#i think if the team knows the demographics of his fanbase

[tommos]

one direction history post: strange merch

hi everyone! i'm starting a small series of one direction history posts just to combine my interests in both history and the boys. these won't be super in depth, more so showing and telling. this first post is about some weird and strange merch choices one direction's marketing team has attempted to sell us throughout the years. i got these screenshots from the wayback machine looking at onedirectionstore.com, their official store. they are separated by era solely based on what was present on their shop at the time of each of the boys albums. these merch items are not a reflection of the albums themselves (which you'd think their merch team would try to appeal more to the aging fanbase as years went on), they all seem to me to be more geared toward how much they can attempt to get us buy. i now present to you the weirdest, most dated one direction merch i could find <3 enjoy

X Factor - Up All Night

what is this for, who is this for, why is this one of the first accessory items ever posted on the one direction store??? what was the initial demographic of the one direction fanbase?? idk when i was 10 i didn't need this, i would enjoy one now though

if you guys remember silly bandz, you are a veteran.. also give us toledoans credit where it's due because one of ours invented these bad boys

finally my iphone 4 will be decked out in the one direction collectors set

this was also the start of their personalized messages section of merch you could buy. surprise your loved one with heartfelt messages such as 'birthday girl' or 'merry christmas daughter'

Take Me Home

from here on out, this and two other photos are the only photos their team decided to make merch with. there is two other duvet sets that use those other photos, even in their later eras

sometimes i wake up in a cold sweat remembering these existed. if i can find my louis mask, i will wear it to fitfwt

if any of you have this keyring or the singing toothbrush, send me a clip of it singing please or if it is able to sing. i am so curious im on the edge of my seat

NAIL TEMPORARY TATTOOS

Midnight Memories

i literally do not know what this has to do with music, one direction, or anyone associated with one direction

i need to point out, these one direction watches came in literally every single color you could imagine. i do not know why they are merched inside of a can?? but they were the it-girl of their merch during this era

speaking of cans, WHAT IS THIS

would any of you fine people want to buy a 1d girls glitter strap shoe? it is merch like this that really reminds me one direction was moreso a brand than a band to their team

Four

kudos to their team for picking a more recent photo for the era, but also who would want this

do you guys remember the craze of this specific type of lamp

if the scooter isn't your speed, how about this one direction 16" cruiser bike make with old uan era font, color schemes, and photos?

Made In The AM

i am only putting this mitam find in here to point out something that i found crazy. this shirt was on the one direction merch website only one month after march 25th, you can see how quickly their merch team shelled out merch without zayn on it. i didn't include anymore, but even their on the road again tour merch on the website quickly had zayn erased

i hope you guys all enjoyed this weird trip down memory lane if you can call it that, and liked looking at some of the weird merch their team used to sell. this is only stuff that stood out to me, i'm sure there's a lot more somewhere so if you have any, send them to me or feel free to add onto this post. if you own any of these, ESPECIALLY THE BIKE, please add a pic of them to this post lol

[louisisalarrie]

not d*uxmoi saying that celebrities and their teams don’t pay media outlets to run certain narratives because “that would be unethical”. like… her content is entirely unethical and she and her team absolutely get paid to run certain content because she’s somehow managed to foster a relationship with her followers who believe her content is organic. because she’s not The Daily Mail or The Sun, who most fans have less trust in, pr teams would use her to create and upkeep narratives because she’s an “insider”, who is not anonymous, so therefore she holds a certain authenticity and genuineness to her brand. her sources are fake.

she then backtracked in the comments and said “we were talking about monetary gain, not the exchange of other things” and like… listen. let me put it like this:

if Harry was caught doing something really bad that would jeopardise his career/brand, and a media outlet caught on and was going to post a story about it, his team would do one of three things, but this is heavily dependant on their relationship with said media outlet, the other content the outlet posts, the outlet’s demographic, the outlet’s current narrative, the outlet’s previous stories about him, and their exclusivity Agreement.

1. If the outlet had a good relationship with Harry’s team (previous exchanges, had run many successful Harry stories and narratives before, had a prime demographic similar to that of Harry’s fanbase/the GP they want to reach), Harry’s team would avoid monetary exchange, and instead promise this outlet exclusives, inside sources content, and big stories that would get the media outlet more clicks. This is an exchange, and kinda skates around and is a bit of a loophole from counting as a “gift” (which is illegal and unethical, and mid to major companies have a clause in their contracts of all staff saying that “gifts” cannot be accepted under any circumstances but this is technicaaalllyyy not a gift).

If H and L were going to come out, I can guarantee you maybe one or two outlets would have the exclusive. They’re not getting a free for all and letting any outlet post that breaking news. However, we know with such a delicate balance that is the Harry Styles™️ brand, they take his PR very seriously, obviously. So, in the scenario above where Harry is found out doing something really bad, what do PR teams do with media who they do not have a good relationship with/lack a relationship with them/they are not in an Agreement with them already?

That’s right! They take option 2.

2. They will pay off that media outlet to not run the story, with money. They are not going to give that company the promise of exclusive stories to run, because why would they? His team have exclusive outlets they are partnered with (Daily Mail being one in particular), and they don’t wanna be owing every media outlet the inside scoop, because that goes against exclusivity Agreements they already have, and ruins their relationship with said exclusive outlets, and makes the story, well, not exclusive. The Harry Styles brand has more than enough money to throw around, and they will silence these outlets with cash, as it’s an easy and quick fix, and media outlets looooove $$.

But, d*uxmoi talks about a paper trail, and that’s why they don’t do it. But… well… they still do. You think these big companies can’t get rid of paper trails? You think these big companies aren’t all owned and monopolised by the same few important folks? They certainly are. And hush money has been around for a very long time. She’s absolutely delusional by saying it doesn’t happen, but that’s her brand. She doesn’t wanna say it does, because people will believe she is part of that and she’ll lose her little famous corner of the internet.

But option 3, can also happen, it’s just a bit more rare and is resigned for very serious cases because it’s a long process and a lot of paperwork.

3. If for whatever reason the story is still posted by an outlet, even after being offered the other two options above, Harry’s team will sue for defamation etc. It doesn’t matter if the story is actually true or not, they’ll get everyone else to shut up and then absolutely kill this outlet. Anyway, this is a lot rarer but still happens depending on the size of the outlet and their relationship/sway on the public/how negative the content will affect Harry’s brand.

Now, you might be asking, okay… well if Louis has such an influential team who have connections, why do they let the media run negative stories about him? Why doesn’t he ever get the same amount of press?

Well, his team, while still being very important and respected (blegh) in the industry, don’t find much point of trying to run or stop these stories, unfortunately. They can’t run any inside scoops because Louis isn’t stunting right now. Their scoops promised to these companies at the moment would be “Louis announces AFHF via cryptic twitter post and everyone wants to know where it’s being held” in which… the GP don’t care. They’ll probably get some clicks from us and the Louies, but this story would be entirely different if it was about Harry.

So yeah, they don’t really have anything to offer these companies, and while we have pushed to see more Louis content in the media to try and reach a wider demographic, it’s not happening because his team don’t really have any scandals or anything that would gain clicks right now, unfortunately. And the Louis smear campaign that happened years ago affects his media presence immensely, and outlets don’t really care or wanna post about him. So, his team have neglected their media relationships through a lack of stunting, and he won’t be given any front page articles unless it’s something really big, or his team pay a lot of money to run it.

And you might be thinking “Liam, zayn, and niall are also neglected in the media, why is that?” And well, same as Louis, they don’t have any big scandals/stunts right now. Zayn got some promo because “he’s back holy shit!!” but that promo was also linked to Harry lol, and then that was kind of it. So his team are finding other ways to promo (Liam with Stanpass or whatever that is, zayn with the radio thing he’s doing right now etc.). And while this may seem like such little promo compared to Harry, their teams are focusing on different platforms because Harry stories are alwaysssss front page and overshadow the other boys, but they’re also fostering a deeper relationship with fans, something that Harry doesn’t have.

I’ve talked before about all their teams collaborating and organising when they will run stories because they don’t want their clients to overshadow each other and provide a media over saturation of 1d as they all have a similar demographic, but it’s mainly between the 4 of them. Harry has too much of a handle on the GP and stunting etc. to cooperate with that now. The only way I think they’d do this again would be if there was a massive announcement that Harry actively didn’t want to overshadow with stunting (any of the boys coming out or something), or something that Harry’s team didn’t want to associate with the 1d brand (a huge negative scandal from Louis/zayn/niall/liam).

Anyway, fostering the fan to artist relationship has really become huge over the last few years. Harry kinda missed that train though, except when he’s on stage. But he doesn’t keep it up when he’s not. He doesn’t do AMAs or twitter chats, he doesn’t do a live radio stream thing where fans can comment in real time, doesn’t give fans access to exclusive content, but he doesn’t have to. I’m sure he’d enjoy it, but it doesn’t work with his fanbase, demographic, how big he is etc., so there’s no need. Him doing a pap walk every once in a while is enough. But I do think the Harry train is gonna slow down more. It already has. Which I think is good for him. That’s not a negative criticism by any means. Like I’ve said before, he’s still untouchable at the moment. There’s too much of a divide between him and his fans.

Also I love and adore Harry and im immensely proud of everything he’s done, I promise. It’s just a fact about demographics and marketing.

Anyway, when talking about this, I wanna say that this post is focused towards the Daily Mail and the Sun, gossip mags and blogs etc., not his interviews and photoshoots with other media.

Also, this turned into a bigger ramble than I thought, but I’ve seen this shit happen… soooo yeah.

I know we already don’t, but don’t give d*uxmoi clicks or listen to a word she says. She’s protecting herself and her brand. That’s just simply not how the industry works.

[stoookes]

I'd argue that Virat's fanbase would be equally sizeable in Omegaverse, but whether it would be so rabid and toxic is an interesting question.

