Hi! It’s Annie!
There’s a lot that’s happening right now with BTS, despite the fact that they are on a break, and I really want to talk about all of it. Because some of it is really nice and makes me excited and other things are… not so great. And by that, I’m not at all talking about anything that BTS is doing and I am entirely referring to some behavior from ARMY that I’m going to ask people to rethink. So this post in general is going to be a lot of different topics on our boys as well as some looking back at the concert because of the recent online rewatch of day four of the concert. Which just so happens to be the day that I attended! So with that, I’m just going to get into it!
Jimin and Taehyung Attacks:
So, I’m going to possibly single out a section of the fandom here and I apologize for that in advance. But there’s a lot that I want people to consider. Recently, Jimin was attacked by people who say that they are ARMY entirely because Jimin and Jungkook got more recorded time at the recent concert together. Why would that be a bad thing to anyone? Because shipping, that’s why. Fans of the ship between Taehyung and Jungkook started attacking Jimin because they felt oddly threatened by the footage. Which then caused fans of the Jimin and Jungkook ship to attack Taehyung in turn. We’ve said this several times on our blog, but if you don’t like every single member of BTS, then you aren’t an ARMY. I am generally very lenient with what I consider it takes to be part of any fandom. If a person likes the thing and considers themselves a fan of that thing, then they’re a fan. But you can’t be a fan of BTS if you don’t like all seven members. BTS is seven. If you spew any sort of hatred towards any member of the group, you cannot call yourself an ARMY. And do you really think that Taehyung and Jimin, who are best friends, would approve in any way of hate being spread towards each other? I also want to point out the dangers of shipping here. Shipping real people is not ok. Many people think that shipping real people is harmless; but ARMYs who know better having to show love to Jimin and Taehyung to bury the hate brought on by a shipping war proves this wrong. Shipping is not harmless. Shipping can make the subjects of your ship uncomfortable and it can also cause hate like this to spread. Never mind the fact that we shouldn’t be assuming anything at all about their personal lives. Speaking of which…
Namjoon and Instagram:
I think we’re all pretty much aware at this point that during their break, all the members joined Instagram. Which has been amazing so far! I especially like seeing some of them complain about the app in extremely hilarious and relatable ways. But possibly my favorite thing that the app has brought us, is Namjoon constantly posting pictures of himself Namjooning. Which I love! What I don’t love so much is people looking at the pictures the members post and trying to pry into their personal lives. Namjoon has posted several pictures with a guy whose face is always covered by an emoji, and people started assuming that this person is Namjoon’s boyfriend. This is ridiculous. I’m not saying Namjoon can’t have a boyfriend, but there is no way you come out of this a respectful ARMY if you are continuing to spread this. Firstly, many people see this as a joke or at least an extension to the whole “Namjoon has a wife and children” joke. When it comes to real people, spreading jokes about their personal lives like this isn’t funny. Because whether or not you actually view it as a joke, you are still helping to spread the rumor by posting it. I don’t think any of our boys deserve the spread of any rumors of any kind about them. If you do believe this to be true, despite the fact that it is still a rumor, spreading this information is still problematic. Namjoon obviously covered this person’s face for a reason. On the chance (that none of us could possibly know) that he is dating this person, he obviously hasn’t made it public for a reason. So spreading it is still not what Namjoon wants. I’ve seen a lot of ARMY being called homophobic for making the argument I just made, which is also awful. Some ARMYs who have been supporting this argument are actually part of the LGBTQ+ community themselves. The point here is to not assume anything about their personal lives, because it is none of our business and we are not entitled to that information. You shouldn’t assume any of their sexualities, and that includes assuming that they’re straight. Seriously, just don’t assume anything at all. What I find even more ironic about this situation is that Jin has mentioned fishing with one specific friend for a while and no one assumed anything about that. And just a couple weeks ago the same people now saying that Namjoon has a boyfriend were swearing up and down the wall that BTS’s performance with Megan Thee Stallion at the concert was irrevocable proof that Namjoon had a crush on her. It comes down to this. If Namjoon himself has not verbally confirmed it, it is a rumor. Period. And we are not here to help the spread of rumors about our boys. It does more harm than good. And if you were spreading this as a joke, also reconsider. Jokes about the rumor still help in the spreading of it. Leave their personal lives alone. None of us are entitled to that information and they share enough of their lives with us as it is.
