Bushi

I don't understand why people write Chanyeol off tbf.

Coming from the same forum that says stuff like this, then posts endless Korean and Japanese gay TV dramas and newer idols making social media overtures. Honestly I don't think half of you know which way is up anymore on this thread. Are we seriously now saying absolutely nobody outside of the West has a clue about visibility, rights, connections? Is Seoul Pride just wasted on everyone here?

Erm... No.

Bogum and Taehyung are a possibility too imo. As much as I think they were/are platonic friends, you can't rule a m/m relationship out. And there's way more direct physical evidence for them, esp back in the day, than for Taehyung and Jennie.

Interesting hair colours though, eh?

Entire thread, it's a biggie: PS, never write off Namjoon.

Or he knows what he's doing.

Which is why I included 'unspecified.' https://twitter.com/bisexualarmys/status/1663963473254989824?cxt=HHwWgIC26c_9ypcuAAAA

With respect, this sort of one size fits all approach is exactly what were all these days telling one another we shouldn't do. There are deep friendships between westerners that never become sexual, and no doubt more transient ones among Asians, and vice versa. Yes, societal conditioning applies but many people don't conform to type. Yoongi and Pearl probably are platonic friends who are well in tune with each other. But in the unlikely event that Yoongi was openly doing this with a woman, the Internet would have melted by now. It wouldn't just be being discussed on here and a few Twitter shippers. Every major mainstream section of ARMY would be going ballistic. Because the overall perception is still that two men cannot ever go beyond platonic friendship. But a male idol even blinks () at a girl and ARMY and the media are sending out wedding invites.

You mean allegedly? Aka that Haribo crazy on the Internet who was stealing peoples pictures, setting upookalikes/models and editing photos in graphic design apps? To my knowledge there's been no evidence of any dating for reals between the two. If you mean the Paris pics the jury's still out on that. The Haribo thing was total bs though. I think they're being taken to court for that mess. We didn't all think he's gay. It's split between people who do, those who think he's on the spectrum somewhere and those who don't. If anyone thinks he's fully gay it's likely because of the constant vibes he gives off, his interests, his output, etc. Add to that his obvious irritation at invented stories on the Internet that he's dating girl banders and CEOs daughters. It's not really because of his dating life because HYBE has managed to keep all that side under wraps for over a decade with him.

Yoongi tour rolls on... Again, it's interesting, but at best flaunts with a notion without being openly specific. You can take or leave it. For some it's a sign. For others it's pretty lighting. I made my mind up about Yoongi a long time ago and not based on lights or bracelets. But the timing is interesting and for the theme/colours he would certainly know how it would be perceived by the public and online gossips.

Because the shared clothes stuff is more often than not designed to bait fans. Real relationships stay as private as possible, until they spring them on the world. Netizens have a notorious appetite for Sherlocking what they think are tiny clues pointing to intricate relationship hints. And in a world of similar clothing/accessories, fakery, forgery, P'shopping and all manner of other PR or fan fluff, it's easy to convince some groups of fans looking for links that x idol is dating y idol/person. I don't know how to couch this nicely but...they lie. Honestly, South Korean idols lie like they breathe air. There are a bunch of them in the closet, clearly. It's undeniable by now. Some deeper than others. But they lie and lie through their teeth because they have to - for career, convention, family, etc. So you're going to get mixed messages and signals. I know British celebs who lied through their teeth about being lgb, deflected, back peddled (the above-mentioned Richard Armitage was also one of them, falling into the deflection category rather than lying). And that was in the happy-clappy land of Legal Gay. So I can only imagine the pressure and strife South Korean-based celebrities and civvies have to go through. Made worse by an unpleasant, cold and rather weird new leader, encouraging the ever-present extreme Christian sentiment. Lee Know is very sweet. His group got him a rainbow cake for his birthday and that was donkeys years ago. I posted it here. But years later you come back and find the same idols still doing the riddlespeak, and nothing has changed. It's also totally his call, but this ain't the liberal West of entertainment and until, if ever, SK relaxes its attitude to same sex in the idol world, and I mean truly, not just shipping or allowing more rainbow cake, we will be here speculating forever. Also the genre won't mature in that direction because it won't be allowed to by convention and by many fans.

Yoongi: When you know, you know. Be interesting if the same formula is applied through Asia as the tour moves on. Indonesia and Singapore esp. If so, good on him.

Yet another 'found' by his/her manager, wtf. The entertainment system in South Korea should be utterly ashamed of itself at this point. RIP Moonbin.

