#( i'm gonna write a separate solo for the unit performance but since this covers the vlive in its entirety it had to be included briefly!! )

[seungcheolrk]

camera, lights, vlive.

february 23rd, 2019: convex’s first vlive. featuring the throwback harmonica. 

truthfully, and unsurprisingly, the whole concept of their first vlive terrifies him. being so structured, so formal, seungcheol feels like there’s an added pressure on his shoulders to be interesting and engaging and given that this will be the first time he’s referred to as rap unit leader in public, too, he can’t help but feel nervous. he can’t imagine anyone wouldn’t feel nervous in his shoes— in convex’s shoes, since this is their first public appearance since rome’s departure, too. it’s a lot of firsts and a lot of expectations and a lot of what ifs but it’s here and he’s waiting, bright but scared smile on his face in anticipation as the mc gets to his introduction. 

( he takes not tripping as he walks out and bows in greeting as a victory. small, but a victory nonetheless. ) 

his aforementioned gummy smile is on show as he wanders in following his introduction ( and first recognition as rap unit leader ) from the mc, bowing deeply as he takes his name badge and wiggles a little to the music. he doesn’t overdo it, doesn’t want to look silly or embarrass himself so early on in the live show, and thankfully there’s a wide berth between stiff and robotic and dear god, how do we undebut choi seungcheol? so he thinks he’s got things reasonably in the bag so far. the other members cheer and the mc is smiling and he didn’t hold his name tag upside down ( nor put it on the wrong way up ) so really, everything is going as well as possible. 

unfortunately, with that, he wholly expects things to go downhill, but he tries to stay positive. 

it’s odd only having three members from the rap unit to introduce, and he thinks rome’s absence still weighs on them quite a lot and will do for a while. even in such a big group, one member leaves such a large gap that seungcheol feels as if it’s impossible not to notice it or focus on it. he dreads to think what the comments will be like, dreads to think what people have to say about him being a leader now when they have barely heard him say three sentences since he debuted, but he tries not to think about it. they’re careful not to mention the missing thirteenth member, or anything about the ‘scandal’ and he trusts that when they start reacting to comments in a bit they won’t read any that reference it. after all, this is their first vlive. this is supposed to be a joyous occasion; a new beginning and a promise of many more live shows to come. why would anyone want to bring the mood down by reminding them of everything they’re trying to ignore? why would they want to bring up an artist they ( reportedly ) kicked from the label? 

he distracts himself laughing at some joke he doesn’t really hear from the mc, nods as they introduce the next segment.

his passion for this broadcast. since it would be convex’s first ever, he’d thought of writing something about them doing well and taking care of one another, thought about setting a goal of so many hearts and promises to return the love to fans with their future activities and releases, but in the end he settles on the former. at a time like this, seungcheol thinks sharing love between the members and fans is the best thing he can do. let’s love! he writes, let’s show our charm today and return all the hearts fans give!! convex fighting!! the mc doesn’t read every comment, but it’s there on screen for fans and the members to read regardless. 

when the time comes for syllable poems, he does his best to be quiet and unnoticeable. words have never been his speciality and he’d only make a fool of himself stumbling over not only his confident speech but a poorly thrown together poem, too. thankfully with so many members, it makes it easy for him to fade into the background when he wants or needs to, yet still come back into the foreground with everyone else when they spend a little time hearing comments left by viewers. it’s kind of surreal to him that so many are watching live, spending their time looking at them through a computer or phone screen and sending them love and queries to answer. he knew these things would happen, he’s a fan of plenty of groups himself, but when it’s you, your group, it’s something else entirely. 

as they tease their comeback, he’s reminded of the strict rules they’re on not to spoil anything. teasing is one thing, but they aren’t to reveal concepts, titles, snippets— anything about the song itself. he daren’t think of what the consequences would be but even without them, he doesn’t think there’s any benefit to telling the world anything too revealing. the picture of them all grinning, talking over one another as they sneakily reveal something is in the works is bound to get fans more excited than the title of the track or a single line of lyrics. it always worked that way on him, anyway. 

