.*•BTS art analysis & possible comeback connection•.*

(specifically referencing the sculptures that appeared in the MAMA VCR)

And yes, Aphrodite might be connected.

I’ve done a lot of digging, and it’s extremely hard to figure out what exact sculpture was used for the MAMA VCR because it’s pretty difficult to see. But, I think it’s very close to the sculpture of Venus de Milo by Alexandros of Antioch, otherwise known as Aphrodite of Milos.

Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty, desire & sexuality. Love Yourself mainly revolved around the concepts of love & beauty, so this reference could bridge the past and next concept. The next comeback could focus more on the aspects of desire and sexuality instead.

I truly think that we’ll be getting more of a sensual comeback, similar to the BST era. We have been seeing more of a mature image in recent performances and Namjoon had said that they were going to have even sexier concept in the future, when being interviewed during BST era.

For example, Taehyung’s intro for day 2 of GDA 2018 really fit this whole narrative. He was practically seducing the camera with his gaze and the entire vibe of the performance was full of lust. (Also think about the bondage harnesses we’ve seen lately)

Like I said before, Aphrodite is known for being the goddess of love and sexuality, but she also has a few symbols attached to her as well. One that really stood out to me is the dove. And what is a dove a symbol for? That’s right, peace. *cough cough*

It’s also noted that Aphrodite originally sprang from the foam of the sea and is connected to symbols of the ocean (shells specifically). Just thought it was interesting considering we have a whole “Sea” track. Probably not related, but I thought it was interesting.

Aphrodite’s life wasn’t all lovely either, as Greek mythology tells a different story. One story spoke of Paris, the Prince of Troy, who awarded a golden apple to Aphrodite that started a chain of events that led to the Trojan War. Her lover was also Ares, the God of War.

Now, this adds a different perspective and depth to the sensual/lustful theme. Instead of being all about love, Aphrodite’s life was plagued with violence, war, and conflict as well. Similarly, BTS has also hinted to the theme of conflict, as well as chain-reactions.

The love yourself highlight reels were such a mix of love, beauty, desire, sexuality, and conflict. With the second film specifically, we saw the previous happy scene turn dark quickly, with chaos ensuing and fights occurring.

The MMA 2017 intro performance also revealed this idea of division and tearing apart, especially with the whole “Tear: Singularity” reference. Additionally, the choreo showed a chain reaction between Jimin, Hoseok, and the others attached to them.

The GDA 2018 Day 2 intro performance also revealed this idea of division and tearing apart, especially with the whole “Tear: Singularity” reference. Additionally, the choreo showed a chain reaction between Jimin, Hoseok, and the others attached to them. https://twitter.com/armi_V_02_30/status/951715884162195456/video/1

More references to war and conflict could be seen in the intro VCR for MAMA 2017 as well, with Jungkook and Hoseok having some sort of battle.

So what does all of this mean for the next comeback? Well, I think we could definitely expect a darker, more angst-heavy comeback with a sensual/sophisticated vibe. Based on what we’ve seen so far, a lot of the hints are pointing towards this.

I also apologize for how lengthy and all over the place this was, but I’m just trying to throw all of my thoughts out there so I can make some sort of sense with these hints. PS: might be updating if there are more hints revealed or if I figure any other connections out!

BTS Predictions for the end of 2017 and 2018

(PS: I will be adding to this)

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the future and have been having some weird intuition about the boys. In no means am I psychic or anywhere close to that, I just get really strong feelings about possible future events. That being said, I want to share what I’ve been feeling will happen to the boys in 2018.

In regards to the end of 2017, with end of the year awards coming up, I’m sure the boys will be busy preparing for all of the award show performances as well as their concerts.

There have also been rumors of a November comeback but I really don’t think they would release the second mini album of the series so soon. They need time to rest and that would be too much after coming off of such a successful but tiresome comeback.

