I had been, for a long time, an EXO-L and an ARMY. EXO had been the first group I'd discovered in KPop, and I discovered BTS a little while later (think Young Forever era, while I'd discovered EXO after their LMR release). EXO had been my ultimate bias group for that period until my feelings became conflicted with BTS and they both became my ultimate groups (although, having known EXO longer, I was still biased towards them). I never participated in fanwars and stayed away from the cesspool that is stan twt as I knew I'd be dragged into the toxicity there and I didn't want to end up being a salty stan who threw out death threats if anyone so much as breathed a bad word about my 'oppas'.

Over time though, as BTS became more and more popular, with their Fire release and then BST, I found I wasn't really liking ARMYS as much as I used to. I hated the way they constantly dragged other groups (this is from my own experience; other people may have different experiences with ARMYS) including EXO, who I was still - and still am - very loyal towards. I began finding them stuck up - I began to hate seeing their comments under Youtube videos where they'd talk about how 'Jimin oppa mentioned this song once XD any ARMYS here XDDD' and there'd be 40 or 50 responses from equally as braindead individuals. This feeling of contempt towards the BTS fandom only grew after that goddamn social media award they won in America and all I could hear about was how 'EXO are losing popularity LOL' or how 'BTS are the Kings of KPop' when I knew, and I'm speaking from a purely analytical and statistical point of view, that EXO were, in fact, not losing popularity and BTS were not the 'Kings of KPop' as some liked to claim.

Some might argue, like myself, that BTS, as a group, have become a lot more conceited since their big (?????) win in America. Think Mic Drop's lyrics. I made a blog about this when Her was released. Mic Drop did nothing but brag about how their bags were full of trophies and how nobody else was on their level. I had started off liking BTS for how humble they were, and the connections with their fans, something that I will openly admit that EXO lack in. EXO are undoubtedly humble, yes, but they didn't have the rough upbringing that BTS did - they had what some like to call the 'Big 3 Privilege' and although I know that they were definitely hated amongst most when they started out, they had a huge budget for both MV and song production and promotion - that advantage - that other groups, like BTS, did not have. And, of course, they don't have a huuuge connection with their fans which I want to put down to SM being controlling - but again that's a purely objective point of view.

Now? Now I'm not an ARMY and I don't think I'll ever associate myself with the BTS fandom ever again as too many things have been said towards me. Things that have tainted my perception of the group as a whole, unfortunately. When I say I stan EXO to someone who stans BTS? 'Oh, you should stan BTS, they're so much better.' And when I politely decline and tell them that I'd really rather not? 'Ugh, you're one of those stupid SM stans aren't you?' ...No? And even if I was - what sort of insult would that even be? What if I just liked the style of music SM artists tended to produce? Does it mean there's something wrong with me for not liking your precious oppas?

And it , it really does, 'cause I really liked BTS. I liked their title songs (with the exception of DNA, DNA and that whole album was and I don't care who fights me on this) I liked the members, and I thought they were a very well rounded group with exceptional talents in all areas. And now when I think of BTS the first thing that comes to mind is the fandom which are anything but likeable.

10, maybe even 5 years ago, it would have been easy to tell me 'So what? Just ignore the fandom and support BTS without their plus one.' But I have news - it's 2017, almost 2018 - and social media has a cosmic level of influence on.... well, just about everything. If I were to 'ignore their plus one' that would mean abstaining from all forms of social media and resorting to becoming a hermit holed up in their room with nothing but twenty BTS albums surrounding me. I'd really rather not.

Anyway, as much as I support the general gist of what you're trying to say, I do believe you could have worded this MUCH better. Like what the person below said, what you've said is purely objective, and, using me as an example, if I had been an ARMY longer than I had been an EXO-L, I would have likely abandoned EXO instead of the former and what I wrote above would have been way different. You should have pointed out that this was all purely your opinion, and should have tried to write this in a completely unbiased manner - as to ARMYs you will come off as a rambling fan of EXO spewing their 'facts'. There's two sides to every story - please remember that.

Starlight and ARMY here who has been around since 2013. I appreciate allegorical fanfiction tackling real-life issues, am even interested in fanwars as a theme of fanfiction.

But what you should avoid with a complex topic such as this is painting a black/white image. You mention "the truth" multiple times here, THE truth as in singular, and your truth is an interpretation of reality - but by no means the only one. So, perhaps consider my hypothesis of "the bigger and younger the fandom, the more immature fans".

Once upon a time EXO-L was the ARMY fandom of kpop. Yes, for real. Back then they were the new group, the new huge fandom overtaking the older generation of groups like SuJu, SHINee and DBSK. EXO was everywhere back then - quite like BTS now. It's a question of sheer numbers and younger fans.

Immaturity slowly drains out of fandoms, and toxicity is as old as fandoms themselves. Both EXO-L and ARMY have been involved in countless fanwars, and when it comes to toxic actions, few fandoms are clean. DBSK (and others) has had some pretty awful sasaeng/stalker cases, and even groups like 2PM have had experiences like receiving letters written in period blood. True fans? I think not. Just like I don't think ARMYs involved in fanwars are truly fans.

Back then it was more of a question of fans versus anti-fans. Now it's fanwars. But really, is ARMY the worst out there? The only bad fandom out there? ONLY a bad fandom? EXO belongs to the second generation now, with BTS being one of the older groups in the third one. The immature EXO-Ls have jumped bandwagons by now, some moving on to BTS. You see, EXO-L has mostly moved on from their past, ARMY is in the progress of doing so, but that's no reason to use ARMY as the only scapegoat of your fanfiction. In a good story, everybody is both hero and villain.