#also that’s not even one of my favorite superm songs

[theboytatu]

exo ask game : 1,2,5,6,7,8,11,13 14,18,30,34,35,,36,48,50

….u did say send a lot of number 🫣🫣

😭😭😭 thanks...

1. bias and why?

chanyeol and baekhyun because god wanted to play a bad joke on me by lumping me in with the most deranged type of people on exoplanet.... (and NO i don't ship chanbaek)

2. favorite line? (beagle line, maknae line, etc.)

chingu line forever and ever baby 🥰🥰🫶🫶 it's literally my biases + bias wreckers together

5. which exo member would you love to be best friends with?

ngl i feel like sehun and me would be very compatible like they say there's not a stronger bond than a hag and her fag

6. which exo member would you love to date?

obviously pcy since i'm actually delusional about him like sorry i just genuinely think he'd be a great boyfriend

7. which exo member do you think you’d actually dislike if you knew them in real life?

LMFAO this is such a funny question. based on nothing but my gut feeling definitely kai since he already drives me nuts sometimes. also probably minseok and/or junmyeon(?) idk i think we're just very different personality wise

8. which exo member is most like you?

baekhyun 100%. sorry

11. which exo album is your least favorite?

already answered hehe

13. describe your bias in three emojis

💪👂🍒

😈👄🐶

14. what song got you into exo?

oh god i don't even actually remember. like i'm drawing a blank here all i know is i got introduced to them through superm but i don't have a specific song that got me sucked in.. i guess i was floored when i watched the live acoustic set of lady luck so maybe that

18. studio albums or winter albums?

studio albums!

30. favorite vocalist?

jongdae 🫶

34. do you read exo fic? if yes, rec some works and some writers!

not really. i tried to but i swear no one actually knows who these men are the ao3 stuff i've browsed is just a bunch of fanon and government assigned personas

35. do you ship? name your ships if yes!

lmfao. xiubaek and chansoo are my faves. oh also i guess seho (and fuck kaisoo and chanbaek!!!!)

36. what would you tell your bias if you met them?

i don't ever wanna think about that like i'd be happy to see them in concert but omg i don't wanna meet them or talk to them.... never ever meet your favorite celebrities

that being said obviously if that happened i'd go with the "im your biggest fan" and thank them for the music they make. probably say "fuck SM we're still rooting for you!!" and that's it hdkdjkd

48. how does exo rank in comparison to other groups you like?

favorite group of all time forever like those men are my #1 boy

50. favorite title track?

tough tie between call me baby and tempo

#asks

[thepsykoshipper]

Psyko’s Top 10 Kpop Songs Released in 2022

I took the top 10 songs released this year and put them in a numerical list. This list is only including songs released by a k-pop artist or group and is in korean.

10. WA DA DA by Kep1er

I didn’t watch Girls Planet 999 but I followed the drama extensively on twitter (mainly because I love Bora from Cherry Bullet), and so I was excited for the debut of the group. I was expecting a debut to rival IZ*ONE and I think we got it with WA DA DA. It’s high energy and the dance is fun. But theres a reason no other Kep1er songs are on this list. #JusticeForBora

9. Super Yuppers! by WJSN Chocome

WJSN released my most listened to song of 2021, so of course another WJSN song would be on my list. This song was the Kpop we needed in a genre saturated with noise music (which I do not hate). Dayoung’s rap(?) in the bridge solidified this as a regular on my Kpop playlist. These girls are bringing back the Orange Caramel aesthetic.

8. Maison by Dreamcatcher

It would’ve been a crime if this song did not get Dreamcatcher their first win. The chorus is so hype, and Dami’s raps never fail to serve. Their first win was a long time coming, and I’m glad they’ve finally clawed their way out of nugu-dom.

7. Love Dive by IVE

You think I could make a best of kpop list and not put the SOTY on it? (Actually I haven’t put the SOTY on my list many times XD). But this time I actually agree with the decision for SOTY. IVE had everyone by the throat this year, release hit after hit. And even though I hate Starship Ent. for what they did to Monsta X, it is nice to see a company outside of the Big 3 getting some recognition. I’m excited to see the big things IVE does in the future.

6. Step Back by GOT the Beat

I was a huge SuperM stan when they debuted and so I new it was a matter of time before SM released the female version. And they did not disappoint. This song is damn near perfect, and getting to hear Taeyeon, Wendy, and Karina on the same track is something I could’ve only dreamed of. This song is amazing, and anyone who says otherwise is in denial.

5. SMILEY by Yena feat. BBIBBI

Now I’ll be honestly, I didn’t love IZ*ONE, and I think all the girls have put out better music since they disbanded. And Choi Yena has had the best debut of all the ladies of IZ*ONE. It actually shocked me to discover that she was a rapper in IZ*ONE because her voice is so wonderful. I actually held out on listening to this song all the way through, because I didn’t care for IZ*ONE, but once I gave in I could not stop listening to it.

4. FOREVER 1 by Girl’s Generation

I made the mistake of stanning Girl’s Generation after the release of “Holiday”, so I fully expected to never receive new songs as a SONE and was content to just enjoy the classics. Well I tell you, I cried when I first watched the stage for this song! Eight queens taking their rightful spot back on the throne with an absolutely incredible song.

3. Scream by SF9

At this point, SF9 are one of my ults so of course they’d be the first boy group to appear on my list. When Youngbin and Inseong enlisted, I expected no new releases from the boys as a group for a while. So when this dropped I was so excited. The song overall I think is just alright, and the reason it’s ranked so high is purely because of Zuho’s rap, which are always my favorite parts in SF9 songs.

2. HOT by Seventeen

This was the song that got me to truly stan Seventeen. I had been an on and off fan after listening to Aju Nice, but this song was what made me commit to listening to this group. The dance is simplistic and sexy, and I love everything about the concept.

1. WooAh HIP by MAMADOL

If you had told me that the best song of the year would be released by a group composed of a bunch of former idols who were also mothers, I wouldn’t believe you. But WooAh HIP was the best debut/disbandment song of the year. These women can move, and they showed the world that just because you have children, doesn’t mean you can’t pop and drop it. I’ll never stop wishing for another comeback for this group, but most of all I hope that this paves the way for all idols with families and encourages them to continue doing what they love.

#kep1er #wjsn #wjsn chocome #dreamcatcher #IVE #got the beat #Choi yen’s #yena izone #SNSD #girls generation #SF9 #svt #MAMADOL #kpop #psyko speaks

[what-if-nct]

hiiii today's reminder is new 127 song!!! yes i still refuse to call it by its name.

positives: one, love seeing Jaehyun leading a song and also rapping that much, I'm so used to 127 raps being just Mark and Taeyong, it's nice to see others shine, inc Johnny here. two, the line distribution was almost fair, who'd've thought? three, Yuta's "fill up the tank, pour that gasoline on me" part is, i think, the most aroused I've ever been in my life. four, they all look super good, but is that not a given. also idk if this is a pro or con, but that train set with Mark and Taeyong really reminded me of the 100 music video and now i miss superm again. also the neon lighting bit was an… interesting choice, esp with the splatter marks, maybe I've just watched too many cop procedurals, but they made it work somehow

negatives: the fucking chorus. i really genuinely like the entire song except the chorus. i see what they were trying to do, but it feels like an outsider imitation of 127's sound. like o.o to next level. and boy the music video. so much was happening, I've watched it like six times and i still couldn't tell you what was going on, just that there was a car swinging behind them at one point. it was just sensory overload max, just bright flashes and weird saturation and sudden closeups. which sticker also was, but again. this feels like a weird imitation, like they copied all the same elements but didn't take any of the restraint that made it work.

I'm surprised the album isn't out yet, i was excited to listen to the b sides today. i guess that review will have to wait for now. but this song. i think it might grow on me as i see the whole stage, but it definitely is not going anywhere near my favourites list

Hiii, I agree every single part of the song is perfect, immaculate 127 127ing. But that damn chorus!! I hate it I hate it I hate it so much! Whyyy? Why? I loved Jaehyun's rapping like yes, I would love an even more rap heavy song. Get Yuta on this action as well. Speaking of, Yuta's elevator scene honestly a better choice couldn't be made. And Jaehyun and Jungwoo's part in the rain. Also Haechan looked so so good. Also the neon stripper rave scene plus Taeil bringing it home at the end my absolute favorite part such a good sound. Also Jungwoo being apart of the neon stripper rave scene was a Choice. You'd expect Jaehyun but they were like Jungwoo this is the big game get in there after being on the bench all season. But he looked so good just through out the whole video and Mr Suh and Mr Nakamoto honestly speechless, just wow. And Taeyong was Taeyonging and I love when he Taeyongs. That chorus though, it doesnt even fit the song. Sticker was at least cohesive with one little break. It does sound like an imitation of 127. Everything is perfect that chorus was a decision that was made. Also.

If you left me alone in here I'll will be just fine.

[kim-woonhak]

hiiii! for the ask game superm (since u mentioned them in the nct ones) and loona pls! (and i hope you have a good rest of your day!)

superm ✦ my first bias: baekhyun ✦ my current bias(es): baekhyun, ten ✦ my album and/or era ranking (or favorite of each): resonance > 7th sense > black on black > universe ✦ how i got into them: i was binging baekhyun content on youtube and specifically remember watching the friendship test interview was the first superm video i watched and was immediately interested in ten bc he was very cute and his english was also very cute and also the whole group was so chaotic with the trust fall part and the awkward hugs and lucas throwing it back ✦ which member would be my best friend: asdfjasdflasf baekhyun n ten :] ✦ something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): 😍 Uh, you think 🔍 ya big boy 👨‍🦲 throwing 🥊 three 3️⃣ stacks Imma show 🔥 you how 💢 to ball 🎱 you a mismatch 👎🏻. Opinionated 💥 but im always ✅ spitting straight ➖ facts. Throw it back 🔙 I might throw this on an8️⃣ track⚡️ asaksdjfajsdfasfj also mtopia 🥺 i loved watching their variety series so much and even their vlives were chaotic

loona ✦ my first bias: olivia hye bc i rly loved 'like a wolf to the moon' in ptt lmao ✦ my current bias(es): i don't actually know them all yet so i can't pick a bias just yet!!! ✦ my album and/or era ranking (or favorite of each): i only have listened ptt, flip that, and butterfly so if u have any recs lmk!! but i really do like those songs a lot^^ ✦ how i got into them: i haven't but i listened to them some before kcon and saw them at kcon!! they were amazing and did a really great collab stage w kep1er where there covered svt's aju nice <3 ✦ which member would be my best friend: which member do u think i'd get along with?? or that i remind u of? 🤨 ✦ something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): theyre legends for debuting each girl with her own solo that was such a cool concept. also PTT is one of my fave GG songs ever. and i always see clips of them (mostly olivia) from queendom !! and also some random clip of chuu interrupting two guys at a park celebrating a birthday that my friend showed me 😂

> send me a kpop group <

#ask game #notesofpotato #hehe thanks for sending these!!! sorry i answered a bit late but i hope u have a great day too^^

[mel-loves-kdramas]

Your Exo-L Secret Santa checking in/replying! I have your gift all queued up although I might add some finishing touches.

