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The constant apathy of the fandom in general to support Jimin's projects has made me question more than once if it's really his fandom too or if it's just a part - quite a big part I'm sure - of the fandom that is a fan of him. 

Here we are again. New year. New post. Same topic. ARMY's apathy to support Jimin. Different excuses, same result.

I haven't talked much about this topic on my blog these days because I'm honestly tired of the damn negativity and because I was dealing with more negativity in my normal life, but I want to say something about everything that happens whenever Jimin releases a song, no matter if it's solo or with someone else.

It's not the first time I've made a post like this and I don't think it will be the last either, but I'd like to be wrong.

The apathy, the disaffection this fandom, in general, feels about Jimin is disturbing. Jimin's achievements are good when they serve to show them off to an "enemy" fandom but when it comes time to support him, everyone has excuses.

It happened last year and it happened again this week.

The absurd fights between kpop fandoms have always seemed absurd to me, although some I can understand but for that to be an obstacle to support the one who is supposed to be your favourite artist seems stupid to me.

From what I could read over the weekend, and before the official release of 'VIBE', several people were saying that they didn't like the artist that Jimin decided to collaborate with. The reasons I don't fully understand and frankly, that's not the problem, the problem is that their problem with that artist and his fans outweighs the love and respect they supposedly have for Jimin and that's something my brain doesn't quite understand. To be honest, my brain has never entirely understood the reasons that many people use for not supporting Jimin's projects as they do with the projects of the other members.

I've always wondered why that happens, why that feeling of rejection almost, that many in this fandom feel for Jimin. I myself have said that it's envy, stupidity and fear and although I still believe it's all that, I think it's something else too. And someday I'd like to know what it is.

This week when many Jimin fanbase and fansites were asking to buy and stream the song 'VIBE' to take it to number one on the charts, many replied asking why, that they better do it for Jimin's solo album, that this honour should be won by him alone and not in collaboration with someone else, the answers are obviously stupid, but at the same time it's sad to read the excuses that many use only when it's about Jimin. That didn't happen with Jungkook, RM and Hobi's recent collaborations, none of them was for their solo albums, they were all for someone else's album and yet ARMY did the best they could, to support them.

The Korean press today basically confirmed that Jimin's album will be released next month. This may be the ultimate test by which many will measure this fandom and their support and respect for Jimin. Many used the excuse that they better save their efforts for Jimin's solo debut, well, let's hope they are true to their word, there will be no more excuses that will be valid, not that the others have any validity.

I've always said that Twitter is not the representation of the fandom, it's only a tiny part of it and while I still hold that opinion, I also understand that on Twitter are many of the most important accounts that organise everything from voting to chart tracking and even funding, so it's worrying and sad that those accounts and therefore their followers don't seem to put the same effort they do for other members when it comes to Jimin.

I am aware that this fandom is quite large and while there are many, probably thousands of "fans" who are apathetic to all things Jimin there are also millions who love him. Who supports him and is excited about whatever Jimin decides to show us on his album. I'm definitely one of them.

I was excited when the guys announced that they would be doing more solo projects, including albums. I can't wait for what they all show us, everything we've seen and heard so far has been great! And so, I can't wait to see and listen to what Jimin has to show. I know it will be unique, I know it will be great, and I know Jimin will once again prove why he is not only the IT Boy of Korea but also, the IT Boy of music.

How do I start this? What do I say? I don't know. I'll write what I feel. I hope it makes sense. I hope I can convey what I feel and want to say.

I met BTS in 2020 after a long time of refusing to do it. How I regret it now, but at the same time I don't, because I feel like I met them when I had to. When I needed it the most.

