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duckydae · 1 year

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exo-l tag challenge

so now that exo's coming back to properly celebrate their 10th anniversary, thought i'd send this around so we can have a wee giggle and reminisce

dunno if any of my moots are still active anymore so feel free to do this whether or not you follow me! also feel free to tag me, need some new exo-l blogs to follow as my dash is very exo-less

when did you first learn of exo?

this is really cringy but i first saw exo in twenty-fourteen on a 'youtubers react to k-pop', they were reacting to "overdose" and i kid you not, i was so put off their styling i wanted nothing to do with it. i hated it (and i still bloody do)

and then, a little while later they put out a 'teens react to exo' and i hadn't connected they were the same group. anyways, i saw yixing with that blonde hair and my mind went "that one, i like that one"

so don't let anyone ever tell you a visual is a stupid position

(it was probably a lot to do with the fact the boy i really liked had the same hairstyle)

turns out, my friend at the time was vaguely into them (she was more into super junior & shinee) and we just clicked over that and the rest was history

who was / is your bias?

yixing was my first bias ever, and i vaguely remember bouncing around yixing + luhan but i think like a month in jongdae committed the cardinal sin of a bias wrecker and became the ult bias

don't ask me how, it might have been showtime? but yeah jongdae's been my ult since twenty-fifteen. oh god.

where you team exo-k / exo-m?

i was pretty openly exo-m, because yixing was my bias and would only exclusively listen to their versions of the b-sides, until "the war" and it's funny that jongdae became my bias because i really don't think it was his vocals that sold me on him because i was too busy thinking "i wish lay would get more lines"

now looking back, yeah jongdae (and yixing) were my bias individually but as a collective, i preferred exo-k (also, "candy" and "mirotic" were better than "sorry sorry" + "happiness")

favourite m/v?

"lotto". not my favourite song in the world but the aesthetics, the 'plot', jongdae in the white smashing up that table with a hammer? ugh, love it. jongdae and baekhyun's era.

i love a music video with a plot, i would love to see them do a "now" or "365 fresh" but i don't think my heart could take it lol

honourable mentions: monster & i love 'love shot' probably because its in the same vain as "lotto" if it were less plot, more vibes.

also chanyeol with no shirt and that black leather, ugh.

the music video isn't my favourite, but i love the 'alice in wonderland' aspect of "love me right"

favourite album?

i think it really depends on what day you ask me, also my favourite album isn't always the one i think its their best. i'm really enjoying the obsession album right now but the "love me right (exodus)" is exo's magnum opus and dare i say "lotto (ex'act)" is the best sequel since shrek two.

but i really didn't like "love shot (don't mess up my tempo)" and it killed me inside but i only liked two of the b-sides

top ten tracks?

exodus

heaven

thunder

my lady

forever

cosmic railway

white noise

hurt

christmas day

fall

favourite soloist / subunit?

unit is absolutely exo-cbx. their "hey mama" mini-album is a no-skip album, their second mini wasn't really for me but "vroom vroom" is amazing also jongdae's "watch out" is brill but i can't listen to it without remembering him decking it on stage

that said, i still mourn the concept of chenbaeksoo unit and i'm still really disappointed sment didn't milk the shit out of that trio like kry or tts before them

favourite performance?

it feels a bit cliche to say the "wolf (remix)", the olympics or "artificial love" so i think i'll have to go with twenty-fifteen's mama set it was fantastic, show stopping and a bit chaotic

but shout-out to baek's "monster" in tokyo dome. y'all baby exo-l missed out on the shitstorm that was tumblr / twitter.

also, not a 'favourite' but cbx in "run this" at the golden disk awards being visibly pissed-off and screaming into their mics because of the "lip-sync" rumor

your exo hot take?

not an unpopular "hot take" but i know folk get stick for it

i really dislike superm, like seriously. i really dislike sm's management of it. sm had a perfectly good group to go up against bts on a global stage and they screwed it up. they weren't rookies like most of nct, they weren't too "out there" like shinee and the less said about suju the better.

also, they're a 'global group' yet all their best songs are mostly korean.

but they squandered it, they prioritised the nct brand both with the group itself and superm and tacked exo + taemin into their daft group to make older fans give a shit and they took away exo's chance at their final ot8/9 comeback before enlistment.

