The trailer for Karma came out btw please watch but anyways there were a lot of small details in it as usual cuz stray kids.It was so good lowkey reminded me of hunger games quarter quell.
I have looked at many fan theories so far and I have come to the realisation AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICED THE JACK DANIELS MOTORCYCLE JACKET IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE SCENE W/ LEE KNOW AND SEUNGMIN???
Jack Danial’s is an singer based on my research his music is mostly similar to strays kids genre but it could also just be yk the motorcycle brand because I’m kinda dyslexic and read it wrong
Also Jackson in the posters, background of Changbins scene could be maybe they are doing a collab with Jackson Wang because they are in good relationship with him even after got7 didn’t renew renew their contract with JYP
I think the knife (or maybe a piece from the motorcycle?) that he holds is possibly a metaphor for the numerous traumas mentioned in the song's lyrics, as well as the motorcycle accident that is depicted in the video. In addition to that, it could also represent his sometimes self-inflicted fear or destruction which ultimately gave birth to Agust D, who Yoongi has mentioned is a manifestation of things like fear, regret, grief, etc.
taemin's never gonna dance again trilogy tackles his complex relationship and feelings towards fame. in criminal, the criminal in question is fame and taemin sings about his extremely contradictory emotions towards its impact on him: "i know well that you're bad for me ... but being brainwashed, all i can do is nod. so elegant, a criminal who hurts me. it's okay, you soothe me just to torture me again." it's akin to stockholm syndrome, as taemin has been lured in by the glitz and glamour of fame but is frustrated by its toxicity, the ways in which it has wounded him. there's an added layer of irony as taemin further perpetuates his fame by singing about it, selling albums that contain stories of his misery. the harder he fights, the deeper he falls. it's an incredibly genuine and honest side of taemin, making himself vulnerable to the public eye through his own art.
the theme of fame continues in idea, as fame is "the dangerous dream that swallowed me," taemin's self proclaimed messiah that kills him softly. something that immediately stood out to me was how often taemin stands with his arms outstretched in the music video, mimicking a crucifixion pose (we also see this in criminal). this could allude to the way taemin's been viewed as a god, given the title "idol of idols" in reference to how many other individuals in the industry have stated taemin as their primary inspiration behind dancing. this bears an extreme burden on him, viewed as their otherworldly and untouchable creature by so many when he's nothing but an ordinary human being. the crucifixion pose simultaneously elevates and grounds him. the key visual motif in idea are shadows, notably the metaphor that shadows represent the uncertain, the darkness that taemin wishes to escape even if he's unsure of what he's running away from in the first place. "the shadow holding the night is getting darker ... beyond the limit of realization, your shadow i finally found. at this moment i've become to trust everything that is invisible." the final lines almost feel like a moment of catharsis: "on the night that i cut you from my heart, (killing me softly, killing me softly) finally i open the eyes." taemin thrusts himself into the darkness of the shadows, but he is now in control. his eyes are open to the way he lives his life through contradictions, but he is living on his own terms. fame can be dangerous, but taemin is determined to take back his own life, his own humanity.
theory: what if want and famous (released the year prior) fall into this overarching narrative of taemin's precarious relationship to fame? want is ultimately a song about a relationship between slave and master, and could symbolize the ways in which fame has seduced taemin into submission. taemin is incomplete without fame and he talks about how he craves it, how fame leaves him thirsting for more. the way fame has broken him down is one that is slow, deliberate. it's engrained into him in such a way that is difficult to unravel the impact it has had on him. he's been in the industry since he was 14, spent more than half of his life in the spotlight. fame is a parasite yet he cannot fathom what it would be like to live without it because this is all he's ever known.
the line "the sweetness of the forbidden apple tempts you" particularly stands out, as one of the key visual motifs in famous are apples. there are several shots in the music video where taemin is lying on the ground, surrounded by apples, each one with a bite taken out of them. (i also enjoy the biblical allusion to eve, especially how apples symbolize indulgences of the utmost unholy kind.) famous is the visual representation of taemin giving into the erotic, sweet pleasure of fame: however, this is something he will later have to fight against in criminal.
So this is probably long and wordy so I’d just like to warn anyone ahead of time. I broke it down by listing the MVs in the order that I think they belong in (it’s almost the order that they released them surprisingly) and the reasons behind what I thought the storyline was in relation to an overall storyline and pretty much why I put them in that order. If anyone has any questions about what I said, questions in general, or thoughts about the MVs and your own theories, feel free to reach out!
I did actually put a condensed version of what I think is going on in the MVs first and then got further in depth, going through each music video, in the section after.
Thanks!
