#i wrote this super fast late at night so there may be some ships i've forgotten lol

[fff777]

what are some of your favourite exo ships & why? it’s always interesting to hear other people’s perspectives ^-^

Thanks for the ask! I’m not sure if this was related to the ask game I reblogged recently but in any case, thank you for the opportunity to ramble haha. I am a filthy multishipper, so this list is going to be quite long.

Yixing and Junmyeon are my favourite members, so a lot of my pairings include them.

Xiuho: Junmyeon is high strung and he takes his responsibility very seriously, and Minseok is the only person in Exo who he can trust to take the reins, because Minseok is his only hyung in the group. Though Minseok is technically Junmyeon’s hyung, I remember reading that Junmyeon is quite close with a lot of people born in 1990, so the formalities are often dropped. So there’s this weird relationship between Junmyeon and Minseok where sometimes Junmyeon is Minseok’s leader, sometimes they act like same age friends, and sometimes Minseok is Junmyeon’s hyung. But overall, I think Junmyeon feels a little more casual with Minseok because there are times when he can trust Minseok to take the lead as the hyung. Conclusion: Junmyeon gets to be baby or bro around Minseok instead of having to be leader all the time. And because Minseok is not only hyung but chill hyung, he calms Junmyeon down sometimes.

Seho: In the early days of Exo, Junmyeon was trying really hard to be the cool hyung, being nice to them, paying for their food, giving them affection, etc. He just wanted so badly for them to like him and think he was cool. I’m obsessed with the idea that Sehun has always quietly acknowledged all that Junmyeon did for him. Their relationship has always been Junmyeon looking out for Sehun and protecting him, and Sehun accepting that care. Even now, their relationship is like this, because Sehun has always been receptive to Junmyeon’s love. Conclusion: Junmyeon just wanted to be liked, and Sehun is saying “I see everything that you have done, and indeed I like you.” I feel so overcome with emotion whenever Sehun shows an ounce of love or affection for Junmyeon, because it’s usually Junmyeon who’s projecting his love for Sehun to the world.

Subaek: Both Junmyeon and Baekhyun have very tight idol personas. When they are on screen, they are ON. While they are both acting as idols, they are also aware that the other is also acting as an idol. It’s a double layer of understanding that intrigues me. When Baekhyun is being annoying and Suho is playing along with him, Suho knows that Baekhyun is just playing it up for the camera, and Baekhyun knows that Suho is too. I am very intrigued about what they’re like behind the scenes. It’s very much theoretical, but shipping has never been about canon. Conclusion: I’m intrigued by what Subaek are like when they are unmasked and no longer need to perform. How do they convince each other that it’s okay to let down their guard around each other?

Kyungmyeon: As I mentioned, Junmyeon just wants the dongsaengs to think he’s cool, but Kyungsoo is literally the toughest customer on the planet. I get the sense that he barely reacts to Junmyeon’s attempts at caring for him. There are so many clips of Junmyeon trying to play with Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo’s having none of it. So what happens when one day, Kyungsoo finally reacts to Junmyeon’s attempts at befriending him? Conclusion: Junmyeon keeps giving and giving and now he gets to receive.

Sulay: I feel like Junmyeon and Yixing feel truly relaxed with each other because they are close in age. I think Junmyeon takes age hierarchies seriously (though it gets blurry with the 90ers). I also think he is relaxed with Yixing because Yixing himself is a chill guy. Yixing takes music and dancing seriously, and he’s whatever about everything else. So Yixing balances Junmyeon out. There has also unfortunately been a distance between Yixing and the other Exos, since he’s the only Chinese member, but I get the sense that Junmyeon makes an effort to reach out to Yixing, and he is receptive to that, he sees that Junmyeon is trying to be nice to him, and he appreciates it and returns it in his own Yixing way. Conclusion: Junmyeon has no chill about everything, whereas Yixing is chill about everything except for music and dance, and they balance each other out. Also they are very soft with each other and their clumsy flirting makes me squeal. I love how Yixing went from calling him Suho-hyung to Junmyeon-ah~

Chanxing: They were the first Yixing ship I really obsessed over, and frankly I think my initial obsession with them was kind of shallow. Basically, it was just because I liked Yixing and I thought Chanyeol was hot lmfao. But there is for sure a charm to their relationship. Like I said, there is a bit a difference between Yixing and the Korean members. Chanyeol can bridge that gap through being a jokester. Yixing plays along because he’s a simple guy, he’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If Chanyeol is extending funtimes to him, he will accept, even if he doesn’t totally get it. Conclusion: I like them because Chanyeol will use his jokey jokes to get Yixing to loosen up.

Kaixing: I only got into them recently, so my thoughts on them aren’t fully formed. Jongin is very sensitive to others. Yixing is quiet and doesn’t really talk much about himself. So I love the idea of Jongin sensing that Yixing isn’t saying something, and if it’s something bad, he’ll try to reach out and help him. Conclusion: Jongin is a good boy and notices when Yixing is not alright uwu. Flashbacks to that fanmeet in 2015 where Yixing was crying and had to turn his chair away and Jongin stroked his back (with Junmyeon T_T)

Baekchen: Baekhyun and Jongdae are very different kinds of celebrities. Baekhyun fully leans into the fanservice whereas Jongdae didn’t even want to be an idol to begin with. But it interests me how they make an exception for each other. Jongdae will indulge Baekhyun and Baekhyun will tone himself down a bit to match Jongdae. Even though I think Baekhyun plays up his hyper personality for his idol persona, I think that it comes from some truth, that in real life he is probably a relatively peppy and optimistic guy, whereas Jongdae is more of the typical conservative man. I think their shared history is fun too. how they auditioned together and made it to Exo together. It’s nowhere near a childhood friends story, but they have a little bit of past history that propelled them through their early years, especially since they had such a short training period. Conclusion: I’m interested in how two such different people can fit together so well. We saw in the early years of Exo how affectionate they were with one another. It’s changed as they’ve grown older, but I think their feelings are sitll there.

I’m going to throw in some ex-member pairings because I do quite like them.

Laytao: WYF and Lu Han left Exo because they didn’t want to be there anymore, okay, fine. But Yixing and Zitao wanted to stay. From what I’ve read, Zitao had only left because he was forced to work through his injury and his dad told him to leave. But I’m just imagining what it must’ve been like during OT10 era. Did Yixing and Zitao support each other? Yixing is a calm guy, and Zitao is the opposite, very fiery and dramatic. How do they fit together? Though Yixing is calm, he isn’t totally clueless, and Zitao is actually rather sensitive. Conclusion: How do they support each other when they feel they’ve been abandoned? They are very different, but they share something in common in a land where they’re the outsiders. Does that mean anything to them?

Kailu: Admittedly, the support for this ship is weak, but I read a few fics with this pairing and I am a fan. Basically, in Kailu fics, I think they’re more of a power couple. Lu Han is good looking and smart, and Jongin is confident and striking. I was digging through old forum discussions the other day, and I actually think this ship came about because fans thought they looked good together, despite their lack of canon interactions.

(I also used to be a big fan of Fanxing. For obvious reasons, I am not into them anymore. Admitedly the fictional version of WYF was very interesting to read about.)

There are also a LOT of ships that I am cool with, such as Layhan, Sukai, Sekai, and Hunlay.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading!