Hello Kind Stranger. I Like Your Blog And As A Follow Up To Your Other Anon I Hope It's Okay To Share

Hello kind stranger. I like your blog and as a follow up to your other anon I hope it's okay to share my thoughts on why I personally feel Jikook are very much a thing now more than ever with you (you don't have to post this). I trust my eyes, ears and gut feeling and as a mature army I think I know how a potential relationship look like pretty well and some of the things I see Jikook are doing {what they don't do is also very telling} makes me go DING DING DING every single time so here are my two cents:

The amount of shows and Korean dramas they have to watch together because unless they tell each other everything they do over the phone and are into the exact same jokes in at least 15 different dramas and memes it's almost impossible to have this amount of similar banters so I can't help but thinking they spend a lot of time together and we just don't get to see it. I also think there are small signs that they could be living together but nobody can tell for sure but that's a different topic

Jimin apologizing for JK acting up in a cute harmless way or thanking others who compliments him. Basically how they have interesting different boundaries when it comes to each other that goes beyond taking care of a friend: ^Want me to cut if for you? Don't show your toe socks on live^ You need to make him feel better not making fun of his UN mistake^ and more

Interactions that can't be explained if they are just platonic friends in my humble opinion. For instance Hobi asking Jimin why he's doing his birthday live in JK studio and Jimin doesn't have an answer but looking down and smiling while JK changed the topic with dancing, followed by Hobi giggling and hugging Jimin. The time Hobi teased Jimin about JK being in charge of clothes and again Jimin stuttered. These interactions combined with small gestures like JK waiting for Jimin to pass so he can walk right after him or holding his bags or always wanting to do the heavy lifting even in games as an instinct (have you seen this run episode?) speak volumes to me and only amplifying what I think

Which brings me to the neck bite gate, the ear sucking on stage, the thirst trap birthday wish, GCF Tokyo, maybe the initials tattoos. regardless of what people say it can't be denied that no one will do those things for someone if they are in a romantic relationship with another person. No one will stay awake at night to act sexy in a birthday video for someone you are heavily rumored to be in relationship with when you are already in a relationship. it's disrespectful and rude towards your partner and doesn't fit with the people I think JK or Jimin are. I fully believe that this is a universal truth and that is the real reason why haters always call the 4, 5 BIG jikook moments a lie or ignore them like the plague with childish excuses because even they know deep down that you simply don't do that when you have a boyfriend or girlfriend at home. I'm not one of those people who think Jikook have been together for a decade or know for a fact they are exclusive but these instances happened in the span of years. Just saying

Their early days. Jimin used to ask for kisses constantly and Jungkook was very much into letting Jimin win at games, stand offs and what not. I think it's safe to say both acted towards each other in a a unique way that is different to the rest of the members and I find it interesting how Jimin stopped asking and how JK is still to this day is very gentle when it comes to Jimin. it was very much a puppy love that could have evolved in time to a relationship which is very natural in a place of work

The level of intimacy that is different even for BTS standards. For instance JK seeking with his hand to find bare skin or taking a bite from the pizza silce at the similar spot or proudly showing a neck bite from Jimin on his neck and everything they did in point 4.

Body language- the way they turn their full body towards each other on stage, photos, during games, in official promo videos, the way they sit, and even when they are telling jokes tables apart

Their own bandmates and how they look at one of them when the other one is doing something funny or worth mentioning. very much a setting of a group of friends singling out a couple

The people in their lives seem close. Parents, brother, Poly C, even some of their follow list.

Similar views on life, answers, experiences, likes and dislikes. They click too well and there's a reason why there's endless footage of them doing nothing on the side but enjoying their time together

I won't pretend that I know anything as a fact but ironically in jikook history a lot of things become less complicated and MUCH more easier to explain if they are a couple than if they are not so I go by the rule 'the simplest explanation is usually the correct one'.

Yes yes hell to the yes.

What you said.

