ARMY LIKE NO OTHER
Family, Not Fandom
Scarcely can you separate the achievements, memories and stories of BTS from its consistently supportive fandom ; whether it’s staying up late to catch a glimpse of their latest release or extensive charity initiatives such as preserving the environment or promoting education, ARMY does everything for BTS with the same passion with which the septet inspires them to be the best versions of themselves.
Speaking to ARMY around the world, it’s clear that while the methods of supporting the band differs from place to place, the love tying this family called ARMY together is only one.
Emaneula Nogueira from Brazil discovered BTS in middle school and became a dedicated ARMY the following year. Since the band has woven itself into her daily schedule. She says, “ I always activate BIGHIT notifications and organize my schedules to be one of the first to see what they will launch and help to spread everything. The time difference between Brazil and Korea is 12 hours so I always lunch waiting for his notifications.”
Recounting her wildest BTS story, she says “ When BTS came to Brazil in 2019 I was so sad because the tickets was sold out. But by some stroke of luck I got a ticket just two weeks before the show. However, one of my best friends is also a fan of the boys and I didn’t want to realize my dream without her. So I spent two sleepless days looking for tickets to her. I was exhausted and sad but that’s when the lyrics of “Not Today” -All the underdogs in the world, a day may come when we lose but is not today… today we fight- so I persevered and found a girl doing draw to win one ticket, and I actually did it!! I won it for my friend. All my efforts really paid off and we made our dream come true together.”
“ BTS taught me to never give up and love/trust in myself. I always think about how hard they had to work to achieve their dream and that ends up motivating me. I think ‘There went through difficult times just like me and look at them now. I am going through now but I will be able to win this’.”
Emanuela’s story and the strong connection she feels with BTS is one that many ARMY can relate to. Lucky,31, from Hungary is one such person. Describing herself as a “baby ARMY,” she discovered the band taking over the world only in April of this year.
Recalling the moment that changed her life, she says, “I’ve never been a fangirl of any artist before this I felt like these are artists I want to be a fan of. I was in a difficult situation when I first hear Not Today, then Mic Drop and IDOL, I read the lyrics and felt like I was healing. It was an instant attraction for me.”
Within a few short months, Lucky has begun living the dedicated ARMY life, “When Dynamite dropped, I stayed awake the whole 24 hours because I wanted to see what our numbers would be. I was awake tracking the YouTube views, I wanted to see if we’d break records. Similarly, when they have concerts I will wake up at any time regardless of when that might be. Whether, it’s 2 am or 4 am it doesn’t matter, I will set my alarm and wake up to make sure they have the views they deserve.”
Blown away by the band’s values of self-love, positivity and good mental health, Lucky wants to build a community of ARMY in Hungary promoting the same. She says, “ In Hungary, the fandom isn’t too big. So I’d love to form a fanbase in Hungary and take forward the values of BTS and become a family who can help everyone and create a space where everyone be themselves.”
What Hungarian ARMY hope to achieve is what ARMYs in other parts of the world have done already. Sarojini, from Tamil Nadu, India speaks of the tremendous achievements of the ARMY in the southern state.
She says, “ It took us some time to build the fanbase in Tamil Nadu because we were quite scattered. But from 2017 we’ve been involved in various charitable activities like planting trees, helping with the Chennai floods in 2018. We have been consistently donating in the name of BTS usually during one of their birthdays.”
Elsewhere, in Srilanka, Umesha tells me, “ Recently we were able to achieve trending #1 for Dynamite on YouTube in Sri Lanka as a result of team work by Sri Lankan ARMYs. It is the only K-pop song that was able achieve this in Sri Lankan YouTube history, she continues “ Our blood donation project was also the first ever Sri Lankan project to be featured in a Naver article.”
Scarcely can you separate the achievements, memories and stories of BTS from its consistently supportive fandom ; whether it’s staying up late to catch a glimpse of their latest release or extensive charity initiatives such as preserving the environment or promoting education, ARMY does everything for BTS with the same passion with which the septet inspires them to be the best versions of themselves.
The sparks of happiness and love that BTS ignite in the hearts of ARMY is returned with just as much passion and vigor. It’s truly awe-inspiring how ARMY -even separated by geography, language and culture- share the goal of create a positive change in the society, carried forward the message that BTS puts out with their music. As Sarojini puts it, “ Everyone deserves to hear that it’s okay not to be okay, to be told that you just have to pick yourself up and keep going -ARMY are lucky that get to hear it consistently, that’s why everyone should be an ARMY!”
