Run BTS: 012 | Cops

Run BTS: 012 | Cops

Original Air Date: 28 FEB 2017 Episode Length: 22:34 Total Parts: 1 YouTube English Subtitles: Yes Title Song: Blood Sweat & Tears

Synopsis: Police/criminal skit

Production: I really question if it was intentional to do two skits in a row. Was something else planned that fell through? we dont see as much behind-the-scenes for this one. Just a basic intro and then the skit itself.

Endearment: Really seems like the guys trying to make each other crack up and fill time with their dance skills.

Winner/Loser: none

Best Cheater: none

Member Moments:

RM: RM is such a great setup guy. He gives Jin perfect opportunities.

JN: The Jin acting skills are out in full force!

YG: This poor precinct...he stuck to his role of incompetent chief well though!

JH: Honestly, i think Hobi wins the game of flustering the others when he grabs Yoongi's face.

JM: Park Jimin behind bars is one of the most adorable things ever!

V: The guys must have really liked his set up because they all copy this basic outline for their bits.

JK: I get the feeling that JK absolutely loved his role as Jimin's interrogator

Bonus Content: Cute extra moments....and some jk workouts (seriously, i think he's diing the absolute perfect form for push-ups)

CQ Rank: 3

(CQ Eval Date: 12 SEPT 2023)

Check out this post for my Masterlist of all episodes and descriptions of how I'm evaluating these.

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Next Episode: 013

Run BTS: 013 | The Spy Who Returned part 1

Original Air Date: 06 MAR 2017 Episode Length: 22:05 Total Parts: 3 YouTube English Subtitles: No Title Song: Blood Sweat & Tears

Synopsis: Mini games at a water park. Divided in two teams.

MC: YG

OLD: RM, JN, JH

YOUNG: JM, V, JK

A spy is chosen at the beginning

Production: They did such a better job with sound around water this time! Excellent job featuring the location and explaining the mini games as well as the spy set up.

Endearment: Letting us and them know about the spy at the beginning encourages us to pay close attention to their behavior against what we know of their personalities.

Winner/Loser: see final part

Best Cheater: none

Member Moments:

RM: RM absolutely has practiced the technique of falling properly. Did you see that mid-air twist to land on his back??

JN: Jin's attack during the balance game was amazing!

YG: Yoongi's hosting skills are in full force.

JH: He picked water!!! Definitely spy behavior for a random draw. Although it does tempt me to list Staff as the best cheater again, that's just mean!

JM: Excellent save during the balance game...only to immediately fall after

V: V didn't even get a chance at the balance game.

JK: I honestly expected JK to do better in the jumping race game. Did they tell the Young Guys to lose so that it'd be more interesting to watch??

Bonus Content: combined with the bonus content for ep 14

CQ Rank: 3.5

(CQ Eval Date: 12 SEPT 2023)

Check out this post for my Masterlist of all episodes and descriptions of how I'm evaluating these.

Previous Episode: 012

Next Episode: 014

QUICK COMBO: DREAM GLOW | YES OR NO | STAY

My thoughts on this QC:

This combo is so cute!! It tells an adorable little story of a main character that starts out with big dreams in Dream Glow, finds 'the one' and falls in love in Yes or No and then wants to be with them forever in Stay. the musical transition between all three is just so lovely as well, nice upbeat, happy songs (which is not generally my norm, gotta satisfy my emo roots every few tracks 😉).

The BTS World OSTs are vastly underrated imo so this was nice to be able to bring one of them back with Dream Glow.

Stay was one of the first subunits tracks that I latched onto in my journey and I still regularly seek it out.

Yes or No has actually surprised me on Golden. Easily my favorite track JK has released this year. I just need to get over my current cold so i can sing along with it!

