#EXO just has such different vibes from any other group I’ve seen I think I’ve just had no idea what to think of them lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fyexo · 4 years

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200924 20 Questions With SuperM: The K-Pop Supergroup On Their New Album & Becoming ‘Like Family’ With Each Other

Last year, SuperM notched a huge win when their self-titled “mini album” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The K-pop supergroup -- which consists of members of EXO, SHINee, NCT 127 and WayV -- had generated a huge amount of buzz before releasing a single track thanks to its star-studded lineup, and with the No. 1 bow, SuperM was off to an explosive start.

With Super One, the group’s first full-length out Friday (Sept. 25), SuperM continues its positive momentum. The hopeful, hook-stuffed album allows all seven members of SuperM to shine, while also expanding the group’s pop aesthetic and finding the right balance between singing and rapping. Songs like “Wish You Were Here,” “Better Days” and lead single “100” demonstrate SuperM’s dexterity -- and even though it’s still uncertain when their global fans will be able to see the songs performed live, the collective sounds prepared to put on an eclectic, wide-ranging show with these tracks.

Ahead of their new album’s release, the members of SuperM answered 20 questions about their musical backgrounds, leaning on each other during the pandemic, the highlights of Super One and more:

1. What’s the first piece of music that you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?

BAEKHYUN: An Avril Lavigne CD. I really liked her music when I was young so I remember going to a CD store with my brother to buy her album.

2. What was the first concert you saw?

KAI: I remember I went to my first concert when I was 16 years old. This was Usher’s concert when he came to Korea. Seeing him perform onstage inspired me to work harder towards my dream to become an artist like him. I still can’t forget the energy and the vibe of people around me and remember wanting to perform on a big stage like that.

3. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time?

TAEMIN: My mom was the first person actually. When I was very young, she saw how much I enjoyed singing and dancing and encouraged me to audition. Since then, I started moving towards my dream to become an artist and performer. She helped me discover my passion at an early age and encouraged me to do what I love, and for that, I’m forever grateful.

4. What’s at the top of your professional bucket list?

TAEYONG: I just want everyone I work with to be happy, and work together for a long time. This includes not just SuperM members, but also the rest of the staff and the team behind the scenes that make it all happen!

5. How did your hometown/city shape who you are?

MARK: I think everyone is influenced by their hometown and where they come from. It’s really special to be a K-pop artist and perform in front of fans in Canada, where I’m from. When we performed in my hometown during the world tour earlier this year, it was such a significant “homecoming” moment for me. Canada always has a special place in my heart.

6. What’s the last song you listened to?

LUCAS: The last song I listened to is Justin Bieber’s new song, “Holy.” It’s a great song to listen to when you are feeling tired. I listen to it on repeat when I’m on the move during the day and it puts me in a good mood.

7. If you could see any artist in concert, dead or alive, who would it be?

TEN: I would choose Michael Jackson, because I always regret that I didn’t get to see him perform onstage live. I look up to him as an artist, and I’d love to see him sing and dance live at one of his concerts.

8. What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen happen in the crowd of one of your shows?

MARK: Well, one thing that happens at every show is how emotional I get seeing the venue packed with our fans. Before going onstage, I always take a peek at the audience from behind the curtain, and it’s hard to describe the exact feeling in words but it feels surreal — too good to be true, almost. Especially for a standing audience, it’s not easy standing for hours straight in a tight space, but their energy never goes down. I never feel tired onstage because of them. It’s still pretty crazy to me to see and feel their energy every time. I miss them!

9. How has the pandemic affected the way you’ve created music in 2020?

BAEKHYUN: The process of creating music, writing and recording songs, was pretty much the same. However, planning the album promotion during pandemic was a little different, since everything had to be done online. We had to think of fun and unique ways to interact with our fans, from creating our own reality show to holding livestream, AR tech-based concerts. We have a lot more creative content in store for our fans, so stay tuned!

10. What was your reaction to SuperM’s mini album topping the Billboard 200 chart last year?

KAI: Everyone was super happy. We put our heart and soul into the album and worked really hard on it, so in a way, we were looking forward to the results. When we saw that the EP hit number one on the chart, it was one of the happiest moments of our career.

11. What’s the biggest difference, creatively speaking, between last year’s mini album and Super One?

TEN: The mini album was more about introducing SuperM and our SMP-style performances, whereas for Super One, it shows more of our different musical styles and really brings out the dynamic qualities that we possess as a group. So, to put it simply, Super One is the completed version/look of SuperM. Also, what was important for us when creating this album was to include a message of hope and deliver that positivity and strength to listeners. Music can really lift your spirits when you’re feeling down, so I hope people find healing and happiness while listening to our music. That would make us very happy.

12. Why did “100” make the most sense as a lead single?

TAEYONG: “100” is all about speed and energy, so it’s the perfect single to showcase SuperM’s power as the opening act of Super One. It also helps convey the message that we are always moving forward at full-speed, giving our 100% in all we do.

13. What’s one song on the album that you suspect will be a big fan favorite?

LUCAS: I think fans will like “Better Days.” It’s a nice ballad song for a great start to your day. It also contains a message of comfort and empathy to help get through these difficult times. We hope our fans can feel the warmth of this messaging through our vocals and fluid rapping.

14. How has the group bonded during what’s been a wild 2020?

TAEMIN: We’ve been through a lot and have always been there for each other through thick and thin so naturally, we’ve gotten very close. They’re like family now. We didn’t have to “try” to become close, it just naturally happened -- as if we were destined to be in the same group.

15. SuperM has been part of a massive year for the global expansion of K-pop. How does it feel to see so many K-pop songs, albums and artists setting records?

MARK: This makes me really proud. I remember growing up in Canada, a lot of people at my school didn’t know K-pop. It was mainly just popular among Koreans. Now, so many people all over the world know about it and K-pop is getting so much attention. I feel honored and proud to be a part of this movement. Bringing the two cultures closer together and building that bridge through music is such a historic moment, and I can’t wait to contribute more to it and create great music for listeners worldwide.

16. What’s your go-to song that you’ve been singing along to lately?

BAEKHYUN: These days, I have Eric Benet’s “Still with You” on repeat, so I’ve been singing this a lot lately. This was one of my favorite songs in high school, and ever since I started spending more time at home, I’ve been revisiting some of my old favorite playlists. They bring me back to that moment when I was in school, aspiring to become an artist.

17. What movie, or song, always makes you cry?

TEN: This always changes, but when I can empathize with the characters in a movie or connect with the emotions in a song, it makes me cry. I recently cried watching the animated film, Grave of the Fireflies. I watched this for the first time when I was young, but re-watching it as an adult touched me in a different way.

18. If you were not a musician, what would you be?

LUCAS: If not a musician, I’d probably be a firefighter – a job that saves other people’s lives is truly inspiring to me. But if not a firefighter, I’d definitely choose a career that make people happy, just like what I try to do now through music and performing.

19. What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

KAI: I would tell my younger self to take care of yourself and stay healthy, because health is so important! I would also tell him not to be so hard on himself and enjoy the ride as a young teenager. This is the time for having fun and trying different things! Back then, I was so focused on my career and working towards my dreams that I didn’t spend a lot of time doing “regular teenager experiences,” which I wish I did more of!

20. What’s your message to fans who have been supporting SuperM -- and waiting for this album to arrive?

TAEMIN: It’s been almost a year now since our debut, and we are incredibly grateful to have so many fans cheer us on. We put our heart and soul into the album knowing that our fans have been waiting for a long time. While we’re sad that that we can’t meet them in person, we hope they can feel the positive energy through our songs and performances.

Jason Lipshutz @ Billboard

#exo #baekhyun #kai #t: interview #album: super one #200923 #e: interview

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lemonybaby67 · 6 years

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NCT in Hogwarts Houses

A/N: I’ve been really bored lately and I was thinking about Johnny’s personality when it dawned on me that he was a Gryffindor, so I thought ‘Hey, what are the rest of the members in?’. I have a bit of descriptions on why I think they should be in the house.

So, let’s get into it.

Gryffindor:

Johnny Seo:

Johnny is a very kind and likable guy.

So, when you first meet him it would seem like he’s a Hufflepuff.

But he’s really not.

Johnny has such a confident aura about him, he’s just the kind of guy who leads any group he’s in with his charms and likability.

He also confirmed at a fansign that he was a Gryffindor.

Jung Yoonoh:

Dude, Jaehyun is like, a mixture of all houses.

I mean, he’s just perfect in every way.

Only, if you look at him from a distance, he’s more of a Gryffindor than anything else.

He’s chivalrous and brave, and is like the type of guy to fight for what he wants and believes.

He’s a total fairytale prince.

Wong Yukhei:

Lucas is a total flirty and can be a slytherin at times.

But like, he’s a total Gryffindor.

Like, he’s probably in second place, right behind Jaehyun.

This kid is so spontaneous and crazy that he has to be a pure Gryffindor.

I mean, it’s Lucas for Christ’s sake.

Mark Lee:

Mark has so much on his shoulders.

I mean, he’s in all sub-units in NCT; that boy works hard.

Overall, he’s incredibly courageous and brave, much like Johnny.

But he’s not always confident 24/7 because he knows that there’s a lot more to life, which is where he differs from Johnny.

So yeah, he’s definitely more Gryffindor to me even though he’s also fiercely loyal.

Hwang Hendery:

Okay I know it’s kind of hard to see but hear me out.

He is willing to help literally anyone in need.

He’s probs a tutor outside of him being on the Quidditch team and dance club.

He’s got this twinkle in his eyes that makes you know that he’s just so kind and brave and angelic.

He might have a group of girls crowding around him from time to time because have you seen his boi?!

Lee Jeno:

This kid is pretty hard to figure out.

I mean, he’s so kind and cute and sweet, much like a Hufflepuff.

But he’s also the kind of person that would fiercely protect his family and friends no matter what the outcome might be.

Although, to me it’s more of a heroic, chivalrous thing.

So, that’s where he differs from a typical ‘brawn-over-feelings’ Gryffindor.

Slytherin:

Nakamoto Yuta:

Need I say more?

If you look up the definition for ‘Slytherin’ in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of Yuta.

He is not afraid to point out that he diserves something that he’s worked extremely hard for.

He’s also so ambitious that it makes me tear up.

He also reminds me so much of David Bowie (visually and spiritually).

Kim Dongyoung:

Okay, so this kid may seem like a smart Ravenclaw, but he’s evil.

Doyoung is very ambitious and cunning.

He will act like your best friend, and then when you turn around, he’d (in all honesty) probably put a paper on your back that says, ‘Kick me’.

I mean, this kid thinks he’s superior, which is totally Slytherin.

He’d probably also put whipped cream in your pillow before you sleep so.

Xiao Dejun:

Do I really need to explain this?

His voice is something from Satan, we all know that. He’s just ready to slay us.

Confused 24/7 but ready to attack if threatened.

I can imagine him absolutely obsessed with hexing and potions classes.

Petition for him to join honestly.

Lee Donghyuck:

This kid has the very devil living inside of him.

Haechan is so sarcastic and savage that literally the whole school bows to him in fear that he’d vex them.

He’s probably the head prefect in his house.

Sure he’s lazy, but when he sets his mid to something, he’s very determined to make it perfect.

This kid is definitely similar to Draco Malfoy, but he’s not wimpy like him.

Zhong Chenle:

This kid is a fluff ball, don’t deny it; but he’s a snake like Haechan (only way sneakier).

He’s probably always pranking and bothering Gryffindors and Jisung (but if someone else makes fun of the maknae, they’re dead).

He’s still super loveable though.

This also means that he can get into your mind easier but he doesn’t really want to.

He’s a lot like Sirius Black, so he’s got some Gryffindor in him, but he’s a dead set Slytherin.

