#blood sweat tears japanese version theory

[cloud-sitting]

Someone has probably already made this connection 😂

(First picture is from the webtoon and the second is a screenshot from the blood sweat and tears Japanese version mv)

(Obviously these aren’t mine credit to big hit and the webtoon makers etc.)

[becomewings]

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>

     BTS Universe Story Highlights, pt. 1 / 4

» pt. 2

Introduction

BTS Universe Story, a mobile game published by Netmarble, was released on September 24, 2020. While the majority of the app is essentially a sandbox and engine for users to create their own interactive stories, it also includes official and canon BU content. The first eight segments were introduced between the release date and December 2020, gathered under the title The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>.

“I’m Fine” is half of the I’m Fine/Save Me ambigram introduced in the Love Yourself era. Notably, all of the BU content available in the game so far falls between events of the webtoon Save Me (also called HYYH0 in its logo) and The Notes 1—chronologically, that is, while bearing in mind that time resets to the morning of 11 April Year 22 whenever SeokJin fails to avert a tragedy among his six friends. I want to assure anyone who is unable to play the game that you are not missing any new, major plot beats from the overall BU narrative. Instead, the stories provide more insight into the motivations and consequences of SeokJin’s decisions in the earlier time loops, as well as more depth to individual characters and their circumstances.

The goal of this guide is to summarize each of the eight stories and highlight noteworthy details, especially if they are not yet present in other BU media. Within each story (which I often refer to as an arc, due to their character-focused nature), episodes must be played successively, but the stories themselves can be played in any order. I will present them over a series of posts in the order they are listed under the <I’M FINE> heading. The Prologue and NamJoon’s arc are free to play; the rest are paid content. Please note that due to the app’s Terms & Conditions, I will not include in-game footage here. The images in this guide are sourced from the official trailers/videos and the live action MVs as appropriate.

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers and includes references to other BU media

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

Game Mechanic

Before diving into the summaries, I would like to address the primary mechanic of the game: the user’s control of character choices at designated moments in the stories. It’s a primary marketing point that the player can influence the progression of the narrative, with a frequent in-app tip also declaring, “stories’ endings can vary depending on your choices.” The latter is not strictly true—and it cannot be true due to the structure of the game. Choices are presented within most (not all) episodes, but each episode is an isolated unit: episode 2 provides the same content regardless of what you choose in episode 1. Since the consequences of your decisions are not cumulative, each episode reaches the same ending, and each decision inevitably rejoins the “main” story path (effectively reducing the script size).

So what is the point of this mechanic? While the system is not nearly as complex as what major platform titles are capable of nowadays (I suspect due in large part to the story creation portion of the game), it does foster a sense of interaction with the narrative that isn’t present in static visual media like comics or film. The episodes with choices also have incentive for replay to discover the impact of changing a character’s dialogue or action. Sometimes the differences between the outcomes are inconsequential, but other times you unearth new details, interactions, or memories that are missing in the other path.

I say this partially in reaction to all of the comments and tweets I read for the game trailers and even Smeraldo Book twitter’s choose-your-own-adventure style teasers with The Notes 2 excerpts released last summer. Many users expressed excitement, through words or memes, about finally being able to give the boys the happy ending they deserved. I don’t fault anyone for wanting that happy ending—I wish for it, too. But no matter what the rather overzealous marketing has claimed, I don’t believe that the canon ending of BU is ever meant to be in the audience’s control. But I do feel that this mechanism fits the BU narrative. It echoes the “countless loops” SeokJin has experienced in an effort to save his friends, the choices he must make at every crossroad, and the butterfly effect those actions have on all of their lives. I think it is reasonable to interpret the simple branching paths in the game as alternatives SeokJin has explored across multiple loops in his struggle to find the “right” way forward. I’d love to hear if you have theories of your own!

