Thank you @slaaverin for posting a link to the Jikook military discharge Wlive with English subs
So many little things caught my eye but this moment right here stopped me in my tracks:
Yes, we stayed.
Here it is in context:
I guess i can only speak for myself but I'm certain there are millions of ARMYs who feel the way I do.
BTS is where I belong. I'm not going anywhere. I can't imagine my life without them. I haven't even tried to imagine my life without them.
I don't want to.
And within BTS, Jimin and Jungkook bring me a joy that i don't think I could find anywhere else.
For many reasons - some of them altruistic and some completely selfish - cheering on these two young men who obviously mean so much to each other is something I cherish. I delight in the bond they share.
The way they are together is redemptive.
They give me just a little more faith in humanity.
It's not something I'd ever want them to know because it would add to the huge burden they already carry, but they have brought a glow of warmth to my life that i didnt know was missing. They heal an invisible hurt. I'm sure this is true for many of us.
I'm not under any illusion that their relationship is perfect. What does perfect even look like? The idea is so subjective.
We only see what they show us but what they have looks pretty damn good from the outside.
They hold space for one another, and support each other in hard times. They celebrate their achievements and take responsibility for their shortcomings, both individual and collective. They are unreserved with their affection and admiration.
I stayed for BTS - for their music and performance and artistry. I stayed for these seven amazing humans who I admire so much, and I stayed for my ARMY community.
But what a bonus Jikook are! They're a whole extra serving of dessert in an already delicious meal.
I have no expectations that they will always be together because life has a way of making fools of people who have expectations.
But i have a whole separate dessert stomach for jikook ...
and I'm going to feast on everything they serve up, with a double helping of honey-oh-honey and all the gooey sweetness I can bear.
I’m really curious to see how Jimin and Jungkook will handle the dynamic of their relationship once they’re out of the military. It will be interesting to see how they readjust to the normal they had before enlisting, or how much that normal might change.
They’ll be going from spending practically all their time together during their service to possibly not being together as much because of work, comfort, or necessity. I don’t really know. And yes, I know they used to spend a lot of time together before, especially when the group was active, but I feel like this time has been different. Even though it’s clear they’ve built good friendships, during this period, they’ve really only had each other. They know each other inside out. They are probably each other’s safe place, each other’s sense of normality in the middle of everything, and it’s hard not to think that brought them even closer.
Throughout this time, Jimin and Jungkook have said they’re always together, always talking, making plans for the future, sneaking away from the others to sing or chat. That really shows how close they’ve remained, and it makes perfect sense to think that their bond has grown even stronger. Either that or they’re completely sick of each other by now, but from the little they’ve shared with us, that doesn’t seem to be the case. So it’s easy to imagine they’ve become even more used to one another, which makes me wonder what it’ll be like once they’re out of that bubble, if we can call it that.
We probably won’t see much of any change in their dynamic for a while, at least not until the agency starts releasing new behind-the-scenes content and things like that. But it will definitely be interesting to see how publicly present they are in each other’s lives, to the point where we as fans might actually notice.
Something else that will be interesting, and probably a bit funny, is seeing how the rest of the group reacts to this possible evolution in Jimin and Jungkook’s dynamic.
I really can’t wait to see how the plans they told us about start to materialise. Whether those plans are individual, something the two of them are doing together, or something related to the group as a whole, or maybe all of the above.
I also wonder if their presence on social media will change, or if they’ll go back to how things were before they enlisted. I wonder how much has changed. How much they have changed, and if they have, will we notice? So many questions and such limited answers, honestly.
I can’t believe we’re seeing them in a week. And that in two weeks, all seven will be together again, only for Jin to go on tour, and they’ll split up again ajajaajajaj, but oh well. At least the chances of seeing them will definitely be much higher now.
We probably won’t see much of any change in their dynamic for a while, at least not until the agency starts releasing new behind-the-scenes content and things like that.
I wanted to highlight this part for the new and the insecure jikookers among us who are maybe expecting passionate jikookery from the very STEPS of the military discharge center carrying forward.
Just pause, take a breath and realize that Jimin and Jungkook are normal people that don't live within each other's embrace 24/7, JUST LIKE MOST COUPLES IRL, and that the jikookery we consume is often tightly concentrated in edits and that the footage we get the moments from is spaced over the span of weeks, months and years and sometimes do not appear until behind-the-scenes content MONTHS after the actual events, on Memories compilations and such.
