Infectious Kpop

I’m baaaccckkk! The Flight Log: Arrival trailer dropped today, which means it’s time to travel back to the world of plot theories! This is, naturally, an extension of my already-established theory, so I’d recommend going and checking my past theory posts out first.

Flight Log: Departure Flight Log: Turbulence

Also, I’ll be talking about the Flight Log: Arrival trailer, complete with screenshots, so if you haven’t watched it yet, definitely go check that out first.

That being said, here’s part 3 of my Flight Log theory!

We start off with a series of beautiful yet horrifically dangerous set of scenery shots. A frozen alpine tundra, tumultuous oceanic rapids, and jagged seaside cliffs. The text reads “Nature. Wind. Flight. A bird”. This sets up the metaphor of wanting to “be a bird” and wanting to “fly” throughout the rest of the trailer.

The first time we actually see Jinyoung, he’s walking barefoot in the snow, a metaphor for his momentarily “deceased” body. When your heart stops, blood stops flowing, making your body cold. Walking barefoot in the snow would be essentially the same feeling.

The text then goes on to say, “I often asked myself, can I fly like a bird? And here I am now...”, ending with a flashback to the shot of Jinyoung standing at the edge of the skyscraper roof from the Departure trailer. As I stated before, this is the pinnacle moment in his grief process. It’s when he decides that, instead of moving on with his life, he wants to “fly” with his friends. In other words, he wants to join his friends in death.

The next part is a little jumbled up in the trailer, so I’m going to post it in timeline order here.

It’s revealed that Jinyoung tried to drown himself. Though we only see it in this one, brief scene, the lack of struggle and all-around containment of the area (there’s a glass roof above him keeping him from going up for air), it’s easy to tell that he put himself in this situation on purpose.

I’m assuming he waterlogged himself to effectively drown himself, at least temporarily, until his heart is shocked back into action with the defibrillators. (Side note: I can’t stop laughing at the gap between the paddles and Jinyoung’s chest. Yay for fake revitalization! Hahaha)

When his heart is restarted, his mind is stuck in a sort of “where am I?” state. This is the beach setting. The waves crashing against him, pulling his body this way and that is the blood pumping through his body again, returning life and feeling to each different part.

As he slowly comes back, he starts to regain his memory. “In water,” the text reads. “Perhaps that was the very last thing I remember. I was trapped.” This is accompanied by the underwater footage from the Turbulence comeback, as well as the shot of Jinyoung’s attempted drowning this time around. The text goes on to say, “I’ve failed...”, referring to the fact that he was brought back to life and, therefore, didn’t succeed in his attempted suicide.

“I don’t exist anymore...” goes beyond everything and exposes how he feels. Clearly, through the Departure and Turbulence videos, we’ve seen how much he misses his friends. They always are around him, but never interact with him. This very much makes him feel like he doesn’t exist anymore. While he still breathes and feels, the fact that his friends are all somewhere else without him makes him feel isolated.

Remembering how alone he feels, Jinyoung is shocked yet again. In a way, his brain is flooded with all the pain all over again. The whole realization, however, only takes about a second in real time. This is clear by the face he makes after he’s shocked back, which is similar to the one he makes in the last shot on the beach.

Now, this is where things get especially dark. The scenes in the snow aren’t actually real. Once again, they’re his subconscious. The snow is representative of the tingling sensation his body feels as blood begins to circulate through his veins again, as well as the cold resolve he feels.

“Most people... when they fail, they just give up and don’t challenge themselves. But I’m different. I will never ever give up. I am not afraid of anything, because you were there. I am ready to fly.”

This would really be a motivational segment if the implications weren’t so bone-chilling. Throughout the Flight Log series, “fly” has always signified death. The six boys could fly after they died, while Jinyoung couldn’t, since he was still alive. That means the last sentence signifies his readiness for death.

It’s the second to last sentence that is the most damning, though. The first half is in present tense, while the second is in past. Present tense indicates that he still is not afraid of anything (even death). He is alive and willing to do whatever it takes to “fly”. Past tense, however, proves that his friends are no longer with him. They are his strength, so the memory of them still curbs his fears.

