Lmst

#Seungmin performing #AsWeAre in front of a background reminiscent of a blue moon.

I wasn't looking for blue and red moon imagery when I first saw these performances, and didn't pick up on it at the time.

Makes it even sweeter that #Changbin swapped it out with a red moon when they did the solo swaps.

#skzRedMoon #skzBlueMoon #skz #skzSoloSwaps

Wide shot of Seungmin sitting on the edge of a stage set object, playing a guitar. Behind him is a giant red circle reminiscent of a moon, surrounded by a red-tinged sky

I keep getting distracted from the reason I started to post about this in the first place, which is:

This part of the #AsWeAre video

:youtube: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxMJ_BogM3iDHc4-JcRDYEMvZnwVq-32GJ

In which #Seungmin pitches a baseball to himself, catches it, then turns to stare through the window at the giant blue full moon, while tossing the baseball up in his hand and looking thoughtful.

#skzBlueMoon #skzBlue #skz

Dimly lit Seungmin in front of a window at night, holding a baseball. Behind him is a giant blue moon

When we see #Hyunjin running back into danger, the lighting is red. #skzRedLighting

Hey there's that blue moon again, for the wide shot of the area where this is happening. #skzBlueMoon

What's going on with Hyunjin on the blanket, draped in chains, in the blue-tinged room? Where he's holding the shard of glass. It looks like he's sacrificed himself and put himself back into bondage, given up the happiness he had with Chan. #skzBlueLighting

#BangChan's shots are all blue-tinged as he looks for Hyunjin, or looks out for him?? And then he cracks and goes red. He has to go get his boy back.

Hmm hmm I thought that the blue moon was associated with #skzBlue team and the #skzRedMoon with #skzRed team, but I don't know if that's how they're using the blue and red coding in this video.

#skzEscape #HyunChan #skz #BunnyHyunjin

Industrial area outside at night. A blue-tinged moon is in the sky.

Silhouette of Hyunjin running through an abandoned area. The lighting is red-tinged.

Hyunjin sitting on the floor in a dark, blue-tinged room. There's a rumpled rug underneath him and chains draped across and around him.

Bang Chan's lighting goes from blue to red, seeming to indicate that he's made a decision to go back into danger himself for Hyunjin's sake

They can be chill when the lights are blue-tinged. But when the lights are red-tinged, it's bad (I think??) and they have to escape.

Shadowy hands up against the windows as the lights turn red.

Is #Hyunjin likely to be noisy? Is that why #BangChan must slap a hand over his mouth? To muffle his noises? Very helpful of him.

Brave and determined Hwang Hyunjin will hold off those attackers no matter what, and will buy time for his beloved Chan.

Chan's alarm and worry when he realises what Hyunjin has done 🥹

Behind him, the circular shadow of the barbed wire reminds me of #skzBlueMoon.

#skzEscape #HyunChan #skz

Windows in red lighting. Dark shadows of hands with outstretched fingers are faintly visible behind the windows.

Hyunjin and Bang Chan looking a little scared as they crouch together, on the run from something. Chan is covering Hyunjin's mouth with his hand

Brave and determined Hyunjin prepares to fight off an assailant. Behind him, Chan seems to be looking for a way out.

I have to go to work soon and I have no time but ...

"Escape" by #BangChan and #Hyunjin

:youtube: https://youtu.be/LvCmsOWPwKA

There's a blue moon and a red moon. #skzBlueMoon #skzRedMoon

There's a Thelma & Louise feel to the ending.

There's so much in there that I will watch repeatedly.

#skzEscape #HyunChan #skz

Bang Chan at night with a streetlight and a blue full moon behind him

I have some vague memories of the dual moon imagery in skz videos *before* #Levanter, but I don't know if that's really a thing or I'm muddling my memories.

I want to go back and watch again *right now* but I have other things to do this evening, alas.

#skzLore #skzRedMoon #skzBlueMoon

#skzRed team and #skzBlue team were explicitly defined last year in #skzCode 59, part 1 of #FallFieldDay.

:youtube: https://youtu.be/g5FGuZZJy3A

The HOP album also came in red and blue versions, with the members' solos mostly (but not entirely) color-coded to match their teams.

The exception was Railway (coded red). If there's a secret reason why it was the exception, I haven't figured it out yet. Graphic designer missed the memo??

The MVs for the blue team's solos all included a #skzBlueMoon or, in #LeeKnow's case, a #BlueCake. (I'm counting that cake because it's round like a moon and also 'mooning' and 'cake' can both be associated with butts, so there.)

