Highlights of Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemura NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2024

The G1 run of this man is gonna be legendary

yoshihashi telling little kazu that no matter what anyone says, they'll always be in his corner made me so emotional because over the years, there has been so much talk about how chaos do not share a real bond or are not a real faction anymore but these six dudes have always been supportive of each other and stayed together for so long, ever since any of them joined chaos and i think that speaks a lot about their friendship and brotherhood they've built together while on the road (anyone who has watched any of the ytr vtr dvds knows what i am talking about 😌). that being said, it'll be sad to see a new japan without kazuchika okada, it'll be sad to see chaos without kazuchika okada but as someone who has been here for years, i KNOW how much kazu truly loves wrestling and being in the ring and doing what he does best which is entertaining people is all he cares about, so i wanna wish him well on his new journey ahead. our kazu has come to a point in new japan where he has achieved what is there to achieve. he has carried this company on his back for more than a decade and it is his decisions that he wants to try something new and i respect that wholeheartedly, no matter how bittersweet it'll feel for me, so please continue to support him on this new journey as well. may he be well, eat well, do well, just enjoy himself and stay healthy and happy. my support and love for him will never change. thank you for these wonderful years and i am looking forward for all the years that are yet to come!

Tomohiro Ishii 💥💥💥

Today is/was NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo! For the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) (c) vs. The Mighty Don't Kneel (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste)! Should we cover the show?

A Golden Lovers Timeline

PART 1: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

The beginning of this story, covering the events leading to their first match and the forming of the Golden Lovers (2006 - 2008)

PART 2: LOVE AND SUCCESS

The Golden Lovers’ adventures in DDT (2009 - 2010)

PART 3: FALLING BEHIND

Their first foray into NJPW, the beginning of the end, and Budokan (2011 - 2012)

PART 4: THE GOLDEN LOVERS ARE NOT OVER

The end of their tag team, and Kenny’s last match in DDT (2013-2014)

PART 5: BETRAYAL

Kenny joins the Bullet Club and breaks Kota’s heart (2015)

PART 6: SEIZE THE THRONE

Kenny gets some new, sadder pants (Jan 2016 - June 2016)

PART 7: AND WAITING FOR HIM

The Pining Chapter (Aug 2016 - Sept 2016)

PART 8: WRESTLE KINGDOM 11

A wild Kota-lookalike in a tiger mask appears! (Oct 2016 - Jan 2017)

PART 9: I NEVER FORGOT ABOUT YOU

Kenny’s slowburn face turn (Feb 2017 - June 2017)

PART 10: RETURN

 Kenny says a lot of things about Kota being back in njpw (June 2017 - July 2017)

PART 11: A MEETING IN A HALLWAY

Kota tries to reach Kenny (July 2017 - Aug 2017)

PART 12: THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

Cody Rhodes enters our story (Dec 2016 - Dec 2017)

PART 13: WRESTLE KINGDOM 12

Kota reclaims the Phoenix Splash (Dec 2017 - Jan 2018)

PART 14: CRISIS

New Years Dash, January 5, 2018

PART 15: REUNION

New Beginning in Sapporo, Jan 27-28, 2018

PART 16: HOMECOMING

Immediate Elite fallout and Golden Comeback Documentary (Jan 2018 - Feb 2018)

PART 17: HONOR RISING

Shit hits the fan (Feb 2018)

PART 18: WHERE WAS HE

Matt Jackson’s Feelings

PART 19: STRONG STYLE EVOLVED

The Saddest Match Ever (Feb 2018 - March 2018)

PART 20: WE CAN’T TRUST THIS GUY

Kenny visits ROH and the bucks see Cody’s true face (March 2018 - April 2018)

PART 21: THIS IS WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE

The Lovers spend Wrestlemania Weekend in New Orleans (April 5-7, 2018)

PART 22: REACHING OUT

The bucks try to repair their relationship with Kenny (May 2018 - June 2018)

PART 23: THE POWER OF LOVE

Dominion, June 9, 2018

PART 24: VIDEO GAMES AND THE COW PALACE

The lovers play video games and Cody chooses friendship over power for once (June 2018 - July 2018)

PART 25: MARATHON

Kota fights his way through the G1 (July 2018 - August 2018)

PART 26: TWO PEOPLE THAT SHARE ONE HEART

G1 Climax Semi-finals and Finals (August 10-12, 2018)

PART 27: THE SEA BETWEEN US

The End

[NOW ON WORDPRESS]

Silver Lining - What If #7 : Solstice & Equinox

Listening to This is V - As Friday is Tae Day

[Music is a very big part of my life and I’m MOSTLY INCAPABLE of writing without music, so I just thought I'd share what I am listening to while writing this]

🐺 — 🐺 — 🐺—

Hello my Dearest Gurls, Bois and Enbies.

