#bangtan boys BST mv theory

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

We’re not a blog that is dedicated to reviewing music (including Kpop), but because we absolutely adore BTS and their music, we decided to do a memo-style review of the Music Video (MV) for their Japanese Version “Blood, Sweat & Tears” (血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.-).

***Note: If this is your first time browsing the Drama Files, please read The Rules on how our Memo-style reviews work.***

***Note: We really wanted to analyze the Blood, Sweat, Tears Korean MV before, but we missed out on the opportunity. We thought this MV was very interesting as well, so we were really eager to share our theories about what they could possibly signify. There are definitely many theories, so we thought we’d propose ours. Our views are simply theories and purely speculative.***

Memo

Dear Reader,

There have been some questions regarding the recent release of BTS’s 血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.- (“BST”), particularly:

(1) Who/What does each member represent?

(2) How is the ending clip that is reminiscient of the “I Need U” MV connected to BST?

Conclusion

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

(2) This will be answered in a subsequent Memo.

Background

Jubiemon J: I will first start by setting the background that leads to the analysis of the characters. Please bear with me! Through BST, we see two predominant influences: the Bible in particular The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Demian. The Fall of the Rebel Angels is based on the passage from the Book of Revelation. This passage highlights the confrontation between Good and Evil, before the Fall of Man. Archangel Michael forces Lucifer to leave heaven based on God’s Orders and as a result, there is the fall of other rebel angels (See here for the actual text).

The main themes in BST, as a result, are adulthood and temptation/sin. (I write it as temptation/sin because I believe they go hand in hand. Each member is tempted by something sinful.) The lyrics of BST highly emphasize temptation; the chorus is: I want more, more, more. Given this context, we can see how each member, except for J-Hope and maybe Suga, face temptation and from these struggles, they are forced to eventually grow up and mature into an adult. I will go through each character from a biblical point of view (POV) and then from the perspective based on Demian.

When the MV has a blend of neon colours, we are safe to assume that this is a time of war/temptation/animus and that we are in the internal reality.

This is after Jungkook drank the green liquid; Look at the neon vibes.

When the MV is in an everyday type of light and the setting is still in a Victorian vibe, this seems to imply that we are looking deeper within ourselves.

Jimin is trapped in this room.

When the MV is filmed with an everyday light but the setting is modern, then that is reality in a distant past.

Jin is hitting V and V is retaliating. Look at the modern kitchen and their clothes.

When the MV is filmed with a slightly brown light that gives a nostalgic vibe, then that is the present reality.

Look at this brownish tint. Mostly only Jin shows up for these type of scenes.

I also think it’s important to establish where BST chronologically fits among BTS’ MVs to understand who each member represents. I rewatched almost all of the MVs and I think the ones that are related to BST are the Korean “BST”, “I Need U”, “Run”, the BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV, and “EPILOGUE: Young Forever”. (I consider “Spring Day” another story by itself. Feel free to read our analysis of it to understand why that is so.)

The chronology of the story, in my view, is:

1. “I Need U”

2. “Run”/the BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV/Korean BST

4. “BST”

5. “EPILOGUE: Young Forever”

I think we can divide the MVs into external reality and inner reality (aka psychical reality). “I Need U”, “Run”, and the BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV focus on the external reality (The BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV does have psychical reality, but I think it’s more like a memory playback.) The other three MVs represent the psychical reality. The way they are filmed is different from the former three.

The starting point of the boys’ story would be “I Need U”. That is when we are introduced to all of the boys’ problems (eg V struggling with his broken family, J-Hope battling what’s likely a mental health problem, etc). We end this song with V killing his father to save his sister.

Next is “Run” where we see V fall back into the water, meaning that he has succumbed to darkness. He also leads the boys into mishaps and they all play pranks or do some petty crime together.

In the end, we find that Jimin is in a tub, burning a group photo of them. All of them have changed or matured and there’s no turning back now. I placed BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV with “Run” because I see the BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV as a time where V is reminiscing about the past.

Then we move into the psychical reality. We see in the Korean BST how the characters are struggling internally. Chronologically speaking, I think the Korean BST happens around the same time as “Run” and the BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV. As the boys are changing and being led by V for the external reality, the inner reality is also occurring. That’s where the Korean BST fits in. I placed BST after the Korean BST because we see Jin reminiscing about what has happened.

Finally, there is “EPILOGUE: Young Forever” where all of them have all grown up and are wishing to stay “Forever Young”. There’s a really dream-like state with this MV, so I consider it more of a psychical reality.

There is a chance that the boys have all died as a lot of fans have remarked, but in my opinion, the boys have just matured and though they wish to stay a boy, they have to become an adult. Their “youth” has died and not their actual selves. When we go through each boy, we see what they have gone through or left behind.

White ribbons are used in Korean funerals and white ribbons can also mean innocence and pureness in other cultures. At one point, the ribbon in Jungkook’s hand seems to have turned into a white feather–hope and then the white feather is shown by J-Hope’s feet along with the scattered pills.

The members will try to savour this blissful moment for as long as they can. I think this explanation matches the lyrics more like how J-Hope raps that “[he] wants to stay young forever”/”yeongwonhi sonyeonigo sipeo nan Aah”/”영원히 소년이고 싶어 난 Aah” (See credits for translation here). I think the huge irony here is that even though they want to savour youth, getting through youth is a challenge and a maze itself. That’s why they’re in this grey fenced maze that also resembles a cage. At the end of the day, you navigate through this maze and grow up, yet you also still become super nostalgic of those days. Ironic huh?

Look at this scary maze — youth.

(Side note: I quoted the romanized Hangul and Korean lyrics because I prefer to translate the phrase as “I want to stay as a young boy forever”. Though I’m not fluent in Korean, I am certain that “sonyeon” is “少年”. 少年 in Mandarin means a teenage youth or young boy (something like a boy of ages 10-16). To be honest, I feel like when the term is translated into English, it loses its beauty and what it embodies. 少年 embodies that growing up phase.) 

(Just a another note: I am not an expert in Christianity. I only know references based on what I’ve learned in English Literature and Art. I also have not fully read Demian as I have a bit too much on my hands right now. However, I’ve read summaries on Cliff Notes and Coles Notes and read character analyses. Finally, I am not a psychology major, so I apologize if I’m not 100% clear with the psychological concepts. I’ve tried my best to understand them through research.)

Now that we have all the background settled. Let’s go onto who the members represent in BST beginning with J-Hope. I have decided to release this Memo into different parts.

Analysis

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

Throughout BST, J-Hope is like a guide. We first see him sitting in front of Michelangelo’s Pieta. Pieta depicts Virgin Mary who holds onto Jesus Christ’s deceased body after his crucifixion. We are past the scene where Jin looks through the painting, The Fall of the Rebel Angels, with some binoculars, so we know that we are in a chaotic stage of war. Notice how when the painting is zoomed in, we only see the images of the monsters and rebel angels and the Archangel in the centre is completely black.

Jin with the binoculars (setting = reality based on how it’s filmed)

No Archangel here. Just monsters and rebel angels.

Reference to the Devil from the Korean BST. 

Then the first time we see J-Hope, nearly everything is pitch black, except for him and Pieta. The neon pink/yellow light symbolizes that he is here to show the light. J-Hope has a sword in his hand; we know from a lot of stories, noble knights or Kings have to fight with a sword (ie King Arthur/Lancelot etc). Similarly, he has to fight off the bad angels.

Neon pink in BST meaning that “there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,” (Book of Revelations, 12:7)

As Archangel Michael, J-Hope chases V who is likely Lucifer from Heaven and brings about the demise of the Rebel Angels. Jimin and Jungkook are seen restraining V, the Fallen Angel. You’re probably wondering how these two can be helping J-Hope when they too have fallen into despair. I think the only reasonable way to explain it is that each member starts their story at a different time. Jimin and Jungkook were saved first or have matured enough to realize that the Fallen Angel needs to be out of Heaven.

Jimin and Jungkook are restraining V (the Fallen Angel). 

Reminder that J-Hope is the one holding the sword.

I am pretty sure that this is J-Hope shooting at V because in his other outfit, he is wearing the same sweater as the one here.

After all, right after the scene above, we see J-Hope with a bow and arrow. 

We never get to see who exactly is the one that aims at V. However, we see in the subsequent scene that J-Hope is the one shooting his bow and arrow. In the Bible, a bow is the doctrine of truth and good: “Jehovah’s arrows are sharp, and all His bows are bent, the hoofs of His horses are counted as rock, and His wheels as the whirlwind” (Isaiah 5:28) (See this website for more explanation). After he shoots that arrow, the doctrine of truth and good are spread to all of the boys. We see the boys hanging out with J-Hope after there’s a small clip of V being in pain.

Then we notice J-Hope pouring down some pills in a cauldron which lets the truth explode. In a way, I think it could be that J-Hope is foretelling what “may” happen, but I think it is more likely that he is telling us what “has” happened. This is because the next scene is Jin looking around in the present and after that we cut to V and Jin.

(Just a little note: When J-Hope is with the boys or in his lounge room, he is wearing a sweater that is pieced together in many parts. Half of it is black and red and the other is grey, white, and blue. I suddenly got the feeling that the red and black reminded me of Jin’s outfit throughout this whole MV. In a way J-Hope seems to embody both Good and Evil at this stage after fighting the war.)

J-Hope pouring some pills down and revealing fortunes or the past.

Based on the two filming styles, I think the V and Jin scene feels more like the past. Jin keeps hitting V and then mouths a “Sorry”. This somehow makes me feel that Jin is really enraged that V led Jin or all of them down the wrong road. After all, if we take a jog back memory lane, we will notice that V is always the one leading the group to do something. V is the only one that jumps from that high contraption in BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV.

V being the first to jump and to lead the group to elsewhere

That jumping scene is more likely a memory of the past as we first see V with bloody hands in BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue MV, meaning that he has already committed the murder. He keeps trying to wash off the blood but like Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, his hands are stained. Right after this short scene, the lighting in the MV changes to give off a bright yet nostalgic vibe and then there are clips of happiness. Therefore, it’s likely V’s memory of the happier times. I think this theory works because this is also a Prologue MV leading to Butterfly.

In “Run”, V is also the first one that has plunged into the water because he has sunken too deep via the murder. After his plunge, we are shown Rapmonster who dumps some sugar into his cup of coffee. This act symbolises that similarly, all the boys have subsequently fallen into darkness after V’s crime. In “I Need U”, we already know that all the boys suffer from problems. However, V is the only one who commits arguably the biggest crime out of the boys: V has murdered his father. Therefore, these all prove that V is the one that has led the boys astray.

  Also, closer to the end of”I Need U”, J-Hope is the one pouring down pills. In the beginning of “I Need U”, he seems to have to rely heavily on pills as we see him with his pill cabinet. His external reality is likely dealing with a mental health issue which is why he also suffers a lot in his psychical reality. (It could be non mental health related illness as well; we don’t really know that much based on the clips.)

J-Hope pouring pills in this fire in “I Need U”

J-Hope pouring pills in this cauldron in BST

Let’s go back and contrast this “I Need U” pill pouring scene to the BST one. Somehow I keep getting reminded of the Three Witches in Macbeth. I wouldn’t say J-Hope fully embodies the Three Witches because there are three of them and J-Hope doesn’t start any of the MVs. However, I think there is a subtle inference that J-Hope may have been like Three Witches who planted the seed of temptation in Macbeth’s mind to kill King Duncan. Although this pill pouring scene is shown among all of the boys changing towards the end of the MV, there are also clips of the boys’ happy youth where they are playing with fireworks and I’m pretty sure they all gathered around a fire way before V killed his father.

V coming in to rescue his sister and ends up killing his father.

Jimin sinking to despair

Happy Jungkook at the group camp fire

Everyone playing with fireworks (in the past)

Therefore, when he pours the pills in his external reality, he is foreshadowing the darkness that will come and perhaps in a very subtle way, he has influenced V to act. However, unlike the other boys who have succumbed to darkness, J-Hope is able to break free from temptation and is the bearer of truth in the inner reality. He dumps the pills once more in BST, becomes the one that awakens from this chaos, and has to punish V, the Fallen Angel.

  Now that we have established how J-Hope fits as Archangel Michael, we can see how J-Hope can also be Frau Eva who represents the anima. Anima and animus are concepts developed by Carl Jung. Anima is “the woman in men” (See here for more info). The Anima’s archetype is the mother figure. It’s quite fitting that Pieta, which shows the Virgin Mary, is right behind J-Hope. Moreover, in Demian, Demian gives a kiss from Frau Eva to Sinclair. As a result of the kiss, Sinclair who represents the conscious ego is able to combine with Demian (the self) and merge with Frau Eva (the anima). Throughout the novel, Frau Eva’s role is also to help Sinclair grow. As a result, J-Hope has helped all of the other boys mature and the boys are thrown back to the external reality.

Look behind J-Hope!

As for himself? J-Hope is left behind and gazes up to this sky that features an ominous green butterfly/pair of wings. I initially saw this as a butterfly; butterflies generally symbolize great transformation. Think of a caterpillar who changes into a butterfly. Wings gives a different meaning like freedom, independence, and in the Bible, wings are known to be spiritual truths (See here).

