#elatalks

[haedalkoo]

The car conversation and grammar: "When I was busy, you were free but you never called me."

After rewatching the episodes a few times (I just couldn't get enough of them) and reading the opinions floating around, I wanted to add my two cents to the car conversation discourse. This post is mostly about language and interpretations. Keep in mind I'm not 100% fluent in Korean, but I understand the language to a significant degree.

Let's get started!

It's time to put on my Korean-is-an-awfully-ambiguous-language cap. Buckle up.

The conversation starts with Jimin saying they haven't gone somewhere in a long time. I would say it's not that they haven't hung out, but that they haven't traveled together or gone out like that. This is just my interpretation, though. JK tells him, "we were supposed to get a drink" (as in, meet up and go for a drink 만나서 (meet and) 술 한잔 하자 (go get a drink)). Then, Jimin says "원래 그런 거 아니겠니" which loosely translates to "isn't that how it's supposed to be originally?" as in, that's what happens, you talk about doing this or that together and it never ends up happening. Like the travel show, if JM hadn't flown to JK. Like the times he tells Tae to meet up but never happens. Life gets in the way.

But this is the interesting part. Jimin's reply to me comes off a little defensive (in a joking manner), as if saying, "don't blame me for not meeting up (it's not like I didn't want to, I couldn't)." but JK keeps pushing him. He says:

"형 바쁠 땐 / 내가 겁나 한가한데 / 안 찾고. 나 바쁠 땐 / 형 한가한데 / 안 찾고."

This sentence is a grammatical nightmare. He isn't using any particles, which help indicate who's the subject or object of the sentence. So you can only guess based in context. I've marked Jimin (hyung) in orange, JK refering to himself ("me") in purple, and "didn't come looking for" in pink. 찾다 (jatda) means to search for, look for.

Many K-armys have been pointing the same thing out, and I agree. The repetition of 안 찾고, to me, feels like he's making the same point in different situations.

When you were busy, I was so freaking (겁나) free

When I was busy, you were free

And in neither of these cases you came looking for me.

That's why Jimin jumps in immediately to defend himself in a whiny tone.

아니지 찾았지! That's not true, I did go looking for you! (The ending 지 indicates a reiteration, something both the speaker and recipient know as true.)

He took that personally LOL. But this makes so much sense in retrospective, think of all of those 2023 lives were JK was asking JM to come over, to do a live together, and JM's response was always "I'm busy" "Hyung needs to go" "You/I have a schedule." Jungkook was lonely without him. Jimin probably felt bad and did as much as he could to see him ("I did reach out!") - to the point he flew fourteen hours to spend quality time with JK. HOWEVER, this is just an interpretation. The lack of clear pronouns and particles makes this really hard to translate, which is why the show translator interpreted it as "when you were busy and I was free, I didn't call you." Both interpretations are valid, but giving their reactions and context, I feel like this one makes the most sense to me.

If we go with my interpretation, after that, I feel like Jimin tries to ease the conversation/justify himself by saying how him and Tae don't meet up either even if they videocall often. As if saying "I'm not pushing you aside, I'm really not meeting up with anyone else either". This makes Jungkook laugh, but he still wonders lightly "I don't think we would be seeing each other (either) if it weren't for this (trip/shoot)." I want to reiterate how lighthearted this comment is, he's simply wondering (but still teasing a little.)

But again, Jimin feels the need to defend himself "yah, that's why I (hyung) came here!" (again, he uses a grammar that highlights the information being said is something the two of them know, something obvious.) To me this felt very whiny/cute, like, "stop saying I didn't make time to see you! I'm literally right here!!" and I think JK gets the hint that if he keeps pushing JM might get upset, so he smoothes things over by repeating over and over again, "that's right, you came, you came."

It's a response to the previous "you weren't looking for me." You did come looking for me. You found me. We're okay now.

Finally.

[elaspn]

Why is it everything more fun when you're drunk??@shows-up-naked-covered-in-bees

[anxietyjpg]

Flappystrider? You mean the cutest karkat ever?

[haedalkoo]

I love your recent car talk post, thank you for doing that

the fandom is yet again in meltdown re Tae in the new announcement, does he actually say ‘our’ travel show?

Thanks 😊

Hello! He didn't say "our show." What Tae says in Korean is the following: 저희가 오랜만에 함께하게 된 여행기를 담은 콘텐츠 <이게 맞아>가 공개됩니다.

-> The travel vlog content called Are You Sure that we filmed together after a long time is being released.

