#no this is not a quote of an army tweet this is a quote from bts member rm.

[bubmyg]

congrats on ur discharge dad.

[starryjkoo]

Just saw a so-called ARMY say that Jimin and Jung kook being "spotted" out together today is because of the Buddy System. Apparently to this very smart and educated person, that's how the Buddy System works; just as they enlisted together, when they are given off-days, where one goes the other has to go as well, it's not because they wanted to hang out with each other but because the system they enlisted under obligates them to do so..

Was it not months ago when JK was free and he was spotted out with Eunwoo and his 97 squad or something like that? I remember Taekookers and a few bitter ex-jikookers-turned-PJMs talking about "the first chance at freedom and he decided to spend it away from Jimin". Now they are obligated to be together even during their free time and stuff🤷🏽‍♀

The things we read...

Anyway, y'all Jokers stay safe✌🏽... and sane.

that is some insane logic 😭 I’d say there’s no way that person isn’t a closet tkkr but then again I remember how many ARMYs were crashing out in the quotes of a tweet that pointed out JK knew JM’s apartment password and saying “he probably knows all his hyung’s passwards!!!😡" so you know what, it doesn’t surprise me someone would say that.

That’s so funny though, Jikook’s military mandated Christmas vacation celebration lol. Maybe the military can team up with BH to give us Are You Sure: A very Jikook Christmas🤞

And yeah, those groups are so annoying, always flip-flopping on their narratives and in our business with the worst takes imaginable. Speaking of that though, I read a really funny post about tkkrs and the progression of their jkk enlistment denial arguments the other day, something like -

“enlisting together is fake news, wait for the official announcement” “they’ll be separated after thirty days” “they went to different units” “cooks live on a different plane of existence than other soldiers” and now we’re at “they’re only showering together because of the communal showers!!” so are they finally admitting they enlisted together or…?

Anyways, happy holidays everybody! Hopefully Jikook are enjoying their break and holiday too!! (and hopefully BH cut them a check and we’ll finally get that jkk live)

[wingzie]

Keeping a "Safe Place" on Social Media (As Army and a Jikooker)

In my opinion, social media needs to take responsibility for what it has become. I don’t think it ever will, because it feeds on negative attention, but I try to focus on what I can do to help. For myself and others.

My bio on Twitter includes the sentence “A Positive and Safe Space for everyone” and I take this very seriously. As a baby Army, I used to be in several GC’s for report pages. Back then, reporting used to be primarily done in GC’s privately and we tried to limit any engagement. Soon afterwards, I started to witness a change: Egos started to get big, there was a saviour complex with Y/N tendencies, some would start engaging with the posts we reported and deals were being made behind the scenes to protect certain accounts. It made me sad to see this change in priorities and it wasn’t why I joined them in the first place, so I left when things started to go bad.

What did I do instead? Mute, block and report with my own system. I tend to “mute” someone first if they really annoy me and then “block” a second time if they are a repeat offender. I will automatically block and report someone if they say something really bad. I do not engage. That includes: liking, retweeting or quoting. It boosts the harmful tweet. Even more so if your display name includes something related to BTS or the members and it will add to the trends. By taking away the engagement, you are taking away their audience that they are hoping to gain.

I have mentioned before how a particular anti revealed that they would aim to get on a report page's radar, because the posts on them helped advertise their posts and accounts. Their plan was rather like a business model and it was scay how well thought out it all was. It was also clear that they had help and was in a GC thrmselves, just like the report pages were. When report GC's started to die out, they grew even more with how public the fighting became. The antis figured out how the change in social media worked in their benefit, before the rest of the fandom and even the social media creators itself did. They still fail to this day to understand how fandoms (and the language within them) changes over time. The algorithm encourages these type of negative posts too. On my second account I accidently liked a BTS tweet and my feed suddenly contained so much negativity about them, rather than about their projects or joy.

But how is all of this linked with being a Jikooker? Because we sometimes end up boosting that negativity that we really shouldn't. I quite honestly do not care what their theories are, but I always end up seeing them somewhere. More than I see actual posts about Jikook sometimes. Someone reached out to me that they felt like they knew more about tker theories than about BTS or Jikook as a whole. It's also why, whenever something negative happens, I start to spam more Jikookry instead. It's actually how the Live Reactions series was created, because I wanted to counter those talking bad about it. And to help us relive it with fondness.

I also think there is a lack of understanding about what the word "cult" actually means. It is up to an individual to try to break free, but it might also be difficult. There was a post by a young girl who had been added to a tker GC by a friend from school. She wanted to leave, because it was quite frankly bullshit, but was afraid to because she had given the GC owner some private information that they had threatened to leak if she left. That is terrifying and I sometimes think back to that girl and how she is doing. If she did manage to leave or not. For some, they are persuaded to stay whether they really want to or not.

That adds an entire new layer to all of this: Children being on the internet too young or not understanding the implications of certain things. I am a 90's kid. It was drilled into me religiously about the dangers of The Internet. That doesn't seem to be a thing anymore though, or they are quite literally left to their own devices. Because of this, we sadly saw an increase of online crimes aimed towards children during lockdown. There needs to be more done and again social media needs to be taking responsability. Ticking a box claiming your age does nothing to protect anyone. Not every Army with questionable intentions is a child though, of course. There are those that refuse to watch content or rely on heavily edited clips. I get a lot of those edits myself in my inbox, either by tkers or jkers who have found them and asked if they are true. My common answer: No. This is also why I try to give sources and encourage anyone to try to watch all the BTS content that they can. I know there is a lot, but it will help you on your journey. What can be done to stop them? Honestly, not much. We can hope to encourage them though and stop those that wish harm in their tracks. How do we do this? By being louder in our support. Because, at the moment, we're being louder with our hate and social media is boosting that even more. Rather than the praise and love that BTS and Jikook deserve.

