#people who aren't crazy about him don't understand good storytelling they just don't

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Jimin, dude, man, bro, wtf? What in actual goddamn fuck???

Listen, there like 3 Jimin solo songs I like and I am not a big fan of some of his vocal choices but let me tell you I was really hyped and hooked when the teasers came out. The drama, war anthem-ness, the grandeur of everything, I liked it all. So I was quite disappointed when the news of him rapping came out because I've heard him rap before and it was bad, and I especially was reluctant to watch the whole MV after I heard a snippet of it on my tl (the stylistically autotuned rap part, yeah). I was afraid to be disappointed after such great teasers.

despite my fears I finally watched the MV... fuck... WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK PARK JIMIN??? It's so damn good! Even the rap part??? I LOVED it. Separately it doesn't sound very nice but combined and mixed it somehow works well. And his stylistic vocal choices, the way he changes his voice all the time, it's amazing, it keeps you hooked and anticipating what comes next, it keeps surprising you, even shocked at some point. I haven't been a fan of bts songs since the fake love era (even black swan is not IT for me, it's really good but not THAT great) so it says a lot. this one is easily one of my faves EVER in their discography.

The song is a statement. A grand opening. Empowering.

BTW, the song is totally a type of song that you would play in your car while driving around with your friends and singing-shouting along. Wow, just wow.

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Ask 2: Opinions on set me free pt. 2 seem to be divided in some circles 👀👀👀 ofc because of the vocal processingz that’s a common complaint for so many years already lol. I mean Pdogg is the main producer of the album so idk what they expected… personally i love the song and i think the vocal processing works but i think i can understand some people have different tastes and expectations… at the end of that day it was a choice consciously chosen by jimin and his producers. It’s there for a reason imo. I’m happy though that jimin really tried something different!!!!! So many people were expecting a ballad for this title instead we got a banger lol… and like you said Yoongi’s style is obvious even when he doesnt have a hand in making it directly… now i’m so curious what like crazy will sound like!!!! But i wanna ask if youll be making a post for set me free bpp???

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Posting these two asks now because my inbox is already getting out of control and between getting zero sleep and a flight I've got to catch in exactly 73 minutes, I'd rather briefly get out some thoughts now, regardless of if they're coherent or not, because I don't know when next I'll have time.

Hi Anon(s),

I don't think I'll ever write a full review for this song, because there's a lot about it I don't want to talk about, a lot I don't want to share and would rather keep to myself.

That said,

Everything about Set Me Free Pt. 2 is right up my alley and objectively brilliant. Every single thing about it: the melody, the autotune, the chants, the rap, the fact the whole thing plays out in the same prison, the way Jimin uses his body as a canvas for inscriptions that only enhance his storytelling, the performance.

I have nothing to say to anyone who doesn't like this or that about it. Rapper Jimin was in my wishlist for PJM1 so... and I'm a hiphop head who listens to Travis Scott-type autotune at least a couple times a day. Plus I've got Yoongi, that nasty, autotune-loving, foul-mouthed cat as my bias. Joon and Hobi aren't that much nicer either. Anybody reading this to hear me say something critical about this song should wake up and smell the matcha.

Some things I want to gush about:

First of all, the instrumentals. PDogg went stuuuuuuuuuuuupid on this track goddamn.

This song is pure trap. An orchestral, haunting trap anthem is what Set Me Free Pt. 2 is.

It is so sick. So maddening in how good it is. No wonder he was so excited about Jimin ending k-pop in 2023, the song he produced is easily the best produced Korean song so far and believe me when I tell you that is really saying something, because the competition this year has been stiff.

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The Vocals

Jimin's voice is the most emotive in BTS. That's one reason I love it. Another reason is because nobody's vocals in BTS, in k-pop, fuck, in all of Korea, drips as much sauce as Park Jimin's. I've said before, Jimin sounds inhuman almost, I describe his voice as serrated steel coated in honey and wrapped in silk because it sounds distinctly metallic, but can be oddly soothing. But with Jimin, there's a tone he takes sometimes that has this undercurrent of nasty, of unapologetic vulgarity, and in Set Me Free Pt. 2, he uses autotune to amplify it to brain-piercing perfection.

PDogg brilliantly uses autotune to aid Jimin in sending a message.

The shrillest, most distorted we hear Jimin is when he raps after the first chorus, and that's by design. The use of autotune in this song is intentional, and we can see this because every time it ratchets up, Jimin is being crude and uninhibited - as though it's a second voice, an alter-ego, or Jimin himself speaking the deepest truest thoughts he holds, pushing them to the surface after suppressing them for nine years.

PDogg has used this sort of autotune on Jimin's voice before, in the second chorus of Black Swan (timestamp: 2:24 - 2:50)

It's hidden in the backing vocals in Black Swan but felt in full cathartic force in SMF pt 2. And it feels incredible.

Stream:

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The Message/Lyrics

This is the part I don't want to write about because I'd rather keep my thoughts to myself. Not because I have special insight or think I've discovered something no one else sees or whatever, but because it's the only thing about this song that stayed within my expectations of who I think Jimin is. Plus I'm certain various interpretations will be offered by many other bloggers, so I'm okay sitting this one out.

That's the most I'll say now.