저희: /jeohwi/ us, formal version of uri

오랜만에: after a long time (assuming he means they haven't filmed content together in some time)

함께하게 된: did together (hamkke = together)

여행기를 담은 콘텐츠: content that the travel vlog contains

<이게 맞아>가 공개됩니다: Are You Sure is being released.

What they did together was film the content, he didn't say the show was theirs at any moment.

Hope this helps! 💜

[haedalkoo]

Are You Sure!? Trailer Thoughts

jikookers how are we feeling after this trailer? personally I AM UNWELL

I wanted to talk a little about the catchphrase they used on Twitter: "청춘 아니가, 낭만이지!" which they translated as "This is what I call youth!", but in my humble opinion it loses A LOT of the actual meaning (and it will drive you crazy.)

The literal translation is: "this isn't youth, this is romance!"

NOW DON'T PANIC. I had the same wide-eyed reaction until I pulled my years of Korean learning out of the back of my brain and remembered that, although the literal way to translate 낭만 (nangman) is romance/romantic, it leans into the meaning of "romanticizing something". I'm romanticizing this moment right now, this is ideal, perfect, beautiful. Not so much related to romantic love, but still pretty different from "youth."

The concept of youth, in Korean literature/media/culture/society, as well as in other Asian cultures, is related to what all of you must recognize as the most beautiful moment in life. Both in Japanese and Korean, the word for youth can be picked apart to mean "blue spring" (靑春). It's also an incredibly romantic term to describe an idealized view of youth, that sense of freedom.

For them, this trip was more than a reminder of the freedom of youth. It was romantic– it was ideal. It's such a powerful statement.

I can't wait for August 🖤🤍

[haedalkoo]

do we ever think about how jikook fell in love? drawing aside all the obvious disclaimers (this is just speculation, we don't know anything, yadayada) i just think... a lot about their journey. the obvious shift in 2015 and in 2017. their beginnings, such a shy love that developed into loud declarations. serving together. ITS SO CRAZY. I think about how they realized, how scary it must've been. When did they know? When did they decide it was a forever type thing? Honestly, regardless of the reality of their relationship, they have such a special bond. I wish we got more of them talking about what they mean to each other.

I feel crazy lol. Anon asks are turned off but the comments section on this post is free of judgment for delulu and mushy talk

[haedalkoo]

Do you have a favorite thing about the way the boys speak as individuals (can be about their general type of speech, words/phrases they use, etc.)? Can be jimin and jungkook or any of bts!

For example, I don't speak korean, but jimin's speech always sounds so soft and comforting. Even when he's not trying to be cute, he still sounds so sweet. Armys joke about kindergarten teacher jimin, but I really do feel like even his voice and speech give that gentle vibe.

This is the cutest thing you could've asked me! Let's go in order:

Namjoon: I love the way he mixes Korean and English so seamlessly. I think he has two modes, Serious-Leader-Speech, very eloquent and straight to the point, carefully chosen words; and Regular Kim Namjoon, still all of those things but super cute, he rambles a lot and mixes languages and tends to use a lot of slang? He def lurks online. But guys, he's also so poetic. He sounds like he's reading a beautiful novel. He always sounds super polite too (when he's calm I guess!! he can get super hyped up lol) but he doesn't slur his words, it's so easy to understand him even though sometimes his vocab is really precise and advanced. OMG AND he doesn't have an accent!! BUT he imitates the members satoori and it's super goofy bc he's not great at it, so it's like his own made-up satoori.

Seokjin: Jin is an amazing speaker. I think the actor training has a lot to do with this, but he has such a good voice for narration and when he speaks in korean interviews he sounds super gentle and eloquent. IDK how to describe it, but he has a v specific tone and pauses in a very unique way, making his tone very melodic and almost like a news anchor hahaha. But when he's talking to the guys he loses that formality and he stresses random words that give him a kind of goofy tone? And he uses a lot of expressions like “야” (yah) or “으아” (euah) as sentence fillers. Again, like Joon, no satoori!

