eclipseaotters

🌘 🌊 🦦

[eclipseaotters]

One of the absolute boldest things Jimin has done

This is one of the absolute craziest, boldest things Jimin has done ever.

Jikook went live today, on the 13th, and even told us in said live that the other 5 members went out to eat at a restaurant. We were essentially third-wheeling on a date.

Yet Jimin wearing that shirt remains the thing that I keep coming back to.

Because there are multiple ways to put “ARMY” and “Jimin” on a shirt.

Because the most obvious way to stitch “ARMY” and “Jimin” together is to put them in a cross, sharing the letter M.

Because the way the letter A is stylized isn’t the default way to write an A.

Because JM did not have to be emphasized in bold face, but it was.

If only one of these design decisions pushed through, I could’ve easily attributed it to a cute coincidence. But all of these at once? Worn during the group’s anniversary? That’s what makes it crazy.

See, even if we subscribe to the belief that Jungkook did not intentionally form JM on his hand, he would’ve definitely been aware of the optics of it all. He had it etched into his skin knowing that it would potentially look like he had his bandmate’s initials written on his ring finger.

And then there came allegations that he keeps having the two letters retouched. Harmless—as long as he doesn’t address it.

But then Jimin comes out wearing that design? The letters arranged and stylized like that? Fully knowing how the hand tattoos already look? That’s crazy.

Because the thing is, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean confirmation that Jungkook did indeed permanently etch JM on his skin with full intention. But it does mean that Jimin’s aware of the optics of it all and he isn’t shying away from letting us know that.

“Yeah, I know that if I add ‘J’ to the front of ARMY’s M, it would look like my initials. I know that stylizing A this way would have people tracing it back to another instance where it’s used similarly.”

And yet he still did it. Like crazy.

[eclipseaotters]

Jimin and Jungkook are a concert production’s nightmare 😅

I say this with love and fondness, but Jimin and Jungkook (especially) are a concert production’s nightmare. I’m saying this as a person who’s worked in the performing arts and have sung backup in concerts.

This was the planned seating arrangement for ending ments:

This is what actually happened:

You have to be crazy levels of obsessed or unbothered to defy stage plans just to sit next to someone for a few minutes.

I’ve seen people say it’s ridiculous to have arrangements for ments but it’s really not! These are just some factors why:

Stage prompters are set up like slide decks and talking points on it are fixed in place. Any disruption in the order messes up these “slides”. I’m sure the tannies try their best to be as genuine as possible in ments, but there will be talking points so they don’t digress.

For group performers, camera operators are designated to film specific members. You’ve seen Run BTS; concerts are no exception. Switching positions in freestyle numbers are expected, but for pre-planned positions in more stationary segments, you’re advised to stay in place so you’re also not messing up camera arrangements. Especially with a turntable stage.

I also do get the rationale behind mixing up positions in ments. Groups capitalize on group chemistry. For a group of 7, there are so many possible permutations to maximize this, and you’d never want two people to be isolated from the rest or seated together 90% of the time.

And honestly, what’s a few minutes of separation when there’s unlimited time off-cam to do that 😂 But anyway, it was very endearing to see as a fan. Nevermind the production person in me!

Jungkook did seem quite guilty and apologetic before that 💀 It’s also quite funny that the members made him pay for it a bit by asking him to go first. Might as well not salvage ment order 😅 Sorry Namjoon, he just couldn’t help himself!

[eclipseaotters]

I keep coming back here the moment I’ve read about Jimin and Jungkook enlisting together via companion system. I was thinking about how there’s so much I’d probably like to say about it. But every single time I try writing my thoughts, nothing comes up.

The truth is there’s just nothing I need to point out or reiterate or dissect. They applied for the program, got accepted, and Hybe has officially announced that they really are enlisting together as companions.

The whole thing in itself speaks volumes already. And I’d love to permanently place this enlisting-as-companions as my fave jikook thing ever, but it feels kind of disrespectful to two very real individuals—who are making very real life decisions—to lump this among other moments we know, because this one’s really not at all meant for anyone but them.

In all honesty, there’s no amount of hickeys, GCFs, ear sucks—basically anything—that can top this one. To me, it’s not up for discourse anymore. I don’t care what they are or what their actual relationship is. The very real fact is that they wanted to enlist together.