Prologue

The prologue is a brief episode introducing SeokJin’s repeated struggle and failure to save his friends. He wakes up yet again in his bed on 11 April Year 22, the beginning of the time loop. After reflecting on the tragedies that keep befalling the others, SeokJin realizes that he has only tried to fix the problems he can see. He wonders: “Have I tried to understand the root of my friends’ misfortunes? How much do I really know about my friends? Maybe I was never brave enough to confront their real scars and the worlds they’ve been living in. But I need to do it. Because it may be the key to saving them all.”

How to Offer a Hand

In this story, SeokJin attempts to prevent NamJoon’s arrest after he gets in a fight with a rude customer at Naeri Gas Station, his place of work. The first episode opens on the night of 11 April Year 22 with NamJoon curling his fists, glaring as crumpled bills lie untouched on the pavement. (The money looks similar to the shot from the I Need U MV.) SeokJin reaches for his shoulder, but NamJoon shrugs him off and strides away to punch the customer who deliberately dropped the bills for him to pick up. The gas station owner runs over at the customer’s furious shouts and orders NamJoon to apologize. He refuses, and police officers soon arrive and charge him with assault. No one listens to SeokJin’s protests that the customer started it first. The man sneers as NamJoon enters the police car. “Do you even have money for a settlement? Hey, you’re done for.” NamJoon is sentenced to prison again, and SeokJin hears glass shattering before the loop resets.

Rising from his bed on the morning of 11 April, SeokJin reflects on his failed efforts so far. He has hit the customer’s car, called for NamJoon in the middle of the incident, and stopped the fight himself, the latter of which caused his friends to avoid him later. The fight has even escalated; the details are unspecified, but the audience is provided an ominous shot of SeokJin speaking to a police officer alone at the scene. NamJoon is not the kind of person who would normally respond to that kind of provocation with his fists. SeokJin realizes that he cannot merely stop the fight but must discover and fix the true cause of it.

With this in mind, SeokJin heads to Naeri Gas Station during the day and tries to engage NamJoon. This is their first time meeting since they both returned to Songju, although SeokJin has experienced it in many loops already. “It’s been a while,” he greets (as he does at the end of the Blood Sweat & Tears Japanese version MV). Before SeokJin can dig deeper in their conversation, NamJoon is called away by his boss. SeokJin enters the small employee break room which serves as NamJoon’s living space when he’s not at the container, hoping to find some clues about his friend’s life. SeokJin locates something bundled in newspapers. If the player chooses to open it, he sees a strange shard of glass inside that may belong to a car or motorcycle headlight. He continues on, finding the book Cosmos by Carl Sagan and a notebook. SeokJin hesitates over the invasion of privacy but decides to read it since he needs all the information that he can gather. The journal entries detail NamJoon’s daily life since returning to Songju: his work at the gas station isn’t too bad despite the occasional rude customer; he purchased a book and hopes to get more in the future; he picked up a second job at a wedding hall to help catch up on bills; his brother NamHyeon got in trouble again, leading to more expenses; and his dad’s health has worsened, with hospital bills after an emergency surgery rising to levels that the family cannot afford. SeokJin knew that NamJoon was the de facto head of household due to his father’s illness but was unaware that it was to this degree. He feels sorry for NamJoon yet is also impressed by his maturity, for NamJoon never writes how difficult his situation is.

NamJoon arrives and asks what SeokJin is doing in the room. If the player chooses to answer “reading” instead of “just sitting there,” SeokJin privately observes that the conversation flows more easily when they talk about books. NamJoon says he must leave and declines when SeokJin offers to wait for him there. SeokJin knocks over a pile of books along with money and receipts as he stands. He thinks it is unusual that NamJoon picks up the books before the money. The books seem to be more than a hobby to NamJoon, holding special meaning. Walking to his car, SeokJin wonders if it is pride or determination not to falter that keeps NamJoon from journaling his grievances. He realizes that money is a constant source of frustration and misery to NamJoon, and that’s why he can’t stomach being insulted over the customer’s dropped money. SeokJin’s new plan is to prevent NamJoon from picking up the money. He also calls Palgok County Hospital and offers to pay the patient bill for NamJoon’s father. Anticipating that NamJoon will be angry if he finds out, SeokJin says the payer is Songho Foundation.

