An Analysis of @jungnoir’s ‘First Love’ - Technically a Songfic?
Spoilers ahead for ‘First Love’ by @jungnoir ir (The first paragraph is just a rant about song fics, so that actually will make sense. You should still read ‘First Love’ though. You might also want to listen to Yoongi’s ‘First Love’ for some context as well - and because it’s a great song.
I’m not going hide it: I hate song fics. So much. I just see these little verses scattered throughout a fic and I lose my goddamn mind. Am I meant to read along in time with the lyrics while the song is playing? That makes no sense with fast paced songs - I have to quickly skim past the writing to keep up with the song because otherwise the lyrics I’m listening to won’t make sense with the part that I’m reading. Reading a fic with a slow song is even worse because then I have to wait for the song to catch up with me, so now I’m just sitting there, shrouded in the darkness of my room at 3am, waiting for the chorus of a song, wondering where it all went wrong. So am I just meant to keep restarting the song? That would just break immersion and completely ruin the experience. Should I just not play the song at all? That seems like the most logical solution... but then why are you giving me the lyrics? Now I’ve got to scroll past them every time I see them because they’re there for no good reason.
Ever since I’ve come across these things on Wattpad I just immediately click away when I see them. They just seem like a way to make a fic look longer and they’re used to easily create tone by just copying and pasting words that someone else wrote. I hate them. Have I made that obvious yet?
That being said, ‘First Love’ is sort of a song fic. But I also love it. Notice how I said “sort of”. Yes, ‘First Love’ is associated with a song, which means it could potentially be classified as song fic. But because there are so many things that set it apart from from your average Wattpad song fic based on ‘Colors’ by Halsey (wow, it’s a story about a boy leaving you after you fall in love with him. What a surprise. It’s not like I could’ve told you the entire plot after reading the title). No, this is much more than that.
Aesthetics are unfortunately important for writing because even if your fic is well written, something else with fancy banners and calligraphy in the title is more likely to win someone over. It’s one of the first things that a reader takes note of, so it’s fitting that I talk about it first. ‘First Love’ doesn’t market itself as song fic, which is why I’m reluctant to call it one. To put it simply: it doesn’t do that god awful thing where lyrics from a song are spliced in between paragraphs of writing. Admittedly, even if jungnoir did want to, it would be weird putting in lyrics of a Korean song so it probably wouldn’t have been an option anyways. But nonetheless, there are no lyrics awkwardly placed in between paragraphs, so I didn’t immediately click out of the fic. While this is really just a personal preference out of my hatred for song fics, it leads onto my second point - the title and song it’s based off of.
The title ‘First Love’ is honestly not all that interesting of a title unless you’re aware of the masterpiece that is Yoongi’s ‘First Love’. But here’s the thing: other than the title and the description mentioning a “brown piano”, there are no other explicit references to the song other than a mention of a piano, which could easily just be that; and calling Yoongi the reader’s “first love”, which is completely different to the way it’s used in the song because the “first love” in the song is the piano, not a person. This sets apart the fic from the song and makes them different entities entirely.
The song choice is also a fantastic one. It somehow fits perfectly with the tone of the writing, but if I told you about a piece of writing based off of Yoongi’s ‘First Love’ and asked you to guess the plot, you wouldn’t have a clue. You might’ve guessed a story about Yoongi and his piano and taken the lyrics literally, but the tale of an engaged woman realising her childhood friend is the one she should be with is probably not what comes to mind. This makes it way less predictable than any other song fic I’ve ever read because normally every lyric is taken at face value - a sad song about your partner leaving you will create a sad fic about your partner leaving you (who would’ve guessed it?). ‘First Love’ just doesn’t fall for that trap because how could it? The song itself is never about a romantic love, so to make a fic about romantic love gives it a sense of originality and shows that jungnoir hasn’t just transcribed some verses into prose and has instead made something entirely new.
And that’s what I love most about this fic: it’s different. It’s different from other song fics out there and it’s different to its source material. Hell, when I first read it, I wasn’t even aware of the song that it was based off of. But I still thought it was a masterpiece regardless. Unlike so many other song fics before, it doesn’t depend on pre-existing work to establish its tone. The knowledge of the song adds to the experience but doesn’t complete it. I think that’s why many people add in lyrics to their fics: the experience isn’t complete without the knowledge of the song and the writer knows that. I’m not saying that writers who use songs are inherently bad; it’s possible for songs to be used in a way that heightens the enjoyment of reading. ‘First Love’ is a testament to that. It’s just that people are starting to be dependent on these songs to do most of their work tonally and that just doesn’t work for people like me... because I’m way too lazy to pull up Spotify and find your song.
