We are all made up of the people we’ve encountered, everything we have experienced. Little parts of these people and places has shaped us, moulded us into who we are. The good, the bad, the pretty, the ugly — it all stems from how we respond to the situations we are presented with.

I am reminded of Kintsugi: a Japanese art of attaching broken pottery pieces back together with gold.

All of us may have accumulated various cracks over the years: from heartache, disappointment, failure, grief, despair. …

During Revolt Festa 2021 weekend, Oda Tolsrod, Revolutionaries’ Publishing Director, gave a presentation entitled BTS and the book revolution.

Filter was introduced on BTS’ 2020 album, Map of the Soul: 7, as Jimin’s solo track — his pride and joy. When Jimin performed the song live during their Map of the Soul ON:E online concert in October of the same year, he blew ARMY away with his intricate choreography, focus, and varying color schemes.

When Map of the Soul: 7 was released, Filter quickly shot up the charts. It ranked #1 on Amazon US for three consecutive days. As of April 2020, Filter set another record by being the fastest Korean solo song to surpass 40 million streams in…

The BTS rap line performance of UGH! staged as a part of their Map of the Soul ON:E concert was everything fans had hoped for — and more. This analysis explores the highly anticipated first performance of UGH!, and discusses the strong connection between the lyrics and staging, showing how the two compliment each other and work in unison to create a powerful performance.

The backstory of UGH!

RM, Suga, and j-hope use UGH! to criticize a society where people hide behind anonymity while using their anger against others. UGH! represents their frustration with malice-filled anger.

When RM starred on his own episode of…

Breaking generational patterns

Can feel

Lonely

When something has been the ‘norm’ for generations

It feels intimidating to speak up

Scary even

You feel like you’re the crazy one —

And a society that is not open to change would support that notion

Could we blame society?

The ‘norm’ was what kept people in their place

To not touch the system, to not keep anyone accountable

All in the name of so-called ‘peace’

When breaking generational patterns

Though it may feel like you are grasping around in the dark

I would like to remind you

That you are progressing, still

…

I first heard of Almond when BTS members RM, Suga, and J-Hope were seen reading it during their reality series In The Soop. RM and Suga agreed that this book was “well-written” and “an interesting read.” This piqued my curiosity, which led me to search its synopsis and a translated version of the book.

Almond is Won-Pyung Sohn’s debut fiction novel. The English translation was done by Sandy Joosun Lee.

Almond follows the story of a boy, Yunjae, who was born with a brain condition called alexithymia. In the Author’s Note, it was clarified that alexithymia refers to “the inability…

A year ago, I wrote on how it was baffling that the Recording Academy had not acknowledged BTS despite their Map of the Soul: Persona album breaking multiple records. Records not just for each track making it to the Billboard charts, but also a music video that broke Guinness World records.

A year later, 24th November 2020 —

as per the reaction of four of the members above, it was announced that BTS are nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance!

(The complete list of 2021 GRAMMYs nominees can be accessed here.)

In this article, I will be breaking down:

• …

love alone was not enough

We met in debate

Eye-balling each other’s competition

– ourselves.

Little side glances turned into

Ongoing chats, topics ranging from

Vague insights of the future, to

Endless thoughts about the purpose of our existence

Daily, we were falling — and falling fast

Blooming, we both were

Unable to deny our attraction

Tossing and turning, occur

Weeks turned to months

Eventually you confessed

Regretfully, as you lamented years after, via text

Easing into the start of our relationship

New,

Each other’s first real relationship

Valiant we were, in the face of naysayers

Eagerly, we basked in…