- Marisa
My Thoughts on the MV Storyline (Condensed)
Overall, my thoughts about the MVs is that ONF were originally humans that were recruited through Laun, who was already an android/robot, to join an organization to help take over the earth or to destroy it (Complete & ON/OFF). In that process they would also become part androids/robots. Over time they begin to see their impact and after the disappearance of Laun, of which they searched all over and couldn’t find him (We Must Love), they begin to see the effects of their decisions and perhaps come to regret ever joining an organization so they begin to rebel (Why) in the dystopia of the world that they’ve created. In the end, alternates are sent in to fix the problem and what happens is that they decide to jump to another timeline (Sukhumvit Swimming). It is through that timeline that they get to a completely revolutionized future and create identities for themselves (My Name Is). They are then in a stronger position to fight against the organization that has been seeking them out ever since they jumped ship to create the world that they see fit (Beautiful Beautiful).
My Thoughts on the MV and Order (In Depth)
Complete
It seems very normal in a way? Yeah there are things coming down from the sky and they have transmissions, rockets, and a globe, but if I were to tie it in to the rest of their MVs, it would be that this one is the one where they’re observing Earth. Other than the objects around them, it doesn’t really seem like there’s much in them having to do anything. Another one of my thoughts is that maybe this is their alternate “normal” dimension, as in the one where they aren’t robots. We later see in Why that Wyatt gets cloned, supposedly, something like that could’ve happened to them as well. Another theory is that this MV could also be a case of them being observed to see if they’re a good fit for the organization before they actually get committed to doing anything.
Another thing to point out is that none of them have those fancy computer watches and they aren’t really doing anything within their sort of “powers” of these MVs. Yes, I know it could be before they thought about using something like that but for the sake of the storyline, that’s what I’m going with. Other than Laun, who we see as the first one to use the flare gun, or whatever it was, and the one to do something with the rocket, there’s really nothing else besides some stuff sitting around that they go through. Before he used it, there was a shot of everyone on the roof, besides him, looking up to the sky. Wyatt was the only other one that wasn’t there but he uses the smoke signal, I think, after.
Therefore I’m going to take it as Laun was the leader of all of this stuff. He could’ve been the main android/robot collecting data and that’s why he was so important in the other MVs and why the other guys were so desperately trying to search for him. He probably had some sort of knowledge about what was going on, maybe.
If we were to go off of the lyrics of the song, the song tells the other person that they complete them, so maybe, in perspective of the MV, is it Laun who completes them and introduces them to the world beyond which they knew?
ON/OFF
I see this MV as the sort of transportation MV. After the guys have already left Earth, they’re now being introduced to the world and perhaps they’re starting to be converted to sort of androids/robots. I take that from the mark on Hyojin’s neck being faint. I believe that Laun probably is already one, hence him sleeping in the room and being isolated from everyone else as they look on, he was getting recharged or uploading the data that he knew to the computer system, which is why there was an uploading screen during the music video.
Because the guys are still kind of human, that’s why they’re just doing normal things and why they don’t really interact with Laun during the music video. They’re exploring the contents of the place they’ve now entered and are getting a better feel for the world that they are now entering. Laun, on the other hand, probably needs to be protected since he’s the one with the information and the one who puts the disk into the machine, the rocket looking thing. It’s probably his information that he’s uploaded onto the system so it would know and could thereby send out more rockets, perhaps? If those things in the sky were maybe rockets.
One thing that is interesting is the mirror that says ‘My Name Is’ and where Laun puts a picture of himself. I’m assuming that perhaps he was once human and doesn’t want to forget that once human side of himself. Laun is also seen wearing a school uniform type outfit at one point during the MV, when he’s putting the information into the rocket, and it seems like when he faints on the ground the other guys are wearing something similar, too. Perhaps he fainted because of an overdrive or he ran out of battery? Hence him lying in the room by himself because he needs to recharge?
Lyrically, the lyrics say that “You’re my producer” and “Make me into your man, I’m yours.” In the perspective of the storyline, they could be taken as the guys are fully giving themselves to the project at hand, resigning themselves to be created however the person controlling them wants. Also, obviously, they talk about being turned on and off, which, if they were made into robots and androids, could probably be done to them.
We Must Love
By this point, the guys are seeing the sort of consequences that come with their actions. The first scene of the colorful earth turning into a dystopia type land with, what I’m now calling rockets, raining down on the sky, and MK watching on shows that they’re not surprised that any of that is happening. Yet because of the world beginning to fall apart, this is where I think that it all starts to break down, and how it turns into the world in Why. Perhaps they didn’t know that things would turn out like this or perhaps they didn’t realize that things would get that bad, either way, I think that during this entire duration they’re finally realized just how badly things have gotten and what they’ve actually gotten themselves into.
