#ateez comeback theory

[bookishtheories]

ATEEZ's SPIN OFF: From the Witness Epilogue portrays a mysterious encounter between Seonghwa and the four strangers who appeared at the end of HALAZIA. One of the scenes is a shot-by-shot reference to Seonghwa's Memory from the Diary Film.

Check out my latest theory about it on the Bookish Theories YouTube channel! ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡

[wooyoungisbaby]

sometimes i make observations but idk what to do with them. anyone here good at uh, thinking? :v

all i have is just like. ice and fire. blue and red, two historically very important colours in ateez' colour symbolism. a song called "ice on my teeth" with a mv chock full of fire.

OH also this,

[takitakidancetillthesunriseyea]

Golden Hour 2’s Secret Words

The MV trailer for Ice on My Teeth came out 20 minutes ago and I’ve already found something hidden in that 37 second of video.

After watching it frame by frame I uncovered the hidden message that will help all of us Loretiny in the coming days. Words that make me giddy with excitement for how the story will go from here.

At the end when they all sit down, words flash over the screen:

We don’t have a time

I hope this helps with theory crafting! If you use my screenshots plz credit me ✨

I’ll update again soon with more of my GH Trailer observations and deeper insight about what they could mean but I wanted to get this out into the world asap! Atiny Fighting!!💕

[hwakakeri]

My theory (not okay spoilers)

first of all, my son wooyo definitely got more lines this time and I'm really happy about that. he slayed like he always does. secondly, I feel like there's a whole lot of underlying message in this one about control, from Jongho on the bed to Hongjoong with the phone stuck to his hand. I think it might be something related to the academy or related to world z, and the callback to inception with the bed and the hallway DEFINITELY means something I'm not smart enough to figure out. I'd have to go back and nitpick through the underlying messages in inception to figure out what this one means. I love the lore in the ateez universe. it's so great it also feels like there's a lot about being trapped? maybe not necessarily spelled out, but it definitely feels like an underlying theme with the wires and even the stage they sing on, and even how San gets chased and hongjoong is surrounded by phones and all of ateez gets surrounded by men (my dream lol) at the end of the video. boy I wish I was smart enough to understand all this and also just yeosang looks so pwetty as always that's why he's in this post

i can't wait for the 1024 and crimsonzia gifsets to come out for this because there's so many cool parts in this I just can't save to my computer as a still image

[mary-queen-of-sluts]

Okay call me crazy but I don’t think Ateez performed the proper version of Crazy Form at MAMA.

Firstly the chorus is really lacking, especially compared with Guerilla and Bouncy and it lacks a killing point. It feels really anticlimactic after Jongho’s vocals but it isn’t quite an anti-drop either.

Secondly what has me more convinced is the choreo for the chorus isn’t particularly great by Ateez standards. There’s two parts that kind of stand out: the rabbit ears and the hip thrust. I think the rabbit ears will be part of the actual chorus because they’ve been teasing it quite a bit but the hip thrust? It’s the same they do in Answer, if they were going to reference choreo from their previous songs would it not make more sense for it to be Wonderland since this comeback is a continuation of it? I’d say the choreo for the verses are more like Ateez than the chorus so it’s just the chorus they’ve changed???

I’m going to look so stupid when it actually drops and it’s this but I refuse to believe we’re finishing the movement arc with this title track. At the moment it sounds like a b-side at best.

I wouldn’t put it past Ateez to pull this kind of shit and not give us the full chorus until it actually releases. On the 14th of June they released the second teaser for Bouncy with the chorus and it released on the 16th. The first teaser for Crazy Form was released today (29th) and it’s going to be released on the 1st and it included no chorus and that was first revealed at MAMA today. I feel like they’re hiding the chorus!! Like they wanted to perform it at MAMA but not give us the full thing!! Like they’re fucking with us!!!!

If this was any other artist I would accept this was the song but I feel like Ateez would pull this kinda shit, especially with the finale to movement

[sunniebirp]

Okay. Let's talk about comeback again because I've noticed something I think is really important, specifically about Seonghwa's most recent teaser.