[forcebookish]

I'm sorry but the crazy hate for top doesn't even make sense at this point. like even in comparison to some other characters he isn't as bad yet they all get treated like innocent meow meows and he gets villanized. repeatedly drunk driving and putting innocent lives in danger? my poor baby :( manipulating a whole scheme to get back at a guy you hate with no concern for how it will destroy others? king behavior! (And tbh no hate to sand I respect what he did lol but there's no need to lie about what it was). recording people having sex and commiting numerous other crimes? he's just in love :/ and I don't even need to get into how Boston can do all the sick shit he does and still be called a "bad bitch." Is top a flawed character with MANY issues he needs to work on? yes absolutely but if you're gonna call him the scum of the universe you sure better do it for all the other characters too is all I'm saying.

anon, you're absolutely right!

although, i don't respect what sand did - i just love him for it lol that man is insane 🤣 he finally did something interesting to me🫢 and the fact that he did it, knowing how much it would hurt ray in the process? just the rotten cherry on top of the shit sundae he served that friend group. now that is messy. and at least he seems to actually understand the gravity of how fucked up what he did was once he saw the consequences, unlike boston😒 who really had the gall to say that he "let" topmew have their happily ever after, after he had tried to sleep with top again and continued to lie to him about mew and ray - only leaving top alone because top finally stood up for himself, pushed him away, and shamed him about it.

the point is that all these characters are flawed; they'd be boring otherwise. that's the case in literally all storytelling. does BL fandom think that all their faves in other series are perfect? no one is perfect.

however, top's flaws are what make him perfect to me. he's a well-crafted character who is fun to watch. plus, if you make a list of all his "sins" and "faults," he doesn't compare even slightly to these other characters. besides mew (uh, at least before ep6 lol), he's literally the least messy of them all - he's just a mean girl, who slept with someone else because the objectively worst of them tricked him through some of the nastiest, most underhanded means i have ever seen. all his other negatives aren't even unique to him - in fact, he seems to be the only one of the boys (besides mew) who doesn't do anything nasty unprovoked. we've seen in literally every episode what he said here is true:

and even when ray "messed with" top by telling him he wanted to give whoever punched him in the face a trophy (because *checks notes* top was irritated that ray raised his voice about mew not wanting to leave the party. and that he's dating mew... that's it lmao ray was rude just from top hitting on mew. he didn't even know him yet! what kind of "if i can't have him no one can" kinda bullshit is that? wtf ray, grow up! ), top just stared at him sadly - and that was when he still thought that ray was sleeping with mew.

every (idk, i might be missing a couple) other "flaw" of top's could be used to describe other characters in the group:

"smug" because he's hot and rich (ray)

"smug" because he's "good at sex" (boston)

promiscuous (boston)

drug user (ray)

lying/not telling mew about sleeping with boston (boston and nick)

"betrayed" mew by sleeping with someone else (boston)

not mentioning that someone kissed him without consent (mew)

punches someone in the face (sand, ray, boston, and mew lol)

he "stole" (tbh i'm not convinced) someone's lover (boston)

and guess what? he's stopped doing all of those things. (i'll concede this: he might get in another fight later. i hope not, i'm a little over all the punching soz mew can have his attempted drowning of boston tho, i won't complain about that.) (and he's definitely going to relapse and take mew's pills, probably in the next episode. but at least he's stopped before then - i haven't seen any evidence that ray has ever tried to get sober.) can't say the same for the other characters.

meanwhile, negative things he hasn't done that others have:

violated consent (boston and ray)

instigated a physical fight (sand and ray)

insisted that the person he was seeing was "just a friend" (ray and boston)

recorded someone without their consent (nick and boston)

made fun of mew for being a virgin (boston)

smashed his own phone into pieces so he could steal a sex tape (sand omg i really cannot get over how truly insane that was)

hit the person he's sleeping with (boston and ray)

drove while drunk/high (ray)

got high and sent his best friend a sex tape of his boyfriend with their other friend ON HIS BIRTHDAY, AT THE BIRTHDAY PARTY WHERE BOTH OF THEM WERE (ray lol also can't get over that one. and everyone saying he did it with "good intentions" like nah just because he knew that mew wouldn't fall in love with him over it, doesn't mean that he didn't do it out of revenge against boston and top - even if he thought he was avenging mew. ON HIS BIRTHDAY, BITCH. maybe he convinced himself he was doing the right thing, but he did it because he was angry and high.)

exposed his friend's darkest secrets about their love lives to their partners, only to hurt them because he's miserable (boston and ray)

and i don't think top would. (maybe the driving while drunk/high but based on the kind of drugs he likes, i don't think he'd be able to, like, stand let alone get in a car lol but we'll see.)

and by compiling this list, i don't mean to say that all these characters are evil, except boston, and by his own admission lol,

or that they're bad characters, just that the hate top gets is ridiculous and disproportionate. i'm not even saying that you have to like him, just don't exaggerate his faults or blame him for all the shit boston did to him. oh, you hate him based on "vibes?" don't act like it's not because he's played by force and you don't care about forcebook. it's not subtle😒 we can see your clown shoes😒

and this isn't really directed at you, anon, i know you mean well, but i am really tired of the fact that top fans seem to be the only ones who feel the need to say stuff like "he's flawed" and "he has issues," when every single fucking character is and does. why do we have to be defensive? we don't. he's a good character, and not even a bad person lol

i fucking love him, no caveats. i love everything about him.

AND ANOTHER THING lol i should just shut up but this is really bothering me: i am SO annoyed by these "huh i guess top does love mew" and "huh i wonder if top has some sexual trauma" posts LIKE REALLY??? REALLY???????? NOW YOU THINK SO?? FUCK OFF. like on one hand, yeah thanks for fucking FINALLY coming around but he's only acted like and said he liked mew LITERALLY EVERY EPISODE and only slept with boston because he was CORNERED and BECAUSE HE LIKED MEW AND FELT BETRAYED BY HIM LIKe JFOWJIWHGIOWJSFKL RAAAAAAAAH ok i'm done

so glad you dropped by, anon, clearly i needed to get some stuff off my chest 😅