hey i’m the ex-exo fan anon that wrote to u about stalking ur blog for ateez content. I’m so happy ur finally noticing mingi and his deadpan sense of humor! he’s my bias exactly for this reason, i just love how funny he is without even trying. i also find it hilarious that ur bias in exo is d.o bc he’s got the exact same type of humor as mingi - u can never tell if he’s being serious or is bullshitting u. u seem to have a type (as do i).
sent January 28, 2026
Hey now. I mean, I'll get to the meat of your ask later, but what do you mean finally noticing Mingi? Mingi has been noticeable by me almost as soon as I started this blog. My very first meta post about Ateez was January 5, 2025 and my very first post about Mingi was January 11, 2025 because of his TokTok Pop live broadcast. Mingi is kind of unignorable anyway, if you have a pulse.
I'm so interested to find out more about this as I go along because I'm sure you're right, but I am at the stage where I am surprised to hear that Mingi and D.O. have the same sense of humor.
Because this is Do KyungSoo smacking his fans to Stop 🖐️Looking🖐️ At🖐️ Your🖐️ Phone🖐️And🖐️Go🖐️To🖐️Sleep🖐️Missy!🖐️Missy!🖐️Missy!🖐️Missy!🖐️
Like. He's SO bossy and so dominant and like, he really might spank me after snatching my phone away.
This is Mingi, when he's told by a Noona, "Ok Princess, this Noonim is going to take herself to bed now. Sleep well."
He says: I'm not going to sleep so wh- WHO is leaving? Halt! Noona, you say you're going to sleep but I'M NOT GOING TO SLEEP. Noona-ya. [his call her Noonaya like that is making the K-Atiny making this video FREAK OUT] Don't go to sleep! Oh - Stay a little bit longer. Or else I'm leaving!
I mean, they are kind of opposite sides of the same coin maybe? I'm not sure. LOL.
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They have a one year age gap and Yixing is the elder. Jongdae joined very late and had a very short training period which was especially tough given that he now needed to sing in Mandarin which he didn't know before his audition. Although he had tutors and lessons and such, Yixing, who is a native Chinese speaker, took him under his wing and did a lot of coaching and teaching, both of phrases for interviews but also pronunciation for songs. My understanding is that Yixing also tutored Jongdae in dance, another area of initial weakness. Jongdae was an eager pupil who always credited his teacher and as they got older, started looking after Yixing in small and large ways, the most prominent example is attending Yixing's solo Pathcode shoot and worrying about him staying warm (27:33 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3rmasa).
Yixing had been making his own music since his trainee days and had the goal of releasing an album and/or contributing music to an Exo album. However, SM is very strict about how tracks and lyrics are accepted so artists typically have to compete with other tracks and win. Nevertheless, you can hear some of Yixing's early work in his Lost Planet solo 'I'm Lay' as well as in this SM Rookies practice clip of Seulgi and Irene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuxQa9_eSLQ).
After the first two Chinese members left Exo, Yixing wrote the music and Chinese lyrics+rap to Promise in reaction and this was his first song to be properly featured on an Exo album. However, because Korean is not his first language, he asked the Exo group chat for help and Jongdae was the only member to come down. Jongdae would adapt/write the Korean lyrics to Promise with Chanyeol ultimately writing the rap. This initial collaboration would spark a whole series of demos that they made together with Yixing generally contributing the music and Jongdae generally the lyrics. Jongdae would normally perform the majority of the vocals on the demos. The goal for Yixing was to prepare 100 demos to present to SM to show that he/they were ready for their own album for more of their music to be featured on Exo albums. This collaboration brought them even closer together and they were very affectionate with each other during this period. Ultimately though in late 2014 the USB with the masters of the demos was lost and never recovered. They were able to reconstruct Promise and there were a few non-master files of some of the songs but they had lost a huge amount of work.
Shortly thereafter, the remaining Chinese member outside of Yixing, Huang Zitao, who had had many injuries during his time with Exo and at the time had one severe enough he couldn't perform, started to make moves that suggested he too might leave. This period is very complicated and was very uncertain for fans and for the band because Tao's father got publicly involved in his quest to have Tao sue SM for mistreatment (largely bc of the injuries and how they'd handled them) while Tao had previously maintained he had no plans to leave ever. It's also clear that with the departure of the first two members, SM had been scrambling to sort out how promotions in China and Exo-M would work regarding both the two Chinese members as well as the two Korean members but Tao, as a Chinese member was clearly a key part of whatever plans they had.
At the same time, Yixing was in negotiations with SM that ultimately led to him opening his own Chinese studio which initially was supposed to be focused on managing his Chinese acting. His bargaining power was presumably strengthened by the loss of two going on three of the four original Chinese members given that Exo's original vision was fundamentally based in part on serving the Chinese market and expanding SM's reach in it.
