#i didn't know that about rm that's valid i think

[not-goldy]

Shout out to young JM who wanted Jk so bad it had him looking like a stage 3 clinger & shout out to Jk who has done everything in his power to keep that beautiful man once he had him & now a stage 6 clinger. Congrats. I keep thinking about when they were in NY the Megan BTB & how all those bags are sitting there & Jk instinctively grabs 2 and you see JM realizing Jk has his & doesn't have to get one, when the other members are holding theirs. SNIFFS. Its Jj carrying JM's bags & his shoes when they come off his feet. Rubbing his shoulders at any given point, cause one he wants to touch JM, but also knows JM is in pain all the time. Its him cooking the biggest pancake for JM & telling JM of course, you know I'll do it, when JM asked him to cook for him. Or only buying birthday presents for JM. Its him telling JM in front of the world, I'm your fan & hyping everything he does. Its him wanting to cut something cause he doesn't want JM's hand to get hurt or when Vmin were playing with a yoyo, it was JM who was given a lecture on Safety by Jk, about his fingers hurting & this is how accidents happen. Not a word when Tae was playing with it, but the minute JM gets it, his anxiety & boyfriending kicked in, just like when Tae was gonna flip his food & Jk said don't fling it at JM. Jk Coming after Suga with a Frying pan. Bulldozing RM out the way messing with JM. Physically moving Suga away from JM. Bulldozing past Tae to stand directly in front of JM & stare directly at him, when he was thanking Army for an award. Damn, he's just giving a TY speech, not accepting a nobel peace prize, Calm down. The way he guides JM walking up the steps or lets him walk ahead of him. The way he could hear the nervousness in JM's tone & he turns & nods and stares JM down giving his UN speech. Just reassuring JM with his little head nod, I'm here, beside you, you got this & if you notice it was when Jk turned to him when JM let out that deep breath/shudder & said sorry & had to shake it off. Just seeing JK's reassurance almost caused him to loose it. The way the others teased JM over it & Jk jumped to his defense, ready to take on all his Hyungs, but it was him in the end, who couldn't remember when he took a picture with Tae & said it was the day JM said sorry, it was all that stuck in his head. Every little detail he remembers. Even Jimin's grandma's birthday. There within 1 minute when JM called him on his bday live, dropping everyone. Even When he's missing JM he takes it public in front of millions and shows where his heart lies. Who owns his heart. Who he loves & doesn't care if he looks like a fool, as long as people know he's a fool in love. Look at how he chose the buddy system with JM, when he knew he had options & he & JM are complete opposites when it comes to thrill seeking. And how he has made himself look even more sus & clingy, by even saying anything about other branches (BTW his wants are valid and its very much okay if he wanted to do other things) but he still didn't go through with it & instead went through a timely process and enlisted with JM instead. Didn't even enlist on your own that would give you independence and thrills and instead followed JM with the buddy system to hell.

The things we do for love. And If he hasn't told JM yet that he is in love with him, which I am sure he has and or JM at least feels it, but if he hasn't, I hope he gets the courage too one day, cause doing all this, plus following someone to depths of hell, is an awful lot of loving on one person, for it to be for nothing. To do all this for someone, then go home empty handed. What a hell you have to live in that you created for yourself. FYI, I think JM is just as in love with Jk and he appreciates everything, because Letter says it & that he plans to give it all back, what he's received, and I know JM is a man of his word. In fact, I'd say Jk is pretty damn satisfied & gets it back, cause he's still there, standing next to JM, just like he promised. I've never rooted so hard in my life for two people, but these two, I hope it all works out for them and Whatever kind of love it is that they have for one another. I hope it lasts forever.

Damn the onions got my eyes😭😭😭😭🤧

[beautifulpersonpeach]

https://twitter.com/RequestBTSRadio/status/1714121533864513936

so they sent his WHOLE ALBUM to radio but can't even sent atleast title tracks of other members? WOAHHHH. or their western collabs ? Not JM's no.1 song ? Not OTS or CLOSER which had even more potential than these western reject songs ? How can you all be completely think this is ok ? You all suddenly throw yours ethics out of window because its your fav member ? Everytime excuse it away when JK is the biggest industry plant rn.. I just wanna say no matter how desperately they want him to be an established pop star it's not gonna happen. He's always gonna be a kpop member who release generic song in English for western validation.

***

It's fine if you want to complain. Anyone who thinks other members' songs should be sent to radio is free to say so, tag HYBE, email BigHit, etc. You disagree with how BigHit/HYBE America is promoting the first full English album from a BTS member relative to the other solo debuts. Sure, that's valid.

All that talk about ethics and whatnot sounds insane to me though. There's no use saying it at this point but Anon, you've become completely sucked in, you've picked up the Frankenstein language of the overinvested stan transferring their aggression to Jungkook.

Getting songs sent to radio doesn't make one an 'industry plant', talk less the biggest one, and much less for a guy who could sell out stadiums if he announced a tour today. It would be great to hear Closer or Hectic by RM on radio, same with Amygdala or Polar Night; Future, Alone, and For Us would be great additions too. Heck, Coldplay literally wrote The Astronaut and it sounds like a radio hit so it should've gotten a good push as well. But they didn't and of course it's okay to feel upset and communicate that to the company. But I also love that Jungkook is getting this push, and with a full English album, the first run by HYBE America (by all appearances), I think songs sent to radio is what to expect. Nobody from BTS will likely ever get full Western validation, and Jungkook's back-to-back hits of mid songs certainly aren't helping all that much, but it's true Jungkook is doing well, making more fans and leaving his mark. Just as the other members have done and will continue to do with even stronger impact. None of them are stupid and they are aware of their situations. I trust them to handle their business.

What ticks you off is that you feel you'll have to stream more, buy more, put more effort in than JJKs to get the same results. You're pissed off more for yourself than you are about Jimin. Which is fine. But Jimin is fine too lol. The way y'all talk about that man makes me wonder if you actually know him, or if when we talk about Jimin, we're talking about the same person.

What Jimin wants, he ultimately gets. When he really wants something he makes sure he gets it, in the way that works best for him. I've seen him win, get his way, make his way in moments, weeks, months, and years. His documentary is literally around the corner that will confirm yet again, that this is the sort of person he is. I'm not trying to be clever or make excuses, in my mind this is really what I think. It's fine if you disagree but don't send me asks like this chuck full of your frustration. I really don't relate.

[jiminsass-istant]

https://www.tumblr.com/jiminsass-istant/740934106304626688/bye-bye-old-bts?source=share

There’s a lot of assumptions here I don’t agree with. The west is embracing new jeans and they haven’t had physical promo like bts did. The reason why bts is not getting really embraced by the gp is cos the music they promote to the west is generic meaningless boy band music which is very unrelatable. And authenticity is a big thing in the west. If they gave Mots7 or any of their albums before that the level of promo dynamite or butter had, they would have gotten more of the gp appreciation.

Hybe is not just only promoting jk, but they were also hampering other members promo. Look at how lackadaisical they were with shipping jh, Jin & RM albums. How poorly they scheduled Face, the many issues we faced during Face era that jk never experienced. We had to tag them for basic things that a label should already know about. How they shaded jm in their own article and are several times refusing to acknowledge his no1. It goes beyond promoting one member and more into trying to stifle the rest to present an image the label has the power to make a pop star. And is probably also why they give this promo to songs the label premade and not the artist’s authentic music that the artists makes

Thanks for the ask, anon. I'll share my thoughts to your ask in parts: (and sorry for the long essay in advance, kindly read, i swear i get to a point lol)

Western GP (New Jeans vs BTS): Can I be very very honest? New Jeans music is extremely catchy and has that hyperpop element that western audiences eat up. With rise of artists like PinkPantheress, hyperpop is gaining even more popularity, and Y2K aesthetic is back. NewJeans are all that- the music and aesthetic both. I'm not sure what were their digital promo methods, but perhaps playlisting on streaming platforms? And the collab with Apple was very strategic too. Let's also not forget they have english chorus in their songs and went viral on tiktok. New Jeans are in top 5 kpop groups in tiktok. I cannot speak for NewJeans much, because I have only listened to their songs, and do not follow them.

Let's talk about OT7 songs promoted in the US first- as in Dynamite, Butter and PTD. Let's take Dynamite - a very well crafted product, basically a completely American song with American references and MJ inspired choreo. It was meant to catch western attention and did its job. But the problem was- it was a single, not an album and it didn't really showcase the range of their artistry. Yet it did the job of exponentially increasing the fanbase. It was pandemic time, people were in their rooms, with internet and Youtube. Those who were meant to find BTs, found them.

Could BTS have achieved long lasting attention with MOTS 7 promotion? Honestly, it's hard to say. BTS's music is not conventional. You will never hear a BTS song and think- 'oh! i've heard something similar', in fact, sometimes it is even difficult to comprehend what genre their songs are. A different language, a different genre, 7 different voices, with no two albums that sound similar, no viral tiktok songs. Do you know how difficult it is to crack the western market? It is a lot of information to feed. I will come back to the MOTS 7 issue later.

How does one build a fanbase for a band like BTS?

BTS's popularity and long lasting fanbase has always been formed by the story they sell. Bang PD, right from the start, wanted to show the world 7 authentic, real boys who wanted to share their original thoughts, happiness, feelings and struggles. Added to this, their underdog story. Yes, their struggles from older days are all real and valid, but knowing that story makes you relate to them. Because, aren't we all some type of underdog before we achieve something big? People have often been drawn to BTS via word of mouth, friends, 'i just wanted to know their names' and ending up watching the Taylor Guide, 'my wife took me to their concert and now all my friends love BTS', 'they taught me how to love myself' etc etc. BTS has always inducted fans who were searching for something in their lives, or are curious, or are 'willing to learn'. You cannot sit an American down and show them a BTS US interview and ask them to listen to the album and make them a forever fan. Do you know how people in the west don't watch an international film just because they refuse to read subtitles? The language barrier might be easy for armies to overlook because we are invested, but it's not easy to convince a monolingual westerner to start reading subtitles to get into an entirely different fandom.

To sum up my points above:

BTS sell their story and relatability and group dynamics, which is not possible just through basic promotion. One has to dive into BTS voluntarily and go through the plethora of content, one by one.

BTS songs are usually not tiktok viral for some reason, considering how big of an act they are. Barely any bts tracks have gone viral- BST remix, black swan instrumental (maybe), PTD dance challenge to name a few. I don't know the reason why because I have barely ever used tiktok. Because armies only interact with each other on that app and even then, they don't use bts songs as audio.

The pre-requisite is to be backed by a western label for radio, playlist, western ads etc. Because the US won't allow an outsider label to make money off their GP, simple. It just takes away the money that could have stayed with western labels.

Coming to individual member (JK) promoted in the US: I did mention in the post of mine you have linked- that Golden lacked depth. Quoting my own words directly - " While they paid attention to heavy promo, charts and playlisting for Golden, they failed to create a connection with the music- which seems highly non-personal and lacking in depth and has a non-interesting concept. The promo did do the work of making jk a common name, showcasing his talents and introducing him to the industry. But for a lasting impact, they have to create better stories with the music. Idc, army are acting too defensive when people are disappointed that he didn't write his songs. It's okay to not write, but the very least singers can do is connect to song meanings and relate to personal experiences during the promos."

And anon, you are right, to have a lasting impression in the west, one needs authenticity. Actually let me list down the non-compromisable parameters required for success in the US-

Affiliation to US based label/Connection to industry mammoths. (Give money to US/US based part of the company)

English song/ lots of english lyrics + recognizable genre

Character/ brand of the artist (which the audience calls 'authenticity', but is actually the 'brand' of the artist created by the label. People hear the artist's name and know what to expect. You hear Olivia Rodrigo and you know you will get teenage, angsty, heartbreak tracks.)

Last but not the least- tiktok push. (somehow extremely essential today)

Hybe gave JK 1,2 and 4 from above list. They tried to build up on his character, but it is incomplete and lacks depth. The character they have built for him is- Korean hearthrob who can sing and dance, inspired by Michael Jackson, the ONE member to look out from the massive band BTS (Justin Timberlake trajectory). They gave him catchy songs directed at het women, dressed him up in clothes fitting that image and made him perform live at TSX. Thanks to the massive ads and promo, people know him now. But unless he shows the true depth of his character and brand to the GP, a lot of people (non-army) won't look forward to his future works. And whether we like it or not, him not being being able to interact freely and share his thoughts in english in the interviews is still a drawback for him. (personally, i wish that was not true).

Even when some celebrities of colour get the limelight in US pop culture, it's because they are connected to the US. They emerge as this messiah for their 3rd world country, can speak english and work for US labels and production companies. The US gets to keep the money and awards, and also gets to flaunt 'diversity'. It has always worked like that when the west opened the doors for a POC.

