Technically not an EXO blog, despite what my boyfriend thinks

Hobbies include squealing, telling everyone about my love for EXO and Byun Baekhyun, and "learning" several new languages at once. (Sometimes I post about things that aren't EXO, I swear.) Member of bbh-net

[cheshiretears]

I was lurking on r/kpopthoughts but I refuse to get a reddit account and wouldn't be able to post on there for a while because of the posting rules so here's a shout into the void based on a question I saw there

Who are your favorite idol vocalists?

My new all-time favorite vocalist is Pentagon's Jinho. I saw several people mention Hui but not a single person mentioned Jinho?!?!

You know what, forget it, I'll make a second post about everyone else, this is now a PTG Jinho appreciation post.

He was the first member to catch my eye. I got into kpop around the time Shine came out, so of course I knew it, but it wasn't until Road to Kingdom that I took notice of Pentagon. And Jinho was the one I noticed first, because of his voice and his cute face (how is he the eldest?!) and because he made me cry, and because, as he said himself, he still nailed his notes in Shine/Spring Snow, even when he was crying too! Even though he didn't get to finish the show with them, he and the adoration his members had for him left a huge impression on me.

The CONTROL this man has is incredible. His voice is so steady and powerful. When I found out he was a former SM trainee and former SM The Ballad member I was like, "Ah yes, that lines up." (When I found out he was the one who beat EXO's Xiumin in the 2008 SM Everysing Contest and was considered for EXO's lineup I truly lost it.) I finally listened to his cover of Gethsemane from Jesus Christ Superstar and HOLY CROW I got shivers. If this cover alone doesn't convince anyone that he deserves to be listed among the top vocalists in kpop, I truly don't know what to say.

Still not convinced? He has versatility. How many idols have you heard sing opera? Jinho is able to do so many genres with the same level of incredible talent demonstrated already. PTG's most recent album, IN:VITE U is a masterpiece in its own right, but one of the pièce de résistance was The Game. The operatic section at the top of the song is sung by Jinho. I feel like I don't need to say more, so have some examples. Oh, speaking of, he also did a cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, also for his cover series MAGAZINE HO. No big deal. He sang every part.

I'm still not done. This guy. Has RANGE. You might think this is the same as the operatic section, but it's different. He can go for the typical western pop sound, think a Bruno Mars type belt like in When I Was Your Man (which Jinho has covered), he can go for the leading male musical theatre roles like the Jesus Christ Superstar clip, or he can go high. Here's a fairly comprehensive sample of his vocal range:

For this one I'm going to give you some backstory in case you don't know Pentagon. In a LOT of their songs, one of their main rappers will introduce himself as "Yutoda" (literally "it's Yuto" in Japanese because he's Japanese) and his voice is super deep and lovely and perfect for the rap lines. Anyway, in one of their b-sides, Fantasystic, Jinho has this CRAZY high note where he does Yuto's introduction instead. It's great because it's the perfect foil to the usual deep "Yutodaaaa" and to my knowledge Jinho is the only member who can hit it- I have a feminine soprano voice and I have to work to hit that note! (Skip to 1:45 if you're only interested in the Jinho version.)

Would you like soft sweet vocals? Have vocal unit Jinho, ballad Jinho, lovely honey smooth Jinho.

Here's a clip from more than 11 years ago, with SHINee's late Jonghyun and Super Junior's Kyuhyun for SM The Ballad:

(And an SM The Ballad song bit performed for Pentagon on Kiss The Radio and look at the members' faces!)

Pentagon's two main vocals are amazing separately or together. There's a few Jinho Hui duets but Thank You just hits different. They both hit impressive high notes and then you have Jinho's low throaty "My lady!"

I could probably keep going but this is three hours in the making and I'm sure you're tired of reading it. Tl:dr Pentagon's Jo Jinho is truly deserving of way more praise. His voice is incredibly versatile and he has a crazy range. I didn't even really share any of Pentagon's title tracks, because that's a lot and sometimes it's hard to keep track (but he usually has some of the highest percentages of lines and we are definitely not going to talk about Pentagon's terrible line distribution in this post). I feel like Pentagon has tried a lot, and Jinho has been there for most of it. I'm so glad he's back safely and continuing to absolutely destroy my expectations for how much his voice can still impress me~!

Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far, and if you weren't already a Universe, maybe consider:

Even Hui told us to stan Pentagon!

(If you aren't sick of the absolute talent, have a compilation of Feelin Like era Jinho~)

i'm your pentagon

you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like aka feelin like era jinho supercut

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

the thing about Professor Utonium is he didn't accidentally create 3 daughters, he purposely created 3 daughters who accidentally have superpowers. the sugar, spice, and everything nice was intentional, only Chemical X was an accident

this guy became a girl dad on purpose and I am so proud of him for achieving his dream!

[librarycard]

the ship of theseus wikipedia article in 2003. 20 years later, after 1792 total edits, 0% of its original phrasing remains. (x)

[ospreyonthemoon]

And yet it's still the same article, the article designated to be about theseus' ship. Debate solved i guess

[creepymutelilbugger]

easy as fuck . were they stupid?