I’ve had a cousin ask me about it. Jungkook-biased, not a shipper, more of a Y/N but not delusional, who doesn’t know I’m a Jikooker. “Why did they go for it?” She kept supplying answers to her own question, based on what she got from Tiktok—mostly the tattoos thing; to finish at the same time; same hometown. I kept patiently debunking misinformation, but never once told her the most obvious reason: they just…wanted to. And I realized that it’s actually pretty hard to reach to that conclusion unless you at least believe Jimin and Jungkook have a special bond. It’s hard to rationalize something that big.

Because it IS big. I’ve read a couple of canon compliant fics with enlistment in it. Never has the companion system been a part of it, because that’s kind of too idealistic for fic writers, isn’t it? And a lot of people, like me, aren’t even aware of it. What do you mean you can make my ship be with each other for the entire enlistment? Let’s be realistic.

But oh gods is it real. I still can’t believe it. Sorry, it’s all a jumbled mess. My thoughts are all over the place. I’m just so glad they have each other and I had to let it out.

[eclipseaotters]

The funny thing about Jungkook’s live and all the other lives he’s had recently is that—

It’s all so Seven MV-coded 😂

Listen, I’m not here to assume that the Seven MV took some inspiration from Jikook’s relationship, especially for one, Jungkook didn’t even write the song. For sure, he’s had more input in the MV making but I still don’t want to liken it to Jikook in any way because Seven Jungkook is just one big simp and Seven Sohee is very stubborn and dismissive right until the last bit.

It’s comical and funny if we don’t deep it! But I don’t want to feed into the toxic Jungkook simp agenda that runs around shipping circles. It just sucks that he’s always the ultimate simp, regardless of who he’s shipped with, and the simping is often imbalanced.

Now that that’s out of the way, I really just wanna let out a laugh at how Jungkook’s live birthed a new genre of Jikook tweets in relation to this.

We know what this is reminiscent of (cue in: Weight of the world on your shoulders—), but I can’t even perceive these takes negatively because these are actually based on True Events SO maaaaybe we can limit the Jungkook simp culture to…getting Jimin to do a live? 😭

Okay, great!

Now, Jimin isn’t exactly Seven Sohee. He’s just…a different kind of evil. Libra evil? Because why the heck would you respond to your little bro (asking fans if they can handle him coming out from under the blanket) by commenting, “In my case, I can handle it.”????

It doesn’t help at all that Jungkook visibly melts and downright agrees.

What the heck.

And then, like clockwork, Jungkook starts convincing Jimin to come and do a live. And the King of Babygirlism has the audacity to respond with “Seems like you’re gonna hit me!” How in the world am I to read that it a non-flirty tone?

Jungkook’s convincing persists and it’s not a one time thing. When translations were coming in, I really thought he only says it once, but no. He repeats it multiple times throughout the entire live. Seven MV levels of persistence.

[Trans by: verritaee on Twitter]

Somewhere along the way, Jungkook even leverages on ARMYs, which is really smart and sneaky. Use ARMYs as bait to lure the ARMY-pleaser. You know how public proposals bring about this social pressure to say yes to the proposer? Yeah, Jungkook’s the only public proposer I’d forgive, probably.

Can you imagine him doing this to his other hyungs? I truly can’t, not in a million years.

And then, amidst the giggly persuading, Jimin in Seven Sohee-coded fashion says, “I’m not that easy.” which, of COURSE, gets deleted by God (because we’ll never truly know who deleted it, right?)

How am I supposed to take this, really?

Somewhere along the way, there’s also a mention of a picture being sent. And honestly, it’s not the selca sending that gets to me—I already think that they’re a couple so naturally, for me, they’d have hundreds of bed selcas of each other. It’s the fact that Jimin commented it on a live. That, and the 2 o’clock thing, which has multiple translations but implies something fruity either way.

And it’s all capped off with Jungkook ~coincidentally~ flexing his arm right after he says goodbye to Jimin. I genuinely found it so endearingly funny because it was just sooo random. What are you doing, you little peacock? 😭

And while that might be enough to convince Jimin to come, it’s definitely not enough for a live. That one’s gonna take a lot more prodding.

