#daltokki

It’s Seonghwa’s turn! He’s one of the eldest def has a lot of lore behind him. With him, we’re now halfway done with the refs! (Woo, Yunho, Mingi)

(or, the legend of Daltokki)

On the day of this important holiday, I'd just like to remind everyone that the Chusoek moon - the fullest, brightest moon of the year - appears in public park installations, shop displays, on greeting cards, and in photo zones all across Korea at this time of year. It's everywhere.

^The Chusoek moon, as seen from Busan.

That same moon also appears on Jungkook’s shoulder, highly stylised to emphasize the legendary Moon Rabbit (Daltokki, 달토끼) who lives on the moon making rice cakes.

Why choose this?

We know that every piece of Jungkook's tattoo is meaningful to him, the imagery choices he's made are not random. The Daltokki moon takes up a lot of real estate on his inked arm, so I looked into the significance of this particular story.

So what IS the story of Daltokki, the Moon Rabbit?

The legend of the Moon Rabbit is significant in many East Asian cultures and there are several variations of it.

In the Korean version of this story, the rabbit offered himself up to feed a starving old man, who was in fact a king of the gods, disguised as a beggar. The old man was so touched by the rabbit's sacrifice that he revealed his true identity and sent the rabbit to be the guardian of the moon. Now the rabbit lives on the moon, tirelessly pounding ricecakes under a cinnamon tree.

There's probably some significance to the Chuseok hiloliday itself, since it falls close to his birthday. In fact it falls neatly between both Jimin and Jungkook’s birthdays. But i believe there is something else, something much bigger happening here...

Who in BTS is associated with rabbits?

Who in BTS is associated with the moon?

So just to recap:

Jungkook has a rather large tattoo of the moon that is designed to show the rabbit Daltokki.

The rabbit who is the guardian of the moon.

I see, I see...

🤔

So, this rabbit and this moon maybe?

This determined and steadfast rabbit who celebrates, and cares for, and protects his beautiful, shining moon?

Let's take another look at the tattoo:

It's significantly large, situated on his shoulder like the sleeve patch you might wear if you were in the armed forces or the police department or some other organisation that has an insignia for identification.

The moon is surrouded by a decorative flower border, the kind so frequently seen in Korean imagery, creating a sort of ... emblem.

Like a badge of office, or perhaps a badge of honour?

So it looks like Jungkook has inscribed on himself, an insignia that identifies him as the guardian of Park Jimin.

Another tattoo, like the JM on his finger, that makes an irrevocable statement to love, honour and cherish... because isn't that what a guardian does?

What else can I say, but

Happy Chusoek, Jikook lovers!

“There once was a village where there lived a rabbit, a fox, and a monkey who often played together. One day, the Great Emperor in the Heavens decided to test the animals’ loyalty to him. He came down from the sky disguised as a beggar and asked the animals each to bring him something to eat. The three generous animals instantly set out to honor the poor man’s request. The fox returned to the beggar with a fish; likewise, the monkey with some fruit. The rabbit, being a small and more limited animal, unfortunately was only able to bring back the grass he could gather. Ashamed at his feeble offering, the rabbit, in an act of self-sacrifice, proceeded to ignite the grass he’d gathered and threw himself into the flames to be eaten by the beggar as a meal. The action of the rabbit so touched the beggar-emperor that he placed the rabbit in the moon to become its guardian and surrounded him with smoke as a reminder to all of the rabbit’s noble death. Thus was born the Legend of the Moon Rabbit to be told for centuries to come.”

The animatic is done!!! And all I can say is if that you're reading The More Things Stay The Same by @nnnnnnnothingtoseehere... Then there are a LOT of things going on in the background.

That being said, Seonghwa is an immortal being in Myth AU, and with immortality comes the realization that not everything stays the same forever. A lot happens to him during the occupation era. And maybe me and N like a lot of angst and even more historical research.

The rabbit nuzzled up into his arms, both of them heavy and full after a huge Chuseok meal. His dad sat similarly across the table, hands on his stomach. It was hard to believe that his yearly Chuseok was spent with his singular biological family member and the daltokki himself, but he’d never change it, as strange as it was.