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ironwoman359 · 1 year

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Soooo I was looking through my drafts because there's posts in there years old, and I found this old fanfiction question list that my dear friend @thuriweaver tagged me in two years ago and I thought what the heck, I'll fill that out tonight because I've been trying to work on writing more lately. So, without further ado...

1.How many works do you have on AO3?

95!

Though I've written more, there are things on @ironwhumper359 and @ironwoman359-writes that aren't fandom related and are only on tumblr, and there's probably some other things on my masterlist that aren't on AO3 either, maybe I ought to comb through it at some point and upload more!

2. What is your total AO3 word count?

333,493! And fun fact, I just counted that up manually from all 95 fics because I thought AO3 didn't display that stat, but it turns out I just wasn't logged in. The stat page says I actually has 335,438 words, so either I missed a fic or it includes the author's notes or summaries in that count.

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

If you look at the fandom list it has 10, but I think 5 is a more accurate count, which I'll explain in a sec. These are the fandoms on AO3:

Sanders Sides (Web Series) (87)

Super Mario & Related Fandoms (3)

Marvel Cinematic Universe (3)

Undertale (Video Game) (3)

Leverage (2)

Video Blogging RPF (2)

Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series) (1)

In Space With Markiplier (Web Series) (1)

Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo (1)

Markiplier TV (Web Series) (1)

The thing is, the two fics in the "video blogging" fandom are markiplier ego fics and I'd lump those, Who Killed Markiplier, In Space With Markiplier, and Markiplier TV all as one fandom, and also, all the Super Mario fics and MCU fics are actually both Sanders Sides AUs, so those aren't really separate fandoms either.

A better list would be:

Sanders Sides

Markiplier

Undertale

Leverage

Six of Crows

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

So this was fascinating to look at! I'm going to list them in reverse order, for the Drama.

5: How to Catch a Fairy, posted on June 16th, 2020 with 2,918 hits and 515 kudos. This is a very short little oneshot, filling a prompt from a Bad Things Happen Bingo card, "Used as Bait." I really enjoyed writing this one, but I'm surprised it's beat out so many of my other, older fics. It has almost 100 more kudos than Our Own Villain, the (admittedly incomplete) fic that is my 6th biggest in kudos and kind of put me on the map in the TSS fandom. I guess people really like fae, feral protective love interests, and analogical.

4: Phase One, originally posted on September 11th, 2020, with 3,575 hits and 532 kudos. Now this is far less surprising, the Marvel AU is one of my most popular stories, with an entire sideblog dedicated to developing it, and it is by far the story I am most asked about continuing. The story is told partly through in universe S.H.I.E.L.D. documents and internal communications, questions on @ask-agent-sanders, and traditionally posted stories. Phase One is the AO3 name for the traditional story portion of the universe, each chapter being an entry in the story. The plan was, eventually, to create a fic called Phase Two for stories taking place post-Avengers (2012) content, but I haven't updated the fic in nearly 2 years.

3: A Part of the FamILY, originally posted on May 9th, 2018, with 5,326 hits and 696 kudos. According to the author's notes, I originally wrote the fic in February of 2018 to celebrate 1,000 tumblr followers, so it makes sense that it would have a lot of kudos. It also leans HEAVILY on a lot of tropes that the TSS fandom was really into at the time, and even has song lyrics in it with links to said songs on spotify. I stand by the quality of the actual story and writing on display here, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that those aspects make me cringe just a bit today 😅

2: A Fiendly Reunion, originally posted on July 7th, 2019, with 7,621 hits and 766 kudos. This story is one of my proudest achievements, both in the TSS fandom and as a writer in general. At 30,000+ words over 10 chapters, it is the longest single fic I've ever posted, and the only multichapter fic over 4 chapters that I've ever completed, outside a Big Bang challenge I did in 2018. It took over a year to write, and was a huge passion project for me. I'm really, really happy that it's at the number two spot, and that my readers loved it as much as I did. I'd honestly be surprised that it wasn't at the number one spot, if it weren't for what IS at the number one spot...

