Rare Pairs, Crack Ships, and the Joys of Small Fandoms

Honestly, this has none of the shipping rants I've done before. It has nothing to do with throwing a brick at stubborn people who are fundamentalist and conservative, whether they realize it or not. Because these young people literally don't know better than to try to prove themselves worthy of purity through purity culture, that is toxic to them and everyone. 

I mean, it's slightly up to a point. Antishippers would likely still not understand crack ships, and rare ships aren't ever on their radar. They are up on their asses about purity culture, failing to see they are spewing out rot that Christian conservatives spoke all the time about porn, especially LGBT, and sex. 

They don’t do shit about rare pairs because they live in the fridges of the fandom. Crack ships vary in popularity depending on the ship. 

Antishippers want everything to be pure without drama and pain to show they are good people. Crack ships are not just crossover ships but ships that again don’t have any bearing on each other. The characters could’ve died in separate times, and having never ever met, and still be called crack ships. The characters could’ve never met each other in their lives, and still viable because it’s fun. 

Shipping can be as easy as looking hot together, to wanting to scratch an itch on what was known about them, to develop the ship to pure character analysis through romance. All shippers do was watch their OTP fall in love again and again. I sigh with all the small gestures and care from every meaningful love they share, and falling in love. 

Ah, rare pairs, the ones that, of course, get the rare fanfics and fanart that barely last a page, two at best on AO3. 

The videos up there don't exactly display in some form my rare pairs: Akihiko x Minato from P3, Shirlulu from Code Geass, and Kyoraku x Aizen from Bleach. 

All of these convinced me from fanfiction, no less. Yes, fanfics on AO3 that barely took up two pages alone in their tags. 

It's hilarious since reading the fic that got me into Kyoraku x Aizen, the theory of the father-son just doesn't make sense. It makes sense at a surface level that doesn't require too much brain power. It's a theory that doesn't and does make sense, but considering Bleach has ended, I'm happy to have any theories with Aizen's Bankai than any of this. Fuck, Kyoraku is a better match for Aizen than anyone could expect. That is something Aizen's personal enemies like Urahara, Yoruichi, Visords, and Yhwach didn't see coming: that there is a romantic match for Aizen out there in the world that he would happily go into the institution of marriage just so he can finally have him officially as his husband. 

Kyoraku is laidback, but he hides his competence behind an effective facade. Aizen likewise has a facade of calmness and affability, but make no mistake that underneath it all hides someone who distanced himself from his own humanity to the point that he achieved his goal of immortality. His true personality is a fiery and passionate control freak who has issues three times the size of the afterlife with his emotions, including his pride and bonds in general, due to his sheer independence and feeling he should do things alone, and zero troubles with committing atrocities for his outcome. 

Shinji and Kisuke, as much as Aizen admits Kisuke's wit and smarts are equal to his, have too much baggage (normally, I like baggage in ships, but I never shipped Aizen with these guys, even when I was watching and reading Bleach; something about these guys didn't call to me. Notably, UraAi also counts as a rare pair, considering it's 128 fics on AO3, but we still have more than the 31 for KyoAi. I believe the most popular Aizen pairings are either with Ichigo or with Gin, which is more power to those shippers.) and clashing personalities. Aizen needs someone laidback and calming, whereas Kyoraku needs someone fiery and unpredictable. Kyōraku and Aizen felt more plausible. 

Again, this is fanfiction. We can get any pairing we want as long as we write it right. Aizen is a difficult character to write. I simply want Aizen to drop his mask and involve himself more on an emotional level that he couldn’t comprehend. 

Like I said, I do have my preferences, but I don’t ship all of them. If I could find THE Seishiro x Subaru pin for my OTP board, I’m gonna be so happy. It’s the ship that got everything going, so I have to find a pin for that. If a ship calls to me, it comes to me. I wouldn’t be a Dabihawks shipper had it not been for the warehouse meeting after the Nomu fight. 

Getting convinced on a ship through fanworks is no easy task. Like most things, you have to get through the trash to get the gems. Believe it or not, not everyone will be swayed. 

Even today, people stubbornly hold onto popular fanon beliefs that clash or negate the canon. Canon is not the end-all, but for the love of Arceus, there should be a balance, as well as the knowledge that canon has its place and basis in the fandom. 

Sometimes, fanon simply isn't enough or is so pervasive that it damages the actual intent. Fanon Tim Drake doesn't come close to the crazy canon Tim Drake is capable of. Heck, even adaptations don’t even come close to the insanity YJ98 is capable of. Give me my teens with no adult supervision. Even Red Tornado went along with it. 

Rare pairs are exactly that. They have so few crumbs in fanworks that people do it themselves. I’m pretty sure that in one fandom, can’t remember what it was, there was one writer who basically wrote all the fanfics for the rare pair and it’s amazing dedication for such few people but awesome for the love poured into it. 

Heck, there was one Dabihawks writer who was outright surprised by the reception of her Dbhks fics when she wrote for rare pairs before writing for a popular ship. 

I’m not even sure that Kyoraku x Aizen counts as crack shipping when the father-son theory isn't even that pervasive enough to be fanon. I saw YouTube Shorts (I did not actually watch them, but the theory is spelled out by the title), but it's certainly not enough to be a popular theory. Seriously, I've seen more theories that became so pervasive that it became fanon, such as what happened with so many things I'm not a fan of. Even Dabihawks was once a crackship for no other reason than they look hot together as nobody at the time would think of Hawks meeting Dabi as his contact for infiltration or that Hawks would be a spy at all. 

KyoAi counts as a rare ship primarily because of the TYBW arc, where we see them interact at a certain level. Those are crumbs that a shipper can extrapolate and build upon. I mean that aforementioned theory is well known, but that has been called into question, not helped that we know nothing of Aizen’s mysterious past. They have chemistry there that is tantalizing now that I see it. 

Unfortunately, it’s rare. At least ShirLulu has close to 90, but I’m also adding where the ship is included in some capacity. It is not at the crush level, but Lelouch actually sees Shirley as a love interest and pursues her. As for KyoAi, even with the fanfic series I’m into (it would definitely have multiple arcs which include the relationship landmarks for KyoAi, including their daughter's first birthday and their wedding, possibly) wouldn’t even scratch 50. We haven’t reached the canon arcs yet, so until we reach the drama of the canon arcs, the fic will remain in Marked For Later till further reading; honestly, I do look forward to the Zanpakuto Spirit filler arc because that's the most salivating considering Aizen's character development and relationships with others. Akimina is so close to 200, but it's still a rare pair that isn't getting any names on par with SatoSugu or at the very least MiyuSawa. 

The popular ships will always get regular updates on their tags, food everywhere for everyone, sharing in the love of the ship. I know this so well. 

The rare ships, on the other hand, have crumbs, if even that. I also know this. 

Crack ships have zero crumbs, and they go off based on imagination. At least that's a fun place to be. I think the crack ship I am fond of is Jim Hawkins x Melody, the crossover ship from two Disney films, Treasure Planet and TLM2. 

Unfortunately, the one that people would remember the most is Jelsa. I'm decidedly not a Jelsa fan, never mind the fact that I'm not a Frozen fan. I believe the popular one now at the time of writing is Cinderella x Sukuna??? I mean power to them. I don’t particularly care for Disney ships that much or JJK outside of some in that series but more power to the shippers, go and ship to your heart’s content. Outside of confusion upon seeing their sudden art, I just shrugged and moved on with my tasks. I see no reason why I should have an opinion on a measly ship, nor would anyone else, except apparently antishippers who cannot see reason. Even non-seasoned shippers shouldn’t be expected to give opinions on every damn ship in a fandom. I don’t have the time to give a blog post the time and dedication to every ship in a fandom. I don’t think I can make a tier on that level. I care so little about that, I’d rather focus on better stuff than that. Unless a ship caught my interest, I usually don’t care much. I’ve been focusing more on story potential than shipping, which is just a bonus if I love the ship. 

And I still don’t think anyone outside of those who understand fandom gets it. If they cannot understand even a basic ship like Sterek, they are not surviving. 

By AO3 fics from lowest to highest, it's KyoAi, Shirlulu, and Akimina in that order in terms of my rare pairs. 

I should note the caveat that it depends on the size of the fandom, too. Akimina is definitely a rare pair in an extremely popular fandom. Bleach, too, is extremely popular, and we can definitely say KyoAi is a rare pair, never mind that the fics aren’t approaching 40 fics anytime soon. 

It’s just that the rare pair, as it often does, make us feel like Charlie with his Pepe Silvia rant. I'm picking at the crumbs like a bird and trying my best with the fics and fanart I do have. All rare pairs shippers have to deal with that. While they do have the benefit of having fun, the fact is that it's not popular enough. 

Even in rare pair fandoms, there'll be famous fics and authors that are only known to the fandom. Some are the result of one being there to write them, and couldn't draw them. I admire the dedication of rare pair writers, where they are truly the ones baking the bread to the hungry small base or no base at all, considering some I've seen are on a canoe or a paddle boat alone in a lake. 

Non-seasoned shippers or worse normies wouldn’t understand the difference between a popular ship to an actual crack ship. Seriously, the answers of Sterek, Zutara, and Wincest show that these normies wouldn’t survive mild weather in summer fandom. Seriously, here I am knowing the popular ships, and they see it as crack ships. By Arceus, at worst, they don’t see shipping as fun but as some sort of lab experiment for research from the outside. 

Ships certainly aren’t the be-all end-all of fandom. Again, shipping can happen for various reasons, but seeking validation from the creators isn’t the way to go. Shipping is fun. 

To devolve a piece of entertainment to shipping is pretty sad. Given how focused I am on stories, it's a given that I would love them and their themes. 

Fandom is about a community brought together by a piece of media one loves and shares. Shipping is just one part, but it shouldn’t take over as much as one seeks validation for their headcanons that somehow in their mind overtook canon. Seriously, I see people decry canon just because their headcanon isn’t canon, instead of either ignoring it or accepting it and evolving their headcanon, they decide that it doesn't make sense with their fanon. 

It’s not substituting with interesting ideas, but rather forcing in where it shouldn’t with no balance or effort to understand to be transformative. 

I hardly ship anything nowadays unless it’s within my purview, does it shoot up, such as Joongdok. Look at me watching Bleach and you hardly see me ship anymore than Death Strawberry and KyoAi. I certainly don’t need canon validation. You can just write the damn thing. 

