#man I always wanted to do the sciences but I'm having this spiral of self-doubt abt my degree choices

[vounoura]

.

[dangan-happy]

I want Mikan to have wheelies to escape her feelies./ Hey hey, Miu, Kaito, Kokichi? Yet again, it is I. I'm having motivation issues again and for the last few days I've felt horrible. Really, I've just been questioning my worth again due to a bunch of stuff, especially cuz I argue with my mom 24/7. I just could use some comfort rn, if that's alright. P.S, felt like I should say this. IK one of you guys mentioned ADHD; and I'm actually getting tested for that soon! Ty :). -Spider anon

Spider anon!! Hey bro!! What's up! You're on my list of anons with the coolest names, you funky little spider anon. My bad, I got kinda distracted, so now I'm gonna focus on helping you. Aw man, I'm sorry to hear you're having motivation issues again, and feeling generally horrible. Hey! Stop questioning your worth right now! You're amazing no matter what. You're a unique, awesome person, and you can do whatever a spider anon can-on!

Arguing with parents is pretty common, and yeah, it's always a tricky thing. Since I don't have any details, I can't really give any advice on that, but maybe try spacing yourself away from your mom as much as you can to avoid arguments. I seriously can't remember if it was me who mentioned ADHD, but I'm glad to hear you're looking into that! I totally know what that stuff is like, and hopefully the actions you take will lead to some solid help.

Alright, you want comfort? I got comfort! Bro, I seriously can't stress enough how amazing you are. I've only talked to you twice, but I can tell you're an incredible person who I'd totally be friends with. Even if you're not feeling super motivated right now, that doesn't mean you're worthless. No matter what happens, you're still worth as much as possible. Like you know the world's biggest diamond? You're worth more than that. I started a random "I would be friends with this anon" squad, and like, if you want in, I'll totally give you a star sticker. I guess that's like, our official membership badge or something. Either way, don't lose faith in yourself. Believe in yourself no matter what. Try to become your own biggest fan, because there's so much about you that's amazing. I hope nothing but awesomeness comes your way man, it was good to hear from you again!

-

Hey! I'm literally never going to forget you because of the dumb spider anon song parody Kaito made, which is in my head right now which sucks because it's literally one line on repeat over and over again, but anyways, hi again, welcome back! Aw man, I totally get the motivation thing. Like, it's just soooo much work to get up and do things, or like, even get up half the time. Hey, even if you're not feeling it right now, that doesn't change your self worth at all!! Sorry to tell you, but someone with as much worth as you literally can't have their worth shrink ever. That's just how it is, laws of science or whatever. We all have our spirals, and that doesn't change who we are as people, or how much we're worth. I kind of fight with everyone, so I do get the whole 24/7 fighting thing too.

Dammit, I'm agreeing with Kaito. Sometimes it's a good idea to take a step back and take some personal space to let your head clear. When we get emotional, us amazing humans can make some pretty dumb choices, and I don't want you getting into a trap like that. Honestly I dunno who mentioned the ADHD thing either, but I'm just gonna go ahead and take credit for that. You're welcome Spider anon, you can write me a song or something to show your gratitude. I'm totally kidding, and it's good that you're getting tested! Hopefully that'll get you some answers and some ideas on what to do next to help yourself out.

Yeah, sure thing I'll give you some comfort! All you gotta do is ask. Ok, get ready. So, I'm a pretty great judge of character, like I had Kaito pinned as an idiot from the start, and I was like, totally right about that. I can tell that you're a really talented person, even if you don't feel like it all the time. You're seriously an amazing person, and anyone who knows you is lucky to. I'd like, totally be your friend too, and for the record, I'd be a waaaay better friend than anyone else. But seriously, you're amazing. I know you have periods where you doubt yourself, but trust me, people around you see how amazing you are, and hopefully you will one day too. Keep being your awesome spider self, kay? I'll see you around!

