this is a second blog so I can’t answer your comments :( but I just want you to know that I appreciate anything said there :3 but don’t be surprised if I reply to you with my main blog!
📂 theory files
📂 about me [🔒]
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⚠️ Disclaimer:
I would change my writings depending on the new info I get, I don’t depend everything on my own research and would love to hear other people’s perspective or opinion to enrich my writings (and of course I would cite my sources)
I don’t base everying I write on NCT-NIRVANA. I will take some good points but I agree with them to a certain extent.
There are times when I re-post other people’s theories or observations and interpret it
The overall SMCU is kind of hazy, its a bit difficult to understand and some things aren’t clear even coming from SM themselves. So I understand if people have different opinions.
Do I believe everything I wrote? That’s debatable :)
Just ask me anything if you do have a question :) I’ll answer you with the knowledge I have of the lore.
Part 2 of my initial thoughts of what happened in NCT 127's Mystery in Seoul teaser series before the MV release. I divided this into two parts and two member units,
Dream (Daytime)
Johnny, Yuta, Mark, Jungwoo, and Jaehyun
In Between
Taeil
Reality (Nighttime)
Taeyong, Doyoung, and Haechan
Read the In Between and Reality (Nighttime) unit here.
Explanation on why Dream is daytime and Reality is Nighttime etc.
Daytime (Dream) Members
Jaehyun’s teaser was the most interesting in this division. He was seen entering a Go board game store(?)/center(?) (let's just say a particular place for people to play that game). An old man in a suit appears to be waiting for him and it seems to be a secret meeting. Jaehyun handed a file to him, other than for the purpose of the comeback’s title, it seems that Jaehyun is giving information to him in that file. NOW look, I only know a thing or two about Go so PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong😭 The main objective of Go is to surround a larger total area of the board with one’s stones than the opponent. Based on what I read, at the beginning of the game, the players must establish the position of their stones in the corners or around the sides of the board. It is like marking their territory(?). Players usually establish their stone territories in the corners or sides, but WHY did that old man put his stone in (for the most part) the middle?? As if he’s claiming a huge chunk of space as his own?? (not assuming that he's cheating btw) To which Jaehyun simply placed his somewhere on the edge. Then the man gives him a book and he leaves.
Considering Jaehyun’s character situation in 2 Baddies, under the snake’s influence, I am theorizing that this old man could be an illusion of the snake…? And to add to that, it would make sense along with his stone placement on the board. That Jaehyun (and presumably along with the others) are in the snake’s territory. In the end, Jaehyun received a mission from the snake? Was the snake also obtaining information on the Neos from Jaehyun? Well, whether the man is the snake or not I have my suspicions on him.
Jungwoo himself is a special character in the lore. I have theorized that he can travel from Reality to Dream faster and his significance to a certain butterfly character in SMCU. But as for this teaser alone, it may fall under the similar situation of Taeyong where I am unsure of why he is in a billiard place and who the other two people are. HOWEVER, I do know one thing.
The whole NCT lore is heavily inspired by the film Inception (which deals with dreaming). An item called a totem, usually in the form of a spinning top, spins around to indicate whether one is in a dream or reality. In this teaser, it is represented by Jungwoo's ball. This further confirms that he is in a dream.
Johnny, Yuta, and Mark could actually fall under the Taeyong situation as well. However, the three have the same common scenario where they are met by some warm yellow lighting coming from outside?? Johnny's though, is similar to Haechan and Taeil, where he received a message (by whispers of the customers) and left the place afterwards. Yuta appears to be in a biker gang(?), he did receive some information from someone whispering to him but he didn't leave the place immediately until he saw the lighting. Mark appears to be working in a jewelry and gold store, receiving a bag of gems/jewelry(??) to be sold and just had fun with the group of old people. While having fun, he just didn't feel good suddenly and saw the reflection of lighting.