Ultimately, Yixing opened his studio at the beginning of April while Tao's father's letter was published at the end of April.
In the middle of these two events is the Japanese fan meeting (https://youtu.be/lOHEypLdako?t=390) which contains one of the most iconic Xingdae moments: Jongdae picking Yixing as who he would be a fan of if he was an Exo-L and indicating it by backlogging Yixing whose face is hidden. The grin that spreads across Yixing's face as he gets picked is everything and Yixing ultimately breaks the chain they'd had going to pick Jongdae back.
The next time we see them together is for the May 30/31 concerts of Exo'luxion. In between the fan meeting and those concerts, Yixing begins filming for Go Fighting! (where he gets very close to the other Chinese celebrities on the show, all older than him), Tao's father's letter is published, Yixing has an injury on the set of GF and SM officially announces that they are in negotiations with Tao in the hopes of convincing him to stay.
NOW my personal read of the May 30th and May 31st concerts, both of which were performed in Shanghai, is that I think the May 30th concert is more or less normal between them. In the Chinese versions of the concert, Yixing performs 'My Answer' with Jongdae and Kyungsoo with Yixing largely providing piano accompaniment as well as some vocals. The vast majority of these performances are very tense and weird because Jongdae completely refuses to make eye contact with Yixing, even when he's initiating it or when neither of them is singing and Jongdae is also seemingly very adverse to being close to Yixing. For example, watch the May 31st performance and this one from August. l tend to use the My Answer performances as a marker for their relationship since it was clearly designed to take advantage of their chemistry and instead showed the breakup. HOWEVER I personally think that the May 30th performance, has basically normal interactions between the two of them.
I'll also note that unlike other fights in the band like Chanyeol and Baekhyun's Obsession era fight, I don't really think the other members took sides.
Take for instance, the two members outside of Jongdae who were closest to Yixing: Minseok and Baekhyun. On stage throughout the tour, they have fun together and in the Second Box we get the three of them at ease in their couple talks and roller coaster adventure. But we also don't see a rift between either of these two and Jongdae.
This tells me that neither of them did anything either in terms of what sparked the fight or during the fight that the other members had a serious problem with.
Another factor is how long this fight last, it took until Jongdae's birthday in September for Yixing to publicly apologize and from October to March, we start seeing some signs of the rift healing though this is only fully confirmed by the November 2016 (a little under two years after the fight) when they do their double Lose Control/Hey Mama! promotions that it's clear that everything is forgiven between the two of them. So it was a serious fight between two people who are not prone to fights and which lasted a long time, which is less surprising given that they are both stubborn people.
WHAT A GREAT QUESTION, ANON! I have been wildly (and uncharacteristically for me, an ex omegaverse hater) obsessed with omegaverse Exos since I got into Exo, and my thoughts on them recently changed drastically, so what good timing you have!
I’ll first start with saying that I don’t like betas, and never include them in any thoughts about omegaverse. I just think they’re boring– though I do have friends who have managed to make them VERY interesting; I just think I don’t have anything insightful or interesting to say about them myself.
And for a second note, I think it’s important to describe what I think omegaverse is for really: because it has many meanings that change based on who’s writing in it. For me, omegaverse makes most sense as a formalization of power dynamics. One could make the argument that it’s inherently kinky (and in fact, I do). It’s less about inherent sexuality OR gender, and more about inherent power structures and how someone could play with them. This is not to say that interesting discussions can’t happen in omegaverse about sexuality or gender– because they absolutely can and do, but I think mostly, it’s about biological power, in a way that our actual society thinks exists and tries to enforce (violently and forcefully), that is actually made real via omegaverse.
For the Fandom Olds among us, this interpretation would not come as a surprise, considering omegaverse took the place of BDSM AUs in fandom!
A third note, all of my omegaverse content always and forever will be poly! Poly packs 5eva!!!
ANYWAY, EXOS!
[vibrates] they are pack, your honor…
Pack alpha: Minseok
Alphas: Junmyeon, Jongdae, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo
Omegas: Yixing, Baekhyun, Jongin, Sehunnie
Minseok:
As the oldest, and from the fact that Minseok in canon refused to be Exo-M’s leader, it just makes so much sense for him to be the pack alpha but not the band leader. He has the character of a supervisor dom. He’s not involved with everyone in the band and entangled with them– because, frankly, they are too loud and too messy, and he has no energy to deal with so many people needing his attention and involvement. But he is a steady presence that they can all depend on. He listens to their problems and pets them about them. He scruffs the alphas into place when necessary (and reassures them that even if they fuck up, he’ll be there to help), and spends time with the omegas when they need him, and makes sure that their needs are taken care of and that they don’t feel too lost in the pack.