That night, SeokJin returns to the gas station with the excuse that he forgot to fill up earlier. The luxury car arrives with a honk, and NamJoon hurries over to assist. He shakes with anger when the customer drops the money on the ground. “Why aren’t you picking it up? You don’t want it? What’s with that look? Pretty arrogant for a part-timer, aren’t you?” goads the customer. SeokJin intervenes. Whether the player chooses to have him advise NamJoon not to pick it up or to order the customer to pick it up himself, the end result is the same. SeokJin asks the customer, “Why are you harassing a pitiful part-timer?” The customer drives away, and something about NamJoon seems off. His face is expressionless, not mad or humiliated. “SeokJin, you…” He stops. “Never mind. Thank you for your help.” The words sound difficult for him to speak.

SeokJin believes that he has saved NamJoon, although this ending feels sloppy. He continues on in the loop to rescue JungKook and later YoonGi, but uneasiness plagues him. Though he meant to help NamJoon with his actions, SeokJin wonders if he hurt him instead. On 5 May Year 22, he returns to the gas station and follows NamJoon when he leaves work early. NamJoon enters a bookstore, and SeokJin sneaks in after him to watch from afar. He overhears employees talking about NamJoon, worrying that he might dirty the pages of the book he’s perusing. NamJoon is too absorbed in the book to notice one of them calling for his attention. SeokJin recalls a memory from their school days when he found NamJoon reading alone in their classroom hideout: he asked why NamJoon read so diligently, and his friend explained that he found it comforting to empty his thoughts of everything else while focused on the book. In the present, SeokJin wonders how he forgot how much books mean to NamJoon. He sacrifices some of his food and transportation budget to afford them, but they enable him “to endure the weight of the world he’s forced to bear on his shoulders.” After realizing this, SeokJin wants to apologize for carelessly sympathizing with the reality that NamJoon has weathered alone.

The next episode is from NamJoon’s perspective, revealing his excitement over being able to purchase a book for the first time in two months. He wants to buy two but can only afford one. The employee at the register sighs and asks why he leafed through a book he wasn’t going to buy. NamJoon apologizes, and she mutters, “So dirty.” He notices his reflection, clothes worn and smelling of gasoline, and realizes she’s talking about him, not the book. He tries to shake off these depressing thoughts, but he is still not accustomed to this treatment despite experiencing it regularly at work. As NamJoon begins to exit the store, the security alarm goes off. The employees demand to check his bag despite his insistence that he didn’t steal anything. Their certainty of his theft angers him. NamJoon allows them to look through his bag, and they are suspicious of the like-new book in it which he brought from home. One begins to call the police until SeokJin appears, vouching for NamJoon by saying he saw everything. The employees accept that the alarm malfunctioned and excuse their suspicions as a mistake.

Outside, SeokJin asks NamJoon if he is all right. NamJoon is thankful but wonders how SeokJin materialized right when he needed him. “How’d you find me here?” he asks aloud. SeokJin explains that he happened to notice him while walking through the neighborhood. NamJoon wonders if it’s because they said goodbye on a weird note last time. He thanks him and turns to leave. SeokJin calls after him. “I’m sorry. I wanted to apologize. I didn’t mean to upset you that day at the gas station. It was a mistake to have called you pitiful. If my rash actions hurt you, I’m really sorry.” NamJoon accepts his apology, believing it to be sincere, and says that things would have turned out a lot worse if SeokJin had not intervened. Thunder rolls overhead, and NamJoon uses the impending rain as his excuse to depart. He declines SeokJin’s offer of a ride and runs home, feeling his friend’s eyes on him.