I feel off recommending rare pair fics since all writers from rare pairs are trying their best to feed their small, hungry base, but at the same time, they are so small and deserve all the support they need. If I could convince you to ship them through these fics that did to me, then here's to hoping that you can enjoy them. I think I'll be better off recommending the fics that got me shipping them and the fic I'm currently reading. For KyoAi, it's an ongoing series. 

Besides, getting into rare pairs or small fandoms will humble people who had spent time in popular fandoms. There is nothing more humbling than just having a small group discussing and making fanart and fics for the series with all the passion and love, without all the drama of a huge fandom that you feel people visibly spend time on. Yeah, all fandoms have their disagreements, but since it’s small, they have to acquiesce. 

The Galavant and Schmiga-(doon/go) series is this for me. Nothing is more than sharing in the love of the musical comedy series that is cut too soon. Not even Crazy Ex-Girlfriend could've saved them even though I love CEG too. However, it doesn't help that people barely know that those series existed in the first place. I knew that it existed from YT ads. I mean, even Blue Flag is unlikely to get an anime adaptation because of its LGBT roots, but it's still a small fanbase. The fics in total at AO3 are 70. Galavant on AO3 has 321 fics. 

Even with Daiya no Ace and KHR, both reasonably sized fandoms, are considered medium-sized by comparison to truly larger fanbases. MiyuSawa is without a doubt a very popular ship, but by comparison to even the most popular influential ships or ships that people at least heard of, Daiya no Ace ships aren't that widespread by comparison. 

On a side note, since I'm not gonna find pins on the smaller fandoms I'm in (I already accepting I won't find any pins from them the moment I was putting down a list of potential collections and they were an immediate no), I am forced to find separate pins for KyoAi if I want them to be on my OTP board. But for now, Seishirou x Subaru is the foremost one primarily because I can put that collection in the backburner and that would be hardest to find, so I guess I could find others, but definitely not my rare pairs at the moment because I don't have money for two pins. I paused my Cinderella collection until I got Abigeyedowl Ever After Heart first before getting original/adaptations. I would love Abigeyedowl's Cinderella 2015 if they ever consider making it because I need something to represent that. 

What shines doesn’t always need to be seen by Nai_asobrab:

Reborn from the Shadows: Aizen's true motivation was absolute control. Having power was not enough; it was essential to shape beings, manipulate lives, to create something that was entirely a product of his own will.

Yet, as his cold eyes observed her, a shadow of disappointment clouded his thoughts. She was not perfect.

"No... not perfect," he thought, a silent whisper laced with subtle bitterness. Hinamori had indeed been shaped, but not from the beginning. Her mind and heart had already been touched before he intervened, formed by other hands. She was an incomplete vessel, a useful tool, but limited.

Perfection... True perfection would be something he had crafted from birth, something pure and malleable, like clay in the hands of a sculptor. A life that he could shape in every detail, free from external influences, without prior marks. A life that existed solely to serve his design, breathing only to fulfill his will.

A child.

Twilight of Truths: Aizen Sousuke sat on the engawa of the Eighth Division’s traditional house, watching the garden bathed in pale afternoon light. Nearby, Sayuri played on a mat, laughing as Shunsui entertained her with clumsy but charming fan tricks. To anyone looking, the scene was idyllic—the picture of a harmonious family. Yet, within Aizen’s mind lingered a restless void.

He had always had plans, intricate schemes that bent situations and people to his will. Even in chaos, he thrived on direction, on the clarity of his goals. Now, for the first time, he found himself adrift and unanchored.

Now, he lived on autopilot: caring for Sayuri, addressing trivial matters with Shunsui, and occasionally advising his companions. But beneath it all, he felt like an actor reciting lines he hadn’t written.

"Is this what normal people do?" he murmured, gazing at the sun’s reflection in the calm garden pond. "Do they simply... exist? No plans, no goals, just moving moment to moment?" 

Mini-Review: I'll probably put this in another fic recs alongside my other OTPs, but considering this is focused on long-time OTPs, this rare pair fic recs still count as the same, even if they are only one fic out of everything. Given the small base, I believe anyone can jump in and consume the limited food we even got in the first place. 

It's still ongoing and very long, considering it will tackle arcs way later in the series. Also, whatever theories I said are on a previous post I made, so I won't do it here. I barely said what I liked about the fic. 

If you know my preferences, you know why this fic made Shunsui Kyoraku and Aizen a compelling ship. I'm hardly a friends-to-lovers type, hence why I'm not all over those types, even though some ships could be called friends-to-lovers that I do ship, even though there are several factors I don't count them. 

Technically, this could be called a work military romance, with both of them as captains, one of them more technically high-ranking due to him being the choice of the new head of the whole military. Heck, Aizen didn't even choose him because he was the next Commander, or because he could use that inner circle to his advantage. He realized it afterward, but I do think by then, he had fallen hard for Shunsui. 

Shunsui might not be as crazy intelligent as he, Urahara, and Mayuri, but he's intelligent and perceptive enough to impress with their verbal sparring, giving him a challenge. He recognized that Shunsui hides behind such an effective mask that it starts to affect him. Their chemistry is really good as a result of Shunsui giving Aizen both the challenge and the love he longed for. Shunsui could get under his skin that Urahara cannot do in those terms of closeness. 

Urahara is always adaptive to these plans because his chess game with Aizen is complicated now, particularly since Aizen became Shunsui's husband. Even if he is essentially demoted to Vice Captain, he still has major influence as the future Commander's husband. Ironically, it's better and easier to convince Shunsui of anything lax than his husband, who is learning to relax and take things slow. 

A major part of it was a character-centric approach based around his relationships with others and his character development with major therapy and friendship. 

And it's not just Aizen. It's Momo, Shuhei, and anyone who has a chance of getting character development. 

It’s like Icarus’ Dilemma, where characters get character development and their paths change as a result of a character getting what they needed. 

Yes, it’s Mpreg, but that only sets the stage where Aizen gets the love, friendship, and therapy he needs. Sayuri is her own character, growing throughout the story since her conception. 

Given the expansion of the whole series including some fillers, I'm considering to build a progress review of it. 

New Game+ by EmpyrealFantasy: Given a chance to start all over again, will Minato be able to make a difference in his future?

[When you start a New Game+, you retain your levels, your inventory, and the items that you get from maxed Social Links. This stands to reason that the memory would remain for the MC as well. What if gameplay wasn't linear…? An exploration of what a New Game+ could really mean.]

Review: This is the fic that got me into the ship. I read the FF.Net first version before the AO3 edition added new stuff. 

Our protagonist and Akihiko had been distant. Friends as we can say hang out together with the rest of the group but never quite alone. Reload fixed that but obviously not enough to get the ship out of rare pair. Shinjiro x Kotone is still far more popular. 

I don’t quite put down my finger why exactly I love it and why it started my love for the ship, but the chemistry of the two, as well as what Akihiko does, was so amazing. The path in which we see the characters change from canon allowed for such good. 

I think that it has well-written changes as well as the development of the main pair vibed with me so well, it remained a favorite. 

J.K. Rowling, Ethical Consumption, Fan Creation, and Death of the Reader

 

I didn’t grow up with the initial books, but I distinctly remember the Deathly Hallows book fanfare. I wasn't paying attention to the release date then, as I was in primary school and didn’t read the Harry Potter books until I hit 4th-6th grade around that time. 

I read books because I love them. I prefer finding myself lost in books. If I can’t go to the library, I just read fanfiction. 

I just need good recommendations for books nowadays. 

I’m not planning to read Rowling’s new book at all. It’s not gonna go into my bucket list as the One Piece, FMA, and Ouran collections are. It’s not gonna be on the to-read section like R.F. Kuang’s Babel or any of the classics of Japanese literature. It’s hell for not sure, as I was recommended Donna Tartt’s books, and I’m just loving the snippets I get. 

I already knew laughable things about the new book, like how Twitter managed to invade her brain with all the criticisms, and less laughable like ableism. I heard of her cozying up to anti-LGBT, anti-abortion, and other hate group,s including throwing a lunch for a TERF thing against the backdrop of people protesting conversion therapy. Another is about giving lunch to a fellow TERF in the crowd for some bad protest that they’re obviously using for their bad purposes. Yeah, a just hateful lady. I hope her brain from Twitter melts even more. 

If you want Harry Potter but better, go see Owl House and Witch Hat Atelier. 

I mean, you can still read HP fanfiction. It’s still being updated daily, free with new content. I don’t read it often,n but I know it. 

Fans are trying to take back their lives from bad creators. Writers who are terrible at their job and writers who are just darn terrible. Even with child pornography crimes, just expressing far-right extremism in any way is a one-way ticket. Well, except for the bigoted one,s that’s for sure. 

Okay, just to get this out of the way. I used to admire it just a tad. It wasn’t worship. I remember seeing that unauthorized biopic of hers and avoiding lots of Rowling videos and news about her. I wasn’t that dedicated that she should be this good wonderful person,n but I didn’t look up Kenshin’s mangaka news either. 

I mean I already heard enough of what people have to say about them without going into videos. 

I was detached and attached. I understand authorial intent but at the same time, the death of the author is another route. 

I prefer to admire writing before the author. I hardly kept up with any of my fave authors if I have any. 

It’s really hard to ethically consume her products, particularly the theme park. Even without the Fantastic Beasts franchise dying, the theme park is a large draw and is the major reason Nintendo allowed Universal to make their parks. 

With Hogwarts Legacy running afoul of its own controversies in spite of Rowling’s nil involvement and the new TV series with Rowling’s involvement, Harry Potter is just…too big and has a life of its own. 

Regardless people making Harry Potter ‘cringe’ by saying ‘Oh that wizardry school boy? You’re still watching that kiddy?’ or whatever on those lines, the Harry Potter legally belongs to Rowling through IP. Rowling wants the extreme end of IP, aligning herself with Disney on that mentality. 

Just to be clear, this is radically different from the Bear and Barlow who monetized something with actual lines and in no way a parody. 

The Etsy and commissioned merchandise from fans for fans won’t hurt the bottom line. Though Disney attempted to do that, the Etsy train is still running. I haven’t heard that many lawsuits against these tiny creators that often. It helps that it’s not that well-known or seems like a viable purchase compared to the many merchitems  alone in many retail and online stores. 