Wrap Up
Something I noticed about these teasers would be how it has some same elements with Regular MV. Such as gold and other luxury goods, tiger decoration in Mark's place, and money if we consider Taeyong's money changer? But well, in the end, it is the same Seoul in Regular. It is unknown if some members' roles like Johnny, Yuta, Mark, and Taeyong's will stay or just for the (aesthetic) purpose of this comeback? I mean SM can't keep up with lore consistency most of the time. Most of the members received some sort of message and left their place, it may mean that they are meeting afterward. Hopefully, we will see more of Haechan's computer invention and Taeyong's key. Plus the members that we need to keep an eye on are Taeil and Jaehyun.
(Part 1) Read the In Between and Reality (Nighttime) unit here.
Part 1 of my initial thoughts of what happened in NCT 127's Mystery in Seoul teaser series before the MV release. I divided this into two parts and two member units,
Reality (Nighttime)
Taeyong, Doyoung, and Haechan
In Between
Taeil
Dream (Daytime)
Johnny, Yuta, Mark, Jungwoo, and Jaehyun
Read the Dream (Daytime) unit here.
Explanation on why Dream is daytime and Reality is Nighttime etc.
Also!! Note that I will focus on some members more than the others because of their character significance and mostly on whom I have more ideas on. Hence, some would only have brief overviews or combined in one paragraph so that this note won’t be too long to read too.
Taeil
I wanna start off with Taeil, which I found the most interesting.
Initially I thought Taeil was in the Reality (as shown to be in the night in the very beginning). But then I realized that to indicate where he really is is by looking at the lighting color, which is actually the Reality to Dream Transformation Color Scale.
He was in a nightclub but in his own world. Contrasting to the club music, he appears to be surrounded by classical music. Plus he is on his own, sitting down with tea, as if no one notices him. Whenever he is shown in individual shots, the lighting is Green, hence he is in between Dream and Reality. Then he moves on to the Dream stage by entering another room (Red lighting). There, he was greeted by a bald man who then offered him a cup of tea. The bald man seemed to be expecting him already and offered him a handful of sugar and a green folded note on top of it. I have my suspicions about this bald man because FIRST OF ALL there is a SNAKE tattoo on his head.
It may not be Black Mamba since aespa defeated them but Taemin’s Criminal did hint at the existence of 3 snakes, this may be one of them. Plus the presence of a snake in the Neo’s Universe had been around since Favorite.
The tattoo ‘Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies’ was also on the man’s head; considering that Taeil had been in his own world this whole time, does he actually know where he is? What if the dream he was in is actually a corrupted dream (a lie?)? Did the snake set him in a trap or is it setting all the members in a trap through the message given to Taeil? Well, I hope the MV will reveal something about this. Honestly, it is weird too that Taeil was grinning along with the man..
Nighttime (Reality) Members
Starting with Doyoung, he appears to be working in an aquarium shop. This is HIGHLY fitting for the lore because recently Doyoung has always been associated with water, which is supposed to represent Ether. This goes way back from NCT2021 in YearDream: Stage 1 - Seeing Myself in a Dream and even in Golden Age MV (water falling out of a glass in between DY's piano scenes). He closed his eyes for a moment then there were flashes of scenes of buildings and a passing train, the fishes, and more(?). As if he was given glimpses of the future? But note that this scene is pretty similar to the YearDream video. In a theory post I wrote of the YearDream, I speculated that someone was contacting him because Ether is a medium that connects people. So is this a similar situation?
As for Taeyong and Haechan, there isn't much that I want to talk about. Taeyong's situation was confusing because I still don't know why he appears to be working as a money changer and is seen slacking off. But one important thing to note in his teaser was the part when he was given a key, reminding me of Golden Age MV. The person that gave it to him was apparently one of the queueing customers and wasn't shown anything significant? Though the key got me thinking that perhaps it is used to open a room to this?
This is a mobile filing cabinet that has wheels on the side to lock it. We have an Exhibit & Storage ver. pictures, so perhaps it has something to do with that?
Haechan seemed to be constructing a device similar to a laptop.
Looking at the screen, especially the Ouija and the Validation screen, the device is like a computer but specifically to look up answers and check the validity or accuracy of something? Literally 'Factchecking'. Perhaps what makes it different than regular computers is its ability to look from deeper sources?? In the end, he received an email from a still unknown source (probably from the others for a meeting?) and he left like Taeyong. Now that I think of it; Haechan also received a message like Taeil, but unlike him, Taeil's source is questionable.
That's all that I have for this unit! I will wrap up this teaser series' thoughts in the next post. The final conclusion of the theory will of course come after the release of the MV.. and that also depends on whether it has a plot or not...
i feel like making theories for the Neos would be more appropriate if i also read their newly released webtoon but like…. for some reason im not as committed in reading webtoons nor mangas like how i used to……. i also hv some ideas for the new mystery in seoul teasers but idk.. what if the mv doesnt hv a plot again and leaving only context clues😭
do you have any theories on the new nct u 2023? i feel like there was so much lore involved this time around
Hey, sorry for the long wait but here's what I can find.. and it's a long one
Ngl I've always had the impression that the lore in the Neos' universe was somewhat dead...? This year? But from what I noticed, yes they used their assigned Neo Number on the timeline.
The Neos taking pictures in different places worldwide (somewhat) actually could strengthen the idea that they have entered the Reality and are expanding their universe. In 2020-2021, they were in the process of doing it and, this year is pretty much like the peak of their plan; hence called Golden Age. But what's unfortunate is that there aren't any bits that help that idea... which is why I am actually unsure of this theory. For example, in 2021 we had illustrations of their machines but now the concept pictures are just... normal. ESPECIALLY contents such as YearDream videos or NCTmentaries... it's all pretty vague. Album-wise, I think it's interesting that they are called Archiving and Collecting, it's like they are keeping memories or perhaps 'documentations' (in a scientific way) of their mission and what stage they are in. It's really odd that they call it Golden Age yet it's not that grand...
MV
MV and Archiving videos, each one of them has very different visuals and aesthetics. I think that there aren't any lore conclusions drawn from those because I see them mostly for stylistic purposes. There isn't a clear plot going on. One thing for sure Baggy Jeans was in the Dream world, many irregular stuff happening. The unit choice itself, the first NCT U unit, perhaps could mean a new beginning.
Though I do have a sliver of thoughts for Golden Age MV. The overall song sounds hopeful and 'inspiring' to an extent, all the Neos gathering. In the beginning, we have a droplet of water, Ether, so they are connecting. However, as a deranged theorist, I thought there were some slightly suspicious scenes and an underlying meaning behind all of it.
First of all, some members have their keys with their NeoNumber assigned (I saw a theory tweet from some time and OP added the numbers... actually that's not how it works). The keys belong to each one of them though not everyone's shown. Xiaojun's 08, Jungwoo's 05, and Ten's 10. But it's weird how Ten and Jungwoo joined Jaehyun to burn the keys. It is also odd that it is in the shape of an old key with a wooden keyring, it's not 'Neo'. I still don't know what the key truly means, what is it supposed to open? Perhaps for the archiving files? Or is it for a door? One key didn't have a keyring (Jaemin found it?) and Mark took it and showed it to the others? Why were Jaehyun, Ten, and Jungwoo burning the chair along with the keys? Are they letting go of something? Perhaps the past because they are moving on to a new universe, a new chapter?
(Another thought) Knowing Jaehyun and Ten's background there must be something. Doyoung was chosen as a special character as of 2021, Xiaojun could become one too now since he was the only one in the water (which I still don't know the reason for.. perhaps something to do with Ether too?). There were many destructions, these were used in BOSS' MV to show the empty and depressing Real World, unlike the Dream World where anything is possible. Are the destroyed structures a sign of them restarting something new? Or is it something bad? One last thing, Red Lights
It isn't just any red light. I tend to go crazy with hints of (round) red lights because of their meaning. Back then, red lighting in the Neo world was used to represent them being in a dream, but this one is round... is there a villainous character present? Or is it a reach?
So what is truly happening in the lore? Is it all hopeful and positive?
End of post, I'm very sorry for throwing in so many questions but essentially I am still unsure of these ideas I have. I am rather skeptical with what I have because before this, the lore was vague to me.
