5th BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference: From Role to Responsibility: Intergenerational Mutuality in the Glocal Infrastructure of BTS Fandom

My paper, “From Role to Responsibility: Intergenerational Mutuality in the Glocal Infrastructure of BTS Fandom,” has been accepted for oral presentation at the 5th BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference in Jeonju, South Korea this July 2026.

This one is personal.

It comes from our lived experiences as ARMY mother and daughter walking the streets of Seoul during Festa 2025, carrying questions, holding hands, learning how love moves across generations and borders.

It asks what it means to grow together inside a fandom that is not just community, but infrastructure. Where participation and responsibility are the core of fandom culture.

Bangtan taught us that we do not stand alone. We arrive because someone held the door open. And so this paper is my way of saying: we see each other, we carry each other, we become better for each other. 

From role to responsibility. From fan to citizen. From here to there, and back again.

We are ARMY, always. 💜

Bangtan Hermana Notes: Fandom Beyond Hype: OD Lessons From a Golden ARMY

Fandom Beyond the Hype by zarah gagatiga

Fangirling @ 14 and 40: A Witnessing of the Lived Experience of Filipino Teenagers and Middle-Aged Women ARMY Zine Edition 2026

Three years ago, more or less, I wrote a paper that centers Filipino teenagers and middle-aged women ARMYs and examines how they navigate bias, prejudice, and joy in fandom spaces. Prompted by the clamor for acknowledgment and respect for Baby ARMYs in these age groups during BTS’s Enlistment Era, I recently revisited the paper and made revisions. 

Below is the abstract and the QR code for the full paper.

Fangirling @ 14 and 40: A Witnessing of the Lived Experience of Filipino Teenagers and Middle-Aged Women ARMY

By Zarah C. Gagatiga, RL

Read and presented at the 4th BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 16–18, 2023

Abstract

Teenage fangirls have long been stereotyped as shallow and irrelevant. On worse occasions, they are stigmatized as hysterical fans trapped in their own bubble of delusion. With the advent of K-pop, the screaming fangirl trope has resurfaced as well as the mature women who fangirl over K-pop idols, bands, girl groups, and boy groups alike. Teenagers or middle-aged women fangirls both experience prejudice and indifference from families, friends, and the larger society.

This academic essay explores the narratives and lived experiences of Filipino teenage girls and middle-aged women ARMY who, in one way or another, have survived and thrived in their own ways through interacting and engaging with co-ARMYs and their chosen fanbase. Using phenomenology as research design, the thematic analysis shows that Filipino teenage girls gravitate to the self-awareness and identity formation present in the art and music of BTS. On the one hand, middle-aged women are drawn to BTS’ songs and aesthetics that engage them to introspect, leading them to reclaim their lost selves and rediscover new talents and rekindle friendships with co-ARMYs in their age group. The essay highlights the unifying power of BTS in bridging age gaps and fostering camaraderie among female fans of diverse backgrounds.

Media Literacy in Fandom: Always Check the Source

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!

Bangtan Hermana Notes: From Me to We: On Personal Joy and the Collective and Communal Nature of Fandom

RC Muñoz’s autograph post. Ticketing battles won or lost. Barricade flexes and seated preferences. Again and again, fandom conversations circle back to this: personal joy versus collective care.

On the surface, fandom looks like a string of individual stories: I got lucky, I persevered with my iPhone 16, I saved for years. Social media magnifies this focus on the self, rewarding posts that showcase proximity or possessions. Hyperindividualism at its finest at a time of war, division and uncertainty. It is no surprise that the prevailing mindset becomes: “I’ll celebrate my way, and that’s enough.” It does not help that in a capitalist consumer culture, fandom is too easily reduced to what we buy, what we hold, what we can show.

The artists we stan becomes COMMODITY.

But fandom is not only personal. It is also communal. Lighting the MOA Globe purple, singing in unison at concerts, streaming in circles, organizing cupsleeves events and watch parties. These are not solitary acts; they are rituals of community and belonging. And as Clifford Geertz (1973) reminds us, rituals are texts we interpret. To do a “thick description” of fandom* is to see beyond the surface gesture and into the layered meanings: a light on a globe is not just electricity, it is longing, belonging, a collective claim to space. A cupsleeve is not just paper, it is memory shared over coffee, proof that ARMY is plural.