I’m pretty sure that even in omegaverse, Minseok is queer, and he probably prefers alphas to omegas; less mess, and more satisfaction in bringing them to heel.
Naturally, the person he’s closest to in the pack is Jongdae, this is canon in any and all universes. They’re the gossip husbands, drinking late at night and talking about the rest of the band like two intensely invested aunties, but being steady and gentle with the others the rest of the time. They probably sleep together, but they’re definitely not monogamous, and as in canon, probably are both aware that Jongdae would actually like to settle down with a mate at some point.
Minseok spends the omegas’ heats with them if they want him to, as do all the alphas– because the Exos are all very very busy and alternate being with the omegas depending on their schedules. His favorite is probably Sehunnie though, because Sehun is whiny but pliant and obedient in heat; the rest are complicated (will get to them!)
Junmyeon:
I imagine him to be as neurotic in omegaverse as he is in canon. He’s a sadist and is terrified of this fact. He takes his job as leader so seriously that it fucks with his head and makes him make very strange personal decisions. He’s an alpha and a dom, but the fact that he’s so scared of his sadism makes him show his belly to his pack and try so hard to be gentle and soft that the overcorrection makes him seem awkward instead.
I think, if I were to transplant canon onto omegaverse, that Junmyeon did not overcorrect so hard until a while after debut; because at first he would punish the Exos for mistakes as harshly as a supervisor, and oooof that probably gave him such a headrush that it turned into kink for him IMMEDIATELY.
Junmeon is Like This in canon really, so what makes omegaverse so much worse for him is that it formalizes all the power dynamics in head in a way that makes it so easy to take advantage of. And he is so convinced the sadism makes him a bad person, that having omegas begging for him in heat, crying and in pain without him even having to do a single thing to them except be there, simply would take him to pieces. Just imagine canon Junmyeon with the power to bite someone and claim them biologically forever… the man wrote the Exos’ names on his damn body, he would lose his fucking mind!!!
Anyway, I think therefore, that Junmyeon is terrified MOST of Baekhyun and Yixing, the resident omega masochists in the band– and to an extent, Chanyeol, who is a masochist but not omega. So, I would imagine him being SO WEIRD with all three of them. Too strict and mean to Chanyeol, and so wary as to almost be avoidant of Yixing, and strangely both overprotective and overconfident in Baekhyun.
Hilariously, he and Sehun click very comfortably, because Sehun isn’t a masochist or a sub. He’s just very into being indulged and having things done for him and to him, and it makes him vibe enough like a sub that it’s hot, but not enough to terrify Junmyeon or cause him to have intense sadistic emotion about Sehun. This also means they’re not super compatible actually lmao, they’re just comfortable enough that they stick together.
I think Junmyeon and Minseok have an interesting relationship, where Minseok would like to be hyung and head alpha for Junmyeon but Junmyeon is too weird about being perceived to be submitting to anyone that whenever Minseok tries to support him, Junymeon just pretends to be Fine™ harder.
Generally though, Junmyeon is a good leader. He’s incredibly competent when it comes to the band’s relationships with management, and he’s incredibly protective and invested in the wellbeing of his pack members. All of his weirdness sort of impacts him internally, but it works to present him the way he desires his image to be externally.
Yixing:
[vibrates] He… the baby…
He’s an omega and a sub. He came into the band with much Trauma™ (familial, as in canon D: ), which made him need so much affection and love that it makes him seem hungry. He pushes himself so hard that it makes him ill often, and it makes it difficult to care about him, because to do so means people have to constantly love him and see him be hurt. He doesn’t have the instincts that lets him trust people to catch him if he falls, so he simply always feels that he’s on his own, even if he isn’t.
In omegaverse, he probably has very difficult heats. Trauma and hormone fuckery do not go well together in any universe, so his heats probably fuck with his emotions massively. And the fact that most of his injuries are spine-related, means that his pelvic floor is just fucked, and would mean his heats actually physically hurt!!!!
The emotional part means that during his heats, he clings so hard to the people next to him to make sure they don’t leave, that he leaves bruises and scratch marks. He probably cries and howls if any of the alphas get up to get him food because he’s scared they’re not coming back and that he’ll be abandoned. He probably wants to be mated and sobs when he isn’t, even though outside of heat he would know it would be a bad idea to mate.
The physical part means he’s in miserable (very unusual) pain throughout.
This makes it a large ordeal to deal with for the pack. Especially considering they are all so tired and so busy and barely have time to rest anyway. And the fact that they have a rotational system for alphas spending time with the in-heat omegas so they don’t miss schedules, which in Yixing’s case simply doesn’t work.
They do love him, but he’s difficult to help. It stresses everyone out and makes the alphas feels horrible and bad at their jobs.