also, whilst it was for the better, kris leaving exo really stilted their international growth as a unit and individuals, honestly just the china line generally as they are collectively a lot stronger in their english as opposed to the korean members

showtime, ladder or arcade?

overall, ladder but i love showtime, especially episode eleven. i think that's when i first thought "hey that really fucking loud guy is pretty cute"

collab you'd like to see (western + k-pop)?

in regards to sm, i would love to see taeyeon, wendy, kyungsoo and jongdae take a shot at either a jazz or r'n'b collab track.

k-pop generally, baekyeol + dreamcatcher

western, bruno mars & kyungsoo

what would you like for exo to do next?

sm please! give me an english version of their title! almost everyone else at sm has one! hell, there was literally an english version of "the eve"!

but also, royalty concept (they've bloody earned it and exo-l's can't keep suggesting it every comeback)

but personally, it'd love to see a twenties or thirties "great gatsby" concept

funniest exo moments(s)?

"say hey!" that entire performance is a disaster, baek getting interrupted, then spooked by a pyro and finally jongdae decking it in the dance break of "growl"

the water fight during exoluxion

jongdae's outbrust at sehun on knowing bros

exomentary's bowling episode (rip chanyeol)

sehun and the beluga whale

the exo-l screaming "yah baekhyun!"

jongdae scaring the shit out of doni on weekly idol (deserved)

everyone yelling that baekhyun picked 'i got a boy' and not ‘gee’ like a normal person (personally luhan made the best choice)

baek, tao and luhan's haunted house run

heechul's various impressions of kyungsoo on knowing bros

favourite line?

chingu, we never get to see them anymore but they (especially the beagles) were always tied to the hip, that said i've defo gone soft for the maknae line

who's the traitor? is there one?

kris it's absolutely jongdae. i know folk think it's baekhyun but or chanyeol but after "lotto", i feel like that rules out chanyeol and baekhyun after "monster".

jongdae seems to be doing the opposite to everyone in these music videos whilst still being 'apart of it'

like: the white shirt in "lotto", standing at the 'last supper', the cameras in obsession, the smashing of their earnings in "lotto" the 'no fucks given attitude' when the swat shows up, unlike the rest of the group

favourite pathcode?

baekhyun, its so pretty but i also love sehun's as a resident scot

favourite cursed moment(s)?

"my name is baekhyun, but you can call me bacon" stfu bake-hun

suho meeting jedward

chanyeol's nick mask

exo: next door (side note: why was exo-m + jongin just not in the show?)

baekhyun's 'best looking' ranking on weekly idol

"wolf" demo

who's "baby-girl" are you picking?

kyungsoo's in "call me baby" but shout-out to jongdae's underrated one in "juliet"

favourite exo collab?

i've got a few, probably "lil' something" with jongdae & heize or his collab with ailee

it kills me that taeyeon was unwell whilst singing with jongdae also, chanyeol's collab with far east movement

favourite cover?

vocal line + sehun's "why so serious"

exo & yuna kim's "happiness" (vocal line sound brill in this)

sunday morning

#exo #jongin #baekhyun #chanyeol #kyungsoo #junmyeon #sehun #jongdae #minseok #yixing #kai #chen #suho #lay #xiumin #my posts

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skzoombie · 2 years

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exo

✦ meu primeiro bias: sehun (ele foi meu bias utt por uns bons anos)

✦ meu bias atual(is): sehun e suho, gosto de um daddy também

✦ meu ranking de álbum/ou era (ou favorito de cada um): eu amo todos os álbuns do exo, é quase impossível escolher um só.

Ex'act

The war

Obssesion

✦ como eu entrei neles: por causa das army que sempre falavam mal do exo e um dia fui escutar as músicas deles. (hoje não sou mais army)

✦ qual membro seria meu melhor amigo: baekhyun ou chanyeol

✦ algo que eu associo a eles (ou com um viés/qualquer membro): comecei a ser muito mais exigente com as produções de músicas, exo tem entregado eras fantásticas, tanto os fãs quanto a crítica amam, então acho que atualmente sou mais atenta as letras, conceito, a era em geral, não sou fã de nada muito bobo, gosto de entrega.

