Since Bobby and I met almost three years ago, we have been joking about starting a podcast.
I don't know how our friendship developed from Bobby's perspective, but from my perspective we were instant friends. That is, in fact, the way most of my friendships develop. I see a person who I think I will vibe with, and then I force them to be my friend. And with Bobby, it was pretty easy because we had a really big, really important thing in common: ATEEZ.
Luckily, it turned out that we also had a lot of other things in common too, both big and small, important and unimportant. But the thing that brought us together, and the thing that we talk about the most is ATEEZ. And you'd be amazed by how much we actually have to talk about when it comes to ATEEZ.
Beyond ATEEZ's music and who each member is as a person, this is another thing that I am always grateful for when it comes to ATEEZ. They have brought many cool, wonderful, talented people into my life. Most of my closest friends are atiny, and most of them I became close to in the course of discussing and celebrating ATEEZ.
Something I have thought about a lot is that it can be hard to make friends as an adult. I remember in college, I was friends with the people I took classes with, or I was friends with people who worked on campus with me. Those friendships were easy because of proximity.
When I went into the workforce, I realized it wasn't as easy. There were my coworkers, who were also my friends, but if one of us left the job or moved away, those friendships often fell apart. Even my college friends faded into the distance. It turned out that proximity held us together more than kinship and similar interests, and once we lost that proximity, we lost the friendship.
And that's what makes the friendships developed through ATEEZ extra cool to me. I have friends who are local, friends many states away, friends on the other side of the world. The proximity isn't as important. We can be anywhere, and yet we are all connected by ATEEZ.
This is, and always has been, my favorite part of fandom. I've been in fandom spaces since I was as young as 11, staying up late and reading theories on mugglenet.com. I grew up as the internet was taking off, so my childhood was filled with people across the globe who cared about and were passionate about the same things I was. The world is so, so big, and fandoms allowed me to explore parts of my self that perhaps my suburban high school in Texas didn't necessarily have the space for.
And since I have gotten into ATEEZ, I have been trying to find my mugglenet.com--that space where I feel fully welcome, excited, happy, and connected to the fans around me. I started on Reddit, and through a series of events that aren't worth discussing here, I realized that was not my forever fandom home. Twitter also offered nothing for me. I don't mind critical analysis, but constant negativity weighs on me heavy, and fighting with other atinys was never what I wanted from my fandom space.
And Bobby, I think, felt the same way. If not, I did somehow trick her into starting this blog with me. I think in the beginning, we thought well, if someone reads it, cool. If they don't, at least we have a place to write our own ATEEZ thoughts. But even from the start, we have called this our Field of Dreams. If we build it, they will come. If we make a place where we are excited to talk about ATEEZ things, other people who are excited to talk about ATEEZ things will find it too.
Most of the success we've seen with this blog has been on my posts about fancalls, but in fairness, we update sporadically at best. Life has a way of derailing even the best laid plans, especially when adult responsibilities come calling. But I am still glad this blog exists, glad that if the spirit moves me to write about ATEEZ, I have a place for those thoughts that is my own.
And really, that's why we've taken the next logical step: we've started a podcast. It is an extension of our field of dreams, a way for us to talk about ATEEZ and share our excitement for them with anyone who wants to listen.
Every Wednesday, we will be sharing our ATEEZ thoughts in podcast form, discussing whatever we're moved to discuss because, like I said, we have a lot of thoughts and opinions when it comes to ATEEZ.
Our first episode is up now on most major streaming platforms, and we also already have some teasers and bonus episodes available with more coming soon. We hope you will join us!
Be the light.
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