  All of the boys have gained some form of truth and returned to the external reality which is in green. Green is associated with nature and the Earth. I’m pretty sure in BST, green here is used to represent when the characters are in the external reality.

Whenever this neon green is used, the scenes are related to the characters being in the inner reality. We first see this neon green when Rapmonster and Jungkook are sitting across from one another and Rapmonster tempts Jungkook. Notice how the neon green is on the exterior of the windows and how the Hotel is outside of this building. Jungkook was in a hotel at the beginning. The last three pictures show the ending scenes of the MV. There is V who has been punished looking up to the green sky (external reality). There is Jungkook who is going through that weird neon green/blue light to get back to the external reality. There’s Jin looking down at the vortex and stepping away from it. The green sky is all around him. He too is getting back to the external reality.

I haven’t figured out which member to analyze for the next post, so please feel free to let me know who you’d like to understand first!

[kpaparazzi10]

“keep pushing me away, this is a fool, crazy in love, chasing in circles”

“grasp me firmly and shake me so I can’t gather my mind together”

[pistoldva]

army!bakugou headcanons because dynamight and also because i felt like it

biases yoongi and namjoon but loves ot7 too bc my boy is not a solo stan

bops the HARDEST to daechwita

has a stan acc where he drags toxic stans and does lyric/concept/mv analysis + interpretation + theories

says his favourite song is UGH! but it’s really either spring day or the truth untold

other favourites include baepsae, ddaeng, dis-ease, not today, tear, stigma, cypher 3, jump, and interlude:shadow

holds the rapline mixtapes in a special place in his heart

dark and wild is his favourite album

cries at let go and wab:te but shh

deku said like . 1 thing about how he didn’t like mots:persona and bakugou didn’t speak to him for a week

even though deku was the one who introduced him to bts and has been in the fandom longer (not by a lot, but still longer)

is always ready to be mad at how bts are generally portrayed in the mainstream media as “just a kpop boy group”

rants at length about how their artistry as musicians and lyricists and dancers are so often overshadowed by their overwhelming popularity and the perceptions that come with their popularity + fanbase

gets the rest of bakusquad to listen to their stuff through aggressively playing their music in every discord vc he joins

mina already knew some of their stuff (you can’t tell me she didn’t learn at least a little bit of their choreo from dna, mic drop, bwl etc)

sero likes their more experimental (?) stuff (134340, black swan, dionysus, singularity)

kaminari goes HARD to their more boppable music (save me, dope, so what, best of me)

kiri cant choose between the softer songs (euphoria, home, fly me to my room) and the cyphers

he also LOVES their earlier stuff (boyz with fun, no more dream, wab: pt 2, attack on bangtan)

jirou at first doesn’t rlly like them but finds that some songs are just rlly comforting (coffee, like, singularity, lost, paradise, her, jamais vu)

also she doesn’t shut up about bst for a week after she listens to it and watches the mv

[onmykneesforbangtan]

my Blood Sweat & Tears Japanese version MV theory

they are on drugs

i am on drugs

my dog is on drugs

Obama is on drugs

the world is on drugs

everybody’s on drugs

[just-an-army]

Theories time!

Me: mom! The new MV was released

Mom: THEORIES TIME!

Me: YES!

Dad: NO GOD! PLEASE NO! NO MORE THEORIES!

[wifihit-blog]

Jimin blood sweat & tears japanese ver. mv theory

Jimin leaves yoongi (he is wearing stripes) and runs away as if looking for something and sort of seemed like yoongi was trying to stopping him before that. This links to yoongi's first love short film where he runs after someone. This someone could be Jimin and he is trying to stop him from reaching to someone or something. Jimin with stripes is seen eating an apple, in the bible the apple is seen as the forbidden fruit. When Adam and Eve eat the apple their innocence was gone. Jimin when he is wearing a white shirt then is seen holding an apple. Because jimin wears different clothes, this jimin could be his innocence. I think because he is holding the apple and not eating it like the other jimin, his innocence is not totally gone yet. Also because jimin is alone in the room, I think jimin with stripes is the part of jimin that ate the apple and commited the sin of eating it. Jimin with stripes finally meets with the one wearing the white shirt but when he turns his head around to see him, yoongi covers his eyes. I believe yoongi doesn't want the other jimin, the one that ate the apple to get to him so he is "protecting" his innocence. In Jimin's solo song, Jimin sings the lines "find the me that was innocent, I can't free myself from this lie" Yoongi found the innocent Jimin before the one with the stripes and tried to "free him" from the lie which would be the jimin wearing the stripes. As I mentioned before, Yoongi could be running after someone who could be either jimin's innocence to save him from his suffering or "jimin's lie". Take out with full credits Written by: Tumblr - wifihit Twitter - braveryoongi

[btsandvmin]

My Vmin story

So, I got an ask that I felt I wanted to make into a post in stead. This post will basically be about my own decent into the BTS rabbit hole and how I started to ship Vmin.

since when do you know bts, when did you become a vmin shippers and what moments made you a vmin shipper ? who is your bias and bias wrecker ? YOU RE THE BEST VMIN BLOG ! 

First, thank you for this ask and for you liking my Vmin blog so much, it warms my heart. :3 ~<3 I hope you will find this an interesting read, even though it’s just my own story of how I came to love BTS and Vmin. It might be a little bit long, but I hope you’ll like it. 

(If you feel lazy but curious I have the short answer at the end of the post. :P )

First, I have been a fan of Asian culture for a long time and came across k-pop because of my interest in Japanese drama, anime and Asian music. BOA and Rain were really big at the time and it was the first time I heard of k-pop. My first k-pop groups were SS501 and TVXQ/DBSK because they had songs in anime I liked. However, I never got deeply into k-pop then because I thought j-pop of the time was more interesting, and I just listened to particular songs rather than having an interest in the whole genre.

The first time I heard BTS it was N.O as it was on the Japanese Oricon charts (at least I think it was Oricon since I used to follow the chart monthly). The song stood out to me amongst other k-pop songs I had heard and I wanted to look it up. However, I never did, and it got forgotten for years. I still listened to the occasional k-pop songs and liked Big Bang, Girls Generation, T-ara and Shinee.

I also watched FBE’s reaction videos to k-pop and found songs there that I liked. Like EXO-CBX Hey Mama and BTS Dope. But still didn’t fall enough to look deeper yet.

Then, when Blood Sweat and Tears came out my sister watched the video and loved it. And then she showed it to me, and since then the both of us fell for BTS... Hard.

I loved the MV and the song and eventually found the theories super fascinating. I watched more videos and it seemed all of their music was great, as well as their music videos. I then wanted to learn the members names and started to watch “get to know BTS“ videos and then interviews, Bangtan Bombs and other things related to the boys.

I got deep into the theories and read Demian as well. It was fun and spiked my interest in analysis, something I have always loved to do.

BTS is different to most groups and I really think it has mostly to do with the members and their bond to each other. Their personalities and their relation to their fans and to each other is just very genuine. There more I learned the more I wanted to get to know even more.

I have a similar bond to BTS as I have with the Japanese group Kanjani8, both groups having a lot in common as to why I love them so much. I loved the music which they also participate in making, and they have great group dynamics and shows that are really fun to watch. You get to know them in a way you don’t normally do with celebrities because they are much more open than what we usually see. They also have such strong bonds between members and a love that looks more like family than colleagues. 

So, basically I fell in love with BTS, and I keep loving them more and more as time passes. And knowing I still love Kanjani8 after following them for 12 years, I think BTS will end up being a similar existence for me.

So, why Vmin then? Well, it all kind of started with Jimin. I am a really slow learner when it comes to faces, so it took me a while to learn all the members. But, in Blood Sweat and Tears it was hard not to look at Jimin and he was the first member of vocal line that I learned. That era is still one of my favorites when it comes to all the members and their looks in general, but Jimin still stood out to me (as the one with the gray hair) when it came to his performance (though I thought JK was the most good looking member). I also seem to have a type when it comes to my k-pop biases, and Jimin fits it perfectly.

Watching a lot of BTS content I fell hard for Jimin’s personality and when I knew the group well enough to form an opinion on who could be my bias it was already pretty obvious I had a preference for Jimin and looking up more things in relation to him. He has been my bias since the start, and he still is IF I HAVE TO PICK. Honestly, choosing a bias gets harder and harder the more you love a group, and there is not a single BTS member I don’t love.

After falling for Jimin I automatically paid more attention to him, and that’s where Vmin comes into the picture. Because BST era was truly a golden time for Vmin and they seemed to be almost glued together. I found them incredibly cute and shipped them pretty early on, though it took a while for them to become a real OTP.

I think ironically that one of the things that cemented Vmin as the ship for me were the “best friend” dynamics, which I have always loved in a ship. But also their ridiculous amount of skinship. One of the very first interviews I ever watch with BTS had this moment in it:

It’s just so tender and sweet and out of nowhere. Then I saw other new moments as I watched things from the BST comeback promotions and it felt like there was no other Jimin ship that could even compete with what Vmin had.

Honestly, the BST comeback was so filled with great Vmin moments that it surprises me that not more people started to ship them romantically at that point. (Even though a lot of people actually did.)

Let’s just say it was some very intense weeks, followed by even more Vmin at the end of the year award shows and then ISAC 2017. It was just no way any other ship would be able to steal my heart after all the Vmin moments I saw.

(I should make a Vmin throwback post for 2016, because it was truly an incredible year filled with Vmin moments.)

So short answer, my bias is Jimin (all of BTS bias wreck me, but I suppose Tae is my official wrecker by now) I started to ship Vmin late 2016, never looked back since and don’t regret falling for these two soulmates.

Thank you again for your love and support! :) 

[ulikethischain]

me:

[flakandforay]

MMA and MAMA 2019 Theory

welcome back loves to another theory with me!!! so it really has been a while since I have done any theory, mainly because homegirl is stuck in uni and is dying in it with useless group mates but anyway, i finally got back to doing another ever since I watched the MMA and MAMA 2019 ones and wow, there is so much to unpack. 

also, a huge congratulations to our 4-Daesang winners aka BTS who not only swept all of the Daesangs in MAMA but MMA in 2019. honestly, still shocking considering how we all know how the industry is like lmao. but anyway, let’s begin.

if you want to support my ko-fi, feel free to do so

⇝ theory masterlist 

theory: if I were to compare their MMA and MAMA VCRs, I believe there’s more to analyse for the MAMA ones because of the length and also because MMA’s one, I believe the hints are more centred around the individual performances and set ups. 

So starting off with MMA, looking at the VCR. I am putting it out there is literally I Need U all over again. The camera pans out to Namjoon, Seokjin, Jimin, Yoongi, Hoseok, Taehyung and lastly Jungkook. For some reason, this has me thinking of the HYYH the Notes pairings that I keep mentioning throughout the theories about them. (read here) These were similar to that of Wings, but I guess Namjoon and Seokjin’s pairing was the one of the BST JP and instead of Taehyung being that Omelas boy, though some may say it’s Jungkook (because of how he is the youngest and he is affected by all and in this theory, Taehyung is the trigger), maybe could explain why the camera pans out to Jungkook last. 

do you not think that the setting reminds me of of HYYH? the whole light, couches thing etc 

But moving on, if you see at 0:49, you see the shadows of the boys walking behind them at the back but somehow settling behind each respective member which I find extremely creepy and somehow reinforces that the next instalment is Shadow but at 1:05 it shows the lighter. 

One could recall it being one of Yoongi’s key charcateristics as he smokes and across the HYYH the Reel, or in the I Need U MV, but at the same time, common with Jungkook’s Little Matchstick Girl story and of course not to forget, just like here In the VCR, how Namjoon worked at the gas station and somehow dropped the lollipop on a cash but it caught fire etc which somehow related to his death in one of the theories.

We had Namjoon’s strong Persona intro and you could see at the back, the words ‘shadow’, ‘ego’, ‘what am I to you’ etc, scribbled behind though repeatedly. The words ‘shadow’ and ‘ego’ should be signifying the next two releases for bangtan’s map of the soul trilogy series based on jung’s map of the soul book which focused heavily on persona, shadow and ego along with many other theorists who believed that the other two instalments of the series to be called ‘shadow’ and ‘ego’. Other identified scribbles include ‘Im Not What’ ‘Happen to Me’, ‘No More Dream’, ‘Who are you, Who Am I’, ‘Dream, Love, Happiness’ etc. But anyway, after the Persona stage, the intro of ‘What am I to you’ is played and I swear it was Dark and Wild all over again before it went on to ‘Boy in Luv’ and parallelly, they moved on to ‘Boy With Luv’ such a stark contrast but shows their diversity. Afterwards, a short VCR with the truth untold instrumentals playing in the background before somehow they decided to crush my heart and played mikrokosmos and hearing Namjoon’s words is making me feel things.