Yoongi: oh he's by far the member I have the most trouble understanding. He slurs his words a lot, starting off somewhat strong but almost losing the entire ending of the sentence. I'm sure you know what I mean even if you don't understand him. A friend once mentioned to me that his pronounciation of the letter ㅆ is not as strong as it should be, tending to sound more like a regular 's' sound like in the letter ㅅ. This is apparently due to his accent! Also, like Joon, to me he tends to sound really poetic, maybe more unconciously than Joon bc I feel like he's really deliberate with his words and Yoongi is more spontaneous. As a sentence filler, he clicks his tongue a lot and sucks in air (something I think JK has also taken from him)

Hoseok: Hobi always brings a smile to my face. I think his accent is the most notable (or maybe I just catch it better than the other's, especially since it's different from the rest of the members' given he's from Jeolla.) His entonation varies a lot, it's very melodic but in an energetic way because of this accent. He also ends sentences with 잉, ing, a lot, which leads to those "said cutely" translations. HE LOOVES onomatopoeias and adding random noises when he's doing things or describing smth. He's just a really fun guy to listen to. I noticed he uses 되게 (dwege) as a filler.

Jimin: you were right, anon. Jimin is incredibly soft-spoken and extremely careful about his words, that's why he tends to mutter or start sentences over and over again to convey the feelings he tries to express. This leads into very long sentences, with a lot of what I call 'pleasing' expressions. This is, Korean (like other Asian languages such as Japanese) is a very indirect language. When you want to express your disagreement with something, you don't straight out say 'I don't like this' or if you're telling someone to do smth differently, you don't say 'be careful next time, don't do that'. You say things like 'in the future, i believe that if you are able to do so it might be benefitial if this issue were handled in a different way' (this is a random example). Your sentences get endless bc you add words and politeness that softens the blow of your different opinion. Jimin does that more than other members who tend to be more blunt, like YG, TH or JK. I think this has changed over the years with the growing international fandom, but he used to sound really informal in his vlives to sound like an old friend with armys. now I think he expresses his outmost respect for us by speaking really formally and in ways that are easy to automatically translate. I also read he has some "feminine" speech patterns, since Kr is a very gendered language in the sense that girls and boys have diff sentence endings or words they use. I think this kinda contributes to how softspoken he is.

Taehyung: Tae's speech is all over the place, but he's extremely sensible and I think he offers the most unique metaphors when he's being sentimental. He's very heartwarming, but sometimes it's hard to understand him because he changes the subject, grammatical order or point of his sentences a lot to adjust to the speed in which things are coming out of his mind. This has gotten better over the years, though. I think age has offered him a sense of calm that allows words to flow better than in the early years of bangtan, where he was an excited puppy. He pauses a lot between sentences, saying "ohh" quite often, and he has a bunch of characteristic filler words like 약간 (yakhan, a bit) or 이제 (ije, now). If you watch the run bts ep where they forbid words for each member, I think ije was one of those for Tae.

Jungkook: guys he's so cute. I'm so grateful that he started doing lives more often, bc I always got the impression he struggled to put his thoughts into words more than other members and that's why he shied away from giving speeches. He still has a lot in his mind, but when he's not in a rush, he pauses a lot and stumbles over his words without shame until he gets the thought out. He speaks really really fast when animated, mumbling and slurring his syllables (that's why it's so hard for me to translate the travel show without proper subs.) We all know he has a lisp, I believe it might be a characteristic of his Busan accent, which is quite present on the regular (in contrast with Jimin, who sometimes forces it out, often around JK. He even joked that he was losing it a little). When he's directing his words to army, he tends to be really soft-spoken and formal, speaking in a way that you know comes from a place in his heart. He also uses a lot of onomatopoeias when describing things, and he adds cute endings to his words just like Hobi (my aegyo kings.)

[haedalkoo]

I know it's blurry as hell but it's ok you don't need to see it. Just know that I love Jimin and you guys very much otherwise I wouldn't sit here pulling my hair trying to understand Jimin's handwriting. If you're wondering if I forgot about translating these no I didn't I'm just STRUGGLING JFFNDFJND

[haedalkoo]

i miss tokyo tonight. i truly, truly get why jikook love japan so much, especially tokyo. it's such a magical city, and when nobody knows your name or can't find you in the crazy crowds of shibuya, the feeling of freedom is exhilarating. i've never felt more true to myself than those days, being anonymous in streets with buildings so tall that the sky felt out of reach. i hope they're thinking of lovelier days, of the snow in sapporo and their laughter. i hope they're healthy, at peace knowing that they have each other.

[haedalkoo]

I always think about Jimin commenting how he wanted to neatly tie up jungkooks hair during that one live. I know at some point Jimin probably sat behind jungkook and combed his hair and tied it up for him. With the way Jimin always seems to naturally lean towards jungkooks head like he wants to kiss his hair and the way he pets his hair, I just feel like he definitely combed it and tied it up at some point for him.