That’s why it’s so important for them to find Laun. He’s probably the glue that holds it together, holds them all together, and that’s why they’re frantic to find him all by using their specialties that they’ve been trained in. It becomes a theme for them, especially in Why and then it can be seen in Beautiful Beautiful, too. Hyojin is the one who can teleport, kind of, J-Us is the information hacker, MK is the machine/system hacker, and Wyatt is the one with the motorcycle but I don’t know what that does yet. Both E-Tion and U seem like they’re the ones to manipulate machines.
I don’t think Laun just got up and disappeared, though. In the context of the MV, in the scene where everyone is running to him, he’s fiddling with the watch and then disappears. I think it’s important to point out that the guys are all wearing a school uniform type outfit, similar to the school uniform outfit that they wore in ON/OFF and the one that Laun wore as well when he was putting the information into the rocket. From U’s past memory about them, they were all probably in class together to learn about their specialties and what their true missions were. So when they’re all searching for Laun, some time has probably passed since they no longer have to attend those lessons.
But anyway, I think Laun might’ve traveled back into the past. On a scene with J-Us in the room that Laun was in, there was a warning on the screen behind him at one point that said time travel was being operated. If the other holds true, that Laun disappeared before they were even out in the world, it could mean that he’s still time traveling, or at least someone is. I like to think that it’s him for really one reason.
That potential reason is because of the scene at the train station with E-Tion finding him. What I think E-Tion finds is a different version of Laun, which is why he looks so calm and is just reading a book. If Laun did go to the past and change the timeline, then it could be presumed that the current Laun of that time might not be doing what he was originally doing. That may also be the reason why, at the end of the MV, he turns to look back at Hyojin but it doesn’t seem like he has any recollection about him. He does still have the mark on his neck, though, which means he might not be entirely free from fate. He could’ve been assigned to do something else in that timeline. When J-Us hacked into information about Laun, it did say that his address was Universe 01 but we don’t know what universe the guys are in. Another theory is that maybe it’s the guys that are time traveling, but I don’t really think so. They could potentially be jumping around to different timelines looking for Laun but I don’t think they’d ever find the true Laun that they’re searching for.
Another reason for Laun’s disappearance could be that he was tired of it. He was looking at the image of the whale swimming with a blank expression so maybe he wanted to be free like the whale swimming in the ocean instead of sheltered and used, like what was seen in the ON/OFF MV. Instead of just being used, he wanted to simply live his life. But like I mentioned, he still has the barcode on when they find, who I’m assuming, is that timeline’s Laun, so maybe he can’t truly escape it but can pretend like it doesn’t exist and try to forge a new lifestyle for himself.
However, on the same line, I do think that Laun probably remembered Hyojin but chose not to do anything or show any recognition if he’s jumping around on the same timeline. Was it for Hyojin’s own good? Or for his? It did seem like he sensed someone on the other side of the train station where E-Tion was and honestly, that would probably be the only other explanation for the mark on his neck still being there if he were to travel to a different time. That would also explain why the guys still have memories of him even if he traveled back and changed the timelines. They’ve also become part androids in the process and are unaffected by the changing of the timelines because they also have the ability to change them. Therefore, rather than maybe Laun not remembering E-Tion at the train station, we don’t actually know because he never saw him. Or maybe it would’ve been another situation like with Hyojin, he could just pretend like he doesn’t.
Hyojin did have a vision of a happy Laun reading a book in the forest only to have a memory of him crying before he rested on the train. Hyojin is on a lot of trains. But anyway, the scene of happy Laun could have been one that was sent to Hyojin to remember him by while the scene with his tears could’ve been the reality.
But out of all of the MVs so far, the lyrics I think really relate with the story of Laun disappearing. The lyrics talk about strange things happening since they met the other person wondering if they lost their memories of the past, future, or even of a different world and also expresses their confusion because they don’t actually know what happened.
Why
There’s really one main reason why I think Why comes after We Must Love and that’s because of the setting. By this point the guys are seemingly against each other compared to when they were in We Must Love and seemingly working together to find Laun. Or at least that was how it seemed. We never actually did see them together throughout the MV, but it did seem like they all cared for him and were aiming for the same kind of goal. This MV clearly shows us that they’re no longer on the same side. E-Tion threatens U and J-Us threatens Hyojin. Those two even have a fight. Also, it showed that Hyojin and J-Us were once friends with one another, they were both looking out on the city together, but I think that as their opinions about their situation became divided, there was a split in them. Therefore they’re all looking for the same thing but for different reasons.
I think this MV has split them up into the On and Off teams. While I’m not positive who is on what side, I do think that maybe Hyojin is on the side of whatever organization they’re in and I’m basing that off of him still having a mark on his neck, only this time it’s darker than what it was in the ON/OFF MV. That could mean that he’s completely become an android and one of them, but I also have another theory that I’ll get into later. Anyway, it could also be said that that’s the same as Wyatt, who they seemed to be cloning and who did have an android/computer systems back. However, that would be an android Wyatt and not the real Wyatt since he throws the key away. I attribute to the Off team working against the organization.
