How the Pin Community Functions

 

The pin community is a totally different beast from any other fandom I've ever experienced. 

I'm used to ignoring flame wars and not even stepping into grounds that I know annoy me. Curating your fandom experience is better than nothing. 

At the time of writing, there is a lot of shit going on. Fan merch makers are always treading on a wire regarding IPs. 

Hoyoverse is a-okay with fan merch, but that's not the case for everyone. Disney and Nintendo are the hard hitters of this one. Heck, even stuff like Steven Universe and Avatar: The Last Airbender have been known to be hits. 

Even in Disney fantasy pinmaking space, there is always a chance that one of them could be struck down, no matter how big or small. 

Nuwa kept the Disney pins behind a paywall, so if you want her Free to Dream series or any Disney designs like the Landscapes, which are available through other means via the secondhand market, you can buy from her through her pin club personally. Or if you are going to a convention, she'll have them there too. 

Fanmerch space is very trend-heavy. The art that was churned out for Kpop Demon Hunters and Arcane are just one of the many examples to be made in so many fan merchandise. Stickers and art prints are the easiest so if any artists have conventions, you will see them and can buy them then. Pins take months in production. Who knows what will come in once this post is up? 

That means any rare pair, less popular, or dormant fandoms will not be the focus. From a pin collector once said, Shounen is the stock market in the pin community. 

This is still a business, and fan merchandise has to go with the trends because that's what it is. 

There are pinmakers who create original art. For example, Nuwa has a line dedicated to original art. They are at least not harmed by the waves of the trends because they created a fanbase for their original art. 

Consistent fanmerch that always sells are Disney and anime like Sailor Moon and Pokemon. Heck, I don't think there is much drama in the Pokemon pin space except for Shinnoyume who has horrid customer service and I don't recommend buying from because buy with caution. He won't even ship out and refuse to entertain concern from customers. He won't update any preorders and for the pin club as well so I won't recommend him. Buy from him only at conventions only. 

I wish I could avoid just how personal the drama is. The money is personal because it's their hard-earned money, and they haven't shown shit. 

Scamming is apparently easy to spot now. But it's not always clear that they would be a scammer. I did miss a spot for a pin I wanted from a maker who would wind up being a scammer, which is disappointing. I really did like the Saturn pin, and people got theirs. 

Most of what I read about scammers used to be big makers, but one way or another, they mismanaged funds or refused to take responsibility and ran away with the money. 

I know that for some, it's a hobby or a side hustle, but they still have to treat it like a business. Being able to make it a full-time business like Mamobot and Mualcaina isn't the case, nor is it easy for everyone else who prefers their full-time jobs. 

However, even if some businesses have questionable policies, they still need to show themselves to be trustworthy. Honestly, it's better for anyone's sanity that you actually show manu updates. 

Mintyxpins, for example, has awful updates. Even when she eventually delivers on the products, she still has pretty terrible updates. I still think her pre-orders every month are way too much, even with LE. Heck, I didn't bother getting the Shugo Chara specifically of Ikuto because of this. 

There are businesses that do pre-orders every month, but they really have to limit themselves because they can't overreach and bite off more than they can chew. This is a business with lots of money involved. 

Sometimes I'm just wary of Minty doing preorders every week of the month. At least I can trust HFP and Liu because their turnaround is relatively short and timely, never exceeding three months. Minty takes a long time and still 

There’s so much drama that I feel I’m in the crossfire of flames. At least I feel I don’t need to have an opinion on those things. I understand the gripes and the ickiness of wrong actions and what was said. I simply don’t have to buy them or those particular items. 

Honestly, there is always drama, but I've seen more than I have in my more than twenty years as a fandom lurker. 

It's saying something when artists, pinmakers, and customers are fighting, I feel more at peace in my other fandoms I'm in. Again, I usually side-step anything volatile or anything that makes me take psychic damage because I curate my fandom experience. It's much more difficult, so the best I could do aside from reading up on scammers and troublesome businesses, I try to avoid pin community drama as much as I can. 

It’s a necessity to at least have a pin collection for at least a few posts. If you really want to involve yourself in some of the practices, at least have some pin posts of some parts of your collection or in your stories. It's much easier for pinmakers and other collectors to semi-relax around you. 

It’s actually easy to get pins and build a collection. Etsy and artists have storefronts on Shopify, Big Cartel, and other platforms. Put collections together on a board or try photography and plaster them on your Instagram, posts, reels, and stories, and they should grant you at least that much leeway. 

