve been reading fic till 4am and the alarm goes off at 9!

Right, so the new mission is to make a music video full of hip hop spirit and swag. Hip hop music videos normally include a super car, a mansion, and dazzling accessories.

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha, the tutors saying BTS’s videos are good but there’s not a lot of girls. From what I’ve seen so far there is a good reason for that Tony and N(ate?)!!!!! <flashback to the awkward-as-hell elevator scene in Rookie King and every other female encounter since>

Do I need to gird my loins For some potentially cringe-worthy BTS-female interaction in the near future?

Oh jeez Tony, you’re going to make BTS go out and find girls and talk to them. Even BTS are groaning at the thought LOL.  

OMG, Tony and N are teaching them how to ‘approach girls’ and getting the lads to practice on them. This calls for some computer analogies

Hahahahahahahaha oh Jimin – smooth right up to when he needed to start the conversation and then: the operating system has encountered an error and must shutdown. RM did well until he hesitated in the convo and: this application is not responding. The program may respond again if you wait. Do you want to end this process. Yes. Jungkook surprisingly didn’t spontaneously combust but clearly had no clue how to chat anyone up (at least at this point). I mean, just going straight to “I like you”: this program has performed an illegal operation and will be shutdown. Quit all programs, and then restart your computer. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor. OMG, Tony and N just outright saying that V is the dumb blonde of the group!!!!!! I don’t know whether to insulted on V’s behalf or grudgingly admire their honesty cos…they kinda have a *teeny tiny* point… at least that’s how V has come across so far – maybe this changes as we get to know him more. OMG V, “nice watch, how much?” That’s like from a really bad foreign marketplace parody. *face palm*, can any of these lads act naturally with a girl? V-can-flirt-like-a-normal-human cannot be found ~ if the device is OFF, turn ON the device. Suga… he clearly wasn’t taking it seriously; The instruction at BE NORMAL referenced at ‘HOW TO TALK TO WOMEN’. The memory could not be written. Click on OK to terminate the program. J-Hope: The application failed to  initialize properly. Click Close to exit the program. Jin: This version of flirting is not compatible with the version of swag you’re running.

Ahahaha them in the car trying not to fret about how they haven’t really “talked to girls” before. To be fair, this challenge is quite (embarrassingly) heterosexual (and mildly sexist) but, then again, this series was shot a number of years back and hip hop, IMO, used to be a low representatitve of LGBTQIA+.  I do wonder if any of BTS are gay though, and, if so, if they knew at that particular moment? I’m aware of how Korean society views homosexuality and I can’t imagine if any of BTS are gay they would come out either while in the spotlight or before they’ve done their national service. Not that they owe anyone a public “coming out” – I could write essays on this and how dangerous it is to relate a celebrity ‘coming out’s to that of the everyday person. They both come with some specific pros and cons that don’t translate well to the other situation and can cause all sorts of danger. Anyway, I’m rambling now so let’s get back to the episode!

I think the story V tells really sums up BTS’s “girl skills”; when we were trainees, Jin-Hyung, Jungkookie (omg what a cute way of saying Jungkook’s name <3) and I did rock paper scissors to go and at least talk to a girl. We just told her she was cute, patted her head and left.

So they are going out in teams to pick up their girls for the music video. That might take some of the pressure off. Awwww at J-Hope cuddling Jimin in the car. 

RM and Jimin are told to get out the car first – lol at Jimin saying he’s nervous.

Okay, so RM and Jimin’s attempt went about as well as I thought it would LMAO. V, Jungkook and Suga are just as bad. This is quite painful to watch. Ahaha Jin and J-Hope manage to convince a lady – although, again, it was quite painful to watch. It’ll be interesting to see how good their success was the next day.

 Video shoot:

BTS arrive at the mansion for their shoot (same place 50 Cent shot one of his videos) and immediately go into ‘wide-eyed wonder and playful’ mode.

V rapping freestyle: From those seagulls that are flying high One of those got stuck to the moon And if they fall, they be stuck to our feet And that seagull with squirm like a human.

V, my lovely, even when we give some leeway to mistranslation, I think you better leave the lyric writing to maybe Suga or Rapmonster lol???!!!

Jungkook’s running a self-cam – I get the feeling he quite likes filming and being behind the camera rather than in front of it. Amusing for an ‘idol’.

Lol, BTS talking about their back up plan if the girls don’t turn up. They genuinely don’t think they’ve actually managed to charm anyone into actually turning up and if by some miracle they do turn up then it’ll be awkward LMAO.

Cute little interaction between RM and Jungkook as they agree it’s all so unlikely.

HAHAHAHAHA one of Jin and J-Hope’s ladies turns up – the others can’t believe it! My sides are aching from laughing at their expressions. Oh but then V, Suga, and Jungkook’s girl arrives too. I really think these girls were planted on the street to help the lads out but I’ll pretend that it’s all real lol. Ahahahaha Suga *hiding* with RM and Jimin so he doesn’t have to interact with the ladies. This band really doesn’t have any chill with the opposite sex.

Aaaand at the last moment RM and Jimin’s ‘girl’ turns up. Isn’t that such a coincidence that one lady for each group turned up… lol.

Interesting little remark there from Suga. When they go back to Korea they won’t be able to shoot music videos like these (presumably with ladies, bling, and the excesses that go along with the style of hip hop) until they retire? So is he openly admitting they have to act conservatively – or at least in a very specific way – in Korea until they retire (or at least end their contract)? Or is it that they won’t have the same opportunities/monetary funds to do videos like these?

