Award Shows

 

I never cared about award shows. When I was a kid watching them, my interest is mainly the celebrity dresses and shiny trophies. 

There are award shows for a bunch of things, even porn. I was admittedly mildly fascinated by gay porn award shows. 

You wouldn’t see me catching any news on any award shows. 

That happened solely because of the Oscars' category of Best Animated Feature. They made that because Beauty and the Beast should be the only one-time incident but even then, Up and TS3 occurred their nominations in that category too but it shows that it's only Disney Pixar, no anime or Dreamworks or Laika or anybody. It must not happen again and they continue to denigrate animation again and again. The last time I ever watched that category was when Frozen won. Frozen won by the Disney name alone. This didn't even have to do with my feelings with Frozen shouldn't win even though they definitely shouldn't. The anonymous voters said they were dragged there by their kids and animation is basically suffering for them. They won't even watch any of the nominees or see animation as a medium. Just a slog because adults can never understand them. 

Wow, no wonder the live-action Disney remakes blossomed so much when animation was so derided. Even though they know the live-action sucked out whatever the animation had, it's still in their superior mind the better medium or genre altogether. They don't give a shit that animation is a medium that the animation community and whoever uses what kind of animation, 2D or 3D or both, sees animation as something more to tell a story best told in that medium. 

Guillermo del Toro won and let him say that animation is for everybody and a medium. Because the years with animation on the guillotine for tax write-offs and adult animated comedies showing their relative lack of creativity despite the animators basically carrying them, the release of so many good movies and shows showed that animation is still thriving and would not back down to be known as only the kids' stuff. 

The award shows regarding BTS even in their home country exempting the KMAs have always been weird. The Kpop idol industry has been seriously affected by BTS’s success so much that it’s funny. SMA split the main daesang with digital and album until going back the next year, MAMA got the Worldwide Icon daesang, Brits (this one was bad, really bad since I know about the Rina situation and I vaguely heard about the treatment with female artists) took away the international group category, Grammys up in their usual shit, and Oscars only dealing out awards to who knows even when these nominations are deserved. 

The only award show portion that I even bother to watch was the Best Animated Feature. After Frozen's 'win' and the revelation that voters only chose Frozen for brand name power and disdain for animation, I was furious. I vowed to never watch that section again even when Into the Spider-verse won deservingly.

Ugh, Moulin Rouge Broadway shouldn’t have won Best Orchestration. It’s an insult to the movie’s transformation of the music. Going backward to making straight-up covers for belting instead of the timeless songs the movie used and still transforms is an insult. Fuck those belting showcases. Just give me what the movie has done instead of the piss poor Broadway. Outside of a few gems, Broadway was a disappointment. 

No award shows ever receive a full watch from me. Even when award shows deservingly gave awards and a spotlight to people who finally got it after who knows how long for recognition, these award shows still need to catch up on the uptake. 

They were supposed to be the best of the best and even then it's not recognized. Seriously, BTS won again and again but still did not receive the recognition they deserved from the Korean media which had been nasty to them before their rise but even during their rise, and now the nastiness remains because they didn't help BTS. 

But when the Grammys used their name for the viewing power of ARMYs, the Grammys are the villains. Sending back their filmed performance to a later time just for the views because they know after the fiasco with the pre-show award showing, they have nothing, not even Beyonce who was shown. Seriously, after looking like they could win even staying up just for their award nomination, there is not much the Grammys have as after the entire thing showed they want to have their cake and eat it. Seriously, the Grammys is nothing more than what looks like they are the best when they are not. Hence why I couldn’t take the optimistic takes on fanfics that depict the Grammys as this great thing, knowing many deserving artists never got their dues until they submit to the corrupt practices or never had a chance in the first place. Godoka, I want to laugh at the Kpop peers who submit their work without scoring anything on the Top 100 or having enough streams even when they did payola on Spotify but they still have their grimy paws on US attendance award shows. 