more comments are read ( and more ‘thank you’s and finger hearts are given from seungcheol to the camera directly ahead of him even if he doesn’t understand anything in all the foreign languages his members are speaking so fluently ) before they jump into the unit performances. 

performing for the first time without rome is weird. it feels unnatural almost. after so long of having him there, even though they’ve distributed the song between them so no actual gaps are left, it still feels like something is missing at times. he knows it’ll take longer than a few weeks, maybe even longer than a few months, to get used to being twelve and three, but that doesn’t stop him from thinking about it obsessively every time he’s reminded. regardless, they have to do it and seungcheol has missed covering songs dearly ( mr chu last month was the first time in a long time, after all ) so he gives it his all, grins brightly and bows as they’re praised for a successful performance.

next, after what feels like forever, comes seungcheol’s favourite portion of the vlive — and what takes up the majority of their time here today — the idol coaching missions. they’re only silly challenges and tasks, the things that are apparently essential for convex to ‘fly higher’ in the years to come, but seungcheol feels a unfamiliar sense of excitement to get stuck in. 

nicknames are strange things, though. seungcheol had always been known as sphere’s scaredy cat and whilst once upon a time, he loved having his own identity and was proud of his eventual acceptance of his fears, now he wants to be more than the way he’ll jump scared at loud noises and flinch at sudden movements of the people around him. he wants to be convex’s reliable rap leader, convex’s gummy smile, convex’s nerd, even. when he thinks about it, though, he struggles to pull anything from the reaches of his mind that’s unique to him. he’s never lived anywhere but seoul, let alone been born elsewhere. he doesn’t have any talents outside of music ( unless you count his extensive knowledge of star wars and resulting jar jar binks impression ) and doesn’t have any particular characteristics that make him distinct besides the presence of his gums in his smile. he wants to be more than a smile, though. he wants to be remembered for being something other than quiet and fearful. he throws around some ideas relating to music but they all feel generic. most of their group plays piano and a great deal play guitar, too, but the more he thinks about it, the clearer it becomes that — as useless as it may be to an idol, especially so early in their career — he plays the most instruments, has the background in the music store, has spent years learning and loving western classical music and grandiose movie scores— hell, his father was even a classical violinist. it’s perfect, even if he does feel a little nervous about how big it sounds. 

“hello, e-everyone! i’m c-c-convex’s rap unit l-leader and maestro! please take care of me.” a chorus of ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s rings through the room as seungcheol is asked to explain his name. “I l-love learning d-different instruments! I want to m-master every instrument.” slipping in the meaning of the word, he giggles quietly. he then momentarily wonders whether or not he should keep talking while he can, make himself stand out a little more to anyone who might be watching that’s brushed over him before so he adds, “I’ve a-also always had an i-interest in western c-classical music and m-movie scores. e-everything comes together to make m-me convex’s maestro!” he grins, clapping his hands together as he raises his voice a little enthusiastically with his final word — his nickname. the members and mc react positively and seungcheol’s grin stays for the rest of the segment and as they transition into the second challenge: personal talents. 

at first, this stumps him, too. he doesn’t think he really has any talents outside of music that will capture anyone’s interest, but there’s nothing to say it has to be separate. nothing says he can’t do a jar jar binks impression ( besides his dignity ), but why do something so strikingly different when he could play with the cards he’s already dealt them? why not show why he deserves the title of convex’s maestro? 