[ahaura]

Zachary Foster, Ph.d, historian of Palestine, has made a thread of a brief history of Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from 1890 to present. [His newsletter: Palestine, in Your Inbox] Pasted below:

Yesterday, on October 24, 2023, Israel's plans to expel Gaza's Palestinian population to Sinai, Egypt were leaked. Not surprisingly, this plan has a decades long history and dates to at least 2004, if not earlier. (Source)

Between Oct 7, 2023-present, Israel has displaced ~1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza through its campaign of indiscriminate bombing. (Source)

In May 2023, 178 Palestinian Bedouins were forced out of Ein Samiya (West Bank) after Israel repeatedly demolished their homes, threatened to destroy their only school & after their grazing land was taken by settlement expansion & b/c of settler violence: [Link]

In July 2022, the 100-person community in Ras a-Tin (WB) was pushed after a Jewish settler outpost was established 2km away. Since then, members of the Palestinian community have suffered from verbal abuse, harassment, theft & vandalism of property. [Link]

Between Aug 2022- August 2023, the 88-person community in al-Qabun was pushed out by Israeli Jewish settler violence & assaults by the Israeli army. [Link]

In July 2020, Israel made 70 Palestinians homeless in Khirbet Humsa for the 6th time. Israeli forces loaded the residents' personal belongings and dropped them off 7 miles away. [Link]

In 2019, 2 groups of Palestinian families near the Taybeh junction were pushed out:

Between June 1967 - 2016, Israel revoked the residency status--and thus the right to live in Jerusalem (or anywhere else in Israel) -- of at least 14,595 Palestinians from East Jerusalem in what amounts to "forcible transfers," according to @hrw. (Source)

Between 1968 -1971, Israel expelled 615 Gazan residents. Between, 1971-1988, Israel expelled another 90 Palestinains from Gaza. Source: Sara Roy, The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development, p.110

In 1967, Israel expelled 250K-325K Palestinians, including from Imwas, Yalo, Bayt Nuba, Surit, Beit Awwa, Beit Mirsem, Shuyukh, Jiftlik, Agarith & Huseirat. (Source: one, two)

In 1948, Zionist forces expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes. They also refused to allow ~750,000 Palestinians who were made refugees during the war back to their homes.

Source:

B/w 1891-1948, most Zionist leaders, inc. Theodor Herzl, Ahad Ha'am, Israel Zangwill, Arthur Rupin, M. Smilansky, L. Motzkin, Yoseph Weitz, Chaim Weizmann, M. Usshishkin, D. Ben Gurion, Moshe Shertok, thought it would be required to expel the Palestinians: [Quote Tweet]

Here are some additional screenshots if the statements of Zionist leaders from 1890-1948. And you wonder why so many people think Zionism was such a problematic, dare I say, racist idea?

[solarwynd]

There is no denying members like each other and are close to each other... But there are still these things they do that come off as rude there's no other way to see it. I already had a bitter feeling with "I did some lyrics" And "everyone is winning" comment right when jimin won something. But this time it's like there is no hiding for these ppl. I am side eyeing jin too at this moment. What's even more insane is that if rm really wanted to show how disappointed he is with the fandom that he didn't get billboard entry, he should have posted this when JK's never let go , a fan song debuted in hot 100 and not well promoted rm songs, but he decided to do it when jimin started breaking records. It's the same for seven release too, he had all good things to say about 7 when it was breaking records but "everyone is winning these days" when jimin won a music show. It's like when JK achieves something, it's inevitable and that's bound to happen, no questioning, but when it's jimin, starts guilt tripping the fandom lol. The translation tweets quotes are full of pity party as if armys don't usually do it whenever jimin songs do good, now members started adding fire to it.

“He did it on purpose, that man is active on every social network, he practically watches over them, it's obvious he knows what he can cause with his words, now I see how many are streaming out of pity, this harms him more than Jimin in my opinion. I don't think RM is bad, but he does feel envious of Jimin's achievements, I saw some asking why he doesn't do it when JK uploads something, but come on, what JK does is dirty unlike Jimin and that surely bothers him. I thought he was smarter, after all that Jimin did for him, he listens to him with the purest intentions and he pays him like this.” - #2 anon

I distinctinly remember him doing a live last year saying that he thought what JK was doing with his career was great (and this was after 7 dropped) Then again I don’t expect him to go on a rant condemning JK about the fraudulent activities surrounding his charting out loud so 🤷🏾‍♀️

But it is interesting how some of the members, armys and BH all have the same “chosen” view towards JK.

With him obviously going to Bang and demanding better promo and radio for RPWP, I’d say he just wants a chance at substantial commercial success and has blinders on for it. So Bang and Scooter gave him crumbs and he took it. And that’s why I don’t really think he cares about what’s “dirty” from what’s not or that he prizes Jimin’s means of success over JK’s. (Not that simple radio is in anyway dirty.) Now knowing that the image itself is from last year but he chose to post it now has me looking at him even more sideways though. Because he has consistently been online and the one time he posts during Jimin’s release is to moan about charting again. I don’t like that. And I’ve always said he’s justified in wanting his work to do well just like any other artist would, but again the timing was shitty. Cause armys are just using this to further their “Jimin is privileged” belief and to divert attention from his comeback to other members out of guilt and pity.

And the timing still would’ve been in bad taste had he done this post when NLG debuted on hot 100 though. Openly showing bitterness towards your team mates success like that especially when you’re the leader of the group would not be a good look at all.

Like OG anon there is love there and history, but with BTS there is such a frustrating lack of support and tact when it comes to certain things especially towards Jimin. It would take absolutely nothing out of any of them to write a simple “all the best” or w/e on weverse or a hype post on insta, but nothing. Even Jin gave the most indirect acknowledgment of MUSE with nothing else to follow. The only one who had any real type of well wishes was Hobi. And no one can tell me that Jimin asked them not to make a fuss cause he’s the type of person who loves praise and thoughtfulness from other people. It’s not about getting the validation either, like at bare minimum y’all are teammates. So the way the bulk of them act towards him just irks me.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The "Israel" X account tweeted on Tuesday night what it said was evidence of PIJ culpability in the attack, saying that “from the analysis of the operational systems of the IDF, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed through the vicinity of the hospital when it was hit”. However, the original version of the post included a video of rockets fired from the vicinity of Gaza City. The video was later deleted by the account, while analysts noted that the first public mentions of the bombing were at 7.20pm local time, whereas the video shared by Israel as evidence was time-stamped at between 7.59 and 8pm local time. That same account shared audio on Wednesday from the Israeli army claiming to be a conversation between Hamas operatives, in which they discuss the destruction of the hospital and pin it on PIJ. But Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza-based civil rights activist who has reported on Hamas for a decade, posted that the quote had been mistranslated from "they're saying" to "we're saying". "He's describing a rumour, not evidence," Shehada wrote, before going on to list other reasons for believing the audio was part of a campaign of misinformation. Alex Thomson, a correspondent for Channel 4 News, said "several experts" had told him the "audio tape of 'Hamas' operatives talking about the missile malfunction is a fake. They say the tone, syntax, accent and idiom are absurd." "They shot it from the cemetary behind the hospital," one of them can be heard saying. Francesco Sebregondi, an architect and researcher currently with the investigative NGO Index, told Middle East Eye that Israel was keen to provide material quickly for analysts to pin their conclusions on. "By quickly providing a number of poorly substantiated 'evidence' in the form of, for example, drone footage of the site, the Israeli army may also be counting on the eagerness of some Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) actors to use any image/material/data to quickly publish new content, or 'analysis' and thereby more or less directly support its version of the events," he said.

