this is really sweet, thank you anon <3 as a note, these are just my thoughts, they're not all encompassing or necessarily fully fleshed. there's a lot of what makes their relationship great, but these are a few things that stick out to me especially from a cultural lens.

what i find so interesting about rocketline is that on basic level, they really don't have a lot in common. besides music, they really don't have a lot of the same interests! they're both artists but in really different ways, yet at the same time, they're both very particular and precise, and they really only end up showing what they want to show. i think they're both people who think very carefully before they act, especially now. that instinct is something that they've honed over the course of their careers. vernon has even talked about it before – he thinks very carefully about what he says and what he presents because the weight of being an influential person is very significant to him.

anyway, i digress. what makes their bond so fascinating is that it wasn't likeness in their personalities or interests that forged their bond but this fascinating cultural bridge. i mean, i'm sure there's much more to it, and i can't necessarily speak to that, but i find "identity" as one of the primary things that brought them so close. i always found it interesting to see the way cultural split manifests in them differently. vernon is quite literally split, as someone who's biracial, bilingual, and physically far away from the place and people that carry his other culture. he's talked about being ostracized for being different and for being mixed, but i could imagine there were times growing up where that was really confusing for him because he was basically only ever steeped in korean culture, as opposed to his american culture. was there this dissonance of everyone sees me as different but i don't feel different? i don't fully know, but i think it's been cool to come into the different sides of himself. not to say that his identity matters any less to him now, but i think adulthood and being part of a global group as an artist with creative freedom has done a lot of good for him.

by the same token, it's been cool to see how his relationship with joshua served as a way for vernon to connect with another side of himself, because joshua's differences and "otherness" manifest really differently! he grew up in LA, an extremely diverse city, going to k-town for church were he got to interact with his culture in doses the way a lot of americans do. so many people in the states are products of diaspora, and one of my favorite parts of american culture is that this melding of different places and customs is pretty normal. suddenly he was made to feel like "other" when he moved to korea because he couldn't speak the language as well, didn't practice all the cultural norms, which maybe he knew about or was aware of but didn't need to/wasn't supposed to engage in while living in the states. fortunately, he had vernon, who could speak the same language as him, understand the cultural nuance of the states despite not living there for very long, and who could help him out

they really do help complete each other, and even though they're "split" in different ways, they've matured into such great friends who can rely on each other and go to each other for anything. it's really cool to think about the impacts of culture and language on friendships. junhao are kind of like this as well – they didn't really have anything in common at first, but a shared struggle in adaptation built them the strongest, most beautiful bond.

hello dear!!! this is such a fun question, i love talking about music so much too. here are a few that immediately come to mind!!
- petals on the moon – wasia project (vernon)
- crash into me – dave matthews band (joshua) ((actually so much early 2000s music makes me think of joshua, i could make a whole playlist lol)
- loud places – jamie xx (minghao)
- amnesia – woodz (woozi. tbh i think seungyoun and woozi have rly similar vocal tones and would love for him to cover one of woodz's songs, especially a more rock heavy one)
- our love is great – yerin baek (seungkwan. he's covered sooo many of the iconic female k singers PLEASE SEUNGKWAN DO YERIN ONCE)
i'm sure i could come across songs that make me think of each member, but i don't wanna force it (maybe i'll come back to this post and reply as i remember/listen to more songs bc i find these kinds of associations are fleeting until i listen to the song again)

well the context was amidst a joke/bit, they were on the same team for both days but had to face off during rock paper scissors, so seungkwan was saying basically, "yesterday you were my colleague (teammate), today you're my colleague," as in, "we're on the same team but meeting like this... " (as rivals/opponents) so i don't know if it was angry or flustered but more like "game on"

so the line hansol said, "i've never once thought of you as my colleague," said was in context of that, but he said it so naturally and romantically that we're all swooning over it because he tends to say these things that sound so romantic and heartfelt without even realizing how hard they hit (a la "i look at you more than you think")

what a DELIGHTFUL question anon!! i totally agree with you, joshua is so very lover shaped when it comes to his members. he is so very compassionate and warm, and each of the svt members bring out different sides of him. favorite things about each josh dynamic (i will try to be brief…)

• cheolsoo: idk how else to frame this but they are clearly peers? they are equals in their relationship and i think that level of comfort means a lot to joshua. on the one hand, he didn’t grow up with the importance of age hierarchy mattering very much, but by that token, i think the unfamiliarity of it led to him taking it quite seriously when he got to korea. but with seungcheol (and jeonghan, ofc) none of that mattered! he never has to think about it! and i think that reflects really beautifully in the cheolsoo dynamic. i think they can look to each other for a gentle and easy support, but they also tease each other so much. especially in these days of jeonghan’s absence, it’s been clear how much they look toward each other for familiarity and, hm… steadiness? yeah, i think steadiness is the word i want to use.

