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Before i leave again, if you're willing to take some advice from someone who's been in this fandom for 5 years and have experienced the bad and then good, then I have a few tips to make your time here a bit more enjoyable or bearable in the least/ srs
Keep in mind this is based on my own observation and my own experiences,everyone's experiences will differ depending on who you interact with and which side of the fandom you see. I'm gonna keep this thread as honest as i can so I hope this will help new armys get the big picture
Your experience in a fandom depends on what what side you end up in, and who you interact with. So the key is following the right people, and handling an interaction with someone correctly depending on how they act and how their account is like
Accounts that mostly interact with antis and argue all day with other people will really affect you negatively because that's going to be what you mainly see on your tl and therefore make you think that this fandom is mainly about conflict
being in that environment of people constantly arguing and downright being negative all the time will make you overlook the positive side of the fandom who are here to appreciate the boys which was the initial reason you come here too, so don't follow negative accounts
antis have always and will always exist. If you see someone say something bad about the boys, just block them immediately, ESPECIALLY if their account is made recently. The thing with armys is that, they're a really big fandom and they're very easy to bait
Which is PERFECT for trolls, bullies, antis. They couldn't get a reaction out of the boys, so they're getting a reaction out of you. When you react to the bait they're setting up for you, it means they've succeeded. It's best to report and block them silently.
There's a difference between commentaries that degrade the boys that should be taken seriously and an obvious troll bait. "professional" articles tht gets published internationally tht degrade the boys achievements should be taken seriously, a troll account, should not.
To identify troll accounts, their account are usually recently made. They make really childish hate commentary about the boys that has the obvious intonation to provoke. They're not subtle about it, and when you argue with them, they get more annoying. Save your energy.just block
"professional" commentaries or articles however, are written in a passive aggressive manner. They're subtle about the way they degrade they boys and usually articulate themselves in complicated words to make them sound more professional to make their opinion sound valid+
To handle this, you can contact the publisher, don't click on the articles OR you can leave a bad review on their main site. Don't swarm their twitter page, they'll just make more of it because it's what gets them traction and engagement
An advice from me, don't follow armys who actively engage with trolls.
Now the second half we're going to talk about extreme shippers. Shipping is a big culture in every fandom but some people take it to the next extreme. In every fandom there's these 2 ships that are fiercely argued about amongst fans, in this fandom it's jikook n taekook
Shippers usually have arguments among each other on which pairing is best, its not just jikookers and taekookers tht has these arguments in this fandom but i've never really seen a ship war as intense as those two ships
Jikook and Taekook are both wonderful ships, they're both great, so I'm not sure why they're both constantly at e/o necks? Not all jikookers and taekookers are constantly at war with each other ofc but for the portion of those who does, they are really really loud
Now you may be wondering why I've decided to bring this up, well, from what I've perceived in the last 5 years of this never ending argument between these two sides, usually extreme jikookers are perceived as tae antis and extreme taekookers are perceived as jm antis
So you have this never ending cycle of those two sides hating each other and having endless and i mean ENDLESS arguments with each other. It can go to the extreme of bullying each other off this app by twisting or taking a tweet out of context
now to identify these extreme shippers, they usually go on other people's accounts to justify their ship even if the tweets are COMPLETELY unrelated to their ship. They have this STRONG belief that their ship is real and would engage in an argument with their " rival ship"
most of these extreme shippers are fetishizers, they get angry if they see a member of their ship being with another member, also if you go to their account and see them aggressively pushing that heteronormativity agenda towards their ship then it's better to not interact
Jikookers and Taekookers are wonderful people, you just have to find the right ones to follow. If they mind their own business, don't engage in ship wars or throw shade at another member for 'ruining' their ship then they're good
The effects of these ship wars are the birth of solo stans and akgaes. From what I've observed, most accs that are active in ship wars especially extreme taekookers and extreme jikookers are usually solo stans and akgaes which brings me to my next point, solo stans
theres a difference between a solo stan and having a bias. Having a bias is loving all members equally but u have that one member you have a deeper connection towards which is perfectly normal. Solo stans however, are the opposite. they hate all the members except that one member
Now, to identify these solo stans, they have a major saviour complex. Rather than wanting what's good for the boys they prioritize on what THEY think is good for the boys. There's different extremes to solo stans, some are very outspoken and blunt and some are more subtle
The red flag for solo stans is the moment they think they know about that one member more than bts themselves. These people would take ANY opportunity to twist and take people's words out of context, even the boys' words
They usually victimize the boys, spreading the agenda that their little baby is a damsel in distress and need saving and protection, that their favourite boy is being used and manipulated or they're not appreciated enough etc etc
bringing back my previous point, the ship wars that birth solo stans are usually maknae line stans, and from my past 5 years of experience, have been increasingly extreme and worrying. All members have solo stans though, but they're more subtle and usually pull the victim card
so my advice from these past two points, if you see someone being too extreme about their ship, not just jikookers or taekookers, but any shipper no matter what ship who's very, very adamant about their ship are best to be avoided+
people who are constantly putting the agenda that their boy is being mistreated by their own members etc and have a major savior complex are DEFINITELY to be avoided
I think I haven't really covered all the type of accounts that should be avoided because it's 3AM rn and i am running on half a braincell but in general, you can see the pattern in what type of people to avoid
In general, people who constantly engage in conflicts, have endless and useless arguments with people who has the initial intention to provoke them just for the sake of laughs, people who think they know more about someone they've never met+
Ppl who are aggressive about their views and push it onto others, those who are manipulative in pushing forward their agenda to feed into their savior complex, people who subtly shade over another member and think they know more about the member more than the members themselves
In the end, its you who curate the fandom experience around you. Instead, follow people who spread positivity, follow charity accounts, people who talks well about all the boys, content creators, people who appreciate the boys just as much as you do
Unlike real life, you get to choose to interact with here on this platform. You can block, mute or report. Surround yourself with people who you think want to be around with , even in real life, so it's ok to be picky
Before jumping into any conclusion, make sure to double check the facts, check it from both perspectives, don't immediately get swayed by the current, you should think for yourself and choose what you want to believe and what you want to follow
Another tip, don't follow outdated fan made videos on youtube or those bangtan introduction videos from 2015~2018 etc. Usually those videos include stereotypes of the boys, which will cloud your judgement of them, instead, watch RUN, bangtanbomb, go through BANGTANTV
watch in the soop, their movies, documentaries ( burn the soul ), bon voyage etc, watch their recent interviews, their vlives their youtube lives etc. Perceive bangtan from how bangtan present themselves not how others present them
