Veteran armys that stan BTS before they became the biggest group...

BTS antis really need to move on and get a life. Imagine being the worst kind of Karens in life and trying to get a celebrity fired for living their lives 🤡

Indigo dreams- 💣⁷ Semi IA on Twitter

“Break Wings Project was a "project" organized by antis to sabotage BT/S's Wings comeback, back in 2016. Here's a brief explanation with receipts of what…

twitter.com

Melon customer service desperately tries to explain BTS winning award to an EXO stan - Asian Junkie

So a combination of fandom mess and Melon's incompetence has already compelled me to cover the I.O.I

www.asianjunkie.com

Petition demanding BTS’ disbandment filed to Blue House

Over 3,000 Koreans have signed a petition calling for the disbandment of boy band BTS on Cheong Wa Dae’s official online petition platform.The petition posted…

m.koreaherald.com

So Big Hit wasn't completely ignoring the BTS Sajaegi accusations....

PANN [enter-talk]: WE WONT NEED MORE SAJAEGI POSTS ANYMORE t/n: Notice of disposition of the case result (bighit submitted a resume of the events) disposal…

omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com

FTC closes BTS Jungkook’s false advertising case without investigation

Fair Trade says that there was no evidence of malpractice in the case that was raised by anonymous consumers.

www.editorji.com

Couldn’t appreciate BTS anywhere without a hurl of insults flying their way. Sm Stans made their life hell hole with the plagiarism accusations which they still continue to do and trended multiple hate hash tags after their concerts.

Had kpop fans side with Jpn nazis. Sent BH to court for sajegi accusation in which BH won the case. And many more.

I joined kpop fandom back in 2016 and bts was already pretty big back but they were dragged a lot for their first daesang, like a lot. I've never seen anyone getting dragged more than that.

You know how ARMYs always posting and celebrating achievements with receipts? One of the reason is because kpoppies kept downplaying them.

Quote from paradis

How dare you victimise them you evil Army.

I am sure they will come here to share their pov on why BTS deserved it or how armys are just as worse. It’s a tiki Taka atp but one thing is armys always have receipts on what happened

2013 ARMY here and it's a long story but before the rise of BTS, there was a war between SM and YG stans that they suddenly forgot to gang up on BTS.

In 2013, no one was truly speaking about BTS because they were nugus so just the fans. I saw once or two bad comments about BTS being the Walmart version of B.A.P but nothing more. They were mocked for being nugus and their looks but I don't have the impression that it was specific to Big3 fans or even Kpop fans.

Then, in 2014, there was a first controversy because EXO-Ls accused them of copying EXO for wearing school uniforms in Boy With Luv MV. There were multiple plagiarism accusation by SM stans over the years.

In 2015, it was probably the worst year because BTS became a solid mid tier group and you could even consider them a top group in some ways (their sales were already rising in 2014 but the growth was quick and massive for a non Big3 group back then). Most of their fans were not Korean and it was something new. So when they got their first music show win, they were accused of Sajaegi (chart manipulation and fake album sales) because they outsold BigBang.

A lot of International ARMYs posted their purchase receipts on Twitter and the case went to court because the rumors were so bad.

In 2016, they were mocked and criticized for their outfits in Fire MV since it was YSL and some Big3 fans who used to mock them for being "poor" said that they wore fake luxury items, another lie. After that, they won their first daesang at MMA for the best album of the year. All hell broke loose. I have never seen a group being dragged like that. A similar case happened in 2017, when they won another daesang and EXO-Ls flooded the Blue House with a petition because they wanted MAMA to shut down.

In 2017, Big3 fans went wild when BTS attented the BBMA to receive their first award there, the Top Social Artist. BTS were called beggars, sell-out and it was called "the paper award". Big3 fans said that they were no chance for them to make it in the West since their faves like Wonder Girls could not make it.

Quote from catzi

Oh I remember the Social Artist thing. Jin was dragged for proudly showing it.

But when you put these in perspective its easy do understand why armys are so protective of them

Some ARMYs are just really mean and they brag about BTS achievements because nothing interesting happens in their life but a lot of fandoms have losers like that and Kpop fans who hate on BTS just don't like that ARMYs really defend them when they are attacked and don't stay speechless.

Quote from catzi

Yeah when I got into kpop BTS was already big but there was still fanwars with other fandoms. I used to find armys highkey annoying for always bragging but now I get it. Its petty but nice to shove ur favs success on other ppls face after they downplay them

Initially it really wasn’t to brag but as time goes by yeah, it became funny to see some kpop fans get so annoyed with it.