So irl,so much of Kohli's popularity and hero worship is a result of social media. Virat happened to debut and rise through the ranks in an era when the digital revolution was sweeping through India, and the country was becoming more modern, more developed, more involved than previously in international arenas. That is not to say that cricketers weren't hero worshipped in India before. They were. Sachin is a prime example of that, and he played in an era where social media was practically non-existent. But what social media has done is brought every aspect of players' personal lives and private moments into the public. Celebrities today, are arguably way more accessible than they were in the 90s. You didn't have much way of knowing what Sachin did in his off-time, of how he celebrated in his dressing room, etc. but Virat is constantly visible through his social media, we get constant updates on him online and that helps him stay relevant beyond his statistics. Sachin's hero worship stemmed purely from his cricketing success, and while his achievements are a big part of Virat's popularity, the latter part of his fame comes from a celebrity culture that social media helped establish. And it also helps that Virat is a very noticeable personality. He's got an aura about him. And honestly, I think he was India's first cricketer who really embraced the glamour that accompanies being a celebrity, especially in his younger days, and even if other players did it before him, there wasn't really a way for the public to know of it. Cricketers like Sachin and Dravid wanted to stay out of the limelight, but young Virat really wanted to be seen and noticed and appreciated. Another reason for his fame is that he does so many ads, endorses so many products and is brand ambassador for so many brands, that at least in India, he's everywhere, on every billboard. He's just a very marketable person. And he's so marketable because with the dawn of the digital era, cricket as a sport got commodified in a way it hadn't before, and became a thing to sell, and who was the demographic to cater to? India, obviously, and by extension, South Asia, because cricket is the most popular sport there and India is the most populous country in the world. So obviously the place with the most consumers is the one that is targeted. And who is the most famous cricketer in India? Virat is. Which is why he became the face of world cricket, and then a global celebrity like no other cricketer before or contemporary to him has.

Would he be this marketable in Omegaverse? I think yes. Ever since he was like 18/19, Virat was being hailed as Tendulkar's second coming, and with Sachin inevitably in his twilight years, that grabbed people's attention, because what people wanted then was a person onto whom they could transfer all the hopes and expectations they had up till now pinned on Sachin. Indian cricket fans have always worked in this way where out of 11 people in a team, they find one or two players, mostly the best performers, to latch onto and glorify and elevate. First it was Gavaskar, then Kapil Dev, then Sachin, then Dhoni and now Virat, also Rohit, probably Shubman or Yashasvi will succeed them. And obviously, Virat lived up to Sachin's legacy-- being prolific since his debut, accumulating runs, scoring centuries for fun, and bailing the team of tough spots. Especially from 2013-16/17, there were often times when Virat was the sole consistent performer, and single-handedly dragged us to wins. Even if he's an omega, it's going to be hard to deny or disregard the impact he has, when he's repeatedly proved it. Virat's social media marketability, his international fame, stems from his career achievements. He bagged so many endorsements and interviews and stuff because his skill was what got him famous in the first place. And other players did not get that hype because at that point, they weren't performing as well as Virat.

So I think Virat, in Omegaverse, even as an omega, will retain enough of his fame and fanbase. Maybe it'll take him a longer time to build up a fanbase like that than it did irl, but he definitely gets there. In the beginning of his career, I can see him being supported mostly by omegas, and some betas and a minor amount of alphas. And I think there'll be another class of alphas, who go to watch him play because he is hot. Like, irl, women's cricket has male fans who follow the sport only because they find a certain player hot. It translates to the men's game too. So many girls watch cricket because they find Virat or Shubman attractive. Virat's style and fashion choices are often imitated by teenagers and young men, who want to be like him.

Again, some really good points here, and you've got me thinking about the differences between VK and Tim as they both come into the sport as out omegas at the same time, but VK has much more fanfare around him whilst Tim kind of goes under the radar, teams only knowing there is an omega in the opposition squad because they have to be told.

And this now has me thinking why? Initially it was going to be the BCCI not wanting to miss out on being the first to play an omega, but actually I think this makes more sense stemming from VK. He hears about Tim (like Stuart does) and he makes the play for the BCCI to take the shot on him, that he can and will outperform alphas, that his secondary gender doesn't matter and he can help put the BCCI in the history books if they'll give him a chance.

Albeit an English-made game (I think) India very much believe it's their sport now and this, to me, adds to that. The BCCI are seen as the ones shifting the game, modernising it, all thanks to VK's persistence.

There's something here, I know it, just got to iron out the creases but there is definitely something here

[alarrytale]

When do you think the window will close for HL to become a power couple or to CO and make a big impact? I was just thinking about how Nicholas is gaining a lot of attention and he's almost 29, not far off Harry. His age hasn't really worked against him. Same with many other musicians and actors who are in their 30s upwards and are doing great. I don't know why but it feels different with HL. Maybe it's because they've been in the limelight for so long. Generally speaking, they're very boring compared to other celebrities. Their images haven't changed much since the beginning of their solo careers. Whereas someone like TS keeps reinventing herself. Harry is still a womanizer and Louis is still a laddy lad. Because they're in the closet they're not unleashing their full potential. It holds them back in every way. It affects both of them but I think it especially affects Harry. He looks so tired and fed up. It would be a huge weight off them if they CO. The longer it takes them to CO the less impact it'll make.

Here's a few asks about Harry in regards to coming out, hussell, citrus fruit bicycles and rebranding, and my answers to them.

Hi, anon!

I think mostly it's because as you say, they haven't really reinvented themselves. They don't have social media precence and is not engaging their audience in other ways. It's like they're tired of playing these games and they're low effort and low energy.

They've also got so much baggage, so many loose ends to tie up before everything is forgiven and forgotten. As much as they are going for a blank slate, the slate is alredy full of paint. They can't rid themselves of their history and former actions.

Harry really isn't bothering to spend much time with Louis. He's been in London for well over a month now.

Well, Harry is on a well deserved break from touring (while pursuing other ventures...) and he's working. Louis is working too. Do you know anyone who brings their significant other to work? They're obviously both prioritising work rn, and they've talked about it and decided it together. We also do not know if Harry's been to see L on tour. So do not fret. All is well in larryland.

He's not a slow burn, but a quick and fast burning star./// Even if Harry lost all his fans tomorrow he would never be described like this. He's been hugely famous and successful since 2010, that's 13 years. Even as a soloist he's been around for 8 years. A fast burning star is a two album wonder like Shawn Mendes.

You misunderstand me, anon. We are talking about H's career not being designed to last until he's 80yo here. He can't stunt until he's 80 and expect to keep his fans. He can't rely on his good looks and womaniser image to bring in fans in the year 2073. In order to do that he'd need a different fanbase demographic and a different USP.

I see you mentioned that you are on twitter, so what im about to say might not be news to you but I have to disagree with that ask mentioning Harry’s new stuntship is garnering positive attention, full disclosure im not on tiktok but I have been monitoring Harry/Harries/Larries on other social media platforms like twitter/instagram/tumblr to see the reaction of his fandom, I have to say that there is a general indifference to H and her, most of their outings don’t even make noise outside of a relatively small portion of Harries (im basing this on comparing the numbers of interactions Harry gets on his own versus he gets with her, bigger update accounts dont even posts updates on them (it is funny that hld does and other dont lol) -i saw his team got an account posing as a new pop culture account post about them tho it is hilarious), he has a large fandom that is known to be online all the time so a couple of hundreds of people talking about those outings is nothing compared to thousands of people reacting to his ‘newest’ tattoo reveal, funny enough that is the most he was talked since the tour ended, that must be alarming to his team seeing that he has a new fling, so we know how exciting and erratic that gets within fandom with girlfriend harries acting like they are the ones in the honeymoon period of said relationship and larries trying to prove that it is yet another pr attempt, larries have the biggest “whatever” energy I have seen we have when it comes to this, what must be concerning for them is that this is not a consequence of conscious effort on fandom’s part, people just don’t care. I’m of the opinion that his team pit hets against larries or vice versa to generate nonstop convo surrounding Harry, but that is not happening rn. I give them that they tried something new with this pr, they chose a poc interest which became a hot topic for just a minute but people quickly got used to that “reality”. However some poc harries are not as much pleased by this situation bc they are realizing that so much of Harry’s public persona and life is just him/his team reacting to how he is perceived so they are feeling like this is not something genuine but an attempt to savor a part of Harry’s image -this i observed in older harries (when i say older I mean people aged 22 and above), younger ones are just accepting it as is.

I talked about this with another blog in detail, but his former stuntship being so exposed ruined the fantasy of boyfriend harry for too many of his fans especially older ones which is a shame bc it shows a)they got wiser to his public persona/brand and didn’t like it b)those are the fans that needed to stick around for harry to have a longer career as they were (imo) leftovers of 1D fandom, they literally outgrew him, I watched some of them leave during the former stunt and now im seeing the ones that are left publicly making fun of him, I know so many of Harry’s fans, larries or harries, are not ready to talk about this but boyfriend H is an enormous selling point of Harry as a brand so his team being so invested in pushing stunt after a stunt is not helping him, on the contrary it is giving non-larrie fans an opening to question what he/his team serve as harry styles. They are catching up on the fact that there is always the same formula at play when it comes to his private life or his interactions with his fans or his need to be seen only when he wants to sell smth. I saw his team paying well known accounts on instagram/twitter to post about him, his music, his heartfelt moments from the tour, name anything outside of his relationships (there is nothing wrong with this by the way, so many of celebrities do this to get their news out there ‘organically’) but GP don’t respond well to Harry, he might be well known but the reputation he has with gp wont help him prolong his career, on top of that seeing the state of fandom rn, he is in desperate need of rebranding asap, idk if his latest antics have anything to do with showing record labels that he has what it takes to get another multimillion dollars contract but they are failing and turning off some of his fans that are in his corner from him.

Hi!

Yes, yes, yes! I hard agree. I think you, i and the tiktok anons who thinks hussell is garnering a lot of attention just have to agree to disagree on this.

As i said, i think we're at a cross road. He needs to makes some decisions on how to proceed next. Does he want a short career or a long one, does he want to risk losing core fans, does he want to risk becoming a laughing stock and not be taken seriously as an artist? Or does he want longevity and respect?

Harry is a multimillionaire. Why the hell would he rent L*me bikes in London, where he lives, when he could just use his own bike? Antis are so stupid. How do they explain him disappearing for weeks and then getting spotted every single day. I'd bet they think that in the month over the holidays we didn't see him that he never left the house. Ridiculous lmao. The real reason why they are arguing against L*me being a PR deal is because by admitting that Harry does PR it means that his 'relationship' with TR could be PR for L*ewe. Which means his other 'relationships' could be PR. By admitting he does PR it opens up a can of worms. So they'll never admit to that no matter how obvious it is. They're ignorant by choice.

Hi,

Again, i'm not happy about the name calling here. Antis have been gaslighted for years and it's not their fault. So please refrain from the name calling. I've seen a lot of het harries calling out the citrus fruit promo, so some see it. Some i think is seeing it, but they have an ingrained need to defend him from critisism. There is no doubt it's promo.