Yixing probably gets on suppressants at some point and simply never comes off them, especially when he starts spending more time in China without any pack around :(
Outside of heat, he smells sweet and is comforting to be around. He’s so skin hungry that he’ll always want to cling to a pack member when they’re home, which they are only happy to do. And he’s good at being hyung to the younger members. He’s also massively good at his job as an artist, it just, you know, kills his body oops… TT
Being away from the pack does make everything worse for him, though. It’s a sore subject for Junmyeon and Minseok especially, that they let one of their pack omegas run off that way where they can’t help him at all. It makes everyone sad.
[Cake lies down on the floor] Yeah… Yixing…
Baekhyun:
He’s an omega, a sub, and a sadist (masochist too, fun combo!) Baekhyun is highly invested in being important to everyone. He wants to be loved so much that he wants to own all the Exos and be owned by all of them, but he’s very aware of how this sounds so he’s just privately insane about this, but publicly all jokey and fun, rather than deeply intense.
The fact that he’s a sadist makes him a strange omega for alphas. So, I bet Baekhyun enjoys being with the omegas most often– bet it almost makes him think he’s like Minseok, and likes omegas more than alphas; but that’s not true. What he really needs is an alpha who would put a hand on his neck and put him in his place but also lets him bite and scratch and be mean to them as well. He needs to sub for his health and well being, but he also needs to feel that it’s safe to sub by being allowed to do horrible things to his alpha/dom and feel like he has power in the relationship. Subbing is so so vulnerable for Baekhyun, it makes him terrified to his bones, but he also wants it really badly.
Anyway, as in canon lmao, Minseok finds Baekhyun too messy and difficult to deal with, so he just flirts and toys with him a little, and probably sleeps with Baekhyun during heats if he’s needed, but doesn’t really let Baekhyun in his bed outside of heat.
Chanyeol is too vulnerable to deal with Baekhyun’s barbed wire words and pointy claws, he takes it too personally, and Baekhyun has to be careful around him. Though when Baekhyun is careful, they’re good friends, and Baekhyun does enjoy sleeping with him and toying with him a little.
Sehunnie is probably Baekyun’s go-to for sex outside of heats (points to the unreal amounts of Baekhyun biting Sehun photos in canon.)
Junmyeon and and Baekhyun are insanely compatible but they have no idea. Junmyeon is terrified of being too much and hurting people but if he actually does hurt Baekhyun (sexy), Baekhyun would lose his goddamn mind. Because Baekhyun needs intensity most of all, he needs to feel like his partner is obsessed with him: and Junmyeon is the most intense person in this band.
Kyungsoo and Baekhyun probably have good sex, but Kyungsoo has absolutely no tollerance for Baekhyun trying to exercise power– which is hot! But you know, it doesn’t let Baekhyun relax entirely with him. It’s the same with Jongdae probably, except Jongdae is nicer about it.
Chanyeol:
He’s an alpha but he’s not interested in holding power over people, it makes him deeply uncomfortable. He’s not a dom, and not a sub, but he does enjoy power games when they’re meant to bring people closer together and build trust.
He frequently goes through periods of being super insecure about how he presents as an alpha, and trying to be more masc and domineering, but it only ever ends up making him feel worse. And during those periods, he often feels like going to the other alphas for help and support is a weakness and tries to do everything himself, including figuring out his own mental blocks– this almost never works.
He clashes with Junmyeon a lot, because he both wants Junmyeon’s attention and admiration and praise, and wants Junmyeon’s to see him as an alpha and respect his authority, and Junmyeon is, as stated before, WEIRD about power things!!!
Though Minseok knows how to be good to Chanyeol and often compensates where Junmyeon fails. So does Jongdae, though he spent a while not really understanding why Chanyeol is the way he is and why he struggles with the things he struggles with.
Kyungsoo’s steadiness and assuredness in himself makes him a good friend to Chanyeol. It helps to look to Kyungsoo when Chanyeol is in flux and feels like nothing is static enough to hold onto.
Sechan are like canon Sechan, naturally. They are weird about power dynamics together in a way that helps both of them. It makes Chanyeol feel at ease that he’s not holding any power via the fact that he’s alpha or hyung over Sehun, and it makes Sehun happy to feel like he holds Chanyeol’s leash and can make him do whatever he wants. What Sehun often wants Chanyeol to do though, is to take care of things for him: take care of food and buying things, and making sure Sehun is comfortable, to fuck Sehun well and not make Sehun do things, and to praise Sehun in front of other people and let Sehun bask in the fact that he’s getting everything he wants. All of this makes Chanyeol feel good and useful and like a good alpha! It’s great!
Jongdae:
He’s one of the people I hesitated for a very long time before assigning an omegaverse dynamic to. I eventually settled on alpha because he’s a caretaker and – although subtle– is actually a little bit of a control freak. He also finds too much contentment in, for example, calming Baekhyun down and making him behave, for him not to be some sort of flavor of dom.