Instead, I have a feeling that they will release a second title track from the album along with an MV to go with it. My gut feeling is that it will be Best of Me, due to the fact that it could do extremely well on Billboard’s Hot100 chart as well as on the Korean charts. Best of Me was already charting high on the charts without any further promotion, right behind DNA, so I think this is definitely a strong possibility. Additionally, there weren’t any stages for Best of Me and we haven’t seen the choreo for it, so they may have done this because they planned to reveal it down the road. Best of Me also has heavy instrumental so there could be a chance for killer dance breaks, which is always a good thing.

I predict that BTS will chart in the top 50 of BB100 with the release of Best of Me as a second single. It has the potential to do even better than DNA.

Moving on, let’s discuss the next comeback. Yes I know it is WAY too early to be discussing it already but I just need to vent some of my theories, so bear with me. Well, to start off, I have a feeling that the next mini album will involve the “twist” we had seen in the Love Yourself highlight reel. If Bangtan are continuing with the Chinese characters they utilized in the films, the twist would come after the intro/development of the story, which had been used in ‘Her’. Additionally, ‘Her’ was a bright, colorful, and overtly cheerful album that discussed the beauty of love. DNA was probably the brightest and most colorful MV BTS has ever released. Phsyically, the album was also soft and beautiful in appearance. With the color scheme of a light sunset and loose floral imagery, there was definitely a feeling of happiness and love this era.

This being said, I have a feeling that BigHit and the boys are going to mess with us for the next comeback. With the idea that the next album would represent the “twist”, this next concept may be much darker. Just like we saw with the Highlight reels, starting off happy and light, the plot line changed quickly and everything went spiraling out of control. This will probably be represented through the next era, with angst coming full force. BigHit has been known to enjoy surprises and a darker concept would be such a sharp contrast from the previous album. The fact that 'Her’ was so insanely bright and positive, it would make for an even more shocking plot twist if the next comeback was a bit darker, angrier, or even harder conceptually.

While listening to past albums recently, I kept thinking about how the outros of each album connected to the album and era that followed previously. Most of the time the outro gives us a taste or idea what the next album will include or revolve around. For example, the outro for HYYH Pt. 2 was House of Cards. Following this was the infamous Wings era with Blood Sweat and Tears (I’m not including Young Forever since it was a special album). House of Cards was a very 50 shades of grey-esque, r&b, and rather sensual song. WINGS era was definitely one of BTS’ most sensual eras by far and BST carries the vibes from House of Cards. Following this, the outro for WINGS was Wings. Tying this to YNWA, the mood was very similar. YNWA was very optimistic and uplifting, similar to Wings. Spring Day and Not Today followed this pattern of discussing confidence and aiming higher in addition to roots and brotherhood.

Now if we look at the outro from 'Her’ which was similarly titled, “Her”, we can see that this track is a bit different from the rest of the album. While the rest of the songs were more playful and cheerfully talking about love, this one had an edge to it. Her talks about love too, but it talks about the complexities and struggles behind it. Instead of staying positive, this track covers the sadness and anger behind loving someone. It talks about how it can be wonderful but also extremely emotional and difficult at times. If this is giving us a hint at what the next album may include, I believe this just reiterates my theory more. While 'Her’ was discussing the honeymoon stage and beauty of relationships, this next album may talk about the darker or more emotional side of relationships.

Alright so I will leave you with these few ideas as of yet because this post is already so extremely long and I need a break after writing it. I will be updating with more later so stay tuned!

bts’ “don’t leave me” is sadder than you think

it sounds like they’re trying to stop someone from committing suicide.

Taehyung: 君の言葉にはいくつもの意味が

あるように聞こえるからWhat’s what

English translation: “Your words contain so many different meanings, I can’t understand what’s what.” Maybe perhaps this person tries to make excuses for the way they feel, as is common in those who suffer from depression, as they don’t want to be seen as weak.