“me? I’m going to show you a little harmonica!” really, he should’ve learnt the first time. he should’ve known after still facing the embarrassment in flashbacks for months after that the harmonica was a demonic instrument sent to this earth just to humiliate him but he still digs it out of his drawers earlier in the month and practises, brings it to the vlive to show them how good he’s gotten at the solo from isn’t she lovely two years later. he focuses himself entirely on it, as if he’s back on his own in the practice room with no pressure to get it perfect ( because that’s always when things are flawless; when no one is watching ). 

the reactions challenge is one he worries about a lot when it’s first proposed to them in planning. he isn’t by any means a ‘reaction king’ unless it involves being spooked and these situations aren’t likely to bless ( or curse? ) him in that way. when it comes to his turn, he’s called upon, asked to pretend the camera has caught him yawning, so he covers his face to laugh and ‘get into character’ as the members count him down. he should feel nervous with so many eyes on him, especially with what he’s about to do, but with aegyo, he rarely feels the level of embarrassment he’s used to. with an unusual ( at least, for shy choi seungcheol ) confidence, he opens his mouth and makes the most exaggerated yawning sound he possibly can before widening his eyes comically at the camera and reaching just past his lips to pull out a finger heart. his shoulders hunch and his eyes wrinkle as he grins, shoots more hearts as he laughs at the reactions around him. for once, he’s proud of himself, proud of the impression he’s made. maybe aegyo is truly the best way for him to make an impression off the stage, though he’s not sure how he feels about that either just yet. as much as he doesn’t want to be convex’s scaredy cat forever, he also doesn’t want to still be known for aegyo at the age of thirty. 

finally, with a few runs of their greeting and hearty advice from their experienced idol coach and mc, it’s time to wrap up. even though a couple hours have passed, he feels like he’s blinked and it’s over. they’ve covered so much, moved through so many segments and challenges and he feels how much they’ve accomplished but it still feels like it’s gone too fast. suddenly, they’re moving onto goodbyes in foreign languages, endless ‘thank you’s and expressions of gratitude to their mc and for the success of their first ever vlive from not only seungcheol but every member, deep bows and all varieties of hearts ( he even sneaks in an apple heart when he’s sure the camera will be a wide shot of all of them ) and any moment now, the cameras will shut off and the comments will stop flooding in and they’ll be back to rehearsing for their first comeback. first. there’s a lot of firsts happening lately but today’s firsts have been like ripping off a plaster — it hurts for a little while doing this without rome, it’s terrifying to him to be on camera and under so much pressure for a little while, but he knows that with time, that will fade and he will heal. he looks forward to their second vlive ( and hopes desperately that it’s a lot more relaxed than this one; where’s their liev? now that would be fun... ).

[nightswithkookmin]

RE HOW BIGHIT MARKETS BTS

Thanks for the question dear.

Marketing is for a lot of things but in BTS's case, I'd say the primary goal of marketing them is to expose the entire group and or the individual members to an audience, a particular audience at a time, to brand them in a way that makes them appealing to that target market- to put it simply.

During one of the recent run episodes, when Jimin performed his dance from Serendipity- which I must say, God he is breathtakingly beautiful when he dances. Serendipity and the choreo is my weakness. If I see anything better than that- hold on, there's filter too. Ayayaya.

Stream Serendipity and Filter🔪

Oh and did y'all see JM's bit in Film out? Omg! I'm afraid I'd have to fly to South K to kiss his talented ass morning, afternoon, evening.

Who's coming?

Anywho, when Jimin performed Serendipity on Run and suggested that was the dance the staff was performing, the members- cough RM, quickly pointed out how he was plugging, self promoting (to Run's target audience)

Run has a different demographic.

When Suga talked about them not being funny on their Let's BTS show on KBS the Host pointed out how they were actually funny in their Run episodes.

A lot of Army(who are already fans of BTS or each individual member) watch Run but not all who watch Run are Army or even listen to BTS songs. So any performance of an individual's music or choreo would attract such a 'unique' viewer who might go on to become that member's stan or bias etc.

Similarly, when a member embarks on a solo project they are exposed to a new or unique audience. That's where most of the solo stans come from.

For V, his fanbase are not just made up of people who enjoy him as a musician but as an actor as well.

