#again i fully do believe they are the anima-animus concept

[barnbridges]

which one in your relationship is the girl-matron and which one is the manchild

[jess-readallaboutit]

ON by BTS - Religious links~

(Song)

Once again I am researching a bts song, ON has a lot of Biblical imagery in it so I wanted to analyse this because it linked to the constellations/parallel universe and cultural theme of this project.

BTS has a storyline which is like another Universe, they create their storyline by putting many deep meanings into their music videos and lyrics, they have been carrying on with this storyline for around 7 years and nearly every bts song/mv links to this storyline and they all connect somehow. I have been listening to bts for 4 years and over these years I have dived deep into this massive storyline, I hope one day they turn this whole story into a film because it would take me weeks if I ever tried to analyse the WHOLE storyline, however people have created many YouTube videos explaining theories and analysing music videos.

At the start of the video we see a scene that looks like an aftermath of a war, a member is seen kneeling down at a white bird that had been shot with an arrow. This bird looks like a dove, doves symbolise love and peace. This scene shows that love and peace has been “destroyed” since the dove has been shot and this scene is a literal war. A lot of the scenes in ON reference scenes in Fake Love, this is another bts song with deep meaning and this is where the parallel universe theory comes in. Fake Love appears more modern because of the clothing and scenes, ON looks the opposite and looks like it’s in the past because of the old looking clothing, however it could even represent the future but in a different universe.

There’s a scene where a member is standing near a pile of drums, this could mean music is no longer used in that world and was discarded, but the drums were also used on the battlefield to communicate from officers to soldiers.

The member at the start of the video is shown again but he is holding the dead dove in the cage, more of this will come throughout the video.

It then goes to a scene of a different member standing in a setting similar to Noah’s Ark because of the broken ship and the animals. This scene could represent:

“The flood as the collective society falling into the unconscious. Being swallowed by divine/archetypical modes of thoughts, by through a modern lens”- Carl Jung

BTS’ current concept was heavily inspired by Carl Jung’s ‘Map Of The Soul’, which is a book where he writes about his theories on psychology and believed that the human psyche had three parts: the ego, personal unconscious and collective unconscious. BTS even have albums called Map Of The Soul: Persona and Map Of The Soul:7 (MOTS:7), ON is included in MOTS:7. Below is a picture showing Carl Jung’s theory:

Carl Jung’s theory of the animals in Noah’s Ark represent beings that possess almost no free will, Noah and his family represent the more “conscious” and transcend, or see through the human tendency to war amongst themselves. This meaning that BTS in the music video could possibly represent Noah and his family as they are aware and conscious about their surroundings.

The next scene shows a member reaching to the sky, he does the same action in many older music videos and this could mean he is reaching for hope, he also reaches out to the child sitting with a drum and this could mean he’s trying to reach out to the youth. BTS’ whole goal of creating music and meaningful lyrics is to reach out to youth.

This scene shows a member standing in front of a beautiful setting, however there is another member laying unconscious on the ground with what looks like a Raven pecking at his body. Raven’s are tied to BTS’ storyline and also to Carl Jung’s theories. Jung teamed Raven symbolism to represent the shadow itself or with the dark side of the psyche, in the picture I showed of Carl Jung’s theory, Shadow was also an element included in the ‘SELF’. The members see this Raven constantly during their ‘WINGS’ Era (album). Not only do Ravens represent the shadow itself, but many cultures associate them with healing, renewal and rebirth, so that could be why the Raven is on his unconscious body.

A member sees a girl with a blindfold standing and facing towards a huge wall with doors, he looks behind him and the doors start opening. He removes the blindfold in order to help her move forward, the blindfold represents ignorance, this is similar to Jimin (a member) in the storyline and he is sometimes shown having his eyes covered and also blindfolded in Blood Sweat and Tears, he wears this blindfold in order to prevent himself from accepting the truth. Now together him and the girl walk forward. A drum is played by the little drum boy and the member that was unconscious with the Raven wakes up, it’s as if the child played the drums as a signal. When he wakes up the doors are fully open and these doors remind me of the film The Maze Runner.

