nameless nobody · 4mo
I feel like baby Ls that came into fandom when jd was already on hiatus don't know him that well beyond pushed narratives such as "always helpful to others", "just good dude". While that's true I'm sure u can share some facts about him that will show that he's much more interesting than that and not so 2D
hiii some fun jongdae facts from a decade-old soon! let's gooo
rookie jongdae + hello kitty fan! i have a vivid memory of mama era jongdae holding his hello kitty fan, will post pics on the twitter thread!
jongdae loved pink! it was his favourite colour, and not really sure if it's still is since he seems to be leaning into his album colours in more recent years (yellow, white, green, etc etc!) but and older example would be his pink piglet socks from exo's first box! i'm pretty sure that was when he explicitly stated pink as his fave colour too. i'll attach pic on the twitter thread as always~
i don't have a source for this but i also have a vivid memory of older fansite noonas who used to say jongdae was 1. the hardest member to capture on camera because he would move SO much on stage during concerts? 2. he was also the member who would visit the sides of the stages the least, so he'd stay in the middle of the stage the most. SO it's fascinating to me how much that has changed! his solo japanese tour for example we saw him walk amongst the fans and interact with fans a lot, he's really found a sweet spot where he's able to provide fans with the fanservice that not only we want, but he's also very obviously comfortable with!!
he is SPEED. he is so so fast! a large piece of my core memory of jongdae stems from his exo m days, chinese shows included (even if i wasn't there yet! i became a soon during exo's showtime, but immediately binged all the chinese shows and exo m stuff!) and cannot remember which show it was specifically but he had to sprint against a series of large falling dominoes! i will attach a clip to the twitter thread!
he used to be SO so so weak for women, omfg. men too i think? but women especially, in particular the translator noona (i won't attach photos because don't have the time to look for it but if you watch him in exo m's chinese shows, there will almost always be this translator noona standing by) and of course, zhang liyin!! oh he was so whipped. cutest little thing c:
he also used to talk a lot about his family! his mom he sounds the most fond about, cannot stop talking about her lol. he talks about his brother sometimes too, with some annoyance but lovingly...? his dad significantly less, i feel, but i'm sure he's fond of him too :)) i won't look up for actual clips but will list some from memory - him talking about his mom in the star 2013 interview (clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOiJgkmnRHo&t=13s and i believe there was a tiny mention of his dad too!), him calling his mom for recipe in exo's showtime, him talking about how his brother wouldn't let him use the family computer in that one radio show... LOTS lol so cute!
JONGDAE BEATBOX omfg i cannot believe this is so low on the list ajsjsj i promise i just totally forgot. his last public beatboxing seems to have been call me baby era? i hope he beatboxes again! here's a compilation clip, he has beatboxed on camera at least 4 times! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la6dj2Dz2S8
and while we're on the topic of mouth, lol, jongdae definitely had a bit of an oral fixation! he used to put just... quite literally everything into his mouth - lightsticks, mics, even bumped his lips that one time against his mic and whined at junmyeon about it. i mean, that was totally your fault man! don't eat your mics!!! as always will attach pics on the twitter thread, but here are some gifs i have in hand and he's definitely cuter in motion hehe: https://zokexx.tumblr.com/post/126992252623/ https://zokexx.tumblr.com/post/130921317838/ https://zokexx.tumblr.com/post/124814028363/ https://zokexx.tumblr.com/post/123949631858/
he was either scared of water or couldn't swim for a while or both, which he explicitly stated in the behind the scenes clip of exo's dear happiness photobook! but judging from exo's ladder s2, specifically his beach date with chanyeol where he went surfing, he has since made his peace with the sea and learned how to swim!
that's about it! there's definitely a lot more, but i'm in a bit of a hurry, so next time! i apologise that it took me a while to answer this ask, but i wanted to give it some justice! i hope this is helpful or at least fun to read for newer soons, or older soons who have forgotten! hehe <3
i am also aware of what kind of answer this question is expecting from me, but i'm trying to be more soft-spoken and quiet about my less popular jongdae facts, for my own safety and for the comfort of everybody else. i know this question only means very well! and that it's providing me with a once in a blue moon opportunity to speak up, because i do i always want to speak up! lol, but it'd be better for me not to. so i'll only say that jongdae has always been "always helpful to others" and "just good dude" from the very start, he was raised right, is what i personally think based on what i see of him. BUT! dear anon, if you'd like to know even more about jongdae from me - the less superficial answer that is, i will gladly talk in DM! just message me, if you're curious. thank you anon for this question!! :))
btw! this is where i watch most if not all of the exo m shows, eng subbed. blessed really: https://www.youtube.com/@WISHeeStar <333