#exo

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breakyourbox · 2 years

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SeChan’s battle scars(?) feat. eyewitness Kim Junmyeon (x)

🍒 45 days until Chanyeol’s discharge 🍒

#Chanyeol #Suho #Sehun #EXO #flash warning #flashing tw #year: 2016 #era: Ex'act #show: M Countdown #behind the scenes #song: Monster

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alexiososp · 4 months

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KAISOO 2024 Birthday Season Episode Specials: KAISOO Day

I am Alexio Sospranio, and you’re listening to the kaisoo fic podcast.

Hello dear kaisooist, happy happy happy kaisoo day.

Before we begin i would like to give my utmost gratitude to at1stsoo who has agreed to be part of yet another episode in this kaisoo fic podcast, featuring on the second day of the kaisoo season episode specials in commemoration of kaisoo’s birthday 2024. I would also like to thank my beta Dudu for her advice and support and i would also like to thank the lovely kiki, peachypeptide on twitter for this beautiful podcast episode cover.

Yesterday was Kyungsoo’s day and we looked at a fic which had the theme of:

Wherein Kyungsoo devotes his life to saving Jongin.

And today we will be looking at Waxing & Waning: Two Moons, THE kaisoo compendium fic by at1stsoo.

The sequence today is generally three parts. First part of this episode we will introduce the fic. Second, we will look at what Waxing & Waning: Two Moons by at1stsoo covers. Lastly, the third segment that there is today is a qna with at1stsoo herself, who when i asked some questions prior to today's session, she submitted her answers.

Thank you Lizzie, for letting your beautiful fic be with us on kaisoo day to celebrate their birthdays and for saying yes to participating in the episode today.

Today, we will be looking at a very special fic to commemorate this lovely day. Waxing & Waning: Two Moons by at1stsoo is a kaisoo compendium fic that we will be looking at today. This compendium is about 133 thousand words, a true nonau because it is driven by real life pictures, videos, events with references at the end of each chapter.

Now, let’s see the dictionary definition of what a compendium actually is. A compendium is a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, in a book form. In this case the particular subject, as we are all here for is kaisoo, found in the lovely archive of our own, or ao3 for short.

So ladies and gays, we will be going through this fic, because well, this is a nonau kaisoo fic of kaisoo’s love story, on a beautiful kaisoo day.

Just a little bit on how I stumbled upon Waxing & Waning: Two Moons. About four years ago (as of 2024), I was looking for a kaisoo non au fic. I had been looking at kaisoo videos and I thought to myself…I really wanna know what goes on in their heads. Then I stumbled upon a video edit using clips of that heart wrenching day of the 1st of April 2016 with Baekhyun’s Love Again as the background music.

Upon watching that, i told myself no matter how fictional it may seem or how delusional it would deteriorate me even more i need to know what happened that day. I needed to know their love story. I cant remember how I stumbled upon this fic, but the trajectory of my conviction of kaisoo’s love after this fic became very firm.

—--

Waxing & Waning: Two Moons by at1stsoo covers eras from from pre-debut to EX'ACT (2016). Now, if i were to break down this compendium fic into bite sized moments, there will be about 7 major events: Very first event we have in 2012, the Angel Performance Moment, then secondly SMTOWN Concert in 2013. A while later we see the third major event unfold due to the Gayo Daejun Music Festival with the VP’s Confrontation. Next, one of the significant moments in kaisoo history, Kyungsoo caressing Jongin’s NECK in Singapore during EXOluXion. Almost immediately followed by the kaisoo break up… and from there many things happen to slowly build back their relationship… but then, one of the most devastating things that happened after their break up was kaistal dating news on April 1st 2016. But that is the very last major event before kaisoo is out to the VP letting him and the EXO members be aware of their love for each other.

—--

Now, upon reading Waxing & Waning: Two Moons, I had a lot of questions. And our lovely author of the day has shared with us her response to my never ending questions. Thank you Lizzie for participating and being part of yet another episode with the kaisoo fic podcast. So my first question upon reading Waxing & Waning: Two Moons was

How did this whole compendium come about? Were there any specific moments of the kaisoo timeline that really inspired you to look into their life proper?

I began reading Kaisoo fics because as I fell in love with Kyungsoo and EXO, I went looking for fanfic with Kyungsoo in it. I read already-classic-in-2013 works, which were often heavily angst ridden like Anterograde Tomorrow, and wondered what made Kaisoo the most common pairing for Kyungsoo. I had no idea how much I would get swept up into shipping Kaisoo - can’t believe it’s been a whole decade now!