Listening Links:

as an entire queer trans allosexual i think it's weird when other allosexuals don't like the term allosexual for themselves. it just means not asexual. smacks of cis people who scream and howl and pee their pants about being called cis

Run BTS: 017 | Arcade Olympics part 1

Original Air Date: 11 APR 2017

Episode Length: 20:35

Total Parts: 2 YouTube English Subtitles: Yes

Title Song: Blood Sweat & Tears

Synopsis: Gaming at an arcade

Production: The coverage of the games is a little rough, not sure if they just didn't get it or decided to edit it out in favor of focusing on the guys. This is definitely one of those episodes that casual viewers could easily get lost and only watch for the guys and not the show itself. I don't really understand how they compensated for the different difficulties on the DDR game but whatever.

Endearment: I think this episode is meant to feel like the giys are just hanging out at n arcade but something is definitely off for me, not sure what it is. I don't love it or hate it.

Winner/Loser: See the final part

Best Cheater: none

Member Moments:

RM: RM is legit, he knew exactly how to be an entertainer on the basketball game and then he was able to put his money where his mouth was when they tried to tell him he was just bad. We love a triumph!

JN: So proud of Jin for his DDR victory! Dancing king!

YG: Yoongi losing the basketball game, what more to say.

JH: Hobi losing the dancing game....what more to say??

JM: I've always wondered if JM was under the weather during these episodes, he's doing a good job of masking but there are hints that he's not entirely feeling his best.

V: Not gonna lie, I cringe at the thought of barefoot DDR. maybe the staff cleaned it before they started but you have no idea what's been on those things. More power to you V!

JK: JKs first encounter with the basketball game...you shall meet again! and you will absolutely conquer! ;)

Bonus Content: ok, the bonus content definitely feels like we're just hanging out at an arcade.

CQ Rank: 2.5

(CQ Eval Date: 29 SEPT 2023)

Check out this post for my Masterlist of all episodes and descriptions of how I'm evaluating these.

Previous Episode: 016

Next Episode: 018

Personally, I don't associate Letter with JiKook other than from a performance standpoint, appreciating the blend of their voices. So I have a slightly different view on its existence as a hidden track. If there's additional meaning to them specifically with it, it's completely hypothetical because they have absolutely avoided telling us any of the specifics. It's nice to think about the possibility but Letter on its own has enough meaning and depth to be truly special.

I've actually done a whole post of the nature of fansongs (here's a link for anyone interested) but we didn't know much about Letter at the time.

I complain FREQUENTLY about not having Letter as an official release on Spotify but I do that with this point of view in mind (sometimes we just don't want to follow actual logic, you know, the heart wants what it wants). Having Letter be a hidden track that can only be accessed via physical record and only after getting through a ton of dead air of the last track of the album is so symbolic for me. This song is so precious that it needs to only be heard by those willing to go through those extra steps to get to it. The hidden font in the album itself was genius as well.

I think Jimin's reaction to Letter being used as intro and outro music during the JPD live commentary was interesting as well. He was absolutely caught off guard, and we know Jimin's default reaction in those situations is to laugh. It's like the staff just threw it in because it's associated with Jimin and maybe they were trying to evoke a feeling of closeness between us and him for that event but it felt a little too contrived to me. I'm glad he got them to stop it. This song is still my ultimate favorite song in all the music I've heard in my lifetime, and I definitely want to protect it a little from becoming weaponized emotion.

Anyway...did I have a conclusion to this post, no? I just can't resist gushing about Letter.

A few months ago, I was listening to Letter on youtube, looking at the lyrics. What I really like to do on youtube is reading the comments. Maybe it’s just me, but the YT algorithm usually shows up the most liked ones first and luckily they’re usually positive, interesting reflections, opinions, praises. I even found people confessing to someone and getting a reply years later once, lol. People sharing their stories related to the song/meaning of it, and so much more.

I found this comment, in Letter’s comment section. It said : “this song should not be hidden, it’s so good and a masterpiece😭”. I don’t know what they were referring to. Probably to the fact that it should be promoted just like the other tracks, and available for everyone (but it actually is, even if you don’t get the physical album, on YT), or maybe not.