The MVs for the red team's solos did *not* have a common item appearing in all of them, as far as I can see. But the recent fan meeting featured a #skzRedMoon in the stage backgrounds for at least 3 of the songs. For this to be a deliberate red team reference, there would have to be a 4th occurrence that I missed, and I'm sure it's there somewhere.

#skzLore #RailwayByBangChan #skzHop

Stray Kids members, dressed in red and blue, stand in a field in front of banners for their teams. The red team has blue banners, and the blue team has red banners.

#SongBy with #I_N joining #Seungmin to sing a song that I did not recognise

Song by cover:
:youtube: https://youtu.be/nvbaPI5MfUo

... Oh, is it starting off with a #skzBlueMoon?

Original by Lee Seungyoon:
:youtube: https://youtu.be/Shwuy0xzuho

I.N and Seungmin sitting in camp chairs by a fire at night, holding microphones. I.N is singing. Between and behind them, a person plays an acoustic guitar

A blue-tinted full moon, small in a dark sky

#skzBlue team #skzBlueMoon #BlueCake #RailwayByBangChan #YouthByLeeKnow #HoldMyHand #AsWeAre

Bang Chan in the Railway video with a blue full moon in the sky behind him

Lee Know ducks as someone throws a blue cake over his head

title screen from Han's Hold My Hand video with a large blue moon filling most of the screen

Seungmin playing guitar on a balcony with a huge blue moon in the background

I realised that a big part of my ongoing fascination with Stray Kids is that my mind sees them as an intricate puzzle to solve.

Hence the deep-dive analysis of their hanky code signalling, their signficant jewellery, and every potentially shippy interaction that they have with each other.

This fascination started because their music is also so varied, layered, intricate. There's a lot that can be picked apart, and a lot that's put there intentionally. Then when I discovered all the extra content that they put out, that fascination multiplied.

Which is to say: my mind has still been paying attention to the skz puzzles even when I haven't been posting about them here.

Yes there is a #skzBlueMoon in #BangChan's solo video too, but not in #LeeKnow's. (Lee Know has someone throwing a round #BlueCake at him, and he ducks so that it misses him, but no blue moon that I can see. Although I amuse myself by thinking of the connection between mooning, cake, and butts.)

Anyway the #skzBlue team is mirroring the #Levanter MV in their solo MVs, with the core trio of Bang Chan, #Han and #Seungmin all including the blue moon in their solo MVs, and Lee Know on the outer again, but still associated with them with his blue cake.

The #skzRed team does not seem to have any particular red symbol connecting their solo MVs. (Having said that, #Changbin's video is so fucking dark omg what video editor is responsible for that mess.)

Do I want my mind to let go of trying to solve some of these skz puzzles? I don't know. Maybe, a little?? but I still find it fun.

#skzLore

WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE

Somehow I missed the huge #skzBlueMoon in the opening seconds

...

Anyway.

How cute is his makeup?!

He said last week that the guitar in the video is one of his own. So he brought a red guitar to the shoot. There's animation of other colours being rapidly overlaid on it, then it sticks for a bit longer with the blue overlay.

#HoldMyHand #skzBlue team #Han #skzRed ?? (for the guitar)

Blue moon in a starry sky with the words "Hold my hand" superimposed over it and song credits below

Distorted view of Han playing a guitar. It was originally a red guitar but an animator has painted it blue instead

Han sitting on the floor with his mouth open like a very good boy. His makeup is perfect. (Would be a shame if someone came along and made a mess of it.)

And just to fuck with my observations, some bits in #Levanter that don't fit as neatly into a #skzBlue team #skzRed team theory...

#Hyunjin, #I_N and #LeeKnow are walking down a road when Lee Know sees a bird flying overhead. He turns around and starts following it towards the elevator. #skzBirds #skzElevators

(This happens immediately after #BangChan, #Seungmin and #Han are in the elevator looking at their ticket to the new world. So my theory is: the bird is a messenger from them to Lee Know, bringing him towards them.)

Presumably Hyunjin and I.N also turn around to follow Lee Know until they end up at the elevator together.

Then the bird flies off overhead while the #skzRedMoon and #skzBlueMoon appear on either side of the elevator.

I'd like to suggest it's significant that the blue moon is higher than the red moon at this point. Because the blue team already has 3 of its 4 members together, but the red team is much more separated and only appears alone or as duos.

The red team's light seems like it's only just starting to stabilise, with #Felix alone holding his gyroscope with the small red light at the centre. #skzRedLighting