Ravenclaw:

Moon Taeil:

Taeil is very aware and accepting of others which may come off as ‘Hufflepuff’, but Ravenclaws are known for their acceptance.

He also claims that he’s very bad at expressing himself which is typical of an intelectual.

He has so much going on in his mind that it makes it hard to focus on one thing, which is probably why he spaced out at times.

He’s also seen things; like, seen things.

Taeil is a Ravenclaw, don’t deny it.

Lee Taeyong:

This kid is such a mom but he’s got wits and a huge brain.

I mean, where do you think he hids all his excessive child careing tips?

He was almost labeled as a Hufflepuff in my book, but after thinking about it a bit more, he seems more like a Ravenclaw.

He definitely uses his wisdom and life experiences as references for his seventeen kids.

He’s also very aloof at times which is typical of a Ravenclaw.

Dong Sicheng:

Okay, Sicheng is very wise and studious.

Personally, I think he’s quiet in talk shows because he’s observing people’s reactions and how they interact so that he can use Korean a bit better.

He also studied one of the hardest Chinese dances in the history of Chinese dances and he can do it like a total pro.

That takes a lot of attentiveness and patience, which he definitely has.

He may seem like a Hufflepuff, but he’s more of a Ravenclaw.

Na Jaemin:

Jaemin is a total nerd.

He also believes that he’s more of a superior being, but he’s more lowkey about it than Doyoung.

That’s where he differs from a Slytherin.

He’s also very attentive to his surroundings and loves to smart mouth people (let’s not forget he has a way with words).

I mean, Jaemin is just a total Ravenclaw.

Hufflepuff:

Qian Kun:

This kid is never seen not smiling.

Even in the ‘I love you’ game, the second Chenle said ‘I love you’ to him, he laughed (I don’t blame him, I mean who can resist him).

He’s also very soft, kind hearted and sweet.

He gives off a motherly vibe that kind of competes with Taeyong.

Kun is just a total Hufflepuff.

Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul:

Ten has such a long name what the heck.

He’s so hardworking and down-to-earth.

He’s also extremely loyal, which is similar to a Gryffindor, which is probably why he gets along so well with them.

He tries to help out everyone, despite what he’s doing at the moment may be extremely important to him.

This fluffball needs love.

Kim Jungwoo:

Jungwoo is the most quite person I’ve ever seen, I swear to god.

He’s just so soft and loveable that it hurts my soul to look at him.

But like, Jungwoo is so honest and nice.

That boy doesn't have a bad bone in his body.

He probably founded the anti-bullying program, to be honest.

Huang Renjun:

If you get on Renjun’s bad side, he will hurt you.

Either than that though, this kid is the mother of the Dream team.

He’s very considerate of others and wants everyone to be happy.

He probably wouldn’t even hurt a fly.

He’s so precious, someone hold me.

Liu Yangyang

Meme king of 2019.

He’s so sweet and innocent it’s not okay #toopureforthisworld.

Hands down, probs became the prefect of Hufflepuff.

Jokes swoon everyone even Hyuck (that’s a fact don’t @ me on this).

Pure angel, we all need to protect.

Park Jisung:

JISUNG PARK is an angel sent from the holy gods of EXO-Planet.

He’s a soft little puppy that loves everyone, but hate’s it when he’s put down because of his age.

He’s very loyal and caring and loves his hyungs.

Jisung is very open to try new things and seems to be pretty humble.

Let’s all remember that he ‘doesn’t curse’.

@lemonybaby67

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dorks6 · 5 years

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for the kpop asks 1,8,20!! :>

Thank you for asking!! Though reading questions now, I feel like I might be a bit in way over my head?? Ooops, anyway.

1. are you an SM heaux, YG heaux, or JYP heaux?Honestly? None. I am not that big on the whole company tug-o-war thing nor very knowledgeable about any of them. Without a bit of research, I’d go and spout stuff like ‘1theK’ because lot of artists I like publish under that channel name so like... I’m that oblivious.

But from other side, funny story. One of my good friends that encouraged me falling deeper into kpop is definitely most Pro SM (SNSD and Red Velvet being her big loves) and I got to watch a lot of that content, gravitated towards some groups/artists a little even, like Amber of f(x), NCT, Exo and aforementioned SNSD. But I ended up roasting the typical stage styling and weird concepts/coloring for MVs to point some ended up inside jokes. I don’t hate it, but it’s really hit or miss with me. So, that, ultimately, has gone nowhere as far as being heaux goes.

On other hand, I ended up paying attention to bunch of JYP artists, namely Junho, Day6. Like, they both happen to be my biggest loves, but to say that gives me lot of love for JYPE... Nope. In fact, I’m pretty salty about managment and lot of things about it right now.

I don’t know if I even am largely into anyone from YG, oops. Rest are from various other companies, like Sunmi, Lee Hyori, Hyukoh, Dreamcatcher, Vixx, etc.

8. is there a group that you never thought you’d ever stan?Technically, I admit only to stanning one group and that is Day6. Rest is passing interest/lot of love for some particular member(s) in the group, without really vibing with their overall sound or whatnot (such as with NCT). But even then... I got pretty deep into kdramas for like... 2 years and didn’t dabble much into kmusic beyond good OSTs. I was so sure I will not slip down this slope. Yet, with a bit of delay, these 5 dorks got me so good that they got my first sideblog in 4-5 years of me being on tumblr. So, that’s that.

20. which idol do you think is very similar to you? / I think ___ is similar to you :’)This is going to sound very... IDK, presumptuous, I think. But Sungjin.

I’ve been meaning to write a long post about it, but one of things that really drew me to Day6 and Sungjin as people was how truly validated they made me feel. I never felt like I had seen a celebrity/actor/musician that was a good representation of how I am as a person and I didn’t realize how lovely and comforting that feeling can be, but Day6 has given me that. And while the initial impression has faded, because where I am different makes me feel like severely lacking/worse person, compared to them and in particular to Sungjin, I still do hold onto remnants of these feelings.

His always expressive face that you can pretty much read like a book, yet is still often misinterpreted by casual ‘reader’ (ranging from cold to intimidating and taking one second micro-expression as his entire mood), is something I struggle with daily. Both people that know me very well and just a little have mentioned this. Looking at him, I realized perhaps it can be something likable instead of just creating problems for me. (It’s made being in my own skin more comfortable, thank you, Sungjin.) He is rather shy, but for sake of making someone laugh and just generally being caught up in they high energy moment can go pretty far/be too much, just like me. Really visible high/low energy levels. Expressive hands!! Likes to touch people, but on his terms (though for me it’s not if larger focus is on it or not thing). Even the way he just does not see his own skills in being a good leader, supportive and empowering person, attractive, etc. despite people around him repeatedly telling him he is and himself giving some really amazing self-confident/faith advice... Bad bad at accepting compliments? I feel all that. Even in little things, like we both love stars and finding beautiful places. What’s more, we’re born in same year, same star sign! (Though our Chinese horoscopes are not the same.)

I could go on, but I think it’s enough. He is someone that I feel is like me, yet I also aspire to be more like, because the differences we have are stark enough and not in my favor, so I hope that if I put in conscious effort in these things, I could shift them into something more like him as well. I do not want to be his copy, no, but I would like to be calmer/more able to control my temper and my tongue and driven. I have tremendous respect for him.

If anyone disagrees/wants to tell me what idol they think I’m like, you’re very welcome to, I’d be very curious to hear, actually!

Send me kpop ask?

#ask games answered #it's 3am I've been up for almost 24 hours on no sleep previous night #so this might be only one for tonight sorry #i'll get to others tomorrow for real #this got sooo long #and I feel very awkward saying something like that about myself re: last question #jaesbean #sent on a cloud

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letthehatersbark · 6 years

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hello~ can you still remember your wanna one mbti typing post? may i ask if you guessed their type based on the cognitive functions? if yes, can you elaborate? thanks in advance!

Hi! I actually forgot I made that post. (From WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017!)

I just found some notes I made on it at the time. Yes I definitely use the cognitive functions for all my typings (most of which can now be seen at @theunit-mbti ) so here we go:

Jisung: ESTJ

Jisung is one of the people I am the least certain of, actually. On my original notes, I actually crossed out ESTJ and put ESFP, which is different other than being on the Te-Fi axis. I’m pretty sure that Jisung uses Te, because he definitely thinks out loud and uses external methods to process his thoughts. I think he has Fi because he cares about individuals on a personal level and in order to understand them links them back to his own struggles, etc. I reckoned he was a sensor rather than an intuitor but in the end decided he possibly showed more Se than Si, but I’m still not sure.

Sungwoon: ESTP

Cheeky, fun, manipulative Ti-Fe axis, but also that Ti-Fe ExTP thing of caring HUGELY what other people think of him while at the same time wishing that he didn’t. Don’t think his lines of thought are tangential enough to be an ENTP.

Minhyun: ISTJ (or ISFJ)

Similar to Jin from BTS - they really always reminded me of each other, right from BTS’ debut. Feels like he has surpressed and controlled Ne. Concerned with order, and tidiness, to the extent that he will group-tidy (strong, boss-like Te). Happy to lead, in a systematic fashion. A somewhat “boring” intellectual. Not as exciting as some of the other members (Si/Te) but quite clear-cut and to the point (Te). However, has a sensor’s understanding of what is situationally appropriate.

Seongwu: ENTP

I have seen Seongwu typed as an “annoying ESFJ” recently, which is interesting because an ESFJ has the same functions as an ENTP but in a different order. I get this, because he always wants to please people and amuse them, which shows strong Fe. But he is also more manipulative of a crowd’s engagement (Ti-Fe) than an ESFJ would be, where a manipulative ESFJ would simply manipulate emotions. Hmm not sure that makes sense but he’s definitely an extrovert with strong Ne and Fe.

Jaehwan: ISFJ

I wrote ISFJ/ENFP in my notes. Not really sure which because they are two of the types I know really well from being an ISFJ myself and having lots of ENFP friends. He would be in my friendship group tbh, but because I can recognise qualities from him that link with both myself and my ENFP friends, I’m not very adept at picking out from that what he is. His messiness might indicate more ENFP than ISFJ though. (But the ENFP nature of wanting to be good to your friends and make them happy makes him fine with adapting and improving e.g. when Minhyun wants him to.) Also think he may show more signs of Fi now than Fe. His Ne use is obvious.

Daniel: ESFP

Since that post I’ve seen Daniel described by others as “a boring/generic ESFP”. He is quite a textbook ESFP, in fact, perhaps the most ESFP-ish ESFP in the whole of the kpop world that i can think of at the moment. He reacts quickly, he enjoys fun things, he sleeps easily (no nagging Ne thoughts) he is self-motivated, he can put haters behind him and move on with his life. I think he’s quite a healthy ESFP tbh (unlike someone like EXO’s Baekhyun or Myname’s Seyong).

Jihoon: INFP

I feel like I’ve written up a summary about Jihoon before but I can’t find it.

He’s an interesting one who I’m kind of intrigued by. He’s introverted. He is weird and “random” in certain situations and moments (Ne). But he is SET on his dream and by God he was DETERMINED (Fi). He was the only one who I felt in the competition on PD101 S02 was actually aiming as hard as he could for first place (Te: “I outworked you all!!”). But I ditched the idea of ISTJ, although I guess he could be. It might depend on his enneagram, which I’m just trying to get to grips with. He’s darty, jumpy, unexpected, and cute though, which I link with Ne. I really like him for more than just his looks.

Woojin: ISFP

I don’t know any ISFPs in real life (I think // that I’m close to) so this is always a bit of a hard one to explain. Definitely an introvert, slightly slower than an ESFP might be, but still ready to react to any situation and go with it (Se). Hmm. Kind of hard to tell what’s going on in his mind (Fi). All the Se stereotypes like being a good dancer/performer lol. The “Se-stare” is definitely in use as well.