I’m not an old ARMY, I joined in 2017, and I remember at first we wanted to spread BTS’ music and contents because they are just so good, and the side result of that are the charting and awards etc.. which many kpoppies (and western media) downplayed and doubted.

Because BTS was downplayed so bad, the next thing we focused on at that time was making BTS so big and so high up that no one can dispute their impact anymore. And BTS fed the energy by giving their very best and worked so hard (2018 was the busiest and hardest time for them).

So you can say that all the downplaying actually had positive impact on ARMY and BTS.

BTS were the target of hate since debut, they got compared to BAP a lot at first. I remember it was a Radio Star ep that aired in which a BAP member was a guest where the MC mentioned that BTS stole all their fans or something which was extremely disrespectful to say to both groups. But you'd think that its MC's fault to mention it like that but it was kind of a general opinion of kpop fans back then.

Then comes all the plagiarism accusations, them copying the hairstyles, locations, outfits and so on and other fandoms ganged up on them a lot for that.

Their music show controversy was blown up unnecessarily a lot as well, about them being tryhards, about V's exaggerated expressions and them being disrespectful and all that.

That award show controversy with YG family was kinda awful when TOP's sister also liked a post in support of the plagiarism accusations. It fueled the fire and BTS in turn got tons of hate.

Eldeweiss mentioned everything and more that I came here to mention so I'll just end my post with this note. Leaving alone the fandoms that are known to be aggressive haters, BTS got disrespected even by variety show hosts with Yoongi being completely edited out of Weekly Idol ep and more.

Quote from nevermindmejin

Initially it really wasn’t to brag but as time goes by yeah, it became funny to see some kpop fans get so annoyed with it.

I’m not an old ARMY, I joined in 2017, and I remember at first we wanted to spread BTS’ music and contents because they are just so good, and the side result of that are the charting and awards etc.. which many kpoppies (and western media) downplayed and doubted.

Because BTS was downplayed so bad, the next thing we focused on at that time was making BTS so big and so high up that no one can dispute their impact anymore. And BTS fed the energy by giving their very best and worked so hard (2018 was the busiest and hardest time for them).

So you can say that all the downplaying actually had positive impact on ARMY and BTS.

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This is what I remember most re my early days of officially being ARMY in early 2019. I casually listen to BTS since Spring Day but didn’t delve into the group or fandom until then. The first impression of ARMY was the positive and coordinated actions to spread BTS’s music and inform other music fans about the group.

I didn’t even realize all the huge hate and scandals until I join KPOP communities and was a bit shocked at how so many ppl. hated BTS (and still do…)

Quote from Eldeweiss

2013 ARMY here and it's a long story but before the rise of BTS, there was a war between SM and YG stans that they suddenly forgot to gang up on BTS.

In 2013, no one was truly speaking about BTS because they were nugus so just the fans. I saw once or two bad comments about BTS being the Walmart version of B.A.P but nothing more. They were mocked for being nugus and their looks but I don't have the impression that it was specific to Big3 fans or even Kpop fans.

Then, in 2014, there was a first controversy because EXO-Ls accused them of copying EXO for wearing school uniforms in Boy With Luv MV. There were multiple plagiarism accusation by SM stans over the years.

In 2015, it was probably the worst year because BTS became a solid mid tier group and you could even consider them a top group in some ways (their sales were already rising in 2014 but the growth was quick and massive for a non Big3 group back then). Most of their fans were not Korean and it was something new. So when they got their first music show win, they were accused of Sajaegi (chart manipulation and fake album sales) because they outsold BigBang.

A lot of International ARMYs posted their purchase receipts on Twitter and the case went to court because the rumors were so bad.

In 2016, they were mocked and criticized for their outfits in Fire MV since it was YSL and some Big3 fans who used to mock them for being "poor" said that they wore fake luxury items, another lie. After that, they won their first daesang at MMA for the best album of the year. All hell broke loose. I have never seen a group being dragged like that. A similar case happened in 2017, when they won another daesang and EXO-Ls flooded the Blue House with a petition because they wanted MAMA to shut down.

In 2017, Big3 fans went wild when BTS attented the BBMA to receive their first award there, the Top Social Artist. BTS were called beggars, sell-out and it was called "the paper award". Big3 fans said that they were no chance for them to make it in the West since their faves like Wonder Girls could not make it.

