EDIT: Hello! If you found this post before my newer ones please know that I have started a series of analysis regarding Golden Hour: Part 2 that explain everything more neatly and in detail.
Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part I: The Diaries
Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part II: The "Ice On My Teeth" MV
Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part III: The Chess Piece Theory
Golden Hour: Part 2 Bonus Analysis: Character Studies
This is not the fully fleshed theory post on iomt but more of a starting point. I am just extracting my google doc on here so that 1) i can remember to edit it and 2) maybe people will see it and talk to me about it. so here we start with some bullet points about my scattered thoughts:
atp the falling chandeliers must mean something. not only are they in the mvs, they are also part of the actual stage now
the recurring theme of making money in the songs/mvs and the need to make money winning over their desire to follow their dreams in the diaries. it's just that while "work" caricaturizes it "iomt" goes with a darker criticism
the chandeliers, dust and ashes, broken piano and dinner tables decorated with candles draw parallels to answer and halazia
other halazia parallels: the tendency for arson, destruction of art, a seemingly more in control yunho and hongjoong more removed from the group
the broken mirror: a crooked version of themselves, the greed for money at the expense of passion and art is the opposite of the original ateez. the mirror appears on the d-day poster and also in hongjoong's first part
The white towel turning black: we first await the good, usual ateez we know and love. The towel turning black might mean that this is not the case and now we are face to face with the crooked version in this MV.
return of the ruby, which is probably badly handled by wooyoung (may be the cause of this crooked mirroring): we don't know the exact functioning of the ruby, now named Sopro, and all foreshadowing shows that things won't go well when wooyoung hastily and drunkenly uses it
tic-tac-toe: in the MV we see a tic-tac-toe game in tie in the room Jongho is in, previously mentioned in seonghwa's mini-rap (speaking of which, someone help me with the meaning of the "engrave the 3 letters of my name in this game" lyric). in the mini-verse created since gh1 it may symbolize the battle between passion and money: without money they won’t be able to live and realize their dream but without chasing their passions there will be no meaning to their survival. the black/gray cat walking around may symbolize woo who is trying to find a way out
the mansion well matching the description of yeosangs mansion
there are also parallels drawn between ateez and z with the mention of mingi’s ads
overall, feels like a new, older version of ateez trying to destroy their old image
also reinforced by jongho not being able to listen to their first song and the chaos that comes after they finally listen to it as a group: bitterness towards the past and the failure of their lives
golden hour is not about appreciating the moment they are in anymore: they are nostalgically reminiscing about the golden hour that passed them by and carry more or less some bitterness about not having been able to utilize it. they could not treat the trauma within the 60 minutes they had (make it as artists after having returned to world a before money ran out) and now have to lead imperfectly put together lives
The MV probably takes place in the aftermath of the diary. In the diary, Yeosang is the only one to explicitly go against Woo when the matter of trying again comes up, all the others either play along with woo or don’t say anything. In the MV, yeosang is shut up by Yunho and San chimes in with the “little bird over there has a lot to say”. By creating an alternate reality using Sopro, Woo may be making everything fit “as he would like” (things don’t seem to go in that direction) and Yeo may be trying to speak up but is pressed down by Sopro/other members under the influence of Sopro.
at the end of crazy form we see the cromer broken and sopro taken away by the blue bird. we see both of these in yeosang’s mansion since he took them in when nobody cared. in halazia, it is yeosang who sings about the little blue bird. again, in iomt mv he has parallels to a little bird. throughout the lore, yeosang has already been likened to a bird but at this point i don’t think it is crazy to say that the blue bird directly symbolizes yeo.
(from the crazy form reaction video)
San: “Now we found freedom”
Hongjoong: “That’s going to be…it’ll be connected to the next one.”
BRO WANTED TO SPEAK SO BAD ON THAT REMARK THEY IN FACT DID NOT FIND FREEDOM
who tf even is the doctor
what was supposed to happen in strange mansion before we died like fucking idiots
WHERE ARE WE IN THE LORE
parallel to second half of fever first diaries, crisis happens, shit goes to shit, new artifact appears and we are left at the cliffhanger right before the adventure
after this: crisis unfolds, probably back to a world seen before (very likely halazia since it is left little discovered and with many mysteries), crisis ends along with the entire plot (probs another 5-6 years to go if we don't count military service)
on a personal note: i feel like we are being a little stalled. the "work" mv seemingly doesn't enhance the plot at all unless we take it as a dream sequence of the members' in world a and a lot of time is put into explaining the members' lives than actually creating action in both golden hour diaries. even when given the chance in the Sopro room Yunho still doesn't mention his archeological finding in gh1 and further the plot in that direction.