So I was looking, and I was like, "Wow. This pose looks really familiar."

So I did some digging, and I found where I know it from...

[whatifwereallcarrots]

It was nice meeting ya'll 🤙

[marie-is-seein-stars]

ateez theory and straybkids june comeback theory...

so um 9024 could be october is their next comeback? or maybe some other big event could take place?

anyways ive also noticed that the skz pfp has been changing colors VERY subtly it went from green to a light blu...also theyve been using a wave emoji for a few posts now... ocean theme? wet skz visuals...mayuunn ill be so fuckin weak if danceracha is revealed. there so hot im so down bad...bye

DISCLAIMER! THIS WAS JUST A THEORY, A KPOP THEORY...GOD I MISS MATPAT...

[tothisemptiness]

Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part II: "Ice On My Teeth" MV

Hey everyone! Welcome to the second part of my analysis series of this comeback. In this post I will be analizing the Ice On My Teeth MV step by step. Please watch it before you read this post so that you can follow along easier. If you would like to see the other parts of this series you can find them below:

Part I: Golden Hour: Part 2 Diaries

Part III: The Chess Piece Theory

Bonus Part: Character Studies

Meet Counter-TEEZ

Author's Note: This must be what Atiny felt like when "Say My Name" MV first came out because dude I understand nothing and I have nothing at my hands. I only know that ATEEZ MVs have a pattern of representing future events especially when they are filmed at the early stages of their respective story arcs, like "Say My Name" and "Answer". Therefore, I think this MV takes place during a plot point that will be revealed to us in a future diary and we will be able to make perfect sense of it then.

First off we see the towel turn from white to black. I am hitting you so hard with a theory right off the bat. Now, let's settle that the ATEEZ we see in this MV is represented by the color black. They wear all black except for some scenes of HJ and San and according to the members are chess pieces theory, the ATEEZ in this MV are the black pieces. Who is the white one? Z's regime is characterized by white uniforms, sure. Who else wears all white though?

These guys.

Also these guys. We can basically conclude that the ATEEZ we've known from the start are characterized by white, which symbolizes purity and ingenuity. It is very fitting considering their youth and noble goals.

Then who is this ATEEZ, why are they black and why are they against our ATEEZ? I genuinely don't know. For now I will be calling them Counter-TEEZ which will make more sense as I proceed with this analysis.

The ring kissing move is usually part of patriarchal establishments, or at least groups with heavy hierarchy. When compared to Black Pirates, this isn't very anarchist of them.

Snow. Keep this in mind, it will come up later. I also want to point out how, except for group shots and a single shot that is immediately followed by a group shot at the same setting, Hongjoong is always alone in this MV, he doesn't interact with his groupmates at all.

A broken mirror. We know this is an important symbol because it also shows up on the D-Day poster. Mirrors are symbols of self-perception and identity, this was the main reason why in Z's regime people were impeded from seeing their reflection in any way. Here, the mirror is broken. This may indicate ATEEZ's own identities are somehow distorted in this MV, further supporting my Counter-TEEZ theory. Notice how a chandelier appears in the background, which is also in the poster? Also keep that in mind.

We said that Counter-TEEZ are the black pieces. I imagine the tennis player army and the ballerinas to be their pawns because otherwise what would the tennis players' presence even mean. Interestingly, they are dressed in all white with just a black ski mask. I don't exactly know what this means, but it means something.

More chandeliers! San is pulling himself up using the chandelier but it barely budges. Gravity seems to be fucked since normal weight doesn't apply here. Another instance of weaker gravity in the MV is when Hongjoong floats in front of a neo-classical painting. Tumblr won't let me add more photos, just look at my icon. Usually we think stuff like this happen in the dream sequences, so this must be a dream sequence. Except we don't have the bright colors or extra-absurd imagery. Do you remember where else we see mention of fucked gravity?

"Halazia". The MV very likely takes place around the time of "Halazia" or at least after the event that caused the world to lose its gravity.

