#v.thots

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I love all these boys equally but I've rewatched the showcase stages like five times now and I feel confident in saying this is Kim Youngjo at the height of his political power

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(blinks) they're going backwards

for the mirror concept. they're revealing things in the opposite order of what we're used to

rbw you clever bunch

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The more times I watch the Black Mirror MV the more it sinks in that there isn't a MOMENT in this video where they're not dancing. I truly believe this is ONEUS saying "fuck you, we can absolutely dance the house down boots."

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Being of the strong belief that the close-up shots in these teasers are meant to be them checking themselves out in the mirror, if Ravn doesn’t do The Ravn Thing™️ in his teaser I’m going to be very upset. 

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Part of me wants to do a lyrical analysis of how Rewind and Lion Heart most especially fit into the "mythology" arc for this era, but another part of me that's far lazier wants to simply gesture at the lyrics for those two songs like "(flails) LOOK!!!"

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the devil that is, in fact, in the details

The more I rewatch these teasers, the more I’m convinced that the MV for 반박불가 is going to deal with themes of rebirth, self-actualization, and rebellion. I may be completely wrong, and I’m happy to wear the clown wig if that’s the case, but follow me here...

As a foreword: I’m sometimes surprised by the lack of theorizing I see in the ToMoon communities I dabble in, mostly because the other monolithic fandom I deal in is All Theorizing, All The Time. The group members have flat-out told us there’s a story in this ongoing arc, and that if we look for the clues we’ll understand it more, but I’ve seen only a few breakdowns in the English-speaking ToMoon fandom at least. Personally I haven’t had the time these last few months to really commit myself to theorycrafting, but the teasers for 반박불가 hit me over the head with some symbolism and I’m deciding to combat insomnia by writing a little thing on that. 

Keep in mind this is an interpretive statement and by no means is it meant to be a literal statement on what ONEUS and RBW explicitly meant. I love interpretation and readings of media, so of course that extends to ONEUS.

One, two, thesis statement go: the entire Lived/Devil saga, starting from COME BACK HOME, is telling a story about the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Literally, in the case of the six monarchs, their vampire death defiance and the necklace and all that stuff that honestly still seems too convoluted to really do it for me. 

But also figuratively, in the case of the lyrics. The life, death, and rebirth of someone during and following heartbreak. There’s the melancholy pean of a love dying in COME BACK HOME, followed by a rather explicit emotional crossroads in TO BE OR NOT TO BE in which the central figure is choosing between metaphorical death and life - “I have to get rid of you in my heart to live again.” Now, with 반박불가 , we’ve been told outright that they chose life. 

And what does that mean? 

Well, look at all the symbols we’re already seeing in the teasers. Flames. Bags hanging from the ceiling that look suspiciously like body bags. More flames. Roses all over the floor, trampled on. AN EFFIGY ON FIRE. And that’s just Seoho (Seoho’s teaser is RIFE with symbolism, I can’t STAND it).

The two unifying factors of all of the teasers thus far are 1. the flames, and 2. the ethereally-lit portrait shots in front of a stained glass window, providing a proverbial daybreak for the first time since the past tense of the six monarchs in TBONTB - and I don’t think that’s a coincidence or simple stylistic choice. I think this is the symbolic burning/overcoming of the relationship/trauma alluded to in CBH and TBONTB, the moving ahead, moving beyond. Burning the past, waking up and seeing morning. 

Perhaps, once I see the final two teasers tomorrow morning, I’ll be able to return to this and give a more coherent overview. But right now I feel like each of the vignettes for the members - Seoho with his flaming effigies and trampled roses, Hwanwoong with his decapitated CCTV camera and stacked televisions, Xion with hand-in-hand statements of agency and thorny defenses (I have a lot to say about this one), and Leedo laughing in the face of (paint) bullets and evoking archangel imagery - represents a way of moving past something, of casting off something that once hurt, of growing, of BEING BORN AGAIN. 

Am I overthinking this? Oh heck yes! Oh almost certainly! YEAH! But they told us RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING of this promo cycle - going so far as to drop the entire Intro before the teasers began, saying “The devil is in the details”. So, y’all, I intend to keep a close eye on the details this time around. 

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Hopes and Dreams for the May Comeback: 

- No one gets hurt - Xion in his naturally longer and voluminous hair - Outfits everyone is comfortable in - Continuation of the Monarchs storyline because I am invested - Let them interact in a music video for something other than dancing. BBUSYEO was a breath of fresh air in this regard, and I want more of that - First win is a long shot looking at May’s lineup of heavy hitters, but a ToMoon can hope

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NO BUT FEATHERS. The FEATHER PRINT. It's SEOHO.

THE FLYING/WING IMAGERY. AGAIN.

RBW I'm gonna need y'all to DO something with this.