This army edit video doesn't have subs but I think it was edited well with apt imagery for easier understanding, which is why I chose it to upload. Here is the gist of what is being said here by Tae:
I want to, like we did in the past, say "byyyee we'll go and come back safely!" and dress up to take pretty pictures there at the airport with you guys. In the past, ARMYs even organized projects like the "Purple Ribbon ARMY Project," (in which armys barricaded themselves with purple ribbon to ensure order and BTS's safety at their LAX arrival) but I think that has disappeared these days. No matter how prettily I want to dress up — hey I want to strike poses to take pretty pictures too — but the airport isn't ours and we can't do that [anymore these days in our current state] because of safety reasons. If ARMYs would just adhere to safety precautions [and maintain orderly conduct going forward we can go back to the way things were and be able to take pretty pictures and enjoy things like we used to]…please do me this favor.
I honestly think we should be embarrassed as a fandom. He has said something like this I think twice since he's been discharged. That's two times too many.
I left a comment on this in another thread about the current climate of our fandom but this is not what we used to be like as a fandom. In that comment, I also mentioned the very same army project that Tae mentions in this Weverse live. That he would bring that up himself — that he had to bring that up himself — lamenting how our fandom used to be and how he misses how orderly and respectful we were is something we should be ashamed of collectively as a fandom, regardless of whether or not we ourselves engage in this toxic behavior.
We were known as a well-organized, orderly, and self-regulating fandom that always put the BTS members first. We had our bad apples back then too, yes, but as a whole, the majority of the time, we were a respectable fandom that had class (yes, class. Can you believe it?) and prioritized the well-being of the members. We listened to the members wishes so well. We were a great example of a fandom. I fear those days are now long gone, and it saddens me to no end. I still have hope for future reform, but it is looking bleak atm.
I don't think the new army initiates got the memo because nearly all the armys that showed up on discharge day were foreigners. The flock of armys that were photographed on discharge day were foreigners. I saw people say that the armys that showed up on discharge day said they felt "entitled" to go see BTS at their discharge (and then some) because they flew such a long distance to see them. That is point blank disgusting. I cannot even fathom rationalizing toxic behavior in that way. Let's not be like this please.
I doubt posting this will achieve anything, especially considering reddit armys are usually a super chill bunch and likely aren't the ones engaging in this problematic behavior (please prove me right on this), but I really wish this message would spread far and wide. I'm just feeling so hopeless seeing how armys these days have been imposing themselves on BTS and violating their privacy and safety. I really really miss how proud I felt being part of a fandom that was so structured and mannerly. Let's do better, please. Listen to Tae. Listen to the members.
I wholeheartedly agree with you and I am horrified that Taehyung addressed this. People have become so selfish overall and many want their y/n moment. Also I think that chapter two with their solo eras brought new fans who aren’t necessarily ARMY but probably solo fans. I see content that’s invasive and creepy delusional on Instagram a lot. My friends who have TikTok say that it’s even worse on there. Idk what we as a fandom could do. Educating seems not to do the trick bc these people do not want to understand what the members say. I hope that ICN airport will at least try to keep the crowds under control in the future.
And on a personal note, what really annoys me is that like you touched upon in your post, is that these people give us a bad rep. The stereotype of “crazy fans of the boy group” is not sth I wanna associate with. 🙁 I’m crazy about them but in a wholesome way 😭
I had a feeling it would end like this, after they didn’t even hold back at discharge locations. The fandom is too large now and ppl dont listen. I dont think things will go back to the old days….even though for the sake of the boys I hope it does
We as a fandom need to stop the source in some way.
They say consuming no sasaeng content is good – no airport photos, no high-quality concert photos, too. When we lessen the traffic people bring to these sites, it hopefully helps cut off their income. And with that, hopefully, they can’t buy flight data or schedules that are sold. So, they can’t flock to places they shouldn’t be.
Sadly this behaviour is mirrored in every day life too people are so self centred and believe rules apply to everyone else but not themselves. As a fandom we have such a diverse age and ethnicity range that it has become too hard to get fans to comply to any rules. You can tell every member is so sick of having to take their lives in their hands just to get through the airport!!
Only thing we can do is a fandom right now report, block pages that provides content or photos of boys taken while they are enjoying their private time, do not support photos or videos of airport taken by “fans” Less traffic less people will post them all of them their want to take glimpse of boys so they can be ” famous ” On internet and it will be more effective when big pages on twt will start doing this moment.
So far in bluesky people don’t entertain photos or videos of boys taken my sasengs, while they are in their private life, or even if for reporting accounts people atleast in my community page don’t shares photos instead they would private in private or just account name instead of post names this is much better then spreading even if we are reporting.
If anyone on twt reading this please do start this as twt still had big crowd of fans and even reporters, start blocking and reporting accounts for sharing boys photos that are not by media and without their content we can see alot of improvements atleast with them being chased down by creeps.
Also can we bring back purple ribbon project back?
Yeah, I’ve been feeling like that since I’ve read a few posts that talk about horrible pit etiquette at Hobi’s and Seokjin’s concerts. The concerts themselves are nice, but man, the people looking for their Y/N moment need to sit tf down. Or whoever showed up to their discharge ceremonies while being explicitly told not to. Or whoever the fuck were stalking Jimin and Jungkook as they were shooting AYS S2.
It’s really disheartening to see that this weird breed of terminally online fans straight up disregard basic etiquette when it comes to the guys. Idk, like, I love the Tannies too, but can we please have some boundaries? It really gives the normal fans a bad rap.
I’ve been around since late 2019, but the post-discharge landscape has felt… strange. The guys do enough and give enough. We aren’t entitled to anything more from them. The unfortunate thing is, this message won’t reach those that need to hear it :/