[yapuwfou]

But.... If none of the words are there, isn't that just a different article using the same URL?

[juuls]

But the concept is the same.

[hadesisqueer]

Kpop Demon Hunters as Textposts because I'm bored part 2

[positive-memes]

Grandma loves you.

[cheshiretears]

Are you a fannish person? A fanfic writer? Fanartist? Podficcer? Gather round friends as we talk about blanket permission (BP) statements!

BP is something you can put on your fannish profiles so others can easily see how you feel about transformative works.

Statements can be enthusiastic yeses, polite no thank yous, or somewhere in between. Some writers are always okay with some transformation but might want to take others on a case-by-case request, while feeling strongly against other types. And it's okay if that changes over time!

Some common types of transformative permissions you may want to consider is podfic, fanart, translations, remixes. How do you feel about these? When you're building your own statement, you can choose if you want to treat all types of transformation the same or not.

Also consider how you want to be credited, if you are giving permission. The associated works feature on ao3 will ensure your work is linked by default at the top of the inspired work. This is regardless of if you accept the associated work request. If you accept, it will also make sure the inspired work is linked at the bottom of your fic, as "Works Inspired by This One." But in addition, would you prefer the creator also comment, email, DM to let you know they made something? You can include that!

You can usually find a BP statement on a user's ao3 profile. In some cases, one might link to a carrd, LiveJournal, social media, or some other website where they have posted the statement so they don't need to copy it over.

But anyway, does anyone even look at profiles? YES! Podficcers in particular LOVE to peep at profiles to see if an author has already expressed their feelings about further transformation. And there is a tracker that works with a browser extension to literally highlight profiles with blanket permission statements so they are easier to spot when scrolling through ao3. Personally, one of the most stressful things about podfic is waiting anxiously for a response to a request. If an author doesn't have any transformative work policy listed on their profile, I am more likely to move on than send a message. (If I've sent you a message, I absolutely adore you and your writing.) And some folks don't want their work to be podficced, which is fine! But rejection can be hard to swallow no matter how nicely it's put. So if you've already made your stance clear, it can save us both some trouble! (Where are my introverts? I feel like we're probably the majority, or is it just me?) It's about accessibility, baby!

You can add a statement at any time, but writers, this is a great time to add a BP statement as there is a major podfic event, Voiceteam, currently underway! If you want us podficcers to know how you feel about your fanfic undergoing further transformation, it's never too late to post yours!

Here's my statement from ao3! Feel free to use any phrasings you like to help you build your own! It doesn't need to be as elaborate as mine, it can simply say something like, "If you want to make something based on my works, go for it!" It's yours to craft and make your own.

More resources:

Fanworks Permission Statement Builder by flamingwell

Blanket Statement on Fanlore

Fanwork Permission Statement List

Blanket Permission Highlighter Extension by brickgrass

Anyway, that's my spiel! Personally, I think BP is amazing, if you can't tell! It's super super helpful and I think everyone should have a statement on transformative works. If you end up making your own, please let me know, I'd love to see it! (And then optionally make sure you add yourself to the fpslist!)

Be excellent to each other, that's all from me!

[orion-my-rion]

i cannot keep quiet about this anymore.

if you're in the US or Canada and interested in learning a language using a free app please get a library card and download MANGO. it's very good and extremely free with a library card (there are many public libraries and universities using the service, so make an account and use the search feature here to find out if there's one near you).

mango currently has 72 available languages and dialects (that's right! different courses for french or canadian french! spanish or latam spanish!). it's set up basically like an audiobook with text. the idea is that the narrator explains the words while you read, and you repeat after them or say the translation out loud when prompted. there's a daily review where you go through flashcards. you can also use the flashcards at your leisure and create your own. at the end of each chapter there's a listening comprehension quiz and a reading comprehension quiz. i cannot emphasize how effective this all is. and it's free with a card.

if you're not in the US or Canada and/or looking for something more like duolingo (don't use duolingo btw tldr they fired translators and replaced them with "ai"), then try BUSUU! it only has 14 languages atm but the lessons are really descriptive and effective. it also has a feature where you can correct other people's open-ended speaking/typing exercises. you set your fluent languages, and exercises by people learning those languages will appear in your feed for you to correct. you can even add others as friends! and, much like duolingo, it has a streak and leaderboard system for you to strive for, minus the guilt-tripping owl.

busuu is free (you watch ads to unlock lessons and they're all skippable after like five seconds), although it also has paid premium/plus versions (i don't use the paid version—the language courses are available for free, and the ad system is Really unobtrusive).

so that's my wisdom for the day. mango and busuu. please check them out :)

[nudityandnerdery]

With Duolingo doubling down on replacing contractors with AI...