MOTS 7 would not get GP acceptance without being backed by a US label. And would a US label ever accept a full Korean album with all Korean artists? Why would they invest in an artist of a foreign language? Can Bang PD's assistant call up US radio and get them to play Dionysus? No. But if Scooter does it, they will pay attention.

An English speaking artist can convey their feelings through words on a radio, but how will a Korean artist do that on the radio with no subtitles, to an audience who refuses to read subs in the first place? You know how the US GP reacted when Parasite movie won an Oscar, right?

Ever since 2017, BTS have tried for that hot 100, did everything they could, backed by their Korean company, tons of US interviews and what not. But at the end of the day, they had to compromise with meaning and depth and churn out an all english, MJ inspired, disco pop track which finally gave them their #1. I am not downplaying the significance of Dynamite, or saying that it's a bad song. But I simply mean that only a marked shift in genre and strategy gave them that #1.

Anon's words: "Hybe is not just only promoting jk, but they were also hampering other members promo."

You are absolutely right. The only properly done solo work was that of Yoongi I feel. He knows his priorities and influence on the company, and has always had a very strong connection to both inside and outside the company. I'm not sure if D-Day was mismanaged, though am sure some yoongi biased army will have things to point out. All the other members have faced mismanagement. Jimin the most, I feel. Even recently, there's a Weverse article where they wrote that "jhope led the contemporary dance with Jimin", in spring day. All respect to Jhope where he deserves because he is the dance leader indeed, but he did not lead the contemporary dance in spring day, as amazing as he is, respectfully.

Anon's words: "It goes beyond promoting one member and more into trying to stifle the rest to present an image the label has the power to make a pop star."

I felt the same thing. I share the same sentiment with you here. The way they downplayed Like Crazy's achievements was disappointing and hurtful. That day it became crystal clear to me that Bighit did NOT see that achievement coming. None of the member's releases was meant to make this much noise, not before their Scooter backed project. They grossly underestimated the extent army can go even for 1 member (arguably the 2 most popular members in US are Jimin and Jungkook). Honestly the type of promotions JK got would never be given to other members because the other members would NOT agree to singing english songs that have zero depth and zero connection to their own feelings. JK was willing to take up that offer because.. well it's his choice. It was a golden platter, why not take it up? His image is moldable, he can sing whatever he is given and has the talent to pull it off. No matter whom we bias, JK has been the center of almost all BTS songs, a non-replaceable voice. But at the end of the day, the reason he was the one member who Bighit wanted to stand-out from the group was, it was his consent and agreement to everything the company planned for him.

I do wonder what it would have been like if all members received that kind of promo with their own artistry. But the entire premise of them being backed by Scooter/US collapses because they refuse to sing songs written by Scooter's writers. So I also agree with anon when they said "And is probably also why they give this promo to songs the label premade and not the artist’s authentic music that the artists makes."

Instead, Hybe is focusing on the other kpop groups under them. It's like the 6 members were just given their own individual management teams to manage their solo works lol. At least, let's be glad that the 6 members are getting full creative freedom for their work. I just want their solo works to be better managed. And I hope their managers, and planners, especially those on Jimin's side have learnt their lesson and come up with a foolproof promo for their next projects. I don't expect anything from BangPD, that man has been showing a certain pattern I don't want to discuss. (solely because i refuse to think what goes on in his mind).

As fans, all we can do is support the solo works we feel connected to and support BTS as a whole in future OT7 projects.

[kalliefangirl]

Doujin Aftermath: Fillial Love (I don't support this one I swear on everything)

TW: Mentions of incest (Again don't support it, it's in the doujin) Su!c!de attempt, Self H@rm, Depression.

If you're are uncomfortable with the topics listed, please don't read. It'll be best.

If you're getting Bad Thoughts, Contact this number: 988

---------------------------------------------------

Chapter One:

Lately, Sharron has been suspecting of something going on between her father and her sister. They've spent a lot of time together.

While she thought nothing of it, it hurt her. The death of her Mother has had a huge impact on her and Sharron never recovered from it.

Sakura Meant so much To Sharron, She was the Only Parental figure in her life, Her Father wasn't around and she never really knew him.

She saw pictures and The 7th Hokage and Her Mother Mentioned him and she Saw pictures, but he wasn't really in her life all that much until after Her Mother's Passing.

Afterwards, he came home A lot, and Tried to support his daughters despite being distraught over his wife's death himself.

This also caused Him and Sharron to get Closer, but they were still somewhat distanced, they had completely different Emotions and personalities.

When Sharron missed her mother, she'd cry or do things her and her mother did together. And when she tried to receive comfort from her father, he wouldn't comfort her.

He'd instead tell her that while her feelings are Valid and Understandable, She's going to have to get used to her mother not been around.

Which Made it 10x More Harder. Overtime, Sharron Developed Separation anxiety.

But as she got older, she just distracted herself with her imagination and dreamed of joining her mother one day. She hated her life and wish it was her that died instead of her mother.

Chapter Two:

Sharron knew something must've happened between her father and sister because a Day after he came home, he left unexpectedly.

When she asked why he was leaving so soon, he answered her by saying he's being sent on another mission.

That was unlike him, a day before he leaves for a mission, he always told his daughters just in case he left out before they woke up.

Sharron thought it was something else, maybe he went to go meet a new woman he planned on introducing.

But she decided to ask her sister about it, she overheard a conversation between them and he seemed upset.

🌲: Hey Sis.

🥗: Yea?

🌲: Dad went out, and I'm curious. Cause he doesn't leave out like that.

🌲: What happened?

🥗: ugh, I was a total idiot yesterday. I knew that was a dumb idea!

🌲: huh?

🥗: I, ugh acted like I was his wife... He got upset.

🌲: that was a dick move.

🥗: and especially last night, we-

🌲: you both?

🥗: never mind, I guess it was from the argument...

🌲: well I guess, maybe it was the whole acting like his wife thing. You know Mom never acted like that.

🥗: I know...

🌲: I'll see if I'll be able to send a letter to see how he is...

🥗: okay.

Chapter Three:

Sharron wasn't home when her father came home that night, but Sarada was. Sharron went to eat at a place her mother loved along with her Best friend, Himawari.

🌻: Your Mother Had amazing taste, the food here is amazing!

🌲:Yep, still tastes great after Many years.

🌻: Hey, did your Dad come home yet?

🌲:um I don't think so, Why?

🌻: I asked my dad if he sent your dad on a mission and he said no.

🌲: oh... I didn't know....

🌻: do you think he met someone new?

🌲: No, he loved mom dearly and wouldn't have ever married another.

🌲: at least, that's what I heard...

🌻: I understand you don't know him well.

🌻: wanna come over and spend the night? My mom wouldn't mind.

🌲: yea, why not?

Chapter Four:

Sharron came home in the afternoon on that next day and her dad and sister were sitting on the couch together.

🌲: Dad! You're Home!

🍅:Sharron, Sit down, we need to talk.

🌲:?

Sharron Sat down, she felt the whole world slowly caving in on her, she expected bad news.

🍅: now, me and your sister are getting married.

🌲: WHAT-

🥗:Sharron, I really love dad. He took my Virginity and-

🌲: WHAT THE FUCK?!

🥗: we decided on that, and no matter what you say, We'll get married either way!

🌲: ...

🍅: and she'll have my child one day.

🥗: Yes! Definitely!

🌲: Mom wouldn't have wanted this...

🍅: This isn't about her.

🌲: So You've Been Fucking Sarada Since Mom Died?

🍅: No, We did it for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

🌲: So that's why you left?! Because you didn't have the self control to not FUCK YOUR OWN DAUGHTER!?!!

🍅: Calm down, at first I couldn't believe I did that.

🍅: but I was blinded by the fact that she reminded me of your mother.

🌲: BECAUSE SHE'S MOM'S DAUGHTER YOU DUMBASS!!

🥗: Don't Call Him That!

🌲: I'm not listening to this BullShit Anymore! I'm going!

🥗: Sharry!

🌲: DON'T ANY OF YOU CALL ME THAT! YOU'RE BOTH DEAD TO ME!

🍅: Well Guess what.

🍅: We're All You Have.

🌲: Well maybe it's time for me to Join Mom.

🥗: ❗

🍅: Sharron...

She Ran out that House, she didn't have anywhere to go, so she decided to go up to the Hokage stone faces.

High enough for what she planned and where no one expected her to be.

Chapter Five:

Sharron Was Up there for a while, Talking to her Mother, asking what she did for this to happen. She knew Everything was her Fault.

It was made out to be her fault. She missed her mother every Second since she passed.

🍥: What are you doing up here?

🌲:Oh, Lord 7th. I thought you were my Dad...

🍥: No, But I've been worried about you kid. How are you? How is your sister?

🌲: I haven't been well, I just been missing Mom...

🍥: I know, and having Sasuke around is hard huh?

🌲: I BARELY KNOW HIM I-

🍅: Sharron.

🌲: What The Fuck Are you Doing here!?

🍥: Sharron! Sasuke what's going on?

🍅: Sharron, You don't have to do something to prove a point.

🍥: What?

🌲: How The Fuck am I proving a point! You're Literally Fucked My Sister!

🍥: What?!

🍅: There's nothing saying its wrong Sharron.

🌲: What! I-

🍥: It's true, It's said to keep fortune in the family. I'm really sorry.

🌲:..

In the moment, Sharron was so overwhelmed she jumped, and it was very high up.

Chapter Six:

3 days later...

💉: That's good, You're waking up.

💉: How are you doing?

She couldn't answer the Doctor, her whole body was in pain.

💉: Well that's alright, I recommend you relax, you suffered great injuries from your fall.

💉: You Broke 6 Of your ribs, and you broke your Right hand and Your wrist. But you're lucky your legs weren't broken.

💉: The 7th Hokage Saved you, the injuries sustained was from the impact.

💉: and Speaking of him, since you're awake. He wants to see you.

💉: I'll send him in.

Sharron was quiet, and Felt so much pain, more pain than when her mother passed. Her body hurt, but she kept asking that question.

"Why would he Save Me? " She felt he didn't have a reason to, Why would he? Was it to put good on his name? What was the motive?

🍥: Hey kid, how are you?

🌲:...

🍥: Oh right, You can't really speak right now... sorry.

🍥: You're probably asking why I saved you.

🍥: I did it for your mother, She wouldn't want you to suffer, she would want you to live on.

🍥: While what your Dad is doing is Fucked up, Sakura would want him to be happy. She wants all of us to be happy.

🍥: I also did it cause I can't imagine Hima Hurting herself, Let alone Kill herself. I know both of you have been close.

🍥: I've treated you as my own, I will always will. You're like a Daughter to me y know?

🌲:...

🍥: You don't have to say anything, just know people Care about you.

As he left, she began to Cry, She didn't want to hurt those around her, and didn't want anyone to cry over her.

She thought the world would be better off without her.

Chapter Seven:

Her Father brought her home, She didn't want to come here but wanted to be with he mother.

She sat down on the couch and Didn't do anything, she just sat in her thoughts, but she overheard a conversation between her sister and father.

🥗: Do you think we should tell her?

🍅: No, let's wait for a while.

🥗: until she heals up?

🍅: No, it'll be obvious by then.

🥗: okay...

"What are they talking about" Sharron kept asking, but she was in too much pain to talk or walk to them and ask.

Due to the pain, and the insomnia, She was Prescribed Sleeping Pills.

And Sharron Took the normal amount, before Overdosing on them. She was found by her sister.

Chapter Eight:

2 Months later...

🥗: Sharron?

🌲:hm?

🥗: How are you?

Sharron noticed that Her sister was what appeared to be "fat"

🌲:What's That?

🥗: hm?

🌲: That in your shirt...

🥗: Oh, Well I'm 5 Months Pregnant with twins! Isn't that exciting?

🌲: tch, And what about your husband?

🥗: Dad's been worried, You've been in a coma for 2 Months

🌲: hm.

🥗: Hey! We Care about you y know!

🌲: Then Why Didn't Dad Fuck me and impregnate me as well?

🥗: because he-

🌲: just say it.

🥗: You remind him of Karin... I'm basically Mom's Twin.

🌲: so he wants his Wife's twin to replace her? You're a Slut and he's a weirdo.

🌲: You Loved Dad and made Remarks on how you want to do more than Train with him

🥗: AT LEAST HE LOVES ME MORE THAN HE'LL EVER LOVE YOU!

🌲: ...

🍅: What's going on?

🥗: I didn't mean to say that...

🌲: Oh, I already knew that.

🌲: but it still hurts when you say that directly to my Face.

🍅: What did she say?

🌲: Don't worry about it, like you'd even care.

🍅: I do Care.

🥗: He Really Does I-

🌲:shut up Whore.

🌲: you should've swallowed his cum, Having an incest baby will be a mistake.

