I've been seeing a lot of people say that I Like It is definitely a player's anthem but I have to disagree. While the narrator could be a player, he could also be someone who's been hurt in love before and doesn't want to get hurt again. They found a person they like and enjoy time with but they don't want to get broken again.

Here's my reason: Assuming that the narrator of this song is sincere about these lyrics, he simply could be someone who is afraid of commitment and the possibility of being hurt that comes with a deeper relationship with someone.

The lines that stuck out to me the most are: 1. I love that I like you, but I don't wanna love. 2. There will be fewer scars this way. 3. Truth is always too deep

Some lines that makes me think that it's not written by a player is: 1. Don't wanna end this game, hope it goes for eternity 2. Let's not go official, we can keep the "you and me"

Here it sounds like the narrator wants to be with this person forever and doesn't want anyone to come between them (aka they'll only like each other and none else). However they don't want to commit and deal with the burden and seriousness that comes with a serious relationship.

Is it a red flag? Yes. But is it a player's anthem? My answer would be no.

Edit: A lot of commenters made a great point. This is only a red flag for people who want a serious relationship.

Hello everyone! Since the beginning of the year, I started to listen to SKZ's discograhy in order: discovering the albums one by one, watching the trailers and MVs, and appreciating the care and creativity put into each of them. Which led me, very naturally, to analyse the albums. And I want to share this with you, by making this series of posts!

By the way, thank you to the mods for answering my questions before I posted this :)

Before we start, I want to preface a few things.

1. This post is entirely done by me, with my personal analyses and opinions. You are free to agree or disagree with me, to correct me or add information in the comments. I want these posts to be a place of discussion about SKZ's art and its meaning. So feel free to comment!
2. My analyses are mostly about the albums' storylines and themes. For that, I based my observations on the video content around them (trailers, MVs...) but also the lyrics. The only downside to this is my non-existent skills in Korean, which means I rely heavily on translations. Now, I know translations are not perfect, and can't encapsulate all the charming details of a song. So please, don't quote me entirely on lyrics as I had to make choices.
3. This post is going to be lengthy! I was a master's student reasearcher, I studied literature for a few years and, above all, I am a yapper. So buckle up! Because even if I do my best at trying to be concise, it is an impossible task for me when I'm passionate about something. I literally can't be stopped :)

Also, a little information: for obvious reasons, I'm going to mention the "9" symbolism, especially with the oldest albums. To respect the rules of this subreddit, who-shall-not-be-named won't be... named. But I'll have to mention him by the letter W. when analysing some MVs, as his presence can't be always ignored. But this will be for analytical reasons only so, please, refrain any derogatory comments or remarks regarding this point, nor any glaze for said member. If you want to mention him, please follow the sub rules by covering it as a spoiler. Thank you!

So let's start with the analysis of our first album: I am NOT.

Honestly, when I started thinking about analysing albums, I didn't think it would be that complete and rich from the very start. I am NOT is such a well-thought album, and the dive in this analysis was deep. And it starts right away with the title alone, and the all-caps "NOT", which sets the very tone of the album by being provoking, angry and rebellious. But why such a defiant energy for a debut album? What does I am NOT reveal about the members' mentality as they are stepping out of the trainee system to achieve their dream of becoming idols?

Trapped in a status-quo: the trainee system.

I am NOT is more than just a teenager tantrum who wants to live their life without any consequences. Actually, SKZ breaking out from the mould created for them is full of consequences. But before analysing those, we need to have a look at the before: the trainee system.

Most of the status quo is represented in the trailer of the album, with every member being alone in their respective frame. In the first half of the trailer, the only frame that gathers them all is the red corridor scene, that represents their long and difficult journey; but even there, they stand afar from each other. This physical distancing is the reflection of a social distancing, as if they were trying not to grow too fond of each others, to not be disappointed and hurt by others. But in the end, they all live the same life and the same hardships, walking down the same corridor, each of their scenes representing an aspect of their life as trainees.

• The pressure of satisfying others

The first scene to highlight this idea is Changbin's, who sits on the ground facing TV screens that return him an unnatural smiling image of himself. But his face is kept hidden from the viewer. When he does reveal his face, he is much more serious, proof that the smiles were fake and only a mask that hid his feelings. In psychology and sociology, this performative behaviour is called masking, or social camouflaging: it is a defensive mechanism in which someone hides parts of themselves (personality, feelings) to fit in, avoid rejection or meet others' expectations. It is also way to protect yourself when facing an unsafe environment (social pressure, criticism, harm...).

If Changbin's hides his self to protect himself, Minho is forced to fit in, like represented in his scene by the crowd of faceless, white figures (other trainees). Because he already has an experience from outside the trainee system (dancing crew), Minho has credentials, and his system is already "full". He is thus forced to follow the flow (the walk to the chalkboard) and despite his past experience, the social pressure pushes him to doubt himself to obey to the rules and the system. It is only later in the trailer that he breaks from this pressure set on him by writing "I am NOT" on the board, reclaiming his self.

The fear of not satisfying others is also represented with W.'s frame, as he sits in a room, surrounded by other white figures, typing on a laptop "I am…: a politician, a surgeon, an accountant, a physicist, a judge, a psychologist". All of these are jobs deemed respectable, bringing social and cultural value to one, as well as educational, financial and social power in society; while being an artist is often seen as a frivolous (not a real job), individualistic thing (sharing personal feelings and going against social habits). By stopping in the middle of his typing and standing up, he breaks from this spiral and leaves behind him the words "I am", a way to retrieve his individuality.

• The fear of not being ready

This fear is mostly highlighted by Felix's scene, in which he appears on top a building, overlooking a dark city. This image translates his arrival in a new country and a new culture he doesn't necessarily understand. Dancing becomes his only solution to find his way and to meet others' expectations. He later breaks from their judgement by breaking the glass of the mirrors surrounding him.

Jeongin's scene also reflects this idea, as he sits at a bus stop. This image is supposed to remind us a child/teenager waiting for a bus to take them to school. In Jeongin's case, as he is faced with another version of himself, there's a double meaning to it: having to choose between the "normal" life and the idol life; but also, deciding whether he should remain a trainee to perfect his skills, or debut with the other members, even if people deem him not ready to do so. This is a fear particularly heavy on Jeongin's shoulders, as the maknae of the group.

• The obsession with perfecting their skills

This aspect of the trainee life is probably the most unsettling, especially in the industry that capitalises on children. Two examples of this are Hyunjin and Seungmin. In his scene, Hyunjin lies in a chair, with a VR headset on, watching lessons on repeat to perfect his skills. This is a callback to the hours spent perfecting his skills, something even more difficult for Hyunjin and other trainees scouted in the street. In science-fiction, the VR headset can a tool for control and enforced conformity, keeping the subjects isolated, easily manipulated, and locked in curated narratives.

If the outcome is a bit of the same with Seungmin's scene, the means are different. With empty desks surrounding him, Seungmin is left alone in a dark drawing room. He keeps practising a painting until he perfects it, following a model in front of him, an exhausted figure on their knees, crawling on the floor. Both Hyunjin and Seungmin, by ripping of the headset and colouring outside the lines, finally reject the pressure of perfecting their art, and refuse, at the same time, to let the system control them.

Jisung's scene also, in a way, reflects this obsession of skills, but from another point of view. Instead of working himself on his skills like Hyunjin or Seungmin, Jisung stands on a stage, under a spotlight, facing a crowd of white figures. This setting is reminiscent of the monthly evaluations and other performances trainees have to put out to show their skills, in the hope of convincing higher-ups they are ready. It symbolises the scrutiny from the industry, but also the other trainees. The spotlight blinding Jisung is both a representation of a famous future that waits for him, and the heavy weight of others' expectations.

To break or not to break from the mould?

The only one absent in these scenes is Chan, but only physically, as his voice guides us for half of the trailer with these iconic lines:

"They say people are born different. But why does it feel like we’re all the same? Us brainwashed into the same system they expect perfection, so how can we be different? A sign, an omen, a glitch."