Namjoon: 謎の足跡見つけたら Follow

飲み込まれる My Shadow

光の裏側に潜めた

English translation: “Mysterious footprints, if you find them, follow - choking back my words, my shadow had to have been lurking at the light at the end of the tunnel.” Highley this was hard to translate. The translations online are similar but lack depth. 飲み込む means to gulp something or take something back quickly, but also can mean to choke back words. If you are choking back words, you’re obviously upset. Maybe because he can’t explain to whoever how much they mean, or maybe he can’t explain to someone how he feels. 光 means light, 裏側 means the reverse of something, and 潜めた is the abrupt imperative past tense form of the verb 潜める which means to lurk, or to be in the dark (waiting) or something. (潜めた this this conjugated form I understood as “was having to lurk”) If his shadow HAD to have been there and if it was at the end of the tunnel (this was more of a metaphorical translation) then he was preventing someone from dying. Right?

Hoseok: 会えない君だけが知る My Answer

途切れる前に I wanna know everything

English translation: “I can’t see you, but only you know my answer. Before it all ends, I wanna know everything.” Who can’t he see? 途切れる means “to cut off,” “to be interrupted,” “to be abruptly stopped.” So, before what ends? The inevitable? A suicide?

Jungkook: 時が流れるほど深まる君の

過去と未来の間にいる僕は今

English translation: “Time flows and becomes more intricate, and now there exists a space between your past and my distant future.” If someone were to kill themselves, they wouldn’t be in anyone’s distant future, and it usually happens because of stuff in the past.

Jimin: I Don’t Leave Me

Now Believe 走り出す

No Ending 君は僕の鼓動

English translation: “Don’t leave me now, believe, I begin to run. No ending, you are my heartbeat.” This is the part that gets me. 出す means to turn something in, to give something, etc. but when paired with the ます stem of a verb, it means “to start.” Is he running to save someone? This will correspond wiu Jungkook/Jin’s part later. Saying “you are my heartbeat” at the end may be saying how important the person is. Does “no ending” mean “I don’t want you to go”?

Jungkook: 例えどんな雨に打たれても

例えどんな闇に消されても

English translation: “No matter if a storm hits, no matter if the dark disappears…” If you want to stop someone from doing something stupid, you’d run through a storm, right? Also, the second line was interesting with the usage of 闇. The lyrics could have easily just used 暗い which also means dark, but 闇 is a kanji also found in the words “gloomy” and “disorder” which would explain a LOT about this theory, confirming some sort of mood disorder. This translation is paired with Jin’s lines, so it’s the same coherent thought split among two members:

Jin: 救い出すよ必ず

君は一人じゃない

English translation: “I will come save you without a second thought, you aren’t alone.” See how it’s paired with JK’s “I’ll run thru a storm for you” type of mentality. The second line actually says “You aren’t just one person,” but means alone in context. Many people feel alone when they kill themselves.

Note: 君 is a term of endearment, which means he/they would have to be close to the person they are trying to save.

There’s a line in the song that goes something like this, if my listening is right (I didn’t look at the lyrics yet):

하루 하루 여름 겨울

It means “Everyday, everyday, summer, winter…”

You read the Hangul roughly as:

“Haru haru yeoreum gyeoul”

In the song it sounds kind of like like:

“Haru haru yoru yoru”

That, in Japanese, means “spring night”.

春 はる - spring
夜 よる - nighttime, night, when it’s dark in the morning (朝の夜)

The lyrics, if I heard right, are about the boys/protagonist giving their all and their best to someone, and in Yoongi’s rap he says “Please don’t leave me. “

In Spring Day the lyric 보고 싶다 means “I want to see you” but in context means “I miss you.”

My main point: The short films were to portray the girl that inspired the lyrics of I NEED U, and perhaps the very basic plot line (why they’re all sad, except for Taehyung who has a reason), so Her is probably either before the events of the INU and Wings era, or them imagining whichever girl the lyrics of INU mentioned (for example, Jungkook is probably in the wheelchair because he was hit by the car but why was he walking so depressed before??? was it because his friends died or because of this girl?? Maybe he’s hallucinating or something so he sees her because she always kept him out of trouble)

So maybe the plot line actually comes into two main groups - the songs are one and the MVs are the other.