Anyway, moving on, after that stage ended, the VCR played again with how Jungkook woke up and this idea of trying to figure out who he is, as he watches various screens of himself across the years with eg Save Me, No More Dream , fake love playing, danger, the lines ‘I’m still looking for who I used to be, who I am now., before Namjoon hugs him (note the Wings pairing) before the rest comes together in this formation. Yoongi, Jimin, Namjoon, Jungkook, Jin, Hoseok and Taehyung; Taehyung was the last one. 

similar to this 

this reminds me of this open room in fake love as well for Seokjin.

Then somehow in the midst of this, they show how the boys ‘appearing’, Jungkook forming from the clouds, Namjoon from the leaves, Jimin from smoke, Hoseok from the ‘fake love coloured setup’, Taehyung from ‘the spray can’ (he even had the sound effect of the spray can, Yoongi from fire and Jin from what seems to be in a room full of mirrors..? it seems oddly familiar but I can’t pinpoint as to where this is from. And yet after all this, as they all gaze into the screens, somehow only Taehyung is the one looking unsettled, at most a really really small smile, not sure if it was on purpose or just coincidental, 

Jungkook’s ment cntinues ‘who I will be in the future’. At 18L47, it focused on Jungkok’s eyes to expand and show the milky way galaxy.  Then it moved on to the start of the Dionysus stage but somehow we are surprised to find 7 individual stages.

But moving on, apart form bangtan’s group stages, there is a need to pay close attention to the individual stages of each member. i bet bangtan’s main goal for these year end shows is to somehow showcase their humble beginnings with their underrated songs hence why they performed n.o., we are bulletproof pt.2 and boy in luv at both year end shows across, asides from promoting their later songs such as mikrokosmos, or boy with luv.

Notice the transitions among each individual stages. It’s literally their whole discography, more focus was on here rather than showing a vcr ,though the vcr they played was of the I need u feels and you cannot tell me otherwise once I placed the references here. One for their similar outfits and the I need u sofa cut scene in the MV with this MMA VCR. Not to mention it kind of reminds me of the HYH Epilogue VCR when they were taking a family portrait.

Anyway, the individual stages started off with Taehyung, with no more dream but the level of sophistication and performance was amazing but also quite heavy considering the no. of back dancers yet somehow they’re in this gladiator outfit/warrior outfits with the skirts. Also, the 4 people hanging from the hoops at the top, it casually reminded of te Olympics but that’s just my opinion and in no relation to this. Do take note of how altered the sound is to sound more like it’s fit for a battle scene, those loud hits of the drums etc and the resounding ‘la la la’ a sa battle cry or possibly an anthem. Note the scenes at the back to be mostly of the Greek/Roman kind of architecture. 

Next, it transitioned to Seokjin whose song was Danger and interestingly, this kind of Greek/Roman concept continued on, as now they leveraged more on Seokjin’s looks for this stage with lesser dancing in comparison and made him stand on top of this makeshift Trojan horse. Take note of how the music for Danger instead of the hard hitting kind of song, it becomes a little bit more majestic, royal even but with power. Though Seokjin relatively dances way lesser, his stage presence and looks was enough to dominate the stage, like my god, just look at him??? Also, the back up dancers outfits seem to continue on with this. And when he really took the reins and let it whip to have this yellow horse run as though he whipped it, it ran across the screens (satisfying really), it changed to something more melodic.

Here, you hear the acoustic version of I Need U which was actually played before unlike the other 2 versions of the songs (and actually the rest of the members’ as well), it was played at one of the year end show sin 2015 in which Yoongi actually played the piano and Jungkook was dancing, they were promoting Run at that time. But oh how this is so befitting for Jimin and his contemporary movies, it’s really so graceful, ethereal and wow. But they made this I Need U version more melodramatic with the use of strings such as violins and cello, listen to that rendition and melodies as well as the triangle I think (I literally forgot the name of that instrument) but then it moved on to Fire with Yoongi. 

Honestly, I don’t think anyone knew it was Fire until it started because of the really really hard hitting bass that really became outright rock and loud cries of ‘La, La, La’ and what sounded like ‘Jin’ although I am pretty sure it’s not but you get my point here. Honestly, thought the fire in the screens looked like a dead giveaway but with how hard the beat is hitting that became rock, it almost sounded like a mantra not to mention how loud and how great the drums sound here. Also note how Yoongi isn’t doing much, just minimal dance moves  like a body roll.

I must say the transition from Yoongi to Jungkook is quite abrupt because of the sharp contrast in the transition between their stages; from rock to something more pop? It’s a bit hard to adjust to, also the version for Save Me is so so different but yet so nice, it’s much more synthesized here and the choreography is centred to how the beats are in the music. To think this was done by Jungkook as well.

At 25:54, we are seeing 7 lights to represent 7 stars, which apparently, this constellation represents Corona Borealis. It represents the crown the Princess wore on her wedding day when she married Dionysus. (see where we are going with this). You could see that throughout all of the stages, an additional light to represent a star was added after each performance and at the end with Namjoon, the Corona Borealis was completed. 

Now, going back to Hoseok’s part with Fake Love but a much more EDM version to showcase his popping and then finally, we have this version of Dionysus, but look at that intro with the chorus singing and it showcases Namjoon. Although he is walking, it reminds me when he changed his jacket in 2017 for another year-end performance as he walked across the stage but now it’s for the staff. Literally, Namjoon is not doing anything but walking, but look at his stage presence????? 

And this was how Dionysus began but again with the 7 constellations, they really brought the 2 tiger balloons that they used at the concerts with them here at the MMA, with the foreign women throwing flowers which coincidentally was a Greek tradition.

Yet again, before they start their performance, we have the same guy sounding the horn. But now we have guys in fedora hats which I am still confused as to why they are there. Well I did some research and turns out the use of fedora hats originated from a popular Russian play but the word originated from the Greeks themselves.  

The name Fedora is derived from the Greek word theodoros, which literally means "gift of God."  -History of Fedora

I will like to sidetrack now to talk about the guy in the veil. so someone speculated on Twitter about the use of the veil in Greek culture and so this is how i went down to do my research etc and reading a paper on it. I have highlighted the necessary parts. 

after reading this, one could say that the veil is a form of expression for anger. but mainly anger, then emotional pain and lastly grief. it can also be seen as ‘a form of retaliation, the victim’s way of punishing the offender’s breach of the rules of interaction’. you may consider seeing it as being petty, in a way of giving the silent treatment or just not giving one’s full attention but again, this goes deeper than on surface value. kinda interested to see how this would pan out in the future. 

However, enough of the hat and veil talk and its history, now going back to the performance. They even brought out the horses so honestly tell me what is going on. So doing more research, I dug out some. The reason why I am focused on the symbolism of these things inn Greece is due to the consistent Greek culture that is being cultivated, perhaps prior to the Dionysus one but it seems to be well incorporated in the various stages as well such as the Trojan horse  in Jin’s stage which was used to invade and win the war in Troy. But going back to the history of the horses, they symbolize wealth and status. The horse was often affiliated with heroes and Gods hence seeming to be far ‘important’ to the native Greeks. Not to mention the gladiators as well. Though gladiators were common with the Romans, the Greeks had them too but not as prevalent as the Romans. Interestingly, the Greeks refer them as ‘barbarians’.

For the Greeks, the gladiators were more of sacrifices to the Gods and those who emerged victorious during the Olympic games were blessed by Zeus and offered Zeus praise. In a way, if I were to put it in a different context, Zeus could be seen as a power play figure in terms of Big Brother (read 1984 theory here). Not entirely the same, but similarities are present. 

What is the link of Dionysus in all of this? Well apart from the song of Dionysus by the boys, as well as inclusion of the iconic grapes for wine-making and thyrsus, I found something interesting that could explain the use of Dionysus in all of this.

As we all know, Dionysus was the god of wine, grape harvest and in some others fertility as well. He was known later on to be ‘androgynous youth’; not exactly a man but a ‘man-womanish’. With his long history, ‘Dionysus had crossed boundary between life and death, and he was often portrayed as the god who crossed the boundary between the civilized and uncivilized and the known and the unknown.’. Somehow this makes me think that perhaps Seokjin is Dionysus, the idea that he is the one conscious enough throughout the HYYH universe that time is rewinding itself back to the fateful day where one by one, the boys kill themselves and he is the one trying to save them all. Not to mention, I still think the theory still holds that somehow Seokjin could also be seen in purgatory where he tries to give them back their innocence through using the lilies (read I Need U JP theory here). 

Interesting fact was that Dionysus was ‘born of fire and nursed by rain’. Opposites that link Yoongi and Jimin as well.

Based on here, apart from the fact that Dionysus was actually half mortal, he had the power to raise people from the dead, which was how he raised his mortal mother, Semele, from the dead.

Some others speculated about the whole Gods concept in which they claim BTS to represent of the 12 and basing it on their performance. This is what they came up with.

RM – Dionysus Jin – Athena Yoongi – Hephaestus Jimin – Artemis Taehyung – Apollo Hoseok – Zeus Jungkook – Poisedon

If we based it on this now, this could explain the certain dance breaks together here. Hoseok and Jungkook, Namjoon and Jin, Jimin and Taehyung then lastly Yoongi by himself. Yoongi is the only one being independent in a way. I guess also why they did the N.O. break was because they did not perform anything from that era (that + YNWA, BST, DNA and Answer) but then again, we are blessed by their whole discography. 

so first of all, their VCR especially for MAMA was heavily reliant on time periods.

Basically, what was relayed in the video is as such. The calling; future.

It started with the damn hourglass again, when will it stop??

They showed in the VCR these 7 white-veiled guys who I assumed would be them and is them but is also a carry over from the MMA scene in which during Tae’s stage and before Jin’s one, you see the white veiled guy next to the horses.

The VCR had very interesting transitions which reminded me of the Wings short stories with the various symbols, not to mention the fact it was heavily focused on Hoseok’s eyes which was similar to his short film of MAMA. The transition in and out of it. Past meets future. I will bet that this was Hoseok’s eye just by seeing the shape and also here’s a reference from MAMA. 

The VCR had very interesting transitions and glitches, literally throwback to the 2017 MAMA VCR. That barren one person scene reminded me of DNA. 

DNA

MAMA VCR Screenshots 

The last picture reminds me a bit of BST, like the part where Yoongi plays the organ. Here’s a reference photo. 

More VCR screenshots just giving me the vibes of BST. 

MAMA VCR Screenshots

BST MV screenshots 

Then the VCR stopped and BTS performed N.O. a really throwback song followed by We are Bulletproof Pt. 2. Notice how the VCR changed to intro them performing N.O. the whole scratches reminds me of MAMA for some reason, MAMA being Hoseok’s short film. Honestly, I thought it was great because they showed everyone that this was their origins to their success and they never forgot about it despite being how big they are and how they got their popularity through other genres and not the original Hip-Hop kind that they were promoting back then. They had the iconic hands again.

After this, VCR continued to show the past meets the present. They showed the boys during backstage of the concert, during it and think about it as the way it was edited to be like Burn the Stage and Bring the Soul movies. Those kinds. They showed the Mnet debut showcase. ‘We doubted ourselves all the time, we tried to overcome the fear we encountered. They showed their first win on the music show with ‘I Need U’. ‘Dreams are our realities from now on.’  This was said by Namjoon. Now showing all of the Daesangs that they achieved throughout the years starting with 2016 and how Yoongi cried. ‘We are no longer sad or pain’.

Past meets present: World.

The Vcr showed the 7-veiled guys and this was their arrangement, Tae, Suga, Jin, Jungkook, Namjoon, Jimin and Hoseok.

Do you not think this positioning of the veiled guys remind you of the fake love cloak stands. So from a clothes stand to a veiled person. 

They then performed Boy with Luv and Mikrokosmos. During Mikrokosmos, they had stairs shown behind them before they pan out to the VCR again that started off with an hourglass. For some reason those veiled guys appear again and to be exact there are 7 of them. Not to mention the hourglass glitching giving me the BST JP. Vibes. When the phrase ‘all our time’ came out, they really had some collisions much like DNA.

cue the fake love MV with the smeraldo flower. 

Look at the stairs behind them. I went to check and do some research etc. Based on this, the ladder is most commonly known to be the connection between heaven and earth. Notice how it’s heaven and not hell. There is no mention of the underworld or hell. But if we were to look at this, I did some more research about the symbolism of stairs in Greek mythology. 

A lot of the references is that the ladders/stairs are to be the connector between heaven and earth; there was no mention again of the underworld. But another closer research showed this. 

In the temples that have them, it seems likely that one stair was intended for ascending, the other for descending.

Here it talks about well, it’s a one-way kind of stairs, it’s not one where you can use the stairs for both up and down but rather a separate one. Also, these stairs were commonly found in temples of Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Athena, Hera etc which if referred on top, are some of the Gods that the boys were speculating to be. 

Yet, looking inside the article, they talked about ‘epiphany windows’ and my brain suddenly malfunctioned because epiphany windows????? E P I P H A N Y???

Epiphany provided an inherent sacredness and enhanced the-role of the temple in expressing sanctity.36 Even without actual "windows" forrestaging or framing events, epiphanies could be expected in and around temples.

An epiphany (from the ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphanea, "manifestation, striking appearance") is an experience of a sudden and striking realization.