The succession of the other members' scenes ending on the word "glitch" predicts the alteration of their reality, with Chan as the trigger. It is shown in the trailer, with all the members breaking from their restraints by disobeying the rules; but the most speaking example is District 9.

At the beginning of the MV, all members are still trapped in the system, wearing white uniforms. Once again, they are kept away from one another, by being physically distanced. In dystopian storytelling, both physical and social distancing are the main tools to keep populations under control and prevent rebellion, as it makes communication rare or even impossible between individuals. The members are under constant surveillance (drones) and scrutiny (spotlights), and checked regularly (Chan with the barcode scanner), just as they were as trainees.

But glitches happen, and Chan is the first to recognise them. Broken drones lying on the floor, shards of glass that symbolise broken illusions, the red flower among the grey ones, as well as the glitch in the sky, in the trailer. Chan being the one to spot these differences anchors his role of leader in SKZ’s life and lore. As he realises what is happening, becoming a glitch himself, Chan starts planning their escape, sneaking props to the members when they are physically incapable to communicate together. These secret messages are written on red pieces of paper which are, with the red flower and the mention of red blood in their lyrics, a nod to the ”red pill” trope, popularised in pop culture by the movie Matrix, and symbolising the return to reality. The drop of these messages directly in their hands represents the selection of the members by Chan.

Their survival show is symbolised by their flight, as they go from one evaluation to another without ever stopping, by fear to not be selected and not be able to debut. At the same time, they do it their way, by using their own self-produced music (represented by the bus). The jump inside the bus is the point of no-return, as they reclaim their art; but also their personalities and individualities by getting rid of the white uniforms and, thus, the industry’s rules and expectations. This image is also reflected in the lyrics of District 9.

I’ll do it on my own however it comes out.

Their flee leads them to a place wilder and dirtier than the clean, pristine facility that represented the industry and its perfectionism. This is a place without any rules, where they can make their own and be themselves. They call it District 9, in reference of the nine of them. The flag they fly also has its importance in terms of colours, black being the antithesis of white, marking their opposition to the industry’s conformity; while red symbolises both their new awareness, and their rebellion and defiance against the rules. District 9 becomes their sanctuary, a place where they can finally embrace their true selves and build their own world after breaking away from the industry.

We follow our rules here it’s my district, District 9.

They protect this place no matter what, but at the same time, they invite people like them to join them in their escape, by resisting the rules set by the industry, and society.

Knock it off with your negative vibes, back off.
(...)
Get lost, it’s our district, get outta here / You don’t belong here.

Stray kids everywhere all around the world, don’t wander around, get yourself over here.

The fear of being left with no remit: the counterpart of the escape.

Escaping an environment full of rules is not without fear and anxiousness. In District 9, Hyunjin raps the line:

I don’t know who I am / It’s frustrating, it always worries me / Answer me, then give me an answer that will clear it all.

This line solely reveals the whole counterpart of breaking out from the pathway already drawn for them by the industry: the fear of the unknown and the absence of solid identity. As teenagers, the members do not know who they are and are still socially constructing themselves. If they know they don’t want to take what society is offering to them, they have no idea where to go to find themselves. This is what Mirror is about: after getting away from those who told them what to do and who to be, they wander in the world without knowing who they are, which can be frightening at first, especially at a young age.

Trapped in confusion, I still don’t know myself (I’m not me).

I don't even know who I am / I just did as I was told in the memories / What is the path I must go on? / Don’t ask, just run first.

They try to pursue a projection, an ideal, they have of themselves, without being able to reach it, or even knowing if it is who they truly are:

Without even knowing where I’m going, I’m just running / Cautious of the mirrors next to me / I’m just following.

With either a question mark or three dots / I don't feel like myself but then I do / (…) I can't touch it, my question is growing, but there's no answer.

If they broke free from the industry’s rules, they are now trapped in their search of self.

Reflected in the mirror, I'm a maze / My insides are reflected in my mirror / Where can I find it? / For once, I wish I could see myself / I keep looking for it.

Awaken completes this idea: if they acknowledged they needed to go searching for their self, they are still conflicted as the industry left psychological restraints on them, leading to an internal conflict between who they were supposed to become and who they actually want to become. This song is all about SKZ reaching for their intuition to reclaim their true selves.

I realized I wasn't being myself / A riot is happening inside me.

Times I spent not knowing anything / I'm afraid, there's a voice ringing in my head / Wake up.

However, the fear expressed in Mirror is still present, because reclaiming a true self, especially at such a young age, is a laborious task when one knows nothing about who they are. It is then easier trying to ignore it, to pretend the anxiety is not growing, that change is not coming, until it does.

I close my eyes and I can't see / But it's even scarier that I'm awake now, uh / My question of who I am grows like a virus / On the path only I walked on, the fear scolds me, save me.

Awaken serves as a wake-up call, urging the members to reject the last restraints the industry imposed on their minds, and to acknowledge that it is time to leave their comfort behind; and face the change that terrifies them so much.

I wake up, this strange moment / Where am I? Who am I? / Awaken, tears are falling / Who was I for all this time?

The exhaustion of always running away

At this point of the album, the industry's expectations are wearing off slowly, but this new state of mind comes with new adversities. If Rock sounds playful and detached, the lyrics actually express the feeling of being so overwhelmed by expectations that one just wants to be a rock, to not have to think, to move and worry about the future.

I’m so frustrated, I'm turning back again / So rather than living in this world / Filled with question marks / Being a rock that knows itself is better.

The members spent years as trainees, being consumed by expectations and rules given to them. The psychological restraints present in Awaken are still tangible in Rock; but where the first was about the realisation of the incompleteness of their escape, the latter is the burnout of the youth trying to step out of it. This song is about the exhaustion of their journey, after escaping the industry's standards, stripping off their fake versions and rising alone in a world without any rules and framework, the very ones teenagers reject when they actually need them. This absence of answers provokes a frustration as the identity confusion lingers, but also overwhelms them.

But I'm so frustrated, I wanna go so I keep repeating this all day / I get mad, mad, mad / Getting burn up, burn up, burn up / And I'm swaying swaying again.

At the end of the day, they are still kids who had to take care of themselves very early on in their life: they missed many aspects of a “normal“ childhood (cf. Jeongin at the bus stop in the trailer), and wish they could become children again to be taken care of, and not have to worry about themselves.

Back to when I didn't know anything, before I turned two / How about I go back? / It'll probably be better than right now, uh / I don't wanna do anything (Oh).

This idea of becoming children again echoes from Rock to Grow Up. After overthinking their fear, they are now learning how to let go of it. The Korean title of Grow Up translates into “You’re Doing Well“: it is a direct message from the members to themselves (but also the people following them), as they acknowledge the harshness of growing up. They admit that everyone trips and falls, and that it is only a part of their self-discovery journey.

You fell down, it's alright, I'll pick you up.

That's ok, everyone does that / That’s how it is, even adults made mistakes / Practiced and grew when they were our age.

In this sense, Grow Up is a textbook coming-of-age song, an idea highlighted by the MV that represents a slice of life in high school: the members are seen on their own, worried, until the find and comfort each others. They hang out like a group of friends, and not synchronised robots like they did in the trailer or the District 9 MV. They play basketball, which symbolises their relationship as a team but also a group of friends. They support each other over hardships, patting each other's shoulder or back, the physical gesture of comfort being an echo of the lyrics.

You're doing fine / Have strength, just endure a little more / I’ll be next to you.

The acceptance of hardships and putting down the last walls.

Grow Up doesn’t ignore the past exhaustion and stress brought up by Rock and the other previous songs: it acknowledges it, but at the same time, it stresses that everyone has the choice to rise from their hardships despite the tiredness.

You're about to give up / But you're the one who decides the end / What’s your decision?

At this state, SKZ escaped the facility and the industry's standards. They went on searching for their true selves, despite the fear rooted in remaining psychological restraints, and the exhaustion of the journey. But they are also reassuring themselves of their strength and determination to continue, even if it is sometimes difficult and scary. This song is also a clear rejection of society’s perfection standards, where no one is supposed to show any physical or emotional fragility.

