#even ignoring the first mv visuals... the lyrics...

[mukuberry]

mozaik role could've been a perfect mikoto cover song actually. just saying

[0509-brainrot]

POST THE DOUBKE PARALLELS PLSPLSPLS

HNGH OKAY SO,

First of all just some General Visual Parallels (ones that while I don't have any particular Thoughts or Deep Analysis on they're Neat :) (also they fit more into the overarching smoking trio parallels since Kazui has a matching one too) I'm sorry Kazui my blog is so biased orz)

Mfs when they hold the left side of their face while forcing out a pained smile (Although with Mikoto it's just his general lying/trying to brush off his own suffering while with Shidou we're looking at him at his most painfully honest) ((Also they both have phone calls in their songs which I think is Great))

Cool eye shots :) (Am I the only one who thinks Mikoto's eyes are very pretty :sob: ((Also now the entire smoking trio has one of these close up eye shots, I also love that Mikoto and Orekoto both get individual shots nobody gets left out (Ignoring the fact that they Disbanded)))

Okay but time for. My Actual Shitty Parallels Analysis bear with me guys here this is gonna get Messy,

Idk if I talked about this Before but Shidou and John (I'm sorry guys I Need to adjust to it I'm gonna call him John here) are both obviously extremely tied to their "purpose" of protecting people, specifically their loved ones (Shidou's Family/Mikoto). However they obviously go at it very Differently, John's method Is harmful (violence/killing) while Shidou's is supposed to be the complete Opposite (treating/healing).

There's also something interesting about their victims. I can't say for sure from Double if Multiple people were Actually murdered, but it seems to be portrayed that way by John at least; he and Shidou both portray themselves as having multiple victims, and they're also portrayed completely differently than their loved ones (Flowers/Tags, Mannequins, they're not entirely portrayed as people and have little to no identity, their lives were set aside to protect/save the ones they cared about)

(The environment in Shidou's MV is also very sterile and clean looking while John's is covered in blood. They're both surrounded by their representations of the lives they took)

From what we've seen this purpose is currently what basically makes or breaks their will/reason to live, these people are their entire worlds, if they can't even save the ones they care about they may as well have nothing, and what happened with that purpose of protecting?

Well. They failed.

Shidou's fails to protect/save his family and John fails to protect/save Mikoto, and their arcs with how they go Forward with this failure completely Kills Me

I fucking. Hrmghsdflbds these shots at the ends of their respective mvs are the shots that pretty much prompted this post. Shidou reaches out and, despite his failures, tries to push past his self-hatred and resolves to continue living and protecting others. Meanwhile, John closes in on himself with renewed self-hatred, and decides that it would be better off if he disappeared/went dormant.

Just. Aheem aheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem

GOD, GOD (while the shots themselves don't exactly parallel, the lyrics. Oh The Lyrics)

"So hey, prolong my life" / "If only I were never born, if only"

"I'm Dispensable" / "I'm So Sorry"

Minus the "Why, why" in Double, these are the Last Two Lines for both of their songs and,

I'M GONNA HIT SOMETHING,

We see John with the most Openly Distressed expression we've seen on him meanwhile Shidou has almost Cold Resolve

Shidou and John's arcs are going in completely opposite directions and that Breaks my Fucking Heart Man oh my God get me Out of here Get Me Out (I hope these shots also helps articulate that parallel I tried to make earlier about the different ways they go at protecting people? Shidou puts on new white, clean gloves meanwhile John's hands are completely coated in blood and just. Man,).

Just. Yeah. Yeah,

Pain

God I hope this makes sense to Someone I'm going Insane

Most miserable guys ever I love them so much </333

[certifiedmaidenlessblog]

Okay literally nobody asked but since I am procrastinating AND restless:

My final thoughts/ranking of the Eternal mini:

(warning this is a full on yap sesh and I have next to no knowledge of music except for the very basics feel very very free to ignore)

1. Deja vu: I have feelings for this song. So gorgeous, dreamy and ethereal. Smiling so big because this song exists blah blah. Anyway the way I thought this song would be #chillvibes from the album preview snippet but then it turned out to be #nochill kajskajsj even tho there is definitely a lethargic quality to the song. I was so gagged but despite the tables turning on me I loved it immediately. Also the very random (but very well incorporated) tabla in the bridge? Slay. Initially I was mad that this wasn't the tt but with all the melodrama and orchestral arrangement, it has a similar vibe to guilty so I get it. But this song is ten fold of what guilty wanted to be (to me, that is). And I think this song remaining as a b-side to be occasionally performed instead of it being dragged through the promotional cycle and losing all the weight and impact of the song is a good choice too (the song itself is not very promotion cycle friendly either). I can't wait to see what the choreo looks like.

2. Horizon: Very kibumcore as a lot of people have also said, I think so too!! A very unexpected sound for a taemin song but he delivered sooo well. I do wish the song was longer tho. Don't know what being the second title track on this album means as of now but it's worthy of the position I'm sure.

3. Crush: Extremely shineecore! A cute and funky little number! Got me moving! The layers in the instrumentals are neat. I got exactly what was promised on the album preview. Well executed. No other notes. Other than the funky vibe there isn't really any standout element so I might get bored of it quickly tho.

Can't decide between ranks 4 and 5 so I'm calling it a tie.

4/5. Sexy in the air: I definitely should have let my brain soak this in a bit more before complaining about it cause now I literally can't stop listening to it helpppaksnakms cause Damn... This is crazy. What am I gonna do now?? Jaksjksks My first ranking for this song was literally second last (in a derogatory way) and now here we are. Also I held off from watching the mv first because I'm a very visual creature and I get easily swayed that way so I was trying to be #unbiased or whatever. I still think that the second verse is a bit meh, specially because of the English lyrics (i don't even know why I was so pissed off by the "turn me down" that was obviously supposed to be "turn me on", it wasn't even that serious 😭) but I was definitely being too harsh and it's not even as bad as I made it out to be and it doesn't stick out enough to get in the way of me enjoying the rest of the song. The switch up after the beat change is soooo good I've been obsessed with that part (the horny choreo definitely helps :D).

The good things about this song being the title track are: it's produced by dem jointz (the production is interesting and immaculate), the mastering of this song is better than most tracks on this album, it is performance oriented/friendly, both halves of the song are tied together so neatly that honestly the beat change doesn't even seem that unnatural even if it's shocking, tm devoured this track in a way that only he can, tm freak lore continues!!!! but most importantly it's bold!!! and it's a statement!!! (instead of playing it safe like he did with guilty imo lol, musically i mean). My only real grievance with this song is probably the fact that it wasn't allowed to go full freak nasty the way it was originally envisioned to be because we live in a society or whatever. Tm was moaning and groaning and saying fuck in the studio only for it to be muffled and be barely audible on the track. The dem jointz trademark of an addictive repeated word/phrase being distorted because otherwise tm would be put in horny jail fr (horny gay jail even because its so crazy that they had another man moaning on the track like skdkksksjdkd). Some of the lyrics being altered hastily (like "turn me down" ksjsjsks).This song being called sexy in the air instead of sex is in the air kajskaksksks. Sad. Because if anyone can pull off something like this without being cringe, it's tm. But it's okay I get it. Also notably this song has one of the veeery few ethical uses of that infamous bed creak sample (by ethical i mean relevant to the song at hand in a way that maximizes the slay of the song).

4/5. Say Less: Very pretty, short and sweet, could have been longer. A solid closer for this album and definitely stands it's own ground despite being on the track list after Deja vu. Which is lowkey a feat of its own. The instrumentals are infact drowning out his voice a bit but I don't think it bothers me as much as I had feared. Reminds me of Truth a bit.

6. The Unknown Sea: I don't have particularly strong opinions on ballads but I do generally only listen to ballads if I'm already super into the idol. And I do like most of the other ballads from tm. However. He's singing his ass off here but the vocal processing.... specially in the chorus his voice sounds very tinny. When I first heard the song I thought it wasn't that big of a deal but now it is definitely getting in the way of me enjoying this song. Beautiful bridge tho, definitely the highlight of the song for me.

7. G.O.A.T.: This instrumental is so fucking nasty I'm obsessedddd. Unfortunately the instrumental might just be the saving grace of this song. I went into this track thinking I was not even gonna be able to listen to this but thankfully it's not thaaaaaat bad. But we definitely need to get tm off his rapping agenda. Even after listening to this a bunch of times it's not sitting that well with me. (Which is crazy because after first listen I thought his voice was more well suited to GOAT than SITA???) I do understand that this song was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek like yeah the goat bleating sounds are hilarious in a good way but tm is Not giving the hardass aura that he thought he was going for and um. that's enough for me to be like :/ which is such a shame cause even the arrangement of this song is so interesting. But yeah whatever this track needed vocally is not in tm's strengths so. I'll wait for someone to upload the instrumental tho so that I can download it and play it with the rest of the album jksjsksksjsjs

I think it's a good choice to drop an album that's just him coming out swinging after such a drastic career altering decision. There's no more room for regrets or dilly dallying and he's confident. Which is a good thing. Because it definitely makes the statement he wants to make. The album as a whole is interesting, all the tracks differ from each other but that doesn't take away from the cohesiveness of the soundscape of the album. There is a clear logic in the way the tracklisting was done, the transition from one song to the next makes sense (even if I can't explain it properly).

That being said, yes the production and the mixing is a bit lacking (along with the other downsides of a low budget) but I don't think sm has songs like this in their vault anymore so... You win some you lose some idk.

Overall I do see this as a win. Yapping over and out.