Ohh the Xfiles fandom is old school. I've watched a couple seasons always meant to get back to it. Are you still active in those fandoms? I was on tumblr as a high schooler primarily for doctor who, harry potter, star trek. That was quite long ago although I still follow doctor who sometimes.

I have a couple friends who are big BTS fans, and I was super into classic rock at the time and they both sent me the Dynamite mv which IS a great way to hook a 70s fan into kpop. Since then I've gotten into a whole bunch of groups: SHINee was probably first. I'm also big into WayV (veryy excited for their new comeback the teasers look gorgeous!) Pentagon, Day6... Do you follow/listen to any other groups?

I can’t believe you saw SuperM in concert!!! that’s amazing. I have been to one kpop concert (BTS) and it was SO much fun. ugh to see Baekhyun live… but yesss you're right he is almost back! (and we're just not gonna talk about kai and sehun enlisting) Do you think Exo is going to have a comeback soon then?? Trying not to get my hopes up too much haha but I think it's what the world needs.

I really liked Grey Suit too! (Morning Star made it surprisingly high in my spotify wrapped, but Hurdle was the favorite for me). I will definitely check out the live session MVs! I love anything that highlights their vocals (and any time they lean into the superpowers).

Favorite Baekhyun songs are probably Amusement Park, Betcha, Privacy, UN Village. My favorite Exo solo album overall is probably Kyungsoo's though.

When I had covid, I luckily never fell ill, but I tested positive and this was pre-vaccine so there was (understandably!) even more precaution. But no symptoms! I just stayed inside and binge watched tv and tried to learn how to play guitar.

Last optional Q for the present, what are a few of your overall favorite music albums? (doesn't have to be exo/kpop!)

Have a lovely week! <3

Hi Santa,

Yay! I am quite excited to see what you have created for me.

Omg, how lucky you are to have seen BTS in concert! Trying to get tickets are always sooooo crazy! A friend of mine tried to get tickets once and couldn’t.

Besides EXO, I really enjoy TVXQ, NCT and all their subunits.

Maybe us fans can manifest a EXO comeback after Baekhyun comes back from his military service. Crossing fingers!

I am so glad you didn’t have bad symptoms of covid. I also loved Kyungsoo’s solo album, but second to Suho (of course, hahaha) I loved Kai’s first solo album. His 2nd solo album was good, but I really enjoy his first one.

It’s hard for me to choose certain albums for a few of my favs so I hope you don’t mind me going off their greatest hits albums. Some of my fav artists and their greatest hits albums are Bruno Mars, Keith Urban, Maroon 5, and for Taylor Swift her two albums: 1989 and Midnights.

I was very involved in the Arrow/Olicity fandom when the show was on air, but not very much these days. As for The X-Files I still love all the fandom creations (gifs, edits and fanart). They will always be my OTP of fandoms.

Were you excited about the Dr Who’s David Tennant surprise return? I think it might have broken tumblr when it happened. Hahaha! I loved him in BroadChurch.

Have a wonderful week too!

#exols secret santa 2022 #ess22 #asks

[peppertaemint]

Thanks for your reply to my message. I've been extremely frustrated with BTS fans and just fandoms in geneand this increasing toxic bullshit that's been going on but your response has made me less frustrated about the whole thing. I should just suck it up and try to ignore it as much as possible. I mean when it comes down to it, I am giving it some power over me to be able to piss me off. I need to learn to let things I can't control, roll off of me. Thanks for the EXO gif, made me smile (miss my boys). Anyway, on another note I am getting into SHINee lately. I've always liked all 5 of them but just never became a fan enough to want to check out their discography. Of course I've liked a few of their songs and solo songs but never went far from there. My favorite is DCM and lately I've been mildly obsessed with the video and by mildly I mean watching it once a day for 4 days straight. See what happened is, I watched it when it came out and got caught up in Key's web and since Taemin is part of SuperM, I really went down a rabbit hole of Taemin and Key solo music videos one day. Four days I had an itch to watch the DCM behind the scenes video. Okay fell a little in love, then I watched them react to the DCM video and laughed my ass off the entire time, then I rewatched the DCM video and my eyes suddenly opened to how amazing Minho looked and how amazing Onew sounded, and of course my soft spot for Taemin and my heart eyes for Key so I have been obsessed ever since. Like dude, can someone clone Key for me? And his laugh... I mean I could gush about him all day. I love how retro his music can be. As for the DCM video, not only is it a great video and they all did the damn thing, but there's something about that instrumental section where the four of them are dancing together that is just so touching. Alrighty just wanted to share that and also say thanks for pulling me off the edge

I'm glad the EXO gif made you smile. :) I actually liked seeing it side by side with the BTS gif. It made me feel like they're really inhabiting the same genre and fandoms should enjoy what they have in common. Sigh. Honestly, I could see EXO and BTS having the most overlap of fans. o.o

But, on to dance! A thing I love about SHINee's choreographies is how thoughtful they are in terms of how the members dance with one another. DCM is a great example of this. The part where they face each other takes the performance to another level.

The majority of SHINee's choreographies, from the complexity of Sherlock and DCM to concepts like Odd Eye that feel simpler, the use of space and how the dancers relate to one another is thoughtful, intricate and meaningful. Sherlock's concept is an "after image" where the members freeze to capture the after image of a person moving through space.

Odd Eye has a queer sexiness to it, and the formations are just as "peculiar" (note the play on words happening). It feels almost casual, but it's not. It's considered.

Good Evening is a great example of how moving through a small space and the "cliche" chairs of classic boyband dance choreographies can be turned into artful emotion. The dances where they face each other, or move with each other—literally touching, holding, pushing and/or pulling—give the sense of how the dance is not for the audience's amusement, but to convey a message and embody something meaningful for the performers themselves, as well as the audience.

#shinee choreography #kpop ask #exo + bts #ask #kpop

[mybiasisexo]

https://www.tumblr.com/mybiasisexo/744605070042284032/ill-never-understand-ppl-who-refuse-to-listen-to

Omg I agree so hard! Specifically exos Japanese songs are such bops. Seriously they are. Imagine having “Electric Kiss”, “Coming Over”, and “Lightsaber” all in ONE album. I’ll never forgive SM for basically forgetting about EXO’s Japanese discography (and their Chinese one too, but that’s a bit more complicated). I know for a fact that if “Electric Kiss” was a Korean title track, ppl would be all over it. Tbh, SM started treating exo after 2017 was just weird. Like with all the long hiatuses and weird gaps between comebacks even before they stated their military service. And then they gave SuperM 😡🤬. (No hate to members, but it was clear that none of them rly wanted to be a part of it).

Another group’s Japanese songs that just hit different was SNSD. Like “Paparazzi”, “Catch Me If You Can”, “Galaxy Supernova”, AND “Karma Butterfly”? Like damn!

yessss electric kiss was on heavy rotation when it came out!!! ugh lovin you mo!!!??!???!?!

cbx also has a phenomenal japanese album!!!!! magic is SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD!!!! my favorite cbx song is girl problems like hellOOOO?????

and yeah 2017 is when it really started going downhill for exo with sm. im still curious as to wtf happened cause it feels like something specific, a conversation or something that just turned a switch. ugh. and not too much on superm okay??? i love them so much, even if they were a cash grab 🤧🤧

catch me if you can is so good!!! i have never actually dived into snsds discography which is a crime i know i know.

#ask #anon

[cha-ra-nui]

2022 Retrospective

So, it's April. I have exactly nothing written for any of my usual categories but KPop, and very little interest in doing so. That doesn't mean that there wasn't any good stuff elsewhere. My favorite band released a new album. There were a couple of good Anime, live action shows, and movies I enjoyed a lot. Puss In Boots is amazing. Chainsaw Man made me binge the Manga in a day. I read Dune and it was A LOT. I just didn't take notes throughout the year, and looking back I can't come up with much to say, nor muster the energy to go through everything I should talk about to make this an accurate retrospective of my year. So KPop only it is this time.