These accolades are when they are deserved showed what the award shows could be at their best. 

But when there are negligent and vague rules that can be changed on a whim with the company in charge of the show wanting name power and designate attendance awards to people who came, yeah, they deserve no respect even when putting on a great show. 

The VMAs are a huge example of this. They aren't part of the Big 3 music award shows in the USA. Instead, they make do with wild performances and attendance awards. They don’t give a crap about respectability, just attendance. 

Award shows already have below-average or worse views. These attendance awards no matter how insane the performances are have nothing going for it. 

Hence taking advantage of ARMYs because other music awards saw a huge showing. Not enough to save them but still the largest since. 

I mean with award shows nominations right now aren’t showing anything that is deemed rightful. Snubs have always been painful but what about the nominations that are certainly deserved but the chance of winning is slim? Yeah, I’m not looking forward to any of the ceremonies. 

I won’t even discuss the current nominations. There is enough about them. 

These award shows at face value looked prestigious. 

Because these award shows look prestigious with all the rules to look fair when it’s never been, they maintain the impression of the arbiter of good media they are overseeing. While I’m not expecting them to see greatness or about the future, I do think they should’ve granted recognition to others for achievements than rewarding white performers or whoever owns them or bribing them. I mean Moulin Rouge is still talked about to this day as opposed to some movie crusty white male Academy sees as something that’s up their alley. 

On one hand, it's understandable that most people never heard about the movies. Even to this day, Crash is well-regarded as one of the worst wins over the well-deserved Brokeback Mountain. Despite my misgivings about Brokeback Mountain, I at least know how important it is. At the same time, what the Oscars see as Best Picture is often not what they think not to say that played into it too but often the cultural trend at that time. 

No award show is ever going to reward the flowers to those who broke new ground and proved themselves. That's probably never going to happen but only rarely it does. It's only when they are forced to according to their rules. 

Just imagine having a Grammy in the BTS museum at Hybe would be amazing. 

BTS has a lot of deserving awards. Yeah, they blocked off many of their peers but have a fighting chance against the soloists and bands that aren’t Kpop. Because Kpop is the equivalent of Disney Channel stars over there. Then again those Korean award shows prior to BTS’ wins have always been given to the Big 3 groups with the occasional small groups. I’m not even apologetic remembering that fact. Those award shows are for idols with the occasional soloists and bands who are actually popular on Melon. 

If you think the Korean award shows are myopic, just see the Tonys. I mean Aaron Tveit won against literally no one. It set up a precedent. 

The Tonys are all about Broadway, a very tiny slice of musical theater that only exists in New York. The Great White Way that advertised as the best of the best musical theatre the American musical theatre had to offer. That is a sheer lie. 

The Tonys don't give a fuck about any off-Broadway and any shows that aren't even staged off-Broadway either. Any plays or musicals not produced by the big companies and if they are luckily managed to stage there. Lin-Manuel Miranda got a friend who made sure Into the Heights was staged there making his name easier to get out. 

Sure there are previews outside of Broadway but it's just previewing, not the opening night wherein that night is eligible for the Tonys. 

The Tonys gave away awards to people who didn't have that performance as one of their top fives or just the only viable person or don't have enough eligible nominees for certain categories on a regular basis. Getting awards on people's hands is a far more tangible result than just having a separate category that has only 2 or 20 nominees. 

Besides, as much as the Tonys are myopic, there are good results when they do things right. 

I firmly believe Moulin Rouge Broadway shouldn't have won those awards because outside of the good performances, it's still a bad book and has bad orchestration of its music usage outside of just sounding musically great but in no way transform or keeping the focus on the damn story and characters. Moulin Rouge Broadway only won due to the poor season at Broadway and Moulin Rouge does deserve some but not a lot of it especially Best Musical and Best Orchestration. I wanted to wretch the Best Musical and Best Orchestration out of their hands onto the Moulin Rouge movie's hands. 