[myvirtuesuncounted]

after rewatching the fortnight mv a few times, here are some of my thoughts:

the dress at the start is very much grammys dress, even the choker and everything. clever easter egg on her part.

one must also not ignore the garter, wedding imagery, she was ready to get married but instead was left behind and chained up, waiting to be administered treatment.

the 'forget him' pills referencing the lyric "miracle move-on drug"

i interpreted the tattoos as something like even if she "treated" the condition of heartbreak, she will still always have the mark of him and the experiences of it all etched into her skin, like she can never truly forget it, it's always a part of her.

the tattoos disappear when she enters the room with post malone but his tattoos are in plain sight. so she enters a new relationship to forget the old one but is quickly faced with the problems and 'demons' of her partner. two tortured poets, you can say, typing away by themselves.

okay now i'm not sure of the blue and gold imagery in the typing but i THINK it could mean the two's different approaches to the relationship clashing. post's blue with taylor's orangey vibe are clearly meant to create a stark contrast. as they both threw themselves into the 'tortured poet' aesthetic, the relationship began unearthing its problems and issues.

the book taylor is reading says 'us'. the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now!!

the papers make a silhouette of taylor's face, it's giving style mv

the two are embracing but there's a storm gathering in the background (some clouds are clearly darker than others even in the b&w) and the papers are flying around, "i chose this cyclone with you", the relationship is definitely about to reach a tragic climax but neither taylor nor post seem to notice.

then like the sort of staredown in the papers flying around is the two coming to a reckoning of the problems but like neither know what to do about it, they're standing there and they reach out for each other (note taylor reaches out first) but it immediately cuts to...

the 'experimenting' of it all. note that post's tattoos have returned when they were previously out of sight. everyone decides that something needs to be done about taylor's state of mind so they pull the lever.

but everything is short circuiting, electricity overcoming the room, post unplugs the cord, regretting the experimenting of which he was part? either way the immediate affectionate shoulder touch indicates a sort of dichotomy within the relationship of hurting and loving her.

on the top of the mountain, very isolated, the storm is in full play, neither of them can ignore it, but post is in the telephone box, perfectly dry, while taylor is soaked in a pretty dress. post is clearly in some form of distress but taylor is relatively emotionless.

the papers flying around and taylor destroying the room is her attempt at "burn[ing] all the files, desert[ing] her past lives". various forms of destruction occur, she is losing her mind in this relationship.

when post finally comes out of the box and reaches for her, taylor immediately reaches back, but it shouldn't be mistaken as reconciliation or anything like that, i think it is reflective of some destructive cycle.

while the visuals and storyline was compelling, i am confused why it was used for this song, in my personal opinion, there is hardly much going on in fortnight, and i don't think it warranted this kind of thing. there was a lot going on here and i've tried deciphering it, i understand it a little clearer but still don't know what my overarching conclusion is

[purgemarchlockdown]

Yknow Id actually write the post about how Magic and Purge March work as companion pieces...if I could actually get the words out.

It's just so interesting to me that my brain just stops processing words correctly! I have the intro written out but past that my brain has no clue how to even format the post properly. I think the way it parallels with each other is fun, I think the ways the lyrics in Purge March connect with Magic's is fun. I think the way the way their visuals contrast is fun.

Like...yeah of course the T2 MVs would call back to the first trial but they aren't as direct and connected as Magic and Purge March. Like, It's Not My Fault is written almost like it's a response to how Mu's depicted in After Pain...and it kinda is, I absolutely love how It's Not My Fault and After Pain play off each other. But Magic and Purge March is done in such a way where one MV just feels like one part of a conversation. Your only hearing one side of the conversation if you ignore the other.

Amane is both Incredibly Spiteful and Bitter AND still to some extent wants to be a good girl and doesn't want to confront the problems that are intrinsic to her cult. Amane is both aware that her situation is horrible AND downplays the actually severity of the harm done onto her. Amane is both aware that she isn't that good of a girl AND wants to believe that she actually is.

Amane has a lot of Complicated and Conflicting Feelings and it's baked directly into her music. I hope Trial 3 follows up on this because it's just so interesting.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Do you think Jimin would have actually created mvs for Face-off and Alone? I was wondering that today. They seem incredibly personal and he really didn’t talk about them in any detail while he was promoting the album. He didn’t even want Yoongi reading the lyrics out loud! There’s no performances of them, and he could have easily released performance videos like he did for Letter. Sometimes I think we as fans want things for them that they don’t really want for themselves. Like maybe he ultimately didn’t want to visually portray the anger and betrayal and disgust of Face-Off or the anxiety and doubt and loneliness in Alone. Can you imagine the way people would have torn an entire visual album apart for clues? I would have loved to see more but I’m not sure that lines up with someone like Jimin who is so intensely private and waits to do a live until he feels/looks exactly the way he wants to. Maybe as soon as he hit budget or time constraints he decided he wanted the heaviest songs to just exist as audio and then to move forward. I’ve really appreciated the calm of your blog lately and especially today! I wish more people were just appreciating the few months we have left with the members who haven’t enlisted and enjoying all this new music.

***

I'd say yeah he wanted MVs for those songs. He did say he wanted more music videos so I'd only imagine that means for Alone and Face-off. Him being shy about those songs during promotions doesn't mean he didn't want MVs for them. We've already established he wanted the MVs, he just didn't get them for reasons we don't know.

And I think in light of the information we don't have, that's okay.

People are allowed to feel upset, and it's a fact BigHit has dropped the ball leaving many people without concrete explanations on what's actually happening. Frustration is understandable, but what's happening today with how Jimin solos, akgaes, and biases are getting riled up, is very specific to how I've observed instigators within the fandom operate.

First, there was Tae getting 5 MVs. That's what started this latest wave of outrage, we've already seen outbursts in solo and shipper spaces, but the wider fandom has mostly ignored it. Akgaes know they'll see limited participation from ARMYs if they try to drive outrage off comparing Jimin with Tae, so they bring screenshots from a game that's been open for weeks as proof the company hates Jimin. This way ARMYs can channel their anger and pent-up frustration towards the company on that note. And akgaes can test to see if they can influence BigHit decisions by leveraging more of the attention from the fandom.

Personally, I'm indifferent to BigHit changing the dialogue, but I'm watching how this develops for my own observations. Other members have paraphrased dialogue / scenes pulled from their OG content and we see more of it with each game update. I'm curious what this would mean for them too.

But yeah, fun times in Chapter 2!

[angelicpersonals]

I'm tired of being epileptic

A lot of the time I cant find lyric videos or lyric videos are taken down. I'm so sick and tired of new music videos being full of flashing lights. I have seen numerous people who aren't epileptic claim its "too much" makes them dizzy, distracts from the MV because its constant in so many songs I've seen as of late both in independant music and in kpop. For the past 3 years. It makes it impossible (Unless an audio or lyric video is available) for epileptics to enjoy music. And a lot of the times Audios or lyric videos some a visualizers which have the exact same problem.

If thats not bad enough heres some more issues Youtube Ads: I constantly get ads with flashing lights for goddamned phones or other crap no matter how many times I report it to youtube and remind them people have epilepsy. And while yes adblocker is an option youtube let me remind everyone is f*cking with adblock and not everyone has the money to throw down on a sub to youtube to remove ads and shouldn't have to for a DISABILITY

Youtube Shorts: Nowadays its become so common for certain popular creators I will not name drop, to use rapid flashing lights in their videos. I have reached out to them via emails to say "Hey can you add an epilepsy warning to the beginning if possible because shorts autoplay and flashing lights can seriously harm epileptics. Never get any response email back and they keep doing it, even when I get other people to email them to get their attention.

Tiktoks: Not all tiktoks with flashing lights get the epilepsy warning on them, I dont know if creators can set this so im not going to b*tch about the creators for this but I still want to bring up this IS an issue. Tumblr: Yes even here has had issues where people won't tag posts with epilepsy warnings putting epileptics who are trying to avoid said things at risk.

Why is this all a problem? Because people with epilepsy can potentially DIE from seizures. It doesn't take much to add a quick epilepsy warning on videos, Ads SHOULD be regulated for safety in the first place because they are FORCED. This is peoples LIVES that people are carelessly playing with. Oversight is one thing. But theres no excuse for ignoring the issue. Why can't people stop to think: What if this was my parent, my friend, my sister, brother, cousin, child in some cases because some of these ppl are parents. My family didn't realize I was epileptic until I had a MAJOR seizure because all I had before that was SILENT seizures, the type where you look like you are fine but you are unresponsive.

So it could be literally ANYONE they know. yet they still are so careless. its not like epilepsy is a new thing either. So I do not understand WHY people are so irresponsible.

TL;DR creators and sites are being irresponsible putting lives at risk and its not hard to just regulate ads for safety and add a few second warnings to the beginning of videos.

[z-exo-l]

Cream Soda First Impression

As usual, audio first.

Oop! Kindaa…cbx? KYUNGSOO! Omg YES Sehun! Minnie???

…stop. I can’t!!!

I *love* the lower tones they’re playing with. Go rapline!

GET IT UP??? …Is that Jongin??? Sehun??? What???

…??? Kyungsoo??? What are you doing up there??? Did Kyungsoo just take the final high chorus while Baek took the ad libs what is this world we’re living in???

IS THAT KJI OR AM I LOSING IT!?!?!? IS THAT SEHUN??? OMG IF THAT’S HIM—

Okay. Visual now.

Okay, aesthetic ish opening.

!!! Sorry, Kyungsoo’s face just threw me back.

Oh my god, center Junmyeon? 😃

STOP KYUNGSOO OH MY GOD, ACK!!!

Go Sehun, go Sehun!! 😄

Minseok is such a chameleon, oh my god.

CENTER JONGDAE???? I’m living for this! Still hate that jacket though babe.

Btw I’m not especially commenting on the innuendos in these lyrics, I’m just gonna say that 1, these are grown ass men and we should normalize these kinds of songs. And 2, the *nerve* to rate this age 12!

You know, Sehun is fucking eating it rn, and I *get* that people miss Jongin, but please don’t ignore how well osh’s doing this sexy choreo. Good chorus honey!! 👏🏻

Now then. !!! GODDAMNIT KYUNGSOO STOP THAT!! THE LYRICS! BAEKSOO! (You know if you say baeksoo really fast it sounds like a sneeze! Sorry! My brain did its thing. 😅 Blame him!)

Jongdaaae oh my go—CHANSOO CHESS!

HOLY FUCK MINS— KYUNGSOO I TOLD YOU TO STOP IT HE’S DOING CHOREO IN THE SEXY OUTFIT! HE’S DOING CHOREO IN THE SEXY OUTFIT!!! I’m so sorry Minnie, you look gorgeous, that’s what rewind is for! These LYRICS!!! I didn’t need kms saying Yum Yum!

Oh FUCK YOU PCY PUT THAT AWAY! EXO-SC SLAY!!!

You know? I can see why they were exhausted with the dance practice. This beast needs stamina and we’re only half done. 😬

YEEES SEXY JUNMYEON with the voice, and you are KILLING it in these silks!!! Wait… 😑 I’m getting real tired of ksoo and his cleavage stealing my focus! Aww, poor baby’s hips are awful stiff 😅

Yeeees go Baekhyun! 😍 That outfit I swear to go—GET A LEASH ON HIS MAN WHY IS KYUNGSOO PULLING SO MUCH SUPPORT??? He’s *never* near the center this much!!! 😶 Ngl, I feel teased w that partial shot of Baek before the body rolls could commence.

?? Hello. Who are you?? 😑 No one was talking to you Chanyeol, stop that!

OH MY GOD IT IS KAI!!!! I’m so glad to hear him, even for a little bit!! 😭😭😭

Whaaatchya doin there Junmyeon? 😀 I feel like the mv is going TAME and letting the lyrics do the literal dirty work. Oh my GOD this man and his silks!!!

YEEEESS VOCAL KING Jongdae LET IT OUT!!!

