Identifying yourself as an ARMY is nice. It is nice because it is the manifestation or recognition of being a fan of the most important music group in the world today. It is your manifestation to the world that you are a fan of seven talented, humble, funny South Koreans and that you are proud to be one.
To identify yourself as ARMY is to let the world know that you are part of a movement almost, of something big. Something that others would like to have. It's telling the world that you are part of a fandom that wholeheartedly supports their favourite band and is willing to do whatever it can to help them conquer the musical world.
But being in the community is tiring, often disappointing. Especially if you are a jikooker.
I think at some point every jikooker in this fandom has said the same thing: The fandom seems to hate JiKook.
At one point I thought it was an exaggeration. Today I believe it is true.
In this fandom, there is a fixation, a need to demerit everything JiKook does. To explain what they say. To give different interpretations to their words or actions and as we have seen in the last few days, the need to oti7icate everything JiKook does. Because for them there can be no other explanation. Because they are friends, they are like brothers! To even hint that there is a lgtbi+ relationship between them is almost a cardinal sin and those who dare to say it is delusional. Oh, you had to be a shipper! You read a lot of them, all of them say, it all makes sense!
But this fandom is hypocritical because one of the biggest "jokes" in the fandom about BTS is that they are in a polyamorous relationship with each other. They got married in Vegas! It's been the running joke these days, but when a person genuinely believes that two of them are in a lgtbi+ relationship and that they believe that because of the actions of those two members, those joking moments ago, will insult you, treat you as a pariah, as the worst in the fandom.
Some will have the audacity to confront you by asking you if you don't think about how saying something like that on social media can be harmful to them; because of course, saying they are lgtbi+ is only allowed if it's said as a joke, being serious about it is an offence. To seriously presume that someone, Jimin and Jungkook are lgtbi+ is an offence as if the lgtbi+ community needs to be further marginalised. Obviously, that last one you can't say because it would only show how dramatic you are.
I've been wondering since 2020 if the apprehension that fandom, in general, seems to feel when it comes to JiKook is jealousy, fear of a reality they're not really ready to accept. Homophobia. Here I'm not talking about the subgroup but the whole fandom, except for jikookers of course, because, even if some don't want to accept it, they are part of the fandom too.
That's why, while not exactly surprising, I was sad to see the Ot7ification, as jikookers are calling it, of things said by JiKook exclusively about them. Where something Jungkook said about Jimin or to Jimin, is used to refer to all the other members as well when that's not what he said, obviously.
Sad but not surprising either that when jikookers have called out this disrespect basically, their arguments have been reduced to ship stuff, which is insignificant and are only diatribes from delusional people. It is impossible to defend Jimin and Jungkook and their relationship because your words will be dismissed once the person finds out you are a jikooker.
For me the problem is not that someone in the fandom doesn't respect me, ignores me or even insults me, I am not here for an individual in the fandom that I don't know and will never meet, my problem and I know the problem of many, is the disrespect towards Jimin and Jungkook and what they say and do. It is the audacity to interpret words said by them, interpretations that are not necessary and often absurd, to avoid acknowledging, and accepting what, in my opinion, is quite obvious.
But it is also more than that. The problem is the invalidation of the words that Jimin and Jungkook choose to say. It is the invalidation of the things they choose to do. It is the invalidation of Jimin and Jungkook as a couple, romantic or otherwise. Because it's not even about that. No one can really claim that they are a couple. Many believe it, many are sure they are, but that's all subjective. The real problem, at least for me, is the invalidation of Jimin and Jungkook's relationship. Of their friendship. Of their dynamic.
When it comes to JiKook in original content almost everyone ignores them. When it comes to JiKook in concert, only jikookers mainly post moments about them. When it came to Jungkook doing something for Jimin only, some would ignore it or somehow oto7ic it.
The problem is that this is not about ships. Because this only happens with JiKook. JiKook is the only ship that is ignored. The others are celebrated. The others are joked about. People, and fans do post the moments between them. Their shippers are sometimes ignored, but almost never insulted, especially the subgroup, who without a doubt are the most toxic shippers in the fandom.
The problem is that because it's something about JiKook, when one of them, very often it's Jimin, gets insulted, gets hate thrown at him for something he did with Jungkook he gets ignored by supposed OT7 accounts because it's just ships problem! Damn shippers! That's all you read them say. It's all reduced to a ship war because they are INCAPABLE of defending JiKook. To defend Jungkook AND Jimin.
The problem here, really, is that the fandom, in general, has a problem with JiKook. It has a problem with Jimin and Jungkook together.
The problem here is that the fandom sees what jikookers see when it comes to JiKook, but their damn homophobia won't let them accept it.
The problem here is that this fandom is OT7 except when it comes to JiKook.
Being an ARMY is a source of pride, because that's how BTS identifies their fans because that's how the world recognises the millions of people behind them supporting them as a group. But being an ARMY and a Jikooker at the same time is difficult.
The saddest thing is that in the end it's not about whether jikookers are right about what they believe or not, it's about whether this fandom is unable to respect the relationship of two members of the group they supposedly claim to admire.
But at the end of the day, Jimin and Jungkook will continue to be the way they are, they will continue to behave the way they want to behave. They will continue to show us what they want to show us about their relationship. At the end of the day, Jimin and Jungkook will still be happy together.
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