=

Spidey! Hey there babes, great to see you again!

Not so great that you’re feeling horrible though, that sounds like a lot of shit that you’re going through.. Motivation issues and your mum is arguing with you? Geez, I don’t get adults man…

Listen, I know your mum is a total pain in the arse with constantly arguing with you, but you’re not any less important, you’re worth a whole lot. Fuck what she thinks, you’re doing the best that you can and that’s the important thing!

Oh hey, I know it’s not me who mentioned ADHD, but I’m glad that you’re getting tested for it, it’s always better to get it done professionally instead of self diagnosing and freaking out.. I get it, it’s easy to look at the symptoms and think, ‘hm, this sounds like me!’, but you know what I mean..

You mentioned wanting comfort, so how about I let you take a nice, long rest against me? I’ll hold you until you feel better, does that sound good? Spidey, you’re worth all the happiness in the world, that much I promise you..

[arreisstorm]

BTS' Map Of The Soul: Persona

I am always in a continuous state of shock and awe whenever I even begin to contemplate the in-depth philosophical, psychological, and just overall intellect these boys possess.

Not only have they used various works of literature:

Demian- Wings

The Ones Who Walk from Omelas- Spring Day

but they have also been incorporating theoretical science:

Carl Jung's 4 major archetypes

since the very beginning!

And then to use a music industry as big as K-Pop to highlight the importance of knowledge and connect everything together...

That's beautiful.

It's genius!

So let me try and break some of it down now:

Carl Gustav Jung was a famous psychiatrist and psychotherapist who once proposed the theory that everyone's personality consisted of 4 separate entities:

The Shadow

The Anima/Animus

The Persona

The Self

and it was these 4 traits, or archetypes, that were believed to be the reasoning for why we as individuals developed personalities and certain behaviors. He also theorized that when an individual recognized and experienced all 4 archetypes that it would lead to self-fulfilment. So now let's break this down even further but from BTS' viewpoint.

The Shadow

From their debut through Dark & Wild, you can see that these were more chaotic times for BTS as they were trying to let the world know who they were, yet also trying to remain genuine at the same time. It's hard thing to do because, especially when referring to K-Pop, you are told you have to look, act, and exist in a certain way. You are to be idols and to model what's most popular when it comes to societal influence. This is exactly what Carl meant when he introduced the Shadow archetype. It's known to be the darker side of ourselves; the wildness and chaotic version that we use to try to repress some of our more negative thoughts.

BTS experienced the Shadow because they debuted with this "bad-boy" imagine and basically said F the system! Although they still had their personal beliefs and stances on life, they did kind of let themselves become manipulated by others wishes. Even some of the boys have had regrets towards the way they first acted. I mean RM, then Rap Monster, openly expressed how he wanted to change his name because he felt that title no longer applied to who he was. Same for the rest of the boys. They had just started out and were naive and some easily impressionable, no one should blame them for their early days, I mean I'm sure we all have times we look back on not too fondly as well.

The Anima/Animus

Jung believed the next step after the Shadow was the Anima/Animus, which represents the feminine (Anima) side of male's unconsciousness, while the (Animus) is the masculine side for the female's. This aspect was said to bring order or balance to an individual's life. Because we live in a society that is so concerned with separating one's gender as a way to normalize behavior as a whole, it has become almost impossible for us to have said balance because it is "not acceptable"; however, it's important to have those two separations to a person's behavior because it allows us to have positive and negative aspects for each.

Imagine if you had a man who was nothing but competitive and dominating all the time, yet lacked the nurturing skills of a women when it came to showing compassion towards a child or loved ones. Then imagine on the other hand, there's a women who has all the emotional capacity yet let's herself be pushed around and stepped on because she lacks an assertive nature due to said generosity and compassion. Neither one would be able to make it long in this world because they do not possess the balance from both sides to do so.

