ONEUS(원어스) 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE' MV + PErf. Version + Dance Practice
Added 2024-08-03 23:25:05 +0000 UTCComments
LOL 2 months LATE in my response haha! Give me all the Conspiracy theories and lore! I'll take it!!! and you hit the nail on the head.. Helios NEEDS to calm down lol
Jessica Holyfield
2024-12-04 14:59:46 +0000 UTC*two months late to the party* I'll explain the storyline - both known bits and my add-ons. So, COME BACK HOME and TO BE OR NOT TO BE are connected stories. I'll call them the Monarch duology myself, I don't know if the wider fandom has a name for it other than this personally. Both songs were accompanied by concept/story films (short 1-2 minute narrated videos explaining the premise). COME BACK HOME's film narrated that there were six Monarchs who loved and nurtured all of humanity, and they were beloved by the people in return. However, Helios, the sun god, grew jealous of the Monarchs and threatened humanity with the absence of the sun. Out of fear, the humans forsook them so Helios sent the monarchs and their servants into exile, and cursed them with vampirism (no sun, need to drink blood to survive, etc) on top of it. The Monarchs maintained their love for humanity despite being forsaken, so they only killed and drank the blood of evildoers. However, their servants (who were also cursed and exiled with them) grew bitter about their situation and waged war on the rest of humanity. These vampires concocted a ritual where they would sacrifice a child born during an eclipse to bring about eternal night. So, the Monarchs tasked themselves with protecting that child and defeating their rebellious servants. The Monarchs won the battle after 10 years of constant fighting but the last servant (the rebellion's leader), before being killed by the Monarchs, promises them that they would still return for the child when the red moon "appears again". In my opinion, COME BACK HOME MV and the RTK performance were basically showcasing this final battle, and specifically the RTK performance ending was foreshadowing the backstory of TO BE OR NOT TO BE. TO BE OR NOT TO BE's film(s) narrated that the Monarchs trapped their dead servants' soul in a necklace (my guess is so that they would not be able to return like they said they would). However, they also came to the conclusion that peace would not be achieved unless they were also gone from the picture, so they sealed their own souls in the necklace as well. Meanwhile, Helios grew even sadder and eventually madder with the death of his son, Phaethon. (The concept film doesn't elaborate on this but it's a Greek myth: Helios is a titan god who moves the sun from dawn to dusk, riding in his chariot with the sun attached to it, basically. Phaethon, his son, tries to drive that same chariot one day but loses control of it and crashes, which burns the world. He is killed by Zeus for this mistake.) He decides to curse the Monarchs even further after his loss and strips their power away from them. The only way for them to regain their powers becomes drinking the blood of that child's descendants. Then, he imprisons them in the wreckage of the sun chariot and puts them to sleep. They awake centuries later. The MV is basically them slowly waking up and trying to get the necklace back. I think the MV does a good job of subtly showing them waking up and becoming more and more "awake" and "powerful" as they come into contact with blood. My personal theory is that the reason they could be cursed so badly by Helios again was that they had locked away their souls in that necklace and were vulnerable. So, getting the necklace back to regain their souls was a must for them, even if it meant killing some of the child's descendants (which should be plentiful since, uh, we are centuries further, with guns around even). I think it may be one of two possibilities: 1) they think it's the lesser of two evil because if they are left cursed this way, they are a threat to every human, 2) after centuries of exile and disempowerment, they are fed up with valuing humanity and just want to save their own skin. I think the song's and story's theme work pretty well with either scenario. Of course, "to be or not to be" is the opening of Hamlet's monologue to himself, contemplating the pain of living versus the unknowable consequences of suicide. The Monarchs *have* suffered immeasurably but continued living according to their principles anyway. The only time they *did* contemplate something like suicide (putting away their souls in the necklace), it was still to protect others rather than freeing themselves of their suffering. (Sidetrack but I think they would call it an "exile" themselves - their last words before they do this act is leaving the message "Call us Ishmael", a reference to the opening lines of Moby-Dick, which references the exile of Ishmael from the Book of Genesis. Just like the self-sacrifice in COME BACK HOME, they are self-sacrificing again and exiling themselves.) Meanwhile, the song itself plays with the idea of having loved and being hurt by someone so badly that they *wish* they could forget them or turn back time somehow to have never met them. Living in their aftermath is just that painful. There is a constant push and pull in the lyrics where they can never get what they want or even decide on WHAT it is they want. (One part of the lyrics + choreo even shows it directly. At 2:57 in the performance video, Keonhee sings "please die quickly in my memories" and pushes Leedo away. Leedo sings "please live in my memories" and embraces Keonhee. Then Ravn pushes them both aside and sings: "Answer me, dead or alive?". A perfect summary of the song I think.) There's just so many details I can nitpick and theories I can build up, ugh, I love this type of shit. Moral of the story is: Helios, calm tf down.
Eafiu
2024-09-29 21:48:36 +0000 UTCThank you for finding the choreographer information on this!!! I would love to know where in the depths of Reddit you found that because I have been TRYING over here 😂😂😂 I can totally see this connection to CBH with the eyes and darker elements within the track and I can get on board 🔥🔥
Jessica Holyfield
2024-08-04 13:34:22 +0000 UTCI'll let someone else explain the plot of the mv because I'm not invested in lore but I'm pretty sure that it's connected to Come Back Home. And this is the first time I've seen someone mention Bang Yongguk I remember, I still love that song From what I found, Twilight was choreographed by Keone Madrid and To Be Or Not To Be was choreographed by BornBlack who did some of their future choreos too.
JA
2024-08-04 09:21:26 +0000 UTC