Whatever they were thinking of, that comment hit me and I thought about it a lot. And even though keeping it hidden was probably a symbolic choice for Jimin, that comment it’s still true. That track should not be hidden, what it talks about should not be hidden or covered. Even if it all makes it more valuable and precious, and even if that just shows, again and again, that Jimin himself, as the artist that he is, was able to create a fucking masterpiece, for real.

I mean look at this.

https://href.li/?https://x.com/shyjjmn/status/1723774571927547938?s=46

This is delicate. Just like the love it talks about. Just like its meaning.

Even if I always said that Jikook’s bond is not about hiding anymore but it’s about protecting, sometimes’s still unpleasant to think about. Not their bond: what revolves around it. Please give me that. It’s still unfair. I’m not getting deep into it, we could but… no. I’m just rambling honestly. I’m just really, truthfully expressing what I think most Jikookers feel, not only as a part of the fandom (and its consequences) but mostly as humans. Human beings witnessing such a special bond.

Expecially when I think of young Jikook, using tweets or songs or numbers, to share with the world what normal people in normal life contexts scream out loud when and how they want: “I’m in love”.

Expecially when right after seeing that comment, GCF in Saipan popped up, and goddammit the timing. The timing.

I don’t wanna lie no more

I don’t wanna hide no more

What I found in you is so real

I don’t wanna hide no more

I don’t wanna lie no more

Now that I found you

Imma let you get the best of me

Jungkook being young, being so lyrics attentive, showing a young Jimin on the screen in the exact moment when this bridge drops, both times, is still one of the most tender, innocent yet painful things he has ever done.

And it all reminds me of the lyrics for Magic Shop, that song which is so special and important to Jikook.

You gave me the best of me

So you'll give you the best of you

You found me, you knew me

You gave me the best of me

So you'll give you the best of you

You'll find it, the galaxy inside you

That mutual love, that safe space, that being there for each other that Jikook always remember about each other and point out. A love that enables you to love yourself. The person who’s delivering these words wants the interlocutor to know that loving someone else so sincerely has to mean loving yourself in the same way.

Do you feel how deep and serious this all is?

Not to talk about the lyrics for Letter that didn’t make it.

Who hugged me tightly

Only you who protected me

Who only protected me

Who held my hand

Who held my hand thightly

You who reached out to me

Who held out your hand to me

Who held out his hand

To you who looked at me greatly

Sometimes I wonder how Jikook would talk about each other, romantically. How many sweet words they’d have for each other, more than they already do and share. What they’d say about their love, how they’d look while doing it. They’re so well spoken, good at exposing their thoughts, listening to them is enchanting already. And when they talked about the rainy day fight their eyes were sparkling, shining.

You know, I wonder how they’d act if they were really free of acting or speaking of each other/around each other every single time, with no second thoughts, hesitations, restrictions. Not just when it’s decided that, even if on camera, rules can be broken.

They’re private and reserved, but I’m sure they’d also love to tell some good stories, good fights, arguments, disagreements, or else. I’m sure a part of them, the same that made them be so loud about the Tokyo trip, or the same that made Jungkook edit and publish his GCFs, or the same that made Jimin change his watch’s time, wants and would love to open up.

And I just admire, fully, respectfully, the way they hold it back and protect each other. The way they dealed with it, deal with it every day, in the name of their love, for which they’d probably do anything in this world.

Letter should not be hidden, this bond should not be hidden, but at the same time, in this reality, that’s how we know Jikook’s safe and healthy. Even if Jikook should feel safe even if out of that closet (and the fact that it isn’t is bitter to me), all of this seems to be necessary.

Sometimes it’s “hiding in plain sight”, how they call it, sometimes it’s not. Some things probably improved compared to those years, to that 2018, but who I think really improved and made their skin thicker is Jikook. Their resilience is admirable. And it’s the real thing that made them last. They got support, they got each other, they got love, but none of this (by itself or together) is enough without resilience. You have to want it, to be willing to take that risk and love, love, love consistently, like they do, aiming to protection and defence all the damn time. And I know the way I feel about this should not egocentrically be the main subject here, so I focus on that instead. On their insane resilience, and their insanely human love.