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Been a fan since 2015. I think you summarized it pretty well.

Also, a pretty big reason why a lot of fandoms hated BTS back in 2015 was because they found ARMYs annoying for mentioning the boys everywhere, including on unrelated YouTube videos. I get that it could be irritating but none of that deserved intense backlash from the community since it was actually really just harmless rising non-Big 3 group fans seeking each other out online.

I remember Kpop fans trying hard to deny that BTS was even a ‘trending group’ in 2015 because BB had another successful year and IKON had a hit debut.

I became a fan early 2014 but I didn't have twitter nor followed news sites therefore I was in the dark for a while about the harassment they got until the 2016 MMA win when exo-ls fliped out

It was my first time seeing fans harassing actual staff and writting goverment petitions to undermine someone's work over a music award

i casually listened to them in 2017 but became a fan in 2021

so i can't say much

but what other ARMYs have said and i saw myself was that it was a lot and just bad but look what matters is that BTS is on top and has ARMYs ready to defend them at any moment

been a fan even before their official debut

lets say there is a valid reason why i hate sm and yg stans

they've come such a long way from those days, unimaginable heights

All I know is that there was smear campaigns against them.

As a former SM stan, I used to believe SM was the best company. I remember being surprised when BTS was winning lots of awards but now that I'm ARMY, i get it.

as 2013 army (N.O. is my first stage experience), one thing started YG stans hatred to BTS is because armys back then brave to say bts' rapline is better than bb. it's small enough, but was started in reddit and true to reddit's nature, people start to back and forth with the technicality strength of both sides and debate got pretty big (got into /rap page). but the bitterness already began from there because in 2014 thinking anybody can outshine gd and top's rap prowess in kpop? unheard of

army were also being seen as internet nuisance with "any army here xD" comments on youtube simply because bts vlogged and tweeted so much and talk about variety of topics so it was not uncommon to see i.e. "i got here because of namjoon" on non-bts videos as top comment

and then jimin's hair color plagiarism, taehyung's stage "attitude" at psy's music show win, which at this point bts was unofficially number one enemy for yg groups' stans in pann and theqoo. sajaegi accusation and court, then gaon music award stage, and break wings project happened. this period of time was also where i-army and k-army started to support each other from cyberbullying

if anybody want to know army's rebuttal in White Paper Project for 2018 jimin's "scandal" of shirt with atomic bombing picture and "liberation" text (which is basically true to asian nations under japanese empire) which was being worldwide issue no thanks to kpop ifans on twitter, the pdf is still up online and has been revised several times. they also tried to tie jungkook' yellow umbrella in season greeting with hongkong protest to gain hate from mainland china but it failed because there's zero context, duh, but it was big at weibo for a while.

everything after that is basically respond of bts' popularity on western industry and talking about that just feels like punching down for me so.

Quote from turtleneckjoon

as 2013 army (N.O. is my first stage experience), one thing started YG stans hatred to BTS is because armys back then brave to say bts' rapline is better than bb. it's small enough, but was started in reddit and true to reddit's nature, people start to back and forth with the technicality strength of both side and debate got pretty big (got into /rap page). but the bitterness already began from there because in 2014 thinking anybody can outshine gd and top's rap prowess in kpop? unheard of

army were also being seen as internet nuisance with "any army here xD" comments on youtube simply because bts vlogged and tweeted so much and talk about variety of topics so it was not uncommon to see i.e. "i got here because of namjoon" as top comment

and then jimin's hair color plagiarism, taehyung's stage "attitude" at psy's music show win, which at this point bts was unofficially number one enemy for yg groups' stans in pann and theqoo. sajaegi accusation and court, then gaon music award stage, and break wings project happened. this period of time was also where i-army and k-army started to support each other from cyberbullying

if anybody want to know army's rebuttal in White Paper Project for 2018 jimin's "scandal" of shirt with atomic bombing picture and "liberation" text (which is basically true to asian nations under japanese empire) which was being worldwide issue no thanks to kpop ifans on twitter, the pdf is still up online and has been revised several times. they also tried to tie jungkook' yellow umbrella in season greeting with hongkong protest to gain hate from mainland china but it failed because there's zero context, duh, but it was big at weibo for a while.

everything after that is basically respond of bts' popularity on western industry and talking about that just feels like punching down for me so.

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I didn't know some of this, dang.