This man is so beautiful, simple, sophisticated. Ethereal. I love seeing this side of Joon, his Instagram account have been a blessing to me as a fan because I feel like I know a little more about him.

Namjoon since he immersed himself in the art world seems like a work of art himself, not necessarily because of the beauty but because of the way he makes you think, how you can look at him for hours and find 1000 meanings or interpretations. How it makes you say over and over again that it doesn't seem real. That he doesn’t seem real.

I love seeing this Namjoon. Free, complicatedly uncomplicated.

JUSTICE FOR DREAMERS + LEFT & RIGHT

Spotify removing streams for Left and Right and then changing Jungkook’s ranking from #1 K-pop soloist of 2022

EVEN THOUGH he’s the most streamed artist in that category.

YouTube sabotaging his Dreamers streams which then led to Billboard to not count the overall streams from the MV + Bangtan and FIFA performance vids. 40M streams were removed, 40M……..

When I tell you that the industry is sabotaging BTS I mean it.

And look, no shade to that girl but the #’s don’t lie

When this predictions stats started circulating around the TL 2 days before BB’s announcement I was trying to figure out why it didn’t make sense - and I want to be clear, please don't rely on prediction stats they often times can be unreliable. The only reason that one caught my attention was because I was tracking Jungkook's performance that entire week (given YT's shit show) and the stats on here didnt make sense because where did those numbers come from. But once BB announced their weekly charts ranking, it would make sense WHY that stats account was "right", but it didnt matter, the numbers we calculated and tracked DID NOT match the reality of jk's streams.

Because he debut on Spotify with 6,339,918 unfiltered streams, their overall debut week was 32.03 unfiltered streams AND with 4.8M streams (filtered). And that should have included the MV+ performances streams. Sales was more that 19.3k, considering that he was on Apple’s USA #1 digital sales for 5/6 days.

That makes no sense whatsoever, he should have been #1 on the 200 charts + the global charts, AND he should have made it higher on the list on the hot100.

This might sound like nonsense to a lot of people, but this is why it’s important, at least to me, why we should teach ourselves about the system in the music industry.

No one taught us how to read stats + how to understand BB’s points breakdown, we learned it on our own, because if we hadn’t we wouldn’t have been able to see how corrupt the industry is. Learning all of this has helped us in calling out the injustices that BTS have faced.

If there’s one thing I always tell baby ARMY it’s “learn about the charts, do your research and always ask fellow ARMY when something doesn’t make sense”.

Knowledge is power and it’s the only way for us hold these companies accountable

JUSTICE FOR JUNGKOOK

Goldie, for God's sake, answer me just this once. Please, like I told you before, I'm not a shipper and i have a reason why but i can't descussion it here. I'm just Jimin Stan.And all I care about is the comfort of this boy who took my mind called Park Jimin. Just a question if Jikook is real. Why do I feel that Jimin is always unhappy? He complains about loneliness and not getting and making friends. Does one live in illusion only and imagines that he is happy while he is always insinuating and complaining about loneliness and gloom? Don't you understand his feelings through his album? Is it logical that this side appears when you are happy with the one you love, or does the one you love not treat you well?Please, I don't want to accuse anyone, but it seems that Jimin has changed a lot since before He became shrunken in himself and shy too much. Where is the bold and flirtatious Jimin? Something must have happened to him. Something last. Did you read the Weverse magazine article about him because it made me cry so much?

Sigh

Ever heard the saying the higher you go the lonelier you become? Dude literally released an album that addresses his struggles with fame and being in the spotlight- as big as Jungkook's dick is and as sharp as his thrusts are- big dick don't cure everything so let's not lay it on him okay?

I don't know if he's become shrunken in himself and shy when Jungkook has been saying for years Jimin is the most shy member of bts he knows. He is extroverted sure but he's quiet demure and graceful elegant and pretty too. Don't confuse is public persona for his actual persona. He's used to performing his extroversion and playing up his daring character for TV.

