#my.ace

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U N D E R C O V E R

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can’t forget me love me now

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⁘ H I G H E R ⁘ 

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wave, wave, wave, wave, surf

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It Is During Our Darkest Moments That We Must 

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smooth

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💛

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A.C.E showing off their dance...prowess...

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bonus: when they actually know the dance

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😁

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도깨비   •   Favorite Boys 

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fancy Chan feeling good in his fuzzy coat

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Quick look at the folklore in A.C.E’s Favorite Boys

Because I can’t seem to help myself, I’ve done a little digging into all the lore that’s packed into A.C.E’s Favorite Boys, and the hints of the story I’ve uncovered are super cool! Maybe one day I’ll fully flesh this out, but for now I’m just gonna do a quick ramble on the imagery in the bridge.

So first we’ve got Donghun, who is either playing the role of a Jeoseung Saja or Yeomna in these shots. The Jeoseung Saja are the Korean equivalent of grim reapers, depicted wearing black robes and black gat (the hat), who deliver souls to Yeomna, the ruler of the afterworld and judger of souls . Bonus points for the death association coming from the butterflies around him which are probably a reference to Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream (i.e. where the album name comes from) which is often used to talk about the transition between life and death.  

Next we’ve got the princely Jun and Chan who show up right after the Jeoseung Saja in the same smokey abyss, with long hair and white (ish) robes. Seems pretty likely to me that these two are dead, and are representing chonggak gwishin (bachelor ghosts). They never married during life and so they remain as ghosts due to this unfinished business (I think their hairstyles also suggest that they are unmarried... but the research for this post is admittedly incomplete). 

One way to bring these ghosts to peace is to perform a ritual to marry them to another unmarried ghost. And doesn’t that just look exactly like raising two spirits from the ground (writhing with other souls) and bringing them together in some sort of union!  

As for how this links up with Korea’s mischievous goblins (dokkaebi), I’m not totally sure. I’ve seen a couple places that talk about one type of goblin (chonggak dokkaebi) attracting others together (like a matchmaker and fitting awesome with the bridge imagery), while other places define this type of goblin as simply being attractive to humans (fitting great with the rest of the song)...

Honestly, the imagery in the bridge almost feels like a threat -- fall for my goblin charms or you’ll cross over as an unfulfilled ghost. I see your parched yearning, it’s now or never, don’t hesitate. So then the reason they’re our favorite boys is because of some goblin trick they’re playing to seduce us. This also fits in with the unnerving vibes of the Opening Video with its talk of being captivated and bewitched (you know nothing), as well as the album name. Though Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream is often talked about in terms of life and death it is literally a story about not being able to tell dreams from reality. 

So maybe don’t trust your favorite boys...

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Favorite Boy Donghun