Yeah, okay, those ladies are too chill at seeing Warren G. In fact, they are way too chill altogether – they’ve got to have been staged lol. I just don’t think BTS knew this was set up. I’ve kinda come to the conclusion already that some of them couldn’t act to save themselves.

Shooting time – all quiet on set!:

V was just doing his thing lol, poor Suga couldn’t even look at that woman ROFL – Jungkook actually did okay even though he was embarrassed and bright red (and sweating lol). I wonder what Warren G was thinking as he watched from behind the camera – if he is anything like me he would have been sitting there cackling to himself. LOL at Jungkook eating away his emotions. He’s definitely become a typical growing teenager; always hungry like a bottomless pit and yet no calorie seems to stick to his sides!

V!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again!!! *Outraged noises*. Teaching the lady “Jimin is dumb” in Korean, how dare you lol. Poor Jimin.

Hey, J-Hope’s got the swag and looks like he’s the only one. Jin looks like he’s about to shit himself *crying with laughter emoji*.

Jimin and RM are surprisingly confident with their lady too! LOL at RM for getting in the way of the camera and frustrating Jimin.

Ah-ha! – Jungkook having the guts to pat his eldest hyung on the head – he’s gained confidence in leaps and bounds!

Final musings:

Yet another enjoyable episode – despite being a little cringy in places. It was hilarious to see how shy and genuinely inept the band was around women. I can’t wait to see how the video turned out in the end.

Some nice, but also sad, insights into the realities faced by the band. Some of them haven’t been home in 2 years and as most of them seem to be quite close to their families it must be very hard – especially for the younger ones who might not have been ready to ‘leave home’ so early.

Really looking forward to the next episode!  

#bts #American hustle life #heather-beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep4

Ep 3 recap: BTS are in LA to learn about hip hop. During that episode they met their dance teacher, Jenny Kita. She set them a few challenges including a solo demonstration, a dance battle against professional dancers, and the task of choreographing a dance routine in small groups. J-Hope’s dance skills shone the brightest throughout which was both a surprise and a delight! Jin, despite being the least proficient dancer in the band, tried really hard and it paid off in the final challenge – he and J-Hope were deserving winners.

We also started to see the friendships between the band members more, which was quite lovely. I really hope this continues in the series.

 On to Episode 4!

Holy cow, that dorm is an absolute pigsty. Ewwww! The amount of water bottles alone makes me want to cry.

Lol, I wonder how RM and Jimin ended up having to clean the dorm up?

They did a good job with it though and somehow managed to find some fun in between. The bathroom scene was hilarious!

Like last episode Jimin appears to have dropped some of his mask. Maybe I’m just seeing things but in this ep he just seems a little softer around the edges - more playful rather than loud and over-the-top. I think RM is good company for him. I’m not sure how to word it without accidentally making it look like I think the other lads treat him poorly (which I don’t believe they do!!) but I think RM is quite respectful to Jimin? As the leader RM’s attention will be pulled in many directions and when he can give spare undivided attention he probably spends it more on his elder bandmates as they are closer to his own age. However, I get the sense that when he does focus on Jimin he does it with the kind of patience and gentleness that the others are maybe not quite so liberal with? That’s not to say he won’t tease Jimin or joke around with him (he does) but so far it comes across as a little warmer than the others perhaps because he’s naturally gentler in nature? I’m probably talking out my **** here but that’s just what I’ve sensed.

One final thing: Jimin’s English is really improving!

So while Jimin and RM are cleaning the dorm, Suga, V, and Jungkook are on laundry duty. LMAO how is that fair? I was thinking that the “chores” were punishment for losing the challenge in Ep3 but Jimin and RM were so close to winning and yet seem to have been given the worst chore?

LOL, how can those three lads make laundry seem so complicated??

They really are big kids – I’m glad they can find ways to have fun though. But ewwwwwwwwww Jungkook, the 3/5/7/10 second rule is a myth, don’t eat things off the ground – particularly in a foreign country!!

Woah!!! they licked each other’s ice creams without hesitation!

To be honest I think it is more of a reflection on my own culture rather than theirs that this seemed so surprising to me. Generally sharing food without the ‘ew that’s got your spit on’ and other hang-ups – particularly between boys - ends around 8-10 years old here.

Jungkook sweetie, I really doubt you’ve put on much weight – are you sure you haven’t just grown another few inches? It certainly looks like you’ve grown. At this point you might end up towering over Suga and Jimin.

Ah so Jin and J-Hope are food shopping. So maybe these chores are not punishments for losing the challenge. I’d still like to know how Jimin and RM got the short straw to clean the dorm lol.

Oh good grief, BTS cooking – after their challenge in the first series I dread to think what poor concoction they’re going to come up with.

OK so J-Hope’s cheese sticks verdict… V = X, RM = XX, Jimin (so cute as he bounded over like an excited puppy) = too polite to use his new English word “disgusting”

Jin’s ham on toast concoction: LMAO at Jin blowing on the forkful before feeding Jimin. No comment on Jimin’s tongue action though…

It seemed to taste okay judging by Jimin’s reaction. RM does not agree lol. It was cute how Jin was feeding the rest of the toast to Jimin and Jungkook like a parent feeding infants.

After what I wrote earlier about RM it’s nice to see the other lads interacting with Jimin more. I wonder if some of the impatience that occasionally comes across is simply down to the editing?

So we move on to a new day and the whole group are heading to Long Beach by foot. Crikey, Jungkook looks like he’s grown another inch over night!! Why on earth is he wearing two layers in the LA heat???!!

