Supplemental Stories

We came to this — these woven words, this constellated project — with our own stories. Thomas King, a Cherokee scholar and novelist, says: “The truth about stories is, that’s all we are.” We’re collections of stories, sewn together scraps of expression, trying our best to find. To find ourselves. To find others. To find connection. To find peace. To find hope. Our stories take the journey with us. Stories guide us and sometimes, they hide us. Most of all though, when our stories are shared, they connect us. 

So often, BTS asks us to share our stories. “Tell me your every story . . .”

Different stars, different stories. As we — the Supplemental Stories team — worked to bring the Supplemental Stories collection into being, we grappled with how we can best honor the stories and the storytellers who courageously share their words, emotions, and experiences. They share their hurts and their hopes, their yearning and contentment, their grief and healing, their isolation and connection. Each one takes us on a journey through the storyteller’s kaleidoscopic, constellative experiences. 

It is important to note that these stories may include triggering content. In order to best care for yourself, please be mindful of the content warnings provided on them. We wish to honor you as a listener and reader as you engage with this section.

Each piece expresses itself so beautifully in such different ways. The beauty is in the difference. All of that difference in one community, one fandom. When you look at the bare bones, we love BTS. We share this common strand, across each new setting, each new detail and plot twist, each individually and communally lived moment. 

We are currently living a moment, a moment when many feel alone. Isolated. We find ourselves in “small rooms,” to echo Min Yoongi in the 2020 United Nations General Assembly address, seemingly disconnected from others. On occasion, hope is sneered at, derided as fanciful and empty. Through sharing our stories, our lives and experiences, we can feel less alone. We build communities, maintain relations, and (re)make who we are inside and outside of those “small rooms.” And, through sharing our stories, we find hope. Hope for more good days. 

Our hope is that this collection of stories becomes a living archive, a place where the stories of ARMY and BTS can be housed and shared with each other as a source of comfort and strength when we spend some time in our own Magic Shop. We ask that you read and “hear” these stories with a good heart. We also hope that you share your story with us just as we have decided, for this first issue, to share our stories with you. 

Purple hearts, 

Anna-Michelle, Chelsea, and Shelley
The Supplemental Stories Team