[sgiandubh]

This is not a political post

One more time, in caps and bold: THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL POST. But if I can, as a diplomat and a historian, bring some extra context and try and understand what happened today in S's world, so be it. Enough said about me.

I am fumbling with a ton of thoughts since this morning, when this link was shared with me by one of the closest people in my platoon:

In a nutshell: S signed that (in)famous letter, an initiative of APUK (Artists for Palestine UK), a network that's been operating since 2015. You can read it in full if you open the link and I suggest you do. You will soon find out that the letter, while correctly pointing out the atrocious gesture of bombing a civilian hospital in Gaza, asked the world's governments to 'end their military and political support for Israel’s actions'. Nowhere in that letter did the word Hamas appear, which would immediately point out as supporting what is a terrorist movement that is, alas, also part and parcel of the Palestinian government, under Mahmoud Abbas's weak, irrelevant aegis. The man is an old PLO/Fatah crone: fishy, ineffective and fairly corrupted. His position on the Holocaust is, to be elegant, a study in ambiguity. Enough said.

It is pointless and absurd to try and explain the whole situation in detail. I would have to go back at least to the Balfour Declaration (1919) or the no less infamous end of the British/LoN/UN Palestine Mandate (1948), if I wanted to simply scratch the surface of a subject that is everywhere these days. With an intensity of absolutely legitimate emotions that can simply not be measured by any counter on this planet, as we speak.

But the facts are here, and naïve S had no damn idea: 500 civilians were killed, Tuesday night, in the bombing of the al-Ahli Baptist/Arab Hospital in Gaza City. Hullaballoo ensued on a cataclysmic scale: first, Hananya Naftali, a digital aide to Benjamin Netanyahu recklessly wrote on X that the "Israeli army [Tsahal] bombed a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza". Then erased the tweet. Several video collages released by the Tsahal, the first of which was heavily contested by a NYT journalist (and former Bellingcat researcher) Aric Toler, point out towards the PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad)'s forces being responsible for the strike.

These quotes from an Al Jazeera paper sum up the ensuing scandal better than I ever could - selected by me, but you can and probably should read it all (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/18/what-is-israels-narrative-on-the-gaza-hospital-explosion):

No craters mean no airstrike and most probably a rocket failure. The uneasiness remained, that being said, at the highest level. And the planned US-Egypt-Jordan- Palestine talks hosted by Amman were abruptly called off hours before Biden landed in Tel Aviv.

To cut the story short: the letter is right to point out that you just don't bomb hospitals when you are at war, as per the terms of the Fourth 1949 Geneva Convention, dealing with the protection of civilians in times of war. Both Israel (signed in 1949/ratified in 1951) and Palestine (2014) are, as parties and signatories, legally bound by it, in the eyes of International Law. The only problem with it is that it purposefully omits to put things into context (whodunnit) and forgets the cynical truth: Hamas keeps hundreds of innocent Israelis and two millions of innocent Gaza civilians as its hostages.

Article 18 is at the core of the matter:

The last thing S should have done is to sign that fucking treacherous letter, without getting a second (third, fourth...) opinion.

S is a good man, we all know and love this about him. He is also one of the most naïve people I have ever seen in this lifetime. This is why his final reaction really, really moved this cynic, here:

I am taking this home and keep it. It deeply moved me (yes, me):

" I don't know nearly enough and trying to educate myself on the conflicts in the Middle East. I feel helpless and wish I could help in some way.'

I am sure 'someone nice' called and 'nicely asked", maybe even offered some scarce and biased details, to prompt an impulse signature. I am also sure S didn't read the letter himself. There is no harm saying you were wrong. He did it with dignity and grace - no, it was not easy.

This is a man of worth speaking. Bravo!

But for the love of all that's holy, Sir: don't you ever step into this kind of shit again. These things are far more complex than you could ever fathom and it's a very cynical world out there. Leave it to us, we are handsomely paid for it by our governments. I hear you and I am completely supporting this more than welcome withdrawal. It's not worth much, for sure. But it is an honest POV.

Also, John 8:7:

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Kindly refrain from politics in your comments. Let's not drag trash where it should not be, ever. Thank you all.

[mediapiays]

Honestly, Tetris should stop mentioning the other members. These people don't realize that billboard has no obligation to make all these videos about each individual member cause is not like they do it for every k-pop group let alone every member of a group. Armys are lucky Tetris likes BTS and is probably insisting on always talking about them no matter how little everyone else gives a shit. Any other host wouldn't bother to mention at least two thirds of the members since they're irrelevant outside of the group and anyone else definitely wouldn't have the patience this saint of a man has with armys/jjks/kths/tkkrs throwing a tantrum on his quotes every other week. Kths specially should be thanking him for even remembering Taehyung's irrelevant ass when the rest of the US still thinks V is just a letter in the alphabet.

Tetris is truly a fan of bts because if it was a journalist from any other company they would've said fuck it and started ignoring bts from the first instance of harassment. Look at cnn, they only tweeted once about bts ever since akges were in their quotes in their article about jimin.

[breathlesswordsbloodyknees]

On Maiar forms and "nullification"

Okay, I’m staying home to ease the stress of waiting for the result of Baby’s First HR Report and don’t want to think about it, so have some more meta. Expanding on these posts, part one and part two.

