yourk-pop

[yourk-pop]

Normalizing Vmin or “Vmin”

This is going to sound weird, delusional and probably hypocritical no matter how I say it. But I hope you all understand this is all still just in theory. I simply want to talk about this because I want to offer a different view and hopefully help in keeping Vmin shippers from turning into something worse. I am talking about Vmin here but obviously I would apply this to all ships.

Lately the annoyance with how fans always friendzone Vmin has gotten a lot louder. It’s been all over Twitter this week. And I totally understand why because Vmin deserves to be recognized as a ship just as any other. But I do want to talk about the complaint that fans normalize the real Vmin too much. Because I think it’s important to see the difference between shipping and how people view the real people that are Jimin and Taehyung and their relationship.

In short I would say we have real Vmin vs “Vmin” as a fictional ship, and that normalizing these two are very different things. In fact I don’t know if we can even say that Vmin as a ship can be normalized, because to begin with in the nature of what a ship is it’s all just people’s own fantasies applied onto real people. On the other hand normalizing Vmin’s behavior as two real people is just about interpretation and personal views. Not about shipping, unless you actually believe they or another ship to be real.

So… Normalizing real Vmin is kind of a good thing. Especially if they actually are more than friends.

Think of it not from the perspective of a shipper wanting other people to recognize their ship. Instead if a ship is actually real normalization is an important tool to give them more freedom. Think about the two people involved. What do they show? A very close and intimate bond and friendship and nothing more confirmed. But even if there was more they wouldn’t be able to show it honestly. That’s just how most LGBT+ individuals and couples have to struggle in today’s society, and especially if it’s someone famous.

Vmin can say they are soulmates. They can hold hands. We see them more cuddly and possibly sharing a bed. We heard Tae talk about 4 o'clock and Vmin share “their candid stories as honestly as possible”. Isn’t that what we want?

A lot of it has been gradual and now people see things as normal between them though they might not have if it all came at once and in full force. Over time a lot of things have been normalized, even to the point that they wrote a small article about Vmin changing male friendship norms. 

It might even be meant to gradually get worse and worse and stretch the boundaries of what Vmin can do under a platonic label. I’ve written about this in regards to Vmin before, and let me tell you they have indeed increased some of the things that might look a bit too intimate since then. You can read it here, it’s what I wrote in the start of 2019 - Vmin – Pushing the boundaries

Like holding hands, sharing beds or talking about some of their shared stories. Even the possible song connections keep happening more. If we are lucky they might even build up to an eventual vlive together. Something I personally believe they have been avoiding for whatever reason. Either way they seem more open and happy and that makes me happy. I hope they can keep doing it.

I sometimes struggle with if I should even share my analysis or theories because if they prove to be right and are too well spread it might actually affect Vmin in a bad way (obviously I am not big enough to have that impact, but still). It’s not impossible that BTS do get affected by the fans’ views of them and their relationships.

Let’s talk as if Vmin is real and they are a gay couple hiding from the world because they don’t want to be out. If they don’t want to be out, why would we want to expose them? Even if they in an ideal world would be honest and out, in reality it wouldn’t be that simple. Isn’t it better to try to be open and supportive no matter what? 

Time, place and how we talk about ships matters. Even I talk about my frustrations, just look at my very first post on this blog (The “bromance” issue). But it’s a huge difference if I talk about it in private or openly, who I talk to and how I would talk about it depending on situation. And most importantly if I talk about the ship or the real Vmin.

If there is a real couple how they are viewed will matter. For example I am sure Vmin would be happy that people see their love for each other, platonic or not. But how they decide to portray themselves is nothing we should be angry about. Even if it might partly be because they don’t have a choice. Every thing Vmin normalize is another step towards them not having to hold back something. They can hold hands because it’s seen as a platonic normal thing between them now. In 2016 this wasn’t the case and Tae himself even said holding hands with a man would feel weird. Imagine what a sense of freedom and relief to no longer have to stop themselves from doing this if they have been holding back for one reason or another. 

Seeing Vmin hold hands was rare, but look at them now.

Fans might be normalizing Vmin, but it’s because that’s the image Vmin and Big Hit are showing us. There are many examples, I mean they literally named their song “Friends”. It might be that they are just platonic soulmates or it might be a white lie to allow Vmin to do as much as possible while hiding. By the way I don’t say Vmin have to be happy with everything, like the Christmas song for example, but I do believe in it being something they understand might be necessary. Either way we should be happy they can act the way they do and feel comfortable. There is nothing wrong with calling Vmin best friends.

We should be happy people see them as best friends as long as that is how they want to be seen. At least people love and respect their bond. 