Out of all of BTS I think the two who are in the best place, the best headspace, right now are Yoongi and J-Hope. Yoongi has transformed in these last coupla years, really blossomed. J-Hope genuinely seems to hold no care in the world and just loves everything and everyone, no hangups evident. The little 'uns are a mess as usual in their own way. Jin's off doing his enlistment but it's Namjoon that's the most concerning one for me atm. He seems all over the place, all at once critical then over-protective of things, careworn of K-pop at times, acknowledging its hardships and overdrive, and then defensive of it and subservient to HYBE. He's like a revolving door and those signs for me send up a few little red flagz. This ain't no US rapper having a public meltdown on Twitter, but the signals he gives bothers me. If he 'has' had a private breakup or even a broken or disrupted friendship with someone, or if he feels he can no longer take such things public, that will be more shit heaped on his midden. He's always been under pressure as 'leader', but also everyone has their line in the sand. Some of the stuff he's saying and doing atm just ping me as being out of whack even for him.

I take that very seriously. Not only is it a lesbian haircut it's a mid-40s lesbian librarian haircut and all that's missing is the carpet slippers over long socks. Nice work, Jk. It's a yes from me.

You know this ain't going to happen, dog. ARMY meltdown in reverse in 3, 2, 1...

Yes. And yes.

Bro I know. I just fancied writing something.

It's actually not necessarily lame. It can be there for good reason. Pro gay arguments: 1. You can love your gossip, and even be keen to get a message out to people, because you think they should know. But you can also be IP traced if someone wanted you traced and bitch slapped. Which could result in you losing your job and people in your field being reluctant to hire you. 2. Dude is gay. Anti gay arguments: 1. Dude has some acting chops and loves to ham it up for the cameras. Hell, he'll pose with anyone, from your gerbil to the ghost of Gucci, it doesn't matter. He knows he has a worldwide audience who want to see his versatility. And this he gives them. 2. Fantasist internet gossip peddled by attention seeker, as you (validly) imply. Because t'internet is nothing if not a clown cart and decent amounts of salt req. 3. He's not at all gay, but is chilled and liberal. So turning up at queer events on invite isn't an issue for him. 4. Nobody believes number 3.

Can I be outraged about both of them being gross? Not that I am, they're adults, but they're both getting noped for stunts like this. I like Holland and maybe something's been lost in translation, but just, no. There are quite young people watching you. Have some standards. Besides doesn't he have a boyfriend these days? He owes his bf an explanation more than the rest of us.

Just sey it.

For balance, there are also of course large sections of fandom who are desperate for male idols to be nothing but 100% straight, and who go to insane lengths to prove that. These also routinely break the Fourth Wall in their quest for heterosexuality, and so seek their particular validation. And who is always in the middle of it sitting back popping popcorn and egging all sides on? The companies. Who basically create fake perfect boyfriend personas for as long as they can, whilst encouraging same-sex skinship. In a culture where virtually every male idol must eventually face military duty. The same companies facilitate a good deal of the fan wars and trends, courting both LGBT+ and straight fans and allowing them to play off against each other as long as money is coming in. In the midst of all this pressure and drama, actual real people exist, trying to be whatever they are. All that super invested people have to do is take a moment to imagine Jo Kwon, Jennie, Lisa, or Jungkook, etc, at the doorstep of their own house yelling at them night and day, following them to the shops or school, or harassing their friends nonstop. If that rightly seems insufferable, don't do it to the idols.

"Cold truth is idols aren't there to be your personal comfort, they don't have to "represent" you if they don't want to, idol culture has never been about that and if you're truly that desperate for some representation then please do turn to musicians that are openly part of the LGBT+, there are plenty of them (Holland, Lil Nas, Troye Sivan, Dove Cameron, Hayley Kiyoko, Rina Sawayama, etc) because trying to out people or assuming because of what you take as "Little Hints" is just wrong." This. It's great fun to speculate, debate and have opinions on forums like OH, but it goes too far when you're camping out on an idol's personal account or basically screaming on his/group/associates Twitter and stating that he's a dead cert 'closet case' and it's 'so obvious', etc. I don't want to rag on my peeps for the joy of it, but many western fans esp. now tend to be brought up in the 'validate me' culture. Where your favs are expected to drop all and come running to somehow co-sign your sexuality, your mental health struggles, your politics and morals, and ultimately your very existence. South Korean male idols are all supposed to marry up to a liberal, westernised, mostly female, often non-binary, gender neutral view of the world. Some idols manage it better than others, but it honestly must seem like a wall of shrill harpies pretty much directly deciding their sexualities for them on Twitter and Weverse every day. The 'stay in your lane' and 'don't break the Fourth Wall' mantras are there for good reason, and which is why places like this exist. So that people can discuss, argue, blow off steam, theorise, without getting in J-Hope's face. When you need an idol to mirror 'you' and you're out there trying to goad him into coming out, or you're all over his friends accounts shouting about 'how gay is this y'all?' - where they can all see your noisy antics - then it's time to go away and touch some grass.