For Godoka’s sake, here’s the list of the highest-grossing media franchises. None of these have been affected by Etsy or commissions at all. 

It’s just that Rowling wants the monopoly that she earns from her work. Just look at the Harry Potter Lexicon incident. The Lexicon is still here, though there is an official Lexicon book. 

Rowling still gets the money because legally it belongs to her through copyright. 

That’s one of the main issues. 

Harry Potter became a behemoth that is far beyond the author’s imagination. No matter how much people censor the franchise's name, it’s inescapable. 

It’s not just hers but it also belongs to the fans and the people. The people won’t know the difference between the adaptations, but the diehards and Rowling will. 

Because IP will eventually go to the public domain. Not that the companies and houses won’t try to do something about it once it goes to the public domain. 

Harry Potter is taken back by the fandom from the overlord Rowling. The real Quidditch game changed its name to Quadball yet it’s inclusive. Outside of Rowling loyalists, the big names in the HP fandom distanced themselves from her. 

Rowling will be making bucks off her property even when others are making spin-offs and other related material. When she does, it’s awful. Her screenwriting is horrendous, with The Cursed Child being the biggest indicator.  

Honestly, I’m not looking forward to the TV reboot. So many things could go wrong with the time and Rowling’s stringent stubbornness after the backlash to her screenwriting.

She’s no Louis Sacher. 

It doesn't help that she will funnel the money to fascists who want to rid the world of those she hates. 

It's honestly difficult because one way or another, the money spent on her books and merchandise will funnel to people who don't believe in hurting others she deems hateful. 

When she is this far-right fascist supporter of all things hating Jews, the Scotland independence movement, the trans community, and so on, the hate she vibrates from her braindead tweeting to the point she seemed to want to make those who call her out the villains in her latest book or make comment on them which amused her Twitter critics to no end. 

Honestly, TERF is just white supremacy and fundamentalism at its core. 

However, TERFs don't seem to realize it or perhaps do. 

For Rowling, it seemed that she felt her abuse as a (white cis) woman is being seen as lesser against the trans. 

Lots of factors of intersectionality impact how they are treated in the system. The whole suffragettes are white women, which does not include BIPOC women. 

To TERFs, it came down to feeling the misogyny they feel is invalidated or seen as lesser when nobody said such things. They are merely pointing out intersectionality and do not weigh trauma against trauma. 

The point is for white people to recognize their privilege and white supremacy, because giving it up means losing a lot. 

Rowling herself is friends with fascists. She knows what the fuck she is doing which makes buying her products and even attempting to boycott a juggernaut much more difficult. 

However, as much as Rowling only legally owns HP and gets money off it, and wants to keep her hands on it, fans will say otherwise. 

To them, the fandom had long since done things that she won't approve of even before the TERF reveal. 

Make Sirius gay? Good! 

Make Tonks trans? Good!

Make Hermione black? In official media, if done that way, the Mudblood and the whole slavery wasn't abolished thing for SPEW's cause... People point that out. Unless it's done well to change and express the revolution in fanworks, the canon won't be changed. 

The best fans can do is make anything and everything with HP in fanworks. Zines and other commissioned works won't even make a dent in the pockets of Rowling and whoever wanted to work with her. 

I don't think Rowling is aiming at any fan-created merchandise. It's not like it hurts her bottom line in any way, considering her wealth came from her merch sales alone. 

The fandom belongs to her fans, not to Rowling. It was not she who created the real sport of Quadball. 

Whether or not anyone realized it, just because one owns the legality of it does not mean it isn't the fandom's either. It’s just so big that at this point, JKR only owns the legality. 

Just like Disney, who was responsible for the years-long wait for their products to enter the public domain, JKR has to learn that one day her works are gonna enter the public domain. 

Again, fandom explores things that have so much potential. It’s a hobby for them. 

Rowling seemingly accepts her loyalists and hates her critics to the point of her consuming their every critique into her writing.

I mean that part will always amuse me. 

It's inescapable at the end of the day. Even as the fandom public culture seemed to collapse and move away from JKR. 

The culture had undoubtedly collapsed as a result of her bigotry. Fans felt like they wasted years of their lives on a product that ultimately promoted bigotry and hate. They can take it back by rewriting and writing things JKR would disapprove of. 

While the public fandom that had done so much in the mainstream collapses with only the online fandom still there, just not as loud, it's mainly the normies buying the Harry Potter stuff now and the diehards. 

Even when the TV and the movies are up in the air, the fact the game still did fine made it clear just how inescapable Harry Potter really was. 

Also, I have just this to say. While HP is inescapable from the public consciousness, having just a subset of people protesting isn’t going to put a dent in it. 

However, even not buying something from Harry Potter and Chick-fil-A is a privilege. 

Fuck, I haven't bought anything Harry Potter in literal years and that's because I have the privilege to just ignore her to oblivion. 

When people talk about ethical consumption, they are talking about common brands like Walmart and Amazon. Do they go in as poor as they are just to have basic needs at the cost of the environment, and the overall capitalistic and systemic nature of why they remain so poor? 

Anyone with money can choose to support or simply play something that has nasty or good messages with the brain being either someone who supports or does not support certain causes. 

Those in poverty don’t have the luxury. Getting basic needs is a priority, but does it also mean they should support this capitalistic system that kept them so poor in the first place? Even if they have jobs, it’s still not enough to support basic needs. 

That’s why anyone even protesting Rowling is just well-intentioned, but when it's a juggernaut, it's hard to boycott. As one of the highest-grossing media franchises, one way or another money will make its way to her. 

This is in no way defeatist. 

I have to point out that JK Rowling was radicalized into the ghoul she became. She definitely had unexamined biases when she wrote HP, but the same JK of today won't write the HP of then. She was a white woman of her time, writing a product of that time. HP is not without flaws but at the end of the day milquetoast white British liberal product of the time. Lots of white writers wrote the common fantasy tropes that obviously didn't examine much further. To say HP was also some kind of crypto-fascism won't do anything to help that anyone can be radicalized by a hate group. 

What one must do is to keep a check of own biases and behavior. JK Rowling is a cautionary tale of a decent person falling down the rabbit hole of a hate movement with just a bit of nudging. 

And she did it all in real time. Once upon a time, she really would have walked amongst the trans community in support. 

Saying that HP was always bad from the start won't make anybody feel better when anybody can be radicalized into the cruelty they are capable of. Surely, they might not have JK Rowling's power and money, but still, the cruelty will be there. 

Yes, it is hard to seperate from art from the artist but 'read another book' is not the way to go when to always remain check with your biases and always try to do good every time you see yourself diving into the crueler option because there's always a hate group out there having your name. 

This is a capitalist society, which means that just working means that there’s not much to try to juggle between living a healthy lifestyle and a place to live. 

There are ways to protest, like strikes and looting, which is a totally legit rebellion. 

It's just going to be really hard as the rich get richer, the middle class gets smaller, and the poor and homeless get nothing more than they usually have. 

I agree to ignore everything about the new show to oblivion and make damn sure that not more money goes to her to direct her hatred. 

Anything to do with HP, any fandom stuff that people still enjoy, can still make sure they profit out of it, not her for fan merch, while fanfiction can write whatever they want alongside fanart. 

For official stuff, ignore them and do not give them attention. Do it after she is buried and whatever her will states to do with her blood money. 

What she is doing with the money now that her fans send to her through the many revenues she has is just awful. At this point, when one is being so uncritical of what she is even doing by funding her through the money revenues that she has, that will hurt and is hurting a community that won't ever hurt her. 

She's a ghoul but do not fund her or be uncritical of her just because you like her work. What I think of being uncritical or not being thoughtful at all is the death of the reader. 

Readers must have critical thought of what they are reading, and beyond that, see what is happening. Media literacy is down the drain to the point that black and white reading of a text lacks any nuance. Just this guy is the true villain, even though they could see the throughline of the themes from what one character is doing to the one at up top doing it masterfully. 

Not having any critical thinking of just beyond the text and actions caused not by the text but how the author benefited from the text, is just the thing. 

Yes, it's fiction. Fuck my rarepairs won't hurt anyone. Harry Potter in itself is milquetoast when it's all said and done when seeing the other white writers at the time. 

However, seeing the cause of this fiction in which the author is benefiting from hurting a community should be an reason to step back and really think of the real-life consequences of an author doing everything in their power with the money they get. 

Talent in the Arts and the Good or Niceness of People

Since the whole Gaiman debacle, I should say something. 

While there has always been the issue of the death of the author and how the support meant funding them, the revisionism of ‘of course all long they were a terrible artist’ going on is very degrading to art in general. 

This mentality will not help you at all. Yes, you could look back and see now red flags that foretell their thoughts. But creativity and imagination are a thing. While you can put down your own experiences, there is nothing wrong with imagination written from the heart. 

Dungeon Meshi is written by a woman who is admittedly not a good cook nor an adventurous eater but her imagination is so well done. She still loves the series but being the opposite of the creation does not negate her as a creator especially when she didn’t experience these in the so-called right manner such as being a good cook and adventurous eater. Having the imagination to provide a fantastical world with its own ecosystem and overall world makes good fiction. 

Art is subjective. ORV and Princess Tutu hit the things I love but it might not sway others. Code Geass regardless of nationalism claims is still a classic series that still deserves its place in history. Kenshin is still excellent despite knowing that the author had actual child porn and got off scot-free because of his connections. 

People have to reckon that talent is not a measure of being a good person and good art from bad people. Simply connecting with the good art written by bad people does not automatically negate you as a person trying to uphold a puritanical view of yourself. 

Neil Gaiman has done horrible things to people from women to fans to colleagues to BIPOC people. He is still a very talented writer whose art has impacted a wealth of people. 

John Lasseter is well past his prime but he’s still well-known for actually having a hand in his creation. Film is a collaborative work and Lasseter is not the only voice just as Butch Hartman was as Thomas Astruc was. They might have called most of the shots and controlled the general story but they literally weren’t the one. 

Talent is not meted out to the purest. It’s simply a skill. 

Bad people make good art as good people make dark art. Good people can still write all those triggers in stories and still be good. Bad people can make creatively impactful art and it’s still aged well. 

Vic Migogna is a very good actor and his voice for Ed Elric and Tamaki are perfect. HP Lovecraft managed to make a whole new genre of his own. 