A deeper interpretation on this quote from Ósanwe-kenta, Vinyar Tengwar #39: “they(Maiar) became wedded to the forms of their evil deeds, and if these bodies were taken from them or destroyed, they were nullified until they had rebuilt a semblance of their former habitations.”

“they became wedded to the forms of their evil deeds": This, I kind of struggle with. I don't think it's a simple as they do evil deeds, they get stuck in their forms. But I also don't think it's as easy as they enjoy their form and their deeds so much that they're "wedded".  Some secret third thing. Interesting word choice there though. (sauron’s underlying “give me your troth" vibe every time he talks about the Rings echoes here imo but i have absolute brain rot about these two)

"and if these bodies were taken from them or destroyed" This for me is Jack Lowden Sauron in Forodwaith, the one that gets betrayed by Adar, kitten ears and all (I gotta find that tweet). He's literally at the height of his power (for that age, though Lowden Sauron plays it with a air of uncertainty, the shot of him taking a breath and looking up at the crown after he kneels) and he gets cast down from great heights. 

"they were nullified" I think you could take this a few different ways, but my theory is that Lowden Sauron's prideful evil overlord vibe is broken by his downfall and he slithers into the form of a low man. It's bed-rotting, really, wrapping yourself in a tattered blanket while you try to ignore the world and your mistakes. 

And there’s textual evidence for Sauron having repented after Morgoth’s fall. It’s referenced insubstantially in the Silmarillion, as a “some say” type story. Sauron “repents in fear” “lingers on Middle-earth” “beginning with fair motives”.

This concept is expanded on and solidified more in Letter 131, where Tolkien is trying to get the SIlmarillion published alongside lotr. He more or less says because of Mairon’s origin, Maia of light and beauty and perfection, Sauron was capable of loving or understanding other individual beings. But this was “correspondingly weaker” than his evil schemes, becoming “the sole object of his will, and an end, the End, itself” (“I see the end, Celebrimbor. So clearly. I have seen it from the moment I awoke. But his end…It was different than mine.” he spits out like he’s willing it to be true)

“until they had rebuilt a semblance of their former habitations.” So in a less-than-forgiving-for-the-nuances view, it’s Tolkien saying they’re evil and they’re gonna keep being evil. Rebuilding his former habitations to me has been Sauron’s steps in S2. What he did to Celebrimor, to Mirdania. Manipulation, cold calculation, violence. All he's ever know under Morgoth, dominance and submission, unrelenting. Old habits die hard.

And what he did to Galadriel. I have a lot of thoughts on how the fight in the finale played out. She’s a formidable warrior, Commander of the Northern Armies, giving it her all, she’s skilled. But he’s an ancient spiritual being, having been awoken since before the breaking of the First Silence. He’s eerily silent, parrying her grunts of effort with ease, doing his sick moves with the crown. He's smooth glass on a lake, but he's having fun. At least until she rebukes him, “The door is shut.” 

Then, his composure slips. She has denied him. His blows are vicious now, personal. He’s exerting as much effort as she is. (he fucking growls I stgggg) He’s attacking now, not just playing around, culminating in a brute yell as he strikes for her neck. His expression when she cuts his cheekbone, rage has taken over. (You cut Mairon? You cut his perfect cheek? Stabbing for Galadriel! Blood bond for 1000 years!!) 

And the stabbing. (i’m still gnawing on every bit of that scene, it’s what finally made me pick up the show) The stalwart defiance bleeds from her face, her eyes flutter, then are drawn to the crown inside her. The moment stretches between them, the music goes quiet. She knows, has known, that he’s evil. She’s seen the bodies, has seen the ruin, has sworn her oath. She's no silly schoolgirl. But in all his overlording terror, she never really thought…never really thought deep down that he would hurt her, at least not like this. 

And from his face, searching her eyes almost frantically, neither did he. 

One more step away from Halbrand, from Mairon. One more step back to Sauron, to Gorthaur. 

But then he twists the crown (that shouldn’t be as hot to me as it is) and at her gasp, his eyes widen, he exhales. There’s a greedy glint of fascination in his eyes, a slight upturn of the lips. Almost like he’s lost himself in playing her pain "like a harp", exquisite beauty for him to revel in. This is it, for me. He’s rebuilding a semblance of his former habitations, he’s back on the path to evil. It's his "fine, make me your villain" moment. I'll be the monster you think I am. (i think we’ll see some straying though. a girl can hope)

[jikookuntold]

A Word With Jikookers

“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduces them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” Gustav Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind

You might have known that most of my posts go under categories like analysis and reviews, and I usually don't address hates and haters in this blog except a few times that I had to respond to some anonymous asks, which is now turned off.

I'm aware that no Jikooker likes to be policed by other Jikookers, I hate that too. I hate woke Jikookers so much, and this is not about policing you guys or telling you what to post about. But, as someone who reads tweets on army Twitter on a daily basis and follows almost every drama between shippers, I'm aware that antis sound so bold and brave recently for no specific reason, and this is expectantly triggering most Jikookers to fight back.

Haters get hit tweets by "comparing" moments, shading members, bringing back their old and frequently debunked theories, and fabricating the dumbest stuff to give themselves some sense of winning against the loud and clear truth of Jikook. If there was any competition, they had lost it many times since 2017, but this breed is not going to admit their defeat, and you can never convince them no matter how strong your logic and evidence are. 

I did that a few times, yes. I convinced several hardcore Taekookers that their ship is not real, and if there is one duo in BTS that might be romantically involved, it's Jikook. They admitted that to me after facing the evidence and facts that were hidden from them, but it didn't last long. Just a few days of interacting with their Tkkr fellas was enough to get brainwashed by more appealing theories and call me a liar and manipulator lol. This chain will never break, looking at the community of shippers in 1D made me sure about that.

It's not that they are trying to convince you (us, Jikookers), they are trying to convince themselves, the newcomers who have no clue about what goes on, the Tkkrs with some brain cells left who start to lose faith, and any weak mind out there is their target. It's already a lost battle for them, and they know it well. All they want is fewer losses.

But it's not just that, besides their attempts to keep their community big and in the majority, they are doing their best not to let you feel satisfied or winning (in the competition they made inside their minds). You need to knw that this is a mental war against Jikookers, and it's not just done by Tkkrs, all the breeds of Jikook-antis are on it these days, that's why I'm addressing them as antis and not just Tkkrs. For example, the other day, a JJK akgae tweeted something like 'jikookers are mad because JK likes girls', but in the quotes and replies, she had admitted that she was annoyed by Jikookers celebrating Jikook's new military photos. 