I think the relationship with TR is to repair his image after the damage Holivia did, and also the L*ewe connection. It's image rehab and it's working. They picked a poc, an unproblematic woman and it's a 'low key' relationship. The Harries and the gp are eating it up. It's getting him back into people's good books. People are really invested. I can't see it being a short stunt, it'll be at least a year. If it ends in a few months it's not going to look good for him. Harries want to see him settle down and are questioning why he isn't. There will be more questioning when he hits his 30s. Short flings are going to make him look as if he can't hold a relationship down so the stunts will be longer. You said that we might be due for a rebrand sooner than we think. I wish for this too but I don't see him CO very soon as he's with TR. He holds hands with her so they do want people to think they're in a relationship.  If he isn't CO soon then what kind of image rebrand can he get? He can't be rebranded as queer as he's still going to stunt with women. He'll get even worse backlash. I can only see them pushing his het image more. Showing that he can hold down long term relationships with women. Doing the power couple thing with a woman. Which I think I'd rather not have lol.

Hi!

Would you repair a failed pr relationship with another pr relationship that might also fail? That's a big risk to take. I'm not sure i agree that hussell is image rehab for harry. People are tired of stunts in general and i think no matter who he chose as a new stunt after O, we'd be just as fed up and tired.

Also see two asks above. There is fandom disagreement on this point.

I don't know if this is going to be long or short. It depends on Harry's next plans, and we're not privy to them yet.

A rebrand doesn’t have to mean a coming out. It might just be changing the target audience, changing music genre or changing clothing style. Maybe he's doing more movies or maybe he wants to start a luxury clothing brand. We don’t know.

Hussell will never be a power couple. She's too unknown and not on his level. And i don't think Harry would want that either. He'd look visibly unhappy and uninterested if they tried that. More than he already does with her now.

[alltheselights]

Emma you said:

Louis and his team also make terrible choices on what to show off to the limited, terrible media outlets that he does interviews with (like having him chainsmoke through every interview and talk about the band or the other boys' successes) rather than centering the focus of the media on the right things, like his incredible songwriting, his ideas about music, his voice, his intelligence, and his kindhearted nature. Oh, and let's not forget about having miserable photoshoot after miserable photoshoot where every photo has the same expression and the same two poses. They care more about promoting his personal life and showing what a chav he is than showing anything that would encourage people to give him and his music a chance, and it's not doing them any favors. All it does is allow these false negative ideas about him (like the one related to Zayn) to fester with nothing positive or interesting to counter it.

And I TOTALLY AGREE. But I wonder why do you think louis also makes choices to promote his chavy life style? Do you think he thinks showing his real self will make him seem soft and gay? It kind of makes me think he is afraid/ashamed of his flamboyance and tries to compensate this with the chavy style. He is basically erasing his flamboyance. I also tend to think Simo flying louis over after GAY concert and telling him off about his gayness made Louis feel ashamed or small and that is one of the reasons he killed his old flamboyance. Everybody would be ashamed if someone higher up told them off about that. The years of physical training to get rid of the flamboyance definitely took a toll on him as well. On top of that Louis also sings in his songs that he he spend his whole life thinking he had to change (his behaviour, style, flamboyance) so it indeed confirms that it made him feel ashamed and he though he indeed needed to change because he felt so ashamed. He chose to change himself into a chav because he was ashamed of it and he may think it could have affected the band.

I think all of these factors play a part in why chavy Louis is Louis' main focus. He is traumatized and ashamed and perhaps even afraid. What do you think, Em?

I don't think he's ashamed. I think it's likely that Louis continues hiding his flamboyance because of muscle memory from media training in those days. You still see it slip out any time he lets his guard down.

I also think the biggest part of Louis' decision to embrace the chav image is from his desire to appeal to a certain demographic in the UK - the same demographic that typically consumes the music he wants to make. He thinks those audiences want to see him looking hard and smoking and drinking. As we've seen again and again, however, those audiences aren't regularly tuning in to listen to Louis' music, so it hasn't paid off. Instead, I suspect that how heavily they've leaned into that image has turned other potential audiences off of Louis' music - I mean, I can tell you that as someone who listens to a fairly wide variety of music, if I was consistently seeing an artist doing grumpy photoshoots with two poses and the entire article focused on how he was blowing smoke in the interviewer's face, that wouldn't exactly interest me in his music or make me want to know more about him.

I don't think Louis needs to wear sequins or crazy outfits or act over-the-top flamboyant to gain a fanbase - it doesn't suit him, it's not what he wants, it doesn't fit with the music he enjoys making, and I don't think it would do him anymore favors than his current image would. But I do think that Louis should embrace more of his personality in all its complexity - his intelligence, his kindness, his generosity, his thoughtfulness, his humor, his fashion sense, a little bit of his natural flamboyance, and his amazing smile. I think it would make a MASSIVE difference for him to put out promo images of him smiling, cut back on making smoking and drinking out to be his only personality traits, and focus on his brain and talent over all else.

None of the people in Louis' audience at his shows or the people buying his music are doing so because they saw him frown on the cover of a magazine or hear he smokes a pack a day. They're doing it because his music touches them and because he as a person is brilliant and kind and sweet and makes them feel safe.

If Louis' team wasn't so useless, they'd understand that.

[sassykinzonline]

sadly it’s the same person still, I have so many questions omg- ok so, if boruto was in your “universe” what would it be like? Would the kids still even be there?

Thoughts on shikamaru?

Another one, so we all should know, soulmates, how did it feel when u got that moon thing on your hand? While Naruto got a circle looking thing that looked like a sun.

if you were to choose, would u rather have 1 day with, young Naruto(before team 7) genin naruto(when team 7 started), shippuden naruto(when the war started) or hokage Naruto?

oh my god this ask actually made me moan in delight (not sexually, like eating a good tomato more like), these are amazing questions.

im going to assume you mean a sequel to shippuden that deals with our adult lives when you say "boruto", im not gonna craft a whole thing im just gonna kind of give you my important points:

the genre isnt baby kiddy shounen. theyre making a show for people who are adults now, the genre needs to be adult political thriller shounen. none of this aliens from space bullshit. this is why i mentioned legend of korra. as much as OG atla fans want to pretend it sucks, LOK is enduring because it understood the assignment of catering to the SAME fanbase but recognizing the CHANGE in demographics. just like ATLA, there are tons of political problems that need to be addressed by the end of "naruto", the answer to them cant be some gen X bullshit "welp what matters is that we know theyre problems~" thats fucking lazy and boring.

this means things like the hyuuga structue, Amegakure, reformation of the mist, reformation of the chunin exams, the "role" of shinobi, war orphans, recognition of past crimes against humanity including the genocide of the uchiha, the fascist nature of things like the ANBU and the political structure of konoha, etc. all these things need to be up for grabs.

in essence, we know that tobirama is responsible for all the infrastructure that makes the shinobi world complete shit. naruto needs to be the antithesis to that if hes to be hokage. i dont think he needs to be hokage to do that, so that can also be a plot point.

in terms of kids, im just gonna let shikatema rock even though i hate it. they can have kids right away if they want, i dont care. i thnk its weird that even though everyone got married at different times, we all ~happened~ to have kids the same year. i think its easier to deal with if some main cast kids are older than others because then you can have teams without building on side characters like moegi that didnt matter before and shouldnt matter now.

the one thing i think should remain the same, is that the driver of the plot should still be the evolution of my relationship with naruto. now that we found each other, how do we really find and achieve peace for ourselves?

thoughts on shikamaru?

i think hes a toxic incel who gets away with being a douchebag because he has a "stoic cool guy" persona. he never evolves on his views of women, he just marries the one woman who he sees as a "not like other girls" girl. hes never punished for his views either. he disrespects his teammate constantly who hes literally useless without. he only props up the guy on his team who is consistently a liability to them (and i mean im friends with choji and i think hes a good ninja but cmon) because hes a guy. i hate him. we are banned from 3 separate bars for fighting. yes the count has gone up. dont ask.

soulmate tats?

the best way i can describe it is.... you know that at base, naruto and i feel "for" each other in a strong way. we feel proud when the other is, sad when the other is, angry when the other is, what have you. thats part of deeply loving someone, but also something special i think we have going on. the tattoos felt like putting glasses on those feelings, or maybe a microscope? or an x-ray? i dont know? but all of a sudden it felt like you could see the red thread of fate itself, where exactly we need to put our feelings to bend reality itself, how our feelings can be used (for each other)...that sort of thing. kind of like unlocking the keys to the universe and learning how to use your muscles to mold the universe at the same time.

if you asking how it physically felt to receive them then no it wasnt like a tattoo, it felt like i guess when you scratch an itch or wake up suddenly after a long deep sleep? something like that? but thats me. im actually not sure if naruto feels differently, you can ask him.

if i could choose?

this question is crazy haha. if you could guarantee it wouldnt change the future and i could just spend the day in like a pocket dimension or something just for the experience....

i think i'd want to spend time with shippuden naruto so i could learn what i missed? thats the only time (i hope) that we would have been separated so.... and i know he would like to hear that everything went well with us. i'd like to see his face as i told him that, i bet hed be like "UGH WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 😳" heh.

2nd place goes to academy baby naruto because i want to derive energy from his...cute nature.

[berlinini]

As someone who went to multiple shows I can honestly say the majority of fans I saw were 20 and up. Sure there are a few younger fans but his demographic is predominantly legal adults. I'm astonished how out of touch his team are, JFC! I'd say no wonder they're still pushing the 1D angle but all those fans have grown up, they're predominantly the age its members are now so.... they know that would mean mid 20's to early 30's right, right??? No wonder promo sucks so bad, I'm embarrassed for them

Yeah, I think the majority of fans are in their twenties - def not 14-18 years old. I have the same assessment of the crowds I saw at my shows (and btw, depending on how they dress, it's really hard to determine people's age by just standing besides them... it's not like you skin decomposes once you reach 30 lol). There were a few younger fans with their parents, but there were group of adults together too. But it didn't look like the crowd of a 1D documentary....

That makes sense with their preconception that fans were there during 1D - I don't know where that 'discovered him from their directioner siblings' and being half of Louis' age thing is coming from.

Anyways, they need to stop talking about fans because they keep putting their foot in their mouth and it doesn't look good. You should be working at extending the fanbase, not upsetting the existing one.

