#Also that $10M amount isn't actually confirmed for Vbar

[beautifulpersonpeach]

You haven't answered my other V ask so you might be wanting to move on from this topic but I just have to ask. Don't you find 10 million USD on album sales excessive?? I'm talking about V's fanbase by the way. Isn't that money amount obscene to believe? Not to sound too conspiracy minded Peachy, but how can a kpop fanbase raise that amount of money? Can they do that through legal means or should sane people be worried? Also don't you think armys are acting irresponsible wasting that money on albums that they don't use when they could be using it for charity instead? I really respect your thoughts so I'm hoping to read your reply. Thank you in advance Peachy.

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So... you're asking me how a fandom that raised $1 million USD in 24 hours for a Black Lives Matter charity with zero notice btw, how the fandom that raised $100,000 USD in hours for charity in Megan Thee Stallion's name, can raise $10 million USD over a three-year period for albums?

It's basic arithmetic, is it not?

I guess it seems like a lot of money for someone uninformed on just how big the k-pop market is and on how much k-pop fans typically spend on comebacks (note: solo fanbase funds for Seventeen and Stray Kids easily exceeded $15 million USD this year, and it's reflected in their album sales). Also, I'm not sure how long you've been following me Anon, but when I talk about the size of ARMY fandom in absolute numbers, when we discuss things like fandom dynamics that replicate those seen in political systems, or insane ticketing rituals that are more complicated than those used by the Bey-hive, and merch prices etc, what scale exactly, are you picturing when I mention these things?

ARMYs are a lot of people. Lol I'm not sure you understand. And many ARMYs in my circle are working professionals and audiophiles who didn't blink when it came up in conversation that I've spent > $45,000 on speakers. Not trying to be a bitch, but I do think it's important context to know the demographics of the fandom, and to know most ARMYs just buy one or a few albums for themselves. Those with the means carry the bulk of the donations, however ARMYs huge absolute numbers also mean even micro-transactions or donations from people who perhaps cannot afford more, are several magnitudes more than in other k-pop fandoms. The ARMY fandom is literally constantly growing, and that's why BigHit can realistically stagger seven solo debuts in a one-year period and all seven artists will still outperform active k-pop groups.

"Also don't you think armys are acting irresponsible wasting that money on albums that they don't use when they could be using it for charity instead?"

I'm not sure I like your tone here. (1) Because it's pretty clear ARMYs can damn well do what they want with their money. It's incredibly patronizing to presume to know what other fans individually value or to dictate how you think other people should spend their own money, to presume nobody here can think for themselves to know what and how best to spend their earned income. We're in a hobby space, anyone who's already opened a fan account/blog is already in too deep no point sugarcoating it. We're here because we want to be and are getting something we still deem worthwhile for our own pleasure. So what if we spend whatever the fuck we want on our hobbies as within what we deem as appropriate? And (2) ARMYs already and comfortably do both. There's no k-pop fandom that's as heavily involved in charitable causes as ARMY. Take it from someone who's been around. Do you think mobilizing a fandom of hundreds of thousands of people to raise $1 million in 24 hours would be possible if that culture and the fundraising channels didn't already exist?

And this was before Dynamite. Before 60% of the fandom that's already here, joined.

The only place I agree with you, is in that a solo fanbase was so involved and could raise that amount of money in the first place. Because giving influence to solos is just a recipe for disaster. In my experience, akgaes are just fundamentally less intelligent people. Akgaes and solo stans or people who lean towards solo stanning (not including casual fans), are also more reactionary and impulsive, verbally/emotionally abusive, paranoid and prone to conspiratorial thinking. These are people with nearly zero ordered thinking skills and unwavering tunnel vision. They won't think twice about applying blatantly illegal methods or acting rashly if it means getting the result they want. If there's ever a massive scandal on the fandom or BTS, I can almost guarantee you it will be because an akgae fucked up or went too far. Also, I'm actually not certain all the funds raised by Taehyung's fanbase did so through legal means. That's what I mean about solo stans. Too many of them are literally just that stupid. And I mean, just by virtue of being a C-bar, it's fairly common for some bars to be linked to members of wealthy/political families in China and SEA. There's only ever been rumours, but it wouldn't surprise if it were true that some money involved was made by illegal means.

Which is one reason I hold on to my hope that people will refrain from partnering with solos, regardless of how things evolve for BTS, but given the way things are going, by 2026 the fandom will likely be a 65 : 35 ARMY : solo ratio, from what I assume to be 90 : 10 now. It's kinda bleak actually. But it is what it is.

Jikook will still be jikooking anyway and the music will still be dope. So BTS and HYBE will keep getting my money.