🥗:...

🍅: Don't talk about our children like that.

🌲: ugh, Please get out.

🥗: You're Such a Little Bitch!

🥗: all you do is attempt to kill yourself for attention! if you really want attention,Why Don't you just die already?!!

🌲:...

🍅: That's Enough!

🥗: hm.

🌲: Get out! I've had enough of this bullshit!

🥗: bullshit that you caused?

🌲:...

🌲: if mom was alive, would you still have done this dad?

🍅: No.

🌲: Yea, I know you would.

🌲: I know mom wasn't into sex like you are.

🌲: So you'd fuck your daughter as an replacement.

🥗:...

🥗: Stay away from us, and our children

🥗: I'm so sick of your attention seeking tactics!

🥗: Come anywhere near us or Threaten us, I'll make sure you regret it.

🍅: Go wait outside for me...

As she went outside, Sharron and her father made eye contact with each other, but she knew what was going on.

His face said everything.

🌲: i... Understand

🍅: hm?

🌲: I read your face, I know.

🍅: okay, just keep that promise. No stress on her please.

🌲: alright.

[tuiyla]

With Britt they were clearly going for a savant angle. It fits very well with some people's suspicions/headcanons that Brittany was autistic as it's supposedly autistic people who are savants. Those aren't the people who actually study maths, they just 'magically' know it. It's a controversial subject, I'm not getting into whether or not savants are even real. Glee did not take genius brittany storyline seriously anyway, in any way. Personally I'll happily take anything that makes Brittany something more than a total moron she's often portrayed as. (Ryan Murphy meet me in the parking lot and we'll discuss the barbie doll scene, to name just one)

Btw anon they couldn't have called 1 mathematician, they couldn't do anything, they never did. They spent an entire show talking about Rachel's big Broadway career, you know, rachel, the main character, who's Broadway dreams was one of the main storylines of the entire show since episode 1, and when she finally got to Broadway there wasn't one detail of her Broadway journey that was realistic not even one, everything about the process of casting, rehearsing, performing, none of it was anywhere near the way it's actually done on Broadway.

Assuming these two go together.

Yeah I agree Anon. Glee couldn't be arsed with the arts, the main focus of the story, so of course they didn't put much effort into the accurate portrayal of mathematics.

I very much agree on your perspective and feel the same about Britt getting at least something - and wanting to fight RM. Like yeah there are many many bones to pick with this storyline and I've yet to write a comprehensive post about why I like it, but even that wouldn't be a defense of it as such. It was largely a joke not to be taken seriously but also the one (1) storyline Brittany has that is independent from romantic relationships and gives her any sort of agency. Could have been more grounded in reality but I'll suspend my disbelief about how mathematics actually work if it means validating her intelligence in any way.

Same page, Anon, same page. And it's okay if others aren't but I think prev anon really got passionate about something that the writers just couldn't be bothered to care about lol. If they're willing to piss off the theatre kids, the main demographic, with Broadway logistics or lack thereof, do you think they'll care that science and maths and MIT don't actually work like that?

[dearweirdme]

I think a lot of people don't realise that some things are truly out of the companies hands, like the breaches of privacy, like RM's, that was another company's fault, there was no way of hybe knowing that would happen, jk's was also super creepy and I wish he didn't have to go through that but we know that these sasaengs are good at what they do and some always manage to slip through the cracks and do shit like that, as for the airport, that one is entirely on fans who have already been told not to come but still do, what can hybe do when if they act rudely the idols will get flak for it, it's really scary but again it's the result of bts' huge popularity in these few years

as for tae's breach of privacy, thst depends on if it really is all pr (which i believe it is) in which case they wanted to be seen and he wasn't seen the second time around when he didn't wanna be seen

btw this isn't a dig at the anon who sent a similar concern, the concerns are valid, the breaches of privacy are really scary, I'm just seeing a lot of these takes on twitter and it's weird that they are demanding so many of these things from hybe when some are definitely out of their control

and also so many saying they are sabotaging bts, I just think people should think logically on this, hybe is a corporation and like any good corporation they wanna make lots of money, bts is their main money maker, it's common sense that they're also trying to fill the hole that bts left (again a lot of memebers' solos are actually filling that lmao) but that doesn't mean they're throwing away bts, like they just had a whole month celebrating them, korea turned purple for god's sake, it just means that they're also trying to lessen the burden on bts being the main money makers, which is both a win for the company and win for bts who get to rest as they should after ten long years of work (i mean take it easy after military service, not that they're resting there)

we don't know what happens behind the scenes so some people are really too quick to jump the gun, sometimes the company will do stupid shit, like that weverse article or dynamic pricing but it makes no sense for them to alienate bts in anyway, they got more power now than they ever had before

anyway sorry for the long ask, just wanted to offer a different perspective on things, idc if people call me a company stan tbh, i'm not, it's just been a long few months of solos and shippers going "hybe is evil" for the stupidest reasons and it's tiring

hope you have a nice day! you're opinions are always interesting to read and you seem very collected and level headed in your responses, thank you for answering!!

Hi anon!

You and I think along the same lines.

In cases of harrasment and breaches of privacy it is so hard to prevent those. Because they are most times unpredictable, because in these cases it's always different people involved. I think Jin's case was a lack of judgement of the military, Jk's case involved different fans, Namjoon's case was also from the outside... so what could have prevented those. I agree that Tae's stuff in intended to create a certain narrative.

I have already been accused of being a company stan, and I care very little about those alligations. Business doesn't evolve emotional decisions most of the time. So if the company decides certain things that fandom doesn't likem they should keep in mind that it is most often a decision made on grounds of financial matters. The company has no benefit in going against BTS.

Thank you for your message! Have a nice day as well :)

[akookminsupporter]

JIMIN AND THE APATHY OF THE FANDOM TO SUPPORT HIM.

The constant apathy of the fandom in general to support Jimin's projects has made me question more than once if it's really his fandom too or if it's just a part - quite a big part I'm sure - of the fandom that is a fan of him. 

Here we are again. New year. New post. Same topic. ARMY's apathy to support Jimin. Different excuses, same result.

I haven't talked much about this topic on my blog these days because I'm honestly tired of the damn negativity and because I was dealing with more negativity in my normal life, but I want to say something about everything that happens whenever Jimin releases a song, no matter if it's solo or with someone else.

It's not the first time I've made a post like this and I don't think it will be the last either, but I'd like to be wrong.

The apathy, the disaffection this fandom, in general, feels about Jimin is disturbing. Jimin's achievements are good when they serve to show them off to an "enemy" fandom but when it comes time to support him, everyone has excuses.

It happened last year and it happened again this week.

The absurd fights between kpop fandoms have always seemed absurd to me, although some I can understand but for that to be an obstacle to support the one who is supposed to be your favourite artist seems stupid to me.

From what I could read over the weekend, and before the official release of 'VIBE', several people were saying that they didn't like the artist that Jimin decided to collaborate with. The reasons I don't fully understand and frankly, that's not the problem, the problem is that their problem with that artist and his fans outweighs the love and respect they supposedly have for Jimin and that's something my brain doesn't quite understand. To be honest, my brain has never entirely understood the reasons that many people use for not supporting Jimin's projects as they do with the projects of the other members.

I've always wondered why that happens, why that feeling of rejection almost, that many in this fandom feel for Jimin. I myself have said that it's envy, stupidity and fear and although I still believe it's all that, I think it's something else too. And someday I'd like to know what it is.

This week when many Jimin fanbase and fansites were asking to buy and stream the song 'VIBE' to take it to number one on the charts, many replied asking why, that they better do it for Jimin's solo album, that this honour should be won by him alone and not in collaboration with someone else, the answers are obviously stupid, but at the same time it's sad to read the excuses that many use only when it's about Jimin. That didn't happen with Jungkook, RM and Hobi's recent collaborations, none of them was for their solo albums, they were all for someone else's album and yet ARMY did the best they could, to support them.

The Korean press today basically confirmed that Jimin's album will be released next month. This may be the ultimate test by which many will measure this fandom and their support and respect for Jimin. Many used the excuse that they better save their efforts for Jimin's solo debut, well, let's hope they are true to their word, there will be no more excuses that will be valid, not that the others have any validity.

I've always said that Twitter is not the representation of the fandom, it's only a tiny part of it and while I still hold that opinion, I also understand that on Twitter are many of the most important accounts that organise everything from voting to chart tracking and even funding, so it's worrying and sad that those accounts and therefore their followers don't seem to put the same effort they do for other members when it comes to Jimin.

I am aware that this fandom is quite large and while there are many, probably thousands of "fans" who are apathetic to all things Jimin there are also millions who love him. Who supports him and is excited about whatever Jimin decides to show us on his album. I'm definitely one of them.

I was excited when the guys announced that they would be doing more solo projects, including albums. I can't wait for what they all show us, everything we've seen and heard so far has been great! And so, I can't wait to see and listen to what Jimin has to show. I know it will be unique, I know it will be great, and I know Jimin will once again prove why he is not only the IT Boy of Korea but also, the IT Boy of music.

[nightswithkookmin]

TAE TELLS: JIKOOK

It's taken me days to get round to making this blog post- commenting on another Jikooker's analysis.

Now y'all don't need me to provide a tall list on all the reasons that this a bad bad idea for me. Lol.

Been there. Done that. Doesn't end too well.

Mi nar wan treble wif gudt piipel.

But I also don't want to shy away from the conversation; whether or not Tae is good at keeping Jikook's secret. Whether that is a tell. If it is, does that mean all the times he's 'exposed' Jikook were wrong analysis etc.

Let me start off by saying, I totally admire this content creator. I don't have a particular favorite Video creator- most of my go to YouTube jikook content creators are Spanish speaking content creators, Karmy and a few Iarmy- a lot of whom have disappeared off of the surface of the internet over the years.

These days I watch just about anyone that shows up on my recommendation or home feed. Used to leave comments and what not but I've refrained from that due to privacy issues and prefer to share my thoughts on my blog instead.

Haven't seen a lot of her analysis, but hands down agree with a lot of the analysis she's made in the few I've binge watched so far- thanks to y'all who recommended her to me.

I think for the most part she knows what the fuxk she is doing. She definitely knows what she is talking about in her videos and I like that. I admire that.

I don't disagree with anything I've seen so far on her channel. Especially her thoughts on Kook. Fearless Kook. Absolutely love those.

I think she could have taken time to flesh out her theory on this whole 'Tae is good at keeping Jikook's secret' bit cos it seems that's what causing the stir? I don't know.

'If Tae is good at keeping people's secrets then there is no way he could have exposed Jikook blah blah blah'

Sigh.

Tuktukkers will jump on anything to invalidate Jikook. Sigh. Sigh.

I can't put words in her mouth, but I don't think she was interpreting Jimin's words to mean that Tae is good at keeping others' secrets and so cannot 'expose' Jikook like we been saying in this part of stan land.

And if she did mean it like that then I'm afraid I'd have to humbly disagree.

My understanding of Jimin's assertion that Tae is good at keeping a straight face when it comes to others' secret is that, he meant Tae has a strong poker face and it's hard to tell when he is lying or telling the truth sometimes.

That's all Jimin was saying. In my opinion.

Which honestly, it's truth. Tae is such an actor. A talented one at that. I mean have you been watching Run episodes?! Ayayaya.

I won't play Russian roulette with him cos imma end up with bullets in my head.

Play Texas hold'em with him at your own risk.

I mean he is the king of blank expressions in BTS. Isn't that why RM describes him as 4D?

He's only what, honed that- should we call it skills, since debut! He's become a master at it. Add his impeccable acting skills to it and its kaboom.

His blank expressions to me sometimes seem like a coping mechanism, if you will. And often times, he deliberately induces it to mask his feelings- when someone says something he finds annoying or something he is uncomfortable with.

A typical example is when JK read 'Tae Kook' in the comments during their VLive and he pretended he didn't know what the fuxk JK was talking about- prompting JK to explain to him that that was their ship name yadda yadda. Insert skull head.

Now we all know HE KNOWS TAE KOOK.

I saw a lot of jokers running around teasing Tuktukkers with the whole "look, your bias don't know y'all ship exists bye'

Listen, I'd join in on the joke- nothing makes me happy than jokers pulling some tuktukker legs but just as long as we all know and agree that's not true.

They all know of their ships.

They've known since the beginning.

They know everything.

When he said get out of your imagination I don't think it was because he had no ideas what homegal was going on about on Weverse.

Tae has many tells. When he exchanges awkward looks with RM or Jimin when Jikook or JK does something outrageous that's a tell.

When he passive aggressively smirks after revealing a detail on the whereabouts of Jimin at 1am that's equally a tell.

The slight head tilt when he says Jk don't want Jimin to come that's equally a tell.

He is very observant.

