chryblsm24

[chryblsm24]

This broke my heart a little bit. I am a new fan of BTS with a Jimin bias, but I am shell shocked by the vitriol and the almost organized hate campaign against Jimin. There is something more sinister going on, I fear.

It is so true that it is exhausting being a Jimin fan. On social media, always defending him against hate and lies, rather than just enjoying his music and artistry. But the alternate cannot be just to log off forever (maybe for some time for our own mental health :)) for all Jimin fans because then we give these bad characters a free reign to malign him however they wish.

I am glad Jimin is very much offline on social media. Here's hoping he is unaware of most of this nonsense, though I am sure he knows some of it. No one in this generation is so removed from the internet.

We do have to protect these amazing people who we are fans of from all this internet bullying. We've seen the effects of the horrible celebrity culture and it's a responsibility of everyone to make sure the internet doesn't add to their mental pressures. I'm sure their lives are not easy living in a fish bowl. I could talk about this for hours, but I'll stop here.

#WithJiminAlways #Jimin

It's been a long time since I last posted. I’ve been quiet for too long. I've thought about whether I should post at all, but I need to get this out of my head. Out of my heart.

As a Jimin biased ARMY, the last few years have felt like a nightmare. From the negligence and mismanagement by the company, to the excuses and bitterness from the fandom, the euphoric dream has devolved into something so twisted and ugly.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement. I'm utterly heartbroken and disgusted to finally realize what this fandom has become. I should have seen it coming. I was warned before, but I was too blind to see what was right in front of me.

Since I became an ARMY, I have vehemently and relentlessly defended this fandom. However, even back then, I witnessed the hate towards Jimin come from not just outside the fandom but from within. Jimin biased fans were told to “Report and block. Don’t engage.” Jimin fans did just that, but the hate continued to escalate. It got louder. It spread farther. It has since reached the point where it's clear ARMY does not find any of the malicious or threatening rhetoric alarming, and the majority rather doesn’t care.

Recently as last year, ARMYs turned a blind eye to Jimin’s father becoming a target of hate. His father had to turn off the comments on the Instagram account for his café, and deleted any trace of Jimin, it had gotten so bad. Not even a few days later, ARMYs came out of the woodwork to protect and defend JK’s dog from “Jimin’s vile fans”. I could not believe what I was witnessing. In real time. The hypocrisy was deafening.

ARMY has earned the title of the most toxic fandom, and it is speed running towards self destruction. It has become so fractured and disjointed. ARMY now only cares about it’s collective ego. The AMAs drama is proof of this. The way ARMY as a whole went about it was disgusting, and I will never forget what happened.

Jimin was belittled. Jimin was decided as less deserving. ARMYs decided Jimin’s talent and art paled in comparison to RM's. ARMY teamed up with other BTS member’s solo fandoms who openly hate Jimin. Jimin once again was sidelined by his own fandom.

ARMY decided what makes a “true ARMY”.

“If you vote for RM, you are a true ARMY.

If you vote for Jimin, you are a solo.”

This message was shared across all social platforms. This idea spread across continents and was translated globally. ARMYs made it clear that Jimin and his fans are the bane of this fandom. Any ARMY that did stand up for him was vilified and labeled an anti, a solo.

So, being a Jimin fan makes me a solo?! Having Jimin as a bias makes me a BTS anti?! Thinking Jimin deserved an award that would reflect his achievements in America means I cannot be a “true ARMY”?!

Then, I must be a solo. At this point, I don’t even want to be associated with such a hypocritical and hateful fandom. I've tried to stay positive. I’ve tried to convince myself that I’m overreacting. But after what just happened with the AMAs, I can no longer tolerate the blatant resentment of Jimin and his fans from ARMY. And to make matters worse, now that it’s over, ARMYs have collective amnesia, claiming none of this ever happened.

I’m tired of biting my tongue.

I’m tired of feeling like I have no place in my own fandom.

I’m tired of being let down over and over again.

I’m over it.

I’m done.

I imagine many will unfollow my account. But, honestly, it will only prove my point.

ARMYs don’t care about Jimin. They think little of him.

Unlike the other members, he is not allowed to have his own fans.

Unlike other members, he does not deserve the awards he has.

Unlike other members, he’s not as deserving of recognition and praise.

Unlike other members, he is nothing without BTS.

I have seen all of this. I wish I was making it up.

Since chapter 2 started, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, kept complaining about PJMs this, and PJMs that. Always calling PJMs “the worst”, the “most vile”. Never the other solo fandoms. Just PJMs. No other member of BTS has been subjected to the kind of vitriol I’ve seen against Jimin for having solo fans. No other member of BTS has been directly associated with their solos as much as Jimin has. It’s hypocritical and reeks of animosity.