For one last time, we see the six boys all playing around without interacting or even acknowledging Jinyoung. This is just another reminder of how they’re separate from him. They are dead, but together, while Jinyoung is alive and, at least in his mind, alone.

However, as he watches them play this time, he sighs and smiles instead of looking surprised or upset. His determination to join them puts his mind at ease while these flashback-like memories appear, making them more of an encouragement to join them than a reminder of how they were while they were alive.

The suicidal undertones of this entire trailer hit me like a ton of bricks the first time I watched it and, even after watching it a few more times, they haven’t disappeared. It’s dark in a very underhanded sort of way, but it wraps up the trilogy brilliantly. From the initial accident to Jinyoung’s determined decision to fly, we went on a trip.

Title: Bringing Color Pairings: Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang Rating & Extra Tags: T, Soulmate AU

Summary: Everyone is born without the ability to see color. You only develop the ability to see them when you find your perfect match. Once you find them, the spectrum and intensity of the colors you see grows as you become more attached to the other person. The bad news is that when that person dies, so does your ability to see world’s color.

For as long Mark can remember, he’s thought the whole soulmates deal was a rip off. When he turns 22 and still hasn’t seen a single spec of color, he starts to accept the inevitable fact that he’ll either never find his match or they’re already dead. Or maybe they never even existed.

But when he accidentally falls into Jackson at the airport, his entire world changes. He only had to travel to the other end of the globe to understand what love really was.

Words: 44,485 and counting

Title: Bringing Color Pairings: Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang Rating & Extra Tags: T, Soulmate AU

Summary: Everyone is born without the ability to see color. You only develop the ability to see them when you find your perfect match. Once you find them, the spectrum and intensity of the colors you see grows as you become more attached to the other person. The bad news is that when that person dies, so does your ability to see world’s color.

For as long Mark can remember, he’s thought the whole soulmates deal was a rip off. When he turns 22 and still hasn’t seen a single spec of color, he starts to accept the inevitable fact that he’ll either never find his match or they’re already dead. Or maybe they never even existed.

But when he accidentally falls into Jackson at the airport, his entire world changes. He only had to travel to the other end of the globe to understand what love really was.

Words: 44,943 and counting

Title: Bringing Color Pairings: Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang Rating & Extra Tags: T, Soulmate AU

Summary: Everyone is born without the ability to see color. You only develop the ability to see them when you find your perfect match. Once you find them, the spectrum and intensity of the colors you see grows as you become more attached to the other person. The bad news is that when that person dies, so does your ability to see world’s color.

For as long Mark can remember, he’s thought the whole soulmates deal was a rip off. When he turns 22 and still hasn’t seen a single spec of color, he starts to accept the inevitable fact that he’ll either never find his match or they’re already dead. Or maybe they never even existed.

But when he accidentally falls into Jackson at the airport, his entire world changes. He only had to travel to the other end of the globe to understand what love really was.

Words: 42,307 and counting

Title: Bringing Color Pairings: Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang Rating & Extra Tags: T, Soulmate AU

Summary: Everyone is born without the ability to see color. You only develop the ability to see them when you find your perfect match. Once you find them, the spectrum and intensity of the colors you see grows as you become more attached to the other person. The bad news is that when that person dies, so does your ability to see world’s color.

For as long Mark can remember, he’s thought the whole soulmates deal was a rip off. When he turns 22 and still hasn’t seen a single spec of color, he starts to accept the inevitable fact that he’ll either never find his match or they’re already dead. Or maybe they never even existed.

But when he accidentally falls into Jackson at the airport, his entire world changes. He only had to travel to the other end of the globe to understand what love really was.

Words: 37,079 and counting

Okay, so the Flight Log: Turbulence trailer just dropped and I was so excited because not only was it BRILLIANT and so well shot, it supported my theory. If you haven’t read it already (I posted it yesterday), you can check it out here.

Anyway, I figured I’d break down the new trailer and provide some explanation as to how it fits into my theory. It’s gonna go a little out of order of how everything’s actually show in the trailer, so if you haven’t watched the trailer on it’s own yet, you should do that first.

Here we go!

We actually SEE an airplane this time around! Woah! Anyway, we see Jinyoung once again separated from the others, just like the dream sequence in the bedroom where no one interacts with him.