Reference

so again i did more research, epiphany in Greece is like the ‘festival of light’. 

On Epiphany, the Greek Orthodox Church performs

 the ‘Great Blessing of the Waters’.
 This ceremony is usually performed twice, once on the eve of Epiphany which is performed in the church, and then again on the actual day outdoors with priests blessing large bodies of water, sea, rivers, lakes etc.

This reminded me of Jungkook with his performance with the water. But anywa, about epiphanies, I might just do another theory for that sometime later. 

Now moving on, 

Future meets present: Calling

Past meets present: World

They reiterated these two concepts back again at the end of the VCR.

Present meets future: Eternal Journey

Eventually they were all of the veiled guys but particularly Jimin was the first one.

All our time.

The VCR then showed the boys with props/items.

Hoseok -> Frame Yoongi -> Hourglass Jimin -> Polaroid Camera (Retro) Namjoon -> Mic Jungkook -> Recording Camera (Retro) Taehyung -> Violin Jin -> Opera spectacles

Interestingly, these items as seen from this Twitter are considered to be retro, they still remain relevant despite them looking old. However, if you were to think of it in relation to the HYYH universe, Hoseok’s frame that he held reminds me of the MAMA portrait that was shown in the short film of his called MAMA but at the same time it reminds me the link between Hoseok and Jimin as they both stare at the same picture

Yoongi’s hourglass does not hit much of resemblance upfront but if you were to consider the meaning of the hourglass which is to tell time, specifically how much time left. You would think of the pairing between Yoongi and Jungkook; in a way Jungkook was running out of time to save Yoongi. In some alternate universe, Jungkook failed to save Yoongi hence the I Need  MV, and if you read based on the notes, the incidents between Yoongi and Jungkook do not happen all on the same day, but relatively near to each other. However in the Euphoria MV, it could be seen that Jungkook managed to save Yoongi, even in the webtoon series, Jin managed to save Yoongi as he found out what time was he going to die and which motel, but though Yoongi did not want to be alive.

Jimin’s retro polaroid camera, similar to Jungkook’s retro recording camera, they do not have much resemblance to the HYYH universe but rather their true personalities in which both Jimin and Jungkook engage in these kind of hobbies. Rather these things, coincidentally are more prominently found with Jin throughout the HYYH universe. In the HYYH Prologue and later on, Jin was the one known to have both a polaroid camera and a recording camera that he uses to capture the moments with the boys hence the idea of whether or not Seokjin was reliving the moments or not. (read Prologue theory here).

Before their last stage of Dionysus, the camera panned out and you see various animals as constellations eg goat, dolphin, lion, cheetah, goblet etc. Interestingly, if you look at here and here, it seemed as though Dionysus had the power to also transform into a lion or a bull and the latter shows that his symbols were leopard skin, panther and cheetah. 

But the main one was the snake eg anaconda but the backup dancers were the ones in fedoras just like in MMA. thought that was an interesting edition. 

anyway, throughout these 2 award shows, one could say they are riding on the whole Greek theology and concepts without ever culture appropriating it. i am sure they have been doing their own research and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for them. 

References

JOURNAL ARTICLEINTERIOR STAIRCASES IN WESTERN GREEK TEMPLESMargaret M. MilesMemoirs of the American Academy in RomeVol. 43/44 (1998/1999), pp. 1-26Published by: University of Michigan Press for the American Academy in RomeDOI: 10.2307/4238755https://www.jstor.org/stable/4238755Page Count: 26 JOURNAL ARTICLEAnger and the Veil in Ancient Greek CultureD. L. CairnsGreece & RomeVol. 48, No. 1 (Apr., 2001), pp. 18-32Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Associationhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/826867Page Count: 15

[Photo Source] Bighit Entertainment  Credits: maxine ☕️ DO NOT REPOST ©

[stephaniecandywilliams]

So... the japanese music video for Blood Sweat and Tears came out.

I cried so hard after the video ended for a continuous 5 minutes.

Please watch this masterpiece.

[antisocial-mochi]

LY Story Evolution Theories

So as we know, LY:Her is supposed to be about finding love within yourself as well as others. The lighter side of things.

Now, Namjoon and Yoongi both have mentioned on multiple occasions that LY: Her was supposed to create the illusion of naive or deluded love. Love that would later be torn away and a less-than-beautiful truth would be brought to the light.

The Outro is one of the biggest leads on that thought. Not to mention the constant references made to masks, revealed truths , or things being broken via Twitter posts, and MVs. (Mainly Wings Era MVs like BST, the VCR for the WINGS Tour and other MVs like Run, as we've discussed)

The Outro for Face Yourself could also point to this. A perfect set up or illusion being shattered, revealing the not so pretty truth.

When asked about the basis of the next comeback, Namjoon said that he thought there was a lot to love/ loving yourself and that includes the darkness and loneliness within. We already know based on what's been said that the next album LY:Tear is going to be about the dark side of things, heart break, and painful truths being recognized.

Many believe that the song Pied Piper was meant to be about relying on yourself and caring for yourself, before looking after others. To love yourself, before looking to love someone else. (If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love someone else? Can I get an amen?)

To me, Pied Piper has two interpretations, the first being co-dependant or relient love. The second is blindly following the 'Pied Piper' figure, who or what takes that form is up to you. (Personally I'm think of the Pied Piper as the government, societal structures, etc.)

Aside from being a warning or message about putting yourself first, Pied Piper could also hint at the whole Singularity theory. When you look at the MMA VCR hints, it would make sense.

If this plays into the theory, making it correct, the next album will be LY: Tear and most likely the intro will be named, Singularity.

Singularity implyes, being singular and alone.

This is not to say being alone in the sense of without people. Perhaps it's more about breaking away from the norm, breaking molds, leaving toxic social expectations behind. It wouldn't be the first time that the boys have talked about this theme. Their songs N.O, MIC Drop, and Not Today along with their corresponding MVs talk all about this theme.

Also Bangtan loves to spread their themes and messages through their clothing choices. For example, Namjoon's "Human Control System" jacket is from a clothing line by the name of "Brainwashed Generation" from the brand "Undercover."

There's also the "Where is My Mind" denim jacket worn by Seok-jin. It's not from the same brand or line, however, it still gives off that vibe of being mindless, or just part of the machine. (Ironically enough, it was worn during the Wings Era.)

As stated earlier, the next comeback is going to mostly focus on the exploration of inner darkness, loneliness, self confrontation, etc. There's so much more to cover that I haven't brought up! There's The JPN cb and HYYH. Not to mention the Wings Era as a whole, and LY. The LY highlight reels, as well! It all ties together in this weird, twisted way and it.works.

It continues to draw you in and you're constantly given new angles to look at. New things to connect whether it been lore, philosophy, superstition whatever! You can apply numerous different things, even doing it in combination.

There's lot and lots of hints and nods to different things. To think, in roughly a week and half to two weeks, we're going to be given an onslaught of new material to work with and cross reference.

It's only the beginning...

Besure to have your fine combs within arms reach, we're gonna need them.

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

We’re not a blog that is dedicated to reviewing music (including Kpop), but because we absolutely adore BTS and their music, we decided to do a memo-style review of the Music Video (MV) for their Japanese Version “Blood, Sweat & Tears” (血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.-).

***Note: If this is your first time browsing the Drama Files, please read The Rules on how our Memo-style reviews work.***

***Note: We really wanted to analyze the Blood, Sweat, Tears Korean MV before, but we missed out on the opportunity. We thought this MV was very interesting as well, so we were really eager to share our theories about what they could possibly signify. There are definitely many theories, so we thought we’d propose ours. Our views are simply theories and purely speculative.***

Memo

Dear Reader,

There have been some questions regarding the recent release of BTS’s 血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.- (“BST”), particularly:

(1) Who/What does each member represent?

(2) How is the ending clip that is reminiscient of the “I Need U” MV connected to BST?

Conclusion

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

(1.2) V is Max Demian (“Demian”) from Demian and the Devil/Lucifer/the Fallen Angel (“the Devil”) .

(1.3) Suga is Pistorius and the Old Wise Man (archetype).

(1.4) Jimin is Sinclair from Demian and Adam from the Bible.

(2) This will be answered in a subsequent Memo.

Background

Please read the first post to understand how this MV fits in with the other MVs and the different types of reality in this MV.

Please read the second post for more information on Demian and other important concepts.

Please read the third post for a detailed analysis of Suga’s role.

Analysis

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

Please read the first post to see this analysis.

(1.2) V is Max Demian (“Demian”) from Demian and the Devil/Lucifer/the Fallen Angel (“the Devil”) .

Please read the second post to see this analysis.

(1.3) Suga is Pistorius and the Old Wise Man (archetype).

Please read the third post to see this analysis.

(1.4) Jimin is Sinclair from Demian and Adam from the Bible. 

Jubiemon J: We will first look at Jimin being Sinclair, then at Jimin being the Hero archetype, and finally at his being Adam from the Bible.

(i) Jimin is Sinclair from Demian.

Let’s do something a bit different this time and start by looking at his short clip called “Lie”. Rapmonster narrates from Demian‘s Chapter 1, “Two Realms”: “My parent’s house made of one realm. This realm was familiar to me in almost every way–mother and father, love and strictness, model behaviour, and school.” This part is towards the beginning of the novel, where Sinclair is recounting his story of self-realization. This passage, as a result, suggests that Jimin is also on the path to self-realization.

In the clip, we see Jimin by himself and he seems to be eerily looking at this camera and smiling. On the outside as in the external reality, Jimin is happy, but then we see that inner struggle within himself. We get a feeling that he is “caught in a lie” like his lyrics suggest.

Jimin forcing a smile

Jimin struggling internally – look at the dance too! He is covering his mouth, which is something people do when they’re trying to stop themselves from saying stuff. He’s resisting to tell his lie.

Then Jimin falls back and we get to see his inner world. We see him in a hospital bed and in this room that’s completely white. We’re getting the vibes of a psychiatric ward. After, we see a glimpse of a card that has the word “Eva” all over it. Frau Eva is who J-Hope represents from Demian. To be brief, Eva is like Sinclair’s mother and acts as his romantic interest (See J-Hope’s post for more). We know that J-Hope is involved here as Eva because J-Hope has been associated with pills in the previous BTS MVs. Eva also represents a symbol of completion and perfection; she has both masculine and feminine qualities. Therefore, Jimin is striving to find that perfection through J-Hope and we notice Jimin struggling via the pillow whacking.

Jimin struggling internally

Eva!

J-Hope and pills…

Seeking perfection

There’s also a sign that signals Jimin’s journey to find his self. The sign says Pulkkot Arboreteum 1.2 km. Pulkkot translates to Hibiscus, which is South Korea’s national flower, while an arboreteum is a botanical garden dedicated to trees. These likely allude to the Garden of Eden. Another point is that when I was searching for the meaning of the sign, I came across the Korean words: 불꽃 (“bul” + “kkot”). 불 means “fire” and 꽃 means “flower”. Together, they can either mean a flame, a spark, or fireworks/fire cracker (See here).

In the last chapter of Demian, “The End Begins”, Sinclair and Demian are soldiers at war and one night, Sinclair sees this giant godlike figure that looks like Frau Eva. Figuratively, she swallows up the soldiers and then cries out in pain. Stars explode from her forehead and one gravely wounds Sinclair. Demian lies beside Sinclair and says that he has to leave. Demian then gives Sinclair a kiss on the forehead, which is said to be from Frau Eva. Sinclair (the Ego) ends up merging with Demian (the Self) and Frau Eva (the Animus).

The Ego is our conscious self; it’s when we think of “I” and “me”. The Self is the consciousness, the unconscious, and the ego. Carl Jung believed that when you are born, you start out with the Self, but then you gradually develop a separate ego-consciousness in order to fit into society. During the later half of your life, you’ll spend time finding your Self again.

The centre dot is the Ego. The bigger circle and the inner circle make up the Self.

I think the sign, Pulkkot Arboreteum, does serve as a reference to this scene from Demian. Yes, it is likely the Garden of Eden, but it is also where an explosion will occur to cause Jimin to find his Self once more.

During this journey of self-discovery, Jimin will feel lost and confused. We see tons of clips of his struggles. That’s probably why the lyrics from “Run” are seen from the short clip: “Please stop me. Please guide me. Please let me breathe.” There also seems to be a reference to a verse from “Save Me”: “I’m trapped inside of myself and I’m dead.” That line is telling because Jimin is struggling internally like Sinclair and metaphorically speaking, his old, innocent self becomes dead due to this journey. In the end, Jimin succumbs to temptation and bites that apple. He leaves us with a smirk because he has now become wiser and knows more than us.

Struggling Jimin

Burning piano – leaving his mentor, Pistorius aka Suga

Sinking deeply into the darkness – remember how Taehyung’s fall into water is associated with turning “evil”? This is similar here.

Forbidden apple sinking deeply into the water

Jimin fighting the urge to jump into the pool of water.

Eating that apple

Jimin smirking

We also see in the MVs that Jimin is searching for himself. In the Korean “BST” MV, Jimin begins his journey to self-discovery. Like Sinclair, Jimin has probably led a sheltered, innocent life and therefore, in the Korean “BST” MV, we see Jimin’s eyes being covered by Suga’s hands from the beginning.

