Just felt like sharing this video. This is the debut song for JYP's latest duo Dodree, which dropped just a few months ago. Their concept blends modern pop with traditional Korean music. I personally love listening to traditional music from various cultures, so this is right up my alley. If you enjoy traditional music as well, then I do recommend giving these ladies a listen.

I was looking through old BTS merch stuff earlier and suddenly got hit with the realization that they debuted THIRTEEN years ago. Like what do you mean it’s been that long???

I still remember being a teenager sitting at my computer after school replaying No More Dream videos for hours. Back then I was begging my parents to let me buy my first army bomb because international shipping felt impossible lol

Now I’m in my 30s and I still have every army membership kit stacked in my closet somewhere. And because V has always been my bias, I even went through a phase where I ordered those coke cans with his face on them like they were precious collectibles. The sweetest part is how every merch era reminds me of a different stage of my life. Some albums remind me of college, some photocards remind me of old friendships, some season’s greetings instantly bring me back to my first job era. It honestly feels like my entire 20s got archived through BTS merch.

And one thing that really hit me recently is how huge BTS became globally. Not just famous, but big enough that entire platforms basically built BTS ecosystems around them. On Bunjang you can seriously go down a rabbit hole looking through old BTS merch pages, rare pcs, debut era stuff and old collabs, and they even organize some of it by year so it almost feels like taking a trip through BTS history.

I work at Etsy and I see the same thing all the time there too. The amount of fanmade BTS merch people create is actually insane. Keyrings, clothing, pcs, toploaders, acrylic stands, fanart prints… it literally never ends. Other fandoms definitely have fanmade merch too but BTS is honestly on another level.

And obviously companies do this because BTS merch is huge. But sometimes I look at how detailed some of these pages are and I swear the people making them had to be hardcore ARMYs themselves. The details are so specific and thoughtful that it genuinely feels like they were made by someone who actually lived through those eras with us.

And now somehow I’m a grown adult still getting excited over photocards. Ah I just love them so much

I’m honestly feeling really frustrated with fandom culture lately. I’m not that old—I remember being fan online of other artists before, and I never experienced this level of negativity back then. Today, it just feels insane and out of control.

I don’t use TikTok anymore. Opening a photo or video on Instagram, most of the comments are things I can’t even understand, fans repeating the same lines, memes and gifs over and over. It seems they cant even appreciate new song or anything else? I get the jokes and memes, but honestly, if I were an idol reading that, I’d be smacking my forehead. Feels like no matter if they drop the best song or kill it on stage, fans just react the same way every single time… like bots.

Then there’s Twitter, endless fanwars, tons of solo stan accounts… not to mention shipping accounts and NSFW content full of perversion and some k1nks which sadly seems very common in our fandom and I hate it and don’t care about that. I’m here for music, for my favs, performances, general info and of course all the other activities my favorites do. Not gonna lie, I don’t need explicit fantasies popping up everywhere. Ok that you’re into them, but can we keep that stuff private? I often realize that a lot of accounts belong to kids who are like 10 years old, which is honestly shocking and very disturbing to me.

I know we pick our favs partly because of how they look, but at the end of the day, this is still music and sometimes it feels like that gets completely forgotten. I really don’t feel like joining discussions or arguments like “he’s hotter than your bias.”

Im trying to curate my Twitter and I really think it is great source of new info, but honestly, if you’re looking for news, it’s almost impossible to avoid this stuff…

Had This clip come across my YouTube feed. It's beautiful moments like this that make me so proud and happy to be a STAY. 🥹

Mine came when my husband and I made a trip to the zoo in the nearest major city to where we live, as part of an afternoon out for my thirtieth birthday just a few months ago. At the time, I was wearing a Do It shirt, and an SKZ necklace. The woman who happened to be working the ticket counter saw my necklace, and revealed herself to be a fellow STAY. We geeked out over our shared Felix bias briefly. Lol. 💖 What are some of y'all's experiences?

I keep noticing more fans go to K-pop events just to farm content for their social media, not to actually enjoy or respect the artists.

I saw some videos from send-off event, it was probably Ateez/Skz or/and Enhypen , I dont remember but tbh it could be any group and idols were signing when fans suddenly yelled things like “say THIS” or “repeat THAT,” clearly some random TikTok stupid meme. The idol looked genuinely confused and very uncomfortable, but of course, phones were out recording because every interaction apparently has to be “content.” He awkwardly repeated something (i guess he had no idea what he was saying), and those people screamed and laughed like they’d just trained a zoo animal. Like… seriously? You honestly believe buying ticket gives you right to behave like this?

Maybe I’m wrong and this is just how things go these days, but you could literally see that he was so uncomfortable. Honestly, I wouldn’t blame him if he was like, “Hard pass,” and walked away.

There’s a big difference between politely asking for greeting for sick friend or giving compliments, even some joking and treating idols like meme-performing NPCs for TikTok because you need to prove you’re the ultimate stan with the dopest reels.

I don’t know how this plays out at concerts in Asia, but I can’t help but wonder if some Western fans’ behavior ties into the way Asian idols are exoticized or infantilized. Would these fans act the same toward Western artists, or do they subconsciously see Asian idols as more “acceptable” to command and mock? For some reason, it seems “okay” when it’s a Korean idol.

The saddest part? These "fans" didn’t even seem to care about the group, music, sometimes they even ignore other members, they just wanted stuff for their content. They think they are the main character. Well, idols are not your content machines, NPCs, or zoo exhibits.

Some of y’all seriously need to relearn concert etiquette and basic respect.

One of the strangest things Kpop does for me (and since for me Kpop is purely a trauma response, that's saying something) is for the youngest idols I keep thinking "whoa, I was that young once?!" and then it brings up a lot of feelings from back then (think 15 years old) and how I should have been protected by a lot of adults, but absolutely wasn't.

Am I alone in this?