The once unconscious member is now conscious and he goes to a lake, he walks into the shallow lake. This whole music video he has been running away from somewhere like he was being held captive, his hands were cuffed together with thorns around his wrists. These thorns are similar to the crown of thorns that were placed on Jesus’ head during the events prior to his crucifixion. It was one of the instruments of the passion employd by Jesus’ captors, both to cause him pain and to mock his claim of authority. The thorns also link to bts’ past when they experienced hardships.

Then all the members, except the one at the lake, join together with many other people with them. In the storyline Jin (the member with the bird) is known to be a time traveler and he travels back in time multiple times to try and save all of his friends (the other members) from hardships and death. We started off the music video seeing all the dead bodies and dead dove after a war, however now the music video is ending with EVERYONE gathered together as if he had travelled back and saved the ones who had died in the war and now they are all gathered together. He then opens the cage and sets the dove free:

White doves also symbolise a new beginning.

Then we are back at the member at the lake with the thorns around his wrists. He dips his wrists underwater and then takes out a conch shell and the thorns disappear. The conch shell is a spiritual symbol used in many cultures throughout history. The Ancients adapted the practical use to associate the conch shell with spiritual awakening and symbolism. According to mainstream Hinduism and Buddhism the conch shell is also associated with truthful speech and strength.

The next scene is a dance break, this scene has a dark atmosphere and the members are wearing cloaks, Jungkook (the one that was at the lake) stands with the members while holding the conch shell. There is a volcano behind them and at the end of the dance scene this volcano erupts and destroys everything. In the Fake Love music video in order for the members to move forward they destroyed their masks and in ON it seems as if they were destroying their establishment, so they could re-grow everything and start a new. Their WINGS era was heavily influenced by the book ‘Demian’ by Herman Hesse, where Abraxas represents a bird that must destroy its own world, which is its egg in order to live.

“The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God is Abraxas.”- Hermann Hesse

For the process of individuation the Ego and the Shadow is no longer divided but brought together in unity and their Persona is now balanced with their shadows.

Jungkook (the one at the lake) was the last to join all the members at the wall, so it seems as though he was the last to go through it and complete the process of individuation, the process of individuation is in the picture of Carl Jung’s theory with the ‘SELF’, ‘SHADOW’, ‘EGO’, ‘PERSONA’, and ‘ANIMA/ANIMUS’. Individuation means the realisation of self, which is what BTS was going through at the time ON was released in the storyline. Individuation begins with becoming conscious of the Persona, the mask we take off in our everyday lives. After we become conscious of the Shadow, the repressed characteristics of the Ego, then we become conscious of the Anima (the inner woman in each man). After that the experiences with Self happens, BTS have passed through the Persona, Shadow, Ego and Anima in their storyline and they also have songs named Persona, Shadow and Ego where they talk about each stage in their lyrics, however they have not gone over the Self yet.

Behind the wall is a mountain/rock, this reminds me a lot of Pride Rock in Lion King. The dove that was released flies over the members who have started walking up the mountain, however this time there are 7 doves (7 members in bts). Then it shows Jungkook (member from the lake) running up the mountain, this scene is similar to another scene in a different music video called ‘Not Today’ where all the members are running together, however the members except Jungkook are being shot down and he looks worried, in ON Jungkook is smiling while running and this time they all run together without being shot down. In Noah’s Ark a Dove flies out to find land, the Dove brings back an olive tree branch to signify that it found land. When the gates first opened, the land on the other side was destroyed and there were no trees, when Jungkook joined all the members at the wall and the dove was released, millions of trees grew. It was as if on the other side of the wall there was hope, love and peace, whereas before it was a war zone.

