Hello my dudes and dudettes! If that last line didn’t turn you off then continue reading on because the cringe is only going to increase.
Now, a couple months or so back when I was struggling to figure out what my next piece was going to be, I ran a Twitter poll asking my little pool of followers what they’d like to see next on my blog. At the time, another K-pop Hunger Games post came out to be the winner by one vote over a post about why I made my blog mascot this guy:
For those that don’t know, this is BTS’s Jungkook, and the person I chose as the mascot of my blog (at least for now). Why? That’s a very good question. A very good question that I’ll answer after some background.
Though first, I want to apologize to Dreamcatcher and their fans because when one comes across my blog, one might think that I favor Dreamcatcher over BTS. And you are so right! I definitely do. So why not make any of those amazing and adorable girls a mascot on my blog? Simple. I didn’t want to. I just felt like they didn’t fit the role exactly though at the moment of writing this Yoohyeon is on my sidebar as the Random K-pop Content of the Month girl, and I previously had Gahyeon as my About girl. She’ll probably make a comeback next month.
Okay, now that the apologies are out of the way, I can properly start. Just what is a mascot?
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary describes a mascot as: a person, animal, or object adopted by a group as a symbolic figure especially to bring them good luck.
Though, while I do wish my blog footed more traffic, I’m not necessarily using Jungkook as a mascot of good luck. Haha, no. I think I summed it up better on my About page where I introduced myself and the goals of this blog along with explaining why he’s the mascot in this snippet:
Contents hideWhy’s he the mascot? Simple–brand value. I mean, the dude’s Jungkook from BTS and everyone knows that these days EVERYONE and their mother uses BTS for clout and cover-ups. Plus, it seems like he’s arguably the most popular member of BTS and thus the most recognizable so why not? The boy is properly objectified left and right so he makes the perfect mascot. Alright, well, honestly that is only part of the reason. Maybe one day I’ll write up a semi-entertaining post about why Jungkook of BTS is the mascot of this blog. For now, just look at him as a hardworking mascot despite already fecking it up within the first month of his mascot duties. (About Page, 2019 Sept. 27)
Admittedly, I was kind of just fecking around back in September when I wrote this up. I knew that my blog wouldn’t receive any additional clicks and views just cause I have Jungkook as a sort of proxy figure for the face of this blog. Nonsense. Though the part about people using BTS for clout is true, but am I one of them? Nah, I just assigned him the role for kicks mostly. He does seem to be the most popular member of BTS. BUT the other maknaes of the group, Jimin and V, could easily take that title too, depending on the circumstances.
As for him already messing up on being a mascot, well, I only started this blog back in late August of last year with my first post being put up on the last day of the month. This was only weeks before he got wrapped up in his own little dating scandal with a young woman from a tattoo parlor who is definitely NOT his girlfriend, guys. BigHit confirmed it and we all know that we can trust in our almighty lord and savior, BigHit, amiright?
Anyway, back to the start of my blog. Coincidentally, our mascot’s birthday is September 1st, according to this handy profile of his down below. And my first blog post went up on August 31st so you can guess what that means? That he is also sorta here to represent the birth of this little blog of mine cause their birthdays are closeish. Though I’m sure there are other idols out there with birthdays actually on August 31st but eh, rather I like it or not, BTS were the ones to drag me into this hell known as K-pop so I feel obligated to drag them through this blog journey of mine and I specifically picked Jungkook for reasons I will get into below. For now, behold, his profile:
As you can also see, he is a jack-of-all-trades as BigHit assigned him the roles of main vocalist, lead dancer, rapper (yes, albeit short-lived), and center meaning you basically see him at the center of ALL their choreographies for like…the majority of the song. And of course, maknae which for those of you who don’t know, just means the youngest of the group. And thus, an easy target.
Now, let us take a look at this clip I took from a relatively popular anime, at least back in its heyday, that actually pertains to this post, I promise.