[persephoneflouwers]

Hello, I hope you have a good day

Tw: smoking, cancer

So there's a discourse on twitter going about how louis's smoking habit is dangerous and how it can have very damaging side effects uk with having history of cancer in his family. It bugs me how as fans they can't maintain a boundary.. But i am an anxious mess thinking about it.. I've always been regarding this topic. But now it has exceeded.. How do you manage thoughts like this as a doctor? When you constantly come across cases related to smoking and with the whole situation with lou. Like do you have any tips.?

Feel free to not answer this. 😥

Hello 🌸

Oh, this is a very good question. I’m sorry you’re feeling so overwhelmed right now. I think when you know how diseases work, you see things differently. It’s a bit easier to discriminate the cases: how many cigarettes per day? How long have you been smocking? How old are you? Is this an hereditarian case or were there other preventable factors? We are trained to come to diagnosis. You have to know the clinical history, the clinical presentation, side effects or literally anything in order to come to a conclusion. It comes across arrogant to find a diagnosis based on one thing such as smocking. Smocking is bad, of course it is. What else is new? It’s not just about cancer either. Smoke is the risk factor in every other issues (voice, breathing, stamina etc). But I know how hard it can be to quit too.

Fans have to know their boundaries here. I think fandom anxiety comes from the uncertainty around this topic (does he takes blood tests periodically for example? Is he getting checked every once in a while? Does he have a family medicine doctor who is there for him? We don’t know). The fact is, we don’t know much except for what we see or we are told every once in a while. I think no one has ever had THE talk with Louis about it, but that’s very normal for a young healthy man. The thing with smocking is that has been always so socially accepted it makes it harder to see the struggles of your health because of it. I’ve seen surgeons smocking in front of my two eyes! And I was like “how dare you? You literally operate these things inside people’s bodies!” but you know how humans are. You feel invincible and by the time you realise you are not, the cardiologist has already prescribed anti-hypertension and beta-blockers drugs.

My suggestion is to not take this burden on you. It’s not your job, not your responsibility as a fan (or as a doctor, by the way). Also stay away from twitter if you can. It’s very easy to be overwhelmed by the discourse over there. When something good happens you are surrounded by so much excitement, but it happens with controversial things too. The fact is when we go online and read stuff from other blogs or accounts, we don’t always match the energy. That’s absolutely normal, because we are individuals living our real life in different ways and in different moments. When discourses like this start, we are left with so many questions and worries coming from all the sides and that’s what you want to avoid. Stay away from any thing can make you feel uncomfortable. It doesn’t matter how little it is. Filter tags, block, say you’re not interested. Do whatever it takes to preserve your experience of the fandom. Today, this discourse feels like an unnecessary concern. Try not to stress on this thinking how being their health counsellor is not your role.

Anyway, this is a reminder to not smoke ffs. Here’s a thread I wrote a couple of years ago for the No Tobacco Day WHO campaign on the Louies science account, in case you’d want to spread some knowledge about the bad effects of smocking. :)

[saintqueer]

How would you feel more supportive as a queer fan from Louis? What are things you think he could do and maintain his closet? Liked your last post a lot.

this is such an excellent question! thank you for asking it so thoughtfully. i think people automatically assume when any fan says something like what i said that i mean louis needs to be screaming from the top of his lungs or acting like harry with flags on stage.

ive got so many people in my inbox saying i called louis a homophobe or that if he does anything different he will be outed automatically. so i'm glad you asked because there are so many ways that louis and his team and his promo plan can be more supportive and loving to us queer fans and cause significantly less harm than they currently do while still maintaining his closet and even his stunts.

here are some examples that i can think of off the top of my head:

- he could take actions that firmly place him as an ally, embracing or reacting to things calling him the "king of lesbians" that has no correlation to his own sexuality. ie think Hozier. this doesn't have to be yelling on stage "i'm king of the lesbians" but he could like a tweet calling him that. repeat what a sign says at the show. more instances of him thanking that fan for the lesbian flag.

- acknowledging the rainbow projects at his shows. when asked about fan projects, he can avoid only mentioning non-queer fan projects. this can be as simple and subtle as saying "it looks beautiful and colorful in here". mentioning in an interview "there are some fans that are in the LGBTQ community and they love making rainbows with the lights and i love that my concerts are a safe space for them"

- a minor comment during concerts or on twitter that he wants this to be a "safe space for everyone" or "everyone is welcome here"

- publicly donate to LGBTQ charities. he obviously does privately but some public donations won't out him to the public.

- take out the automatic correlation of larry = gay from the promo repertoire and stop directly targeting larries to tear down Larry with language that suggests he is creeped out by being called gay

- acknowledge the importance of OTB to the LGBTQ community either on stage or in an interview in a way that still separates himself from it... "some of my fans who are a part of the LGBTQ community have taken one of my songs OTB and claimed it as their own and i think that is very beautiful, im so happy they can find their own story in that song. they even have flags when i perform it, it means a lot to them and i'm touched by that"

- publicly supporting queer artists

- someone like shawn mendes has been incredibly aggressive and at times seemingly homophobic about his sexuality yet he recently raised a pride flag to celebrate his queer fans. i don't see louis holding a lesbian flag briefly as something that ruins his closet. i could only see it help to break down his asshole homophobic image that he has with the general public who think he ended up the least successful of the 1d boys which couldn't be further from the truth.

- be more openly supportive of how overwhelmingly female his fanbase is rather than appearing as if he is interested in getting the same fanbase demographic Oasis had and Liam Gallagher currently has.

- a simple "i know what this one means to you all, get those flags up" before OTB if he is still too uncomfortable to mention the importance of the song to a subset of his fans in an interview.

- thank the fans for Project OTB the way he did with Project Defenceless.

- because he has such a largely queer fanbase, it'd be perfectly accepted and typical for a straight artist to tweet "Happy Pride month to all my LGBTQ fans! I hope you feel celebrated this month."

- he retweets causes and charities and occasionally political stances, he could do a retweet or two of queer related issues in addition to all the other stuff "twitter louis" is so vocal about.

those are just a few ideas but there are plenty of others that could be even more subtle but still public rather than just one on one. yes, i know he points and smiles at flags but what about all the fans and gp who don't see that?

also i'm not saying he needs to do all of this but a couple of these would make fans feel so much more connected and not harm his closet at all. just improve his image in a society that is no longer as tolerant of homophobia as it was in 2012. he is not currently a public ally, and that's an issue imo.

we must remember that louis has so many young teenage queer fans now after the pandemic. many discovered they were gay through becoming his fan. his actions and lack of action affects them. if they see him only speaking about the kmm lights in interviews and refusing to acknowledge the rainbow lights, what might that make them feel? if they see him dming fans acting like the idea of him being shipped with another man is gross and crazy, what might that make them feel? if they see him seemingly obsessed (based on his imaging and promo) with obtaining a fanbase less female and less gay, how might that make them feel?

i don't think louis is trying to hurt his gay fans but i think he and his team are functioning within a false dichotomy of gay <--> homophobe and queer fans (both larries and non-larries) are caught in the crossfire

[kob131]

"The writers aren't going to listen to their fans, because they can't even be bothered to listen to their own staff, because they "learned their lesson" to "listen to their gut" and "stick to their guns," and to ignore anybody who tries to educate their CisHet White Male selves on the matters of positive and accurate representation. Not just queer, but with everything. It happened with Jaune>Ruby, it happened with the White Fang, it happened with Emerald, it happened with Flynt Coal, it happened with Jaune>Ruby again, it happened with Yang, it happened with Cinder, it happened with Tyrian, it happened with Jaune>Ruby again, it happened with Pilot Boi, it happened with Ghira, it happened with Blake, it happened with Leo, it happened with Ilia, it happened with Sienna, it happened with Adam, it happened with Oz, it happened with Salem, it happened with Jaune>Ruby again, it happened with Terra Cotta, it happened with Ironwood, it happened with Marrow, it happened with Elm, it happened with Vine, it happened with Harriet, it happened with Clover, it happened with Qrow, it happened with Winter, it happened with Penny, it happened with Jaune>Ruby again - over and over and over and over and over, the fans have spent the past ten years explaining exactly how and why [X problem] was actually a real, tangible problem, with the writers either blatantly ignoring it, or hand-waving it away with vague and empty promises to "be better about it," only to pull the exact same shit all over again.

Ten years of hundredth chances, ten years of patient (or in some cases, not so patient, which is why we get villainized) adherence to the "Just Wait" rule, ten years of practically begging to see even tiny improvements only to be left hanging (or worse, to be directly baited as Eddy admitted happened with Fair Game, and then to be attacked directly by crwby itself and treated as if we were "just imagining things" and that we were "just horny salty fanboys" and that "it's not bait if we never intended to canonize the worm in the first place" and that it's our fault we were foolish enough to think Rooster Teeth would include queer rep and tentatively bit down on the hook) ten years of having it be PROVEN to us that the people who do most of the writing for RWBY write it specifically with a White Straight Male audience in mind, because at the time of RWBY's creation, data shows that Rooster Teeth's fanbase was 93% Male identified and 7% Female identified, and the separate demographic that was attracted solely to RWBY itself was just basically bonus income on top of that."

I saw this and I think it's a good showcase of an older RWBY critics. So let this be a lesson to the RWBY stans who not so coincidentally sound exactly the same.

For those who don't know what they're referring to, an old RWBY AMA on Reddit had this from Miles-

"-Boi howdy, did that take us by surprise. There's always a background character that gets super popular. Last season it was the Waitress. This season it was Pilot Boi and Cute Faunus Guard. Interesting story, we originally had a line for the Pilot that subtly told the audience he had a boyfriend back in Atlas (this was done in our attempt to get better about having more LGBTQ+ representation). However, when scripts went out to the team, a number of crew members were concerned that our first homosexual character with a line of dialogue addressing his sexuality was going to die in the very next episode and was "also kind of a selfish jerk". Soooo, we scrapped the line. Next thing we know, he's the most popular character of the volume and we're kicking ourselves for not sticking to our guns."

And the whole spiel is about how they wanted to keep Pilot as LGBT due to his popularity even though he's bAd rEP. Except that what makes bad representation (being stereotypical, being one dimensional ect.) makes a bad character IN GENERAL. It's why bad writers, no matter their subgroup, can't write good representation- You have to be a good writer. And given that Pilot Guy was so prevelant in Volume 5, he clearly resonated with/entertained so many people. So making him LGBT would have made a fan favorite LGBT, making it far more likely he'd be accepted. That's what happened with Illa. It's what happened with May.