Before he can settle down to read at home, NamJoon receives a call from his cheerful mother. She thanks him for paying off the entire hospital bill. NamJoon is perplexed and asks what’s on the receipt, since he didn’t pay it. His mother wants to leave it be, but he insists that they investigate so they don’t get in trouble or sued. She reads that the Songho Foundation is credited as the payer. NamJoon calls the hospital, introducing himself as the guardian for Kim YoungMin, but they can’t transfer him to the administrative department at this time. Disappointed, he looks up the foundation’s website, unable to recall why it sounds familiar. He wonders why a scholarship foundation in the city would get involved with him. Spotting photos of a recent launch ceremony on the site, he recognizes a few people: Songju High School’s principal, the familiar-looking face of the foundation’s chairman, and SeokJin. First, NamJoon forces a laugh, and then it’s difficult for him to breathe. He thinks that SeokJin really had pitied him at that moment. The only thing keeping NamJoon going is the idea of getting through life on his own strength. Why does he have to live like this?

The last episode opens on 5 May back in SeokJin’s perspective. He is confident now that he has saved NamJoon, although it occurs to him that a better alternative may have been to simply pick up the money himself instead of stepping forward. (This decision is enacted in a later loop and depicted in the Euphoria MV.) While reflecting on what comes next to save his other friends, he receives a text from NamJoon. “What’s your account number? I’ll pay you back for the hospital bills. I don’t need your help. I’ll handle my concerns on my own.” Heart sinking, SeokJin wonders how he found out. With a sense of foreboding, he tries calling NamJoon, but no one answers. SeokJin texts him back, pretending that he doesn’t understand, and tells NamJoon to call him. SeokJin’s second attempt connects while he’s gathering his car keys to visit the container. “That’s enough. Just send the account number over text,” NamJoon instructs. SeokJin coaxes him to talk for a moment, and NamJoon asks flatly, “Are you going to apologize again?” SeokJin attempts to salvage the situation, but his friend turns cold when he insists that NamJoon is misunderstanding and that he just wanted to help. “So, why? Why are you helping me?! Yeah, you’re always a good person. You’ve done nothing wrong and I’m the one misunderstanding.” SeokJin apologizes again. NamJoon refuses his request to meet in person. “No, I thought maybe there was a reason for everything you did… But I guess I misconstrued it. I’ll pay you back, so I’d prefer if you stopped contacting me.” Long after the call ends, SeokJin stands holding his phone, feeling that the glass is going to break at any moment. He wants to believe that it’s not over, but hope is slipping through his fingertips.

The episode finishes in NamJoon’s perspective. On 8 May and 9 May, he accepts part-time delivery work and reflects on his three jobs. Whenever he thinks he’s at his breaking point, he focuses on his new goal of returning SeokJin’s money. On 10 May, NamJoon wakes up to his buzzing phone and is called in to work. On a scooter, he passes by a bus stop and notices graffiti. (This is the same bus stop, with matching graffiti, that appears in the Highlight Reel.) Mesmerized, he wonders if it’s TaeHyung’s. As soon as NamJoon looks up, the scooter’s brake fails, and he crashes. The shattered glass on the cold pavement reminds him of the headlight shard and the kid who looked like TaeHyung. (So the piece of glass SeokJin saw in April was really a memento NamJoon retrieved from the scene of the crash in the mountain town, where the delivery boy whom he privately called TaeHyung died. This event is described in NamJoon’s 17 December Year 21 entry in The Notes 1.) NamJoon’s vision grows blurry, and the distant sound of an ambulance doesn’t come any closer.

The arc concludes there, but it obviously marks another reset for SeokJin. It is interesting to note that in this failed loop, NamJoon suffers the same fate that he narrowly avoided in the snowy mountain town before returning to Songju.

Please stay tuned for the next Highlights post featuring JungKook and YoonGi!

