I find it unbelievable how you can put your blood, sweat, tears and too much time into your writing with 209392730174 instances of writer’s block and a reader can just blitz it in a few hours and go, “Right, onto the next one.”
I’ve always heard about how Blood, Sweat and Tears being sort of a turning point/ another milestone. At least from what I’ve read. And you mentioned it again in your reply about the targeted hate. But what was it like, when it dropped, what happened? How was it different? Can you share a little bit more?
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The thing to remember about that era is, when people first heard/saw Blood Sweat and Tears, they hadn't yet seen Lie. The beauty and anguish expressed in Lie, they hadn't yet seen that choreo that would come weeks later.
It was a double whammy. The stragglers that had been denying BTS's talent after Blood, Sweat and Tears, practically broke down after Lie. Everybody had to admit that BTS and Jimin in particular were on another level. No matter the fandom, you couldn't deny BTS had to be at least one of the best. That was BTS three years after their debut. In my mind, that was the point of no return for the group. And so it's fitting that Cypher Pt 4, their rap anthem on self-love, is on their Wings album.
Anyway, taking it back to Blood, Sweat and Tears, we have to talk about Jimin. He did real damage just in the first 10 seconds of the song. That stare is something I saw people talk about for days. The whole group impressed everyone tbh. I mean, once people saw the choreography on the comeback show, the only thing to say was that yes, BTS is a top group. And yes, they aren't from the Big 3.