I haven’t met any people in the pin community who are personally bad people. I only ever heard of their bad business and the jerk attitude they employ. I won’t be naming any names but using a business as a side hobby is not a good way to make business because people buying the art are your customers and you would want to establish that customer base’s trust in actually getting the products. Money is involved and the moment you have the money, you must make and deliver the product as a business. 

Still those are businesses. Outstanding small businesses will take constructive criticism and mobilize their business to actually have great customer service. 

Just because a person you admire and even like is nice to you does not mean that you are bad for not recognizing it. You might not even be the intended target yet you were treated so nicely. 

The point for these criminals is to hide. Blaming others particularly fans for their creator's secretive nature is not good. 

Just let people and yourself off the hook for simply having flawed judgment. We might never know literally everything about the person who interacted with us nicely. We won’t ever know and that’s alright. 

To say after the fact when it’s all revealed and it’s obvious you didn’t catch the hints that you never liked it in the first place is disingenuous to the time you spent on it. You shouldn’t have to take the way out by not admitting just how much it hurts you and owe up to it instead of making a proud face. 

Having pride just to keep from the feeling of hurt is valid to some extent but still feeling hurt from something you love that you didn’t ask for 

A large part is to uphold a puritanical view of oneself by wanting healthy and pure relationships with no drama. 

What is bad about wanting all those things without acknowledging the flaws. These people want the sake of literally everything they consume to be good and pure. 

This is a bit of an extension from the ship rants I did before but these people shouldn’t be expecting that for their own self-congratulatory puritan. What they spewing is what conservatives used against anything they deem horrid.

Grappling with these thoughts in regards to creator and creation has been a thing forever. Meting out cowardice like saying it was bad when reading comprehension and media literacy are a thing. English classes teach you these things. 

There is nothing wrong with admiring art but there is zero need to idolize the author too when it somehow connects to your politics and whatever you see fit. 

My cousin still loves Harry Potter given how she asked our niece a question relating to it. I don’t think she’ll ever support the transphobe in any way. 

This is just one case. 

I don’t really read up a lot on the author’s thoughts too much. In the case of SBS, I cannot know everything. I’d rather have compiled links so I can make the decision myself whether I appreciate the intent versus the interpretation. I rather not misinterpret the text but extrapolate meaningful readings from subtext and text. Shipping I see is again fun and derived from whatever is there or not at all to have Barbie dolls playing. 

JK Rowling’s intent very much differs from her execution and worst yet the things that are foreboding to her radicalization. She speaks of bravery and such but the execution speaks that she’d rather not change the status quo. 

Neil Gaiman’s style leans more into headcanon territory where the actual canon answer can waver and isn’t set in stone. Again, this is a perfectly fine applicable way without forcing headcanons into the canon. Acknowledging canon without letting the image of whatever is in your head take over. 

It’s okay that you cannot or no longer interact with the art you used to love because there is so much baggage associated with the creator in question. It’s okay that you can divorce yourself by other means such as buying them a third party and making sure your money doesn't go back to them. 

What we ultimately interact with art that has been damaged by cruel creators is to find in ourselves not cowardice but to confront what we wanna do in the face of it. 

While the creators are ultimately unwelcoming, the space created by fans and the circle thereof is better than anything a big creator might say to hurt people. 

Hurt fans can gather up their spite and pour it into their fanmade merch. Fans who refuse to contribute to the creator's money often go for fanmade merchandise. For some, it’s completely guilt-free. 

Personally, if I ever buy Harry Potter and Twilight fan merch which I never will, I’ll donate to the trans community and the Quileute tribe. For me, it’s not guilt free at least when it comes to those. 

I completely understand that the media I love is not without flaws. That’s why I say Aven is Romani rather than to use the in-game word which is a real Romani word. 

It’s another when the work isn’t tainted not by flaws intrinsic to the storytelling but by the fault of the creator who used the prestige the works grant access to for their horrid cause or to victims. 

For others, the thing they have loved since forever will forever be tainted and they can’t ever see them interact positively again. They can try with other fans reckoning in their shared grief and rage 

I roll my eyes whenever I see news regarding JK Rowling. Since in her mind is anti-trans to the point it’s all she ever talks about, she of course never brings attention to serious matters women are facing except her own. She is only about Neil Gaiman now because he supports the trans community and nothing else. 

Anybody who tried to bring attention to that woke crowd going after leftist Neil Gaiman is stupid. Wokeness was the buzzword they used to get attention without any nuance or empathy toward fans. Usually, the 'woke' crowd has more legitimate criticism than that crowd because it's down to something as simple as empathy. 

Godoka, while Trump will be having some infighting dogs and that his Executive orders are nothing more than force, there will be ways to fight back than roll over and comply with fascism. They want us to give up on the onslaught of laws that Trump is in a hurry to act and harbinger as a king rather than a functional governing body that only won not by a landslide. 

Remember that Democrats don’t even broadcast their wins they absolutely have to. We are heading into a dreadful conservative era in which the dominant white Christians are relishing their supposed take back of power from their supposed oppression and persecution. They have always been in power and the clear division of BIPOC was their gains to divide. These guys felt so safe in their bubble that even a demand for rights for BIPOC people was seen as a threat to their privileges. Even now these guys still feel they can trademark the word pho and go after actual Viet for it and trying to appropriate Agua Fresca and boba is just sickening. 

I know both sides are always bad things but for the love of Godoka, which of the lesser evil will you pick? Complaining about how both sides are doing bad things with such cynicism would not help the movements. We need to stick together and be loud in every available route we can to tell our government that we don't want this and they will be forced to change their tune with the overwhelming lawsuits. We'll be hurt on the way to our future but it's better than seemingly declaring everything is bad because both parties' actions are bad. It is unhealthy and we must focus our energies on gaining ground on what we can do. 

It's harsh now in the conservative fascist era we're entering but we cannot let this get us down. Go and be involved and do something instead of just dumping it all on a story and expecting the worst from it instead of actually doing something such as putting up links where people can actually help against the said disgusting act from the government administration.  

Characters Reactions to Canon Fics and Fic Recs

 

I don't have much fondness for these types of fics. These characters reacting to canon fics are often repetitive instead of doing something. Often these characters are trapped in a dark room or somewhere with the canonical media for them to watch and read. Very rarely they are allowed out of that so it's often a good thing that these characters are actively trying to change amidst watching/reading/playing the canon events they have access to. 

I'm big on stories, particularly if a story is so well-written about the meta of the story they are writing hence why Princess Tutu is in my top three favorite magical girls series and why ORV became one of my favorite stories ever. It’s to the point that when it comes to my favorite stories in the world, I’m more so focused on grabbing the books or getting things that better tell the story in pin form. 

Particularly if they know enough about the main characters to realize the guy they are following has loads of potential. 

I wholly recommend Advanced Release wherein Sephiroth received the original FFVII in his mail and began playing it with his besties Genesis and Angeal only to discover that it's not an inside job but rather a scarily accurate game that foretold the future. Little did they know whatever insanity and stupidity they deem is actually true to what Future Cloud who gave them the games can testify. 

They aren't the only ones to receive a game, however. Reeve received Dirge of Cerberus, the Turks are hilariously playing Before Crisis on their flip-phones, Zack got Crisis Core, Tifa got the light novels, and who knows got the movies? The author has noted that one person would not be the only one to receive a game or novel as seen with the Turks so it’s likely the main cast will get the scoop. Future Cloud is maximizing the people who can save the world and it’s only a matter of time young Cloud learns about this. 

All the while tiny young Cadet Cloud Strife found himself with interest from everyone who played the games. The Turks think of him as an interesting NPC who definitely made an impression on them while not knowing the reason why he made an impression in the first place was because he's the main character, Sephiroth and soon enough Angeal and Genesis begin to see the potential in him. Zack outright declared that he would be stronger than all of them combined. Considering they haven't seen the ending of the game where Cloud killed Sephiroth and in the movie where Cloud killed him again, all they see now is potential. Genesis probably will see Cloud having the potential to be the strongest magic caster that is not a Cetra. Tiny Cadet Cloud has no idea what is going on where his idol is offering him mentorship, Turks offering him a spot, why Angeal is treating him so kindly, and Zack wants to be besties with a random cadet. Confounded but ecstatic.  

I guess that's what Cloud gets as the Planet's chosen Champion because tiny Cloud has no idea that's his destiny. He's the main character so he's basically chosen to have so much potential to be the strongest man in Gaia with his sword and magic skills. 

Cloud doesn’t have main character syndrome obviously as he’s the main character who just happened to be chosen even if it might not look that way. He’s stubborn and self-loathing yet his wishes were granted in the most awful way possible. 

I just wonder how much young Cloud is going to get heckled moving forward now that a lot of people are growing more aware that he’s extremely important. 

Given that only Sephiroth met Future Cloud, I wonder how Tiny Cloud would react to Future Cloud, someone with so much power and capable of killing Sephiroth twice. 

I wonder if anyone from Nibelheim should survive this and learn about this including learning Cloud became Sephiroth's protege for no other reason than Seph seeing potential in him that Seph could see that Cloud even beat them and indeed Cloud can defeat him when Angeal and Genesis cannot. 

I wonder how the fan clubs would take this because this is Sephiroth after all taking on a random cadet for no reason other than Seph saying he saw potential in him. Seph can't exactly say that other than potential, he knows what Cloud would become just by meeting his future self because again Seph can be defeated if only because Cloud is capable of such a thing. How would fans take Seph's eventual dethroning of the strongest man by Cloud, his protege who is both impressive in his swordsmanship as well as magic? 

Honestly, anyone who didn't think Cloud would make it would see that with the right guidance, Cloud could become the Planet's Champion he was always destined to be. 

To be fair, Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis, and Zack are training him up to be stronger than they could ever be, and not least they got evidence of just how powerful Cloud could be by his future self and the canonical events they saw. 

There’s still so much story left. We haven’t even gotten to Cloud’s actual mentorship yet, nor has he even told Zack about the light novels. We haven’t seen what Hojo plans to do to Cloud. Genesis has yet to know about Deepground. 

Heck, the Turks got their game in one go so they have to know things now and further investigate the Vincent case. In a comment, the author comments they will once they get to a certain scene with Vincent. 

Everyone who has gotten a game or a piece of media relating to FFVII should know by name that Cloud is the main character at this point and side-eye him basically as young Cloud just thriving under Seph's tutelage with added help from Angeal, Genesis, and Zack in their effort to make him the most powerful man that the Planet has literally chosen as their champion. 