And I think that is absolutely amazing. Now in Waxing & Waning: Two Moons,

There are news excerpts, photos and videos for our references… So what did your writing process look like? How long did it take you to cross check your sources and piece everything up together?

Waxing & Waning was the first fic I ever wrote, so I didn’t have a particular process or plan when I got started. It began with knowing that I wanted to explain why Kaisoo were crying on stage during EXO’s Lotte World event on April 1. I needed to have a story arch that would cover Kaisoo coming together, having colder spells where they seemed distant and then cycling back to being so close again, and a complex explanation for the Kaistal photos. Once I had that basic framework idea, I started outlining all of my favorite Kaisoo moments that I’d want to fit in. That’s when I figured out the story was going to become MUCH bigger than I originally thought… because I have too many favorite Kaisoo moments! I wanted to start at ‘the beginning’ of Kaisoo, so that meant predebut, and then some of their famous early rookie era moments that made them such a beloved ship, and all the dates just kept filling in. In the end, I had a 14 page document of the timeline, with major and minor dates of all the stuff going on between 2012-2016. There were a bunch of things in that timeline that never made it into the fic in the end, but I got to include most stuff. I have no idea how much time I spent on it because it was constantly getting added to as I wrote. I’d guess it was at least 40 hours worth of finding links and exact dates.

Wow, it’s interesting how just one moment can open up so much more. We will get to April 1st in a few questions, Lizzie,

You have written many AUs with kaisoo in different settings. Like your politics AU and lawyers AU. But what was the most challenging part of writing this particular AU?

The most challenging part was probably writing Kyungsoo and Jongin (and Krystal, for that matter!) with respect while making sure they felt like real people. Like, when you write them as Lawyers, people know they’re just characters in a fictional story. When you write nonau, you’re putting words into the mouths of people that folks feel they know, and it can’t be the PR version of them that only the cameras see, like they should be fallible and realistic, not perfect idols. So as much as I adore Kyungsoo, I needed him to make mistakes and say the wrong things sometimes, ya know? And my sweet Jongin - he’s younger and going to do more rash stuff, yet I never wanted him to seem OVERLY stubborn or silly. But we ALL act stupid sometimes, especially when it comes to love. So making them make realistic bad choices that fit with the celebrities we know them to be was always tricky.

Now, that indeed is very true, we love kaisoo as characters, but we love them as idols even more. And my next question is…

Why Waxing & Waning: Two Moons? Why did you title it as it is?

Kaisoo as a ship had these moments of like OMG THEY’RE BOTH SO IN SYNC as well as these times when it really felt like one was begging for the other’s attention more on stage and stuff, so I wanted the title to reflect how emotions can swell and fade among people, and you’re not always feeling the same phase or depth of attraction at the same time.

I published the first chapter right after writing it, so the title reflects what I knew was the core theme rather than the ending. I honestly didn’t know how I would end the story when I first started writing. I was set on having Kyungsoo’s feelings at maximum when the Kaistal news dropped, but whether Jongin’s would have waned by then or not was an open question.

I see, so the way they undergo alternate increases and decreases in their intensity of love. Absolutely beautiful. We’ve talked about the title, now

Could you give a bit of background and maybe share with us the insight behind the chapter titles in Waxing & Waning? There seems to have been a lot of thought behind it and I just would like to know more.

Oh my gosh the chapter titles. Here’s the real answer: I started with chapter titles because it felt like a good idea at the time since I had never written anything else. The opening titles are all moon phases, because I thought this fic would be a handful of chapters so wouldn’t it be clever to just have it reflect the stage of the moon that Kyungsoo or Jongin was at (like new moons, waxing crescent, etc.) Then the story got soooo much longer and I knew I didn’t want duplicate chapter names (like how many would have been FULL MOON haha), so I shifted more broadly to weather-related chapters to depict how tumultuous or calm their love was in the chapter. I never named chapters again in anything else I’ve written because it was honestly really hard to keep generating original chapter titles!