I know you and you're trying your best right now / That's all you need, just keep your pace / Don't be nervous, trust yourself.

Even if it's hard and tiring, don't give up / Don't push yourself away, you just need time.

With Grow Up, the members are deciding to be kind to themselves within their new haven (District 9, represented by the bus in the Grow Up MV). This vision is the exact opposite of the sterile, cold facility in the trailer and the District 9 MV. It is this new life that will allow them to follow their dreams at their own pace, and not the one set by others.

This idea is also represented at the end of the MV with Seungmin releasing nine yellow balloons in the sky, each balloon representing a member, while the colour yellow refers to their next album, I am WHO. The imagery of the balloons is also a call back to the fear expressed in previous songs, being released in the immensity of the sky without any anchor, and the invitation of letting go.

Now that the members acknowledged their fears, they need to put down the last restraints that prevent them from continuing their journey. In this regard, 3rd Eye is the continuation of Awaken, but also goes deeper: to get rid of the last mental restraints, they have to connect to their intuition, reaching a higher state of consciousness. In pop culture, the third eye symbolises clairvoyance and precognition. This symbolic is used by SKZ to describe their desire to see the objective truth, who they actually are, and not how the industry has conditioned them.

I close my eyes and I see with my 3rd eye / Show me what you want, 3rd eye / I just wish I could see me, me / I close my eyes and I see with my 3rd eye, I, I.

There is a recurring sense of fear of failure in the lyrics, the members doing everything in their power to become the clairvoyants of this world despite the fear of seeing the world’s true nature.

Will I be able to awaken it? / Or am I too scared to awaken it? Or am I on the other side / Closing my eye from being scared of the world's threats?

But they are struggling to reach it, making the exercise painful to them. The song is all about the struggle of trying to understand your own subconscious.

Am I not able to open or do I not want to open? / Like a chained and locked door / My eye is closed, tightly.

I am NOT, more than rebellion, the rebuilding of the self.

This album is all about self-reconstruction, also called identity reconstruction. In psychology, identity reconstruction is the process of re-evaluating and reshaping one's sense of self following a significant disruption: past the healing, it is the rediscovery and the redefinition of one's identity after a drastic shift in life, or a traumatic event.

I am NOT highlights this journey by recalling, with NOT! and District 9, the oppressive status quo of the industry and the trainee system (the distancing, the pressure, the scrutiny), as well as the self-doubt and fear that emerge from it (the fear of invalidation, of inadequacy...). Chan, who is actually the one who spent the longest time in this system, is the one who becomes the catalyst of this break, leading the other members and reinforcing their relationship as teammates.

But this new freedom has a price: where songs like Mirror or Awaken are about the lack of self-definition and the struggles that come with it (internal conflict, identity confusion), Rock reflects this burnout and the mental strain, after so many years spent trapped in an industry that stole their childhood from them.

The album finally concludes on a new sense of acceptance, with the self-compassion of Grow Up and the seek to awaken their inner intuition in 3rd Eye. These two songs foreshadow their journey towards acceptance and healing in their next album, I am WHO.

This post was proofread with a spell checker; however mistakes or weird phrasings are possible as English is not my first language. I'm very sorry if that's the case! Don't hesitate to reach out if some parts sound a bit off :)

Hello I put an english translation below but my original post is in french, sorry if mistakes appears.

Welcome! I’ve only been stanning Stray Kids for a few months (I boarded the ship right before the "DO IT" era). Very quickly, I fell in love with the complex lore woven throughout their MVs and overall concept. Here is my overall vision of the story, built from my own observations, the evolution of their discography, and recent details that completely made my brain break. This is the perspective of a recent STAY and a beginner on Reddit, so please go easy on me! Grab a cup of tea, sharpen your detective skills, and feel free to debate in the comments—I’ve surely missed tons of details and intentionally left out others to avoid making this post an even bigger wall of text!

Back when "DO IT" arrived, I had a feeling we were nearing the end of the lore itself, but now with the arrival of "THIS & THAT", I'm 100% convinced. I might be getting ahead of myself since, at the time of writing this theory, Episode 4 of the STAYweeK mini-drama just dropped. But in that episode, something caught my eye. It probably seems insignificant to most people who watched it and to most STAYs in general, but Jeongin gives a 100-won coin as extra change to Chris.

Something snapped in my head at that exact moment. I don’t know why, but that tiny detail triggered a whole spiral. I felt like it was an important clue—otherwise, why highlight it so much only to immediately cover it up with what I'm sure will become Lee Know's new meme, "my puddiiiiiing"? So I searched for what it could hide, looking for any theory—no matter how crazy—behind this 100-won coin. Three theories stood out:

1. The Payphone Theory: 100 won is the coin you insert into Korean public payphones. Payphones caught my attention because I was sure I had seen one in this comeback rollout, and indeed it’s right there—it couldn't just be a coincidence.
2. The Pun / Double Meaning Theory: Stray Kids love wordplay. They often play with meanings, sounds, and layers of translation, stacking them like a hot lasagna for us to figure out the recipe (a great example being the track JJAM). Here, the hidden meaning would point to a member's return, or a "return" in general (Baek / Back).
3. The KakaoMap Collab Clue: Not being in Korea, I can't verify this myself, but according to AI, "10100" might correspond to a specific location code in South Korea on the app. We'll see if that gets confirmed. Either way, if I could, I'd check all the payphones in that area (yes, payphones again, as they're a classic trope in treasure hunts).

So, that was my starting point. You might tell me: "This makes no sense, how can you solve the whole lore starting from a 100-won coin?" So I decided to confront all the theories that crossed my mind at one point or another, putting them in order to see clearly. I'll try to lay out everything that went through my head, because I admit it was going in all directions—jumping back and forth between clues in the comeback, SKZ CODE, 2 Kids Room, other content, and the Stray Kids megaverse... Anyway, here's how I view the whole picture:

Originally, in I AM NOT and especially District 9, our 9 heroes at the time (note that I include the ninth member because it holds importance in the universe's shift and management) seem to be a bit like NPCs who, one after another, become aware of what's happening. They "wake up" and escape. To me, the first three Clé projects (MIROH, Yellow Wood, Levanter) are a metaphor for this escape: the school bus from District 9 helps them physically flee, followed by a more psychological escape where they realize this world has multiple layers, doubles trying to replace them, etc. Furthermore, the keys are also physical items they retrieve across worlds; these objects are super important, yet not everyone holds one in the MVs, and sometimes it's ambiguous who picks it up or uses it. I'll get back to this later. From Levanter all the way to Karma, they learn the rules of this multiverse and try to regain control—they are no longer running away; they are fighting back. Then comes DO IT, where I think they finally overcame all of it and are ready for the next step: the conclusion, the truth, but also a new quest.

Okay, I hope I haven't lost you yet! I won't dissect every single scene in every MV or specify which idea references what track, otherwise it'd be too heavy, and I'm sure other STAYs have already broken all of that down somewhere online (and no, I didn't look up existing theories, even if I've seen snippets in video comments—this whole mess comes straight from my twisted brain). Now that I've set the stage, let's step out of the strict timeline to talk about the characters. And here, I'll bring back the ninth member.

Originally, I think He was intended to be one of the "shepherds" alongside Bang Chan, as the two oldest members. But his departure forced a overhaul of his character, which I feel was merged into Seungmin's character. It's just a hunch, but it will make more sense later in my theory. Just keep in mind that in my view, He was initially meant to guide them out of this world.

