#IT WAS MY FIRST KPOP CONCERT AND I WANTED TO SPLURGE A BIT

[srirachaz]

happy one year anniversary to that time when i spent $490 on kpop in one day because i payed my parents back for the xiker’s tickets that id bought for my friend and i (290 for both tix) with their credit card 3 weeks previous, bought the vvip experience bc i crave pain (140) then went out with my friend and bought 2 albums, (60)

490. in one day. 460 of that on xikers and the other 30 on ateez

[udon-udon]

haven’t had the time to sit down and kinda recap the mamamoo concert trip so here we go, i’ll try to keep it short!

Landed in SF and had a friend take me around San Jose for a lil bit! Went to Trader Joe’s for the first time ever LOL and then got to the place I was staying at. Unpacked and got ready for the next day which was concert #1 day. Went to a really cute cafe that had some local artist stuff for sale, I bought some stickers hehe. We then headed to a mall to kill some time before heading to In N Out with our other friends. Had my first In N Out experience and laksjdflskjd im in love. We headed to the concert at about 5pm ish and the merch line was long af alksjdflaksjdf but managed to snag a sweatshirt, and 2 tshirts, i really splurged. The concert was amazing, I’m still shellshocked, cause I’m so used to seeing them via a video or something buT THEY WERE THERE IN PERSON!!! Anyway I’m still shook. I also lost my hat that I’ve only ever worn once so I’m sad about that... Got home at around 12am ish and we ate in n out yet again cause it was the only thing opened around LOL. In N Out twice in a day? Would do again honestly. That night my travel friend and I only had like 2 hours of sleep though cause we had to get up at 5am for our Lyft to the airport alskdjsalskdf We made it on time though! 

Our flight to LA was 7am to 9am, and once we landed, we got picked up by another friend who showed us around Little Tokyo and Koreatown! I loved Little Tokyo so much aaah. Bought Mamamoo’s Purple album (blue vers.) and Mamamoo+’s Act 1 Scene 1 at a kpop store. Got dropped off at our airbnb at around 3pm and met up with the airbnb gang in which i didn’t know half of, but they were chill people! Always nice to meet more fellow moomoos. We went to a well known gopchang restaurant for dinner that night, and apparently a ton of kpop artists went there too cause they had their autographs etc. Good stuff. First time trying gopchang and it’s definitely an acquired taste. I’ve heard it doesn’t all taste the same so maybe I should try some more if i ever go to korea again. That night we slept very well haha

The next day was concert #2 day! Travel friend and I managed to sleep in while the others went to do their own things. 3/8 of us regrouped at the airbnb and walked to the restaurant that we wanted to eat at (which was kinda full so we ended up going to another nearby restaurant). We ate coco curry and then headed to the concert venue! lasklaskd A friend of ours made a poster that for some reason wasn’t allowed in so she snuck it through and I had to be the one receiving it LKJASLDKJF mission impossible shit right there. The concert was just as amazing and aaaahhhhhhh I have no words to describe IT STILL FEELS SURREAL. We tried waiting after the concert for Mamamoo’s cars to come out and THEY DID. but they didn’t roll down their windows like they usually do and they went the other way we were standing LMAOOO twas a good effort i guess. At least their car passed by us HAHA. I got a video of it. We then got home at like 12-1am and then ordered tacos and drank til 5am cause they bought way too much alcohol;;; 

Next day was our last day here, in which I split with the airbnb gang to hang with some other friends. I heard that the airbnb gang’s adventure was very stressful and i wish i was there to witness the chaos but thankful i didn’t have to experience it LOL. hung around another area of Little Tokyo I didn’t go last time, and then went to Nucleus, a local artist gallery BUT IT WAS CLOSED AND I WAS SAD. It looked super cool too which makes it even sadder :( Oh well. Then got dropped off at the airport at about 3pm (which was really early), but my airbnb gang were there shortly after cause some of them had their flight at 5:30pm. My flight buddies just sat there and chatted til 8pm, our flight aaaand on the flight we went. Got home at about 11:30pm ish and the end : ) 

[storytaeme]

~ thoughts on the fansites discourse ~

it’s been a while since i’ve done one of my thoughts post and i just saw something that i feel like i want to voice my opinion on. as always, discussion is open through pm if you agree/disagree!