And oh my indeed the chapter titles are very organic. It is quite interesting to see the essence of their love through weather-related ideas for chapter titles like Evening Thunderstorms which has Kyungsoo feelings of hurt, anger and frustration. Or Up in the Air where there is hope for kaisoo again. Or Eye of the Storm where we see mostly calm weather at the surface for now as Kyungsoo is back at his parents home, but looking at the weather, there is an oncoming towering thunderstorm where the most severe weather and highest winds would occur, and that, ladies and gays is where we see The Longest Day, The Longest Night.

So we have covered reasons behind fic title and chapter titles and the reason behind this whole compendium. Now I am looking at your asian fanfics posting of Waxing & Waning: Two Moons. I notice you first published on the 2nd of April 2016. Now that was the day after one of the most significant moments in kaisoo history. Now dear kaisoo listener, let us take a moment to mourn that evening just briefly and to remind you of what happened… okay so april 1st was the day of the kaistal dating news… Kai and Krystal of f(x).

Now my question is, was it coincidental that that news broke out the day before? because no one expected it…so what was your thought process when you saw the news that made you finally post up the fic the following day?

Oh but it wasn’t coincidental!!! The news broke on April 1st in Korea, when it was still March 31st where I live, and I was gobsmacked. I wasn’t on Twitter back then, so I was kinda on my own with all the Kaisoo feels, and I had to do something with them so I started writing.

I want to mention that I would never have been brave enough to write and actually post something if I hadn’t become close friends with adtoyks, writer of Running Up That Hill, during 2015 when she was writing RUTH. She DM’d me on AFF because I kept commenting on RUTH and encouraging her while she was writing, and our friendship gave me the courage to take a stab at writing, too, once I had inspiration in 2016 in the form of April 1st. I love her to pieces and am always amazed at how fanfic can bring us really great friends!

That must have been an absolutely crazyyy March 31st… And wow, adtoyks? Dear adtoyks, if you’re listening: thank you for encouraging our author of the day, at1stsoo, Lizzie, to write. I read RUTH a while ago… and if im not mistaken there is also a trivia quiz done by at1stsoo, for adtoyks’s RUTH.

And going back to april 1st, as much as i wanna say fuck krystal for getting in the way of kaisoo, i cannot deny the dramatic significance of her character in the fic. Krystal is the catalyst for Jongin needing a wake-up call and to think practically. She is the one who makes Jongin change his whole outlook on the confusing situation that Kyungsoo does to him after their break up. During the break up Kyungsoo lies and says “I like you, Jongin, i do. But i like my job more.” And one night, Kyungsoo couldn’t take seeing Jongin in pain and having his own heart hurt from his own treatment towards the younger, he calls his mother. MamaDo introduces Kyungsoo to the concept of loving from afar. So going back to Krystal and why she is a significant character is because she says to Jongin, “what feels more real: those words or his actions?” And upon hearing those words, Jongin mulls over it, and comes out more hopeful, initiates more sincere and flirty interactions with Kyungsoo. Because Jongin understands the gap between Kyungsoo words and actions reflect his love for him. Kyungsoo choosing those specific hurtful words, knowing Jongin’s insecurities about Kyungsoo’s career. And Kyungsoo’s act of love as he fills up the fridge with Jongin’s favorite dishes and sending food trucks to his filming location, just to name two examples on how Kyungsoo loves from afar, as advised by MamaDo

And of couse… again as much i as i wanna say fuck Krystal because of how the mere mention and sight of her will make Kyungsoo spiral in a negative headspace, we know the biggest antagonist is the fucking VP. The fucking VP who realizes the depth of Kyungsoo's feelings for Jongin and decides the best way to get to Kyungsoo is actually through threatening to ruin Jongin's career.

And let me pause here and let me ask at1stsoo a question. Now dear Lizzie, this is a kaisoo story. Each character we come across adds to the plot and moves our beloved characters either towards or further from each other.

Smaller character roles who add to the plot like the significance of Chanyeol being there for Kyungsoo as a silent supporter in holding him up when SM confirmed the kaistal dating news

To bigger character roles like the antagonistic VP who threatens Kyungsoo with the downfall of Jongin’s career

to the lesser antagonist Krystal who becomes a love interests that adds conflict to our favorite couple

to the neutral Jaehyuk, who is working in the best interest of both kai and soo but not forgetting to remind them of their work life

To Kyungsoo’s confidant, supportive MamaDo who teaches him to love from afar

We have a variety of roles in this fic.