I have seen this mentality even here. Right here in this community on tumblr. It sickens me.

I once did not understand how any ARMY could become a solo, but now I do. When you have to deal with constant bullshit from your own fandom, with no accountability, it’s only natural to want out.

PJMs may get a bad wrap from ARMY, but I understand why they keep growing. Continuing to be an ARMY with Jimin as your bias is impossible. Anyone that claims Jimin is their bias, but has sided with ARMY, until even now, is no Jimin fan. How any Jimin fan can witness what I have and still feel comfortable in such a toxic environment is beyond me.

ARMY has lost it’s heart. There is no more genuine love between fans. Just hate. Hate has clearly won. You are either a “true ARMY” or a Jimin fan. There’s no in between.

So, I choose Jimin.

I will always love BTS, but ARMY is no longer a safe place for me.

[chryblsm24]

Jikook Introduction to New Army

Hello to whoever reads my post. Still new user to Tumblr and figuring things out. This turned out to be a longer post than I anticipated. 

I am new Army (late 2023) and still learning about BTS music and them. I joined Tumblr after watching AYS and wanted to join a community to learn more about Jikook. :) 

Just wanted to share my BTS and interconnected Jikook introduction to give an insight on how people are fed algorithms after being interested in BTS. My first BTS videos on my Instagram (which I joined to follow my son's sports teams!!) were of RM live where Jimin sweetly interrupts him, clips of Hobi's JITB party, Taekook dancing together, Jikook giggling away. I thought JK and Tae looked so cute dancing, Hobi and NJ looked so handsome, Yoongi was so pretty and Jin looked like a model. But once I saw Jimin in a BTS live performance (I think it was Idol), he was my favorite. His voice sounds like crystal bells to me: don't know how else to put it. And the more I found out about him: his dancing, his personality, his jokes, his silliness, his kindness, his attitude he was my bias. My favorite songs of his are Letter, Lie, and Serendipity.

I am older so I do view him more as a cute and super-talented marshmallow rather than an idol to look up to. :) I like all the BTS members and their music which surprised me since their solo work was so different. I enjoyed their albums and songs very much. My first song to binge listen to was "The Astronaut". Love Jin's voice. Everyone’s voice really, and Jimin’s feels ethereal. 

Anyways, my point is as soon as I saw a few clips of BTS clips on IG, I started getting tkk content. A deluge of it! No Jikook content mind you. I was a Taekook believer really (I didn’t know idol shipping was a thing) but with a strong Jimin bias. Ha! I saw the same few clips over and over in my feed. I was happy for Tae and JK and utterly believed the edited tkk clips because why would anyone lie about real people! :) I did eventually see early BTS content and my heart broke for Jimin seeing how much he liked JK and was rejected (or so I thought). He was so young, clumsy, loud, cute but above all earnest and sensitive. Oof, some of the clips are hard to watch. 

What I am trying to say is that somehow tkker reals target new BTS almost immediately, as soon as you show interest in the group. For someone who doesn’t delve any deeper, this becomes the reality and why not: V and JK are friends and interact plenty with each other! Cut and paste works wonders and not everyone will have the time and patience to watch original videos.

I was few months into the BTS fandom and then we had news of the youngest four’s enlistment, Jikook going as companions. That sparked my curiosity about Jikook and after reading some of the comments on some early BTS videos where people were mentioning RB and GCFTokyo, I watched some of original content (slowly). One comment from a tkk account said “The fact that Jimin and JK enlisted together proves that they are not together.” That was so ridiculous and made me do a double take. Because why would you say that? Why so defensive? Why are Jimin and JK going to the military together? Why isn’t JK doing a buddy program with his boyfriend Tae? Could it be that Jikook are closer than the tkk acknowledge?

Watching original content and some Jikook compilations, I was primarily ecstatic for Jimin. Jungkook, the young and shy boy appreciates and loves Jimin. I still have doubts about the true nature of their relationship, because we don’t know them personally. AYS, GCFT and GCFSaipan all seem to indicate something so strong that it's clear whatever the nature of their relationship, they love, value and trust each other the most out of all the members. Having Tae on AYS actually proved to me that there is nothing romantic between JK and him. Tae seems more attached to Jimin than JK. Anyways, these are just my opinions. Nothing more!

I have liked and loved reading all of the Jikook and BTS posts. Thank you! Hope the boys all come back safe and are welcomed back with love (esp. Yoongi) with a more mature fan base. Some of the toxicity in the fandom puts me off but I just don’t engage in those spaces. Kudos to the warriors who fight for decency and common sense!