Avenue Q deserved the Best Musical than Wicked and Moulin Rouge at the Tonys any day of the week. 

At the end of the day, even when awards at the Tonys can be deserving, at most it's a self-promotion marketing tool afterward. Most Broadway people either stay at theatres or go on to Hollywood. There's a possibility Gaten might've always wanted to be a theatre actor but when he auditioned for Stranger Things, he became famous for the world to know and have doors open for him in both the theatre and screen acting. 

Anyway, as much as Andrea Riseborough does deserve at least an Oscar nod, there’s just too much there as the Oscars are going to keep her nomination anyway. There’s not much that anyone can do but talk. What I would say is that she's a white woman and BIPOC actresses won't even have a chance on doing what they could just to garner it on a grassroots scale. Well, as grassroots as a rich kid using connections than an actual grassroots because a BIPOC grassroots would not be enough. It’s telling white actors and actresses rally for Riseborough when none of these guys spoke about the nuances or even supportive of how Davis and Deadwyler put in so much effort with an Oscar-favorite historical drama with black lead roles only to show it means nothing, just David and Goliath the big bad white male industry. I see Riseborough's reputation taking a hit because of this, regardless of her talent. 

EEAAO is a surprise hit involving Yeoh as the big name. Yeoh deserves the Best Actress award for so long. 

I mean there’s Al Walser who ended up scamming the Grammys. 

I mean even the Razzies are getting criticized now for their mean-spirited categories that are only there for that one movie to be laughed at more. At least the Tonys know that it’s myopic even by award show standards by just not having categories regularly due to not having enough nominees. 

Like, do the Tonys want to end up like the BRITs? Because in combining two categories, they showed their true colors the following year with more male nominees over female and heck even nonbinary nominees because it's a system they like and only changes on a superficial level. 

I mean is the Oscars any better at addressing BIPOC actresses? 

Yeah, award shows are trying desperately to be relevant with all the comedy. Regular PR celebrity interviews are boring enough. It has gotten to a point where I know BTS US interviews are less about their artistry or about them as people but about RM learning English from Friends for example that they brought up constantly. BTS isn’t doing that kind of interview anymore, just ARMY, not the audience at the US interviews, seeing the interview experience they choose as the quiet and introspective ones. 

Hot Ones have been a source of envy for talk show hosts who went to great lengths to make their show exciting. I don’t think BTS wants to do any interviews there anymore. Oh, they’ll submit to more Grammy categories that their peers will follow, but make no question that they are jaded years after going into the US with wide eyes after their US debut in 2017. 

Like talk shows trying to be relevant, award shows have shown they are dinosaurs in a world that sees them as archaic. Sure it is great to see people rightfully awarded and given the time to shine but it’s an award show that heavily favored campaigning and neglected certain genres. 

I love musicals but I don’t like biopics. The rare biopics I prefer are from my high school days. Musical biopics vary in quality but saving graces are the performance. Rocketman is different because at least that one made the songs fun. Movie biomusicals are a different breed from jukebox biomusicals though there are overlaps. When BoRap and Elvis are just bad with the only saving grace being the performances, Rocketman sticks out like a sore thumb for not straight-washing Elton John and his troubles. It was produced by Elton John so that's a plus rather than the clean makeover of BoRap or the irreverent reverence of Elvis because the only way I could take Elvis is that it's in the view of whoever telling the story. 

It’s a hard trek for proper recognition in award shows, not when they are still embroiled with incest with loads of companies in the system they perpetuate. They might look like they could include queer and BIPOC communities but it’s only the slimmest chance. 

There is a chance BIPOC people, particularly women, can get their dues. Seeing how the system still favors white people no matter what, they can't afford to subvert the system, knowing that, unlike Risborough's kept nomination, their nominations would be punished. I don't see Riseborough's nomination process will make things any better moving forward, especially if white women and men will rally for other white leads in indie films than for BIPOC indies with BIPOC leads. Fuck, if they can't even understand the nuance of what happened with studio lead BIPOC leads who done everything right according to their rules and a white woman subverted it so easily and they can't, then what on earth are they going to do?