!!!You expect poor Ksoo to sing chorus with THIS choreo???

THAT’S JUST RUDE Baeksoo tag team!

Baekhyn you cocky bastard…

CENTER MINSEOK GIMME!!!

Of *course* give Jongin the dirty lyric w out music so we can completely hear EVERYTHING.

……………Okay, I’m sorry. Am I the only one who thinks between all their pair ups in the mv and the disheveled looks they had at the end (from the wild choreo no doubt) the way Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are walking down the stairs looks like they just fucked and had a really good time doing it?

CENTER AND VOCAL SEHUUUN! …And as if he’s slapping me in the face, Kyungsoo looking all sweaty goDDAMN!!!

OHHH Firework logo!!! OMG!!! Was the clock stuff in the other mvs related to New Years??? And turning back time??? ….my brain hurts.

Can I say, I can see why Baek gave Kyungsoo a shout out for the choreo on twitter. He was putting in WORK!!!

Omg, I’m so giddy, but I have to listen to the album before I can rb stuff! Off to do that.

[halliescomut]

So now we’ve kind of wrapped up the individual stories of the Sweater Kids and we’re going to move on to how the other versions of Stray Kids are a part of the story. So, the only version of the Kids that LiSA interacts with is the PA version. We see her meeting them at the edges of these cliffs, and then they stand together at the end, but visually, I think that the Red version of the Kids is the one that matches most closely with he aesthetic that she’s brought to the MV. And I say in my original watch video that the thing it brings to mind, that final image, is a Queen surrounded by her loyal knights.

And honestly, even bang Chan’s styling with the cross on his sweatshirt reminded me of traditional representations of the Knights Templar.

But moving back for just a second to discuss the Red Kids, The first ones we see are Han and Seungmin (Han with the red flag), and in both shots they’re sort of outside of this building, like it kind of make me think of manor gardens, but also a little bit of the sort of manicured grounds of something like a boarding school.

The thing about the Red Kids, is that in the moments outside of the dance during the chorus, there’s a bit of an undertone of dangerousness, or lethality. It’s subtle with Han and Seungmin, two of the Kids well known for their cleverness in particular, and then a more physical aggressiveness in the clip of them breaking through the PBP crowd.

At this point you have Lee Know at the front, followed closely by Changbin and Bang Chan, then the rest. And the feeling I get is that they are searching, and the way the MV tells the story implies they are searching for Sweater Bang Chan, eventually ripping open the wall to get to him.

As far as what the Red Kids are doing, the story reads to me almost like LiSA sent them to find the Sweater Kids, to save them. But as for what they represent, I keep circling back to the idea that the color red is often used to imply confidence, the use of red lipstick, red suits, red ties, it’s a color so bold that it can’t be ignored. That’s why it’s used for things like stop signs and fire trucks.

So, thinking about how Sweater Kids are sort of stuck in these situations in opposition to the PBP, where they feel under attack, overwhelmed, the Red Kids being confidence that comes in and sort of pulls them out of those spirals. Helps them to remember that they are these wonderful, smart, talented, and incredibly dedicated people. Where we end up with is this sort of interesting math equation where Sweater Kids + Red Kids = PA Kids, I guess.

When we see the PA Kids (the Knights) reunite with LiSA, it’s in a world ablaze, and the lyrics for her section of the chorus repeat again. “I’m gоnna look back, the ashes prove my Pasѕion аlways burns etеrnally. Nо regrets, I love this feеling Down on thiѕ road, call іt the social path.”  The visual metaphor of now seeing the world on fire gives the impression of them as a group sort of burning down the world, cutting off or destroying the places where they were being held captive, and now moving forward, sort of burning your bridges. Another potential read is something like being reborn from the ashes of your struggle, which touches back to Changbin’s verse in the beginning of “blast furnаce crystal, gold that becomеs strоnger. Increaѕe the hardnеss, mаke it solіd.” 

And I think it matters that as they move forward, it’s being done as a group. They’re not alone, they have each other. I think it’s very pointed and intentional that we never see the Sweater Kids together, not even just a couple of them together at a time, they’re always alone. So now in the end we have the entire group fully united. And also interestingly, because of the inclusion of LiSA in that final frame, if we consider that this song is based around their trainee days and the fight to debut…it’s interesting that we’re still presented with 9 in that final frame. (I’d also like to point out that we see yet again the structure of Bang Chan centered, and Lee Know and Changbin on the outsides, again giving an impression of protection of the younger Kids.)

Well, that's all for this episode of Hallie gets way to deep into things instead of doing her laundry. I hope you enjoyed.

To Bang Chan: Social Path M/V Breakdown

Ok, so I wasn't doing this in an effort to write a 3 page essay about the MV for Social Path as Bang Chan instructed, I was just genuinely engrossed with the messaging and visuals that I wanted to talk about it, & then we ended up here.

Alright, so this is going to be me talking through what I was feeling/gleaning from both the lyrics and the visuals for Social Path…

TW: Self Harm and/or suicide (spoken about very delicately, but it's there), anxiety, depression.

First for context: PBP mean Paper Bag Posse and refers to the people with paper bags on their heads throughout the video.

I am using Sweater -- , Post Apocalyptic --, and Red -- to refer to the different wardrobes worn by the Kids throughout the video.

Sweater Kids

Red Kids (Yes, I know not ALL of them are in red, but it’s most and it’s fine.

Post Apocalyptic Kids (abbreviated on PA Kids)

If we are going to create an overarching story…here’s what I see. Sweater Kids are trapped somewhere with the nameless/faceless PBP. The Red Kids come for them, and as the PA Kids they find LiSA and stand together at the end.

As far as the symbolism of the PBP, I think their faceless-ness is entirely intentional, they can be anything and anyone.

Watching Sweater Hyunjin’s story specifically through the video, it made me think of faceless accounts online, antis leaving hateful and hurtful messages, and we start with Sweater Hyunjin just sitting on the bed, the PBP is there, they’re watching him. Then when we return, they’ve come in closer, fully invading his space, even putting hands on him, and he’s afraid, he makes himself small in the face of all of these figures.

Later, when he’s pushing through them, he’s not afraid anymore, if anything I’d say he’s angry. It very much reminded me of the feeling I had when we got the choreo video for Play with Fire. How that was one of the first things we saw after his hiatus. And that performance to me has such a feeling of anger but also defiance and determination, and that’s the same emotion I’m seeing in the final scene for Sweater Hyunjin.

Sweater Changbin, it’s really interesting, because he only appears in the sweater for one scene, almost completely un-cut. He’s tossing and turning from a nightmare, is shocked awake by either the nightmare or the storm outside, it’s ambiguous, but the small flash of nightmare we see is these grabbing hands. He moves from the bed to the window, watching the storm, which combined with the lyrics of the sun rising tomorrow, kind of gives the feeling of him saying I can weather this storm.

Sweater Han also only appears in one portion of the video, during which he is in the mirrored room. He’s also chained, unlike IN who is the only other KID to appear in the mirrored room. We’ve seen the sort of glass case before, in Lonely Street, when Hyunjin is actually inside of it, and Felix outside. In that video it’s an image that gives this heartbreaking sense of isolation and being lost (astray), which is then multiplied when you realize Felix is actively seeking Hyunjin, but unable to find him. This idea of being so close yet so far.

But it’s different here with Han. His emotions here, there’s fear, there’s confusion, even sadness.

I do think it’s particularly interesting that Changbin and Han are the only ones we don’t see with the PBP, which I think is interesting. It almost to me indicates that their ‘enemy’ isn’t other people. For Changbin, this idea combined with interviews and things in the past, makes me think of how he’s talked about how he can get stuck in the dark thoughts of his own mind.  That while he tends to be quite silly sometimes, his solitary thoughts do tend towards darkness, and that’s part of why he often finds himself with the other Kids, because that helps to pull his mind away from those things. With Han, it’s a similar vibe, less that his mind is a place of temporary fear (like Changbin’s nightmare) but more that it can be a prison.

One that keeps him stuck in multiple ways even, both being inside the mirrored space itself, and also being chained.  In terms of him being in the mirrored room, a space where he sees himself no matter where he looks, it feels like being forced to perceive your true self, and it’s a contrast to IN inside the mirrored room, which we’ll circle back to.

Next, I’m going to talk a bit about Sweater Lee Know. We find him, again surrounded by the PBP, on the bed, and they’re all sort of holding him aloft. And as we watch we see them reaching their hands over the edges of the bed, reaching for him.  It comes to a point where the last shot we see of Sweater Leeknow, he has made himself small as well, wrapping his arms around he’s knees, and sort of pulling away from all the edges of the bed.

Now since his scenes are intercut with Hyunjin’s and even Seungmin’s I get the vibe that the PBP here could be faceless internet people, but the holding him aloft thing….that makes me think of holding him on a pedestal, like putting him out of reach in a way. It’s sort of a new layer of isolation. But the other thought I had, especially with the context that much of the lyrics were reflections on their trainee days, was that what if these were trainees as well, not the other Kids, but just other trainees at JYPE. I’ve talked some before about how I think Lee Know’s age combined with his previous experience as a professional dancer set him apart as a trainee. Now this sounds positive, and is in many ways, but being set apart because of your talent or skill level is also quite isolating. I’ve also talked about how I think his skill and experience as a dancer also led to higher expectations in other areas (vocals/rap), leading to greater stress when those things didn’t come as easily as dance. I also don’t think those expectations were all external, I think Lee Know himself was often holding himself to a standard far higher than was reasonable based on the time he was given to learn these new aspects of being an idol. While I maintain that his elimination was essentially done for views, that doesn’t stand in opposition to the understanding that he had nowhere near the amount of practice time or past experience of the others in terms of his vocals/rap, but where he needed to be given grace, instead he was eliminated.

Next is Sweater Seungmin. Like Hyunjin I think he has one of the bigger arcs we see in the story of the MV. When we first see him he’s fleeing the PBP, it’s very frantic, they’re in a small hallway that feels almost claustrophobic.

When we come back to Seungmin, he’s calm. The PBP have caught up with him and surrounded him, but he’s not making attempts to break out, he’s simply standing. They’re also not reaching for him anymore, seemingly satisfied that he’s been ‘caught.’ Now I would almost think something along the lines of ‘music soothes the savage beast’ and Seungmin’s angelic voice is enough to stop the PBP in their tracks, but what I really kind of feel in the moment is more akin to him no longer caring. His casual stance, the hands in the pockets, it’s not just “I’m no longer afraid” it’s “You have no power here”.