This music video showcased the members’ battles, representing their hardships and the boys who once had ‘No More Dream’ now has a ‘Dream’ and their dream is to reach out and connect everyone through music and Art, and this music video symbolised Hope. They’ve succeeded by finding themselves and they’ve helped us by leading us on the same path, so the crowd that stood with the members at the wall could’ve represented the fandom and those that they’ve helped. BTS’ whole storyline is based on loving yourself, working to find yourself and doing that by looking towards your own shadows and accepting it, so it is like a path to self love. This music video was an amazing representation of that and the song follows the same kind of theme as the music video:

“Look at my feet, look down

The shadow resembles me

Is it the shadow that's shaking

Or is it my feet that are trembling

Of course I‘m not unafraid

Of course it's not all okay

But I know

Awkwardly I flow

I fly together with that black wind”

Here it talks about looking down at your shadow, like I talked about above, he’s accepting his shadow because it’s a part of him.

“Hey na-na-na

Gotta go insane to stay sane

Hey na-na-na

Throw myself whole into both worlds

Hey na-na-na

Can't hold me down 'cuz you know I'm a fighter

Carried myself into this beautiful prison

Find me and I'm gonna live with ya”

This talks about how nothing can hold him down because he will fight it, it’s like the hardships throughout his career that he has gotten through to reach to the top. “Find me and I’m gonna live with ya” meaning that he will live with the struggles and his shadow.

“Come on up, bring the pain, on yeah

Rain be pourin'

Sky keep fallin'

Everyday oh na-na-na”

“Bring the pain

It'll become my blood and flesh

Bring the pain

No fear, now that I know the way

Breathe on the small things

My air and my light in the dark

The power of the things that make me, “me”

Even if I fall, I come right up”

“Even if I fall, I come right up, scream

That's how we've always been

Even if my knees drop to the ground

As long as they don't get buried

It won't matter

Win no matter what

Whatever you say, whatever they say

I don't give a uhh”

These lines mean that even if the rain is pouring and the sky is falling bring the pain on because it doesn’t bother him, he comes back up. Remember how Jungkook was knocked unconscious at one point in the music video but he got back up and fought.

Overall this song is very motivating and the music video is cinematic and meaningful, I enjoyed researching this song because ever since it was released last year I’ve wanted to analyse it.

Here is the link to the music video:

3/3

[sometimesrosy]

Do you think we will ever get a bellarke kiss? i know we got plenty of other confirmations, but it would be nice for it to be spelt out for me? i want endgame without a shadow of a doubt, is that too much to ask?

I actually believe that The 100 is around 25% ABOUT Bellarke and I believe the end game of that story is romantic fulfillment, because their relationship is NOT platonic. A platonic soulmate pairing is Sherlock and Joan, not Clarke and Bellamy. They yearn for each other and are jealous when the other is with someone else and long for something more, mutually. They are MUTUALLY PINING, which is an awesome story, imo. 

It can be hard to tell what KIND of story a person is telling, and so our task as the audience, if we want to follow along and be on top of the story instead of just sitting back and enjoying the rollercoaster ride is to figure out what the story is, what genre it is, what tropes they’re using, what archetypes, what themes, what style... what TYPE of story.

A lot of genre stories are very simple and not surprising, a soap offers melodrama and mix and matching relationships, an action show offers big fights and exciting adventures and a victory to reach for, romances offer love and consummation and if a tragedy pain and loss and if a comedy or romantic genre happiness and unification of the couple.. Right? 

So what the hell story are they telling HERE? It IS a post apocalyptic science fiction action adventure survival show, and so we have science fiction tropes like spaceships, AIs, mad scientists, and we have post apoclayptic tropes like quests for redemption, birth and rebirth, scavengers and warriors, mutants, savages, and we have battle scenes and sword fights and gun fights and kidnappings and rescue missions and death.