1: Broken Wings, originally posted on September 9th, 2018 with 7,747 hits and 1,159 kudos. This fic is the most popular thing I've ever posted on AO3, and it's tumblr cross-post has over 1,000 notes, which is a lot for a fanfiction on this site. Why? It's short, at just under two thousand words, it's angsty and it's fluffy, it has protective-and-self-sacrificing Virgil, protective light sides, vague and abusive dark sides (this was 2018, ok, the fandom was a very different place then), it has wings, and to top it all off it was actually based on fanart, this amazing workby @asofterfan who came up with all the wing designs and potential dynamics that the winged sides would have, I just took their vision and translated it to words. I kind of love that my most popular work is actually something that's collaborative in nature, I think it says something about the way fandom comes together as a community <3.

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do! I used to not as often because I felt awkward, and I'm not gonna lie, I still do sometimes, but these days I try to respond when possible, because I really, really appreciate comments! They're absolutely everything as a creative.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I'm not really into angsty endings, very rarely do I leave something unhappy on purpose. Sometimes I start out with something unhappy, only to later go and add more fic to give it a happier ending. I'm Left in the Dark originally was a short prompt fill, chapter 1, but then I went back and wrote chapters 2 and 3 to resolve the plot.

All that to say, I think the angstiest ending out there is actually the ending of an instant of great white gravity, which is the first installment in a series I hope to write more for that I'm calling Before and After, though I haven't made it a series on AO3 yet. By it's very nature of being a prequel to the events of Who Killed Markiplier, the whole thing has big 'doomed by the narrative' energy, and even though not every fic will necessarily have a melancholy tone, great white gravity does, because it's about Will being too late to ask Celine out and having to live with watching her marry Mark instead, and about Damien watching the friend group he used to be able to count on be irrecoverably changed by this tension. Goooood angst, right there!

7. Do you ever write crossovers?

I do! Or, I've written one, at least. The Marvel AU isn't a recasting like most of my other AUs based on existing stories, the Marvel characters also exist and are in the story.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don't believe so, no! I've been very fortunate in that regard, the little hate I have received over the years has all been in my askbox directly, never in the comments of a fic that I can recall.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope! Sex-repulsed asexual over here, but y'all have fun in your corner of the internet!

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

To my knowledge/recollection, no, but I do know that someone reposted one of my fics on Wattpad once. They credited me as the author though, so I didn't ask them to take it down, but in general, I don't like it when people do that.

11. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Until the Sun Rises, a walking dead style zombie AU, is a collab with @buzz-by-bee, aka @a-valourous-choice, author of the To Build a Home series! We haven't updated it in a long time (oops) but it has a sideblog over on @until-the-sun-rises that has some pretty sweet fanart as well as all the content if you're interested!

You Don't Own Me (You Don't Even Know Me) also started out as a collab with @5-falsehoods-phonated, aka RoseyWinter on AO3, but he has since left the project and left me to finish our plan on my own (which I keep saying that I'll do and then not doing, whoops).

Also, I swear I've written a fic with @theinvisiblespoon, but maybe I'm just thinking of the hours we used to spend rp-ing and all the times we've talked about writing a more structured story together and then just never doing it (have you spotted the theme yet?)

12. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Oh gosh, that's so hard. Even back when I only wrote for One fandom I was a multishipper, and now I'm shipping in other fandoms? Too many good choices, how dare you make me choose. If I have to limit it to 5 all time favorites though... Analogical, Moxiety, LAMP, Kanej, and the Leverage OT3.

13. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Undertale! if you go waaay back on my AO3...or, you know, just click on the Undertale fandom link there, you can see the few works that I put out: a series of prompts for Cheer Up the Skeleton Week, an event focusing on depicting Sans as Happy for once, an OC self insert story that I quickly abandoned after a few chapters, and Your Fault, a piece about the multiverse breaking down that I'm still actually pretty proud of, all things considered.

14. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Oof, that may be the hardest yet. A Fiendly Reunion, because I actually finished it? A Sanders Carol, because it was my first ever Big Bang, and my first ever completed multi-chapter fic? The Secret History of the Invincible II, because it's new and exciting? They're Only Children because I have so many ideas for it? I honestly couldn't tell you. I love all of them, they're all very dear to me.

15. BONUS QUESTION: Do you have a WIP that haunts you?

Dude, all of them. If I've filtered things correctly on AO3, then of the 24 works in progress that I've started, only 9 are actually complete. That's 15 unfinished stories floating around in my mind, and I know it's actually at least 17, because there are two that show up as completed because I'm doing multiple single works in a series instead of chapters in a single work, so they look complete right now but I know that they're not, plus there's a few that never have been posted to begin with. SO many unfinished stories.

But the one that haunts me the most has to be Our Own Villain, because it is quite possibly my oldest wip, over 5 years old at this point, and it's still not finished but I want it to be so badly. Other wips I've kind of made peace with potentially not continuing, but I swear to god, OOV has to finish before I die, even if Sanders Sides as a show has changed so much since January of 2018 when I first had the idea that the whole premise is now fundamentally flawed, I just have to finish. It's my fanfiction white whale.

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This was fun! If you've never read any of my work before (tho let's be real, if you made it this far you probably have), I do have a masterlist pinned right at the top of this blog that you can check out. Most of this post was sanders sides because it's what I've written the most of, but I'm actually focusing more on some in space with markiplier and six of crows stuff fic wise, as well as my own original writing. Thanks for reading, I'm not going to tag anyone specific since this challenge is so old. Any writer who sees this and wants to do it, go for it!

#taylor talks #fanfiction #my writing #sanders sides #markiplier fanfic #longpost #long post

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lonelywhalien22 · 1 year

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I love our long messages! Don't stop LOL :')

Yoongi is also my favorite rapper in BTS!!! AGHAKDFJDKF 🤣😂 I definitely feel you with Hobi - he carved out his own little niche in the rap world! My mom actually really likes him because of this!

I'm the same way when it comes to theories and stuff LOL - when I was deep into the fandom in 2018 and everyone was trying to piece together HYYH + LYS storyline, I was so lost - I just enjoyed the cinematic MV's 🤣😂

Omg yay!!! 'Trigger the Fever' is one my favorite songs ever from them! It just makes me really happy 🤗 You're correct! It was one of the songs on the latter part of the setlist before the (multiple?) encore!

Omg omg 'Golden Hour' LOL - I have so many thoughts 🤣 Given the teasers with the bigheaded characters and Mark's furry mask, I literally went in thinking this would be awkward and quirky as hell LOL. When the song started, I was genuinely impressed and I was like "Mark getting out of his loser era . . .???" UNTIL THE DAMN "I CAN'T MAKE EGGS" line LMAO - I had to pause for a minute because I was laughing so hard. My friend thought it was corny, but I actually liked the talking interlude part - Man's had a point :3

I feel you about the extra umph with Kpop! My parents keep wondering when I'm going to phase out of it, but I don't think I ever will frankly. So much effort is put into this beyond music. No judgement - you jam out to 'Sticker' if you like it 😂 We need fans like you too <3 How was The Link tour? Ten is my NCT ult too (as much as I simp about Renjun 💀😂). I also have a soft spot for Yangyang and like . . . lol a 'thing' for Xiaojun 😅

Bestie! You're booked and busy this year, huh?! Tbh, I don't know a lot about ATEEZ 😅 I tried to get into them a while ago, but idk, nothing was really clicking. They have a few songs that I do like though! If you have more suggestions, I'd be open to them :) I'm so so happy you got to see them twice!!! Crossing my fingers for the best that you get to see them again 💙