It’s been a while since I made an actual post right? Oh and, for the time being, forget about that chapter 2 post, every time I resume writing it, I think about the present state of this fandom and I get so VEXED that I close the file soon after … so yeah, there’s that So, here I am, wanting to share something I thought of yesterday, something completely delulu but quite fun at the same time. 

AS ALWAYS, before we get off on DeluluLand, here is a message from our conductor *clears voice*: “Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, I trust I’m finding everyone well and ready to embark into this new trip. As today’s destination is particularly delulu and rather wishful-thinking-esque, I highly suggest bringing the toughest, biggest and shiniest tin hat in your possession, as well as your best clown clothes, with you when you disembark. Now, alas, the temperature is undesirable cold, the skies are pretty foggy and the waters are pretty rough, nonetheless, I do hope you still enjoy the journey, godspeed, this was your captain”. 

And now that we are all readily equipped let me welcome you without further ado to:

Jikook Travel Vlog Theory by Marengo! 

This isn’t a discussion about what I think the vlog will contain, but more of when I think it/they might be released, or rather, if I were jikook, which I’m obviously not, hence this being a delulu post, I would do it in the way I am about to explain. BUT FIRST, let’s see what knowledge we currently have available:

CONNECTICUT, JEJU, BUSAN, SAPPORO

Now, we know for a fact that they went to Connecticut and Sapporo to film this vlog, as eventually mentioned by JK on Suchwita. In Connecticut no thanks to an asshole we saw them with GoPros and also on their way to, and from, Sapporo, as always “courtesy” of airport warriors. So we have no doubt about those.

Jeju was a rumor that some k-jikookers had began some time last year, which was shutdown as quickly as it came out, but which, none other than our dear Tae confirmed a few months later when he made his Chuseok post on IG. BUT the question is; is the Jeju trip part of the Jikook Travel Vlog?

Last but not least is Busan. Admittedly, Busan is a super filler, guessed and projected destination as we don’t have any sightings of the both of them together last year. In fact, we only have confirmed sighting of JK with his 97 friends, thanks to a local restaurant. YET, yours truly Marengo feels that there might be something worth looking in there🕵🏾‍♀️. Considering that they are both from Busan, city that they don’t seem to despise, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think that they would want to add it to their travel vlog … but would nobody notice them walking around the big city of Busan? I highly doubt it. Yet more shocking things have been known to happen, so who knows right?

But Marengo - you might be wondering - what’s with the title of your post then?! … WELL

You might remember the terms Solstice & Equinox from a very distant Science/Geography lesson in your memory, their definitions are not very complex, but do not worry, it is not in my interest to shove my geeky ass upon you today. What you need to know is that we basically use this particular “occurances” to practically determine the beginning of each season. We have 2 Solstice (Winter and Summer) and 2 Equinox (Spring & Autumn), which usually occur, give or take one day around the same time of the year as follows:

WINTER SOLSTICE - DECEMBER 20/21

SPRING EQUINOX - MARCH 21

SUMMER SOLSTICE - JUNE 20/21

AUTUMN EQUINOX - SEPTEMBER 23

… So, if we follow my VERY DELUSIONAL REASONING we would have 4 DATES (or time periods) and potentially 4 DESTINATIONS.

This year's Spring Equinox has been “taken over” by VHOPE so I don’t think that we would get anything, and even though Jin will be back with us on this year’s Summer Solstice, I doubt he would be promoting right off the bat (like ... I would think he would need time to adjust a bit … BUT WITH BANGTAN WHO KNOWS RIGHT???) … Which is why, in my head, the first VLOG would come out around this year’s Summer Solstice and proceed gradually as follows:

SUMMER SOLSTICE - JUNE 20/21 2024: CONNECTICUT VLOG

This was clearly a summer themed vlog, they were on a yacht, we saw their naked backs, thanks to Jimin, basically it screamed SUMMER

AUTUMN EQUINOX - SEPTEMBER 23 2024: JEJU VLOG ??