[not-as-rich-as-suho]

I will get a job and make mad money and save up just so I can sue BigHit for not releasing a fucking book that explains all this shit

[haveakookie]

Just gonna leave this here...

I don’t know if anyone already posted about this but:

Korean BST m/v:

Japanese BST m/v:

I CANNOT EVEN DEAL WITH BIGHIT RN

-Rogue

[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!

[hanniebear]

How BS&T JPN ver. is related to BTS’ previous MV’s and Short Films (Part 5)

Continuation of part four.

(Last part)

16) BS&T jpn ver: V standing on a high building, possibly about to jump.

• V in Run

• V in Blood Sweat and Tears

17) BS&T jpn ver: J-Hope’s bow and arrow

• J-Hope’s bow and arrow in Blood Sweat and Tears

18) BS&T jpn ver: Green Smoke

• Green smoke in Blood Sweat and Tears

19) BS&T jpn ver: Suga covering Jimin’s eyes 

• Suga covering Jimin’s eyes in Blood Sweat and Tears

20) BS&T jpn ver: Rap Monster’s bruised hands. Although Rap Monster didn’t touch anyone in the MV he shows us his bruised knuckles. Could it be that V and Rap Monster are still connected in some way here like they were in Run? So that when V was the one beating Jin up, it was actually Rap Monster who was getting the bruises?

• Rap Monster and V’s connection portrayed in Run

21) BS&T jpn ver: Rap Monster working at a petrol station

• Rap Monster working at a petrol station in I Need U

end of part five

So thats the end of it! I hope you enjoyed the breakdown although it was kind of long. By the looks of it, it seems as if BigHit is trying to link The Most Beautiful Moments in Life and Wings together. When will they stop running around us in circles and tell us wth is going on??? 

How many of the relations did you notice?

part 1| part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 |

[jeoniology]

Namjoon is the evil leader, who Tae contacts once he kills his father because he believes he is evil and needs to be removed from normal society. Tae, now being a part of the evil side is instructed by Namjoon to murder Jin, who then meets up with Namjoon at the end and says “its been a while”. 

The first taste of evil that Jungkook got was when he licked his finger in the first video,and since then Suga has been trying to save him from it. But Jungkook throws him off and drinks the drug from Namjoon,which is green just like the first drop of the candle wax,  thus turning evil.

Suga is also the protector of Jimin and he tries to stop the evil Jimin from meeting the pure Jimin (symbolised by the white shirt, sat on the sofa). But the evil Jimin runs away and does see the pure one, but because the pure side of Jimin is too stong he gets blown into the evil alternate universe. The sweater Jimin is the evil one because he eats the apple which is a symbolic of temptation that Adam and Eve got cast out of Eden for. 

J-hope is the only one remaining pure (besides Suga). His frames are always in white, he sees the sign of the wings in the sky and he also does the archery pose again, symbolising that he has been able to over come evil for the second time. Also, unlike Jungkook and Jimin he throws his temptation in the fire (the tablets). 

[btsandvmin]

Do you think the songs lie and stigma are related ? If we read the lyrics translation wow it seems like that to me like they have so many similarities! it seems like jimin is talking about him being hurt by someone and stigma is about v talking about someone he's hurting but he's hurt too at the same time. They both wrote their own song. Also it could be about their sexuality. Jimin said on the vlive comeback show it's about conflicts dues to lies and temptation and pt1

pt2 v didn't said what he was about but the title and the lyrics are quite something. Also in that period they were very close he could be about jimin cheering up v because of his lost but something else too at the same time. Can you do a analysis about those songs and what you think of if you want and have the time?

I mean I suspect they could be connected in some form, especially since so many of their other songs seem to be. And as you say the lyrics seem to match and almost be responses to each other even. The two songs were one of the first things I noticed in regards to Vmin that went beyond just shipping them and finding them cute. Both of them also seemed quite private when talking about the songs and I definitely think there is a lot hidden underneath the lyrics they haven’t explained. It’s just difficult to know what, even if we can speculate.