Because we know Jimin’s the kind to want to feel in control of the situation, especially in a live, real-time setup. Going live at Hybe instead of at home, doing scheduled lives instead of spontaneous. A new live with Jungkook—after having THAT jikook birthday live, that vminhopekook live in October and the recent idgaf lives that Jungkook has done—is not the kind that Jimin can control and he knows that.

So Jungkook might just have to do something more elaborate than a fake funeral to get Jimin to say yes, because Jimin is not that easy!

[eclipseaotters]

Yeah, that live doesn’t even warrant a long post anymore.

I think Jikook fuck…often.

[eclipseaotters]

I really just can’t contain myself and I just have to let this out.

Don’t you think it’s amazing that the ONLY two K-soloists that have topped the Billboard Hot 100 are dating?

I really can’t contain my head around it. We’ve given them a lot of nicknames to celebrate how they’re a power couple—ace duo, Busan’s pride/princes/kings, main pop boy and it boy. Usually, it comes up when they, as a unit, are highlighted in front of everyone. For instance:

My absolute favorite: Black Swan Jikook

The Flying Yoga Run BTS episode

Topping Brand Reputation rankings as #1 and #2

Topping the charts as #1 and #2

I always feel a great amount of pride when stuff like this happens. It reinforces what an actual power couple they are. But god, this Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 achievement takes it to the next level.

I’ve seen dozens of posts and tweets today celebrating not just Jungkook, but Jimin too. And I know, I know, we’ve never really needed all that external validation, but it FEELS SO NICE, doesn’t it? To see non-Jikookers, non-fans, the media just keep repeating how Jimin and Jungkook are the only Korean soloists who’ve reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Do you see how hot this is?

And—at least for us over here—they just happen to date each other? Do you see how fucking special that is? It’s one thing for Koreans to celebrate two Korean idols topping the Hot 100. It’s another thing for ARMYs to celebrate two idols belonging in BTS topping the Hot 100. It’s another thing for Busan residents to celebrate two idols from their city topping the Hot 100.

It’s another thing for Jikookers to celebrate that 2/2 of their ship are the only two K-soloists that have topped the Billboard Hot 100.

And as if that’s not enough, Jimin just had to post Jungkook’s achievement on his IG. And Jimin’s dad just had to hold a surprise event today.

Jimin posting isn’t unlike the other posts he’s made for the members. That’s not a Jikook-only event. It’s the fact that BB Hot 100 No. 1 Artist Park Jimin posted about BB Hot 100 No. 1 Artist Jungkook. Doesn’t that give you goosebumps? It’s worth reporting!

I know it looks like I’m inflating Billboard Hot 100 a little too much. But we know something like this means a lot to them. And I definitely think it means a lot more that both of them achieved it.

Imagine them just casually saying good night to each other last night, while cuddling.

“Good night, No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 artist.”

“Good night to you too, No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 artist.”

Because they are.

And all we can do is imagine, because obviously, that’s not the kind of thing they’d share with us. And that’s the best part, you know? They get to be in their bubble and celebrate by themselves, the way they were in their bubble in NYC/CT.

Except now they’re two No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 artists. And they’re probably just eating cake or boxing or doing something familiar—and normal—together right now. They’ll celebrate, and then they’ll just be.

We can all argue our asses off here. And they won’t care. And their akgaes and antis can keep blaming either half of Jikook for sabotage or favoritism, and Jikook won’t care.

[I do believe Jimin was wronged in the grand scheme of things, but Jeon “You know I’m-hyung’s fan” Jungkook is NOT to be blamed.]

Jikook will be in their protective bubble, doing their own thing the way they did in Tokyo, in NYC, in Connecticut, the way they always do in Korea. It’s a BTS thing and a Jikook thing.

They don’t owe us photo dumps, and GCFs, and lives, and Weverse posts, and confirmations of relationships.

It reminds me of AO3 writer unconscious’ description of Jikook in her canon compliant Taemin/Kai fic “this love isn’t crazy” (yeah, it’s not Jikook-centric, and I’m not even a Taekai shipper nor a stan of either, but the description stuck with me).

