EXO's Miracles in December

Hi, all! I've been MIA, I know, but it seems like this blog is doing well even without us constantly updating? Anyways, I'll join Alikiya later, and make a end-of-semester post talking about my courses and profs!

For now, I wanna talk about EXO's new mini-album that I've had on repeat for the past week or so.

EXO Comeback - Wolf

This morning, I was scrolling through the "exo" tag on Tumblr and I came across this post and it really just irked me. Actually irking me so much that I would decide to write a blog post about it.

So basically, if you don't know who EXO is: They're this K-pop band that debuted last year under one of the biggest (maybe even the biggest) entertainment companies in South Korea, SM Entertainment. Basically, there's 12 boys in the group and they're split into EXO-M (Mandarin) and EXO-K (Korean). Last year, when they debuted, EXO-M spent much of their time in China promoting their title song, MAMA, while EXO-K were in Korea promoting the song as well. Their mini-album last year had 6 songs, I believe, and all of the songs were done once in Mandarin, and once in Korean.

Then, unlike most rookie Korean groups, EXO took over one year to come back with a new song and album. Usually, with rookie groups, companies tend to over-promote them to get the band name out there. However, SM Entertainment, being one of the biggest entertainment companies, probably didn't feel the need to do that since they're all, "Screw you, we don't need a lot of promotions to get our boy band known. They just need to debut under SM, and they'll be good."

Oh, before I go on, here's a picture of them:

EXO
Their names match the order in which they appear.
Chen, Xiumin, Kris, Lay, Luhan, Tao = EXO-M
Xiumin, D.O, Kai, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Sehun, Suho = EXO-K

So anyways, when EXO debuted, another K-pop group had debuted around the same time. B.A.P. This group, on the other hand, debuted under TS Entertainment, a much smaller company. Unlike EXO, their group is more hip-hop based. The main difference between them though, is the amount of promotions they underwent. There were singles, and albums, and many appearances on different shows, etc.

The one year since these two groups debuted, there's been soooo much damn jokes. A popular one being: "EXO is coming bac - no wait, they misspelled BAP" or something along those lines.

Then, just as a petition went around for the term "when hell freezes over" to be replaced with "when EXO comes back", EXO finally announced their comeback! Allkpop pretty much died when the news came out and within less than an hour, EXO's comeback article was the #1 most viewed article on allkpop. Pretty sure Twitter might have even trended it, but I'm not totally sure on that one.

So then, a bunch of promotional pictures started coming out and teasers for the upcoming comeback stage and MV.

Being an avid fan of EXO (mainly EXO-M, but point aside), I was so excited. For once, SM finally had a music video with what seemed like .... wait for it - A PLOT. So, you can say that I was pretty damn pleased.

Then, this morning, when I woke up, the MV was released. Here's the EXO-M version:

So... I was disappointed. I mean, the song is fine, the music video was fine, and the concept was fine. I have nothing against any of it. I just don't like the fact that there's so much EXO-K in EXO-M's version of the song, and there's so much EXO-M in EXO-K's version of the song. It was tough to debut a single group, EXO, and then split them up into M and K and then go through the whole "WE ARE ONE" thing. I don't know. I like the idea of them bring brother-groups and I love them together, but when it comes to MVs or promotions, I love to keep them apart. What makes them special is their language, no?

It's so hard watching the MV and having an EXO-K member's face there when they're singing in Mandarin. It gets me so confused? I mean... is it Baekhyun singing in Mandarin or is he lipsyncing as Luhan sings? Then Chanyeol's face is there as a Chinese rap is playing. So is that Chanyeol rapping in Chinese or was that Kris? I just find it kind of pointless. I don't mind all 12 of them being together for a dance break but when it's an individual, why do we have to have EXO-K there when it's in Chinese, and EXO-M there when it's in Korean? Then, in the EXO-K version of the MV, Tao is the one scratching the screen, and in the EXO-M version of the MV, Kai is the one scratching the screen. Wtf.

