first and foremost i want to thank you for this message cuz it could not have come at a better time. i was seriously losing my mind but got the notif for this and it calmed me down a little and i was able to be a little normal. thank you for your kind words… i’m always open to any questions like this even if it takes me a bit to respond (i like to think and give answers that i feel are beyond satisfactory). so if you ever have anything, go ahead and shoot 🤗

this kind of question~ is really sensitive isn’t it… i wasn’t sure how to answer it to be honest, but now i’m like… why not just be honest? i have nothing to hide 🤣 btw, it’s not rude at all!! i enjoyed thinking about it.
i don’t think that pairing is a landmine, i don’t know if it will become one or if it’s alright as is. i’m a little lost right now. i can’t say that i didn’t develop complicated feelings the more i ended up learning. i remember way back before i ever fell into the rabbit hole seeing ✈️/00 oshis openly expressing their disdain… i could only think “isn’t this excessive? you’re not making a good case”. it was close to when i started playing the game, so i didn’t know much about the history yet if at all. i didn’t get it, but i think now i understand perfectly! it is quite frustrating, but everyone has been put in a difficult position.
“blame” is a strong word, it’s too strong for the sentiment i feel (it’s much milder than that), but i do blame saige.
in the end… if i want to be frank here, lately i feel “i wish they didn’t rush into pairing characters up so much”. this is a sentiment i feel very generally about the series. i understand that some characters may not have their contemporaries and such… i don’t think it’s a bad thing, but the more i end up being a keiba andy the more inconvenient it is. because a lot of these patchwork pairings have a sort of seniority in the fandom… so when a new pairing that is a little more in line with history pops up, there is tension and pushback. the two parties become enemies. i find it really unfortunate. i wish people would get along or at least ignore what they don’t like. a tiny, tiny part of me wishes ✈️ wouldn’t be released for this reason.
i’m someone who tries to hold on to the belief that the series and its characters=/=real life, and that the dynamics in the game outside of real life history must not be ignored… but sometimes lately it’s difficult. i’ll say it. the fans are an issue for me. not like all fans, but people get so militant, i always hear “i don’t wait pairing A to erase pairing B”. i’m a little tired of it. it happens a lot with older pairings. i have no idea what the solution is aside from “people need to be a little more reserved about it”. i feel like if you can’t handle a historical pairing or rivalry taking precedent sometimes or even showing up at all, maybe this series is a difficult one to keep up with.
but… i think the case of the characters involved here is very strange though. there’s no real life circumstance preventing ✈️. it’s only saige that’s deciding to prevent it. which is fine, i think it’s good actually, i don’t think they should blow their load and add every highly anticipated horse at once. but the other cases of what i ended up calling “patchwork pairings” are a result of various 大人の事情 preventing a certain contemporary… it’s really contentious among fans so i’m scared of giving examples. i hope you can guess 🥹. so i think in the end, they wanted an alternative. not to replace it, but to explore other possibilities. tbh, i really respect it. but i feel like no matter how much i fight it, becoming a fan of ✈️ has kind of ruined it for me a little… i’m sad because i used to like it a lot, but now i’m just confused about how i’m supposed to feel…? i don’t want to be painted as someone who rejects it because i don’t reject it at all… 🥹 it’s unfortunate but i feel like ✈️ fans do have this kind of reputation (even though …. it is …. sadly understandable as you say)

anyway, i really hope my answer doesn’t upset anyone. that is how i feel though. i think i have a strange perspective due to being a (relatively) new fan (i’ll be crossing into one year soon, idk if i can say new anymore). so i hope it doesn’t cause discomfort, i’m not trying to call anyone out especially since the community is unironically amazing… but also this is the first fandom where i felt this kind of insane pressure, but other series don’t have this kind of irl history vs original contents conflict. at worst you have “pairing official pushes” and “pairing that occurs naturally” in other series. if anything, for the most part, this series lacks such favoritism save for very very rare instances (no one ask me to elucidate about this. cuz i feel like this comes down to each person’s personal bias). in this series you can feel comfortable shipping almost anything. i feel very spoiled by it coming from other similar yuri fandoms where the balance tends to be way off 🤣

well, i do believe saige is planning for ✈️ from the start, and that it’s not just meaningless teasing. i don’t know if i’m ready at all. my fault for getting attached to my fake version i suppose.
i don’t think there is anything i’m dissatisfied with. in fact, i keep going back to certain things and realizing “oh… it’s like that because ✈️ isn’t there…” even when it’s incredibly small things. but i never feel crazy or delusional somehow. i wrote an fanfic about 🐉 not existing, so i know i have the capacity for that kind of delusion. but ✈️ not existing in the game just feels like thar entire concept in canon practice. it’s more deep that i could ever imagine. the fact that that thoroughline continues with 💃, even if it’s only a little bit, is pretty exhilarating. no, it’s not just a little bit. the fact that there’s no derby event is the biggest bombshell there is. it kind of confirms everything. that’s why i can’t get over it. i don’t know about anyone else, but it feels really rewarding weaving your way through it. so i don’t feel as taunted by it as some other people do.