He loves to observe Jikook when they are up in their shenanigans. In my opinion. So when he is quietly looking at Jikook, observing them with no expression on his face that's equally a tell.

JK is not the only one always watching JM.

I mean he was stood right behind Jimin when he and JK were taking turns staring at eachother while Joonie was busy being eloquent. Tae saw all of that but didn't react to it.

In the recent OT7 VLive when Jimin called Jk too big or something Tae was right behind them and as I pointed out in my analysis on that, he looked away almost as soon as JK turned to look at him- JK was conscious of Tae and he knew Tae was looking at them through the viewfinder.

Sometimes he feels compelled to call them out on it too like he did in the dynamite MV when he blurted out, let's not look in the cameras when JK and Jikook were about to do their weird eye fucking absolutely gay stuff that they be doing from time to time.

All these are tells. To me at least. And I think in her video she was simply pointing out yet another tell of Taes- his blank expressions around Jikook in certain moments.

Having a poker face is one thing, having a blank expression is another.

Like I said his poker face is deliberate. He turns that on in various situations ranging from mild to not so serious circumstances like keeping others from finding out he is a mafia in a game etc.

His blank expressions are often times involuntary. His resting face. Sometimes I don't even think he realises he's blanked out.

When he don't know what to do with himself he blanks out. It's similar to how JK intensely focuses on Jimin when he doesn't know what to do with himself on set or when the cameras are rolling.

When he isn't intensely focusing on Jimin he becomes fidgety or sometimes does some really weird expressions that have popularly become various memes under the heading Jungshook.

It's not just Tae. It's not just Jimin. They all have their tells and go to expressions when they don't know what to do with themselves on camera.

Tae has a strong poker face, he is a master of blank expressions, and he is notoriously one of the most passive aggressive members in BTS.

Any of these can be tells depending on the context and situation.

-As long as we are able to distinguish between these moments and expressions I suppose.

His expression when Jikook were narrating the rain fight for example would be a blank expression and not a poker face in my opinion- a poker face is a deliberate state of induced expressionless demeanor.

Yes he had a blank expression. But I don't think that that was deliberate. That's just his go to resting face when he is not active in a moment most times.

I found his comment, 'that was a long time ago' much more telling that he knew about the rain fight and that expression of embarrassment he had on later equally said that he knew and thought Jikook were being gay unprovoked.

But that is my thought process.

I gotta respect hers too. It's valid.

Him going blank dead silence when Jimin said he loved waking up to see JK's face was more of that 'awkward, can't believe JM just did that shook moments' he gets around Jikook from time to time when they do something very shocking and gay.

I'd be lying if I said I understood what she was driving at with that bit in her video but I don't totally disagree with that.

By her stating that, I don't think she implied the opposite of it. Nor did Jimin by his statement.

Tae has a good poker face don't necessarily mean he is good at keeping secrets. I think it is much more nuanced than that.

I mean he is good at keeping your secret until he misses his best friend and soulmate then it's 'JK don't want Jimin to come' 🤺🤺🤺

Sometimes I wish Jimin were a triplet so I can slipt him between Tae, JK and RM. Suga and Hobi don't mind sharing him with the others and it seems Jin only wants his mirror so... Lmho.

And yes, Tae does give Jikook away from time to time- blank face or not.

I hope this helps??

Signed,

GOLDY

[schweiggiemydear]

Regarding the Super League - A Rant

Ok, since the League was more or less officially announced today, I want to talk about it. If you haven't heard about it, you can read the Sky Sports article explaining it here.

I want to add a disclaimer that since I am an Arsenal and Real Madrid fan, my views are biased since both teams have been selected for the league.

However, there are a few things I want to address as a general football fan that are not affected by my club loyalty. I'll include a section at the bottom of this post on my opinion on the new league just because. Editing to add another disclaimer that I do NOT support the Super League. I am just discussing the issues I have seen brought up about it.

Fan Response

A lot of football fans have taken to social media to voice their opposition to the league. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but I haven't actually seen any reason for this hatred towards the new league other than "It will ruin football" and "It's just another way for the clubs to make more money." Again, maybe I just haven't seen it, but these two "reasons" aren't really explained at all:

"It will ruin football": It's another competition that only the "elite" and "best" clubs of Europe will be a part of. This is basically the Champions and Europa leagues already. These two competitions will not be eliminated and you can still see underdogs play European football.

Is the concern here that this elevates top clubs at the expense of smaller clubs? (like Champions League already does?) Is the concern here that mechanisms for fair competition will be dropped for the sake of greed? (like Champions league already does?) (Like FIFA does every time they make a decision?) Is the concern here that it undermines the concept of competition and the idea that any team can win a trophy in Europe? This is the only valid criticism I can understand and support, but when was the last time a big club didn't win the Champions league? When was the last time a small club Leicester or Roma held the trophy? If you can count Olympique de Marseille as a "small club", then the answer is 1993.

"It's just another way for the clubs to make more money.": I hate to break it to you folks, but football is a business. (I have a lot of opinions on this - mainly regarding women's v. men's football and equal pay - but that is not the point of this post.) Clubs are always looking for ways to make more money and this pandemic has killed revenue for every club, even top league clubs, and they are looking for new and more steady sources of revenue.

Is the concern that without a ruling body like FIFA, the money for the competition will not be handled fairly? Is the concern that fans will have limited access to matches? If you take even a cursory glance at what FIFA/UEFA done regarding finance, transparency, match fixing, and fan access, you would know this isn't a valid criticism. Well, it is valid. But only if you also regularly call out FIFA, UEFA, Premier League/FA, Bundesliga, La Liga, League 1, Serie A, etc., for these same infractions. Which people don't.

Now if the criticisms were closer to "I think this brings unnecessary competition to top clubs already vying for European trophies", "This competition will make these clubs think they're better than everyone else", or "This puts a strain on players in these clubs who already play for club and country", I'd understand the concerns and would absolutely agree. But right now, the actual fan backlash seems more guided by a general misunderstanding on how football really works. Which leads to the next issue I want need to address.

FIFA/UEFA Response

Now here's where things get interesting because the backlash from FIFA and UEFA has been swift and aggressive to say the least. They are refusing to allow players who play in the Super League to be eligible for the 2022 World Cup and will likely impose fines or even ban clubs from the leagues that do participate. The Premier League/FA and the other major European leagues have issued a joint statement condemning the league. The statement mentions solidarity, a united front, fair competition, and sporting merit and claims that this new league is greedy and self-serving.

Ironic words come from institutions that are all well-known for their own corruption. Absolutely banger response from institutions that milk fans, players, and leagues every year. In fact, people on twitter made really great points and I'm going to provide the tweets here because they said it better than I could:

(including the last one because of Slavia Prague specifically)

We all know the main reason FIFA and UEFA are against the Super League is because they wouldn't get a cut of the revenue. I don't have any money to bet, but know that if I did, I would bet it all that if the Super League offered FIFA and UEFA each a significant cut of the continued revenue, they would get the green light immediately and that trophy would be physically bigger than the Champions League cup.

I just cannot get over the irony, hypocrisy, lack of awareness, and just BALLS of these organisations to make claims of greed and lack of fair play when they are guilty of these exact things. I think Toni Kroos said it best:

"European Super League? We are just puppets of FIFA and UEFA. If there was a players' union, we would not be playing the Nations League or Supercopa de Espana in Saudi Arabia." (Kroos in a podcast on 11/11/2020)

My Humble Opinion

Now here's what I think. And again, my teams would be involved in this Super League so I do have a stake in the game here.

Firstly, I absolutely agree the Super League is elitist in nature and affects the fair play nature of European football competitions and domestic leagues. No doubt that smaller clubs would be financially hurt by this new league and it puts these "top teams" on a pedestal, especially when the last thing they need is an even more inflated ego (Arsenal included). Every club has been hurt by this pandemic and needs funds. Every club has been hurt by FIFA's practices and there's a good chance this will really mess with smaller teams' chances of earning revenue themselves.

Second, FIFA and UEFA can go fuck themselves.

Third, FIFA plans to ban players and clubs who participate in this Super League and to that I say good fucking luck with that because those clubs are your biggest earners. Absolutely no hate or shade to the Bundesliga or League 1, but they just don't bring in the same revenue as Barca, Real Madrid, or Premier League teams. Bayern Munich did recently overtake Man United as the 3rd richest club in Europe, but they are still vastly out-earned by RM and Barca. PSG is #7 (after 3 english teams) and Juventus is #10 (after 5 english teams) (source). The revenue FIFA and UEFA would lose from banning Super League teams would be astronomical. Not just in the domestic leagues themselves, but the Champions League, Europa League, and the World Cup. I mean, what's a World Cup without Messi? (personally, I'm okay with that but you get my point)

Fourth, and hear me out, I genuinely believe that the Super League is a good TEMPORARY idea. The Super League should be used as an experiment to see how competitions would function outside the influence of FIFA and other regulatory agencies. This would be a League run by clubs and players and is a better representation on how football SHOULD be organised. If these clubs take a stand against FIFA, maybe, just maybe, we can get rid of some of the corruption inherent in football. Don't get me wrong, the Super League is definitely meant to be revenue generating for sure. But it's also a middle finger to FIFA and, if its done well, the rest of Europe might take a harder look at how much they don't actually need FIFA. Do I think this is the right way of doing it? No. But has it clearly stirred things up and now people are talking about the issues? Yes.

Lastly, I want to talk about Kroos' comment above. A players union is a brilliant idea and I think the European Super League is actually a great way for players to argue for it. They can use the leverage of the new league to bargain for better rights and a union that actually tells FIFA to go fuck itself when it decides things like revenue gouging Brazil in 2014 or a Qatar World Cup. Or the many hundred other shitty things FIFA has done. For a full list, please see John Oliver's amazing coverage of FIFA in his series "Last Week Tonight" (found on YouTube or HBOMax).

If you made it to the bottom of this post/rant, thank you! Let me know what you think about this Super League and what would you do if you were one of the teams involved?

[maplecornia]

chapter 24

𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱: 2.94K

𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢: romance | slice of life | fluff | angst | bts x female!reader | ot7

𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶: You watched them from the sidelines ever since you were a young teenage girl. Now you’re grown up, they’ve returned after 2 long years and everything has changed. What happens when you pull back the mask and find the darkness within? What happens when you see that they’re broken?

𝔞/𝔫: things are getting heavyyy

𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰: cliffhangers | angst | fluff | slight mentions of self hatred | depression | mental health illness | self harm | occurs in the year 2024 | set in a timeline where BTS went to the military together | slight language

tags: @kookaine | @fangirl125reader | @kookiebbyxx | @taradevonne | @rae-bear |@mangminnie | @pixiekooo

If you're still enough, you can hear the inner whispers of your heart.

Have you noticed?

You're able to hear everything you have kept locked away. It tries to break through the cage, and you can feel the chains growing weaker and weaker with each passing moment. Each tick of the clock drawing closer and closer to the moment where you can no longer hold it in.

Where you finally break down.

Taehyung sighs and leans back in his chair, the meeting room now empty and dark. It's hard to believe that at the break of day it was filled with conflict and torn decisions.

-

"I'm against it."

At the sound of Yoongi's sharp dismissal, it's as though the room wakes up. Some in protest, some in shock. Suga raises his brow at the reaction, almost scoffing when he sees it.

"It's too much of a risk." He sighs almost in contempt. "If you want her so badly, why not sign her with Source or Pledis? They're our shareholders for a reason. Plus, since we're all under HYBE it will be exactly like she were a BigHit affiliation. Given the way this industry runs, however, she's probably best out of Kpop and should be signed under HYBE America. After all, she is a foreigner."

Though they are harsh, his words make sense. This would be the most logical approach rather than breaking their ban on female trainees. They made the ban for a reason, Yoongi doesn't understand why they would throw that away for someone who is slightly talented.

Besides, what about every other talented girl before her?

What reason should she have to achieve the dream which they were denied?

"I have to agree with Yoongi," Jin speaks up, his brow furrowed in concentration. "She has a unique and beautiful voice, that much is true. It'd be a shame to let it go, but if you think about it, we wouldn't be letting it go. Giving it to another company under HYBE might provide a better chance for her in the industry."

Taehyung bites his lip, not liking where this is going.

Jin glances around the table, hesitating before he says his next piece.

"We just got back, can we trust that they'll accept us if we do this? Next thing you know there'll be rumors of a scandal."

Though it was all on their minds, it still hurts to hear it out loud.

Can they trust ARMY to be there for them this time?

"It is a bit concerning. She'll be the only female trainee in an all-male company. Can you imagine the rumors? The field day Dispatch would have? She'd be hated before she even had a chance to show them her worth." Jhope murmurs under his breath, his eyes sparkling with deep worry.

They've all faced that. The fear of being hated for just being you. For existing without the mask.