This was part of Tae’s Chuseok post, which as we know is a fall korean celebration so yeah, basically it screamed AUTUMN

WINTER SOLSTICE - DECEMBER 20/21 2024: SAPPORO VLOG

For those who don’t know Sapporo is known for it’s snow before the beer 🤡. It holds an annual winter festival which unfortunately the boys were too early for but …, so basically is screamed WINTER

SPRING EQUINOX - MARCH 21 2025: BUSAN VLOG ????

I got nothing for you y’all 😬😬😬, I’ve never been to Busan and once again other than being their birthplace, I couldn’t tell you if there’s anything related to Spring in Busan, but who knows, it might be a … beautiful place to visit in SPRING???

As you can see, the Solstices are rather certain, but the Equinox are hella shaky. YET if you think about it, what would be happening SUMMER SOLSTICE 2025? 

ALL THE TANNIES WOULD BE BACK HOME.

… And there you have it.

Now obviously this is all baseless theories, as we have been left to go off on nothing 🤡 and for all we knows they could drop it ALL TOMORROW 🤡 or even make it a weekly thing in May 2025 before they get back to us 🤡.WHO KNOWS RIGHT? THE POSSIBILITIES STILL REMAIN ENDLESS I’m afraid,

If you ask me however, If they did anything other than what I just rambled on, they’d miss out on making this a very instructive and seasonal thing 🙄😒 … BUT, again, THAT’S JUST ME.

Anyways, time to leave DeluluLand y’all, before the wrong people, or worse it’s inhabitants, find us!

Always respectfully yours 💜🫰🏾

Marengo.

Highlights of Nic Nemeth vs David Finlay NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2024

NJPW THE NEW BEGINNING in Osaka Review (Feb 11th, Osaka EDION Arena)

Toru Yano & YOH vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Boltin Oleg **

Bishamon vs. Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman ***1/4

Shota Umino, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask vs. EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi **1/4

Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. SANADA, Yuya Uemura, Taichi, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku ***

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ****1/2

IWGP Tag Team Championship - El Phantasmo & Hikuleo (c) vs. KENTA & Chase Owens **

Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. *****

10 Man Dog Pound Cage Death Match - United Empire vs. Bullet Club War Dogs *****

Photos.

Wow, what a show this turned out to be. It started pretty ordinary, but ultimately had three exceptional bouts, one of which is the best match of 2024 so far. The show opened with CHAOS teammates Yano and YOH taking on Taguchi and Young Lion Shooter, Oleg. This was perfectly fine, but only went 3:45, so there really wasn't much to mention. YOH scored the win over Taguchi with a roll up. Next, UE Young Boy Callum Newman got a chance to shine in his tag match with O-Khan against Bishamon. This was a good little sprint, with the spirited Newman looking especially good. It wasn't to be his night, however, as he was put away by the veterans at 7:37 with Shoto.

The NJPW Babyfaces took on House of Torture next. This was your typical HoT match, beginning with a brawl, before the babyfaces got their shine, only to succumb to heelish shenanigans. After Dick Togo distracted the ref, Narita hit Tiger Mask with the Metal Plated Push Up Bar Of Doom, before SHO pinned him with a Shock Arrow in 8:43. Post match saw SHO steal Despe's IWGP Jr. Belt and proclaim himself the new champion, so we've got yet another HoT stolen belt deal, and Desperado seems destined to feud with these dorks for his entire reign. This was followed by pretty much the same LIJ vs. J5G match we've seen all tour now. It was a good outing, but I can't say that I'm interested in any of this, aside from Tsuji and Uemura's Hair Match in Sapporo at the end of the match. The two youngsters carried the action in this one, which culminated in SANADA tapping out BUSHI at 11:05 with Skull End to go strong into his Title Match with Naito on the 24th.