So why does individualism still prevail? Because it is the language capitalism teaches us. Because “celebrate your way” is easier than asking “who gets left out?” Because envy is deflected by shrinking fandom into personal coping, rather than expanding it into communal and relational accountability.

The challenge is not to erase personal joy, RC’s happiness is hers, barricade victories are theirs. The challenge is to keep joy mindful. Joy is sacred. And in fandom where fangirls are prejudiced, A WOMAN’S JOY IS SACRED. To celebrate with gentleness, knowing others were scammed, excluded, unlucky. To remember that purple is not just a personal color, but a shared one. These all point to connection and community despite individual differences.

Maybe ARMY’s work is to resist fandom being flattened into “me” and recover the “we.” To thicken our descriptions of what it means to be fans not just as consumers, but as companions, co-creators, caretakers. BTS has always reminded us that we never walk alone. That they are more than idols, artists and products of an industry. They are people. And in their art and music, we find humanity. BTS never sang alone, and neither should we.

Apobangpo. Purple and true.

* Geertz defines thick description as a method of interpreting culture by attending not only to observed behavior but also to the context and meaning behind it, like “sorting out the structures of signification” through which people make their actions meaningful (The Interpretation of Cultures, 1973, p. 6).

#BangtanHermanaNotes #ARMYAfterThoughts

Bangtan Hermana Notes: The Many Ways to "Purple You"

 

When Presence Feels Like a Gift: Navigating Ethics in Fandom Sharing

When BTS members Namjoon, Hoseok, and Yoongi recently attended the wedding of their longtime stylist, the moment resonated with ARMY. It was our first time to see our Rap Line Kings in one frame. Besides, it was not staged or publicized, but precisely because it was real. A quiet gesture of loyalty, friendship and affection. Namjoon gave a heartfelt speech recorded on video by a fan-guest probably. He even shared photos on his IG story. Then the deluge of photos and video clips from guests and fans.

As these images circulated, a thoughtful question arose: How is this different from the airport or vacation photos that fans often condemn as stalkerish or invasive?

Both involve public sharing. Both involve BTS. But the intention, context, and ethics behind them are worlds apart.

Let’s unpack this moment through a fan’s lens, with care.

Consent Is the Cornerstone

Namjoon posted about the wedding. Namjoon gave us a clue and chose to let us in, if only briefly and on a private yet meaningful occasion. In doing so, he gave what we might call tacit consent. The images ARMYs reposted were celebratory and respectful, not sneaky or exploitative.

Contrast this with the photos taken at airports or on personal vacations: BTS isn’t posting. They’re not performing. They’re just being there, often exhausted, vulnerable, or on personal time. Such moments, when snapped and spread without consent, cross the line from admiration into surveillance.

Presence is not permission. Just because someone is visible does not mean they are public property.

The Spirit of the Share: Celebration vs. Consumption

There’s a difference between:

• Participating in a shared, affirming moment (like reposting wedding photos taken with affection), and

• Consuming content for clout or curiosity, without regard for the subject’s agency or humanity.

Wedding content felt like the former. It was relational. Rooted in care. Namjoon’s words at the wedding weren’t meant to go viral, but in the short clip shared by someone present, there was love, responsibility, and tenderness. It wasn’t stolen; it was witnessed.

On the other hand, vacation and airport paparazzi photos often strip away the idol’s voice. They commodify presence, feeding a content-hungry machine. Even if shared by fellow fans, the tone shifts from celebratory to possessive. From “with” to “at”.

Cultural and Fandom Contexts Matter

In Korean culture, weddings are sacred community events. This wasn’t just an errand or a pit stop. It was the wedding of a long-trusted stylist, someone who’s been with BTS through transformations and triumphs. Their presence spoke volumes: about loyalty, about found family, about being rooted in gratitude.

ARMY picked up on that. The mood online wasn’t “Look, I caught them!” It was “How beautiful it is that they showed up like this.”

When fans treat BTS sightings especially uninvited ones as trophies or conquests, we ignore that idols have the right to disappear, to breathe without cameras. That’s where fan culture needs to evolve, I think.

A Gentle Guide for Thoughtful Sharing

Whether you’re a seasoned ARMY or new to the fandom, here are five reflection questions to guide us all when sharing choices:

1. Did BTS (or their staff) share or signal willingness to share this moment? If yes, repost with care. If not, think twice.