CHESS PIECE THEORY EXTENSION
For the people that don't know, there is a theory on twitter that suggests the members each symbolize chess pieces. I think it is a very smart theory and is reinforced in the MV with Mingi playing with bedazzled chess pieces. To sum it up, the Ateez in the MV are the black pieces and we get this idea from the concept photo where each member mirrors their counterpart except for HJ and SH, who are the king and the queen. I have taken the theory and kinda did a bit of research to make more sense of it.
(PS: I got most info from here: https://www.chessstrategyonline.com/ so a big thank you to the admin of this website)
YUNHO AND MINGI (ROOKS)
Rooks are strongest when they protect each other (even sitting next to each other on the plane may foreshadow something). The rooks protect each other by being positioned along the same line. In the rook doubling strategy, one of them charges ahead while the other stays one line behind for protection. For successful attacks, the rook must go far in enemy territory to either take pawns down or restrict movement
Usually not used in the early game, starting the mv off with Yunho is a bold move. It either means they have a unique strategy they are so sure of, or they are making a very bad choice very flashily
The rook pawn openings are considered to be one of the worst openings in chess
Rooks are defensive pieces, putting them at the forefront (letting them take leader roles) is not exactly smart
In the MV the leadership role belongs to our rooks (mafia leader Mingi and Yunho being seen in leader positions and shutting Yeosang up in front of the press)
Mingi and Yunho also take part in a lot of action (the middle of the board). Mingi goes around with a clique of “pawns” as their leader, sets the furniture on fire, and breaks the car window. Yunho also is seen with a lot of pawns and is the one who interacts with the doctor.
SAN AND JONGHO (KNIGHTS)
The knight is a master of surprise, and can hop in and out of the most unexpected locations. (i sure as hell was surprised with san in the mv)
Best positioned in the center
the knight is sometimes vulnerable to being trapped if it runs out of squares -> possibility of (very likely san) being trapped in enemy territory or in the middle of battle -> either miraculously and riskily gets saved or pulls a sacrifice
Very risky to move along the edge of the board (aka, isolate or distance from action)
WOOYOUNG AND YEOSANG (BISHOPS)
Many, many possibilities to use them, we are not yet privy to Woo and Yeo’s exact roles
Except… they are usually not held in the center for long. In the choreo Wooyoung takes the center position often
bros suck at this game
SEONGHWA (THE QUEEN)
Mostly offensive, weak in defense, must be protected by others
Especially vulnerable when brought out too soon
A lost queen is almost as bad as a check
In the MV, SH is mostly surrounded by pawns (the ballerinas), a fitting protection
HONGJOONG (THE KING)
Castles protect the king the best
In the MV we see him isolated. Except for group sequences and a quick shot (related to the group sequence), HJ is seen totally alone in obscure corners of the villa. This is good for the protection of the king, but also means there is no one protecting the king. We can take Wooyoung the bishop as his protector if we take the black and white photos flashing in the MV into consideration.
A side note: The Ateez in the MV are the black pieces, however a lot of the “pawns” we see are white with just black masks. This has to symbolize something. I don’t know what.
Another side note: I think the white pieces they are playing against are the "normal" ateez we've known from the start. The real black pawns are all dressed in suits, which is a very classic symbol for capitalism, while the white pawns that have black masks are all artists or sports players (the tennis army). the white towel turning into black (expectation of seeing the "normal" ateez refuted by being met by the "crooked" ateez) may also be a nod to this. A very big stretch, i know, but in some occasions in halazia world mvs we see an overpowering theme of white on the members' costumes
in halazia mv, woo and san are shown in all white for their dance sequence. parting from theirs and mingi's costumes i take this entire look, which is predominantly white, as a canonical part of halazia
in "it's you" and "matz", the trapped versions of the members also wear predominantly white/light colors
this is all for now, i will be thinking solely of this comeback and how it ties into the general lore for the next weeks to come. if you have read until here, thank you so much and if you have anything to say plz do! <3
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ATEEZ has performed tremendously, knowing this performance, just for us. Even though they finished last in the rankings, they said they didn't regret performing for us. They think of us every time they move. So please let's speed up to repay them for their hard work for us. They're performing for us in kingdom, between so many shows and series. We have to give them what they deserve, but we can't. Why can't we do it? I'm really going crazy! Please continue with the stream, Atiny!
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I know this is mostly for KPop. But Trump is not going to be president again and Answer by Ateez came on and I burst into such happy tears. I'm crying so much! I'm so happy and I feel so hopeful and things have never been perfect in America and we have a long way to go but I'm just so relieved that no one has to live through another four years of so much pain brought by one person.
I don’t know if i should say their full names or not saying Choi San seems like a bit much bc you know who he is but saying just San is too little. And saying Sannie seems a little too informal.
Anyway watching these clips so many times over has made me appreciate Sans dancing abilities so much. There’s this video I’ve seen a lot of San dancing in halla halla and it killls me.
