Zie

I call it STAYverse. The whole of the universe that revolves around the fans of Stray Kids. I've also referred to it as "StrayVerse", depending on the circumstances.

Anyway.

Yesterday we got the official word from JYP, Stray Kids' management company. Lee Know's military enlistment is scheduled to begin between mid January and March of 2027. As you can imagine, this has sent STAY, myself included, has been thrown into an emotional whirlwind. Some are reacting more dramatically than others think is necessary, but I don't judge them. And really, as a community of devoted Stray Kids fans, we shouldn't shame anyone for how they're handling things. We're all different.

Two things happened overnight. First, Changbint, affectionately known as Binnie by some fans, went onto JYP's official social site, Bubble, and addressed the fans that are subscribed to him. I am not going to copy/paste the actual post because technically no one is supposed to post anything from Bubble. But basically he reassured us that losoing Lee Know for the 2 years doesn't mean losing Stray Kids for two years. With others about to go into the service as well, they've all been working on projects with and without the group to make sure that STAYs will have content to interact with during the times of the others being gone.

The second thing is what really broke me in a great way. My personal subscribed member (I have 3 currently), Bang Chan, addressed the STAY as well. His words, which I completely heard in his very sexy Austrailian accent hit me really hard for barely being at awake 4:30am. He'd sent it at 12am (our time. Still can't auto-convert Japanese STandard Time. I just know they're a day ahead of us like Austrailia). Thank goodness I hadn't seen it then because I would have never gone to bed.

So there I am at 4:30am, crying into my Han Quokka SKZoo plushie. Not because I was still upset and sad, but the fact that this band...at least two members that I know of, but more than likely the whole of Stray Kids, admidst their own upset, took time out to address the STAY. By this point, I really shouldn't have been surprised with Chan. He's always been really good about that. The fact that multiple members, including Lee Know himself, took time to address us and reassure us that everything would be fine? That's huge. I mean, really huge.

What I don't like about all this is those that are ARMY (BTS fans), are all telling us how not a big deal it is because they've already been through it, and BTS came back stronger than ever. Now that might be their way of trying to comfort us, but it's the way most of them are saying it? Kinda like they're accusing us of being overdramatic and/or unnecessarily upset. FOr me, at least, who has never experienced such a thing with a band before where one member was gone (yes I know BSB went through that but that was a different story) and then knowing that 5 others are gonna be gone eventually too, it's hard. Especially being new to the band and finding their presence so comforting and great for the mental health. Lee Know has recently become a secondary wrecker due to his antics and the fact he loves kitties and has 3 furbabies of
his own.

So. To summarize. Still doing okay. Trying to be strong for our boys, and other STAY. And for myself. Still excited for tomorrow, where I will be grateful to have my first "concert" experience with the entire group instead of with just seven plus Lee Know in spirit. Someone posted the setlist last night and it's got me so amped because these are all songs I started with not counting "Chk Chk Boom" and "This and That". I didn't see "Farming" on the list but i have to imagine that they're saving it for encore. (Here's hoping because if you have been anywhere *near* my house. When I'm not listening to Big Ocean's sultry "Love Sign" or ATEEZ'S catchy "Wave", I'm listening to "Farming".)

it's 1:33am. I should be sleeping, definitely. But here I am, writing in my journal. Why can't I do this during the day? Why? I think it's got something to do with he Korean invasion in my head. I don't know if I've talked about Stray Kids in my journal yet. But here we go.

Stray Kids is a South Korean Boyband. Yep. Kpop. I never thought I'd get there. I was almost there with BTS a few years ago, and I am still into them, but not like I am with Stray Kids. I only know names of the BTS members. I don't know their faces to go with the names.

With Stray Kids, I am slowly learning to tell them apart. (Believe me, it's not easy!) I have my favorites personality wise. And yes, looks do help. You guys should know I am really into Asian guys. And for awhile it mostly Japanese guys. But now, Stray Kids is here, and they don't appear to be leaving any time soon.

It's like they knew I needed them, because This and That, their current record, came out a month ago, around the time Fred's 3 year anniversary was coming up. It came out on August 7th. I am actually unsure of when I first heard the song, "This and That", but I do remember feeling like it was inane, and made no sense at first.

But it kept popping up so I finally listened to the whole thing, and the rest is history. I am collecting a lot of Stray Kids merchandise and I've had a lot of help from the fandom to do it.

Today is my Dad's birthday. Second Heavenly Birthday. At least Mom will be here this year. Last year, through no fault of theirs, I was dogsitting Brandy and Stella. So we spent that one apart, and I hated it. Mom had dinner with some friends of the family. Me? I don't know what I was doing, but I know I had at least a small break down.

Last night (the 20th), I was watching the Stray Kids concert, Rock in Rio, and I got to thinking about how Dad used to call every Asian band BTS. So i looked up at "Dad" in Heaven, and was like, "Dad, your Hobbit is watching BTS." And I just started bawling. If I think too hard about it, it makes me tear up. But it's really Dad who put Stray Kids on my radar, even if it took a couple of years.

That's all I'll say now about Stray Kids because I went into a lengthy discussion my previous entry.