In retrospect, I'm not quite sure if KPop was good in 2021, or if I just went on a SHINee deep dive and fell in love with the group all over again. And they still have a choke hold on my playlist, Jonghyun especially, there's just a lot to catch up with. It also didn't help that last year was incredibly dry, especially in the boy group department. But one thing at a time. First, a lighting round of everything noteworthy to me that I can't find enough to say about to warrant a complete paragraph. APink's “Dilemma” disappointed with a confusing and underwhelming chorus, and their subunit, while having a cute idea, also failed to leave much of an impression on me. Astro is out of the dark dungeons for good, and they're doing well with it. NU'EST disbanding was expected, considering the awful track record HYBE has with renewals of bought-out groups, but it stings nonetheless to see another one of the 2012 line-up go. Kingdom has an interesting concept, but their music always fails to convince me. “Ascension” is their best effort to date though. CLASS:y had a fun debut with “Shut Down”, and no follow up of theirs stuck the landing. Finally, BIBI's “Animal Farm” is cool. She knows what she’s doing. I also have no idea how she got “JOTTO” past age restriction on YouTube, but good for her. 2022 had an unreasonable number of releases I like to put on the “WTF are you even doing”-pile. Where 2021 saw a development of trends I've never been fond of coming to a head, especially within SM entertainment, last year was the desensitization phase. A lot of what I complained about before was put into perspective by the utter failure at successfully recreating those trends by new and established artists alike. There are some of the usual suspects, like certain NCT units, which feel designed to provoke confusion on my part, so I won’t discuss them anymore. In a post “Sticker” world, just being obnoxious was no longer enough to truly baffle me. And I can't stress enough just how much of KPop last year, especially coming from boy groups, was utterly obnoxious. In retrospect, GOT The Beat dropping “Step Back” on New Year’s Day was a perfect indicator of where the year was headed. Not only does the song sound unfinished, SM couldn't even be bothered to film a MV for it. The mixing is almost as awful as the lyrics, and considering the questionable theme of the song that’s saying a lot. And I can't help questioning why it had to be that way. Why did SuperM get to sing about how cool they are, but their female counterpart gets to play out a tired and sexist cliche? And repeatedly rhyming “level” on “level” certainly isn't great lyricism either. Such a waste of talent. No wonder BoA has no idea what she's even in the group for. ENHYPEN had a fantastic 2021. No, I wasn't convinced by them even then (thanks to HYBE's awful vocal processing), but their music was very recognizable, and at least “Drunk-Dazed” was undeniably a slam dunk for them. Last year though? “Blessed-Cursed” sounds unfinished, like it was only released to take advantage of the lack of competition on the charts last January. It's inoffensive, but also entirely forgettable and a slight departure from their established sound. But “Future Perfect (Pass The Mic)“ is truly unrecognizable as ENHYPEN. It's extremely generic 4th gen hype music, with none of the charm and energy the best songs in the genre showcase. Anyone could've released this. They even forgot to put the hyphen in the title. And this was only the first offender in the 4th-genification of HYBE boy groups. By all accounts, TXT should've ended the year on my favorites list. I loved their releases the previous year, and really thought that this was a direction HYBE would move them into further, considering the commercial success of the Chaos Chapter. Instead, they dialed back the rock influences and went for edginess instead. This was the first comeback last year where I've seen the VIXX comparison being made, and hell no, VIXX had more maturity than this even during their rookie-days horror phase. “Good Boy Gone Bad” is just frustrating. There's stuff to appreciate about it, like how TXT is still the group under in-house bighit who is least affected by HYBE's infamous vocal production. But the song ultimately falls flat due to played out and edgy lyrics, and a static and repetitive chorus. With how utterly devoid of personality this song is, it’s hard to remember that TXT is one of the major reasons for the rise of pop punk concepts in recent KPop. Seventeen is the third HYBE group to drop everything that makes them unique to go for a generic 4th gen song instead, and “Hot” is exactly good as that sentence suggests. They know what they're doing, but I doubt this is what anyone is stanning them for. Then of course the one HYBE group whose musical style would fit the current boy group trends, partly because they had a huge part in coining them, releases...whatever “Yet To Come” even is. If you're not trying I won't either. I did somewhat like J-Hope's solos though. If I was interested in the genre or not as dead tired of BTS as I currently am I would be all over “More” and “Arson”. At least he sounds like he means it. In a similar vein, Big Bang's long-awaited comeback was not at all the triumphant return I expected. “Still Life” sounds like a swansong. They're done being idols, that's the impression I got from this release. And if that's the case, good for them, hope you don't have too many regrets leaving this life behind. But it's weird that they aren't in the same room for the entirety of the MV. They're on the “WTF are you even doing”-pile not because it's a ballad, or because it's somber, but because it too sounds unfinished. The song ends very abruptly, and half the lyrics are filler. There is no physical release, and no B-sides either. After 6 years of waiting, and especially compared to every other recent 2nd gen revival, I expected more. The final boy group in this category is ONEUS, and it pains me to criticize them so heavily. They just had an awful year, even ignoring their big scandal. “Bring It On” is a mess and overstays its welcome. The MV also wastes the concept set up by the teasers. But ONEUS has always been hit or miss with me. No, it is “Same Scent” that landed them a spot on the bad pile. Not only does it sound like a less interesting and polished rehash of “A Song Written Easily”, not only does it phenomenally waste the concept of its teasers, but it also asks for VIXX comparisons once again. And unlike “Luna”, it just does not withstand those. This is the most phoned-in a comeback of theirs ever felt. Luckily the girl groups this year were not nearly as fond of developing into confusing directions (with the notable exception of Weeekly). But one group came out of the gate swinging with the goal of wasting their talent as efficiently as possible. And it’s impossible to talk about them without discussing aespa first. “Girls” is a nice showcase of everything wrong with their concept. Already the forced focus of every title track on SM's lore feels stifling. There are only so many times you can sing about fighting the same villain on a backdrop of world building this shallow before it becomes repetitive. The choreography is a bad joke, and the song itself isn’t all that interesting either. The breakdown comes in too late to save it. While I didn’t like their output last year, I found myself at least thinking about it sometimes, this was forgettable in comparison. Their songs are a hot mess, but it could work. They have the talent to make it work, their lyrics just take me out of it every single time. And yet, it always feels like they will inevitably get that one song that will convince me somewhere down the line. But what happens if you try to copy the messed-up song structure they got famous for with “Next Level” and do it without any understanding for what makes aespa popular? “0.0” might just be the worst debut song I have ever heard. God, this is a mess. This is beating a dead horse at this point, I'm aware, but there was no way I could pretend this didn't happen. The girls have talent, that much is clear, but their title tracks are awful. It's aespa's messy song structure, but the stitched together songs range from forgettable to obnoxious and screaming “NMIIIIIIIIX” during the sorry excuse for a transition they allow the two frankensteined songs to have does not make it better. “Dice” is arguably even worse, because “0.0” at least is loud enough to force a reaction. Everyone has an opinion about that song. “Dice” meanwhile is just forgettable. And yet, even with how much JYP was trying, NMIXX wasn't even the biggest waste of talent for me. No, that honor belongs to BLACKPINK. You give us nothing for two years, and then we get...”Pink Venom” and “Shut Down”. Okay. Let’s see. “Pink Venom” is certainly the lesser evil here. It had potential to be good even. The final breakdown is incredibly jarring, the intro is obnoxious, and sampling “Pon The Replay” was a horrible idea, it just made me want to listen to that instead. But the chorus is a nice change of pace for them, and they sell it. All the song needed was a bit more polish, and a proper final chorus. “Shut Down” meanwhile was one big nothing of a song. “Whatever” is not the reaction anyone should have to a BLACKPINK comeback, and yet that's all I can bring myself to feel about it. When I was talking about CLASS:y's debut with my sister she called it “The better of the two Shut Downs we got this year”, and I genuinely couldn't remember that BLACKPINK, the biggest girl group on the planet, had a title track with that name. It’s very repetitive; the baseline never changes once during the entire three-minute song. But despite that repetitiveness it fails to be catchy or memorable. For the first time, a BLACKPINK comeback did not feel like a big deal, and despite my many gripes with their music, that saddens me a bit. Finally, Red Velvet may or may not belong in this category. Their releases this year weren’t awful but confusing for sure. “Feel My Rhythm” could have been nice if it just stuck to its own concept. The modern styling that shows up halfway through the MV in tandem with a more modern KPop sound is distracting, but the overall song is boring rather than confusing. “Birthday” meanwhile sounds oddly juvenile coming from a senior group. This would make much more sense if it were released by rookies. It has moments that sound a lot like Red Velvet, but they are startling in a song that sounds like it was written for someone else entirely. Seulgi's solo debut was nice though, “28 Reasons” may fail entirely at living up to its title, but it’s a good fit for her, and I like it more than anything the group released in a while.

I initially planned to structure the KPop part of this retrospective into 4 categories. The “WTF are you even doing”-pile first, then everything I had mixed opinions on, followed by artists that stood out positively this year, and closing the segment with a look at how my faves did. But the more I look at my notes, the less I feel like writing the middle two segments. There just wasn't much I have unbridled praise for, and half of the good category is sorted in there only for lack of anything negative to say on my part, not because I loved the releases. So, I'm going to start with those three artists.