Honestly, what about characters not in the know about the games but still knowing confidential details like Kunsel? Kunsel could potentially play a larger role than in canon wherein he acts as the tutorial guide. Kunsel has been portrayed as a Turk-like SOLDIER but how would he react to these events after the mission he had with Seph? Kunsel would want to leave Shinra after all after learning the dreaded secrets. However, he would never see Cloud coming after the mission. 

And what about the process where Cloud is just thriving under the tutelage of Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis, and Zack? From what seems like a mediocre infantryman's fast learning turning him quickly to potentially the most powerful magic caster and swordsman who might have the chance of defeating the Silver General and indeed he can and will lest they stay and watch his spars against his mentor? What about Cloud just vibrating as he creates the fusion sword and uses that against Seph in the future? The Omnislash and its eventual versions until Cloud creates his ultimate sword? 

There’s confirmation and honestly, it’s a fact that Cloud will find out about FFVII. He already has an inkling with Tifa but he has no idea why he is suddenly the biggest target among the higher-ups at Shinra. 

And that's one of the top examples of characters watching/playing/reading the series that do something beyond knowing the future. It's dull and repetitive just from watching reactions. Sure, it's fine from isolation but when you're not doing something like Peggy Sue their timeline, then what are you doing?

Take another Final Fantasy example, this time entry number 15. 

The Basis of Reality has Ignis be taken to another world entirely where his world is but an entry of a popular series much like how Future Cloud grabs the consoles and games from our world to give to those trusted in another. 

Ignis found out several truths as well as the game forcing and glitching to make way for a new ending or in the same track depending on the change set. 

Now they haven't played the game since the beginning. If anything, they only watch some cutscenes and learn secondhand information from the gamer herself. They play some portion and learn some game mechanics so they can become savvy enough to write their golden ending. 

At least they knew the future and reacted to canon appropriately by actually changing things instead of just reacting. 

Not least they can see the visible changes in their extended absences and the visible glitches. 

At least these guys know they are living in a video game world so Noctis and Prompto used their video game know-how to level against the rails and ease towards a golden ending. 

Now, these two fics are essentially fix-fics when fics that contain the trope of characters watching canon have not been done to fix their future. 

The closest I see in this kind of trope even happening was a series summary of a Twisted Wonderland fic series where the Overblot villains became a strange group of friends after what they had watched and even then, in the main body, the TWST characters are still mainly locked in a black room with the game in front of them. 

Very rare I've seen these characters keep secrets of these canon franchise material and try to fix it. 

Heck, I doubt I would see a fanfic of the MHA cast, UA specifically, try to matchmake Hawks with Dabi after seeing their sizzling sexual tension at that meeting because to them, they are heroes who shouldn't get into illicit relationships with villains and this is well before character development. Because in the eye of the law, heroes getting together with villains is very bad. 

Though the idea would be planted and they don’t know every time they read and watch the interactions before the betrayal, the sexual tension is striking. 

Anyhow, can’t we get more creative works with the characters interacting with canon and changing it at the same time?

The two Final Fantasy fics above had them interact with all bases of the franchise, some more then others regarding how far along they are in their designated media. 

They are even changing it even when they haven’t finished it. Cloud is Sephiroth’s protege! The chocobros saved Ravus’ life! 

Just do something if these characters are gonna know the future! 

It’s repetitive if it’s just the reactions. There isn’t any creativity. 

I mean it wasn't much to the TWST fic series either. The summary events happened after they watched the events so I have no clue other than working together to get Yuu home and Grim his goal, I don't know how else other than maybe changing the events that went on like the Ghost Bride and everything else. 

But we still have to get through the watching first. Sure there are intervals of taking breaks albeit not much since they can’t leave. 

Probably expecting too much as fanfiction is a medium, most times there aren’t good writing and you have to sift through the piles of uninteresting to get to the interesting. 

You can find your typical tropes in fanfiction. In fanfiction, it’s the fun of imagining these characters in these scenarios. 

The non-fandom people who try to entice random people through tropes not realizing they are literally tropes and what makes fanfiction. The Harry Styles fanfiction to original literature pipeline is so stupid. Why the hell would it attract these girls into reading these when these guys just advertise fanfiction-like tropes? 

I love complicated pairings with tension and making their divorce everyone’s problem. I love pairings that are definitely foils and therefore compatible. The intensity in OTPs is my bread and butter. Like, Joongdok hit everything and surpassed even my intense OTPs through sheer weird intensity. Do you know you gotta be deranged to surpass Wangxian, right?! 

Do you see me falling for every ship that has this trope? I love complicated pairings the most hence why Honkai ships rapidly go up the ranks of OTP levels that only a few Genshin ships ever had. Even though I like Zhongchi and still read them, it's still not too close to the OTP levels that Haikavetham rapidly reached the endpoint and became an OTP. Joongdok shot up the ranks so quickly that it rivaled Dabihawks on its pace which Dabihawks got me in at their flashback meeting after the Endeavor battle with the Nomu. 

While ships have always been subjective, you do not see me falling for every ship that has that trope. 

It's a trope that in fanfiction is used as an imagination playground for characters they love. 

Fanfiction is its own medium that is unlike original literature. 

If that was the case, I would've been a Reylo fan, right? Nope, I am so not and not the least that these characters are so badly done with one of the characters is a white boy Neo-Nazi who shouldn’t been the focus at all or even be written into existence at all. It’s not even one of my hated ships EndHawks or simply uncomfortable for me like NaruHina. Reylo is designated as an annoying ship, pesky enough as a fly when I’m forced to deal with them in troves in the pin community. At least I sufficiently filtered out any EndHawks on Instagram for my peace of mind. Reylo I can deal with because I don't bother getting it into the way I did MHA hence why Endhawks ended up the way it had whereas my refusal of interacting with any SW Sequel Trilogy led me to see Reylo as a pesky fly. In the pin community, NaruHina and Reylo are extremely popular so I just gotta deal less so if I’m forced to deal with EndHawks which I quickly filter in all social media. It was sheer dumb luck that I saw the hashtag but not the picture in an account because I knew I saw an NSFW EndHawks pin from another pin maker which gave me psychic damage so I quickly figured out how to filter out anything regarding EndHawks. If I was on Twitter/X, then I’m gonna be in trouble unless I follow someone’s advice to get them out of my Dabihawks feed but I don’t have one because I refuse to be on that platform. 

I’m the ship and let ship, having been in the fandom for nearly two decades. I don’t bash ships as I already explained in previous posts about my feelings about certain ships. Interacting with ships that give me lots of annoyance would not do me good in actually curating my fandom experience. I refused to step on the grounds of ships I don’t like or care for for the sake of my sanity. I already suffered an Endhawks share on an instastory once and my brain broke so again for the sake of my sanity, it's better for me to even unfollow someone who would show Endhawks on their feed than have to see more of it. 

There are also ORV and Alien Stage fics that do have enemies or higher beings in power watching the series too so I don’t know what will change. All I know is that Secretive Plotter won’t be able to snatch up Dokja ASAP until maybe they leave the scenario. But even that's debatable considering the case of when Dokja will realize his feelings for his Joonghyuk over his obliviousness. Again, he'll learn who the fuck is Secretive Plotter in the first place anyways. 

From what I have seen of the ORV fic, there is an intention to show everyone this. If you know, you know. I don’t know how the fuck are going to change things because the reveal shows that it’s supposed to change things.  

I don’t know what will change when they finally leave the liminal space but at least we know there are changes. 

The ORV fic is Dramatis Personae and the ALST one is spectating our future. 

However, I do not know much of the latter fic to say that it will diverge outside of why letting the oppressors in on the future too? Let's hope and see something done because even in canon, I have yet to see how humans can reclaim their world from the aliens. 

For what it's worth about canon character watching canon, I have yet to see much that isn't just mediocrity.

Mini-Review: Cherry Magic

 

I haven't done a review in a long time so why not with Cherry Magic?

For all that it looks like with the virginity concept front and center, you would think toxic concepts would be all over it. 

I feel I should discuss the history of the ongoing manga. I’m shocked that it’s still ongoing. You would think it’ll end by their wedding but nope. I’m shocked that it’s still ongoing. 

It was originally a Twitter one-shot that was picked up for publishing and was supposed to end when Adachi loses his virginity but extended due to the success of the Jdrama and now it’s just going. Now the story is so beloved that it would up creating a whole new trope for fanfiction. 

The manga is by far the best one obviously. I scoff whenever I see the Thai version get praised as the superior version. Read the damn manga. The Jdrama is influential just for its success and its virality but it stood on its own feet when it had to deal with anime are forced to make things as they go when they don’t have the source material. At least the anime is giving the manga direct attention. 

So if you want to go, read manga first and foremost, and go to Chinese radio drama. then Jdrama, then anime. The Thai version should be your last priority if you can't find a way to watch the 2.5D version aka the musical. At the time of writing, not until people and fans see the play itself, the 2.5D stage play is in a nebulous position. At the very least, we're going to get a proshot which is hilarious to me because Broadways refused to get their proshots out there out of fear of money even though so many film successes have shown that people are willing to buy tickets to see the actual damn play. I know many animanga fans who want to experience a 2.5D musical for real instead of just seeing the proshot. At the least, the 2.5D people knew where the money was. The problem is that the plays unless made for an international audience are only sold in Japan and relatively Asia as a whole. Once I have enough information, I will edit to see what the general fan reactions are and the placement. 

From what I heard from people who was actually crazy enough to get livestream tickets, it’s campy fun. Apparently, this Kurosawa have been pining for six months and their first date went perfectly fine in comparison to their counterparts. Kurosawa of course get love songs to his name ala first date song.  

Ultimately, it’s actually the concept that is a conduit for a character-driven story. The only remaining one who has not popped his cherry is Tsuge in the manga. Cherry Magic is just an artifact and is used as magic realism for character development. And it's not like it's hurting what is in the end relationship hurdles of a committed gay relationship. 

Adachi, a bitter (because let’s be honest, his assumptions and judgments about others are very bitter and toxic) 30-year-old virgin, found he had telepathic powers and quite accidentally found out his most popular coworker’s deep crush on him going on a year or seven years depending on the adaptation. 