I do however think it’s fine to be annoyed if people question your reason to ship Vmin, because shipping is about preference and not about reality. You have a right to ship whatever you want, just as everyone else. If someone loves Vmin just as friends, great. If they try to explain why you shouldn’t ship them, leave or explain why anyone is free to ship whatever they want because it’s just fantasy. The problem is usually when the line between fantasy and reality is too blurry. But shipping is in itself not a bad thing. As long as we don’t do it in a way that harms others or makes the member feel uncomfortable. Basically keep the shipping to places where it belongs and remember that ship material like edits, fics or fanart etc. is enjoyed as expansions of reality.

I feel annoyed too that Vmin is so friendzoned. But just that the ship isn’t recognized as a good possible romantic or sexual ship, not about them as real people. Because the friendzoning for the real people might either be there for a reason, or they are just best friends. Thus we shouldn’t be annoyed when Vmin are seen as friends, unless it’s other shippers trying to say their ship is better. We should be annoyed when people don’t understand why they are a good ship and people enjoy expanding their reality into fiction. 

But at least for me it’s probably better to not try to insist Vmin or any other ship is real. We can also explain why we ship Vmin without having to say that someone else’s ship is lesser. You wouldn’t want someone else to force you to stop shipping Vmin, so that goes the other way as well. 

In the end if we push it too much that actual Jimin and Taehyung’s relationship is real in a romantic sense it’s not good for them no matter if it’s real or not. As long as we accept them that’s what matters most.

Something else we should be annoyed with is how fans defend their straightness and keep on expressing that a non straight member is impossible. If someone says they are straight and we shouldn’t assume their sexuality I think it’s good to point out that we shouldn’t assume they are straight either. We need to show we accept BTS and Vmin no matter what.

Even if Vmin isn’t real we should be fine with that too. I realize this might seem hypocritical coming from me who literally write Vmin analysis. But really, I hope you understand what I try to say here.

(Now watch my follower count drop…)

Thank you for reading, and thank you to everyone who follows me and tries to understand my point of view even if you might not agree.

I purple you and I purple Vmin. 💜

[yourk-pop]

Omg can you believe I inspired someone to do fanart a ahhhhh

*I second the guy screaming in the forest meme above*

bold of you to assume that changbin can ever say no to felix

aNYWAYS. i saw @chenle 's fake dating!changlix au and i was ABSOLUTELY FLOORED. BEST IMAGERY IVE HAD THIS WEEK. so great, i pulled out my tablet for what feels like the first time this year

hope i did it justice, annie! 🌟

[yourk-pop]

EVERYONE STFU

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rb with your favourite thing kim seokjin has ever said

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🍊

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string me along | hwang hyunjin (kimi no na wa au) [masterlist]

part i 

part ii 

part iii

part iv

part v

part vi

part vii (final)

[yourk-pop]

from  🔥🔪😠⚡☠️  to  💐💞🥰☀️🌈  real quick

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“Taehyung is the happiest when he is with me” - Park Jimin

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hghghhghghg i love bts so much

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MY FAVORITE VMIN MOMENTS OF 2018💜

If you thought I‘m not gonna write some cheesy note now, think again 😘😂

First of all I want to take this opportunity to thank you vmin stans out there for following and supporting this blog. I know my posts may not be perfect and there are way better posts about vmin but you like them nonetheless which means a lot to me ❤️ I tried to live up to my username and post daily… I think I did a okayish job. My goal was always to let people realize that vmin is more than just two hyungs because when I started this blog no one really appreciated vmin and it was not a popular ship. But nowadays I feel like more and more people are joining the vmin stan squad and I‘m living! I don‘t care which blog has more followers blahblahblah all I care about is that vmin is finally taken seriously!😁

In 2018, we got to see a lot vmin moments, especially on the LY Tour. Speaking of, yes that concert was probably the best thing that happened to me this year and I‘ll forever be grateful!✨

I hope we get to see a lot of vmin moments in 2019 as well! I hope BTS will have an awesome year ahead of them and I hope we will all be happy together singing their songs!

H A P P Y • 2 O I 9 🎉🎆🎇

- Chloé🌞

[yourk-pop]

Tae looks even taller than normally compared to Jimin in these Gifs, haha

sweethearts

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Oh my God, these are so pretty!!

jongin for elle korea

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She's giving me Rihanna vibes!

MY GIRL !!!!!!!!!!!

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“oH mY GaD”, Lucas said after Jungwoo got amazed by something he did.

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the most beautiful guy

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markhyuck in their own world

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#HappyHaechanDay ♡ 06.06.2000