But there are points when it seems like maybe everything is not that black and white. MK is using the googles which sends out beams into the world but the next scene is time reversing itself as those rockets seem to be moving back up into the air very slowly. Perhaps MK was the one to end up reversing those rockets, I’m still calling them rockets, falling from the sky. That could also be the reason why an alternate Hyojin comes and makes the current Hyojin disappear along with the city at the end and the rockets still coming down. Maybe the On team were getting swayed to change sides therefore an alternate Hyojin was sent in to fix the problem to make things go down the path they intended to be. That could also be why Wyatt was being cloned. If they needed another person to help fulfill their missions, they could substitute him. But the theory about an alternative Hyojin is why the mark on his neck could be dark. This alternate Hyojin has committed to the organization to do its bidding, including ridding the world of his old self.
But then how does it all relate if he gets rid of his old self and I said that I don’t think they’re affected by time traveling? It’s because I do think that there are multiple timelines and universes. That was shown by them having Laun’s address in Universe 01. With that information it can be presumed that maybe other versions of themselves live in other universes, only they take on different lives. So even if alternate Hyojin destroys this timeline’s Hyojin, that doesn’t mean that he’s gone forever. There could be an infinite amount of universes. It’s just for the particular timeline we’re in, Hyojin has walked down the path of joining the organization and potentially becoming a rebel. If the organization that they’re working for wants to take over/destroy the world, then they need to get rid of this timeline’s Hyojin to achieve their goal. The Hyojin’s of other timelines could be doing something different. Near the end of the MV we do see mirror worlds of each other, one on the top of the screen and one on the bottom. It could be that those worlds exist in different timelines and universes. The time traveling and remembering could pertain to only their timeline. They would need other means to jump into other timelines, which I’ll mention later.
On the other hand, if the Off team is the rebellion, it doesn’t add up why U didn’t do anything when he went to see the cloned Wyatt and was caught by E-Tion. Maybe he wanted to see the progress or maybe he did end up doing something? I do think that it was U who told E-Tion maybe the true reason why things were happening when they were at the abandoned building and why E-Tion looked so distraught and still sat there after U left. One interesting thing is that there’s a blue flower behind E-Tion and in the Sukhumvit Swimming MV, he plays with a blue flower on the moon.
Another interesting thing is that MK has the googles in this MV that make things into a static rainbow spectrum of color. I think Wyatt ends up getting those goggles in Beautiful Beautiful but I’ll touch on that when I get to that MV. Honestly, there are so many snippets of things that are scattered around MV to MV like the blue flower, googles, the globes, the red looking record player, and the red box that Hyojin goes towards. A lot of things are similar and are carried over which I think is also an interesting way to tie the MVs together.
But going back to the storyline, other reasons why I think the Off team is against the organization is because U did run from the police when he was in the museum type location and it seemed like he was desperately looking for information when he was in the room with the computer and going through the CDs. Also, when Hyojin and J-Us have their showdown with J-Us pointing a gun at Hyojin, all of the masked people come from Hyojin’s side. I would assume that those people are also workers for the organization and that’s why he has such numbers that are able to be on his side. As for Wyatt, he was the one who threw away the key. Not sure what he would’ve done with it otherwise, but it was probably a part of the overall picture of whatever the ultimate goal was.
Overall, I think this MV is about how they were separate but how they’re slowly looking towards the same goals and slowly coming together, since there are some scenes of them all being on the roof together from above. While they’re all still far away from each other, maybe they don’t truly trust each other, it’s possible to say that the Off team was successful in creating rebels out of the On team.
In the lyrics for the chorus, they talk about someone being dangerous and how they’re breaking down the person and also pulling them deeper. It could be said that the organization that they are a part of is continuing to hurt them the longer they stay connected to it and they’ve come to that realization that they need to separate from it for the betterment of themselves.
One thing that I’d like to mention before going into the next MV that I think is in line is that I think the googles that MK has help them jump through or transport through, including maybe the watches but I only saw E-Tion with one this MV, unless I missed others. The googles that MK has created a door for both Wyatt and E-Tion. The goggles showed MK a combined red and blue door and it presented a red one for Wyatt and blue for E-Tion. Maybe that was somehow showing that the two teams should be combined? That they’d work stronger together?
Sukhumvit Swimming
The reason why I mentioned the googles and using them for jumping through is because it could be that they used the googles to jump to another timeline, where Sukhumvit Swimming comes in. Yet I don’t think that it’s just any simple timeline. Based on the scenes of Wyatt driving, those computerized backgrounds, it could be said that maybe they are in between timelines, like they have no definitive place anywhere. Sidenote, those same computerized backgrounds are shown on the screens of the place that U is in, I believe, too. Back to the point, but that’s why images of things that have happened in the past keep appearing through this MV like the red record player, the scene of the hallway where it seemed like that’s the same hallway that Laun disappeared in, the globe, and the dystopian city.
