Talk! with ARMY

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ARMY Anonymous is a segment in which we answer all of your anonymously submitted concerns, questions, and other general comments about fandom climate! This week we're going through 24 submissions. Hope you enjoy!

Fan calls are a relatively popular event that idols do to communicate directly with their fans, and with Jimin's fan call event coming up, there may be some who are unfamiliar with what exactly it is. Come join us as we talk about how it became popularized, the good and bad about the whole fan call process, and how you can do your best to communicate with Jimin if you manage to be one of the lucky ones picked to talk to him!

The term 'parasocial relationship' has been thrown around on social media for quite some time now, but not many people truly understand what it is. Come join us as we put our psychology degrees to use and break down the term, the pros and cons of having a parasocial relationship, and common misconceptions about them.

There's a lot of talk of charts on ARMY Twitter and Kpop Twitter as a whole, but how many people truly know and understand how they work? Come join us as we talk with J, who helps run a chart account, to get his insight on music charts, and how BTS is dominating them all.

With the recent announcement of Yoongi's solo tour, there has been a lot of conversation about everything surrounding concerts such as the location of the concert dates and the type of people that want to or should be attending. Come join us as we explain the concert discourse and give our own thoughts about it.

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ARMY Anonymous is a segment in which we answer all of your anonymously submitted concerns, questions, and other general comments about fandom climate! This week we're going through 19 submissions. Hope you enjoy!

HYBE and Big Hit are some of the most well-known companies within the k-industry (as well as the most successful). And yet when it comes to the history of these two companies, there are so many things that people get wrong, which leads to the spread of all sorts of misinformation. Come join us as we talk about the history of Big Hit and HYBE, some common misconceptions about them, and what ARMYs can do to educate themselves before they get swept away by rumors.

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It's been a long time coming, but we finally got around to this episode as we promised. Come join us as we talk about everything Indigo and go track by track to analyze the lyrics, the sound, and talk about just how much each song has impacted us.

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ARMY Anonymous is a segment in which we answer all of your anonymously submitted concerns, questions, and other general comments about fandom climate! This week we're going through 32 submissions. Hope you enjoy!

With the official announcement released about BTS starting their mandatory enlistment and planning to reconvene as a group in 2025, there are a lot of things that ARMYs can finally talk about regarding this 4-year-long discourse, and what exactly this means for both the boys and us as we go into possibly the most uncharted waters we've even been in since their debut. Come join us as we explain what exactly this mandatory service is, why the government was so divided on the idea of giving BTS an exemption, and what ARMYs can do while we wait for them to come back.

After Jin's appearance on Youngji's YouTube show, a recent topic of conversation has been BTS's friendships within the Kpop industry after Jin revealed that most celebrities aren't friends with BTS because they feel too pressured. Since then, a lot of people have begun putting pieces together, taking a look at BTS's friendships across their careers and figuring out why we haven't heard about certain friendships recently over others. Another more annoying faction of Kpop stans has tried to twist Jin's words into something they're not, making it seem like BTS are closer to their faves than it looks or that their fave is exempt from being criticized in any way due to their proximity to BTS. Come join us as we muddle through this discourse and talk about the reasons behind Jin's words and how some people need to stop using BTS for their own personal agendas.

Due to some recent incidents of mobbing and stalking during Jin and Jungkook's respective travels to Argentina and Qatar, many people on Twitter have decided to reopen the conversation of fan etiquette, us included. Come join us as we discuss the official fan club rules created by Big Hit, how some people have violated these rules recently, and why it's important that we follow them.

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ARMY Anonymous is a segment in which we answer all of your anonymously submitted concerns, questions, and other general comments about fandom climate! This week we're going through 27 submissions. Hope you enjoy!

We always talk about people who are deep within the fandom, but what about people who know a little bit about BTS but have yet to fall down the rabbit hole? Come join us as we talk about casual stanning, the conflict that casual stans have with dedicated ARMYs, and how we can all learn to get along a little bit better.

Something that is a constant topic of conversation when you mention BTS is their incredible performances that are often heads and shoulders above many acts in the global industry. Come join us as we discuss the qualities BTS have as top-tier performers, how they compare to others, and how BTS has raised the standard for what counts as an adequate live performance.

When it comes to BTS, the most critical thing that people need to learn in order to understand both them and their music...is their come-up story. Their journey to superstardom was not an easy road, and yet despite all the struggles they've been through to get to the top and how honest they've been about the path they took, some people still get their story all wrong. Join us as we discuss the way in which people try to alter BTS's come-up story to make it seem like they didn't struggle as hard as they say they did, only for these same people to co-opt their story and project it onto their faves for sympathy points and support.

