#mychem posting on the kpop blog what's wrong with me

[fadingoutintothehands]

(Long post sorry)

Ateez as Danger Days songs

Danger Days (by My Chemical Romance) has a lot of similar aspects and themes to Ateez' discography, mostly because their storylines are both dystopian. So I went through all the Danger Days songs and matched the songs to the Ateez members (more so the characters they play in the lore) based on my personal interpretation of the lore of both groups/bands. It's for my own enjoyment, I had fun.

1. Hongjoong as Vampire Money

Initially I didn't know if I should include Vampire Money because it's not really apart of the overall DD/Killjoys story. But it's very Hongjoong coded, with the David Bowie inspiration, and the fast pace of it all reminds me of his rapping. It stands out from the rest of the album, maybe that reflects on his authority as a Captain. I'm biased but Hongjoong has always reminded me of Gerard Way and his mannerisms, and its especially prevalent in this song. Unrelated but this song is pretty much a diss track on Twilight, and I love Twilight btw, but now it means I can connect Hongjoong to another one of my major interests - vampires.

2. Seonghwa as Destroya

HEAR ME OUT if you know anything about MyChem you probably also know the weird reputation of Destroya. But my reasoning is that behind the somewhat strange vocals, Destroya's main theme is based around a beacon of hope, with the actual character - of the massive robot called Destroya - representing salvation for the oppressed. This theme (in my interpretation) is also in Halazia, because in the music video that scarecrow/Halateez figure seems to represent hope for those people. And Halazia for me always reminds me of Seonghwa, probably because of his visuals in the music video and his siren vocals which I am so in love with.

3. Yunho as The Only Hope For Me Is You

I read up on some of the diary entries a few days ago, but I am by no means we'll versed in what they mean or what they represent. But Yunho's entry was very focused around his brother and a very close relationship between the two, which is also shown in this song as the narrator places their faith entirely in the hands of the person they trust. It connects with the Killjoys (the main characters of Danger Days) as being their wish to be remembered, and I think that's also something Ateez (or Halateez?) would want in their universe.

4. Yeosang as S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W

The distortion on this song is so heavy and that reminds me Yeosang's low register/voice in Halazia & Ep2: Outlaw. The lyrics are really out there with this idea of isolation and separation, and from watching Ateez' music videos (though I definitely don't entirely understand them) Yeosang seems to be more distant from the group on the regular, like when he's trapped in another dimension/world. Furthermore it connects to Ateez lore as "Scarecrow" refers to a police type extermination team, and that could either be Halateez in the earlier MVs or the masked individuals who keep popping up.

5. San as Save Yourself I'll Hold Them Back

This song holds a message of making a name for yourself and being determined to stand up for yourself, both in the real world for the fans and also for the Killjoys in the fictional dystopia. It took me a while to decide who'd fit this concept best, but I decided on San within the MVs he's a very stand out character who's hard to miss, his character obviously strives to be strong and overcome (re: pulling down the moon/sky ball in Halazia) but also in his diary entry he mentions making it "his" world, showing that he's not going to conform to a higher being.

6. Mingi as Party Poison

Party Poison inspired this entire post. This entire deep dive. I made the fatal decision to watch the Bouncy music video (for the 100th time) right after listening to Party Poison and seeing Mingi in the bar put me through it. I'm assuming Mingi is Django, that's my interpretation, and Party Poison is one of the Killjoy characters who's also Django, in a conceptual sense. The song walks you through a very violent encounter where Party (the character) uses dance and music as an accompanying metaphor. Music and dance is a very strong theme here, and obviously it's also a main theme within Ateez' music as a whole. Party Poison is also just a very eccentric person and those vibes shone through with Cowboy Mingi in Bouncy.

7. Wooyoung as Planetary (GO!)

Similarly to Mingi and San, Wooyoung matches with Planetary because of the overarching themes of dance/music as well as overwhelming determination. A big part of the Killjoys characters is that they're never ones to be forgotten and they'll do the craziest out of pocket things in order to be remembered by fellow outsiders or by Blind (the oppressive system) themselves. This brings chaos to the song, I personally think Wooyoung embodies this chaos in his performance and his character within the lore. The song speaks directly to you, as the listener, and it's very easy to imagine Wooyoung being the one to shout these social commentaries at you.

8. Jongho as SING

Again, if you're familiar with My Chemical Romance, you might know that SING doesn't have the most favourable reputation among fans. They're wrong, objectively I disrespect their opinion (jk) because SING is so goated, so top tier. Why Jongho, besides the obvious reason that his singing is off the scales incredible. It's Jongho because the song details the power of singing and music in the face of who want to put you down and the way Jongho's vocals make me feel is like that. He's very inspirational, he said on Lee Mujin's service that he wants to be recognised for the work and effort he's put into his voice and SING represents that view entirely. Goated man for a goated song.

Finally, overall I adore My Chemical Romance and Ateez and they're probably the only thing I think about most of the time. One of the reasons I found myself loving Ateez so much was because I recognised the similarities they have with MyChem so I often find myself comparing them as artists and comparing their songs, mostly the themes within their songs. Obviously it's not a unique idea to portray motivation and inspiration through a dystopian storyline, but Ateez & Mychem (MyTeez? AtChem?) manage to do this incredibly well through both sound and visuals. If you've read all of this then THANK YOU <3 wholeheartedly I appreciate you for giving me the time of day to talk about silly little musical connections, despite them not being that coherent or even making sense.

If you've never listened to Danger Days, or My Chemical Romance, I'd highly recommend it, it's a very enjoyable listening experience. And look into the Killjoys comic book/story if you're into dystopian fiction. and found family tropes