Rambling thoughts thread:
In the past, BTS’ albums were within narrative arcs, in trilogies and within a larger “Reflection of Youth” arc — all conveying their authentic personal stories through music and art. That big “narrative arc” (theoretically) ended w Map of the Soul and +
a “final” “finding of self”.
MOTS was (originally) meant to be a trilogy (persona, shadow & ego) but we got the masterpiece MOTS:7 instead of two separate (probably) EPs.
Now, BTS have mentioned “New Chapter” a lot (JK @ AMAs, Joon @ Variety, Joon @ PTD press con) and BHM too +
(At this point, I think we’re all more than half expecting the next album to actually be called “new chapter”🤪😂🤡)
But, interestingly, +
Back in June 2021, for Festa, BTS & BH used the idea of books and chapters for the table talk of their, and ARMYs’, story:
Book 1: Our Story
Ch 1: BTS Now (off-air life during the pandemic)
Ch 2: Memories with ARMY
Book 2: Stop & Run
Ch 1: Changed Life
Ch 2: Comeback (Butter) +
Book 3: BTS’ Future - The moment we meet again.
The theme of the Book 3 keywords had BTS talking about their hopes and what they imagined for the future, meeting ARMY face to face again, and the kinds of messages to tell ARMY about their feelings, the moment etc🥺 +
Remember, this Festa was also when BTS looked back & directly spoke a little abt past hardship & later explained they finally did bcuz those chapters are over. They’re ok, maybe it was necessary, but ignoring them like it had never happened would be like saying "that's not them"+
With the theme/arc of the “books/chapters” from June 2021, it’s especially interesting to me how Joon described: 1) their past (feeling limited, facing invisible walls, fighting and working hard with all their hearts in every moment), that added up to get+
2) the miracle of where they are today with ARMY (the present), and 3) how they now feel they’re really at the beginning of a new chapter (the future), at the PTD press conference.
His description/answer seems to kinda follow a similar arc to the books/chapters from Festa…+
🤔🤷♀️
Also, so many of us commented on how, while in America, BTS seemed so much more comfortable & confident. They’ve known for years they make history w us, but the (polite) flexing and emphasizing BTS’ and ARMYs’ (real) power in interviews was done in way that seemed…new for them +
And interestingly, they said they’re not afraid anymore (Yoongi & Hobi)
BTS hv actually talked quite a lot abt fear over the yrs. Someone pointed out to me on the below thread how BTS communicating having no more fear now aligns with their messaging about a new chapter 🤔🤷♀️+
Idk. Whatever it will be, it seems to me like BTS’ new chapter is one they’re really looking forward to, with confidence and without fear. I hope the music industry is terrified by that. They should be.💜
🧐Well what JK meant to say was “focus on enjoying every moment”. Which reminds me of something Joon touched on back in 2018. How worries, having “troubles” (ie, fear/pain?), prevented him from enjoying moments he felt he should. BTS without fear is free to enjoy every moment…🤷♀️
I’m excited! Tablo confirmed he and Namjoon *do* use the Icarus myth in Don’t Stop the Rain in the album preview blurb🤓 and now he shared Epik High’s 2008 instrumental track “Icarus Walks”, which is a cool but kinda disturbing track. In myth, Icarus flew too high, too close to+
the sun and he fell to his death. “Icarus Walks” opens with what sounds like Icarus picking up his body & slowly walking…after the fall. It’s the sounds of broken wet flesh & bone moving forward over stone (in a cave? back in tower prison?) then instrumentation takes over. It’s+
a transitional track to the next song (“낙화”) the theme of which was ‘never give up on your dream’
The write up for “Don’t Stop the Rain” says Tablo & RM explore the trauma of childhood and disillusionment after adulthood in a story reminiscent of Icarus’ journey. The track has+
🤓moment (feels like an age I’ve publicly commented on business stuff)
The FTC designation of HYBE as a “conglomerate” is regulatory (based on assets value). It’s a system set up yrs ago to impose restrictions, trying to curb concentration of power to some mega co’s (chaebols) +
(ineffectively, arguably). It went from 32 companies when first introduced to now 83. It’s also a designation and regulatory/disclosure requirement that’s unique to Korea, and there aren’t equivalent regulations in the US, Europe, Japan etc.
The extra restrictions are criticized+
on lots of grounds, including that the 5tr won threshold for conglomerate designation is basically out of touch (been unchanged for decades).
In Feb 2024, the FTC announced it’d look into changing that threshold - to make it based on assets that equal a certain % of Korea’s GDP +
I saw a twt earlier asking about the symbol on Hobi’s arm but then the tl refreshed 🤷♀️
So, for a ‘the more you know’, the one on his arm is the insignia for his division: 36th infantry. The one on his hat is the coat of arms/seal of the Republic of Korea Army (obviously) +
The patch on the pocket of his shirt is rank (private first class rn)
The patch on his backpack is also for his division, as the 36th infantry is the Baekho unit - aka the white tigers.
조교 denotes him as an assistant instructor (with Republic of Korea Army ROKA below) +
The patch above his rank on his chest is also “Republic of Korea Army” (we’ve seen this one before (in full) in his May pics). Now, above that is another patch (with the sword) which also denotes him as an assistant instructor (조교)
TBR has a comprehensive summary wrap up article on the end of the Jamboree:
“The Jamboree Sh*tshow”
with the scathing subheading:
“The embarrassing mismanagement of the World Scout Jamboree ended with one of the most disgraceful K-pop concerts in history”+
https://t.co/XzoGnoauMvblueroofpolitics.com/post/tbr-weekl…
“The Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s missteps, big and small, in attempting to wrap up the Jamboree…show how a country once admired for its Winter Olympics in 2018 and its hyper-efficient public-health response to [the p*ndemic] could fail so miserably just a few years later +
“At each turn, the administration’s actions were marked by incompetence, pathological short-sightedness, and an authoritarian urge to command, culminating in what will be remembered as one of the most disgraceful episodes in K-pop history.
+
I caught up with a non-ARMY friend today and made her watch Seven (she’s in film and TV). Her plot interpretation (after watching x2):
👀🤔
👤 the woman is annoyed at herself for not being able to resist him / stop having thoughts about being with him as she goes about her life +
The guy she’s fighting/that’s following her in the MV is just in her head; he’s not real. “He” represents her desire for him/her lover (irl) and for his 7-day a week promised loving, which she’s trying to deny herself, yet she can’t stop thinking about +
(he’s in her head, seducing, promising (like the song stuck in our head)). She rejects her desire (ie “him”) getting mad, fighting it, repeatedly. But, since she can’t stop wanting him, “he” keeps showing up/coming back even as she goes about even routine daily things: commuting+
“ARMY translators, they hold up the sky, frankly. They have been so instrumental in making BTS accessible to ARMY all around the world…BTS listens to their fans a lot…so it is essential for them to know what ARMY is thinking and for ARMY to know what BTS is thinking and +
“a huge part of this has been ARMY translators doing the work in between and mostly uncompensated. There is a really big built up work of ARMY, of like BTS terms and all of that and we [professional translators of Beyond the Story] would reference it. +
“We would have to make our own decisions as translators, and not everyone is going to agree w every decision we made…but the ARMY translators were a huge help. They also created this culture of translation around BTS…ARMY now have a v sophisticated understanding of literary +