Excuse the shitty GIF, I did my best putting it up here, just focus on the move. The footwork is a Charleston move, which was a dance very popular during the Roaring 20s. Also HJ's flapper-esque styling belongs to the same era. The Roaring 20s was a period in the US characterized by the American Dream and extravagancy that showed off your wealth. Does the theme sound similar? "IOMT" in itself also shows us extravagant displays of wealth: a giant mansion, way too many chandeliers, diamond covered jewellery everywhere, a classical car on the dinner table... Is this dance move or HJ's clothes plot relevant? Not really, but it is fun to notice and draw parallels from! They also subtly reinforce the themes very well while keeping the artistic touches.

Especially in this part of the MV Yunho looks more in control even over other members and fills in HJ's absence in the leadership. Yunho taking on the role of the leader and HJ being isolated from the rest is also something we see in "Halazia". I usually don't like relating songs directly to the lore but ATEEZ have established that they actually tell the story through their music, so I will consider some lyrics. Yunho basically stops the puppet show Yeosang puts on for the press saying "How do we look?". What was Yeosang about to disclose that Yunho worried about their image? And why through a puppet<*

Yeosang is once again likened to a little bird. Let's draw some parallels between the MV, lyrics and the established lore. Other than this, we hear "Halazia" mention a little bird that is silenced:

"Mm, the little blue bird that lost its voice

I can hear the whispers

The beginnings of a deep echo

The voice that will overturn the world"

In the diary analysis post, we had established that thinking of YS as the blue bird seems like a reasonable idea now. When do we see YS being disregarded when he speaks? When he speaks to his father about his dreams. When he asks members about Sopro again and again. When he goes against WY's idea of starting again. We are so focused on WY but nobody verbally supports YS then, WY at least has Jongho support the idea even a bit. I doubt the theme of disregarding YS's words will end here. Furthermore, we see that he is becoming more and more central to the lore than he's ever been. I will come back to this point.

I need someone to help me understand if he is saying something clever or if he is just saying "WE ATE!!!".

There is a tied tic-tac-toe game between a white and a black player. I will start stretching this out to symbolize something. I think the white player (both in chess and in tic-tac-toe) is the original ATEEZ that lives on passion and dreams while the black player is Counter-TEEZ that live with the desire for money and other materialistic stuff. The reason they are in a tie is without money, they can't do their art but to make money they must compromise from their dreams, however what would the money they earn this way mean if they can't use it for progressing towards their dream? There is a blackish gray cat walking around the game. Wooyoung's symbolic animal is a black cat, so I think it symbolizes him trying to find a way out of this game. Both in this game and in chess whites start first and it also applies to this theory: before they ever thought of money they were already chasing their dreams, the need and desire for money came later on.

Jongho seems to stand in the middle of what looks like a medieval chandelier, with two fallen chandeliers beside him. I know I talk a lot about the chandeliers but they just keep appearing and falling down out of nowhere. I swear I am going somewhere with this topic, I just want to leave it for the end where I can talk about it more comprehensively. For now, I have 2 small theories that explain them:

They represent Counter-TEEZ's greed for extreme wealth falling apart

In "Halazia" not only do we see gravity weaken, we also see it coming back (the floating metal ball San pulls falls down). For all we know the gravity may also get stronger in this case. Then the chandeliers that hang from the ceiling may get unnaturally heavier and fall off from the ceiling since they hang from there with a support system fit for a lighter weight.

Return of bouncing yellow cars. Why though? Why put a recurring image like this? It doesn't even fit the aesthetic or the mood of this MV. Also we see that there are also full black pawns, so the white ones with black masks aren't the only ones. However, these ones aren't dressed up like artists or sports players but more like businessmen or a mob.

The song isn't even about this bro.

Yuh. I have no idea what kind of scheme requires this. I can only trust it will be revealed in the upcoming diaries

Yunho is showing the doctor something like an X-Ray scan of... the mansion? How do mansions have X-Ray scans? Who is the doctor? Why is he so scared of this and why does Yunho look like he is threatening him? Stuff that I hope we will find out in (checks old MV and diary dates) 2 years... fuck.