"But I liked her," Jimin says, leaning forward. Though his words are simple, they are said with the most sincerity. "She's someone you hardly ever see, her voice stays with you, it doesn't leave. It's the kind that people can't get enough of. That's something special...shouldn't we take that into account?"

Biting his inner cheek, Taehyung glances up at BangPD, wondering if he knows. Did Jungkook tell him? He knew about Yen, why wouldn't he have found out about him as well?

If only he hadn't saved that recording. If only he hadn't been so careless, then none of this would have happened.

Somehow he feels as though those moments are being stolen from him.

"Jimin has a point, Yoongi. Did you hear her?" Jin speaks up, his gaze glazing over as though he were looking into the distance. Or recalling a long forgotten memory. Yoongi scoffs and smirks bitterly.

"Of course I did, I have ears."

"Are you sure?" Jin mutters in response, but it's almost as though Yoongi can't hear him.

"Think of this realistically, you have to know there's zero to no chance of her making it. Even if she's talented." There's a moment of uncomfortable silence at his words, words which no one wanted themselves to say. Sighing, Suga gestures towards Namjoon.

"Come on, Joon back me up here."

The room turns to Namjoon, waiting to hear his response.

He stays silent for a moment, his hand resting on his chin as he ponders the situation, his deep eyes calculating moves and countermoves. Possible situation and solutions.

All while trying to forget that the possible trainee is Yen.

Biting his bottom lip, he can't help but remember the way she was in the studio. How her eyes lit up with unimaginable love and devotion. A look only a fellow artist would be able to recognize. She was made for this, he can tell. She yearns to sing, to be lost in music, enveloped in a world of her own making. To be able to share that with others.

Looking over at BangPD, he narrows his eyes thoughtfully.

"What are you planning to do?"

Yoongi's eyes widen at Namjoon’s question, and he leans back, looking to BangPD's response. Bang Sihyuk smiles softly, almost as though he expected this.

For some reason, that look irks Taehyung.

Don’t think you can control us. We weren’t made for your chessboard.

"It will be on a purely trial basis. I am planning to sign her as a trainee, but the public will not know about it until I am sure that she will be a good addition." He looks towards Suga, pointedly directing his next statement towards him. "I understand your concerns for her. After all, she would be our first female trainee for a while."

Suga bites his inner cheek in protest, leaning back in his chair and brooding.

"However, I have been planning this for a while now." The room goes silent with the revelation as they turn to him, waiting for him to reveal more. "Ever since you've left for the military, I've been thinking of possible trainees to recruit for a new girl group. The first girl group to be officially under BigHit entertainment. They would be managed, produced, and signed underneath our label. Not through a loophole like BE:LIFT, Source Music, or Pledis. This would be ours and ours alone."

Jimin shakes his head in confusion. "Why now? What changed?"

BangPD sighs, his careful eyes scanning the room in a calm and collected manner.

"I don't know entirely myself." He rubs his face before continuing, playing with the portfolio of Yen. "I thought it was time to expand our horizons, to try something new...I guess you could say I was inspired."

He glances towards Namjoon, and Joon can't help but remember that day all those years ago.

The day when BangPD proposed a plan, an inspiration to him, not quite unlike this one.

Namjoon’s brow furrowed in concentration, he turns to your smiling photo, still spread across the table.

Was it you?

Were you the reason for this inspiration?

"In any case, before I moved any further, I wanted to see if things would work out with her. One trainee. I didn't want to make a mistake like last time, hence the trial period." Bang Sihyuk continues, swaying a bit in his chair.

"Who would train her?" Taehyung mutters underneath his breath, unable to look away from your photo this whole time. Turning to BangPD, his eyes are aflame with conviction. "If we have our normal staff take part in her training, we won't be able to control who else could find out. If her existence were to be completely secret, who could we trust?"

It's a valid question, but Taehyung doesn't like the glint Sihyuk gets in his eyes at the notion. Silently, he wishes he never spoke up. Maybe then he would've been able to stay under the radar, and BangPD would never have to suspect he had any affiliation with the girl.

With Yen.

"You would."

Two words is all it takes.

Two words and the room is in an uproar.

"What are you talking about?! We have enough on our plate with our comeback, and now you expect us to train a girl who shouldn't even be here in the first place?!" Yoongi is so outraged that he stands, his chair rolling back into the wall.

"Yoongi, calm down--" RM begins, but Suga isn't willing to listen to anyone at the moment.

"Do you have any idea how much pressure we're under? And now you want to add an inexperienced trainee to our list of burdens just because she can sing?!" he snarls, his lip curling in disgust, his eyes dark with anger.

"Yoongi-hyung, you heard her voice. You have to admit that we found something here." Jungkook speaks up, meekly. Taehyung narrows his eyes his way.

Just what does Jungkook get out of all this? Taehyung knows he has to be the one who gave BangPD the file of your voice. He was the only other one there, besides Taehyung. Taehyung himself couldn’t bring himself to give you the flash drive, but Jungkook didn’t even think to tell you. He went straight to BangPD as though this were his decision to make. Did he even think of asking you what you thought?

What’s your angle?

Yoongi rolls his eyes, gesturing to the portfolio on the table.

"Yeah, we found something. But not something worth risking everything we built over!"

"Don't you think you're being a dramatic? We aren't even sure if this will work out. It's just a trial, and it's the best option for us to train them given the situation." Namjoon murmurs, rationally. Suga's eyes flame with defiance at the rebuttal and slams his hand on the table.

"And what happens if word gets out before we're ready?"

The room goes silent with the ultimatum, and they all avoid his gaze.

"What happens when we're the cause of her downfall?"

Glancing at each other, they ponder the question. A question that has weighed heavily on them ever since they debuted, ever since they became the star in the public's eye. Ever since the world knew about the boy group...

BTS.

Scowling, Yoongi pulls away.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't have time for this. I have work to do, work that has been waiting for us for 2 years! Or did you all forget our promise?" When they don't answer him, he scoffs, pulling his backpack on his shoulder and walking out the door. "I'll see you at practice."

There's a moment of silence as soon as Yoongi leaves, silence uncomfortable and pressing. Licking his lips in nervous anticipation, Hoseok looks at the rest of them, almost unsure.

"Is he going to be okay?"

BangPD leans forward, folding his hands on the table.

"Don't worry about Yoongi, I'll talk to him later. But what about the rest of you?"

His quick, analytical eyes scan the table, hovering over every one of them. Almost as if he were trying to predict what exactly they would say next.

"Do you agree?"

-

Now, Taehyung grits his teeth. His grip tightening around the water bottle he was playing with in his hands, he throws it across the wall. As he watches it crumble at the force, he finds the ruin in his mind easing. Water drips off of the wall, and he feels a sort of sadistic satisfaction at the sight of destruction.

Now he’s not the only one broken.

But once that fades, he's left once more with his memories and his regret.

"Dammit." He groans, dropping his face in his hands hopelessly.

-

Standing, Tae grabs Jungkook by the hand before he can follow the rest of them out. The door shuts behind them, leaving only him and Jungkook in the meeting room, an uneasy silence hanging over them. With words they need to say, questions waiting to be answered.

"Taeh--" Jungkook begins, but in his rush, Tae interrupts him.

"Were you there?"

The silence that blossoms between them grows to a deafening roar as Jungkook gently pulls away from Taehyung's firm hold. It creates a bitter but necessary distance between the two of them. It lets them know that they're different, that what happened back then was something that belonged to one as much as it did the other.

"You heard her too, didn't you?" Jungkook murmurs, his words turning Taehyung's blood cold. Smiling softly, Jungkook runs his hands through his hair. "I saw you as you were leaving, you were the one who recorded her, aren't you?"

Biting his bottom lip, Tae can't answer. Even though he knows that moment wasn't his, even though he knows that his ideas of fate and chance have been destroyed, he's unable to admit to it. He can't find it in him to voice the fact that he was there, that he gave birth to her chance, and he wanted it to be his and his alone.

Jungkook chuckles nervously at the silence before speaking once more.

"I wonder...why didn't you have the same idea as me?"

-

His hands tangled up in the locks of his hair, Taehyung stares at the slick wooden table, his heart in knots and his mind jumbled.

"Why didn't I?" he mutters to himself, a soft whisper that lingers empty on the air. "Why couldn't I say anything?"

Pulling away from the table, where Yen's future was decided this morning, he swallows hard. By the end of the day, he found himself lingering around this room, the studio, anyplace that reminded him of her.

Laughing bitterly, he rubs his forehead.

"Why..." He whispers, holding his phone tightly to his chest.

"Why can't I forget you?"

Biting his bottom lip, he quickly messages you, having the sudden urge to see you. Maybe then, would he realize what he can't find? Would he be able to create another memory, another moment in time? One that was yours and yours alone?

After a couple of moments, you don't answer.

Maybe...I was just afraid of letting go.

Standing almost decisively, he rushes out of the room, and down the hallways of the building.

I need to know.

As he rides the same elevator you rode yesterday down to the lobby, he holds his phone tighter in his hand.

If I don't find out now, I may never get another chance.

Desperate, he sends another message to you.

One more time.

Catching his face in the metallic walls of the elevator, he can't help but imagine yours smiling up at him. A face that makes everything seem alright again.

That's all I need.

What happens when that is taken away from him? What happens when he can no longer see the person who gives him courage? Biting his lip, he can feel the pain in his chest grow.

Just let me see you one more time.

He doesn't want to let you go.

As the elevator dings and he steps out, he pauses, seeing Namjoon right in front of him. Namjoon glances up, his eyes glazed over and tired, but when he sees Tae, they widen in recognition. Taehyung smiles inwardly to himself, he knows this look. A look lost in the wilderness of creativity and desolation.

"Oh, Taehyung!" he says, and Taehyung nods to him curtly before brushing past him and continuing to the front door. Namjoon, however, catches him by the wrist and Tae pauses, turning around.

"Namjoon?" His face is blank, but something in his eyes tells Tae to be wary. They are sort of dark, not really there, but urgent and anxious. Taehyung wonders how eyes can hold so many words, and yet tell you nothing at all.

"You knew, didn't you?"

At his words, Tae blinks, his heart pounding.

"I..."

"That's why you followed her, how you knew about her injury."

How does he know?

"When were you going to tell me?"

Biting his bottom lip, Taehyung can't help but feel a bit of aggravation towards his older friend. Why can't he keep anything to himself? Why is it a crime for him to live his own life, without everyone looking in? Yanking his arm out of Namjoon's grip, he scowls, turning on his heel.

"When it became your business."

Namjoon stands there, a bit in shock before rushing forward and taking Tae forcibly by the arm once more.

"Taehyung, wait!" At his touch, Tae tries to pull away, but Namjoon won't budge, his eyes desperate and wild. They unnerve Taehyung, make him want to escape, hide away until everything turns back to normal again. "If she's going to become an idol, any affiliation you have with her will only hurt her."

Tae's eyes widen at his words, snapping a hidden string he didn't know he had inside of him. RM doesn't notice, instead, his grip tightens around Tae until he feels as though he's suffocating from the inside out.

"You know that right?"

Gritting his teeth, Tae pulls away from Namjoon, staggering back until he's a good distance away. Raising his eyes to his hyung, Namjoon finds a look he's never seen in his younger friend before.

Loathing.

"Don't act as though you know everything." He spits before turning away and walking out of the door.

Namjoon sighs as he watches him leave before glancing over at the now empty lobby. The lobby where just a day ago, he met a sweet, cheerful girl. Someone who filled his mind with inspiration and wonder.

Smiling sadly, he rubs the back of his neck, looking up at the sky as though that will offer him the answers he seeks.

"Just who are you, Yen?"

𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔢: this one was actually pretty hard to write, i'm ngl ;-;

chapter 25 here

check the Infinite Stars masterlist for more chapters

check my BTS masterlist for other BTS content

check out my masterlist for other kpop fanfics

[bangtanfan]

How Black Swan helped me get back my lost passion

When I was in first grade I wrote my first poem. When I was in third grade I wrote my first story. That's when I fell in love with writing.

I would write every single day. I would stay up until 3-4 am just writing and I loved every single thing about it. I loved writing and I loved what I wrote.

I kept that passion fired up until late in high school when I discovered a website where you can share your stories. I was excited because for so long I was the only one who read my stories. I was excited to share it to people and to have positive feed back. I was so sure I can do it because to me, my stories were great! But it didn't turn out the way I wanted to.

Months passed, I have published 20+ chapters of my stories but there were less than 100 views. There were no comments either. That to me was a failure. I realized that I wasn't as good as I thought I was but that didn't stop me from writing.

I would bring my stories to school, working on them during breaks and even letting my classmates read them. Until one day, while my classmate was reading one of my stories, hw returned my notebook back to me and said that he didn't feel like reading it anymore because it was boring. That was when I started to really doubt myself.

