HAPPY 31ST BIRTHDAY TO OUR WONDERFUL LAY THE BAE!!

And we’ve got another double update fresh off the presses!

I just wanna say, I am SO hyped to see CAPTAIN LAY manning the ship and steering his way to Singapore for the arrival of his second solo concert.

i am also eternally crying bc i wanna go back to sg so badly but i cant and i am praying for NA tour dates pls

I also highkey realized that I’ve never written a proper pirate!EXO AU before, which is a travesty considering how many pirate AUs I’ve read on AFF throughout the years. And now CAPTAIN LAY yes i will continue saying this in all caps has given me the perfect reason to, so I will hopefully be able to brainstorm a fun pirate story to write. :’)

Yixing has been putting out so much content, as always, and I find myself eternally behind on everything. OTL My mom is more informed on his activities than I am right now and that’s saying something, considering she’s even more of a workaholic than I am, LOL. ^^;

Even so, I am SO incredibly proud of him for being an astounding multi-hyphenate and I couldn’t be happier about the success he’s garnered over an illustrious, decade-long career. He has proven over and over again that he is talented, capable, creative, and well-deserving of every victory that’s come his way. And I will never stop chasing my dreams so that, in the event that we ever meet face-to-face one day, I can hold my head up high in front of him.

And now, onto some more bittersweet thoughts.

Not gonna lie, it’s been pretty brutal getting reminders every so often that he’s no longer part of SME. Again, I know this is something he wanted for his own growth and that he is still very much a member of EXO.

Seeing Sehun and Lay’s recent Instagram stories is testament to that.

JIU is testament to that.

i also still cannot listen to the intro of that song without massively tearing up

But seeing Lay get excluded from the Superstar SMTown anniversary update, especially when it was for the Peter Pan song and theme updates, was actually so heartbreaking for me. Again, it was to be expected since he’s no longer in SME. But with Peter Pan being such an important song to me and knowing how much watching Lay-focused fancams of live performances of Peter Pan has personally helped me during some dark moments, it was a punch to the gut to count the cards and realize there were only eight of them. It would’ve hurt less if the game had used a recent EXO era as the anniversary theme, since Lay understandably wasn’t part of those comebacks.

And when Superstar SMTown removed Lay’s birthday bonus just DAYS before his birthday, it was another painful punch to the gut to know that we will never get new Lay content in this game ever again. I’m not gonna lie, in the past, my delulu brain often used Superstar SMTown as a indicator that Lay would remain in EXO and SME. Any time there was a new update, any time he included in a card set, I held onto those crumbs like my life depended on it. I know it’s silly, but I guess I’ve been too deep into idol fandom for too long. OTL

Anyway, the logical side of me eventually managed to stamp out my sadness, because it’s really just a silly little rhythm game at the end of the day.

Yixing is still bringing us amazing content all of the time, with or without SME, and knowing that his friendship with the other EXO members is still as strong as ever brings me a lot of comfort.

He’s spreading his wings and sailing across the sea to conquer every land out there, and I am here for ZHANG YIXING WORLD DOMINATION!

“Reach the highest mountain and you will see the entire world in one glance.”

So let’s keep climbing mountains and reaching summits together, Yixing!

And I will never be able to thank you enough for being one of my biggest inspirations, one of my biggest motivators, to keep running and never give up on myself.

THANK YOU FOR CONSTANTLY EVOLVING YOUR ART AND YOURSELF TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE.

THANK YOU FOR INSPIRING US WITH YOUR AMAZING VISIONS FOR THE FUTURE.

THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS GUIDING US FORWARD TOWARDS OUR GOALS.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE, LAY OF EXO.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE, ZHANG YIXING.