Is this a generic antique lighter or is it specifically made for this MV with a special meaning to the logo on the lighter? Someone help.

Arson and homicide all at once. 4 questions come to mind:

Why were all those furniture outside?

Why did Jongho pull them all in from a small window on the top floor?

Why did they burn them all outside after taking them in?

Why burn the doctor too?

The destruction of art, something normal ATEEZ covets and puts effort and money in keeping alive, is a theme previously explored in "MATZ", generally considered as a Halazia-related content. Too early to say anything, but I believe Counter-TEEZ may be walking along the same line as MATZ there. Speaking of fire and "Halazia", they prefer to destroy the images of Halateez using fire there.

I don't know if anyone else noticed but they don't put cookies at the end of MVs anymore :(

Loose threads to tie

There are a few elements I left to discuss here so that I won't be tied to a singular part of the MV or the song to discuss them.

I mentioned the chandeliers so much but pianos are also a recurring element in the MV. I believe it is the only musical instrument to show up (despite violins being the focal part of the song).

As I point out the chandeliers fall an abnormal amount of times. When San hangs from one, when Seonghwa claps his hands during his rap, two-three are already fallen while Jongho sings the second pre-chorus. Where else in ATEEZ's videography do chandeliers (fallen or not) and pianos come up? "Halazia".

There are 3 fallen chandeliers and one still standing just in this room. This is an absurd amount of chandeliers for a room of this size btw. In the back we also notice a piano. Not a grand piano like in here, but the pattern is still here.

Where else?

"Answer", which coincidentially (?) starts with a piano melody that has nothing to do with the song itself. Other elements that parallel "Answer" are the presence of snow and the images on the D-Day poster: glasses, a table ornate with candles, chandelier (again), and a mirror. In "Answer" we see an overwhelming amount of mirrors, both full size and as shards. The room HJ is in looks similar enough to that of "Answer" but smaller and not exactly the same. The theme of glasses also come up in "IOMT"s lyrics like "How many glasses? Woo, eight total", even though in "Answer" we see twice the amount. While I am so sure "IOMT" relates directly to "Halazia", I'm not sure how it links to "Answer", but the parallels are there, and out of all the images in the music video they chose the ones that were previously seen a lot in "Answer".

Yeosang Interlude

Another topic is the mansion itself. It feels like an exaggerated version of Yeosang's villa. Below are all the descriptions of the villa:

An antique villa, far removed from the city center and hidden by lush trees

A large table in the dining room

“The dining room let out into a short hallway that connected to the living room.”

Large windows framed by curtains

An antique cabinet is next to the window with a familiar frame and a broken glass object

The location, the hallway we see Seonghwa in that is narrow but seemingly endless in length, the absurdly large dining table that can fit a car on top of it, and the room where we see the Cromer and Sopro is likely the study where we see Jongho (with the large window and antique furniture). The mansion has a lot of artwork in it. Yeosang is an investor who also invests in art, taking on the historical "patron" role. Especially in the previous centuries, patrons would commission artists for artwork that they would exhibit in their own houses, so Yeosang having many artworks in his villa is a very fitting thing for his character. However, as I said, the mansion isn't directly YS's villa, it is an exaggerated image of it. Speaking of the parallels between the villa and the MV, the line "How many glasses? Woo, eight total" may also refer to the dinner scene in the diaries.

The backtrack of this song has violins as its focus. As we mentioned before, ATEEZ uses music to link their stories together. Violins don't come up in the songs, but they come up in "Halazia"s prologue, right after the blue bird flies away. Violins are also representative of Yeosang. "IOMT" basically combines all of Yeosang's imagery in one MV and gives us a good reason to think that he will be central to the story from now on.