As well as it being a sort-of-songfic, ‘First Love’ is incredibly well written and I really like some of the choices made in it. For example, I think it’s really clever how the fiancé was never given an actual name. It really shows how insignificant he is to the main character and Yoongi’s relationship and shows how the main character feels so disconnected from her soon-to-be-groom, as the closest to a name that we ever get is “the heir of Kang Group”. It’s such an official title and we only get his surname, which makes his relationship with the main character seem way too official and formal for romantic partners. It also helps with making his family seems more ominous, with them being called “his family” and nothing more personal than that. It’s really good in constrast with all the interactions between the main character and Yoongi, which are so much more personal. The use of language tells the reader from the very beginning that the main character was never meant to be with her fiancé, which makes the moment where she decides to run away with Yoongi full of satisfaction and not guilt, which is a big problem that I have with runaway bride stories. The groom is never mentioned in a bad light so I always feel bad when the bride leaves him because ‘hey, he might’ve actually loved her’. This doesn’t have that problem - it’s pretty clear that the groom considers the relationship to be more like a business transaction.
It also doesn’t make the mistake of having the groom be needlessly bad. Yeah, I’m glad to get away from him, but this isn’t a fantasy universe and he shouldn’t be cartoonishly evil. If I can imagine the antagonist petting his black raven while maniacally laughing in a ‘realistic’ story, then maybe you should tone it down a bit. I’m glad there’s no scene where he gets into a fight with Yoongi and no moment where he calls the main character any derogatory terms because it would’ve been so easy to just put it in, but the fact that there’s more of a focus on Yoongi’s and the main character’s relationship is much better. Instead of just telling the reader that the main character loves Yoongi, it shows them through meaningful interactions, which makes the romance seem so much more believable.
Overall, I think this fic is an amazing example of using song in fiction. It’s perfect in the minimal amount of references to the song, which makes it incredible as a stand alone piece as it doesn’t ever depend on the song to evoke emotion in the reader and the focus on the moments between the main character and Yoongi emphasises the idea that the fiancé never really mattered and builds a realistic and believable relationship between the two.
I give it 10 brown pianos out of 10 (listen to ‘First Love’. It’s so good)
I'm quite intrigued by "not in this lifetime(s)"!!!
not in this lifetime(s) is an e2l, soulmates and reincarnation au!!! and im so excited for it hahaha.
//
20 lifetimes. That’s what everyone is given to find their soulmate. You watch with each lifetime as the people around you find theirs while you never do, always waking up in a different lifetime with another mark added to the tally, the count slowly inching towards twenty.
All you wanted was to meet your soulmate, begging the universe each time to just present him to you… but instead of your soulmate, you’re presented with your mortal enemy each time.
Min Yoongi.
You shudder at the name. Even saying it mentally left a metallic taste in your mouth. You never recognize him, not right away but every time he flashes you his gummy smile for the first time, all the memories come flooding back. Lifetime after lifetime, all his snarky jokes, and disinterested scoffs he’s ever directed towards you, hits you like a ton of bricks. He was mean for fun and for some reason, you were always the victim. Everyone else saw him as an aloof guy, one that didn’t care too much about well… anything, but oh, you knew better because he is the devil incarnate, that much you had found out when you had first met him during lifetime no. 3.
I, jungnoir, am filing for a divorce with Taeyong/Lee Taeyong of S.M. Entertainment. I now promise to love Joshua/Hong Jisoo of Seventeen and respect them, take care of them, help them, in joyful times and in hard times, healthy times and sickness times, every day, forever.
BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD💓💓💓 once you get this award, pass it on to the ask box of 10 more people who deserve it💖/ I just now saw your most recent post so I’m sorry this comfort is delayed, but I hope you did well on your mock trial. I believe in your greatness, Sunny❣️
thank u maj u beautiful sun 😭😭😭😭💕💕💕❣❣❣ ur so sweet i dnt deserve :’(((
n im just gonna tag 10 beautiful wonderful ppl bc im a lazy turd so heres my luv for yall lovely human beans!!!! 💟💟💟💝💝💝💝💝
@mansaeboysbe @jungnoir (sending it back to the both of yall sorry no takebacks!!) @kpopsinarios @binhwansgf @justkpopjokes @jejublr @jieqs @justsomekpopstuff @wennjunwho @neoyeppuda
🎄: so um??? boi fuck idek when i followed you tbh hold up.. OK AFTER GOING THROUGH MY MJ TAG WHICH WAS A BAD IDEA BC ALSO ASTRO MJ IS IN THAT TAG BUT!!!!! i am like 4% sure you may have followed me first?? possibly??? and i freaked out bc omg?? such a good writer and cool person??? and i had like approximately three (3) followers at that time so i read a bunch of your stuff after following you back afjdkhgf. bUT SINCE I’M NOT SURE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED HERE ARE SOME CLASSIC MOMENTS OF OUR FIRST INTERACTIONS when i first tagged you! and you did that tag!!! and when you sent me your first ask bc you’re the cutest human ever! so i think we’ve been mutuals for abt eight months according to that:) also!!! my favorite thing abt you is how positive and loving you are!! you always are so cheerful and you have so much to give it always warms my heart to talk to you💕 ily💕💕
mutuals send me ‘🎁’ for a compliment or send me ‘🎄’ for why i followed you / what i like most about you!
