#ly answer

Back in 2018, when BTS were going through a tough time they wrote songs like Fake Love and TTU. The members have since talked about how, in that period, they questioned their decision to become idols. The answer they found was Army. But Army was also the reason why they were thinking of disbanding. In Fake Love, that “you” which caused BTS to lose their sense of self and become someone else was us (not only us, but the industry and BTS themselves probably). Our love for BTS was, to them, “fake” because they couldn’t show their true selves and had to work to the point of exhaustion to satisfy us (this was their decision ofc, but that’s not the point). At that time, the support BTS got from ARMY and the impact they had on us was a bit forgotten. That’s why, imo, in LY: Answer they focus on the value of being idols, which lies in their ability to entertain, comfort, and impact us in a positive way (their UNICEF campaign and “love yourself” message was part of it).

Following their triumph in 2018, came in 2019 an album meant to resolve their inner conflict. If the LY era was an exposé on the ups and downs of being an idol which ended with a decision to embrace their identity as idols and their influence over us, the MOTS era was about consolidating the resolutions made in 2018 and finding a balance between Idol, Fake Love and DNA eras (imo, LY: Her portrayed an unhealthy yet addictive love affair that was beginning to lose its shine).

This brings me back to my original point: BWL is more about accepting fan love than loving the fans (”You’re making me a boy with luv” implies a process, almost a decision; they’re choosing to love and be loved by the fans without feeling burned by it).

In BWL, RM reveals BTS’s true intentions:

I'll tell you frankly Sometimes I was a little stuck up Elevated sky, expanded halls Sometimes I prayed, let me run away But your pain is my pain When I realized that, I vowed to myself With the wings of Icarus you gave me Not towards the sun but towards you Let me fly

RM is explicitly telling us that the pressure of performing for us, and meaning so much to us, made BTS feel like they were flying towards the sun. We gave them wings to fly, but they were flying away from us - away from their connection with us, from the purity of making music for people to enjoy - and towards self-destruction. However, BTS reconnected with ARMY when they realized they were doing it all for us, and that they sincerely wanted to help us.