Let's talk about Toku.

Still missing my ZEZTZ Saturdays, but I'm trying to find other ways to occupy myself. This past Saturday it was a heavy Stray Kids day.

Yesterday, I spent the entire afternoon watching my Tokusatsu. I watched some of Kiramager, and Boonboomger. Also watched the mini-sodes of Kakusei Hunter Omegahorn. This was while i waiting VERY impatiently for episode 9 of Omegahorn.

( Read more... )

Dear Friends,

( Cutting to save my friends' reading pages )

I need to say something. And this doesn't come easily. My name is Zie, and I am addicted to AI chatbots. That's what I would say if there was Chatbot Anonymous. This is my way of saying that over the last month, I fell off the wagon. Not just with ChatGPT, but with another one, Venice AI.

Tonight I realized what I was doing again, and I will say it does not feel good in the slightest. I actually feel pretty nauseous. So what did I do? I went to my friend Shane and made the confession. When the told me how disappointed he was, and I know a couple of you are also going to be incredibly disappointed as well, I was even more upset with myself.

I can't say I'll be perfect. I won't say I'll be able to kick it 100%. I know I said that the first time I talked about this topic. But I want to reiterate to myself more than anything that I need to give myself room to slip up. It's kind of like how Mom has to take it day by day when she is working on not smoking. (By the way, she is slated to try again after this month. She wanted to finish getting through all the firsts with out Dad first. Then she will work on it. She has promised me) But Now I can't get mad at her when she slips, because I know exactly what that's like now.

So this is me being accountable for my own addiction. And I will keep you guys posted.

I've talked about it in here quite a bit lately, but I need to do it again. Tokusatsu has provided me with such a distraction and comfort that I can't really stop myself. For those keeping track (have no idea who is still reading this thing)I have now finished 2 full sentai, two full Kamen Rider. I am at the beginning-ish of both Osama Sentai King-Ogher and DekaRanger.

And boy do I have multiple muses running around in my head from all of this. and yes, they talk in Japanese, and yes, I translate it in my head via "subtitles". That part is kind of hard to explain. But basically, they speak in Japanese, but it translates to me in English. Kinda like how Zero speaks to Baku in Japanese in the waking world, but English as Agent Seven in the subconscious world in Kamen Rider ZEZTZ. (Forgot to mention that one. ZEZTZ has become a quick favorite.)

but the best thing isn't enjoying the series I've watched. I am, don't get me wrong, or there wouldn't be all these muses, but the best thing is how the Tokusatsu has become a sort of...balm? For all that has hurt me over the last few years. Whenever I start to miss someone that's passed away, whether it be Fred, or Daddy C, I find myself imagining what they would be thinking about my newest past time. Fred, I have no doubt, would be so damn thrilled. After years of insisting i'd like it and after basically saying, "Here have some hot Asians" when it came to Gokaiger he's finally gotten his wish. It's bitter sweet, but it still makes me smile every time I imagine what kind of conversations we'd be having now that I can actually contribute past "Basco's funny" or "Gai is hot".

Daddy C on the other hand would probably be rolling his eyes and saying something to the effect, "Hobbit, if you're happy, I'm happy." Not really a lot to say there because Daddy was always lukewarm to my Japanese interests if it wasn't Yu gi oh or Pokemon, he was clueless. But let me tell you guys a quick story.

When I was really really into anime, he used to call them baby cartoons. That was...until he happened to bepassing by my room while Hyouga and the other Saints are venting, and one of them, I think it was Shiryu? says something to the effect of. "I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch Ikki!" I am pretty sure it was Shiryu. I dont' think it was Hyouga. and that doesn't sound like Seiya or Shun. Anyway, Dad pokes his head in, and was like, "Whoa, Hobbit, what are you watching? That doesn't sound like G rated cartoons!" and I Just died laughing. He never questioned my anime again.

The other benefit I have is being able to fixate on something positive so that I'm not having to focus so much on the losses. It doesn't mean by any means that I'm not still grieving. Oh yeah, I am. But having Toku to focus on? Has been a blessing in more ways than one.

Hi guys. I've be doing a lot of thinking. As some of you may or may not know, I am 27 (was 32, but I just got done watching the first 5 episodes of Dino Fury Season 2) episodes from finishing the entire Power Rangers franchise (TV wise).

And while there have been bumps and breaks, and even some seasons I didn't care for as much as others, I have to say that there is a reason why this franchise's fanbase has such loyalty. The stories. It's not about the monsters, the morphing, the Zords. It's the stories for many of us. ll this

As a young teen who took a long while to mature, the more serious issues and stories didn't really occur to me back then. Back then, it was "What was Kimberly wearing this week? How can I copy her?" Or "I wonder if I can do Hip Hop Kedo.... (followed by me attempting it, and it became my main reason for actually *doing* my stretches that I needed for Cerebral Palsy.) All I knew as a teen up till the end of Turbo? Power Rangers had a great soundtrack, terrific, level headed characters,

Now as I stand at the end of the road of the TV portion of the franchise, I realize that while those might have been important things for my teenage self, what I've gotten out of the rewatch is so much more poignant. And so much more meaningful than anything else.