Adachi’s boring life was very eventful as these powers gave him the courage to speak up and take up space. Even after he lost his powers, a point of the series was his character development. I really like the edge of the original Adachi. Snarky and an ass, in the beginning, he’s brutal. No other adaptation came close to that. The Thai version of Adachi is the worst, being the stereotypical BL uke with nothing much at all. What was changed did little favors. We see Adachi grow in confidence and even take the initiative several times canonically with his relationship with Kurosawa both romantically and sexually. Fuck, their first time together was a result of Adachi kissing Kurosawa first out of passionate love he’s finally communicating in words. Adachi even denied sex when he saw Kurosawa having problems of his refusal to rely on others at work. Where was the bite in the Thai Adachi? It’s the same way that I feel anime Eiji didn’t have enough teeth for him in comparison to his flawed manga original self in Banana Fish. Is it bad that I want teeth for characters? I’m grateful BF got an anime adaptation because anime is the promo for the manga and what BF fought so hard for to get their name out there. It’s just I want the biting depths that might not even be called good. 

An otherwise invisible introverted guy who prefers not to talk back but in his head turned into a quiet steely man. He still has his self-esteem issues and sometimes fails to speak up but he’s not a pushover anymore. 

Kurosawa is hilariously unhinged. Outward placid, his thoughts can run racy and absolutely normal. Godoka, I love how unhinged he is. Even before he becomes friends with his love interest, his imagination goes wild. That imagination did not tone down upon marriage because marriage made it worse. Even when Adachi doesn’t know the exact thoughts, he can tell what kind of unhinged thoughts his insane placid husband is thinking. If he had to deal with the fantasies and whatever gifts he had for Adachi, he knew just how insane Kurosawa would go. The gap moe is also a factor too. Kurosawa is genuinely in love but for all of his obsession, he’s a sweetie who wants Adachi to experience everything. 

Kurosawa does want himself to be the man for Adachi but he seems willing to acquiesce if it comes to women for Adachi as long as he makes sure there are no advances. He’s otherwise a gentleman even when there are chances to sneak a full-on mouth kiss. Considering he’s been pining for so long, Kurosawa probably believed even after Adachi made it clear he doesn’t exactly hate it that Adachi sees him as a friend. He confessed, not expecting a reciprocation, only as a way to finally get over him. For as long as he knew him, Adachi had never shown interest in men so it’s pretty obvious it would shock him of the reciprocity. 

Kurosawa wants to know everything about Adachi. His virtues and his flaws are equally ensnaring to him. 

Each iteration often characterizes the jdrama first because that’s the popular version that utterly overshadows the original piece. The Chinese radio drama is the closest I can get to the unhinged Kurosawa and snarky ass Adachi. We do have to give the jdrama thanks for helping the manga not end shortly but we really need to give the original manga its flowers. 

Still, regardless of adaptation, all were made of love. The Thai version never even picked up the manga or even the original jdrama, probably watched the trailer and that’s it. I want to be kind to it but it just didn’t display anything that I like about the original in the first place. I have my misgivings for the weaker adaptations but I do like the better parts of the Thai iteration such as the localization (house, transport to work, etc) which is only up to a point, unfortunately. But the Thai version was made of love regardless of quality. 

I really like the jdrama fleshing out the side characters more due to its slower pacing. The jdrama might not done well when branching on its own stuff well that isn’t the side characters except Minato but it’s adequate. While the original Fujisaki inhabits the Yaoi fangirl shipper, the jdrama iteration is her own fleshed-out character who is firmly AroAce. 

The friendships Adachi has been fleshed out beyond just Rakakou and a little bit of Fujisaki. It’s about the relationships Adachi makes beyond just his romance. The point is to live life and there is nothing wrong with experiencing all of that in their quarter-life. 

I’ve been drawn to protagonists in their late twenties to thirties lately because they show there is nothing wrong with experiencing the life you supposedly have at a young age and don’t carry it into the quarter life. The story of ORV is ultimately about love written with love. Any kind of love is written with romance being ambiguous. ORV isn’t BL but the ambiguity of it as well as the queer subtext seems almost text. It got to the point that the queer subtext was outright erased on the ebook version. 

As someone who has trouble socializing but wants to reach out to the rest of the world, Cherry Magic and ORV and their themes are always comforting that life is still going for me and there is nothing wrong with experiencing love of all kinds at this age. 

People have written Cherry Magic off both in the BL and at large in general due to the title alone and what they feel is a dime a dozen. 

BL has so much denigration and is under fire even though the topic of discussion is more nuanced than that a blanket statement the entire genre is entirely rape. Not to mention, there is always a popular mxm ship in every single fandom 

If Cherry Magic retold the story so many times including a fucking musical version, there has to be something special to Cherry Magic, don't you think? More than just being a relatively mature shounen-ai at best? There has to be something special that created a fanfic trope. 

I don't think dismissing it alone when fans are willing to experience the story over and over again. 

I believe the character development, that the story is well past the main character in the main romance losing his virginity and thus his powers, and that it's about the love of all sorts and the building of relationships to experience the world is what made Cherry Magic a standout in the crowd. 

Yes, these things exist in other BLs too. Whatever Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, language there is for BL, it is still BL. And in BL, you must stand out lest there wouldn't be adaptations in other mediums. However, Cherry Magic isn't even the most popular thing ever even the Jdrama had done a lot for the manga but it's still not even some of the most popular danmeis' level of popularity. Sure they are translated and have a big fanbase but whereas MDZS is a deconstruction of xianxia with BL, Cherry Magic is essentially a slice of life BL that explores love in all its forms as well as the hurdles of a committed relationship that does deal with the societal homophobia. 

There are many different BLs including affectionate parodies. Like any other romance, there are many different kinds of romances that tackle all kinds of things. Cherry Magic's magic is its gentleness in depicting the love of all kinds and that no matter what the brain thinks those who care for you do care for you. 

The BL and the LGBT stories that do stick out in the crowd deserve to have eyes on them, the ones that are good anyway. 

At the moment, I’m in deep with Blue Flag and Gambare Nakamara. 

The likes of Emilia Perez, a supposedly LGBT story that does not showcase any topical subjects meaningfully, failed hard in their performative activism and was safe enough for elites to get behind. Oh, so the song is about political corruption even though the movie never acknowledged that Rita is colluding with corrupt figureheads nor was the subject of the song ever brought up before the song. That’s not even the worst thing regarding the writing. If anything, that’s a minor footnote to the list of misdeeds. The movie was already rotten to the core but to know just how putrid it was through each rot in the lead-up to the Oscars 

The Death Note US live-action is just horrid because when the original Japanese series criticize the Japanese justice system, this one doesn't do shit about the American justice system and how it impacts the BIPOC community. Just nope. L being black could be a thing to connect the dots from there but nope. Of course not. The thing for the guys behind this adaptation is not the themes or even attempting to emulate the cat-and-mouse play in a good way, it's about the imagery of Kira the cult, and the grandeur of the death. No fun for the cast and crew will ever wipe away the loss of potential. I can't even enjoy that much when everything else was horrendously written so flat. 

That's the process I feel with the worst of performative LGBT media that are hailed as legendary when it's not. For every Moonlight or I Saw the TV Glow, there is always an Emilia Perez or Girl. 

While the story is officially a BL, there are LGBT themes present. The author supports gay marriage in Japan. 

I’m happy that it exists happily. The series itself is not as groundbreaking as YOI and Utena; or in the mainstream where there definitely be more thought put into it like FMA. However, not all art is supposed to be high art to be enjoyed. There is a heart there with a power of connection that allowed its staying power in so many iterations. It’s powerful enough to get a fanfic trope. The last I remember was Seven Days. 

Transformers One (and the Wild Robot)

 

This isn't a review or anything like that. I could say this is a fun post, more than anything else. 

Speaking of the movie itself, it's not anything groundbreaking but it does its job being a prequel taking a lot of inspiration throughout history. Considering that it's the anniversary, the movie does celebrate that. 

On an aside note, due to the fact that the movie is an origins story, one of the many, it's a foregone conclusion on what we knows how it's going to go: Optimus and Megatron's friendship will shatter and it will lead to millions of years of civil war that unintentionally brought the war to Earth for its resources. How the war will end depends but it's often at Optimus' death to restore Cybertron to the livable world.

Maybe this iteration won't happen but Optimus could probably pass down the Matrix with Primus' issuing the coronation of the newest Prime to lead not a war but a peaceful war where there is no more civil war. 

Transformers as a whole is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The movie shows why the franchise wouldn't have survived this long because as the franchise says, more than meets the eye. 

The movie is a gateway for newcomers, as the movie itself takes inspiration from its predecessors to create its own continuity. 

For new fans, each piece of media is its own universe, so you can pick and choose which one. Please note that each piece of media takes inspiration from each other, so there are things that are originators, so keep that in mind. Each new piece of Transformers media will always influence new future media. Whatever new lore material that somehow makes sense would carry over. 

The lore by itself and its continuous transformations across the decades of influence is pretty much why Transformers have their 40th anniversary. 

In sheer contrast, Winx Club for all its years doesn't seem to have the same staying power as each iteration since doesn't do much to build upon the other. I mean they try but they are poorly thought out in terms of fashion alone if that's any indication of the poor thought process. 

Even Scooby-Doo, bumpy road aside in the recent decade, has some showing of why it has staying power and does build upon each other. 

The ones that survive this long surely built on top of each other. 

TF1 will definitely implement new ideas in future media soon enough. I don't know which, but I can guess. 

The fandom itself has multiple continuities or mashups into a consistent universe of elements they like across the franchise. I have seen them pick one universe and cherry-pick whatever they like in other media. 

For example, this Orion Pax would've definitely been an archivist had he had his t-cog and we see that in this Orion with his love for history and education in general. 

While I enjoyed Orion as an archivist (and I know others who enjoyed that he's essentially a librarian), there are others that he's still higher on the food chain, mostly because he's Alpha Trion's protege or has an in with the council. 

These jobs are still interesting to explore but to have Orion go back to his roots on the bottom of the food chain or at least a laborer job that has a passion for learning and history will do the job better in understanding. 

I have seen Megatron typically placed at the lowest rung with the miner coming from the IDW and the gladiator from the Aligned. The TF1 continuity did have the concept of gladiator D-16 as a side job hence his fighting capability (just like this Orion has a passion for history) but only alluded to it. 

Also I see a lot of Megop newbies as well as just newbies in general who want to do things correctly all for their doomed yaoi ship. 