There is an OBVIOUS Bellarke storyline, and it is OBVIOUSLY (not a delusion) a love story. It IS about their partnership, a soulmate relationship, her head to his heart, their NEED to be together, she is the hero but he is the key, her need to redeem him his need to save her.  Their feelings are not platonic, which precludes romance or sexual desire or longing, thus the jealous watching while one is with someone else romantically or sexually.  BUT the question is, what KIND of romance is it??? We know already it’s a slow burn, but are we getting our established relationship? It’s what I want, but what I want is not relevant to what story they are telling. I suppose I shouldn’t have to tell you that what YOU want isn’t relevant to what story they are telling, either. This kiss and confirmation you want? It doesn’t matter. Us wanting something to happen doesn’t mean that’s the story, doesn’t mean that’s what we’re getting. That’s the kind of interpretation that leads to people deciding Lxa was the hero and Clarke her reward and Bellamy the villain, or Spacekru were the stars with Echo (WTF!? That doesn’t even make any sense,) the new hero and Clarke was the villain. Or ignoring Marper and Mackson because you ship Minty, when Marper and Mackson are also beautiful? And ignoring the actual story and the actual heroes leads to being disappointed when our wants don’t happen the way we want them to. Also, my opinion about what is going to happen isn’t relevant to what is going to happen, either. I am an observer, looking for textual clues for what story is going to happen. Now I’m a GOOD observer, and I spend a lot of time double checking my theories against the text and against logic and literary analysis thought, but I am still only putting the puzzle pieces together trying to make it fit the story they are telling.

I will say that the theory I have found MOST useful in puzzling out the story is Jungian Literary Theory. 

Jung is also an influential force in myth (archetypal) criticism. Psychological critics are generally concerned with his concept of the process of individuation (the process of discovering what makes one different form everyone else). Jung labelled three parts of the self:

Shadow – the darker, unconscious self; rarely surfaces, yet must be faced for totality of SelfPersona – the public personality/mask (particularly masculine)Anima/Animus – a man’s/woman’s “soul image” (the negative that makes a composite whole)

A neurosis occurs when someone fails to assimilate one of these unconscious components into his conscious and projects it on someone else. The persona must be flexible and be able to balance the components of the psyche.

Mythological / Archetypal: A mythological / archetypal approach to literature assumes that there is a collection of symbols, images, characters, and motifs (i.e., archetypes) that evokes a similar response in all people. According to the psychologist Carl Jung, mankind possesses a “collective unconscious” (a cosmic reservoir of human experience) that contains these archetypes and that is common to all of humanity. Myth critics identify these archetypal patterns and discuss how they function in the works. They believe that these archetypes are the source of much of literature’s power. [x]

The Shadow-Persona-Anima/Animus is a particularly good fit for The 100 AND Bellarke. Bellarke ARE the Anima/Animus. In fact, we have seen again and again the dark/light, yin yang symbolism to make us subconsciously connect them as two sides of the same coin, dark and light... and they take turns being the dark and light. If they are the anima/animus, then that means they need to integrate the other (which we saw between seasons 4/5) and it also means they need to be together which we’ve seen in seasons 1-6, and which need has only gotten BIGGER as the seasons have passed.

Oh when I consider this approach more fully, I think that Octavia is the Shadow to Bellamy’s Persona... the girl under the floor, rarely let out, and once free (after losing her animus [lincoln] going out of control and becoming a tyrant that destroys the world until the persona asserts itself and feelings/pain/emotion is balanced once again with purpose/ethics/doing what is right.) You know what? I’m shocked that no one has really delved into the Hades/Persephone/Demeter allegory of Dante/Clarke/Abby. I went with Dante’s Inferno as the allegory I explored... maybe because I didn’t start doing my Jungian analysis until season 3 and they showed us that Blake illustration of Dante’s Inferno, and I took the knock upside the head the show was giving me and went OH YOU MEAN IT’S AN ALLUSION!!!!

I think this show is, well, a mix and match of different influences, and I like that. I like that we get The Divine Comedy and the bible as well as Greek mythology as well as Game of Thrones and Battlestar Gallactica and Tangled and The Beauty and The Beast and Penelope and Odysseus as well as Elizabeth and Darcy. I like that shit. The mythic/archetypal stories can be seen in ALL those references. Bellamy is Han Solo and Clarke is Princess Leia. See I love that shit.

I think in some ways, this show is about healing and becoming whole and making peace with your darkness and choosing to be better and rebirth and redeeming humanity and hopefully in season 7, although it is by no means certain, the healing of the earth itself. It’s about trauma and how we struggle to come back from total destruction, because that’s what post apocalyptic fiction is about and one of the reasons we consume it... because we can see our OWN rebirth in the dramatic, fictional rebirth (and why I hate post apocalyptic fic where the guiding principle is that humanity is doomed and there’s no point.) 