Am I really good at it? Or do I just think that way? For a teenager these comments really hurt a lot. It's something that I loved dearly and something I was really really proud of so when they told me it was boring I was really discouraged.

It didn't help that I still wasnt getting reads on my stories that I published online. It came to the point where I reread all of my chapters to check for grammatical errors or just any mistake. I thought maybe if I wrote it 'perfectly' then people would start to appreciate it.

It went on like that for years. I wrote with perfection in mind. The first thing that I ask myself when I write is if people would like it.

I was still unsuccessful. I was also slowly writing less and less. There was no satisfaction anymore. I felt like there was no point because nobody liked them anyway.

Then came college. It was busier this time. I had no more time for anything other than studying. So I stopped writing altogether. I had 10+ stories that I put on hold.

I busied myself with other things. I wrote my thoughts on paper but I no longer wrote stories. Sometimes the urge to write again would come but every time I open a new notebook I would just stare at it not knowing what to do. It was sad because I realized that the one thing that brought me joy before doesn't bring me happiness anymore. I felt nothing. Then I felt scared.

I was scared when I realized that I was losing my passion. I was no longer the young ambitious girl who stays up all night making worlds and creating characters. I was no longer passionate about writing. I felt so lost because for so long that to me was my identity. I was a writer. Was.

But I just let it go because like I said I was busy with other things.

Until that day when I was reviewing for the board exams. I looked over to the notebooks that I haven't opened in years and I just cried because I remembered what I really wanted to do. I wanted to write. I didn't want to become an accountant I wanted to become a writer but I thought that was impossible because I no longer felt happy.

I was scared because I lost that feeling. I was scared and I was desperately trying to find her, that ambitious girl filled with excitement and fired up with passion but I can't seem to find her anymore.

I wondered, is there anybody out there who felt the same? Is there anyone out there who knows how I feel or am I making a big deal out of nothing?

A couple of days later Black Swan by BTS came out. They were talking about the same things that was going in my head. They were talking about their fears of waking up one day and not liking what they were doing anymore. It was sad. Sad but relatable because that's exactly what I'm feeling!

I felt understood. I felt comforted know that somewhere someone knows how I am feeling. I'm not making a big deal out of it because it is a big deal. It's a genuine fear and it's valid. I wasn't alone.

I took a couple days off after that. I spent some days just contemplating. One question kept me up at night: Why did you start writing anyway? The answer is simple: I loved it.

I started writing because I loved writing. It made me happy when I finish a story. It makes me happy when I start a new story. I love the freedom that it gave me. I loved that everyday, it was a new journey for me. I was happy.

I realized that by putting other people's opinions first when I am writing, I am throwing away that freedom that it gives me.

After that, I deleted all of the works I posted online. I promised myself that I'll start writing again but this time I will write for my own satisfaction. I will write what I want to write not what people want to read. I will write for myself.

I've been slowly writing again. It's still not as much as before but it's a start. This time I'm no longer censoring myself. I no longer think of whether people will like it or not. I feel free.

Honestly, if it wasn't for that song I probably wouldn't have started writing again. I would've thought that it was not a big deal and that it's natural to let go of your childhood dreams as you grow older. But the truth is we dont have to give those dreams up right?

Tldr; Black Swan made me realize that the fear of losing your passion is a true fear but we can get over it as long as we remember why we started doing what we we're doing.

[Intro: Jimin]

Do your thang

Do your thang with me now

Do your thang

Do your thang with me now

What’s my thang?

What’s my thang? Tell me now

Tell me now

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 1: Suga]

Ayy, the heart no longer races

When hearing the music play

Tryna pull up

Seems like time has stopped

Oh, that would be my first death

I been always afraid of

[Verse 2: RM]

If this can no longer resonate

No longer make my heart vibrate

Then like this may be how I die my first death

But what if that moment’s right now, right now?

[Pre-Chorus: V, Jimin]

Heartbeat pulsing slow in my ears bump, bump, bump

Try to flee but back into the maw jump, jump, jump

No song affects me anymore

Crying out a silent cry

[Chorus: All]

Ocean with all light silenced shut yeah, yeah, yeah

My wandering feet held in a rut yeah, yeah, yeah

Every noise and sound's been cut yeah, yeah, yeah

Killin’ me now, killin’ me now

Do you hear me? Yeah

Sinking slowly like in a trance, nah, nah, nah

Struggle but it's all ocean floor nah, nah

Every moment becomes eternity, yeah, yeah, yeah

Film it now, film it now

Do you hear me? Yeah

[Refrain: Jimin, V]

Do your thang

Do your thang with me now

Do your thang

Do your thang with me now

What’s my thang?

What’s my thang? Tell me now

Tell me now, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 3: J-hope]

Deeper

Yeah, I think I���m goin’ deeper

I keep losing focus

No, just let go of me

Let my own feet carry me

I'll go in myself

In the deepest depths

I saw myself

[Verse 4: Suga]

Slowly, I open my eyes

I'm in my workroom, it's my studio

The waves

Go darkly by in a throe

But I'll never get dragged away again

Inside I saw myself, myself

[Pre-Chorus: V, Jin]

Heartbeat racing in my ears bump, bump, bump

Eyes wide open into my forest jump, jump, jump

Nothing can devour me

I shout out with ferocity

[Chorus: All]

Ocean with all light silenced shut yeah, yeah, yeah

My wandering feet held in a rut yeah, yeah, yeah

Every noise and sound's been cut yeah, yeah, yeah

Killin’ me now, killin’ me now

Do you hear me? Yeah

Sinking slowly like in a trance nah, nah, nah

Struggle but it's all ocean floor nah, nah

Every moment becomes eternity yeah, yeah, yeah

Film it now, film it now

Do you hear me? Yeah

[Outro: Jin, Jungkook]

Do your thang

Do your thang with me now

Do your thang

Do your thang with me now

What’s my thang?

What’s my thang? Tell me now

Tell me now

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

[ajw720]

Anon I love listening to D talk about the people in his life that he considers true friends. When he talks about Ed/gar or Ri/cky you can hear the genuine warmth and affection in his voice. Not to mention the amount of respect he has for these individuals. There's nothing contrived about the stories told. Nothing. I can say the same for Le/na (she deserves a mention right now with her beautiful CC related IG likes), Ch/uck (I know they are brothers but not all brothers are close) and so many others.

The speedo story is just beyond ridiculous. I'm not sure what they are thinking embellishing it to this extent. Adding L/ea to the narrative makes no sense. And in all honestly, it just radiates a light on how fake M's involvement was.

I assume that pic was devised by RM as the pap speedo pics were getting so much press and he decided to capitalize on it. He's the only one with a say over it. And it was marketing gold no matter how we individually feel about the photo.

I already thought it sounded off when D would talk about it and make it sound like it was just a spontaneous thing. He always looked so uncomfortable. No it wasn't a fun, random thing to do. And I'm sure in return there was some incentive.

Then he added M to the narrative a few months later. Yet M herself, the attention whore that she is, never once mentioned it? Not a tweet? Or a paid BFF casually mentioning her photoshop skills in an IG story?? Completely odd. But hey if you believe the PR narrative, she's the plus one, so she's the logical person to show it too. So at least there's some logic if you are blinded by the lies.

But L/ea? No fucking way. And for it only to be mentioned nearly a year later??? Really? When you are promoting your tour? And trying to act like you are besties???

How about telling us how proud of d she was when she saw hed/wig? Oh right she can't. She failed to attend. Why? Because at the time she didn't think she needed d. Now she does.

What about fun stories from gl/ee? D&L worked together for 5 years. If they were truly close there would be a new story to tell every single night.

And why is this being discussed on stage?? I personally would like to put the selfie behind us. Just doesn't need to be talked about anymore. It was a YEAR ago. D has done far more interesting thing. But team shit needs to have a B&C mention and the newly christened friendship needs validation that what l/ea said on the interview is true.

Look I'm happy about the tour. But can't we just call it what it is? Two talented colleagues hitting the road together to entertain fans. And stop with the nonsense.

Though truly nonnie. Maybe we should be grateful. Because it is utterly ludicrous and should make anyone listening question the validity of the story. And that should lead to questioning mi/arren. If only 1 person would see the light, it would be worth it.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hello BBP can you please please tell me what do you mean when you say Jimin confounds his solo fans with Jimin biased armys? I've seen solos say Jimin has addressed them by saying "my fans and army" or something like that (I tried looking for the source of that pic and haven't found it). And I remember Jin saying he would be in trouble if he says something to Jimin since he has a lot of fans. Also that one pic that solos use of Jimin drawing fans with "BTS" and "PJM" banners (I know the source of that one). I think ksolos also used what he said in the Festa Dinner about the meaning of Army and Fans to their favor but to this day I have no idea what he meant with those words. I don't know korean, so that's something I don't understand. So based on those things to me it seemed like he knew of the existence of solos or fans who like him the most. It seems I could be missing many things that's why I would like your help with this. This may seem like a little thing but with how akgaes are moving these days, I would like your opinion. Bc akgaes act like they don't need validation and selflessly support their fave even if they would hate them for disliking BTS, but then they would show me proof of Jimin validating them. So they do need the validation after all. Did Jimin validate them by mistake because he confuses them?

***

Hi Anon,

I believe what I actually said is that Jimin confounds his solo stans and many Jimin-biased ARMYs. Not with. Meaning he tends to confuse or bewilder them with his actions. At the time, I was referring to how I'd often get asks from Jimin biases asking why he acts in certain ways such as being shy or not posting on social media; or how often his solo stans would rain hell over him not having/doing something, only for it to be revealed that he didn't actually want it. Such as the OSTs and more recently, him not posting the BB cake he received despite all the chaos from PJMs.

Time and time again I'd see his solos wonder why he doesn't act in-line with their expectations, why he's not active, why he doesn't insist for this or that, why he doesn't push more. They usually conclude that he must be a pushover, overly selfless, 'too kind for his own good', or some sort of sacrificial lamb. When his actions, to me at least, actually reveal the opposite. That's what I meant, Anon.

But more to your point, Jimin has mentioned ‘fans’ and ARMYs before, but typically in a way where it's clear he uses them interchangeably, meaning he's not actually referring to akgaes. During Festa, the first person who said "fans and ARMY" was actually Namjoon, when they were talking about the red line connecting them and their tattoos. He used it in a way to mean two different groups of people. Later during the dinner, Jimin said he hopes the meaning of what it is to be ARMY (their fan) doesn't change in Chapter 2, but contrary to Namjoon's usage, Jimin used those terms (i.e. "fan" and "ARMY") interchangeably. So if solos wanted to pick any member's words as the basis for their validation, they'd be better off choosing RM, than Jimin. When Jimin wrote PJM he was of course referring to himself as those letters are his initials. So in that example too, he was referring to the connection he (PJM) has with his fans (ARMY), not referring to two groups of fans.

Anyway, the members are all aware that they have solo stans. They know what akgaes are, just as they know what sasaengs are, and sometimes they loosely acknowledge them, but generally make the point to credit ARMY for their success. Jimin more than most members to that point.

I personally find it kinda… you know, lame, when ARMYs stress that they’re recognized and loved by BTS and solos aren’t. Because, as you’ve noticed:

1. Solos don’t actually care what their chosen idol thinks. If they did they’d listen to him, respect his choices and not seek to interlope or control him, which by definition they do. Their solo stanning experience is more to help regulate their own emotions regarding the object of their obsession, than actually loving Jimin. So while they’d love to be acknowledged by him, they’re fine to not have that co-sign because their actions are really more for them than for him. So ARMYs pointing out that a member mentions ARMY rather than ‘fans’ might hurt an akgae, but for most of them they wouldn’t really care.

2. Too many ARMYs use the label as a 'get out of jail' card to get away with truly abhorrent behaviour. Both towards the members and towards other people in fan spaces.

3. The members do acknowledge that they have solo stans. Just not often or directly, and sometimes those references are even negative (such as when they stress gratitude to their 'real' fans who respect their bond and choices for example).

BTS in general toe a fine line with their mentioning of akgae fandoms, they recognize there are people who like only them in the group, but they are usually very deliberate about crediting their success to one entity: ARMY.

[tuiyla]

hope you don't mind my (way, way too long) input as a Klaine Fan™️ - you don't have to post/answer if it's too much for you, I just wanted to share my thoughts - but I feel like Klaine was one of the few things that Matthew Hodgson didn't completely fuck up. in almost the eps he's written, the Klaine parts have been relatively okay and even good in some cases.

I know Glee, Actually is a dud for the most part but I really enjoyed the Blaine/Burt/Kurt family dynamic in their portion of the episode. it could've been better, since our fandom was expecting the mature conversation about Blaine's cheating that we were promised in 4x08 instead of that being overshadowed by Burt's cancer diagnosis, but I blame that on Ryan Murphy (since he admitted to including Burt's cancer storyline as a way to cope w/ his own father's death from cancer) and not on Matt Hodgson. for what he was given to work with, the man did a pretty decent job with the Klaine storyline in that ep and I was more or less satisfied with it.