That could also be a reason why E-Tion is looking down at the earth and scenes are bigger behind them. Because they’re not in any particular timeline, they’re looking at things from an outsiders’ perspective. Also, there are scenes of what seems like barcodes dropping quite frequently. That could symbolize that they’ve decided to forgo their past android/robot identities and move forward with their lives as they try to find a new place to restart their lives.
I think I did hear somewhere that in this MV Hyojin is trying to steal time, which is why J-Us comes to stop him on the train and why time stops when he enters. That could potentially relate to his need to find out where Laun went therefore maybe he thought that if he were able to steal time before actually entering any timeline, he’d be able to manipulate it the way that he wants to find out where he went and perhaps reverse what they had done in the other timeline of the dystopia reality. But how is Hyojin here if he disappeared in the other timeline with the city? This would just be another Hyojin from a different dimension and universe.
Even though I think they’re jumping timelines in this storyline, they still have remnants of the past such as E-Tion and the blue flower that was in Why, MK being surrounded by computer monitors, and J-Us and the dystopia city behind him. What may become important later is that in one scene, there looks to be an android arm that is on the ground in J-Us’s dystopian city ruins. Those androids probably relate to Beautiful Beautiful so maybe there is a timeline when those androids are destroyed?
Contextually, Sukhumvit is one of the longest roads/boulevards in the world. That meaning could tie in together with the guys jumping timelines as they go down a long road to find the right one. That could also be why they’re all dressed up as something different. They’ve probably experienced different paths on their way to find the right one that will allow them to fight back with the organization they’re rebelling against. That could also explain why in some scenes time is going forward and in others, time is going backwards. Plus, the song also explains going on a trip and traveling which ties into what they’re doing story wise. It could be said that they’re swimming through the universes and timelines.
Also, at the end of the MV, we can see that the bullets that Hyojin and J-Us shot are reversed and then time starts up again. That could show that whatever happened during their trip wouldn’t stay permanent since they’re like in the in-between where time has been temporarily frozen.
My Name Is
As it pertains to the story, I see My Name Is as the part where they’ve finally reached the timeline they want and where they establish themselves as a group and reassert their bonds with one another. After they were no longer working on the same side temporarily in Why, this MV relates to the story as them reiterating that they are working together now in their new timeline and universe. By creating identities for themselves they’re also showing that they plan on staying in this timeline to fulfill their duties.
Beautiful Beautiful
The reason why I think Beautiful Beautiful is the last one in the timeline, as in the most current, is a similar reason as to why I put Why after We Must Love, and that is the setting. Beautiful Beautiful seemingly takes place in what I see as a revolutionized future. In Why and Sukhumvit Swimming, there were some flying cars, or flying somethings, in the MVs but in the case of Why and We Must Love, those were almost dystopian worlds that were getting destroyed. Reversely, in my opinion, Beautiful Beautiful takes place in a world where the organization has won.
But then why is it more futuristic looking? One reason could be because when jumping timelines in Sukhumvit Swimming, they went farther into the future. Another reason could be that after destroying the current world in Why and We Must Love, the organization decided to rebuild the city from the ground up to make it exactly the way they wanted. But then why would the guys choose to go to a timeline when the opposition wins? Well, I think it’s because that no matter what timeline they go to, in some way, the opposition will always win. In the end it could be seen that it’d just be better to go further into the future where they have more resources and probably know more about themselves and have more faith in their skills to defeat them.
Like in previous MVs, they’re still doing what they do best. MK is still hacking into computers, E-Tion and U control machines and have the watches, Hyojin is teleporting, and Wyatt is using the googles to access a computer system and he still has his bike. J-Us, since he’s under arrest, can’t really do as much in this case regarding his information hacking. But maybe it was because of his information hacking that he was able to pass information on to the others about how to temporarily defeat the robots that are chasing them.
A difference in this story compared to the others is that they all looked a lot more relaxed than they once were. In Why and We Must Love they were frantically looking for information and at each other’s throats. In this MV since they’re working together and are able to get things done, they don’t have as much stress accumulated and rely on one another to complete the task at hand, which is saving J-Us at the moment.
Based on the ending of the MV, it could be said that they’ve temporarily won as their Beautiful Beautiful cube ends up in the sky and they admire the fireworks, but I would definitely say that the happiness probably doesn’t last. They may have won a temporary battle and got J-Us back, but there will definitely be future issues, which of course depends on their future MVs.