Suga shielding Jimin’s eyes

As mentioned in the previous post, Suga is Pistorious to Jimin and Pistorius represents someone who is progressive yet still wants to cling onto the foundations of our society (See part 3 memo for more details on Suga’s role as Pistorius). Thus, it makes sense that Suga is the one guiding Jimin and colours Jimin’s lens of the world via the blindfold Suga puts on Jimin. Although Suga is allowing Jimin to explore and understand the world better, Suga is also restraining Jimin. Jimin, as a result, hasn’t succumbed fully to “temptation”/what people perceive as the dark side. We see in the Korean “BST” MV, Jimin still has not bitten the apple. He held onto it, but he didn’t bite it.

This situation is analogous to the one we find between Pistorius and Sinclair. Pistorius acts as a mentor to Sinclair and educates him about many concepts. However, Sinclair later realizes that Pistorius is archaic and still unwilling to let go of the set ways of understanding God (standard biblical beliefs). Upon this realization, Sinclair criticizes Pistorius and leaves him, meaning that the student has left his mentor.

We see this act of departure from Jimin in BST. In the beginning of BST, Jimin runs away from Suga who is by this piano. (Remember: this is the inner reality/psychical reality because Jin is looking through the lens of the painting.) Jimin is now on his way to explore and figure out himself by himself. We also see before this that there is another Jimin in this blue room. That is his innocent self that he will reunite with later.

Innocent Jimin here

Jimin pushing away Suga 

Jimin leaving Suga

Jimin running for his journey

This Jimin, which I’ll call Innocent Jimin from now on, is sitting on a chair that reminds us of those ones that we see in films where a patient is talking to his therapist/psychiatrist. Moreover, we also see that he is dressed more purely: white button-up shirt and trousers. That’s different from the sweater he wears when he is looking for his innocent self; that sweater reminds me of feathers/wings.

We see Jimin trailing behind Taehyung and Jungkook. V walks further away, leaving Jimin behind in the kitchen. Jungkook and Jimin are Sinclairs, so it’s interesting to see that they are tagging behind V, who is clearly the most “developed” Demian. Because Jimin has run away from Suga, he has “fully” succumbed to the “dark side”. Hence, we see Jimin taking a bite from that apple and the blender mixes some crazy colours.

Then we see Jimin and Jungkook restraining V to let J-Hope punish V. I think that makes sense because Jimin and Jungkook are still not as developed as V and there are times where they too are fighting within themselves about change. That’s seen throughout Demian where Sinclair goes back and forth about his feelings. He feels guilty for criticizing Pistorius, yet he still leaves him.

In the end, there is that battle between the two thoughts with J-Hope dancing in a room that has a ceiling of heaven in blue and then Jimin is dancing in the same room with the same ceiling in red. We know from J-Hope’s post, the boys can’t stick to the old belief system and so J-Hope “loses”. Jimin is covered in red in the external reality where he is looking into a mirror at himself, while Jungkook is covered in this grey smoke in a red washroom.

Jimin dancing

J-Hope dancing

At the end of this journey, Jimin is able to reunite with his Self that’s in that blue room. Suga is covering the Innocent Jimin’s eyes because he probably doesn’t want the Innocent one to be completely tainted.

However, the two Jimins make eye contact and merge together. I’ve talked about how Sinclair merges with his other entities so this scene represents that unity. That’s why as soon as the two Jimins combine together, Jimin is shot back to the external reality through that weird neon-coloured whirlpool.

Jimin being shot back

(ii) Jimin is Adam from the Bible.

Jimin is the one that has an apple in his hand. Adam bit the apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam couldn’t resist the temptation and gave in. Similarly, Jimin gives into this temptation to know more and leave his sheltered life. Because of that, Jimin goes through some painful trials and “chaos” ensues.

Memo: BTS Blood, Sweat & Tears (Japanese Version) Music Video Analysis Part 4 We're not a blog that is dedicated to reviewing music (including Kpop), but because we…

[whileyoureinschoolidothisallday]

hey so I dove head-first into Bangtan Universe and I made a theory!!!!! It’s more like me just trying to gather my thoughts after watching all the MVs. Some things I haven’t completely decoded but I have a set idea at least!!! Here we go!!!

Bangtan Cinematic Universe: "The Bird Flies to God. That God's Name is Abraxis..."

Jin is a God/Fae among humans (Abraxis, specifically. For those who haven’t already looked it up, he’s a Gnostic God in charge of Balance) that has grown fond of this one group of boys, especially Jungkook. He could possibly even be a Fae King interested in stealing him or turning him Fae. He resets time to try and find a balance of happy between the group.

This first starts when Jin accidentally runs Jungkook over and kills him. This leads to Jungkook becoming a possible new God/Fae himself as he wakes up in a dark room similar to the one Jin is often in, but with a painting he can look through instead of a window (because his talent is art while Jin’s is photography/film). He also gains wings at the end of Begin and is heavily implied to be "The Bird that meets God” with the bird imagery surrounding him.

Jungkook's death creates a domino effect in the group. Without his last remaining support, Yoongi sets his apartment on fire and kills himself. RM is harder to decipher, but it seems like his lollipop and tattoo gun are all metaphors for drug use and he ends up ODing on an intravenous drug. Since RM isn't conscious to answer the phone, V is left to rot in jail for the murder of his abusive father. Jimin and Hobi are each placed in a mental institution for attempting suicide, one by drowning and the other by ODing on pills. Lastly, Jin is left alone in his shitty apartment with all his friends dead or missing, wracked with guilt over the death of Jungkook, and makes the decision to reset the timeline. This ability is further emphasized by the song and video of Butterfly, like the Butterfly Effect. There's even rewind noises in it. Maybe it's like Life is Strange where Jin uses photos/videos to reset time and that's why he's always recording? Or it's a metaphor for a god that always watches and knows. 

His powers seem to be related to the white lilies as he always has them in his hands before a reset. Looking at a magickal correspondence guide, lily’s typically symbolize ‘rebirth’ and ‘renewal’, which would fit with his theme of resetting and manipulating time. They’re also sometimes referred to as the ‘Fairy Lily’ which really only fuels my “Jin is a Fae King’ theory but more on that when we get to BST.

At the end of all their solo MVs, Jin is finally shown in a strange place where he is seated with objects that represent the other boys (an apple, reflections, etc). He's also the only one who gets a full MV for his solo. The song speaks of fighting against your fate and trying anyway even though you know there's no hope. I think this is where Jin is actually from, and where he spent most of his eternal days before coming to earth. Coming back here and feeling hopeless is basically all he feels he can do until he decides to change fates. Interestingly, the flower petals he's been burning end up being photos of the other members key items, all but V's. Does this make V special somehow?

A sidenote: The black holes of the Wings album all represent the boys, and some mix together. I think this represents how their timelines may be connected or how they influence each other. The combinations are JKxRM, JMxSuga, and VxJhope. Jin is the only one alone. His symbol is never ending rows of squares/rooms.

The burning of the flowers/photos signify the beginning of the second timeline, which starts (and possibly ends) in BST.  As will be the Norm, there are many similarities between these boys and the OG timeline:

-RM still does drugs -Suga still plays the keys, this time an Organ. He is also primarily in a room filled with smoke -JHope is still surrounded by the image of a Mother and Son -Jimin still has his apple -V is now lost in silk instead of water -Jungkook still has bird/flying imagery around him, including Wings in the JPN MV

A couple scenes stick out to me the most in BST. For starters, everyone is paired up the same way they are on the cover of Wings in the beginning scene, RM with Jungkook, V with JHope, etc. The theme for this world is much different than any of the others. They’re in silk outfits, there’s fine art everywhere, they’re never outside and when they are the sky is in strange colors. It’s all very Regal and High Class, whereas before they were chilling on homeless mats and loitering in alleys. The next thing I noticed was the strange dinner. Jin is at the head of the table while everyone else sits strangely still with only an apple/pomegranate on their plate and wine in their glasses. Their eyes seem glazed over as they stare at nothing. Jin is the only one active and begins to raise his glass for a toast when he gets distracted by something unknown behind him. This whole scene/theme reminds me of Fae courts. I think Jin brought the other boys back to his realm this time, hoping that giving Fine Things and letting them live like kings would finally give them happiness. Humans that eat Fae food in their realm are stuck there forever, so I think this is a scene of their initial induction but something must have interrupted the ritual. Even the song's content is all about lust and pleasure, which isn't too common for a BTS song. This would even explain the use of Absinthe--the green liquid RM drinks and shares with JK--as it’s been described as “The Drink of the Divine” because it causes hallucinations. Did the boys consent to staying here with Jin? Their blank expressions hint to no, but the quote RM speaks hints to yes: "The evil world with which I no longer wanted anything to do." 

After this video, I'm doubling down on the idea that V is special somehow. Why does he reveal the fallen angel to Jin? Why does Jin then proceed to make out with it? Why does V have ripped out wings? Is that related to the album name? Is this why V was missing from the photos and why he's the only one besides Jin who seems to get deja vu? Jimin somehow plays into this as well, as he mimics the statue's green tears.

I think the crack in Jin's face is all the timeline's taking its toll.

The Japanese MV just adds to everything said above. I think this is the final day of this timeline. The room JK wakes up in is plastered in colorful paint which has already been established as a symbol of drug use. Literally everyone is fucked up in this video except Jin. Things are blurry, cameras are strapped to shakily focus on one person sometimes. It's a party that has gone on Too Long. By this time, all the pairings seem...off. JK almost looks nervous in the room with RM and RM kinda forces him to drink a whole cup of Absinthe. This causes JK to hallucinate badly and inevitably choke on his own vomit while puking in the bathroom. Jimin seems wary of Suga as well, who’s consistently blindfolding him with his hands or silk, or hitting the back of his head. Jhope has some kinda control over V, as he flinches in his presence, but the BIGGEST change is that Jin beats the ever-loving shit outta V, interrupts the music to say "I'm sorry", and then V kinda loses it???? He drags knives along walls with a weird smile, climbs up to the roof, and jumps off in the original Korean version. Was it because Jin was acting like his abusive father??? The other wild thing is that during the party scene, Jimin leaves and finds himself in a hallway. It leads him to the Jimin we've mostly seen, the one being tormented by Suga. Suga’s hands blocking the view saves current Jimin from the same fate as the party one, who bursts apart at the sight of his double and is thrown and lost into a colorful nothingness. It's implied this is done by Jin, who's replaced his usual sad look with a slightly menacing one. The MV ends with glass shattering around him like the timeline. I think both of these MVs took place in the endless labyrinth of rooms that Jin’s black hole on the Wings cover represented. With the BST timeline over, our third timeline is the Love Yourself highlights. Jin has manipulated the timeline so that Jungkook was not killed in the accident but instead severely injured. He is hospitalized and in a wheelchair until he can rehabilitate. The other difference is that every boy gets a girlfriend, Jin included. Since Lust didn't heal them, maybe Love would. JK meets a girl in the hospital who encourages him not to give up, Yoongi's girl makes him quit smoking and takes his lighter so he can no longer burn down his apartment, RM's infatuations with the girl on the bus keep him from drugs/drug dealing, V's girl is his partner in crime so he isn't running solo, and Jhope and Jimin are preoccupied by the same girl. Only Jhope is actually dating her, and they dance together. Jin has a better life too. A much nicer apartment, nicer clothes. It seems like he is planning on proposing to his girlfriend on their date. He is narrating over this whole video and seems very proud of himself that things seem to be working right this time. Except everyone knows time fixes itself regardless. Instead of JK dying, his girlfriend does from whatever she was in the hospital for. He finds out by going to visit her with flowers, since he has already recovered, just to find her room cleaned and empty. V takes the fall for his girl and gets arrested anyway. Jhope's girlfriend gets sick and presumably dies, crushing both him and Jimin. RM never speaks up to his girl, and Suga tracks down his girlfriend because she was performing at JK's hospital with one of his songs, touting it as her own. He gets completely shitfaced and argues with her, clearly going back into his old downward spiral. On his way to his date, Jin sees all of his hardwork suddenly unravel. And finally, when he arrives for his date and sees his girl, instead of JK, it is her that gets run over while she is crossing the street to him. It's at this point where we get our first visible confirmation that Jin (or at least someone) is rewriting time. There's some scenes from previous MVs rewinding with Jin's narration about turning back the clock over it, then we see him on the same day, August 30th, getting dressed in street clothes instead of a tux because he has erased all their girlfriends and once again has begun a new timeline. This is where we're at with Euphoria. It's basically the HYYH/Wings era but with bright colors, Vaporwave vibes, and seemingly no dark tones. We visibly see Jin picking the OG timeline apart once he arrives back in the dark room. JK is alive somehow and able to pull Suga out of his burning apartment. Jin rips Jhope from his place by Jimin's side in the hospital and instead uses him to replace V's father's spot in the apartment, making it so no one ever died that day and creating the link hinted at with the Wings album cover and BST. This leaves Jimin alone in the OG timeline however, which we catch a glimpse of side by side with the new timeline. Idk why that matters but I'm sure it will have some consequences. (I’ve heard people also say that Euphoria is mostly Jimin pretending his friends are there, but idk if I’m sold on that because of Jungkook’s large presence in that MV. It seems to be more about him). It seems as though JK has switched places with RM, as he's placed at the gas station instead. Throughout Euphoria, he's got a very "cool" demeanor and has a sugary caffeine drink always in his hand. Was this hinted at in BST when RM was sharing drugs??? Does this mean RM will be hit by the car this time???? The only pairings that don't match from the Wings album cover/BST MV (yet) is Jimin and Suga. There are loads of differences and similarities: -V is no longer chillin in the woods on an old random mattress but now in a cool, hipster instagram-esque roof hangout -RM still greets him -For some reason, V's hand is wrapped up -Instead of V, Jin is the one who leaps into the ocean in a hoodie -In this scene, they're all wearing white instead of black like before -V is once again the only one shown having deja vu -The current BTS boys have dark hair and bright clothes, while the previous timeline had bright hair and dark clothes. -The whistling in DNA mirrors the whistling from Begin, and they're both done by Jungkook And that's all for now! The frequent glitching seen in MVs, extra vids, and Euphoria is probably the timeline breaking further apart. I HOPE ALL OF YOU LIKED IT =D P.S. I’m also into the idea that BST is a Prologue to all of this and the boys are all Gods/Fae cursed to live miserably on earth as humans because of their Hubris and Indulgences. Jin is the only one who remembers and is trying to break their curse.