MOTS was supposed to be my first ever concert too 😭💔 My mom got tickets for us LMAO and she actually managed to snatch AMAZING seats too (it was like level 100, second row or something really close). Honestly, I don't think I will see them in this lifetime - I have bad luck with BTS concerts even before they were super mega popular :') I tried for AGUST D (even bought the dang membership again LOL) and didn't get into the ARMY presale. My friend did manage to get VIP, but I'm terrified of the GA for her 😬😅

You'll have to keep me updated about all your concert experiences to come!!! Amidst new jobs, moving, etc., I can only afford one more concert this year (since I have to travel for most of them and that's an additional cost 😞) and I'm banking all my money on SVT 😭 They are my ults and I wanna see OT13 before the m-word starts 😥

Otherwise if timing doesn't work out well with my new job and I don't get to see them, I think I'm going to try for LSFM or Red Velvet. Do you like any gg's btw? I totally forgot that Baekhyun is having a world tour too????? Besides B.I's Waterfall album, BAMBI was definitely my most played album of 2020 🤣😂 CHEF'S KISSES - he never fails to surprise us just when I think something is his best work yet.

SZA must've been something else!! I've only heard good things about her shows. We'll see about Ed Sheeran and if time/money allows! I'll keep you updated. I don't doubt Taylor Swift will have another show!! Rooting for you~

@twogyuu I’m still highkey embarrassed/ashamed of the length of what follows but you said you didn’t mind the long messages so…

Yeah in terms of kpop being a phase - I told myself that for awhile and I tried so hard not to fall into it more after BTS but there are just so many amazing groups and songs out there. And when c*vid hit I had way too much time on my hands, so yeah...me and kpop are basically trauma-bonded now lol 😂 But for real it’s only increased my love of music and creativity in general so I’m happy to have come across it!

Friend, I’m so sorry you experienced the trauma of the MOTS tour as well. And oof don’t break my delusional heart…I still stupidly have hope that somehow BTS will give us one more OT7 tour after the military 🥺. Even if they can’t do the choreo anymore and I’ve become an actual adult by the time it happens (🤣) I will still wanna see/hear them with my actual eyeballs and ears lol. I have to believe I’ll have another chance to see them all together. And omg, sending well wishes for your friend…I’m a short girlie and one thing about concerts for me - I absolutely cannot do GA, ever. I won’t be able to see and I gotta deal with people all over me...That mosh pit scene in pretty lies was literally just me randomly writing out one of my greatest fears lol…nope nope nope!!!

The Link tour was fun, getting to see them and all, but I was honestly sad that they didn't perform much of any songs from their newest album - I think it was literally only 2 Baddies (the title track) and Faster 🙁. This newest album of theirs is one of my absolute faves they've released (almost no skips) and I really wanted to hear more of it live, especially Gold Dust and 1,2,7 (Time Stops). But I loved seeing Mark and Taeyong riff off each other during rap songs, Doyoung's voice was absolutely beautiful during his solo songs, MOON TAEIL also slaying vocals, Johnny shirtless lol (but for real - the entire performance of Focus from that set to the choreo was one of the most memorable parts, everyone killed it vocally and performance wise <3), Yuta's amazing Butterfly solo performance, Jaehyun being effortlessly flirty, Jungwoo looking gorgeous irl. And they did a lot of their hits so I really can't complain (faves live were Kick It, Cherry Bomb, Lemonade, Touch, Highway to Heaven, FAVORITE (my fave hehe), and of course Sticker lol 💀). It was a total party! Also Taeyong talking to the audience was too f-ing cute, like I can't - he's actually so soft irl lol 😂