It’s a similar idea to what we see with Hyunjin, but where Hyunjin fights back with this sort of passionate fire, Seungmin has instead employed this cold disinterest. In terms of how this relates to Seungmin’s own journey as a Stray Kid, one of the observations I’ve made and seen over the past year or so is Seungmin’s increased confidence. I think he’s always had a level of confidence in his singing abilities, though even in the SS we saw him actively working to improve the way he brought emotion into the lyrics of their songs, making his performance not just technically perfect, but also emotionally touching. This is a skill he’s been complimented on by many, including very notably Changbin. But his own, sort of individualized confidence as Seungmin the person, I think has been building over the last 5 years as he’s matured and he’s very much come to stand as his own man in the last year or so.

IN…Oh, IN is so fascinating in this MV. He’s always slightly different from the other Kids. Firstly, while everyone else shows this fear of the PBP, Sweater IN never does. When we first see him, they're in the corridor again, but IN is completely still. The PBP walk around him, practically not noticing him at all.

When we see him again, he’s crouched, then begins to stand, reaching up to a light. Around him are more PBP, sort of moving closer to him, but still there’s no fear, his movements are calm, fluid.

Where we've see Han in the mirrored space, IN is there as well, but it’s not Sweater IN, it’s PA IN. And again there’s no expressions of fear, and what makes this interesting, is that if the mirrored space is meant to sort of convey this idea of being stuck in your own mind, of having to truly perceive yourself, IN is able to do that without distress.

When you take his actions that are a direct opposite to every other Kid in the MV and combine it with the lyrics he repeats…it tells an interesting story. “They’re making me laugh, it’s so loud. Waking the demon that’s hiding inside.” Now in SKZ lore there’s always been some interesting things going on with IN, whether he’s a villain, or has ulterior motives of some sort. And even outside of the LORE, he’s frequently used as this unassuming but dangerous thing. The most direct example of this being the Freeze MV story, where we find out that IN is in fact the sort of villainous mob boss that they were tracking, and he had infiltrated them. But what makes me pause, especially with the lyrics, especially with IN’s behavior in the MV, is the sort of context we often hear the word demon in in regard to Stray Kids. So, my immediate thought was a clip from Chan’s room, where he says “be proud of that little demon inside you” but it also brings to mind the concepts for maniac about how we often keep our true selves hidden for fear of reprisal. So with IN, I feel like we’re almost meant to feel like he’s become one with himself, he’s sort of reached this level of self-actualization, he’s not afraid to be his true self, so why should he fear these faceless crowds, or looking himself in the mirror?

Channie, oh Channie, this one…it’s affecting, I’ll give you that. So, Sweater Chan’s story seems the most confusing to me. The first clips are of Chan floating in just this dark void, then we find him running from the PBP, who catch up to him eventually, pushing him against a wall and many of their hands coming to his throat. When we find him again, he’s in the red-shaded room, surrounded by the PBP and he’s like starting to float up.

So, the question is: him floating above the PBP, does it circle back to him floating in the black void, or are they separate things? I lean towards separate, since we also get a small glimpse of Chan sort of jerking awake form a nightmare. It sort of feels to me like these are almost a series of nightmare situations. We have total isolation, Chan alone in darkness. We also have Chan sort of floating up and away, and if we stick with his theory of the PBP can be anyone, I almost sort of feel like in that moment they’re trainees again, and this is debuting. But where it should be joyous, it’s reminiscent of death scenes in film, where a soul ascends to a new life, perhaps the death of youth as one moves towards the future? Moving back to the Chan that’s being chased, I’m certain there’s significance to the idea and the visual of all of these hands coming up to his neck, and we have a couple potential options.

In this moment, I almost feel like we’re back to the faceless strangers with the PBP, and that this is perhaps suffocation, but something that kept niggling at my brain was the lyrics “еverуоne keeps turnіng mе down.” It’s incredibly common for all of 3racha to create lyrics that can be perceived in a myriad of ways, and while interpreting this phrase through a lense of social interaction, you think ‘turning down’ as in not wanting to date, be friends, hang out, etc. Turning down the opportunity of your company.  But looking at it from the perspective of a musician, it makes me think of turning down the volume, essentially silencing them. And that’s kind of the visual I get here as well, Chan being silenced, or feeling unable to speak, in the ‘face’ of the PBP.

Finally, we have Sweater Felix. We start off with Felix in the bed, just sitting in the center, and while he does, the PBP is surrounding him, but they’re not still, not like they were with Hyunjin.

Here we see something like a timelapse, and Felix is still, but the PBP has people moving in and out of frame around him, which I actually didn’t really notice my first several watches, it wasn’t until I started editing the video to sort of make individual stories that I saw it. And what it brings to my mind is the zoo, like Felix is an exhibit, sitting perfectly while people come and observe and leave. It gives the feeling again of that isolation, but also captivity. When it cuts back to Felix, he’s now standing on the bed (literally taking a stand) and, we hear the lyrics “Them voices in my heаd again, I gоtta shakе ’em off now”. What I particularly find concerning is that when we return to Felix the third time, he now has the angel wings, and the lyrics now are “No way back to the past”.

Now we know that none of 3racha, or really any of the Kids shy away from talking about deep topics, they work hard to put them into their mainstream songs, but even beyond that they tackle very complex and potentially dark topics in things like the SKZ-Records where they have a lot more creative freedom. So, I don’t find it outside of the realm of possibility that the Sweater Felix scenes could refer to instances of people going to extremes to escape negative voices, and it’s not the first instance we see of Felix being representative of such ideas, there’s a similar visual metaphor in Lonely Street, of Felix holding a finger gun to his head before turning it on his shadow.

And the reference to voices could mean negative voices like depression, when we say the PBP can be anyone/anything, it could be ‘Felix’ under all those bags, a concept Stray Kids has touched on before in their song Voices. But it also could mean negative voices coming from other people, things like bullying, and with the facelessness aspect of the PBP, things like cyberbullying. These are issues which everyday people deal with, but are also rampant in the KPop space, not just for Stray Kids, but for all Idol groups.

I will be back with a second portion, I'm out of images :) per Tumblr post rules.

[stormblessed95]

okay so first feel free to ignore this if the idea of it feels like too much work.

but I just saw this tweet: https://twitter.com/_je0nggukk/status/1458468626164592648?s=21

talking about the creation process for BE and I was wondering if you’d be interested in putting together a chronological timeline showing the members sharing that process with us.

I’ve only personally seen the be-hind story interviews so far, but that was the end of the story, and I’m not sure where to start for the beginning.

Hi! 💜 I can try!

The first time we heard about BE was in April, Namjoon did a YouTube live stream with us and mentioned starting their new album and how they were planning on trying to share a lot more of the process with us this time and how it made him nervous since the process is not beautiful. Here is that live stream with English subs:

We see them all get together for a group meeting to discuss songs and ideas for the content IN the album and how many songs to include, type of songs, possible subunits, etc. It was very wholesome. This was posted in May, but filmed sometime in April.

Then in May, Jimin did a YouTube live stream as well where he mentioned his role as Project Manger and talked very humbly about it. He mentioned how Yoongi pushed for him to take on this role and really encouraged him with it too. English subs of the live stream here:

A week later, RM, Tae and j-hope did a YouTube live stream of their first visual meeting for the album. Tae introduced that for the album he was put in charge of visuals, essentially the concepts, jacket photos, designs, etc. Basically making everything look good for ARMY. He asked the other 2 to join him to help him come up with styling ideas because they are the 2 who he thinks likes clothes the most and he admires their style a lot. They discuss a lot of stuff and you can really see how good of a leader Joonie is and how wonderfully they all work together here too:

In June, not TECHNICALLY part of the process, but during Hobis vlive, he accidently leaked part of Dis-ease. Lol whoops. So I'm including it here because 1, Hobi is such a vibe and 2, it's cute.

In July we get a video from Namseok. They are out shopping for cameras. If you refer back to the original video of them with Tae where they talked about the visuals, they are now buying things to incorporate their ideas and what Tae wants for their concepts. And they wanted to be able to incorporate candid shots of the members taken BY the members. And they decided to go more old school with film cameras instead as well.

In September (Filmed sometime in August) we got a VERY VERY short live stream from JK, where we were given a peak into his recording session for "Stay." The Talent in just these 2 minutes is UNREAL.

And Part 2 of JK sharing his recording session with us for songs from the BE album, 8 minutes this time giving us a whole 10 minutes of JK talent to appreciate, even when they cut the sound on us because of spoilers lol

Group meeting again given to us on Sept 22nd! (Filmed sometime in August) This time to discuss ideas for their video and where it seemed to be decided that JK would shoot their life goes on MV. They were trying to come up with how they wanted the video to go and what concepts to use and were tossing ideas around. And all eating yummy food together too

3 days later we got a video of Taekook meeting with staff. (Filmed sometime in August.) It seemed like it would be a continuation meeting of things they discussed in the group meeting before, obviously on a later date. This time though just with JK as the director and Taehyung as the visual project manager. The were sharing ideas and how to make things work with the staff who would be involved I guess. They work so hard. I'm glad they shared it with us

This one should be called study with NamKook. Lol it's especially just them writing and working hard for 5 minutes straight, but we know now that they were probably working on lyrics for the album and doing any last minute changes/work that needed to get done to get production going and anything else needing to be done.

Filmed in September again, we had a group vlive of BTS seeing their finished album together and unboxing it for the first time, precious and i love them

Then we get JKs live stream on YouTube at the end of October, he mostly just hangs out with us, but he does talk about his experience directing Life Goes On a bit. At the end of October they also talked about their roles in the album creation process in this interview here. And in November we get a YouTube live stream from Jimin, where he updates us on how they are finishing up getting ready for the new album to come out, what they are doing and on Yoongis recovery from his shoulder surgery.

Then we FINALLY get the comeback countdown for BE! BEAUTIFUL seeing them right before an album drop. I love it. Along with after the album and music video drop, their life goes on vlive together.

Then we get content from them later on after the album release talking about working on it some more or from when they were shooting things for it, such as the Jacket Shooting video. The 7 second interview video after they finishing shooting for the LGO MV. Suga's official BE album review video log. And the BE album review and unboxing with the other 6 members. Chaos.

The BE-hind Story where they answered questions and talked more about the process of creating the album together too. And then all their BE-hind story interviews where they interviewed each other and we learned SO MUCH about their individual styles and processes when it comes to creating music and working on this album. Amazing and truly some of my favorite videos. Everyone should watch them:

Jins Interview

Jimins Interview

RMs Interview

J-hopes Interview

Jungkooks Interview

Vs Interview

Sugas Interview

Then of course their cute little BE-logs, but that didn't have anything to do with the creation of the album. Lol I *think* that is everything. If I forgot something, let me know and I'll make sure to add it in! Hope this is helpful though!