Update: We just got an update to this. Namjoon posted two pictures of interest on his instagram page that pretty much dismantled boyfriend rumors. One was a picture of him and another guy who’s face was once again covered by an emoji, but this man had a completely different haircut than the one in the last picture we saw. The other was a picture of four silhouettes, Namjoon, two men, and a woman. Some are saying that the woman is his mother. Namjoon did say that his family was at the LA concert, making it likely that he is actually traveling with members of his family. They could be his friends though. We don’t and shouldn’t know. People are now claiming that they always knew that the guy in the one picture was not his boyfriend. Really, this should go to show all of us that we can’t possibly know their personal lives and that spreading rumors of any kind is always misled. Again, if he has a boyfriend that’s awesome for him. But that isn’t our place to know and none of us know him personally, so we can’t know the full story. And we also should not keep completely ignoring the members of BTS when they say they have no time to date. I mean, they just got their first break in two years. Would you have time to date with that schedule?
Jimin and Instagram:
This is my last lecture section, I swear. A lot of ARMYs have been trending Jimin lately on Twitter because of his lack of posting to Instagram. And while it is true that he’s been the least active on the website of the members, trying to get him to come back or trending him in an effort to get him to “come home” is a misled endeavor at best. BTS are on a break. This is their first time having the holidays off in years. Yes, some of them are choosing to post on Instagram. But that doesn’t mean that all of them have to. Jimin can do whatever he wants with his break, including choosing not to post to Instagram. Leave him alone and let him enjoy his break.
Rewatching the Concert:
On Saturday the final day of the concert was re-run on Weverse and I definitely was there to watch it. That was one of the best nights I have ever experienced and of course I wanted to relive it! I also have to admit that while I was there I wasn’t watching the screen much because I was too enamored with the fact that they were actually physically in front of me. So I missed some of the smaller interactions between members. For example, I didn’t realize that Tae was smiling conspiratorially before Chris Martin came on stage. And my sister didn’t see Tae and Jimin’s mirror reflections reach towards each other during ‘Blue and Grey’. Can we talk about the fact that Namjoon is so tall that he was at level with his mirror? Anyways, though the internet wasn’t great where I was at, I loved being able to experience the concert again. I especially liked being able to fully hear and take in what they were saying during their goodbyes. Namjoon’s heartfelt explanation of his own experiences hit even harder the second time around. And I think the full force of the fact that I saw them perform ‘Blood, Sweat, and Tears’, which is where it started for me in falling in love with the group, hit me completely while watching this. I seriously would love to relive this concert for the rest of my life. Though I do admit that the screen effects, especially the hands that covered the boys some of the time, weren’t the greatest choice. At least we got to see the boys making fun of Jimin up close during “Save Me”! I miss them so much already and I hope I can see them again very soon! I’m so glad so many ARMYs were reliving it too!
So, I’m still experiencing the last bits of post concert depression. I feel like Namjoon may have become my comfort person after all of this. But I also wanted to talk about some of the things we’ve warned against on this blog before. There are a lot of ways that ARMYs can accidentally delve into private bits of the members lives we shouldn’t know without knowing that we’re doing it. We’re so used to them being open with us that sometimes we feel like we should know more information or even feel that we do know more information about them. Most of us have been guilty of this at some point in some way. I just ask that as an ARMY you try and be as respectful as you can and as wary about delving into their privacy as you can. Each and every one of them deserves our full respect and that also means respecting their privacy in every way we possibly can. I hope that will be the last time I have to cover some of these topics for a while. My general experience with ARMY is that it is made up of incredibly nice people. But every once in a while some ARMY will get to be a little too much, and that can also scare potential newer fans away as well as make the boys uncomfortable. I also want to confirm here that I am not actually going to talk about Monsta X’s new album. “The Dreaming” itself was a beautiful song, but I’m not sure how much I have to say here. I still recommend the group though, but this will be the last time I mention the new album most likely.
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 