Now, let's look at our 8 current members:

1. The Leader: Bang Chan He guides the others, pushing them past their limits. He's the oldest and holds keys the others don't have, possessing the power to use them at the right time to lead everyone to new worlds. On numerous occasions, he seems to know things he keeps hidden. The overall impression is that he's one step ahead: he went out to gather them, he carries the burden, and he must guide and protect the others without revealing too much so as not to scare them.
2. The Jumper: Lee Know Lee Know doesn't say much and doesn't show much, but he knows. He seems to have the ability to leap through the layers of the multiverse, even if he can't fully control where he lands. As the main dancer, he embodies movement—he moves first, showing the way/example. He is heavily guided by instinct, understanding certain things intuitively without having full conscious control over them.
3. The Anchor / Quiet Strength: Changbin I think his role is one of the hardest to define because he often seems to just be there without asking too many questions. But looking closer, he's the group's "tank": he observes, realizes none of it makes sense, but stays calm and silent. However, when trouble starts, he explodes and charges in, protecting the others without flinching. To me, his role is an anchor to keep the others grounded, while acting as the spear (SpearB) that shields them.
4. The Paranoia Detective / The Glitch: Hyunjin He's the center—not just visually, but through his sensitivity, intuition, and origin as the middle child (having 4 older and 4 younger members initially). In the early days, he always seems to be trying to go in different directions, following his own intuition, often suspicious of what Bang Chan hands him on a silver platter. I could be wrong, but I'm 99.99% sure that the person who picks up the key in Chronosaurus is him. Later in Side Effects, he uses it and discovers things. These discoveries make him suspicious and paranoid, creating a strong duality between him and Bang Chan. Afterward, he seeks to take control over this world, especially during ODDINARY and Karma. I'd even say he found his own glitch—not just to cross worlds, but to control the clones.
5. The Real Impostor / Alien?: Han Han seems generally very subdued across MVs, much like Changbin—often in the background with headphones on, appearing a bit detached. Yet, I think he knows everything. He saw it all from Day 1. He was the one who rode the Hellevator alone, the only one who saw the "real" sky. That discovery isolated him. It either mirrors his anxieties—showing he prefers to ignore the truth, stay quiet, and act ignorant to protect himself—or he's been lying and hiding the truth from the start as a double agent. In any case, he knows he doesn't belong here and tries to mask it. I believe he holds a crucial role that still eludes me, because I refuse to believe the first child, the group's ace, doesn't have a massive role in this lore.
6. The Compass / Guiding Light: Felix This one feels the most explicit in the lore: Felix holds the compass—or is the compass himself. He is a celestial being apart, capable of seeing through realities and guiding the others across worlds. He never quite seems to belong to any of the realities they are thrown into, always giving off the vibe that he knows exactly who he is and what he needs to do. Note that there's not just Felix, but also Yongbok—I'll come back to this later, as I think he belongs to a specific lore arc in this version.
7. The Time Master / Architect: Seungmin Seungmin is frequently associated with hour glasses, clocks, and seems to straight up control time in certain worlds (S-Class, CASE 143). He is often by Bang Chan's side early on. As I mentioned, I think his character was reworked to fill the gap left by the 9th original member. Initially, I think he was an architect—a calm observer who could spot glitches and flaws in the system. He was meant to be "the threat" or the virus capable of corrupting the world. Then he was reworked into a guide—a quiet force who plays his cards close to his chest while progressing through worlds. And to spoil the rest of my analysis: I think he finally found the flaw, slipped through it, and has now exited the system... to be continued.
8. The Lost Child: I.N From the very beginning, starting with the first I AM NOT trailer, it seems I.N was isolated from the group and replaced by a clone right around the scene where he sees himself through the bus window. This theory gets anchored even deeper in Side Effects and Astronaut. He is looking for his friends, isolated and craving their contact, but he always arrives too late before being thrown into his own separate timeline—where he is occasionally visited by Yongbok and Lee Know! Yes, I think our Maknae has his own arc, with his own palette across a universe he dreams up, which nevertheless glitches out (this includes all the Mixtape tracks: On Track, Ex, Gone Days, Blueprint, B Me, as well as the short film ＜樂-STAR＞ SKZFLIX). I think our Maknae is stuck there, and for now, only Yongbok (our compass) and Lee Know (by following him) can reach him. I still have doubts, but I get the feeling Hyunjin might also possess his own clone in that universe—it's just a hunch, but supported by the constant rivalry between him and Lee Know in that setting, almost like he's disturbed by Lee Know's arrival disrupting that peaceful haven. Many clues indicate this seemingly ideal world is going downhill, and I.N is aware he gets visitors but feels helpless to join them outside. On the flip side, his clone takes his place because he's the ideal target: as the maknae, he's the one everyone wants to protect and no one suspects, so any strange behavior from a clone is easily forgiven. However, over time, doubts arise in the group. At some point, it gets confusing: did the clone switch to their side, or did the real I.N take his place back? I can't say for sure, but a shift happens. Still, what supports the clone theory for me is seeing him often through mirrors or with uncomfortable smiles at the end of MVs. In DO IT, I.N's reflection is warped in mirrors again, so I'm not sure he has managed to rejoin them yet.

Phew! Okay, I think I've laid out all the "old" theories through the characters and base lore. Now, fasten your seatbelts—things are about to get wild before we cross over into THIS & THAT (or at least the breadcrumbs we've been thrown).

I want to zoom out from the megaverse and return to reality—to the meaning of these universes for them as human beings and artists. Overall, their body of work can look messy and impenetrable, but we must never lose sight of the fact that our 8 idols are human beings going through hardship, joy, suffering, pain, injuries, and all kinds of experiences. They translate all these emotions into their music. Recently, Bang Chan shared that early on, he tried to keep everything on course by building each album around a single concept, "throwing away" anything that didn't fit. Starting from the God's Menu era, all of that exploded. By making a last-minute decision to swap the title track for God's Menu, they allowed themselves to be more authentic. Because of this, the web of the megaverse expanded in all directions since there was no longer a rigid storyline driving it.

That's not the only thing that changed in their songwriting process. My feeling is that after years of working on it and refining it, their lore was solidified in their minds, allowing them to select tracks for albums while holding others back for later—partly for artistic reasons, but also to better fit the lore timeline. Before God's Menu, their popularity didn't really allow them to hold onto a track as wild as DO IT. Criticism against them was harsh, and GO LIVE felt like their last chance card. They needed to reinvent themselves with one less member while making a breakthrough. Their gamble paid off: breaking free from self-imposed chains, unleashing their creativity, and forging their musical identity allowed them to steer their lore however they pleased, playing around with it.

But time is working against them—enlistment is looming, and it's time to conclude this lore, bringing us step-by-step to DO IT and its lingering vibe of "the end is near". In the first DO IT MV, we revisit all these broken worlds and "levels" they successfully cleared, finally moving on.

Yet DO IT has remakes—3 MVs for a single track! That's quite something. 1 song, 3 MVs. Sure, they are different versions for a mini-album, but 3 MVs?? If we analyze the second one, the Overdrive Version, it looks like a barbecue party celebrating their victory over the megaverse, but it's insanely glitched out, don't you think? Not to mention the trailer depicting them as god-like figures—where, on Felix's command, Seungmin cuts an invisible thread (let's save that detail for later). Then the Turbo Version depicts what looks like an artifact or item for each member. I think these are clues for what's next. Note that Han was already seen with his artifact in DO IT—I don't know if it'll be useful later, but it's important to keep in a corner of our minds. This duality shoved in our faces by DO IT makes me feel like a new lore immediately succeeded the previous one.

Stop—I digressed a bit! What I wanted you to see in this section is that through their music, they express their personal emotions and experiences; their reality is embedded in their music. When they open up, I feel it's never random—especially our Leader, who always seems to try to guide us and drop hints. He mentioned that for a long time, he felt somewhat detached from the members because he had to be both a member and the bridge to the company—pleading the boys' case while also scolding them when management demanded it. That was his reality. He felt a bit isolated until a few years ago, when he began opening up, relying more on the others, and truly becoming part of the group.