Who knows what will happen moving forward for these award shows? Some might as well try but others just don't care and reveal their true colors in incidental ways that showcase how much they don't like anybody but the white privilege and those tastes among themselves. 

Gatekeeping Fandom As a Treat

 

Since just how fandom has become mainstream as of late with the Harry Styles pipeline and the content consuming of fandom itself through anything profitable that the original author did not benefit from, it's a mess since the revelation AO3 is backing lore.fm. 

I knew since I got AO3 after seeing that I couldn't easily get past the warnings that I had to have an account and got one. 

I participated in the fandom by creating fandom blogs and curating reclists. There is no right way to be a fully committed community member. 

I love fanfiction. I love anticipating what the author will give. In my upcoming reclist, I went deep into that spiral. 

That's the difference. Instead of respecting the author's time and authorship, these modern fans just don't. 

They act like these free gift stuff are essentially free for-profit and lack any understanding of nuance or tropes. 

Podfics are a thing and essentially dying since there are so few out there. The way these guys are about lore.fm acted more like tech bros and used buzzwords like 'ableist' and 'classist' when they're the ones who are directly profiting from it and didn't have any permission to create an AI system that scraps and make up endings that don't respect anything from the author. 

The author makes fanfiction and gifts to the fandom for free. In the fanzine days that aren't expensive, it's dispersed via cheap paper to reach out as much as possible. 

They don't care about the author's agency and control over their property in the end. 

I have been in the fandom as a lurker primarily for nearly 20 years. I'm so used to waiting for fics to update and often a surprise update is what gets me going. That's why I can wait for a long time for pin makers from samples to ship it to me. As long as it comes from a reliable pin maker that is. But even reliable pin makers can fall from grace like Pin it on Magic whose divorce got to him that his small business shuttered its doors, whose preorders were forgotten in the mess and people just lost money. 

Anyway, fandom clout does not matter when it's outsiders profiting from that clout and not the person inside it. There are famous authors in the fandom. 

On the other hand, I can be assured my fave fics won't suffer the same fate as Dramione fics. Godoka, I don't care much about Dramione fics since I've seen a lot of them in the pin community. 

Even if they are popular fics within that ship's fandom, I don't think they'll be popular enough to be an intro to fanfic. 

Fuck, I don't know how to introduce my cousins to fanfics properly if they want to explore it. I can tell which anime or manga to get into. Heck, those in the know how much I love magical girls that someone who hasn't been in the animanga scene for a long time but has an older sister who is into magical girls as I am knows how much I love them. 

Barring my Pokemon collection (growing consistently with Mamo alone. Really, I'm considering different ideas for my Dark and Light boards regarding the Mamo pins I have. With the last of the Eevee Fusions coming up, I need to finalize. Candlelight is magnificent and will go well with the rest of the dark designs), my magical girl is consistently growing one way or another through Sailor Saturn, Serenity, PGSM, and other magical girls like CCS, Princess Tutu, and Shugo Chara. If I was somehow finding magical girls, it's my brother who finds harem anime. How else would I know about Zero no Tsukaima to the point that I knew what I was getting into when I saw a Pokemon crossover? 

I feel that using fandom as a goldmine for outsiders with the clout of said creation without the creator receiving that clout is pretty bad. 

I respect the fanfic writers’ time and space. Certainly, there are comical stories of the varied lifestyle AO3 writers get into on the notes but I’m willing to wait and even if a fic may not be updated in years, context clues and foreshadowing are helpful tools as well as any comments made in any social media or the comment section itself. 

How else is it to see that in Icarus’ Dilemma's second half, I just know that Lelouch would succeed as the Viceroy with Nunnally as the Sub-Viceroy? I might not know the finer details but I know based on other works, Lelouch and Nunnally will be as beloved as Princess Diana. 