Certain artists might swing your side. Crowd pleasers like Mamobot's video game designs are always great and have lines everywhere he goes. I experienced such a line at AX. 

Considering the tariffs, if you are in the US, best shop US pinmakers for the time being, who have the deal with the burden of tariffs themselves. 

The supposed point of the tariffs was to shop American-made things. Considering how America is still unwilling to go into manufacturing and that this stupid administration is doing everything in its power to punish the American people while stealing from the poor, that's not going to happen. Businesses are still going to rely on other countries to better make them rather than being isolationist to the point of destroying allies' relationships that will take decades to recover. They're destroying everything in their path to keep their power, regarding everything that opposes them as terrorism to their 'values'. 

There is nothing wrong with relying on other countries for things America cannot do. It's okay that manufacturing is something difficult for America to even do because the infrastructure is not there. Largely, if you look at my Notion, you see mostly American-based pinmakers, but that was a thing even before the tariffs. 

Tariffs and getting rid of the de minimis are just heartbreaking as it's been the flow of so much relief for everyone. Of course, Trump had to get it of it for lining his own pockets and he's a guilty coward who loathes laws and will do everything in his power to be king. 

Anyhow, building a collection and showing some of it must be done. I have monthly pin mail that I usually show off at the end of the month. That's a great way to provide some level of semi-trust in a fellow collector. It's not much. I mean, you don't even have to be that active in your Instagram account as long as you have pins on your account to be at least semi-trusted. 

It's gatekeeping in a way, but when the small businesses have to protect themselves from losing their businesses from bad eggs reporting to the large IPs, it has to be done, unfortunately. Even Mamobot has to deal with this because he ain't making ATLA and SU pins anymore after that experience. Nuwa was able to escape, as all she puts up fanart and explains they are preorders in the post itself and as I said before, puts her Disney pins behind a paywall. 

It's an unfortunate situation for anyone unused to such things to even want to be part of a commitment group just to buy that one pin, so the best approach is to feature pins in posts or stories. It's only that much. 

There's not much that one can do besides show pins. Collectors leave every day just as pinmakers come in. This is a hobby that can be easily exploited by scammers more so than others, as frauds can utilize good artwork and open preorders, requiring no self-funding on themselves. That's a red flag and making no effort to show updates is also another. I know people are pressuring Minty to showcase more updates in the clubs I'm in for her. 

Unless they are already in the community and can be trusted, as I know is the case with one, they must self-fund. There's this one new guy who's making pins now who only opens preorders because people wanted it, and since he wanted to do good, he took a lot of advice from those in the community. He consistently updates his clients and always ensures that he showcases trustworthiness in handling business finances. 

There are lots of scammers in this, so really be careful to place your hard-earned money in the right hands. There are smaller makers out there doing their best while scammers are using art to scam people and ran off. I wasn't able to get into the Facebook group that called out pinmakers, but I've been in enough Discord servers to avoid pinmakers. 

ORV Live Action Mini Review

 

Was anyone surprised that the actual movie was shit? 

I personally wasn't. Maybe I was more tempered in my expectation, with mediocre being my guess in the end. 

I was not expecting outright bad and incompetent writing and filmmaking in general. 

The initial premise just seems like a run-of-the-mill apocalypse movie with superhero shit. There is none of what made ORV so great in the first place. Heck, the Star Stream scenarios were supposed to be humanity's punishment for some goddamn reason by the universe, I guess. Yeah, that's a thing. 

The cinematography felt more like a commercial than an actual film. I feel like the medium of film is not used at all. There is no love in the frame, not any love for anything but the director's own misguided beliefs, revealing repulsiveness. 

The dialogue is completely stilted and unnatural. There is no love in this. 

The characters are OOC if not outright in name. What the hell happened to everyone? No, KDJ won't do that. No, that's no Yoo Sangah. No, that's no Heewon either. No, that's not Gilyoung. No, that's definitely not Yoo Joonghyuk. No, that's not HyunSung. I feel like a broken record. Fuck, the villains aren't them either! 

The women's struggles and their experiences are completely erased. I mean it, SA, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and the sexism the women experienced are rendered null. There is no interior to them, only them serving the main character's 'growth'. This is misogyny revealed by the director and production team, who, at best, merely reviewed a Cliff Notes version, rather than one that required critical thinking. Or, at worst, they didn't bother and just read a summary, deriving everything from there. 