I also considered INTP for him, but I think ISFP fits better.

Jinyoung: INFJ

Most people type him as INFJ, INFP, or ISFJ. On my notes, I have him written as INFJ/ISFJ. He says too many direct and plain statements for me to think INFP anymore, and was actually starting to consider ISTJ. I think he’s also a bit colder than most INFPs are (not that he’s cold exactly, but he’s not overflowing with need for companionship; he’s more independent than the average INFP from my experience). I thought he had Ni because has has that sort of ability to pull a conclusion out of nowhere. But then again, a lot of his statements are drawn directly from factual information which he’s just relaying at a particularly profound point in time. I thought he had Fe because he was particularly good at listening to what other people thought was a good idea and fitting in with them. He also cares what people think about him which can come across in his vain moments. I’m not sure about him really, probably even less sure than Jisung. I’d need to study him again. I originally thought I got that “INFJ vibe” from him but almost a year later and suddenly I’m not so sure.

Daehwi: ESFJ

This was the easiest one. I usually have no trouble spotting ESFJs and he stood out to me immediately. His mother-hen like nature (Fe), in spite of being a youngling. His panic in situations where people aren’t getting along (Fe). He seems more Si-like than Ni-like and definitely prefers to deal with the real (Si) rather than the abstract (N). Very attached to his mother, almost protective (Fe).

Guanlin: ISTP

Almost another mystery but sigificantly comparable to Jungkook. I wrote INTP/ISTP/ISFJ on my notes for Guanlin, which is roughly what I originally thought for Jungkook. ISTPs are also difficult for me to type because I’m not friends with any IRL, much like ISFPs. However, I think Guanlin uses low Fe, because he responds to other’s emotions more significantly than his own immediate ones; he can have kind of emotionally delayed reactions; he can be quite analytical, suggesting Ti; and I’m sure he has Se over Ne. He can read situations very well considering his slight language barrier.

Ok so none of these are definite or set in stone! The ones I’m most sure of, however, are Daniel and Daehwi. I hope this helped, and thank you for the question. More discussion on the topic welcomed!

#wanna one #ask #anon #anon ask #mbti #kpop mbti #wanna one mbti #wannaone mbti #w1 #wanna one myers briggs

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byunbyunny-blog · 6 years

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Unpopular Kpop Opinions

Yeah, I know, this trend is so dead it’s not even funny anymore, but I still wanted to say my piece, so here we go (obv I have more than like 12 opinions but)

Y’all know the drill. I’m not trying to offend anyone, these are just my personal opinions, if you’re offended, either move on or debate like a civilized person, don’t waste anybody’s time with nasty hate :)

1. Blackpink is the most processed group out there Rn. Don’t get me wrong, I love the girls and I’m not saying that they have horrible personalities or are actually ugly or anything like that, it’s just that it’s so obvious that nothing they show is real, way more than other groups, where it’s just a general feel. It’s like every little detail with Blackpink has been micromanaged. All of their aegyo is scripted, everything they say is scripted, all of their outfits are done by a stylist (even the airport fashion everyone goes crazy for). I definitely have a feeling that their personal instagrams are highly manufactured as well. I feel like YG truly treats them like Barbie dolls. It just seems to be on a whole different level from the norm

2. I get bad vibes from Chanyeol. Honestly at this point he’s my least fav EXO member. I really feel like he was made an idol because of his looks )which is difficult for me cause he’s not even that attractive to me?) He’s pretty good at rapping the lines he’s given, but he’s not a rapper. I’ve never cringed more in my life than when I watched his Unpretty Rap Star performance with subtitles. WTF??? Rapping aside, he comes off as so extremely arrogant, and honestly really fake. Ik almost idols put up a front for the fans and I totally get that, and most of them are great people beneath that persona, but that’s just not the vibe I get from Chanyeol. And then there’s the continued racism/sexism...

3. I don’t like Gfriend. Sunny Summer is a bop, don’t get me wrong, but I just haven’t been able to get into the group. I think my problem was that the first thing I ever saw was a clip of Yerin on a variety show, and literally all she did was brag about how her fans say she looks like an anime character and how small her face is and how terribly difficult their choreography is, and it really just gave me a bad taste in my mouth. Since then, I’ve seen ugh things from other members, like bad attitudes and stuff. The only member I can like is Umji, I feel so protective of the girl because she gets such a hard time (even from her members like wtf)

4. I don’t get why people are shocked at Baam being the same as Boom Boom. Obviously Momoland’s company is going to try and recreate the group’s success with a similar song, and in the interest of honesty, I wasn’t crazy about Boom Boom, and think Baam is way catchier. So in my opinion, it’s like they upgraded, though I do hope they try something different for their next comeback so they don’t totally flop.

5. Jennie is the obvious favorite (of YG) in Blackpink. This has been clear to me ever since I first came across Blackpink, and tbh, the more I see from them, the more it pisses me off. I’m not hating on Jennie it’s not her fault. I just really hope that it doesn’t tear the group apart. Anybody would be affected by that sort of thing after awhile and if YG doesn’t get his shit together his most popular group Rn is going to wither.

• Ex.: Why is Jennie the one getting preferential treatment w fashion?? Everyone says Jennie is the one who gets all this stuff because she’s the most “fashion adjacent” in the group, but she’s that way because YG made her that way. It’s the company putting her forward the most. She got a Chanel contract way before any of the other members got to do anything on their own w fashion. Now she’s doing solo sponsorships and solo magazine shoots. Jisoo is the one who deserves this. She’s the group’s visual, and she gets screwed over all the time with line distribution. If she got the fashion stuff, I could see it as fair, but no, she doesn’t get lines or solo promotions

6. I get really cold vibes from Taeyong. This one’s pretty short, all I have to say is that I feel like he’s not very genuine.

7. I hate it when people blame Taeyeon or Jessica for what happened with SNSD. I don’t think the guilt should fall totally on one girl. I think they’re both guilty. Everything I’ve ever seen with SNSD has made me feel that something happened between them that caused a lot of issues. It could be a battle for popularity, it could be jealousy. I just think when people point out that there was obv tension between them, the fault shouldn’t go to one girl. In my opinion, they’re both divas, so shit was bound to happen.

8. I don’t like Krystal’s attitude. So a lot of people defend Krystal by saying that she only gets shit for her attitude because she’s female, which is true. But where I disagree is when people say it’s okay. It’s not okay for Krystal to do it (and tbh I get cold vibes from her sister too) nor is it okay for male idols to do it. Like you know exactly what you signed up for, you’re so privileged to be where you are, and you’re just going to pout the whole time?? I just don’t have sympathy

9. I feel like BTS are fake woke. I’m not commenting on actual political views within the group, I just feel like they’re putting on a display (like making a big show of it) and stretching this to appeal to westerners. Like I applaud what they’ve done for mental health, but they don’t speak up about the Wild bulllying going on within their own fandom, and there are so many issues they could stand up for in Korea, but instead they’re going to bring up MLK? It just doesn’t quite feel okay to me, idk

10. I don’t think Ikon should’ve been a seven member group. I’m an ikon fan and I love all of the members, I really do, but I feel like seven is so unnesscary, and I have this feeling that like YG threw in extra members just to follow the trend of the really big groups. Having a bigger group like that really breaks from YG’s usual pattern, and I feel like it fits with his newer trend of being a follower, not a setter, which is just a whole other topic to discuss. But no, I definitely feel that Hanbin, Bobby, Junhoe, and Jinhwan are the ones who truly add to the group. I love my other three boys to bits and believe all seven should be idols, but there should’ve been some other arrangement.

11. EXO needs to stop fucking with Suho. I’ve seen so many videos of them making fun of him and ignoring him and honestly it pisses me the fuck off, especially since Suho never does this in return. I’m sure there are plenty of videos and photos of them loving him too, and I’ve seen them, but in general, I feel like there’s a lack of respect towards their leader.

•AND DONT EVEN GET ME STRTED ON FUCKBOY CHANYEOL MAKING FUN OF SUHO SAYING HIS VERSION OF EXODUS WOUODNT SELL CAUSE I STG IF I WAS THERE I WOULDVE LOST MY FUCKING MIND

12. Xiumin is underrated. I don’t think it’s as bad now, because he has been promoting for EXO-CBX and that gave him some really good opportunities to shine and everything, but still, Minseok is talented, good looking, and doesn’t keep saying shitty racist things to Kai like some other people who I won’t mention.

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anime-or-anigay · 6 years

Note

So, I’m not sure whether the kpop au is still a thing, but if so: Do you ever wonder about a fancast on which kpop idols would be which member in HQ20? I’ve seen someone make a fancast of a different anime for kdrama, they chose different idols to play different characters. For your kpop au, which idols do you think could be which members of HQ20?

Ok so here we go, I’m finally going to start bringing the kpop AU back!! Thank you for your patience!! Gosh, I haven’t touched this AU in 64 years….. but in the next few weeks I swear I will get to answering the 6 or 7 kpop AU questions hiding in my inbox drowning amongst dirty anons…

For those who haven’t seen my kpop au yet see here (for computers) and here (for mobile)

Thank you for your question, anon ^.^ (andsorry for taking so long to reply - I really want to answer all these questions properly!)

Now, to answering….

This is actually really hard… I mean I’ve thought about what teamswould be like what kpop groups but I’ve never compared them directly to idolsbefore? Also, I wasn’t sure if you were asking based on what they’d be like asan idol personality or what their singing/rapping style would be like, so I’mgoing to do a double fancast. The first is who I think they are like based onpersonality, and the second is who they would sound most like to get the rightsound of the group…. (although if you’re curious abouthow the VAs actually sound like singing, see this playlist here andprepare yourself to be shook)

This gets pretty long so I’ll put it under a cut, but there is a TL;DR at the bottom for those who are interested but don’t want to filter through all my bullsh*t…

SawamuraDaichi (DJ)

Personality: S.Coups(SVT)- The total Dad™ of the group- Seems really mature and serious- Actually a total dork and a big softie- Gets bullied by his 1000 children

Rap/Vocal Style: Bitto(UP10TION)- Deep and beautiful- asewhrftjtmv fjieaworgns- the voice that haunts my dreams- also really calm but you can feel the emotion??