I'd say that Transitioning was even better. IMO it was by far Klaine's best episode in season 6, because it completely did away with so much of what bothered me about their storyline in S6 (namely Sue's interference in their relationship + the way that she was used to mock fans) and instead it went back to the roots of why they loved (and liked) each other in the first place. plus it included a bunch of fun callbacks to the episode in which they had their first kiss, which I really appreciated. somehow it even made me feel okay with Blainofsky, and that breakup scene in 6x07 was what cemented to me that Karofsky really had grown and changed into a better person and that there were zero malicious intentions in his relationship with Blaine. I'm honestly impressed that the same clown who wrote IKAG managed to pull off an episode like that.

it's kind of odd that Matt did such a good job with Klaine in his eps while completely fucking over everyone else in the same episode (see Glee Actually and the Bram wedding 🤮 compared to Klaine's sweet family storyline), and even in IKAG Klaine got a whole-ass duet while Brittany stayed mute and wasn't allowed to talk to her girlfriend. he gave Kurt and Blaine the best in his eps and didn't give that care to anyone else on the show. hmmm...y'know what, I've solved the mystery - maybe Matt is the evil Klaine anon 🤪

(but then again, Puppet Master exists, so maybe everything I've just said is completely invalid and Matt Hodgson is just the worst as a whole...two decent Klaine eps are not enough to make up for all the atrocities he's committed 🥴)

This is much appreciated!

Klaine (+ Burt) are the saving grace of Glee, Actually for sure, and I think Transitioning is okay for what it is. Haven't watched it in a long while but like, it was alright, and I agree that the Klaine parts were good, even. I'm not sure if there's a reason he did a surprisingly good job with Klaine - I forgot to make this point earlier, but I genuinely believe he's just a bad writer. That doesn't mean he doesn't have good moments, but by putting together his portfolio we can see that there's a theme of completely butchering, well, theme lol and characters for the sake of stupid punchlines or just some random ass plotpoint. I think he's the type of writer who's annoying because they think they're being sooo clever and funny.

Anyway, so whatever the reason may be, I agree with you and I appreciate this perspective. I think he can tap into some good stuff, like the NY stuff in Glee, Actually, while also getting carried away with his own BS. I think it could be fun - well, cathartic at least to properly go through his stories and examine why exactly he's a flop. Except for IKAG because, ugh, shuddering at the thought. And you know I do feel like disclaiming that this is all just about his work 😂 He's probably a decent dude, whatever, I've just had anons trying to make things personal with him and I don't believe in that. I'll leave the man's character alone but I will maintain that he's a shit writer with occasional good moments, and credit where credit is due his handling of Klaine was okay and even good in places. Maybe that's because he is EKA 😌

But yeah, Flopson is still a flop but he gets a "not as much of a jerk bad writer as he could have been" badge. Nothing will ever fully redeem him but he didn't completely suck in his handling of Glee lol. And hey, an actual Klaine discussion instead of whatever EKA is, yay 😂

[nightswithkookmin]

JIKOOK BE CONCEPT- EXTENDED ANALYSIS

ANON: Hey Goldy, so I want to ask, what makes you look at one moment and decide the tension in there is nothing but then in another moment you claim Jikook are having issues? I ask because of the conclusions you drew on the photoshoot video when you said they were fighting but in two other instances where we can all clearly see that the mood between Jikook is tense like Jimin's mood in the Be Concept Clip and the other interview you have said it's nothing. I don't mean this in a disrespectful way, I just want to understand your thought process if you can walk me through it. It's ok if you don't respond. I love your posts regardless. Keep it up.

Thanks for your question.

I think I try my best as much as possible to share my thought process on why I reach certain conclusions and in instances where I do not have much time to delve deeper into a conversation I state an NB indicating I would be talking further about that particular topic later on?

I think the first thing I can point out to you right off the bat in regards to your question is that we may most likely be having different understandings of tension as pertains to shipping simply because we ship Jikook in different ways.

Again, I do not mean to say my perspective is superior or that someone else's is inferior. I'm just saying we may be having different views on the topic based on the differences in our shipping styles.

To me tension is not just a sense or feeling or mood. It is one of the metrics I employ in assessing whether or not a ship is real- stay with me.

In my experience, while people may be good at hiding a relationship, they can never hide the intimacy of the relationship or the stress of keeping that relationship a secret. Secrets are stressful to keep and they leave stress trails in their wake. It's as simple as that. If any ship is real in BTS you will see its stress marks.

It's not easy standing there, watching your man's nipples being played with, or having another man grope your intimate partner for entertainment purposes while you stand there smiling for the cameras- you can smile, but it's going to be fake.

It's not easy hearing how your man sneaks into another man's shower to watch him bathe and compliment the size of his dick.

It's not easy hearing how you can't stand next to your man in a line up while another person takes that position even if it's just for work.

It's not easy pretending not to love your man, while watching everyone else love on him. It's not easy being told what you can do and not do with your partner much less by your own peers.

It's not easy hiding your love and affection for the person you love, holding yourself back from kissing them, or hugging them or doing any of the intimate stuff you are so used to doing with them- not when you have to be around them all the time.

It's not easy having cameras shoved in your face during your alone, private time with your man, when you are watching them on giant screens and they are right there next to you but you can't hold them- please listen to JK's demo Delcacomania which he released on his birthday last year and you will understand why he cried when JM flew from Paris to see him on his birthday. I cried too.

My point is, it's really not easy keeping a relationship a secret within the same work space as your partner. It's not as easy as other shippers make it seem. That shit is stressful and stress begets tensions and tensions begets conflicts- especially if there are other people attached to the parties in the relationship.

A secret gets heavy before it gets easy but you can never erase the stress that comes with hiding that secret especially not in a group as diverse in personalities as BTS. There are bound to be clashes, there are bound to be slip ups- moments where the fourth wall is breached and many others.

Stress is usually one of the first indicators of people keeping anything a secret. I've been called toxic for this, but I pay a lot of attention to conflicts and tensions within the group dynamics regardless of the degree of that tension because that conflict to me is a sign of stress.

I can tell you for a fact, any ship that is kumbaya in BTS is not real. Any ship whose existence doesn't stress out the group dynamics is a ship made in Disney heading for Never-land. Conflict and tension is a sign of stress and stress is a sign of keeping secrets.

That's not to say every single tension within the group, between Jikook or any other ship is as a result of them keeping that ship a secret. I think we can rule out all forms of contrived tensions at this point- you know which ones I'm talking about. Ain't no damn person up in there tryna steal nobody's man in BTS. The fuck?! Lmho.

Then there are those tensions that are as a result of mood swings, bad hair days, a call being delayed, a missed period- what? some of them have girlfriends, cough cough. Yea, Don't mind me.

Tension could be caused by anything really and so I think it's not enough to point out tensions but you have to try and ascertain the cause and effect of that tension to see if that tension is as a result of the stress that comes with keeping Jikook a secret or whether it is rather causing stress or going to cause a stress in their relationship dynamics-

C'mon, now y'all know if Jimin should thirst over another man that that is going cause a lot of stress not just for JK but the group as well because Jikook's mood affects them too.

Jimlous and Jeonlous are also signs of the stress that comes with keeping Jikook's relationship a secret. Let's be honest, if they were out all of those wouldn't be happening. People wouldn't cross their boundaries as much as they do.

From my perspective, both of Jikook are constantly reacting, poorly might I add, to their relationship being a secret. It seems to me they both hate what they have to do to keep eachother a secret within the group.

Jimin keeps JK a secret by acting as if he is available and JK keeps Jimin a secret by acting as if he doesn't want him- cold, nonchalant, and the way I see them I think it drives them both crazy. Lol.

Jimin doesn't want to come out but he doesn't want to be kept a secret either. He just wants to be in that glass closet whereas JK seems to want to be out or completely hidden- he is not about that middle ground life, I feel. But that doesn't mean he doesn't make compromises especially where Jm is concerned.

Jimin is very conscious and highly judgmental of himself and I think he projects a bit of that into their relationship dynamics. As such he is constantly worrying about feedback, about how their relationship is affecting the group's dynamics.

You see this in the way he runs to JK upon the least complaints by any member about JK. Like when Jin complained about JK not choosing his bag over JM's, or when RM complained about JK buying a birthday present for only JM and not the others.

Or when RM complained about JK showing a song he had written to JM first before showing it to him in a VLive- now they didn't mention who they were talking about exactly but I knew from the moment JM started reciting Jikook's go to response for whenever they are called out for constantly being together, the whole 'we just so happened to be together in that moment,' that they were talking about JK. I don't know, I could be wrong.

JM is constantly trying to mitigate Jungkook's tendencies for exclusivity in their relationship especially where it conflicts with the groups interest even though that exclusivity and preferential treatment feeds directly into his love language.

It's that kumbaya in him I keep talking about. He would sacrifice their happiness for the groups. In my opinion.

But JK aint about that life. His entire philosophy is to pursue personal happiness first. So often, you would see him weaponizing their relationship secret against JM- trying to out him and shit. which in turn, ends up causing their relationship a ton of stress.

The best illustration I can give for this is when JK posted Ending Scene in early parts of 2019 and people started speculating Jikook had broken up because it was a break up song. JM immediately responded to that post with two posts, one about the Calico cat or something and the other pointing out how that song was just a cover. Jimin hates it when JK does something to create the impression that they are not together especially when they are together.

But at the same time, he would take a step back from their relationship, ask for space to try and nurture his other relationships with friends and family when he feels JK coming on too strong on him- like Jimin what do you actually want! You drive me nuts!

What I'm trying to say is that when you point out that JM looks tensed, you should be able to explain why you think he looks tensed.

And if you think his tension goes to the root of their relationship, then you should be able to predict the consequences of that tension too. Lol.

For me, I filter their tensions through their established patterns of behavior, their personalities and the actions that arise from their personalities- listen, the Maknae line can be very melancholic for no reason sometimes. Not sure what goes on but boy can they brood!

You have to consider all these things.

Tensions are obvious, obviously. Or maybe not. Most of them are quite easy to spot. Some not so much. They do go undetected if you are not hyper focused on them in certain moments when they happen or aren't aware of the context or subtext behind such moments.

Perspective is everything. We all don't have the same perspective. But no one holds the truth when it comes to Jikook. We can only speculate in a way that holds meaning to us.

Take for example Jimin and Jin's call during Jimin's VLive in March this year. There are a fraction of shippers who do not believe that that call was intercepted by JK at all simply because they do not see the subtext of that moment. Why would JK do that and not just reveal his identity, they ask. A valid point.

Then there are those who see JK interrupting that call as plausible because they believe they can differentiate between JK and Jin's call voice. Equally valid point.

Then there's me, who think yes that was JK's voice but goes further to try and anwer the questions raised by the first group as that, JK was pushing the boundaries both with JM and Bighit for barring him from doing a live with JM.

As such, I believe that call was an act of rebellion on his part to be allowed to Jikook with his man on the VApp. All that protest would then lead to a pivotal moment of him and JM having their VLive but under heavy surveillance. Lol.

Actions have consequences whether good or bad. Whether positive or negative. It's the cause and effect principle. Every effect has a predictable cause and every action has a specific and predictable effect.

If a moment of tension is created between them that is substantial, it is going to produce a subsequent substantial reaction. Law of Newton- I can't make this shit up. Lmho.

Another moment of this nature for me would be the VMin's unit interview filmed in February/March and released in June during Festa.

Now, if you were following the tensions between V and JK around that period, the context and subtext of that Interview would be easily apparent to you- V was just shading JK left right left. Bless him.

All that random flirting with Jimin- JM lost his Mochi cheeks, his pinky has grown were just code for JM is a grown ass man now so stop being possessive over him.

I have said Jikook have been asserting themselves against eachother this year following the lows of late 2019 and especially around that time period.

For Jimin, that self assertion takes the form of checking JK's over possessiveness over him as that is a huge cause of tensions within the group throughout the years and something that I feel really bothered JM in the later half of 2019 and early half of 2020.

Why does it bother him when he used to be the one enabling that shit in JK? The members, keep up. Lol but not just the members. Remember I said earlier how, Jikook had come under heavy scrutiny with May 2019 to June this year. JM I feel wanted to keep things really on the low but JK- sigh.

Believe it or not, JK dumb whipped ass exposes Jikook more than JM does in their relationship. In the very least his possessiveness and chest puffing when anyone breathes near JM is one of the biggest tells.