Putting THAT aside, I hate that Kai is so overexposed. Before their debut, EXO was releasing a bunch of short teaser clips introducing the world to each member. There were 23 teasers in total, and I didn't count, but I swear, there has to be a minimum of 10 that had Kai in it. WAS THAT NECESSARY?

Who cares if he's the face of EXO-K? Isn't Luhan the face of EXO-M? Why doesn't he get more teasers with him in it? But that's a year ago, so let's move onto today. Why the hell was Kai's face everywhere in the two "Wolf" MVs? I can't remember a single scene where I don't see his face. I can't even remember if my bias, Lay, even had camera time. Did Xiumin even show his face at all? I don't care if Kai is the face of the group. It does not mean that you are literally the center of everything. During their first live performance today, they started the performance with a dance and Kai was the one standing, as if controlling the branches that are EXO.

I know I can't hate Kai for this. I doubt he asked for it. It's probably the way things were set-up. Which is why I have such an issue with SM for doing this. Or the choreographer. Or whoever thought this was a good idea.

Kai of EXO-K

That is Kai's face. There is nothing particularly special about that face. I'm in no way insinuating he's ugly, but let's be honest... haven't we all seen better faces? There are people are are obsessed with his thick lips too? Are you serious? Thick lips is all you're basing his handsomeness off of? Ok, then there are people saying he's an amazing dancer. Yeah, he is. But I'm sorry, have you guys forgotten about the fact that Lay, EXO-M's main dancer, also exists? Luhan isn't half bad as well.

I mean, there's nothing wrong with "the face" getting slightly more screen-time, but this is just ridiculous. I mean, SNSD has Yoona, but with them, I feel like the other members still have a chance, and their level of popularity isn't as far below Yoona as EXO is with Kai. This is kind of like Hara of KARA and how over-exposed she is, but that's another rant for another time.

ANYWAYS, ONTO WHY I STARTED THIS POST...

So, there have been fans of EXO on Tumblr who expressed similar opinions as mines, and stated that they were mildly disappointed in the outcome of this MV/production/comeback. As a response to this, another Tumblr-user made a post stating these points:

- How dare fans be disappointed?
- We should be happy they even came back.
- If you don't appreciate this, get out of the fandom.

To that, I say:

- How dare you tell certain fans they can't be disappointed. Who are you to be telling us what we can or cannot feel? Since when has my disappointment needed approval for you before I can express it on a blog that I own? If someone doesn't like the MV/song, that's up to them to decide, and express. So maybe sometimes people express their disappointment in a manner that can come off as slightly rude, but who lets you decide whether it's appropriate or not?

- We should be happy they came back, but what does that have to do with the quality of the production?

- Excuse yourself. Why must I get out of a fandom because I'm not 100% satisfied with what I was presented with? Do you just leave the dinner table when the dishes in front of your aren't your favourite? Do you stop taking showers because the last shower you took wasn't as relaxing as usual? What is your logic?

EVERYTHING ASIDE...

I am excited for their comeback. It's been over a year, so at this point, almost anything they shit out is fine by me. Sure, I wish the MVs were done better and it didn't look like people were lipsyncing half the time, but what can I do about that? The EXO-K album has recently also been leaked. I'll admit, I listened to "Baby, don't cry" but it was on Tumblr and didn't really know about the whole situation. Otherwise, I'm as eagerly waiting for the full album as the rest of EXO fans!

Mini-rant in mini-text. I don't understand why people are shaming others so badly for listening to the leaked versions. If anything, shouldn't you have more of a problem with the people who leaked/uploaded the songs? Curiosity killed the cat. Temptations kill. Listening to the song when someone else uploaded it, and you've been waiting for over a year, isn't a crime. Or at least I don't think it is. Some fans who pre-ordered the CDs and still listened to the leaks were feeling so guilty about being a bad fan on Tumblr, and I really couldn't help but laugh. You realize that half the people shaming you didn't even have the balls to come off anon and tell you off? They probably didn't even buy the albums. They probably won't even support EXO in any way. They probably illegally download the music too. So back off. 