He and Minseok fit well together because they both respect hierarchies a lot, and they respect inner pack workings. They also have the same casual but firm way that they approach their own internal moral compasses. They’re both stubborn and hard to convince to change, which makes them both comfortable, considering they are also both very influential and find it easy to change other people just by being around. They make each other feel safe to exercise the full breadth of their inherent power without the threat that this would affect the other in any way.
The fact that they are both doms, however, makes them incompatible long-term as sexual and romantic partners, even though they adore each other and probably do sleep together often. It’s a fact they are both aware of– though I am unsure if they both feel the axact same way about it. I change my mind often about this. Is Minseok sadder than Jongdae about this? Are they both just Fine? Don’t know. I’m not a Xiuchenist for real, but I do believe in them! So, I find myself thinking about this often.
Jongdae, like Minseok, finds Baekhyun too much to deal with. But he finds Junmyeon funny and gets less stressed out about the fact that Junmyeon won’t let him help than Minseok does. Because Jongdae isn’t the pack leader and he’s younger, he finds it easier to insert himself into Junmyeon’s business and meddle sometimes, without stepping to hard on Junmyeon’s toes.
He is soft with Yixing, and is sad for him, but Jongdae is very strict with himself about things which he cannot change, so he doesn’t let himself dwell on this often.
It took him a few years to understand Chanyeol’s little neuroses but he did eventually, so now he knows how to care for Chanyeol and that satisfies him greatly.
He’s generally very gentle and full of advice and pets for all younger and older pack members.
He has a stroke of sadism in him, but it’s not consuming like Junmyeon’s is, and he’s Normal about it. It’s very to do with sex for him, rather than his personality.
Kyungsoo:
He’s an alpha, and he’s possessive as fuck. He’s also a very sensible person, and has decided very early on that he will not be getting romantically involved with any of his members because they’re all insane and they’ll drive him out of his mind if he wants to go full possessive alpha on them!
He does think Jongin is incredibly hot and is very soft with him. He’s also known to be soft with Sehun, though he’d never admit to it.
He’s a neutral party in the pack, though he has a deep sense of justice and will stand with whoever he thinks is wronged in an argument.
I don’t have many Ksoo thoughts, he gives me a headache, his personality is impenetrable! Sorry 🙈
Jongin:
You might have noticed I’ve not spoken much about him with the other members, and that’s because I firmly believe that, while he is a part of this pack, he’s bonded to Taemin. Taemin is his alpha, and they are each other’s persons. Jongin only spends heats with the pack when Taemin is unavailable.
In the Exo pack, Nini is soft and baby. He lounges over the alphas and scents the other omegas and takes care of them. But he’s also stubborn and strong, and because he’s been mated for such a long time, thinks that all the others and their weird relationship problems are so tiring and silly!
That’s why he gets on with Kyungsoo a lot. Kyungsoo does not have weird relationship problems, because he simply has no messy relationships in the band XD They get to make fun of the others from their little cocoon.
Nini knows how to depend on the others to help him, and he’s very good at being a stabalizing and sensible influence in the pack.
Him and Taemin make each other so much better, and take care of each other’s needs so well that Nini effectively doesn’t need a pack. They just add to his life and he adores them. It makes him a very steady presence.
Sehun:
He effectively takes the role of a pack omega but not because he needs it, because the pack does. It’s good for them to have someone they can spoil and love this way. He gives them the opportunity of all feeling like they get to take care of him and be good for the pack by doing so; and by doing so, he gets to comfort them and take care of them without them feeling like they’re asking for care.
Sehun has large emotions about the pack, he needs all of them, and feels like they all need each other. He’s mostly quiet about it, though, he’s not a words person. He just flops in someone’s lap when he’s having emotions.
As in canon, he’s been in love with Chanyeol for years, but it takes them an insanely long time to work out what they are to each other. This lands Sehun in Junmyeon and Baekhyun’s beds often.
He’s an omega, but not a sub or a dom. Like Chanyeol, he enjoys toying with power dynamics broadcast trust. Though he would melt into the center of the earth if Chanyeol bit him and mated him. And he would die if Chanyeol had a collar on and let himself be ordered around by Sehun. It’s all very deeply unusual and not standard bdsm XD
I feel like I talked about Sehun’s relationships with the other members throughout the answer above, so I won’t repeat them here!