Kim Dokja's victimhood of bullying was also erased because this is something they also refused to touch. There is absolutely nothing about domestic violence here, folks. Nothing about his dad being a piece of shit, and that he literally rewrote his own reality for killing in self-defense. Nothing that his mom took the fall and any of the complexity of their relationship. Honestly, the backstory of KDJ conveyed so much about KDJ's character, and they butchered it. No, KDJ is not this heroic figure who is this altruistic about the world. He would sacrifice the world for his friends and is a manipulative fucker. 

The misguidance of the roles of the reader, writer, and protagonist in this movie is a trainwreck. Those roles are of fucking importance in the original, and what do you mean KDJ is the writer??? There is no YSJ because all her stuff is going to KDJ anyway. What do you mean that YJH isn't KDJ's favorite character and it's Heewon instead? Heewon, who is only revealed to be a canon character way later? YJH is now reduced to a side character, a disservice to his protagonist status as well as one of the roles as the three main characters. 

There are no skills that made KDJ the reader here. There is barely a mention of the Constellations, if at all, honestly, because it feels like they erased them either way. What do you fucking mean that he hates the novel he's been reading since that pivotal point in his life? He's not Shen Yuan!! That removed an important part of KDJ, and they fucked it up! 

There is a removal of characters that takes away a significant portion of the story. LSH is not even here because her role was taken over by YSA for some reason, and that reason is obvious. 

Every character is a disservice to their original characterization. I feel that if I discussed more of the SA and the sexism that the female characters experienced in canon and compared it with how they are portrayed misogynistically in the live-action movie, I'm gonna explode and rant. At least I kept KDJ as a paragraph, and I was trying to not go on because I refuse to give the movie more thought than it deserves. 

It feels more like they are attempting a power fantasy because how else can the women, with the loss of their interior service nothing more than the male fantasy? Getting rid of any queerness and making everything just another matter of power fantasy for dudebros and idol fans. 

They eliminated important arcs and skills that are prevalent in future arcs and the story as a whole. There are literally no character arcs for anyone, as they are reduced to power fantasy for the dudebros to project and pretty things for eye candy because that's what they essentially reduced every single character to. 

It was not even an adaptation. How could it be when it couldn’t adapt basic elements? And the changes aren’t made due to time constraints or easier adaptation from words to the screen. It’s made because the director and production crew couldn’t be bothered to read and actually understand the source material in a meaningful gesture. As misguided as the FMA live actions are, at least they try their hands at the source material. 

Godoka, you know as well as I do that KDJ’s actor would’ve nailed the novel characterization. What glimmers we had of him were just that glimmer, but otherwise than that, he was so changed that it couldn't be helped. Of course, they would get rid of any arcs for the women. YJH’s actor tried his hardest to be as close to the original as he could, but there were so many changes that his acting didn't change a thing. 

For Arceus’ sake, this was supposed to be a five-movie franchise. With arcs that they eliminated for no good reason (they couldn't even bother doing the theater dungeon if that gives you an idea of just how fucked they are with storytelling), there is no fucking way I see them tackle any of the arcs well, seeing how they got rid of established worldbuilding and character writing to get this mess. 

I’m putting this all at the feet of the director and the production crew. The actors are hired for the shit. Yeah, it’s bad that their first introduction was to a badly written slop; they were blended from a basic summary and a horrid interpretation of said summary. Those who read the novel had fought but failed to win against an apathetic director and production crew who only used the ORV name for their own benefit of revealing everything ORV stood for. 

It is disappointing that a large part of the cast did not read the novel, but I'm firmly blaming the director and the production crew here. They are in charge of writing the shit for the silver screen and failed in adapting. There was no communication of important info such as the master-disciple relationship, but considering how much the director and production crew 'care', I doubt they were thinking about anything else but their own arrogance. 

It wasn't even their first rodeo of badly adapting either. Their previous contract had the writer in tears. 

SingNSong is diplomatic about their views on the movie since they can’t say anything bad about it. They are damning it by faint praise, and really, the faintest praise I can give it is…some actors tried their best to be as close to the actual characterization. 

Had it been original, it would just be d-tier save the world power fantasy mediocrity, which it still is. 

However, with ORV slapped on it and the ORV is in name only, then it's just stupid, mediocre, or even just plain bad leftovers that aren't even good. 