Jimin the artist is not the same as Park Jimin the brother, son, friend and human others know and that's what he's been saying for years. So if you ask what happened to the old Jimin I'd say FUCK IT HE'S FINALLY FREE BOTTOMS UP

Like he said, raise a glass to the old him- emphasizes on old. He keeps trying to break loose from old habits and behaviors that hold him back and don't serve him. I'd wager one of such habits was keeping up with his public imagine of constantly being a spectacle.

His duality is part of who he is. We should give him room to express and explore himself without attaching vehemently to our single lensed view of him. There's nothing wrong with him.

But I understand your concern. I used to be like this too. for years he had said bulking up and building his body wasn't his thing. I nearly- well who am I kidding, I had an actual melt down when he started working out and building his body again because I thought he was being coerced into doing it again- turns out he just wanted to look ripped in jeans🥴

Dude was tryna get laid and I was out here cussing hybe out for oppressing him💀

I don't know if he's always unhappy when he's only opening up about his struggles which I think is a good thing for him and his fans. For me it helps me understand him more, empathize with him more and grow more closer to him.

Jimin is not the melancholic type.

The shit he deals with is real. I've heard many western artists complain of similar struggles and some of them are happily married with kids. Relationships are not a magic cure for loneliness especially if the feeling of loneliness IS NOT STEMMING FROM LACK OF HUMAN CONNECTION.

Do you actually thing Park jimin is lonely because he lacks intimacy and human connection? Loneliness is a complex issue and many things can lead to a person feeling this way. For me, I think he's inability to be who he really is was his biggest emotional trigger. He lives in a conformist society surrounded by people who constantly expect maturity and discipline from him, with a fan base that will desert him and unstan him if he says the wrong thing, dates the wrong person or make the move. There's no room for mistakes and that can be pretty dehumanizing.

Social expectations can alienate people and I'm afraid jimin is no exception. And in case you aren't aware, life sucks and hits every body including Jimin.

I don't appreciate you demanding my attention in this way. It makes me feel I have to rush my response so if this feels rushed it's on you🙃

I actually enjoy this numbering thing, it's very interesting and an efficient way to give more insight

Hello, I found this old quote from jimin and I’ve seen it translated elsewhere but I was hoping to get your take on it? It’s from this article

https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/415/0000001635?sid=004

지민_ 중학교 3학년 때부터 춤을 춰왔고 부산예고에 수석 입학 할 만큼 소문난 춤꾼이지만 동시에 매력적인 보컬로 방탄소년단만의 색깔을 만드는 데 큰 역할을 했다. 또 ‘짐드백’(지민+샌드백)이란 별명이 생길 정도로 팀 내 서열 꼴찌가 됐는데 어쩌다 이렇게 됐나.

▲ 춤뿐 아니라 보컬에 대한 고민도 많은 편이다. 보컬적인 면에서 아직 너무 부족하다고 생각하기 때문에 스스로 만족할 수 있을 만큼 노력해서 더 좋은 노래를 들려드리고 싶다. 서열 꼴찌인 건 인정한다. 막내 정국이한테 던져지고 나서 이렇게 된 것 같다. ‘정국 맘’이라는 별명이 있는데 이제 ‘정국 장난감’이 된 것 같다.(웃음) 반항할 수 없기도 하지만 그런 장난이 싫지 않기 때문에 어쩔 수 없다.

Hi, thanks a lot for your message.

Since it's quite a bit of text I will give a translation without much of explaining around it for the parts where it just mentions Jimin's history etc and focus more on the parts which I assume were the reason you sent me the message for.

Here I will also try to make it more fun for me (and for those who are maybe interested in going more in depth too) by showing multiple ways of translating certain words or phrases, ranging from 1st option marked as ¹ - 'closest to source' translation (which I typically provide to show what was said in original word as opposed to just transforming it to be more seemless and easier to understand for an English speaker) /2nd option marked as ²- close synonym (kind of middle of the two, optional) / 3rd option marked as ³- 'looser, more flexible' translation (might not be mirroring the source text 100% but brings the essence of the word, phrase closer to the English language and its context). This is just to show translations can vary depending on stylistic choice and preference. Naturally, this doesn't always apply though and there's many further nuances that can be discussed etc.