I have never been a fan of GOT7. Neither the members nor the music JYP handed them ever convinced me. They have a few good songs, but they never stood out to me beyond having the power of a big label behind them. And JYP liked to do them dirty anyway, especially compared to Stray Kids. GOT7 was never allowed to take creative control of their own music and image, a fact their fandom has bemoaned for a long time. And this year I found myself agreeing. They should have been cut lose way sooner. Not because their reunion was noteworthy beyond the fact that it happened. No, because Jackson Wang's solos are better than anything he ever contributed to GOT7. Yeah, turns out the problem was not JYP, it was not letting Jackson sing at an orgy. I like “Blow” as a song (turns out Jackson is a better singer than rapper, who would have guessed?), but the music video adds a lot to the experience. And that much is true for all his singles this year. “Blow”, “Cruel”, and “Come Alive” all convince with great choreography. And by that I am not referring to just the dance, the videos are well thought out, shot, and edited. “Cruel” is a three-minute fight scene disguised as a choreo video. It says a lot about their quality that by the time Riot Games made a kick-ass animated short for “Fire To The Fuse” all I thought was: “checks out”. Though seeing him perform at League worlds was certainly wild. I have less to say about the other two. PSY's “That That” was fun. Duh. This is PSY. Who else would get a BTS member to feature on a song just so they could punch each other in the face? The song is catchy as usual, and the music video is bound to at least make you smile at the absurdity of the rap battle. TWICE is the last artist on the good list for lack of anything to criticize. “Pop” was exactly what you would expect from a Nayeon solo debut. If anything, it was too expected, and wouldn't be surprising as a TWICE single. You don't have to stretch your imagination much to make up a line distribution for OT9 TWICE. Still, it was a catchy song, and she did well with it. Mostly I'm just glad that they're sticking around. “Talk That Talk” is very unapologetically a TWICE song, shock full of all the quirks and personality you'd expect. That is why I don't have much to praise. It's TWICE. It's a proven formula. They work. They managed to mature without changing their core appeal, and I'm sure they're going to continue being a nice presence to have around. Which is good, because this year it felt like the reign of 3rd gen groups was finally over. Most of the big hits came from new artists. 2022 reminded me of 2017, when, after a few years of coexistence, 2nd gen groups started to fade from relevance. I'm going to miss the generation that got me into KPop, the 2012 boy group line up especially, but it's not like there aren't any older artists sticking around. The 2nd gen is more alive than the 3rd gen at the moment, and I'm living for it. I never have much to say about Super Junior, but I never want them to change their style either. While “Don't Wait” is fun and should've been the title track, “Mango” was one of the better boy group singles last year, for lack of competition, but also because it's pleasant to listen to. BoA's “Forgive Me” may sound very in line with current trends, but her attitude and vocals are on point. And “When I Move” was a nice surprise at the end of the year. We need more adult woman in KPop. There is a certain quality that comes with experience, and we rarely see girl groups stick around long enough to celebrate a 15th anniversary. The biggest of which certainly was Girls' Generation's “Forever 1”. I'm not sure if the song makes up for the long wait, but I love that it was a love letter to the group. They deserve to celebrate themselves. Once again though it feels like SM's second gen solos are more interesting than the group releases, and Taeyeon did well this year. “Can't Control Myself” doesn't even make my top 3 SM 2nd gen solo pre-releases of 2022 (very specific, I know, blame Key and Changmin), but more due to the quality of the competition than its own shortcomings. It's a simple song, but she sells the hell out of it. Similar things can be said about the title track “INVU”, a clever wordplay I am sure the lyricist is very proud of. I wish they'd done more with the concept, I feel robbed of Artemis Taeyeon, but it seems like it revived the interest in her solos, and I can't begrudge it that success. (G)I-DLE, against all predictions, might just have been the most commercially successful 3rd gen group this year. Did they deserve it? Eh, kinda. “Tomboy” is a bit of a hot mess. The hook is strong enough to justify the commercial success of the single, one of the best beatdrops released this year for certain. Their vocal line still slays too, Yuqi especially, and their attitude has always been on point. But for everything good or even amazing about this song, there is something awkward holding it back, most infamously Soyeon's 2nd verse. Go film a tiktok kiddo, and...swear without cigarettes? Eh on drinking whiskey? What? And once again, dead horse, but you really don't know what tomboy means. “Nxde” meanwhile is consistently good start to finish, but the hook doesn't hit as hard. Karmen is an overdone sample, and this wasn't a creative use of it. It's a song that profits a lot from its music video though. I can't help but respect the pure guts of the concept, and that they managed to make sexy empowering. This was one of the cleverest comebacks this year for sure, and another case in point for why we need girl groups to stick around for longer than just a few years. No rookie group could've released this. That didn't stop the rookies from going absolutely nuts this year though. IVE might've debuted last year, but their debut was still taking music show wins well into February. In any other year, they would be the biggest rookie group without any competition, I don't think I've ever seen a group dominate that hard with just three singles under their belt. “Love Dive” is going to take most SOTY awards, and already has three in the bag as of writing this. It's far from my favorite song this year, but it's easy to see why it became so big. It's nice to listen to, catchy, and comes with a super cool prechorus. The production on their songs is super clean, and that also shows in their follow up “After Like”. The problem I'm having is that their vocals aren't strong enough for the song. Only Wonyoung delivers the chorus with the flair it demands. At this point, it's clear that the true star is their production team. Nevertheless, that is already more than many groups have to offer, and they're young. They're probably going to stick around for a while, and it'll be interesting to see them grow up artistically. The other big post-IZ*ONE group debut meanwhile didn't go down as smoothly. “Fearless” is fine, I didn't have an issue with the song, and the EP even had some good B-sides. The problem is that their entire debut promotion cycle was overshadowed by a bullying scandal that ended with a member leaving. And as a former victim of bullying myself, I am absolutely disgusted by what happened. The collective internet ruined the life of a 16-year-old girl over unproven allegations of something she supposedly did at age 12. Fighting fire with fire is never going to work, and bullying is not a problem we can solve by bullying minors out of their dream job. LE SSERAFIM is always going to leave a bitter taste in my mouth because of that. “Anti-Fragile” then reads as super ironic to me. You can't tell me that your group is fearless and anti-fragile if that is your debut story. Shame, because the song has grown on me quite a bit. The “anti-ti-ti-ti-fragile” chant is annoying, but it is a catchy song otherwise, with much more personality than their debut had. If you want to flex your biceps though, maybe actually have one? There are other ways to portray strength than flexing muscles, and if anything, this move makes them look more fragile, not less so. And because two big debuts battling it out wasn't enough, HYBE pulled a SHINee on us and dropped another new girl group without much more than a rumor leading up to their debut. Also like SHINee, they're going to change this industry, if not at all for the same reasons. In an industry that has embraced its own artificiality, NewJeans' laid-back concept is a breath of fresh air. They look like no other group on the market, and they don't sound like any either. “Attention” is the official debut single, and it is a decent enough song. Nothing impressive in the vocal department here either, and the final chorus overstays its welcome quite a bit. But attention it grabbed indeed. “Hype Boy” was the second single of their debut EP, and I enjoyed that one a lot more. It's a true mood lifter of a song and shows off the charm of their concept better than “Attention” in my opinion. They also dropped “Ditto” just before the end of the year, and I really like it. The song is super chill and has been stuck in my head since its release. The music video is also very well made. It's charming, although this song too has no idea what its titular word means. But like with LE SSERAFIM, there is a giant asterisk next to any praise I have for them: The controversy surrounding “Cookie”. It would've been better if the girls weren't minors, but the song would creep me out either way. I have a passionate hatred for cheeky, cutesy, innuendo-filled songs. If you're not mature enough to talk about sex, you're not mature enough to have it, you know? And then there are the stories about Min Heejin. I'm not one to judge people based on rumors, but some of her work with SM was incredibly creepy too, and I'd much rather have her stay away from idols period. While I would admire the group's concept for being genius marketing, one must question if marketability was even a consideration when the creative mind behind them was also responsible for making SHINee, whose oldest member was 21 at the time, look even younger by all possible means for their “Sherlock” album, milk bottles and digital removal of muscle mass included. And I struggle to reconcile my abhorrence for Min Heejin with my growing appreciation for NewJeans' music. The copycats didn’t take long to appear this time too, with TripleS' first unit's debut, “Generation”, feeling very inspired by NewJeans. It has the same intend of making the girls look like normal teenagers, appealing to a sense of camaraderie in younger fans, and nostalgia in the older ones. I think they did a better job in some respects (certainly at not being creepy about it), and the song is nice, but the similarities are certainly noteworthy. TripleS also has a horrible group concept I refuse to engage with, and I'm worried that giving young idols such a girl next door image will bring back some of the horribly entitled stan behavior we've seen during 2nd gen. The fun part is, I'm still not even done with girl group debuts. No one seems to be sure if XG counts as KPop, but they certainly have the same appeal. Their lyrics could use some improvement, but I've seen much worse even by native speaking English artists. And the girls own their songs. “Tippy Toes” is a decent debut, and the confidence they deliver it with is impressive. But well, what do you expect from a group that is canonically a pack? No seriously, it's in the lyrics. And “Mascara” has been a guilty pleasure for me. It should be cringey by all accounts, but there is enough genuine good about it to make me come back despite, or maybe even because of the cringe worthy bits. This song is pure girl power, and in the age of girl crush that is much appreciated. Lastly, there is one boy group debut I want to mention. TAN's “DU DU DU” really ticks all the boxes for red flags you can imagine. A group formed by a fairly unknown survival show? Check. A group name that is impossible to google? Check. A onomatopoeia song title? Check And yet, the song is good. The beatdrop is smooth, the group seems to have a decent vocal line, and it's been ages since I've heard a well utilized rapper in a vocal focused song. I didn't enjoy any of their other comebacks, but this was one hell of a song to start out on. Even beyond the debuts, most of what stood out this year came from 4th gen groups. I liked ATEEZ this year, though maybe that is familiarity bias after playing some of their songs in Beatsaber extensively. Their music seems ideal for that game. “Guerrilla” feels like everything I could want from a 4th gen hype song. It's super cool. ATEEZ has the vocal line to build up to and deliver on a proper chorus, and they aren't afraid to get a bit dirty with it. I wish they did more with the MV concept, but that's the Starlight in me talking. “Cyberpunk” is also a strong B-side, and I feel like the only person in the world who prefers the title track over it. Like NewJeans, they also sneaked in another comeback after everyone was already done with their year-end lists. "Halazia" is the usual affair for them. A bit too much autotune in the verses for my liking, especially since ATEEZ really doesn't need it and the effect adds nothing to the song. But that's forgivable considering how cool everything else about this comeback is. And if you told me a year ago that my favorite boy group song of 2022 would be by P1Harmony I wouldn't have believed you, but here we are. Some of that is certainly due to the utter lack of competition, but “Doom Du Doom” is a good song in its own right. The anti-drop is extremely smooth, and it works start to finish. The MV is also a delight. Backyard Olympics are a fun concept, and the small details really sell it. From the burning satellite dish serving as the Olympic flame to the boxing announcer counting choruses like rounds of the match. It's not quite ONF level of delightful, but delightful nonetheless. I still wish E'LAST wasn't as nugu as they are, and Wonhyuk might be actually cursed. So much talent, so much bad luck. Of all the groups to get their account hacked and taken down in the middle of a comeback, did it have to be them? They are barely dodging disbandment already. “Creature” is the most 4th gen they have ever sounded, but it’s a very E'LAST take on a beatdrop for sure. They have the talent to sell their epic sound, and the anti-drop here works well too. I doubt they're ever topping “Tears Of Chaos” at this point, but they're worth checking out nonetheless and could seriously use more attention. Then we have StayC, who, just when I started to come around on them, had their first real miss. “Run2U” is fun, catchy, and a super clean production, as I've come to expect from them. There still wasn't anything outstanding about them, but the lack of negative things to say was refreshing. Then they dropped “Beautiful Monster” and all of that went down the drain. The song is generic in all the wrong ways. Still a clean production, but it feels empty and pointless. The final group in the mixed section is ITZY, and no one is more confused about that than I am. I had given up on ever understanding the hype around them. I don't like their voices, and I loathe a decent chunk of their title tracks, “Sneakers” included. The chorus wastes all the good will the first verse manages to amass. Congratulations JYP, you reached the “sneakers are empowering” stage of feminism. But “Cheshire” is fun, and the first song of theirs I ever downloaded. I tend to like JYP groups more as their careers go on, so who knows, if this is a direction they stick to maybe they'll release other songs I like in the future. As for the artists I don't stan but have nothing but praise for...well, I'm still not done talking about rookies. Billlie might not have impressed me with their debut, but they killed it last year. “GingaMingaYo (the strange world)” has one of the best choruses I heard all year, and the rest of the song is no letdown either. I've called most girl group releases fun and catchy this year, because that was the trend, but this one takes the cake. The song and MV are sure to put a smile on my face, and certainly put the group on my radar. Their 2nd title track, “RING ma Bell (what a wonderful world)”, was one of the better takes on pop punk too. They imbue the song with just enough personality to make it work, and the anti-drop is surprising for once. Most importantly, they perform the song with a lot of energy. The sense of joy that seems to permeate everything they release mixes well with the pop punk concept. Fitting then, that the other rookie I was happy about is not only just as joyful, but also made pop punk work. Among all the post-IZ*ONE projects, Yena's solo is my favorite. “Smiley” and “Smartphone” are equally fun and catchy title tracks, and “LxxK 2 U” is a deservedly popular B-side and the aforementioned venture into pop punk. Beyond the songs though, the strong sense of personality both of her releases have is what I loved most about them. Not even a year in, and she already has a distinct and recognizable style. There's a risk of that becoming stale if not developed long-term, but for now, her releases have been a delight. And because we didn't have enough noteworthy girl group debuts yet, Fifty Fifty crawled their way into hidden gem status by the power of their strong debut EP "The Fifty". It's good start to finish, "Lovin' Me" being my personal favorite, but it's the girls themselves that stand out here, not just the production. There's some real talent on display in this debut, and I hope to hear more of them. Finally, in an entirely different niche of KPop, there was once again a 2nd gen SM solo I did not have on my radar at all. If “Step Back” was an indicator of where the year was heading, Changmin pre-releasing “Fever” during the same concert was what I wished had been a sign instead. The entire EP is one big flex by the original evil maknae, and if I explained what I love about the vocals in all the tracks I want to highlight I'd sound like a broken record. Changmin is an amazing singer, and he's from the generation of SM idols who're so far past the need for hits, they can't be bothered to follow the trends. “Fever” might as well be a musical number, and “Maniac” is a complaint about a stalker told in Hitchcock references that just gets better the more I hear it. The pre-releases are so good, they almost overshadow the title track. Which is saying something, because “Devil” demands your attention. It's loud, not because its noisy, it's quite subdued even, but because it's dramatic beyond reason. “Alien” then somehow manages to be simultaneously smooth and cute, and even an avid ballad hater like me can appreciate “Airplane Mode” sometimes. Except for one song, the EP is an absolute slam dunk in my opinion. If I have one gripe with it, it's that the velvet album cover, while cool, collects dust like crazy and is impossible to clean. KPop wasn't just in general not to my taste last year, and even the artists I like didn't deliver as much as I hoped they would. With one exception: Every time WOODZ releases something it's entirely different from his last comeback, and every time it's somehow exactly what I want from him. “Colorful Trauma” is my favorite EP of his to date. Even with the abundance of pop punk concepts we've seen recently, no one else comes even close to being as good at it as WOODZ is. He's the only one I can actually imagine singing in a rock band, and he's proven that he knows how to properly use a guitar in KPop before. "I Hate You" was really the only possible pick for a title track but might just be the least remarkable song on the album. Every song works. "Dirt On My Leather" is just a straight up rock song, no pretense of KPop at all, howling electric guitars and rock vocals included. "Hijack" too is extremely cool, and something about "Hope To Be Like You" makes me come back to that song time and time again. WOODZ absolutely knows what he is doing, and I can't wait to hear what he releases next. I wish I could express the same level of excitement for my other faves, but their releases were a lot more mixed. I'm not sure what to make of Dreamcatcher's sci-fi era. “Locked Inside A Door” is the only B-side on “Apocalypse: Save Us” that I liked enough to download, and while “Maison” was certainly among the better title tracks this year, I just can't make sense of it. The song is lacking a chorus, and the final breakdown is easily the best part. I still like it, but that's mostly on the members. Dreamcatcher is a group where every single member adds to their songs, and there's never a shortage of fantastic moments to pick a favorite from. It just doesn't come together into a cohesive whole on “Maison”. “Vision” meanwhile may have weaker moments, but the song as a whole slaps. Once again, the members do a lot of heavy lifting, Siyeon especially, but the songwriting is quite strong too. The EP is fine, but the title track is the only song that stands out. Nevertheless, I'm super happy that they're sticking around for a second contract and am looking forward to where they're heading next. My favorite rookies meanwhile had their first big miss with “memeM”. The song leans very hard into the type of 4th gen noise music that I appreciated Purple Kiss for not doing, and it's the exact opposite of what I want from them. The entire EP was disappointing after the impeccable run they had up to this point. “Pretty Psycho” is the only song I put on my playlist, and I think even RBW realized that it was more popular than the title track. But it was also supposed to be the intro to their comeback last year, so at least some of it has already existed for months, which was worrisome. So I'm glad to report that “Geekyland” was everything I wanted. “Nerdy” is my favorite title track of theirs so far. It's fun, quirky, and catchy. The MV makes perfect use of their quirky horror concept and is one of the very few this year that is consistent with the teaser concepts and delivers on their potential. “Bye Bye Bully” is such a good intro, I wish it would receive the “Pretty Psycho” treatment and be turned into a full song too. The rest of the EP is mostly good as well. “Love Is Dead” is cool, and “SuMMer RaiN” is a lovely ballad. I also finally figured out that Stray Kids aren't single artists. I'm not the biggest fan of "Maniac", but it works within the context of "Oddinary". None of the songs on that EP made it onto my playlist, but I liked listening to the album (and playing every Alekcake map of it in Beatsaber). I didn't enjoy "Maxident" though. The songs felt like just more of the same. Except for the title track. "Case 143" is a straightforward love song, and damn is that weird coming from this group. It's fun though, and the MV is fantastic as usual. ONF's entire existence has been a delight for me, so of course they not only handled their military hiatus as quickly as possible, but they also prepared a special album to release in the middle of it. The title track of which, "Your Song", falls under the category of fansongs that are only truly enjoyable if you already like the group. Luckily for me, I do, so this has been a nice surprise to carry us through their hiatus. I can't wait to have them back for real this year.

