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BTS ARMY trends 'Free Jungkook' after fans ship singer with other bandmates

Fans express their anger on toxic fans that ship BTS’ Jungkook with other members of BTS romantically

Shipping culture had come to a rise years ago when fans shipped romantic characters from books or novels, shows and music together due to their evident chemistry. This shipping culture has transcended into a whole different dimension when some delusional fans started taking the idea of a ship very extremely. The Urban Dictionary defines ‘Shipping’ as the act of one wanting/supporting two individuals involved in a romantic relationship. This definition makes total sense for all but one aspect. The ‘wanting’ part is what always puts a divide among fans and is the cause of a much larger debate.

Fans of BTS are extremely vocal about their love for members of the group but what is often noticed is how every member of the group is shipped with every other member due to their bond. Not only that, fans have shipped idols with other idols from various other groups for no rhyme or reason. Being in a seven-member group like BTS, it is but factual that the members have got extremely close over the years. What is uncanny is that fans tend to notice or make up certain things from their interactions that, more often than not, are not what fans want them to be.

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'Free Jungkook'

Fans of BTS will support one another from time to time but are never hesitant to call other fans out for their wrongdoings. The trend of shipping members Jungkook and V (Taehyung) has been going on for years. Ever since the group was formed, some fans were really enamored by the relationship the two maknaes (youngest) of the group shared. Often times they would walk holding hands and taking photos together.

These incidents were plain innocent interactions between two friends, brothers (as Jungkook calls V ‘hyung’ which means brother in Korean), and bandmates who had a deeper connection than what could be seen on the surface. Both Jungkook and V have addressed their ship name ‘taekook’ and have said it was cute. What initially started as a fun portrayal of the members’ interactions has now been turned into an almost perverse retelling of the thoughts of fans. It has thence been made clear that members don’t support this.

Taehyung responds to a delusional fan

Back in November of 2019, one fan took to Weverse, the official fans interaction app of BTS to announce their thought. In the message, the fan said, “Me, looking for a picture of Jungkook oppa whom Taehyung (V) oppa loves.” This caught the attention of V who responded to the message by saying, “Get out of your imagination, that place is not good.”

This comment from V gave momentum to a lot of loyal fans who urged other toxic fans to stop shipping the two members together. Knowing that the members of BTS are able to see all that fans put up on the internet, other fans have also noticed the innocent interactions between members have been blown out of proportion only to satisfy the invasive intentions of some fans.

ARMYs are furious at toxic fans

By being tired and infuriated by fans who seem to have crossed the line, ARMYs starting tweeting with the hashtag, #freejungkook as he is more often than not shipped with the other older members of the group romantically. One fan said, “After 8 years we are making a hashtag. The silence only made the situation worse, although I don't think this will solve anything either, but we are trying. RESPECT JUNGKOOK.” Another fan said, “Louder for all the toxic shippers out there and those who only use him to satisfy their ship.”

One fan said, “Jungkook is an artist and idol, but above all he's a human being. it breaks my heart to see him always being sexualized and used as a ship tool. we want to see his artistic side, more about his music, how he works on them. he's not a toy to sastisfy your fantasies.” One curious fan asked, “A very honest question! Will this fandom ever respect Jungkook? We see different shippers fighting/ h@ting on him everyday. Everyone hypes their ships without even thinking about its consequences, resulting in medias picking up on the topic and messing with Jiungkook searches.Report these!!” One more fan said, “I feel bad for him. Please leave him alone he dosen't deserve that kind of treatment. Always remember that We Love You.” One fan said, “Ships need Jungkook but Jungkook doesn't need ships.”