There is a part of ORV fandom that I think is toxic positive about this movie. I have to make it clear: This movie have it been a standalone and not associated with ORV would be a second-rate underwhelming apocalyptic film that does not stand out from its brethren other than having some interesting things that isn't explored that much anyways. However, it has ORV's name slapped on it, and SnS has been diplomatic, not outright approving of it but not outright hating it either, because they have to be neutral. Do you really want this KDJ associating with our KDJ? Do you really want any of the movie's superficiality associated with the novel's complexity and themes, because I hope fucking not, because the movie isn't HTTYD! The movie can't stand on its own, other than being a high-profile but lacking camp in name only movie that displayed cliché tropes that did nothing to stand out. 

Do you really want outsiders to think that this is a good taste for the source material they could take a dive into? I'll recommend the One Piece and Bleach live actions for appetizers if they really want to tackle the actual thing. I would not recommend the FMA live action to anyone to even consider watching FMA that way, nor would I recommend Death Note 2017 for that either. Fuck, even the new dub for Detective Conan is a great appetizer if they really want to tackle the series as well. Again, adaptations are great as a sample for the real thing. If people see these bad adaptations, they might not take the dive either way. The movie has the chance to show the world why ORV is so loved, and this is not it. Being toxic positive about the movie is not going to change the fact that most people won't understand why ORV has such a large following if this is the reason. 

Why else is there so much happiness when newbies come in from the OPLA and fans welcome the newbies? 

ORVLA is in the same status as these live actions. They could be appetizers for the real thing, which in this case is the novel. The live-action adaptation is never supposed to be a substitute for the real thing, but at the very least, it could've been more than just in name only and driven interest in those who would be genuinely interested in what ORV actually offers. Instead, what it looks like is that all the movie offers is a power fantasy of the lowest grade. Heck, at least Solo Leveling earns that power fantasy on the same level as SAO, admittedly, but at least those have something while this movie has nothing. 

It's not even a good movie by standards. It's just bad with all the worst elements of what ORV fought against to write their story. Do you want to be positive about that when ORV wouldn't want their themes and what they have written their characters to be associated with something so clearly misogynistic and lacking love for anything? 

This movie lacks love everywhere it has. Nothing is going for it, and why should you want to defend something that is going for the easy route of K-drama and idol fans instead of making quality films and actually using the language of filmmaking, just as ORV used the language of storytelling? 

I know the novel said that even the worst of storytelling has its own place in the world, and people use that. I would like to point out that it does not excuse the movie for being everything ORV stood against. Really, this movie's flavor of bad isn't even a so-bad-it's-good kind, just bad, with a clear display of misogyny and a misunderstanding of the source material, all on full display. I'm sure it has its lovers, but when people are putting the novel to elevate a mediocre piece of work that is the movie, then shouldn't they know the point was to adapt, not to change so radically that it's in name only? The movie production crew and director have been putting down the novel because they skimmed it instead of bothering to read it deeply. To them, it's a power fantasy that they see and change to their will. 

Do not watch this movie. It's utter trash and an affront to the novel, the very concept of storytelling and filmmaking. 

As SNS-nim said, please read it. You know it's bad that the only praise they could even utter is that they like the opening scene, and that's it. 

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. 

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. Yes, the connections do include Eiichiro Oda because we cannot let Oda slip by that he supports a pedo and is a known sexist and racist man (I mean Usopp from 'Africa' and partook in the whole Arab racism in Studio Tomorrow and Netflix). I don't even care that much about author worship, just authorial intent. After being burned by just one, I'd rather not worship again or put on a pedestal because admitting flaws in favorite writers is better for one's sanity and health all just because to put them and you on the same moral high ground. 

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.

Award Shows

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These award shows at face value looked prestigious. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pin Collecting and Collecting as a Hobby

I keep getting myself into expensive hobbies. Gunpla, figure collecting, manga, books… Thankfully, they aren’t the first edition. 

Since I’m a veteran collector, I have seen complaints raised against pin makers that aren’t about money fulfillment of orders or updates about anything. It’s about quality and quantity. 

I know my limits. Heck, the Thanatos figure was a grail for a long time that it relied upon they rereleased it for the anniversary. 

I know that at this point in time, I don’t have enough speed to get anything that doesn’t have PayPal/Shop Pay. 

I know by now I cannot hesitate when it comes to drops. Mamobot trained me well with that lesson when I got cart swiped and paid more for it when preorders went up after it sold out. 