Relating this back to BTS, you can see the Anima appearing during the Love Yourself highlight reel, although it wasn't so clear to some until now. Most ARMY or casual supporters of BTS simply thought that these girls that appeared in the video were simply some type of love interest or previous relationship they had because including girls in idol groups' videos is nothing out of the ordinary; however, knowing about the archetype Anima/Animus, I have pieced together that these girls were actually not love interests at all, but they represented the boys' feminine part of their unconsciousness.

The reason I say this is because during the HYYH era MVs, you can see the destructive nature BTS are going through. Whether it be destruction of self or of personal relationships, it's obvious that they are still experiencing the first stage, the Shadow, and in order to move past it they must recognize the next one. The girls in the video are seen when the boys are at their happiest, AKA when they are experiencing balance from the uncertainty surrounding their lives. It is here we can see the growth of each member taking place.

(Photo credit: stussyjimin on Twitter)

The Persona

After we have the Shadow and Anima/Animus we move onto the 3rd stage: the Persona. This archetype is one of the most common ones that people find themselves unable to move past.

Societal constructs yet again have a huge part to play in this because we are constantly seeking validation from others in order to appease our own self-conscious tendencies. You see, the word 'persona' in Latin literary means 'mask', which is appropriate because when we reach this archetype we often force ourselves to wear a mask so that others might accept our perceived truths over the actual ones. Whether it be at work, home, in other public situations, or even online we all make the decisions to put on that mask, contradicting our own beliefs in order to seem likeable. These decisions don't even necessarily have to be life-changing, but any minor ones also alter an individual as a whole.

You see, where the Shadow's job is to let us repress our unacceptable behaviors to appear more relatable, the Persona highlights those new changes to keep up the charade of being accepted from what others expect from us. This could more easily be known as "people-pleasing". In order to reach our next stage the most important thing to keep in mind is that we as humans are not simply a sum of our Personas and we must find our true identity within ourselves.

Again, relating this back to BTS, it reminds me of 2 different concepts: Wings and Love Yourself: Tear.

With Wings, I mostly see it in the solos because each one specifically deals with some kind of pain or sadness due to outside influences. For example, in Jungkook's BEGIN, he mentions how helpless he felt during their debut and then how much it hurt him to see his hyungs going through dark times. In Jimin's LIE, he talks about his struggles with starvation and body imagery and how listening to negativity made him spiral out of control. V's STIGMA explains how he often feels like this absent family member to his brothers because of BTS' busy schedule and his inability to be there for them. Suga's FIRST LOVE expands on his depression and how he almost gave up his dream at one point, also turning his back on his first love which is music. RM's Reflection is almost like a conversation with himself conveying his insecurities and how hard he finds it to love himself because of how he's been perceived in the past. Hobi's MAMA, although the more happier track of them all, serves as a love letter to his mom confessing his hardships as well as how much he appreciates his mom for always having his back. Then finally we have Jin's AWAKE, where he pours his heart out about feeling inadequate compared to everyone else, yet he still is going to try his hardest. The boys showed us their personal struggles and how keeping up these charades for so long would end up tearing them apart. They knew they were missing the final link.

Love Yourself: Tear can also be seen in this way. In fact, RM explained that when writing and designing the concept for one of their most popular tracks from the album, Fake Love, he was trying to communicate the fact that, in life, we constantly find ourselves trying to fill a void in order to deem ourselves as whole, and often times this can be filled with love, but that doesn't specifically have to be about relationships. "We're saying that if you're not true to yourself, your love won't last forever. The love could be person to person, it could be between me and myself,".... "It's kinda deep."

See here he means that love doesn't necessarily have to be about a physical relationship, just like the Persona doesn't just have to be about the relationship you have with others. Even if the simplified version is often seen as "people-pleasing", it can also mean, in an inadvertent way, changing yourself or donning a mask in order to fool your own mind into loving those alterations you've made personally. Learning to love yourself and acknowledging your flaws is the only way to reach the final stage.