It's clear who is mad here. They deliberately and blatantly lie and project to belittle you, trigger you, and reach some level of satisfaction by affecting you mentally. So, don't let that happen, don't give them what they want. I already said there's no battle or competition, but don't let them win this mental war against you.

Why So Serious?

Joost Meerloo, in his famous book 'The Rape of the Mind,' says: “Logic can be met with logic, while illogic cannot, it confuses those who think straight. The Big Lie and monotonously repeated nonsense have more emotional appeal than logic and reason. While the people are still searching for a reasonable counter-argument to the first lie, the totalitarians can assault  with another.” Although we are not fighting a totalitarian regime lol, this is the exact reason that arguing with antis is pointless. They use 'theories' to debunk the 'moments', and call the real moments 'delusional and fake' while celebrating total lies.

 

Debunking lies is necessary, and everyone should do that as long as they are armed with perfect and mouth-shutting evidence. Otherwise, you should avoid it because nothing is more damaging than doing a bad defense. And these debunkings and defendings don't have to turn into arguments.

Joost Meerloo, in the same book, talks about a solution: “We must learn to treat the demagogue and aspirant dictators in our midst with the weapon of ridicule. The demagogue himself is almost incapable of humor of any sort, and if we treat him with humor, he will begin to collapse.”

Yes, you can debunk, correct, educate, and even argue in an unserious manner. Shipping is not that serious, anyway. Good humor is not insulting, we don't want to drag down or set anyone up. Spreading facts and truth positively and debunking lies with humor and ridicule is all we need to do instead of endless fights and anxious clapbacks.

This post was supposed to be a word, but it turned out as a long and boring essay of information that I'm sure most of you already heard so many times. But it doesn't hurt if we get reminded sometimes to think more deeply and get a better view on what we are dealing with.

[thisone1]

To @lauvamp Since i can't really quote u on twitter as my acct doesn't show up for some reasons, either my acct didn't show up or u ignored those tweets of mine asking u about it hence i had to ask u here. So May i know why despite saying you're an army and a jungkook biased you interact with jimin antis? why are you happy that a Jungkook FB will go to someone who's a freakin taekooker and a jimin anti at that? the same jimin whose art u make and ask for commissions by the way. like i don't care if you're ot6 and hate jm because you do you but then stop acting like high and mighty lecturing others regarding their treatment towards Jungkook while constantly agreeing with jk solos who even call armys "Armin" a name given by vile jk solos to the fandom army because they think all armys are jm solos. This is you quoting sara I'm assuming (can't see Sara's acct Maybe I'm blocked or for wtv reasons but by name assuming it's sara because u have also made other replies hoping that sara handles that archivejk account (the previous admin was Also jm anti closeted tkkr btw always excluding jm from every jikook update but being first to post jk's pictures with tae lol)

This is also you using videos of tkkrs who literally has that supposed TK symbol (no one's more delusional than those with that zoophile symbol thinking it was created by Taekook).

If you dislike jm and think he's fandom's favourite do me a favour and stop using his face to make art and commissions because that's pretty much shameless behaviour. the person about whom you're happy that they'll get to handle jk's solo fb aka @rapperjk or wtv is that @ is a Taekooker and interacts with and follows many jm anti Tkkrs. they constantly engage with those Tkkrs and even used to follow the infamous Tkklives who's known as the BIGGEST jm anti. mind u sara used to follow Tkklives' twitter acct which actually was private and she use that to write Taekook aus so you're telling me @lauvamp that you and ur fellow jk solos are happy that jk's fb is going to get handled by a jm anti? sara used to follow Tkklives up until 2024 until i called her out and she blocked me and unfollowed Tkklives. unfortunately i don't have screen recording of her following tkklives because it was in 2024 but i have one screen recording from 2023(of her old acct) where one can clearly see her following the biggest jm antis even at that time. if this is what y'alls defination of "Jungkook lovers" is then i pitty Jungkook that he has those kinda Shippers as his fans in the name of solos and hopes no one gets fans like those.

Although there's too many things i have seen u like and rt @lauvamp regarding jm with those constant shades from jk solos(i have qted u that time as well but u ignored) but for now I'd like it if u explain this since you do tweet about morals and support and being true fans and what not so lemme see how that ot7 in you is letting you do all of this. And if I get blocked in return rather than a simple answer then I'd understand that like almost all other jk solos you're also a Taekooker and are completely fine with jimin hate and jimin antis despite calling yourself an army or Maybe you're not to begin with.

The reason I'm also making this post is because i see so many jm lovers rting ur fanart of jm so it doens't sit right with me that someone who likes, rt tweets that shade jm yet makes art of his face and calls themselves as an army who's supposed to like all members lol. U should be questioned exactly the way you make tweets asking other ppl right?

I'm also not at all against any members having solo fans in fact i think every members should have their own solo fans because given the way many armys went on hiatus along with BTS's hiatus there has to be someone who are willing to see them shine individually as well unlike those armys who couldn't see members as individuals so I'm in all support of members having solos. If you're a solo you should own it, if you're ot2 you should own it and if you're ot4 then also you should own rather than being pretentious. I wouldn't ask for any explanation if you were just a jm anti or just a jk solo but since you call yourself ot7 and jk biased and also use jm's face i do expect the explanation.

[dearweirdme]

https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/755619696357900288/i-absolutely-believe-now-tae-is-intentional-with

no but the fact that i saw someone in the quotes of a tweet about the love my way shirt saying he’s “the gayest straight guy they’ve ever seen” and they think he’s straight because “he’s dated a woman” but in their bio they said they’re bi……. i don’t know why armys are specifically sp obsessed with tae being straight multiple members do way less than him and get called gay it’s crazy

Hi anon!

Mmm, well.. I think there’s two other reasons aside from homophobia that makes people go against the Tae is queer possibility. The obvious one is that people don’t like tkkrs, and Tae and/or Jk being queer is a little bit too close for comfort. Some people just want to be right and:or as far away from being connected to Tkkrs as they can be. Calling Tae or Jk queer is often directly associated with Tkk.. wonder why 😂. The same could actually be said for Jm as well I think. Recently I got an ask of someone being surprised that I (as a tkkrs) think Jm could possibly be queer.