So my seventh question for you here is what were the things you were mindful about when creating the characters?

I wasn’t going to make Krystal the villain. That felt like the easy or cowardly way out? Life is generally more complex, and I don’t love it when women especially are just made out to be the villains in boylove fanfic. Women are awesome. So I wanted to show Krystal’s strength and savviness rather than make her a homewrecker. She’s a bilingual, talented girl who made it in a cutthroat industry and had to watch SM cut off her sister; her perspective and experiences add dimension to Kaisoo’s journey, and I think a lot of readers related to some of the things she goes through in terms of her crush and desire for a relationship with someone just not as into it as you are.

Mama Do is another female character through which I wanted to showcase wisdom and maturity in love. She’s very special to me - everyone needs a mama they can call in the middle of the night!

Jaehyuk turned out to be an important example of someone who could change and expand their worldview when given the opportunity to witness that love is love. I hope there are more Jaehyuks out there who could be as open-minded.

Of course, the VP represents those who aren’t open and are ruthless. Sadly, those types do exist and often rise into positions of power because they’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals and remain in power over others.

I too love MamaDo and I definitely agree with the representation of people who are open like their manager, versus people who have a lot of hate like the VP.

There is a beautiful balance between Kyungsoo and Jongin’s points of view. How do you know what to say, where and when to reveal it? And because it seems to come out so naturally also given that the fic is written chronologically.

I’m flattered - I just knew I needed folks to experience both Kyungsoo and Jongin’s perspectives and my goal was for people to sympathize with both of them. Again, the ‘easy’ narrative is that Jongin is a playboy and just flirts a lot on stage or whatever. In the story, Jongin is thoughtful and has legitimate reasons to be cautious or frustrated or mad at the various stuff going on, based on the information he has. Same with Kyungsoo. I had them share a fair amount of inner monologue in the fic so that people could really relate to what they were thinking and experiencing. I hope it made them both all the more lovable.

Definitely, Lizzie, definitely. The added depth of complex emotions really make kaisoo very loveable in this fic.

Before the ninth question, i would just like to give a bit of context:

Now the use of physical spaces. We have settings like concert venues backstage and dorm/dorm room and practice rooms, where they wax and wane. Where they share secretive blissful moments of love, where they find solace in each other, and within the same setting share immense anger filled with pain and longing towards one another.

And we also have settings that generally evoke negative feelings like in the VP’s office where kaisoo fights against the VP or the roof where Kyungsoo broke up with Jongin.

And lastly settings like restaurants and concert stages, which are neutral spaces, within the public eye and hence they cannot display extreme emotions to protect themselves.

So my question here is, how cautious and conscious were you when you set up a scene in different settings?

The rooftops were definitely spaces for intense emotion to pour out because it’s one of those few places they could be away from the world. Having to monitor their behavior (or failing to monitor it, like Kyungsoo when he caressed Jongin’s neck during Growl) on stage is hard. Love just boiling over and being evident in public when it’s not supposed to be is the core theme in this story: your greatest joy can sadly get you in trouble sometimes.

Now the last question, wow we have had ten questions today…

You have written a whole compendium for us, what is the essence of the fic you want us to take away from and to never lose sight of? Something that holds the weight of kaisoo’s love and a moment where we understand why they wax and wane.

Easy answer? Angel is Kaisoo’s song, from the practice room in 2012 to EXO’Clock in 2023, they have this beautiful, timeless bond through that song no matter however many times they’ve practiced or performed it together. In the story, while practicing Angel, they develop an inside joke and Kyungsoo finally lets himself just feel the joy he gets from being around Jongin. Life is hard enough as it is - let yourself fully experience happiness when you’re in it!