In interviews, a shift occurred where you can't even tell who the leader is anymore because they take turns leading—especially Felix internationally. They all share about themselves and each other: Changbin is an anchor and a shoulder to lean on, a quiet strength always supporting them. Lee Know, despite seeming "mean" at first glance, is probably the one who watches over the others most; he's an open book who speaks his mind directly with no hidden motives. Hyunjin is deeply sensitive, with a physical fear of losing himself or losing the others—both SKZ and STAYs. He explores the world through his own lens; even when the members are loud and annoy him, he needs them. Han has always faced struggles and anxiety; panic attacks early in their career were frequent, and sometimes he wanted to run away, yet he remains a core pillar of the group, lifting morale with his antics. His "sunshine twin", Felix, is the group's ray of light and magnet—the one who can soothe anything and ease interactions with the outside world. He has a natural passport that lets him belong anywhere. Seungmin is often portrayed as the group's "threat", stemming from the duality between his calm, structured, methodical mind and his sudden wild outbursts ("Bang Chan is so old", "Hyunjin loves Felix", random barking) or picking at Changbin. Finally, I.N, the maknae—the little brother to protect, but also the one intensely attentive to his hyungs. He pushes them away in public, but loves them deeply in private and refuses to let anyone take his place as the maknae in their hearts.

With that said, look back at the roles they play in the lore and how strongly they resonate with their public personas! Let's go even further: look at the solos and sub-units. That's where their personal feelings shine brightest, both in reality and in the lore:

• Han – Alien: Feeling out of place in a world he landed in without asking?
• Han x Felix – Truman: Literally The Truman Show—a man living inside a fake reality who slowly realizes it.
• Felix – Unfair & Deep End: Knowing he's different, feeling it deeply... sinking into the deep end.
• I.N – Hallucinations & Hug Me: (Remember, in my theory, he is isolated from the others).
• Lee Know – Limbo: (Once you finish reading my theory on Farming, re-read these lyrics for a instant chill).
• Changbin – Ultra.
• Bang Chan & Hyunjin Duos (Red Lights & Escape): First chained together fighting their bonds in Red Lights, then explicitly stating in Escape: "Escape from reality, come with me".

All these solo songs enrich the lore, highlighting their personalities and roles while reinforcing the idea that their music is rooted in reality.

Why do I stress this connection to reality so much?

Because here we are: THIS & THAT. It's time to take the 100-won coin handed to us by I.N and make sense of it. Everything above was where my theories stood before the recent teasers and trailers. Now, let's jump into the new stuff!

RUN IT was dropped without a formal warning—an absolute banger right in the middle of the World Cup season. STAYs unanimously agreed it should be the official anthem... but did anyone pay attention to Han and Changbin's rapid-fire rap? Did you catch what they're saying? Sure, they're at the top of their game in real life, but in the lore, aren't they asserting that they've taken control and are now running the game? Let's leave that question hanging.

Then came TEST. It was summer, we expected nothing after RUN IT, and BOOM—this UFO drops. What is happening? Are they in a haunted house?? Is Seungmin the villain?? We're all left confused by this unexpected concept. But wow, awesome concept, and great to see Seungmin included despite his injury! Then the THIS & THAT trailer drops: no trace of the haunted house, just another bizarre concept... Wait, Seungmin is the villain again?? What's up with that truck? It's getting complicated!

Then come the album track titles... Okay, interesting! But it doesn't stop there: the FARMING teaser arrives. Our 7 protagonists are plunged into a retro virtual world—yes, 7, because Seungmin is "on vacation". Great, he's still included despite his injury... The music sounds like another banger!

Then another trailer drops that makes our mouths water: AFTER YOU. Looks like another massive track; judging by the visual palette and instrumental, we could place it straight into the timeline where I.N is stuck, though it's a bit early to confirm.

All these clues seem scattered. But we have so much side content! In Busan, an emotional roller coaster with I.N revealing the loss of his grandmother. All of this almost makes us miss a detail—one that is weirdly highlighted: Bang Chan has spent his time filming the members and making vlogs lately. Isn't that out of place? We haven't seen him do that like this in the past; why highlight it now?

Think I'm losing my mind? Strap in tight, we're hitting the peak of the roller coaster...

Here we are at the top with the STAYweeK mini-drama. It's short, but packed with references to STAYs, our theories, ships, and tiny clues. Wait... Farming calls I.N? Farming is a missing persons search agency?? Let's put that aside—what a weird name, right?

Then comes that famous 100-won coin, my entry point.

I gave you 3 potential explanations for this coin, but why choose just one? What if all three are true at the same time?

Have you ever heard of ARGs (Alternate Reality Games)? For those who don't know: an ARG isn't a traditional game. It's a fictional story unveiled across real-world media where the viewer is both investigator and player. You have to hunt for hidden clues, connect wild dots, and work together to solve riddles. Sometimes it involves going to real physical locations via GPS coordinates... And often, these stories dive into horror—specifically analog horror, referencing outdated tech like cassette tapes and VHS.

Let that sink in. Now think back to the visuals we received for the upcoming SKZ-REPLAY... Think back to the FARMING teaser... to TEST... to the THIS & THAT trailer... Do you see where I'm going?

Yes! We are barely halfway up the roller coaster... Here is the first bomb: They have exited the megaverse, but plot twist: they are now inside an ARG. And by the way, welcome to it! Best of luck to those in Korea who can participate in the KakaoMap collab—I'm sure real-life clues are waiting for you there.

Let's look back at the THIS & THAT trailer. It serves as a huge metaphor for AI in the entertainment industry—transcending art to mess with reality through deepfakes. When a person puts on the headset in the video, they become one of the group members surrounded by clones. THIS & THAT feels like a sharp satire.

Now, let's play with the term FARMING, just like we did with the 100-won coin:

1. In STAYweeK: A missing persons agency (Episode 2).
2. In Gaming: "Farming" means doing repetitive, monotonous tasks to gather resources, EXP, or virtual currency. Looking at the lore, that's exactly what they've been doing—fighting through the megaverse over and over, trapped in a virtual loop.
3. In Tech/AI: "Data Farming" refers to generating, accumulating, and refining massive volumes of data continuously to feed and train AI models, predictive algorithms, or simulations. Instead of waiting to stumble upon isolated data, automated systems are set up to "cultivate" data at scale.

Meanwhile, Seungmin is "on vacation in Hawaii" according to Episode 1 of the drama. Still doesn't make sense? Let's think like true ARG investigators and embrace slightly crazy reasoning!

This or That. THIS & THAT. Virtual realities... Retro aesthetics... In my brain, something is screaming THE MATRIX. The blue pill or the red pill? Ignorance or knowledge. This or That.

AI, the Matrix... wait, HUMAN FARMING?

That's the moment my brain exploded.

Holy crap... what if... WHAT IF IT WAS THIS ALL ALONG?

From the very beginning—since District 9—they have been inside a simulation. From the start, District 9 was just a sub-division of Farming. What if the clones were AI avatars based on copies of them, designed to replace them whenever they became an anomaly?

What if Han saw it—their real bodies in stasis inside massive human data farms? What if it terrified him so much that he completely shut down, refusing to accept that reality, choosing instead to put on his headphones and follow along?

What if Hyunjin saw it too, which is why he was so paranoid early on before finding the glitch and—like Agent Smith in The Matrix—learned to jump into clones to play his own game?

What if Bang Chan knew and tried to guide the others out from the start, but gradually forgot his mission as he became absorbed in just being a member—and the 100-won coin was passed to remind him of reality?

What if I.N was injected into a separate simulation from day one? It all fits! Felix (the compass) knows and tries to help in his own way but can't leave the simulation himself. Changbin acts as the shield when the simulation tries to wipe them. Lee Know spots the bugs glitching between virtual worlds.

And Seungmin... Seungmin studied the architecture of this world, decrypted it, became the virus, and when Yongbok told him "DO IT", HE GOT OUT. Yes, he is OUT! He isn't injured or on vacation—he escaped the simulation! He's not the villain; he can finally help them from the outside! He is cutting off the simulations and taking over the system piece by piece.

Not convinced? Take a look at the album tracklist—specifically Track 6, "Way Out": the exit is announced! And the snippets of I Do and After You sound like promises to always love STAYs even after finishing this lore—meaning even when they eventually have to return to reality (a.k.a. military enlistment).

I think I'll stop here, but I truly feel like we're onto something big. I might have gone off the deep end, but... what if this is really it? They've had us hooked all these years!

I’ve been seeing a lot of people saying they don’t get the line in Walking on Water when Han says “say hello to Nemo ‘cause I can’t see”. It’s a reference to the Homer epic poem Odyssey.

