NOVEL NEXT Chapter 251: Episode 10
"Please don't attack me. Please don't attack me! Nice Fat Boi! NICE FAT BOI!"
With a full-body pink protective suit, boots, gloves, and a matching helmet covering every inch of her body, Pink Puma carefully placed the reduced amount of cat food down for Fat Boi before quickly turning and running away to the media room, where she had everything set up to watch the latest episode of Pop Star Academy.
It was unfortunately her latest addiction.
After swallowing her pride and caving to her growing interest in Ari, whom her cousin seemed both impressed and amused by, Pink Puma had repeatedly binged all of the previous episodes, including the paid specialty content, such as the fan showcase bts and the early Meet the Boys special episodes.
She had even bought some goods from the fan showcase from resellers, although she hadn't been able to get any of Ari's official goods and was diligently watching the pirate king performance that Ari had done, marveling at the vocals, the stage composition, and the song arrangement.
In her opinion, that group could be debuted as it was, since the performance was that good.
But now she was experiencing a severe content drought as she craved more performances and more drama.
Unfortunately, just like everyone else, she had to wait, since even her connections didn't allow her to get an early preview of the episode.
But finally, finally, it would be relieved today.
With a split display on her tablet, showing both the live chat and the Ari's Angel community board where she had secretly become a member, Pink Puma began watching the episode, hoping to see the person who had quickly become her favorite contestant.
But to her disappointment, there weren't too many scenes of Ari anymore.
Since his team had performed during the last episode, the focus was now on the other team's performances and preparation periods.
While it was interesting to see some contestants she liked kill it on stage, she quickly wished that the camera would at least pan to Ariel, but it never did, even when his team was told that they were voted as the best performance, he was nowhere to be found, which made some people in the chat start complaining.
Thankfully, the scene quickly shifted to the ranking ceremony, which drew everyone's attention as they could finally see where their money and time went.
As someone who had spent an unholy amount of time and money voting while roping the people around her to vote, Pink Puma began biting her glove-covered nails in anxiety as the contestants started being called.
She needed him not only to be safe but also to move higher in the rankings, and her eyes were laser-focused on the MC as he began his announcement.
39th place, still no Ari.
30th place, still no Ari.
20th place, still no Ari.
She didn't think that his rank would have fallen so much, so his name should be called soon.
18th, 17th, 16th, 15th, 14th, 13th, 12th place, and still he wasn't called.
It was at this moment that the Ari's Angels community started to get hopeful, and comments began to fly in.
- Guys, I think we did it! Top 10!
- Finally! Red hair here we come!
- What rank do you think he got?
└ Probably 9th? The contestants in the top 10 are pretty strong, even though we campaigned pretty hard
└ └ Unless he dropped down to 40th place.
└ └ └ gtfo you royal family weirdo!
["Coming in 10th place…..Contestant Suzuki Rei!]
["Coming in 9th place…..Contestant Rex!]
- OMG, poor Rex! I can't believe it!
- No way! Did Ari drop?
- Guys, that's impossible! I roped my entire school into voting for him!
- Let's be hopeful, maybe he jumped up?
- Moving up that high is crazy, icl
As they were panicking, the voice of the MC continued calling out names, and as an unexpected name was called-
["Coming in 8th place…..Contestant William!]
The live chat blew up!
- The votes are rigged!
- Fake news
- How did the Prince fall?
- It's a scam. Someone stole his votes!
- I told you the production team was plotting against him! They hate him for being excellent.
- He said they were playing tricks against him. Don't worry, my prince, I'll defend you!
While Williams fans were in an uproar, other fandoms took the opportunity to clown them.
- Look at Mr. I'm going to be number one, his rank is dropping lower than my grades.
- loooooooooooooooooooooolllll someone go check on the royal losers. I'm sure they've all fainted like the silly ladies they are and are expecting a prince on a white horse to come kiss them awake.
└ Be careful. Those princess syndrome weirdos are acting like rabid dogs and attacking other fandoms.
- No way! Does this mean Ari is ranked higher than William?
└ that's impossible! If William dropped down from 2nd to 8th place, then your uselessly ugly dozen contestant went from the 20s to 40. Or maybe he's even eliminated like he deserves.
└└ why are you yelling at me? I'm a Benjamin fan and wasn't it your contestant that ruined the performance last time? You're lucky Ben is so talented that he saved the performance.
└└└ Sybau and send that fake British mixed-race mutt back to Africa
└└└└ racism? Really? Wow. Typical Royal Family loser.
While the chat was blowing up, the MC continued his announcement.
[Coming in 7th place, a rise of 13th places, is the man of few words unless it's to his fans. It's Contestant Ariel. Please come up.]
