Obsession Corner: BTS ARMY's Member Appreciation Tweets, Everything's GNARLY, and Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal S2
I think I'm going to start something here... A weekly round-up of my obsessions... yes :,)
Though my main goal for Substack is to write longer thought pieces, I realized I would like to talk about things that stand out to me when I think of fandom. For instance, I wanted to write this Luigi Mangione piece on true crime fandom and meme culture within the week of his arrest but couldn’t find it in me to do so. With how fast topics in pop culture come and go, I figured I can at least put snippets of my thoughts as various topics get catapulted into a brief, yet significant limelight.
“Obsession Corner” was an actual shower thought (tmi? perhaps). I like the idea of using this name because we sometimes have to tuck our obsessions away in a metaphorical corner. In my last piece, I (over)explained how I became a loud and proud fan, thus, the idea with “Obsession Corner” is to share what I’m thinking even if it’s unnecessary… I recently read a research abstract with the opening sentence “fandom practices are often considered meaningless and unnecessary” and I am not ashamed to admit that triggered my I-am-ready-to-prove-you-wrong reflex.
On a weekly basis, I’ll share what topics in pop culture and fandom are on top of mind, and I’ll probably do so in a casual writing style — I’ll need future admissions to forgive me for being myself. I also want to hear from you all on what what has stood out to you, so do comment below! It is necessary!
Without further ado, here are some of my obsessions from the past few weeks:
BTS ARMY trending appreciation tweets for each member that highlight their underrated characteristics
We are less than 30 days away from all BTS members returning from mandatory military service and I am too busy to fully comprehend this. I don’t go on Stan Twitter as often as I used to but lately I’ve been scrolling through my feed and have been happy. The way this trend’s format works is seemingly organic wherein an ARMY makes a statement about a BTS member and other ARMY’s quote tweet with examples that support the statement. Stay with me here.
The trend started with a tweet about the group’s oldest member Jin. X user @/songofseokjin posted “seokjin radicalized bts but yall r not ready for that #truth.” The user later tweeted that ARMY understood the assignment when the quote tweets providing the evidence came through. This initial trend started back in March and has made it through every member. And once each member had their moment, the one that brought it altogether was from X user @/kimgayism: “Let’s talk about how BTS is soooooooo BTS.”
Had I not put in the effort to track this “trend” weekly, I would’ve lost it to the ether. There’s going to be a lot to talk about once BTS is back, and this is my warning: you better buckle up now that you’re subscribed and will obviously never unsubscribe.
KATSEYE’s “Gnarly” had the quickest turnaround of fan opinion I’ve ever seen
The global girl group KATSEYE — jointly created by HYBE and Geffen Records through Dream Academy — is making their first comeback (aka, they are going to release their sophomore album/ep) and the first single is gnarly… in all the ways you’d expect and not expect. “Gnarly” released on April 30 and the immediate reaction from fans in the MV’s comment section was tearful emojis and not the good kind. Fans found the lyrics unfavorable, but then the performance version came out — fans were ready to take a bite of that Tesla-fried chicken sandwich — and public opinion changed on a dime. It was amazing to witness in real time.
Soon enough, X (Twitter) and YouTube reactors began explaining that this song is genius. It touches on the distorted reality of young people growing up on social media. I recommend reading this Teen Vogue article. It gives a great overview on why the song is so polarizing and its songwriting origins. My favorite use of the song is Vivian Wilson’s hair flipping video; I just love the energy — no choreo cover — just gnarly fun.
As a PR person, I see this song as an opportunity for KATSEYE to become the center of pop culture conversation, and to achieve that, this song’s hyperpop style and brainrot lyrics get the job done. Have I downloaded it to my Spotify? No. But do I love it? Yes.
It might be in the running for song of the summer according to Spotify’s Newsroom. I am all for this just for the irony; it’s like a continuation of “that’s that me espresso” type of fun, nonsensical vibes.
The S2 return of Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal tackles commercial flight crashes at a time of questioning the reliability of air travel. Can comedy be so serious?
I will never get enough of Nathan Fielder. As someone who went to one of America’s top communications schools with really good grades (they actually were for those who don’t and DO know the title sequence reference), “Nathan For You” is/was a brilliant PR and marketing satire. The Comedy Central show ran from 2013 to 2017, and I rewatch it when I don’t know what I want to watch. It’s a guaranteed laugh, and I’m not sure what that says about me because it’s not for everyone. I’ll explain why about two paragraphs from now.