2. Does this uplift the member or intrude on their privacy?

3. Would I feel proud showing this post to them face-to-face?

4. Am I sharing out of love, or just to be first?

5. Does this add warmth to the community, or stir controversy, gossip, or discomfort?

Because We’re Building Something Bigger

BTS didn’t just give us music. They gave us a model for intentional living. They remind us, again and again, that love is not passive. It is mindful. And fandom at its best, is a space of relational ethics, not just emotional attachment.

So when we ask, “What makes this different?” the answer is not about the photo itself. It’s about how we hold space for others, even when they’re global stars. The wedding was a glimpse of something sacred and our Leader Nim invited us to see it. That’s a gift.

May we remain fans who know the difference.

#AoBFanSafetyCampaign #FandomCare

#ARMYofBangtan

#ARMYGlowUp2025 #AGUCommunication

Kuwentong Bangtan: Honoring Fan Loyalty While Holding Space for Respectful Co-existence

ARMY has always had a complex, evolving relationship with multistans (I say this from personal experience as well as initial studies into fandom culture). And I still hold this truth: there’s no single, correct way to love BTS or your Kpop idols. Or both. And all of the above. Fangirling doesn’t have to follow a template. However, fandom culture can serve as a compass: a guide for how we care for and interact with one another, not a set of rules to police, control, use one’s fan group authority over members who express a different opinion, even dissent. We can co-exist by honoring each other’s space and recognizing the moments we come together in joy, memory, and meaning.

I deeply appreciate perspectives that highlight inclusivity and musical exploration. To say, “We’re ARMY, and we’re here to appreciate BTS’ music and others’, too,” is a valid and thoughtful stance. After all, art invites openness, and BTS themselves have never asked us to close our ears or hearts.

But here is where the complexity lies: being ARMY isn’t just about enjoying music. It’s an identity shaped by shared history, grief, joy, activism, and meaning-making. For many of us, choosing to stay rooted in BTS, especially in moments when it would have been easier to drift and stan other groups, wasn’t just preference. It was intention. It was love made active. And that choice, while never demanded, does hold value. It forms the core of a community that didn’t just survive BTS’ absence during enlistment, it grew, reflected, and remained.

That said, now that BTS has returned and the next era is beginning, with PTD On Stage Live as a marker of that transition, fan loyalty holds a renewed kind of weight. It’s not about exclusion or elitism. It’s about continuity. BTS’ legacy was built through years of shared dedication and ARMY’s loyalty has been key in preserving their story, especially during the enlistment period when silence could have meant abandonment and erasure.

So when some ARMYs express what seems like protectiveness, or even gatekeeping, it often comes from a place of history and love. From the effort it took to keep streaming alive, to organizing community projects, to simply showing up even when it was hard. That labor mirrors the love and sacrifice BTS has poured into us over time.

Yes, there’s space to love others. But there’s also something beautiful and worth naming about fans like us, ARMY who held the line, and are now ready to march again as this new chapter opens. In this moment of return, may we honor both the openness BTS inspires and the loyalty that kept the light on while they were away.

Apobangpo! Purple and true!

Kuwentong Bangtan: Who is BTS in our lives?

On ARMY Day, I reflect with gratitude on a journey that began with my ARMY daughter and BTS. For me, it has always reached beyond music; beyond the Purple ocean or universe. From day one, transcendence was apparent. It was already in motion. Not during the enlistment era or after, when all members have all been discharged. For who in Kpop would dare reference Omelas and Snow Piercer in a song of loss, longing and emancipation?

At the 4th BTS Conference in the University of Malaya, I had the honor of standing among scholars and fellow aca-fans who continue to explore what BTS means in our lives. For many of us, BTS was not just a gateway into K-pop and newer music or transmedia storytelling. BTS was, and still is, a lifeline. Their music helped us heal. It gave language to our silences. For some, it even became a form of decolonization, a path toward reclaiming joy, self-worth, and belonging.

It has been my lived experience. It was never about image or optics. It was speaking one’s truth, and holding power and accountability for myself and others I hold in high esteem. And having one’s own understanding of this dynamic, parasocial it may be, is the pre-requisite for realignment.