I know that I’m better at limited-time preorders than LE preorders. I cut my losses pretty naturally. I mean I can try to attempt but if it's like a pickup for a convention, it's a tossup if they can get it before sellout. Heck, I made my peace I didn't get one. 

No amount of guilt-tripping should have a pinmaker send personal copies to these guys. Listen I get you want the item but you are no more special than anyone who trying to buy the pin you wanted in question. 

If that was the case, they probably should've known how the pin community worked by now or arrived at a drop late. 

Not to mention drop buddies are a maybe, not a demand for satisfaction. I haven't drop buddy for anybody since I'm wary of my own money and that needs to go to necessary orders I want to keep. Still so happy with the pins I got in. 

Heck, I wasn’t expecting to get my beloved Pokemallow Dragonair at all. I was just one of the many who wanted the AX exclusives and I was lucky enough to get mine. She’s forever homed, my fave of all faves. 

I did not ask my pickup buddy for more than asked for and was willing to compensate if they had managed to snag that one. They didn't and it's fine. I didn't think I was deserving of it more than anyone else who was there. Heck, I managed to get it later even if it hasn't shipped at all at the time of writing. 

With scouring around reliable pin makers and their grading systems alongside people's experiences with the said grading system, I know reliable preorders that I will get the pin and the grades that aren't flawless because they're handmade. 

I know that pin makers have varied standards. There were lower grades that looked like it doesn’t have a flaw and there were those that people couldn’t believe it’s that bad. 

I can trust PSS’ B-grades for instance given the praise from people who bought from her hence I can buy off her that way without guilt. With her BOGO, she tried to match it with the pin you bought. I know somebody in the pin server I’m in got a Zelda freebie with the Xiao pop she got so I got an idea. Given I’m pretty much buying Genshin and HSR off her, yeah. 

If they can understand that pin makers have varying eyes for standards, then they should be able to make peace that it wouldn’t be perfect. 

I perfectly understand if a pin doesn’t have an art proof at ready by presale or you want to see a sample, hell if it weren’t for the fact that I needed to snatch a spot, then I wouldn’t be preordering as much. Sometimes preorders might be the only chance to get it. 

If people are unable to get past they won't be getting flawless pins completely and utterly, pin collecting isn't the hobby you should be in. All pinmakers including the bad ones outright said that they're handmade and thus prone to errors during the process. 

It has gotten to the point that I have seen a reliable pinmaker and popular one too forced to add mixed grade mention to any big three more pins, a size that should get more flaws with the more details it gets, or a pin set that will be prone to human error like hand mixing pearl or painted by hand.  

If they are forced to add that much detail albeit brief or even showing examples of what counts as each successive grade in their book, then maybe these complainers shouldn’t be in this hobby if they all want perfection. 

I won’t collect C-grades unless it’s my own chance for the pin or if I can trust people’s experiences. 

Even a detailed grading system is needed considering another maker had to try to set up a new one. 

No pin is ever flawless. The maker will try to quality check for the best ones to send out for preorders and won't ever send out their worst grades to those who preordered, those who waited for months. The worst grades are typically at a discount or explicitly said; if they are willing or don't care about it as long as they have it, they can have it. 

I don't know why these people are this mad about flaws even regarding standard or A-grades in general. I only collect lower grades if I can trust others to deliver or if it's the only chance I can get it. I got my Moulin Rouge pins at a B-grade. At the point in time, I really don't care as long as I have it. 

Now this is about the quantity. Depending on their lives, they can have open preorders or not. More often or not, they are often LE with the occasional reruns. 

Mamo and Nuwa leave their preorders open for a week with some going on for a few days. There are people who run on the higher ends that have extended preorder limits in the same way as they do such as Witchxing and Abigeyedowl. 

Not every pinmaker can make every pins they have open preorders. Maybe within a limited timeframe sure but limited nonetheless. 

LE is simply easier on what these pin makers can do. They might increase the numbers with more interest than they thought. 

Participate more if you want the numbers raised. If you want the number raised, comment. 

If you want the LE, go practice with the website, just don't press buy at the moment. Just click the buttons as fast as you can without buying the practice product. 

Practice makes things easier for you. It's how I managed to secure some of my snags for LE pins and gacha that sells out within a minute or two. 

After getting cart swiped which is not a great feeling, I know I have to have no hesitation. Actually, it was amazing that I wasn't cart-swiped with the Neuvi and Meg preorders I got probably because of the Shop Pay. 