I'm currently waiting on the subs for EXO-M's MV to come out. Despite me being Chinese, I could barely understand anything that was sung in that song other than "NI SHI MEI NU, WO SHI LANG AWOOO". Plus, I'm not a Chinese-reader either so all I could see read was wo, ni, mei, nu, duo, bu, le, yi, yue, xin, huo, and those really basic words. Ohohoho. 

Oh .. oh wait..

It just came out.

 
God bless you, hardcore Exotics!

Anyways, I hope everyone's been having a great week! I'll see everyone soon.

AWOOOOOOO,

- Dee

The last 3 months ...

Wow, I can't believe that the last 3 months have actually gone by pretty fast. It felt like just yesterday when I was complaining about each day feeling like a century.

Without even realizing, I started to get so used to living on residence even though I still come home every weekend, and all my profs and TAs even though I'd never admit it.

 For French this semester, I was blessed to have one of the best professors ever not that I've had a lot of professors. He's really the biggest derp that anyone would meet and he's just so caring and funny that I don't think anyone can hate him. I did pretty well on all my tests in his class and I even aced my comprehension test with my TA in the weekly French tutorials.

I gotta say, I started off the year with such a dislike for my French TA since he always picked on me mainly because I don't participate in class. But now that tomorrow's my last class with him, I'll actually miss him and my class so much. My class is filled with hilarious people who I don't think I'll ever meet again since university is such a big place. Plus, my TA's growing on me mainly because I realized how much he actually favours me sometimes. On a side note, my TA's name is Julien and that's a pretty sexy name. 

Economics has been the best. Favourite prof I've had this semester and I wouldn't have it any other way. He's an amazing guy and he always makes the class laugh with his "I-don't-give-a-shit" about anything attitude. When we had our final class on Friday, I swear he made me tear a bit with his final speech about how we've been a great bunch and he wishes us all the best in the future. It's a shame I won't have him for any other Economics class after this. 

IF ANYONE IS TAKING ECON101 AT WATERLOO, TRY TO GET INTO CARVALHO'S CLASS. BEST GUY. EVER.

Old picture from the beginning of the semester!
Back-of-the-room view in ECON101!

I've officially finished SOC101 too. I thought I'd never finish that class but I've survived. Our final project was to create a presentation of an organization that we supported. We ended up choosing SPARK which is a girl-power-type organization. I think I might make a post on that too later on! My task for the group was to make giant bristol board posters that we'd be using as props throughout the presentation.

I used our whole dinner table to make the poster.
My poor roommate had to eat dinner like this LOL.

Legal Studies 101 is officially done as well! I finished my case brief assignment that was worth 45% of my mark. I ended up with a crappy 78% and then went to rage-email my TA about it. She shot down my arguments and so I appealed to my professor who bumped it to an 80%. Not a big increase but hey, it's something. 1% boost to my final mark. I finished the final exam on Thursday; not feeling as confident as I should but it should be okay.

ARBUS101 is done as well. Our final task was to write a 27-page report on our Mike's Bikes game results. I stayed up long hours to finish that stupid report since some of my group members are incompetent and I had to re-do all their work. I mean, one girl was trying to say that we dropped our bike prices from $760 to $720 but she wrote that we dropped it from $600 to $425.. GURL WUTCHU SAY?

All that's left now is final exams for every class except Legal Studies which I've already done. I should be hardcore studying right now but... no. 

Even worse, my dad finally got me the iPad Mini which I've been eying for a while now. I love it and all but... damn, I am sooo not gonna study with this thing. 

Stupid flash but ... YAY iPAD!

I got a case and screen protector after getting the iPad yesterday.
I think it looks pretty damn sleek and pretty at the same time! :)

Rewinding a little bit, I went out with my favourite buddy from high-school! We used to spend almost every second together back in high school, but unfortunately, we went to different universities and I haven't seen her in a very long time. We ended up going to Pacific Mall and getting K-BBQ which is really such a fun way to catch up with friends, relax, and eat some good food. 

Just looking at this makes me crave K-BBQ all over again...

On a side note, another one of fishandchip and I's favourite restaurants, Mongolian, closed down recently. My roommate wanted to go there for her mom's birthday and found that it had shut down. Guess we need to find another really awesome place where we can customize your own noodles and eat awesome desserts covered with chocolate from the chocolate fountain. 