So we MAY see jikookery, or we MAY NOT see jikookery, and I hope some of you guys won't start with the usual nonsense we've seen every year for the past 8 years if we don't see much out of the ordinary. Though I'm not holding my breath because I'm tired. But I just wanted to at least make the effort to bull horn this important information.
This is a very good point, and thank you @bulletfrootboyzz for bringing it up.
As always, whatever expectations we might have about their personal lives DO NOT MATTER. It doesn’t matter what you believe or not, our opinion simply doesn’t count. They’re not dolls that have to behave a certain way just to seem believable.
When it comes to their professional careers, sure, we can share opinions and have expectations, always with RESPECT but when it comes to their private lives, absolutely not. We’re here to support them in what they do, to appreciate whatever little or much they choose to share with us, and that’s it.
None of this “I’m disappointed,” or “I expected this or that,” or complaining because one of them didn’t hold the other’s hand, or because someone did something alone, or because one hugged another member. I don’t want that nonsense on my blog. I will block anyone who send messages like that. As simple as that.
All of this. I can not stress enough how irrelevant the audience is when it comes to their actual relationship. I'll take my slice of jikookery, however small or non-existent, and be happy and pleased because they do not owe us anything. Not during pride month.
sometimes family is just you, your peerlessly serene but secretly feral autistic dad, your undead mad genius adhd gremlin necromancer dad, the lovably awkward reanimated corpse of your distant uncle, and the donkey your adhd dad stole from the family of the man who summoned his soul into his own body in order to enact vengeance on said family
I normally don’t involve myself in the politics of this fandom, but everything that has unfolded over the past few days has left me utterly dumbfounded.
Anyone who refuses to acknowledge that this fandom has always treated Jimin differently is either extremely obtuse or simply unwilling to accept what is right before their eyes.
Before these AMA nominations, Namjoon had been nominated for numerous fan-voted awards, yet this same fandom never bothered to lift a finger for him, forget about awards, they don’t even care to stream Namjoon’s music. Now, they claim they want to rally behind Namjoon because they already “gave” Jimin a Daesang….but let’s be honest here.
Back then, Jimin was never the chosen one. The so-called agreement was that the fandom would rally behind whoever had the highest chance of winning and it just so happened to be Jimin. Even then, the majority of the fandom was against voting for him. During the TMA Popularity Award, when both Jimin and Yoongi were nominated and had the highest chances of winning, this same fandom chose to vote for Yoongi and were angry when Jimin emerged as the winner. So, my question is: when has Jimin ever truly been the fandom’s chosen one?
Let me be clear-I have no issue with people wanting Namjoon to win. He absolutely deserves it. He has deserved so many wins in the past that the fandom failed to show up for.
Where I take issue is with the sudden urgency this fandom has now found and, unfortunately, it is not driven by pure intentions. Eighty percent of the people rallying are not doing so because they believe Namjoon deserves this win; they are doing it because they do not want Jimin to win. I can bet my last dollar that if Namjoon were up against any other member even Jungkook or Taehyung who are part of the maknae line, we would not be seeing this frenzy.
There’s another fan-voted award happening right now where Namjoon is losing. If this push were genuinely about supporting him, they would be rallying there too. But they’re not because Jimin isn’t competing in that category.
Namjoon winning this award would be a beautiful and deserved moment. For years, he carried BTS on his back, shielding the group and members even when he himself was just a kid. His music style may not be the most crowd-pleasing, but he is undeniably talented and gifted. He deserves this win and many more to come.
Jimin deserves a win too. And if only people knew how to recognize that both are deserving without throwing shade at either, we would be in a much better place.
The reality is: winning for Namjoon would be wonderful, but the intentions behind pushing for his win are tainted. If you are only trying to get someone to win because you want the other person to lose, are you really doing it for them….. or for yourself? And the danger of acting out of spite is that you lack true commitment and passion.
I had to chuckle when I saw certain solo fandoms suddenly rallying for Namjoon. It’s honestly laughable because everyone including Namjoon-biased ARMYs and solos…..knows those other solos couldn’t care less about Namjoon.
The only reason they are participating is because they share a common hatred for Jimin. They don’t truly care whether Namjoon wins or loses…they only care that Jimin doesn’t win.
Any other winner would make them just as happy. Don’t even be surprised if some of them pretend to support Namjoon publicly but then cast their votes for any of the other groups or artist in the same category. It’s truly pathetic behavior.