While in different clothes this time, there are still numerous things showing that the six boys are still dead and just appearing as figments of Jinyoung’s imagination. One is the drawing on BamBam’s face. If you remember, Bam had drawings on his face when he was in the van as well, which is when the boys all died. This being the last memory Jinyoung has of BamBam means that poor Bam is doomed to always being remembered as the marker-faced kid.

Jackson is also still filming everything, as that’s how he was last remembered.

When the seatbelt sign comes on, Jinyoung immediately tries to go and help his friends, since it seems like they didn’t hear it. However, the flight attendant immediately holds him back, saying he needs to stay seated, while the other six continue to yell and run around the cabin without the flight attendant saying anything. This seems to make Jinyoung realize that the other boys aren’t actually there, but instead are parts of his imagination.

The oxygen masks then drop when the plane hits turbulence. The masks signify the connection to life. Jinyoung doesn’t take one when they drop, instead simply holding on for dear life as the plane starts to shake. The other six are still fooling around and yelling, again signifying they aren’t actually there.

The same flight attendant who told him to stay seated is still walking around without any trouble. When Jinyoung tries to get up a second time to go to his friends, the woman holds him back again, this time holding the oxygen mask up to his face.

This flight attendant is actually his subconscious’ version of the medic who is saving his life. The oxygen mask in the plane is actually the oxygen mask that the female medic is feeding him air with.

Right when she first puts the mask on him, Jinyoung immediately slips into a semi-conscious state. His brain imagines this as being trapped in a water-filled container. He’s very peaceful and calm at first, seemingly unaware of where he is or what’s happening. This is representative of his unconscious state. However, as he opens his eyes and realizes where he is, he begins to panic. This is representative of his body receiving the oxygen the medic is feeding him and, in turn, desperately grasping for more. Lack of oxygen = drowning sensation.

As Jinyoung’s body slowly begins to regain consciousness, he goes through a series of flashbacks to his dreams from when the boys first died mixed with some new dreams. One of those is the image of Youngjae in a brightly lit, mostly white area watching over an aqua parakeet similar to the one Jaebum had. Because the parakeet still has color, it’s representative of Jinyoung and his hope that his friends are watching over him and that they haven’t forgotten him.

After the rapid-fire flashbacks, Jinyoung finally regains full consciousness at the site of a car accident. While the entire site looks truly horrendous with lots of fire and flipped, burned cars, Jinyoung is once again unscathed. He’s also in different clothes, suggesting that this isn’t the car accident that killed his friends, but instead is a different incident.

The appearance of Jackson’s camera at the end is a hallucination, seeing as it’s not broken, has no apparent scratches, and is replaying the footage from the Flight Log: Departure trailer. This signifies the memories of his friends and how they’re still there in his head.

Admittedly, there are still some parts I’m not sure about. Here are some things I haven’t quite puzzled out yet:

What happened to Jinyoung to put him at the sight of that car accident.

Why the paramedics aren’t more focused on/worrying about him after being unconscious at the sight of a wreck.

Why Jinyoung always manages to be unscathed after accidents.

Okay, you all ready to hear my theory? I wanted to write this all out before the trailer and whatnot dropped so I could see if my theory continues to be supported this comeback or if it completely crashes and burns. (eh? eh?) So here we go!

So, obviously, we start out with the guys all together, having fun, going on some sort of road trip. Everyone’s joking around and having a good time, without a care in the world. It’s reality because the timer on Jackson’s camera is running as he records, meaning that time is still going.

Eventually, Jinyoung falls asleep, making him (and in turn, the viewer), oblivious to what’s about to happen.

In both the comeback announcement teaser from Fly in Seoul and the Album Preview from today, we see wreckage. The one from today (last picture) clearly shows a car, making me think that the boys are going to be a car accident and not a plane accident. The car pictured, however, is NOT the van that the boys were in. Instead, it more resembles the car behind the van in the trailer.

Basically, all of them except Jinyoung die in the accident. All the water hints that we’ve seen (the aquatic background on the GOT7 website, the sailor GOTOONs at the last concert, etc) suggest that there’s something to do with water, making me think that the guys drown. Maybe the car accident results in the van going down into some sort of body of water (lake, river, etc), where they drown.