Yesterday was a day of many emotions. A roller coaster of them. Because of the time difference between my country and Korea I woke up very early, it was 4 something in the morning when I did it, long before my alarm went off. I was nervous and excited because I knew something was going to happen. They were going to say something that would change us as a fandom. But I never thought they would say that. But at the same time, deep down I did. In retrospect, I knew it for a while now. Ever since I saw how they were handling this come back, ever since I saw what this album was really like. But I was living in denial. If I didn't think about it, it wouldn't be true. If I didn't say it out loud it wouldn't come true. I tried not to think about it. I deleted several asks that put into words what I didn't want to admit and for the ones I dared to answer I told them that it wouldn't be like that. That BTS wasn't going anywhere.

Disclaimer: I want to start by apologising for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors you may find in this long post; English is not my first language.

I'm sure that for many people that narrative or phrase is not new, it's something that many people use to insult Jimin and some strangely enough, to praise him. Jimin is an attention seeker. I have more than once wondered if the people who say that kind of thing and I watch the same content, because I have never had that opinion about him.

Jimin has a charming personality, he is talented and beautiful, it is impossible not to notice Jimin in any clip or place. Jimin doesn't like to seek attention, Jimin draws attention just by being him.

As cute as these two days have been, I really don’t feel like anything has changed between Jimin and Jungkook, so I’ve kind of been trying to put myself in the position of those who don’t like them, as well as Jkkrs who were worried, but I still don’t get it.

I know there was a “drought” in January and February, but it never felt like I was missing anything. I never wanted them to hurry up and give us content and I didn’t feel like IG was showing us the “real” friendships within the group. I just thought they were being private.

Sure, it’s possible they weren’t hanging out at all, because BTS have said themselves that they have gone through periods where they haven’t seen each other. The most recent (as far as we know) was just before they filmed ITS2. Namjoon I think it was said they hadn’t seen each other in a while, and although we know they were working all that time and were obviously literally seeing each other, I think it highlighted the fact that they weren’t hanging out after work. Likely because they do actually need time apart, no matter how much they care for one another and clearly miss being a seven-piece when they are apart for extended periods.

Point is, while Jkk could have been apart those two months, it’s very clear nothing has shifted as far as we fans can tell. So after yesterday, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was exactly that so many hateful and uncertain shippers latched on to? On the surface I know it was the blatant lack of interactions online, but why? This break was treated like the fall of an empire or something, and then as it came to an end people swarmed to say if the same content they anticipated getting in the first place happens, it’ll be fake. Which I don’t get, lol.

Fans are always speaking on respecting privacy, being aware that the company is controlling their lives, that their social media is controlled, and etc. But only when it fits their narratives, because JM and JK did exactly what any other celebrity would do with their private life. They kept things private. Now, that doesn’t mean they’re dating or again, even saw or spoke to each other, but just… private. So why did them keeping things to themselves cause so much chaos? Do some fans really believe the two of them don’t exist as normal people unless they’re posting online?

Because no one cares that we don’t know all that Jin did during break. Or Yoongi. Nor Taehyung or Hobi. People also didn’t care that Namjoon clearly seemed to be museum hopping with Someone, and instead wrote everything he was doing off as jokey, strictly platonic friendship stuff. Which is fair enough, but what I’m saying is, only JM and JK were analyzed and then criticized due to them not doing the thing people hate to see them do, which is interact. People were demanding proof of their friendship at every turn, and that just doesn’t make sense. Even less so now that we see them on stage again.

Yes, people can classify it as fan service if they want to, but I guess what I’m trying to figure out is, what makes it different from pre-break? How did them minding their own business and being private about whatever was or wasn’t going on between them, somehow cement their bond as fake? Especially when it makes more sense to assume they’re actually closer than we think? Because if they were close and telling stories about being in each other’s space all day prior to the break (literally right up until it started) and now they are just as touchy and giggly after the break… where is the change? What, aside from them not proving anything to us while off schedule, causes people to assume they fell out?