He has a strong fanbase in SK outside of 'Army' because of his exposure to the Korean market beyond BTS and this comprises of his musical collaborations with Korean Artists and film companies such as his OST Sweet Night on the series Itaewon class.

It's the same with Suga and IU, his Agust D mixtapes which draws in audiences that are not necessarily into boybands, RM's Mono whixh attracts strong hiphop fans, Jimin's dance collaborations with Taemin for example and his contemporary dance performance which attracts people in the world of contemporary dance and ballet- point in case the black swan performance at the end of the year, Jin and Hobi's MCing etc.

All these projects exposes them to unique audiences and markets outside of Army or BTS's own fanbase.

And I think the best way to understand how this is important or how this affects BigHit's marketing approach is to look at their recent YouQuiz interviews.

Jimin, Jhope and JK were paired to attract aspiring dancers or persons who want to be dancers and learn from these three dance leaders of BTS- or at least they were paired to appeal to them in my opinion.

Tae and RM were equally paired to appeal to creatives and creative minds and persons who are more into composing and writing lyrics and are full of passion and musical geniuses.

Jin and Suga were paired to appeal to mature audiences.

Ten out of ten when any pair is paired in BTS it is for marketing reasons to appeal to certain fanbase or audiences and are often strategic moves unless of course it's to balance things out to not create the impression they are promoting subunits within the group in furtherance of the BTS kumbaya agenda- Team over units or solos.

So Jikook are not gonna be allowed to sit together all the time even if they want to, neither would JinKook, or Sope.

They shake and reshuffle sometimes.

And like Tae said in his 2018 VLive, the company decides who they collaborate in or what market to promote them in.

Tae was allowed to collaborate with Adora on his Chrismas song but not Jimin- which to me is very homophobic but it goes to show the company has a say in who they work with and most importantly which market they work in.

For JK, he's been working his way within the American marke and building a strong fanbase internationally from his English covers of Justin Bieber, Troye Sivan, to his collaboration with Charlie Puth, and most recently Jason Derulo in Savage love- that's a lot of English speaking fanbase he's attracting and appealing to outside of Army.

Tae's English mixtape would achieve a similar feat and draw in a lot of English speaking fans.

Bts did the same with dynamite and coldplay's Fix you.

So by allowing JK to work with renowned Japanese Artists and film companies, collaborating and composing original sound tracks for them such as his Your eyes tell OST, Film out, etc. he is appealing to and drawing in a Japanese audience.

As Hobi explained in his 2019 January Vlive, their mixtapes, solo projects, collaborations with Artists outside of BTS are all ways for them to expand their fanbase individually and build their portfolio.

And these new fans are mostly going to be solo stans who stan him for his music composing abilities but of course some may fall in love with BTS as well and go on to become Army so it's a win win situation.

WOULDN'T THE OTHERS OBJECT

Yes and no.

As long as the company isn't pushing him as a soloist outside of BTS and creating a separate brand with him outside of BTS's own brand I don't think the boys would object to it.

That was the problem they had/have with Jikook. In my opinion.

The company branding Jikook, distinctifying them from the group as a 'couple' subunit, selling their chemistry to fans and advertisers really doesn't and didn't sit well with the group. AT ALL.

In my opinion of course.

You can't create a brand within a brand.

It goes against Bang PD's own objective of prioritizing the team over all else which is what sold the members in the first place.

I just think in JK's case, since 2020, they are just trying to help him find himself and his bearing and his purpose.

He's been trying to find himself since 2020 and he'd talked about losing his passion and had had his passion hijacked and commercialized by the company.

He used to say he didn't know what he was going to do with himself and his life and career after BTS- having him work on music videos, directing, composing, reading these are all ways that they are doing right by him if you ask me.

They are helping him not trying to push their own agendas- which is not to say they might not change their minds about it in the future.

JK is an artist being managed by the company and they owe a duty to him to make the right business decisions for him with his consent- can't stress on the consent bit enough.

