Park Jimin, Sir....

Park Jimin, sir....

Excuse me but that's not what adorable looks like where i come from?!

Aside from holding us hostage with his cute-hotness AND his hot-cuteness...

This Park Jimin takes no prisoners.

Yeah he was joking, but he did assert control.

So much attitude. I loved it.

I loved seeing that he absolutely knows his worth, and these days he makes his own decisions. Whether anyone agrees or disagrees about his work ethic or his dieting choice, they are his own decisions.

And he knows what he wants.

He knows what he wants from the choreography, from the story he's telling, from the dancers, and from himself.

Jimin OWNS this performance.

Watching this dance practice reminded me of how far they have come and how much has changed for them.

The scales of power that were once tipped in the company's favour have found a new balance.

It's always interesting to watch a room full of people and work out who holds power.

When the power balance is questionable, there may be a palpable tension as the contenders wrestle for control. But when there is one person who has quiet confidence and visible authority, you know there's no question about who is in charge. They give and take, they work with their team, but ultimately they make the decisions.

Watching this dance practice, it's very obvious who holds the power in that room.

Gone are the days where anybody else makes decisions for Park Jimin. Nobody instructs Jimin to do anything here. The staff are teaching him the choreo, not because they are in charge, but because that's their job. And Jimin changes whatever he feels isn't working - with consultation because he respects his team - but he's not asking permission.

He decides which parts to keep working on and he decides when the practice ends, and everyone respects his decisions because he is the natural leader.

Watching this also demonstrated unequivocally that with WHO, Jimin had full involvement in every aspect.

He may not have written the words to the song but he absolutely controlled the narrative.

💛

"Which bed do you want?"

🐥🐰

The real answer is...

"Whichever one you're in."

<Now we know where the matching pjs came from>

I love how they laugh at this

💜💛

Jikook moments that Bangtan could’ve played off as nothing but instead just made it worse:

1. Nj:*translates jm* Oh he said he wants to be a police officer

   Jk: Arrest me

   Bangtan: 

   Bangtan:

   Bangtan: ….ok

2. Jm: *points to his cheek* Jungkook-ah, kiss!

   Jk:

   Bangtan:

   Big Hit: …*crops the damn vid so that it skips the next few seconds*

3. V: What’s jimin gonna give jungkook (for his birthday)?

   Jm:

   Jk:

   Nj:

   Bangtan:

4. Jk: When i came here (to Japan) with jimin…

    Hobi: *tries to cut him off* wow so interesting, here’s your present

   Jk: *laughs*

   Jk: *continues anyway* the most memorable part of our trip was that we should’ve woken up early but this *points thumb at jimin’s general direction* hyung was busy playing with his phone till morning so we woke up late *giggles like it’s the funniest thing* *looks around expectantly*

  Jm: c:

   Jin: …ohhh *looks at namjoon, unimpressed*

   Nj: …ohhh *Big Sigh*

5. Jikook: *filming gcf saipan alone at the beach*

   Nj: what are those two doing???

   Nj: *records them*

   Nj: *posts it on twitter, captioned “what are you doing”*

   Jk: *replies by posting a vid of him giggling while editing a silly clip of jimin playing in the water with John K’s Best of Me playing in the bg*

   Nj: (probably regrets it lmao)

6. Jikook: *anytime they mention tokyo trip*

   Nj:

   Hobi:

Bangtan:

7. Jk: the thing i like most about jm is… His shamelessness?

   Bangtan: ohh

   Jm: shamelessness? I’m not shameless tho?

   Jk: you’re being shameless now

   Jm: so that’s why you like me more now?

   Jk: ……….

   Jk: … *nods*

   Jk: ……. *Changes subject* He treats me well

   Bangtan: suddenly??

8. Jm: we’re the same! You are me, i am you~

   Jk: *giggly*

   Nj: *resigned to his third-wheeling fate*

9. Jk: Destiny?

   Jm: i told you, you are me, i am you

   Bangtan:

10. Jk: *teases jm*

   Jm: *gets shy and hits jk in retaliation*

   Jin, third-wheeling: why wont you hit me too? Dont treat me differently! Hit me too!