Oh wait. You asked about Bellarke and I went into jungian literary analysis and Dante’s inferno and post apocalyptic fic... Okay so here’s the thing. I can not GUARANTEE you that you’ll get a kiss. Because a KISS isn’t the point. The point is UNITY, together, the head and the heart, becoming WHOLE. This is why they could end every season with Clarke and Bellamy together and victorious, but together in a different way, and still with more story to tell... because...wait... each season there has been a DIFFERENT mythic tale of the anima/animus coming together. If the show had ended at season 4, it would have been the sun/moon, always longing, never together. If it had ended at season 5, it might have been binary stars, aligned and moving in the same direction. Now in season 6, we don’t get the ending of our story. We’re still in the middle of it, but Clarke and Bellamy have actually come TOGETHER, and it is in an intimate, romantic way, with that fairy tale “true loves kiss bringing her back from the dead,” aka mouth to mouth aka “the kiss of life,”... when we know that mouth to mouth was not necessary to CPR, but it WAS necessary to the romantic trope of true love’s kiss.

See, this all brings me back to my ORIGINAL analysis on Bellarke after Hakeldama in season 3, when everyone thought Bellarke was dead and CL was the endgame story, and I went, no wait. They are the head and the heart and they can only do it TOGETHER and the main idea is bringing together the opposites/enemies/yin and yang to create a coherent whole that means that Clarke and Bellamy HAVE to be together that’s how this story works. Bellarke is endgame. I don’t make the rules.

Of course I was not aware that it wasn’t considering ONLY romance to be “together,” and the hands metaphor was used instead of fandom’s desire for a kiss, and there are other archetypal light/dark head/heart/ yin/yang king/queen stories than just the simple romance that shippers want. Not that there’s anything wrong with the simple romance. I think season 1 WAS a simple romance for them. It was enemies to friends to lovers... but without the resolution of the lovers part when they decided to drag it out into a slow burn that COULD, if we got to the end of it, be the most fantastic epic love story on tv. 

I’ve faced so many years of people telling me I was delusional, I have double checked my theories and compared the development of the bellarke relationship to canon, to romantic conventions, to archetypes, to allusions, to other ships on the show. I’ve watched and charted the relationship growth for all six seasons, and the thing is, yeah they sometimes pull back and they always put obstacles between clarke and bellamy and if I saw the direction going ELSEWHERE, that’s what I would go with, because I am more attached to the story than to my WANTING it to give me my ship. But they are NOT portraying Bellarke as platonic, and they are NOT portraying B/E as endgame, but as a romantic obstacle, family, spy/master, and a “right for now” romance, rather than a Ms. Right romance. And Echo’s story is not being portrayed as her being fulfilled by her relationship with Bellamy, but by rediscovering who she is and reclaiming her life from the people who would use her, who stole her identity. Echo’s story seems to be going in a feminist direction about female empowerment and not needing no man, while Clarke and Bellamy’s story has gone in a “yes I can do it without you but I don’t want to and I need you in my life because I love you and I won’t let you go.” Bellarke’s story has only gotten MORE romantic, culminating this season in that true love’s kiss/back from the dead... which leaves us season 7, to ratchet the epic love story up one last notch. 

Which notch? Consummation. So yeah, I think they’ll “kiss,” because the togetherness has steadily gotten more and more romantic every single season and I honestly can’t see what else could come between true love’s kiss and  endgame except a season worth of story about how they get from “I can’t lose you, I need you,” to endgame romantic physical and official “we are married and in love” status. But you know, i’m not one of the writers just an observer with some literary analysis.  My fave is jungian, but i like the others, too. Except maybe the first one, historical/biographical, because I don’t think that works at ALL unless you understand the text for itself outside of historical biographical context which would be a secondary analysis, and I think fandom prefers hist/bio but never bothers to understand the story being told for itself before deciding it means all sorts of things about context. oh my god rowena stop talking and just post.