"Yes!!!!!"
As Pink Puma screamed, the Ari's Angel community blew up.
- We've done it!
- The agenda has been achieved!
- from being ranked in the 90s to the top 7! Guys, we've come so far!
- Red hair coming soon! I'm so excited!
- Good job, everyone. We can rest now!
- We're in the debut ranks. Thank you, everyone, for working hard!
With teary eyes, Pink Puma congratulated the other members of the community while listening to Ari give a choppy speech, thanking those who voted for him.
Naturally the chat was full of comments.
- this speech is choppy af
- They cut it lol.
└ lol his microphone was definitely cut, I wonder what he was trying to say this time
└ either about money or complaining about something he didn't want to do but was forced to do.
A bit jealous that some fans were so familiar with Ari's mannerisms that they could identify when his voice was cut and spliced, Pink Puma just stared at his face instead.
While it looked slightly swollen, and he was wearing makeup that she wasn't used to seeing, she attributed this to a lack of rest and eating salty food, since some of the other contestants didn't look much better.
As the episode ended with a preview of the next episode and a broadcast notice stating that the team had amicably parted ways with Jelissa due to differences in ideology, the notice also advised fans not to harass the musician and that they would be bringing in a bigger and better judge to take her place.
Thinking nothing of it since scheduling conflicts happened all the time, and somewhat satisfied with the result of the episode since Ari's rank had risen, Pink Puma went to browse the Ari's Angels community, expecting to see the usual clips and screenshots while everyone celebrated.
Instead, what she saw was the Ari's Angel community up in arms and planning a protest.
[We need to protest against the production staff to protect contestants like Ari and force them to put out a statement that they won't tolerate fans acting up and being violent!]
Immediately concerned, Pink Puma clicked the post to understand what was going on.
[Hello, this is Meredith. I was at the fan showcase (proof photo of ticket and signed Ari photocard) and was there when an incident occurred in which a member of the Royal Family threw a bottle at the stage, injuring contestant Ariel in the eye. Since I won an FAQ ticket, I asked the production staff a question about what they would do to prevent this type of situation from happening again, and rather than giving me an answer, they called contestant Ariel out with an eye patch.
I was going to let the incident slide since when Ariel came out, he seemed to be fine and was telling jokes while acting rowdy and excited, but seeing that the production team still didn't put out a statement to address the issue or even caution fans about their behavior makes me feel some type of way.
Especially when you can see that Ari's face is swollen from the hit, and he's even wearing makeup, which he usually doesn't wear, to cover it up. (Screenshots attached.)
I think if they can put out a broadcast message to not harass a judge for leaving, they can definitely do the same to warn fans about the behavior, especially since someone was injured, and I would like the community to take some action toward the production team.
└ I agree. I didn't want to share this since I wanted to respect his privacy, but it's clear that he was injured a lot more than we thought. Here's what his eye looked like when he was on the news doing community service a couple of days after the fan showcase, and I went to get my ears pierced yesterday and saw that my piercer posted this photo of Ari on her IG account. Apparently, he recently went to get his ears pierced with a handsome blonde guy, and they were handcuffed together. (img attached, clip attached.)
└└ Wtf? His eye is still bruised, and it's been almost 2 weeks since the incident happened. We need to hold the production team and the Royal Family fans accountable for this
└└ Aww, the earrings are so pretty. They match Jamie's eyes. He probably got it for Ari as a birthday gift. Their friendship is so cute.
└└└ "friendship" riiggggghhhhttt, they were handcuffed and went to get their ears pierced together. They're clearly dating.
└└└└ Don't be weird, they're just friends!
└└└ How do you know Jamie bought it?
└└└└ Those are clearly diamond earrings. Isn't Ari supposed to be poor?
└└└ Forget the earrings, is that a strand of red hair that I see?
└└└└ OMG!!!!!!!!!! It's happening!!!!!!!!!!!!! The hair has been dyed!
└└ Does anyone know where I can get that fur hat? It's so fluffy and cute. It makes his face look so small.
└└└ That's from the spring runway collection of Yvette Saintess Laurence. Not available to the public yet.
└└└└ Isn't he supposed to be poor? How is he affording designer?
└ Guys focus! The injury!
Slowly but surely, the posts gained momentum as one fandom after another was drawn into the online argument.
[Wait! There was an incident that happened last time? And the production team is just pretending that nothing happened? Who has the video?]
└ Here it is, but please save it. Every time it's posted, it gets reported and taken down. (video attached.)
└└ Omg, no wonder his eye was bruised. Why would you throw something at someone who can't see??
└└ That's crazy! Does anybody know who that fan is?