And I know this is a repetitive post. I know I likely won’t get an answer from someone who isn’t just a raging hater, but it’s still something I wish I could understand. Because private lives are private for a reason, and “private” absolutely includes not showing what one is up to on social media. We don’t know if Jin has a partner at home, yet no one demanded he give us a house tour to confirm he’s single. People also made claims that Hobi’s sister uses him for fame, yet no one demanded he tell us the exact nature of their sibling bond. Why? Because this fandom knows what privacy means. They know that Tae hanging out with and then deleting videos of Park Hyoshin means he was just dropping a fun teasing clip, because once it passed, no one was blowing up anyone’s blogs asking why Taehyung isn’t posting more interactions to prove that wasn’t fan service.

So why Jikook? What sets them apart if it’s not the belief that they appear close in a way the other members don’t? Why is it okay to let Namjoon maybe have a boyfriend he doesn’t want to tell us about, but JM and JK have to tell us their friendship hasn’t changed? Why is it okay for Yoongi to drop off IG, but Jimin doing it is because he’s being mistreated or because he can’t handle seeing Tkk interact?

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Hi Anon,

I laughed reading your ask. Not at you, but at people who genuinely believe this. Because there are people who think this, not out of 'hate' per se, but out of a very limited understanding of what constitutes artistic contribution, even by BTS's own standards. The people saying this also tend to be relatively newer fans, like from 2018 or so, who haven’t really experienced what I call Jimin’s rest periods (also is it just me or do people these days have very short memories and attention spans?) 

BTS started out as a rookie group that *had* to stand out to survive. One of the ways they did this was borrow elements in choreos from groups like 2PM, a group that basically perfected elaborate on-stage acrobatics in k-pop (it’s the related group, 2 AM, that was jointly managed by BigHit and JYP Entertainment). The only member that could do this at a high level (since debut) was Jimin, and we know this because we’ve seen Hobi and JK attempt these sort of acrobatics since pre-debut throughout the years, to varying degrees of success, none of them come close to how Jimin executes this. 

Jimin had a lot to do with BTS’s early notoriety that built the base for their later fame, attracting fans and general attention with his full abs reveal, turning heads as the baby faced guy with the ripped bod (or 베이글남 ) who was always hitting insanely high notes, and the member who was airborne if there was that level of acrobatics present in the choreo. Do you remember how the crowd lost their shit at their 2019 MAMA performances of N.O. and Bulletproof Pt 2? 

Let me remind you. (Timestamp:  3:35 - 4:05, and 7:25 - 7:51)

Imagine fans seeing those moves for the first time, then over and over, always perfectly done. Also Jimin was actually the person who came up with the idea for the dance break transition in BPT Pt 2 that had everybody raving. That Hat trick was all everybody was talking about for months. 

(He creates new moves, helps and instructs the members sometimes in their choreo rehearsals. Contrary to perhaps popular opinion, it’s not just Hobi who does this often. Hobi is rightfully dance leader though, and while Hobi very clearly and often relies on Jimin, Jimin seems to prefer to support Hobi as his dongsaeng).

To be very honest, it actually really annoyed me how people couldn’t seem to stop talking about Jimin when I felt Hobi (initially) was the better dancer, but very quickly, it was clear Jimin had become synonymous with BTS - he was that integral to the group’s sound and performances.  

One of the things that really set BTS apart was the insane energy of their performances, and you’ll have to lie through your teeth to say Jimin has little to do with this. I remember the how people completely lost it when Kim Yeon-woo, the Korean God of Vocals who trained everyone from from JeA to Jungkook (!) and has Onew from Shinee list him as his role model, Yeon-woo himself called Jimin his own role model in performing. Homme fatale he called it. Nearly half of BTS members have explicitly said they’ve learned about performing by watching Jimin, and that includes Jungkook and J-Hope - the two supposed aces in the group. 

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Then there’s the thing of Jimin’s ‘rest periods’. Jimin was super prominent on everyone’s lips in like 2014, seemed to cool down for much of 2015 until that Perfect Man performance in December 2015 (everyone was talking about 주황머리 걔 ). Then he was very active from end of 2015 through to mid-2017 or so. Seemed to cool down until IDOL’s release in mid-2018 and then was basically everywhere till end of 2019 or so. Note: this didn’t always coincide with album releases or tours - there were just some periods he seemed to embody his performer persona and people seemed to love it to an insane degree. Since the start of the pandemic I’ve gotten a similar vibe from him as during all those previous ‘rest periods’. This is the longest I’ve gotten this sort of vibe from him and it might be due to everything else going on, or a change in artistic expression. This might change with their upcoming new album, or it might not.