(Photo credit: dailyhoping on Twitter)

(YAJR#jkc at aminoapps.com)

The Self

The 4th and final stage to achieving personal fulfillment is known as the Self. This means that after having gone through all other areas of self discovery when reaching this stage there should no longer be any traces of doubts or identity loss left.

According to Jung, the Self is most often represented by the wise man/wise woman, especially when it comes to dreams. He once said that if there was a ever a time when a person dreamed of a wise figure, then it was an indication that self fulfillment is right around the corner. This is a lose interpretation though, it doesn't necessarily have to be an old man or old woman, some even think that people who serve as mentors to an individual, regardless of age, can also fit the profile. In the case of BTS however, I do believe that Jung's original idea was more of the inspiration.

If you recall during one of the trailers for Fake Love, there was the Magic Shop where the boys went to trade in objects for others. The vendor in charge of the shop could be considered as a sort of magician, which just so happens to be another character that is said to represent the Self. So knowing that and then if you see in the video that the objects traded by each boy connects them back to previous storylines, or sticking with Jung's theory, previous archetypes that can be used to remind them of hurt, pain, and darker times. The symbolism of this exchange can be interpreted as the boys relinquishing their previous lost identities to finally take that metaphorical step and receive the solution that will finally lead them to the Self.

Actually, if you look at the next MV that follows Fake Love extended version, you will see that it is the last song from BTS' latest album Love Yourself: Answer, Epiphany. The literal definition of the word 'epiphany' means a sudden realization, revelation, or insight, which in terms of the archetype, the Self, this could be a representation of the defining moment that shows BTS finding the final path to self fulfillment and true happiness. I'm not saying they've 100% reached the very top of the pyramid, but I do think that in deciding to make this the last track on the album, they are also treating the words as a personal message to all of ARMY.

This is their genius way of letting everyone know that the only true solution to achieving that final level of a well-developed Self, you must first experience a culmination of all previous archetypes and then integrate them all alongside the last:

One must learn to express hurt and emotions (the Shadow) before they can find a balance within (the Anima/Animus) to help counteract the mask and preconceptions (the Persona) others make us develop throughout life. It is only then will we be wise (the Self) enough to find the hidden truth.

Final Thoughts:

First of all, I want to say thank you if you made it through this whole post, I know its a little long and I truly appreciate it. 💜

Secondly, I want to reiterate that none of this is to be seen as a concrete answer to BTS concepts, song meanings, or their entire creative process as a whole, this is simply my thoughts and opinions and nothing more. That being said though, I am more than open and willing to hear both your theories on the symbolism BTS uses, as well as any constructive criticism you might have concerning this post. So please feel free to leave a comment ✌

Lastly, I have one more thing to touch base on and that is the recent announcement that was the inspiration behind this post being created in the first place. It's been blowing up the internet since it was first released, but in case you might have missed it, BTS has just dropped their comeback date (April 12th!) and the title is Map of the Soul: Persona.

See because I have such an interest in psychology/philosophy and especially loved studying Jung's work, when I first saw the title, and knowing how intellectual these boys are, I couldn't help myself from thinking that this new era could possibly have ties into Jung's 4 Archetypes. This then brought me to revist everything BTS has done up until now to see if I could be right, and that's when I realized they had already tackled the theory on the down low, or at least for most people; hence why I made this post, I wanted to create this in-depth analysis to help others understand the pure genius aspects that goes into BTS' concepts.

Now with that being said, if this new era and concept truly is going to draw inspiration from Carl Jung and his theories, then the above post is nothing more than a simple a taste of what's to come. Trust me, if it's BTS we are talking about, then everything I've said pales in comparison to what their truly brilliant minds can come up with. Either way I can't wait to see what's in store!!!

Thank you again if you read this and please feel free to share or leave your own comments. I would love to hear what you guys have to say! 💜💜💜