Perhaps the final ever Okada vs. Tanahashi match followed, twelve years to the day that the Rainmaker Shock happened in this very same building that made Okada a Superstar. This was excellent, emotional stuff that was by no means the best match these two have ever had, but it was a great send-off for what is perhaps the greatest, most consistent feud ever. I've potentially gone a tad high with the rating, but I don't care, I'm sticking with it, as this one had me invested from the minute the entrances happened. The Osaka faithful were super into this, loudly chanting for Okada at the start, going crazy throughout. Tana, who's definitely in "office shape" at the moment, even turned back the clocks and hit the High Fly Body Attack to the floor, which was awesome. After getting the knees up on a HFF attempt, Okada nailed the Tombstone, but Tana turned the Rainmaker into a small package for a great near fall. After some back and forth which the crowd were totally into, Okada hit a beautiful dropkick, a Landslide, and a Rainmaker to put the President away at 16:50 with one final Rainmaker. The pair embraced in the post match, and a teary bowed to the Lion Mark and Okada bid farewell to Osaka. He only has two matches left in his NJPW career in Sapporo, which should be similarly emotional occasions, and hey, who knows, maybe he could even put someone over on his way out (nudge nudge, wink wink).

The IWGP Tag Title bout that followed was something of a dampener, to say the least. This was the opposite of the last match, the crowd were dead for the most part, and it moved at the speed of smell. It was hovering around one star territory, but things picked up once Hikuleo got the hot tag and ran wild, but it was short lived as the ref got bumped, Taiji Ishimori ran in, hit his old pal ELP with a belt, then Hikuleo, which allowed KENTA to steal the win and the titles. Look, I know New Japan likes and rewards loyalty, and Chase Owens was there for them when they needed people badly, but the notion of him holding a major title in NJPW in 2024 is all kinds of bemusing. And to say the new GoD's Tag Title reign was a bit of a disappointment would be an understatement. These guys deserve better, and I honestly don't have the strength to watch another match between these teams after the two we've already seen so far this year.

Thankfully, things turned around in fantastic fashion with an absolutely perfect display of pro-wrestling between ZSJ and Bryan Danielson. This was a rematch of their 5 star classic in AEW last October, and it managed to surpass that match and is the best bout of 2024 so far. Outstanding grappling and counter sequences throughout this, Dragon used an arm wringer to send Sabre's legs into the ropes, which he then proceeded to work over the whole match with intense kicks and leglocks. Zack fought back, working over Danielson's neck. Lots of Romero Specials, Manjigatame's and Cobra Twists, before it broke down into a stiff strike exchange. Danielson hit a big Back Suplex off the top for a near fall, then tried Cattle Mutilation, which Sabre escaped and hit a Zack Driver for a near fall of his own. Dragon hit the stomps, then locked in the crazy arm submission he submitted Okada with, but Zack fought to the ropes. Another strike battle culminated in Danielson hitting the Busaiku Knee out of a backslide, but Sabre turned a second into a European Clutch, they exchanged great cradles, before ZSJ got the pin with a crucifix at 32:46 of fabulous action. The two shook hands afterwards, and now being 1-1, Danielson challenged Zack to a 2 out of 3 falls tiebreaker backstage, which I'm 100% down for. In the ring, ZSJ signalled he wanted a belt, then called out the winner of Naito/SANADA (despite what Chris Charlton might have claimed he said). I'm all for Zack winning the belt to be fair. I've lots to say about Naito being the champion again, which I'll refrain from, but all I will say is that the guy who holds the top belt in this company sure has felt like an after thought since winning.

Then the Dog Pound Cage main event that was also Will Ospreay's New Japan swan song. Look, theres way too much to even attempt to recap, and I went back and forth about going the full 5 stars on this one, as it did feature some stuff I really wasn't keen on. BUT, at the end of the day, these 10 guys put on an absolute spectacle of bloody drama and craziness, and it's definitely not a match I'll forgot any time soon, and a tremendous post match. They had an impossible task in following the previous match, but they had an equally blow-away outing, that was the complete wrestling polar opposite. This was set up like that classic ROH vs. CZW Cage of Death from 2006, in that the cage encircled ringside as opposed to the ring itself, and was fought under War Games rules, with guys coming out every two minutes.