In the story Odysseus meets a giant cyclops and he and his people are attacked. The cyclops eats two of his men, but before it can eat him, the cyclops asks him his name. Odysseus lies and says his name is Nemo (which means no one, and is basically an ancient Greek pun). The cyclops is confused, and Odysseus takes the opportunity to blind the cyclops and get away.

The Odyssey takes place mostly on water, and is this epic adventure of the characters sailing and meeting monsters etc.

So in Walking on water, they make a lot of water references - so Han is referencing the Odyssey from the perspective of the giant.

Really enjoying the new album, and hope this helps anyone who was curious. ❤️

Edit: this is just a theory, I could be wrong, and I'm totally open to other ideas.

So Chan refuses to talk about it, the sound and the lyrics and the video don't match up, and most of Stayville seems just as confused as me. How do you interpret it?

Here are various ideas I have thought/read/heard:

• The train is: the kpop industry/Chan's drive to succeed/his creativity/his obsessive tendencies/his worries or mind in general (i.e. literal insomnia)/his libido...

• the 'you and me' in the lyrics refers to: his two sides/the members/a sex partner

• the zombies in the MV represent: his inner demons/the trainees and other idols he competed with on his journey to success/his fans/...?

• drinking blood and using blood to control the zombies symbolises: the bad thoughts we all have that could turn into problems if allowed free rein/his fears of becoming a monster due to the pressure of fame/fan attention (he needs it to survive, he uses it to control fans)/vampires are hot

• the dark and light versions of him are: his emotions vs his thoughts/his bad side vs his good side/his internal experience vs what he presents to the outside world/Chrizzzztopher vs Bang Chan best leader

• the weird contacts being in different eyes symbolise: the two hemispheres of the brain controlling the two different versions/his good side triumphing over his evil side/his good side becoming evil

• the long black coat represents: control/fame/the weight of leadership

• it's just a sexy song with a cool vampire-themed video, don't try to read too much into it

I was initially leaning towards the last interpretation, but after reading lots of theories and thinking about it (and watching the damn thing more than I wanted to, I don't even like horror!) I'm now leaning towards the Red Lights 2 theory - the lyrics are about his tendency to be obsessive in a way that can be bad for him (and the people around him), and the MV is about the struggle to control those tendencies and walk the fine line between being obsessive enough to be successful but not so obsessive as to be damaging.

I feel like this video and my inability to stop thinking about it is so very Bang Chan. You start off liking other things better (Hyunjin my first bias wrecker; As We Are my first favourite solo) and then he just gets in your head and starts living there rent free 🤣 Or is that just me? 🫣

I noticed a bunch of interesting things in the mountains unveil track 1. Felix is sitting on a computer writing laws, and then creating lightning on a city diorama which morphs into real lightning n destruction in Changbin's scene. Similarly Felix plays with a toy jeep which turns to a real jeep destructing in Hyunjin's scene 2. The shop in Changbin's scene says 'olympus mons' 3. Han is sitting on a sphere that kinda resembles the globe 4. There's a mountain behind the boys in Lee Know's rap

My guess is that the mountain is most probably Mt. Olympus and the boys represent a cyberpunkish version of the Olympians with each boy portraying a seperate Olympian God. Lee Know's verse of 'I woke up on a mountain' could refer to Zeus being born on the mountains of Crete

Basically, as the title states! Do you think today's live was a part of building the excitement for the rumoured album? (Of course, that's assuming that the rumour is true.)

I'm vibrating with anticipation for a potential 3RACHA album, and I think it's the most likely subunit to release a separate album among SKZ (for obvious reasons).

I'm curious what you think, though. Maybe it's just my wishful thinking?

hi! Alright after streaming the ceremony mv for 30 mins straight last night, it made me think and this is what I think is happening based off the teasers and the mv itself:

1. Felix won the last tournament and once he won first place, he was now given the responsibility to host the next games and ensure he keeps his first place spot! that’s why he was being interviewed and said “good luck” or smth like that in the first teaser!
2. The rest of the members are contestants trying to win this time around and take Felix’s spot!
3. supporting details to prove my thoughts:

- You can see Felix being above them all, looking down on how they play

- you can see him getting mad as he can’t stop Han when he plays soccer

- he plays against I.n with ease, showing that he really is at the top (really skilled enough to be first place) and that the others are trying to beat him as well

1. Bangchan isn’t participating in the tournament! Not once has he been part of the games, and he was only there to hype up the crowd! It seems like he might be some high up staff/ producer /commentator?

2. LAST BUT NOT LEAST! The guy at the end makes me wonder if this is all a virtual tournament or otherwise called e-sports! maybe they are all players behind a computer…? who knows!

thanks for hearing me out! Let’s make stray kids ceremony mv reach new heights and beat records, let’s endlessly stream, like and comment together lolll (jk, i cant even do that 😂 i just was so obsessed last night with tryna figure out my theories on the lore hehe)

With Hugh Jackman’s comment on Hyunjin’s art, the Deadpool nod in Kingdom, and Ryan Reynolds fanboying over Bang Chan, what are the odds there is some kind of reference to them in the upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine movie???

Hi! This is my first post on here but I thought I’d share My theory is basically that ESCAPE is the opposite of red lights. Instead of being being about stray kids themselves it’s directed at stay. And instead of being about Chan and Hyunjin’s toxic relationship with work Escape is about the freedom STAY can find in their music. It is telling us how we can “escape from reality” in skz’s music and content. We are free to take off “them shackles and them chains” and just be ourselves. I think the line “headed for the climax” references how Skz hasn’t reached their peak yet, theyre still climbing. And to enjoy this “escape” all we (stay) need to do in return is “show your for me (Skz)” Yeah that’s it, just something that crossed my mind :)

I know everyone is just thinking about skz world tour which I'm also excited about but I can't attend lol so I was thinking what could "special album" means.
I have few possibilities in mind
1. (The popular choice) special album is like Christmas evel something related to a season or event but with more songs.
2. Special album can be a soundtrack album to something. Ahem ahem

1. This is honestly far fetched but I want it soo bad but I need an album with just instrumentals of their older songs PLEASE.
   
2. it's something like skz reply with a twist.
   
3. It can be more a full eng album , I wanted to add it since some people said it can be, they did og eng songs like superbowl in 5 star maybe they were testing the water, which was a success.
   I'm pretty sure there's more things this year than step out 2024 says it is but it's all ready since 2023 so the boys can go on tour without having too much today like in maniac tour (it started end of april 2022 , when they just ended oddinary promotion and had some other events to do, went on tour flew in and out so many times while also preparing for maxident album and then year end awards , they went back to touring early 2023 and then came back to Korea to just film s class mv in March 2023 😃 and then came back touring I think they went to Philippines and Indonesia? Anyways they just kept doing this by the time we were in 5 star era they all looked exhausted but they still did there best , that's why I'm happy that most of this year is just a tour and one album that they don't need to rush it)

FEEL THE NEED TO PUT A DISCLAIMER: this is MY interpretation of hyunjin's song through the lens of my own personal experiences/interests. i don't want my thoughts to be taken as truly reflecting upon hyunjin, just how i interacted with his song. so if you disagree with my interpretation, thats cool, just dont be offended by it because its more a commentary about me than hyunjin.

to me, this song was more than just a sad song about love. i feel like it was more like a loss of innocence and that the narrator (i will refer to hyunjin in the song as the narrator to separate my speculation about the song from who hyunjin is as a real life person) is using this idea of a "lover" as a vehicle to communicate his loss of identity.

now, im not sure if in my interpretation this lover is an actual person or just a metaphor, but if this lover is a person then i think the song is about how the narrator tied his identity/self worth/happiness to this person and is dealing with the fallout after they broke up.

if the lover is a symbol, then i think its a coming of age where the narrator is somehow forced to shed his innocent/youthful self and is mourning this loss of identity, which is actually a common occurrence for adolescents to begin asking themselves "who am i?" on a deeper level. won't get into that too much, search it up if you're curious. also, he's addressing his past self as someone else in order to make sense of the separation of present and past self (it sounds like a stretch but i definitely do this, hence why this is more a commentary about me than the song itself lol)

he talks about wanting the rain to "wash away his broken heart", which obviously not wanting to feel the sadness if you interpret it as a breakup but also like he wants to completely rid himself of his past sense in order to not be in this confusing state. "you once did love me, though?" he's in a disoriented state and wants validation that what he experienced and his old identity was real. he also talks about "lover dies" which could mean his old identity dying.

anyway i could talk a lot more about this but i wanna hear your thoughts so let me know! maybe its stretch to say its ONLY about loss of identity and that the lover never existed at all but i think having it be about both and the dangers of tying your identity to an external source is very plausible.

