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fcble · 4 months ago

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THE FABULIST'S FIELD GUIDE TO FABLE.

Somehow I've managed to post almost one hundred thousand words on this blog in the form of writing pieces. Which is absolutely insane to me because I don't think I've managed to write one hundred thousand words of creative writing towards any single project in the rest of life up until this Tumblr blog. And maybe this type of celebration is a little premature but I have things planned and I will hit 100k. It's also the three year anniversary of this blog, and I want to celebrate that too.

This is a little recap of where we've been, where we are, and maybe where we're going. And by we, I mean me and the guys in my head. This is also a sort of guide to their writing pieces and the reading order because I did not write in chronological order.

WHERE WE'VE BEEN

There are four major, earth-shattering, life-changing events that happened to various Fable members that had repercussions to various people over various years. If you're interested in all the writing as a whole, I have a Google doc in posting order here and chronological order here, which splits up a lot of the pieces.

[ OO1 ] MINGEUN'S NATIONALITY SCANDAL

In order to debut, Mingeun made a deal with Taein, the company's CEO, to lie about his upbringing, and therefore his nationality. He was born in South Korea, but immigrated to Canada with his family when he was two. When it came to being a Fable member, Andrew already had the diaspora member position on lock. And the main vocal position, which led to Mingeun being cut from the debut lineup after Haksu joined at the last minute.

Jaeseop fought for Mingeun's inclusion and won, leading to Taein brokering the deal with Mingeun. Everything went swimmingly for the first two years, where Mingeun pretended he didn't understand a word of English, and never uttered a word about Canada. He uttered very few words in this time period and was always out of the spotlight.

In the summer of 2020, having hit their stride with their previous album a few months earlier, the lid on the entire operation was blown via Dispatch articles. Given that Fable was on the rise, both in Korea and internationally, it didn't take long for friends and classmates from his childhood to corroborate the news. Mingeun's hiatus was immediate, and it would be over a year before he returned to the group. In the months that followed, he gained a reputation for being a liar, and in turn, tainted Fable as "the group with the liar" for some time.

RELEVANT POSTS: One of the news articles that broke the news. Pre-redemption arc perception. A drabble. "Not Enough." "Live Wire."

[ OO2 ] HAKSU'S BLACKMAIL

Haksu was the last member to join Fable. In the most succinct way possible, he spent the last two months of 2017 stalking and harassing Taein until he was accepted as a trainee. This is because he very much believes in fate and he had a dream about him. In the least weird and creepy way possible. It's only what he did because of it that becomes weird and creepy. Armed with his knowledge and physical evidence of Taein's adultery, he used it as a bargaining chip to get his foot in the door.

At the end of 2017, the debut lineup was otherwise set and they would have debuted earlier, if not for Haksu's sudden inclusion. Jaeseop and Mingeun tried so hard to get him out of there, but he was surprisingly stubborn and resilient and optimistic. He's also the best singer in the group, which is why Mingeun was demoted to main dancer and then nearly kicked out.

After debuting, Haksu continued to use Taein's crimes against him to secure himself the position of center, along with every opportunity that came Fable's way for the first few years of their careers. This continued on until 2021, when Taein and his wife began divorce proceedings. Having lost his best bargaining chip, he had to start learning how to share the spotlight. The majority of Fable fans continue to consider him the undisputed center.

RELEVANT POSTS: "Great Things" part one and two. One part of "Form is Emptiness."

[ OO3 ] EUNSU'S DEPARTURE

Eunsu was Fable's main rapper for three years, until he left the group in August 2021. The official reason for his departure was given simply as "personal reasons." The real reason he left was the death of his older brother, Yonggeum, which left him as his parents' only child. His father runs the only Buddhist temple in the small town he grew up in, a position that was passed down through his family for generations. It was expected that Yonggeum would inherit their father's position. That gave Eunsu the freedom to do things like become a kpop idol. After his brother's death, he was compelled by a sense of duty to return home and learn his father's role.

Despite his departure, he continues to interact with the rest of the group to the point where it's like he never even left. He writes songs for them, features on some of them, appears on a bunch of their livestreams, and is still Mingeun's best friend.

RELEVANT POSTS: "Form is Emptiness" part one and part two.

[ OO4 ] 'THE PROBLEM WITH FABLE'

Ever since their debut, one of Fable's greatest assets and their biggest weakness has been their concept. After building their careers as a modern take on mostly Joseon-era culture, they're boxed into the same square. They hardly ever do anything different, and when they do, it pisses off half their fanbase. These problems and some more were the subject of a viral video essay by Lightspeed member Tyler, but before he joined a survival show and became an idol. You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain. But I digress that has little to do with Fable.