[bluewinnerangel]

Hey! I know you're on a break and I totally respect that, I just read the whole kiwi rabbit hole where I'm still in analyses (it took me two days), and I gotta say first of all God bless you and your brilliant brain 🛐 second of all I got throw a fking Rollercoaster all the way I read it Harry's brain is brilliant af third (idk how many things I was going to tell you by now) one word: c a r o l i n a What the actual fk, i saw how you put it as a parallel to coke and it makes so fking sense wtffffff fourth? 28th? 369th? point. I saw this line on your analyses:

Also “till my feet are wet”, they were dry but the hard candy is making them wet. Like I said before harry’s thing is wet, which helps the idea this is a positive bit right? Possibly? I need this distraction from this situation until my feet are wet, till im comfortably put back in my element which is water.

I bold the quote that got me, WAIT. A. SECOND. We all know Harry's obsession with water and stuff I mean he's a mermaid butttt I got to the point of remembering Harry's water tattoos ESPECIALLY his aquarius one ♒ on his wrist which I know is his zodiac sign also mine. Anyways I looked it up on Google brilliant right? And I saw this the meaning of water as a symbol of love Loving others in difficult times reminds me of water as a symbol of love because, water is known to be a universal solvent. ... Water purifies and cleanses just by washing over anything, clearing away the silt and calcified residue, by virtue of simply being itself, by moving freely and continuously. Love is like that too.

I don't know if this is me trying to be you or me inspired by your mind ok follow me or ignore me cuz idk at this point on this.

Harry's obsession with water needs to be heard by us/you/the world etc. I haven't seen anyone fully get deep onto this, but water for Harry is much much bigger, deeper, and important than something to put in a mv.

Ok here some not so thought ideas:

Plenty of water visuals in mvs/album: HS1 photoshoot fully in water, SOTT mv floating over water and not touching it, what's this song abt? See COACOAC's depression breakdown, Two Ghosts video? Tour visual?, Do you realize in Kiwi mv he's the opposite of water? Dry, with BAKED cakes yk out of his comfort element, Golden in the part with the 28 boops or wtvr dancing and also he swimming deep into it in other parts, Watermelon Sugar I mean the whole WMYB beach thing plsss, Adore You plss he made it with the whole concept and the Louisfish, Lights Up reflecting himself but pulled by strings that doesn't let him touch it AND he in another scene wet on it but without the strings, Falling he literally drowning in water, yk his element, the ONE 'thing' he's singing about BUT I THINK not necessarily something bad drowning his energy maybe smth filling him up? but when he's out of water he's all out of breath, tired and lost, I think at this point yk where I'm going, TPWK literally no water element but what TPWK is about? Fighting for a place where he belongs, which is not included here?

Plenty of water lyric references in: ESNY this song where he's devastated and hopeless? see your NY reference: there's no water inside this swimming pool ok Harry, with the lack of your element ok dy realize the songs where water is not included just alcohol are miserable and without that needed element especially in hs1?, KIWI Hard candy dripping on me 'til my feet are wet as you well said, Sweet Creature here I noticed the lack of water BUT he puts HOME in it, Two Ghosts We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty a heartbreaking song and where there was no water before, now is just half filled, not completely full and satisfying, Woman I'm empty, I know, so here it's not even half full, it's empty, HS2, Adore You I'd walk through fire for you this emphasis on walking on fire, like the opposite comfort zone it makes it more valuable, if he's talking to his water, he'd be through fire which is extincted by water always ok, Canyon Moon replacing water for home, Cherry a song stated as a stunt with the lack of water and home at least imo, Falling apart from the mv drink mention but no water, note here: you don't fall in water, you sink on it, you fall from heights for YK LIKE BIRDS, Fine Line And I don't wanna sleep in the dirt We'll get the drinks in, dirt/dry and again drinks not water, Golden here I add the word golden as a synonymous of the words that mean home and water, Lights Up now there's the need of light:bright/sun/golden, SHE He takes a boat out Imagines just sailing away, a boat just is useful in the water, Sunflower Vol 06 for starters as bright as sun here we have sunflower, a flower needs what to survive? Sun and water, To Be So Lonely, we have falling/drunk/blame but It's hard for me to go home And be so lonely, the lack of home in a miserable song, TPWK a gold nutshell so keep up with me Maybe, we can find a place to feel good, ok finding that place, Floating up and dreamin' Droppin' into the deep end, so we got floating on water but that's just a dream for now, droppin' like a bird down heights? Ok that hurted me, Watermelon Sugar, Getting washed away in you, oh like water washes out?, I don't know if I could ever go without Watermelon sugar high, so you can't go without this particular thing? I get it now.

Note here: I didn't include the unreleased songs we know exist because I now think Harry left them out the albums for some reason not just the complete direct references but because they didn't have this elements we talked about in his albums as a whole, even tho they're positive and without the lack of home/water/light as WS's vibe Medicine.

Water/nautical realted tattoos: By now I'm not ok at all, BOAT does this needs explanation? ANCHOR that holds the boat when it's on water, ROSE as a flower that needs water, MERMAID lives and belongs to the water "Because I am one" yk my mom used to call me mermaid cuz I couldn't get out of the water when I was in the bathtub? +can't walk in land I'd walk through fire for you. AQUARIUS probably his zodiac sign, but maybe this important element meaning for him or just the lose string that made me pull this out.

So my points here?

Larry: NAUTICAL AF; we knew that.

Larry=Birds

What Louis is for Harry: His HOME, SUN, LIGHT, SUNFLOWER and WATER.

Harry doesn't need oxygen to breath he needs water.

He doesn't drown as a bad thing, he falls [I'm falling again] [Don't blame me for falling] , it's not the same.

Water it's not land/fire, if he falls in the water he floats [He takes a boat out, imagines just sailing away] [Floating up and dreamin'].

He IS the swimming mermaid, the boat floating/traveling/sailing IN the water.

Sorry for this whatever it was, I trust you and I knew you'd know if this was correct info and what to do with it. Idk if someone has already spoken this out and I look like an idiot rn. Tell me if and at where points I was wrong, please. I'm still learning from your wisdom.

Again, sorry for interrupting your break.

I read this and more brain spirals like it and was like kdjalskdjfghksdjfghksjdfhalksjdalksjd(x28369) and I wanna let this out of my asks because I shouldn't keep it to myself but also adkljksdjfhkajshkjh and that's not exactly a big brain response now is it.

Definitely DEFINITELY there's a ton (of water) going on with Harry and this wet theme. (You already demonstrated this why am I even mentioning it.) I feel like it's that much he kinda made it his thing by now. Like mermaid fking claimed it as an aesthetic. But who knows maybe HS3 has something else in store. And not just Harry, Louis is for sure playing with it too but a lot more subtly. And not to "make it a larry" I mean they're the ones with complementary nautical tattoos so come at them not me, I think I rambled about it a few times and I prob tagged it water or wet too so you can check that out but none is as elaborately as your message for sure! I think the details (like when he is and isn't being a nautical fuck) and its meaning we can discuss forever probably because water can by symbolism for so many things, you can interpret this so so so so many ways you like, so there's no correct or incorrect info or people knowing better what to do with it than others. We're all just a bunch of idiots on the internet myself included, so I'm not gonna grade your essay hahaha because all interpretations are valid. So I just wanna thank you for going over his songs and mvs and list these things really I think it's showing how extra this is, so much so there's just no end to it if we'd keep digging through this shit hah. I'm just gonna end on a joke because I don't have the brains right now to add the smorts: they're a ship LOLAGKDAKDJ.

[shou7]

Flow hot takes

1. PW and Flow are the best singles we've had since SR. Every single song has felt complete i.e., LAYERS (that change throughout the song), choruses with LYRICS (no woahs oooohs aaaahs disdisdisplays), interesting bridges that go places without being obnoxious for the sake of it. Also no chipmunk voices (by Nakata standards). The gritty bass line is also a big plus. As long as Nakata maintains this level of output the next album has a chance of actually being a really great album. I just pray he doesnt do a 180 and butcher the current era's direction like he did with FP.

2. The MV is terrible and all the more frustrating because it actually had all the ingredients of being good.

3. MV street outfits are great (im gonna ignore the pink/white ones i have accepted that terrible costumes are the norm now). Its cool that theyre experimenting with the braids too. And the color palette of the VFX looked really fresh and theyve never had this sort of style going on before.

4. But then it's bogged down by all the stupid choices. Why aren't they singing? Because it's a "dance video"???? Okay and??? Are DF and Flash etc not dance videos too????

5. And if this is a dance video why are they obscuring said dance with all the visual effects??? (greatest offender is the blocky nonsense going on around the 30s mark) I know this shit was rushed out in a week but please.... I dont even expect anyone on the team to use their entire brain anymore, but please, even one brain cell will do....!!!!

6. Lack of glamour shots (close ups) makes them feel really distant. Yes i know faraway flowing clouds and all that, and i was always the first to complain abt excessive glamour shots, but this has just swung to the other extreme and its not good either. Literally whats the point of trying new hairstyles with braids if i cant fckin see it!!!! The excessive effects sure arent helping either!!!

7. That last 30s looks cheap af and highly anticlimatic as compared to the rest of the video. I also dont understand why they had to go out of their way to make a physical set when the CGI going on at the start of the video looked so much cleaner and better. Who is approving these budgets???

8. I think this video is kinda the culmination of all my problems ive had with their direction in recent years. Over reliance on "technology" and whatnot. Like yeah its cool but im also watching perfume content for perfume. If i wanted to see a tech demo id watch a fckin tech demo. At no point should showcasing the technological gimmicks take precedence over showcasing the members and their personalities.

9. And that leads me to something ive only just realised. When was the last time uve seen them look like they actually enjoy dancing in their PVs??? MoL???? I just did a quick dive through their videos and Ive come to realise that ever since theyve shifted from tokuma to universal theyve been trying to take on some cool emotionless doll android big sister image or whatever and like Okay. But why cant we have both???? Was the charm of perfume not always that they can switch between being fun and quirky as well as being cool and badass??? Post MoL it seems like they dont even smile anymore while theyre dancing. Sure a resting bitch face looks cool, but given how excessive its gotten it just feels so devoid of personality and life.