Anyways, so when we went to Pacific Mall, I went back and got some nailpolish. I may have blogged about those nailpolishes before... Pardon me while I got beauty guru on your asses:

So I was really pleased with the nail polish I got from DEBBIE a while back. I decided to go back to get some more and I found these two really pretty colours. 

The lighting may not do them justice but these colours are so beautiful!
I think the one on the left is a really pretty Autumn-colour and the blue is really good for Winter!

I painted my nails yesterday night!
Wintery :)

I think what I really like about this brand of nail polish is how you actually don't necessarily need to paint a second coat. So many nail polishes I've gotten need a second coat and it streaks so easily. This brand is so amazing and the colours are all so beautiful. Another thing is that it's so cheap! Other brands such as OPI and China Glaze cost around $8+ per bottle but these are approximately $2.50! I'm thinking of going back soon and getting the black one with sparkles next week! It's not the same brand but I tested it out last time and it was just as good as this one. 

AWKWARD TRANSITION INTO ANOTHER TOPIC...

I want to just take a break right now to once again mention my stupid parents, who are still, in a fight. If anyone's read my last post, they'll know what I'm talking about. 

Dear roomie,

I really doubt you'll see this 'cause you don't even know I have this blog. I just wanted to give you a quick shoutout 'cause you're awesome. I know we've been in countless arguments since we've moved in and we've gotten super pissed off with each other in the last three months. But I really appreciate you listening to me rage-cry about my parents and how stressed out I felt. I hate crying in front of other people but I guess I managed to do that with you. I'm glad you were patient enough to listen to me break down and complain about my stupid parents. I'm glad that after everything I said, you replied with, "It's okay. Calm down. Put them out of your mind for now. You need to focus on school........ Do you want some food?" 

Even though our personalities clash like crazy and we might not even wanna room with each other next year, you're still gonna be one of my bestest friends.

P.S - quurl u noe u luv da nagativityy i bring 2 ur lyf mkay ok 

My roommate and I have known each other since the seventh grade and we've been really close since then. We ended up going to different high-schools and making our own group of friends but we always talked online everyday. Now we're roommates in university, and while I find some of her habits highly irritating, I don't think I can have it any other way. 

AWKWARD TRANSITION INTO FINAL TOPIC...

So lately, I've been really into these things:

Yoseob's not my bias in B2ST but he's still one of my fave guys. I'm so proud of my baby Junhyung since he produced this album and he wrote this song so well and it's just so ... asdfghjkl ♥

Also, Junhyung is so damn hot even though he appeared for only 4 seconds. God damn. 

So, the drama that this song was in ended a while back but I've still been listening to this song non-stop. Raymond Lam has one of those voices you just can't get tired of and and omg this song ♥♥♥♥♥

Marble Slab icecream!

The ice cream at Marble Slab basically costs out the ass but it tastes so good. Everytime I leave that place, I think, "No way am I going back there! $7 for a small ice cream cup!? Pft!" but then when I finish the ice cream... I just want to go back again. Shoot me. This is why I'm fat. 

I think I'm starting to develop an unhealthy obsession with EXO-M now. Lay and Tao are just too beautiful for me to handle. This performance was so amazing and so was every other performance at the 2012 MAMA awards. If you guys haven't seen PSY's final performance of the night of "Gangnam Style", you need to see it now! Really awesome. 

I've been anticipating this series since the day it was mentioned by WongFu and then I got sooo excited after seeing the trailer. I think this one will definitely be a lot better than their first one called "Away We Happened". For starters, this one has people who can act. Plus, Yuri, Mike, and Phil are all amazingly talented at everything they do! Also, the ISA channel on Youtube uploads "Step by Step" videos of Phil learning different choreographies from amazing dancers. I have such a thing for hip-hop dancers and the dance itself. 

ANYWAYS, THIS HAS BEEN LONG ENOUGH. 

TALK TO YOU SOON. 

♡´･ᴗ･`♡ 

- eggtarts