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ARMY Anonymous is a segment in which we answer all of your anonymously submitted concerns, questions, and other general comments about fandom climate! This week we're going through 28 submissions. Hope you enjoy!

Since BTS is the biggest group, they have some of the biggest expectations placed on them by others to never make mistakes. But there are several reasons why this is an issue. Come join us as we discuss the problematic ways in which Kpop fans expect only BTS to be perfect all the time, and why that kind of thing is harmful to BTS and also just downright hypocritical.

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To celebrate 50 official episodes of Talk! With ARMY, we decided to do a Q&A to get to know us better. Come join us as we go through questions submitted to our Google Form and you guys get to hear our silly anecdotes as we answer each one.

Ever since BTS announced their temporary break from group music projects, it has been everything but a vacation for ARMYs as we have been hit with release after release and schedule after schedule for both individual members and for the whole group/subunits. This was definitely a first for a lot of Western media outlets/non-fans, at the very least, who had already assumed from the announcement that BTS had fully disbanded, which brings us to the question: why? What is it about temporary breaks that have people assuming the worst for music groups? Join us as we discuss the stigma around the word "hiatus" and what BTS is doing to break it.

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ARMY Anonymous is a segment in which we answer all of your anonymously submitted concerns, questions, and other general comments about fandom climate! This week we're going through 32 submissions. Hope you enjoy!

With the rollout of J-Hope's promotions of Jack In The Box, some people were not satisfied with the fact that there was no CD in the physical version of the album, which is fine. However, a faction of people took that dislike to new heights and began to spew manti rhetoric on the timeline and claim that J-Hope was forced into removing the CD from the physical or was unaware that it had happened. This brought a question to our minds: why do some people who boast that J-Hope has full autonomy in his nearly decade-long career suddenly flip the script when he does something they don't like or don't expect? Join us as we dissect these narratives and explain that whether you like it or not, BTS can do whatever they want and don't need fans' permission to do so. 

With BTS in the beginning phase of their temporary break from group music, there has been a lot of chaos that has erupted from that announcement. Some were surprised, others were supportive, but some were downright angry at the fact that BTS is even taking a break, to begin with. Join us as we talk about why this break will be beneficial for BTS and why the negative response they're receiving for doing so is unwarranted and nothing more than evidence as to how badly the Kpop industry is overworking its idols.

Lyrics are a very important part of music and can act as a window into an artist's mind. But a question that frequents the timelines of Kpop Twitter is "do lyrics really matter in a song?" and "if you're a fan of an artist, do you really need to read their lyrics?" The short answer? Yes, yes you do. Join us as we discuss lyrics and why it's not cool to make it a trend to not listen to what your faves have to say.

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ARMY Anonymous is a segment in which we answer all of your anonymously submitted concerns, questions, and other general comments about fandom climate! This week we're going through 37 submissions. Hope you enjoy!

With Kpop on the rise all around the world, it's becoming a lot more common to be a fan of a Kpop group in many countries. And yet, even with this rising popularity, there are a lot of people who are ashamed to be a Kpop fan and will also shame others for being openly supportive of their own favorite Kpop acts, especially ARMYs, who are (as a collective) very unapologetic about stanning BTS. Join us as we discuss the phenomenon behind what causes this shame and why it's okay to be loud and proud about what you like.

The Kpop industry is incredibly fast-paced; so not only do dozens—maybe even hundreds of acts—debut every year, but with those acts come boatloads of content, both music and non-music content. Join us as we talk about the large amounts of Kpop content put out by groups, the rapid consumption of it by fans, and how this standard has deluded entitled people in the Kpop community into believing that the amount of music and other content BTS has put out within the past two years is somehow "not enough".

Even though it's always good to have fandom etiquette, there will always be some fans who take it too far and make it their job to tell others online what to do and how to behave. Join us as we talk about fandom policing and why we hate when people do it.

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ARMY Anonymous is a segment in which we answer all of your anonymously submitted concerns, questions, and other general comments about fandom climate! This week we're going through 43 submissions. Hope you enjoy!

BTS paving the way is not only a fact but it's been a hot topic in the fandom for years ever since the start of BTS' global takeover in 2017. Despite this, it is the most misunderstood discourse in the entire Kpop community. Surprised at ourselves for not yet making an episode on it, we sought to rectify that! Come join us as we discuss what exactly it means to pave the way, how BTS is doing it, and why the things they have achieved can be credited to nobody in the Korean music industry but themselves.

Gatekeeping has been a recent hot topic in the fandom with the rise of Tik Tok ARMYs gatekeeping BTS' music from locals and the backlash that they received by Twitter ARMYs for doing so. Come join us in this episode as we talk about what gatekeeping is, why it's bad to gatekeep BTS' music, and the impact it can have on not just the potential fans they can get, but also the reputation of ARMYs as a whole. 

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