It’s great to see that BTS are still ‘star struck’ by celebrities. I guess, back then, the band were not that well known – at least not like they are now. They certainly did not cross my radar – not like 1D did.

LMAO – V randomly saying he drooled when he saw Warren G. What?????!!!!

Warren G seems a great guy; very chill and calm with the band. *Again I’m going to say it but I love how BTS have the confidence to say another man looks handsome like they did when admiring the photo in the record store*

Yeah Warren G is a really decent guy.

There’s something fundamentally poetic in the way that Jimin said of Warren G, Snoop Dogg, Nate, (in a tone of amazement and disbelief) “They were just elementary kids but became legends”. I mean, BTS were once ‘elementary school’ kids and while, in that moment, Jimin did not know how big the band would get, the same sentiment applies to BTS.

So their new challenge is to write lyrics based on their own lives to Regulate.

Good boys; slapping on the sunscreen – thumbs up for skin care!

Oh good grief Jin, if the American dorm is slowly becoming like your Korean dorm then I shudder to think what state your Korean dorm is in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooh so the band are opening up a little about their lives in order to make lyrics for their rap.

After a bit of travelling by bus and making friends with the locals, Jin and J-Hope settle down in a park to talk. We learn Jin started off acting and not singing? Now that’s interesting! Not all of BTS had joining a band or even BTS’ music style in mind from the beginning. Jin also has a brother and he was into hip hop so Jin had some knowledge of it before joining the band.

J-Hope’s turn and he admitted when he first joined the band everyone was a rapper and he was the only dancer which made him feel remote.

This, again, is really interesting to learn as this was the scenario I was pinning on Jimin – unless there were different BTS members back when J-Hope joined? I really don’t know how the band was formed so I hope at some point they talk about this. I liked how Jin admitted he was surprised to hear about J-Hope feelings. They should talk like that more often.

RM and Jimin travel to another part of town – near the school/college that some of the most famous rappers in the music industry attended. I really like the motto of the building “Enter to learn go forth to serve”. I’m not American so I don’t know it’s true connotations but to me it’s simple and strangely compelling. Like; ‘We don’t care who you are either come in and learn and repay by using it to serve the community - or travel forth on down the street and sign up for the army and serve that way. There’s a purpose for everyone.”

RM and Jimin talking <3

Jimin’s answer to what he found difficult when he joined the band is fascinating. While the translation felt a little off, it reads as he cares a lot about what others think of him and doesn’t want to let anyone down or let any of his (self-perceived) shortcomings hold others back. In order to achieve this he spent a lot of time trying to catch up or improve so that no one could easily spot his weaknesses. Ultimately, he wants to care less what others think of him so he can lose some of the pressure? I really think there is a lot more to this “want to care less about what others think” than the vague answer he gave (or was edited in). His starting phrase “I should live quietly for the sake of my team” was quite a loaded sentiment and didn’t quite follow what he said next – definitely some careful editing there.

RM’s sentiment echoes this. He talked about seeing a very over-weight man walking around LA topless and admired the man’s confidence to not care what other people thought. RM wants some of that confidence to stop constantly watching out for what others thought about him. This is the type of pressure many celebrities talk about a lot. In my opinion, any one remotely “famous” are seen as role models (rightly or wrongly) and society holds them to ridiculous standards. Make one mistake and that’s you cancelled like you are some item in a shop that can be returned for a refund. I personally think people have a very skewed idea about what makes a ‘role model’. For me, a role model shouldn’t be perfect but when they do make mistakes they should own up to it, apologise, and attempt to fix or make up for any hurt caused. We, as their fans, need to relearn how to accept an apology, forgive human errors, allow people to learn, and move on. Min rant over.

Moving on: Suga, V, and Jungkook are down near the beach front discussing their lyrics. The way V instantly thought of his Dad tells me he’s quite family orientated. It was touching the way he said he made him the person he was today.

Jungkook’s thoughts where based more on his internal thoughts of himself as a person and a musician. It was very honest of him to admit that back home he’d been pretty confident of his talent but once he joined (BigHit?) he quickly realised there was a lot of people with as much, if not more, talent than him and it knocked his confidence. I wish Suga had spoke more about his own thoughts rather than just write the lyrics.

 Challenge Day:

To be fair, all three groups rose to the challenge and not only had some great lyrics but sounded polished and rehearsed. We only got snippets of the songs but from what we did hear I would struggle to pick a winner. I guess, for me, it would feel like picking one’s persons’ struggles over another’s. Hard to judge.

Lol at Suga oversharing about being in the toilet when he was writing *crying with laughter face*

Awww, Suga, V, and Jungkook won. They definitely tried harder with this challenge than the one in ep 3 so I felt it was deserved.

Final musings:

Another interesting episode. I think the band learned a lot more about hip hop this episode and Warren G was a real gent. We also learned more about each band member in terms of their thoughts and experiences when joining the band. We (I) also learned more about their personalities which hadn’t been so clear in previous eps and series. I think the editing can misconstrue some moments so I’m probably going to re-evaluate my musings on each band member from time to time – this is a good thing though!

Looking forward to ep 5!

#bts #American hustle life #heathered beinn musings #suga #jin #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep3

Recap of ep 2: BTS are in LA to learn about hip hop. Coolio was their first guest teacher and, as well as setting some homework in which the band had to study some of the history of hip hop, he also set them a few challenges to teach them more about hip hop culture and discipline. J-Hope, Jimin, and Jungkook won both challenges and got to have dinner with Coolio in a nice restaurant and then go on a shopping trip. Coolio presented all seven of the band members with a chain at the end.