How about Gravity’s Burn where I just know Touya and Keigo are gonna elope? 

Again, might not know the finer details but I can guess. 

These tourist fans see the fandom with its generous gifts and sharing in the love as profit and content. Demanding authors to finish that Wattpad would punish them under readers’ complaints and using AI to make up their own endings are just one of the many disrespectful things done.

The theft had happened before in fandom but this is just too large scale. 

Not helped there is just so much entitlement, puritanical overwhelming simple basics, and poor literary skills all around. 

I know there are many different forms of AI that can be helpful but scrapping fandom and stealing it is not the right way. None of these guys aren’t rightfully getting paid or credited or anything. 

In the eyes of the big corporate from tech bros to tourist fans, it’s all about money and content. They could care less that these writers write in their free time just as artists who run small businesses have to make it work for them in ways that they can still get money with their art. 

I say we gatekeep. 

These people should make an effort to go through hoops just to access them. I’d rather they be forced to do things just to get access to the 'content' they desire. 

Since I usually engage with the media I get into and the fanfiction that comes from it, I don't see these as content. 

Unlike small businesses that are based on art, they have to have new art and run it somehow in long term. It's heavily advised that unless they really want to go into the pinmaking business, understanding customer service and how to make it work for you is best. 

Are you just going to make a sticker club? Or sell only stickers? You can even do acrylic charms beyond stickers. 

Cara is still not known to the wider public so artists who wish to have new customers, they still have to post on Instagram. From what I have seen, it's not like you can create group chats with customers on Cara. Cara is for artists but less so for actually having customers outside of commissions. Yes, there are community members, but I have yet to see a clean transition to doing similar stuff such as creating groups. 

It’s the same on AO3. Despite lore.fm being the head honcho’s idea to assist, the writers having nowhere else to go have to lock their fics. 

All these AI folks will use buzzwords to guilt to get their way. The thing is that just because it’s free doesn’t mean they own it. They aren’t owed anything regarding fandom’s free gifts.

Yeah, it would be great for disabled folks but podfics are limited as they are already. Get permission from the author and make that podfic. 

It’s better that the author gets the profits. 

At least when artists get commissioned to make pin designs (the vectoring is left up to the pin maker and the art proof is up to the manufacturer but always make sure to triple-check everything and I do mean triple-check everything to get everything right. It might even take a while but unless you get a relatively easy file for you to do and them to use, then it's much easier to do from what I heard from Mamo at least. Apparently, Mamo and Nuwa are the best at having the easiest vectors and art-proof approvals), they get a pin version as well as payment. 

Though some deserve better than others when a design of theirs. Man on the Moon and Nyxxi’s commissioned artists deserve so much more than one being stuck as an exclusive. At least David J Brunson is making a killing off his Disney pin designs, being an exclusive artist for two very expensive Disney fantasy pin makers. 

I know Dalton was and still is the most popular Klaine fic. There were YT read-alouds but I never heard it past going beyond some chapters or completion. 

I know some fanmade stuff was sent to the author but I'm not sure if they sold anything to the wider fanbase. 

At least they aren't making money off the Weebly. 

Outside of the fandom itself, the author does not get the clout. They aren't the ones making a profit from their own fics that they write in their free time. 

When authors do make a killing, it's through their own resources such as Patreon that allows them sneak peeks or WIPs of other projects. Sometimes if they are the main mod behind a zine, it will be for-profit. 

Again, the Dabihawks one I got was explicitly for profit. 

They, in the fandom, have clout when the zine becomes a success either through their clout in the fandom or from the popularity of their fics. 

In the fan merch community, they are explicitly open to make anything. I mean I received my Dabihawks pin because of it. 

However, these guys are making a profit on their own. They aren't making a profit from another's gains who received that adoration through their hard work of their free writing that they took in their free time. 