Oh anon. You went straight for my heart. This is something I think about a lot, actually- Jimin leaning in for a kiss so often, almost unconsciously. I'm thinking of that clip from JK's docu, how he holds his head so delicately yet there's so much emotion behind it.

Do you ever think about how much Jungkook's hair matters to him? It's a way of self-expression, to showcase his identity, what he likes, who he wants to be. It allows him to play with his gender expression, too. JK's journey to grow out his hair has been so beautiful (I remember the first time it happened, around the time he got his tattoos. The struggle to style it compared to his second attempt and those long, beautifully layered soft curls. He's everything to me!) The decision to cut it little by little vs. the final quick decision to shave it all off before time forced him to do it... I think about it a lot. Jimin resisted until the last minute, but JK didn't wait for time to steal his autonomy. He did it his way.

Anyway, back to Jimin and JK's hair. Remember when they both had it long-ish, around 2020? black swan jikook era? All of the headcanons of them sharing hair ties stuck with me. I think about them rehearsing and Jimin tying up Jungkook's hair in a small bun. About Jimin always carrying a couple of hair ties because they're always together. He must've gotten used to that, taking care of JK in that way, so I can imagine that the year they spent mostly separated (2023) his hands were itching to tie his hair because that would mean they were together, that things were back to normal, their routine.

Why is this post getting so emo...😭 I miss them, I'm sorry!! Point is, JM is a very caring and physically affectionate person, and he loves taking care of JK with that sort of small domestic actions. Fixing his clothes, his hair, putting stuff in his bag for him, etc. He's the hyung. So yeah! I don't doubt that tying his hair is just another way in which he shows him his love.

Do you think he misses it still, now with their hair so short?

[haedalkoo]

i'm taking a break i promise but i just came here to say that i started watching Love in the Big City and (spoilers for the first five minutes, lol) the two guys romantically involved with a third older than them both call him "hyung" (one is a fling, the other is a long-term partner. yes the third guy was cheating, rip.) but it made me think of how, sometimes, jkkers cling a little too much on the fact that allegedly jk doesn't address jm as such.

yes, they're very informal with each other. all of bts are, although i'd say jk is more relaxed around jm than with jin or yg (simply bc of age/dynamics, not that they all don't love each other.)

yes, jk calls jm "jimin-ssi" very often, very ironically, and has addressed him as "jimin", plain and simple. yes, sometimes he's called him "jimin-ah". No, it's not a common occurrence, and most times are clearly him teasing.

the truth is, JK calls him 'hyung' around 90% of the time, another 9% goes to jimin-ssi, and 1% goes to others.

I just think that we don't need to be exaggerating or making things up about how they address each other when a) as a man, hyung is a perfectly good term for someone you're romantically involved with and b) they're already gay enough, y'all. seriously, you don't need to "prove" their relationship through such tiny details THEY KISSED ON STAGE SKJFGHSLD? THEY GIVE E/O HICKEYS??? and so much more (save me from these guys, i can't.)

this rant is all over the place but the point is, i see a lot of clips where he supposedly calls him jm-ah or jmnie and it's almost always a misunderstanding from people who don't speak the language, idk :( we can focus on so many other things they do that are loud and bold.

the show has nothing to do with this tbh, it just reminded me of this thought that had been circling my mind, but please watch it and support it!! Anti LGBT+ groups in SK are being nasty about it and we need to show that queer media is also important :(<3

[haedalkoo]

Jikook talk? Yes! This thought has been lingering for a while, but I guess 1.5 years post-face is better than never lol

I love love love letter and I’m still kind of in disbelief that it featured jk in the background vocals out of nowhere. It sticks out to me because jimin didn’t have to use anyone’s voice other than his own for them just like in the rest of the album. Especially on a track that is generally “hidden” from widespread release. It makes me think of my favorite facet of jikook’s dynamic, that kind of hushed intimacy. AYS in sapporo gave me the same feeling at times. I love their gentle playfulness, that’s probably what their dynamic is like in everyday settings, but quieter moments feel so sweet. Plus not to mention jk casually playing letter on his guitar live then acting as if he just made up a chord. The whole first half of 2023 felt like a fever dream in hindsight

I miss them so much with Jimin’s birthday around the corner 😞 just half a year left to go

This made me go watch every video of jikook and letter out there on the internet before coming back to reply and now I'm a mess, rip. Like you said, Jimin had no particular reason to include JK in an album that was so personal to him, personal to the point that he rejected the idea of collaborating with Yoongi in it (still waiting for that collab in the future tho.) Yoongi couldn't be in the album but JK could?? Okay...

