tkk

I had a longer rant about this typed up a couple of days ago but I'm exhausted trying to have a worthwhile discussion about it on the internet. For the first time this week I saw the group and the fandom as reflections of each other and I'm having a hard time with it. They pivoted their career to chasing a Grammy six years ago. They pushed out multiple Made in the USA fully English language singles, including the first song ever in their entire discography that I listened to once and never hit the play button on again. They actually made no secret of the fact that it was for a Grammy. They've talked about it openly many times. After a long hiatus they hype up a return to their Korean roots comeback album that is actually a collab with all Western writers and producers in LA, along with a documentary and more interviews showing that "global" success and following popular music trends were the goal. Was any of this about "protecting the status and pride of the Kpop industry as a whole"? If they convinced themselves it was, then that's where they and the fandom become reflections of each other. Because they've made this all about them, and you can see it in every online space being brigaded by ARMY right now. ARMY believes this was BTS's category. Both to win and that they were the only reason it was created. They think BTS withdrawing removes any legitimacy the category would have had, because they don't think any other Asian pop artist is legitimate or worthy. They think any artist submitting for this category after BTS has withdrawn is just a pathetic chaser of Western validation. This is not BTS's category. They say they don't want to be boxed into the Asian Pop category, but the comeback single they promoted in the US isn't even eligible for it. They say they want to compete in the general categories, no one was stopping them. The Asian Pop category was added to acknowledge the huge push Kpop, Jpop and Cpop have made in the US market. It is a force in the US market (this is what the Grammys judge, not any other market on earth) that deserves recognition, and it didn't start with BTS. It's not about them. Everyone is just so full of shit. Today ARMY are mad that a Recording Academy member who pushed for this category as a first step and wants others opened to award more Asian artists said BTS tore their work on this down. How dare she. If they didn't, it feels like an attempt to poison the well, and ARMY definitely took their statements as marching orders to do it. They've spent the last few days saying the most vile racist shit about all other Asian artists thinking of submitting their work for consideration. Anyway, I'm tired and we'll be going through this again when another artist becomes the first to win this award and ARMY loses their fucking minds after spending a year saying it doesn't matter.

I got blocked by two moots here after I answered an ask about this. So while I initially thought the Tumblr community was more grounded than Twitter, I see that it's not overall. I'll type into the void like I do over there if that's all I can do. But it does suck that there are so few that want to actually prioritize what's real and engage with that. I don't trust the AU and fantasy obsessed to do right by Taekook at the end of the day. I just see other shippers who will swear they care about the real humans involved and their health and happiness, and then drop one when they get disappointed by them not behaving the way they want. You may not be doing it now, but I've been here for almost ten years and I've seen it happen over and over and over again.

Staying more accurate than any of those "prediction" accounts.

And the song's a BOP.

Going through the replies and quotes is enlightening. There are many showing the math that proves they're "listening" to a 24/7 month's worth of music in a week. They've got multiple songs timestamped for the same minute. Those numbers are nowhere near normal, and I think this obsession should be studied to find out why they think humiliating themselves and the artists like this is seen as an expression of love. When I said the fandom would be the group's downfall years ago when I was still deep in it, this is what I meant.

Endless quotes and replies from ARMY on this agreeing with op, these are not fringe opinions. ARMY has once again got their ego bruised, they don't care about the Grammys being racist they just think Asian music awards aren't good enough for BTS. They don't want other groups getting these awards, and they want BTS winning the "main" categories because they think that's better than any award for Asian music. Stan culture ruined music fandom. It really is all chart obsession and Western validation chasing for these people.