[crushingonbtsforever]

The day I found Jiminie <3 It was November 6, 2016. I was surfing through youtube videos when I came across a Fomo Daily video comparing BTS and 1D(Zayn included). I was very much acquainted with 1D but had no idea about BTS. Just out of curiosity to see with whom 1D was being compared to I clicked on the video. And I am still so grateful to myself that I did see that video or else I wouldn’t have found out BTS or k-pop. Now a few of my classmates are k-pop fans , but though I knew k-pop existed I never grew any specific interest in it until I heard and saw BTS ^_^ The very fact that they sing and dance tofether at the same time on stage proves that they require so much hard work and energy! Woahh I was swept away totally. There was this little mini thumbnail where bits of the Blood Sweat and Tears video was being shown and the Fomo Daily people were reacting and the moment I saw the video I really liked the feel of it. The aesthetic was beautiful and then the song started which was good and then Jimin came, he is the center in BST and oh boy! He slayed! This silver haired boy took me absolutely by surprise and I was immediately in some super trance state! His smoky eyes look and that red choker ( was it? ) with that blue jacket <3 I was in love. And the way he dances <3 I loved the video and Taetae’s part of that little smirk at the end was perfect! I was very interested to find the other songs and mvs, soon found out run and dope and there were so many theories floating around. Together it was so intriguing that I made me follow Bangtan Sonyeondan! BTS Fighting!

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

We’re not a blog that is dedicated to reviewing music (including Kpop), but because we absolutely adore BTS and their music, we decided to do a memo-style review of the Music Video (MV) for their Japanese Version “Blood, Sweat & Tears” (血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.-).

***Note: If this is your first time browsing the Drama Files, please read The Rules on how our Memo-style reviews work.***

***Note: We really wanted to analyze the Blood, Sweat, Tears Korean MV before, but we missed out on the opportunity. We thought this MV was very interesting as well, so we were really eager to share our theories about what they could possibly signify. There are definitely many theories, so we thought we’d propose ours. Our views are simply theories and purely speculative.***

Memo

Dear Reader,

There have been some questions regarding the recent release of BTS’s 血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.- (“BST”), particularly:

(1) Who/What does each member represent?

(2) How is the ending clip that is reminiscient of the “I Need U” MV connected to BST?

Conclusion

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

(1.2) V is Max Demian (“Demian”) from Demian and the Devil/Lucifer/the Fallen Angel (“the Devil”) .

(1.3) Suga is Pistorius and the Old Wise Man (archetype).

(1.4) Jimin is Sinclair from Demian and Adam from the Bible.

(1.5) Jungkook is Icarus and Sinclair from Demian.

(2) This will be answered in a subsequent Memo.

Background

Please read the first post to understand how this MV fits in with the other MVs and the different types of reality in this MV.

Please read the second post for more information on Demian and other important concepts.

Please read the third post for a detailed analysis of Suga’s role.

Please read the fourth post to understand Jimin’s role.

Analysis

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

Please read the first post to see this analysis.

(1.2) V is Max Demian (“Demian”) from Demian and the Devil/Lucifer/the Fallen Angel (“the Devil”) .

Please read the second post to see this analysis.

(1.3) Suga is Pistorius and the Old Wise Man (archetype).

Please read the third post to see this analysis.

(1.4) Jimin is Sinclair from Demian and Adam from the Bible. 

Please see the fourth post for this analysis.

(1.5) Jungkook is Icarus and Sinclair from Demian.

(i) Jungkook is Icarus.

Jungkook swinging on the swing

  We see signs in the Korean “BST” MV that show Jungkook as Icarus. We see the painting behind Jungkook, which is “Lament of Icarus” by Herbert James Derper. To the right is another painting about Icarus, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Look at Jungkook flying back/falling. Behind him is the painting, “Lament of Icarus” by Herbert James Derper and to his right, you see the painting, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The myth is that King Minos hired Daedalus to build a palace and a maze (Labyrinth)to imprison Minos’ son, the Minotaur. Minos also imprisoned Daedalus in the Labyrinth because Daedalus gave Minos’ daughter, a clew, to help Minos’ enemy, Theseus, to defeat the Minotaur and beat the Labyrinth. Daedalus’ plan to escape was to build wings out of wax and feathers to fly away. He fashioned wings for both himself and his son, Icarus. He warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sea or the sun and to follow Daedalus’ flight path. However, Icarus did not listen.

Jungkook first starts off swinging on the swings in the Korean “BST” MV and then leaning back like he’s flying. After, he fully falls back and the swing is gone, meaning that he is like Icarus who chose not to listen to his father and flew too close to the sea. There are bits of what seem like white feathers floating in the air to represent the melted wax and feathers from the myth.

The paintings are even clearer and damn that move must have been exhausting for JK!

Remember how in the older BTS MVs like “Run” and “I Need U”, RM is shown with a lollipop in his mouth. Here, we see Jungkook with a blue lollipop in his hand. The lollipop, in a sense, is like our desires that we know aren’t good yet we still consume them. Lollipops can also mean a new adventure starting, which is true in Jungkook’s case as he is going through a transformation.  After we see Jungkook suck on the lollipop, we get a scene of RM showing a dropping sign with his fist and then we get transported down a level of a building to meet Suga and RM.

Look at the blue lollipop!

Eats lollipop then . . . tumbles down . . .

Drop down! (RM is in the same room as JK who was swinging on the swing there)

RM is also going through a big transformation as he drinks the green liquid, which is likely absinthe. I’m going over RM’s part and Suga’s part a bit here because RM and JK are closely connected in both the “BST” MVs. I won’t go into extreme detail with the two other members as this post focuses on Jungkook, but it’s still important to recall how Jungkook is linked with these two members. Here’s a little chart I’ve made, which has been used in a previous post.

RM influences Jungkook (see the black arrow leading from RM to JK) and in turn Jungkook and Suga both influence each other. I’d say Suga is more like Daedalus than RM because Suga in the “BST” MV tries to pull Jungkook away from temptation, whereas RM leads Jungkook to temptation.

In the “BST” MV, we still see signs that prove that Jungkook represents Icarus. In the beginning of the MV, Jungkook is lying on this white plastic sheet. The walls are all painted in bright neon colours, which represents the psychological reality. Then, he gets up from his spot and looks back to see a pair of red wings behind him. Icarus, as mentioned before, flew with wings made of feathers and wax. The red colour likely symbolizes that Jungkook has fallen and has been “tainted”.

(Remember to focus on Jungkook’s clothing in this “BST” MV. Jungkook here is wearing a plaid jacket. He also later wears a hoodie with the writing “Thirteen”.)

(ii) Jungkook is Sinclair from Demian.

I think it’s interesting to note that the whole BST is really a matter of perspective. From one member’s POV, another member is a certain character. However, when you view it from a different member’s POV, then one member can represent another character. Let’s try to apply it in this case.

Jungkook, in the Korean “BST” MV, succumbs to RM’s temptation. Jungkook is Sinclair and RM is Demian in that view. However, from RM’s POV, RM is Sinclair and Jin is Demian (This will be explained further in the next post).

In the external reality, Suga is still Pistorius to Jungkook who is Sinclair. Remember that Suga is the one trying to pull Jungkook away from the toilet like how Pistorius is instilling the standard biblical beliefs to Sinclair.

Also, Jungkook here is wearing a “Thirteen” hoodie. The number “thirteen” is normally seen as an unlucky number like Friday the thirteenth and receives a darker form of symbolism. Often, apartments or hotels will also not have a button for the 13th floor. In Norse mythology, the 12 Norse gods hold a party; however, Loki, the trickster, was an uninvited guest and was the 13th to arrive. Later, we learn that Hoor slayed Baldur, using a magical spear given by Loki. We also see from the Bible that the Last Supper comprised of 13 attendees (12 disciples and the Christ). Thirteen is seen as an omen as Christ suffers from a tragic fate.

Look at his hoodie’s word: “Thirteen”.

However, thirteen can have a brighter interpretation. For example, Christ and Baldur can be considered the enlightened guests. Therefore, the number, thirteen, can be said to be associated with enlightenment, ascension, and resurrection. We also see from an Egyptian tale that Osiris, the Egyptian God of life and death, was killed by Typhon, his brother. Typhon then stole Osiris’ body and chopped it into 14 pieces. Meanwhile, Isis, Osiris’ wife, could only find 13 parts of his body. Therefore, thirteen can be said to be the precursor of completion.  (See here for more info about the number, 13.)

Here, since the word “thirteen” is written in a font that looks like it’s burning, there seems to be more of an interpretation of resurrection. Phoenixes are known to be reborn upon burning in flames. Therefore, Jungkook can be said to be experiencing a rebirth after succumbing to temptation. I wouldn’t say that going to a “dark” side is necessarily bad, as I’ve suggested in my previous posts based on Demian‘s interpretation of events.

Going back to how Demian applies to the relationship between Jungkook and Suga, recall that in Suga’s post, Sinclair eventually says a lot of harsh words to Pistorius and Sinclair’s friendship with Pistorius comes to an end. Similarly, the toilet scene is like Jungkook pushing his “master” away and surpassing his mentor. Jungkook’s relationship with Pistorius ends and rejects the standard biblical ideas.

Jungkook is also tempted by RM, who acts as Demian, once he enters the psychological reality. RM brings the absinthe to Jungkook. Jungkook has taken a seat, which seems to imply that he has accepted RM’s offer. RM then makes Jungkook drink the absinthe and Jungkook goes through an interesting experience. Notice that Jungkook is wearing the “thirteen” hoodie when he’s in the psychological reality world. He gets transported on a truck that Jin has been driving since the older MVs and at the very end of this “BST” MV. Jin, at this stage, is already Demian, so it’s interesting to see that Jungkook, a variant of Sinclair, is being taken away by Demian to experience a different world.

Once Jungkook has experienced this mental change and transformation, he is brought back to the external reality where there is a black cloud hovering around Jungkook with the hoodie. The Jungkook wearing the plaid blazer is transported back to the external reality. At the end, Jungkook is a changed person.

Another evidence that Jungkook is Sinclair from his short clip. We see him lying on this bed, which is similar to his situation in the beginning of the “BST” MV. He is tossing and turning in this bed. Then we see him closing his eyes and there’s a burning piano, which has been mentioned in a previous post as being linked to Suga as Pistorius.

We see a narration of a quotation from Demian and Jungkook, in a white button-up with a sparrow hawk on his heart. This quotation “because it’s darkest at dawn right before the sun rises” is from BTS’ song “Tomorrow” and then the next one is “The fifteen year old me who didn’t have anything” comes from his song, “Begin”. Here, Jungkook is like Sinclair who starts off in a very sheltered, structured family. I think it’s interesting that this quotation was picked because “Tomorrow” is about following your dreams and struggling with these. It makes sense that that particular line of “Begin” was used because it sets the tone that Jungkook was young then.

Then Jungkook has this painting in his hand of a young boy. After, he starts painting this larger portrait of another boy and as he is painting, the scene of a piano burning is seen through his eye. The painting then bursts into flames.  Jungkook becomes very distressed upon viewing the portrait more. The portrait’s young boy seems to change in its appearance.

The changing painting is reflected in Demian as well. At first, Sinclair is inspired by Beatrice, a woman he meets after walking in a park, to paint. He tries to reproduce her face, but fails.  This is like that scene in Jungkook’s short film where he first sees a picture of a person and then proceeds to paint it.