Ospreay and Finaly started, with Ospreay convincing Finlay to let them fight for 5 minutes. Lots and lots of crazy stuff followed, which included the heels bringing out a ton of plunder, Akira hitting an incredible dive off the cage onto the War Dogs before Connors gave him a big spear through an upright table in the corner, Gabe Kidd potatoing HENARE with table shot, that split him open bad on the top of his head, which the doctors at ringside spent a lot of time trying to patch up. HENARE got a receipt of sorts later when he hit Kidd with a super stiff slap that looked like it knocked Gabe silly. Connors hit a big spear on Ospreay through the ropes, off the apron and through a table at ringside, Jeff Cobb ran wild on everyone with his incredible power moves, TJP emerged from under the ring as the Aswang, running wild and misting all the heels, Maloney broke up a pin attempt by Drilla Killa'ing Ospreay into the pile of bodies, Coughlin took a serious wilful beating with kendo sticks, who then took a big senton through a table off HENARE from the top of the cage. Connors introduced thumbtacks, but ended up bumping into the pins. Gedo came out with a barbed wire wrapped table, but O-Khan put an end to his interference, and it was Finlay who went through the barbed wire table, thanks to an Ospreay powerbomb. Gabe Kidd responded by hitting Ospreay with a piledriver off the apron, through a ladder bridge to the floor. Moloney forked Akira in the head, who juiced heavily, but then overcame his fear of the fork, no-sold it, and stabbed Drilla in the head with the cutlery, drawing his blood of his own, then hanged Connors over the top with a dog collar.

The heels then handcuffed Cobb to the cage, removed the ring canvas and padding, exposing the boards, and what followed was absolutely terrifying, as those boards were flying around and guys were falling through the ring left and right, to the point I thought someone might get seriously hurt. HENARE hit a massive vertical suplex on Kidd to the boards, before he too was handcuffed. Akira then took a horrendous Tombstone on the boards, which left Ospreay alone with the War Dogs. Sacrificing himself to save Akira, he tried a Hidden Blade, but collapsed from exhaustion, resulting in him taking a spear into the boards by Connors, then Finlay wrapped his knee in barbed wire and hit Ospreay with his new Overkill finish to end this insanity and win for his team in 64:05 of crazy, mind-blowing action.

The Overkill finish was quite ironic given the amounts of sheer overkill in this thing, there were times when I thought/was begging it would be over, but they just kept going and doing crazier stuff. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good crazy, unhinged blood and gimmicks match, and this was one of the best there's ever been, overkill or not. In the post match, Ospreay bid farewell to New Japan, and he got the big emotional send off with the confetti and all the UE guys surrounding him. Ospreay asked that the fans not forget him, and backstage he promised he'd be back, but when was still a mystery. Losing Ospreay is a major blow to NJPW (not to mention they're also losing Okada!), but I've no doubt he'll do great things in AEW.

NDT

Dynamite 03.22.23 // The New Beginning in Sapporo 01.28.18

for @elphantasmo

日本の考古学者の皆さん、日本の考古学の新しい記事へようこそ。そうは言っても、気を楽にして始めましょう。 - 1950年代、北海道余市市のフゴッペ洞窟で、縄文時代後期1000年から500年頃の一連の彫刻が発見された。 海水浴のため蘭島を訪れていた札幌市の高校生らが発見した。 これに先立ち、1927年に国鉄函館本線の土塁工事中に9個の彫刻が発見された。 - 洞窟からは動物や魚の骨が多数出土しました。 貝類では二枚貝やカタツムリ、魚類ではヒラメやヒラメなどの沿岸魚からクジラまで、哺乳類ではシカのほか、キツネやタヌキ、オオカミの骨も見つかりました。 - このことからも、当時は食糧が豊富にあり、人々は狩猟や漁���に専念していたことがわかります。 本州で稲作を中心とした弥生文化が発展していた頃、北海道では稲作をする必要はありませんでした。 人を乗せた船の彫刻は北アジアで見られるものと似ていると言われています。 - 気に入っていただければ幸いです。今後の投稿でお会いしましょう。良い一週間をお過ごしください。 - Welcome, Japanesearchaeologicalists, to a new installment of Japanese archaeology. Having said that, make yourself comfortable and let's begin. - In the 1950s, a series of engravings dating from the late Jomon period 1000-500 were discovered in Hokkaido Prefecture in the Fugoppe Cave located in the city of Yoichi. They were discovered by high school students from Sapporo who were visiting Orchid Island to bathe in the sea. Before that, nine carvings were discovered in 1927 during earthworks on the Hakodate main line of the Japanese National Railways. - Many animal and fish bones were excavated in the cave. Shellfish include bivalves and snails, fish range from coastal fish such as flounder and flounder to whales, and mammals include deer, and bones of foxes, raccoon dogs and wolves were also found. - This shows that at that time food was abundant and that people dedicated themselves to hunting and fishing. When the Yayoi culture based on rice cultivation was developing in Honshu, there was no need to grow rice in Hokkaido. The carvings of boats carrying people are said to be similar to those found in northern Asia. - I hope you liked it and we'll see you in future posts and have a good week. - Sean bienvenidos, japonistasarqueológicos, a una nueva entrega de arqueología nipona, una vez dicho esto pónganse cómodos qué empezamos. - En la década de los años 50 se descubrió en la prefectura de Hokkaido en la cueva Fugoppe localizada en la ciudad de Yoichi, se hallaron una serie de grabados que datan del periodo Jomon final 1000-500. Fueron descubiertos por estudiantes de secundaria de Sapporo que visitaban la Isla Orquídea para bañarse en el mar. Antes de eso, se descubrieron nueve tallas en 1927 durante los trabajos de remoción de tierra en la línea principal de Hakodate de los Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Japón. - En la cueva se excavaron muchos huesos de animales y peces. Los mariscos incluyen bivalvos y caracoles, los peces van desde peces costeros como la platija y la platija hasta las ballenas, y los mamíferos incluyen ciervos, y también se encontraron huesos de zorros, perros mapaches y lobos. - Esto demuestra que en aquella época abundaba la comida y que la gente se dedicaba a la caza y la pesca. Cuando la cultura Yayoi basada en el cultivo del arroz se estaba desarrollando en Honshu, no había necesidad de cultivar arroz en Hokkaido. Se dice que las tallas de barcos que transportan personas son similares a las encontradas en el norte de Asia. - Espero que os haya gustado y nos veamos en próximas publicaciones que pasen una buena semana.