SugawaraKoushi (Suga)

Personality: Taeyong(NCT) - could also very easily be SVT’s Jeonghan thanks to those mom vibes andhim being an actual angel but I tried to mix it up a bit - actual mom of the group- takes such good care of the other members and is considered their support andpillar - beautiful inside and out - clumsy and will accidentally hurt his children but never means to- also really talented dancer

Vocal Style: Ryeowook(Super Junior)- so so pure- please protect this voice- such a wonderfully calming voice- not to be underestimated because it can also be incredibly strong- everything about him is lovely, including his voice

OikawaTooru (Tune)

Personality: Wooshin(UP10TION)- nearly went for Ken (VIXX) but I triedto not have double Oikawa VIXX even though I love them, as I love Seijoh, so somuch- super charismatic- treats his fans absolutely perfectly - incredibly hard working - such a beautiful group visual- and gets teased mercilessly for it by the other members

Vocal Style: Leo(VIXX)- Gorgeous and soft- But also can be powerful af - always finds the perfect emotion through the music- enunciates every word perfectly- Icry

IwaizumiHajime (Sooti)

Personality: D.O(EXO)- easily voted manliest in the group- likes things clean and organised and also likes cooking (totalhousewife) - has a tendency to death glare and look like he’s done with everyone’sshit (spoiler alert: he is)- but is actually a total sweetheart/kind of a dork- also master of singing/rapping in different languages

Rap/Vocal Style: Ravi(VIXX)- Raps with Power™ - Raps that change speed in the blink of an eye- Boy raps fast, boy raps slow but always p o w e r f u l - Feel this Energy - No relation to the fact that Oikawa isequated to Leo at all…

KurooTetsuro (Kurokat)

Personality: Jin(BTS)- adorable man child- makes terrible dad jokes constantly- massive nerd- still always looking out for the younger members- also need to mention that they bothhave a super dumb laugh

Rap/Vocal Style: Mino(Winner)- ok so, in the kpop au, Kuroois a vocalist who can rap, whereas Minois a rapper who can sing- but my point still stands- beautiful deep voice (both in singing and rap)- super chill and sexy - this voice saved my life

BokutoKoutaro (El-Bo)

Personality: Chen(EXO)- always honest with his emotions- LOUD BOY! (screams a lot)- always treats his fans incredibly sweetly- may come across like he makes a big fuss of nothing but is also known to takereally good care of the other members of the group, especially the maknaes- super sweet boy all round

Rap/Vocal Style: GDragon (BIGBANG)- higher voice than you expect- can sing and rap beautifully - can achieve so many different styles and emotions - 10/10 for talent

AkaashiKeiji (Kashi)

Personality: Suga(BTS)- deadly honesty (read: utterly savage)- 100% done = constant mood- but also really cares for the group and the music - and can be a literal ball of sunshine when he smiles just for the purpose ofcoming in and wrecking your bias - always ends up going along with all the group’s crazy antics in the end

Vocal Style: Onew (SHINee)- deep and beautiful- incredibly powerful- vocal range for days- always hits theperfect note

HanamakiTakahiro (Makki)

Personality: Jun(SVT)- actually a living breathing meme- please protect this child- also a total troll though - lowkey extra, highkey crazy boy - best troublesome child there is

Vocal Style: Ken(VIXX)- wtf happened to trying to mix it up abit…- riff king- like seriously - may not always get to sing the main part of the song, but that’s only becausethis boy is too busy majorly riffing behind the main vocals- also gorgeous voice all round. 10/10

MatsukawaIssei (Issei)

Personality: Lay(EXO)- says completely weird things with a deadpan expression- comes across as very innocent (but isn’t always)- adorably weird (don’t tell me you couldn’t see Mattsunwearing a christmas tree onsie and singing jingle bells) - also language issues and childactor thing are just like how I headcanon Mattsunin the kpop au so….

Rap/Vocal Style: Hongbin(VIXX)-could’ve also put Lay for this tbh but I’ve gotta keep this Seijoh/VIXX streakgoing now- both a singer and a rapper- soft rap style- lots of rap-singing - can change his voice to fit tone of song perfectly

AsahiAzumane (Asahi)

Personality: Zuho (SF9)- looks intimidating at first until you realise he’s a giant softy- a total sweetheart- like completely adorable- bless this giant scaredy cat

Vocal Style: D.O(EXO)- transitions from soft into powerful perfectly- can be beautifully quiet until it comes to hit that note™- has pure emotion behind it- pure, sweet and gorgeous just like him

YakuMorisuke (Yakkun)

Personality: Key(SHINee)- master of throwing shade- smile that lights up the room (when you get him to smile)- total sweetheart (and totally embarrassed by it) - but also 100% the nagging mom - and they both dance girl group danceslike an absolute queen

Vocal Style: Suho(EXO)- such a range on this boy- can sing just about any genre and have it fit- sometimes soft, sometimes intense, but always amazing- perfect lead vocals

KozumeKenma (Kenma)

Personality: Hongbin(VIXX)- actually allergic to the other group members- cannot handle all the cringy stuff he gets asked to do in the name of kpop- actually adorable without even trying- also lowkey savage when you aren’t expecting it

Rap/Vocal Style: Zico(Block B)- so calm but can actually spitfire- can rap super fast with minimal effort- can come across as calm but each rap has so much emotion- can also secretly sing

TanakaRyunosuke (Ryu)

Personality: Jackson(GOT7)- acts very extra- so so extra- but is so determined and hard working- looks out for other members of the group- also amazing dancer

Rap/Vocal Style: Also Jackson(GOT7)- we have consistency!- aggressive rap- but also somehow calming?- a lot of power- also has a really pretty singing voice

NishinoyaYu (Noya)

Personality: JHope (BTS)- actual guardian deity of the group- literal ball of energy- keeps the mood high and the craziness higher- always super supportive- 10/10 will be there when you need him to be

Rap/Vocal Style: AlsoJ-Hope (BTS)- love the double consistency of thekarasuno bros for life- high energy- rap style range from mellow and serious to crazy energy - so good at building the rap (starting chill and getting more and more energyas the rap goes on)- seriously this boy is so talented

HinataShoyo (Hina)

Personality: Baekhyun(EXO)- adorable sunshine child- most cheerful member of the group- incredibly social- loved by everyone - honestly just the cutest boy ever

Vocal Style: Okso Hina is really hard to find vocal comparison because I imagine his voice tobe so unique, but I’m going to put in Chen (EXO) because- he also has a super unique voice- soft voice (almost feminine at times - butI mean that as a good thing)- takes the high notes like a god- all round incredibly talented vocalist- also secretly really good at rapping

KageyamaTobio (Tobiyo)

Personality: Leo(VIXX)- the irony that his personalitycomparison is the same as his beloved senpai, Oikawa-san’s voice comparison isnot lost on me- resting ‘done’ face- cannot smile on cue - only when made to laugh- a lot of people think he is scary/disinterested but actually he’s a sweetcinnamon roll really- just very shy (and will get embarrassed easily if you compliment him)- also hits people a lot

Vocal Style: Youngjae(GOT7)- incredibly strong voice - absolute power behind those notes- sings from the very core of his being- just an all round amazing sound

TsukishimaKei (K)

Personality: Sehun(EXO)- evil maknae- doesn’t take shit from his senpais/hyungs- resting tsundere face - secretly cares a lot more than he lets on- is also lowkey shy and sweet when he isn’t being savage

Rap/Vocal Style: Taeyong(NCT)- super chill rapper- could pretty much do all his raps with a straight face - raps that give zero fucks- but also feel really powerful without him even trying - can rap all out but if he does you are dead

YamaguchiTadashi (Suta)

Personality: Mark(GOT7)- actual sunshine- doesn’t talk much in the group - lowkey fluent in english- has the most adorable laugh

Vocal Style: Jimin(BTS)- can hit those high note like damn- such a soothing voice - best voice to sing you to sleep, to be honest- pure and beautiful

HaibaLev (Revo)

Personality: V(BTS)- completely bizarre child- often has no idea what is happening- just a sweet ball of excitable energy- clumsy boy - also beautifully terrible english

Vocal Style: Haechan(NCT)- very unique voice- high pitch (but not as high as Hinata)- seriously he has no trouble hitting that gorgeous high- he is both gifted and a gift to humanity

So,TL;DR, my final fancasts are as follows:

*please bear in mind that this is allpersonal opinion and me basically projecting my biases onto my fav haikyuucharacters (although not all of my biases have made this list sadly), so pleasedon’t take offence if you don’t agree with my casting - I’m always open toother suggestions too and would love to hear other people’s fancasts too*

Based on the personality/energy thegroup give off:

S. Coups (SVT) - Daichi

Taeyong (NCT) - Suga

Wooshin (UP10TION) - Oikawa

D.O (EXO) - Iwaizumi

Jin (BTS) - Kuroo

Chen (EXO) - Bokuto

Suga (BTS) - Akaashi

Jun (SVT) - Hanamaki

Lay (EXO) - Matsukawa

Zuho (SF9) - Asahi

Key (SHINee) - Yaku

Hongbin (VIXX) - Kenma

Jackson (GOT7) - Tanaka

J Hope (BTS) - Nishinoya

Baekhyun (EXO) - Hinata

Leo (VIXX) - Kageyama

Sehun (EXO) - Tsukishima

Mark (GOT7) - Yamaguchi

V (BTS) - Lev

Based on group sound:

Bitto (UP10TION) - Daichi

Ryeowook (Super Junior) - Suga

Leo (VIXX) - Oikawa

Ravi (VIXX) - Iwaizumi

Mino (Winner) - Kuroo

G Dragon (BIGBANG) - Bokuto

Onew (SHINee) - Akaashi

Ken (VIXX) - Hanamaki

Hongbin (VIXX) - Matsukawa

D.O (EXO) - Asahi

Suho (EXO) - Yaku

Zico (Block B) - Kenma

Jackson (GOT7) - Tanaka

J Hope (BTS) - Nishinoya

Chen (EXO) - Hinata

Youngjae (GOT7) - Kageyama

Taeyong (NCT) - Tsukishima

Jimin (BTS) - Yamaguchi

Haechan (NCT) - Lev

Thnk you again for your question and your patience in waiting for an answer ^.^

Kpop AU

#Haikyuu ask I answer #k-pop au #Kpop au #I’m finally binging it back guys!!#HQ20 #text post #fan cast