Anyway… wow that was long. Anon, I am so sorry if this is way more than you expected!!! I hope you enjoy it regardless!!!!!!!! I have many thoughts about this, clearly! XD
I’m the anon that told u mingi and d.o have the same type of humor but looking back, i think ur right and i might have misled u. i find both d.o and mingi have that “saying the most unexpected shit with upmost seriousness” thing going on, but it’s def not identical. d.o is too savage to get (down) to mingi’s level and mingi is too gentle and too aware to get to d.o’s level.like, mingi whines and complains when fans tell him they’re leaving. d.o would wave u goodbye and kick u to help u get thru the door.
i mean, there is a viral video of a fan asking him “what would u do if I turned into a cockroach?” and he said “i guess I’d kill u. i mean u r a cockroach.” mingi did go into a whole genuine discussion on what would happen if aliens invaded us that was just as unexpected and funny. but would he answer to the cockroach question like d.o? doubtful. he’d probably get sad at the thought of his fans turning into insects.
ask sent January 30, 2026
But WAIT- I think we're going to be persuading each other back and forth - the thing about D.O. wanting to kill cockroaches no matter what that roach was originally is in fact exactly in line with something Mingi has said on a live!! Someone asked what he'd do if Mingti/ Atiny (forget which) was turned into a chicken a la Bbyongming and he didn't even hesitate: You'd get fried and eaten. End of answer. Because you know, you're a chicken, which is an animal bred to be eaten by humans. No ifs no buts.
So now I'm where you started! D.O = Mingi is a very strong possibility after all!!
Because!! I saw a different thing with D.O. where he was at a recent fan meeting thingy. When he tried on a cool looking black leather(?) jacket someone got him, it turned out to be way too small. D.O. started out being like, Um, I'm not this tiny and then his rage very quickly escalated where he's like WHO BOUGHT THIS? SHOW YOURSELF!! SHOW YOUR SELF NOW! in this HUUUUGE VOICE, looking ready to like, spank someone (yes please i didn't say that OMG HELP) and this was EXACTLY like Mingi at the March 2025 concert in Korea trying to find the Atiny who made a poster (gently) making fun of him and going, "Who was this? Was it you?" and finding her in the audience to give the poster back, and saying, in the most intimidating way possible, "You're dressed so pretty today. I am going to remember your face" before giving her a thumb-forefinger heart and smiling in the nicest way.
vocal nerd anon here! (i’m so embarrassed by this nickname even though it’s true, can we change it pls?)
regarding the importance of a vocal coach (at least, in exo’s case): vocals aside, they’re also known for doing arrangements of their songs to spice things up live. for example, exo’s iconic acoustic session was initially my man’s d.o’s idea. the realization, however, was work of yoo youngjin and another of sm’s producers/vocal coaches, kenzie: think the instruments used, which member does what harmony or main part where, etc. in that same manner, most of exo’s songs were written by swedish, british or americans producers, but the part distribution and the vocal instruction were led by yyj. like, the reason why “miracles in december” is a three member song (chen, baekhyun, d.o) instead of all members, is because, most likely, he decided their voices fitted it the best. or why d.o is the one doing the riffs and runs in most of exo’s rnb songs even though baekhyun is another member that absolutely kills it in rnb. the (now) sad thing about all this is that yyj was always SPOT ON. his radar for sensing his idols’ strong points for each song/performance was simply phenomenal.
can u tell how obsessed i was and still am with d.o btw and how much useless information i know? like if my own vocal coach asked me to analyze that acoustic performance, i’d probably fail. but do i know that it was his idea? yes. and why? all because someone probably mentioned it ONCE somewhere in the depths of exo’s content. i’m a grown ass adult now, but the comeback’s got me spiralling like it’s 2015 and i’m discovering him for the first time all over again. the fact he looks like he hasn’t aged a day doesn’t help at all.
i know u r a yunho bias. do u do that with him too? does ur mind work like that with him? pls tell me it does and i’m not the only weird one.
Sent 26.1.25
Sorry this is so late. Inbox got very very busy at the end of January and stayed that way. I love when that happens, but it means I fall behind.
I meant to do something else with this ask, but I didn't write down what that plan was and I now I want to do something different.
I was having Sunday brunch with my mother and I um fiddled with my phone because I am a terrible daughter and addicted to my phone (Shame! Shame!) and D.O's face popped up and my mother goes, "Oh that boy! He's such a good actor. He's one of my favorites!" because unlike me my mother watches all (like allll) the K dramas. So I was extremely cool and calm and said: DIDYOUKNOWHEISANIDOLACTUALLY?HEISAMEMBEROFTHISIMPORTANTGROUPEXOTHATMYBLOGFRIENDSTOLDMEABOUTANDHEHASTHEMOSTAMAZINGVOICEHERELISTEN!!!
And she was like !!!!! about how great he sounds.
I have to object to your characterization about knowing a lot of information about the technique and oeuvre of an artist important to you (and me!) as 'useless.' I know the exact order of Balanchine's muses in the NYCB and they are every single one of them ballerinas who either died or retired before I was born but so what?
I LOVE that you can actually speak to the techniques behind the art!!! (But I mean, at the height of my ballet obsession I was very aware of which ballerinas wore Gaynor Mindens and who didn't and stuff lol).