Before we can realign our purpose as ARMY, we must first ask: Who is BTS in our lives? Not just as artists, (and in delulu moments, partners even lovers; in worst cases, commodities we can simply consume) but as companions, teachers, mirrors, and catalysts. Our answers to that question shape the kind of fandom, fanbase or fan group we choose to build, one rooted in authenticity, reflection, and care.

ARMY as a fandom has changed in the last three years; and so are the Tannies and the industry they disturbed and helped change. Newer entry points into K-pop will continue to emerge, and we welcome them. But they also remind us that BTS’ story is still unfolding. And so is ours. ARMY. Whatever this is going to look like or will be, our history and culture which began back in 2013 can become pins of light. Whatever this will bring us, I am here for the ride.

Finally, I honor Zoe, who, to this day is still surprised I became ARMY. A story I will never tire of telling. And of course, much love and appreciation to the Tita ARMYs who are my companions in this ever-evolving journey. We may not all be published or cited as Bangtan scholars, but we have done the quiet, steady work of remembering, creating, caring, and holding space.

You know who you are. Happy ARMY Day! Borahae!

Zarah Gagatiga 7.10.25

Kuwentong Bangtan: On Fandom Culture and ARMY Life

Fandoms have their own culture. They come with values, language, rituals, etiquette, and yes—even an unspoken hierarchy. This culture doesn’t appear overnight. It grows from the constant interaction between fans, shaped by the music, messages, and presence of the artists they support. As idols create and evolve, fans respond creatively—with art, translations, analysis, projects, and community-building. In time, this back-and-forth shapes a fandom’s unique identity.

For ARMY, that identity includes streaming, voting, buying albums, organizing charity drives, translating content, archiving memories, and showing up for each other and BTS in countless ways. These weren’t random choices. They were responses: to the times BTS were overlooked; to industry gatekeeping; to narratives that tried to erase or undermine them.

I learned these things when I entered the fandom.

When we streamed, we weren’t just chasing numbers. We were holding space for BTS in a world that refused to give it.

When we voted, we weren’t just competing. We were reclaiming dignity for seven young men who dared to dream in an industry that prevented them to dream for themselves.

When we bought albums, we weren’t flexing. We were investing in a story we believed in.

It’s understandable that new ARMYs who joined during BTS’ military era experience the fandom differently. You’re entering a community that’s already diverse, vast and complex. You fell in love with legends. I did, during the pandemic. Veteran ARMYs fell in love with the boys who had to fight to be seen as legends. My daughter did, during the Wings Era. That’s why some practices, like streaming or voting, still feel sacred to ARMY. It’s not about pressure—it’s about memory. It’s not just about what we do, but why we do it.

And one thing that makes being ARMY so unique is that, there’s no rulebook. No official checklist that says: “This is how you be a fan.” And that freedom is beautiful. People come to BTS for different reasons, and love them in their own ways.

But this is where culture comes in, where the unspoken “laws” quietly shape our actions. No one told us to stream solid BTS playlists 24/7 (not mixed with other songs of Kpop groups) during comeback week, we just knew it mattered. No one officially announced that birthdays would be marked with charity drives or art exhibitions. But it became a norm, because it reflected what BTS themselves stood for.

Fandom culture isn’t about control. It’s about shared understanding built on trust, love, and lived experience. And when that culture is strong, it helps guide us not as rigid rules, but as gentle markers of care and respect.

So when veteran ARMYs speak up about streaming, or when we tell stories of the old fanbase days, it’s not gatekeeping. It’s memory-keeping. It’s passing down not just what we do, but why we do it. And in turn, we also have to LISTEN to how new ARMYs are experiencing things now because the fandom is alive, and it changes with every new heartbeat that joins it.

ARMY, we are so lucky to be loved by BTS. Namjoon, in one of the Permission to Dance concerts in the US back in 2022, said something unforgettable. He acknowledged the overwhelming love they’ve received from ARMY, but he didn’t stop there. He said it was a love that must not be taken for granted.

And so, they give back.

The variety, the breadth and depth of the content they created, produced, and released during their military era is worthy of their acclaim as global artists of this generation. They didn’t disappear. They doubled down. They lived up to their name—Bangtan Sonyeondan—because they love us.

And for BTS, ARMY will always be their biggest, loudest voice.

Apobangpo! Purple and true!

zarahG and AMI