On a different note, I think an important lesson in the story is that while it can be noble to shoulder burdens for someone you love, you can’t strip them of their autonomy to I choose their path and their happiness. You have to be partners and involve each other in the good and the tough times. MamaDo warns Kyungsoo about this:

“You keep talking about this relationship like it’s all your responsibility, all your doing or all your fault. Why? There’s two people’s feelings involved here, Soo-ah,”…

“I realize that at your young age, and especially with all the success you’ve had in pursuing your singing and acting aspirations, you probably think giving up on a dream is tragic, one of the worst things that a person can do. But sweetheart, that’s life. Some dreams come true, and some dreams die in favor of others. Some we mourn, but others we give away willingly, knowing that we’re getting something even better by letting that pathway die.”

everyone deserves to know which dreams they’re forfeiting when forced to pick between paths. Who knows – maybe you’re his dream, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo sums up his changed viewpoint and what it means to be a partner towards the end of the fic- “We’re going to fight and have misunderstandings. But through the tough times… sometimes I’m going to carry you, and sometimes you’re going to carry me. And that’s love. As long as we’re both willing to do more than our ‘fair share’ when the other needs it, we’ll get through anything.”

Now, dear kaisoo listener, we have explored so many things today, insights by our lovely author on how the compendium came about, meanings behind title and chapter titles, how mindful at1stsoo was when creating setting and characters and lastly ending it off with the essence of Waxing & Waning: Two Moons that she wants to leave us with.

Thank you Lizzie, at1stsoo, for letting us revel in your beautiful fic and for saying yes to participating in the podcast today. Dear listener, link to the fic will be given below in the notes section, do take time to read, it is so beautiful in its human intricacies, its waxing and its waning.

I think that would be it for our kaisoo day, the theme for today was to talk about this compendium fic, on this beautiful kaisoo day. This is a three day celebration, so do look out for tomorrow as well. So today we were looking at the compendium fic, yesterday for Kyungsoo day was the theme: Wherein Kyungsoo devotes his life to saving Jongin.

Followed by tomorrow on Jongin day with the theme of: Wherein Jongin’s love is only kept for Kyungsoo.

To reach me, i am kaisooficdrunk on twitter and if you want you can drop me questions on my curious cat you can do so with the same username. There will also be another link that brings you to my tumblr blog with the transcription for today's episode. There you can also find the other scripts for other episodes as well.

Thank you for listening, have a good day, dear kaisooist, and we look forward to tomorrow. Stay tuned.

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hyuck-xix · 1 year

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EXO!!!

(for the kpop asks in case that wasn't clear)

Hello! Thanks for asking about EXO! I feel like I don't talk much about them on my blog but I love them ^_^ Actually, in terms of music, EXO is my favorite k-pop group by far.

✦ my first bias: Baekhyun. It was actually kind of funny, I discovered Chen first but through his solo music so I didn't even know he was part of EXO, but I loved his music. And then Baekhyun's Bambi came out (if this gives you a timeline for when I got into k-pop lol) and I was like 'woah who's this guy??' and then I remember watching the music video for SuperM's 'One' for the first time and it got to Baekhyun's first line and I had some kind of visceral response, like 'oh my god okay now I know what a bias is and this is it'. Like love at first sight haha. Idk, I was instantly obsessed with him. But I didn't know he was the same guy from Bambi! But once I figured out who he was, I instantly became an EXO fan.

✦ my current bias(es): Still Baekhyun :) But recently... Kyungsoo's really been wrecking me!!!There's something about him... I'm a little in love with Kyungsoo these days lol <3

✦ my album and/or era ranking (or favorite of each): I'm just going to do their full-length albums for the sake of simplicity!

Don't Mess Up My Tempo: This album is perfect in my eyes. I loveeeee the styling in the tempo mv (Jongin's striped crop top! Baekhyun's highlights! Minseok's spiky hair!), and the music video and song in general. it's one of those songs that just puts a smile on my face whenever i listen to it. But the best part of DMUMT is the rest of the tracklist. Gravity, 24/7, Bad Dream, literally every song on this album is top-tier.

Exodus: There's something about Exodus that has me completely charmed. The Pathcode teasers were maybe the biggest slay in all of k-pop teasers ever. Nothing has ever topped that in my eyes. And the songs Exodus and Playboy are some of my favorites ever. They both have this kind of playful jazzy thing going on? I'm really bad at describing music genres but they feel like special songs to me. And not to mention Call! Me! Baby!! omg!! She's such an icon and a feel-good song!! And the choreography is so fun! Also: Baekhyun's ad-lib at the end ( where he goes 'woo! baby!')-- it's at 3:13 in the mv and he makes the CHEESIEST face it makes me smile SO BIG and i think about it at least once a week lolll. I mean actually just watch Baekhyun at any point in that mv, because he was FEELING IT, he was giving it his ALL!!!