But then, they don't care about the writing. Read it again- they care that the people don't have the right fucking genitals or melatonin content. Or rather, they don't get what they want EXACTLY when they want it. So they lash out like selfish children, crying about how thy don't get their cookie until after dinner. Except they DID get their cookie and they're being a greedy shithead.

Example? OP's own fucking examples.

Jaune>Ruby? Only happened in Volume 1...in the most shallow way possible (given that Ruby herself was a big part of JAUNE'S OWN ARC). Volume 2 gave her the involvement with the actual plot as well as her moment with Penny, Volume 3 gave her Penny's death, Pyrrha's death and being the driving force behind THE REST OF THE SHOW and Jaune got...a half baked arc that was made about Ruby in the only Volume where it got more than a episode (Volume 4).

The White Fang? Basically just "FUCK YOU FOR NO SUPPORING MY POLITICS!" With said politics being "Let me be as racist as a person from the 1920's.'

Emerald? Basically 'HOW DARE YOU MAKE A VILLAIN DARK SKINNED?!' while ignoring that she was a better person than her white cohorts (Roman, Mercury, Cinder).

Flynt Coal? Calling racism over a name (because 'black black')...while ignoring the German 'White White' girl.

Yang? That they skipped over her character arc...then gave her the lion's share of Volume 5 which they ignored because Jaune got mad at the woman who murdered his best friend for nothing was right there.

Cinder? Talking about her being a bland villain...which got shot and killed in Volumes 7 and 8.

Tyrian? Something something 'psychopath is offensive to people with mental disorders'. Completely ignoring LEGITIMATE PSYCHOPATHS..

Pilot Boy? See above.

Ghira? Something about him not being allowed to be seen as competent. ... Even though they accept Sienna being competent despite doing ACTIVE harm because Blake said so...in the same monologue saying Ghira was just as effective and more stable, just slower.

Blake? Her acting 'like a bitch' in Volume 4 despite the very clear reason of 'I just went through tramuatic events and am going through an arc.'

Leo? That having a Fanaus headmaster be a villain was racist. Even though he was still better than every other villain not named 'Emerald' present. He even got a shot in against Raven.

Illa? Psycho Lesbian...right in front of Adam 'Wannabe Racial Supremacist' Taurus. Also got redeemed and everyone went mysteriously quiet, almost like no one wanted to own up to their bullshit.

Sienna? See the WF section and add in racism accusations because Indonesians can't handle a fictional character dying apparently.

Adam? See WF section AGAIN.

Ozpin? Calling out the CRWBY for having the leader of the good guys preaching trust keeping VERY IMPORTANT secrets because 'uwu sad backstory'...after spending three years calling him the true secret bad guy.

Salem? Something about her not being a good villain because generic, cookie cutter complaints that really mean 'You will never appease us, slave.'

Terra Arc-Cotta? 'Racism' 'Why?' 'Fuck you!!!'

Ironwood? Some bullshit excuse about prosthetics that fails when you look at everyone with prosthetics which is just a cover for 'Gimmie my husbando or else.'

Elm, Harriet, Vine, Marrow? See above because no one talks about them outside of being an extension of James.

Clover and Qrow? 'We decided they were gay which not even half of the LGBT fanbase saw so you did a bad.'

20 swings, all misses.

This is not some grand outlier either. I have seen HUNDREDS, if not a THOUSAND criticisms. I have seen about a couple dozen stragglers and a half dozen consistent producers of good criticism...of which only THREE (Faboover, that Whitely Blog and Dual) are still around.

It's all just entitlement. 'You dared to ascertain your ownership over something you made so now I will bully you into compliance.'

As OP would say, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

Tens of thousands of chances on hitting a fucking t-ball. They always miss, split their head open on the bat and then try suing for damages after proclaiming themselves so much better than the coach.

Fair Game is a perfect example. Nothing was explictly romantic...or even implictedly. It was just some guys bonding. I have seen actual ship baiting (Amorshipping from Pokemon) and Fair Game does not fit. People picked up on some flirty animation that the WRITERS didn't intend for, used a character for their purpose and people shat themselves. Blaming them for YOUR immaturity is fucking disgusting.

But hey, this is how the crowd has ALWAYS worked. Don't give them what they want immediately? 'Kill yourself, Monty hates you.' Give them a background couple? 'Give us a major character, kill yourself.' Give them a tragic villain with a defined personality? 'Psycho Lesbian, kill yourself.' Give them a couple with a child? 'Doesn't count, kill yourself.'

Time after time after time after time after time- They demand shit by using their DEAD FRIEND as a soapbox and bludgeon and then move the goalposts so they can threaten and attack them.

We know this for a fact- the Camp Camp blog incident provided the psychos.

Oh did you think I forgot? Silly little fragile hypocrite- I will never forget.

You fucks are some of the most psychotic pieces of shit I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. I also remember how the very SECOND you got push back, that you had to eat your own shit for once, you cried foul.

No matter what you fucks try, I will not forget. And you will NEVER escape your bullshit.

You don't deserve to be listen to. You deserve every little bit of pettiness and disdain...times a hundred.

P.S. They do mention the Glassdoor incident...for half a paragraph.

"ACTUAL LIVING PEOPLE got hurt? Eh...BU WHAT ABOUT MY EGO?!"

[mr-styles]

Executive of the Week: Columbia Records SVP/Co-Head of Digital Marketing & Content Development Manos Xanthogeorgis

"Most people will most definitely forget about the numbers but they will hopefully remember how this campaign, and ultimately the album, made them feel."

Harry Styles’ “As It Was” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 this week with the largest streaming week of the year. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?

Probably that we didn’t think about any of this until the song and video was already out. Our undeniable number one priority has been to build a campaign — or, better said, an experience — that is up to his artistic and creative standards. We stress about creating great art around the album, not achieving big numbers. When the art is great and the approach is creative, fun and inviting, the numbers will come.

It is a celebration of artfulness, self reflection and inclusion. Different elements that are added every day mean different things to different people. Everyone is invited. Everyone is welcome. Everyone is home.

We are more proud of the cultural impact it has achieved so far, and will hopefully continue to achieve, vs. the numbers, charts and awards. Most people will most definitely forget about the numbers but they will hopefully remember how this campaign, and ultimately the album, made them feel.

It was also not only his first No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, but his first top 10 on that chart. How did you set this up to ensure that this song would do well there?

Fine Line walked so Harry’s House could run. All the work that he and the team has done with the previous album is translating now. It’s very rare to see an artist with already 12 years of a career at this level to continuously gain new fans and speak to the youth.

Our favorite comments online are of people who are expressing how Harry’s House is the first campaign they get to experience from the beginning, which means they discovered him and his music through Fine Line. This generation of digital and streaming natives is key to all the streaming numbers you see. But besides demographics and strategies, the song — and, yes, the entire album — is that good. It will be on repeat.

The song was not just big in the U.S., but around the world, debuting at No. 1 on both of Billboard’s global charts this week as well. Why did it make such a mark globally?

He is a truly global artist and the campaign so far has reached far beyond the core fans.

Shutterstock has reported that since the campaign launched “Doors” and “Houses” have seen their clickability surge 145% and 42% respectively. When you see giant and global brands like Hulu, Samsung, Twix, Adobe, and then Architectural Digest or even sports teams like Sporting Lisbon CP, insert themselves in his house or behind the door you know the campaign has created a pop culture moment. At that moment you just step back and watch magic happen.

In a streaming-first world, are all digital campaigns inherently global?

Yes and no. Campaigns live globally when they become mainstream/pop culture, but they mostly live within niche audience segments and these segments are unrelated to geographic location.

Harry’s House is one global place for everyone to be, and most of the time elements from the campaign have trended globally, but we do like to highlight the diversity and flair of different countries and territories. One of the most fun tasks was to translate “You Are Home” in different languages for the print ads we ran in different parts of the world. Every language and translation had slightly different meanings, so inherently a different philosophical meaning. It’s funny, but although I’m a Greek native, I might have spent three hours stressing about the proper translation in Greek — there are probably 20 different ways of saying it, similar but also very different in meaning! Every translation was absolutely intentional.

We know that the fans will take every piece and dissect it so we put a lot of thought and intention in the details. I truly admire his fanbase — they make this whole campaign so special and fun. We read everything.

How did the plan for this first single differ from the last album cycle for Harry?

Strategy-wise, the biggest differentiator in this cycle was that we introduced the album theme before the first single. We wanted to set the tone, build the world and narrative of what the album is about and then follow with music and the first single.

Numbers-wise, his audience is much bigger — probably double — and more engaged than when we started with “Fine Line” and “Lights Up.” You might say this makes things easier, but it really doesn’t; the pressure and expectations externally and internally towards ourselves to deliver what he deserves is much greater. More answers on that tomorrow behind the door.

[fushiomi]

Here’s a video on how to reach Liber/Eng staff about the termination of the English server:

[Video ID: Player is in the A3! app, the songs “Insert the Sunshine” and “Slowly Flowing”, both OST from the game, are playing. The player click on the profile icon, (the content isn’t important). They click on their bio and write “Hi” with a kaomoji on the side, then they write a letter “i” and hesitate before deleting it and click off. They exist their bio and leave the profile page. They instead click on the “Support” button which leads them to a page titled “A3! for Appstore inquires”, there’s a hyperlink that reads “For feedback regarding the ceasing of operations”, and below that in smaller writing it reads “Frequently asked questions (FAQs)”. There are four options viable to the viewer, “I want to play on another device”, “I have received my purchased Gems”, “I can’t login. / I got error 904/905/906.” The player clicks on the hyperlink that leads them to a page to give feedback, it has a green banner and says “For feedback edgar ceasing of operations. Below it reads: “Players that have any opinions or feedback on regarding ceasing of operations can do so here. A disclaimer is below that reads “*Although feedback from users will be reviewed, we cannot respond to individual users”. Green text above a box is present after scrolling, it reads “Please input your feedback here.” The user types in “don’t please ahaha you’re (stylized as ur) so sexy” with a winky emoji, they then access their emoji keyboard and place a broken heart. They can clarify “Actually write something serious though (written tho) with a kaomoji of a smiling person, then press done (two exclamation points) don’t spam and remember to be kind (two exclamation points)”. They then click off the page and settings, the video ends with them on the main page of the game. End ID]

Bellow the readmore is what I ended up (actually) submitting, if you want to copy and paste it, please make a few changes! But ultimately what I felt like was needed to highlight:

- Marketing issues and comparisons between other games that handled international marketing.