For context, and for those who can’t watch the clip, this is from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in which the titular character, Haruhi, is scouting for new members and drags in a rather pretty upperclassman named Mikuru Asahina who came against her will. Sorta.
Haruhi’s basic reasoning is that because Mikuru is “cute, small, and has big breasts” is that she’d basically make the perfect mascot character. Surprisingly despite having her breasts assaulted by Haruhi (ah, anime), Mikuru stays in the three-to-be-four person club. But how does this connect with my mascot?
Nah, but really, I guess as I felt the want to have a mascot of my blog. With the traits that Haruhi listed above, the dude has everything…even the breasts apparently. Though I guess, he isn’t THAT small but compared to some other K-pop boys (read: Wonho), let’s be real.
Well…at least Jungkook has his breasts?
But what is my own criteria for a mascot besides the stuff from above? Well, let’s list them out. It’ll be quick, promise
- Intelligence
As the Twitter ARMY stans say: ENGLISH KING! ?(purple heart for good measure).
Token of genuis here. The more you know, amiright? And yes, he actually said it that stiltedly. Honestly, can’t say anything to that since as a person, I myself suck at speaking.
2. Talented
3. Memeability
4. Recognizable
5. Appeal
From foreign babies to
women in their mid-40s who are literally twice his age. And fetishize him. How quaint.
6. Good behavior
For context, the fan site, Headliner, is pretty problematic in her own right. Something I may get into in a future post. Basically, dude did the right thing and points to him. Also, apparently he was thanking fans on Weverse for his birthday gifts, so apparently, his TOP fansite didn’t get the memo. Says a lot.
But am I wrong to treat him as a mascot? Isn’t that too objectifying and demeaning of me to do that to such a person? Don’t I have a conscious?
Although, he pretty much is already treated as such by his own company BigHit. Korean entertainment companies act like they are one big family when in reality the only shits they give about their idols is if they provide a steady income. As such, they end up treating their idols as money makers before family. Understandable since BigHit is still riding on BTS’s shoulders since TXT is still fairly small.
Though this is an incident from about 5 years ago, it’s still something to keep in mind when thinking about the relationship between idol and company.
If, for whatever reason, you can’t watch the video, it just shows a brief instance during BTS Season’s Greetings 2016 where a manager/staff of BigHit appears to be about to hit Jungkook who flinches away slightly. He wasn’t actually hit (as far as we know), but I do know that quite a lot of ARMYs got riled up about it. That particular staff was dismissed from his role soon after, though he may have still worked at the company afterwards. If you want to know a bit more, than I will link a Soompi article explaining the incident in more detail including a couple other instances like this concerning the BTS boys.
Another recent incident that I recall of this k-pop boy being more of a side character than one of the faces of the actual group he is in was at the Grammys this year, back in January.
The co-CEO really up in there acting like he’s the 8th member of BTS. In the short clip, Jungkook really is pushed to the back like a side character. Shame.
But as for me, dear reader, I plan to not abuse my mascot and actual treat him as a person and human being. As the owner of this blog, I will take a pledge so that you can all hold me accountable if I ever step out of line in my mascot keeping duties:
I pledge, as the owner of Kpop’s Lost Fangirl, to treat the mascot of said blog, Jeon Jungkook of BTS as a fellow human being and not a punching bag.
I pledge not to be a jerk and make him a side character because as the face of this blog, he can’t be anyway.
I also pledge that I will accept the good, the bad, and the ugly of this little miscreant since idols are idols and they WILL mess up in a way that disappoints. And I will (try) to accept just how dumb he can be since the trajectory BTS is going morally and socially is kinda sucky. But I understand being under BigShit Entertainment or any K-pop entertainment entity can do that to a person.
And finally, unless he is accused and convicted of murder or some illicit sexual deviant acts like some other K-pop boys out there, then he is okay in my books.*
Signed,
*If he is one day found guilty of any of those acts or similar, his mascot privileges will be revoked and another shall take his place.
*Pledge is subject to change
-1st of April, 2020
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