So I'm writing this because I think we need to clarify some things concerning this statement "BTS PAVED THE WAY". For a while now, this has been at the base of countless fanwars between ARMY and other fandoms. And I feel that a logical, clear and fact based approach to+

The subject is quite needed and that's what this thread is gonna be about today. For those of you with a propensity to jump to conclusions, jump the gun before reading the entire thing through, i recommend you hold your itchy fingers until im done posting this. Thank you+

First of all, lets establish this. This statement right here: BTS PAVED THE WAY is the absolute and irrefutable truth. This is not based on any personal bias of mine as ARMY. Yes, it is a source of pride and a source of joy for me but it is absolutely not a delusion+

Or some statement that was made just because BTS is the biggest boyband in SK right now. And thats a statement that any korean native will be happy to state and will be tell you is a fact! https://twitter.com/armysstruggIes/status/1277552284206063617?s=19

It is a FACT that bts is the biggest boyband in the world right now, and if you need proof check the numbers they dont lie. It is a FACT that they are the youngest recipient of the order of cultural merit in SK presented to them by the president of SK. It is a fact people that+

It is a FACT people that they are the most sought after models and endorsers for brands of all kinds because of their influential power. https://twitter.com/modooborahae/status/1277000965498044418?s=19

And finally it is a fact that they accomplished all of that with all the odds stacked against them.

And you can say all you want and say things like "we should stop mentioning their roots and their struggles to get where they are. Why is army constantly whining about this shit and throwing it in people's faces." And to those people I say, " I frankly pity you". These +

Statements are 1) filled with absolute hypocrisy, when you guys are the same people who keep bringing up the time when EXO was considered the biggest group in kpop and you constantly rehash the past. Why? because it's a source of pride for you! So why can't we be proud of how +

BTS has come. 2) it's an blatant display of jealousy and envy even though you won't admit it. It's ok to be jealous, its a natural thing and so is denial but imma tell you this. It's only natural for us as a fandom to talk about our history, where we came from, and our+

Accomplishments. This is a thing that people do, this is how people remember who they are and where they came from. This rehashing and reminiscing and learning and understanding of our history is a way for the fandom to grow and learn and move forward together+

And im sorry that your faves history is not a source of pride for you or that the history of your fandom doesn't appeal to you as a part of it or maybe even that you dont know the history of your own faves or your own history. But what you're not gonna do is tell us+

To stop talking about it or stop bringing it up because that's our right as human beings.

Now let's be clear in no way are bts and army's history comparable to black people's struggles with slavery and oppression at the hand of white folks but I wanna make a simple analogy+

In order to lead me to my 3rd point.
This reminds me of how some white folks keep telling black people to "suck it up and stop bringing up slavery and get over it and just move the fuck on" like it never happened, as if this isn't a part of who we are as a people+

And you know why? Because our past makes those people uncomfortable, our history makes them feel guilty and makes them feel bad, because of their part in it and they would rather we bury it so they can be comfortable and comfortably forget their role in oppressing us+

And you know why? Because they feel guilty, its out of a sense of guilt but they don't wanna deal with it. And somehow I feel like a lot of you guys hollering for us to forget and move on while you keep bringing up you faves past achievements are also doing this out of+

A sense of guilt. Because you know that it is a FACT that a lot of our hardships as a fandom and a lot of BTS hardships and struggles were caused by your cruelty and your selfishness and you utterly overinflated sense of superiority back then and that has taken a hit+

Now because not only are you guys not TOP DOG anymore but you have to be confronted with the fact that you committed or supported or abaited all these outragaous, disgusting, and outright cruel acts and admitting that stings! Admitting that despite all of these +

Maneuvers and tactics you still managed to lose the top spot or you still haven't reached it yet, stings and you would rather insult and attack other people for reminding you of it. and in this case, you need help because That's not healthy behavior.

Anyways, I digress+

All those achievements mentioned above by BTS are undeniable facts and those facts and figures never before been done by others, in a way never before seen by the world.

People who deny the statement BTS PAVED THE WAY use a couple of different arguments to back up their +

Claims. And the number is well our faves did it first so they didn't pave no way. And to this I say, you don't understand the definition of "paving the way".
You see there's something called scale and visibility in everything in life, construction, sciences, emotions etc...+

Let me use a simple example for people to grasp and that corroborates the imagery of the road thing we have going on.

Imagine this, there's a village somewhere in the middle of nowhere, somewhat cut off from big cities and marketplaces, and hospitals and more+

Up until a certain point they were quite self sufficient but with time the population of that little village grew and it became harder to provide for everyone and resources were somewhat scarce. So people started looking at ways to expand their resources, bring back+

Supplies, find more innovative ways to grow in order to survive and thrive. Some people figured out that ome of the best ways to do that is to exchange with the big cities and establish a connection with them that facilitates the exchange of all kinds economic, agricultural,+

And more. People from the village knew about the big cities and the opportunities there because 3 of the most affluent families had dealings with the big cities and they were prosperous and had all of the resources and if you wanted to make it out there, or if you+

You wanted to secure passage to the big cities you had to go through them. These families, had carved a narrow, unpaved, and quite personalized road into the side of the mountain with the rudimentary tools that they had acquired over their years of dealing with the big citie+

They had a formula that was working for them and their employees and the people dealing with them had to follow that formula and those rules no matter how ridiculous and outdated they were. The 3 families had success stories of course, sons and daughters who had somewhat+

Succeeded in reaching the big cities and Bringing back some attention to the employees and because it was always the same thing and the same patterns the people from the big cities grew accustomed to it. I mean they know of the village now and of what they had to offer+