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brigdh · 6 years

Text

Reading Wednesday

The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh. A space opera more concerned with ethics and friendships than battles and politics. The Pride of Chanur is a merchant ship crewed by the Hani, a lion-like species in which the females are in charge of trade and diplomacy while the males stay back home and fight one another for control of powerful households. Captain Pyanfar is on a typical trip, docked at a trading station, when a strange, naked alien that looks like nothing she's ever seen (though readers will quickly recognize it as a human) runs onto her ship. Another species, the Kif, soon demand its return, but Pyanfar refuses, as much because she dislikes the Kif and is happy to annoy them than for any deep reason. That choice lands her and her crew in escalating danger, as the Kif are determined to get the alien back and will declare war to do it and other species are drawn into the conflict. A great deal of the book is about the difficulty of translation; even with long-contacted species like the Kif, the Hani are forced to communicate in short, broken sentences and deal with deep cultural differences. With the humans, they're starting from the ground up, and matters like gestures, clothing, and food are as prone to misunderstandings as language itself. How do you even tell the difference between an sentient alien and an animal, if you have nothing in common? I loved this sociological part of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't like much of the rest of The Pride of Chanur. I didn't connect emotionally with any of the characters, I found the descriptions of space travel deeply confusing, and I have no idea at all how Hani society is supposed to function. For example, it seems like the male fights over households are supposed to be one-on-one, but then we're given a description of a whole crew invading and pillaging an enemy house. Is that illegal? Are there laws regulating these fights? What does a new male leader mean to the daughters and sisters of the former ruler – are they cast out too, or do they just have to obey a new boss? All of this is pretty important to the climax, but I just couldn't figure it out. The Pride of Chanur has its positives, but I don't think I'll be reading the sequels unless someone talks me into it. Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. The fourth book in The Expanse series, and so inevitably this review will contain spoilers for previous books. After the events of Abaddon's Gate , humanity suddenly has access to thousands of solar systems, most with inhabitable, Earth-like planets. And yet in a very believable, petty example of human nature, we're fighting a war over just one. The Cibola in the title is metaphorical; it's one of the mythical 'cities of gold' the Spanish conquistadors searched and killed for in their early days in the New World. The idea of being beyond the law, of pillaging fortunes from a new land, is a major theme in this book, and Cortez and his methods get name-dropped at least twice. A group of refugees, homeless after Ganymede was torn apart by war, riots, and alien monsters, settle on a planet they name Ilus. At the same time, the UN grants the Royal Charter Energy corporation the exploration and exploitation rights to the same planet, which they've named New Terra. This immediately sets up several consequential questions that no one has the answer to: since the refugees beat RCE to Ilus/New Terra by a year, do they have rights of priority? Does the UN even have the authority to give out contracts over these new planets? Where do Mars and the Outer Planet Alliance stand? Who owns the lithium ore the refugees have already mined and transported into space? And since the rest of humanity is months or even years away from Ilus/New Terra, can anyone stop RCE and the refugees from killing each other before politicians settle the matter? James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are sent in to act as mediators, since a) Holden is, by this point, a popular celebrity, and b) as an Earth native and former OPA operative, he can be seen as neutral. Unfortunately matters quickly grow beyond his ability to control them, particularly when the defense system set up by long-dead aliens wakes up and adds a third front to the killing-everyone campaign. As always in The Expanse series, we have a set of new POVs. Unfortunately this time I didn't like any of them as much as usual. Holden repeats again, and our others are Basia Merton, Elvi Okoye, and Dimitri Havelock. Basia was formerly a minor character in Caliban's War, the father of one of the other kidnapped children. His son died, and in reaction to that Basia has become fiercely, perhaps stupidly, protective of his surviving family. They are some of the refugees, and Basia's grief leads him to make several dangerous choices when confronted by the RCE. He's a sympathetic character, but I just didn't find him as captivating as Avasarala, Bobbie, or Pastor Anna. Havelock was also a minor character before; he was Detective Miller's partner in Leviathan Wakes. Now he's second-in-command of security for the RCE. It's just too bad that his boss is Murtry, a straight-up sociopath who doesn't care how many people he has to kill to give RCE an advantage. Havelock explicitly says that he's overly influenced by the people around him, and so goes along with Murtry's plan for far too long. As a character arc, this did not work for me at all. There is some suspense in waiting to see if Havelock will grow a spine and do the right thing, but it's not nearly as intriguing than if he was genuinely convinced of Murtry's ideas and had to change his mind, or was in some sort of physical danger that prevented him from helping the heroes. Finally, we have Elvi, an exo-zoologist working as part of RCE's science exploration team. More than anyone else, she understands Ilus/New Terra and how very different it is from Earth, despite superficial similarities. She makes several important discoveries that save lives, but she's dangerously naive regarding politics and human relationships. She also falls desperately in love with Holden and begins to act like a besotted teenager; this is believable as a reaction to the stress and life-threatening circumstances she finds herself in – and the narration does make it clear that's what's happening – but it was still somewhat annoying to read. It was hard to take her seriously as a respected professor when she was blushing and stammering over her crush. Overall, I didn't like this book as much as the previous ones in the series. It just wasn't as exciting and the characters weren't as likeable. On the other hand, I did really enjoy the found-family vibes between Holden and his crew: Naomi, Amos, and Alex. (Which reminds me: I forgot to mention the AMAZING scene in Caliban's War where Holden literally proposes marriage to the whole crew. He's half-joking, suggesting it more as a way for them to easily become co-owners of their spaceship than to actually enter into a poly romance, but I still loved it.) We have Amos nearly murdering people when Naomi is taken hostage, Naomi issuing vicious threats when Alex's safety is endangered, and Holden going to new extremes to protect Amos. It's just a whole circle of love and family-of-choice and it is my very favorite trope. I'm totally giving this book an extra star just for that. In general, Cibola Burn is a step down in quality from previous books, but I'll still be reading the sequel. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant: Survival Tips for the Horticulturally Challenged by Veronica Peerless. A really excellent how-to guide for houseplants, possibly the best book on the topic I've ever seen. It's split into two halves, with "The Basics" offering general tips and "The Houseplants" giving specific guidance on 119 common species. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant is aimed towards newbies, but it also included tricks that were new to me, such as how to save an overwatered plant by wrapping its soil in newspaper. I particularly liked the troubleshooting offered in "The Houseplants"; it explains, for instance, that yellow leaves on one plant might mean it needs more water, while yellow leaves on another species might indicate that it's getting too much sunlight. It's easy to look up your specific plants and get tips on how to best care for them. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant is available as both an ebook and a physical book, but I'd highly recommend the physical book. It's beautifully laid out, with a collage-like style that mixes photographs and abstract cutouts. A great book for anyone who raises houseplants, 'horticulturally challenged' or not! I read this as an ARC via NetGalley. One Way by S.J. Morden. A sci-fi thriller set in the near future: 2048, to be exact. Mars has been visited, and it's time for humanity to build a permanent base there for the ease of future astronauts. But how to do it? Robots are expensive and prone to breaking down, whereas human labor is even more expensive and when they break down there's likely to be lawsuits from family members. Xenosystems Operations, the company who has contracted with NASA to build the base, hits on the perfect solution: convict labor. After all, it's not like they can escape; they'll be on fucking Mars, and there's not a lot of spare oxygen or rocket ships for them to steal. XO runs a private prison in California (named Panopticon; subtle, Morden), so all they have to do is select a team of seven people with life-sentences who are willing to serve the rest of their time on Mars, give them a few months of training, and send them on a one-way journey – even once the base is built, they'll be a need for maintenance and janitorial services, since astronauts have more important things to do than unclog drains or charge batteries. In exchange, the prisoners get work they can be proud of and a bit more freedom in their daily lives. Frank is our narrator and main character. Sentenced to life for murdering his son's drug dealer, Frank is a former construction worker, an obviously useful background. He and his team of six other prisoners, each with their own specialities (transportation, plumbing, electricity, computers, hydroponics, and a doctor), plus an XO employee to be their guard/boss, quickly find out that XO has cut every possible corner to save money. They have no redundant supplies in case of wear or mishap; broken or missing necessary parts; barely enough food to get them through; problems with producing their own oxygen, water, and power; and not enough training for emergencies. Unsurprisingly, this quickly starts to take its toll, and people die in easily preventable accidents. Except by the third death, Frank suspects that they're not just accidents – someone on the team is deliberately murdering the others. He has no one he trusts, help from Earth is months away, and in the harsh environment of Mars the smallest mistake can kill, so Frank is left to figure out the murderer by himself before he's the next victim. Morden is an excellent writer of tension; there's several wonderfully dramatic scenes involving characters in spacesuits running out of time on their oxygen supplies that were heart-pounding and thrilling. Unfortunately he's not a great author of mysteries. The murderer is SUPER obvious, so much so that it makes Frank look dumb for taking so long to figure it out. At the point where Frank discovers a bunch of empty oxycontin packets around the murderer's bed and still doesn't think it might be him, I had to groan out loud. (Of course, being a drug addict doesn't make one a murderer, except that this is totally the kind of book where it does.) I also had problems with Morden's science writing; I think he expects his average reader to know more about space than I, at least, do. There was a lot of techno-jargon I didn't know, and I never could manage to picture what the base Frank and the others built was supposed to look like. On the other hand, I am highly predisposed to like a book that's this critical of the use of convict labor for corporate profit, and the excerpts scattered throughout of XO's private communications really make it clear how far down the path of evil a bit of greed and pure capitalism can get you. Hooray for a nice dose of contemporary politics in my escapist reading! I do want to note – because I didn't know before reading it – One Way is not a stand-alone. A sequel is due out soon. Nonetheless, One Way ends at a good point, with almost all of the plot threads wrapped up. You won't feel like you've gotten only half of the story if you read this book alone. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

[DW link for easier commenting, if you prefer]

#books #book reviews #james s.a. corey #cj cherryh #S. J. Morden #gardening #the expanse

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daesaurus · 7 years

Text

100 EXO questions

because @suhosbulge hates me

Favorite EXO album? The War

Favorite title song? Call me baby - it was the first EXO song I heard

Best Era? I wasn’t there for other eras different than The War, but Monster era looks nice. Or maybe LMR? This was also nice.

Favorite b-side song? THIS IS SO HARD I CAN’T CHOOSE. DIAMOND? CHILL? GOING CRAZY? DROP THAT? TWENTY FOUR? COMING OVER? LIGHTSABER? BLACK PEARL? LET OUT THE BEAST? PLAYBOY? CAN’T BRING ME DOWN? EXODUS? HEART ATTACK? MOONLIGHT? WHAT IF? WHITE NOISE? THE STAR? THEY NEVER KNOW? RUN? DOES CBX COUNT?

Who’s your bias? I gave up and accepted Chen as my bias yesterday.

Who’s your bias wrecker? Literally all of them. I have the softest spot for Sehunnie, but I love all of them.

Favorite choreography? Uhhhhhhhhhh. I love El Dorado choreo, but also White Noise and One and Only, these match my style of dancing. Coming Over is also amazing YOU CAN’T ASK ME OPEN QUESTIONS BECAUSE I WON’T ANSWER THEM, I NEED THIS OR THAT TYPE OF QUESTIONS.

Favorite MV? Love me right? Coming over? Crush u (does it count?)? Lightsaber? Monster? Lotto?

Favorite EXO Showtime episode? The one with Chanyeol’s birthday or with haunted house!

EXO K or EXO M? Depends on my mood and song

OT12 or OT9? I wasn’t there with OT12 so OT9

Dance-line or Vocal-line? Dance-line

Vocal-line or Rap-line? Can I take both? No? So rap-line wins with 0,00001%

Favorite Vocalist? Chennie!

Favorite Dancer? Like I said I have soft spot for Sehun, because he made me love dancing again, but I can’t really choose.

Favorite Rapper? Do Kyungsoo Park Chanyeol

EXO First Box or Second Box? Second, I think

Miracles in December or Sing For You? MV or song? MV Miracles in December, song Sing for You

Wolf or Growl? Growl

Is EXO your bias group? Yes

MAMA superpowers or WOLF werewolves? MAMA superpowers

Favorite Friendship? Xiuchen? Chanbaek? Sekai? Seho? Chenho? I have no idea

Favorite Ship? I can ship almost everything, because I don’t hardcore ship, it’s more like ‘I love how they interact and I wouldn’t mind if they were in a romantic relationship’. But if you look at the fics I read the most, it’s Sekai, Chanbaek or Xiuchen

Favorite China-line member? my baby my little lamb my sweet unicorn the star of my universe Zhang Yixing

Aegyo Xiumin or Abs Xiumin? Depends on day, but mostly aegyo

Do you own the EXO Lightsick? Unfortunately, no

Lucky One or Monster? MV or song? I think I love both equally

XOXO or EXODUS? EXODUS

EXODUS or EX’ACT? ... I can’t choose. I think both.

Favorite OT12 moment? Chanyeol’s birthday on Showtime

Call Me Baby or Love Me Right? Call me baby

Favorite EXODUS song? why are you like that, literally all of them

Favorite Beagle-line member? Chennie Chennie Chen Chen

Favorite EXO superpower? Fire or teleportation or ice

As vocalists, Luhan or Chen? Chen

Drop That or Lightsaber? i’m out, both

EXOLU’XION or The Lost Planet? EXOLU’XION is amazing, but the lost planet has Deep Breath and Uprising, but EXOLU’XION is, well, EXOLU’XION uGH IDON’T KNOW

How long did it take you to learn all their names? two days?

Favorite ballad? She’s dreaming

El Dorado or Black Pearl? El Dorado because choreo, Black Pearl because song

Least favorite ship? Shippers ruined Kaisoo for me

Kai or Jongin? Kai as dancer, Jongin as person

Favorite EXOMENTARY video? OH SHIT

Favorite EXO K member? All of them

Favorite EXO M member? All of them

As vocalists, D.O. or Baekhyun? Both

As rappers, Sehun or Tao? Both

Do you actually like Wolf? Yes, have you heard the highnotes?

Favorite OTP moment? WHICH OTP but first thing I thought was Sekai looking flaweless at 2016 MBC Gayo Daejejeon

Have you ever seen EXO live? No, but I hope to see them next year.

Moment that made you cry? Every time they sing Promise

Most handsome member? Dae is the most handsome, Sehun is the most beautiful, Yixing is the sexiest

Do you still watch EXO Showtime occasionally? No

Cutest member? Jongin or Baekhyun or Minnie or Myeonnie or Ksoo

First bias? I just accepted Dae as my bias, let me live

Favorite XOXO song? Heart attack? Black pearl? I don’t know, too many.