And are we sharing the same braincells??? Because I was originally gonna say this in the last post but didn't wanna sound like I was being selective but like…besides being in awe of Ten, I'm specifically trash for Yang Yang and Xiaojun of WayV 😳😂 For Yang Yang - time of death was when he and Ten released Low Low. The song is such a bop and when I saw his smile at timestamp 0:12 in the mv I was like…yeah I want him. And then his entire part in the first verse of that song like...ugh I totally fell for those lyrics (ik embarrassing) lol. Like the deal was basically sealed after that. Idk what it is about him but he just has this inexplicable charm…like whatever “it” is, he has it. Idk I don't make the rules. And Xiaojun? He is p r e t t y, ok? I am basic. Like do you see how thick his eyebrows are??? But like also his voice and he’s so soft and idk ok imma stop ALKJDLFKF. But for real I gotta see them all live because I just know their concert would be a total party. Sooo many b.o.p.s.

Also don’t feel bad if Ateez isn’t your thing!!! Funny story but the first song I ever heard from them was Wave and I was like oh this is cute, lemme check them out, and then I randomly chose HALA HALA out of all of their mvs to watch as an introduction and I was like - tf??? 🤣 And then I literally didn’t look into them again for like 6 months to a year bc I just did not get why that song was so popular and like now it’s one of my favorites 🤣 They do tend to lean darker for their cb tracks and if that isn’t ur cup of tea, that’s totally cool! I just can’t stop myself from bringing them up in any kpop convo bc I l*ve them lol. But if you really want recs from their discography, idk what kind of sound you gravitate towards so i’ll give you a mix (it’s also bc i love talking abt them and their music so indulge my Atiny brainrot for one last time hehe)

*IF I STAR IT LIKE THIS THESE ARE MY PERSONAL FAVES OF EACH VIBE BUT I LIST MORE AS WELL BC PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT TASTES LOL*

If you like softer/more chill/comfort I’d check out - *WITH U*, My Way, *Wave*, *Illusion*, *Sunrise*, *Aurora*, Dancing Like Butterfly Wings, *Promise*, If Without You, *THANK U*, *FEVER*, *Turbulence*, Twilight, *One Day At a Time*, Light, Stay, *Better*, *Time of Love*, Celebrate, *The Letter*, and All About You.

If you like emotional ballads I’d recommend - *Be With You*, *Star 1117*, *Turbulence*, *Not Too Late*, and *MIST*.

If you wanna hear fan-faves/powerful/iconic performance/choreo/hype type stuff (what made me stan them basically) I’d recommend - *Say My Name*, Answer, *Deja Vu*, ROCKY, *The Real*, *Pirate King*, *Treasure* *HALAZIA*, *HALA HALA*, *WONDERLAND*, *WIN*, *Guerrilla*, *INCEPTION*, and *Fireworks* <I’d def recommend watching the mvs for these recs.

Spicy recs if ur into that hehe (watch mv/vid performances) - *Inception*, *Cyberpunk*, *The Ring*, *Fireworks* (ESP. the beginning of the mv), *Deja Vu*, Sector 1 (once again, specifically the beginning lol).

And then if this is getting a little tldr (ik it is i’m so sorry) and I could only choose 5 6 7 songs that define Ateez/songs to inject into my veins I would choose Pirate King, Say My Name, Star 1117, Aurora, HALA HALA, Wave, and The Real.

Did I literally spend a disgustingly long amount of time happily categorizing the bulk of their discography? Yes, yes I did. And I very much enjoyed it 🤪

Also, you don’t have to do this immediately (or ever) if it’s a hassle, but I am still quite new to seventeen’s discography (yay!!!) so if you ever wanna share your song recs (some faves from what I've sporadically encountered so far are Darl+ing, Left & Right, Fear, Do Re Mi, Cheers, *DON'T WANNA CRY omg*, Ready to love, Rock with you, _WORLD, Home, Chilli, Anyone, and Thinkin' about you) + any other content that made you really really like them I would absolutely love that <3 bonus points if the other content involves mingyu, wonwoo, vernon, and/or seungcheol bc i need bias receipts 😏