Going back to this, I think there were a lot of ties into past MVs and similar scenes. For one, Hyojin was still on a train with masked figures, the red record was shown again, and the googles that Wyatt wore seemed like the ones MK had in Why. One of the bigger things, I think, was the usage of the cube at the end. Instead of seemingly wreaking havoc on the earth like the other cubes of the other MVs did, this cube was ONF’s cube that helped them instead of rain down rockets. In one of the scenes when U and E-Tion are in their hideout, which I’m pretty sure is the yellow machine that comes up behind U at the junkyard looking place, the cube is on a screen behind them and it says that all systems are active. Who knows, maybe during their time on the run they figured out the best way to fight back against the organization. Using the same method, the cube and with all of their hacking abilities, they were able to cause a data attack and subsequent system error. That was shown on the green banners that Hyojin and J-Us saw after he was rescued and before they jumped out of the building at the end.
Conclusion
Overall, I think the basic gist of it is just like what I mentioned in the condense version. There’s some organization that ONF were once a part of that they’ve become rebellions of and are now working against. It’s an interesting concept, that of androids/robots, that they’ve had from the beginning and I like how everything still connects with each other with similar skills and abilities being shown throughout or similar looking scenes that relate one MV to the next.
When I initially saw the MVs, I thought that maybe I would organize them in a different order than when they premiered, but thinking about them, they kind of make sense in the order that they showed up. I only switched ON/OFF and Complete. But even if they were to be in the same order, as in ON/OFF first and then Complete, I think an argument could be made for that way, too. It could be said that in ON/OFF, ONF are created as the robots but are created with more human qualities so they can go to Earth in Complete and get the information needed. Yet because Laun was the one to put the information in the rocket, I assume that he got that information when he was already on Earth in Complete, which is why I reversed them.
But if you’ve made it this far, then congrats! I know this was long. I honestly didn’t expect me to have so much to say about these MVs and storylines and things I noticed that were interesting. I guess I just found myself being drawn into it in a way. But I can’t wait to see what kind of future stuff gets put out and if it’ll continue to relate to the storyline that they’ve been telling so far.
First of all, in Scream MV we saw that the Tree of languages (Tree of life in the norse mythology) was corrupted because of dark magic. The white silhouette is fading like if the dark one attacked her to corrupt the tree
The crystal can be seen as the heart of the tree but is now destroyed
The bone of the tree is now corrupted, the writtings on the walls look like a virus
the previous Jiu scene, the color was purple and now it changed to red. What if the purple color was the transition between the good and the dark magic meanwhile the red is the color of the result/consequence (corruption).
Yoohyeon looks desperate and try to use her power to resolve the situation. There are ruins standing all around her, like a destroyed world.
The tree of life is now dying because the only way for the tree to live was being feeded with good words. In the boca teasers photos, we see good fruits but also dying/corrupted fruits, it shows how the tree is getting weaker and weaker.
Since the tree was corrupted, it affected the people too and they forgot how to say good things. In Boca, we see the consequences of the corruption, looks like people lost their reason and became almost like zombies, all their good side and wisdom were gone.
the status mouth is covered up, as if they couldn’t speak anymore, the bad words shut them down.
look at the lyrics:
Everyone starts to beg once they’re in hell
But their mouths freeze up
...
If those thorny words
Start to hurt you
I won’t let them open that BOCA
The black and white scenes, it’s all about masked people chasing the members. If we have to give a meaning to that we could say that it represents people in the society who wanna hurt you either physically or with their words.
the archery scene, yoohyeon is using her bow and arrow to attack herself, her other self? Notice the color of the “smog” from her bow, the same color and shape as the ones from the smog effect when the Tree was corrupted in the Scream mv.
Notice that she’s standing in front of the white tree as if she is linked with the tree of life or as if she represents the tree itself. Since she got attacked by her other self, there are petals that are falling down --> the tree getting powerless
Jiu notices the petals falling down, witnessing the tree getting sick. Her safe place is being attacked by bad people.
“Too many angels are dying now”
the golden tears are considered as power in the grek mythology:
“Ichor originates in Greek mythology, where it is the ethereal fluid that is the Greek gods' blood, sometimes said to retain the qualities of the immortals' food and drink, ambrosia and nectar. Great heroes and demigods occasionally attacked gods and released ichor” (wiki)
OR
It may be tears like Freyja the Goddess of love and fertility in the Norse mythology. (And we know that Dreamcatcher was inspired by the norse mythology for this story line). She has the purest gold tears of the nine world. Freyja had a husband named Odr. He often went away on long journeys, and for this reason Freya cried tears of red gold.
What if gahyeon is crying because the tree and her whole safe world are dying? Notice that Freyja is also the Goddess of fertility so seeing the tree dying makes Gahyeon even more sadder.
“Where is the love?”
Let’s say that the soft-colorful scenes represent the safe and pure world meanwhile the scenes in the subways/streets are the corrupted world. It started to affect the pure world.
You may feel attacked by haters and bad people. Boca means mouth is spanish so when they do that hand gesture is to emphasize the way how people open their month to say hurtful things to others.