Some might ask: what did Jimin ever do to this fandom to deserve this treatment, as if he were the fifth member of Blackpink?
The short answer is: NOTHING. He never did anything wrong.
Their real issue with him is that he exceeded the expectations they set for him. Had you told most ARMYs years ago that Jimin would perform the way he does today, they would never have believed it.
The problem with this fandom is that it moves like a cult….and not in a good way. They are rigid and resistant to change. Once they accept a narrative, they refuse to let it evolve.
For instance, it’s widely accepted that Hobi is the best dancer in BTS, and even the members acknowledge this. That’s perfectly fine. But it should never be a reason to harass those who think Jungkook or Jimin or others are better dancers.
People have different tastes.
I personally think Hobi is an incredible dancer, but I prefer Jungkook’s dance style the most, with Jimin as a close second. Does that make me any less of an ARMY or a Hobi hater? No. And for the record, Hobi is one of my top three favorite members….he’s my bias wrecker.
This fandom spent years labeling Jimin as only the third most popular member because they cling to their narratives, refusing to allow space for growth. When Jimin surpassed their expectations, they resented him for it, because they had already assigned him a place, and they didn’t want him to step beyond it. To them, he already has more awards than they ever thought he should have….so now they believe it’s their job to ensure he doesn’t win any more.
It’s truly sad.
I see some people saying that Jimin-biased fans are being weird or acting like antis because they’re upset at how things are unfolding.
I’m not speaking for solos here, but I think the real issue for Jimin-biased fans is not that people want to celebrate Namjoon but that they are only pushing for his win because they don’t want Jimin to have it.
That’s what frustrates me and many others.
And let’s not even start on how shady people have been toward Jimin especially those proudly yelling “we gave him a Daesang” when they didn’t even vote for him in the first place.
It’s perfectly fine to rally behind Namjoon and give him the win he deserves but let it be because you believe in his talent and contributions, not because you want to stop someone else from winning. Otherwise, your motivation is hollow and ironically, it only pushes Jimin-biased voters to work even harder, if only to ensure that Namjoon doesn’t win either.
I know change doesn’t happen overnight, but this fandom needs to stop behaving like a cult and start allowing people to think and act for themselves.
We can be united and support all the members while recognizing that not everyone has to see or do things the same way. Disagreeing with the majority doesn’t make someone an anti of the group or of any particular member.
Let me spell this out, cause when you sit an actually think about this, it is mind blowing. BTS have known each other for like 15 years. Worked together, lived together as a group for years. Jimin and JK are the only two members who have spent 494 days apart from the rest of the boys with only each other. Let that really sink in. Jikook have spent almost 18 months together, every single day, just the two of them apart from their group. That is freaking WILD. And when you look at it outside of BTS, they're the only idols to do this from any group too so far. There aren't two other idols spending 2 years away from their group together, let alone in the military. And this fandom "pretends" its not a big deal to cope. It's a major deal. As a jikook bias/jikook supporter this doesn't even feel real to me sometimes, so I can't imagine how antis truly feel inside, when they aren't lying to themselves to cope. They probably still wake up so confused, sulky and angry and dumbfounded cause they got slapped hard with reality, cause they know they will never in this life, be able to say their biases did this. It really feels like a fever dream when you think about it. Only after BTS could they pray for their favs to spend 2 years together every day apart from other members, cause right now, that's not gonna happen. Maybe one day, but I don't see how since Jk said he wants 50 years of togetherness & AYS with Jimin. And Jikook aren't even tired of each other either, after 494 days. Just WOW.
I agree anon it's absolutely wild when you think about it
Even before enlisting (except for a brief moment in 2023) they've always been glued together.
Enlisting together was quite the commitment to make.
And in Jimin's letter you can read between the lines that they plan on staying intertwined in the future still.
This is mind-blowing.
That doesn't happen for most relationships out there. It shows once again how incredibly special and rare their relationship is. It's crazy and beautiful and so precious 🥹💜
Haters can't really cope well with this bcs anything they might say is simply nothing compared to the real evidence of jikook enlisting and the weight that it carries so I guess they simply block the information entirely in their minds lol it's pretty hilarious
But jikook share pure love and they've showed it time and time again.
Anything anyone might say is invalid (even more than before) because there is simply nothing to prove anymore.
Jikook are the closest in the group, always has been and probably always will be.