A fanfic writer is always grateful to have their works have fanart and be discussed among their dedicated following or spread elsewhere. They are fully willing to get into discussions of thought processes why each event happens in their fic. I have seen this happen be it through the comment section, Discord, Twitter, and anywhere they are willing to discuss any questions asked. 

Also, I feel since the comment section isn't used much at all, please use them. The fanfic author won't know themselves unless you first comment there rather than discuss where they can't follow, such as a Discord server with no access. As long as they can access those servers, the author will answer your questions and provide anything you ask for barring spoilers. 

Outside of just participating in fandom, whether making a blog of your fave ship, whether it is rare or not, writing, or recommending, you are an active part of the community. 

Making a profit off of someone else without permission or collaboration isn't part of the community. 

There are different ways to be part of a fandom community but being this selfish enough to make money on someone else's free time spent to freely given gift to the overall fandom is bad. 

So News about OPLA....

 

Aside from waking up to the news with a lot of people decrying it as a bad idea and lots of theories thrown out the window, it does seem the original plan of ending at Enies Lobby is still ongoing at this point. 

That's quite a non-sequitur but still I remember reading that the plan was not Marineford but Enies Lobby and end on that note. 

With the fact they are ending on Drum instead, there's a probability that next season or season 2 part 2 will be Alabasta/Jaya and having Skypeia as its own season. 

People arguing that it's best ending on Alabasta when there on itself so big and needed time.

It's disappointing in itself that we will see Lera Abova as Robin for only one episode. Considering we'll see more Coby and Helmeppo this season instead, they should focus on the development on the main cast. 

Of course other than suspense that we haven't gotten a Bon-chan announcement at all. I hope that any transphobic people who tried to decry Bon-chan will be met with the ferocity of the OP fandom who adores Bon-chan and call them out for being fake fans or trying to stir up controversy where there was not and ever was considering how much Bon-chan is loved in the fandom. 

To be honest, we don’t have to worry about the inevitable reactions from reactionaries anytime soon unless they are explicitly casting Bon Clay. Alabasta won’t be until the next. 

Missteps aside from not casting MENA for money, the casting has been spot on. Bon Clay as a fan favorite should be given the same dignity. 

In the other end, while I understand the desire to have Robin be a Hispanic for the whole Ohara genocide, being Russian does not negate that either. Yes, it’s another white woman in the cast and the only two in the Strawhats live action but Arceus, blaming her Russian ethnicity is not enough to not be Robin supposedly. 

The MENA casting is just not there as it’s easily for money. The Russian ethnicity alongside she’s white is just the issue here for people that it’s just stupid to rhyme and reason. 

There haven't been a word about another Season 2 part 2 or even a season 3 at this point. 

Yes, Netflix needs a new flagship series since Stranger Things is ending and Wednesday is overstaying its welcome. Yes, Netflix is going full throttle with the One Piece. 

However, lest we not forget, Oda wanted the series to get newcomers into the manga and it worked! 

For all its flaws, the goal was met. 

Even if the discord for OPLA is disappointed whereas everywhere was welcomed that news with open arms or at least hesitation

I have zero expectations about the second season. Even before or after this announcement, it does not hurt me as a fan of the source material. I know the gains of getting new fans when even Oda knew they aren't likely to go beyond pre-time skip at best. That's a pipe dream. 

As much as we would like to see Yamato and the Elbaf giants, time skip will be so much of a pipe dream. 

Best case scenario, we get to Enies Lobby or even Marineford. Maybe if we’re lucky to even get Wano…I doubt getting time skip so much hence pipe dream. I’ll just happy to even get Enies Lobby as my favorite arc. 

Impel down would be great with Inaki Godoy, Jeff Ward, and David. Jeff preparing to fall fail upwards will be amazing even if he’s more adaptational badass this time around. 

With even more news of the casting including Indian casting for two MENA characters, apparently, there was a mix of things that went wrong behind the scenes for the casting. It seems they wanted to go through but in the end money talks. 