On to episode three…

I’m saying it again; one of the most wonderful things about BTS is that they are so playful. It’s a pure joy to watch. It’s also nice to see outsiders joining in.

LOL at Jin sleeping through V and Tony making lots of noise. I bet the band have had to learn how to sleep in noisy environments, especially since they live in a dorm.

The editing has so far in this series has failed a bit at continuity. It was clear that this ‘morning’ footage was either filmed ‘before and after’ some got dressed or on different days. Suga’s t-shirt went from white to black to white whereas Jimin’s went from black to white lol. I think this may be more noticeable to those of us who are still having trouble making out who is who when we don’t have a clear shot of their face.

I giggled at RM and V groaning at having to dance while J-Hope celebrates

I think this is the first time I’ve heard the band say categorically that J-Hope is their best dancer. Interesting. I sensed he was good but not the best. Haha at Jin living up to his title as the uh… 7th best dancer.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice dance studio. Love how the band are immediately start playing by trying to jump up and swing from the beam. I can imagine that they might have been a bit of a handful to manage back then. Not in a bad way but more in a “have we got everyone? where is x? z come down from there! y stop wandering off, b stop messing around and pay attention” I would love to see the seven of them on a sugar high!!!

LMAO at the band teasing Suga over his dancing skills. Suga: It’s not like I can’t dance RM: (pointing and laughing) Hyung, did you just say that it’s not like you can’t dance? Suga: Yeah, it’s not like I can’t… Don’t get me tangled with your situation (meaning RM’s lack of natural dancing skills) As long as I concentrate I don’t dance all that bad RM: Oh… such confidence V: Hyung, long time ago when we were preparing for our comeback, didn’t we practice our choreography 100 times because of you?

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN

Jimin: Aye, it wasn’t only for our Boy in Luv album it was for every album we released

DOUBLE BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!

New guest: Jenny Kita is their dance teacher. I’ll be honest I’ve never heard of her (apologies if anyone reads this and is upset) but she seems cool! And fun! Looks like this will be a more enjoyable episode than the last two. I’m hoping BTS’s awkwardness with females doesn’t make this too cringy.

What the hell was that Jimin *face palm*

Haha, poor V had to go first and demonstrate his solo skills. Is this the first time we’ve seen him shy lol? Suga on the floor laughing at him - hilarious. OMG I just love this band. J-Hope killed it – he really is quite the natural. Suga just about ended me – started off like a kid dancing to Hannah Montana before morphing into a dog that’s trying to walk across a slippery floor. RM, on the other hand, looks like a Dad at a wedding trying to jig along to Tell Me Ma by Shamrock. Jimin’s choice was a cross between a cowboy line-dancing and your favourite cousin body-popping at the same wedding RM was at. Oh Jin… reminded me of my of my fifty year old uncle trying to dance to Run DMC’s It’s Tricky. Last up was Jungkook, the youngest (Maknae! I’m learning!) JK was pretty good! Just his shyness letting him down at the end – so cute. Lol at Jimin grabbing his foot as though to pull him back – double cute

Ahahaha Jenny’s splitting them into groups and putting a stronger dancer with a weaker dancer – this will even up the playing field!

LOL at the range of fear and elation at the idea of battling it out on the dance floor with some special guests! I think by now we know which reaction each band member displayed.

Okay so the dance battle was a mix of hilarious and cringy. Suga was a surprise! He did pretty well in round one. RM and Jin did as well as could be expected lol. Jimin and Jungkook did great – especially shy Jungkook, even though he fell at one point. J-Hope simply knocked it out of the park. I really didn’t know he was so good especially with making it up as he went along. He really did have great musicality and versatility like Jenny said.

Aww, at V with his arm over Jungkook’s shoulder as they listen to their next challenge. It’s always nice to see how comfortable the band are at showing physical affection. Just looking at the image below I can imagine there may be some shippers for these two.

So the next challenge for the band is to make up their own choreography. This should be interesting as being good at dancing does not mean you are automatically creative and vice versa!

RM trying to twerk and the band’s reactions, *I laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe*. Jimin has a lot of confidence and talent; that’s all I’m going to say lol.

I really do love how much fun this band can have together and how much they laugh.

OMG, Jungkook’s got a cheeky side – I love it!!

Jungkook: Because I was too lazy… I just slowly made up a simple choreo Staff: Don’t you feel sorry towards your members? Jungkook (glances sideways to make sure they’re not looking): Well since I’ve already won first place I don’t have the heart to help them get 1st place.

You naughty little bean lol!

It’s nice to see RM and Jimin interacting – and Jimin so calm. I take my hat off to them both; I would not have the confidence to practice dancing in the middle of the street - let alone one of the more famous attractions in the city! Poor Jimin, he tried to be patient but RM’s lack of skill was getting to him in the end.

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezo, Jungkook can eat!!! Where on earth does he put it?! He’s like, so slender! Must have hollow legs (as my gran would say).

Awww RM and Jimin shared a sweet moment while watching the 4th July fireworks. I’ve said it quite a few times now but I love how open and affectionate these guys can be and it was just lovely to see some genuine friendship between these two. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen Jimin let his guard down and be that little bit softer and calmer. I’m getting the sense that inside he’s a sweet, gentle boy who puts on a cool and loud persona to protect himself.

It’s also becoming clearer that Jin and J-Hope are good friends and have a lot of fun together.