Anyone not willing to admit it is in bad faith and I can't take them seriously
Those who know, know.
I can't wait to see what the future holds for jikook it is all so incredibly exciting 💜
After yesterday's comments and really after all of JKs vlives, messages etc it is so so obvious that he takes tremendous pride in the fact that Jimin is with him. He never misses a chance to, well spell it out in bold letters. Its "Jimin this, Jimin that, Jimin, Jimin, Jimin". I doubt that he does it in a calculated way (thats probably what haters/antis/trash like to think that he has a fan service quota to fill) and it just comes naturally from his heart that is just full of, well Jimin. And i cant help but think how special their bond truly is, even if its not romantic. How much love and admiration does this boy have for JM? Its absolutely extraordinary that people fail to see it, they see his bond with Jin, with RM and yet they somehow try to diminish Jikook's. Baffling and kinda sad.
But what fills me with happiness is knowing that they are together right now, day after day, night after night, sharing song, giggles, getting scolded and impatiently waiting to be back. June cant come soon enough.
Louder for the back please anon🥲thank you so much for sharing this. God some of you on here deserve a big long applause come out of the shadows let the nation PRAISE YOU
“He takes tremendous pride in the fact that Jimin is with him”. That’s it, anon. That’s IT. Thank you. Tattooed down my back.
The man doesn’t give two fucks about what anyone could feel or think about their closeness. Oh the boy is SATISFIED😮💨😮💨😮💨
And he wants Jimin for himself. Fully.
Like completely…
Always…
No matter what…
And is proud of that.
If they don’t kiss in public or lick tongues it’s for numbskull dense people out there that are constantly mad losing their minds and pulling their hair at the smallest things. And that could get dangerously angry.
They’re doing it for you, y’all. Jikook are doing it for you. So you don’t cry about it and quit your job to cry about it send trucks 🛻 reports charges and all💀💀💀
Otherwise I’m telling you my boy Jungkook doesn’t give TWO FUCKS😭😭😭 yes talk about Jimin when I’m around. Yes link me to him. Yes ask me about the rainy day fight, let’s watch his content, yes watch me SPANKING HIM. Yes Jeon Jimin sounds cool. Yes we shower together been there done that many many times. I am you you are me.
They’re together, and yes, none can change that. No amount of effort or envy or energy can change the way Jungkook feels when Jimin’s next to him, when he touches him, when he hugs him, when he loves him. Their bond and love is bigger than all these people’s IQs put together.
Yes, I want you to know that he’s right next to me while he’s texting on weverse. He’s here. He’s mine, but the joint wreath is OURS.
🚨 A dear friend of mine is a Korean adoptee who is also trans and a disabled immigrant of color. They obtained US citizenship legally when young, but complications of their paperwork put them at great risk with this administration. Given that multiple facets of their identity and life are under attack, they need to leave everything behind to start from scratch in another country. They even had to rehome their beloved pets—which is further traumatic. My heart breaks for them. I’m so angry that it has come to this, but my anger and sadness won’t help. Money will.
If you have anything to spare, it would help immensely, as their adopters are more harmful than helpful and mutual aid is truly their last resort. To protect their identity, a trusted third party is collecting funds and will withdraw it for them. You can send your donations to: [email protected] via PayPal or @LizaLR5326 via Venmo. (QR codes in comments.) Thank you so much for having it in your hearts to contribute. If you can’t afford to give, a copy/paste share and/or interaction with this post would help spread the word. 💕🙏🏼💕
Note: Please trust that this path forward hasn’t come lightly, so no alternate suggestions at this time. After considering all of their options, this is what they believe is best and I’m respecting their process and path. They simply can’t afford to leave things to chance. Being held in detention could cost them their life.
So Jungkook's collab with Jack Harlow is out. It is catchy; it will go viral. I have purchased it; I will add it to my new releases playlists--same as I do for all our boys.
But while the dancing was cool and JK's parts are okay (I'm not thrilled that the word "girl" is used literally 20 times, but I get what the western music industry is), I was--I need to be honest here--really taken aback and unhappy with how misogynistic Jack Harlow's rap lyrics were. As far as I'm concerned, he's absolutely unnecessary, and I'll be supporting the alternate version with a lot more enthusiasm.
A deeper look at the lyrics and more of my thoughts are under the cut if you're interested (but by clicking, you're agreeing to keep it respectful in the comments or you'll get banned.)