Personally, I'm happy about Japan because they are and are shaping out to be queer friendly and have a bit of progressive laws and conducive environments for queer artists to flourish in- if coming out would ruin their careers that's one less worry.

Which by the way I hate anyone who peddles this 'coming out will ruin their careers' nonsense because I can tell you one hundred percent that that is rooted in homophobia and it's not OK.

Don't tell that to no queer people shut up. You are not helping.

I know some say that out of genuine concerns for the boys but PLEASE DON'T. Don't use fear to keep queer people hidden and out of sight. Don't promote closet safety. Rhetorics like that only perpetuate queer invisibility and homophobia- do I need to spell it out to your liberal homophobic ass?!

Coming out is entirely up to them regardless of the risk you think is involved. If they want to take it. They'll take it. It's their choice to make regardless of whatever consequence.

That there are or should be consequences is a problem in of itself.

I don't want to hear 'if JK comes out he's been stupid and reckless and putting Jimin's career at risk'

'If he loves Jimin he wouldn't come out'

Go ahead kiss it😌

If he wants to stay closested respect it. If he wants to come out RESPECT IT TOO.

Support him either ways goddammit!

Y'all gone get me bothered like that huh.

JK POTENTIALLY WITHOUT JIMIN

They both have different career objectives.

I know Jimin says JK is imitating him but chilee JK is his own person. Lol.

Jimin plays too much.

He has his own aspirations.

In 2014 Jimin posted this Christmas song he did with JK. In 2020 he posted his own Christmas song without Jk.

It's not hard to see where his interests in music lie as a musician.

JK covered We don't talk anymore by himself and later did a collaboration with Jimin on the same song. He's done Fools with RM- see where I'm going with this?

Suga said he was more likely to write pop songs for JK but write dance songs for Jimin.

Jk said in the Be interviews bang PD advised him to consider dance performances when writing songs as he himself is a dancer too and need to incorporate in his compositions.

They are two distinct artists and at some point it would become necessary to brand, promote and encourage their uniqueness in their professional lives. They don't got to be tethered to each other all the time.

Personally, I don't think BigHit would want to push official subunits within BTS- yet and it's inclination towards Jikook have always been because of their marketing appeal rather than to further a career objective for both of them.

This goes back to the pairing objectives I talked about earlier. If they are going to pair Jikook professionally as an official subunit within the group it wouldn't be because they are a couple and ought to be together all the time but because it is smart for them to do so business wise.

If their pairing isn't commercially profitable they won't be paired at all- unless of course Jikook themselves want and request to be paired in that way. Know what I mean?

They each signed separate contracts with the company from day dot. They didn't sign on as a unit.

Whether or not they've decided they are a package deal I cannot say- yet, as their new contract just came into effect.

We would have to observe how they are being handled by the company going forward.

HE'D NEVER DO IT WOULD HE

Come now sis...

It's not like he's leaving Jimin😅

Jimin and Jhope were equally sent to Japan for promotion purposes without JK.

Out of all seven, Namjoon is the most promoted member in the international Market not just because he speaks English but because he is often made the spokes person for the group in interviews, at awards straight up to the UN.

Look how happy they all were and how chatty they were at the KBS Let's BTS interview.

I mean they all talked about it. About how they can't say much on foreign forums and often step into Namjoon's shadows.

RM is the most recognized and dare I say the most liked member out of all seven in the international market outside Army and their music profession.

In Japan they all have a chance to be front and center at interviews etc.

It just so happens that JK as it stands is the one member pushing to build a portfolio within that market.

Let's pray he gets mainstream and build a strong presence within the music industry there because we all know he's gonna drag Jimin up there with him😏

Just pay attention to the songs he's written and the parts Jimin sings in them- he makes Jimin shine on those songs.

They have so much potential my God.

Let's support them individually and as a unit.

I purple you and sorry I had to respond here.

Stay gold. Let's keep supporting and rooting for our guys.

Signed,

GOLDY