Favorite Baekhyun era? I literally spend 20 minutes looking at photos of him and I can’t decide.

SatanSoo or SquishySoo? I fucnking hte when someone calls him satansoo

Xiuhan or Hunhan? Both friendships are amazing

Favorite EXO photocard? All of Sing for You photocards, Chen’s korean and chinese Lotto, all of For Life postcards, all of private version from The War, Baekhyun’s and Chanyeol’s Coming Over (see? don’t give me open questions)

Sehun’s eyebrows or Sehun’s legs? Legs

Favorite EXO pet? Vivi ofc

Hyung-line or Maknae-line? Maknae

Favorite EXODUS song? every

Favorite movie with an EXO member in it? I haven’t watched them all but now ‘Hyung’ has my heart

How did you get into EXO? I have this book about Korean skincare and there were some dramas that the author recommends so I watched some of them and I thought “hey, some time ago somebody was retweeting some korean bands, maybe their music is as good as their series? shit I unfollowed them, because they were spamming this baeksomething guy photos, ugh what band they liked? damn what’s their name? exo? okay let’s see exo in yt” and that’s how I’ve seen Call me baby for the first time and cried seeing Sehun dancing and remembered how I love dancing and ugh i’m getting emo

Mom!Suho or Sexy!Suho? Depends on mood, but mostly mom

Promise or Heaven? Promise

Tao’s Z.TAO or Luhan’s Reloaded? Z.TAO

Favorite EX’ACT song? I think there was question like that? But all of them

Xiumin bun or Luhan bun? Minnies

Have you ever not liked a member? Ksoo and Kris scared me at first

Favorite Chen solo song? UPRISING but really all of them

Baekyeol or Baekyeon? Baekyeol

Cold city guy Kris or Dorky Kris? Dorky

Favorite EXO Cover song? Sabor a mi roll these “r’s” for me

Did you cry when listening to Promise? Yes

EXO song that you do not like? I didn’t like El Dorado at first

Favorite Couple Talk (from EXO first box)? Uhhhh Bakehyun and Yixing

Favorite Kai era? Love me Right (ugh this hair and piercing and damnnnnnn)

As dancers, Kai, Sehun, or Lay? All of them, I’m too tired to explain this again

Baekhyun’s (ft. Suzy) Dream or Baekhyun’s (ft. K. Will) The Day? Dream, I love the vibes it gives

Favorite EXO member IG account? PCY or ZYX

Favorite award performance? MAMA 2013

If you could get any of the MID gifts, what would you get? PUPPY

Kaisoo or TaeKai? TaeKai

Favorite Chanyeol gif? This one where he bits his lips and does a heart and then smiles, I can’t find it right now

MAMA or History? History

Favorite lyrics? Too many

Favorite Suho era? Blondmyeon fucks me up so...

Red haired D.O., yes or no? YES

Favorite Chanyeol Rap? Lightsaber

Favorite fanfiction? Lately I read really beautiful Chanbaek from BAE2017 - Warm Enough for You Outside, Baby?

Lay’s Go, Fighting! Or Luhan’s Running Man? Go fighting!

Pathcodes or Wolf Drama? Pathcodes does anybody know any horror movies that have this vibe like bbh’s pathcode?

Taohun or Taoris? Both

EXO Showtime or EXO Next Door? Showtime give me season 2

Most significant song for you? I really don’t know, probably CMB because it’s the first song I heard

Who are your top 3 members? Sehun, Yixing, Jongdae

Why do you like EXO? They bring me happiness I really could say more but I’m tired

#fucking finally #i got so tired around 60 question #exo #text

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lay-the-unic0rn · 7 years

Text

EXO Reaction To You Having a Crush On Another Member.

Oh this should be fun to play about with! Thank you for the request Anon!

/I do not own any gifs used/

___________________________________________________________

Baekhyun

He enters your room without knocking, which startles you and you hastily try to hide the sketch you were working on. Baeks grin widens once he realises what you were doing and gallops over to you in excitement. His actions have you giggling at his childish behaviour and reminds of why he is your favourite person. He drops down on the bed beside you and practically darts for the sketchpad. You nearly let he take it without any struggle before you remember what else you have in that aged book. He notices your panic and takes the book quick before your hands could reach it. Flicking through it he sees many detailed drawings of Chanyeol and looks up to you with a puzzled look. You turn bright red and explain. He looks taken back and storms out the room in a tantrum. You hear faint music a few moments later and see a huffing Baek dancing to Loser by Big Bang and you roll your eyes at his dramatics.

Suho

Suho enters the room and you guys make small talk. Preoccupied with the book you’re reading you ask him to pass your phone to you from the counter. He happily complies and strides over to your phone. However, it’s taking him longer than expected to return your phone to you. Curious you look up at him and see that he’s staring at your phone looking extremely confused. “Babe” you ask him worried. He just points the phone screen at you with a stern face, clenched jaw and his hand in his pocket nervously playing with the change in his pocket. You see a friend tagged you in a memory on facebook with their post saying “OMG do you remember when you once were infatuated with Lay!” Words instantly fumble out of your mouth trying to reassure Suho. He says he understands and doesn’t care. You believe him until you see him on the tv with the other members on their next appearance and he attempts to out dance Yixing.

Kai

Upon finding out that you once had a crush on Xiumin, he calmly brings up the conversation and you have a civil talk sorting any misunderstandings. Thinking that this now was all behind you both, you suggest you both go out for a walk and food but he says he has rehearsal which is understandable but he had never mentioned that there was to be rehearsal tonight. Confused you say your goodbyes and wish him luck. A couple of nights later at the next EXO concert you realise now why he had “rehearsal”. He begins his dance solo that you have seen countless of times but this time is different and veeerrrryyy sexual. Rain begins to pour and his shirt becomes see through and you realise he’s just trying to remind you of what you’ve got as if you had forgotten. He winks and bites his lip sending you into a frenzy just like he had planned.

Lay

Deciding that the secret of liking D.O. before you and Yixing began dating was feeling like the weight of the world was weighing you down. Not being able to keep quiet anymore you convince yourself that your sweet Lay will know that your heart is his now and that it was just a simple crush. His reaction to the news was something you had pictured as the best outcome and you’re pleased all is well. That is until you see him, at his next meet up with EXO, give a fallen over Kyungsoo a hand up and instead of reaching for his hand his smile fades and pure jealousy fills his perfectly sculpted face. Yixing yanks hard at the tie that D.O. is wearing and sends a hard glare letting Kyungsoo know not to come near you.

Xiumin

Storming into the kitchen, Minseok throws your collection of Chen merchandise you had purchased during your fan girl phase over Jongdae. You explain it was only temporary and he nods but still looks uncertain as to whether he should believe you because if you didn’t still like him why’d you keep all the stuff. No matter what you say you can’t convince him that you no longer feel that way towards Jongdae. Several hours later, Xiu has you seated in front of the tv watching yet another home video of him as an infant. As much as you love seeing how squishy he was, you’ve watched far too many videos for one night but after each one Xiumin just says with eyebrows raised and a serious face, “Remember Jongdae won’t be able to give you cute babies like this”.

Chen

The members of EXO find an ancient video of you submitting a video proclaiming your love for Jongin to win a competition to meet him in person. All but Chen and Kai are present. Jongdae enters the room to find out what has the members in fits of laughter. They suddenly fall into silence. He then sees the video loop and Chen warns them, “Not a word to Kai, got it?” With a furious look he goes to his room and the other members assemble a plan. At their next concert of which you obviously attend, you had a priority seat but the public wasn’t aware of Chen and your relationship yet. The members set off their plan and they put a spot light on you as if you were a random girl and invite you on stage. Chen looks mortified but then they block him away from you and then tell you you’ve won a dance from Kai and force him to dance up on you which makes you uncomfortable and Chen furious. Afterwards, Chen could no longer keep his cool and loses it when Kai brings it up in a group interview, abruptly cutting off Kai saying, “She’s mine ok.”

Chanyeol

After noticing that you turn slightly awkward and pink around Sehun, Chan decides to investigate further. He uncovers a fan account dedicated to Sehun under your email. Deciding not to confront you about it because the account hasn’t had a post in a number of years, he tries to forget what he found. A couple of days pass but Chan drives himself crazy with unanswered questions and jealous thoughts. In the middle of a photo shoot with Sehun, Chanyeol can’t control himself and then begins a poor attempt at biting Sehuns arm and warns Sehun there’s more where that came from if he doesn’t stay away from you.

Sehun

He directly asks you if you had a thing for Baekhyun, after he took note of the fact that you laugh a lot more at his jokes than Sehuns. You scoff at his question but then answer honestly that you did once feel for Baek but not anymore. Sehun has his normal stony, expressionless face on and after some analysing you say, “Oh no Sehun, don’t do anything stupid ok, it was only a silly fleeting crush”. He forces a small smile which you don’t buy but trust he wouldn’t try anything stupid. When you leave the room he calls Chanyeol to come over. You walk in on the two later in the evening and see Sehun trying to get Chanyeol try one of Vivis’ biscuits and tell them to stop, “CHAN! they’ll make you sick for days” Sehun still tries to force him to eat it and sighs angrily as Chan scampers away. Sehun explains he wanted to test his plan before he executed it on Baekhyun.

D.O.

You tell Kyungsoo your previous likening towards the groups leader. Expecting an angered response you prepare yourself. Instead, he looks unfazed and says simply, “You’re mine that’s all that matters now.” You respect his mature response and feel guilty for doubting him. However, come their next commercial shoot you notice the vibe is off. After several minutes of analysing you exhale heavily visibly angry. Approaching Kyungsoo, the other members can tell this isn’t going to go well and scatter for a few minutes. You start your rant even before they leave, “Kyungsoo grow up. I’ve watched you for the last ten minutes and you haven’t acknowledged Suho once. I told you it was a long time ago!” He distracting himself with the product their promoting saying, “I don’t know who this Suho, that you talk about, is.” You roll your eyes at his childishness.

_____________________________________________________________

Thank you again Anon for this request it was a lot of fun and I hope it was what you had hoped for!

-S

#exo #kpop #exo reaction #reaction #kpop reaction #request #exo request #kpop request #lay #yixing #baekhyun #suho #jongin #kai #xiumin #minseok #chen #jongdae #chanyeol #sehun #d.o #kyungsoo

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foxhenki-blog · 6 years

Text

The Cthulhu Trinity: Nodens

Is it possible to be a magician if you fear change? How many spells have been cast to keep things exactly how they are?

Life has been pretty decent lately. The weather has turned, the stress levels have dissipated although I have this tendency to add more wood to that fire instead of kicking back and letting things ride. I’m always pushing, and I’m not sure why. I could say it is for my family but that would only be a half-truth. My intelligent and loving wife comes along for the ride sure, and the kids are now in the back seat, but I’m the one driving, always driving. In the real and in the metaphysical. In my short career, I’ve never cast a spell to keep things the same.

I’ve got this working theory about sigils though, that has been spinning around in my head. I have probably mentioned it before. I really think that sigil results are tied directly to when our brains naturally, passively bring past ‘learning’ back to the surface for a visit from our subconscious. I encountered this when I, after 17 or so years working as a tradesman, finally got into a four year college program. College involves a lot of cramming of information in your head in a short amount of time. Committing and encoding tons of data into short term memory.