Responses to this were split, with Mingeun and Jaeseop weighing in with their own opinions. They are a bit too decently established and also a boy group for this to really affect their reputations. It just sits in the back of Jaeseop's mind and bothers him every now and then.

RELEVANT POSTS: "the problem with fable" itself. Mingeun and Jaeseop's reactions.

There are a few smaller plotlines that focus more on individual members.

[ OO1 ] BYEONGHWI (AND GICHEOL)

Byeonghwi is the only character whose storyline is mostly romance-focused. I wanted at least one of them to have a smaller stakes plotline that wasn't lying about their entire identity or blackmailing their CEO. So I spun a wheel and it landed on him. Which works out well, because his idol origin story was always somehow passing an audition he went to with a friend.

Anyway, his plot is very linear and straightforward. He had a friend. He debuted first. He confessed and it went terribly. He no longer has a friend.

RELEVANT POSTS: "First Love." "Sea Change." "No Return."

[ OO2 ] ANDREW

Quick side note Andrew is the greatest thing that happened to Fable. He was not in the early drafts. It was just Mingeun against the world. A lot of things are better for them and also for me because he's in the picture.

As far as plotlines go, he's the diametric opposite of Mingeun. His story is also a lot more vibe-based. It's very much about his identity, and trying to find a place for himself, both as a Korean American returning to the so-called homeland, and as an artist in the kpop industry. I don't really know how to TL;DR this I think the TL;DR is his pieces.

RELEVANT POSTS: "Not Enough." "Double A-Side." "Piano Concerto in A♭ Minor" part one, part two, part three. A drabble.

WHERE WE ARE

After all of that happened, I am trying to pick up the threads and extend them years into the future. The easiest way to do this is probably by member.

KIYOUNG recently returned from his mandatory military service. Other than that he's big chilling. Not to be confused with bing chilling. He's adjusting to civilian life again. RELEVANT POSTS: "Piano Concerto in A♭ Minor part one"

ANDREW is being recruited by Taein's somewhat shady business partner and not-quite-chaebol-heir Jinguk, for reasons he still doesn't really know. He has been Fable's temporary leader for the past nine months, and will continue to be so for another year or so, while Jaeseop is enlisted. RELEVANT POSTS: The drabble again. And also his piece which is linked in three parts right above so I'm not doing that again.

JAESEOP enlisted in December. He will be there for some time. Before he went, he tried to prepare Andrew as his substitute. He considered it putting his affairs in order, like he was going to die. RELEVANT POSTS: The saddest announcement ever o7.

INTAK is technically the first Fable member to go solo, in a move absolutely no one could have predicted. He released a mixtape in August. He went to Japan with Byeonghwi and Mingeun and returned with an entire extra suitcase of anime merch. RELEVANT POSTS: The album. A news article.

HAKSU briefly went home in May and missed Fable's last tour date. He did not know that his parents set up a date for him. He also did not know that the date was with one of his sasaengs. It's bad for him right now. RELEVANT POSTS: Tour absence. "exploring haksu's sasaeng problem." "One-Way Mirror."

EUNSU might as well be in Fable with his appearance on Intak's album. He also hosted Mingeun back in November after he got into a fight with some of the other members for reasons I can no longer remember because it's been almost a year and I didn't write it down. RELEVANT POSTS: "Interlude: Birthright."

MINGEUN was given an ultimatum early in the year by Taein. It took him a while to get around to it, but he broke up with his girlfriend of almost four years in July. He's also been on house arrest for majority of the year. RELEVANT POSTS: "Live Wire." "Interlude: Chances." "A Night Out On Earth." An epilogue.

BYEONGHWI is doing things I have yet to post anything about. He's in a situationship with a fan. Nothing like Haksu's situation. There are no relevant posts because this is in my head. It's been going on since Fable's album in the spring of this year.

WHERE WE'RE GOING

Poll time! What kind of ending will Fable have? (This is just an interest check I'm going to do whatever I want.)

The good ending is something along the lines of their disbandment when their contracts expire. The bad ending is they succumb to what might be the only scandal that could kill them. After they made it through Mingeun's rough patch I really believe they could survive anything else, EXO/cockroaches of kpop-style.

Other than that, I don't have many more plot points fleshed out yet. I will go wherever they take me 🫶.

#╰ to be written in ink is to be immortal — [ writing. ]#╰ to be written in ink is to be immortal — [ misc. ]#fictional idol community #kpop oc #idol oc #kpop addition #fake kpop group #no gantt chart with dependencies it was hard :(

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