“The Rehearsal” is more like a spin-off than a reboot as Fielder dives into meta breaking-the-fourth-wall concepts. The idea of rehearsing a moment of life to ensure it’s “perfect” or that you can be mostly prepared is a nice thought. This season is centered on rehearsing commercial aviation flight as a preventative measure to prevent tragic accidents, as Fielder cites that some accidents can be prevented if the co-pilot asserts intervening maneuvers.
When I started typing this, I was on the third episode. Now I’ve seen all five currently available episodes, and the next episode will be the season finale. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this final episode will answer the big question: Will Fielder succeed in being taken seriously? And my follow-up questions: Will any sustainable changes be made to commercial aviation? Or will time only tell a couple of decades later? Was this all just for some laughs?
Perhaps this could all just be for the entertainment value. And guess what? It’s two paragraphs later. While I thoroughly enjoy Fielder’s humor, it does make numerous people unknowingly the butt of the joke. Variety had an exclusive interview with Lana Love — one of the contestants of Fielder’s fake singing competition “Wings of Voice.” Love did not realize the competition was fake until she made it to the top 50. Having read the article, she claims that the competition tried to come off as real as “The Voice” and recruit actual singers. However, Love kept coming back despite knowing it was fake, proceeded to break the NDA by talking to Variety, and put out a song titled “Nathan Fielder.” I’m not a psychoanalyst, and I’m not (much of) a Redditor, but I think Lana Love is not that upset. Another contestant made a TikTok explaining they knew it wasn’t a competition, rather it was a “vocal showcase” by HBO. It also seems that other artists did have time to research Nathan Fielder and figure out his audience/fanbase according to TikToker (also a contestant) Musicbyarii.
While The Rehearsal is off-putting (and likely unethical at times), that’s why it shines. To rehearse is to come close to perfection, yet Fielder demonstrates he’s not always going to try to play it safe in over-preparedness. The show highlights that mistakes and going overboard brings us closer to something like answers… and it’s a funny process that’s not for everyone. If you want to understand what I’m talking about, you can go watch on max… excuse me… now back to HBOmax (obsessed with this re-rebrand, but not enough to write paragraphs about it).
Pope Crave was like a mini Stan Twitter resurgence… blessings to the admins
The week of the conclave was like a baptism that washed away the egregious aspects of being on social media in 2025. I’ve been thinking about the state of social media these days for reasons I will share later. And what I’ve realized is that social media is downtrodden territory. It’s partly politics and partly the adoption of AI tools. We overdo the content creation by putting emphasis on content and not the creation. Pope Crave (@/ClubConclave) gave the necessary creative energy to a historical moment. It wasn’t for the brand deals or attention longevity. Pope Crave met Vatican City with the fangirl energy required to get the job done: learn when a new pope would be selected through the conclave and tell the world.
And it was a job they did too well. Pope Crave got the white smoke news 4 minutes before the official Vatican account (NYT). They delivered the news via X (Twitter) through meme templates including Couching Cat and scenes from Conclave (2024). The head admin — Bin — started the account because of their love for the Oscar-nominated film. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bin explained how the movie’s characters were going through it — and that feeling is more universal than specific to Catholicism. Reading about Bin’s fannish connection inspiring them to go cover the real-life conclave is what being a fan is all about, and it’s at the core of positive Stan Twitter contributions.
As mentioned, the account does not exist to receive PR packages or to gain attention to sell t-shirts. Pope Crave exists purely for the love of a film that happened to coincide with a historic moment. They have used the platform to educate the public and to donate zine profits to charity. Truly there is nothing more refreshing than scrolling Pope Crave and knowing that one’s joy can bring joy to others.
What I’m working on:
For Substack, I’ve been trying to put a piece together on a niche influencer fandom for over a month and I hope to publish it by the end of May. I am on PTO for the rest of the month so there will be no excuse.
I plan on completing two research projects over the summer… I got IRB approval for one and I am VERY excited to share the survey recruitment flyer soon.
Fingers-crossed for my FSNNA and PAC submissions 🤞
Stay tuned for the next “Obsession Corner” update… I’ll be introducing a friend :)