The dynamics of friendships within the group are starting to show themselves. I’m not saying that any of band are not friends – far from it! Everyone clearly enjoys everyone else’s company but there will always be friendships that are closer than others and each friendship will have it’s own nuances.

Challenge day:

RM did really well in the challenge! Good on him. He came through for Jimin and that was so great to see. Jin did really well too and you could tell he really tried to make his and J-Hope’s dance good by practicing. I think he and RM deserve a prize just for clearly making the most effort to improve. Suga, V, and Jungkooks’ dance was good but a bit lacklustre compared to the other two, which we saw coming. We’ll see shortly who wins – it’s gotta be between RM+Jimin and J-Hope+Jin.

Aww, it was sweet for Jimin to say he thought Jin had really improved. J-Hope was a sweetheart too for acknowledging Jin had tried.

And yay Jin and J-Hope won! Hard work pays off!

 I really enjoyed this episode. We have started to see the band’s personalities and friendships start to shine through. I hope the next episode is similar or even builds on this and we don’t go back to the style of eps 1 and 2.

#bts #American hustle life #heathered beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep 2 musings

Recap of Ep 1; so BTS arrived in LA to learn about hip hop. They got about 1 days’ worth of sightseeing and fun before they were “kidnapped” late at night in the van while making a ‘stop off’ on the way back to the hotel. Some of them seemed genuinely scared and that was not okay. However, they are now in ‘hip hop school’ and have already met their teachers and special guest; Coolio.

Let’s see what Episode 2 brings…

Wow so V actually had to do the push ups. Give the lad his due I think his first set of push ups were impressive enough.

Straight into the tough talk. This feels a little over-dramatic; even for a tv show. I get what Coolio is saying though. Hip hop saved his life from prison and/or an early death and therefore it’s nothing to joke about. However, I do think he’s laying it on a bit thick for the camera.

LOL, called it. Coolio leaves the room after his tough talk and calmly has breakfast (?)

I do wonder if there are translators around behind the scenes and whether they can do their homework in Korean lol.

Their performance for Coolio was pretty impressive for off the cuff - although I’m curious as to what Coolio thinks of the dancing. BTS are great dancers but is that polished synchronisation to much for hip hop?

Coolio calling RM and V “Brain and Clown”? Bwahahahahaha, omg.

Okay, I choked over the murder stats for the Compton area. I googled it, they didn’t fake how dangerous it is. And they want BTS to go out into it on their own. Jeez, is that really necessary?! I want to say that they wouldn’t put the band in any real danger but… I actually really don’t know this band or their management well enough to be sure to what extent their safety weighs against profit.

Jeez, I feel like this should be some kind of meme. Boy scouts venture into da’ hood to give out cookies and lemonade.

The ‘sing to the neighbours’ challenge is quite cringy. I think I’m going to need to fast forward. *side note* there’s something about the way BTS act around women that reminds me strongly of the movie American Pie. It’s awkward and over-played and a bit ridiculous. Who would be who thought? My opinion: (and this is only based on how they act around women and NOT their personalities also this is really spur of the moment and no in-depth thought from me lol)

Jin = John (party dude - mostly vocal on his appreciation) Suga = Jessica (can’t put my finger on why but it just fits)  RM = Sherminator (I really think he’s a nerd deep in side) J-Hope = Oz (the girlfriend kind of lad but not immune for stupidity with girls) Jimin = a very tame Stiffler (because he over-acts) V = Finch (like Suga I can’t explain it but to me it fits) Jungkook = A cross between Jim and Heather (clueless and a bit standoffish).

IMPORTANT NOTE 

The reason I likened Jimin to Stiffler is simply because he is a bit extra… like over-compensating kind of extra. I really don’t think he’s had much experience with girlfriends or boyfriends. He does not have Stiffler’s obnoxious personality – I cannot stress that enough!!!

BACK TO THE SHOW

Phew that singing to the neighbour cringe-fest is over. Thank god. Let’s see how they did with their homework.

Lol, Jungkook, J-Hope and Jimin look like they are struggling a bit as their teacher is talking about a song they should sing. I don’t know whether the struggle is with the language barrier, or that they are not really interested in hip hop music or are a bit underwhelmed by the particular song choice. However, they still clearly want to work hard and try to do their best. This offers a moments’ insight into their work ethics and self-motivation. This is just my opinion but after watching Rookie King, China Job, and now American Hustle Life, I get the vibe that J-Hope’s motivation, at least at that time, came from a place of wanting attention and feeling competitive. Jimin’s motivation on the other hand seems to come from wanting to prove himself and also needing attention. There is a subtle difference between J-Hope’s want and Jimin’s need for attention – Jimin’s need is from perceived starvation while J-Hope’s want is more for validation.

Jungkook’s motivation seems to come from the need to please and to be seen to be a good. These are fairly strong motivations and I would be surprised if they don’t do well as a team.

So the winners of the sing to the neighbours activity get to have dinner with Coolio and the losers have to stay behind.

Aww, it’s nice seeing Jungkook having the confidence to sit next to Coolio in the car and actually converse. Atta boy.

Poor RM, V, Suga, and Jin. Not only do they have to stay behind but also do push ups and sit ups as punishment.

Jimin, Jungkook, and J-Hope are drinking sparkling water at the restaurant… Wait, of course, they are all underage for drinking in America. I forgot. I think it’s 21 there and Jungkook’s, what, 16???

OMG Jimin’s expression was so cute when he tasted the meat. Happy bean.