Here’s an excerpt, from Taemin’s POV:

“Bye, Yoongi,” Jeongguk says. He walks backward, tugging Jimin along, and offers Taemin a small smile over Jimin’s head. “Bye, Taemin-hyung.”

There’s an ease to the way they touch each other: familiarity and laughter as Jeongguk wrestles a bedroom door open with his back to it and falls inside with Jimin nearly on top of him.

Taemin’s not that much older than them, really, but watching them he suddenly he feels older. It’s a deep ache, affection and longing and something else—something in between nostalgia and envy. Was this something he could’ve had? (He said no.) It seems impossible. What Jeongguk and Jimin have is bottled lightning, like everything else Bangtan touches: impossibly lucky, impossibly successful. It depends on that strange insularity Bangtan survives in. They’re in their own world, most of the time, working endlessly but also detached from the larger industry; they have a defensive bubble around them, so their personal defenses aren’t so severe.

Not to discredit BTS or Jikook, but I do think there’s a level of luck that played into it all at the start. Or fate. Maybe they were all fated to meet, but they definitely worked hard to get results consistently.

But maybe, as in Serendipity, all this is no coincidence? I mean, this one gave me goosebumps.

As if it isn’t crazy enough that Hirai Saya looks so much like Jungkook, she just had to be born on the exact same day and year as Jimin? What?

I don’t know where I’m getting at. I just have so much love for Jikook and so much pride for what they’ve achieved on their own and together.

I cannot believe I just went from Billboard Hot 100 to Hirai Saya. Anyway, stream Seven and Like Crazy!

[eclipseaotters]

Mad Jungkook ft. the Pink Frying Pan

So I just saw again on twitter that clip of Jungkook visibly getting mad on the courtside right after Jimin flinched during their badminton game.

If you need a recap of the entire thing:

1. Jimin gets hit near the eye with the shuttlecock. Jungkook checks on him. They continue playing.

2. Jimin flinches thinking the shuttlecock was gonna hit him again. Jungkook gets mad.

It’s all very dramatic. (/lh)

Anyway, it is a criminally underrated moment and should be given more appreciation than what we’re giving it.

JK was kinda agitated already beforehand. Hobi asks him every time the other team scores a point, saying “Jungkook, are you okay? Are you sure you’re okay?”

✂️ Are you okay?

29 seconds · Clipped by Juls · Original video "Run BTS! 2020 EP.100 - 100회 특집 1" by BANGTANTV

Jungkook reassures at first, saying (probably to himself) to just enjoy it. But it’s obvious his competitiveness is getting to him 😅

And then right when Jimin and Taehyung hit the shuttlecock twice (which shouldn’t be allowed), Jungkook repeats, “Cut some slack!” He says “Cut some slack once!” to let them off the hook for hitting twice.

And then he sees Jimin flinch!

You know how when you see someone flinch in a game and you only realize a second later that they weren’t hit, they just thought they were? Yeah. But you were worried in that very second so you kind of just…charge.

So Jungkook immediately goes, “Ya! Sportsmanship—“ and was headed towards Yoongi. What he’s saying is to give them another chance. He didn’t really have to walk to Yoongi for that. He was even clanging his pink frying pan. 💀

And then you hear Hobi laughing awkwardly in the bg, Namjoon looking at the staff, Jin wanting to move on saying “Next set, let’s get out!” and Yoongi going “It’s a competition. Be cool.” / “It’s a cold world out there for sports.”

It’s not really that deep but it’s so unnecessarily dramatic which makes it cute and probably funny for them in retrospect. Like if you consider the moments leading up to it, Jimin getting hit > the other team winning points consecutively > Yoongi not cutting them some slack > Jimin flinching.

Small moments really, but they kind of bring out both Jungkook’s competitiveness and protectiveness. Really cute.

[eclipseaotters]

Give lover boy Tae a break okay

or: jikookers’ taennie protectors era

Since we’re all open to differing opinions here, this is gonna be a totally different one. Let me rant in my side account so you don’t grab your torch and pitchforks on my main. I’m talking to a wall here but i need to let it out.

I agree that something changed in the air re: Tae and yes I do think it started after Taennie’s photos were leaked BUT HEAR ME OUT.