The other reason is that people might not want to assume his sexuality without him saying so.. which might seem respectful, but making straight the default is still assuming someone’s sexuality.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP I'm so exhausted and heart broken over this NewJeans mess. Funny thing is I got into the group after seeing you talk about them late last year, I fell in love with Ditto and started watching them closely. I saw how MHJ would treat them and smile at them in candid shots like the Lolla show, and felt at ease that they would continue to succeed with her managing them.

But since this issue started when I try to express why I'm uneasy with HYBE controlling NewJeans, I'm downvoted to negatives on reddit and qrted to hell on Twitter. Army friends have unfollowed me even though I've said I'm against the hate on BTS. I don't even stan NewJeans the way I do BTS, but because I'm critical of Hybe and siding with Ador, I'm called all sorts of names and yesterday Armys tried to suspend my account. Even BigHit's former choreographer has come out in support of Ador, other idols have publicly come out in support of NewJeans and N Capital came out to refuse Hybe's claims that MHJ met them to take Ador out. I feel things are not as Black and White as Armys are saying about this issue, and that NewJeans is under risk if MHJ leaves.

Everybody is calling me crazy and on one hand it's whatever. I know how kpop stans are in general so I'm not surprised, but I'm truly starting to worry. I started writing this ask 3 times before settling on what I've written now, because I kept getting choked up. I know its just kpop and I shouldn't be this attached, but I'm so scared BPP. Those girls are not even 2 years old as a group and their future is already looking so bleak when at the start of this year, their future was so bright. I remember you said they might technically even get a Grammy nomination this year. I feel sad and angry but I'm unable to express myself freely in all the fandom spaces I usually spend time in.

What should I do? How can I handle this? If it were you, what would you do? Sorry if this ask is super whiny but you always have good advice and I need some right now.

***

Listen, you already know what you should do. You just seem to lack the will to do it, at least that's what it seems like.

ARMY is the largest fandom in k-pop and they've deemed NewJeans as persona non grata. Most other HYBE fandoms also aren't looking too keenly on NewJeans and with how obsessive k-pop stans are in everything they do, this will be a long-term problem for NewJeans and their fandom. If Bunnies were a bigger fandom it wouldn't be too much of a problem, but they aren't, so the lifetime of the group is already halved.

If you only got into NewJeans six months ago and you're already this attached, you need a cold turkey break. Things are looking grim given the girls have expressed support for MHJ, and it's very unlikely HYBE will lose this case. Those girls are more or less done, so I'd say you should cut your losses and start detaching from them now to spare yourself more heartbreak later. Also, block the 'ARMY friends' who are downvoting, quote tweeting, and otherwise harassing you. You're in fandom to enjoy a community about the things you love, not to get stuck in never-ending arguments with people who have little else going on in their real lives.

The primary danger of k-pop, is getting sucked in. A lot of people here are fully, irredeemably sucked in. On both sides of this matter, ARMYs, Bunnies and kpoppies alike, the majority of this crowd is people who think they are normal but have lost any real semblance of perspective on what this industry is and of their place in it. You need to cut loose because you seem to already be in a somewhat fragile state, and what this space does is pervert that hurt you feel into a tribal sort of resentment.

I can't really say what I would do if I were you, because I don't feel attached to NewJeans the way you do. It's a shame the girls have become collateral damage, but given how quickly they became massively successful in this industry, this is unfortunately a more expected outcome for them, than not. It's sad, but that's the nature of things here. I like BTS, but like I've said many times before, I don't see myself as having any significant influence over their careers and choices. Whatever they choose to do with HYBE or whatever is their business, I simply keep supporting them for as long as I like them and the music they make.

This mess with HYBE is peculiar (and different from the 50-50 case) because NewJeans and ADOR are saying they don't want to leave HYBE (yet), while HYBE is punishing them as though they are asking the courts to let them leave HYBE. It's created a situation such that even if NewJeans stays or leaves, they are in a sense doomed, to be blunt. And you need to make your peace with that.

Some ideas to help:

A cold turkey break is very needed. The way you're talking about this group doesn't seem healthy. It wouldn't seem healthy if you were talking about BTS either. It might be a good idea to block anything related to k-pop for the next two weeks. Things will only get messier because the stakes are high, and HYBE has shown they have no problem going low. For your sanity, I really think you should stay away cold turkey and tightly curate your online spaces when you return.

Consider stepping away from Twitter and Reddit. I'm less familiar with Reddit but for Twitter, you have the option of making your account private, blocking the ARMYs harassing you, finding more sensible Bunnies to commiserate with, using lists to keep up with topics and accounts, etc.

Consider spending more time on Phoning. After taking some time to cool off, use NewJeans' app to connect more directly with the girls to show them love and support.

Try to focus on the music. NewJeans will have comebacks on May 24th and June 21st. The best way to support those girls now, is to focus on their music and support that. Personally, I've already ordered full sets of their albums since this might be the last ones we see with Min Heejin's creative direction. (Also, they might become collectable lol). Of course I hope that's not the case, but supporting their music is the most direct way to support the girls right now, in my opinion.

I'm sorry you're in this state, I'm even more sorry that the girls are in this state, but you need to detach and remember they have their own lives, are making their own choices, and that has nothing to do with you.

Good luck.

[starryjkoo]

https://www.tumblr.com/starryjkoo/769233955285352448/tkkrs-and-kths-really-going-to-bully-away-one-of?source=share

Taekookers are the downfall of this Fandom lol. and given how they have given feee pass and a big space to tkkrs in the fandom despite knowing how most of them are jimin antis I'd say armys deserve that humiliation. But idt they even care since they do agree with what taekookers say most of the times because otherwise tkkrs wouldn't be getting 10k likes calling jimin abuser would they?

There was a time i used to feel bad/upset/angry that everyone calls armys toxic but it's been long i have accepted that yes it indeed is a toxic Fandom. What's good of this Fandom who lets everyone shit on one member and even hide/defend the people who does so?

Saw them saying that jm solos is because of whom jm gets the most hate as if he deserves getting dea/th threats because of his solos like they're totally justifying the threats and hate he gets so by their logic armys are the reason BTS are getting shitted on with 100k likes tweets every other day it seems? Well should i say deserved then?