So I hope this helps you :")
And I know with all of this I could've written a different lengthy post but I pretty much didn't think things through while writing 😅... have this as my official theory and thoughts post for NCT2023.
as you noticed, i havent post any theory posts for the recent releases and been postponing them. the reason is because i havent been motivated to write these past weeks :”) plus, even if i force myself to write, not a single idea of a theory comes in mind (mostly for nct contents).
perhaps it could just be because of my lack of motivation, but i noticed that i couldnt connect anything to the lore in the recent nct releases. there are still some references to the dream lab, neocity, some scientific references (ex. wormhole), and such but not a clear plot story (at least to me). relating to the recent news of sungchan and shotaro, i even wonder if they still stick to the plot (i am still somewhat upset of the news too :”)). their arrival was pretty huge and there were numerous contents relating to that but its all suddenly changed? i am pretty sure that they still do stick to the neo universe but perhaps a different approach or maybe i am just not that motivated as of now🥹
anyways, i would probably go back to writing theories when they release a group comeback or if i DO hv an idea. if the rumour abt nct2023 is true, that would be even better. BUT if you do hv questions about my theories feel free to drop them and i’ll try to answer it not too long! so thank you for reading and enjoying my theories,,, hopefully those ideas and motivation come soon🥹
I’ve watched the ‘Welcome to MY World’ MV and ‘I’m Unhappy’ Track Video; unlike the usual bold and vivid colors they have, both vids are “dull-er” and gloomy. Though ‘Welcome to MY World’ seem to focus on their real (human) world and less depressing than the track video, focusing on the girls’ life after the whole fight with the snake (they still have that empty feeling). They witnessed ‘strange’ subtle phenomenons, signaling their meeting with Naevis again. These strange phenomenons are way less dramatic compared to their teaser clips though. So this one is more hopeful and positive compared to the other. While for ‘I’m Unhappy’, it can be interpreted as their missing feeling of Naevis at the beginning but I think there should be more and possibly there is an involvement with another entity… with Giselle’s eye puzzle and Ningning’s red lighting,, it just reminds me of a certain character in the SMCU. But anyway, its too dark and thrilling to describe just that empty missing feeling of Naevis, there must be another problem coming after them.
But I won’t make a full theory post yet!! I just wanna share my thoughts before I forget and I’d rather wait until everything gets released. Meanwhile I haven’t started writing anything for the Neos😬😬 so stay tuned I guess!
i saw that Dream has a new YT content and i saw someone on twt speculating tht whenever these contents are uploaded means that a comeback is coming?! but even tho I haven’t watch it it kind of piqued my interest bc it looks lore-related🤔🤔 i’m jst too scared to watch it bc it seems spooky shdhd ++i actually wrote this one more nct theory as a whole but havent got the time to continue so hopefully ill get that done BEFORE their cb comes, and ive been reading my theories again and perhaps i need to clarify tht 127 DID arrive in the Reality during Regular era,, its just weird how i often refer to Wakey Wakey instead since its a JP cb sooo ill def update on that too
Ahh that makes sense too since their debut should be near?? plus we had a lil more glimpse of one of the hacker’s face!! I also wonder how the new unit’s story will go if more neo-hacker stuff would be involved🤔🤔
aespa confirmed cb in early may queen! let's hope 2 get more fun stuff 4 the theories !!
RIGHT AGDHD honestly their upcoming cb is the biggest motivator for me to write the theory post so i knew i had to b quick😭 and yess lets hope we’ll get more exciting stuff to talk abt in their next storyy
🐍 Episode 3: Girls (Don’t You Know I’m a Savage?) Thoughts
An SMCU theory post about aespa’s Episode 3: Girls (Don’t You Know I’m a Save?) and what really happened in the video. I will be talking about the important parts, some details I noticed, and my thoughts about the episode.
