New poster here! I finally finished going through the whole thread- it took me a few days!
I've been looking for a discussion like this for a long time but never found one until now. I've been a fan of BTS since I discovered them during the BST era and have been obsessed with them since. I never had any interest in K-Pop, don't think I ever really heard anything about it come to think of it, until then. They're the only artists I listen to so I've never really considered myself a "K-Popper" tbh since I have no interest in anyone else in that genre. The only ones I listen to every now and then are BlackPink, Sunmi and Taemin but very sporadically.
They caught my eye because they looked different than anyone else I had seen (I'm a Westerner) and Jimin was the one who caught my attention and I had to know more about him. It was like he hypnotized me. Ever since that day I've been 100% devoted to them and it's so weird considering I've never really cared about any artist/group that much outside of their music in my entire life. I liked their BST concept because of how dark it seemed and it was alluring. I'm familiar with the "illuminati" and apparent symbolism so the more I got into them, the more I noticed it and often wondered. I never knew them before that era so I can understand the wonder of how they became so popular suddenly. It seemed like that era was the period they gained alot more attention and fans. Is it a coincidence though? I'm not sure anymore.
I've tried to distract myself many times from them because of how much I feel for them and I don't think this level of devotion is normal. But I can't seen to stay away from them for too long. I'm so loyal to them, it's very eerie, even I can see it..
Also, I believe that they know what they're doing. They've been in the industry for a very long time they'd be blind to not know. If not, they certainly live by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I don't think that they're as genuine as alot of people think. I'm starting to believe their whole image is a facade for the cameras and we don't really know who they really are as much as they try to convince us that we do. It's all part of the image to keep Armys committed to them because of how much we feel like we truly "know them" on a personal level.
Sorry I rambled on so long but I needed to vent since none of my friends or family are into K-Pop and/or don't believe in the occult/illuminati.