Finally, there is SHINee. Even with the group on hiatus, Shawols had no shortage of new music to enjoy. The one upside to their current military break is that Onew, Key, and Minho finally get to establish their solo careers on their own terms, with the budget of the group at their disposal. Minho surprised us by releasing an EP right when we'd given up hope for it. Ever since Jonghyun made his debut album a copy of Taemin's in everything but music, SHINee had a running joke about their solo debuts plagiarizing each other. The albums are all in the same format, have the same font and layout, and most importantly, the titles rhyme. “Chase” is the long-awaited final entry in the plagiarism series. And it's a decent effort, but I think it mostly exists not because Minho wanted to release solo music, but because he wanted to complete the joke Jonghyun started. The songs even make multiple references to Jonghyun's solos, with the title track being named after “Let Me Out” (a favorite of mine), and a reference to “Take The Dive” in the lyrics of “Waterfall”. The latter is also the song I listened to the most on this EP, and its only real standout track. Onew too released an EP last year, and everything about “Dice” is delightfully Onew: a bit weird, a bit awkward, soft, and adorable. That charm, and its interesting concept, is what makes the MV one of my favorites of the year. Shawols also showed their chaotic queer energy by simping not (only) for Onew, but for the girl in the MV. And for good reason. She's the most perfect love interest they could've given him. I love how the story plays out, with Onew being entirely in over his head, but trying his best to save her anyway because he's just a good person. Even though she never needed his help, the mere fact that he tried is enough. It's very sweet, and suits Onew so much. The same can be said about the music. “Dice” makes for a fine title track, “Sunshine” is pure serotonin, and “On The Way” is the kind of vocal flex that doesn't sound like much on first listen, but gets more astonishing the more you pay attention to the details. He's SHINee's main vocal for a reason. I'm not as fond of the rest of the album, and overall Onew's might just be the SHINee solo I'm least into, but that's more a compliment to the other solos then a dig against him. Even if his music doesn't quite align with my taste the way Jonghyun's does, this is still a SHINee solo, and they just don't miss. Then of course there is Key's 2nd album and boy do I have beef with it. The retro horror themed teasers and album packaging are nothing short of amazing, and then the MV is something else entirely. Give me Key playing multiple villains for an entire music video, I beg you. “Gasoline” also isn't what I wanted musically. It's the type of song about hyping yourself up and sticking it to the haters that every single boy group has done at this point. But it works here for three main reasons: First of all, Key is one of the most charismatic and engaging performers KPop has to offer. He can save worse. Secondly, and more importantly, he delivers the song with exactly the right attitude. Key understands that a song about doing your own thing no matter what should be one you enjoy performing, and he very clearly does. And that's made even more powerful by the final reason: he earned these lyrics. Key has gotten so much shit just for being himself (mostly for rumored queerness) over 14 years of being an idol, and he never backed down. So if he goes on stage and sings about how this is his joy, his style, his ego, it rings true. And the rest of the albums feels designed to proof just that. It's all very Key. “Bound” is what happens if you hand a lost VIXX song to Key and let him run wild with it. It hits the same fine line between sexy and creepy that VIXX was so good at, lets him flex his vocal range, and adds voguing to the performance because this is Key, and he knows exactly what he is doing. “Villain” tells a story about a fictional villain deciding to go off script because they're fed up with always losing and tired of playing by the rules. “Ain't Gonna Dance” is confident and fabulous and comes with more ironic uses of pet names than the average MinKey interaction. “I Can't Sleep” is a song about insomnia that hits very close to home and proves once more that SHINee needs more lyrics written by the members. “Burn” is a breakup song treated with nuance and maturity. Key also kept his tradition of putting an English song on every release, and “Another Life” with its space imagery is very noticeably a late cut made from “Bad Love” the year prior. SHINee and synth pop is always a win though, and this is no exception. Really, the entire album is a win, these are just the songs that stand out to me the most. And by the power of future sight (aka, laziness and being five months late with this retrospective), I can tell that I'll praise his repackage this year too. So, I guess this is it. Key can have song of the year, again, for “Bound” this time. WOODZ gets album of the year with “Colorful Trauma”, and idk…if the three solos count as combined effort by SHINee they can have artist of the year, I guess. No one else earned it, or at least, I don’t want to hand it to any of the groups who might’ve earned it. This was a demotivating year, I’m glad it’s over.

#retrospective

[nirvanawrites111]

tmi

chileee I'm giving up my phone so I will be using my laptop and ipad. No one calls me anyways except my mom.

But, I was reading through my tumblr since I've been oversharing lately.. Baby I'm delulu AF. I also thought about this was be a great manifestation technique to post random things that I want to happen as if it actually happened. I might make a separate tumblr to do that. I put Taemin's bubble on my IPAD because those are definitely dopamine boosts.

I also have a million fanfic ideas but none of them really excite me. Let's see how this fan meet with Taemin will go. Hopefully, his performance would give me enough dopamine to write about him. Also, I thought SuperM was coming back? Like all my subby!favs are in one group together.. so like I need that. I also don't like SuperM's title tracks so whoever picked them last time I PRAY they don't. But those B-sides.. ?! baby what?!! Chef's kiss like fr.

Somebody said Changmin was joining SuperM? I wonder if that's true. I don't think he will gel well with them.

I reallllly want to see EXO, SHINee, or SuperM here in the states. I'm still pissed that SuperM performed 20 minutes from my old place a few years ago, but I didn't even know they existed. SMH. Also, I'm really intrigued about SHINee's new album. Their 2021 album was straight NO SKIPS and I can listen to straight through.

GOT7'S Dye, Kai's first album, SHINee don't call me, Def.'s abandoned love are the only albums that I listen to the whole entire album straight through. Everyone else I like to loop my favorite songs of the artist together.

I need to check who are the writers on that Don't Call me album because they did that.

Anyways enough ranting and rambling.

Would it be selfish to say that I want a Taemin x Ten subunit album? I watched a tarot reading on them the reader was like they don't even like each other lol. Who knows if that's true or not. I go through phases were I love kpop and then I'm like all these ish is fake af.

I forgot to write about Taemin taking the MBTI again and he's still an INFP. The crazy part for years I was an INFJ. But, now I'm an INFP and I've been struggling with excepting it. Anyways.. currently listening to Back To You by Taemin.

#nirvanawrites111randomthoughts

[hyuck-xix]

EXO!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

----------------------------------------

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

📥 send me a kpop group & i'll answer

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

[shawoluvs]

10, 14, 30, and 41!! <3

10. song to most likely make you crash your car while driving or get pulled over for speeding

SuperM - One (Monster & Infinity) 100%!!! There is just something about that song, and the way they mixed two songs together, that hypes me up so much and idk makes me feel slightly unhinged??? There's also something very illegal about the way Taemin says "think your ready for the monster? monster?" It's the kinda song that in 2012/2013 would have been used in the background of some action packed anime AMV with one of my fave angsty boys fighting evil and songs like that just still speak to me on an emotional level~

14. best & worst stage name

Ooooooh there have been a few on both sides of the coin. I genuinely think Key has been one of the best ones in terms of how it sounds and the fact that a lot of meanings can be drawn from it beyond it being just a short, easy to remember name. Generally I tend to like stage names that sound like they could actually be nicknames or short names and I'm put off by stage names that are completely random or try to be too edgy. There's been stuff like 'Villain' which was just not it for me. I'm also not a huge fan of stage names with random numbers thrown in there like I love DKB but D1??? Because Dong-Il was too complicated? And E:U from Everglow too, I know there are other idols with the name Jiwon so sometimes they give them stage names to set them apart from the others but... it just feels kinda random to me and the stage names end up being harder to say than their actual names so was it really necessary?

30. top 5 favorite b sides of all time

This is such a hard one because it 100% depends on my mood and I could easily give a top 10 b-sides for every artist I've ever listened to but off the top of my head~

CODE - SHINee, Imagine - Key, Heat - LOONA, Body Talk - Red Velvet, You Got - WJSN~

41. what song would you want your favorite group to cover?