This is definitely a better late than never type of situation plus I finally got a free time to write about this :”
So I admit I was wrong... the lady with short hair ISN’T Naevis but a personification of the snake (yes I am embarrassed). It was misleading too since we also had that one scene where Ningning just casually changed her hair. But now that’s pushed aside, let’s just get into it,
1. About Naevis and her sin
The reason why Naevis was not allowed to leave FLAT is because she committed a sin that wasn’t exactly elaborated in the episode. Though I do remember that a lot of people speculated its related to NCT’s The Origin video where many people believe that the child she was holding is Taeyong. It somewhat made sense, since the location is desert-like and she was wearing some hood/cape. It wasn’t clear yet of who they were running away from and still vague. If we were to follow this though, before the punishment, she was human at least physically. The three large figures are definitely some kind of gods or godesses, or the higher-ups that rule Kwangya?. So she was punished to only watch over Kwangya but only in a distance. She is not allowed to get involved and only stays in FLAT. If she leaves, her powers will be lost and... presumably be dead(?). But I remember in one part of the lyrics of Savage that she could get resurrected and the girls will find her memories again.
2. About Black Mamba
At least I was somewhat right about the BM. The snake was built up of the toxicity people created in the digital world. Rumors, gossips, etc. Interpreting this, as we all know, aes are basically the personification of everything we post on social media. With that, all of these digital human toxicity created this ae lady; the snake correlation is presumably to symbolize the evilness. She started the SYNK OUT to completely cut aes from humans. In the end this lady’s intention is somewhat good, though the execution just isn’t good since at one point she tried making Karina going against her own ae and basically harmed the girls by reusing those human toxicity against them (Hallucination quest). It was somewhat confusing to understand because all along I thought she was just evil (plus is actually born out of it) and just want to harm people, but she still has the heart to protect her own kind, huh?
After many ineffective fights and attacks, she overpowered by turning into a giant pile of snakes. This was done by consuming all other toxic digital data that people publish on the internet. Following Ning’s hacking team, they attempted to block the data that is being consumed by the snake’s IP Addresses. But there is too many datas being consumed and there were more than one snakes therefore more addresses. The more data being consumed by the snake the faster it recovers. SO with that, they flood the snake with too many data so it cannot handle it.
3. Ningning’s hacking team
I remember there were many speculations that the hacker Ningning worked with were a Neo, but it seems like there’s even more than two people. There is still possibility that the leading member who communicates with Ning is a Neo? But looking at the next scenes, it seems that they have some feminine silhouettes. This is just from what we can see here. So perhaps it isn’t related to the Neos...? But then again, we definitely need more contents to confirm it. Another thought came that it could be related to a new boygroup in the future outside NCT? Which I have briefly read about if I’m not mistaken. Either way, we still need more to dig deeper.
4. Naevis’ death
Naevis was truly kind to go out of her way helping the girls. Since she has the power to open portals, a navigation, she helped by basically transporting the snake into another place. In the end the dark shade grew all over her body and she passed out; again, perhaps she really d.
5. BoA’s Role
This one last scene with BoA immediately reminded me of the SMTOWN 2019 FANTASIA EXPRESS video clip where she was actually put in a scene where she seem like an antagonist. Though I’m not exactly sure if she really is evil in the whole SMCU because after all SM loves good-evil duality. I have talked about this in my Kwangya post. But what really piqued my interest is the fact that her skin turned Red and the circular light and red light behind her. With that, it is beginning to make me remind ourselves of our dear old friend; The Red Force. But I am saying this again, since this is sort of like an updated version of SMCU, I don’t know if it has a new name or completely new entity. Either way, I am stoked that its Red and it must have a connection.
Conclusion
In the end everything went back to normal and the girls are back with their aes. But the peace would probably stays temporarily, and after all, the girls would bring back Naevis’ memories? Timeline-wise, this was of course during Girls era. In the MV, it is more symbolism and these SMCU episodes are more of what literally happened. We didn’t see much insides of a building after all like the actual Girls MV. This is definitely the end of Arc 1 and we are moving to the next story of aespa’s story.
⭐️The Dreamers: Dream in a Dream Stages and Defeating an Intruder?
A theory post about NCT Dream’s Best Friend Ever MV of how they went through the Dream in a Dream stages and possibly defeating an alien intruder in their dream.