Aside from not being able to speak, the little blue bird is also seen guiding Seonghwa to the white-clothed people in "Halazia"s prologue and epilogue. I will theorize a little on Yeosang's role here. He was the only member who explicitly went against Wooyoung in the diaries, saying their lives aren't failures just because they aren't chasing their first dream now. After Wooyoung uses Sopro, I think Yeosang will be the first member to break out of its effect (because he is much less tied down to this old dream than any of the other members, shown by only him being able to refuse the idea immediately) and will try to wake others up but he will, again, either be disregarded or downright shut down by the members who are caught up in its effect, mimicking the silenced blue bird. In this process, he will take on a guiding role for the group and his success will start a series of events that will change ATEEZ's universe completely. In this arc if Wooyoung is the voice of the heart Yeosang will be that of reason. Finally, I think Yeosang will first be able to wake Seonghwa up, leading him to the "Be Free" bracelet will trigger this as seen in the Epilogue, and moving from there will wake the others up with a similar method.

I hope I didn't miss anything but it is currently 3 AM so I very likely did. This has been a very detailed analysis and I couldn't even talk about some details I would like to because I can't really make sense of them. If I remember anything else I will come back and edit this post. If you took the time to read until here thank you very much and see you soon with the remaining parts of the analysis since I still have some themes in this comeback that I would like to discuss <3

[luxurystark-jackson]

marauders era characters as kpop stans

idk i randomly thought of this making it up as we go along

james:

stray kids and ateez stan (CLOSETED TWICE STAN FIGHT ME)

his favourite song is hoodie season because it’s cute and it reminds him of regulus

as a Rich Friend™️ he buys concert tickets

jeongin biased because he reminds him of regulus (me, a delusional jegulus shipper)

sirius:

full on stray kids stan

also day6 and txt

insult changbin or hyunjin in front of him and you’ll end up in the hospital wing

exists on 3racha’s soundcloud

as another Rich Friend™️ he is the number one profit source for JYPE

he puts his posters up ALL over his room and walburga absolutely despises it

he goes feral (changes into padfoot starts howling fucking nuts) if he pulls a changbin pc

remus:

ateez and txt ults but also stray kids

the marauders all stan skz let’s be real

he also listens to bts and seventeen (he’s such a simp for shua change my mind)

biases yeosang and taehyun

sirius buys him albums all the time (my dream omg) like 15 minutes after he mentions he might get an album it’s on his desk

has playlists for certain moods

fanfic reader™️ secret tumblr account for his recs and ao3 is bookmarked (we do not speak of wattpad but he has one of those too)

peter:

exo shinee and bts ults

low-key nct stan (especially nct 127) plus superm

anyone who tells you peter isn’t a 3rd gen stan is LYING

the only thing he can afford is spotify premium and he lives off of it

sirius and james try to buy him albums and he’s just like Absolutely Not i Refuse to listen to you tiny 4th gen stans

when he has some money he goes all out every single exo album he can get his hands on

he believes in growl supremacy also save me like if he could inject it into his bloodstream he would (don’t do drugs kids only bts)

he likes to dabble in producing he has a secret wip he’s been working on for like three years it’s coming out next month

regulus:

txt (certified beomgyu simp) stray kids and xdinary heroes

his favourite song is 9 and 3/4 because it’s the first txt song he listened to (plus like the magic references obviously he’s convinced txt are secretly wizards)

he buys albums obviously but he also buys those seasons greetings (as in those £70 bitches) and has a collection of them

touch his pcs and it’s St Mungo’s for you

he says stream good boy gone bad

that one time he asked lucius if he’s ever met stray kids because i.n did an impression of dobby-

lily:

twice and itzy stan. the hugest itzy stan.

