Seriously, Y'all I Can't Believe It's Been A Year. This Was Just A Passing Idea I Had That I Assumed

Seriously, y'all I can't believe it's been a year. This was just a passing idea I had that I assumed already existed on tumblr and when I couldn't find one, decided to just make it myself.

It's the one year anniversary of this blog!

Thank you to everyone that's been a part of this! I may have made some mistakes along the way but I'm happy to say I never missed a day!

In honor of this momentous occasion, I have a gift for y'all, but you gotta answer today's poll question first!

My gift to you is a new blog: @bts-trivia

Unlike here, where the polls are completely subjective, the questions there do have correct answers that will be posted in the reblogs once the poll closes. Head on over to test your expertise!

LAST CALL: What is your initial ranking of Neva Play?

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It's trivia time!

Time to put your Bangtan knowledge to the test! Who thinks they've got what it takes? Unlike @bts-polls , the polls here do have a correct

Age is a huge factor as well. There's n indication in the survey breakdown of the spread. It says the ages were 16-74 but that could mean there were 999 ppl in their 70s and one 16 year old that answered. Obviously the younger generations have had more societal freedom to explore these concepts enough to even consider applying any non-traditional labels.

Again, data is a tool that requires some knowledge to apply. Just grabbing any random statistic and stating that the results are representative does not help your cause. There could very well be some data that supports anons conclusion but it definitely wasn't that one.

If 3% of 100 people in Korea are lgbt, in a group of 7 people, how many of them might be lgbt?

3%×7=0.03×7=0.21

So about 0.21 people in the group might be lgbt. It's likely that 0 people in the group would be lgbt. Proportion says no member of BTS is lgbt, probably!

Ay bo, now you're turning to maths for what? To prove that Jikook isn’t real or can’t be real? Mate, all you’ve got to do is say you don’t think they’re a couple and move on! Get on with your lives and let us be happy! Honestly, que flojera con ustedes.

Hi! This is about your aspec, BTS and shipping discussion.

I am very new to this fandom and I needed some time to come to conclusion about what Jikook are to each other in my personal opinion. What I settled on is that they undoubtedly have (or at least still had at the time of their last prolonged shared public appearance last December) a very, very close, intense relationship. I have doubts that it is platonic, but I can’t be sure 100%. And frankly, I don’t care about the exact nature of their relationship, because canon has never stopped me from shipping whatever the hell I want.

Now, in the process of coming to this conclusion, I've encountered a lot of posts that analyzed some of Jikook interactions, or answered some insecure shippers, or trolls pretending to be insecure shippers. Sometimes there were remarks that people who weren’t convinced by all the obvious Jikook moments/behaviors, didn’t see that Jikook were queer/together MUST be homophobic (or delusional cultists from the other side of the ship war, or both). And it always made me uncomfortable, because what about people like me?

I think of myself as being somewhere on the ace spectrum (with a side of being shit at human interactions in general). I’ve always been confused by/blind to a large degree to intricacies of outward expressions of people’s romantic/sexual relationships. I don’t notice it unless it is very, very obvious. I am a real-life representation of an “Oblivious Character X” fanfic trope. I am an oblivious fool who doesn’t recognize when they are flirting, who gets invited and taken on a date and doesn’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late. I also have difficulties recognizing these behaviors between other people/couples both in RL or in media (it goes both for queer and het relationships).

I can’t know for sure, but I think that if I just watched BTS content (like AYS for example) without being primed for shipping, I most likely would have read Jikook as just really good friends (lol) and even if I noticed anything sus they do, most likely I would have rationalized it as cultural differences and fanservice. And I don’t think homophobia has anything to do with it in this case.

I don’t have any actual question to ask, so sorry for rambling and thank you for reading if you did, also for sharing your thoughts in your previous posts.

Hi anon,

Thank you for sending this in as you've demonstrated the point I was making. These posts were not about any of the member's themselves but about the harm to those of us out here that do fall into other sexualties and the erasure we feel when certain declarations are continuously made with no challenges.

It's definitely been interesting to see the anons pouring into my inbox in the past day though. It's exceedingly clear that they don't even read the actual posts and just want to argue for the sake of arguing. They'll have to go do it elsewhere, though as I said, I wouldn't be posting any that aren't made in good faith and are willing to have a nuanced discussion.

I saw Jungkook's documentary this weekend and have just a few thoughts. If you're avoiding spoilers, don't click the cut!

The Hybe Documentary Format

So...as a reminder to you all, I do not have professional expertise in the film industry. I'm just a very discerning consumer. I also haven't seen Hobi's documentary and I watched Road to D-Day while I was quite ill last year so I only vaguely remember some bits. (I'll definitely be getting back to those sooner rather than later though as research for a series of posts I'm developing.) That being said, I think we have enough data points to state that Hybe has absolutely no interest in filmmaking techniques outside of music videos.

