This album is so special. Especially because the last 3 years have been hard on me as an Army.
I don't know what to identify as right now, because I know the strain this fandom has been through coz of solo projects, and I myself said I do not associate with Armys anymore. And frankly speaking, I'm not really desiring to be part of the fandom again. Because yes, it's all fun and games until it isn't. And the resentment built over time is not something I can ever forget or take away even if I wanted.
The truth is uncomfortable, but while a lot of Armys are still ARMYs, there's is a lot of them who became solos too in that era. There was times where I wanted to become one, and even “declared” it in the heat of the moment. It was just a messy era altogether. But if I were to summarize the whole thing, people were divided, and I finally got to see what other ARMYs meant when they talked of the toxic side of our fandom.
I have been in this for years now, but for the first years, I only listened to the boys without interacting with the fandom, opening up the comments or going to fanmade videos. Hell, I didn't even know the name of the fandom, for all these years 🥴. But my first interactions with the fandom was nice. A lot of them are just so adorable, and everyone is a relatable fangirl/fanboy.
And then there's the military service era...the time where the bliss just faded, and the bubble got bursted slowly. I don't know what pulls me to going to Twitter, but I do. I see on TikTok crazy PJMs talking about how Jimin gets hated daily and how Armys never pull up. And frankly, I don't believe it since I don't see it. And when I get to Twitter, I still didn't see it until I had to dig it out. Might sound unreasonable, but I wondered why. Why on earth do I have to go into deep places to know that Jimin does get bodyshamed daily, slut shamed and all that. Was it just me and my feed living in peace or people just don't give it enough attention? That was back in 2023, and JK being my bias, obviously took a larger space of my heart and my attention...I never NOT cared for the boys, but my fangirl head was always Jungkook-filled. If you know what I mean. So my interactions with others was based on how they interact with Jungkook. Except for Hobi, Jin, Suga and Jimin.
Especially Jimin. I never knew as much as I know about him right now. And I have no one to blame for that except myself – obviously. I just loved him, thought he was just a nice guy, and obviously so different, physically and emotionally. I never knew he was so nerdy ( i fell in love deeper with nerdmin..my heart 😭). I mean I always knew he was intelligent...but seeing it in action made my heart melt. I am digressing but can I just express how I love this man, and how I don't know how to put it in words, and how words will never ever be enough to describe the feeling inside me. ..? I love him so much it hurts .
Anyways..I got shocked because I always knew Jungkook was hated everywhere, on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube ..every platform I was on. But to see Jimin get hated was shocking. And what shocked me beyond the being shocked was, it was always about him being r*ped and bodyshamed. Anything these people wish could happen to women they also wished could happen to Jimin too. They basically had nothing to shade him for, so they resorted to this. And I wondered, why don't people see this??!? Who is reporting these people? Who will report them if they don't see this?
I don't want this to be a long post, but that's how a lot of things played out. I am used to seeing the unreasonable hatred of Jungkook but seeing people who are supposed to love him turn against him was just... discouraging. Discovering ot6s in real time was crazy, it was one of those “ you just had to be there” moments. Seeing people hate the maknae line for how the hyung line got the shorter end of the stick was appalling (like I said, a very messy but human era). I am not interested in mentioning solos. Even if I understand what was going on for a lot of us during this military service time, I'll never understand or even speak up on behalf of any of them. Hated them when I was a part of the fandom , hate them now and will always. One thing though, I used to be a believer in “ not all solos are disrespectful ”, but this era has shown me that a solo will always be disrespectful and a hater in waiting ( I get why, but–). I digress.
Finally the beautiful, painful and messy era came to an end
And Arirang finally arrived ...like God intended.
Everyone was so good. V came through with his 75 voices, Suga with the vocals that caught me off guard, and if the theme of the album was a person, it would be Jhope. These 3 for me, went above and beyond what I expected of them vocally, voice wise, and the like.
I am proud to say I am one of the ones who totally loved the album at first listen. Some songs grew on me and took the spot of the others, Like Merry go round. It is my number one song from Arirang, and my love song 💯
And this one is a bit personal, but being a JK bias, I am proud of him because after all the shade regarding his album, no one can say shit now. Everyone of them loves to talk about writing your own songs like it's some sign of intelligence and prestige, and the ‘long suffering’ that allegedly makes you more of an artist than the others. While they forget that he has quite a list of songs to be credited for. And now, he has 4 more songs to be added to his KOMCA songwriter title, while they're busy looking down on him and holding on to straws.
This was the most healing part for me, in all of Arirang and it's new era.
I am still nervous though. What exactly does BTS 2.0 mean? What do they have in store for us...
Won't they dance anymore or it was just the rain? Are they toning down on how they will be interacting with us? Will they slowly pull a Beyoncé on us, and not be these relatable 7 normal boys from Korea?
Who knows, but I'm just excited for their success. I believe that for a group that has been active for over a decade now, change is inevitable. I'd like them to go back and do the things they used to do, but if they want to grow, the only way to be able to do that is to try new things, because ARMYs and grown up, ARMYs have changed too. ARMYs have started calling BTS repetitive, and have ran off to other groups. So BTS has to let them go and find their new audience. Change is inevitable, painful yes, but still inevitable. Positions will change, people will. Some will be haters, some lovers, some will just be happy to be there, the fame of ALL of them, and them as solos will change too. All will shine at their own time. But that's just change, isn't it? 🙂
And that's why Into the Sun tugs at my heart strings. It sounds like a goodbye that isn't really a goodbye, but a new beginning wrapped up into the form of an outro.
Never in my life did I ever think I would see duos being pushed. And Jikook with jungkook boxing coach 🔥🙂↕️.
Jimin changed my life with They Don't Know About Us. The intro has ALL of us – and yes, I'm speaking for everyone – thinking that was a damn sample. But no...
Who the fuck was Jimin feeling like, because he devoured that.
And don't even get me started on the blond. The long ass blond. *Sighs dramatically*
I don't know how anyone would still talk about Kitty gang when Arirang Jimin exists. I'm sorry but 30 year old Jimin mops the floor with That Jimin, any day. Call me a hater I don't care.
Which brings me back to the boys, I love how sexier and more confident they have become. Can we please get done with shaming adulthood? 30 is older than the younger years, but it is still very young into life. No healthy and physically active and engaged person should be able to feel like a fossil in their 30s. Seeing how they look as of now, and how comfortable they've become in themselves is so refreshing.
Now let's get back again to Jimin and his recent Jikookery. Someone tell Jimin I'd like to have his gochujang stew too 🙂
And someone tell Taekookers to alteast be professional at a show
Someone tell Everyone to deck up, look pretty and classy like that one pretty lady 😍
And someone please tell Jungkook to tone down on the 6 7 jokes 😭 and please tell Jimin to stop howling randomly
Edit : I didn't know I pressed post lol. This was supposed to be a draft.