Quote from catzi

How was the attack by big3 stans to downplay BTS's growth like?

I only remember BAP vs BTS

with BAP almost winning everything until theyre doomed by themselves.

BTS's Just One Day + Boy in Luv era was their peak imo. I still cant get over that era despite now i no longer following them

Quote from MassiveKpopFan

I didn't know some of this, dang.

living through 2014-2016 as army in internet was hell because everybody ganged up on army and mind you it was also the time 2nd gen fans strived and their fanwars are scarier with doxx and online stalking. worst experience not recommended. after those years everything bts gain are just miraculous, nothing sort of what i expected, am living fandom life in pure gratitude that they didn't give up on music and themselves

I'd say they got the usual hate every other group gets, nothing really outstanding here.. i think the real problem started when armys started bombarding BTS name everywhere and by everywhere i mean not related BTS content, so ofc they started getting dragged by fandoms for anything all the time .. in the end it was the most effective marketing strategy ever in history.

This is my own experience as an army since day1.

The bts hate train started in may 2015, i need u era, when they got accused of sajaegi. I'm telling you i was so stressed and depressed that time because the accusation didn't last just for a week. A lot of negative articles about the sajaegi for their album sales every single day until the international armys pulled out the receipts of their bulk buying purchase. Ofcourse the hate didn't stop right there and it got fcking worse. They also got accused of sajaegi in digital because their songs were lining up in melon. Big 3 stans were livid because how come a group from non big3 was thriving 😂 bts members got dragged for no reason every week on pann for example Taehyung was criticized for singing loser by bigbang in music show encore like btch pls give us a break🙄

Year 2016, fire era was my last straw. The number of armys has multiplied as well as their haters. They were accused once again for plagiarizing shinee for their young forever concept. The moment that got me deactivate my twt account was when kpoppies made fun of them for wearing fake gucci in their album concept. Kpop fandoms especially big 3 stans where laughing and mocking bts and it even got trended. I'm not exaggerating when i said it was armys against other kpop fandoms. I also believe it was armys who made the term "kpoppies" that time.

Aside from the "any armys here" craze and "The Most Beautiful Moment In Life" era. The "WINGS" era was when their popularity skyrocketed. Even big 3 stans could not question anymore their album sales and melon rankings because they are "that" popular.

A lot of bittersweet memories happened but look at them now. Who would've thought?

Quote from gerrard174

I only remember BAP vs BTS

with BAP almost winning everything until theyre doomed by themselves.

BTS's Just One Day + Boy in Luv era was their peak imo. I still cant get over that era despite now i no longer following them

When it comes to popularity it's exo vs. bap, they're the real enemy. The only thing bts was compared to bap because of their concepts overlapping with each other. Unfortunately bap's limelight didn't last that long.

Been a fan of them since 2014, from what I saw it was a lot of radio silence. Like people would just completely exclude them from hot/trendy group and song lists until Dope and then people acted like they were just kinda popular for being loud and fun. It was in 2016 when the hate really kicked up cause they started winning major awards and we're too successful to be ignored, but even then people tried to minimize their success by putting Wanna One over them in Korea, Exo for Chine, etc

Edit: also people used Beast/Highlight against them by saying BTS would never surpass them as the biggest nonbig3 bg, very similar to how some kpop fans talk about big4 ggs versus gidle/Ive nowadays

Quote from Ves

Ah, knew this was coming!

Yes obviously it can't be left out, i have to admit even as a fan i found that annoying but i was happy seeing that after some time it worked and i reckon coming from a small company that was a smart move to compete with big3 groups regardless the hate they got for it, it was worth it because now no one comes close to BTS.

Quote from paradis

I know you are a very recent Army but what made you stan? What was it about the boys? It is always interesting to me when those already into Kpop stan them after knowing about them for years.

I wanted to know what was the hype about them so I started watching those compilations Youtube...BTS funny moments, try not to laugh challenge..that kind of vids..

I find them funny and entertaining.

Thinking about my baby army phase is making me cringe...

Quote from Kitty_Saurus

All I know is that there was smear campaigns against them.

As a former SM stan, I used to believe SM was the best company. I remember being surprised when BTS was winning lots of awards but now that I'm ARMY, i get it.

Really?

I used to stan a SM group too but got so fed up with that company way before I became an Army lmao.

When I began to stan BTS, I rmb thinking Bighit was 100 times better than SM but it was before Bighit turned into Hybe