Note: if you wish to skip the (admittedly long) explanation and my weird number exercise, scroll to the bottom for clean translation.

지민_ 중학교 3학년 때부터 춤을 춰왔고 부산예고에 수석 입학 할 만큼 소문난 춤꾼이지만 동시에 매력적인 보컬로 방탄소년단만의 색깔을 만드는 데 큰 역할을 했다.

또 ‘짐드백’(지민+샌드백)이란 별명이 생길 정도로 팀 내 서열 꼴찌가 됐는데 어쩌다 이렇게 됐나.

"Jimin- You've been dancing since the third grade of middle school and were such a notorious dancer to the point that you got accepted to Busan Arts High School as the top student (*수석 입학), but at the same time, you also played a big role in creating BTS' own specific colors with your ¹attractive / ²appealing vocals.

Though on top of that, you came in ¹last position in the team ranking / ³were last in the team pecking order to such an extent that you ³earned yourself a nickname ¹'jim-deubaek' / ²'jim-dbag' / ³'jim-punchbag' (Jimin + ¹sandbag / ³punching bag), ¹how did it happen / ³how come / ³how did this come about?"

(*note: here of course the tone is playful and the meaning obviously isn't referring to any harmful violence, the question is posed in a way that it implies Jimin is both the top (skills, influence wise) and then finds himself at the bottom when it comes to certain power hierarchy in the group, like when they joke around together (even physically), to the point that not even the youngest regards him as a 'hyung' and rather plays around with him, which Jimin then refers to in the response accordingly)

춤뿐 아니라 보컬에 대한 고민도 많은 편이다. 보컬적인 면에서 아직 너무 부족하다고 생각하기 때문에 스스로 만족할 수 있을 만큼 노력해서 더 좋은 노래를 들려드리고 싶다.

서열 꼴찌인 건 인정한다. 막내 정국이한테 던져지고 나서 이렇게 된 것 같다. ‘정국 맘’이라는 별명이 있는데 이제 ‘정국 장난감’이 된 것 같다.(웃음) 반항할 수 없기도 하지만 그런 장난이 싫지 않기 때문에 어쩔 수 없다.

"Not only dancing, I tend to worry a lot about my vocals too. I think I am still lacking in the vocal aspect, therefore I want to try hard enough to be satisfied with myself and give you better songs.

I admit to being last in ³the pecking order. I think ¹it became/ ³I ended up like this after ¹being ¹thrown / ³tossed around by ¹the maknae Jungkook. I have the nickname ¹'Jungkook's mum' (*the word mum spelled in Korean) but now / from now on I think I am becoming ¹'Jungkook's toy' / ³'Jungkook's plaything'. (Laughter) I cannot ¹defy it / ²resist, but since I don't hate these kind of ¹antics/ ¹play / ²jokes / ²mischief, ¹there's nothing to do / ³I can't help it."

Concluding note: by giving multiple options I tried to show that there are always various ways to go about translations. Here I would say to avoid misunderstanding, it's better to try to convey the meaning of what was said with a bit more flexible translation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TLDR, clean translation:

Reporter: "(Jimin) You've been dancing since the third grade of middle school and were such a notorious dancer to the point that you got accepted to Busan Arts High School as the top student, but at the same time, you also played a big role in creating BTS' own specific colors with your attractive vocals. Though on top of that, you were last in the team pecking order to such an extent that you earned yourself a nickname 'jim-punchbag' (Jimin +punching bag), how did this come about?"

JM: "Not only dancing, I tend to worry a lot about my vocals too. I think I am still lacking in the vocal aspect, therefore I want to try hard enough to be satisfied with myself and give you better songs. I admit to being last in the pecking order. I think I ended up like this after being tossed around by the maknae Jungkook. I have the nickname 'Jungkook's mum' but now I think I am becoming 'Jungkook's plaything'. (Laughter) I cannot defy it, but since I don't hate these kind of antics, there's nothing to do about it."