11. Jk: *reads his fortune cookie to jm* Jimin-ah,-

    Jm: *giggles*

    Jk: its okay if you’re not no. 1- where are you going??

    Jin: I’M LEAVING

12. Jikook: *wearing matching clothes*

    Nj:

13. Jm: *gives jk his ring since he isnt wearing one*

    Jk: *shows it off* do you know what this ring means? Noone else can touch it. It’s special/precious.

    Bangtan: *panics* *flustered* *chaos*

14. Jikook: *all giggles and smiles while playing the palm pushing game*

    Nj:

Jin:

It's genuinely wild to me that the song people have latched onto to prove or disprove any relationship Jimin may or may not have is the one he didn't write, imo the songs seem to all be alternate universe options of what his love life could be, that just makes the most sense to me because they mostly can't coexist, they're not stories which really make sense to all be literally true, but if any are true it being the one he didn't write is such an odd choice for everyone to be assuming, I'd guess the things which are true for him are a lot more likely to be found in songs he did write himself but no one seems interested in dissecting them like they are with Who, you seem to have got so many asks focusing on Who, or idk maybe those are just the ones you're posting, but other blogs too, I don't get the focus being on this song when talking about Jimin himself

Hey Anon,

Yeah heaps of asks about WHO and honestly, you should see the drivel I'm ignoring 🤦‍♂️

I think its because of both the pronouns (any straw to clutch at will do, especially if you can be wilfully blind to everything else), and also because the song & MV together provide such a wealth of interpretations ....and opportunities to misunderstand. And as Jiminie - the Slytherin that he is - predicted, many people want to oblige him with their misunderstandings HAHA.

(eta it's also entirely in English and while all listeners may not be fluent English speakers, it makes this song more accessible to a western audience.)

You can't really debate the truth or otherwise of the other songs on the album the way you can with WHO. That song is designed to cause chaos. Even the title is all about creating tension.

So many inane generic asks that have obviously been sent far and wide too. How much time do these people have on their hands? Do they really need to spam everyone? I just want to be a jikook hobbit - in my hobbit hole writing my little notes, cooing over the lovebirds, and eating several breakfasts.

Is that so much to ask?

Lol

Slow Dance by Jimin & Sophia

What an absolutely stunning performance of Slow Dance by Jimin and Sophia Carson. Sophia's beautiful voice was a perfectly chosen addition to this song.

Kamsahamnida Sophia 💛

And it ended with possibly the most chaste hug in history from our polite and respectful Jiminie.

He extended an invitation for Sophia to accept to the extent she chose.

Jimin's manners hands not even making contact, and his face turned away.

Would all those delinquents who describe him as a womaniser care to explain?

I loved reading this, i know very little about production so it was super interesting to me. And i love discovering new accounts and the hidden skills and experience armys have in a vast range of industries

ARE YOU SURE?!

At this time, I'm not planning to do full response posts for these episodes. Maybe once I'm done with my Run BTS series but for now here's some production thoughts.

My initial thoughts are they've done an excellent job of merging the concepts for Bon Voyage and In The Soop while also adjusting for a reduction of members from seven to two.

To really understand this though, let's talk about some of the logistical requirements and goals of the previous shows for comparison.

Logistical Assumptions

So I think y'all do realize that there is SOME amount of planning that has to happen for a show like this to be made but honestly...the way some of you talk, it's like you think this footage just magically appears in front of an editor, capturing whatever the members happened to wander into. These aren't self-recorded vlogs. This is a full production with a crew, a budget, and a deliverable requirement; just like any other TV show.

One of the cutest moments for me was at the brewery when JM was teasing JK about a summary of what the show about. I KNOW this was the 5 second explanation that both of them would have had to say/hear dozens of times while pitching the show. That's what's so endearing about the way JM says it and JKs reaction.