We all know Tae is one of the members that have openly pointed out his displeasure with JK keeping JM to himself, cutting him off from his friends and all. Now we all know also that Jimin's pinky is a huge deal to JK. The moment he saw VMin comparing pinkies that's when he began screwing with us for real! Lmho.

JK made a big deal about JM's pinky and also seemed to have a thing for JM's Mochi cheeks too, calling him his Mochi and shit right in front of Tae's salad. Listen, TAE KNOWS. He knows!

So I found it interesting, how those parts of JM were specifically the things that V felt had changed about Jimin- I mean go back and look at Tae's facial expressions and smirk when he started talking about that. Lmho.

Then Jimin clapped back with that whole pinky line from their song Friends, pointing out how contradictory Tae was being. Lol.

To me that has always been one aspect of Tae and JK's ship dynamics that I enjoy so much. Tae is constantly teasing and shading JK and it's so subtle yet passive aggressive sometimes. you might miss it if you don't understand the context of him saying certain things in certain moments.

He don't spare JM sometimes either. Chileee. You never know with this man. Lol.

I mean did y'all catch his jab at JK during Festa when JK brought up the rain fight and he said, yea but that was a long time ago though- give it a rest. When I tell you, this man knew JK was trying to one up him over the whole dumpling fight thingy he had with JM. Lmho.

Then in that dynamite MV reaction VLive when JK and JM tried to eye fuck through the viewfinder? Let's not look into the camera he says so eloquently then side eyes JK- I LOVE THIS MAN!!! Please stay on their necks for me. They play too much! Lmho.

JK's possessiveness over JM is one of the causes of tension within the group I feel and JK have said his hyungs try to teach him not to be so possessive. Tae, RM and Suga to me are those hyungs who keep him in check the most, most times.

All that being said, just because there is tension present between them in a given moment doesn't necessarily mean it's as a result of a conflict between them as I have explained in past posts.

The inverse of this is similarly true. Truth is we can never know these things for sure. We can only speculate.

And personally, as I keep pointing out I have my own metrics for assessing these kinds of things. I get it wrong sometimes and when I do, I simply adjust my metrics and keep it pushing.

It's my own customized metrics, the lens through which I filter their interactions and make sense of their moments and It works for me. Isn't that what having an opinion is about?

I find, some of their interactions or moments follow an established pattern of behavior from their past moments and so it's much easier to call those.

For instance, you don't need a six foot page analysis to identify Jimlous or Jeonlous when you see it. You don't need a crystal ball to tell you when JK nibbles on Jimin's ear that Jimin is nervous. They did that in 2018, they did that in 2019, they've done that in 2020- to me that's become a pattern and when I see JK anywhere near Jimin's ear depending on the setting I will conclude JM is nervous and JK is trying to comfort him.

All that would be left for me to determine then is why Jimin is nervous at all in that moment and if I find he has no reason to be nervous in that instant my next assumption then would be that Jeon Jungkook is horny. I'm not kidding. Jk scares me. Lol.

Don't mind me.

He could be horny or he could be touchy, or he could be just expressing his affections through skinship. All of that is valid so I would employ an elimination approach?

I would rule out Jikook sexual foreplay in instances like that based on whether or not JK's gesture was a mission given to him by the staff based on Jimin's reaction to that gesture- He seemed pretty disappointed when he learned that JK bopping his nose was just a mission.

At times too I test out theories.

Yes, Jimin is an extrovert but does he freeze out JK when he is being an extrovert? He doesn't. We have seen him grabbing the Jeon titties in behind the scenes photoshoot, we have seen JK shove his butt in JM's dick face, we have seen 50 shades of JK grab JM's neck and dip his hand down his neck into his chest region to warm himself up. We have seen Jikook at behind the scenes photo shoots countless times. They gravitate towards eachother.

So if he is being his extrovert self with every body but JK, and JK is orbiting him but not interacting with him as they have done in the past then honestly I don't need my crystal ball to assume something is up between them. Why? Because Jikook's interactions behind the scenes aren't susceptible to false conditionings as compared to the intentional, exaggerated versions of their interactions on camera which sometimes can be laced with fanservice.

Jikook is not fanservice. Most of their behind cameras are moments of them breaching the forth wall. Like JM walking into JK's room without noticing there were cameras in the room. Their mood in there was not a performance and wasn't intended for the cameras and yet they were still close. Them taking a picture at the back of the track was equally that- unintended for the cameras.

What I'm saying is, we have seen Jikook when they are working on camera and when they are not working on camera and that mood in that behind the scenes photoshoot video doesn't fit either description of Jikook in those settings to me regardless of whether I know them personally or not.

What that moment fits into for me is a pattern of behavior that has been consistent with Jikook over the years. And I know people box JM into this whole extrovert personality but as I've said I don't believe anyone is completely extroverted or introverted.

JM to me has a certain degree of introvertedness in him and I've talked about this. He seems to have a bit of an avoidant personality too where he recoils into himself or shut people out in certain moments like how he says he drinks alone and becomes much quieter when he feels stressed out.

He doesn't open up as much about his problems it seems, he bottles it all up untill it eats him up- I'm glad he says when gets like that JK notices his mood and often comes around to do something that makes him laugh. Jimin does same for JK when he is feeling anxious- Please, Jikook is real ok?

So stop telling lies. Lol.

I think this avoidant personality becomes more prominent in moments when he fights or argues with people.

In Manila it was that moment where he noticed JK staring at him and so be moved his seat back to avoid JK's gaze. In VMin dumpling fight, it was him going out to drink with Suga after the fight- classic avoidant behavior. In Yoonmin it was him asking Suga not to touch him when Suga put his hand on his back even though Suga was sat right next to him.

In 2017- was it the behind scenes photoshoot for the billiard pool games? We saw JM literally running away from JK. Lol. He literally side-eyed the fuck out of JK, yeeted himself away from JK the moment he finished posing for the cameras. In that OT7 footage where V was playing with JK's hair, again, he yeeted himself out of there real quick at the end of filming- dude literally said deuces bitches. Lol.

And in the Jin birthday VLive 2019, he pulled away instinctively when JK's knee touched his. In all these instances, JM was keeping up the facade. Smiling and interacting like his normal slytherin/ honorary hufflepuff self but his instinctual reactions is what gave him away. In my opinion.

To me that is a pattern of behavior on JM's part. When he is angry or mad st someone- he avoids them. And it's harder if he has to be within the same space with such person.... I'll circle back to this.

All the times since 2015 when he's been 'mad' at JK he's done just that- Akekeking with everyone else, amplifying his extrovertedness, latching on to his 'clutches' within the group, all the while keeping JK at bay while stealing glances at him to see his reaction at the same time.

And when he notices how that's affecting JK- he literally smirks in satisfaction. Meet evil chim everyone- And I say this with love, he is vindictive as fuck. I mean this is the same person who didnt hesitate to kill Army in a game just for disobeying him- allegedly. Same person who said he would whoop his bandmates except of course for JK and force them to bow at his feet if he was ruler. Did y'all see Tae turning to check JM's reaction when JK made fun of his singing in run? Did you see his passive aggressive reaction to JK after that clowning?

Listen, we all should be scared of Park Jimin. He is sweet and all but fuck with him... I dare you. PJMs are gonna revoke my PJM membership are they not? Oh God! Lol

JK is similar to JM in this regard. He avoids when he is angry or edgy. Try touching him in that state and he is pulling away. He did it with Tae in the Dynamite MV behind scenes where Tae tried to touch him and he pulled away and the whole not wanting to hold hands with Tae at the KBS interview thingy- it actually broke my heart watching that bit. JK. Sigh. Will post and delete the Taekook video I am talking about as soon as I post this- out of respect for their shippers.

JK does the same to JM too sometimes when JM irritates him. Manila and also around On promo when they had that Alex Almanto whatever unit shoot- they were all having fun, there's a cut and suddenly he is pulling away when JM holds him, does the lip thingy, and glares at JM. He turns away to look at Hobi, which I just think he was trying to hide his expression from the camera lol- JM almost burst out into laughter and I nearly peed myself watching that bit- JK can be very petty sometimes. Lmho

He did the same in this controversial photoshoot. He was mad at both JM and Namjoon which explains the part he was dragging his feet when he was walking away from JM. It wasn't because he was waiting for Jimin. He was avoiding Namjoon who was walking ahead of him. In my opinion. And the part he stood with Jin and RM- JM did something hilarious JK giggled a little but turned immediately to Namjoon and when he noticed RM laughing too he stopped laughing. Then he did that thing were he put the fear of God in RM when RM stood close to JM. JK was so angry he forgot his manners when he bumped into Jin in that moment and again, like always. He looked away to avoid the scenery.

Now I don't know what had gone on there but I'm still trying to reconstruct that moment to figure it out. All I know is something went on involving those three and may be Tae too as I have pointed out in previous posts.

JM was mad at JK, JK was mildly mad at JM but heavily mad at RM.

All these things I've mentioned are patterns of behavior that have repeated over the years from my delusional point of view of Jikook's interactions and of their interactions as against the group dynamics.

Circling back to the Be concept clip and JM's mood in there, I gotta ask. Do you think Jimin's mood was as a result of the stress of keeping their relationship a secret in that moment?

It wasn't to me. Even after looking away from JK he went back to looking at JK again. When their eyes met he smiled a little. Whatever was going on with him had nothing to do with JK or their relationship. If it did, he would have been much more hostile than that and frankly JK wouldn't be sat there cheesing the way he was doing in that instance. His butt would have been on fire.

JM seemed- serene and peaceful to me. I actually enjoy him most in his moments of quiet like these.

RM's reaction to that Jikook moment however is an indication of stress to me. He seemed excited, probably wanted to play with his Jiminie but when he noticed JM had looked away his instincts was to check JK's reaction. Not anybody else, JK.

When he noticed JK was smiling at JM he dropped his hands and seemed a bit deflated. That deflation right there is one of the signs of the stress I'm talking about.

RM isn't just the leader he is their friend. Like V his bond with JM suffers from time to time due to our elephant in the room. I am often fascinated by RM and JM's friendship dynamics and would definitely love to have conversation about their dynamics.

I hope this answers your question?

Please keep supporting Jikook. Jikool is real.

Signed,

GOLDY

[tuiyla]

Well I'm that anon.

I completely agree Glee should've been an ensemble. I only said that like: "if the show really needed to have a lead with that much protagonism, I would have not choose Rachel."

Anyway, I see options.

A) If the protagonist has to follow a similar journey as Rachel, I think Kurt would be good. Let's ignore for a sec Chris Colfer wouldn't have the same success Lea Michele had due to her voice and just pretend he would: he's ambitious and an outsider like Rachel, plus he has a better background (imo), and is arguably a more agreeable character than Rachel?

Some of these qualities go for Santana too, if she was a main character in season one. And I think it would be fun to explore the show from a perspective of a mean popular girl deconstructing her old views. I know we had Finn for that, but I don't think he was that good of a leader.

B) If the character don't have to follow a similar journey, I see Quinn as main character material. I know some people don't find her that interesting, but she had many things to explore, and she would've made a great arc if allowed. I see the show losing a little bit of comedic aspects, but it would still work as a satire. I think her discretion as a character could've balanced the show, but her flaws would still move the plot forward.

So are we talking given the same amount of screentime to a different character? That would have ruined anyone imo. I'll maintain that the single biggest issue with Rachel as a character was oversaturation, otherwise she was great. So I wouldn't want anyone else to fall into the same trap.

Kurt is the most viable option as he, along with Rachel, is the true underdog of the series. But to make him the lead? I don't know Anon. I hear what you're saying and you know all of it is valid, I just don't think any of Glee's problems would be solved by centering the story around someone else. And being an ensemble is a spectrum, we can have a primary lead and still focus much more on other chs than the actual show did.

I suppose if for no other reason than for singing being Rachel's thing I can't see anyone else as the protag. Kurt loved performing as well and the Glee Club itself was significant for all of them, but that drive to be a star wasn't his primary motivation. And for a series about show choir I think we needed someone like Rachel. She's also great for the satire aspect of it, greater than anybody else could have been. And as someone who loves both those bitches greatly, Quinn or Santana are definitely not protagonist material for Glee and the show wouldn't have worked with them. Their characters would have suffered greatly, even more than being stuck in the villain loop. But there's also just no universe in which RM would consider them.

My pick for protag if not Rachel? Mercedes or Tina. The only two characters who could anchor the main plot the same way but even with them the show would take drastically different directions and they'd need to be more OTT to make it work. Hypothetically; personally I'll just stay with Rachel. I just don't see the need to replace her? The problem imo wasn't Rachel's character in itself, at all.

This is a side tangent but I think it's only because of later seasons that people think of Rachel as the lead from the beginning when season 1 had three more or less equal focal points in her, Finn and Schue. I don't think Finn worked well as the popular kid representative and I didn't care for Will's personal life but they were still the other two leads.