While Jinyoung is still unconscious, he remembers the last memory he had before the trip, which is everyone hanging out in his room. The time on Jackson’s camera isn’t rolling because it’s a memory, not real time, but it’s reality because the parakeet Jaebum is holding is still the same aqua-green color that it was in reality. This is similar to the concept of life “flashing before your eyes” when you’re on the edge of death.

Jinyoung then wakes up, most likely separated from his friends, and begins to wander around, lost and confused. Admittedly, the is the weakest part of my theory because, in the trailer, Jinyoung runs around without a scratch or any sort of sign of trauma which, if he got in an accident, he would have. However, I still think this part is him right after the accident, due to him being alone and clearly lost/confused/looking for someone.

He’s then transported to a hospital to get checked out, in the process learning about the accident and that his friends are all dead. When he falls asleep again, his dreams reflect his subconscious coping with the news, rather than looking back on memories.

The dream starts with all of the boys hanging out, presumably like they were going to before the accident. Again, the time on Jackson’s camera is frozen, signifying that it’s all a dream.

When Youngjae suddenly begins to levitate/fly, that signifies Jinyoung’s subconscious remembering that his friends are dead. As each of the six others start to realize their ability to fly, Jinyoung is left as the only one still stuck on the ground (aka still alive). Each of the members’ flight situations reflect their personalities as Jinyoung sees them. (Jackson is excluded from this, since he was sick during filming and therefore couldn’t go up on the wires for the flight sequences.)

Yugyeom running along the runway, arms out shows an innocent, childlike view. He’s a little kid, running down an airport tarmac wishing he could fly, only to find out at the end that he could.

BamBam using his flight to make a slam dunk shows his focus and determination. While he’s still using the new ability for something fun, he’s achieving his goal with newfound skills and abilities.

Mark levitating in front of the ferris wheel shows that, while calm and quiet, his personality is breathtaking in a very simplistic way. He’s not hyper or all over the place, but instead chooses to appreciate things (in this case, his new ability to fly) for what they are rather than using them just to accomplish another goal.

Youngjae flying over the rollercoaster shows his fun, joyous attitude. He likes a little bit of risk and to try new things, enjoying the feeling of accomplishment he gets when he succeeds at something new.

Jaebum levitating from the bed, however, is the most interesting and complex imagining of the five. The room is the same room that they all started in before the crash, making it the most recognizable and also most personal space of all the locations. Jaebum starting out not flying at all, but instead lying on the bed shows Jinyoung’s subconscious hope that Jaebum is still alive/hasn’t moved on.

This is backed up with the appearance of the aqua-green parakeet while Jaebum is still lying on the bed. However, when he starts to levitate, the parakeet escapes and loses it’s color, becoming all white. As he levitates higher, four other white parakeets appear, making it five total flying around him while he flies himself. This signifies Jaebum taking care of and taking responsibility for the other five dead members.

We get a glimpse of the six of them flying around (or, in Jackson’s case, implied flying) the stadium and Seoul, having fun and showing that they’re happy. Jinyoung’s subconscious is reflecting his sudden loneliness by showing his friends all together, having fun without him.

His dream then takes a very dark turn, placing Jinyoung, still in the clothes he had on during the accident, on the top edge of a skyscraper, looking down. It’s pretty obvious right from the start that Jinyoung is considering jumping. He wants to fly, just like all his friends, and so he’s going to the most extreme way to test himself.

As he’s falling, he sees his friends, flying along side him, smiling and having fun. However, as he gets closer to the ground, the others stop falling while he continues to drop. (Note: again, we only see five because Jackson was too sick to go on the wires.) 

Jinyoung tries to join his friends, fighting to fly instead of fall back down to the ground. However, he fails and, in turn, sheds his first tear. This is him subconsciously coming to terms with the death of his friends. He’s still sad that he’s alone, but knows there’s nothing he can do to change the fact that they’re gone.

Before he can hit the ground, Jinyoung wakes up from his dream in the hospital, classically bright, fluorescent lights shining on him. (It’s not him waking up in his room, since the pillowcases are different. The bottom of the two images is him waking up in his room during his memory dream.)