They also know that statements like that, captured during filming often end up in promos. All the members are very aware as they're being filmed what footage ends up being used. We've heard them time and time again, 'please use this as the thumbnail', 'please keep this in', etc.

Jimin has always been the most vocal about questioning if the content works for their intended purpose. How many times have we heard him say 'can this even be used?' or 'this will be cut'. Usually it sounds to me like he's aware the footage they're getting in the moment doesn't align with the predetermined plan. But as is common with the footage we getnof the members, even though it wasn't according to plan, doesn't mean it's not releaseable.

The main point of JMs AYS concerns being his sickness. I'm sure he thought the show was in jeopardy of not fulfilling their deliverable requirements since it would be difficult to completely edit out. There is a legitimate concern that if they aren't able provide the agreed-upon footage, the show would never air. I'll talk more about this in my section on the edit.

For now, here's a list of SOME of the basics that have to be managed for y'all to keep in mind when consuming any kind of produced content.

Camera management: How many and what kinds of cameras need to be brought along? Are there special operators required like a drone operator. How often is the footage saved. How is it backed up? When and where are batteries charged? Who locations require early access so the crew can place stationary cameras prior to the member's arrival.

Sound management: Someone is making sure the microphones are charged, and capturing correctly. Being mic'd up is one of the easiest indicators of when the show is actively being filmed or not.

Security: this is BTS. The members didn't go anywhere without a security consultation and discussion of requirements.

Crew management: These are people that have to have places to eat, sleep, and have time off as well. They don't just vanish into thin air as soon as their job is done.

Location approval and tax requirements: Every country in the world has different regulations, incentives, and permits to be managed. The US varies these laws state-by-state.

Budget: Businesses don't stay in business by not managing the finances. We can talk more about this if anyone's interested but there are definitely some interesting points with how much on-screen time we got over the years regarding members' spending on the shows.

There's more but let's leave it at the for the moment and talk more about why I think this show was such a good blend of Bon Voyage and In The Soop from a production standpoint.

What was the initial goal of Bon Voyage?

I believe it was to promote the band and the members to viewers by giving us access to what it would be like to travel to various destinations around the globe. They knew the episodes still needed a catalyst though so there were various preplanned activities and games to motivate the editorial narrative.

BV1 was very experimental as they were obviously managing the challenges of such a production. There was a heavy emphasis on trying to make the members seem like regular ppl and seeing how they would tackle the problems many of us face with travel, chiefly budgetary and managing how to feed all of the travelers with strict spending limits.

BV2 completely game-ified the concept with the mini challenges and breaking everyone into different groups. It's very clear that this is not the strategy they preferred as BV3 was much lighter on the control. There were still some structured activities and events but the members were experienced enough to bring forth some of these moments themselves during the shoot rather than as a completely planned itinerary.

BV4 was a continuation of this with us also getting footage of the members being included in the event planning as well. I'm not saying they didn't have input in the planning of the previous seasons but by this point, production knew the members understood the requirements of a successful show as well as many of the necessary logistics. But it was still a travel show with some key events to fuel the storytelling.

How about In The Soop?

Enter pandemic. They obviously still wanted to do another show once they worked out what was permissible to film at the time. But now the changing of locations would not be a part of the engine. How were they going to ensure they still had a viable show? They did put in place a semblance of their previous formula with that silly daily schedule (that was ignored nearly to the point of being completely edited out) and a couple of events like the 94s mountain hike and vhope's car drive. But overall, they realized they had to rely purely on the members to find story moments and insure they were captured. Their trust was rewarded though and ITS1 was a hit.

Now ITS2 is a more interesting case. I do believe it may have started with the same intent as season 1, but it must not have been long in the pre-planning stage before a new goal was added: controlled access of a BTS tourism destination. I'm sure I'll go further into this topic whenever I do finally make posts on this series, but it's very plain to even the casual fan that the ITS2 location was a planned financial investment.