I found, that for me, almost a year later, to the day, that information would bubble (it is the most apt description) out of my subconscious where it was stored after moving out of my short term memory, into my waking life. This was most pronounced in my studies in American Indian Linguistics, Japanese, and Spanish, in language learning. I have been able to tie a run of good fortune at work directly to sigils I encoded (I am starting to think this is a better word than cast, or ensigil) a year ago, just a few months into my new magical rennaissance. I (nearly) firmly believe that the subconscious (almost passive) phenomenon of learned knowledge coming back to the foremind spontaneously is the same mechanism that allows sigils to work. I don’t have any evidence, but I imagine that this time frame is different for everyone, for me it is exactly a year, for others it might be six months, or three months, I don’t know. All I know is that if my theory is correct, I need to shift my sigilmancy towards manipulating where I want to be a year from now.

This would explain why my ‘emergency’ sigiling almost always falls flat. The data (no, I haven’t tracked it, but I have ideas how) tells me that I am unable to budge the probability matrix in the short term, it just doesn’t work. This means that sigils take a long term strategy, require that I look out and ask myself, where do I want my family to be this time next year. It changes things. Sigils always change things. Magic always changes things.

And with change inevitably comes fear. Phil Hine (I warned you last week, there will be a lot of Hine’s work in the next few posts) talks about this fear, that specific magician’s fear, when he states:

“At times, the magician may find [herself] struggling with fear; a refusal to accept inevitable change and the consequences of [her] flight to the edge of consensus reality.”

Lovecraft’s protagonists’ always accept change. Fear is a barrier and there is never an instance where a barrier remains forever in Lovecraft’s work. Fear as the barrier is represented by the door or gate in Lovecraft’s tales. The tower, perhaps, is the ritual, the long climb through the dark to the top most chamber, at which contact with the spirit world takes place. Through Lovecraft we are able to understand better the true nature of spirit contact in the real world. Despite the accounts to the contrary on the old Inter Galactic Computer Network, I am of the opinion that 1) Physical manifestations of spirit forms is extremely rare and 2) spirits, other than the human dead, reach out to us on a massive scale, just not in a way that we can recognize because of the sheer un-humaneness of the spirit ecology. The Psuedonomicon states that:

“In the course of working with [Lovecrafitan Spirit Forms], strange perceptions and ideation’s shift through the cracks of linear perception; bubbles which at first are faintly disturbing, yet which may loom threateningly with an obsessive fervor. Odd suspicions begin to gather... Everyday objects... become imbued with a power and purpose... Half-seen shapes flicker at the corners of your eyes.”

The first sign that Lovecraftian Magic is beginning to disrupt your reality are the shadow people, those rare spirit forms that have adapted to regular contact, and the shifting around of inanimate objects, glitches in the matrix and the presence of agents seen in the code. It is up to us to learn to recognize their ‘un-human-ness’. Again from Hine:

“A key to survival when such states creep upon you is to be there fully, yet at the same time... catalogue them.”

The Psuedonomicon, on more than one occassion, likens the magician to a collector or librarian. We are, as Lovecraftian magicians, archivists of improbability and madness. In our role as archivists we can map the ecology of Lovecratian Spirit forms through creating a Taxonomy of Improbabilities. The two finest ways to engage with / align ourselves with the natural improbabilities in our world are through dreaming and sigils. The following passages from the Psuedonomicon were enlightening to me. I have been attempting to sigil for spirit contact, framing that contact as an almost rational manifestation in my reality. The Pduedonomicon combines dreaming and sigils in a way that could optimize exposure and allow the magician to reap a larger harvest of experience:

“One of the simplest approaches to dream control is to use a graphic or mantric sigil, prior to sleeping... Keeping a dream diary is essential to this kind of work. The use of linked association with cent can also produce if I could have dreams. Sigils, images and magical objects found in dreams can also be used, in order to try and explore them further. If you have a particularly interesting dream sequence, try using it as a conscious path working performed on the edge of sleep you may find That the sequence is continued as your dream…”

Improbability can be constructed, or summoned, into our in-the-real, through the use of aleatory art, music, or action, according to Hine. An assertion that I agree with. Within a specific magical context:

“The use of strange words of power, barbaric names and twisted languages is also a recurring theme in [Lovecraftian Magic]. The rapid delivery of vowel / consonant sounds at random (glossolalia) can be used to develop a route to gnosis which can climax in possession by nameless masks which speak in words bursts. If such an exercise is practiced with a particular intention, then you develop your own power words for a wide variety of use an application… “The construction of [Frenzy] is rare in western magic where total abandonment is extremely difficult to achieve, particularly in a group setting, where spontaneity and abandonment tend to clash with the linear sequencing of most ritual arrangements. There have been a few experiments in ordered group work arising from chaotic flow... A combination of whirling, low-frequency strobe lights, tape-effects, masks, and sudden shifts in pace of ‘ritual flow’ have been found useful... The sense of unpredictability can be heightened if... not all celebrants know what to expect during the ceremony...”

The use of Tape Effects and Aleatory Tape Music in general is very attractive to me personally. Talismanic audio cassettes played through samplers and effects pedals during more structured rituals could achieve the best of both worlds, as there are very few traditional grimoires that dictate there must be strict silence during a ritual.

I’ve gone on too long about this, let’s take a little break.

IMBRICATIONS

The second mystery of the Cthulhu Trinity connects in a number of pretty surprising ways. Our imbrications for this week help to illustrate that, even if some of us might have to squint to see the edges. First up we have an mellow and haunting tune performed by the Little Unsaid, and as a bonus for those of us that are hopeless necromantic, it is performed at what is argued to be one of the most beautiful cemetery in the world. Here is The Little Unsaid with their song, Fisher King, performed live at Highgate Cemetery:

Let’s take up the mellow hipster vibe, just a notch, and tap into a live offering from a group by the name of Nodens Ictus. You might know the members of this group better as part of the pinnacle of psych rock bands, Ozric Tentacles:

And finally, what sounds like a blast from the past but is really just a contemporary metal band doing it right. Here is Holy Grail with their joint, Sudden Death:

THE INTERSTITIAL DEITY

Burleson’s work on Lovecraft, while a literary investigation, has passed me some of the best possible insights into constructing our singularly American magictype. He helped me understand our second mystery, quite well. For example, from Disturbing the Universe:

“the first thing that one notices about the text, after the title, is the colophon, telling us that the text was found among the notes of the (even more ominously) late Thurston. The colophon is... a self-referential comment... The maker of this comment... would seem to be a kind of exo-narrator...”

Exo-narration could be endemic to the Lovecraftian Magical Aesthetic. There is some tech here as well, a magical exercise where the sorcerer steps outside of her own life and narrates it as if it is being commented on by a third party. This commentary can include specific intentions, future events, improbability enhancement, etc. Burleson continues pulling on this thread when he states:

“We see the repellent Cthulhu through the prism of several layers of indirection.”

Keeping with the quality of encryption that Lovecraftian Magic requires, one of the qualities that distinctly sets it apart from other forms of Western Magic. He peels back all of the layers for us, revealing the text’s overall depth:

“The text itself relates the narrator Thurston’s relating of Professor Angell’s relating (through his notes, and among other matterrs) of Inspector Legrasse’s relating of the New Orleans cultists’ relating of the traditional handing-down of the telepathic impact of Cthulhu. Following another strand, we find an even deeper well of structure: the text’s relating of Thurston’s discovery of Angell’s written account of Legrasse’s exposure to Professor Webb’s remembered account of the account of the degenerate Esquimaux of the handed-down tradition of the telepathic impact of Cthulhu… We never quite get down to Cthulhu, but only to his long handed-down effects.”

This deep embededness is significant. It is like a form of historical trauma. Historical trauma is a great traumatic event that impacted our ancestors, and the changes that it made in them has reverberated down to the present day via a familial transmission of personality traits that would not have existed if it weren’t for that trauma. This is spirit contact manifested as historical trauma. The important part is it is still considered a form of contact in the Lovecraftian Magical aesthetic.

Tilting our head to the other side, Burleson changes the subject to that of fetish making and fetishists, or does he really?

“The fetishists, both in New Orleans and in Greenland, do not have their unseen octopoid master at hand but carven images of him, together with ancestrally transmitted lore... the scene of the [New Orleans] rites involves further nested structure. The statue of Cthulhu, upon its pedestal, rests inside a circular bonfire, outs of which a circle of celebrants dances, and farther out, beyond this revolving circle of dancers, stands a circle of ten gallows from which... human sacrifices hang.... The effect... seems to make Cthulhu central to a telescoped sequence... it is not Cthulhu who rests as a presence within the concentric circles, but his image.”

Through this week’s research I have begun to see fetishism as another form of encryption. Fetishism is a bridge across diverse cultures, connecting them at some point in time depth, encoding one message in a number of different forms, one significant to the Greenlandic Inuit and the other to the follower of Queen Marie in the swamps of New Orleans. When it is stated in ‘Disturbing the Universe’ that:

“We are structurally and linguistically separated from Cthulhu”

We should consider it significant to our practice.

The second part of The Call of Cthulhu is entitled ‘The Tale of Inspector Legrasse’ and takes place, through layers of ephemera and seemingly unconnected documents, in the swamps surround New Orleans, LA. The second mystery begins with a fetish:

“The statuette, idol, fetish, or whatever it was, had been captured some months before in the wooded swamps south of New Orleans during a raid on a supposed voodoo meeting; and so singular and hideous were the rites connected with it, that the police could not but realize that they had stumbled on a dark cult totally unknown to them, and infinitely more diabolic than even the [darkest] of African voodoo circles.”

For context, I offer below the entirety of a 1945 documentary containing footage of Voodoo Ceremonies in Haiti called Divine Horsemen. What we see here in Divine Horsemen is less than twenty years in the future from the time The Call of Cthulhu was written and, being that these traditions likely didn’t change altogether that much in such a short span of time, the film offers us an excellent from for the rites written about in the second mystery of the Cthulhu Trinity:

Lovecraft’s narrator, speaking for himself but with Legrasse’s tongue, comments on the inscription located on the Cthulhiod Fetish:

“The characters along the base were equally baffling; and no member present, despite a representation of half the world’s expert learning in this field, could form the least notion of even their remotest linguistic kinship...”

I assert, that instead of an alien language that no one is able to decipher, that this is, in fact, a form of encryption. Very much like the Voynich Manuscript or the Codex Seraphinainus.

The narration turns from Inspector Legrasse for a moment (this is so House of Leaves, isn’t it?) to a Professor Webb who, according to the text:

“had been engaged... in a tour of Greenland and Iceland... whilst high up on the West Greenland coast had encountered a singular tribe or cult of... Esquimaux...”

This is a (racist, please, don’t use the word Eskimo) reference to the Inuit People, of which nearly 90% of the country of Greenland are a member of. The Greenlandic Inuit have an art form that is primary to their culture that is called tupilaq, which translates as ‘evil spirit objects’. According to the wikipedia entry, tupilaqs were often made in secret, in isolated places, and of materials that were designed to degrade. Tupilaqs are fascinating and more study needs to be done then I have the time for here. Let’s put a pin in them to build into our toolkit in a non-appropriative way a bit later. The bit about Professor Webb also offers us two new spirits to wrestle with:

“Besides nameless rites and human sacrifices there were certain... rituals addressed to a supreme elder devil or tornasuk... Webb had taken a careful phonetic copy from an aged angekok or wizard-priest...”

Along with our location of new Orleans, we are given a new day for our Unholy Calendar, or rather, we are given increased significance to a well-known day of magic, All Saints Day.

Jumping a bit forward, we follow through our newsprint and enjournaled telescope, Inspector Legrasse once again as he and a posse of law enforcement officials investigate stories about a long form ritual coming from communities in the swamps:

“The region now entered by the police was one of traditionally evil repute, substantially unknown and untraversed by white men. There were legends of a hidden lake unglimpsed by mortal sight, in which dwelt a huge formless white polypous thing with luminous eyes; and squatters whispered that bat winged devils flew up out of caverns in inner earth to worship it at midnight. They said it had been there before D’iberville, before La Salle, before the Indians, and before even the wholsesome beasts and birds of the woods... it made men dream, and so they knew enough to keep away.”