Again, know your limits and if you want it, practice your speed with the preferred method of payment. 

Nobody is entitled to enamel pins, a hunk of metal. You can ask how to purchase but at the end of the day, ISO is there and given the right help, the pin might come to you. My Espeon Pokemallow was this. 

Now, I pay for keeps. I don’t preorder as often as I have seen others do in a month. I'm pretty sure people spend at least a thousand a month. I barely cracked 500 on my worst spending months. I already warned my wallet in July 2024 that it would experience pain. 

Sometimes there are preorders that came up that threw me off course from my intended budget for the month. I know this feeling all too well. Either it's pins that have been on my list forever, surprise art reveals, or characters I never intended to collect but will make an exception for this one. 

I wasn't intending to make a Disney collection by any means. I saw Nuwa Evil Queen and I fell down the rabbit hole. It does help that the Evil Queen was threefer (love the classic Disney Princesses as I watch it all the time as a kid so it's a great symbolism for that era, my love for villains, and it's a beauty). I saw Nuwa Mali and wasn't that interested but I'm awaiting her Lady Tremaine. 

I always planned to start an HSR pin collection but it kept pushing back until May. ORV is still pushed back due to budget reasons. If it weren't for the fact that Penacony finally pushed me into buying it, who knows how long it would take to get that into gear. My misgivings about the final execution of the entire Penacony in its totality aside, it's still the final straw for me to finally collect it with Aven being the main drive. 

I didn't intend to get a Jing Yuan in any case but the Midnightmoon Purple Chrome variant did the job for me and I made an exception for getting him. I do not plan to get the Minty Jing Yuan anyhow. 

If Sunday is indeed a makeover with black clothes, oh I'm so tempted to get him that way. That's an if. There’s one Sunday but I don’t know. Again, my primary focus is on Aven, Ratio, Acheron, and misc characters at this point. 

I'm honestly waiting for Abigeyedowl to release the Ever After pin set because, unlike others, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get hers and put it on my Cinderella board. If she does indeed make the other Cinderella such as Ella and Kit, then I'm a goner. Again, the only exception for a Disney Princess I will collect will be Cinderella. Witchxing is on the radar for that alone for her Girl with Sword series which I made the exception of getting Punzie. 

All in all, a hobby should make you happy. Pin collecting is just one of the many expensive hobbies I partake in. Concentrating on a hobby makes you money rather than making you happy wouldn't make anybody happy.

Singularly focusing on a pin and nothing else isn't really good for the psyche and maybe they should take a step back from the hobby if they are that happy for not getting a pin. 

Because of my previous expensive hobbies, it's no harm done if I don't get the pin immediately. Fuck, I still haven't gotten to the Real Grade Gunpla my brother bought for me for my birthday because I don't feel that I'm not at that level yet. 

It’s simply for the peace of mind that I get the pin at preorder. 

Heck, I easily let pins I won't be able to get pass through me once I see I have no chance and maybe one I might possibly get it. 

What I won't let pass me are Mamo's preorders because from what I heard from him, the second wave of the Eevee Fusions have in-hands but for some of them, there won't be in-hands at all. Thank Arceus, I snagged them all. 

I understand if a maker won’t make extras or can’t. I have a bunch of miscellaneous men from Genshin and Honkai that I can sufficiently make an ita bag day for it if I feel like it. If I’m feeling Pokemon Chandelure one day then hot Hoyo guys next then Cinderellas next, who knows. Though with abigeyedowl I’m refusing to let that out of a shadowbox if the Cinderellas would ever be released for presales. 

My Yugioh collection is tiny. KHR, GX, Digimon, and even CCS suffered from being on the back burner. Been trying to get in the groove with my fave animanga CCS by getting a pin at last for it after so many Sailor Moons. 

It's also fine if art doesn't jive with you. I passed on a few artists because they simply aren't for me. Some styles just don't do it for me and it's okay. Honestly, given how many hours passed since then, I was able to live with that and didn't suffer any FOMO. 

I passed on several that won't ever have restocks again or have limited extras that I know will sell out quickly. Though some had been pushed to buying need once I saw the full art. God, I got a Kaveh at last to balance out the Aven now in time for Kaveh’s birthday too. 

If Pris.pins is doing her half of the HSR pins which includes the Ratio Chibi I needed, I will cry. I've been waiting for that Chibi to be in my possession one way or another. Putting Aven and Ratio next to each other is so nice. 