ryujin/yeji bias i'd think probably both

will not shut up when itzy have a comeback

absolutely peer pressures (gently) everyone around her to listen to itzy songs

she has absolutely dragged all of the marauders to a concert with her. sirius agrees that ryujin is cool and their bonding mechanism is going to concerts together 100%

alice:

twice and bts and txt stan

huening kai biased. i feel it in my soul

she's the type to go on twitter and be the mediator in fan arguments

collects pcs and probably runs a tiktok account where she does deco for her pcs

she seems like the type to write jyp and hitman bang fanfiction but not say any part of it is satirical

pandora:

dreamcatcher and txt stan

she runs a lore account on twt/tiktok

probably has a corkboard where she notes down all the txt lore she can decipher and tries to work it out

she's also obsessed with ryujin even though she doesn't stan itzy. like. who isnt lets be real

she gets into in depth discussions with remus about the plausibility of certain theories they have about mvs

barty:

xdinary heroes day6 enhypen txt and wayv stan. dont ask

he would die for o.de he has said this many times. and sunoo probably

he would start the fanwars alice breaks up (90% of them are where he says something about hyunjin to piss off sirius completely on purpose)

anytime he sees a man with long hair he feels immense gender thoughts

absolutely the hugest thirster in the set. cannot resist a man with thick biceps at all

very obsessed with enha's vampire concept. very very obsessed with it

he would willingly learn how to do cosplays and makeup without magic so he can authentically create costumes based around idols in specific mvs

evan:

was roped into xdh by barty and skz by regulus but discovered nct on his own

he watches cringe tiktok compilations all the time

has met mark lee before. dont ask me how. he just has.

he is the most indifferent person when he gets albums but is loony when it comes to lightsticks

no1 sticker defender. probably would set up a prank of some kind where sticker just plays on repeat in potions to piss off slughorn

professional at pirating unreleased songs guy

PUKU PUKU POW POW 💥

narcissa:

closeted twice itzy and blackpink stan

she is crazy about lisa and jeongyeon

absolutely no one knows about her interest in kpop except lily

secret kpop specific twitter

participates in fanwars to put gasoline on the flames but mostly just here for the music

secretly learns choreographies and has a popular instagram account where she posts fan art (secretly)

[wooyoungisbaby]

iomt observation #2: there are a lot of shots of the members directly from above, and some that are a bit tilted but still from above.

there are ALSO shots where the members are looking down at the viewer, or at the very least make me... feel looked down at (example: that bottom left hj picture). the one where hj is literally fuckin up in the sky with cherubs like some sort of new gay jesus, is fucking crazy what does it all MEANNN

i have ONE thought about this. you know how people have noted the boys were kinda giving chess piece lineup in the group shot outside the mansion? with that in mind, the from-above shots are making me feel like i'm the chess player and they're my pieces looking up at me, waiting to see where i'm going to move them.

[takitakidancetillthesunriseyea]

GOLDEN HOUR ‘S HERE🎉🎉🎉🔥🔥🔥

Y’all it’s fire! Work is a bop, Shaboom and Blind are vibin, and my favorite tracks, Empty box and Siren, both echo with emotion and passion…

But after that MV…. As a lore theorist I’m crying tears of blood ToT

They’re definitely cooking something, but this comeback really told us as little as possible as to what in gods name is happening in the lore.

I do have a theory as to why this cb seems empty of lore, and I’ll probably write it out soon. Yet…at the end of the day though, who knows? Maybe they really are just vibing to vibe this time.

Plz add any ideas or theories you have! Do you think there’s a plan, or that this cb is a break from the deep lore? Cause I really don’t have a clue-

[catkyunie]

Fellow lore and theory Atiny…hear me out.

I have a few thoughts and theories surrounding the Ateez comeback and the current state of the lore (only referencing canon events as notated in the diary entries or related content) so let’s dive in and see how much I get right.

First, the multiple references of Trauma. This may be me digging too deep or reaching (but when it comes to KQ, I don’t ever feel like ANYTHING is a reach) but MATZ tackles the idea of trauma by referencing the stalking the boys have experienced.

Youth references trauma in both its lyricism and the way the video is shot. This is the clearest representation of it. Everything reflects the trauma associated with the end of an era in one’s life, and how that era could mean everything to someone and then be nothing.

IT’s You is the most inconspicuous and as of now, the only clear indicator of trauma references that I have found is this shot at the beginning of the music video.