(exerpt from 그 여름, 우리가 사랑한 방탄소년단, published 27.07.2016 by atstar1)

So you don’t have to publish this if you don’t feel comfortable, but I kinda wanted your opinion on this.

It may sound dramatic, but I haven’t been able to call myself an army since the news of the World Cup came out. I am so incredibly disappointed in bts and bighit.

When I got into bts they brought me so much comfort and helped me through some tough times. I enjoyed their music and was always very proud of the message they tried to share with the world. Yes, some of their older content is uncomfortable to watch for the casual misogyny and homophobia, but as a queer woman I perfectly understand internalized homophobia and misogyny and I wouldn’t want to be judged for what I said or did in 2014. They had shown they had grown and learned. They always spoke up against people in power abusing it and about social justice.

So what happened? Did they became worldwide stars and decided “who cares about our message anymore! Let’s support a tournament that is basically a celebrations of the violation of human rights?”

Supporting the World Cup is basically saying they don’t care that over 6000 people died building the stadiums. They don’t care that lgbtq people die in that country. They don’t care about women and women’s rights.

This is not the bts I thought I knew, and I’m talking about all of them because if the other six were strongly opposed to this, I honestly doubt jungkook would be flying over there right now. But here we are.

I mean I could even understand that it’s a huge honor for a South Korean to sing for the first time at a World Cup opening ceremony, but let’s not forget that SK with Japan hosted the 2002 World Cup (and that was a mess as well, just google about the referee Moreno and bribes about that World Cup).

Idk I think they really fucked up this time. And if they have no qualms to stand up for human rights violations, than I don’t think I can call myself their fan. I’m also disappointed in armies (on twitter mostly) that have been insulting anyone who pointed out how this is a very poor decision that does not reflect well on bts’s character and morals. You may disagree, but you can’t deny the facts.

I read dualipa’s reaction (who I don’t follow and don’t know anything about) about being rumored to sing and the World Cup, and I can’t help but wish that had been bts answer as well.

Hi. So I'm not going to tell you how to feel. Your feelings and concerns are valid and they are your own. What you choose to do based on how you feel is also totally and completely up to you. Your choice/feelings aren't wrong either way you feel about. Nor do i want to dismiss all the issues and valid crisitisms surrounding the world cup and Qatar. So please know that its okay to be upset about it. And I don't want to bring up past controversies either but idk if you were around in 2019 or if you feel like this is any different than the issues surrounding their choice to perform in Saudi Arabia?

For background if you werent aware of the issues they faced for the decison to hold that concert, ill give an overview:

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman took the throne in 2015, and he has since been making efforts to make the country more moderate and less conservative with several reforms. According to Wikipedia, some of those reforms would be: "regulations restricting the powers of the religious police, the removal of the ban on female drivers in June 2018, and weakening the male-guardianship system in August 2019. Other cultural developments under his reign include the first Saudi public concerts by a female singer, the first Saudi sports stadium to admit women, and an increased presence of women in the workforce." Regardless Saudi Arabia is still quite a bit most other countries in terms of human rights. Its bombings and attacks in Yemen have led to mass famines and deaths, and the Saudi government has been criticized for detaining and torturing human rights activists and LGBTQ people. Women also still don’t have most of the rights they should, and still require a male family member’s permission before doing things like traveling or getting a passport among other things. The Prince and the Gov there have also been heavily critized for their actions being more performantive and less about actually pushing forward more human rights. I don't know much more, so I don't want to speak to heavily on either country (SA or Qatar).

In an effort to be more modern and open, they invited many artists to perform. Among those artists were BTS and they accepted. You mentioned Dua Lipa refusing Qatar performance, so I'll also mention Nikki Minaj refused to perform in Saudi Arabia for similar reasons, citing women's treatment in the country as her reason. Regardless of her close friendships with pedophiles and rapists, she was lauded for the decision as a morally righteous one by many people. Dua Lipa's stance on Qatar is just as morally questionable as being performative based on where else she choices to perform. But that's stuff (for both Nikki and Dua Lipa) that you can look up for yourselves if you want.