And, uh, no, the way I do my bias about Yunho is not... like this. I think I would get less hatemail from Atiny and other Hotteoks if I did, actually. Mostly I want to um lock him up in my nonexistent basement and make him cry watch him perform his Idol persona while tweaking it as he goes to fit his actual personality and the person he wants to become. (ahem).
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marz anon here again. it appears that my last ask have come across very poorly for which i apologize - i didn’t mean to yell at u or policy u or ur blog followers in any way. i just wanted to become one of the people that introduced u to exo, albeit in a bit unusual way - i didn’t really follow exo’s personal drama but i did notice they worked with a lot of foreign staff and caught on pretty quickly that if i followed their socials, a lot of (company) tea got spilled, often things that didn’t make it in the media or got brushed under the rug.
that being said, i believe u deserve to be introduced to all aspects of exo in an unbiased manner, so i feel obligated to add that, while marz was right about lots of things, he also came across as a major bitch to deal with - always petty, always unhappy, always finding things to be, well, bitchy about. he also got in a plagiarism scandal, so there’s that. he was also giving “lowkey obsessed with exo” vibes while he was working with them, which was very weird to observe (especially since he also worked with other sm groups and didn’t appear nearly as “enthusiastic” about them). some of exo’s fans joked that he wished he was the one that created them. he did end up announcing he was planning to debut a girl group, so maybe those fans weren’t that far off after all.
regarding his role in exo’s music and his absence, i’m still kinda on the fence - on one hand, he did create what is considered some of exo’s best songs. on the other hand though…refer to the above paragraph. maybe it is something to lament about, maybe it is a “good riddance” situation. god knows.
sent January 27, 2026
Oh I didn't think you were trying to police anyone. You didn't come across as overbearing in any way. Maybe my blood covered imagery just didn't go over very well - I meant it as a sign of respect. I know now better what it means to be in a fandom and very invested in a group, so to be where i am with Ateez and some of the others and have all of that [waves at the history of Exo] happen sounded like a really really intense experience.
Not knowing anything about Marz but based on the deep dive I did into Min Heejin almost a year ago - I feel like the extent to which the 'creators' and 'directors' for Kpop groups are actually creative artists in their own right but don't get credit for that seems to be coming through in Marz too, maybe. It must be a strange balance - to help the humans that are members of EXO become the Idols of EXO, and to know a lot of detail about how the sausage is made, but also to not really participate in full in the stardom that comes with it? It sounds extremely disorienting, in a way that might highlight someone's weaknesses of personality rather than bring out their best aspects.
Anyway, I want to say I appreciate your careful way of trying to give me the full picture on Exo. It's highly enjoyable to get all this fun information without having to thrash around in internet backrooms. I really do appreciate your taking the time.
hey 🍓 anon checking in, just to tell you I haven’t forgotten about exo’s lore and looking back on what I’ve written, I’ve realised it’s gonna be quite long since I start from the very beginning, and none of it includes d.o as the main character. Are you sure you want me to send it?
also I’m kind of scared because it doesn’t always represent exo’s members in the best light, and I don’t want exols to swarm your blog and turn it into a cesspool. I do have links for everything though that I can eventually send, should things come to the worst (since some of the things happened more than I decade ago and I had to make sure I haven’t hallucinated them).
ask sent January 27, 2026
I mean,🍓 you should feel free to send what you have, when you want, if you want, because I asked you for this. :D I'll always be thrilled to have my curiosity sated in this wonderful, spoon-fed way instead of having to wade through years of internet chatter on my own.
As for this blog turning to a swarmed by Exols thing - I don't 'publish' or respond to every anon or ask I get. I wish sometimes that I could send like, a I saw it and thank you but I don't have anything to say or a This is a great post but it needs to go on your own blog and not mine or similar note, but that's impossible with anons. I assume (hope, more like) that people who do send me anons of the submission type rather than the question type understand this, and I just move on. Which is a wordy way of saying - any Exols that want to have an EXO related battle on my blog will not be published.
They have a one year age gap and Yixing is the elder. Jongdae joined very late and had a very short training period which was especially tough given that he now needed to sing in Mandarin which he didn't know before his audition. Although he had tutors and lessons and such, Yixing, who is a native Chinese speaker, took him under his wing and did a lot of coaching and teaching, both of phrases for interviews but also pronunciation for songs. My understanding is that Yixing also tutored Jongdae in dance, another area of initial weakness. Jongdae was an eager pupil who always credited his teacher and as they got older, started looking after Yixing in small and large ways, the most prominent example is attending Yixing's solo Pathcode shoot and worrying about him staying warm (27:33 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3rmasa).