aight hear me out. so fansites have been garnering lots of heat and “tea” as some may say lately for sasaeng/stalker/obsessive behavior. this is for some and not for all, but it’s the main reason why people are pissed at them. 

so thoughts on this and some arguments that have come up:

it’s weird yeah sure that fansites follow these people around and we dont really know much about them but like.......there are so many people online and there are fans who follow them to so many of their concerts and fly out and we dont know anything abt them either so idk why people are bringing this up?

if they want to be private, let them be private??? they dont owe us an explanation or their entire tax history before they can be a fan

they’re not forcing you to give up your personal information so why should we?

if they have money then thats cool??? they can do wtv they want with it yknow. idk how they get money and it’s not really our place to judge their level of wealth 

people are saying we dont really need photos they take anyway since bts feed us so much. so aight you dont have to consume it, you can just ignore them? you dont like it, then just ignore them? nobody is forcing you to look at it. block, mute, yknow. those options exist.

and the whole whitewashing ordeal idk dude yeah a lot of fansites whitewash and it’s Shitty, im not gonna condone that behavior. but the entire argument of lighting during concerts and photography editing also exist and thats what a lot of people dont really understand or try to understand when they dont know anything about photography 

“theyre stalking bts wo their consent omg!!” bighit communicates with the press about this, and from what i’ve heard (unconfirmed atm), they also let fansites know - so i mean,, ??? idk my dudes 

these fansites arent necessarily doing it to give bts more exposure, they are fans if you cant tell and if they want to photograph bts then let them? like why are people pressed? 

think of it this way, if their hobby is photography and they want to put it to good use while also supporting bts who they love, why are people mad about that?

nobody gets made at writers or artists producing og content and making money off it so like??? 

as long as they are respecting bts and their space and privacy according to regulations, who are we to tell them what to do/not do?

if they are real fans then they’ll understand how to respect bts

again, if they’re not telling you how to spend your time, what right do we have to tell them how to spend theirs? 

to emphasize again, i do not condone unacceptable behaviors by fansites still (see section below)

y’all who’re coming at fansites wo fully grasping the situation and conditions are being unfair.

you think that fansites are dangerous cuz theyre stalkers but you can literally say the same about any fan who’s crazy and dangerous AND stalkers. so why are you only coming at fansites when there are still crazies out there coming @ bts outta nowhere wo even bighit’s knowledge? 

commenting on how they spend their money and how they splurge on bts......like dude, it’s not your money, you dont have a say in what they do with what they have

if they use money from selling goods from photographs to gift bts or make donations then let them???? thats the intention from the very beginning?

as long as theyre not lying about where the money is going from selling merchandise, why are we making it a problem? 

THEYRE NOT SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW BTS ON PRIVATE SCHEDULES AND IF THEY ARE THEN THEY ARE WRONG. BUT FANSITES WHO ARE RESPECTFUL AND FOLLOW BIGHIT GUIDELINES DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT THE SAME WAY WE SHOULD BE RESPECTING PEOPLE IN THE FANDOM.

idk people who are coming at them without considering them as FANS first and foremost and considering their intentions/situation, as well as other bits of information that we are not privy to, are nasty. 

see previous point for my thoughts on if the fansite is being disrespectful.

kpop fandom culture may be different from western fandom culture idk this i cant really confirm. but when i was following western celebs closely, fansites didnt exist and it was only the creepy press following them around. but it seems like it’s different in korea and the boys recognize them and bighit knows them. 

i do not know this and cannot confirm it so it’s still tbd if there is a fandom culture difference

dont support people you dont want to support/dont agree with. 

literally it’s none of our business what they do in their lives. they dont push me for my private life, i wont push them for theirs. unless they’re being incredibly problematic, then idk why i would be questioning what theyre eating for bfast 

again this defense goes for unproblematic/chill fansites who actually just love bts

fansite behavior i dont condone just to be clear:

stalking and chasing bts/idols down in goddamn public 

going to and taking photographs of events/actions that are outside of press knowledge or bighit did not release

whitewashing obvs

solo stans who shit on the other members holy shit like wyd 

probably missing a whole lot more but these are the only ones i can think of rn

i just do not understand why we would ever push fansites to release private information or how/what they do with their free time aside from bts. this turned out to be really long just because im really tired with the sudden rise in hate towards fansites who actually do love bts and want to support them with projects and are doing it properly. 

arguments are for sure welcome because this is only ideas from my side so im always down to talk about it if i didnt cover anything.