Hahaha, Suga and Jin were totally milking their mini win over V and RM. They definitely have a vindictive streak in them lol. OMG Suga “Go to the restroom for me” (!)

Jimin looks waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too awake for 7am.

Wait, did V just go to Tony’s bed?????????? Wow, the confidence, the daring lol.

“Wash your face, brush your teeth,” lol, the teachers are turning into parents!

I love V.

Lol at Jin going around feeding everyone a nutritious crisp (chip) breakfast.

Jimin doesn’t seem too enthusiastic today – kinda just sitting there, barely claps when the others do, doesn’t put his hand up to say he’s hungry. I wonder what’s up. Is he tired? Sick? Fed up? Fallen out with someone?

Shopping: *hides face* at RM and V in the underwear store. Lol, that silver hat makes V look like a glittery sperm. Aww at V charming the older ladies. But HEY! Don’t teach them to say “Jimin is dumb” in Korean! Poor Jimin. Lol V, I’m disappointed young man.

Ah, RM breaking things again.

What on earth is J-Hope talking about in the car lol. Drums? Glasses? What?

LMAO at Jin and Suga in the other car. Oh my god Jin Jin: We need to do Fire Show. Teacher (frown): Like fireworks? Jin: Like cook. … Teacher (mildly impressed): You know how to do that? Jin (nonchalant): No Teacher (excuse me, what?): It’s your first time? Jin: Yeah Teacher (wide eyed and alarmed): You’re going to burn down… Jin and Suga: Don’t worry, you trust me. Teacher (hand to head in mild panic): ooooooooh

So the cooking part… yeah. I think I my brain might have gone offline when Jimin walked in with Tony dressed like…. Well okay, I may have had to fast forward through most of that cooking skit.

So to the results of the cooking challenge…

Jeez, Coolio, harsh much? Poor V, labelled a disadvantage before nearly having his spine ejected out his mouth by the force of those backslaps.

J-Hope, Jimin and Jungkook win again! Oooh, I just noticed, 3 Js… J3?

Chokes $1000 ??????!!!!

Aww, the others got a chain too, nice.

A good moral at the end of the day; do it for the love of music not the fame or money.

Jimin in the traditional girl’s clothes; he looks cute. Also, look at those arm muscles.

Wait, Suga, who were you shaking/holding hands with in that end scene?

Okay, so this is my least favourite series so far. There are a lot of cringe moments and there has been someone questionable things said and done. However, it’s still early days so maybe it will chill out a little in the coming episodes.

#bts #American hustle life #heathered beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS American Hustle Life Ep 1

Right, so in this series BTS are going to LA to learn about hip hop. Sounds good! Let’s go!

Lol, a few minutes in and some vague answers about what hip hop means to the band and I get the feeling that this will be quite a challenge to some of them.

Hey, look, I’m no expert here (classic rock fan, hello) but dance-wise I think most of them will get on well with hip hop. I’m guessing RM and Jin might struggle the most since we’ve already established that they find dance the hardest out of the band. Musically and vocally wise, though, I think Suga is the most likely to find an affinity - in my uneducated brain I’m thinking the jump from rap to hip-hop is shorter than the jump from pop to hip-hop. Watch me be very very wrong lol.

Ooh so BTS have already made an impact in Japan; I might need to back track a little and check that out.

Aww they are so excited about going to America they can barely contain their grins. Some of them are practically bouncing on the balls of their feet. I’m so happy for them.

I want to say it again. I just love the politeness of the South Korean culture. I also love the discipline BTS have. Their bowing has almost military precision.

OMG they are so giddy seeing the sights of LA. I swear your heart is of stone if you don’t grin like a sappy fool watching them be happy.

ROFL at J-Hope challenging that street dancer and pretty much winning.

Why do I get the feeling that car rides with all 7 of them are pretty much exactly like that all the time; jamming at deafening volumes and no doubt squabbling over the radio/music and complaining that they’re hungry while one of them somehow manages to sleep the whole way through.

Woah!!!!!

Okay, so it’s obvious to us viewers that this is a set up but some of the lads look genuinely terrified they are being kidnapped. This is a bit much. Yikes!

Jeez, poor J-Hope looks actually scared. Ok time out!. They’re shouting at them in English and most of them don’t understand. They might have an instinct that something’s not adding up but I can imagine it’s harder to be rational when you can’t understand what’s being said.

Ok, that’s enough, Jungkook genuinely looks ready to cry. This isn’t funny.

Why are they taking shoes and one sock off?????

I mean, we knew it was a set up but yikes. I don’t think BTS are that good at acting to look that level of shaken. Now they all look exhausted, although I doubt they are going to get enough sleep in that environment.

Yeah… I really didn’t like that kidnapping thing. I mean, I get they maybe want to toughen the lads up and get them into the right frame of mind for hip hop (and kidnapping is the way to do it????) but that felt too much. I think it was the shouting in English that was the final straw.

Ah, I called it; I knew they’d not get a lot of rest. Half of them were barely awake when the teachers were talking to them. Poor Jungkook is like “I’m too tired to even try working out what they are saying.”

Ha, as I thought at the beginning, none of them have a clue about hip hop – did they even answer one question right?

ROFL, oh Jimin, I know nothing about hip hop and I am not American either but even I have heard of Coolio!!!!

Oh V *sigh*. He was just a loveable puppy who wanted to make a new friend. Poor thing.

Okay, so that was the first episode. I really didn’t like the kidnapping scenario but it’s done now so let’s move on. Hopefully we’ll see them learning more about hip hop in the next episode.