10. Something something practical effects quirky and full of personality something something CGI is everywhere now none of what theyre doing feels special something something jurassic park aged well because it used practical effects something something their older videos are much more fun to watch and much more replayable (i still think IYW is perfection but id still rather rewatch/show people VOICE or FNG etc)

Tldr songs good video bad but who cares i just need the music to be good

[celestialmarks]

“I’m not the bad one here”: Muu Analysis and Interpretation

here is my personal muu analysis and interpretation. i'm really wondering: does muu really believe herself to be justified? is this a front she's presenting because her apologies remained unheard to the bitter end? is she really vindictive and somewhat indifferent deep down, or is she really pretending to protect herself? somewhat a bit of both? this is what i'll be trying to answer. i'm going to be using : - her official character intro in the character intros MV - her intro voice lines (from the official website) - her interview questions - her drama CD content basically every piece of muu extra content we've got, aside from minimal interactions from the app. AS WELL AS - her MV, After Pain, which i'm going to be deciphering based on the color coding! i don't think anyone has done this in full yet (if anyone did, i apologize)

(general TW for discussions & depiction of severe bullying)

as a general disclaimer,

i'm not going to reiterate points that have already been made. if you've looked at youtube comments of previously made analysis, it should be enough to determine what's going on. i'm interested in exploring why muu may feel justified in her actions and what the "darker" side of her is, is all.

there have been no hints as to the fact that she was a bully in the past or something. it could still come out that she was, or that her behavior was awful in whatever way (which i really wouldn't like bcse it reinforces the notion that bullied people "have to had deserved it" which is gross) and it still WOULD NOT change my opinion of her bcse she's still been through all that and pushed to the limit. at the end of the day, there's no way she lied about or downplayed this. she WAS horribly bullied and she almost died from it.

muu has her flaws, clearly. i'm just pointing out what they are here, her mentality and how it might allude to her being shown in a less sympathetic light next round, but that's it.

first, where does the "muu feeling justified" even come from?

to begin with, it's been stated in her intro "she can have a attitude at some times." it's also confirmed by the insults on the blackboard, transcribed in eng and edited onto the MV's visuals here (TW suicide baiting, self-harm baiting).

"So arrogant" as well as "are you looking down on us?" are written on the first blackboard, "eww poor people" on the second.

in her drama CD, muu also appears to be :

overly blunt at times 

spoiled. used to being treated well, since she's rich

quite manipulative, even if she's straightforward about it

i suggest u read the whole thing to get a sense of what she's like, if you haven't yet!

once again and at the risk of repeating myself... she still doesn't deserve any of what happened even if she was condescending or flaunted her wealth. which i don't even think might be the case (it's not like the bullies are objective, they're just using it as a way to justify their treatment of her. and in the MV she says herself "There's no special meaning / I just got the short end of the stick"). she's kind of naive about her wealth (see the crepe incident dfdghjd) she doesn't appear to do it to annoy others or look down on them. she's just used to a life of comfort.

moreover, it's been implied she may have been taken advantage of initially because of her wealth (see the chat on her phone and the picture of her with the three other girls, which i'll call Girl A, Girl B and Girl C for convenience's sake and also bcse the ref to dr is funny). probably her bluntness and occasional attitude caused her more problems, but i'll come back to what triggered the bullying later.

regarding her manipulative behavior, it's because she's used to getting her way (crepe incident, her telling Es she'll just make him like her : "All I have to do is gain your favour, right?"). "my sorry spells must be wearing off" in After Pain alludes to this. since she was previously quite privileged, she had never been treated like this before. even when she made mistakes she was forgiven, so she may have been a bit of an entitled brat, once again. when she starts being bullied, her world REALLY turns upside down. she's so used to getting her way that she even THREATENS Es at the end of the drama CD. we're past manipulative here. no way to know if she has done this in the past though. this might just be due to her desperation, really, but the fact that she does it right after another attempt at sweet talk does make me raise a brow

also the way she turns the tables on Es. "i won't forgive you" when she's supposed to be the one who's forgiven or not? she's rejecting the fault onto Es, just like, ALL the way through her drama CD, she's been saying she wasn't in the wrong. that's her way of justifying herself when/if she causes harm. literally she will not stop saying it : 

"I’m not the bad one here!" "I did kill them. But, they’re to blame! They made it to the point where I had to kill them… I… I had such a tough time." "Sure, I might’ve killed them, but… If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to escape. The cruel things they did to me were far worse!" "If you’re gonna say that I shouldn’t have killed them, then… Are you saying that I should’ve continued suffering forever?" "Even though I’m not the one in the wrong, they want to sentence me to penal servitude… That’s so messed-up." "It wasn’t a bad thing to do, right?" "What should I do then? What should I do in order for you to forgive me, prison guard? I’ll do anything! Um… Anything painful or embarrassing is out of the question though… And, I don’t wanna do anything scary either…"

muu is DESPERATE to be proven innocent. she'll do almost anything, though she's reluctant to put herself in any situation that might be triggering for her (understandable after what she's been through so i wouldn't say she's whining here.) in one of her intro voice lines on the website she says pretty much the same thing:

That’s right. I killed someone. But I couldn’t help it! If I didn’t, there’d be no way to escape. I’m… not the bad one.

in addition, here is what we get from her intro in the character intros MV:

"Fufu... it's your fault for doing horrible things to me." → Lack of remorse ?

from her interview questions:

"The person who did something wrong should apologize first." → Waiting for others to acknowledge their faults first, bcse she doesn't want her apologies to be ignored again... and to just be mistreated again, as a result?

maybe she wants to be declared innocent so that she can finally feel like she's heard, acknowledged. so that she can feel that her pain has reached people, and she might start apologizing outwardly then too, bcse part of her's sorry. but a part of her genuinely believes she had no other choice and as such should be treated as innocent. it's kind of a complex mentality.

what i'm focusing on is that she has this belief she is justified still.

something caught my eyes in relation to that : the "thinks she's the hero" on the second blackboard. muu has a self-righteous side like futa, even if it were (partially?) a front.

also, the quote behind every inmate : "every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." muu "saved" herself by killing someone else and now has a future, so she's her own hero? perhaps. perhaps that's what is helping her cope with the crushing guilt, and that's why she's outwardly so insistent on it.

but then again, something doesn't click: why would muu be saved from killing someone? the bullying has just gotten worse. why does she seem so relieved in that situation? is it because people at least don't touch her now, because they're scared of her? she is literally getting suicide baited though... well, i have an idea. but first let's decode After Pain properly.

more substance to her feeling justified: the color coding and hidden messages in After Pain

so, here goes. on the official site, people who got the innocent verdict are shown to have green eyes, while people who got the guilty verdict have red eyes. so from this, we can deduce that innocent = green and guilty = red.

well... muu's MV is coded like that all the way through. we have a theme of greens (cold colors) VS oranges (warm colors). to represent her thoughts in relation to her actions, and others'. they’re complementary colors, so it’s rather clear cut (black and white?) the color that's inbetween is the yellow from the screen with the handwriting writing that keeps coming back as well as... yup... the yellow from the box cutter she used to kill Girl A, her crush (presumably). and the yellow that is muu's character color! so very significant. i'll analyse After Pain sequence by sequence so u can see what i mean in detail. beginning of the MV : she's sitting in the classroom alone. the first thing we see is the green hourglass = i'm innocent! and we see the orange glow of the sunset. the light isn't hitting her directly, as u can see: she's left in the shadows = blameless, the victim here. it's hitting the blackboard with all the insults, however.

together with the lyrics this scene is basically everything about muu screaming "SEE? IT'S THEIR FAULT, LOOK WHAT THEY DID. I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING." and then of course we have the first instance of the screen with writing in yellow! this one says "ねえなんで" ("say, why?") nothing surprising there so far.

then BOOM the hourglass. very very clearly depicting her pain, her suffocating and being cut from the world. and thus proving her "innocence" bcse she's trapped, in danger of choking, and helpless.

it of course covers her (more of her basically telling you she's innocent). and then it cuts to a pinker, more orange-y scene with the bullies (they're guilty!)

and WAIT A MINUTE? WHAT IS THAT? yep... the box cutter. and what color is it in this scene? orange. it was orange here.

clearly she's saying that the others are much more at fault here. when she wields it, the box cutter is of a lighter color--still a warm color, since it's yellow. but a yellow that's very close to the lime green of her hourglass, isn't it? for now let's say it represents something in between, ambivalent feelings. the writing in yellow comes back and so does the chorus (look at how much i tried to apologize and make them stop). it feels to me like that's muu taking back the mic like HEY, listen up, you saw this right. in conclusion. here it is again: look at how innocent i am! look at how much i've suffered! and thus naturally it cuts to a hourglass scene immediately after.

nonetheless, the writing in yellow says... "でもたぶん" ("but maybe...") which is intriguing.

haven't mentioned this before but obviously muu herself is a mix of warm and cold colors, aka pink (her uniforms highlights, the sleeves and tie + her hair) and green (her eyes, with a highlight of lime/yellow...) then we're back in the classroom and once again the orange light = guilt isn't hitting her directly.

and the colors picked in the LINE chat with the others areee.... naturally, green for her, pink for the others... yellow for the whole background, just as yellow encompasses the entire MV as her true feelings on the matter.

title screen in yellow then flashes yet again, followed AGAIN by the hourglass scene (muu repeating, just like in her drama CD: "yeah, here's my whole story, and i'm innocent!")

the writing in yellow says "ねえもしも" ("hey, tell me...")

the writing in yellow flashes for the FOURTH TIME and this is the most interesting instance: "それなのに" ("even so...")

this shot is doused in orange/warmer yellow on the bullies' side and in the background too. super self-explanatory really

the orange light of guilty is still not hitting muu. meanwhile on her lap...

on the left, the bullies' stockings are blue, but they have a orange hue to them. the rest of the objects here in cold tones are all related to muu or touching her. the picture on her phone is split between yellow and blue. like the blame and innocence was, back then, even/balanced in the sense of peace and quiet, or perhaps just hidden in the background before it jumped out?

she's hit by the orange light here and please look at how the bucket is not blue at all and the floor below her is more yellow. Girl A is the one to open the door, so i think this might show Girl A's POV in relation to muu. not perceiving her innocence.

Girl A's eyes here are green and yellow, so to some extent innocent but guilty in a way that is justified in muu's mind? which is why muu reaches out to her. thus here's my theory on what happened with her : muu confessed, yes. however, the girl didn't out her. especially bcse the blackboard doesn't have any mention of muu liking girls (going by the TL previously shared at least). she just started avoiding muu. given the lyrics here: Girl A used muu's attitude concerning other matters as justification for avoiding her, which kickstarted the bullying. hence "the stabbing of the little devil's voice" which references something Girl A said about her attitude, prompting the rest of their friend group to see muu in a negative light so as to side with her. (since muu's planned counterattack to what Girl A said is a suicide note, it can only be Girl A that's the "devil". the cause.)

also please note how the light is only HALF hitting the background. she's to blame, but not entirely. not yet. besides her eyes are a different shade of green than muu's: darker, far from lime. clearly just green + yellow highlight, without the blatant "innocent" of the lighter lime. entirely ambivalent!

in this shot, the light is deserting muu's eyes. no lime green or yellow here. she just has dead eyes, resembling Girl A's eyes at the end of the video. this is muu telling us that this was her last chance not to become a corpse.

then muu reaches out to the one person she could ask for help. the one person who could have cleared any misunderstanding and possibly stopped this. she's running and everything is soooo yellow and orange. EXCEPT for the bushes which are green, a firm line (literal lines!) that allude to the possibility that Girl A might change her behavior. "perhaps she'll realized she crossed the line/know where the line is and walk off this path."

however, muu steps into the light here. she's been hit by the window's light even if we can't see it, as seen by her shadow. hence, she's already guilty, it's just out of frame (she doesn't realize/know it yet.) still, note that the light hitting her is not orange but ONLY YELLOW. less guilty than the others! but the school? orange. guilty place. guilty people

Girl A is still framed by green stuff. she has a possibility of being innocent, of being forgiven by muu, but the path she's walking is orange, clearly.

we see a tiny hourglass fall off, a timid reminder from muu "i know what you're about to see, just remember i'm not to blame." and then muu reaches Girl A and the background is just SO yellow and orange for the both of them. but notice something? on muu's side the background is more yellow. on Girl A's side it gets darker, more orange.