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I don’t care one way or another about people who don’t like his voice or think he can’t sing. His vocals cover at least 75% of BTS’s entire discography with either the first or second most lines, so if you hate his vocals I frankly have no idea what you’re doing stanning BTS. He does some very stupid things with his vocals though. For example, Boy Meets Evil is a track with choreography that’s on par with Lie, in terms of difficulty. The moves are weighted differently but overall, the difficulty is similar. J-Hope has never performed Boy Meets Evil without heavy backing track playback (or what some people would call lip syncing). Because of course it’s insanity to sing or rap while dancing like that. Jimin has performed Lie, completely live, twice. Two times. I personally wish he had the sense to act like Hobi in their earlier years and lip sync more for those sort of intensive routines, because Jimin often has the most technically challenging solo choreographies, does very extensive moves in their group choreos, he and Hobi tend to cover the most distance to maintain uniformity in their group choreos, and he does this while still trying to sing fully. It doesn’t matter what technique you use, there’s no way you can sustain this for years without injury. It’s really just stupid, in my humble opinion. But some people see that and love him more for it, even if the result is less than perfection.

I actually like the way his vocals have evolved since debut. I’ve written more about my vocal preferences here and here. Jimin’s seem to change with every comeback and so I’m curious for what we’ll see next. Basically, Jimin doesn’t bore me. Whenever I decide to take a look at him, I generally like what I see. 

I don’t care that he’s hardly using Instagram, or constantly going “I miss youuuuuu” on Weverse, or has repeat phrases like “our ARMY won an award” or “don’t catch a cold” or whatever. I don’t think it’s a big deal how idols use social media for the pleasure of their fans’ entertainment. I don’t see it as a gateway to his soul, his inner thoughts, his personality, or even his brand, or anything like that. Some people are free to interpret it that way, but I don’t view it like this for any of the members. He communicates the way he does and I truly don’t give a fuck. Maybe I would if I biased him lol.

Jimin has been main dancer and lead vocalist of BTS since debut, despite receiving the least resources in training, time, and development from the company, based on comments from Jungkook and Jimin himself. Yoongi also really wanted Jimin to debut with them despite joining later than other trainees.

He learned and perfectly executed four different choreographies for Black Swan, including one that mirrored the world renown performance by the Slovenian dance troupe MN Dance Company, despite only receiving 2 years of foundational Contemporary dance training 10 years ago. To contrast, the average years of training in that dance troupe is six years.

Jimin’s performance in MAMA 2016, where he flawlessly and perfectly matched J-Hope’s dancing, while blindfolded, is something critics all over Korea and internationally say solidified BTS at the ‘tour de force’.

Every single one of his solos have achieved or broken records not yet seen for other members so far. I’m referring to his solo Lie being the only member solo debuting in the top 3 digital song sales chart in 2016 (!), before they achieved global stardom, Promise breaking Drake’s record at its debut AND becoming the most streamed song in Soundcloud’s history, Filter being the only solo song off BTS’s Map of the Soul album (2020) to be nominated for the Gaon Song of the Year award (Friends was also the only member-produced song that was nominated).

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And these are just things I’m listing as someone who has been a fan of BTS for most of the last 8 years and had my wits about me enough to know what’s going on with other members besides my biases. I wrote most of this just off the top of my head. Jimin could do nothing for the rest of his life and he would still have had a very impressive career by several metrics. J-Hope is the most musically developed BTS member imo, and Jungkook will thrive as a soloist. Jimin is Jimin, and if the last 8 years have been any indication, it’s generally a bad idea to underestimate him.