#bts #American hustle life #heathered beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS China Job Ep 3 musings

So part three of BTS China Job and it looks like they are heading to a fansign. After this awful year with the Covid pandemic it seems almost bizarre that this was once a reality – that a band could meet and shake hands with lots of fans in an enclosed space. When fansigns become the norm again then we will know we’ve triumphed over the Corona Virus!

So… aww one of the first things we’re greeted with in this episode is sweet little Jungkook looking all shy for the camera as he’s getting his make up done. I wonder if he grows out of this? He didn’t seem overly confident in front of the camera in Carpool Karaoke so the answer may be “not entirely”. It’s cute though. Relatable.

Aww, the band back calling each other handsome again. I just love it. More men need to find this confidence – I hate toxic masculinity so much.

V and J-Hope are so cute when they interact! J-Hope seems to have a real fondness for the younger ones.

Awww, sleepy Jimin!!!!!! <3 It’s barely been 2 series but normally he’s so hyper and alert it’s weird seeing him anything less. *Sigh* I think he might be becoming my bias – if that’s a thing in the BTS world. So far I’ve kind of thought of him as a bit of an underdog and I am a sucker for underdogs.

Woah, those big men in front of the fan sign table are intimidating. Crikey, they’re a bit forceful too!

Most of these fans are just young girls, and from what I can see, completely behaving themselves - there was no need to be that hands-on! Maybe it looked worse on camera than it actually was…

 Ahahahahahaha Jin’s nickname in China is Princess. Somehow it really fits!

Jimin’s nickname is popcorn chicken??? LMAO. I don’t think he was too impressed. Aww J-Hope pretend eating him – calling him delicious.

WOW, their rock, paper, scissors game is ON POINT. That was so impressive – I guess they quickly found a way to sort out arguments, which is so healthy, and what a fun way too!

Nawwww, RM put his arm around Jimin in a shoulder hug when they were taking photos with the fan. While I feel like there can be some annoyance shown to Jimin at times it’s clear that the band cares for him. I’m glad it was RM too as he’s the leader and it’s great he can also lead when it comes to affection.

Aww bless Tae for getting down to that fan’s height, sweet boy <3

Some fun as well as interesting answers during the food questions. A few food allergies – although J-Hope didn’t mention any and I thought he had some since he said he sufferers from allergies when they first arrived. Maybe it’s ‘hay fever’ type allergies? Oh well I suppose we’ll get to the bottom of it eventually.

Lol, RM, Jungkook, V and Jin are the biggest eaters and Jungkook proving it by drawing steaks as his favourite moment of the trip.

China Job final thoughts: this was a nice little series. It was entertaining as well as informative in letting us get to know them and their work lives better. The band showed they are very sweet, fun, and polite young men and great ambassadors for South Korea. I find myself feeling increasingly eager for the next series.

Note to myself: I cannot believe it but so far I haven’t twigged on any obvious candidates for shipping, which is oddly refreshing. They all treat each other with such care and physical affection (as well as brotherly teasing) that it’s hard to pick any two out. I fully expect this to change as the band gets older and they start to hone their images and get some influence from fandom. I also suspect some friendships will drift a little while others deepen as the pressures of fame start to build. It’ll be interesting (and boy do I overuse this word) to see how long it takes.   

#bts #china job #heather-beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

[heathered-beinn]

BTS China Job Ep 2 musings

I feel like most of my thoughts watching BTS are literally just me going “OMG they are so cute”, “OMG they’re so funny!” “Ahhhh they’re so sweet!” “Ahh flail!”, “Ahh *dead*!”

I mean, how is this band so wholesome and I DON’T mean in a Disney-fied “innocent and pure” kind of way (although they are a little bit like that at times) but in a “they are so very human and it’s a joy to see” kind of way. I mean they are not without flaws but overall they are so overwhelming sweet and funny and playful and just good, it’s almost tragic that it feels like a rarity.

I mean they tell each other they look handsome – as well they should! No man should feel uncomfortable telling another man they look handsome! And whether they say that to play up to the camera or mean it as a tease, just them actually saying it is such a healthy thing to witness. I really wish my own culture was this open.

So back to the episode… hahaha Suga still looks half asleep – I feel ya mate, I don’t function until midday. Ooooh so Suga produces music too! Wow! This band is not only talented and hardworking but they have passion in their profession.

A lot of cute moments as they prepare for the award show.

I can’t help but find the the subtle difference between how the band reacts to J-Hope’s video cam compared to Jimin’s video cam quite revealing. I really feel for Jimin as the band didn’t play up to his camera as much as J-Hopes and treated his recording as though it was a bit irritating. Was this just because of the timing? Were they feeling the nerves at this point and didn’t want to be bothered? Or was it because Jimin’s younger than J-Hope and they don’t take him so seriously? I mean, okay, Jin had a slight point by saying Jimin wasn’t insightful because in all fairness his filming  wasn’t verbally insightful. However, as the band neglected to play up to camera, the footage actually became insightful in showing us how the band are when they are ‘off’ character and ‘working’ behind the scenes.

Obviously I have no idea what was really going on here and we only see a snapshot of their reality but from what we do see there seems to be a little impatience from the rest of the band towards Jimin in general. Alright, Jimin does seem quite vocal and loud and I can imagine at times it might be a bit much. But, like I said in my musings for Rookie King, Jimin comes across as playing a character rather than playing himself. If this is actually the case then I wonder if that’s making it hard for the rest of the band to engage with him at times. Then again, I could be completely misreading the situation and/or over-analysing small inconsequential moments.