• jihan: god… i don’t even know where to begin. “if you quit i quit” really lives rent free in my head. i know evil twins is just a nickname for them, but they really do have so many similarities even though they present really differently. i think that’s what makes their dynamic so fun to explore. they’re both sensitive, as individuals and toward other people’s emotions. their wit is sharp as a tack, and they’re always, always on the same wavelength. i love the way they can read each other (and everyone else in the room). they’re both perfect foils and perfect complements. what a great love they have. really really really best friends who know what’s best for each other and will always be there for each other

• junshua: that they were different is what brought them together, and i feel like i can’t think about junshua without thinking about their beginning. so much of the start of their relationship was trying to navigate this stage of early adulthood, no longer in school and reconciling with having made a HUGE decision to uproot their lives and navigate this new world. in the end, that’s something they got to do together, and i think that they had each other was so important to both of them. they’re both stubborn to a t but so tender and loving, they’re both caretakers, and i think they’re often that for others, and it’s really beautiful that together, they get to fill that role for one another

• hoshyjoshy: i think hoshi is someone who allows joshua to be really playful and at ease. obviously hoshi has his serious sides especially when it comes to his work, but with joshua, it feels like he always just wants to have fun with his hyung, and joshua always provides! every time i see them together, they’re always in a fit of laughter, running around together, in the gym, playing games, teasing one another. i think joshua is especially good at matching people’s energy, which is what makes him such a good friend, but you can tell how happy he is to be with hoshi, as if hoshi takes all his cares and worries away

• wonshua: wonwoo pushes joshua’s fond button so hard… joshua is a super attentive person, right? svt always jokes how wonwoo is quiet or doesn’t talk much, which is probably true to a certain degree in such a big group, but wonwoo is also really attentive, he’s got a mark on everyone, and he’s so good at tossing a witty comment or quip to himself/under his breath, and joshua always catches on. joshua knows how each of his members like receiving attention, and he always meets wonwoo exactly where he is. he takes such good care of wonwoo and also finds him hilarious, i think their senses of humor mesh really well

• 2ji: there’s a lot i could say about them, but i think fortunate change really sums it up, doesn’t it? that woozi wrote such a beautiful profession of love about a good thing coming into joshua’s life really says so much about their relationship and how they understand each other. we joke about jihoon being the ultimate tsundere, but i think he and joshua are actually very similar in their emotional temperaments. they don’t always say outright what they feel, but they always take care of the people they love. they are people who tend, watering their beautiful flowers, checking in on them, including each other

• haoshua: they are always riding the same wave, i don’t know how else to explain it. to me haoshua have one of those dynamics where when you look across you know your friend is going to have the same exact thought in their head as you. i think minghao’s cleverness brings out something so bright and even a little cunning in joshua. minghao can be blunt and to the point, and i think that gives joshua great chances to show off his wit. they both have to navigate the challenge of “being funny in a foreign language” and i think the fact that they’re both so good at it is a real testament to a) their characters but also b) how well they get each other. i also feel like josh likes having people in his life he can learn a lot from and hao is undoubtedly one

• seoksoo: my kyeomshu set… joshua is so unbelievably fond of dokyeom it really holds no bounds. they’ve always been an amazing duo who are so positive and sweet together, but i think dk more than anyone is someone who joshua gets to dote on and root for. and dk is so fond of joshua too, you can tell how much admiration he has for joshua, and the translation of the love they have for each other has led to this really comfortable dynamic. i think all the time about when they were on youngji’s show, going from having a conversation together, to clinking their glasses together, to doing entirely different things in each other’s company. they’re really natural together, there’s no other way to put it!!

• gyushua: THEY ARE JUST SO FUN!!! THEY LIKE TO HAVE FUN!!!! it sounds trivial but i feel like that’s so important! i think joshua can be kind of a serious person who has a mask up a lot and i think mingyu brings down alllll of his walls. mingyu is this miracle of a person, right? handsome, easygoing, talented, determined guy who’s so kind, so empathetic, so sure of himself. he’s just easy easy easy and i think joshua thrives with someone like that. mingyu is dependable and warm, and he and josh have so much of the same taste, i think they just jive together so well and it makes for the kind of ease and pleasure in a relationship that joshua needs and wants

• booshua: MY EMOTIONAL GUYS <3 i think foremost seungkwan is someone who joshua can dote on and has an immense and deep amount of care and fondness for, but by the same token, seungkwan knows all his friends deeply and fully, and i think they support each other equally. joshua is a caretaker at his core, and i think seungkwan’s tendency to be emotionally vulnerable makes it easy for joshua to support him, but reciprocity is at the core of their dynamic and i genuinely believe that seungkwan’s comfort with vulnerability has been a really good thing for joshua too

• rockets: at this point i feel like i could write an actual dissertation about rocketline because i think their dynamic brings out extremely fascinating things about both of them culturally and personality-wise. there is a piece of themselves in each other that they don’t get from either of their other members, and that gives them this rock solid, unspoken foundation in their relationship that makes them unshakable. whether it’s their contrasts or their similarities, they’re a safe space to one another. like joshua sitting next to vernon when they drink, being able to rely on each other for help with live translating, codeswitching, doing their podcast together, carrying the team in english together. it’s just fortified this beautiful, impenetrable bond.

• chanshua: DINO JOSHY LAUGH BUTTON!!! joshua literally leapt into his arms today. what more can i say. seriously though, i think joshua is incredibly fond and proud of dino as their maknae but also just as a member of svt. i often think about their bit on nana tour when they did dino and guitar and how proud joshua was at dino’s ability to adlib and come up with those songs, no matter how silly. joshua also really respects dino as a patient and kind eacher and always takes him completely seriously, especially amongst their dancers and in stage performance and direction. it’s another facet of joshua’s ability to show his care for each of his members as they are, individually, rather than just their role or their age.