I did mostly enjoy my experience seeing this film yesterday and I'm always grateful for any amount of footage the members are willing to share with us but this 'documentary ' was worse than Jimin's Production Diary. Any of you that managed to make it through my rambling review will know how dissatisfied I was with that.

I Am Still is not a documentary, it's a mixture of showcase footage and behind-the-scenes clips, most of which has already been divulged in the various episodes and shooting sketches on YouTube. Honestly, if you're not able to see the film, just go rewatch all of the bangtantv content for JKs solo period and the showcase and you'll be up to speed with 85% of what was in the documentary.

There are definitely some expansions to the storylines featured in the bangtantv content; mostly being anything that wasn't overtly optimistic. For example, we learn a little bit more about just how sick JK was during the Seven/3D promotions. That content likely was pulled from the bangtantv edit because it would have put a damper on the promotions and given certain 'fans' a focus to fixate their vitriol. But overall, it feels more like an extended version of existing content rather than a new work. At least JPD didn't continually feed us footage we'd seen before.

I'm someone who gets completely bothered by previews spoiling content so I didn't watch any of the promos until after I saw it and I am so glad I skipped them because most of the 'original' scenes of the film were featured in least one of them. Alas, that's a separate issue of which I'm definitely in the minority.

Was There No Structure?

Kinda. Like JPD, there is a semblance of a structure: Attempting to follow the chronology of release activities for JKs GOLDEN album through the lens of JKs staement trying to prove that he is still worthy of everything he was being hailed as during the BTS group activities but I don't feel this was successfully executed. It jumps round enough and isn't very successful in explaining the events if you didn't already know about them. The film starts with the SEVEN performance at GMA and footage that we've already seen of JK recording SEVEN, not mentioning anything about the music video or really how JK got involved with the song in the first place. The rest of the story beats have similar missing points.

They have a vague narrative with the 'I Am Still' points but that's mostly carried by subs and a couple of moments that JK mentions himself. I'm not saying it's not true or wasn't top-of-mind for JK during this process but it's not the main point of many of the moment/messages he shared with us during this time period so it feels a little disingenuous since everything else jn this film really only makes sense if you've already seen quite a lot of behind-the-scenes content.

Honestly, it makes me question the intended audience. Obviously, they know that ARMY will shell out whatever we need to when there's new content from our members but most of us will have already seen all of the bangtantv content so we are already familiar with the most of the footage in this film. I genuinely don't think this was produced in such a way to be palatable for audiences not familiar with BTS so who does that leave? Our friends and family that are peripherally aware of the content but haven't learned the basics of JKs album? ARMY with short term memories only?

But again, it seems this film was compiled by an editing team and not lead by a director with experience in crafting a documentary. The only new footage that Ican guarantee was captured with the express purpose of being included in this film was the few clips of JK talking in the practice room with the albums displayed by him. But we all know that's where all of the promo clips were gathered as well. I have issues with that approach as well but I'll leave this point alone for now unless anyone is interested.

Suffice it to say, all of these suppositions over the past year about how JKs documentary was getting special treatment or even questioning about investment in a project up front are dead. This was a product assembled with bits of what they already had completely in-house which was sold for distribution.

So, Did We Learn NOTHING?

No, there are a few Golden nuggets (see what I did there?). I can't recall everything having only seen it once (and having a rather disruptive audience - I swear there were only dozen or so ppl in my theater but I forget how obnoxious teenagers can be. I'm glad they're enjoying and supporting but we really didn't need light sticks flashing during a film and how many times does one person need to get up to answer their phone during this runtime? Three according to the row in front of mine.)

Anyway, something I thought was interesting to learn was that Standing Next To You was initially recorded the day after JK heard it for the first time. And hearing a little more about how JK yearned to perform that song definitelygot me thinking a little more about it. We can't reach any conclusions just with this little nugget but it does open the door to some theories. Like perhaps they were initially planning to have JK record two separate albums? SEVEN and 3D would be the singles of the first and JK would perform them as we saw but perhaps STNY was originally planned to be the single of the 2nd album that would release while he was in the military and thus be unable to perform it? Maybe JK loved STNY so much that everything was grouped into one album and Never Let Go was the only track held back for ms? Definitely some theorizing space to be had now.

Final thoughts?

Similar to my thoughts on the GCF: Budapest (which I feel would have had a much better reception if it had been labeled as a bangtan episode rather than a GCF), I AM Still should not have purported to be a documentary. It was much more similar to the annual Memories compilations. But the general public would not have shelled out the $25 to go to a theater to watch a Memories DVD so alas, we have our content packaged as a ~documentary~...