Me yesterday after an 8 hr shift: oooh, jikook in tokyo and then sapporo. Yes, pretty, pretty winter view. What? New jikook clips from PTD US? Yes, yes. Mm-hmm. Of course, there are tons of jikook moments. As usual.

Me after waking up this morning with one eye open: what? there's more?? Jikook still jikooking?? What do you mean that was like half of the dvd?? *drowns in jikook content but still wants to keep it coming* 😤😭

*

Ask 2:

I can't help but remember all your posts from the past 2 years saying jikook hasn't changed really. Let this be lesson no 999 for me to not doubt jikook,, I prayed for days like this

*

Ask 3:

BPP the change in sentiment on my tl is like night and day. My moot basically turned into a PJM last month and was dragging JK 247, but now she is reposting PTD vids about how she misses BTS and always knew they loved each other yada yada.

Am I in the twilight zone? Did the lack of OT7 content this year really make people go crazy and forget how BTS are with each other? I asked my moot if she's still a PJM that hates JK and she started denying she ever hated them! But her rants calling him a 'Bongo sucker who has no talent and backstabs his friends' was up on her profile until she deleted the posts today.

***

Hi Anon(s),

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas, isn't it?

With all that footage coming in, ARMY twitter feels a bit more like its former state, of BTS fans awwing and ooohing over all seven guys and their interactions with each other, while gaining more respect for BTS after seeing how hard they work (and play) together. ARMY twt still feels like a shadow of its former self though, partly because:

Most ARMYs are actually off Twitter. Using a personal anecdote, about half of my Twitter mutuals have been dormant since Butter era (when many fans were fairly certain BTS would begin enlisting), and even more have left Twitter since the Festa Dinner. Looking at likes on BTS posts from early 2021 which could easily crack 2 million, and on ARMY tweets that regularly hit 350k, compared to now when the most engagement peaks at <100k on average. And this is on Musk's X, where bots are even more rampant.

There's fewer genuine fans. Using the moot of anon in ask 3 as an example, there's so many stans exactly like that. Like I keep saying, the way a lot of people behave in fandom has more to do with them than anything actually happening with jikook or BTS. All that footage is from a time when people claimed BTS hated working with each other and wanted to leave the group or claimed that jikook weren't close anymore. Those narratives were everywhere despite what in reality was happening with BTS and jikook, which, again as I keep saying, just drives home the fact that a lot of people here, a lot of k-pop stans generally, have no real idea on what they're talking about. The way we see BTS in that footage is consistent with how they've been with each other for years, so anybody asserting doom in paradise during PTD era was high on their own supply.

It's the same with BTS in Chapter 2 btw. For anybody actually paying attention.

Today is/was NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo! For the NJPW World Television Championship, Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii! Should we cover the show?