But enough about MEN. Heck yeah I listen to girl groups!!! Actually, before I found BTS or even knew what the heck kpop was, I remember listening to Taeyeon (before I knew SNSD lol) and Red Velvet. They were my true gateway into kpop. It was like 2016 or 2017, and I was dabbling in Korean R&B (I could go down a whole rabbit hole of recs in this genre too, but i won’t here - feel free to ask more if ur interested in that genre), and I remember really liking Eric Nam’s Interview album at the time (esp. the song Good For You <3). And so I was pouring through his discography and fell in love with this song called Spring Love that he did with Wendy (love Like Water btw). And then from there I learned she was part of a group and I found Red Velvet!!! I played the heck out of their songs, and I could literally list their entire discography, but some of the first gems I ever heard where I was like oh yeah they’re special were One of these Nights, Would U, and of course the iconic Bad Boy. Those women can sing. The harmonies??? The vocals??? Total queens. When they released their most recent album I was playing Feel My Rhythm nonstop in the car for a few weeks - like the people in my passenger’s seat hated me lol but like...the key change at the end??? How can you only listen to that once??? And then the song In My Dreams…my hopelessly romantic, pining heart approves. And like Seulgi??? She’s so cool bruh lol. Loved her song Who Are You with BamBam, and her solo album was so great!!! The cover image for that album is just so iconic to me for some reason. I absolutely loved the entire concept. I am praying they announce US tour dates for Red Velvet 😭 For Taeyeon, 11:11, I Blame on You, Fine, and I (ft. Verbal Jint) were in regular rotation. Her voice is absolutely stunning and it’s like she’s singing straight into your heart or something. Just gives me the feels - like I begin feeling whatever emotion she’s putting into the song. Ugh. And she continues to spit out bops - What Do I Call You, WEEKEND (literally feels like a Friday when that one comes on <3), Can’t Control Myself (obsessed with this song + concept such a vibe), INVU (the way I memorized that little hand movement of the letters that she does in the chorus 💀). Heck - Hotel del Luna is literally on my list of kdramas to watch purely because of her beautiful song from the soundtrack (I think the translated title is All About You) 😭😭😭

And there are so many other great girl groups in kpop!!! Can’t list them all but dangit if I’m not gonna try - first of all I gotta shout out my girls StayC (stayc girls, it’s goin down.) Probably my fave of the newer gen groups and for me their discography is like no skips, esp. their YOUNG-LUV.COM EP. Then there’s Everglow with their insane choreography (the song First like omggg that ones prob my favorite besides La Di Da) and their hypnotizing pre chorus mottos. Like idk how they do it but they always have like some insanely catchy little saying or something right before they go into the chorus or like the chorus is crazy catchy like what the heck lol. Got into WJSN after Queendom, and their most recent release Last Sequence - like omg…the chorus and post-chorus of that song is like a literal d r u g. I gotta catch up on LSFM releases but the way Fearless had a chokehold on me for awhileeeeee. Aespa - once again just mindbending vocals/harmonies. Love Winter and Ningning esp. And the way I still try to do that crazy flat hand thing from Next Level 🤣 and I also weirdly love how that song is like two songs squished together - like ok SM they actually pulled that off for me somehow 🤣 The way both the bridge and the ending sequence of vocals at the end of Savage are absolutely insaneeee and I love hearing it every time it comes on. NewJeans literally releases bop after bop (🎵attentiooooooon🎵) like I don’t know what kind of magic sauce they’ve got going on over there. Weeekly is such a gem as well and I have been following/rooting for them ever since their debut song After School blew up! Their music is full of wonderful melodies! Can’t wait to see where they go! Fromis_9 is great, Oh My Girl, (g)i-dle (MINNIE esp. AHHHH), Hyolyn (straight b.o.p.s.), Viviz is great. I keep hearing buzz about the group XG and am planning to check them out soon when I have some time! Currently loving Kitsch by IVE and am excited to check out I Am. Also Cupid by Fifty Fifty??? (literally know nothing about this group but this song is just a total bop). So many other ggs/female acts old and new that I haven’t listed here, including some obviously super big well-known ones but like it’s a given I listen to songs of theirs as well so I wanted to give some love to my fave faves and some hidden gems <3 So yeah, the kpop girlies are out here doing it and leaving no crumbs. We stan.