- The sudden nature of the announcement and how it impacted the player base.

- The fact the game does have a fanbase and has a market (leads back to the point of bad marketing), and that the success in Japan is an example that the game does have ability to be a hit.

- Other options that don’t include terminating the server (such as a temporary hiatus).

—

Other ideas: Events to connect with the fanbase (example: art contests where winners get “X” amount of gems), twitter events (“Y” amount of retweets in “Z” days will give “X” reward”), subtitles of the stage play so international fans have more content to interact with, etc.

DISCLAIMER: I wrote this while still drowsy from crying and sleep medication, so if you’re able to, please help us write something better than… this.

“Hello, I hope this review/feedback finds you well.

As you can imagine, this is about the ceasing operations of the A3! English/International servers, and the opinions and ideas I (as well as other players) have.

I’ve been observing the way the player base has reacted to the news and, not so surprisingly, the reaction has been pretty negative. A lot of players feel overwhelmed with the sudden news, many disappointed at – what feels like – the sidedness of the decision. While we are all thankful for the amazing localization of the game, we can’t help but feel deeply saddened and, in more extreme cases, betrayed at the decision. The game has garnered quite a community, notably in social media sites such as Twitter and Tumblr, as it became quite a vital and comfort game for many.

Alongside seeing the way the player base has reacted, I looked at the graphics and economical side of things and noticed how players in the server have been lowering. Which, alongside the pandemic and loss of profit Cybrid and Liber have been experiencing as of the last two years, is what I imagine is impulsing the decision to halt activities.

With all of that in mind, I personally still think that terminating content to the English server is a bad idea — in the long run, that is.

The last two years have been quite a financial struggle for many, and to decide to end the game due to loss of profit seems hasty. While I understand it’s not possible to continue operations, I think halting operations until further notice would be a better idea.

Instead of completely pulling the plug, halting operations while focusing on marketing would honestly work better.

The marketing of the game has been, for lack of a better word, quite messy. I think there were lot of missed opportunities, marketing the game as found family and card game — where you accompany a group of people to achieve their dreams — would have been a better strategy than saying it was an otome game - which is what led to a lot of player joining and then leaving due to the lack of romance wh the characters. A good example of marketing, in my opinion, would be the Obey Me! franchise or games such as Cookie Run.

I’m saying all of this, but what I mean is, if the team behind it focused more on the advertisement on social media’s such as twitter and ads on youtube where the nature of found family and the true nature of Mankai (a company where family and brotherly love blooms) the game would find and flourish in the demographic, since it’s not unheard of players wanting a game like that — especially in the west.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I think the idea of terminating operations on the English server is a bad idea especially when there is an obvious marker for it, and A3! really does fit it. Personally, I think halting the events and focusing on marketing the game further — truly pushing the game with ad’s (which could include in game CG’s where we see how the boys grow and connect as a family) where the nature of A3! is shown clearly, A3! English server could absolutely bloom into something amazing.

A3! is about not giving up, even when things get tough, and to try and reach an audience – which is why, I guess, seeing you guys give up on it seems… sad and like a truly missed opportunity.

As someone who’s been with the game since launch, the game has so much potential, so please, please give it another try. Focus on the marketing, push it with ads on youtube and instagram, put the boys’ face out there and make the focus of the story known.

Look into the way games such as Obey Me!, the idol games (mostly female based), and other successful asian/japanese games have marketed themselves and try to adapt it into A3!. An example, instagram ads where you can see parts of a CG (let’s say the Muku and Yuki from Act 1) where Muku comforts Yuki, the voice lines there as you hear the game music and subtitles playing. Be honest about the gameplay, it’s not the most exciting, but market it as fun, add more rewards for when you train the actor — more gems or maybe trophies if you train “X” amount of times in a day instead of just a training card. You can even make more Eng server exclusive cards to insensitive Japanese players to also engage with the English server.

I feel like there are so many ways to go about it that don’t include shutting down the game, because shutting down the game truly feels like the easiest way out… but it doesn’t mean it’s the best way.

Anyway, I hope nothing in this feels malicious, I'm simply passionate about it as someone who’s invested hours and hours, almost 700 days of their life, onto this, A3! and the Mankai company feels like a part of my life, and as many others feel as well, I don’t want to let go. Not when I know there’s so many events and games, gachas and character, left for us as international players to experience.”

[louisisalarrie]

Can you explain what you mean about Louis team not trying anymore? Do you mean in terms of promo of him/his tour?

Louis is on a break at the moment so not sure what we’re expecting his team to be doing? I’ve got to say I’m not that keen on them either. I mean I like his band members but the management crew do seem lazy and disinterested. Not sure if it bothers L or not. He’s so laid back it’s hard to tell!

Heya anon! Thanks for the inbox, and welcome to the show.

Look… yes, he’s on a break. That’s fine, and while Harry and zayn are currently getting press, there could be concern for over-saturation in the market due to the overlap of fans, and therefore could even be Agreements between H/L/Z’s managers to space out the promo a bit so fans can absorb one thing at a time. Niall’s on tour with consistent promo social media posts (not too many headlines though), so he’s not to worry, and Liam isn’t getting really any press, even though he is being more active with fans. However…

Just because Louis is on break, that doesn’t mean his team needs to be. They should be gearing up with promo for the LATAM tour that starts in 2 weeks. They’ve always been lazy with trying to reach GP and having substantial press/working with interviewers or industry professionals that will connect him to a larger demographic, and have relied on a very dedicated fanbase as their main source of income/Louis’ success. The problem with that, is by forming such a special connection between Louis and the fans, he (his team) need to be creating content and delivering to the fans so it doesn’t feel so one sided. It frustrates me to no end because even though they are doing well with the relationship between louis and fans, sometimes they don’t even know that demographic as well as they think they do.

Louis 100% deserves a break. I don’t expect him to be posting every day or doing livestreams or twitter chats, but his team need to at least be posting on Insta/twitter once or twice a week for him. Theyve been really MIA a little too long in my opinion, and the whole point of this promo is to sell tickets to the upcoming LATAM tour. It is crucial promo time, ya know?

So anyway, again this is just in my opinion and experience and analysing the marketing strategies/timelines of Louis’ past tours/album drops etc., they just aren’t delivering that promo, and haven’t actively tried to reach a larger demographic with the GP like… ever. Could he have done a couple of pre recorded interviews while he wasn’t MIA to drop over this time? He should have. Maybe a few pre written press articles about his tour ready to drop on a specific date? Hopefully. There should be content available to post whenever necessary. And hell, I’m sure there will be some level of promo before the tour, but leaving it til last minute doesn’t really do him any favours.

His team come off as lazy and often rely on us to do the work for him, which like… fine, fans literally keep an artist’s career alive so there is obviously a level of fans promoting said artist, but it feels like it’s a lot of us giving and hanging around and a lot of them taking and too much reliance on just his already established fans selling out shows, not new fans who could grow his numbers substantially.

Again, I’m 100% not advocating for him to not have a break, I’m saying his team are barely doing the bare minimum at the moment, and it’s not doing him and his tour any favours. I’m not saying Louis is lazy, and I’m not saying that he doesn’t care, this is strictly to do with his team and their strategies.

And yes, he does come across as very laid back and yes, he loves what he does and works hard. But I feel there may be a level of complacency with his team right now. Like “oh well, you’re not ever gonna be as big as Harry, so we won’t even bother with this strategy even if it worked for him” kinda thing. But, for the hell of it, let’s say that Louis doesn’t really wanna do more promo. He’s happy at the level he’s at, doing just enough of what his team wants him to do, and he doesn’t want to strive to be any more successful. He knows he’s at a good place, so why bother? But… Matt Vines needs to make money. He’d be on a commission rate of an industry standard around 20%, but might be more depending on their Agreement. It wouldn’t be any less. So… if Louis isn’t making more money, Matt isn’t making more money (he would be making a certain amount with the other artists he manages, but overall Louis would be making the most out of that roster, his commission on smaller bands may lead closer to 15% standard). Obviously money is still coming in to them, but you get me. So, even if Louis is chilling and happy, it’s weird to see such a little amount of promo leading up to a very exciting and hopefully successful tour in LATAM.

You can read in this interview from 2022 with Matt, about his ideas on management. Notably, the below about previous data from 1d and their activations and campaigns and I haven’t really seen too many elements of that in his current promo (obv gonna be at a different scale because 1d was one of the biggest bands in the world for a hot minute there, but there’s been little to no elements of these strategies in his current promo season):

So i truly haven’t seen much of those marketing techniques employed within his promo these days. And here, he talks about the relationship he has with his artists and why his company stands out from others:

Which, yes, I agree that a manager-artist relationship should be different from what it’s traditionally known. And I can see that they do have a different relationship, with the lack of stunting and louis taking the reins a lot more. We see more authenticity, and less show, which is great. Louis is serious and has actively worked to understand the business and how different streams and parts of the industry work.

But his team aren’t working to grow the fanbase. Matt Vines has been in this industry long enough to understand marketing and promo and demographics more so than Louis, but it feels like he’s not even helping him grow bigger. Idk, it feels disappointing that for a hot minute he was on a roll and gaining a lot of traction and it seems to have stagnated a little bit and his reach has only gone so far, where it should be further out to the GP too.

Anyway, look, again this is just my opinion. I’m incredibly proud of him and his team have done a lot for him, but they can always do more. And yet, they haven’t. I don’t want to see Louis exhausted and a wreck from touring like the 1d days, but promo comes in so many different forms and it’s not just about stunting and clothing lines and social media. There’s more his team could do for him, without him working 100% of the time.

[lightns881]

DTeam Tumblr Demographics Survey Results (Part 1):

The Gifted Child Syndrome is Real with this One...

*Rubs hands together in preparation for some juicy data and in-depth analysis of the typical member of the DTeam Tumblr community*

Ooooooooh boy! Here we go!

I want to start of by thanking you guys for over 400 responses to the demographics survey! Y’all have no idea how much I appreciate it! We have so much to cover, so I’m going to divide up different sections of the survey into several posts to make it more digestable and do justice to each topic explored in the form! We’re going to start of with, you guessed it, personality types!