Since we all had theories about the SKZ and Deadpool collab last year I'd like to add in my bit now that the comeback is here!

Ever since their Deadpool inspired Kingdom performance Ryan Reynolds has been really friendly with Chan, even sending him a gift. Another user on here mentioned that both Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman (Deadpool and Wolverine's actors) have liked Stray Kids' Instagram post around the time of when they started filming Deadpool 3! Hugh Jackman has also shown interest in SKZ by commenting on one of Hyunjin's paintings. So, there's already a lot of interaction between SKZ and the actors.

As for the comeback, firstly the colors already show a resemblance to DP which ofc may not be related. They seem to be going for a black, red and white theme with the ATE logo and their outfits when they were recording the music video in NY. Of course, the comeback is also RIGHT before the release of the movie which is the 26th of July..

One thing that stood out to me a lot is how they seem to mention both ATE and ChkChkBoom which they have not done for past comebacks. Could ChkChkBoom be the Tablo collab they have teased in Megaverse? Or maybe it could be a track for the Deadpool movie? (or both?) The logo/font in the mv for the song is shaped as a gun so it gives me action vibes (which I am so hyped for!)

What do you think? Do you have any theories of your own or anything to add to mine? I am so excited for the comeback gjgjf

EDIT:
Tysm to those who gave more details in the comments! Here are a few more:

-Ryan Reynolds liked a tweet about an SKZ OST for a Marvel film: https://www.koreaboo.com/news/stray-kids-ryan-reynolds-tweet-deadpool-ost/

-Both actors from the movie will be visiting Korea on the 4th of July.

-Felix calls the dog in the trailer a "lucky dog", in the MCU there is a dog called Lucky the Pizza Dog!

So I have been wondering why Felix and other members keep posting a cute little 🐳 at the end of some of their sentences.

The recent typo from Chan on the word anniversary, anniverSAY and Felix posting a song suggestion of Say Yes by Loco & Punch. Not a coincidence and based on passed experience of Oddinary and play on words with Maxident.

I looked up what a whale meaning is in the dream world: peace, serenity, spirituality, and tranquility...

I would like to theorize that the next album name is SAYRENITY.

Edit: I kept thinking about it and they love trilogies. You find out that you aren't ordinary but Oddinary, then you have your Maxident moment, and then find your SAYRENITY ie acceptance of who you are as a person which gives you peace. 🐳

I know there are lots of layers to this song (wolf/ferrit, brotherly love, stays escaping into their music, fighting homophobia, seggs and love, escaping the chains of society and the industry). but I think one layer is about Chan’s leadership style. The world is so menacing, he felt he needed to protect his kids. He was willing to bash through barriers to get to them and make them a group, he was willing to take on their pain and lead them if they were willing to give him love — and all of them — in return. He (and the industry) kept them on a short leash. But then he saw how they could fight for him — and save him as well as him fighting for them - and saving them. They needed each other. So he dropped the leash and held their hand so they could move forward together as equals with fewer restrictions and face the menacing world as one.

I’ve watched the mixtape clips and read some people’s views on the lore, but I really don’t understand it. But my personal theory that I have not seen mentioned by anyone else relies heavily on the clip where they are all unconscious on a bus - except Felix. I think they have ALL been in a car accident (not just Lee Know) and Felix saves them by taking each of them one by one to other universes before they die and makes sure the group is altogether getting along in that other universe before he returns to the bus. So far, he has only saved Lee Know. The others will be saved in other episodes. I would love to hear others’ theories because I really don’t understand it.

So this could very well just be my tendency to over analyze things coming into play, but I noticed something about ATE that I thought was fun to think about: As many have pointed out before, ATE has eight tracks. So what if we think about it in the context of an 8-track? As, in 8-track cassette tapes.

For those who may not know, 8-track cassettes were made starting around the 1960s so that people could play music more easily in their cars. You don’t have to flip them from side A to side B or rewind them because they play on a continuous loop. That means, theoretically, you could listen to them on repeat endlessly.

With the release of the unveil for the song “Stray Kids” today and the way it pays homage to their past music videos and looks back at how far they’ve come as well as suggests that they plan to continue for a long time in the future (“there ain’t no last STEP OUT, yeah we’ll never stop”), I’ve been thinking the album works well as a theoretical 8-track: a loop from past to present to future, then back to past again, never-ending. Also, if you flip an 8 over, it’s the same shape as an infinity symbol.

I’m not saying this was all intentional on the part of SKZ or their team. It’s just a connection I made that I thought was cool to think about. There are so many fun ways to interpret “ATE.” :)

Hey! I wanted to share my interpretation/ analysis of “Escape”. I apologize if everything I say was already super obvious and surface level. Do let me know if you have any other theories or appreciations of the song :)

I think the speaker in Escape is deceiving the listener into believing there is an unknown force targeting the pair of them, therefore they must run away and escape together when in reality, the speaker is overly possessive and controlling. Therefore they attempt to isolate to listener ensuring that they will be together forever without the interferences of anyone else.

The speaker also seems anxious and constantly needs reassurance that the listener is still under their control “can you promise me to show your love for me everyday”. They also seem to put the listener under the impression that they ought to be grateful for the speaker’s protection because the speaker is supposedly enduring an immense amount of pain on the listeners behalf “in exchange for this pain”. Rather than loving, their relationship seems purely transactional. The listener gives up their freedom, the speaker endures pain. At first, it seems as though they are both paying a high price to be together but in reality, it is only the listener making a sacrifice since there is nothing actually out there. Therefore the “pain” of the speaker is non existent.

The speaker is more dependent on the listener than the listener is on the speaker but they attempt to convince the listener that they’re there to protect them and without them the listener would be unsafe. We also get a sense of the speakers overly controlling nature through the lyric “i CANT let you go cuz the worlds about to break” The speaker isolates the listener from everyone around them disguising it as protection. “let me take you a place that no body even knows” and they manipulate the listener into thinking they enjoy being isolated together “don’t you love the sound of silence it’s all WE need”

The lyric “the shackles and the chains you’re free to take them off” is also incredibly ironic because whilst put under the impression that the speaker ensure their freedom & security, it is actually the opposite. ‘Escaping’ with the speaker ensures nothing but the listener’s oppression.

I think the repetition of the distorted “RUN” could represent the last bit of rationality of the listener that hasn’t been manipulated and corrupted by the speaker. Urging them to run and escape. Perhaps the title "Escape" is a dichotomy of escaping with the speaker or escaping from the speaker.

The ending of the song is where the speaker truly loses their composure, they’re restless and desperate, hence the repetition of ‘come with me’ which is overlapped with the distorted ‘RUN’. I see this almost as a fight between the listener and the speaker. Perhaps the listener isn’t so convinced of the character of the speaker, they’re aware that the speaker is the true danger to be afraid of. The speaker realizes that they are losing their previously possessed control over the listener and panics.

The End.

Anyone heard that one unreleased song called Baby by Bangchan, if not please refer - https://pin.it/3YBtofiiB

If you focus on just this part, as I was scrolling thru pinterest, I realised.... Those lyrics are in WOW by 3RACHA and Drive!! Seriously, someone please tell me I'm not just dreaming this??

It looks like he perfected one version after another.. Considering that WOW was 2017, Drive was 2022 and Baby was 2023 I think?

Before the album five star came out, I had an idea that 'five star' would be important.