Anyway, as the episode moves on I’m finding less to talk about, although the footage is entertaining.

Jungkook seems a little camera shy – an odd trait to have as an idol but maybe that just helps make him more seem more human, more real, to the fans?

Okay, so V’s cam at the end; the band’s reaction to it is pretty similar to J-Hope’s, therefore, their reaction to Jimin’s cam really does seem more related to Jimin rather than the fact he’s younger (as V is the same age) and it weakens the timing argument. However, I maintain that I could simply be reading into something that actually isn’t there.

#bts #china job #heathered beinn musings

[heathered-beinn]

BTS China Job Episode 1 - musings

So this series is about BTS going on a short trip to china, which will include the V awards. It is listed as taking place in 2014 so I’m guessing it’s about 6-12 months after Rookie King

Okay, so the opening airport scene; the first thing I noticed is some of them have dyed their hair! Red seems to be the theme and I like it 😊 Even little Jungkook looks like he’s dyed his – so cute!

So Rap Monster is writing a song; that’s great – it’s nice to see young pop artists writing their own music. It adds an extra dimension to the band’s artistry. Interesting that there’s some pressure on him to get it finished by the end of the trip and that an earlier version was rejected. Is this a first glimpse into how hard they are worked? RM seems more resigned than stressed though but he could easily be putting on a brave face for the camera. Definitely going to keep an eye on this.

It’s nice to see Suga and Rap Monster sitting together in the airport. I’m guessing the older people sitting and walking with them are their agents, assistants, and managers. V is once again interacting mostly with either Jungkook or Jimin in the airport – in fact it’s clear him and Jimin are really close, which is interesting as it didn’t come across so much in Carpool Karaoke – although to be fair no one friendship really did. That’s what drew me in – the fact the whole band seemed close.

I like how the walk through Beijing airport shows that while there may a slight bias for older versus younger when splitting into groups, when the whole band comes together it is clear they really all care about each other. It was just nice to see the younger ones dispersed around the older ones. They clearly all get on, which is miraculous for a band in general let along a band with 7 members!

Jungkook looks like he’s grown an inch or so since Rookie King – I’m really liking his red hair – suits him.

I chuckled when the manager counted them into the vehicle – he so long as there is seven it doesn’t matter lol!

I love how casually (and naturally) affectionate these lads are with each other; so refreshing to see. It’s the small things like J-Hope just brushing his finger against Jungkook’s jaw.

When it’s so natural and unnecessary and understated it means so much more because it’s not for show. There’s still a trace of ‘ew get off me’ at times but it’s funny to watch rather eye-rolling and cringy.

Incidentally, I don’t know whether it was the light of my screen but Jimin looked a little pale on the bus, plus he seemed quieter, I hope he wasn’t ill. Or travel sick – actually I wonder if any of them do get motion sickness, that would really suck since travelling is such a big part of their job.

Moving on. It was interesting to get a glimpse of them waiting around for the rehearsal to start. With them still being so early in their careers I was curious to see what stage they were at in their comfort levels. RM seemed a little nervous at the size of the place – it was his main focus when talking - but he played the nerves off. Jin seemed quietly restless in the background, looking around and fiddling with his in-ear/hair. Suga looked two seconds from falling asleep and that probably helped keep him calm lol. The hat was perfect – I wonder if this is an inside joke, that Suga likes to sleep. V seems a little restless too but plays it down by dancing around. J-Hope looked outwardly comfortable with the situation – a normal-sized nervous but, like RM, I wonder how much of that was a front. Jungkook, more intriguingly looked excited to get going, which is really great to see from the quiet/shy youngest. A little unexpected if I’m honest. Likewise in my surprise, Jimin was the one who looked the most nervous and I kind of wanted to hug him. Compared to Rookie King he seems a lot quieter and calmer in this new series and I don’t know whether I should be concerned. It might be that he’s just naturally calmed down over time but I felt that he was a little overlooked – particularly artistically – in Rookie King so there’s a bit of me that’s concerned this has manifested into his confidence.

The rehearsal: wow their dancing is fantastic – I’m now starting to understand the hype around this band. The sing, rap, dance, write their own music and clearly put a lot of effort in to their work - it’s impressive.

Oh no J-Hope has allergies – I hope they’re not too serious! Poor Jungkook, I wonder if the air pressure during the flight affected his ears.

Good to hear the band vocalise fan safety. While it’s nice people care enough to want to meet them at the airport, crowds can be dangerous especially if emotions (and expectations) get too high.

Them practising Chinese was utter chaotic cuteness.

I noticed Suga touching Jimin’s arm a few times and leaning into him.

 It was an interesting interaction and not one that I could read the intention of. It could be described as comforting Jimin (although he didn’t seem to need it at that moment or vice versa) or quietly seeking Jimin’s attention (but neither made any further contact, be it eye or touch contact so I’m not convince) or, more strangely it could be seen as possessive on Suga’s part – although, again, that doesn’t make sense in context. It was just a couple of weird, unexpected moments. Certainly something I’ll keep an eye on.  

Hahahahahaha them practising their speech in the “dorm”.

Wow RM how many languages do you speak???? Very impressive.

V was so funny trying to get the words out. It’s great they are taking the time to learn their host’s language so they can engage with the fans. That is dedication and shows they appreciate their fans.

OMG, I’m going to say it again, this band are so funny and so playful. It’s a joy to watch them.

#bts #china job #heathered beinn musings