Did my view on the music change at all? Not because of the documentary. We're coming up on the year anniversary of GOLDEN and it's still definitely not my favorite. I completely understand why some people like it but it's just not to my taste. The overall impact falls a little flat for me. Too much breadth and not enough depth. I came into my musical soul during the 00s emo phase and will always be a sucker for music that absolutely drips in an emotional way rather than catchy songs vaguely referencing heartache and love. Again, just a matter of viewpoint.

I do think most of these songs stand much better being shuffled amongst other artists in a Playlist and several of them are significantly better when JK sang them live but I still won't be listening to them regularly. I wholeheartedly believe JK completed his task of proving himself as an extremely dedicated and versatile singer and performer. He's definitely got some solid points added to his resume after this project.

As an aroace myself, I have sometimes wondered about the relationship status between Jimin and Jungkook. Not because I don't think they love each other, because it's obvious that they do. But because I love my friends so strongly, that sometimes, people who do not know me, think that I am in a relationship with a couple of them. I am, but it's just not the relationship they think about. It's literally just a very strong friendship.

The complete aspec erasure is so strong in the BTS community. It often feels like there is absolutely no room for any other relationship that normal dude-bro friends or boyfriends who have sex, often. Like no, please, there are so many other ways people can love each others, and every single way is beautiful in its own right. Do I believe Jimin and Jungkook are in love ? A little. Yes. Because they definitely go past the barriers that I know. But does that mean they are regular boyfriends? I don't know. Only they know. They are free to define their relationship in any way that pleases them. They are incredibly famous multi-millionnaires, so it makes me laugh when people think they can stand in their shoes and assume that they know exactly what they are for each other. No, you don't. Nobody but them knows. Nobody even realise how freaking busy they are (not until @wingzie made that beautiful timeline). They don't have a 9 to 5 factory or desk job. They have a life that nearly nobody on earth can relate to. And maybe even them have not yet defined exactly what they are to each other, or maybe they were waiting, or maybe things change and move around. There is no right or wrong way to have a relationship, as long as it's between consenting adults. It's so nice to have someone else from the aspec community over here <3.

Hi anon!

It's so lovely to hear your thoughts as well. I completely understand everything you're saying here. It's something that's been building up for me for a while here. I spend absolutely no time engaging in other social media spaces for BTS content. I dipped my toes into those waters and there just wasn't enough space for nuance for me. But here in cooky little tumblr land, there's at least a tiny fraction of a place where I feel these conversations can actually be held.

Frankly, I do like spending time sharing in the joy that I see in the member's relationships. There are some absolutely wonderful moments of humanity to which we're privy. If I could improve one thing though it'd definitely be for people to focus more on the joy-sharing and celebrations rather than the fanwars and competitions.

Anyway, thank you for sending this in! It's so lovely to know I'm not completely alone in these views.

hey, i was curious about something from ep 6. jimin talks about filming with the kids for sgmb, and jungkook says he saw the video. but sgmb was filmed the day before they left for tokyo, and their conversation was just a few days after that. there’s no way the finished product was done by then, right? (especially considering that music video wasn’t scheduled to come out for many months) can we assume jungkook is talking about some other video of jimin and the kids or maybe some raw footage? the timeline is just interesting to me!

Hi anon,

While there's really no way for us to know, I do have a couple of suspicions. But first, I would always recommend if any specific wording seems to stick with you abut anything the members say, please remember that they do speak in a language that often doesn't have a 1:1 translation to English. I don't have anyone to point you at since I don't spend any time in BTS social media outside of tumblr but I believe there are some army translators out there that can corroborate the translations.

Now, onto the video in question. There are a couple of hints I've gleaned over the years regarding BTS's work process and access to monitoring their own footage. In case you're not aware, the raw data on the big ol' fancy cameras is quite large and it takes some doing to get that data moved to here it needs to be for editing.

But we all know how involved BTS is with monitoring their own content after most takes. How many times do we see 3J asking for one more take in that Butter dance practice?? So we know they will utilize the monitor station to review directly after takes. But I've seen them point a lower quality camera at one of those monitors and watch the output later. You can see this type of footage in the SGMB shooting sketch as well. Here's a quick bit:

We see the entire cast gathered around a monitor but then it cuts to a camera recording the monitor. That means there is a person pointing a camera at the monitor itself. My theory is this extra footage is uploaded to some shared location for ease of review while the actual footage takes whatever time it requires to properly manage the quality. I would also assume that all of the members have access to this shared space to review whatever they'd like.

All just theories though. I know there are a few of you that have reached out to me who actually work in film and I'd be curious to know if this sounds realistic or not.