[lovelyblep]

No shame in using the safeword (quitting a fic that doesnt do it)

[voltaspistol]

[chaoscodex]

LITERAL ICON HOLY SHIT THIS GIRL IS AMAZING

[themythicalcodfish]

what a fascinating woman

[isthiscookies]

[mug-of-beans]

“The old magic persists thanks to it’s unfathomable power.”

No, the old magic persists because the new magic can’t run the legacy spells I need to do my job, and keeps trying to install spirits I don’t want or need onto my orb.

[aqueerkettleofish]

Look, if the new magic didn't have a personality construct that kept trying to tell me which spells to use, maybe I wouldn't still be using the old magic.

[wizard-council-bureaucrat]

Yes it had a deep blood cost, but at least it was a one time sacrifice and not this monthly bloodletting nonsense new age magic has

[wizard-archivist-official]

The old magic is robust enough to survive a decade of use and it's compatible with every wand, staff, scroll, and charm in our collection.

The new magic stops working after three days and every spell uses proprietary runes.

Our preferences, as an archiving institution, should be pretty clear.

[charlesoberonn]

You try to get guidance for the new magic and the king's sorcerers maybe will answer you in a few days with an unhelpful suggestion to buy the newest orb.

You need guidance for the old magic and a dozen retired middle-aged wizards will pop up to explain it to you rune by rune if necessary.

[lordworm]

Reblog to make it die faster

[chilewithcarnage]

[chaotic-hypnotic-erotic]

Like to charge, reblog to cast.

[thedankmemes]

[parvuls]

no, because - famous person starts dating less famous person and is then gradually overshadowed is a trope. a trope often used to bring external conflict into stories. but jack and bitty are carefully constructed as the opposite of that, and I'm fucking feral over it.

we joke about how jack will eventually be bitty's trophy husband and be thrilled about it, but it definitely has a giant grain of truth in it. it's how they're characterized. bitty is an extrovert; jack is an introvert. bitty reached out and built himself an online audience to deal with his trauma; jack shut himself out and started avoiding the public to deal with his.

bitty finds comfort in being able to talk to others and (as seen in spotlight on eric bittle) considers being a public figure a sort of healing experience: coming out and being a public person (in every manner of speaking, not just sexuality wise) and putting himself in the limelight is such an important part of his journey because he sees it as a way of helping others who were in his situation.

jack grew up in the spotlight as the only son of two prominent figures. he grew up as a child with anxiety with the media's eyes on him as he was compared to his father. he grew up as an overweight teen featuring in trashy gossip columns as he was compared to his mother. he got into rehab in part because of this attention and it only attracted more attention to him. a lot of jack's anxiety stems from the notion of people looking at him and thinking about him and talking about him and judging him, and it's unfortunate because jack's dream is to play hockey, and that comes with even more attention.

but that's the thing: jack and bitty's story is (once again) a demonstration of two people making each other's lives better.

jack's fame thrusts bitty into the spotlight post-cup, and it's a giant push forward in helping him reach a bigger audience and thus grow his independent fame. bitty's growing fame slowly overshadows jack, to the point where ngozi says they'll one day be Eric Bittle and his Athlete Husband. and that means jack gets to play hockey, and win cups, and achieve fame in his own field, but the media's attention slides off him to his husband, and the fans on the street gradually approach bitty more than him, and jack is free to have his success with less of the personal scrutiny.

it's not that jack becomes less important than bitty. it's that bitty gets to stand in front of the direct sun and flourish as a result, while jack gets to stand in the shade bitty creates and flourish as a result. it's symbiosis. it's beautiful.

[forfuckssakejim]

The first Falconers game after Bitty and Jack get married, the falconers pull off a big prank on them. In which every player on the starting line (and everyone else) is introduced as [Last Name]-Bittle. Like in that friends episode where Courtney gets married and asked for the opening credits to be changed to CoxArquette to show it and instead they changed everyones last name to Arquette

And they all have jerseys made special for that first game and Jack is laughing the whole game and Bittle’s in the line up just cheering on everyone.

At the end the Falconers social media channel posts a picture with everyone in their Bittle jersey and the caption is like “The Falconers and their husband, food network star and author Eric Bittle”

[ihateleagueoflegends]

[knitmeapony]

There are a lot of video game fandoms that absolutely lose me at the very shallow end of the pool, but the Sims fandom always makes me feel like I'm absolutely drowning in an inch of water

[nudityandnerdery]

It's because they let you in and then removed the ladder.

[jandjsalmon]

Fun Story to Share.

I got my (now 18-year-old) daughter into Ao3 back in 2021. I taught her she should always comment - even if the fic looks old or abandoned or whatever. She did.

Well - she got this email this morning:

The fic was written in 2014 and essentially abandoned.

Bethy read and reviewed in 2021 (and was actually the only person who had commented at all).

Today in 2025 - the final chapter was posted by the author and this was her reply to Bethy’s comment.

———

Never question whether a fic is too old to comment on.

[ten-rats-in-a-trenchcoat]

me, seeing a fic writer I like in the comments of an random fic