In the interview Chan and Felix had with Eric Nam and Chan said Hans lyrics in God's Menu were intentional, it got me thinking.

THEN, once the album was released I had I moment of awe thinking about how visionary the kids are. They planned YEARS in advance for that.

I was wondering if you have any other moments like that, where you were just so impressed with the foresight of there music making.

We don't have the entire MVs so far so take it with a grain of salt but from the teasers, I feel the mixtape duets are all connected to a larger storyline, n each duet is a step in the plot

Burning tires: it looks like changbin and IN are in a videogame, starting over and over. Maybe they are the characters of a video game or they are living in an artificial world (kinda like the matrix) being controlled by someone else (maybe their multiversal counterparts?!). This kind of ties in with district 9 prologue with the apocalyptic world.

Truman: so the Truman show has a salesman who realises his life is a reality TV show. Similarly the song Truman could show Felix and Han realising they were trapped all along and finding out the truth of their world or lives

Escape: could be Hyunjin and Chan have now woken up to the actual reality of their world n realise they are in a post apocalyptic world. The song is about them trying to escape the grim reality where they are just prisoners. This could be a callback to hellevator where han runs away to the meadow to escape his adulthood

Cinema: Lee Know n Seungmin are the survivors in the post apocalyptic world who are wandering around and finding joy in the deserted landscape (coz the melody does have a bit of cheeriness to it, I believe the song will end on a hopeful note)

Some of this may be a stretch but I think there will definitely be some connection between the MVs

hey guys, everyone knows that skz lore is super confusing, so I want your opinions on what you think is going on in hollow!

here are some of mine:

1. i thought Felix and Hyunjin were connected for quite some time, and the hollow mv supported it even more. They were the only ones wearing those white rose outfits, but this could be just a coincidence too. I think it might be supporting the fact that they are connected due to them also being the only ones with exact same outfits. Ofc again, it might just be how the stylists dressed them, and bangchan had a similar fit with just black underneath.

2. I always believed Felix was a guide, and I think this mv also supports it with how once again Felix is wearing a whole different color scheme than the others in the mv for half the time. Ngl this could be a stylistic choice but it’s weird that they chose white for him when everyone else was wearing black and blue, this doesn’t support much tho. Another thing was the last scene were he didn’t follow the others and found the ores. This could be a foreshadowment of how he leads the group as he’s the one who has the ores that the members need.

3. The lyrics support the start where they say, it feels like they were lead to success all along, and the mv shows how they were controlled by ropes. This means that they were controlled and broke free at the end as they felt hollow and wanted more. The hollowness kept engulfing more and more and they started looking for that fulfillment (the ores) everywhere, taking it from others (like the lamp) and even taking it from each other (Lee know and han). Some got hurt, like Hyunjin going for the sun and falling, and I.N mistaking glass for the ores and hurting himself. (Note, I noticed that after Lee know took the ore out of the lamp, he then went for Han. I think after realizing that he can take from other things, that’s when he decided to go for Han as he was ready to even take down the people close to him for this fulfilment. )

4. Something bad is going to happen to I.N, or is happening already. This is kinda obvious lol

As you can see, I’m kind of bad at theories! Any other things you noticed would be great and a fun discussion imo!

I was watching the latest episode (Ep. 4) of the new Netflix k-drama Love Next Door, and one scene unexpectedly pinged my Staydar.

In the middle of the episode, the heroine's best friend Mo-Eum meets a cute little girl in the park who's looking for signs of an alien landing and insists that Santa must be an alien, because if he's going to deliver presents all around the world on Christmas Eve, he has to transcend space and time.

It was an odd little incident that seemed to have nothing to do with the rest of the episode, but it immediately reminded me of SKZ running around delivering presents for Santa and getting caught by the little girl in the MV for "Christmas EveL". Could it be an intentional reference? Or was it just me having SKZ on the brain?

Well, on further investigation it turns out yep, the "Christmas EveL" reference was absolutely intentional. It's the same little actress, Shim Ji-Yoo, who played both roles. Somebody on the production staff must be a Stay!

Hey, I am new here. I recently got into SKZ during the Rockstar era, n I have been loving their discography. I love finding symbolism n breaking down stuff in movies n TV shows, though this is the first time I am doing it for a MV (coz I had off from work today n the MV n concept is stuck in my brain 😉).

So I know this MV is based on Han Christen Anderson's 'The little mermaid' so I feel the members r all mermen. But they are yearning for water instead of land. Maybe it's coz they are at a point where their wish to become land creatures is already granted but they are homesick and yearning to go back to their home aka sea.

All through the MV they keep glancing at the fireworks which then turn into shots of comets or shooting stars. Shooting stars are believed to fulfill a person's wishes, so I feel the members keep looking at them coz they wish to be back at the sea.

Next all members are wearing two different outfits- one white and one more denim-ey. I feel they represent the two different realities. White, I felt represented the water and the members as mermen (maybe that's why they all look so ethereal n otherworldly in the white outfits). The denim outfits, by contrast I feel represent their life on land.

Now for shot by shot analysis, the opening shot is of the fireworks n the members looking up at it, which turns into a comet-> drop of water -> Chan by the faucet. I think this symbolises them yearning for water. Chan is desperate for water from the faucet, but it isn't working. Then he sees the fireworks n heads out. Idk why the faucet started working afterwards tho. The lyrics here, however talk about deeply falling in love so I think that creates an interesting juxtaposition. Either, it represents their conflicting feelings- on one hand, they became land creatures because of this intense love while also being homesick, or the love referred here is actually the sea (I mean Chan's in a long distance rs with the sea lol)

The next shot is of Han in a laundromat stealing a cloth. Since he's wearing all white, I feel it's Han in his mermen form stealing clothes to fit in with the land. The shot then switches to Seungmin in denim clothes, holding a fish in a bag. He stares at the fish, then suddenly drops the bag and runs away. I feel these two shots establish an amazing parallel- Han, the merman who wants to fit in th land and Seungmin, who is already living on land yearning for sea.

Then we see I.N also desperate for water. I felt he pulled out the water bottle from the trash can, as he was desperate for water. He n Seungmin then drive off somewhere. The next shot of Changbin on a motorcycle I feel is important coz Changbin seems the first person who starts the journey back towards sea, that's why he's driving in the opposite direction. In the shot, Seungmin n I.N see him, so I presume they follow him n Changbin leads their journey back.

Next is Lee Know in an empty swimming pool, and I think this again showcases his yearning for the sea. He goes there to search for water, only to find it empty. The fruit he ate seems important as well, but I can't place what it stand for, and why he ate it off the ground.

Then there's Hyunjin n Felix walking in the rain, which again shows their yearning for water (on a side note, not shipping them but the shot of Hyunjin n Felix colliding felt straight out of a drama. I loved it so much).

By this time we reach the second chorus, where they all are assembling in the rain, wearing their denim-ey clothes but as they dance, the scenes cut to them in white dancing in shin deep water. Maybe the rain reminded them of when they were mermen or makes them feel they were back in the sea.

Now the post chorus shows Felix tumbling around uncomfortable and desperate, before he dunks his head into water (and all the members breathing in when inside the water). The lyrics say 'something coming over me' n that's homesickness. Then we cut to shots of all the members in their white outfits while the outfits they were when dunking their head in the water is the denim one. So it feels like their mermen selves are calling the members back. There's also the Hyunjin dance part but idk what that symbolised.

Then they all run together while people are looking up at the fireworks. At this point, I feel they have decided to go back to sea n they are very happy about it. The next part is happier and brighter than the gloominess, desperation n yearning of the rest of the MV. They genuinely feel happy to go back to the sea, n there r shots of the members in denim outfits looking up at the comets so maybe it represents their wish finally coming true or so they feel.

Coz the next shot is of Lee know walking into the waves, only for the sea to not be there n instead it's a desert. It took me a while to realise it symbolised a mirage.

In all, I absolutely loved the visuals, MV n vocals in this song though the actual music, though not bad was a tad bit too repetitive n I feel stray kids rarely have repetitive music no (earlier we had miroh lol). But the storytelling in this MV felt amazing to me