All my ABG's get cute for me
I had one girl (One girl), too boring
Two girls (Two girls), that was cool for me
Three girls, damn, dude's horny
Four girls, okay now you whorin'
(Hey, hey, hey) Hey, I'm loose
I done put these shrooms to good use
Setting young women up in a line and talking about how sleeping with just one is too boring but sleeping with four is whorish? Yeah, miss me with it.
Then there's this:
You won't regret me (You won't regret me)
Champagne confetti (Champagne confetti)
I wanna see it
In motion
In 3D (Show it to me, girl, now, why?)
I was given to understand that "ABG" stands for "Asian Baby Girl" and refers to an Asian party girl who likes clubbing, wearing excessive makeup and tattoos, and revealing clothes, etc.
I also learned from Urban Dictionary—which can be an unreliable site with outdated or incorrect information—that "champagne" has referred to underage girls in the past and "confetti" or nowadays “champagne confetti” refers to orgasm, or sometimes when a group of men or women surround someone, masturbate, and then ejaculate on them.
Not even going to get into the shrooms thing. I'm not in a hyper conservative country with harsh punishments for those type of drugs so... I was a bit taken aback about a song about being fucked right, and now there's lyrics about what amounts to harem girls.
*sigh* Do you know how much I hope I'm reading into things incorrectly? Please correct me if I'm misunderstanding the innuendo, but this is what urban dictionary says. I'm 44 and live in a cave. Maybe I'm wrong.
But in any case, the vibe of Jack's parts in the video was not coming off respectful.
I don't care how many other rap songs objectify and insult women--I won't get behind any content that does. And don't even try to gaslight me or other ARMY into saying we should like this because it's comparatively worse in other rap songs. Don't try to suppress any discourse about it, either--let women discuss how they feel about how they are represented. Don't police women. Don't silence women.
BTS' rap music got so much better once they incorporated feminist feedback, so I'm used to a higher standard and I won't be lowering those standards for anyone. I have no hang ups about sex, but please miss. me. with. misogynistic. bullshit.
Then again, it seems some of the rap hyungs were on board with this.
So I guess industry pros have a different take on stuff like this!
*shrug*
Okay, we have established that I really don't like Jack Harlow's contributions to this song. Which means I'll support the alternative. Thank goodness they had the foresight to provide an alternative!
Now I can work for JK's charts in a way that doesn't aggravate my conscience. All good. Enough said on 3D.
Personally? I really hope JJK1 showcases JK's range of genres, but also has a range of topics besides pursuing girls or being cool.
I just can't vibe with a fuckboy persona; I never liked Justin Bieber or Justin Timberlake for that very reason, even if some of their songs sound fine. Now, if Jungkook really admires their style and wants to pursue it, I'm not going to rag on him for it. Of course not. It's his choice and I can respect people's choices without making the same choices myself.
I will always try to support our members as far as I can, even if not everything is my cup of tea.
But I can't help hoping for something personal and authentic and substantive, when it's just Jungkook coming to us without a collab. (And with Scooter at the helm for an all-English EP, I guess I'm not holding my breath. But maybe this is all part of the learning and growing process. Time will tell.)
Please know that I don't expect other people to suit me and my tastes, but neither will I enthusiastically support content with my time and money when they don't suit me at all or actually really turn me off, ya feel me? It's a real and respectful relationship I have with BTS and their music; not performative. I don't follow along quietly out of obligation, but rather a sincere joy to participate.
I love Jungkook deeply. He's a sweet and intelligent and kind-hearted young man. Amazingly talented and humble. Sincere, open to being vulnerable, protective of those whom he loves. He donates to kid's hospitals, for goodness sake. Jeon Jungkook is a good egg.
I guess I'm just sort of feeling a bit whelmed by the type of music that is in vogue these days. JK worked hard, he did well on his parts. I just am hoping his album showcases some of the emotional depth and meaningful thoughts I have seen from him in the past, if I'm being purely honest. *shrug*
Those are my less-than-two cents. Of course, you may have a vastly different perspective and I appreciate that. Just please keep it respectful of all members and each other in the comments here. It's been a long day and I desperately need some real rest now. I'm trusting I can post this and not come back to a warzone.
I've got a Friday Thirst post in the queue for you guys, and then I'll be taking a bit of a break from social media for a few days to work on work deadlines. Please keep voting for Jimin and of course stream and buy for Jungkook and other new releases.