Obsession: The title track Obsession was actually my obsession for a longggg time. I can still listen to it on repeat for hours at a time. There was also a period of time where I'd watch the music video multiple times a day every day... yeah. But also the album as a whole has the same feeling for me as DMUMT. All the songs hold their own. A problem I have with a lot of NCT's discography is that a solid fraction of their b-sides in every album feel like filler songs. But this album was clearly written and produced with love and care. Every song. Every song is great. Where most k-pop groups' 'cutesy' songs are cringey at worst and bland at best, EXO somehow is able to access the heart of a fun or cute song and give it something fresh and sincere and...important somehow. Non Stop, Day after Day, and Butterfly Effect on this album are like that for me. Not to mention the absolute masterpiece bangers that are Groove and Ya Ya Ya and Baby You Are and woah if I mention any other songs I will have literally mentioned the whole tracklist!! Bruh EXO really is that good.

Ex'act: Monster is arguably *the* classic EXO title track. The chorus still gives me chills. But even though I love many of the songs in this album/repackage (Monster, She's Dreaming, Cloud 9, One and Only, White Noise) it just doesn't feel quite as special to me. EXO sets the bar really, really high.

XOXO: A little unpolished, sure, but XOXO is such an iconic album. Wolf... i know no one else likes it but the live remix!! The live remix!!!! Literally makes me want to cry every time I listen to it, it's so beautiful. That's all I'm going to say about that. Baby Don't Cry is also a gem. Heart Attack was way ahead of its time in my opinion. My Lady makes me feel nostalgic somehow, even though I never listened to it when I was young. It just makes me feel that bittersweet emotional feeling. And I unironically love Let Out The Beast lolll. I think I put this album relatively low on the list just because some of the songs sound pretty dated now--they remind me of something One Direction would put out (looking at you, 365. like actually i'd be surprised if that song wasn't originally written for 1D, it's uncanny).

The War: Okay this is the hottest take EVER because almost every EXO fan I know holds The War as their favorite album. But... oh god, I just don't like it one bit. There's only one song I genuinely love on that album and it's Boomerang, which isn't even from The War itself but from the repackage -_- I also sometimes enjoy Touch It? But I think the amount of annoyance The Eve, Ko Ko Bop, Forever, Diamond, and Chill give me... I mean they're still not terrible songs. But there's something about the production of them that bothers me? Often the instrumentation feels like it's competing with the heart of the song, like trying to be interesting at the expense of the song sounding cohesive and it just comes across as grating to me... yeah. And the vibe of the album is such a departure from EXO's established aesthetic and musical identity that it makes me question why they did it at all.

✦ how i got into them: I kind of told this story up above for the bias question, but I guess I'll talk about some of the first EXO songs I fell in love with. Obsession was one of them. Also Gravity, specifically this live performance of it--I remember actually screaming when Baekhyun opened the chorus lmao. It's interesting, because EXO's always mostly been about the music for me. Even though I've considered myself an EXO-L for almost two years now, I've never really watched a lot of reality/behind the scenes content for them. But I know their entire discography like the back of my hand, including every member's solo albums...

✦ which member would be my best friend: As I mentioned above, I don't really know the members as people as well as I'd like to. So answering this question is tricky. Probably Kyungsoo firstly. I get the impression he feels a little uncomfortable with the fame side of being an idol, and something about that really resonates with me. All through college instead of participating in school events or clubs I just find neighborhoods or woods as far away from campus as possible so i can escape from it all for a bit, and just simply exist and observe the natural world. It's hard to find other people who feel that way. I think I'd also love to be friends with Minseok and Jongin (i'm just choosing the shy line of EXO aren't I lol... but I get along best with fellow shy people, and they seem really genuine and sweet).

✦ something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): coffee--even just the smell, flying in an airplane at night when they turn off the lights in the cabin, wool peacoats, frost on windows, the feeling of homesickness, planetariums, black Moleskine journals with grid pages.

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Well, I didn't think it would be possible to write more than I did on my NCT 127 one, but here we are! lol. Sorry!

📥 send me a kpop group & i'll answer

#exo #asks #thanks again for asking for exo!!#i kinda forgot how much i love them until i was going through all their albums to do the ranking and just got flooded with warm fuzzies #<33333333333

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