Again, I think my main problem was the temptation. So once the temptation solidified after months wait, yeah, it's going on the list. There had been solidified choices that made my wallet cry in terror. 

There are common themes to my collecting: As of note, I don't have traders usually. I would offer the pins I don't like that I either have to buy to get. I was able to offload one now even if I got it in presale. I have yet to sell the Link I have as I decided not to collect LOZ. 

I’m pickier than most people but my budget will balloon if something I had been eying have a surprise drop and I somehow snagged it. I knew July was gonna be a big spending month but it ballooned my budget through surprise drop and designs. Ugh, I’m pretty sure what my ballooned budget doesn’t even touch others and even my cousin’s combined budget for both gacha and her love for board games whether through kickstarters or bargain. She has two petting Sprigatito dolls. 

• Fave characters from a series that I have major love for in the past 10+ years 
• Fave characters from recent series that have my heart or still feel love even after not getting into since then only through the peripheral grasp of other means 
• Purple - depending on the design, I have to get it. If it’s one of the two variants, so far I picked those two already. I didn’t intend to collect Jing Yuan but have a purple variant nor do I intend to collect Punzie but have Witchxing Girl with Swords purple variant. I don't collect all characters who have the motifs of purple in them such as Raiden Ei or Punzie. I much prefer Sailor Saturn or Kafka. At least I’m collecting the purple characters I like. 
• Pretty art that is up my alley. See Witchxing Girl with Swords Punzie purple variant and so much more. I do not collect Apothecary Diaries yet have one. I’ll likely get PSS Sunday but Aven will remain a priority with Acheron and Ratio due to being buff as he is going to be in the limited ones like Haitham. Maybe get Minty Sunday but since I wasn’t a fan of the Minty Kafka design, I’ll stick with PSS topper for the preference that the Pop didn’t entice enough with the purple. I'll just gift these Sundays to my cousin after a while of displaying and keeping them for a bit for the art alone. 
• Encapsulation or telling a story - I'm a sucker for stories so it's a given if it's an encapsulation of say foils or relationships to an extent, I'm more driven to get it. Hence the only MHA and AD pins I will ever own. Nuwa's recent series The Landscapes is up my alley in these terms but I'm not feeling a need, only temptation.

From what is above, do not compare your collection to others. You do not need artists and pinmakers' pins that are out of your reach if it's out of your budget or another. 

For example, I'm still wary of spending 100 on a pin and that's without shipping. I can spend if it's just a little over 100 only if the shipping goes over that. I can spend over 100 and even some 200 on a set and that's because it's a set. 

I struggle to think of spending over a hundred for a pin so that's why I prefer to buy presales from Witchxing than in-hands or aftermarket for her to keep it down. 

Just know the limits of your budget and yourself and decide what matters most to you in your collection. You know your collection and comparison aren't good for your mental health, be it jealousy, cockiness, or another negative emotion. 

Staying in pin clubs especially when I previously missed out on exclusive drops for said pin club is what I know I want to do. I refuse to step out of Mamo and Nuwa's pin clubs because what if I missed an exclusive drop that is for Patrons only?? 

I’m attempting one and hope to Godoka and Arceus I snag it. I need the Neuvi for my board and I’m so happy I snagged it. The beauty would go great on that board. The colors would do well even if I put my Childe on there or heck my Suicunes. 

I followed Reylo shipper pinmakers. The ship itself is more of a pesky fly than something I prefer not to see in my feed hence me unfollowing any maker even making a mention about EndHawks. Sorry, that ship gives me psychic damage whereas Reylo is an annoying fly. Honestly, lucky them because I would’ve avoided the hell out of more great artists if Reylo became the level of avoidance for peace of mind that only one ship had. NaruHina a popular ship in the pin-making community just make me sigh and move on while I try to out that movie out of my mind, and worst case feeling uncomfortable. I don’t want to unfollow these artists. 

I dedicated a chunk of my budget to Witchxing Girl with Sword Punzie which I know is a need. Nuwa, as the one who careened me into collecting Disney with her beautiful Evil Queen, is tempting me with the Kiss the Girl Landscape in particular but if she had done Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, I would've bought it. Again I only collect Disney if they are villainous, Cinderella, or if it's misc, then it has to be something that I really love for my collection. As someone who loves Sleeping Beauty art, I would love that. Again, Nuwa only with misc hoping to Abigeyedowl and Witchxing. Maybe Mamo would have continued the Fashion Disney because I would've purchased the Yzma. I joined Nuwa's patreon mainly for her FTD though I did get her Sakura once a spot opened up for her but with FTD expanding to others than just Disney, I'm happy enough to hope one day to get an FTD of the others she's drawing that is not Disney if the design drives a need. 