SHINee are my favourite group and honestly the problem is when I'm looking for covers I tend to look for SHINee covers, I've actually become fans of a lot of other groups based largely on the fact that they did a great SHINee cover 😂

I think though, as Red Velvet is probably my favourite girl group, I'd really love to see them do a sort of cover song swap. I think there are a lot of SHINee songs where the harmonies would really suit Red Velvet, I can imagine them pulling off 'Atlantis' or a song like that really well. Similarly it would be interesting to see SHINee sing one of their songs, perhaps even a ballad like 'One of These Nights', both groups have really strong harmonies and both groups do really great at up-beat songs and ballads so with a little tweaking I think their songs could easily work for the other.

#ask things #thank you for the ask~~~~~~~~ #my mind went so blank with the stage name one ejbgjerge I'm sure there are ones I haven't liked more but canny remember them #and the temptation to just list 5 shinee bsides was strong let me tell ya

[kwangyadetective]

hi! i don't know why, but i was re-listening to favorite and bambi a long time ago and i noticed that baekhyun says "because you're my favorite"; and in nct 127's song one of the lyrics was "girl you're my favorite". also in smcu express on last year, kai from exo (the same band of baekhyun), appeared with 127. it could be that nct 127 and exo's universe are connected? baekhyun was telling us since february that ilichil was having a comeback?

Umm when it comes to lyrics of a song, it doesn’t always relate to the lore. There are still songs that talk about love or anything relevant in real life, and the lore could just be in the MV. Like Glitch Mode for example, the lyrics talk about the feelings of a boy meeting his significant other but the MV shows about how the Dream Lab works. I’m sure both songs were just talking romance and it was just a coincidence that they have the same line.

I know that one clip of Kai and 127 that shook many people, but that clip is just for a transition in the concert. Kai’s power is speed and he can appear anywhere he wants very fast despite the distance. He appeared in the Neos’ city and walked together because they were about to perform next. I never really talk about those transitions in the concert because even though it does have lore, it doesn’t show how each artists/groups are connected; I just think that’s not enough as a proof too. They are set in their own SMCU world/location but the interaction in those clips are just for transitions between the performances. Even that one Minho clip when he called Ningning. Minho was driving in a car and wanted to get to Kwangya (because that’s where the concert is) but he used Ningning and Naevis’ help to get there because of the P.O.S portal; probably as a short cut. They show their character roles but not an actual story line. They can meet but their stories don’t intertwine.

I’m pretty sure some artists in SM know schedules of other artists in there, most probably because they are close like Baekhyun and Taeyong are besties plus they are from SuperM. Baek probably just took a peek of 127’s schedule or he was informed about it when discussing his with the staff. He told the fans just for fun, or to hype them up. Lore connections between artists are usually hinted in MVs, and not too obvious. And even if there is, it’s not usually their story line (because each artists have their own) but more of dealing with the same villain or a reccurring character like Naevis (the SM butterfly).

#falling down the rabbit hole #nct #exo

[changbin-froggy-jimin]

Did you listened to the last EXO album ? If so, what do you think??

I did actually!

I’ve been secretly doing some EXO here and there every once in a while! I really enjoy their music and they have a lot of talent!! (Artificial love and like 20 others are constantly playing because I love them so much)

But yeah I did! I really liked Don’t fight the feeling and Paradise! Which ones were your favorites?

Honestly I’ve been keeping an eye on EXO since this look, you know,,,, back before I knew Baekhyun’s personality and thought there was a chance he was a normal sane human being lol (but isn’t it even better when they aren’t? And honestly what idol is sane anyways?)

This is still so freaking good as a look, anyways my boy got shipped off to the freaking military rip in peaces my guy 🤟😞

But yeah I thought the album was cute! Plus I got to see Kai and that always makes me happy! And honestly Chanyeol is such a good rapper it’s such a treat to listen to him! And Lay is back!!! I don’t really understand all of what was going on but Lay slaps as a dude and as an artist so I’m stoked! Also I’m looking forward to hearing more from them! (Especially before my boy Kai also gets carted off poor thing :{ ) (GIVE HIM ANOTHER SOLO ALBUM SM!!!!!!!!!)

#Taemin and Baekhyun almost at the same time it’s such a shame :/ #(also said in a joking manner good on them for serving even if it’s mandatory) (its respectable you know? anyways) #sorry I probably could have talked about the music itself a bit more lol #my opinion of it is honestly just good generally any EXO is just really good! #I know you got into them such a lot time ago! it’s always been so funny to me that I have all these groups I like but the one extra group #I’ve seen you like the most is one I know only a little about haha #though I think I’ll probably get into them sooner rather than later my friend is basically obsessed with the idea #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 #it probably just wasn’t my time to get into them yet #but also since Lay is back I’m pretty excited #anyways! I don’t think I answered your question in anyway that was helpful… oops lol #also if I start calling you song bird is that weird? I just like the idea because you are tiny and adorable like one #anyhoo just let me know how you feel about it I think it’s cute but obviously you get the final say! #hope you’re doing great! <3 stay healthy and safe! wishing you the best always!!! <333 #I never really talk about EXO much because besides like 4 of them I’m not to familiar with the group #I know Kai and Baek mostly from SuperM I know Chanyeol because he’s extremely talented and I know Lay #I can usually identify the other members if pressed but I don’t really know anything much about them #but I remember your favorite is D.O so I’ll keep an eye out for him if I do decide to get into them ^-^ #froggy writes

[kim-woonhak]

shinee ? and/or exo ?

shinee: ✦ my first bias: taemin ✦ my current bias(es): taemin, key ✦ my album and/or era ranking (or favorite of each): im not familiar with all their albums/eras but i really like 1 of 1 and good evening ✦ how i got into them: i think i've always known their old old classic songs (replay, ring ding dong, lucifer, etc) since i was young but when i actually got into kpop i mostly only listened to taemin n jonghyun's solo stuff and then finally got into shinee as a group when don't call me came out ✦ which member would be my best friend: i think i would get into fights w kibum all the time but it has to be him ✦ something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): taemin's kkoongie 🥺 and kibum's legendary ig captions and jinki's insanely long note and ofc taemin's legendary striped shirt in the dance practice video and just the old sm dance practice room in general w the old backdrop, and ofc the moon 🥺

exo: ✦ my first bias: baekhyun, sehun ✦ my current bias(es): baekhyun, xiumin (+ suho, sehun) ✦ my album and/or era ranking (or favorite of each): monster era > loveshot era > call me baby era > dftf just bc it's the only era i've been around for and paradise is one of my fave exo songs > i am not well-versed enough in them to rank everything else. (okay but if anyone was wondering about exo-cbx it's blooming day > hey mama > ka-ching and then paper cuts exists solely to hurt me) ✦ how i got into them: i always knew growl since high school, but in 2020 i watched baekhyun in the rainism reaction fancam standing with v and minho. also my best friend was obsessed with the eve dance practice so i started learning the rest of them. between those two videos and getting into superm around that time i listened to exo a lot more, especially exo-cbx ! ✦ which member would be my best friend: baekhyun !!! ✦ something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): kyungsoo's legendary forehead pc, kai bratz doll meme, growl gives me very strong associations with high school, kyuhyun from that one time xiubaek got drunk on his home show after xiumin came back from the military, and corgis bc of baek's cutie mongryong 🥺

> send me a kpop group <

#ask game #ofyoursilentreverie #thanks for sending!! these were fun but the fave/ranking question is def very daunting for these two groups bc of their immense discography

[sugar-petals]

SuperM as Boyfriends Headcanon

↪ caro’s note. extra long version because i miss ‘em. best boys, they’re all bf material to the moon and back ♡

5k words | bullet points

○ warnings ⚠️ 18+, dom/sub play, shibari, female reader, grinding, poly mentions, threesomes, face-sitting, femdom & vanilla, smut and fluff

⌈ ten

— motto: they won’t underestimate me for long.

most of your social environment is gonna be confused by ten at the beginning 

and don’t really get what he’s all about

or think he’s like whatever, some random guy in a tank top

acting peculiar

finding him kind of hard to gauge

some of your family and relatives might even think he’s totally unusual and a sneaky fuckboy making you mad 

they seriously wonder what you see in him

down the line that perception has turned by 180 degrees

as it should

ten becomes more irreplaceable, relatable, beautiful, perfect and impressive the more you know him

he’s not as mysterious and impossibly badass as everyone assumes

his personality is very approachable to you 

and you find him interesting in every aspect, looks to hobbies to background to personal habits

and also opinions because ten is a guy who really thinks stuff through

so you gotta be roughly on the same wavelength 

he likes discussing controversial and complicated stuff a lot for sure

being far wiser than his age suggests 

you are the first to share those things with him until the rest of the world catches up to this gem of a person

spending so much time with you

in the most personal way he can

he takes you to see the floating markets in bangkok, you spend the summer in thailand

wakeboarding and playing badminton

his entire family knows you inside out at some point this shit is serious

it’s very important to him to go back to the roots every now and then

and that you have been around his home city as well

getting to enjoy the area and time together eating the most savory delicacies

renting a boat and paddling you around to the important spots, he can explain any question you have

this kissing is gonna be so romantic 

who needs a vacation in venice when you can go to thailand with none other than ten himself as your ferryman let that sink in

except eating durian there he is, the boyfriend who can do anything!

with seemingly no effort

ten does little kind services of love for you throughout the day

he pours you herbal tea, fixes some furniture (he’s surprisingly good at tinkering), comes home from the bakery with your favorite pastry, does the laundry with your favorite fabric softener

he also goes on a huge shopping spree with you monthly because fashion is key in this household and it’s tremendous fun

you giggle when he puts on oversized shirts deliberately to look funny

everyone in the clothing store will think oh man what an adorable pair

ten will model the living hell out of the entire stock

and buy you the cape you really really want as a birthday present

said item turns out to be your favorite couple accessory

because you can sit next to each other on a bench at the river and wear it

what’s not to love about a portable blanket

of course he will take to instagram and make it such a cool thing, photographies of you wearing really cool coats and jackets

mirror bathroom selfies together as well, with a back hug, the classic

and not just for insta

you snuggle a lot generally

ten is always available for affection

and accepts all PDA

he’s a kitty after all, he loves the warmth of your body more than you know

remember how taemin said ten’s hands are always cold, newsflash not anymore since you stuff them into the pocket of your hoodie whenever you can

and hello sir your paws will be nice and cozy on my waist

or hand in hand when you waltz through your apartment

time for dance is a must

oh my god ten is so good at all of this

although say he’s definitely faster into latin than standard genres

tango argentino, he loves flamenco as well

don’t believe me? ten is a diehard rosalía stan!

vamos

so, no-brainer, expect a lot of dancy stuff 

that escalates into wild, passionate fucking

which probably looks like an aggressive form of couple exercises

you poor sore souls

ten’s lil kitty butt is falling apart from all the “i can handle a bigger one!”-level pegging and you have aching legs all over

favorite position? full nelson

if you ask me ten’s ass is probably so carved out by the end of this you could fit lucas and kai in there from head to toe

this is not for the faint of heart

sex with this guy is extra cardio

and if you’re into that a threesome is gonna go down sooner or later

with our girl lisa

there. i said it

miss manoban in those knee-high boots, grinding her thighs between yours and you finishing off on ten’s face? the fucking hottest thing ever i need a moment wow

i don’t have to tell you how orgasmic this is gonna be

steamy sex life with ten very recommended

⌈ kai

— motto: you’re like a precious rose. i’ll protect you forever.