Try to remember how it was when gurumi surfaced. Seeing the whole thing unfold in real time was horrible—people waiting on the latest photos, fans from both sides scrambling to cover it up saying it’s edited or it’s not them. It was messy. But anyone with eyes and a decent brain knew they were real photos. So it’s extra scary.

It started in August. By October, headlines looked like this:

A whole iCloud account was involved. There was a group chat with hundreds of people. Threats from the awful leaker were THIS bad:

And even then, people were disgustingly excited about an impending dating scandal instead of being concerned about artists’ privacy. Go figure. It was a really, really bad time.

So let me be the really odd one out among jkkrs by saying I understand and genuinely accept why Tae had to amp up tkk interactions AND I’m not calling him out on it. Let me even go as far as saying tkkrs (and Jenlisa shippers i think) were the silver lining during the peak of the Taennie revelations.

Tae and Jennie can’t afford to be found out now, period. We all saw the reaction of the two fandoms and the malicious nosiness of the media after the “accidental” IG follow. And it was just that. What more if it’s a full-blown dating scandal? So any little contribution against the exposé helps, whether it’s proving that they’re in different locations, or appeasing and/or fueling rabid same-sex shippers so they can water down loud intrigue as well as support for Taennie.

I understand why a lot of jikookers, jimin lovers, don’t approve. It fuels the cult and validates them. And some of us are worried it fuels more hate against Jimin. But in a bigger picture, does a few tweaks in Tae’s behavior, a few more tkk interactions, really significantly change things for the worse? It really doesn’t, I think, because even if tkk don’t interact, the cult’s constant hating on Jimin will still be a thing.

I think it’s more of us we’re really thinking about here. How Tae’s actions hurt us because it fuels a cult that spreads hate against Jimin. But for Jungkook, Jimin, Tae? What their haters (and shippers) do is insignificant to them. They don’t go around looking for the hate. They see it on the weverse lives, yeah, but I’m pretty sure they’re (sadly) desensitized already. It’s been like that ever since. If they ever feel it’s too much even for them, they’ll call it out the way Joon did.

So let Tae do his thing and let the boys help, yeah? Let the cult be validated because that actually helps a lot in the short term. Taennie don’t have the luxury to be in the middle of a dating scandal in such a transitional, unstable time. All eyes are on them.

At his very core, Tae doesn’t bullshit, please. That’s what I love about him the most. When it got bad before and Jennie’s friend was involved, he acted immediately.

So for Tae to behave the way he is doing now—it’s because he HAS to. It helps.

It’s not just Jikook who knows how to be loud to those who listen, Tae does too. He’s also trying his best to be loud to those listening. Did you watch his latest live? The song he played? Snippets of songs he’s written? Have you been seeing how more romantic Tae’s been the past year? Man’s so in love he can barely contain it.

He could rival Jungkook in the fight for the bigger hopeless romantic (but Jungkook just had to do a series of indisputable-number-1-fan things just weeks ago so he’s still the OG smitten lover boy lol look at him).

Anyway, Tae’s not one to hide but this time he has to because it has serious ramifications to their careers. They’re two of the biggest stars in SK, heck, two of the biggest Korean stars in the world. Both of their groups have a global reach. They have so much to lose.

So please give Tae a break :( Taennie (and Jikook and all of them) are not one-dimensional characters. They’re human and they want to be able to live like humans. If you were in Tae’s shoes, and it’s tried and tested that your actions towards your bandmate—no matter how horrible your shippers are—doesn’t even directly affect their partner/your other bandmate, you might just be doing the same. It’s not even a big deal.

Bottomline is I’m acknowledging the change in Tae’s behavior; I’m just not against it because it doesn’t affect Jikook and it’s not ill-intentioned. He’s only playing the people who want to be played, and that shouldn’t be a large portion of us on this side, because his target audience for that is waaaay over there in rainbow text land.

When you fully absorb that thought, I swear you’ll easily get over that dreadful feeling you have when you see tkk interact and you’re anticipating the cult’s reception of it.

[When I have energy, I’ll let out my precious thoughts on vmin’s relationship because that’s another thing. tl;dr is what they’re showing—or not showing—is also not a big deal for me.]