In the end of the mv, we see the mask like the one in the Scream mv but this time it’s covered with a lot of words (bad words). What people say will never disappear and will leave a scar on you. That’s why people should be careful with what they say to others. What they are hearing will stay in their mind.
“Why fill up your precious time with hate?”
“All targets are set on you I know about all the scars you got even without a sharp edge Even if you don’t say it“
IN CONCLUSION :
Despite all the interpretations and meanings that those sceneries may contain, If we have to interpret this eery universe and story line in one way, it simply explains that bad words can affect people around you so be careful with what what you say, don’t open your mouth to say bullshit.
I had to do it because I did a very brief one earlier, and I have way too much time on my hands ~and wine but that’s not the point haha~
This is only my personal interpretation of the imagery contained within the video, so please just enjoy as such! (or feel free to build off of it!) This is probably me going a little too deep into a beautiful video but I’m compelled to do it.
I really don’t know where to start, but I’ll start with the three different states of limitations and “chains” that the members are bound by.
Imagery: Chains, Dirt, Ropes
Meaning: The Physical Boundaries and Limitations
I saw the chains, dirt, and ropes as a physical representation of the hardship and suffering that one must go through (and SVT undoubtedly has experienced) to reach one’s best moments in life, the start of your most beautiful in life. Sometimes there are physical boundaries and limits that you must overcome in order for you to bloom. I saw The8 and Hoshi’s desperate but beautiful dance as one breaking free from these physical limits - they’re close to the dirt because they’re only starting to sprout, and they’re working hard in order to grow. It’s not an easy path, as evidenced by their metal chains embedded in concrete, but they manage to break free from it later (A point I will touch on later!!)
Jeonghan’s limits are both metal, harder to break, and cloth - easier to undo. I think he’s the bridge between the members who really represent the physical struggles (Hoshi, Minghao) and the more mental and intangible struggles and limitations that one is put through. He’s bound by both these struggles and is in-between both the physical/mental struggles and the time of day (because he’s in a bed).
Imagery: Suspension, Isolation, Veils
Meaning: Limbo, the in-between
I should have put Jeonghan here, but oh well!! Refer to the previous paragraph :P
There are different types of isolation in this film. Almost all the members (Chan (Dino), Seungcheol (S.COUPS), DK, and Seungkwan, Joshua, Woozi, Wonwoo, etc.) are shown to be alone in their respective landscapes. I’m going to point out a few members in particular, because their scenes stood out the most to me.
Let’s talk about DK. He’s shown in a desolate, dirt-filled landscape with a bunch of what look like moons orbiting him. There are 13 of them (look at roughly ~3:10ish and count them :P), but he’s in a darker version of the group shot where everything is dark and even those orbiting moons are dark. They’re lit by some sort of light source in the distance, but they light up the side that’s not facing him - which would mean that he would see only darkness, or the new moon. I only think that the state of brightness of these moons have some overarching role in narrating their overall story of coming together and finding each other to bloom, but he may just be the representation of one of the phases of light that I saw in the video.
Jun is another interesting member in the video, similarly to Jeonghan - but where Jeonghan represents the physical in-between of night and day, dream and reality (with the bed), Jun I think represents the limbo between not quite blooming and being stuck in the phase before blooming. He’s floating in air (thanks, wire!!) and is the closest out of all the members to the flowers, but he has nothing solid to support him. He’s not standing on solid ground. He can’t quite reach the flowers, the ultimate goal, but he isn’t quite on the ground either.
Mingyu is somewhat similar to Jun in that he’s sitting on a doorway full of flowers, but the doorway is something fragile and more tangible than just floating in air. The door opens - I’m not sure whether Mingyu has just gotten there (opened the door to the flowers,) or is sitting on the door with the flowers before it opens and lets him fall. Either way, he’s in a precarious situation.
Oh, and the veils! Veils usually mean a separation from something (re: the mysterious veil in Harry Potter), and Seungcheol/Seungkwan are surrounded by them. They’re neither here nor there. I would classify Seungcheol as being close to dawn and Seungkwan being closer to mid-day/noon judging by the color of light in their scenes, which means Seungkwan represents the part of day that’s closer to the ultimate end goal, the blooming. He even holds a bouquet of flowers while Seungcheol’s only covered in petals.
The whole isolation bit of the other members are another part of the video, I think, where it’s hinted that none of them felt that they could do it alone. Minghao and Hoshi end up breaking the concrete block that hold their chains when they find that they can dance and work together, and Wonwoo’s isolation suddenly ends when Jun’s feet hit solid ground and they find each other.