Yeah, I've been there. I dove into the fandom one time I was just in a Transformers mood. I say I’m not particularly too deep into Transformers but TFWiki will always remain on top of everything and I wholly recommend it to any newcomer. The snarky tone is entertaining. 

I am at least that Orion Pax, the past version of Optimus Prime, is now somewhat known to the wider public at least as well as D-16. 

Poor marketing aside, Transformers One’s audience is specifically aimed at the Pixar and DreamWorks crowd. The initial poor trailers outright stated what kind of audience they are aiming at, even if it seems like Illumination’s audience if we go by that generously. 

The director used to work at Pixar for the love of Arceus. They have an audience in mind even if the marketing team was so piss poor at their jobs or Hasbro just didn't care even though there are plans for a trilogy from the creative team. 

Transformers have always aimed at kids whereas the transmedia franchise is aimed at teens and young adults and even long-time fans. I doubt kids are reading the novels. 

Again, we wouldn't have fandom without adult fans who have time in their schedule to tell stories they want to tell and fanart. 

Transformers would have survived this long by building onto each other and understanding where the maturity lies. 

Heck, from how they are building on to each other, there are deep cuts. 

Deep cuts don't necessarily mean that it'll be good. Clumsily put-together messes like Disney's Wish are so poor that they degrade the overall final movie. The deep cuts there if there are even any that can hold up to scrutiny just make it clear that they aren't building their own identity. 

Each consecutive Transformers series in each medium it has ever been in has always been unique from one another. The references can range from light to deep but it's reflective of how Transformers will keep on building on each other to make each continuity their own. 

Fuck, Transformers even ones that are so kid-friendly are by far more mature than Power Rangers of the past decade who went back to their roots to their detriment. Instead of understanding which part of great, Power Rangers just went full 90s without the substance of the later arcs of MMPR, simply season 1 and that's it and even the better part of said season is still relegated to second best to not at all in terms of writing. 

Yeah, my disappointment with the Neo-Saban era and onward is still pretty much there. While stuff slightly got better in later seasons, they still aren't displaying the level of maturity that later PR seasons displayed and heck even later MMPR. It's as if season 1 is the only one that mattered to them without taking into consideration what made it work. Just in tiny bits. 

The Wild Robot demonstrates that animation is a medium. A medium that isn't designated entirely for kids. 

While Oscars are slowly getting better, it's by no means perfect as animated features have no chance outside of music, and in the era of remakes, we are not getting any better. We really have to wait till Disney runs out of things to remake for them to even consider making new fairy tale adaptations 

Godoka, since John Powell is returning for the live-action HTTYD, I wonder how he will expand the magnificent soundtrack. 

At this point, the HTTYD remake was the last straw for people who didn't even want live-action remakes. 

Considering that I know just how bad the first ORV live-action will go even with the plans of having a series of movies for it, I'll take what I can get so my favorite book of recent years gets the respect that it deserves and sits beside the danmei. Honestly, a bad adaptation of ORV will bring some flavor considering what ORV as a whole is. It’s one of the books I’m desperate to own in print but for now, I’ll wait to see it on bookshelves so I can physically grab it and buy it at the register, holding it in awe as I walk out. I think I would be holding back tears if one of my fave pieces of literature is finally in my possession. Admittedly, a part of it was reading the English summary so I’m putting it off till it’s in stores. The feeling of serotonin I receive whenever I have something I love in my hands is just a hit. You can imagine once pin mail came in, the same feeling of excitement and joy came through every time. My ORV collection is so slow-going but that's the case for all my collections really. Unlike most pin collectors I see, I'm way too picky and cautious with my money so I often research and don't give away my money willy-nilly. Heck, I don't even follow over 1000 accounts at this point. I didn’t even follow one apparent scammer assuming another identity because the art I saw on their account just doesn’t jive with me. I don't know whether that is good because I've been so stingy by comparison that I haven't been scammed by the pin community's biggest scammers and those who just couldn't keep up the business aspect. 

Hey, I haven’t bought anything from Nakamapin or Hunterflowerpin, but at least I know they're reliable. Nakamapin had been cutting back on effects and now seemed to be better, considering the larger pins they have are still priced less than any aftermarket 3.5-inch pop pin. 

I prefer to buy my books physically as the hit I get from having them is the best. Seriously, the best hit I received was when I received my Dragonair Mamo AX exclusive. I wish I could buy Mamobot in person. 

Like I knew about the HTTYD books way before I knew Dreamworks picked up the rights for it. My dad randomly selected it from audiobooks as in my childhood my brother and I were lulled to sleep via audio books and classical music hence our appreciation for music scores and audiobooks. We have a great appreciation for the books read aloud to us. I listened to the OST of the first movie before seeing it in the theatre. I read the entire book series well before the release of the first movie. 

Animation and therefore kids media have strived and grown to be mature. Kids are passive about any romance, focusing cool aspects like sparkles and monsters. Do you really think my little niece care about the awful writing of Frozen? Heck no but she loves the sparkles. My toddler nephew loves cars but I don’t think he cares about the mediocrity of Pixar Cars. 

I love my morally ambiguous gray protagonists. It’s why I can stand the gray protagonists whereas Western audiences seem to want pure heroes. Well, forgive me for wanting feral KDJ and government assassin Hawks. Listen, love Hiccup and all those pure-hearted heroes but gray morality is my preference, given my shipping tendencies that Tokyo Babylon started. 

The reading comprehension is so goddamn low with the reading of Megatron and the absolutely terrible reading of politics. Sure, go with pathos when mecha anime displays more political know-how as they are anti-war through and through. Even Code Geass as part of the genre is obstinately anti-war. People think that’s it’s pro-war but it’s really not. VLD is pro-war and I can prove that. 

People have the right to their emotions but being ruled by emotions and that emotions are the only thing that matters in this current world is not good. Megatron has the right to his anger but he has no right when the due process of Sentinel’s trial where a civilization needs to have their say, not a single terrorist. Fuck, the whole city has no idea of their beloved benevolent leader’s treachery. Megatron was going to kill them all and rule tyrannously more so than their previous dictator. 

I know reading comprehension is so goddamn low that people seem to think Glinda is the bad one without taking into consideration that she’s flawed and grew from her mistakes just like her foil. It’s the same thing with Optimus, saying that he’s a hypocrite for exiling Megatron and the High Guard when expressively the latter were planning a hostile takeover for a new dictatorship with their philosophy and definite vindictive executions. 

Godoka, I feel my brain breaks at the intentional almost bad-faith reading (given these people, it’s genuine) instead of considering things like flaws and character development. Heck, even noted moments of dialogue and shown in detail seemed to be outright missed. 

Forgive me for just knowing reading comprehension is so goddamn poor that these readings are somehow valid even though the text and basic media literacy are on the floor. 

Apparently, there are no such things as flaws and character development, positive and negative. Apparently, these are now indicators that they’re the true villains or the cause of future conflict even though what we’d just seen indicated the other party is just as much to blame or simply not comprehending the larger picture or nuance. 

Stories have always been a thing for me. I made it a point that for my ORV collection, it’s story based and featuring every character. It hurts to see so bad reading comprehension. It’s one thing to have hot takes that aren’t really controversial and is a matter of opinion but it’s another to disregard stories and their nuance. 

While Princess Tutu is in my top three favorite magical girls anime with Shugo Chara at 4th, it was a threefer hit with stories, fairy tales, and ballet. How can I not love it?! Having great meta writing with stories is a good way to shoot your way to the top or near the top of my favorite pieces of literature. How else did ORV win that honor so quickly? 

Madoka is nice and all but it's nowhere near my top faves. I like it well enough that I'm open to a Godoka pin. I use Godoka's name so often that I might as well get a merch of her, preferably with Godoka with her bow in a dynamic action. 

Even the most cliched storms that Dubois and Sanders think of are full of rhymes like the OG Star Wars before Disney got their grubby hands on it. If people like the ST, whatever. I ignore them and stay on my lane, brushing off Reylo and their individual characters especially the white boy neo-Nazi like flies they are. At least they don’t induce brain breakage like EndHawks I avoid like the plague and ignore to oblivion. You really don’t see me wasting any energy on ship hate because seriously, seeing ship hate makes me roll my eyes. I really don't like Endhawks and that's putting it lightly but you don't see me invade the spaces of those shippers. You would see me scrub any trace of the ship in my fandom curation than spew out hate. 

It's understandable why TOne wasn't in the nominations at all. With its poor marketing and doubtful Oscar hopeful nomination, no way will that happen. With Hasbro going all about Transformers and Power Rangers, I don’t know what Power Rangers is doing right now in its indefinite hiatus with the auction of so many props and costumes. 

Unlike Wild Robot’s Oscar race hopeful, there’s no chance in hell that’s happening even with a crew that has Pixar experience with TOne. Hasbro as a whole didn’t think they’d profit from it and let it fail. I mean the shows are doing fine. The movies are not. TOne’s performance was their own and Hasbro didn’t give a shit. 

I don't know at this point that TOne will get the trilogy going when Hasbro themselves are backing out of all film projects. 

For the sake of all animation and film in general, look at the lesser-known titles. Fuck, even with anime gaining ground, only Ghibli films ever made the nominations. I don't even think the Look Back crew even attempted to go for a nomination hopeful at all. 

It is funny looking at the K-pop industry's desperate attempts to get into any of the Western Big 3 music award shows. I don't think Blackpink was even placed in any other categories than just TSA and more than just the K-pop-created categories designed entirely to other them since the removal of the category no less whereas BTS was able to be nominated in other categories at the BBMAs. 

There were groups who were there just to be on the carpet and quickly left the premises because they weren’t even nominated. There are groups like the aforementioned Blackpink never asked to make their TV debut or to perform their hit singles continuously as an established act on the Western music scene. BP performed only at the VMAs, a fucking attendance award show. 

Oh, I’m sure the groups who were nominated and knew they would lose basically watch BTS just win in categories they’ll never get in and perform to a loud ecstatic crowd at these award shows. We don’t know their thoughts but they have to know they’ll never win or get into the categories BTS was able to get. They’ll never perform there too. 

I know BTS opened the doors to a Grammy nomination but I repeat that they haven’t been able to get any of the Big 3 western music awards that would make them stick out from the pack other than their popular name and still arrogant enough to submit. BTS has 5 Grammy nominations yet BP has none. 