Strap yourself in because we’re about to thoroughly dissect your sub-conscious innerworkings and find out how the typical DTeam Tumblr Fan thinks! (And judging by the majority personality types, you guys will probably enjoy it)

The Delicious Data

From the 449 responses we received, this is a pie chart displaying the personality types of all respondents.

Image Description: INFP (40.5%), INTP (15.1%), INFJ (8.9%), INTJ (8.9%), ISFP (6.9%), ENFP (4.2%), ISTP (4.0%), ENTP (3.8%), ESFP (1.6%), ISFJ (1.6%), ENTJ (1.3%), ENFJ (1.3%), ISTJ (1.1%), ESTP (0.4%), ESFJ (0.2%), ESTJ (0%)

In comparison, this is a pie chart displaying the personality type percentages of the population as a whole according to the MBTI website.

Image Description: ISTP (14%), ESFJ (12%), ISTJ (12%), ISFP (9%), ESTJ (9%), ESFP (8%) ENFP (8%), ISTP (5%), INFP (4%), ESTP (4%), INTP (3%), ENTP (3%), ENFJ (2%), INTJ (2%), ENTJ (2%), INFJ (1%)

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sensing a tiny difference here... Oh, right!

INxx’s on the Loose!

It’s funny. When I first found one of the 18+ DTeam fan servers through Tumblr, I asked everyone what their personality type was. I was pleasantly surprised when a lot of them told me they were INFPs like me!

It actually reminded me of MatPat’s (Game Theory) survey for one of his Life Is Strange theories that found the majority personality there was also INFP...

Funny enough, can you guess what the second leading personality on that survey was? The third? The fourth?

You probably guessed it right. MatPat found that out of the fans who responded, the leading majority was INFP while INTPs came in second, INFJs came in third, and INTJs came in fourth. The exact order for the personality types in DTeam Tumblr.

But why is it that some of the rarer personalities of the world are dominating DTeam Tumblr or Game Theory’s fanbase? What is it about these communities that attract the rare introverted Intuitive Perceivers (INxP) and Intuitive Judgers (INxJ) of the world like magnets?

The Gifted Kid Syndrome

To answer this question, first we have to examine our leading personalities. As we can see from the data, INFPs and INTPs make up 55.6% and INFJs and INTJs make up 17.8% of the total respondents. That’s nearly 3/4′s of the DTeam Tumblr population made up of INxx types!

Now, here’s me calling y’all out.

A lot of you probably relate to the quiet kid sitting at the back of the classroom who’s put into some type of TAG, gifted program, or some authority figure has probably called you smart and/or “gifted” at some point in your life. Academics probably came easy to you at one point, maybe they still do.

You’ve probably felt your chest swell up at the shower of compliments about your intelligence and at another... you’ve probably felt like people put you in a pedestal and overrate you so you’re stuck with this inherent fear of failure, and it causes you to completely shut down when the things that came easy to you at one point no longer do so. 

It’s gifted kid syndrome hitting you like a brick to the face. And if it hasn’t yet, oh you’re in for a surprise, honey.

And I’m sure many of you have come across funny, relatable posts like this:

And you want to know why most of you relate?

Image Description: INTP, INTJ, INFP, anf INFJ’s rate the highest in a giftedness per MBTI Type chart

No. You’re not hallucinating. It’s not even a joke at this point. It feels true because it probably is true.

(Granted, the study that captured similar results to this graph is long lost to the internet, but the best source I found with it was a reddit post I will be citing in the reblog.)

Now, my next point is where we find a split.

INFPs and INTPs and their Need to Question Everything (even if it’s about one sentence [insert creator here] said that one time during a 4-hour long stream)

The strongest connection I found between the two leading personalities of DTeam Tumblr is they share Extraverted Intuiting (Ne) as their auxiliary cognitive function.

I’ll use a quote that explains Ne better than I could ever explain it in my own words:

“Extraverted intuition or Ne is very much focused on patterns and making connections from information they gather... Ne dominant users enjoy being able to explore things in a much more open manner, not wanting to feel closed off to the possibilities around them... They are also highly imaginative people, who enjoy being able to come up with unique hobbies and experiences... They are not afraid of imagining things which seem almost impossible to others... [For INFPs,] Ne is what creates this detailed and incredible thoughts process which keeps them busy for long periods of time.”

And another:

“Auxiliary Ne manifests in people constantly questioning the world around them, but unlike ENxPs, they can be more pick and choose about this. But generally, they don’t take people, things and events at face value.“

Now, think about the community you’re in right now. Think about the post you’re reading at the moment.

DTeam Tumblr is full of over-analysis posts, whether about Dream and George’s secret love for each other or about the inherent problems with Dream’s shipbait and gay jokes or theories about what’s going to happen next in the dream SMP lore and the dramatic betrayals and creator’s descend into madness and more theories about sexuality and charts depicting creator’s personalities and what they’d be likely to do in different scenarios and... ooof, I’m out of breath here. You get my point.

DTeam Tumblr is literally a group of ex-gifted or gifted introverted people who love to read or write analysis, theory, and discussion posts about sweaty Minecraft Youtubers because they’re probably too overwhelmed by real life and find joy in obsessing over “dumb” things.

That’s it. That’s literally the post. I might as well end there.

But I won’t. 

Because obsessions is exactly what I want to focus on next.

The Inherent Nature of the INFP and their “Micro-Obsessions”

This is me having a one-to-one conversation with all my INFPs reading this.

Do you sometimes just set your mind on a goal--like, let’s say, writing a book--and you spend so much time obsessing over it to the point where you burn out and suddenly it never sees the light of day because you move onto your next goal or obsession because now you’re getting ready to launch your freelance website so you can start a business on [insert new hobby here]?

Or do you just suddenly find a fandom or a show or a channel you really enjoy and you spend the next few months doing nothing but engaging with it and reading fanfiction and drawing fan art or making dumb analysis posts on your main Tumblr account where suddenly you get an influx of followers from that community and now people are expecting you to just post about MCYT!?

Oh, sorry, I got a little carried away at the end there...

Anyhow, my point is, do you ever develop an obsession over something all the sudden only for it to just disappear when you find something new or just fall into the deep crevices of your mind only for it to maybe reemerge a few years later after you get a deep sense of nostalgia remembering it?

I call them micro-obsessions. And I recently found out, I’m not the only one who does this!

Here’s another quote for you: 

“According to Carl Jung’s theory of cognitive functions, when an INFP makes a decision, Ne comes in second to another process known as Introverted Feeling (Fi). Fi does not use logic to make a decision. It uses how we feel about the decision according to our values. In other words, it asks, “Which choice feels right for me?”

Ne, on the other hand, craves new ideas and experiences to explore, which causes INFPs to always be on the lookout for something novel.

Unfortunately, INFPs can get stuck in a loop, going back and forth between their Ne and Fi. They search to understand their values by constantly trying new things. They ask themselves, “Does this feel right?” then throw it over their shoulder as they move on to something else.”

So, you’re probably asking right about now, Light, how the heck does any of this have anything to do with the Dream Team and MCYT!?

Well, my friend, it has EVERYTHING to do with the Dream Team and MCYT and DTeam Tumblr as a whole.

Because INxx’s are predisposed to end up in places like this--fandoms on Tumblr, channels that speculate whether Mario is evil, watching dramatic Minecraft smp wars and elections as opposed to looking at the news that depicts Murphy’s Law as 2020′s new favorite epigram. 

The introvert in them causes them to prefer socializing in small communities online where they’re not forced to engage in conversations if they don’t want to or put into uncomfortable situations where they have to talk to that one friend of their friend who wants to make meaningless small chat.

Their Intuition causes them to wonder into places like Tumblr where they can engage in deep discussions about their newest obsessions, and they won’t be judged for writing a 500+ word post about why Dream’s shipbait tactics are a genius algorithm strat or simping over sweaty Minecraft boys.

DTeam Tumblr is a safe haven for INFPs and INTPs who might be placed in the “other” category or marked as weird for being interested in “childish” entertainment or being different from the general population overall, whether that’d be sexuality, point of view, age, gender, etc. A place where you can fully be yourself and not have to worry about disappointing people.

INFPs are predisposed for drowning themselves in their micro-obsessions to avoid all of the madness in the world--even if that means giggling like a little girl while reading memes about your favorite Minecraft YouTube creators.

That is a deep-dive into the mind of a typical DTeam Tumblr user. What do you think? Is it accurate at all? Is it completely off? Let me know in the comments!

And with that, I digress. I’m not sure whether I’ll be covering general demographics next week or diving into the topic of ships (could be a mix of both), but I will be posting about it eventually, so make sure to hit the follow if you got to the end of this post and enjoyed it or learned something new from it!

Friendly reminder that this survey and post is in no way supposed to be taken 100% seriously. These are just the ramblings of a math major INFP with too much time on her hands and way too big of an obsession for MCYT. My asks are always open for literally anything, whether if you want to ask me about this or any DNF related subject, my own opinions, or just criticize the whole of this post and tell me it’s complete trash! I’ll answer as long as it’s appropriate!

And, again, thank you everyone who filled out the survey. Without y’all, this post wouldn’t be possible. I really enjoyed writing it! Adios!

[nightswithkookmin]

RE HOW BIGHIT MARKETS BTS

Thanks for the question dear.

Marketing is for a lot of things but in BTS's case, I'd say the primary goal of marketing them is to expose the entire group and or the individual members to an audience, a particular audience at a time, to brand them in a way that makes them appealing to that target market- to put it simply.

During one of the recent run episodes, when Jimin performed his dance from Serendipity- which I must say, God he is breathtakingly beautiful when he dances. Serendipity and the choreo is my weakness. If I see anything better than that- hold on, there's filter too. Ayayaya.

Stream Serendipity and Filter🔪

Oh and did y'all see JM's bit in Film out? Omg! I'm afraid I'd have to fly to South K to kiss his talented ass morning, afternoon, evening.

Who's coming?

Anywho, when Jimin performed Serendipity on Run and suggested that was the dance the staff was performing, the members- cough RM, quickly pointed out how he was plugging, self promoting (to Run's target audience)

Run has a different demographic.

When Suga talked about them not being funny on their Let's BTS show on KBS the Host pointed out how they were actually funny in their Run episodes.

A lot of Army(who are already fans of BTS or each individual member) watch Run but not all who watch Run are Army or even listen to BTS songs. So any performance of an individual's music or choreo would attract such a 'unique' viewer who might go on to become that member's stan or bias etc.