Not Okay in and of itself is an entirely different monster with multiple visuals and references to trauma besides the straight up definition at the beginning of the MV.

But, that’s a different thread for another time. Let’s instead look at the purposeful order of concept photo drops. Starting with HongJoong and Yunho.

HJ & YH - HJ and YH - HJ is afraid of being forgotten and abandoned while YH uses HJ as a waypoint and beacon after the accident involving his brother.

WY and S - S not wanting to leave another group of friends again and experiencing that same loneliness and WY needing the help and reassurance of his friends to help him find his confidence.

SH and YS - each being burdened by the weight of expectation, both by themselves and others

MG and JH - MG has finally found a dream yet feels undeserving of it and JH has finally found a NEW dream and clinging to it desperately.

Also, in medical terminology, ‘golden hour’ references the first hour after a severe traumatic event and is the most critical time. This hour can wholly determine if the recovery of treatment after said event will be successful.

What is Dimension A is meant to act as the safe haven for our boys and this mini album is meant to be a representation of them reflecting on the things they experienced in Strictland and the horrors illustrated in Final Will’s Diary Entries? 

I am really interested in hearing my other theory and lore Atiny weigh in on this!

[canyouhearthevoices]

Was Mingi saying 'It's a cold winter' in their MAMA acceptance speech a teaser for the comeback? Has looking into ATEEZ theories and staring at Hongjoong's face made me crazy? Goodness knows...

[sunmoonjune]

i conked right back out after reading that first answered ask LMAO ive literally been sleeping 12+ hours a day bc i ended up taking sick leave from work and i also got my period so my body's really just been like hmm what other doozy can i give her but now i'm actually awake and my brain juices are kinda flowing so ive been doing some hard thonking about your comments. this is literally unedited word vomit none of my theories make sense but oh well HAHA

YOU'RE TELLING ME WE HAVEN'T EVEN HIT THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG YET???? brb getting my straw so i can drink up the ocean and reveal the iceberg

went back to dig around your past asks and you said a lot of the reason why the villagers hate her is bc of her father and the incident happens around 9-10yo that changes everything sO idk im gonna take some shots in the dark dont laugh at me ,,,,,, so men are usually the only ones meant to train to become a warrior and enter the trials,,,,,,, and ofc as bug's father is the chief of the village he's going to want a son to take over but then he gets two daughters ?? bc you did also hint gender plays a big part of her backstory so im thinking is this one of the underlying reasons in the first place why bug and soojin always had such a rocky relationship with their father even before the incident . . ...... .has bug's mother passed? i feel like she has passed. and i feel like something happened during her death that bug's father then twisted and pinned the blame onto bug. ????? maybe that's why the memories of villagers spitting out it's her fault is so engrained in her :((( and it would make sense why she had the need to make a sign for 'dead'. IDK THERES STILL SO MANY HOLES I CANT SEEM TO THINK OF A SOLID THEORY i need some more hints ;)))))))

HMMMM sometimes soojin wasn't there?? now i'm thinking was it bc yun and bug often found themselves receiving the brunt of bug's father's anger .: they were often punished together and chucked into like a cell or sth so it was just them two sometimes. but then what did YUN do that got him on everyone's bad side too bc him getting banished was fo sho just a convenient opportunity that presented itself for bug's father to get rid of yun. HMHM speaking of ,, he was banished for conspiracy and injuring an officer. yun's not the type of person to just do that for no reason (+ im willing to bet your $11 and my 60c that the situation was twisted to make him look like the bad guy) and im thinking did bug's father say or do something that finally made him snap therefore leading to his accusation HMM

WAIT ALSO ARE THE SCARS UNDER HER MASK IN THE SHAPE OF SOMETHING OR SPELL OUT WORDS ???? bc it's been hinted again and again that there's an awful injury underneath and you have it as the cover of the to-be-published version but you cant reveal it bc it's too big of a spoiler so that leads me to think her face has been deliberately disfigured to look like sth 👀👀

waiting for the published version of ltm to drop so we can get signed copies but also asfksdjg we're gonna need a commissioned version of ltm with the atz boys to purchase instead bc can you imagine the line 'you may have cost wooyoung his yunho' as 'you may have cost kieran his brandon' HAHAHAHAHAAHA I LITRALLY CHOKED ON MY OWN SPIT sonia and her random names always have me cackling HAHA