I’ll almost always take ARMYs side over general kpop stans because I believe most kpop stans (not the normal ones minding their business) are bitter, hypocritical losers who are always looking for an excuse to hate on and discredit other idols (especially BTS) BUT -

Yeah, I’m never going to fully get over my resentment towards ARMYs for enabling tkkrs and allowing them to grow such massive platforms and have such presence in the fandom. Sometimes I look at how toxic things are and just think, deserved. And I agree, tkkrs are the main reason for the deterioration and division. There are other factors at play, but tkkrs sit at the center imho. And because I’m petty, I’ll admit that I have enjoyed the few times ARMYS were humiliated because tkkrs and their psychotic behavior were put on the jumbotron (like the post-Paris walk tkkr incident).

Anyways, yeah the Tetris situation is particularly upsetting because he didn’t do anything wrong and yet he’s getting mass harassed (literal threats and slurs, hundreds of ppl doing this) and you can tell how genuinely upset he is. And you don’t see a single big or even medium sized ARMY account in the quotes trying to shut that down or sincerely apologize to him (also no hit tweets about how nasty and vile KTHs & tkkrs are…). Maybe things have changed since I last went online (I hope so), but I was only seeing jkkrs, PJMs and some JM-biased in the quotes and comments. And I agree, I think one of the main reasons is because half of this fandom are tkkrs who agree with him getting harassed ngl, or they already dislike him because they think he’s too JM biased and resent him for it. It’s so messed up.

I want to say that it’s easy to miss these things sometimes so I understand why more ARMYs aren’t talking about it, but nah this time I’m genuinely perplexed. I’ve seen ARMYs bring attention to much lesser issues and this is actually pretty horrifying and could have lasting consequences for the group - so why aren’t they all over this trying to clean it up? Weird as hell and inexcusable to me. If he stops reporting on BTS it would be absolutely deserved.

Mind you, he was the one who wrote the article ARMYs were hyping up a few weeks back where he mentioned BTS paving the way. I bet he also advocated for them being included that high up on that list to begin with (greatest pop stars of the 21st century iirc). They don’t like him because he’s visibly JM biased and because he doesn’t fully understand all the insane fandom rules and nuances, but Tetris has actually been a source of such positivity for the whole group and a rare ally in western media. But they’ll throw all of that away because they think he’s too biased (& bc apparently he’s a “jkkr” because his two favorite members happen to be jkk, the two literal most popular members where he's from).

And on your last point, yeah 100%! The cognitive dissonance with some ARMYs and their logic sometimes? The way that literally the same day they were in the quotes fighting for their lives against the kpop stans who were blaming the harassment BTS receives on ARMYs, ARMYs were trying to blame the harassment Jimin receives on PJMs? Like, so which one is it? Don't they see the flaws in their own logic, because they're basically giving the greenlight to hate on BTS then. Even today that same gang of TH biased tkkrs I’ve complained about on here before were blaming Tetris for the hate Jimin was receiving instead of their buddies, tkkrs and KTHs. The hypocrisy of a lot of this fandom is realllllllllly frustrating sometimes.

TBF I have seen ARMYs call this kind of thinking out several times, once even in defense of Jimin, but obviously it’s an opinion that’s still pretty prevalent in the fandom and it’s frustrating and massively hypocritical.

Anyways, sorry for yapping so much. Maybe one day I’ll answer an ask without writing a whole essay 🥴 But today really bothered me, and I feel bad for Tetris. And my usual disclaimer, ofc I know it’s not all ARMYs and there’s plenty of normal ARMYs who love and support Jimin too. But yeah some days I really feel like this fandom is seriously cooked and they mostly have themselves to blame for it.

[solarwynd]

Yeah, the pjms that told that account to delete did fuck up, but it wasn't every pjm and there were armys too. But now of course it turned into a 'solos are useless and bad' thing. Armys always do this, they ignore all the good things solos do (like just this week getting filter that last n°1), but every little fuck up is used to prove that solos suck. And sometimes there's no fuck up at all and they straight up just blame pjms for things they didn't even do. And it's not like armys don't fuck up constantly too, with their inability to stay out of fights that have nothing to do with them which just ends up getting the members dragged. All fandoms are gonna have stupid people that fuck up in it, but armys sense of superiority and hate of solos means they can't seem to understand that solos are no worse than them. And it just really pisses me off, how dismissive armys are of everything solos do. Or worse, how they'll call solos useless and then take credit for things solos did. Calling solos useless when a lot of them don't do shit, but because they're an army that's okay. They think it's better to be an actually useless army than a very useful solo. It's really just a matter of pride, they wanna be the only fans the members have, they wanna be credited for every achievement. They say it's for the sake of members, but how? It's a good thing for an artist to have their own fans, especially when they're making solo music. Like, are you really gonna tell me that hyungline wouldn't massively benefit from having a sizable solo fandom? Nah, it's not for the members benefit, it's just army's possessiveness. They're like a single child that's about to get a sibling and starts throwing a tantrum because they don't wanna share their parent's love and attention. Like grow up, you don't own these man and you don't get to decide who can or can't be their fans.

I'm sorry for the rant, it just really frustrates me to spend money and time supporting an artist I like just to have stupid people online say I'm useless and not a real fan just cause I don't care for the music of 6 other guys.

I saw a tweet from an army quoting popbase’s repost that said “solo stans you will never win.” And I was just real confused.

I really don’t understand why armys believe that solo stans intentions are to purposefully sabotage who the stan? No real pjm is gonna take pride in something that hurts Jimin. All they’ve been doing is trying to find ways to help him because HYBE isn’t doing their jobs.

But I do agree with you and I’ll also say to not even pay them any mind. You don’t need their validation. Most armys haven’t supported Jimin in so long out of pure bitterness. It’s hypocrisy and their hyper focus on pjms specifically is just a way to absolve themselves of guilt of doing so. Don’t let them get to you cause at the end of the day, I’m positive Jimin is happy with any support he gets army label or not and he’d thank you for it.

[jeannereames]

Do you see memes and shitposts about Alexander and his time? If yes, do you like them, you hate them? Would you change something about these memes?

I’m sorry. I’m just really curious about what a professor thinks about this. Do you perhaps have a favorite Alexander meme?