Lastly, adulting is a drag lol. I hate transitionary periods and also had my own recently so I’m wishing you the best and hope that once all the logistical stuff is settled, better/great things await you on the other side! And priorities!!! Definitely save your coins for Seventeen and make sure you see them all together!!! Ed is likely to tour again, and I am rooting for you too!!!

#dee:asks

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sizzlingpatrolfox · 1 year

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The thing about Jimin is that he’s a kpop idol, not a Western celebrity.

Engaging with fans is part of his job and part of the fantasy.

The fact that BTS made so much content until now is one of the main reason they are do popular.

Jimin is of course not obligated to be active on social media, but neither am I as a fan obligated to wait for him or like the situation.

For me being into kpop(specially Jimin) is a hobby and while he is still dear to me this period of silance really made me diatance myself from him and spending my free time alocated to him doing something else.

Also, I hate the way armys like to act like it’s sooo hard for them to post something, it takes less than a minute lmao

- Gen asking!!! Are you saying you’re losing interest in jimin lately? Btw just want to say if that’s the case I’m sad but it’s literally your choice. I love how honest you were on this blog and how you weren’t scared to say your opinions

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Thought I could put these two asks together since both answers are similar 😅

BTS would not have been as popular and they wouldn't have reached millions of people the way they did if there wasn't so much non-music content. Armys and their superiority complex will tell you that their talent was the only reason but that's the biggest lie ever. The non-music content gave their music a background story, a reason to be, it gave it cause and consequence. You know why each song was written, what they allegedly had in mind at the time they wrote them, what they were going through. And even if they never said it out loud, fans can deduct the reasons and make theories based on random facts they know about the members, for example that theory that fake love has something to do with a book Namjoon read once and stigma is taehyung's coming out of the closet because Namjoon read a book once. Note: I don't have anything against theories about their music, and I think it's great that music can cause conversations. I'm just pointing out the ways BTS extracurricular content was probably THE reason they became so huge.

I don't think music was their content of choice for several years. It was always blended with their relationships, and somewhat personal stuff. You watch festa dinner 2018 for example, and there is some music talk but the dinner was never supposed to be about MUSIC, you know? It's the same with their documentaries and behind the scenes, there are some discussions about music here and there, surface-level, but the predominant theme in all of their content, is THEM. Them as people, them as friends, as colleagues. I'd say that the only time music was the main topic and the focus of the "extra" content, it was when they put out BE. That was the time they talked first about music and consequently their dynamics and personality snaked in through those conversations.

Then of course there's other content, so much of it that doesn't have anything to do with music at all; RUN, ITS, Bon Voyage, Winter/Summer Packages.

Now that content doesn't exist in the same capacity it existed for the past nine years. Even after 2020 there was some content, tho it wasn't of quality tbh. It seemed like 2020 was a major year for BTS, emotionally, on personal levels, yet the content doesn't really reflect the severity of those changes. On top of that, they all put up the tallest walls they'd ever built around their personal lives and real feelings and issues. So there was content, but did it really mean anything? Because I honestly never felt satisified with their music after dynamite, or with their DVDs or reality shows (run, ITS), and I know I'm not the only person who felt like that. I've talked before about that, that it was almost like meaningless content made just for the sake to be made and not to actually entertain or say anything of substance about the members.

