a very helpful guide to a.c.e!
by lily

♡ set to be a hero ♡
intro
members
discography
achievements & activism
useful links
vocabulary
quiz yourself
military enlistment countdowns
outro
my sources
last updated on 18 september 2022
ver. 1.3

intro
so you want to know more about a.c.e? let's get into it.
(also don't be shy, click on the photo of them... it's extra high quality)a.c.e (pronounced ace; hangul: 에이스) is an 5 member group under beat interactive and co-managed by swing entertainment. a.c.e (from left to right on the above pic) consists of donghun, wow, byeongkwan, chan and jun. they debuted on 23rd may 2017 with their single 'cactus'. they usually introduce themselves by saying "set to be a hero! hello we're a.c.e".a.c.e stands for adventure calling emotions which basically means that they want to be a group that make people feel the kind of emotions that will encourage them to go on adventures and make their dreams reality. the members used to train under different agencies and were the top trainees, which is why kim hyeim, the ceo of beat interactive, decided to give them this name, since they were the "aces".their fans are called choice, meaning that fans and a.c.e chose each other. their fandom name was revealed on 22nd may 2017 during a facebook live following their debut showcase.pre-debut (and a bit after debut) they did a lot of busking, doing dance covers to various songs by such artists as exo, bts and blackpink. this made them gain quite a bit of following. because they are from a small company that started out in a basement with a small practice room, they used busking as a way to train themselves to perform in front of an audience. they are also infamous for their different vocal covers of popular songs (playlist will be on useful links page).their debut concept is that of struggle and enduring hard times, as stated in the lyrics of 'cactus'. they were the first kpop group to go into and debut with a hardstyle edm song, along with performing in hot pants, both of which were met with mixed reactions from people. since then, they have been experimenting with different styles of music and challenging gender stereotypes with their clothing.as kpop groups usually share a dorm together in the earlier years of their careers, a.c.e is no exception. currently, donghun, jun (who are currently enlisted in the military) and chan are the ones living in a shared dorm, with each having their own room. wow and byeongkwan live outside of the dorms, with their families. however, they are also both at the military.kpop groups also have their own lightsticks which are used by fans at concerts to cheer them on. it creates a unique atmosphere full of togetherness. down below is their lightstick and since all groups name theirs, a.c.e's is called choistick, a combination of the words choice and lightstick.in this guide, i will make sure to leave out info that are not so important and borderline a violation to humans' rights to privacy... (i will leave out blood types, weight and such facts that don't really matter)

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members menu
now that you know some basic info to get you started, let's meet the members. i will make sure to include lots of photos so you can learn to recognise them. ^^
jun
donghun
wow
byeongkwan
chan← back home OR go to discography →

discography
click on the album covers to be taken to each album on spotify!

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vocabulary:
(alphabetical order)
aegyo - acting overly cute by changing one's facial expression, way of speech and body language
bias - your favourite member of the group
center - the most favoured member of the group who receives the most attention, e.g. song lines, screen time, publicity (again this is kinda gross)
fanchant - for each title song (the ones off albums that have the music videos and they perform them on music shows), there are fanchants which can be used to cheer the artist on as they perform the songs live. these add to the song and make the fans feel like they are performing with the artist.
fan service - doing aegyo, acting sexy or showing affection to fellow group members as a way to please fans
hangul - the korean writing system
idol - korean artists are usually called this
leader - the one who is the representation of the group and they are the glue of the group as well as being responsible of taking care of the members in a way.
lead dancer - the ones who lead the choreography.
lead vocalists/rappers - are usually the ones to start off the song/rap verses.
lightstick - in kpop, at one point in each artist's career, they release a stick that lights up. they usually name them something related to the group or fandom name. fans can take it to their concerts to cheer their favourite artist on and as they are all synced up with each other through bluetooth, they create a unique atmosphere and a great sense of togetherness both with fellow fans and also the artist
main dancer - the strongest dancer of the group.
main vocalist/rapper - the strongest vocalist/rapper of the group and will get the most vocal/rap lines of the song.
maknae - the youngest member of the group
music shows - in kpop, once artists release something, they will go on tv to perform the choreography live for their title song. at the end of each week, music shows choose a winner to give an award to. the winner is chosen by a combination of streams on music platforms and youtube as well as audience votes from each music show's mobile app that fans cast throughout the week. an artist's first win is very significant.
position - in kpop groups, each member will usually have a set position/role within the group. see: center, leader, lead dancer, lead vocalist/rapper, main dancer, main vocalist/rapper, maknae, visual
packaging - the physical albums of kpop groups will always include a photobook with photos of the members, photocards (small cards that have the members on them, each album has random member photocards in them), the cd(s), lyrics book and sometimes greetings cards and pre-order benefits e.g. posters, stickers, standees or limited edition photocards
repackage album - often kpop groups will release repackage albums. these will usually include a few new songs with some previously released songs but having different concepts and packaging for the album
selca - selfie (self camera)
studio choom - in connection with music shows, studio choom releases high quality performances of artists. each month, they will choose an artist of the month.
ult - your ultimate favourite group/member out of all of kpop artists
visual - the person whose looks are the closest to the korean beauty ideal (quite superficial if you ask me). visuals are often looked at as useless or not very talented (which is wrong but people love to hate)

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