But it wasn't anything new or crazy because it was all the same thing over and over again and the tiny little road down the side of the mountain that these affluent families had managed to carve was seriously just a danger hazard because it wasn't clear enough+

There were holes, crazyness and again the amount of things that were being exchanged and portrayed and used to represent this small village although it was colorful and beautiful it was also done before why? Because its always the same people, the same things, +

And for the people back in the village who had so much more to offer but no way of offering these and presenting and exchanging with the big cities they were becoming more and more desperate and every attempt of their failed due to the hazards of the road built by the 3+

Affluent families or because they had such a small grasp and understanding of the big cities and their tools so it was hard to even climb up there. And that's where BTS comes in. One former associate of the one of the Affluent families, a man who had the skills and the vision+

But because of the way these 3 affluent families worked couldnt expand and implement his vision as long as he was associated with them and doing work for them. Decided to do his own thing, he took his knowledge, and took his skills, and his vision and decided well+

I know enough and I've seen enough to know that these formulas and patterns of theirs don't work so ill try something else, ill experiment and ill innovate. So he took the tiny bit of resources that he had garnered, found like minded people in the village and together +

They took a different approach. They used the tools differently, and despite the 3 affluent families control of the little village they forged one, and as a result they ended up smoothing out the way and the primitive way that was once just a jagged, dangerous road+

Was made smoother by them so more people had opportunities to go up to the big cities. Better yet, they were so creative and innovative they found new traveling ways and roads between their village nd the big cities that shocked them+

Because a lot of those big cities never thought of those ideas or never even considered them because they didn't think that these ideas or this success showcased by this small group of amazingly talented people was even possible because so far they, the big cities,+

Always thought they had all the answers and all the im techniques but because of this small group of people they were proven wrong. So they stated looking at and to this small village, trying to figure out why this group of people were successful, and trying to see if+

That success could be replicated because not only did this group of people manage to reach them and impress them they also like i said through the innovative ways and their creativity and their unselfishness managed to catch not just the attention of the big cities+

But that of the entire WORLD.

Now what does that mean? It means that although there were success stories from the big families and they had managed to carve a small road on the side of the mountain that they could control, and these efforts did result in some success+

Stories and some visibility with some big cities, they could not achieve much more than what they'd managed to do years ago. Because they kept falling back on the same rudimentary patterns and formulas, and fed into the corruption of big cities and were only out to help+

Themselves and not the village as a whole. Although the village did benefit from the big 3s ventures and success with the outside world, they also ended up being painted and seen in the same light that these big cities and the world has seen of what these past success +

Stories were like. Building a stereotype that in the long run also had some negative side effects. Now with these new innovative ways of reaching out and the newly paved road, the village now has more opportunities to actually+

Represent themselves and go up also because the world is now way more aware of them and has more interest in them. And the road and the connection have been made.

The moral of the story is. Yes your faves mightve had a certain amount of success and recognition outside of+

South Korea but those achievements are similar to carving a personal foot road, customized road down the side of a mountain whereas BTS took a bulldozer and literally paved a big ass road for everyone to use and they did not stop there no, they kept building and innovating +

And growing while some of faves stopped doing that. 2) second thing is that people say is that this statemen "BTS PAVED THE WAY" is disrespectful to other senior artists or past contributions of other groups. And That is not true, that statement does not undermine+

Those achievements by other groups. Because the only way for someone to pave a way in the the first place is if the way is already there and available. The other artists may have created a footroad or a footway and that is amazing in its own right because they did+

In fact carve and create a way or a connection between the village and the outside world and thats an achievement that is actually taken into account by that statement. We're not saying that BTS MADE the way, we're saying that the PAVED it, big difference. Read the definition

The road was rudimentary at best a slippery, narrow, dirt and rock covered road that only a few with the right cars and the right resources could even dream of using. But bts PAVED IT. They brought out that concrete, you know and they worked and worked and worked to make it up+

Despite all the harsh conditions and the disbelief of the people from their own village, and the interference of the 3 affluent families and their supporters who were seeking to keep a monopoly on the success, they did that! And then they kept finding new amazing ways and +

Creating more ways for the world to see them and their abilities and in the process they ended up doing way more for their village then these other successful villagers ever did. And the village and its inhabitants recognized that fact, and the village council recognized that,+

And the world recognized that. Why? Because its a fact. And BTS has literally fought and is still to this day fighting against the stereotypes and prejudices that the world had of their village or villages like theirs, stereotypes and prejudices+

That were created by the people who previously made it to the outside world and represented these villages by their actions. They have a lot of things to work through thats undeniable but they also are an amazing group of people who's visions, and compassion and creativity +

Will continue to set them apart and make it easy for people like them to do the same. They showed that people dont have to follow the formula and the pattern so ye BTS PAVED THAT WAY BRICK BY BRICK. With help and support from their fellow visionaries and mentors at BIG HIT.+

It doesn't mean that the work that you faves did is being invalidated, no they did their work, they helped make that road but you cant deny that BTS SINGLEHANDEDLY PAVED THE DAMN WAY! Thats a fact. Your faves other achievements were celebrated for what they were +

Now leave us be to celebrate our faves and our achievements and stop inserting yourself and your problems and your inferiority complex into the narrative. Be jealous, be envious, shit be mad for all we care but be clear about why you mad and stop making excuses. Cuz all that+

Won't change the fact that and I repeat it again:

BTS PAVED THE DAMN WAY.

End of thread.