OMG ALSO ARE WE GONNA GET YEO TEACHING BUG TO DANCE IN THE FUTURE OMGGMGGGG THATS THE LITERAL CUTEST i can already see all the boys tripping over each other and manhandling each other out of the way (with love) so that they can reach bug first and extend their hand out to ask for her first dance dsgjkagfdg noooooooooo 😭💕

also none of my friends irl stan ateez so i have no one to tell and i dont use tumblr enough to have moots apart from you (i woke up at 5am that day and saw your notif and couldnt fall back asleep bc i was literally rolling around in bed giggling) so im gonna tell you but im a relatively new atiny and this is going to be my first comeback with the boys and im literally frothing at the mouth with excitement bc the concept teasers ??? I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

hehehe I SO enjoyed your theories OMG!! Keep sending them my way I eat up all your thoughts on LTM <33

we have not indeed reached the tip of the iceberg ;) but we're close

and haha I would never laugh at you xD this was a very interesting theory about her past and I can't tell you if you're right quite yet,, but I can say: yes, chiefs want a son to take over the title of leader. and bug's father ended up with two daughters... there will be MUCH more on this in the future >:D

onto the topic of bug's mother... this is a VERY important part of the next chapter ;) I'm so glad you've brought it up,,, again I can't tell you much about her until the release of the next chapter but bug's mother does play a VERY BIG role in why certain people despise her so much

I genuinely cannot wait to see your reaction to the lore bits in the next chapter xD it won't reveal everything quite yet but it does reveal some of bug's past so I'm VERY excited,, I hope you'll come back to update your theories after you read it hehe >:D bug's past is long and kind of confusing until I string it all together at the end, but I'm hoping some of you will be able to puzzle it out hehe ;))

as for yun and Soojin,,, part of why Soojin was not with them as much will be referenced in the next chapter I think,, but it may not yet be revealed,, but you are correct in that yun and bug were often on the receiving end of her father and the village's anger :( I can't tell you why they directed it at bug but most of the hate towards yunho simply emerged because he was always trying to stop them from hurting her (this is heavily implied throughout the series so I don't think it's spoiling anything...)

and yunho's banishment.... that will be brought up again as well... perhaps not quite yet ;)

bug's scars.... yes, these are VERY important to bug's past and her entire story! that's why they're the cover of my hardcopy ;) once we reach that part of the story I'll show you the cover so you can get an understanding of what they look like. beneath her mask is extremely relevant to her past and why the village hates her so much... I can tell you that the shape of the scars are less important than what they did to her face...

hehe when the published version finally goes out there's going to be new content in it ;) extra scenes and what not that weren't included here :DD and perhaps I will send signed copies out if you guys want them enough xD

AHHAHA NO I've settled on their names for the published version and I promise there will be no Kieran or Brandon's LMAO,, names in books are SUPER important to me cause they give me a BIG ick in novels xD I cannot read a book about a guy named 'jack' or 'daniel' or something HAHA

and the dancing <33 there will be some fluff in the future about the dancing scene I promise ;)

also omg!! none of my irl besties like kpop either :( I would be happy to be on the receiving end of your rants about the comeback hehe xD I've been an atiny since pirate king and each cb has been AMAZING and I'm very excited too!! me and 🪷 anon have been yelling at each other in messages every time concept photos get leaked xD

I hope this answered some of your theories (even tho I couldn't really say much xD ) thank you for them hehe >:D I LOVE hearing your theories about bug's past because I CANNOT WAIT to reveal it xD

also! do you have a name you want to be called? I've been calling you 'eight' in my head since I saw your first messages but I haven't asked yet xD