Girl A doesn't respond for a moment and her eyes are still green and yellow! muu has hope that she might still change for the better and forgive her! see that muu's innocent!

but nope! she rejects muu! and we get this deep orange!!! NOTHING like the yellow in the background earlier! this is the last straw for muu!

contrasting with the green of muu's hourglass breaking as she hits her limit:

yellow, vengeful fire burning next to muu. it's practically shimmering as she stabs Girl A. it's so light it's almost white.

Girl A's eyes have turned orange bcse in that moment in muu's mind SHE is the guilty one. she deserves this.

while in contrast, even if the background behind muu's very orange... her eyes are glowing lime/yellow.

i hit picture limit so this is part 1! (reblogging this to add more. here is the full post with part 2 as well)

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Let’s talk: the Vmin “no on screen interaction = no bond” Paradox

by Admin 1 & 2

One of the reasons that are usually stated for why people are so insistent on their claims that Jimin and Tae supposedly aren’t close anymore, that their friendship is nothing but PR for Friends, and that the whole “soulmate agenda” is fake as well, boils down to the statement of “we rarely or never see them interact on screen, no touching, no talking, nothing”. We find this both misleading, since it isn’t true, but also disrespectful, since it means that the only way in which some are able to accept closeness between the members as real and valid is if they see it, nothing else. So, just because you don’t see it through grand physical touches, hugs and whatnot, does that mean if they speak about each other, for example, that doesn’t count? 

You could argue that the power of pictures is greater than that of words, but to that I would like to ask: do they owe us visual proof of their closeness when we already have so much that shows how truly close Jimin and Tae are, how much they care about each other and how much work across years they’ve willingly and eagerly put into their bond for it to grow as deep and beautiful as it is?

As a way to showcase how misleading the screen time = friendship/closeness argument is, especially in connection to Jimin and Tae, I’d like for us to look at two different instances: Black Swan MV (the MV Sketch as well as the “opera” b*omb and the basket ball b*omb) and the Jingle Ball 2019 EPISODE.

Let’s start with the videos surrounding Black Swan below the cut:

Around that time I saw a lot, and I mean a lot, of chatter (mostly negative) about vmin since a very loud portion of the fandom were very up in arms after we got Friends. Not only did it solidify their preconceived notion that they are just friends, because the song is titled like that and none of them really cared enough to check the lyrics, but also because it opened up a whole new discussion about “but like, are they really friends?” To which, of course, their answer was mostly “no”. It’s just PR, they actually don’t really like each other, they barely interact, we see nothing of them, both interact way more with the other members, you know the drill. So when the MV Sketch for Black Swan came out it was, once again, like more “am/munition” for their arguments.

The thing we find laughable though is this expectation of “ship moments” in a video that’s literally about the filming of their music video, most of the scenes showing said filming happening though there’s also a few scenes of the members interacting. But, at the core, this isn’t like a bangtan b*mb of them hanging out backstage waiting for something or another where it makes sense that we’d see them interact a lot and be silly, instead it’s a video in which their focus (as well as ours should be) is on filming and giving the best performance they can so the MV turns out amazing, which it did. They are doing their work, not enjoying their free time. When you’re at work, do you really spend the majority of your time playing around with your friends? No, you do your job, the thing you get paid for doing.

The first few times I watched the video, I was so captivated by the theatre and their dancing, their mindset and performance, I didn’t even really notice any of their interactions or pay attention to who interacted with who or who did not. Guess my priorities and expectations are simply a bit different when watching a music video being filmed...

So what was the conclusion people drew? While Jimin and Tae are both close to JK and the other member, they are not close to each other, they don’t even particularly like each other. It was a narrative I saw repeated across various sns and, really, while it made me sad, I also wasn’t surprised. It’s nothing new that people treat vmin in such a manner.

Then, months later we got two Bangtan B*mbs from the same time and surprise, surprise Jimin and Tae did interact, a lot even, in ways that show how attuned with each other they are, how easy it is for them to fall into one of their role-plays or just be silly together, how gentle and thoughtful of the other they are, and how much they enjoy doing something together, regardless of what it is.

The first, posted October 1st 2020, showed Tae playing basket ball while Jimin and JK sat off to the side and watched him. Like you can see in the above pictures, eventually Jimin joined Tae and they played together for most of the video. Since the sun was shining at them, Tae stood before Jimin and raised his hands so the shadow fell onto Jimin’s eyes and he could see better, later on doing the same for Tae. It’s a small thing and yet it shows they care about each other. At some point Jimin pretended that he’ll be leaving, twice, and yet he stayed and they played some more. Toward the end of the video Namjoon joins them and eventually vmin leave and Namjoon stays behind and plays with Seokjin before the video ends.

Based on all that you’d assume the people who, seven months earlier, claimed vmin are essentially estranged and barely even like each other would reconsider, but of course not. Despite the focus being largely on them across the entire video, many comments by non-vminies (and non-namjinists) I saw on sns were about Tae playing on his own, Jimin and JK sitting off to the side together, and Namjoon playing with Seokjin. 

The second video was posted October 24th 2020 and began with Jimin pretending he’s an opera singer, which Tae noticed and immediately joined in, since we know this is the sort of thing Tae enjoys doing, even occasionally turning their own songs and lyrics into opera style to make the other members laugh. This sets off this entire sequence of Tae and Jimin singing different things, JK also joining in for a moment, and then vmin ending on that sweet moment of Jimin standing behind Tae with his hands covering Tae’s eyes before concluding that “it’s hard to play with him”. And yet, even if it’s hard, can we talk about these two screenshots of Jimin fondly watching Tae and looking like he can’t wait until his stylist is done so he can go join him? Adorable.

But again, even here while the focus is on vmin for a large portion of the video, this fact was largely omitted and instead people zeroed in on moments in which Tae was alone, Tae or Jimin interacted with JK, and Tae singing with Namjoon and Seokjin. It seems to me like the council of “how valid is a friendship” decided on their opinion months prior and stuck with it even if it meant, as always, to just ignore vmin interactions in favor of other things while at the same time spreading the “vmin are not friends because they don’t interact” agenda to anyone who’ll listen.

Generally I don’t really care all that much for all the chatter happening among parts of ARMY, but seeing these comments belittling and erasing the bond Jimin and Tae have, regardless if you see it as platonic or potentially romantic, is just really hard to read sometimes. Not even because I’m a vminnie, but simply because they are erasing something that is so important to both Tae and Jimin, this bond they have with each other they themselves spoke so much about, showed so much of, and yet people refuse to accept it, like they have any right to make such judgements about their bond.

The second example I’d like to show is Jingle Ball 2019 in LA and how deceptive, paradoxical and misleading the no screen time = no bond agenda really is.

For context, the Jingle Ball happened some time in December 2019, the same month as when we got the vmin “let’s take a half bath together” while holding hands during Seokjin’s birthday vlive happened, meaning a time when Jimin and Tae were just as close as ever, even occasionally giving us glimpses into their bond, giggling together and being all smiles. Also the same month as the famous holding hands because we think no one sees us anymore moment at the airport.

On July 22nd 2020 we got the EPISODE showing the behind the scenes of the Jingle Ball performance. It’s 11 minutes long and includes the BWL performance with Halsey, but largely shows the members getting ready, practicing their English and being excited to perform. If we focus solely on vmin then sure, I’ll agree that there were no interactions between those two whatsoever, not a usual or out of the ordinary thing, and not something I see any kind of problem in. They don’t owe us interactions in every piece of content. And yet, as always, it just added fuel to everyones favorite agenda that vmin are not close, ignoring all the prior time frame context we established previously. But who cares, they didn’t interact in this 11 minute video therefore they definitely didn’t interact at all and now hate each other.

Jokes on those people because of course that isn’t true.

Excuse the rather mediocre quality of those pictures, I tried my best with the screenshots taken from a video taken by a fan (one of many) who got to see BTS behind the scenes before going on stage from the stands further up. There’s this video on twt that shows just vmin and then I found a longer version in this person’s vlog (around the 7:25 min mark and onward). You can check both and confirm that it really is vmin in those screenshots. Also, as memory refresher, Jimin was the only one with a black collar and shirt along with blond hair. Namjoon stands further away and can be seen in the three lower pictures.

So, what does this tell us? Easy--just because it wasn’t shown in a condensed and edited video it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Just because Jimin and Tae don’t show us things on screen, or the editors don’t use scenes where it can be seen, it doesn’t mean that it’s an accurate representation of their actual, real life bond. They weren’t in the EPISODE but hugged and walked together off camera.

Notice how this agenda merely applies to vmin, how their bond, their soulmate status and closeness is the only one that gets questioned at every possible moment. When Seokjin said that Yoongi feels like his soulmate nowadays in an episode of In The SOOP no one questioned his words and accepted them as true, because he said so himself and we should believe their sincerity when they say these things. And yet when it comes to vmin, the rules are entirely different.

This was a post brought to you by Admin 2 coming across yet another thread on twt filled with ARMY claiming outlandish things about vmin and their bond and getting annoyed.

[aijee]

hello aijee!! what are your thoughts on mingyu and wonwoo's bittersweet?

Oh anon. Oh anon, anon, anon. I have very many feelings about this remarkable intersection of ley lines. I’m sure the WWxMG spheres of the Internet are in some state of madness, and I felt like my meager offerings would be nothing in comparison. But you are now my excuse to write up a Pandora's box answer that I've done my best to organize below the cut. It’s honestly not that exhaustive, but I have to catch a flight soon.

The short of it is: I really liked it! It was nice to see WW/MG doing something distinctly not hip-hop, or eye candy-centric, or “let’s fight over this random girl for no reason other than to give (female) fans the feeling of being sandwiched between two hot guys.” The urban imagery was also wonderful. I’m a big, big sucker for Japanese films set in cities in the 80s/90s, so this video definitely hit a specific aesthetic nerve for me. ALSO LEEHI MY BAE!!