to be straightforward with you

he is in so heavily in demand it’s madness

to give you an idea of the scale

mark is basically occupied by yuta until the end of time 

but kai has an entire idol fanclub on top of all erigoms

those sharp moves did not go unnoticed

he gets an inkigayo sandwich every other day

jesus christ

if rent-a-sexy-bf.com was a thing kai would be the most requested

his phone would be blowing up with contracts like

and you also have to pass kyungsoo’s vibe check

and taemin’s

the road to being kai’s gf is indeed the way of the samurai

i mean honestly: kim jongin is without a doubt the hardest member to get a date with

this has got to be the most selective man of the entire industry or something

if he likes you he REALLY likes you

and he will be the one showing initiative

because he wants to make it clear he isn’t just spending time out of politeness or something

although it’s pretty logical that if kai was unable to reject someone he would no longer be an idol but a harem husband busy every hour of the day

seoul would be able to found its own village 

kai town

where like 70% of the population is pregnant

but since kai wants to keep on dancing obviously and he wants to lend his heart to only one person 

seoul has to settle with a singular nini family house instead of a kai district

where you and the man himself are a full-fledged household basically since kai’s nieces double as actual kids

if you wanna be a young ass ‘mom but not mom with kids’ and be married to kim kai this is it

does he have a thing for milfs or something

that thought just came to my mind

anyway you’re mommy anyway wink wink

fucking til’ dawn until even his muscles hurt

going raw at the gym together

him cooking the most random food with the infamous waffle maker

cuddling with an army of teddy bears surrounding you

walking the dogs with the sexiest dancer alive 

and the sexiness is only the tip of the iceberg 

we know he’s all-round amazing

kai is the king of figuring out ways to chill out with you anywhere anytime

and yes innocent chilling

...unless you’re in the mood for something else

up to you

anyway

sweet innocent chilling for now... with the stunner... just smooching at best things aren’t going raw or anything

on the couch in the kitchen in the car when it’s parked somewhere in nature

kai takes you very seriously and is a great listener

he’s literally so respectful and open-minded i can’t

he will keep your secrets and stand up for you if it’s ever needed

yes he is extremely caring and invested

kai does not tolerate others being shady towards you

if there’s an instance where you are hurt and unable to assert yourself don’t worry. he knows how to confront others with measure but a firm determination.

kai takes a lot of that responsibility but only to the degree where you are comfortable

i think you get what i mean by that

and he is diplomatic instead of plain patronizing

you have a right to be protected. it means he not only treats you well, but also makes sure your well-being isn’t disturbed in any other way outside of the relationships

outside influences aren’t to be underestimated

and since kai is a godly man you encounter a lot of jealousy from others

a matter he will take into his hands since he knows he’s the reason

standing up for you also means saying no 

to these jealous voices so this is an important boundary he has to draw

that all kinds of hellbent people want to get into his pants and take his stage image too literally is not up to you to fix

kai is there for you to enjoy and love not to defend

that’d be exhausting and beside the point 

kai prevents stress and negativity to come to you

i hope i explained this well he doesn’t do this to be bossed up or make you weak it’s because he wants to make life easier for you

guys being protective will be chalked up as chauvinistic these days. often rightfully so 

but what i mean is that kai support you in all regards so you won’t be at a disadvantage or feel terrible about something

⌈ taeyong

— motto: we’ll take good care. enjoy the pleasure.

he’s the type of boyfriend who will ask you about things he missed out on while he was busy

things um from the internet

while mark literally knows that one by heart already taeyong will ask you things like what the wellerman song is

and you thought it would be something nsfw

i got you fooled

did we forget that the man literally watched nct memes on youtube

taeyong is both even more 18+ than you think but also even more innocent than you think it’s complicated

this man is just hard to describe he’s so different, i mean every person is unique but he’s an original it’s the extra mile you know

anyway

sea shanties

bopping to it all day since he just heard it 

singing it while he prepares dinner based on a youtube recipe video as he often does

he’s the most adorable person ever ever ever

asking you why shanties are back in fashion 

(good question, requires a deeper sociocultural analysis i reckon)

planning to remix one for his soundcloud lmao i kid you not

maybe your favorite shanty 

featuring fast-pace rap and all

creating his own previously unknown phrases and shit like that you know him

palazzo rocco lemon detox flashbacks

he’s hilarious i swear

taeyong will produce his own shanties for you can you imagine

as he says: my happiness is your happiness

watch out he will drop a shanty music video with extra krumping moves

taeyong is a never-ending source of pure crack

prepare to laugh a lot like, a lot lot

how can a man who seemingly has such a serious outlook on life and such a bonkers kinda face be so lighthearted

it’s like he’s peter pan or something

especially since he has to manage like over 20 brats in nct his cutesy behavior towards you as his gf will stand out to you

yeah so to be clear we all know he’s the cute one in the relationship

and guess who wears the pants

that’s always you ma’am don’t deny it

or wait 

not for long actually because they come off um physically

but not metaphorically

because who doesn’t wanna sit on his face tbh

your favorite reserved spot

he loves it

taeyong has such a thing for your body it’s ridiculous

mister lee got a sexy mama

and you have such a thing for the gloriousness that is him

but neither of you will not admit it as openly as other people would think

all there is... is being flustered

baekhyun probably has to play some cupid now and then

and give you some ideas

like gifting taeyong plushies and things like that

baekhyun knows what taeyong is all about so the advice is very welcome

but most things you find out for yourself

by being a little braver with him you know

you walking around naked in the apartment or basically fresh out the shower with nothing but a towel

will shake up taeyong so immensely, he will back himself against a wall without you even pinning him there lmao!

jeez he’s so deep into kinky stuff but easily shook anyway

i quote him again: “born to be cute, i dunno!”

you can imagine the overwhelm when you rub yourself against him like it’s nobody’s business

it’s so much fun to give taeyong a regular horny meltdown not gonna lie

this man was grinding his whole body all over the superm stage and now he’s basically freezing up and drooling

how many denied and ruined orgasms he’s gonna get, so much overstimulation all the way  

you’ll lose count of it

and just how wet you’re gonna be

is a thing for the history books

taeyong isn’t such a big deal in nct for no reason god gave him every talent 

so great sex is obviously in his repertoire

i think you’re gonna break some records for most fucks per week

you know... guys like lucas taemin kai and baekhyun spend more time wooing and teasing and flirting

but taeyong gets down to business

one glance is enough

⌈ lucas

— motto: the hottest couple around.

ah, big boy

you really got this man’s attention

doing nothing much at all really

he probably just saw you walking around talking to friends

carrying an impossibly huge veggie burger munching and enjoying yourself after going on a jog

yeah boy that’s how you catch his eye

they say love begins in the stomach and that is the true meaning

or the nose, your food smells really good, lucas is going crazy, he’s seeing stars and shit

anyway

the towering burger isn’t the only thing he wants

lucas cannot get you out of his mind no matter how much he tries to distract himself 

with more good food, movies, games

fooling around with wayv or the superm maknaes, and working out

he’s admittedly... a little himbo head over himbo heels with you the feels got to him

he’s not gonna say it’s a date he’s just gonna invite you just because

to hang out in the kitchen while taeyong cooks and baekhyun comes up with the idea to play twister

imagine lucas with his long arms and legs bending himself all over the place

fighting with kai who almost crashed his shoulders into taemin who avoided the accident quickly

making you lose a round

obviously lucas will hustle until your team wins

mostly because he’s so tall and baekhyun is so small which is a huge advantage when stacking each other over the map

let’s just face it baekhyun only suggested this game to bite everyone’s butts and to see you have skinship with lucas

which is definitely a successful plan of the leader

yukhei is in paradise 

jumping around his room like an oversized bunny after you went home

don’t lie, you fell hard for him as well he’s just such a presence

emotionally, physically

a gentle but persistent giant

he’ll do anything to make your relationship happen once he knows you’re interested

if there’s someone meant to be a boyfriend it’s gotta be him come on

he will cave in after a while and admit he can’t just forget about you 

not gonna lie

your ex is gonna be shaking in his ratty boots

his poor eyes will literally jop from their unexpecting sockets

when he sees lucas hanging out with you

with his shining blonde hair and tall stature, that perfect shapely body, with great fashion on top of that

looking like your guardian angel

man, xuxi really does

pulling you out of your slump that’s been going on for months

and bringing back smiles and a good time he knows how to do that best

and big big hugs of course

you can imagine how soothing and grounded it feels with such huge arms around you

he will make sure that feeling is always there when you need it

because you deserve that treatment

which means he will come over very very often

yeah get ready for how yukhei is a lot more driven than you think just dial and he will be there

underneath the meme surface is someone very determined who really really wants you

yukhei is chaotic good incarnate but in that area he isn’t messing around

his brain is like: “gotta be with her”

on repeat

he must call you, he literally can’t sleep without tying loose ends together as quickly as possible

no second wasted with this guy, even far down the relationship timeline

i really pity your ex 

i mean someone dating any superm member would drive their former partner completely nuts 

but lucas is a special case

he has that kind of look and aura that makes other guys dig themselves into the ground like wiggling worms or cope by fanboying over him

i don’t wanna make this sound like a competition and yet — congrats on your noodly blondie boyfriend alright

⌈ mark

— motto: two nerds in love.

how to explain this. mark is a perfect balance of a lover, a talker, and a shy bean

with a tendency toward bean

and flicking the bean

you know

cutting right to the chase are we

mark is very invested in pleasing you as good as he can

and defeating his awkwardness

because if we know one thing it’s that he always strives to become better and better like he can’t help it

and isn’t afraid of almost biting off more than he can chew

how many subunits is he part of at this point is it gonna be nct hollywood as well god dangit

back to the point mark doesn’t treat relationships and sex as something static which is a good and rare thing

he does his best and always looks for room to improve

while being very nervous, very bilingual, it takes two languages or more to express what he thinks about you let that sink in

that’s very shaky first date sex while being extremely in love with each other

lucky you

and an afterglow where he plays the guitar for you

that’s so nice 

he can play it while laying down and shit

while singing

not rapping, actual full-fledged serenading

we’ve heard how that sounds in the relay cam

are you dating some kind of teenage heartthrob or something huh

mark will make it very clear he’ll stick around, this bad bitch is here to stay

or actually, he’s a good bitch, don’t misunderstand

mark doesn’t have a lot of edgy in him unless rap is concerned

he’s the kinda guy to get lost in IKEA with 

having a good time 

as often as his schedule permits

you really have to make use of your time together 

this man might as well the busiest idol out there

and you are no different because birds of a feather

you’re both mr. and ms. independent 

out and about very often

so meeting up becomes something special during comeback season

or wait mark always has a comeback going on

which is a double-edged sword but something you both know you signed up for 

which is why you spend a lot of time around NCT dream, 127, and SuperM 

sm’s publicity agents have to work extra hard i’m telling you

a dating rumor is the last thing both of you would need

since you befriend several members you gotta stay on the low as well

but hey the rage of jealous people of the public is nothing compared to the force of nature that is yuta nakamoto

who seriously thinks himself threatened and robbed

in case you are feeling possessive as well...