If Cobra's casting is this much, I fear Vivi's casting announcement officially even though everyone knows by now who it is. I just worry about the reactions from there from the more worrisome members. 

Also I cannot believe I have to spell this out: JUST BECAUSE MARTY ADELSTEIN TURNED OUT TO BE A BAD PERSON DOES NOT MEAN THAT OTHERS ARE LEFT TO ROT. 

We need the show to do well to even get near Marineford or at the very least Enies Lobby. Boycotting because of an attachment no one on the show didn't think would occur is stupid stuff. Matt Owens and everyone else is passionate about OPLA and being respectful. Be angry at the unexpected connection that nobody asked for when we should be supporting what could've been done in the first season where the cast couldn't promote it the way they wanted. 

Honestly, look forward to the press tour rather than the actual show. What little we got during the strike was so good: the fashion, the chemistry, the everything. 

Again, I don't know how much this is true of whether or not the execs want to skip arcs altogether or Netflix being finicky even though they need a new flagship show long enough to secure another flagship show alongside it. 

Again, no expectations from here. I know some live-action onlies are probably looking forward since they have lots of big names or moderately popular ones getting added to a cast of relative unknowns. 

I do worry about momentum but so many factors goes into making a show. Considering how much people don't see how long an anime creation can take, it's gonna take awhile. Considering how people do not understand on all fronts regarding the production of a show of any kind, animated or live-action, it's going to take a while. 

At least we got future Strawhat interactions to look forward to regardless. I still love the scene of the Strawhats sailing before running into Garp after Syrup Village in the live action. Can’t wait to see more of that coupled with much needed development for both live action Sanji and Usopp.

I would love to see Taz act the shit out in Whole Cake Island. I would love to see Inaki go Gear 5. I would love to see Inaki punch a Celestial Dragon. I would love to see Morgan’s Coby be the great marine he wanted to be and react to Luffy’s titles. I would love to see Jacob become Sogeking and God Usopp. I would love to see Mackenyu get Shusui and Enma. I would love to see Jeff Ward’s Buggy fall upwards with Alvida and Mr. 3 beside him in the chaos. I would love to see Steven John Ward’s Mihawk go crazy in Marineford and future Cross Guild interactions with Buggy. Fuck, I would love to see this version of Mihawk slash a frozen tsunami. I would love to see the Strawhats leave with happy citizens waving them off. For the love of Nika, I would love to see the Strawhats learn about the Road Poneglyphs and how to reach Laugh Tale. The faces of the live-action Strawhats are marvelous in my head, all their awe and joy. I would love to see Inaki Godoy's Luffy's first Conqueror's Haki or instances thereof because I can take what I can get. Godoka, I want to see the crew in-universe sing Bink's Sake! 

Can we at least see the flashbacks to Buggy and Shanks' time as cabin boys on the Oro Jackson? We didn't get that in the first season and we need that at least. Show that on Loguetown at least so that live-action onlies can get the taste of the mysteries we fans have been fed with for years and now only missing two last pieces of the puzzle. 

Arceus, seeing all the known Strawhats declaring that Luffy will be the Pirate King will be an arrow to my heart. Love to see Jacob be the first to air that out not that soon but hopefully in a few years in the Alabasta arc. I will be screaming to see that in live-action. 

There are scenes in season 2 I'm already looking forward to such as Drum and entering Reverse Mountain. 

Honestly, I just hope to see the Roger Pirates flashback with young Buggy and young Shanks considering they did cast them. Can the live-action onlies get the Rogers Pirates teases and the mysteries that we got, please? 

I'm freaking screaming just thinking of the raw moments of emotion that will definitely get newcomers and general audiences teary-eyed and feeling so wiped out from the emotion. 

Godoka, if Transformers One was able to convince on one iteration or a few considering there are only so much iterations in the public sphere (hey, just as not everyone know every Pokemon that ever existed or that Yugioh is still continuing its anime), they can at least know the iteration and what inspired it if they bother to look it up. 