Maybe you’ve missed it, but I have actually written about Stigma and Lie two times before. In my very first (and quite outdated) song analysis Vmin - The Sun, the Moon & The whole universe back in 2017 I talked about the songs briefly. Both how they could possibly match and also how they seemed to fit with possibly being about the struggle of being LGBT+. This was way before we learned about the Jungian theories that BTS are using and even their concept of Fake Love and Love Yourself. Both themes also fit well for Stigma and Lie and the songs could be interpreted as how the boys felt showing their personas were like lying.

Then I talked about it again later and more properly in my post Vmin - Scenery, Promise and song connections. In it I go through all Vmin songs up until Scenery and Promise and how they could possibly show several types of connections between Vmin’s songs. Spoiler, but there are a lot!

Even back in 2017 I felt it was possible that Vmin’s songs were about each other in different ways. And since then it just seems to get more and more likely for every song they make. Especially for Tae, and this time for “Friends” I was even able to predict a few of the themes in the song because they love to use them so much.

But while we have a lot now, we did not back then, and I am still not sure Lie and Stigma are related. But here is a little piece about Lie and Stigma specifically from my first post about it:

First, there is “Lie” in which Jimin begs for someone to save him.

Whatever it takes, save me, meSave the me who’s being punished

Then there is Stigma, which has possibly matching lyrics. Where Taehyung speaks of another person being punished in his stead, or because of him.

Deeper, it’s just the heart that hurts every day(You) who was punished in my stead,You who were only delicate and fragile

There is also this line:

Even if (I try to) hide it, or conceal it, it can’t be erased.

Which of course also matches Jimin being caught in a lie, as they both have to pretend and hide what they really feel. Here they both hate the situation they are in, and Taehyung goes as far as to apologize for it. He also mentions being called a sinner. Both of the songs can easily be seen as reflecting the hardships of not being straight. Especially considering that Taehyung’s song is called “Stigma”.

So yes, even then I saw it as a possibility and of course I still do now, even more so now becuse it’s not just two songs anymore.

Because then it just kept on coming, and when Singularity and Serendipity seemed to match I also wrote Taehyung and Jimin - Yin and Yang which focused on their portrayals in the HER and TEAR albums.

And of course with Scenary and Promise I kind of made a more updated full version where I went through all their songs and other relevant connections between Vmin’s song up until then.

After that because the connections have (in my opinion) gotten bigger and more obvious I have added on posts about Winter Bear and Friends specifically as well. So you can probably tell that song analysis is basically one of the things I have written the most about on this blog, and for good reason. There are a lot of interesting things to find about Vmin in regards to their songs.

I am considering making an updated version with the main points for all the songs, but maybe long posts isn’t that good? I’m feeling people don’t like it when there is too much text... So maybe it’s better if I make one analysis per song? But then people kind of miss the scale of it all, because to me it’s the amount of connections between all songs that makes them being on purpose more likely.

I could also go into analysing BTS songs and concepts in general because a lot of them fit together with stuff from Vmin’s songs as well, like the theme of temptation. For example with Jimin basically showing the “Fall of man” as he sings about “smooth like a snake” in Lie and has been shown giving in to temptation and eating the apple of knowledge in both the short film for Lie as well as in Blood Sweat and Tears Japanese version.

Yoongi literally tries to protect and blind Jimin to shield him from temptation, but Jimin is stuck and tied to the door through which Tae went, which indicates Tae could be a form of temptation in the form of the fallen angel or Icarus wings.

We even have a small hint that the temptation could be the love of a man, as seen in Jin kissing the statue that represents Tae. But of course these things aren’t limited to only Vmin.

Anyways, this is getting out of hand.... So I’ll stop here.