Yixing had been making his own music since his trainee days and had the goal of releasing an album and/or contributing music to an Exo album. However, SM is very strict about how tracks and lyrics are accepted so artists typically have to compete with other tracks and win. Nevertheless, you can hear some of Yixing's early work in his Lost Planet solo 'I'm Lay' as well as in this SM Rookies practice clip of Seulgi and Irene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuxQa9_eSLQ).
After the first two Chinese members left Exo, Yixing wrote the music and Chinese lyrics+rap to Promise in reaction and this was his first song to be properly featured on an Exo album. However, because Korean is not his first language, he asked the Exo group chat for help and Jongdae was the only member to come down. Jongdae would adapt/write the Korean lyrics to Promise with Chanyeol ultimately writing the rap. This initial collaboration would spark a whole series of demos that they made together with Yixing generally contributing the music and Jongdae generally the lyrics. Jongdae would normally perform the majority of the vocals on the demos. The goal for Yixing was to prepare 100 demos to present to SM to show that he/they were ready for their own album for more of their music to be featured on Exo albums. This collaboration brought them even closer together and they were very affectionate with each other during this period. Ultimately though in late 2014 the USB with the masters of the demos was lost and never recovered. They were able to reconstruct Promise and there were a few non-master files of some of the songs but they had lost a huge amount of work.
Shortly thereafter, the remaining Chinese member outside of Yixing, Huang Zitao, who had had many injuries during his time with Exo and at the time had one severe enough he couldn't perform, started to make moves that suggested he too might leave. This period is very complicated and was very uncertain for fans and for the band because Tao's father got publicly involved in his quest to have Tao sue SM for mistreatment (largely bc of the injuries and how they'd handled them) while Tao had previously maintained he had no plans to leave ever. It's also clear that with the departure of the first two members, SM had been scrambling to sort out how promotions in China and Exo-M would work regarding both the two Chinese members as well as the two Korean members but Tao, as a Chinese member was clearly a key part of whatever plans they had.
At the same time, Yixing was in negotiations with SM that ultimately led to him opening his own Chinese studio which initially was supposed to be focused on managing his Chinese acting. His bargaining power was presumably strengthened by the loss of two going on three of the four original Chinese members given that Exo's original vision was fundamentally based in part on serving the Chinese market and expanding SM's reach in it.
Ultimately, Yixing opened his studio at the beginning of April while Tao's father's letter was published at the end of April.
In the middle of these two events is the Japanese fan meeting (https://youtu.be/lOHEypLdako?t=390) which contains one of the most iconic Xingdae moments: Jongdae picking Yixing as who he would be a fan of if he was an Exo-L and indicating it by backlogging Yixing whose face is hidden. The grin that spreads across Yixing's face as he gets picked is everything and Yixing ultimately breaks the chain they'd had going to pick Jongdae back.
The next time we see them together is for the May 30/31 concerts of Exo'luxion. In between the fan meeting and those concerts, Yixing begins filming for Go Fighting! (where he gets very close to the other Chinese celebrities on the show, all older than him), Tao's father's letter is published, Yixing has an injury on the set of GF and SM officially announces that they are in negotiations with Tao in the hopes of convincing him to stay.
NOW my personal read of the May 30th and May 31st concerts, both of which were performed in Shanghai, is that I think the May 30th concert is more or less normal between them. In the Chinese versions of the concert, Yixing performs 'My Answer' with Jongdae and Kyungsoo with Yixing largely providing piano accompaniment as well as some vocals. The vast majority of these performances are very tense and weird because Jongdae completely refuses to make eye contact with Yixing, even when he's initiating it or when neither of them is singing and Jongdae is also seemingly very adverse to being close to Yixing. For example, watch the May 31st performance and this one from August. l tend to use the My Answer performances as a marker for their relationship since it was clearly designed to take advantage of their chemistry and instead showed the breakup. HOWEVER I personally think that the May 30th performance, has basically normal interactions between the two of them.
I'll also note that unlike other fights in the band like Chanyeol and Baekhyun's Obsession era fight, I don't really think the other members took sides.
Take for instance, the two members outside of Jongdae who were closest to Yixing: Minseok and Baekhyun. On stage throughout the tour, they have fun together and in the Second Box we get the three of them at ease in their couple talks and roller coaster adventure. But we also don't see a rift between either of these two and Jongdae.
This tells me that neither of them did anything either in terms of what sparked the fight or during the fight that the other members had a serious problem with.
Another factor is how long this fight last, it took until Jongdae's birthday in September for Yixing to publicly apologize and from October to March, we start seeing some signs of the rift healing though this is only fully confirmed by the November 2016 (a little under two years after the fight) when they do their double Lose Control/Hey Mama! promotions that it's clear that everything is forgiven between the two of them. So it was a serious fight between two people who are not prone to fights and which lasted a long time, which is less surprising given that they are both stubborn people.