Oh sure, Rose was able to get Apt out there but would it be enough to sustain? 

The Western music scene and especially the award shows are notoriously racist. There are so many people of color who were nominated for a Grammy but never able to win. Why does the K-pop industry think they can even achieve a Grammy nod? It was an uphill battle for BTS to even achieve a stage of their own on Grammy much less their own nominations. These groups are fighting an uphill battle surely but almost they never realize they would need to get the awards BTS were at least nominated in to get a peek of recognition from the voting base or even get the numbers to get there. 

Fuck, when BTS was first nominated for Best Duo/Group, ARMY wasn’t expecting the win because it just seemed so unlikely. Heck, the nomination by itself was already a win. BTS and ARMY are graceful losers. They would’ve accepted the loss had any other person won. 

ARMY knew the likelihood of winning a Grammy which is nil but they knew the Butter stage was very important. They are always conservative in their predictions and always forewarned they might not even win.

BP’s MMAs won’t matter here to get the awards BTS were in. 

Even the 4th gen groups who appreciate BTS opening the doors for them to get a Grammy nomination are deluded in thinking they can even do that one easily. Listen TXT, you’re a good group but you haven’t won shit in the American music awards. You are at least able to get the Kpop categories that I repeat are designed to other you but you are never to get into the best group with your sunbaes. 

Ya haven’t scored even just below the BB100 in American charts. I know that, unlike others, you are aware that as long as BTS is there, they'll win the Daesang. 

However, those who haven't even won a single Korean award much less a music show award are outright delusional about aiming for Billboard. I want those guys to be realistic and just focus on building up their fanbase to get even a single music show award. That’s manageable, right?! If BTS doesn’t release something, there’ll be a chance you win something. Ya already know that your labels are pushing to not fight against BTS on their release dates as I know that infamous one where they piled on TXT whereas BTS dominated November but still releases on Fridays. BTS can still get enough points to get the simple music show award but you guys can't. Just get a single music show award and stay and grow musically rather than focus on the hardest music market to break into even if the barrier have been broken. Just because BTS was able to achieve that and a following to boot, does not mean you can't achieve at least a sizeable fandom. Just get enough points to score a win with the full tracking week rather than BTS who can still compete with the western artists. They need Friday releases to even chart at all while BTS scored a top 10 in their first Friday release. That is not the same when DNA definitely would’ve scored higher on the charts had it released Friday as well. BTS sees a chance of success in the west with the Friday releases. The other groups follow suit because of course the stagnancy of the industry follows. 

I roll my eyes whenever I see that ‘K-pop groups never needed Western validation!’ from K-pop stans. This is why your group will never ever achieve higher than BTS. ARMY never wanted that, just to make it clear to the Western music industry that BTS is here to stay and their music deserves analysis and a place in music history that the racist Western music industry cannot ignore, snub sure but cannot ignore their presence. Oh, the general public loves BTS but not the Western music industry which decides who gets to be big. They can light up landmarks in purple and have a festival during their concerts. 

Western validation yet these groups are desperate to get a Western music award. SB19 wanted the damn TSA award yet BBMAs scraped it due to BTS winning again breaking Justin Beiber’s record which they refuse to see. GMA turned into another music show without the weekly award yet these groups never even achieved a high debut on the Hot 100 without collabs. BP never achieved a top 10 on their own with a Korean song without collabs. 

All their attempts to be BTS because that's the difference in the end, isn't it? They want to be BTS and have that level of success. I roll my eyes at this argument because once again, it shows a lack of understanding towards the American music market. Do not expect BTS’ popularity for your groups even BP. BTS will be a towering presence but to say BTS closed the way is to demean simply because they ain’t achieving BTS’ popularity and better yet numbers that they should help for their groups but no. They are already hating on BTS for achieving these groundbreaking things, why the fuck are they defeatists on something they could help their groups with? 

America knows Adele, Justin Bieber, and Ed Sheeran but they do not know the fuck whoever this popular in France they have no idea whose this guy is. This is the American music market. It's not K-pop where one gets into one group and falls in love with an entire industry. 

Of fucking course K-pop overall isn't that popular. It's only a slice. Sure there might be hits now and then with BTS being the only consistent one with once a blue moon hit like Rose's Apt but K-pop, while still globally recognized for the most part, is still just a slice of popularity. BTS is the popular one, not K-pop. BTS gives rise to K-pop but BTS is big despite it. 

The K-pop groups and their big agencies want BTS' popularity when they should've just carved out their identity and made themselves stand out. 

American artists have individuality or at least a facade of one. 

BTS has individuality even when they aren't a powerhouse. Fuck, nobody said Taylor Swift is a good singer but she has individuality in her writing that created fans. Musicians promote their music first whenever they can, not promote their features more than themselves. K-pop groups, fuck even BP, are guilty of being manufactured because they don't control their music and attempt to promote themselves as the ones who paved the way. 

That and the overinflation of their numbers that the K-pop industry and stans tried to pump up are utterly baseless because they ain’t performing in stadiums and hitting the top 10s. Mediaplay and hyping up BB200 and BB100 when they couldn’t even out chart BTS’ first Friday release that debuted at no. I0, Fake Love. When I say BTS has the numbers to compete with Western artists, I and the ARMYs do mean that. 

This is BTS' success just as it's Adele and One Direction's success in the West. America knows them but they don't recognize every K-pop group ever because that's not American music. Don't make me laugh harder at these stupid K-pop stans because of their ignorance. If their ignorance hasn't already been shown via stupid accusations of plagiarism and copyright. I don't care much about the music industry and I feel I know more than them through basic common sense. 

BTS already dealt with so much BS with double standards of both industries they upended. BTS didn't even attempt to promote themselves during the Wings era until their next album with the LY albums. BTS arrived due to their fans and growing demand. 

BTS didn't even want an exemption from military enlistment. I know they would've done it anyway even early into their career. Yes, Jin took the extension but he was always going to go into the military anyway. It's the big companies who wanted the exemption, not BTS. BTS is always proud of their country and culture and displays it in their songs and performances. They were always going to go despite people wanting to take advantage of the BTS Law for their own gains. 

There's a difference between them and YJH. YJH is an orphan who needs to take care of his little sister who is basically a minor so he has to be exempted because Yoo Mia doesn't have any other relatives to take care of her and even if YJH sends money from the military, it won't be enough. He’s a famous gamer but unlike Faker, he is utterly exempted due to his orphan status with parents who died before he became a tween, and taking care of his sister who is a minor, and not because of whatever achievements he did for the nation. I’m sure the nation as grateful as they are for KimCom just do not want to deal with their terrorist who they can’t even arrest and don’t want to think of giving this strong dude more ammo. Luckily, YJH just wants to be a househusband who would give his star all the love he deserves. 

KDJ went to the military because even though he was orphaned essentially with his mom in jail to take the fall for his kill, he still lives with relatives and eventually lives in his own apartment somewhere else because he's not welcomed by his other relatives after high school graduation. 

BTS are able-bodied and are proud of their Korean heritage. They will serve their country. 

The BTS Law only affects BTS and the Korean people who don't know any better look down on them for even thinking of exemption when they're able-bodied despite BTS not even wanting that. It was pushed upon them by others who wanted them to continue succeeding for the country's pride and bigger companies' selfish means for their own groups. 

BTS didn't attempt to break into the other music industries because it wasn't ever the plan. Heck, their social media promotion was their only way of getting themselves out there while remaining true to themselves. 

K-pop stans with their deeply embedded biases against BTS failed to see and vastly underestimated BTS’ success in the US. They said their groups don’t want Western validation yet try to demean BTS for their achievements just because they aren’t winning it. They fail to see ARMY’s perspective and just how hard they have to work to even get into the main categories with an unwelcoming Western industry that hates them for breaking their facade. Oh, the Western music industry is still hard to break into but make no question ARMY research into the music industry so that they can make damn sure BTS get what they deserve showing it’s a facade of power and racism. ARMY have been aware of how unfair it is to BIPOC artists in the West already but BTS with its powerful fandom made it clear just how bad it really is for foreign artists when they made it in the West. 

DNA would’ve achieved a higher debut had it been released on a Friday, just like Fake Love did. One year after its US debut with a Korean song with no collaboration, Blackpink will never achieve that. BP can pump up that they made it to the Top 40, but they never reached a single top 10. 

Oh, K-pop stans are fine with buying albums but longevity is a nope. When BTS songs freefalled to send a message, BTS’ numbers can level with it to achieve the higher main categories as they never made it on the year-end charts. BTS has more than just longevity as a band, they have longevity to stay as they were not forced by the Western industry to not ignore them but still snub them. The other groups including BP do not have the numbers to compete. 

Again, only a slice of the music is part of Hallyu. No media play will ever make up for the numbers that backed up BTS. No numbers have ever backed up BP. Fuck, if it weren’t for the numbers, BTS wouldn’t be able to attend. 

At least with Kdramas as the apolitical and idealistic version of what Korea is still dramas and don’t have to worry about playing to industry rules. At least with K-beauty products don’t have to worry about anything but what can be sold. K-movies even with their criticism towards Korean culture are still pretty great. I think that it’s ironic that things that criticize society are often the things that stick out. Even BTS stuck their heads out for the LGBT community. 

Again for my sake, even though a terrible adaptation of ORV will have some flavor given everything about ORV, it's still some kind of flavor. Listen, ORV is one of my favorite pieces of literature ever and I would love to see it given the dignity that it deserves. Even without a trailer, the live-action adaptation seems to be coming off a bad start with the casting and the movie poster, especially the movie poster. The trailer for it was just bad… WTF is with those guns and not with the right characters?? No ORV fans are looking forward to this even those who want to be cautiously optimistic. 

Again there is some flavor with abysmal ORV adaptation given ORV is ORV. I am still gonna watch it out of duty to see it through. There might be fodder to be used. I have already seen ideas thrown around. It's already hilarious to see the memes. Why swords on the poster but guns in the trailer when fans know those characters do not use guns in those scenarios? I’m still not looking forward to it because a character been aged up when that wasn’t the point of her character and worse yet I saw shipping already. 

If BCD returning was enough of a warning of just how insufferable ARMY will be upon the reunion in June, then I don't know what is. I didn't know about his return considering I can't enter Twitter again without an account. Even in the main pin Discord server that I go to as my main hub, the few ARMYs in there already accepted their fates of a bloodbath upon their concert in 2025.