(!) WARNING: This is a theory as it is not confirmed by SM entertainment nor members of NCT, so please don’t believe this 100%!
Better late than never- (I’m in my one week break and finally have some theories cooking in my head) Yes this blog is still alive despite me posting late nowadays
It took me some time to finally noticed what really happened in the MV but some scenes remind me of the YearDream videos we had in 2021, so my theory is
The Neos are using the Dream in a Dream stages to defeat the green alien that was infiltrating their dreams and possibly the one that is responsible for breaking their dream machine in Glitch Mode.
If you remember in Glitch Mode, which I did write a theory about, they were attempting to control the dream. But there was an issue in the machine so it broke, and possibly, this green monster has something to do with it. Although, yes, it didn’t really do anything aside from standing or sitting around, we saw these eyes (that resemble the monsters’) and it could be disturbing both the dream and Reality.
In the scene where the Neos were walking in a city with people in it, I speculate it being the Reality. This is because of the presence of other people and the city view; while the scenes that are whimsical and colorful are the Dream world because essentially this is where this is where anything is possible unlike the Reality. But because of this alien, there were weird things happening like rubber duckies floating around the city and sea creatures going around. Soon they found out there are these eyeballs which looks like a part of the alien and they used the Dream Stages to put a stop to it.
Aliens aren’t actually a new concept in the Neos’ lore, and even in SMCU as a whole since other artists also had them as concepts. Well, SMCU itself is actually in space. We had U.F.Os in Hello Future, though it seems like this one is a different case.
Dream in a Dream Stages
Although these stages aren’t exactly in the same order in the MV, it is highly plausible that each member went through the stages on their own at different times or speed. But in the end, they were all gathered in the last stage.
Stage 0: The 7th Sense
Something that not many are aware is the actual 7th sense according to the Neo Lore is Empathy. Empathy is important in the lore, which is basically the Neos befriending or empathizing with each other. It is the main key for them to enter Dream in a Dream as a group. One scene that represents this would be when they slept together to enter the dream world. Honestly since their friendship is deep enough, its not necessary to point it out.
Stage 1: Seeing Myself in a Dream
Though not in order, the scene that I found that fit the most to this stage is this particular one. Obviously Mark saw a tiny version of himself, this led him to sleep again to enter the next stage.
Stage 2: Surfing in Our Dreams
Just like what I explained in my Stage 2 YearDream post in 2021, this stage is basically how the Neos get transported randomly to another place. In this case, Jisung was taken into the bathroom after sleeping. He woke up to another dream in the bathtub.
Stage 3: Synchronization of Dreams
Something that I noticed in the Stage 3 YearDream video is the amount of green was there. Well you can see how bright the green was here buttt the main reason why I chose this scene is obviously how all the Neos are in it. They were all synchronized in one place and are ready to go deeper in the dream. To top it all, they are playing around together.
Stage 4: Resonance
This one is tricky but we are getting deeper in the dream world. This one screenshot I took in particular really reminds me of the actual YearDream: Resonance video where all members were laying down. But to strengthen my point, these places do look similar or well honest, they are in their dreamscape.
All the scenes in outer space signify the last part of their journey in defeating the monster, Though it would make more sense if we get a scene where they attack it? But in the end, as we all know, the monster melted in place.
“We are the two as one”
One last thing that is interesting to point out is this line in the lyrics along with these photos of the Neos. SM as a whole is obsessed with the concept of duality, which I have explained in another post. As for the Neos we have the Dream-Reality. Think of it like their NCT2018 album cover; the black and white Reality ver. and colorful Dream ver. Like I mentioned, anything is possible in the dream unlike Reality. These photos could signify this in a way. So far, we don’t have an evil villain (other than the alien here) or a member that is under the villain’s grasp like 127 and the Visions’ case, which is odd. Another confession, all of this is just a theory and I have a small hunch about how relevant the storyline in this MV to their actual comeback since its a Japanese release. But who knows, we’ll find out more in their next comeback.
Guess that’s it :) Next I’ll talk about aespa’s lore sometime this week.