The Bat Wing Devils are the Night Gaunts of the Dreamlands, and thus, this ‘white polypous’ thing is a manifestation of Nodens - This, along with the Greenlandic Inuit, is another vector between the Arctic Circle and the swamps of New Orleans.

Nodens is our second mystery. He appears in our tale, in the way that all Lovecraftian Spirit forms manifest, behind layers of darkness, guarded by our own fear and the shadow people that feed on it:

“It may have been only imagination and it may have been only echoes which induced one of the men, an excitable Spaniard, to fancy he heard antiphonal responses to the ritual from some far and unillumined spot deeper within the wood of ancient legendary and horror... He indeed went so far as to hint of the faint beating of great wings, and of a glimpse of shining eyes and a mountainous white bulk beyond the remotest trees...”

Nodens is many things, and not unique to Lovecraftian Magic, but his conceptualization is. I am certain that many will tell you that Nodens appears as an old man, that he is yet another anthropomorphized deity. Nodes is, like Cthulhu, an entity that rules over the waters of this planet. His name in Welsh, Nudd, means fog or mist, so he is also an arial entity, an interstitial deity. The mushroom is an interstitial entity as well, sharing most of its DNA with humans, yet living and destroying in the plant world. He is Mars and he is Neptune, and he is outside of the reality where both of these planetary spirits exist. He is a granter of curses and the keeper of the Holy Grail. He is the original Fisher King.

I argue that a manifestation of a giant white sentient polyp in the middle of the New Orleans cypress swamp and yet actively worship and ‘worked with’ by contemporary Greenlandic Inuit is the perfect blend of impossible. It is a clear set of branches in our Taxonomy of the Improbable and a model that we can grasp with both hands. When you have a spirit entity that manifests in our reality, you can bet that this series of unconnected yet inherently linked facts and practices is how true spirit contact manifest.

Our tarot card this week is Three of Coins. Nodens, as his cousins in timedepth the Titans also do, holds our reality on his shoulders. In the Sola-Busca we see that he is at once part of the trinity of coins as well as being the center pillar that holds up the Cthuloid Mysteries.

Our Etteilla deck reveal that he is a Noble, part of the royal family of ancient divinities, but is also an infant, so deep in time as to have no conception of modern man’s issues or trafficking in the realm of magic.

Noble, from the Latin nobilis, maps to well-known, splendid, superior, and is a child of the PIE root *gno-, making it kin of our first mystery, Gamaliel, the fountainhead of the most evil and depraved paths of gnosis. Infant, from the Latin infantem, connects to in-, the prefix marking of the opposite of something, and the PIE root *bha-, meaning to speak. Calling out in the swamp in a language unknown to all but him, speaking to humans who will never know his true nature, Nodens is a mute gnosis, a representation of the path of encryption.

Cover photo from Ghostly Harmless

#Norse #Voodoo #Inuit

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yaysehun · 7 years

Text

something abt exo i guess

I don’t know where this will go or what this even is, but I just need to rant about these nine men. These nine men include Kim Junmyeon (Suho), Kim Jongin (Kai), Byun Baekhyun (Baekhyun), Park Chanyeol (Chanyeol), Do Kyungsoo (D.O.), Oh Sehun (Sehun), Kim Jongdae (Chen), Kim Minseok (Xiumin), and last but most definitely not least, Zhang Yixing (Lay). Some others might count three more men, all from China, as well as Yixing—Wu Yifan (Kris), Lu Han (Luhan), and Huang Zitao (Tao). I’ll talk about those three later. Otherwise, you could say all twelve had made me happy and changed my life, but for now, we’ll address the current nine.

It was a normal night. February 8, 2017. I had just come home from my piano lesson, and I was bored, and decided to watch an online series called “Youtubers React.” The particular episode I had been watching was youtubers reacting to K-Pop. As you can probably guess, the first video shown was EXO’s “Monster.” The production and vocal of the song immediately caught my attention, for it sounded somewhat like the electronic music I had enjoyed at the time. I added it to my playlist, became in love with it, and it stayed on that playlist for a month.

A month went by, and during those thirty days, I had been in love with BTS, or Bangtan Sonyeondan. They are another K-Pop group, one that is often compared to EXO. With that, I had become biased towards Bangtan, often having bitter thoughts about EXO. I would tell myself, “They’re nothing next to BTS,” or “I’d never stan them.” Boy, was I wrong.

The amazing song that is Monster almost forced me to listen to more of their songs. I checked out their most recent album, “Ex’act.” I listened to “Lucky One” and I fell in love. Then, I clicked on more songs that were intriguing just by their name. I listened to “Artificial Love”, which turned out to be another hit with me due to its deep-house vibe. It immediately reminded me of something Disclosure or Oliver Heldens would produce—two EDM artists I had loved (and still do). Then, I listened to tracks “Heaven” and “Stronger.” As you could expect, they both impressed me. So I figured I’d just listen to the whole album.

That led me to the repackage of Ex’act, “Lotto.” I listened to the title track—Lotto—and didn’t like it. But, I still went on and listened to the rest of the album. I remember songs “They Never Know” and “Can’t Bring Me Down” sticking out to me. Over time, I got familiar with those seven songs that I really enjoyed.

The next couple weeks consisted of me trying to learn each member’s name and their appearance. I will not lie—that was quite a task. I remember always mixing up Suho and D.O., along with Lay and Baekhyun. But eventually, I got it down. I declared Chanyeol as my bias, for he is a rapper (I always love the rappers most), and you can’t resist his adorable eyes and smile. He just stuck out to me.

More and more days turned into weeks, that resulted in me learning each member’s names and distinguishing their faces. That’s when a certain someone began to stick out to me—none other than EXO’s maknae, Sehun. I seemed to fall in love with him. With his somewhat closed-off personality, which eventually turns into a bright and outgoing soul, along with absolutely perfect face, I fell head over heels. He kind of trapped me. That’s a very true statement, for I still love him to death, and he always seems to be the one catching my eye. Every time I see him, I just get a warm and fuzzy feeling, I can’t help but smile, because that’s just what he does.

Not only him, but the group’s one and only leader, Junmyeon. I always had a soft spot for him, for he is the leader, and I’ve always thought he was not only cute/attractive, but I could just sense something about his morals and the love he has for his members. I could sense that it was passionate and genuine. I found myself falling in love with him more and more each day, and this feeling is quite fresh, for I still don’t know if I consider him an ult-bias or not. You could probably say that I can, because I appreciate him more than anyone else.

Over the past four/five months, you could easily say that a large majority of these 150+ days have consisted of me listening to EXO. I don’t think I have ever listened to a single artist as intensely as I have been with EXO. This is mainly because their music has come so far. They have a wide variety of styles when it comes to their music. With their very first album, “MAMA”, we got your normal upbeat pop, along with a hardcore title song, and more relaxed ballads.

With “XOXO”/”Growl”, we heard more upbeat pop.

Their next mini-album had one of their first electronic styled songs, “Overdose.” We also heard R&B styles with “Thunder.” After the release of this mini-album, we’d have to continue to hear more music from EXO without two members, Kris and Luhan. Their lawsuit against SM Entertainment put a big weight on not only the shoulders of the EXO members, but the fandom as well.

We move on with the ten remaining members with more relaxed R&B sounds. Their next album, “Exodus”/”Love Me Right” also had some dark and heavy songs on this album, such as “Hurt”, “Transformer”, and “El Dorado.” The variety of music on this particular album is what makes it my favorite out of the ten they have released.

Soon, Tao would file a lawsuit, joining Luhan and Kris. At this point, EXO had become stronger than ever. They lost ¼ of their group. On another group of people, losing even one member could break them down. Not EXO.

Months later, they release their second Christmas album, “Sing For You.” This is probably one of my favorite EXO albums of all time. I personally believe that the title track, “Sing For You”, is one of EXO’s best songs ever. The musicality is graceful and just beautiful. Also, we got to hear all nine members sing. That includes Sehun. Every time I hear his voice in this song particularly, I get that same warm and fuzzy feeling. His voice is so soothing and warm, I wish I could listen to it forever.

The next year, they released their third full-length album, “Ex’act.” Their lead single, “Monster”, absolutely changed me. This song became an addiction. I could ramble on about this song for hours. From the musicality to the production to the vocals, it seemed to indulge my entire being. I still am addicted to this song. This is the first time I’ve been so obsessed with a song. Monster has been on my playlist since I first heard it, and still, I don’t ever skip it. I will even listen to it more than once in a row. Otherwise, Ex’act will really hold a special place in my heart, for it gave me a dosage of the music I’ve loved for four years—there were so many songs that had the production of a electronic/deep house song. “White Noise”, “Monster”, and “Artificial Love” specifically gave me EDM vibes.

On a different note, throughout my discovery of my love and passion for EXO, I was finishing my final year of middle school. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it—throughout the past three years, I’ve felt shittier than ever. Sixth grade was probably the worst. I fell into depression and my anxiety spiked. You’d probably think that’s a young age to be diagnosed with such illnesses, but, I was a year older than everybody in my class, and I always will be. Maybe even throughout college. That’s because I have severe social anxiety. It’s so severe that my mother held back a year in school. I didn’t have friends for a long time. Around second/third grade, I made a few friends. Those are people I’m still friends with today, for I just can’t talk to people because of my anxiety. Throughout the past three years in particular, I’ve felt so alone. But since February of this year, eighth grade, I stopped feeling so alone. Because I had EXO.

I don’t know if this will ever resolve. But honestly, I’m not scared. I’ve made so many friends in the EXO fandom who are there to remind me that I’m cared for. If I don’t make any new friends in real life, I may not be okay mentally, but at the end of the day, there’s an entire playlist full of EXO, Kris Wu, Z.Tao, and Luhan waiting for me. They can take my mind off of just about anything.

The final part of this letter is somewhat hard to write due to the unknown.

Tomorrow, EXO is releasing their next song, “Ko Ko Bop”/”The War.” This will be the first comeback I get to witness with EXO and all my EXO-L friends. I can’t wait. This comeback is already so special to me, mainly because it’s the first time I’ll get to look forward to hearing new music, the first time I get to watch the clock turn 11:00, the first time I get to feel giddy and excited for EXO. I didn’t think my love for their music would reach to this extent, but it did. Who knows if I’ll like EXO at the end of the year. Either way, they will definitely be a group that I hold near and dear to my heart. This is special, for the list of bands/DJs/singers/groups I listen to is endless. My love for music varies from alternative, to EDM, to singer-songwriter, and of course, K-Pop. And it’s easy for me to say that EXO have impressed me more than any other musician I listen to, and are definitely my favorite of all time.

Another thing I want to say is something that I’ve learned over the past five months. That is, it does not matter at all how long you’ve been into a musician/group. I’ve seen fans who have been here as long as I have, then there are some who have been an EXO-L for years. Sometimes, I feel guilty because I’ve only been here for 150 days. But, I’ve learned that time is just another component in life. Seconds continue to pass, and those seconds turn into days, and those days turn into months. Which is what I’ve learned since discovering EXO. Time doesn’t matter. Because a passion larger than life can grow within those months.

Thank you EXO for becoming my best friends, thank you for your amazing music which has healed me in more ways than ever, thank you for sharing your beautiful personalities with us, thank you for being strong. Most of all, thank you for being you—Kim Junmyeon, Kim Jongin, Byun Bakehyun, Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo, Oh Sehun, Kim Jongdae, Kim Minseok, and Zhang Yixing.

#i love exo

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