And the lyrics. God.

You, who stretched your hand out to me whenever I fell / I say Oh Oh, I’ll hold it now (...) After all this time has passed / Will we still be the same? / Just like we were when we first met Baby, don't leave / Just stay by my side / You, who sees someone as small as me as someone big [stay] So that I can give as much as I've received / So that I can keep my word Don’t worry / Just stay by my side / We don't know what the future holds / and that's scary and makes us afraid / But don't forget that we're always together (cr. bts-trans)

I understand there are a lot of references to the relationship between armys and bangtan, and that's really precious but I also think it can coexist- that love, that feeling of having a companion through the hard times, always together even if separated. That's armys, but that's also Jungkook. He's been there even before we existed, and he's there when we're not.

This song was written before they knew if they would get to serve together. 18 months, when you're so tied to someone that you spend your free time with them, is a lot. I can see why it mattered to Jimin that JK's voice was in this song.

They love each other so much :( sapporo just confirmed to me that they are each other's comfort and favorite person, and I'm so happy that they have each other (even if things are scary and they are afraid) (that lyric got me thinking of 'I am just as afraid as you are when you see me when you touch me / the universe has moved for us / our happiness was destined)

Destiny, right?

(Happy birthday to our warm spring day Jimin 💖💖🐥)

[haedalkoo]

You can't separate them

Do you guys ever think about how jikook are so weirdly secretive about each other? Everyone will know they're hanging out or that they spent so much time together, but they won't make a single reference to the other being there.

What comes to mind is jimin flying to new york before they actually started filming are you sure!? and all of us KNEW but they didn't say anything. maybe that was to build "expectation" over the travel show but idk, when Jimin went to support Hobi at Lollapalooza they even did a live together!!

And also Tokyo. We saw them physically together at the airport, but Jimin's photodump had JK nowhere to be spotted.

But the other guys always post when they get together. OK I'm sure not always, but it happens. Minimoni going to that art exposition, or again Jihope in Chicago! Taekook going to that film premiere, etc. but we have to beg for Jikook crumbs that they end up sharing with us very nonchalantly or months/years after it happened (think of Jimin mentioning they get together for drinks often, or that docuseries scene of them cooking at jimin's).

Why are they like this lol seriously. Not that I need to know!!! I appreciate them keeping their time together private, AS THEY SHOULD! it's theirs. It baffles me because it only seems to happen this often with them in particular. If anything, it just makes all around their bond so sus LMAO gotta love them

This is why Are you Sure will be such a treasure. We never see them like this. We haven't gotten an unscripted jikook-only live since 2019 maybe? (despite how much JK tried lol). I seriously can't wait.

[haedalkoo]

sorry for the ranting but the only reason i came here was to hide from the craziness over on twitter, i don't need 'shooters' or that crazy toxic army mentality in this space. fuck off with your canceling and online exposing bullshit. i might stop making posts and go back to lurking because this is ridiculous, one tries to do something fun or share information and !! sigh.

but seeing how a certain side of the fandom treated another for the past year... im not shocked. just disgusted by this behavior.

what was that thing jk said in his live? respect, compassion and understanding, those are the three things someone should always have. pues eso 🍉💗💗🫶

[haedalkoo]

Hello.

Can you also pls translate the part where jimin said "I'll cuddle you tonight so you don't feel cold" what was jungkook's reply?? Og subtitles were "you don't have to" but now on twitter some people are saying he said " it's ok" . I know it's almost the same but still I want to know because the og sub does sound a little rude to me. (Just my opinion) Thanks💕

Hi! Yes the actual response was 괜찮은데 which means it's okay/I'm okay. That ending (데) suggests a tone that's more like "it's okay, though?", "there's no need."

I don't think it was rude, he said it very nonchalantly but I think he was just busy driving lol

It makes more sense in the context of the conversation, Jimin was offering stuff here and there to make his throat/cold better and this was just one of those things, and JK kept telling Jimin he didn't need to do all that for him! It was cute, and I think Jimin knew he was being over the top and that's why he laughed so much.

Thank you for asking! Hope this helps 💜

[haedalkoo]

what are your favorite jikook underrated moments?? send me an ask !!

mine has to be during the live that JK did in 2019 after Jinmin tricked him and ended their own live. Jikook were wilding then with all the chest touching and the "I love you", but what does it for me it's Jimin whispering: "I apologized so may I leave now?" and JK's reply is almost inaudible but it's. so. freaking. soft.

the way they speak to each other will always get me 🥹