But, fair disclaimer, I do have some reservations. Nothing is perfect!

The song itself

It was refreshing to hear a softer song with WW and MG doing so much of the vocals. I’m so used to eleven other guys contributing (I’m personally a bigger fan of the group/non-solo tracks), it was almost jarring to hear only two male voices in something very much not hip-hop or rapping. And LeeHi? My ex-YG BABEE?? I honestly wished I heard more of her!! And saw her in the video! Her voice was a perfect addition to a song that sounds more, as its name suggests, bittersweet.

I feel like all three of the artists involved have a much more dynamic range that could have been utilized, even for a muted tone. The song overall doesn’t really stand out to me, especially within Seventeen’s wonderful discography and selection of ballads. The instrumental was kinda weak ngl. But I still very much enjoyed the song! The lyrics from an English-speaking standpoint were also very lovely and definitely struck the heart on my sleeve, as you can imagine from the types of themes I tend to write about. Kudos to MG and WW for participating in it! Always love seeing SVT showing off their creative chops.

The video/cinematography

Frankly, I wasn’t impressed by it. 3.5/5 stars. I’m personally not a big fan of the blurry type of slow motion. I get that, perhaps, it was meant to evoke a sense of reminiscing on old memories, which can be blurry and choppy. But I felt like those extra seconds could have been used for more evocative cinematography between the trio or combinations thereof. There was so much potential to have a more unified sense of “story.” I felt like the acting really carried it, but overall the visual artistry didn’t hold together in my opinion.

I also thought that the imagery paired with the lyrics was often too on-the-nose. (Take this with a grain of salt from someone who doesn’t know Korean, only the official English translations.) In other words, I thought that the shots could be too literal when paired with the lyrics.Yes, yes, eyes are are meeting but something still feels far apart because the girl ain’t lookin at WW. Yes, yes, the scent of a moment fills hands because we see a glass of alcohol in presumably WW’s hand. I do like that the lyrics actually match the video to some degree (since so many Kpop MVs are just dancing in a fancy room), but, again, it felt too one-to-one without much thought otherwise.

Also, those AirPods lmao. I don’t know why, but that took me out of the immersion. WW and MG had one each, and I’d be knocking furniture down at that observation if they both weren’t wearing right-side pods, thus eliminating the possibility of sharing. Imagine!! Turning the act of sharing AirPods into something symbolic! Remembering things when someone else “plays that old tune”, being disconnected and connected at the same time, etc. To think that I’d be yell-writing about the potential symbolism of AirPods...

The duo/trio

My first thought seeing this video was: Are Mingyu and Wonwoo okay with this? They clearly had a say in the lyrics, so I feel like they’re okay. Instinctually, I get concerned about how a company can push idols pairings in official content to the point of undermining the real-life relationship; I felt like WW, as a naturally shyer and introverted person, stepped back from the WonGyu pairing at some point. I think this was a bigger concern in the group’s earlier years, and I feel like they and the fandom have matured significantly over time. Fans reading this are certainly free to educate me on their takes regarding this, since I follow Seventeen’s official content more (as much as I am able to, at least) than fan content, like fancams, and I try not to make too many legit assumptions based on official content.

All this being said, I think they looked really comfortable with each other in the video! Which I loved the most, honestly. The premise didn’t didn’t feel like guys fighting over a girl (yawn). I’m not a fan of the overused K-Pop trope of “let’s have a random girl act as a stand-in for fans to feel like they’re being pursued by their oppars.” I felt like, while MG and WW expressed clear interest in the girl, there was interest expressed in each other as well—especially MG towards WW in my opinion, cont’d below. And the interest was never forced to be romantic, even though it could be! LOVE that for them. (I highly recommend reading up on “queer platonic relationships”, which a friend of mine taught me recently. Made the mistake of writing “romantic” instead of “platonic” so sorry 😬)

Motherfuckin Kim Mingyu AKA my interpretation of the story

*I did read the little summary in the description box about “three longtime friends”, but I’m choosing to ignore it because I don’t think the video portrays that well and I like my interpretation better haha!

That sequence of WW putting a hat on MG, with WW’s fond but exasperated face of a hyung (I’m okay, not okay).

The cut from that shot of WW and the girl breathing heavy and looking at MG, to MG staring vacantly behind a rained-on glass window (I close my eyes but thoughts of you...).

The way MG steps out first into the rain and smiles back at WW in that last sequence of shots (Eyes meeting but hearts apart); MG looks so content despite the sadness usually meant to be evoked by dramatic rain sequences.

As someone who normally connects with WW, I really connected to MG’s character this time around. I interpreted MG’s character as going through a really complex series of emotions towards both the girl and WW, platonic, romantic or otherwise. It’s hard to pin down, but the small age difference between him and WW felt so much more apparent in the MV. I almost got the impression that maybe MG’s character felt new, naive and lost in the city (he has a few shots of wandering or being in front of urban areas). Then he found stability with the girl and WW, the consequence being the whirlwind of feelings he must be experiencing because of them. I wish there was more exposition hinting at what happened to the girl, since she sorta just...blipped out of existence by the end.

At the start of the MV, WW’s character looked like he was at the end of his rope, drinking away his woes, maybe because of what seems like a nice job based on the suit. But then he found solace in the female bartender, who was kind and had open ears. The two of them became friends (maybe more, perhaps one-sided in WW’s disfavor). Then WW met MG through her. He saw MG’s character as a cute dongsaeng to be nice to, mostly on the whims of the girl, even dancing with them after closing time. But maybe WW’s character started having complicated feelings for MG’s character throughout it all. He started seeing MG more (more than the girl? Hard to say), based on how he was staring at MG at the end of the running sequence at around 2:08, not even looking back at the girl. He ended up liking MG so much, that he followed MG into the rain despite them both avoiding it, staying indoors, before the end sequence.

That’s sort of the dirty and quick of my initial thoughts. Honestly, I wish I had the energy and speed to throw out a proper written work because I LOVE stories that are basically just complicated feelings with relationship boundaries that are hard to define. Also, gotta say, that little sassy look the female actress gave at around 0:30 was real cute. 👀

[kpopgerapitico]

Song of the Week

I worked on this for like 20 minutes, and then Tumblr ate it. I’m minorly livid about it. Now to rewrite.

Honorable Mentions:

For something distinctly trippy and cool, look to GOND with Hotel Room, a synthy rap track that uses its synths just as importantly as the distinct silences peppered throughout the track. The raps are solid, the autotune makes perfect sense, and the music only chorus takes the themes and expands. There are surprises every verse in the best way. This is avant garde in music form.

Park Seo Joon sighting, ft. an actress I recognize but annoyingly cannot place.

Please listen to Jo Gwangil, I need everyone to discover him. His flow is so so so damn good. He does rap about pretty dark stuff, like so dark that Depersonalization has a warning on the beginning about imagery. But he feels raw and honest in a way I haven’t heard as much recently, and he does while creating like 90% of a songs rhythm from his own mouth. This track has a bit more from that point of view, but is still fairly sparse, and has sections that are nearly empty besides his voice. P.S, if you are easily squeamish, there is a clean version. Sadly, both versions are pretty flashy, so be aware if you are photo sensitive.

And now for a new segment, idol roundup, where I mention every single idol I watch, in the hopes of remembering for myself as well as catching when I miss ones that don’t go to the compilation channels. The girls got shafted this week for sets.

- Only You by Saturday. This sounds and looks like a b-side. Sweet bubble gum pop I have negative interest in.

- X by Chungha. X feels very different for Chungha, but makes sense for a female soloist in K-pop.

- Lemon Candy by Pink Fantasy: I don’t find anything particularly special or interesting about this, but it’s fine.

- Love So Sweet - Cherry Bullet: I get why people like Cherry Bullet a little bit more, but I like the first verse more than the whole rest of the song.

- No diggity by ONEUS: It’s fine, but it doesn’t draw me in the same way as some of their other tracks have. Also it kind of looks like they took like every VIXX video and said, “we’ll use them all” for the visual concept.

- My Turn by Cravity: This is what happens when your company seems Stray Kids and NCT and decides that success is the average of the 2. I still don’t know what Cravity’s sound is.

I have many words to say about U-Know’s Thank U. But before I get carried away about the video, let’s address the song. It is sexy and cool and instantly recognizable as Yunho. TVXQ is the only group I can think of who have an overarching discography between that not only sounds cohesive, but still manages to have distinctive and obvious differences between each solo effort and the pair as a duo. You know this is a TVXQ member’s track right away, while also knowing it is specifically Yunho’s through some magic of consistency. And this video is so damn good. It is plot driven in the year 2021 of our lord, with a plot that doesn’t require reading a primer by a fan who is way more into this stuff than you to understand. Yunho not only has multiple wonderful set piece stunt fights (that seem to all actually be him, or at least a majority) but also dances that come from those same scenes? And mostly fit the vibe? Not to mention the frankly stunning visuals. Honestly, you could write a paper about this 7 minute MV and get credit in a film studies class. I hope that this means that post army Yunho will get an action movie/drama role (hopefully his acting has improved while he was in the army; god knows it couldn’t get worse). Anyways, go watch and listen and enjoy the power of experience.

Subtle and sweet was not the sound I expected from an Epik High comeback, but that’s what Based on a True Story is. Heize sounds great, and the beat feels different for Epik High in the best way, especially with the orchestral backing. The accordion is a nice touch. Rosario on the other hand makes absolute sense for them. It again sits on a slightly different beat for Epik High, which is always a great thing to hear from them, and has incredible verses from Tablo, Mithra Jin and Zico, as well as a great chorus from CL. If you want the full effect, you probably should spend some time with Born Hater first, because Rosario feels like a lyrical successor, and more obviously a visual and spiritual successor. Epik High has always made great collabs, but this pair fit into the same theme. They are all a response to a specific type of hate. Born Hater is about people complaining about people being overrated/untalented. Hell, there is a reference to Zico in it by Mino (an apt call out at the time). Rosario is a response to the title of has-been, and a bit the idea of current idols paving the way. Having Epik High, CL and Zico in a room puts that even more into perspective, as all of them are known for their contributions in one way or another. Epik High are hugely popular and well known rappers to basically anyone who isn’t just an idol fan. CL has proven that you can be a female rapper who goes solo and still kills the game. And Zico is the first truly successful idol producer. All of them have made huge contributions to the Korean music industry, but are often ignored by younger fans who don’t know their history. Well, here’s a place to learn it.

Short aside: Tablo’s verses are so damn well written basically always, that even the translations have to work hard on them. And I bet they miss out some of the subtleties. Also, his verse in Rosario is the only one that combats a different issue, definitely turn on subtitles for it.

Both Thank U and Rosario are important to me for different reasons, and they both win.