After Sinclair lets his imagination do its work and he paints again. When the painting is complete, it looks half-masculine and half-feminine, ageless, and mask-like.  When he wakes up from another dream, he believes that the face knows him and calls to him. Sinclair notices this weird brightness at the painting’s forehead and its eyes and recognizes it as Demian. However, after placing the painting to his window and letting the light shine through it, he realizes that the painting is actually a reflection of himself, his daemon, and his inner self. This whole scene happens in a dream-like state, so whether he actually puts the painting to the window is up for debate.

This part of the scene in Jungkook’s short film has also been portrayed when he watches the painting burn and turn into another painting. Jungkook is struggling to believe what he is seeing and is crying a bit too. It first looks like Taehyung, who we’ve said is Demian to Jin, but then if you look carefully, it also seems to look like Jungkook. Jungkook realizes that the painting is actually himself, which is just like what we’ve seen in Demian.

In Demian, Sinclair then starts recalling his last meeting with Demian. Demian and Sinclair talk about Sinclair’s rebellious stage. Demian notices that Sinclair has been drinking and frowns upon that habit; however, Demian points out that sometimes a life of hedonism is a precursor to sainthood and refers to St. Augustine as an example of this concept. In his youth, St. Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle where he was related to several young men who bragged about their sexual adventures. He also had an affair with a young woman. It wasn’t until he was 31 did he convert to Christianity and wrote extensively in the areas of theology, sociology, and philosophy. He developed many ideas related to Christianity as well. Sinclair identifies with this example that Demian has given and believes that Sinclair’s life is headed in a similar direction as that of St. Augustine.

On the night of this flashback, Sinclair has a nightmare where Demian forces him to swallow this coat of arms above this doorway. He senses that this bird is bursting into life within himself and starts to eat his insides. After this dream, Sinclair begins to paint this bird.

After Sinclair finishes the painting, we see that he has painted a sparrow hawk. The sparrow hawk is trying to break free from this dark globe; it’s like it is hatching from an egg. However, this sparrow hawk is fully grown, and so this means that this painting is about rebirth.

Here, the egg is an archetype, formed through Sinclair’s collective consciousness. The egg has its origins to the Roman times where Bachofen, a late anthropologist, claims that it represents the two poles of the world. Therefore, the sparrow hawk, which is breaking out of the egg to be reborn, is breaking the world of false polarities, unreal, and the arbitrary.

Going back to the short film, we see that Jungkook is holding onto this picture of a sparrow hawk and staring at it. The final scene ends with Jungkook standing in the middle of the room and his shadow has grown wings.  These scenes are similar to those of Sinclair. Though we don’t see Jungkook going through a memory recall of a meeting with Demian, we have seen him waking up from nightmares before. We aren’t sure whether he has actually painted the sparrow hawk, but that sparrow hawk is just like the one described in Demian. Moreover, the fact that Jungkook has grown wings shows that he is going through a rebirth like in Demian.  This also indicates that Jungkook has activated the part of himself that wants to be broken free.

It’s interesting to note that Jungkook is also wearing a “sparrow hawk” button-up shirt. That’s a signal that supports the notion that he wants to be free from his past views. That’s why his eyes show the burning piano–a remnant of the old principles.

      Memo: “Blood, Sweat & Tears” (Japanese Version) Music Video Analysis Part 5 We're not a blog that is dedicated to reviewing music (including Kpop), but because we…

[flakandforay]

Fake Love Teaser 1 Theory

overall: okay, so you know how the protocol for comeback was last time, usually only having one teaser then the whole album preview but with the recent Love Yourself Her album, it seemed as though they changed the comeback protocol a bit by having 2 teasers this time round. hence, continuing the Love Yourself series- this time with the album Tear - they are doing it again, this the teaser 1 of fake love.

warnings: mentions of death, violence, might be triggering, please read with care

⇝ theory maserlist 

theory: remember how i did the magic shop theory a while ago after reading the book, it seems as though bangtan has made this book their main motif just like how they did with Demian by Hermann Hesse for Wings, specifically BST. so, you may want to read my Magic Shop Theory for it to make more sense. 

so now, the teaser is only less than 2 mins long ( specifically 1:54 ) inclusive of the 8 seconds intro of bighit. of course, being a teaser, the song won’t be so explicitly shown so much, just enough for you to want more ( which is what they did towards the end ?? )

now, usually bangtan’s teasers are usually less than a minute because often they dive straight into the title track itself. however, with this teaser of fake love, it’s longer because of the story plot that’s inside as well; the story plot that is connected to Wings short stories ( all 7 of them from Begin, Lie, Stigma, First Love, Reflection, MAMA and Awake ) and highlight reel 起承轉結.

so, the teaser starts off with this screen that says ‘magic shop is a psychodramatic technique that exchanges fear for a positive attitude’.

psychodramatic is a common technique used by therapists.

psychodrama is an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives.

In a session of psychodrama, one client of the group becomes the protagonist, and focuses on a particular, personal, emotionally problematic situation to enact on stage. A variety of scenes may be enacted, depicting, for example, memories of specific happenings in the client's past, unfinished situations, inner dramas, fantasies, dreams, preparations for future risk-taking situations, or unrehearsed expressions of mental states in the here and now

Reference

but moving on, the main thing to focus here is the fact that it exchanges fear for a positive attitude. in a way here, it can also be interpreted as though they exchanged their tears to someone else’s happiness, much like in the story of the Ones who walk away from Omelas which ill explain later. 

see, later on in the video, it reveals as though all of the boys have gone to the magic shop to exchange their fear for a positive attitude. the magic shop is meant to be a place in which people can sort of buy different characteristics but also give up those that are harmless or useless. basically, it is a place where one needs to give up something in order to grow. 

so, most of the boys have gone to the magic shop, as if like this mysterious pawn shop, not gonna lie, to exchange something.

it starts off with Seokjin then followed by Hoseok, Jimin, Taehyung, Namjoon , Yoongi and lastly Jungkook. 

based on these scenes, it could be safe to say that most of the boys exchanged items from their Wings short films yet with some semblance of hints from other mvs as well that are part of the HYYH timeline such as the Prologue and Run to items seen in the love yourself highlight reels.

let’s look at what the boys exchanged. 

Seokjin - the earpiece seen in Awake to most likely Smeraldo flowers.

Yoongi - the metronome that he most likely uses while playing the piano to a lollipop that indicates the start of his smoking habits.

Hoseok - the snickers bar in short film mama to a birthday cake, possibly the same one in the highlight reel.

Namjoon - the shard of glass with the words seen in the prologue to a black hair tie.

Jimin - the photo of the trees painting seen in his lie short film to an umbrella.

Taehyung - he exchanged something, possibly his spray paint cans to a bag tied with a bandana

Jungkook exchanged nothing but got a box with a key.

now, see that they exchanged these items, but one would realize how that these fears that were meant to be exchanged for a positive attitude doesn’t seem like it always would be one. in a way, what they expected was a positive attitude but clearly it’s not as seen in the highlight reels. yet interestingly, Jungkook didnt have an item to exchange, he actually exchanged himself, as a way, he sacrificed himself. ( ill bring this idea back again later on )

now, here’s why all the the items that exchanged for to this positive attitude didnt even help them at all. 

Seokjin exchanged his earpiece for Smeraldo flowers.

but one would see later on in the highlight reel, that same bouquet of flowers caused the death of the girl. somehow the death of the girl, triggered the whole house of cards to fall. 

which is why, the next part of the highlight reel, Seokjin’s narration says this. 

“The glorious world right in front of me. My lies were at the bottom of that. All of these dreams would fall with a single breeze.”

this shows how easy these fake memories would shatter, how fragile they are. just like the collapse of the house of cards in Run. and the fact is, they knew very well, that they were all lies, but still continued as if they weren't. 

moreover, the Smeraldo flowers means the ‘truth i couldn’t tell’.

yet, maybe Seokjin received these flowers as a way to turn back time since based on his Love Yourself posters, they translate as such. (  full translations here )

“If i could turn back time, i would want to be a good person.”

“If i could turn back time, i would want to go back to the summer sea.”

in this highlight reel narration of his, Seokjin says this. 

“If we can turn back time, where would we go? If we arrive there, will we be able to straighten out our mistakes and wrongdoings and therefore, be happy?”

as if here, Seokjin says even if there is the chance to turn back time, how sure are they that in the end they would be happy? 

see, Seokjin wants to go back in time to try and save everyone just like in Euphoria, but in the end, he sacrificed himself to save Taehyung but Jimin is left to suffer. hence in a way, regardless, Seokjin cannot save everyone.

at the same time, the Smeraldo flowers are a symbol of his guilt and conscience, his lies that he kept within, its eating him alive. 

how he had the earpiece to spy on the boys since the Skool Luv Affair era, as seen in the earlier concert vcrs together with how in the HYYH: the notes L version, the principal has been asking Seokjin to report to him anything etc. so, the whole time, Seokjin was being used to monitor and spy on the boys; often reporting their actions etc. Seokjin was a traitor at the very core. 

Seokjin 2 March YEAR 19 

I followed my father into the principal’s office where it smelt damp. it has been 10 days since I came back from America. Based on the different school system, I heard that I will be entering one year later. “Please take care of my son.” My father placed his hand on my shoulders to keep me from moving. “The school is a dangerous place. There is a need for regulations.” The principal looked straight at me. As he talked, the wrinkled flesh around his cheeks and mouth sagged, and the interior of his lips was dark red. “Don’t you think so, Seokjin?” I was startled at the abrupt question and my father put in more strength in his hand on my shoulder. The grip was strong enough to make the veins pop out on his neck. “I believe you will do well.” The principal looked at me with such tenacity while my father’s hand on my shoulder gradually increased in strength. My shoulder felt it would break from how tightly my father’s grip was on me. My body was trembling and I broke into cold sweat. “You must always talk to me. I think you will be a great student, Seokjin.” The principal looked at me with an unsmiling face. “Yes.” I could barely squeeze out an answer, I wanted to disappear at that moment. I could hear my father and principal’s laughter. I couldn’t lift my head. I just stared at my father’s brown shoes and the black shoes of the principal. I didn’t know where the shining light was coming from. I was scared of that light. 

his fear was that he couldnt tell the truth of his identity, and the fact that the last line of the L version mentions the ‘shining light’ and that he was scared of it; often many perceives this to be a form of truth, that the truth would prevail. 

The same is true of truth and light. At one end, the end of expression, it is truth, which means reality or realization. At the other end, the source, it is light. When we are holding the truth, by implication we are also holding the light.....To be in the light means that we have the source of truth or reality.

Reference

Seokjin was scared that the truth would come out and hence resulting to having those Smeraldo flowers being delivered etc, because they mean the truth that he couldnt tell. it seems as though his fear hasn’t left him at all despite it being ‘exchanged’. it only became aggravated. 

Yoongi exchanged the metronome to a lollipop. 

remember in the I Need U theory; how lollipops are used commonly in anime to depict the cigarette. ( and this would tie in with the HYYH: the notes L version ).

Yoongi 8 June YEAR 22

I took off my t-shirt again. I looked in the mirror and it was not like me at all. The cotton shirt that was not my type had the word ‘Dream’ on it. No matter how you look at it, the red colour, the word, dream, the shirt didn’t fit me at all. Out of frustration, I pulled a cigarette and looked for my lighter. Since it wasn’t in the back pocket of my jeans, I looked inside my bag. (They) took it away. (They) took it from my hands without any constraint. (They) threw back to me were candy bars and this t-shirt.  

I messed up my hair and stood up when I heard the sound of a message. My heart began to beat faster as at the moment, my hand phone screen lit up brightly with a name that was 3 syllabuses. I broke my cigarette to check the message. In the next moment, I was laughing at the mirror. Wearing the tight t-shirt that had ‘Dream’ written on it, the red colour, I must have looked like an idiot.

which later on explain how those cigarettes were taken away from Yoongi- kinda leaving him bare. however later on in the notes of the L version, it seems as though Yoongi attended the funeral of his mother, his mother who taught him the piano. Hence, he traded the fear of the fear of losing someone so important; giving up the metronome to signify the end of the days of him playing the piano to the lollipop which would only exacerbate his current delinquent life as one would see in the highlight reel, that his juvenile days only extended, with him quitting high school, stopped playing the piano, picked up the habit of smoking etc often got drunk as well etc. 

This could be seen in the HYYH: the notes, L version.

Yoongi 25 June YEAR 20

I opened the door of the bottom drawer with a pop and firstly, took out the bag that was placed inside. I turned the bag inside out and a dusty piano key fell out. I threw the half-burned piano key in the trashcan and laid down on bed. The fire in my heart wouldn’t cool down and so my breathing was ragged, and at some point, soot was smeared over my fingers.

After the funeral, I went back alone to the house that was set ablaze on fire. I entered my mother’s room to see the piano that was burned so badly, the shape was unrecognizable. I hesitantly sat down. I sat there for some time until the sunlight that entered through the window died down. Several keys rolled around in the last of the light. What kind of sound could be heard if I played the keys? I thought about my mother playing these keys a lot. I put one of them in my pocket and left the room.