For budget reasons, I have to pick and choose. For example, in August, since between a series I like and a character I love, it’s the one design of a character I will love forever that gets me. I had to choose. It’s for the sake of my wallet, I’ll go with my collection than something I promised myself I can’t collect. 

I collect Disney very casually for peace of mind. If anything, my wallet is mainly screaming in pain due to the magical girls, Genshin, and HSR purchases. Hence, I reserve my Disney purchases to Nuwa mostly with special occasions going to Witchxing and Abigeyedowl. 

I've been trying to look for Sailor Saturn filler pins so I've been on the lookout for LavenderxSilvy Outer Senshi filler pins and Cutematter's Kickstarter which I know will feature Saturn. I know that with any upcoming Saturns I will get, filler pins are the way to go at this point should I get the board that satisfies my favorite scout. 

I know I'm switching between an ita bag or a board or both for my Kaveh collection. Aven has the same amount too. 

Saturn exceeds the number but nowhere near others’ collections. Even my Pokemon collection which far exceeds Saturn in number has different Pokemon with the only Dragonair getting 3 and Mimikyu 4, Psyduck at 2. By number, Pokemon is my largest with magical girls coming in second with my Sailor Moon purchases inching it closer. By individual characters, Saturn won by a long shot with Kaveh and Aven coming close behind at 4 each. Serenity, Sakura Kinomoto, Cass Cain, and so many more sat at 2 or 1. In the case of Zhongli, Chiori, Acheron… it’s nothing even though I want to collect them. Ironically, despite not wanting to collect SatoSugu as an exclusive OTP, I got 5, technically 4 since it's a variant so about the same length as my fave sailor senshi... I'm stubbornly going to put together an OTP board so SatoSugu is not getting a board of their own I refuse. 

Compared to my cousin's spending on her hobbies, I'm more restrained even when I spend close to 3000 in the course of a year, it's nothing compared to her addiction to her gacha games and her board games addictions. She spent more in a year than I did in a single year of my pin-collecting hobby. 

Just putting down what I want in future presales barring any surprises just makes my soul go up in smokes. I got my credit card but a slight decrease in paycheck might hinder if I plan everything right barring a few surprises. I’m still considering any Mamo Moon Prism Project Serenity and that’s it since I collect Blonde Serenity (white haired Serenity isn’t my thing or at worst a shade of gray that isn’t in the original art so forgive me I want the blonde ones more) only as well as eying a variant about FTD Neo-Queen Serenity. Again, I turned into a Serenity collector by an artist and it was so slippery that I utterly refused to do that again with other characters of any media I love. Fuck, I am stopping myself at 4 Sundays, literally zero chibis. Luckily, I found almost nothing regarding PGSM pins so I have to wait to see Dark Mercury again from Mamo. At least unlike Serenity, there is almost zero Darkury I can choose from. 

At least with Disney, I allow myself to have all except Frozen, Pocahontas, Wish, Raya, and Brave. I'm open to everything but those. Because it's still under the Disney umbrella, I can collect pins from Nuwa. 

I do not have enough props at home to make pin pictures. Just showing it in bags and shadowboxes is enough for me to decorate. I still have to make my shrines and boards because that's far more of a priority than having a pin pic with a background I barely use. Giving shrines to my fave characters and fave designs is enough to push me through the pin box purgatory. My pins are stuck in boxes and I really love to decorate them. I have so many ideas for my beloved Saturn, Kaveh, and Aventurine boards or at least interchangeable swapping from board to ita with Kaveh in particular. I do not have it in me to have that many pins to flex more or less. Even my one of my insta highlights became a pin mail but it's not all of them. I was too lazy to take pics of then pin mail and only used the pics I had in my photos at that time sent to people who knew my hobby. Some individual pins will get their own special singular board. I have some ideas for some already but I have to spice up the board a bit. 

I can do work-in-progress photos of pinboards and ita bags that I will just end up putting on the walls or bookshelves whereas pin mail would just be photos that I had sent to others that I later used for stories.