└└└ No. Apparently, no charges were pressed, but we need to find her. Internet, do your thing! (Screenshot, video)
[We didn't get a post or a statement from Production? WTH? Did the Royal Family at least denounce the person and post an apology to Ari?]
└ Nope. They're out here defending the person who ASSAULTED a contestant because he ranked higher than their fave.
└ Did William at least check his fans and take responsibility? Ari was his teammate.
└└ Of course not! He didn't even check on Ari when he came back out; meanwhile, Ari asked all of the audience members if they were okay and mentioned that it was a scary situation, but he hoped they were fine even though he was the one injured.
└└└ He also mentioned that this wasn't his first time doing concussion protocol, and at least he didn't have to go to the hospital this time before production muted his microphone.
└└└└ WTH? So you mean something like this has happened to him before, and it wasn't mentioned? He was previously injured enough that he had to go to the hospital? When was this? What is wrong with that production team?
└└└└└└ Video analysts are saying it was during the Swan performance. We don't know about his face bc of the makeup, but if you notice, he doesn't move around a lot compared to his team and is leaning heavily on one leg.
└└└└└└└ and people were calling him a dozen because of that. My poor baby!
└ I don't go here. Is that why he was always wearing makeup in the beginning? Because the production team kept injuring his face?
└└ Oh my gosh, this makes so much sense!
└└└ No, it doesn't. Stop spreading misinformation! It's cause he got plastic surgery!
└└└└ sybau
└└└ Pop Star Academy Production Team, you will start coughing in 3 days!
From fan theories to conspiracy rumors, the topic eventually devolved into one of toxicity.
[William and the Royal Family members, for not taking responsibility for injuring a minor, you will also start coughing in 3 days!]
└ He's not a minor anymore; he turned 18!
└└I'm Korean, he's a minor!
└ Why does Prince William have to take responsibility for the actions of others? Is he the president? Is he the pope? You're acting like he ordered the person to do it. Free will is a thing!
└└ Don't you guys call him a prince? News flash! Princes are good people, and that's just common sense!
└└ Your "Prince" needs to speak with his fandom because you people are toxic!! The worst fans ever, which is why nobody, including the locals, likes you! And don't think I didn't see your femcel community posting and laughing that other contestants deserved to have bottles and bricks thrown at them while photoshopping bruises on their faces. All because they threaten your stupid prince's rank.
└└└ Lies. Your favorite dozen probably set the incident up so he could get the sympathy vote; that's why he rose to the top. And now you're blaming us.
└└└└ Lies? You think my client would intentionally harm his beautiful face for a sympathy vote? Come here, my receipt binder has been waiting for this moment - (Screenshot, video, video, video, img attached)
Until finally, Pandora's box was opened, and evidence after evidence of the Royal Family community disparaging other contestants in the most horrible ways came out, and as fans of other contestants got drawn into the drama, the true fan wars began, with everyone coming together for a brief moment of unity and bashing the Royal Family fans, who seemed completely unrepentant.
And although Ari's Angels had started the fight, the majority of them quickly withdrew due to the iron fist of their community moderator, instead focusing their firepower on getting the production team to state that they would take measures to protect all the contestants in the future, condemn the situation, and carefully take care of the contestants so that injuries could be avoided.
As a result, a certain PD's inbox was once again being inundated with messages, causing her a massive headache.
And in the Royal Family Community, after being unilaterally bashed, heavy resentment was brewing!
- Uh, I hate those stupid angels. They think their contestant is so good just cause he did a couple of community service PR stunts to improve his image and was flirting with a celebrity, that he's all that. Disgusting bit****!
- Every time you talk to them, it's oh, he's valedictorian, oh, he tutors, oh, he volunteers, what does that have to do with being a good singer, dancer, or rapper? This is an idol show, not a community service show. They make me sick.
- They're acting as if their fave is such a good person who speaks out against everything. News flash! He's just a plastic surgery cocky untalented dozen who's always begging for money.
- Why do they expect William to speak up for an incident that has nothing to do with him? It was obviously a fake fan who did that!
└ Exactly? Why would a contestant scold the fans who are supporting him in his dream? That makes no sense! They just hate him and don't want him to debut.
- I bet if the same thing happened, their fave wouldn't say anything either. I hate that group so much!
- Ugh, SCREW THEM!!!
- I'm going to boo him the next time I see him.
With everyone having their own thoughts, time moved forward until it was the day before the performance.
All the contestants loaded themselves onto a bus to go prepare for a sound check, with a particular fur hat-wearing contestant glaring at everyone around him in irritation.
"I can't believe you lost your voice. Again."
Ari: ಠ_ಠ
I can't believe I lost it either!