Similarly, when a member embarks on a solo project they are exposed to a new or unique audience. That's where most of the solo stans come from.

For V, his fanbase are not just made up of people who enjoy him as a musician but as an actor as well.

He has a strong fanbase in SK outside of 'Army' because of his exposure to the Korean market beyond BTS and this comprises of his musical collaborations with Korean Artists and film companies such as his OST Sweet Night on the series Itaewon class.

It's the same with Suga and IU, his Agust D mixtapes which draws in audiences that are not necessarily into boybands, RM's Mono whixh attracts strong hiphop fans, Jimin's dance collaborations with Taemin for example and his contemporary dance performance which attracts people in the world of contemporary dance and ballet- point in case the black swan performance at the end of the year, Jin and Hobi's MCing etc.

All these projects exposes them to unique audiences and markets outside of Army or BTS's own fanbase.

And I think the best way to understand how this is important or how this affects BigHit's marketing approach is to look at their recent YouQuiz interviews.

Jimin, Jhope and JK were paired to attract aspiring dancers or persons who want to be dancers and learn from these three dance leaders of BTS- or at least they were paired to appeal to them in my opinion.

Tae and RM were equally paired to appeal to creatives and creative minds and persons who are more into composing and writing lyrics and are full of passion and musical geniuses.

Jin and Suga were paired to appeal to mature audiences.

Ten out of ten when any pair is paired in BTS it is for marketing reasons to appeal to certain fanbase or audiences and are often strategic moves unless of course it's to balance things out to not create the impression they are promoting subunits within the group in furtherance of the BTS kumbaya agenda- Team over units or solos.

So Jikook are not gonna be allowed to sit together all the time even if they want to, neither would JinKook, or Sope.

They shake and reshuffle sometimes.

And like Tae said in his 2018 VLive, the company decides who they collaborate in or what market to promote them in.

Tae was allowed to collaborate with Adora on his Chrismas song but not Jimin- which to me is very homophobic but it goes to show the company has a say in who they work with and most importantly which market they work in.

For JK, he's been working his way within the American marke and building a strong fanbase internationally from his English covers of Justin Bieber, Troye Sivan, to his collaboration with Charlie Puth, and most recently Jason Derulo in Savage love- that's a lot of English speaking fanbase he's attracting and appealing to outside of Army.

Tae's English mixtape would achieve a similar feat and draw in a lot of English speaking fans.

Bts did the same with dynamite and coldplay's Fix you.

So by allowing JK to work with renowned Japanese Artists and film companies, collaborating and composing original sound tracks for them such as his Your eyes tell OST, Film out, etc. he is appealing to and drawing in a Japanese audience.

As Hobi explained in his 2019 January Vlive, their mixtapes, solo projects, collaborations with Artists outside of BTS are all ways for them to expand their fanbase individually and build their portfolio.

And these new fans are mostly going to be solo stans who stan him for his music composing abilities but of course some may fall in love with BTS as well and go on to become Army so it's a win win situation.

WOULDN'T THE OTHERS OBJECT

Yes and no.

As long as the company isn't pushing him as a soloist outside of BTS and creating a separate brand with him outside of BTS's own brand I don't think the boys would object to it.

That was the problem they had/have with Jikook. In my opinion.

The company branding Jikook, distinctifying them from the group as a 'couple' subunit, selling their chemistry to fans and advertisers really doesn't and didn't sit well with the group. AT ALL.

In my opinion of course.

You can't create a brand within a brand.

It goes against Bang PD's own objective of prioritizing the team over all else which is what sold the members in the first place.

I just think in JK's case, since 2020, they are just trying to help him find himself and his bearing and his purpose.

He's been trying to find himself since 2020 and he'd talked about losing his passion and had had his passion hijacked and commercialized by the company.

He used to say he didn't know what he was going to do with himself and his life and career after BTS- having him work on music videos, directing, composing, reading these are all ways that they are doing right by him if you ask me.

They are helping him not trying to push their own agendas- which is not to say they might not change their minds about it in the future.

JK is an artist being managed by the company and they owe a duty to him to make the right business decisions for him with his consent- can't stress on the consent bit enough.

Personally, I'm happy about Japan because they are and are shaping out to be queer friendly and have a bit of progressive laws and conducive environments for queer artists to flourish in- if coming out would ruin their careers that's one less worry.

Which by the way I hate anyone who peddles this 'coming out will ruin their careers' nonsense because I can tell you one hundred percent that that is rooted in homophobia and it's not OK.

Don't tell that to no queer people shut up. You are not helping.

I know some say that out of genuine concerns for the boys but PLEASE DON'T. Don't use fear to keep queer people hidden and out of sight. Don't promote closet safety. Rhetorics like that only perpetuate queer invisibility and homophobia- do I need to spell it out to your liberal homophobic ass?!

Coming out is entirely up to them regardless of the risk you think is involved. If they want to take it. They'll take it. It's their choice to make regardless of whatever consequence.

That there are or should be consequences is a problem in of itself.

I don't want to hear 'if JK comes out he's been stupid and reckless and putting Jimin's career at risk'

'If he loves Jimin he wouldn't come out'

Go ahead kiss it😌

If he wants to stay closested respect it. If he wants to come out RESPECT IT TOO.

Support him either ways goddammit!

Y'all gone get me bothered like that huh.

JK POTENTIALLY WITHOUT JIMIN

They both have different career objectives.

I know Jimin says JK is imitating him but chilee JK is his own person. Lol.

Jimin plays too much.

He has his own aspirations.

In 2014 Jimin posted this Christmas song he did with JK. In 2020 he posted his own Christmas song without Jk.

It's not hard to see where his interests in music lie as a musician.

JK covered We don't talk anymore by himself and later did a collaboration with Jimin on the same song. He's done Fools with RM- see where I'm going with this?

Suga said he was more likely to write pop songs for JK but write dance songs for Jimin.

Jk said in the Be interviews bang PD advised him to consider dance performances when writing songs as he himself is a dancer too and need to incorporate in his compositions.

They are two distinct artists and at some point it would become necessary to brand, promote and encourage their uniqueness in their professional lives. They don't got to be tethered to each other all the time.

Personally, I don't think BigHit would want to push official subunits within BTS- yet and it's inclination towards Jikook have always been because of their marketing appeal rather than to further a career objective for both of them.

This goes back to the pairing objectives I talked about earlier. If they are going to pair Jikook professionally as an official subunit within the group it wouldn't be because they are a couple and ought to be together all the time but because it is smart for them to do so business wise.

If their pairing isn't commercially profitable they won't be paired at all- unless of course Jikook themselves want and request to be paired in that way. Know what I mean?

They each signed separate contracts with the company from day dot. They didn't sign on as a unit.

Whether or not they've decided they are a package deal I cannot say- yet, as their new contract just came into effect.

We would have to observe how they are being handled by the company going forward.

HE'D NEVER DO IT WOULD HE

Come now sis...

It's not like he's leaving Jimin😅

Jimin and Jhope were equally sent to Japan for promotion purposes without JK.

Out of all seven, Namjoon is the most promoted member in the international Market not just because he speaks English but because he is often made the spokes person for the group in interviews, at awards straight up to the UN.

Look how happy they all were and how chatty they were at the KBS Let's BTS interview.

I mean they all talked about it. About how they can't say much on foreign forums and often step into Namjoon's shadows.

RM is the most recognized and dare I say the most liked member out of all seven in the international market outside Army and their music profession.

In Japan they all have a chance to be front and center at interviews etc.

It just so happens that JK as it stands is the one member pushing to build a portfolio within that market.

Let's pray he gets mainstream and build a strong presence within the music industry there because we all know he's gonna drag Jimin up there with him😏

Just pay attention to the songs he's written and the parts Jimin sings in them- he makes Jimin shine on those songs.

They have so much potential my God.

Let's support them individually and as a unit.

I purple you and sorry I had to respond here.

Stay gold. Let's keep supporting and rooting for our guys.

Signed,

GOLDY

[protego-et-servio]

The verdict in the Depp v Heard case is highly disappointing and it sends a “you can be abused but don’t talk about it” message to abuse survivors. (Like this kind of verdict is why I’ve struggled to talk about my experiences and will continue to do so, thanks.)

It honestly doesn’t surprise me, though.

1) It’s Johnny Depp. He’s had a huge fanbase for a long time. Even if none of the jury members cared much for him (which I doubt,) his fanbase poses a threat to them and their family later on if they ruled against him. These jurors have likely missed work and family events to sit on this jury. It probably won’t be hard to figure out who they are, even with Heard requesting their identities be sealed.

2) I don’t trust the average person - ie the jury - to actually acknowledge or know what domestic abuse is or how abusers operate. (Especially considering the jury likely couldn’t have prior knowledge to any of this - I think one potential candidate was rejected for having read Heard’s op-ed - which makes me suspect many jurors were older/not tech savvy. And I personally feel many in those demographics aren’t usually on the “comprehensively learn about domestic abuse” train.)

3) The trial took place in Virginia, on the basis that’s where the Washington Post’s - where Heard’s op-ed was published - servers are located. Heard’s team tried to get the trial moved to California, Depp’s team fought it.

This was likely in part to Virginia’s weird anti-SLAPP laws, which is explained in this snippet from BloombergLaw.com’s “Depp’s Choice of Virginia Trial Shows Strategy:”

Attorneys say it was a strategic move by Depp and his attorneys to haul Heard into a court in the Commonwealth even though they both live in California. It was likely a deliberate ploy to take advantage of the weaknesses in Virginia’s anti-SLAPP law, which is meant to protect free speech.

The whole point of the law is to discourage rich and powerful plaintiffs from abusing the court system to silence their critics, said Lee Berlik, a defamation attorney in Fairfax County, Va., and managing member of BerlikLaw LLC.

SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation and 32 states and the District of Columbia have laws against them, but no other state has one as quirky as Virginia, as Bruce Johnson, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Seattle, put it.

[snip]

Unlike other states, Virginia’s anti-SLAPP law doesn’t automatically stop the case from moving forward. When a person claims they’re protected by an anti-SLAPP law in California, everything stops until a judge decides if they really are immune from litigation. In Virginia, the immunity provided by the state’s anti-SLAPP law can be used as a defense at trial against the litigation. - source

So, yeah. I’ve been bracing for this, since the jury went into deliberation.