[Note: This series originally started as a project on Reddit. You can find an explanation of what Bible Study is all about here.]
After our brief hiatus for Life last week, we are back today to look at Seonghwa's page in Fever Pt. 3 and discuss how exactly ATEEZ ends up with the cromer again and how exactly Yeosang finds himself in mortal peril. We may not come to any clear answers on that front, but we do come away with more questions, and isn't that what bible study is all about?
Bobby: I have arrived. Had a lot of situating to do. But now I feel like if I don't light a candle all our work will be in vain
GD: Possibly true. And that would be terrible
I should just pull up the notion to remember how we do this (Editor’s Note: At this point it had been several weeks since our last bible study session.)
01: where are we in the story thus far?
Bobby: I don't think we've progressed much
GD: They've just had their outfits changed with the halateez, and San has discovered the happy memories on the floor, but importantly, Yeosang 'disappears' at the end of San's.
So now, we're having a little standoff with the android guardians. It seems like Yeosang throws the cromer to Hongjoong, and then the android guardians grab Yeosang and want to exchange Yeosang for the Cromer.
It's a lot of action in Seonghwa's page, and I truthfully find it a little hard to follow.
Bobby: I suppose I should read the entry
02: thoughts on the page
Bobby: I'm interested in Yeo's line: "Once we give it to them, they will take us too"
Does it seem like maybe he witnessed something while he was searching for the cromer?
Like up to this point, it's seemed that none of them really understand what's going on, but now Yeo seems to have some kind of knowledge he didn't before
GD: It's interesting because we only get short moments of their own perspectives. But while Hongjoong was communing with his hala self, so was everyone else
Bobby: Were they?
GD: Didn't someone say that?
Bobby: I was under the impression they were all listening to Halajoong
GD: That they all put their hands up to the glass?
My diary is missing 2 pages, apparently, so perhaps I just made it up
Bobby: Yes. But I don't think that they were talking with them.
Is the hand on glass what you mean by "communing"?
GD: I guess I’m wondering if maybe they could have been "showing" them something? But now my little brain hurts, so perhaps it's best if I don't go back to thinking about the magic clothes
Bobby: Yeo must have been there at that time, so what's really unclear is how he managed to wander off and find the cromer in the time it took San to see memories on the floor
GD: Maybe hala Yeosang gave Yeosang the cromer?
I don't know how
Bobby: But he comes running in from another room with guardians chasing him
If HalaYeo had the cromer, why didn't he use it?
Why didn't the guardians take it from him?
GD: IT'S ALL CONFUSING
Okay
Bobby: Okay
Here's what we know for sure:
The members are all together for the transference
It makes no sense if he's not bc then HalaYeo would've probably said something like "where's my partner"?
We know it's smoky in the room bc guardians are burning memories and are drunk, which is how Ateez are able to remain unseen
GD: Yes
Bobby: So, they meet up again in the lobby
GD: I'm having an insane thought
Bobby: Yeosang had run into the opposite exhibition room
So I think he just left before they did and they all panicked
Bc of the smoke
GD: Do you think him running into the opposite exhibition room and finding the cromer was a lucky accident?
Bobby: I think it's possible
GD: It's weird that they'd just leave it... sitting out? no?
Bobby: They do need to capture Ateez, don't they
They can't just let them run around unchecked
And we know from William that they can be pretty devious
GD: Right
I just had the very wild thought that was semi related to a thought you had a long time ago and also semi related to the movie I saw yesterday, the boy and the heron
Bobby: Remind me to tell you an amusing Boy and the Heron related story (Editor’s note: The amusing story is that I was watching a YouTuber who makes minis and models of video game and anime stuff make the Heron from The Boy and the Heron and in the middle of the video we get a Hongjoong jumpscare.)
GD: And the thought was that maybe Yeosang is familiar with this building because it's similar to something his dad owns... because their world's are alike. Would of course imply that Yeosang's dad is Z, which there is no evidence for.
Bobby: Seems more likely that Yeosang's the sort of boy who would have visited an art gallery/museum with his parents given they're wealthy and cultured
My thinking is that Yeosang has been alone so much of his life that he's used to doing things on his own. So maybe he sees something through the smoke and instead of warning the others, he just goes off to see what it is
It could be that the guardians haven't secured it bc they're busy getting drunk. Or it could be that it's been left out as a trap. Maybe they were thinking that Ateez would be more interested in the cromer than in saving Halateez
So maybe they'd set the trap in the wrong room bc they don't understand how people work
And Yeo ends up springing the trap on his own which is not what the guardians want. They need all of them
GD: It's a better theory
I feel like Yeosang has not been raised to be... trusting? I don't know if that's the right word
I was thinking about this today actually
There are some people who will see any action and read ill intent into it, regardless of the actual intent behind it
Bobby: Hmmm. Yeo strikes me as very innocent though.
GD: The real life is for sure, and I don't' think he'd necessarily read ill intent, but I don't think he'd be... ugh, I can't find the word
Bobby: Like, he's a bit more guarded?
