#know your boundaries as a fan

[jmdbjk]

The song “Letter”

Just one thing I want to say...

When Jungkook said the dumpling incident was more than what we’ve been told, that it was serious shit... let that be a reminder that it is possible that not everything we see or hear is the total truth. That everything they show us or tell is us is possibly NOT the whole story. 

It’s not that they are lying to us or giving us half-truths, on the contrary, they want us to know the catalyzing moments. But divulging the less-than-savory details, or details that are too personal, takes away from the point of sharing the moment. I hope that makes sense.

That being said, on the surface and in general, “Letter” is a song for Army. To Jimin, who wrote the song, his music is for the fans in general. He frames the song as one for the fans. We all know what he says is true. ALL of the music is for fans. That’s why they are doing this for a living. And this song is one he wanted to single out as special, and he wanted to offer it in a special way by having it “hidden” on the CD. 

Yet, many interpret the meaning of the song as something else, as is their right to. The song can have multiple meanings to different people. And that is exactly what music is for, to be interpreted in many, many ways that can resonate within us.

Those of us who acknowledge the special relationship he has with Jungkook interpret their relationship along the lines of: this is “possibly NOT the whole story.” 

And Jimin maybe acknowledges that by having Jungkook participate on the song, knowing that the song can now have another more specific and personal meaning applied to it. Jimin knows we know that. They both know we know that. Is there a “level” of this meaning that needs to be applied? No. We all are allowed to interpret it to the level we are each comfortable with.

The general fandom will see it as a special song even more so because another BTS member participated. And that’s it. Which is ok. 

But there are those who specifically do not want the song to be interpreted that way at all in any way shape or form and they spend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to knock down those interpretations. Why do they spend so much negative energy on that? Who knows? 

Does Jimin need to come out and explicitly explain other meanings for the song? No, why would he? Why SHOULD he? He already said its a song for and to Army. We know where his heart and emotions were when he wrote it. Just because he doesn’t openly explain other meanings, does not mean there is only one interpretation of the song. IT IS ART!

Interpretation of art is the attribution of meaning to a work...giving meaning to a work. This process is subjective, meaning there is no right or wrong way to interpret the meaning of a work. We schlepp our own personal emotional baggage in everything we do and it is through this lens that we view and react to the world and that includes art. 

Where we often get hung up is whether we agree or disagree if the artist’s intention is relevant to how it is interpreted. 

Did Jimin ONLY mean for us to take his literal words as the meaning and then STOP, no other meanings apply? Or do we also include his literal action of having Jungkook, a specific member of BTS, participate on the track as a specific intention? 

If you don’t get it, that’s ok, it is just something that I’ve seen a lot of debate about and now I’ve said my piece.

Keep in mind that Jimin is an emotional animal. He lives, breathes, speaks, expresses himself with emotions. He is not a surface skimmer. He literally wrote songs about his literal emotions. 

For his sake, think deeper and be a good human.

[caruliaa]

it is annoying that if a team in a game i dont rly personally care about win people who are sore losers about it are going to tell fans of my fave musician to kill themselves violently just bc shes dating on of the members and that if they lose those same people being sore losers about it are still going to tell her fans to kill themselves violently just bc shes dating on of the members

[6ebe]

Anyway the reason why fans ‘joking’ abt Charles’ mental health will never funny (besides the obvious) is bc his detractors and ‘pundits’ continue to accuse Charles of being too mentally unstable to be a good driver. It’s ableist it’s horrible and as a trauma survivor (which he is) it’s extremely cruel. Has he not proven himself enough?

[personshapedsplder]

Personally I believe there's not rly a good way for an artist to interact in depth w the fans of their work. You have to draw a line between yourself and them, you have to be a little bit of a hermit. I just don't think it's healthy to immerse yourself too deeply in what other people think of your work, neither is it constructive. Additionally, many artists have limited experience with the way fandom works online and will have a hard time with boundaries or understanding unusual interpretations or subcultures. As someone whos been on tumblr for time immemorial I know that the best way to enjoy something is to do it by yourself or w a small circle of friends and let the fandom at large alone. And if I do interact w a larger fandom ik how to live and let live. I think a lot of artists don't have that skill. They just need to keep out of fandom. It's not good for them.

[strixhaven]

red flag characters to a certain degree don’t exist and the entire concept is pretty dumb and nuanceless because what it means to like and appreciate a character varies so much from person to person and fandom to fandom and thus is basically impossible to generalize. that being said if there ever was one though it’s definitely anders dragon age

[7clubs]

made this for IG bc i'm starting to repost my work there but eh routine reminder

[neon-moon-beam]

So...

[sacredthefran]

The sad part about this whole situation is the you know fans are going to go to the funeral / viewing and stand outside / near the building in hopes of seeing the boys.

[russellius]

banter vs mockery, dear alexander.

[6ebe]

female f1 personal assistant/press/social media people who’s job is wrangling and looking after what are probably very high maintenance and under appreciative male athletes when they see people editing pictures of them on tumblr and labelling them as the ‘sunshine protector’ of the grown man making millions a year who’s job it is for them to babysit 🤨

[sanstropfremir]

Hi! As a fellow Humanities Person (sociologist) I've been really enjoying your critical (in an academic sense!) analysis of kpop & the Korean entertainment industry! I'm curious- how do you think social media has impacted kpop? I remember you said in an answer to a previous ask that aespa's choreo seems to have been created with TikTok in mind. And I feel like social media has made it even more difficult for idols to have a private life- like NCT is posting like behind the scenes videos OF behind the scenes videos and I can't help but to think that it seems like there's hardly a moment in their lives where they're NOT being filmed.

thank you! i'm not an authority by any measure but it is fun to speculate/extrapolate and talk about these things with people!

hmm. actually i don't think social media has made it that much more difficult for idols to have a private life, at least in the way that i think you're talking about. yes absolutely it has made idols need to be more careful, bc everyone has a phone now, but for things like behind the scenes content, that's just still just work. they would have been there even if there was no cameras, because things like recording or dance rehearsals or other content filmings are all work hours, not their private life. they know full well that their job is to be a public figure, so when they show up to do work, no matter what it is or if it's being filmed, that's work. has social media made it so that they have to do more things that they didn't have to before? yes absolutely, but i don't think it's that big of an issue for a lot of them. most idols really do care about the communication they have with their fans and showing them more the parts of the process is something that is actually interesting (in my opinion at least), much more so than just getting selfies. i think accounts like the shinee managers (shinee_atoz) are a great way to give a bit more personal context to the official content that comes out (which is what key said abt it when he pitched it) and it doesn't infringe on idols' (or the managers!!) private lives at all.

in terms of aespa's choreo being made for tiktok, that's just going back to the old methods from first and second gen to get a song to go viral because of the point choreo/dance moves. and it did work, next level was probably the most recognizable choreo last year (other than rollin, which was actually old school viral). in fact the whole doing choreo challenges on tiktok is just an evolution of the whole reason point choreo exists in the first place.

[the-boy-branithar]

so many parx blogs post like they hate waterparks and thats super annoying but im starting to wonder if waterparks are just hard to love