School Librarian in Action: December 2025

Friday, December 5, 2025

Thursday, December 4, 2025

Bangtan Hermana Notes: Plurality in Fandom

RM once said during Map of the Soul ON:E:

“Our first march started with a very small dream of seven little boys… Along the way, we met many people who were like us. Anyone can join us. BTS is not just a story of seven people.”

I find myself going back to this quote of Namjoon a year after I wrote about ARMY multistans and multistaning. It comes at the wake of Jin losing the Daesang at the MAMA 2025. Threads is ripe with discussions on fandom identity, solidarity, belonging and evolution besides.

I face this conflict once again: the tension between plurality and loyalty.

RM’s words are true. The march did grow. ARMY is no longer the single, roaring purple wave we once were. We have become an ocean with many currents: multistans, old fans, casual listeners, new joiners, soft stans, tired stans, nostalgic stans, hopeful stans. Different hearts. Different histories. Different ways of loving.

This plurality is not failure. It is the natural evolution of a fandom that has lived, changed, and endured for twelve years. It is the proof that BTS’ love has made room for many forms of belonging.

But if I am honest, plurality also carries consequences, especially in spaces that demand focus, unity, and numbers: streaming, voting, charting, award shows.

It was painful to see votes split. To see playlists divided.

To watch Jin lose a Daesang not because he lacked impact, but because ARMY today walks many roads at once. And for a moment, I felt torn:

How do I embrace plurality without abandoning my own sense of devotion?
How do I honor different journeys while grieving the effects of divided participation?

The answer that found me was simple, gentle, and grounding: Plurality explains how fandoms evolve. Loyalty explains how I choose to love.

I can now acknowledge the multiplicity of ARMY with kindness without erasing the clarity of my own devotion.

I can now understand why multistans exist, why priorities shift, why the ocean no longer moves as one and still firmly choose my lane: My votes are for BTS. My streams are for BTS. My energy, intention, and love remain with BTS alone.

Not out of hostility toward other groups. Not out of disdain for multistans. Simply because this is where my heart has chosen to stay.

This is the distinction I needed: a boundary that is honest, not bitter; clear, not harsh; kind, not compromising.

RM said “anyone can join us,” and I believe that. Everyone’s way of loving BTS is valid.

But my own way is focused shaped by twelve years of sincerity, memory, and a bond that has never asked me to look elsewhere. Plurality and loyalty are not enemies. They simply live in different chambers of the same heart.

So as Jin’s birthday approaches, and my favorite album by RM celebrates its 3rd year, I return to what has always been true for me: We show up because the heart remembers.

I stream and vote for BTS because their story is the one I walk.

I honor plurality with kindness, but I stand with BTS with clarity.

And in this, I find peace. Not the peace of uniformity, or belonging to a clique or an exclusive group, but the peace of knowing who I am as a fan, and with joy of who I am marching beside.

Apobangpo! Purple and true!