...you might have to fistfight yuta

to be able to be with mark

who is basically property of osaka at this point

yuta is a scorpio that’s just the way it is

unlike taeyong who wishes his rap buddy the best, yuta kinda wants to be mark’s wingman and see him date, live his best life

but also have mark for himself to fawn over and to adore, to be fascinated by

we get it yuta. bisexual struggles. very understandable

you have to promise in person that mark doesn’t forget about the holy gaming nights with yuta 

which is hilarious since that’s not up to you but mark’s memory

bestie, yuta uses everyone as a scapegoat don’t sweat it too much

regardless you put a weekly reminder on the fridge

so the roaring lion yuta would be pacified

he doesn’t want to lose his sweetheart can you blame him

the ultimate but also most risky solution is obviously inviting yuta for movies 

which will be appreciated but also cause a storm

mark will definitely break a sweat when you start a popcorn war or try to prove who hugs mark the best 

caught in the middle of mayhem is mark lee’s specialty what did you expect

this either ends with murder or a chaotic open relationship down the line

yuta really is attached but who wouldn’t be

it could be worse mark has double the love you know 

⌈ baekhyun

— motto: you wanna know why i’m your candy?

baby tell me are you ridin’?

in fair verona where we lay our scene...

that baekhyun always wants to woo you — his way, which proves to be very interesting to say the least — is never hard to miss

putting in effort is mochi default mode 

no matter what stage of the relationship you’re in

he might as well regularly serenade you under your balcony in the backyard just because

probably singing ‘baby we can stay up’ and wiggling his ass in all directions because he’s a dirty boy gone wild

yeah. nowadays romeo is twerking instead of feuding with tybalt

that’s good for him and everyone involved

you in particular because you get some very racy eye candy

you know how baekhyun is

at least nobody’s around seeing him put on an 18+ show like that

your little guy is one unhinged fella

if it starts pouring he will grind up and down the next lantern and belt out ‘singing in the rain’

you bet he can do some actual pole dance

he’s strong and bendy you know

and loves to gyrate his whole bag of bones like... he wants to hit you with all the body rolls

in the rain

what a freaky man

but hey you wanna stay up for sure 

doesn’t take long until you beckon him to come upstairs

where the only way to alleviate him of his wet clothes—

oh well he has those roger rabbit vibes and you can’t be mad at it

he will play off all his hormonal antics

baekhyun is hilarious

and so perverted, he can keep up with your spicy idea of playing patty-cake don’t worry

how do i know you’re an extra nsfw kinda person?

who else would like baekhyun

he says juicy things all the time

and does juicy things

yes. finally a couple on eye level indeed. 

when baekhyun asks are you ridin’ you ask how hard 

bruh

this is gonna be fun

and remember

beside handing you sacks of money

his priority is always to make you smile

i’m kidding about the bags but

baekhyun is so rich it’ll show in your relationship, but he’s more about the interactions with you rather than the lifestyle

baekhyun didn’t hustle for a bentley he hustled to sing and get out of sm alive alright

financial stability: important

luxury: very nice to have, he can make you the presents you want to have and travel a lot together

but smiles: baekhyun priority

because he so badly wants to know you love him and adore him, he sometimes feels so insecure

of course you do

you always reassure him with your reactions

it’s very important to him don’t underestimate it

baekhyun has always been talking about his ideal type in terms of how he can cheer her up

so even the naughtiest sexy time evenings are gonna be filled with all giggles

anyway other than that your pussy will be dripping

because this guy is as horny as all other members of super m combined

and you have your ways of leaving him tongue-tied and wrists-tied

taemin’s impact

superm isn’t short of bondage supplies we all know that

so yeah. shibari baekhyun is gonna happen

since he does pilates imagine what kinda shapes you can bend this lil guy into

and take some pictures

privé is in trouble 

bondage model baekhyun is bursting onto the scene

you might even run a risque blog that features cropped pictures with him

heh — you think people will recognize him by his body?

nope

first: you only upload HD pictures that aren’t whitewashed

baekhyun is basically never photographed like that

second: who expects baekhyun to be featured on a bdsm blog with his girlfriend

and this is the guy that drives you around in his expensive car with his big black shades on 

well what can i say

nothing is the way it seems

⌈ taemin

— motto: i’ll unfold a whole new world for you.

taemin is cocky, he’s sensual, and: a very smiley person as we know

least boring relationship ever

he will prance toward you whenever he can to involve you in cuddles

touch-starved taemin is a thing

kkoong can tell you about it, he needs kisses and embraces so often

might as well pepper him with it no problem

and put him into your oversized sweaters when he eats ice cream on the sofa, watching movies, and you brush his ever-growing hair

he’s smol he’s gonna fit into them don’t worry

and on the other hand he likes a rough and tough girl who thinks of him like a boy toy

who acts tsundere or like his bodyguard

working out almost daily to the point of sweat all over

a gal probably able to pretzel minho lucas and chanyeol into one giant bundle

taemin truly has the taste of a divo

multi-layered as always

so you couldn’t say the relationship is always the same in sentiment, the vibe of the dynamic could be different every day

we love a complex man

what would be volatile to others is actually an advantage up close

because taemin understands every difficult facet of himself and his partner 

even if those facets might be contradictory

or something that’s felt shameful about

he will accept and listen anyway

the same goes for getting what drives you

taemin is like a walking psychology velvet couch with fancy swirls as arm rests

point is he isn’t fooled by the surface of the world

he knows what has to be known

which also means your looks aren’t the part he prioritizes

and not even outward personality and habit is what he’s drawn to

it’s the mentality and values underneath

that’s true compatibility to him and he can feel it

he’s really really smart

and also finds it important that you get along with shinee and superm, that you think they’re nice to be around and vice versa

especially kai as taemin’s absolute bearly bestie. if kai thinks you’re shady and you don’t like kai either

or if you’re permanently super awkward and taemin’s moodmaking doesn’t help

we have a problem

but fair enough

kai and taemin are basically one soul at this point so if taemin likes you jongin does anyway 

bff telepathy

in fact jongin was probably the one introducing you to taemin lmao!

because he knows you go well together instinctively and he is correct

so not to worry then

and it’s good on taemin to think longterm and not see you as a person outside of social interaction y’know

cough cough he thinks about marriage, you might be ms. lee one day

here he goes again taemin is just very mature seeing you as well-rounded in every aspect of life

without letting his dick make the important decisions at the detriment of making this a relationship of two lives not just two bodies only

but obviously don’t assume taemin is no horny devil. we all know he dreams of the freakiest scenarios and fantasies in this whole group

going kinda crazy about the thought of making you cum which he always wants to try with new methods

which occupies his mind more than a big bowl of super spicy noodles which is taemin’s favorite meal so

at the same time taemin junior is definitely the same clingy attention whore as his sparkly owner

limp wrists from all the handjobs on your side

and very swollen lips from giving all that head on his side

this is gonna be interesting

he puts the 6v6 in 69

equals 69v69 am i right

but i’m serious that’s gonna be a lot of oral action

you definitely ask each other about having sex very often, daily if you have the time and find a nice spot

and how on earth do both of you keep your hands off each other sleeping in one bed

taemin is touchy as hell with no shyness, and you squish squeeze and grope this guy like the mochi he is

ah when things go both ways

© submissive-bangtan 2017-2021. all rights reserved. do not repost or translate. all depictions fictional.

#super m #super m smut #super m fluff #super m x reader #superm #superm x reader #superm scenario #baekhyun smut #kai smut #lucas smut #mark lee smut #ten smut #taeyong smut #taemin smut #superm fluff #baekhyun x reader #taemin x reader #lucas x reader #kai x reader #mark lee x reader #taeyong x reader #ten x reader

[peppertaemint]

I enjoy your breakdown of what's going on with SM but we differ in opinion where the music is concerned... well the stuff I've heard. I have not listened to the girl groups at SM much but I love the music everyone else has put out, even 2 baddies. I like like when groups experiment, some songs are going to not vibe with some people and some songs are but one of my favorite things about NCT and the sub units are you never what to expect. 2 Baddies is just one of those mindless fun songs to me, but for me NCT 127 are so versatile that they can make anything work. You got SuperHuman, Highway To Heaven, Favorite, 2 Baddies... they can mold into any concept imo Also I love Ay Yo and WayV's last album, the winter palace songs, etc etc... I think a change wouldn't be an awful thing but idk this seems really shitty. I know business can be cutthroat but these people are working there because of what this man Lee Sooman did to start that company and truthfully start of kpop and I just think he deserves more respect than this. This feels dirty and harsh. Another worry is SuperM. Capital seem to work closely with Lee Sooman considering how tied Mr Lee was to that project... do you think Capital will want to cut ties with a company that staged a coup? This is stressing me out lol Oh no and what if this makes some artists want to leave in solidarity with Lee Sooman??? Is that being really paranoid? Do you think Taemin would stay because I know he's close to Lee Sooman.

Also what do you think about the hoopla about Baekhyun's health and people blaming SM? They think because he was sick for 3 weeks and now eating once a day and working out a lot, that SM is to blame for not stepping in.

Always good to have a difference of opinion 😊. I think the SMCU Winter songs were outstanding tbh. I even liked the surreal painterly concept of the photos. But again, I really don't know who is behind what. Like what of Kwangya? Is that LSM or Chris Lee?

And I agree that on the surface of things, it feels like a really brutal fuck you to a man responsible for a lot of great music and careers. SM made a hell of a lot of mistakes, but they've become so artist-centric, it does seem a shame to throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak.

Regarding SuperM and their future - Capitol Records wouldn't cut ties unless their contract was up and they no longer were interested. I don't know what the profit sharing model is with Capitol or what Capitol has agreed to do marketing/resource wise (anything?), but honestly there's not anything to worry about here. SuperM's comeback has already been announced and is likely being planned as we write on this infernal website, lol. Artists and groups are not likely to up and walk over this. I would find it very surprising. Getting out of their contracts would be too costly, and we don't even know how they feel about SM 3.0 etc. So, no need to be paranoid!

Re Baekhyun's health... I just am sooo sick of the victimization. If Baek wants to do that, he's gonna do it. Fasting is not bad for your health. As long as his meal is not actual junk food he'll be fine. And I assume he's drinking water and taking supplements. Like, fasting is actually good for your health. Why don't we let Baekhyun, an adult, decide what's best for him?

To me, all that victimisation stuff comes down to infantilizing grown men and also this pervasive, misguided savior complex. I'm sorry but men in Korea do not need to be saved from the evil mistreatment of... choosing their own diet and exercise plan? He's not 14. He's a seasoned idol. Marge from Utah isn't gonna change Korean beauty standards and deeply ingrained cultural values by crying on Twitter that SM are evil. What she will do is cause more racist journalism in the West decrying that kpop's evil dark side must be tamed. Sigh.

#sm #sm entertainment #kpop #kpop drama #Baekhyun #superm