GD: Like, all I really mean is that I'm not surprised that he doesn't think the android guardians would let any of them GO based on his past life
and by past life, I mean upbringing lol
Bobby: I suppose. It's just that it's the sort of revelation I'd expect from Woo or Yunho for reasons I can't explain
GD: Hard to say because there's a lot left unknown, and all of the characters are still changing
Bobby: It's interesting that Seonghwa says "what can I do" not "what can WE do"
GD: I noticed that too and wondered if that was a translation thing or he really meant I
Bobby: Impossible to say
I wonder if they have a new translator for the newer journals because I don't find myself wondering if they mean what they say with the past two journals
Granted, we haven't studied those yet
But they have a very different tone
GD: I agree--they feel like the translation has taken some of the ambiguity out. Sometimes these first translations read a little like google translate? Like, you can kinda of see what they mean, but you're never really sure it's exactly right
and maybe that's the point, who knows
Bobby: Only The Intern
GD: There's a lot of team affirming bits in this entry
We cannot let Yeosang sacrifice for 7 members. Hongjoong looking at Yeosang and the other members in turns.
Bobby: Yes
I'm also noticing that they are still focused on going home at this point, even after meeting Halateez
GD: The moment something is threatened is when you realize it's important
I wonder about Yeosang
He seems to be the one who doesn't care about going home like the others, and we sort of saw him make his character decision earlier, so that makes sense
Bobby: That's why he's so quick to sacrifice himself
GD: It makes me wonder if he cares about something in strictland. Like does he care about the fight for a better world for these people? The grimes? left eye? Or is it just that he cares about ATEEZ--that's the thing. He's staying to make sure they can get away. Because it's one thing to not care about going home, but it's another to try to sacrifice himself.
oh my god I've found the None Shall Sleep connection
It will ateez
Fantastic
Bobby: I guess I should read it before you post about it then
I feel that he really just cares about Ateez
That's a next time conversation, but based on what he says in his entry
GD: Well it's not part of our challenge, so I will keep my WIA thoughts in my own head for now
Like some of the Wooyoung entries.. we don't get a lot of Seonghwa focus from Seonghwa here
Bobby: Seems to suggest his focus is very outward on the others not himself
GD: I'm not sure this entry tells me much about Seonghwa except that he cares about Yeosang and trusts Hongjoong
I also wonder if it has to do with a lot of Seonghwa's character arc being played out at least partially before the story really began
He had his whole 'be free' thing before he ever met up with ATEEZ
Bobby: Yes. And given what happens in Outlaw and William, his story moves on to other things and doesn't really circle back to his original struggle
I would actually be pretty hard pressed to connect any of the boys back to their original entries
Because the story becomes bigger than them
And perhaps that was the thing they needed to overcome their original struggles--to be pulled out of their heads into a greater narrative that puts their own stories in perspective
GD: I have a lot of questions about where the story goes from here
But that's perhaps for another day
Bobby: By "here" you mean post Will?
GD: Yes
Post World really
Bobby: Well, I suspect there might still be a sneaky epilogue. Not that there will but there could
But the diary leaves us on a cliffhanger and it's unclear what has even happened to Ateez at this point
GD: Right
But for another day
Bobby: Wait--did you finally read the diary?
GD: I'm not sure I have many other thoughts on Seonghwa's page.. all of my thoughts are further away
GD: Of course I didn't and I have a reason
I am worried it will upset me based on you and Cassandra's reaction
So I just haven't done it and instead have read summaries
Like the worst clown
Bobby: I was about to be upset that you'd read it and somehow had nothing to say about it
GD: No no
I'm a coward
Bobby: I don't think it would actually upset you. It's for sure darker than the other diaries, but it's not traumatizing or anything
But maybe you just need to reach a quieter place in your life to be able to process it
Or maybe you just save it for bible study
GD: In two years, I will finally know what happens in Will
Bobby: I wonder if we'll manage to be canceled by then
GD: Surely I will
Bobby: Have we any further thoughts on this page?
GD: No, I don't think so
I have many thoughts, none of them about Seonghwa or this page
03: praise and prayer
Bobby: Everything about Sound Bomb is my praise
Was that even this week? I can't remember
I don't think it was
GD: I also don't think it was
But we didn't do a bible study last week
So perhaps it should be allowed to count
Bobby: Still
GD: My praise can't be Jongho being beautiful and precious and perfect in every way, correct?
Bobby: That's not a praise that's just your state of being
I think you need to pick a concrete example of his beauty, preciousness and perfection
I would like to add a second praise
GD: Ah! The Nacific collab! I am very excited because I use face masks every day, so I think I can get a lot of use out of this collab
My praise of the concrete example of my state of being would be Jongho's new year PCs that released this week.
Bobby: Which ones were those?
You understand that I order them and then never think about them again until I start seeing pictures and then I panic
GD: One was this hanbok one
Which you don’t have because it’s a winners pc. So I am sorry to show it to you.
Also sorry that it’s on someone’s gross bed sheet
Bobby: I'm really just never allowed to be happy am I
GD: The other one being the one where he has that little bag
And Yeosang is like crouched behind the door
Bobby: I'm going to need to move on to my second praise so I don't fall into pit of sadness
GD: I was looking for the pics
You have your whole line in these at least
Bobby: The other thing that made me happy this week was Seeun's live which was visited by Hwa, Woo, and Joong at different times. And it was just precious because Seeun was entirely overcome by their presence.
and it just makes me happy that the babies look up to Ateez so much
GD: Seeun's live was very good
I also would praise Wooyoung's dorm live with Hongjoong and Jongho making appearances
that sort of content is very fun
Bobby: Yes. It was very fun
GD: Be the light
Bobby: Halazia
Let us know what things made you happy this week, and what you think of Seonghwa's page. We will be back next week to build our own sermons, which is always... something.
Until then,
Be the Light.
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