Imagery: Paint Strokes, Broken Vases, Film
Meaning: The Mental/Immaterial Boundaries and Limitations
I feel like Joshua, Vernon, and Woozi all represent the mental boundaries and limitations that people go through when they are growing or creating something. Woozi’s covered in the paint marks, the “scars” of creation - the painting that he’s working on has no face, just painted over with white, and he struggles in expressing himself artistically. I saw this as his mental struggle of being an artist and of bearing the weight of creating SVT’s music. His limitations are more of a mental block, where his mind being painted white is more of a struggle for him.
I saw Joshua’s scenes as a more poetic and romantic representation of what it’s like to grow up. He has a lot of broken vases and containers for storing flowers. He even has flowers as “wounds” - It’s this obsession and desperation of wanting to be a great person who can have and hold the fleeting beauty of flowers, whether it is love, art, joy. He’s pained with the memories of what flowers he used to hold, or whether or not he’s “worthy” enough of holding them.
Vernon’s more of the sentimental one - I saw the catalogued representations of flowers to mean that he’s more about remembering or wanting to keep the beautiful memories alive forever. You replay your best moments, the most beautiful memories, the passing of time. He’s the embodiment of you realizing that these moments don’t last forever.
Now for the final bit: The passing of time (Darkness to light), and the eventual reunion of all 13 members with the flowers and full moons!!
Each member is in a particular time of day, whether it is darkness (dawn), mid-day, or sunset/twilight. This could mean a lot of things, but I like to think of it as different points in a journey - you have to go through those moments as you live through a day, and it’s only natural to start off in one and end up at another.
The mirrors are (literal) reflections of the members and they’re shown to step on these mirrored stepping stones, finally bringing them together. I saw this to mean that while each mirror is representative of each member, it also reflects the people who step on them. I am you, you are me. We are together.
DK starts off as a new moon, the day progresses, and eventually the members all come together in full bloom while the 13 moons are fully bright and lit. I took this as a symbol of meaning that they’ve always worked together to get where they are, and it’s a testament to their bond that they believe they’re at the most beautiful moment in life together :’(
If you read through this random wall of text, hope you enjoyed! :’) I may come back and edit this post because I’m pretty sure I forgot to mention a lot of things, but I simply love this video and am thankful to SVT for letting me experience it <3
edit: here is part 2
Next we see han in a room by himself and how he holds a shirt and smiles fondly at it but almost a bit sadly when he clutches the shirt to his chest. An easy read of this scene is missing that person since these items may represent and hold meaning of the person is gone from their lives and the only thing to remind han of their presence. Then there is a scene later with han curled up before a messy room littered with clothes, his body language a sign of pain and sadness. If these articles of clothing do represent memories of that person han is thinking of, the scenery/surroundings reflect han’s internal landscape where his emotions may be a mess right now as the room or filled with memories of that person which only reminds him of how they are no longer with him.
So changbin is seen on the stars of the narrow stairway he was seen earlier on, his posture defeated almost reflecting typical drama where people who are defeated often settle themselves by the stairs, body leaning against the railings of the way in defeat. But interestingly with some research it is said that “Stairs represent duality and contradiction. As much as they represent passage for able-bodied folk, they represent blockage for other folks.” so this could point to their point in their life where changbin is stuck at the junction given the setback of this relationship fallout their experience.
There is a short scene of bang chan wiping the mirror which is misty so his reflection is naturally also blurred, it can tie back to his lost sense of self in the period of anguish and pain and this action of wiping points to him attempting to find himself. But it is also possible that the blurriness may spread as you attempt to wipe it and this can be read as the futileness of his efforts where the more he tries to correct things (wipe to get a clear view from the mirror), the worse he makes things (the mirror getting more blurry)
In this scene we see hyunjin stacking what looks like erasers into a tower and this made me think of stone piling where a wish is made and you stack up the stones and if the pile stays, your wish is heard and is likely to come true. But as we can see hyunjin’s eraser pile keeps falling, and this can be used to infer that hyunjin’s wish which in this context may be for the pain and hurting to stop and for the situation to take a turn for the better is not heard. And you can see hyunjin’s expressions as defeated as his repeated attempts to build the pile were never met with success.
A little irrelevant but hyunjin was also playing with erasers making a tower during the gone day’s mv but that case was to distract him from the boredom of class, just wondering if there is a link.
There is a scene where the film reverses in time, and i think that marks as a turning point, the candles on i.n.’s birthday cake lighting up, the fallen eraser pile returning to its stacked state for hyunjin. This may signify a change in the situation, something that is not conveyed in the lyrics of the mv, it may hint at the small hope and this hope for a redemption and for the situation gets better comes in the form of confrontation. This is because in the earlier scene we see the camera zooming in closer to only show the upper part of seungmin’s face, and we see the flickering flames reflected off his skin as though the flame is close, that means bridging the gap that seungmin has made with him and the situation to confront it. And this confrontation sparks a hope for the better as we see the extinguished candles relighting and the fallen eraser pile returning to its original state.