Honestly, the very fact Matt referenced Cross Guild that went over the heads of LA-onlies is very funny. I got it but they don't. 

I would've love to see who would play live action Law and so many more. Ah, Vegapunk whom we were teased since forever, if we ever going to make it, their experience of waiting to see their faves again and the long game foreshadowing would be magnificent. If we have to suffer so long so does the newbies. 

I know Taz has stated they don’t want OPLA to go on too long. Obviously, they don’t want to be zombie shows like Supernatural but they can be long-term writing shows like Criminal Minds. Again, not as long, just enough to fulfill a story that can best end on its own terms while allowing live action onlies to go and complete the story in the intended medium it was meant to read. 

One Piece has an endpoint. We're in the final Saga for Godoka's sake! 

Again, it’s unlikely we’ll ever reach post-time skip. It’s a pipe dream. 

I would love to see Lera Abova actually tackle the famous I want to live scene. It was the audition after all. Godoka, I hope that just win gold everywhere in award shows no matter how award shows just aren't doing it right. 

Narratively, it makes sense to end things after Marineford but Enies Lobby will do great. Heck, after Enies Lobby, you can just show the rest of the crew future where they are and future with showing of everything without context to live action or lies to figure out when they finally read the thing. 

For what's its worth now, all we do now is cross our fingers that OPLA's chances to be at least long-term enough to reach Enies Lobby are better than normal. Hopefully, they can secure an S3 with Alabasta since they are going hard with Crocodile and Robin even if their true names haven't been revealed yet to the wider public that doesn't know shit about OP. 

Speaking of, what is with the entitlement regarding a short break Oda took to Cape Town? He always wanted to visit the set first season around so he finally got the chance to see it this time. Not to mention, he deserved a break and taking a break would not compromise the quality of the final saga. 

Oda took breaks longer than those two weeks. I distinctly remember a one-month break. Why are these guys in an uproar over a short break that will not hurt anyone? 

Fuck, the hate towards OPLA for supposedly compromising the quality of the manga is stupid. Oda gave his okay to what goes into the live action as he understands the difference between the medium and the chance to expand to new eyes who wouldn't look at his work otherwise. Elbaf wouldn't be ruined just because of a two-week vacation, not when there are theories on how it will play out with Vivi's message and Loki and so on. Are they really unimaginative about seeing how the story might play out while anticipating that Oda will throw you for a loop? 

My cousin wouldn't have looked at One Piece had it not been for the OPLA. 

Whether or not these stupid purists think, the point of OPLA was to reel in new people who wouldn't look at the source material either because of its vast depths or another reason altogether. 

I know my cousin wouldn't even though she's pretty much a newbie when it comes to anime. They know I'm the watcher and still keep up the news on it. The fact she even considers watching the anime at all is a feat even though she found OPLA Luffy annoying. 

We will always have the original source material. The OPLA is there to reel in new people. If OPLA bothers you in any capacity, just remember that Oda wants the general public to know and really know the story and heart of his story. There are OP creators who make no noise about OPLA or largely ignore the adaptation, but at least they are far more understanding in just shutting up and not mentioning to not bring down the negativity and gloom on the normies who were brought in by the live-action adaptation. 

Please, a two-week vacation is just nothing compared to years of hiatus that other people have to deal with their beloved mangas. 

One Piece fans have been spoiled so much with a manga going on its final saga, the anime with all its flaws, specials, movies, remasters, and a live action adaptation bringing in new fans. 

Having a life outside One Piece is a thing, y'know. I have dedicated a part of my life to One Piece due to falling down the rabbit hole but I have not forgotten my other loves in my life. I have loads of OP merch but my love for magical girls is transcendent. Sailor Saturn is basically the only thing growing the Sailor Moon portion whereas I desperately want more CCS but the ones I do find are either too expensive or just can't find the more affordable ones at the sizes I want with having three Princess Tutu pins.