There are many speculations I could make and maybe I should do a post specifically about Lie and Stigma, but for now since there are so many topics to cover I’ll probably focus on other things first.

I hope you enjoyed reading and sorry for not making more of an analysis now even though it is an interesting topic. I am saving your second ask to remind myself I didn’t answer all of it... Sorry!

Thanks for the ask! And if any of you are curious about my analysis you can always check out my BTSandVMIN: Masterpost to see if there is something that sounds interesting. 

[the-tae-hoe]

Ok so before I go to bed I wanted to just talk about this screenshot for a moment. Honestly if I hadn't been looking closely enough (and I mean by pausing almost every frame) I probably wouldn't have caught this. At first I assumed this was a shot of Jimin and Jungkook holding Tae back from fighting Jin but when I took a closer look I realized that it's actually the two of them keeping Tae in place so Hoseok can throw a dart at him. All the while in one of the next scenes Namjoon is just kind of watching with amusement. I found this still kinda upsetting because of all of the awful things that happened to Tae in the HYYH storyline. Not only are his friends keeping him in place so Hoseok can throw an actual dart at him, but they seem to be enjoying it too? It's literally some kind of sick target practice and honestly I don't know what to do with it concerning my theory. Tae looks pretty scared in the still and it makes me wonder if maybe the rest of them hated him for some reason? Again if you have any thoughts my ask is open and even though I won't be on my laptop tomorrow I will have my phone handy at all times to answer asks or whatever.

[stephaniecandywilliams]

I’m getting whiplash at how my tumblr feed simultaneously gives me blood sweat and tears japanese version angst and their bangtan gayo episode.

“The realms of day and night...”

[myloveforniel]

Okay idk if anyone posted this before or not but while watching the japanes version of BS&T I discovered this room which was seen for less than a second (I swear Bighit just wants us to watch a video 10000 times to find one scene which will lead us to more questions) So when you zoom in you can see this painting which is Pieter Bruegel's landscape with the fall of Ikarus (if you don't know who Ikarus is there is a short summary of his story) Yeah I won't even write a theory about it just going to say that I think Taehyung isn't Lucifer but Ikarus You can just take this information to make your own theory Sorry for confusing you more but yeah I think this should be shared 😊

[suntizer]

x: so, what do you do in your free time?

me: i make theories about bts mvs

x:

[etancn]

I fucking knew it was seven sins IT WAS SEVEN SINS ITS ALWAYS BEEN SEVEN SINS Jeongguk is lust, jimin is gluttony (apple, he was in the kitchen), hoseok is wrath (i think, the fact hes seen shooting a bow and arrow more than once...), pretty sure namjoon is envy (GREEN drink, he's complemented jjk a lot in interviews recently, then in the mv seen forcing him (jeongguk) to drink something that makes him pass out), Yoongi is greed, he keeps covering jimin's eyes as if he doesnt want him to see something (controlling, wanting to keep him for himself) Tae is sloth? I aint really got any backup for this, but at the start of bst japanese version, he looks like hes just woken up from a nap Pride is jin, historically he's complemented himself, said he's the most handsome, etc

[toastybutstupid]

WHAT IS HAPPENING

[wonusuga]

I love how earlier I claimed I was ready for the Blood, Sweat & Tears theories but I literally just read 3 from one person and I'm already getting mind fucked and losing my shit.

[hanniebear]

How BS&T JPN ver. is related to BTS’ previous MV’s and Short Films (Part 3)

Continuation of part two.

9) BS&T jpn ver: Jin’s car

• Jin’s car in Run

• Jin’s car in Prologue/Butterfly

10) BS&T jpn ver: Jungkook’s fetal position

• Jin’s fetal position in I Need U

11) BS&T jpn ver: Jungkook/Suga fight scene:

• Jungkook/Suga fight scene in Run

12) BS&T jpn ver: Jimin and the apple again

• Jimin and the apple in Blood Sweat and Tears

end of part three

part 1| part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 |