The rewatch of that FESTA dinner...and now I get it...
FESTA 2022 dropped us down a hole, as BTS laughed, cried, and told us the Ch. 2 hybrid military/solo era was coming soon. Now, with their release coming soon, I got brave and rewatched it...
The dinner that shall not be named. Every BTS fan who is up on things knows which one I am talking about - the 2022 FESTA dinner - where all the things happened and we laughed and cried with them.
We had Yoongi telling us about his renaissance of doing Japanese, English, keyboards, drums and dance lessons with some pilates/weights thrown in. We had Jin talking about his gamer intermittent fasting routine of playing non-stop and forgetting to eat for days. JK got exposed by all of them for his unusual apartment decor, with mattresses in every room (Jin’s narc), folded laundry on the dining room table (Hobi), and being called one of the top three strangest guys he knows (Yoongi).
That triggered JK coming live the next day, to rebut the BTS is breaking up drama, but more to defend his choices in decor. We also learned about Jin’s honeymooner-style apartment, Jimin’s brewing album (MUSE), and Hobi getting chill as he got more bombed. Goodbye to the Hannam on the Hill apt., and hello chapter 2.
Of course, because I had been through this once before - without warning or soju - I knew this time when Joon was going to hit the wall. As in feeling broken, teary, and yep, gulping down whatever what the booze of the day.
This is what I wrote in 2022 about that first viewing experience, and I think I got it pretty right in terms of the break being needed. What I did not know was all the content that had been banked. Thank God, as I would not have been able to process the road ahead to June 2025.
When you go back and watch now, you see Jimin hinting at the angst of MUSE, Joonie heading toward the year of soul searching that lead to the amazing RPRW, Tae not sure what he wanted for his project, Jin knowing he would be batting clean-up, and Hobi ready to destroy Lolla Chicago. JK was just needing to stop and breathe.
As Jimin said, they couldn’t tell us everything. But now, I think we have a pretty damned good idea what was up.
And here we are, the countdown is in the teens, and a touch more for Yoongles, and we are so close to taking Ch. 2 and putting it in the archives. I don’t know what memories, good or bad, they will take from their military experiences. I have dearly missed seeing Yoongi, as he really did go radio silent - obviously for a lot of reasons (SHAKES FIST AT K-MEDIA, K-POLICE, and the idiots at HYBE would did not do right by him during la petite affaire du scooter). I have a hilarious scenario where Tae saunters in for the chaotic first Weverse live that I probably will not get a notification for, thinks he is the most jacked muscle boy, only for Yoongles to silently slink in and be the winner. HAHA.
RUN Jin, and seeing Hobi in concert in Chicago, and soon, Tampa you and I will experience whatever Jin is cooking up, AYS, and the music left behind by all of them have kept me going in joy and resolution. They never left us alone, and my hope is that they were able to see our reactions online and know we were still thinking about them. We know they are ready to come home. And we are ready to have them back.
Which is why the re-watch of the FESTA dinner of doom is less painful. We know how it ends this time. We know they all went out on their own, on their on terms, and created the music and images they wanted. They survived the military service, and owe the Korean government nothing (YES, I know they are still technically in the reserves and the Korean peninsula is not technically at peace). But they are free from the sword of service over their heads. They did it, excelled, and nobody can ever question them taking the easy way out. They did the hard work, and became the example.
And this is where I want to say goodbye to Ch. 2: seeing honorably discharged Sgt. and Special Warrior Jin, on top of the Empire State Building, being confident, happy, and fresh from being loved up from a fanmeet. Mission accomplished.
We made it y’all. LFG. As Joonie one said, Done is better than perfect. We’re good.
HOW ARE YOU LEAVING CH. 2?
Oh that dinner was painful! I’m excited to see them when they come back but there’s a part of me that hopes when they do return, they get to keep the person they found on their journey the last 2 years. I don’t know if that makes sense but seeing them all individually especially Hobi & Jin since they’ve been discharged, makes me realise that the men I met at the beginning of my journey have evolved, grown and now, I hope they truly get to embrace doing things their way.