Enough about the location though, what were the filming objectives? Honestly? Not much. The members were clearly ready for a break and were mired in the uncertainties of the time period. Balancing the focus of the english-solo-songs era with the preparations for ch.2 solo activities resulted in an odd lack of direction for the members, which is evident in the show. Yes, there are great moments and segments but there's no progression and very little footage of all the members all together except during certain meals.

But ITS2 is still hailed as enough of a success that there was justification to add to the franchise with Tae's friendship installment.

But what does all this mean for Are You Sure?

We'd heard from many of the members during ch.2 that they would like to continue Bon Voyage so it honestly wasn't surprising that we'd eventually get another travel show featuring our beloved BTS members. Early in episode 1 of AYS, Jungkook says he's never traveled so loosely before. However this show was justified, it definitely wasn't planned to be another hyper-detailed barrage of JM & JK going from activity-to-activity like early BV but it also couldn't be as aimless as ITS. For as long as the conversation was surrounding the name of the show, we never hear them suggest Bon Voyage 5 because AYS was never intended to be another installment of that series.

This is why I said AYS is a perfect mesh of the two kinds of shows. Granted, the first episodes definitely had some unexpected obstacles due to the unexpected health concerns but I think the production team managed it well. Although, I'm convinced there's at least one activity they did have planned that had to get scrapped to let our poor guys rest and recuperate. I also wouldn't be surprised if by the time they started filming in the US, they hadn't locked another destination and schedule with how unsure JM & JK are when talking about the scope of the show. (And I hope we get some update on the poor motorcycle, I want to know how it got where it needed to be from the rainy grocery parking lot).

The Edit

The overall tone of the show is very lighthearted. Kind of surprisingly so for me. It's not the vibe I would have necessarily expected but it's one of the points that leads me to say they have merged BV and ITS so wonderfully.

A major aspect of BTS's content is usually the chaos and shenanigans the surround the members. Now much of that is emphasized in the context of one of these shows but I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if the edit had tried to make up for the lowered member count. Instead, it's a very laid-back edit. The quality and tone of the on-screen captions was world's different from some of the BV seasons (thank goodness!)

Now, about Jimin's illness. There's a reason why the coverage is cut the way it was to only bring us in on the story once both JM and JK started talking about it lightheartedly. If we'd had all of that footage chronologically, we also would have had building tension throughout the day's activities. But this way, we're able to enjoy the show per the original pitch as much as possible.

This show would have been planned during the time when the members were under heavy scrutiny for how successful they'd be as individuals and how their content will be received without the full seven members. Again, the way some of y'all talk about these shows, it's like you don't realize that the members are aware of how this content is structured. They are. They absolutely are.

Also, a big part of greenlighting AYS would have been a discussion of how it could be made with just 2 of the 7 members. JM and JK would have to take on a lot more of the burden since there wouldn't be other member to cut to. The solo vlogs we got at the beginning of ch.2 absolutely would have been used as a proof of concept. There are easy comparisons to make between JKs camping vlog and the camping scenes we got in these first AYS episodes.

Another key justification of the show could have been as promotional material for the current musical releases. While they did highlight quite a bit of both JK and JM's work in these episodes, the narrative definitely wasn't tilted in the direction of promotion. I love that because it's absolutely not what I would have expected.

What am I looking forward to for the remainder of AYS?

From a production standpoint, I'm already curious about the following:

Will there be any tonal shift? Specifically now that JM and JK have some uncertainties about the viability of their US adventure. Will it seem like they're compensating?

We know Tae is going to be in at least the next episode. How is this going to handled narratively and will there be any visible contradictions from that narrative in the production?

At what point was the final quantity of locations and shoots locked down? And when/if will JM and JK make mention of this.

If/How will the music promotion narrative shift? It's clear that this episode could not have been released until after MUSE's release once they decided to keep the footage of JK listening to Who. But when was that decision made?

What are your thoughts on the production of AYS so far?