From that moment on, 4 years has passed. The house has been quiet. Just like it was meant to be quiet. It was past 10 and so my father would have been asleep, afterwards everything held its breath. That was the rule of the house. It was hard for me to endure the silence. it also wasn’t easy to keep up with the stipulated times, regulations and forms. No matter how you looked at it, it was hard to be patient. Nevertheless, I couldn’t stand living in this house. After receiving pocket money from my father, eating with him, I got scolded by him. Rather than not talking to my father and go astray, I lacked the courage to abandon him and the house, to make freedom into reality and not just in words.

I suddenly rose up from bed. I pulled out the piano key from the desk with a tissue paper. I opened the window and the night air rushed in. The wind that came in slapped me with the strength of whatever happened today. I threw the piano key in the air. Today I haven’t gone to school for 3 or 4 days. I heard the news of getting expelled. Now, I don’t know if I want to be kicked out of the house. I listened hard but I couldn’t hear the keys hitting the ground. No matter how much I have been thinking about it, I couldn’t imagine the sound the piano key would have made. No matter how much time has passed, the piano key would never make a sound again. I will never play the piano again.

Hoseok exchanged the snickers bar which was seen in the MAMA short film to get a birthday cake. 

somehow this cake triggered Hoseok’s past to which his mother abandoned him at the amusement park which was seen in the highlight reel. 

maybe his mother also abandoned him on his birthday hence triggering him to have his Munchausen syndrome to be worse.

Munchausen syndrome, is a type of mental illness in which a person repeatedly acts as if he or she has a physical or mental disorder when, in truth, he or she has caused the symptoms. Munchausen syndrome is a mental illness associated with severe emotional difficulties. 

Reference

this Munchausen syndrome could be seen in his short film of MAMA, when one of the doctors was observing him etc. 

his fear of abandonment becomes even more prominent later on when one would see that in the Highlight reel, the girl was in a matter of life or death and that Hoseok even sacrificed himself running in the rain to save her, much like she may not even survive hence possibly abandoning Hoseok yet again. not to mention that maybe this girl was the one who filled the empty void of Hoseok in which his own mother should have given love and attention from the very beginning. hence Hoseok has this sense of attachment to her. 

Namjoon exchanged a shard of glass that had the same words as in Prologue ( You Must Survive ) to a black hair tie -the same hair tie seen in the highlight reels

Namjoon has troubles of accepting himself, in a way he has a fear of facing himself, which is why when he sees his own reflection on the shard of glass; much like the one seen in the Yoongi Run JP. MV - he is quick to surrender it to the magic shop. 

interesting that even on that piece of glass, he still has it written that he must survive. a constant reminder that he needs to live with himself; despite the fact that he cant accept himself. 

however, one could also consider this point of view, in which, Namjoon had a fear of his words being disappeared, in a way that he is being forgotten in terms of his speech.

often, it is seen as though Namjoon kept on writing reminders on mirrors of having to survive. he wanted to constantly remind them to keep holding on.  

he has been doing so since in the Prologue etc and even in the HYYH: the Notes, L version.

Namjoon 15 May YEAR 20

As I walked across the storage classroom that became a hideout for those of us who had nowhere to go, I set a few chairs straight. I wiped away the dust off the fallen desk with my palm while I was at it. Endings make people emotional. Today is the last day I go to school. It has been decided 2 weeks earlier that we would move. I didn’t know if I could possibly return. I wasn’t sure if I could see my hyungs or younger brothers.

I folded a piece of paper in half and placed it on a desk, I even got a pencil out but I didn’t know what words to leave behind, and so I let time pass. While I was scribbling useless words, my pencil lead snapped with a sound. “You have to keep living” on the paper with the marks of the graphite lead that I had scribbled with realizing. In between the black dust powder and scribbles were stories of poverty, parents, dongsaengs and moving.

I crumpled the paper and placed it in my pocket and then I stood. I pushed the desk away and the dust rose. As I began to leave, I blew onto the dirty window and wrote three characters. No goodbye would ever be enough yet no matter what I say, it would be conveyed as ‘”Let’s see each other again”. More than it being a promise, it was just a wish.

though Namjoon likes to write these on temporary things, in which they could easily disappear, he was very quick to actually surrender it. 

Jimin exchanged the photo of the trees in the painting labelled Flower Arboretum to an umbrella. 

Reference

interesting, one of the popular ones when you search this on Google is Yangpyeong Wild Flower Arboretum ( 양평 들꽃수목원 ) 

His fear of being cooped up in hospitals and loneliness to one of jealousy as one would see in the highlight reels. easily being jealous of hoseok and of the girl. later on seen in the HYYH: the notes, L version. 

Jimin 3 July YEAR 22

In the end, I sprawled onto the floor. I turned off the music and my surroundings went quiet, all I could hear was the beating of my heart. I pulled out my hand phone and played the choreography dance video that I had learned in the morning. Hyung’s movements were so smooth and accurate in the video.  That was the result of his countless hours and sweat of practicing, and now since I wasn’t anywhere near as him, I was jealous. However, understanding and hoping are different and so I sighed often. Again I stood up. I imitated the turn as he had done it but I kept twisting my steps. I kept on making mistakes at the parts where we have to match the flow. We decide to match again tomorrow but until then I wanted to be seen as serious. Rather that a playful phrase, I wanted to be complimented as ‘better than expected’, I wanted to be recognized as someone who was equal and serious, one that could match with hyung.

Jimin 28 September YEAR 20

I stopped counting the days since I was hospitalized. Counting is something you would do when you want to get out or there is hope of getting out. The trees and leaves were far outside the window and based on the clothes of people, I think that not much time has passed. At most, a month tops. Sometimes I see myself wearing the uniform though it was nothing special.  Maybe it was because of the medicine, everything looked boring and dull.  But today was a special day. The kind of day you write in a diary. However, I didn’t have one and I didn’t want the problems that come with writing in one. Today was the first time I lied. I looked at the doctor’s eyes and pretended to be gloomy. “I don’t remember anything.”

hence, remember in Euphoria, Hoseok eventually left Jimin to save Taehyung, same thing. especially how in MAMA, Hoseok still sees Jimin’s tree painting. 

Jimin afterwards was lonely, and his illness started to exacerbate, even more seen in Euphoria, in which Jimin runs around the cafeteria as if the boys were all there when they aren't. even more so, when getting the umbrella, as seen in the highlight reel, he still gets wet, as if under the pouring rain, the umbrella did nothing to shield his pain since after all, his reality never changed.

Taehyung exchanged something to get the bag possibly the same girl who stole in the convenience store and even took notice of Taehyung’s vandalism efforts who later joined him as well.

this could be seen in the HYYH: the notes, L version. 

Taehyung 25 June YEAR 22

I deliberately delayed my steps as I sensed to the small steps that was following me. This was the 3rdtime already at the convenience store. If there was something different, it was that today they ran away when they saw me. They hung around a vacant spot behind the convenience store but as I turned up, they hid themselves again. They hid themselves well but their shadows were reaching to the front of the store. I let out a laugh. I pretended that I didn’t see but they began to follow me.

I entered a narrow alley. This is the only place in the neighbourhood without a broken streetlamp. The alley was long and the streetlamp was somewhere in the middle with my shadow stretching. The shadow now stretches behind me. It could have been stretching all the way to the person who was following me with ragged breath. I started walking a little bit faster. As I passed the streetlamp, my shadow disappeared beneath my feet. Not long after, a shadow that wasn’t mine appeared on the cement floor. I stopped walking and so did the movements. The two shadows of different heights stopped side by side.

I said, “I’m going to wait until you come here.” The shadow behind me leaped out of shock. Then it became still as if it wasn’t here. “I can see everything.” I pointed to the shadow. The footsteps became nearer and deliberately were noisy. I laughed.

so it seems as though this girl has appeared yet again in the HYYH: the notes. 

for some reason, i have a feeling that Taehyung fears to be his father, i mean this could possibly be wrong; but i am trying to link the HYYH: the notes, V version here yet again. 

Taehyung 22 May YEAR 22

I passed by a pine tree forest as Hyung picked up a phone call and started to lag behind. Nowadays, there were more times like this. He moved far away so that he could pick up the call where others couldn’t eavesdrop. I deliberately slowed down ad hid myself off towards the ocean. Hyung wouldn’t be able to see me when he passed by. “He’s only one year younger than me. No, I don’t really care. Anyway, I’m not going to be the one taking the responsibility, just do whatever is best.”

Something cold slithered down my spine. It felt as if everything in the world crumbled and crashed with a bang. It felt as if I was floating alone in the deep ocean. It was scary and frightening. I was miserable and insignificant. I was angry. I couldn’t contain my anger. I wanted to cause a scene. I wanted to smash something, to hit something, to wreck myself. I was always afraid. That my father’s blood would run in me. I thought that maybe his violence was what I inherited. It seemed that something was stabbing my tight defenses.

this is especially so since in these notes, it is known that Taehyung has quite the temper and anger management issues, but the breaking point of it is when he stood up to his father but ended up murdering him. Taehyung eventually became what he feared - being the man who resort to violence, with the blood of his father flowing through his veins. he exchanged it for the bag that was seen in the highlight reel yet again. 

interestingly, Jungkook exchanged himself to get a key - a key in a pretty glass box, much like Jungkook has been offered Pandora’s Box. 

Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's Works and Days. The container mentioned in the original story was actually a large storage jar but the word was later mistranslated as "box". In modern times an idiom has grown from it meaning "Any source of great and unexpected troubles", or alternatively "A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse"

Reference

now, the reason why i say it is Pandora’s box is because of the fact that Jungkook would soon find out all bad things that surrounds them and the boys as he unlocks the door. 

see, Jungkook also had a fear, he had a fear of losing the boys, his brothers. from his own solo song, his love for them has been clearly established. 

죽을 것 같아 형이 슬프면 형이 아프면 내가 아픈 것보다 아파

=

I feel like I’m going to die when hyung is sad When hyung is in pain, it hurts more than when I’m in pain

Reference: Colour Coded ©

hence, he wanted his brothers to happy and so he would do anything for them, even if it meant sacrificing himself.

hence, without any item to offer, he offered himself as a representation of his own fear. now why do i say this? 

asides from the fact that he didn't exchange anything, see, remember how i brought up the whole Omelas kid in the Euphoria theory, what if, all along Jungkook was the Omelas kid after all?

notice how when he entered the room that he unlocked, he was in tattered clothes, much like the boy/girl in the story of The Ones who walk away from Omelas. remember how Omelas was a city in which despite all the happiness, wealth, luck and good there, only one person in the basement is suffering; and now that is none other than Jungkook. 

Jungkook entered a room with 6 clothe stands. one to represent each of the boys. 

in front of him is a man in a black cloak and wearing a mask - possibly the same mask of the magic owner and the same on in Singularity and possibly none other then Kim Taehyung. 

linking this back to my Taehyung and Hoseok Theory,  and also of Jungkook’s HYYH the notes extended theory, and of Singularity Theory, Taehyung is the one that told Jungkook that last line of his notes. 

“Living is more painful than dying, but even so, do you still want to live?”

i have already established that Taehyung could possibly be the devil since who in the right frame of mind actually encourages suicide, which in a way only triggered the whole domino effect of one by one - the boys would take their own lives after Taehyung as seen in the HYYH timeline. 

however, i would also want to bring across the fact that Taehyung could also possibly be the owner of the magic shop, with how his mask fits everything in Singularity etc, so in a way, Taehyung would have known the fates of each go the boys, but yet he still gives them this fictional choice of actually exchanging traits or their fears to their happiness etc. 

this is especially so with how Jungkook entered the room to find 6 bare clothe stands. remember how in Spring Day and highlight reel, there was this whole changing of clothes and washing machine aesthetic?

so to tie it in, with how the magic shop works, by right, there were supposed to received something positive but in the end, their realities either remained the same or worse. just like by changing clothes, the fates of the boys change even if it is one measly top. 

think of this analogy, if one person wears this shirt, the vibe of someone else wearing the exact same shirt is different, even if the difference is insignificant. 

hence, the whole washing machine aesthetic in which they constantly change the clothes to put it on other members and why there is this huge pile of clothes in Spring Day shows the many possibilities; such as Seokjin in the highlight reel.

as such, the magic shop only exchanged these fears, but they dont guarantee that it would be positive in the long run. hence, the magic shop only removed those painful memories temporarily to give them fake ones in the form of this love relationships with girls, hence fake love. 

the magic shop only provided a coping mechanism to deal with their fears, an escape from their cruel and brutal reality, even accepting the fake love to make them forget the pain. 

later, we see again in the higlight reel at 5:20 the importance of Seokjin’s narration. 

“Even if these moments are a lie, I want to stay here.”

it shows that even if these moments are fake, it made the boys happy temporarily at least and they are more than willing to be delusional for these moments. 

however, the ending of the highlight reel is what sums up this whole Love Yourself series. 

“Eventually I have to face. Loving without being afraid. Saying goodbye to hesitancy. Living as myself.”

and overall, to love theirselves. this is especially so since in the highlight reel, Seokjin says this. 

“With myself, I wasn't confident in being loved.”

this is to say that this whole series is meant to heal them, in accepting all their traits and fears and to love themselves in the end. 

[Photo Source] Bighit Entertainment  Credits: maxine ☕️ DO NOT REPOST ©