BTS were questioned about this decision too actually and in an interview stated: “I wouldn’t say the decision it was easy,” Namjoon said. Jimin added: “But we were officially invited. It’s been a while since we’ve performed in the Middle East – I guess the last time was 2015 in Dubai. To put it simply, if there’s a place where people want to see us, we’ll go there. That’s how we feel.”

Many fans stuck up for BTS during this and said that this performance was for their fans, not for the Saudi government. Which is what their reasoning was. They weren't promoting the governments actions or laws or decisions. They weren't supporting it. They were going to see their fans and share love and music with the world. Both BTS and their staff was also praised for being very considerate of Saudi Arabia's cultural customs and giving space to them and following them when they could (such as not wearing gold jewelry, not showing skin during performances they otherwise do, like Serendipity, pausing rehearsals for muslism prayer times, etc)

Similarly again, just more recently in 2022, BTS were invited by the President of the United States to speak at the White House. And they accepted and went, with little criticism in that aspect. Regardless of the fact that the US is steadily stripping human rights away from people more and more, with endless human rights violations and imperialism over the past few years. With children being taken from parents at the border and put in cages, with POC being murdered by the policing force constantly, with LGBTQ people in fear of their basic human rights being taken away, with women's rights to their own bodily autonomy being argued over daily and taken away in many places in the country. They came to speak specifically about one issue, one problem, that they and many of their fans relate to and face. Anti Asian hate crimes. So they accepted. That's not them promoting and accepting and being okay with everything else.

And yes, BTS are known for talking about controversial topics about their own country in their lyrics. Standing up for people and being willing to criticize their Gov and laws at times, this does not make them politicians or responsible for making a statement over everything. That hasn't changed. Their stance on things or how they feel about it. At least, not that I can tell. I don't know Jungkook's or BTS' motivations behind accepting to do a performance at the World Cup or to do a song for them (because they did release a new verison of Yet To Come specifically for Qatar World Cup promotions). Maybe they will make a statement at some point. Maybe they won't unless asked about it. Maybe they just wanted to do something extra for their fans and found this to be a big opportunity to do so. Maybe they are bigger fans of Soccer/Football then we thought and so they were excited about that portion of this as well. We know they like Messi they've said so. They've had multiple good interactions with Son Heungmin, who is a soccer player for South Korea. We also know Korea will be playing in the World Cup to, so maybe they were asked to represent their country more at the World Cup. And they accepted. Similarly to how they accepted to support Busan's bid to host the World Expo with their free Yet To Come concert held in Busan. Despite the issues with that and with South Koreas own issues with government and laws that are heavily conservative against LGBTQ people and woman as well.

So I guess, my point is, we don't know why they accepted. Even if it's as simple as it's a huge opportunity and they just wanted to... I don't think it changes how they've made it clear that they stand in support of queer people, of women, of love. How they really value their fans and people and want the world to be a better place. They just spoke about all these values at the UN recently as well. So no, I don't think world wide fame changed that for them.

BTS are human. They are not perfect. They will make mistakes and will and can grow from the choices they make. You also, as a fan, do not have to like or agree with everything they do. You aren't even necessarily SUPPOSED to. They aren't God's. They shouldn't be placed on a pedestal of beings who can do no wrong. You will then be disappointed. You are allowed to not like this choice or to think it's a bad one. But I don't think this choice means they are supporting the fucked up violations of human rights that are present there nor do i think this choice is indicative of them not being or no longer being good people. And I think saying that this is them supporting those policies is not fact, as anon stated, but opinion. And you are entitled to your opinion and to your feelings over the matter as well. But these are mine and if you are upset solely about one thing with one place they've traveled to, but not the others, that's something that might be cause for some inner reflection as well.