The thing you say, that he's not obligated to do this or that but you're also not obligated to wait for anything, that's exactly what I mean when I say that BTS don't owe me anything, but I also don't owe them anything. Why are BTS members allowed to change, to grow out of habits, to completely (or almost completely) lose interaction with the fandom, to modify their ways of being idol, but I'm a horrible person if I change the way I feel about them? I used to interact and respond emotionally to the type of content BTS had been providing for the past five years; that content doesn't exist anymore. Jimin from 2017 doesn't exist anymore either. I am allowed, and I think in fact that it's the most logical thing to do, for me to also change and modify, to adapt my fan experience to 2023. It's just impossible for me to feel the same way I felt about BTS/Jimin as I felt in 2019 because the cirucumstances have changed.

If Jimin wants to be a celebrity in the way western celebrities are, to just realease music and dip for two years until the next album, then I'll just be a fan for that type of artist. I think all of us will just have to get used to being fans of people we know nothing about from now on.

However, music can be a replacement for all that extra content that BTS is not giving anymore.

I'll use Taylor Swift as an example. I've been a fan of hers for the longest time, yet I know almost nothing about her personal life. I don't know what her house looks like, I don't know if she can drive, I vaguely remember her mom's face (she used to be around Taylor managing her gigs when she was younger), I know she has a brother but I don't know his name, or what he looks like. I think I found out about Joe Alwyn like 4 years after they started dating. She doesn't do run episodes, she never released Taylor Memories of 20##, or at least not that I know of, there's barely any behind the scenes content. Only thing I ever watched about her was Miss Americana. It's a short documentary but it's enough. It's enough because it's well done, it has a dialogue with the viewer, it has purpose, and most of all: it's honest. It doesn't matter if you release 100000 hours of tour footage when it's meaningless, when half of it it's BTS half asleep during breakfast; you could do a 90 minute documentary and it could be enough for all of your career as long as it's well done and it's genuine.

I know there are millions of fans of Taylor who know everything about her, and they're curious about what toilet paper she uses and they go all "oohh she's so mysterious" the way pjms go because Jimin doesn't show his apartment, but that type of fan doesn't even make up for half of Taylor's entire fandom. There are even more people like me, who know nothing about her but still love her, and know all of her songs, and are waiting for 00:01 on the day of releases. And this happens because she was able to make a connection with people through her music.

Taylor doesn't show up to interviews and talks non stop about Joe, I think she's mentioned him a couple of times but they've been dating since 2015 I think??? and it wasn't until like after the pandemic that they started showing up together publicly more often. But people know who he is, and there are photos of them together, and even in Miss Americana she talks about him even if she doesn't say his name, and they have little clips together, and most importantly... she has entire albums that are about him. And that's my point. You can listen to reputation, or lover, and you know what she feels about him and can somehow gauge what type of man/boyfriend he is to her. She talks about him in the way she knows best how to: through her music, her songs. She's an amazing songwriter and she's found that it was a great way to communicate with people, and she does exactly that.

There wasn't much to do during strict quarantine in 2020 so she wrote folklore, which was just her letting her imagination run wild and make up stories and whole relationships and it's probably her best album to date. She didn't try to sell it as more than what it was.

BTS put out BE and it's a less than mid album that says "like an arrow in the forest". What? Needles to say, I hate BE with a passion. They gassed it up as personal and sincere and painful and whatnot and it's undoubtedly their worst album ever, and they didn't say anything of substance in it.

Creating connection through music is a perfectly valid and I'd say probably even more wholesome type of content than documentaries and whatnot. So far, BTS have failed to connect with people with their recent music. For me, this is one of the reasons the recent releases are forgotten so soon, because they don't actually have an impact in people's minds.

This got longer than I thought it would be, but to sum it up, I hope that Jimin will be able to create that conversation with people with his music. That he will be able to connect and reach people honestly, be vulnerable, through his music. Otherwise, I don't see people sticking around for him (or any BTS member) long term. Right now, seeing that he obviously doesn't care to connect with people through maybe casual stuff like magazine shoots, or even social media, I think there's still the possibility that he will do so through his music, and if that's what he's planning on doing then it would be amazing. But I do strongly believe that there should be some form of "dialogue" between him and the people that are supporting him.

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