Well, for me there’s a big difference between memes and shitposts. The former can be rather entertaining, the latter are just trolling. Don’t feed the trolls. I realize I’m perhaps defining shitposting more narrowly than some, but there’s enough of the narrow sort out there I don’t want to confuse it with memes.

Meme are great. I have two favorites, although not about Alexander, ironically. I’ve shared them below. Both show up in my class Power-points, btw! Many of my colleagues also enjoy clever memes. My buddy Borja Antela was trying to collect some on Alexander last year. For a while, I followed Alexandergoatmemes on Instagram, but finally left because about 85/90% of them seemed to be about Alexander naming cities after himself. Sure, it’s funny maybe the first 20 times, but at 100+?

So memes are great. Shitposting and ignorant-posting, however, are annoying.

I’m deliberately creating that third category. Shitposters know they’re posting shit; ignorant-posters (usually) don’t. The latter put up videos, tweets, or blog entries about (in this case) Alexander that perpetuate a lie, a false quote, or an oversimplified-and-mostly-wrong factoid. Some ignorant-posters are just reposting what they heard because they don’t know any better and may receive correction well enough—especially if offered politely. Yet others get upset (sometimes disproportionately so) when their errors or distortions are pointed out.

This can be about controversial matters, such as Alexander’s putative “sexuality” or it can be something surprising. I once had a fellow fly off the handle when he posted that Alexander was left-handed and I (gently) corrected him.* You’d have thought I’d called his mother a whore. It seemed quite silly…except that left-handedness used to be considered a Very Bad Thing. So being able to claim famous people as lefties was apparently more for him than just leftie pride.

Aside from oddities, most of the ignorant-posting I’ve seen comes in three main types.

First, we have the religious/spiritual/life-coach sorts who usurp Alexander for a moral lesson—not unlike the orators of the (Roman-era) Second Sophistic, or both Muslims and Christians in some of the Alexander Romances. Alexander has ALWAYS been a malleable figure for lecturing. Ergo, he pops up in homilies/sermons as a parable, like his supposed Last Three Wishes. It is, of course, total bullshit, but there’s quite a lot of stuff like it out there. People read it, go “Aww,” and reblog without bothering to check if it’s correct. It has “the authority of hearsay.” These can be either Alexander-positive or Alexander-negative parables, btw.

See also: quotes attributed to famous celebrities that they never, in fact, said. Alexander gets these too. The ¡Inspirational! “Army of Sheep Led by a Lion” is especially egregious, as it’s a general proverb that appeared well after Alexander (no, he didn’t say it). It seems to be currently popular, along with, “There is nothing impossible to him who will try” (also not ATG). Yet these make great quotes for those damn “Inspirational Posters.” Here’s a whole page of them, lion quote right at the top, suitable for a Power-point!...with no attempt to verify their authenticity or say where they got them. But the image with the quote below is especially funny as they even put a date on their fictional quote. If it has a date, it must be true! Netflix, btw, used that bloody quote even though I told them not to; it was fake. Didn’t matter.

Second, we have the alt-right/white supremacist groups, or hangers-on who might reject the label (coyly or not) but embrace much of its Eurocentric thinking. These folks present Alexander as spreading good [white] Western values to the poor benighted East [brown people]. It’s essentially warmed-over Plutarch with a dash of Curtius and some Arrian. Their Alexander even sometimes has longish flowing (blond) locks and is oddly tall.** Like Thor. I stay the hell away from them but have occasionally stumbled over them on Tik-Tok.

Anyway, the alt-right crowd may have read some about Alexander, written by other alt-right guys who take material from a carefully curated set of “accepted” histories: Arrian and Plutarch, and not just Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, but his double-essay from the Moralia, “On the Fate or Fortune of Alexander.” They tend to be war/conquest-approving and see the Greco-Roman past as some pure Aryan utopia from which we’ve fallen into our “wretched age of iron.”*** Of late, a lot of their associated images are AI generated, btw. A couple examples below.

Last, and on the opposite end of the spectrum are the Alexander-was-Queer-AND-Wonderful, and oh, boy, some of them also don’t want a single bad thing said about their hero. They may know relatively little about his life aside from his putative gayness, but are just as resistant to/resentful of being corrected in their errors and romantic oversimplifications.

And that is what all of these categories share: oversimplification for the sake of a particular social and/or political agenda.****

Isn’t it, then, also shitposting? No. Because shitposters intend to stir the pot. They may or may not believe what they say, but they’re saying it TO get a reaction. Like the Tweet Heard Round the Alexander-verse after the Netflix thing (below). THAT was a shitpost. His entire goal was to go viral, and he succeeded.

By contrast, ignorant-posters usually aim for a particular audience and rarely expect to go viral outside their circle. Nor do they expect to be corrected. When they are, they react with surprise and anger. (Again, there are exceptions.)

I tend to observe these things, but rarely engage—although I did engage more when I was a young grad student. Now if I reply, it’s general (as here), not to the original post/tweet itself. TBH, I have books and articles to write, classes to teach, and papers to grade. 😉 I don’t have time for flamewars.

-----------------------

* Yes, I made Alexander left-handed in Dancing with the Lion, partly for the hell of it. But there’s zero evidence one way or the other—which I point out in my Author’s Note at the end of book 2, Rise.

** BTW, there’s a Whole Thing out there online about Alexander as tall, even Super Tall, claiming evidence which they don’t actually cite (correctly). Note the “many stories suggest….” Oh, really? These are? Anyway, I don’t think the author of that blog entry is alt-right—which is why I put it as a footnote—but dig the wacko AI white-haired Nordic Alexander at the top! And I’m still chuckling at a 7-foot-tall Alexander. Good Lord, how tall would that make Hephaistion?

*** Yeah, that’s a little bow to Hesiod’s theory of the Ages of Man.

**** Note that I didn’t include Greek Nationalists. While some of them also swing right (Golden Dawn, Front Line, National Reform Party, etc.), many are more moderate. Alexander is a Greek hero, and if what’s presented about him by some is also oversimplified to fit a national narrative, it doesn’t spring from ignorance so much as deliberate choice and what they learned in school/at home. Think about what the average (white) American knows about George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, or for that matter, the average native person about Tecumseh or Crazy Horse.