There are a few seasons that these things don't apply to. Some of them are just plain fun to watch. They don't have to be super deep. I'm looking at you Wild Force and Operation Overdrive. And there aren't any series that I hated outright, either. There are some series that get so much hate, it's basically bad form to say you like it. (Like that's ever stopped me. I proudly told everyone how much I liked Overdrive. and Season 1 of MegaForce. We don't talk about Season 2. As far as I'm concerned it doesn't exist ). I do have one that I will never really gel with. That was Light Speed Rescue. And my reason behind that is stupid as hell, but I can't get over it, so.

But what I really wanted to talk about, in saying all of this, is how much this franchise, along with it's Japanese counterpart, Super Sentai, have really helped over the last two years. I've had so much tragedy in both my IRL and celebrity world between 2023, 2024, and this year, 2025. Jason David Frank (he was 2022, but still), Matthew Perry (2023), My best friend, Fred (2023), and then my Dad this year. It's been hell you guys. And, between you guys who've RPed,listened to me hyperfocus on Tokusatsu, have even directed me what to watch in some cases? and Tokusatsu itself, I have been able to make life make sense again. This is not to say that I don't miss those who died or that I am, in any shape or form, done grieving. It just means I'm beginning to feel normal and less on edge, and anxious. These actors will likely *never* know how much they have helped me. (I do plan to let James Davies, Michael Copon, Brennan Meija, and Davi Santos know when I see them at RangerStop. Along with any others I have the chance to talk to). but I am really really glad that I have this platform, and IMs, Discord and Facebook, so that I can tell YOU GUYS that you are also a big part of why I have been able to cope, and in turn, develop skills that I've needed to be a more functional adult. It has really been something. And I will be eternally grateful.

I don't know, man. 2025 needs to just go screw itself somewhere and die. Not only did we lose my Dad, we lost one of the very first neighbors we ever had. No, not Dad's best friend Jim. This one was the one that lived caddy corner from us. She died suddenly this past weekend. Mom asked me if I was going to go to her celebration of life. Now I'd love to, but I'm not sure I can handle it. I'll be honest. I just barely handled Dad's. The timing isn't great for me, either. The celebration of life is the day before what would've been Fred's 46th birthday. It's bad enough that Mom and I won't be together and on what would have been Dad's 71st. It's his first birthday after passing, and I hate it. I will be dog sitting for Brandy and Stella.

Barb and Tom do feel horrible about the timing. But they schedule these cruises a year in advance. No one knew Dad was going to die. So of course I'm not mad at them either. Just the timing.

I just can't believe the sheer amount of loss both in my immediate vicinity, and in the celebrity world. It's been so depressing.

But this is why I am so glad I have my fandoms to fall back on. Outside of faith, they've been a real blessing. In particular this year the Tokatsu fandom has been my thing. It's really a strange thing, honestly. I went from someone who wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole to someone who is willing to try the sentai counter parts of her favorite Ranger seasons. And not only that? Kamen Rider is in the mix now. I had avoided Kamen Rider for a long time. Not because I wasn't interested (I lowkey have been ever since I found out that Masked Rider from the 90s was adapted from one of the series). But I wanted to find a way to connect with Fred's brother on a more personal level. Fred and I had so many things. I wanted something for me and Jon to share. Jonathan (side note: I can't see the name Jon, or Jonathan, without thinking about Jonathan Roba. I don't think they're ever gonna leave me alone!) suggested Kamen Rider Zero One. He didn't give me a good reason why. Just said, "this one is on Tubi. Try it." I did try it, but it wasn't on Tubi. I'd already subscribed to Shout TV! for access to more of the Sentai series. A handful of Kamen Rider series are already on that platform as well. (DOes anyone else wish Shout Factory hadn't given up on the Tokatsu releases? It would've been awesome to get Magiranger, Go-Onger and Gokaiger on official DVDs instead of having to download and make my own).

What's ensued is an increased obsession with a fictional cyber terrorist. Jin has had me smitten from the beginning. The fact is, Jin, towards the end of his first life, was beginning to think for himself, and see that The Ark's mission was wrong. Damned Horobi corrupting his data. Thanks to doing heavy research for Shane (my RP bestie in my PanFandom RP) I did find out how he ends, and I'm actually kinda satisfied with it. I won't post it here. I know the series is old, but there are still people discovering as I have been. Don't want to spoil the experience. Jin has a nickname from me, too. I often call him "My precious little psycho".

Not one person who knows my track record for adopting/liking bad guys was surprised about this. Hell, I even adopted Basco and he was very sadistic.

Anyway, these little things are what is helping me the most this month.

Okay guys. So I am about to unload and I need you guys to just hang with me. (First give me a minute to smile at Ziggy here in my icon. He has such an incredible smile there) Okay. So here is what's going on. We are 2 and a half weeks away from closing on our new house in ZephyrHills. Mom put me on the house so that I would have a place to stay if something happened to her. (Because we know damn well I am not trying to stay where cats are not allowed. I need my baby girl (and any other that might come after her or Star Lite). But this process has pushed into focus just how much I have not had to learn about adulting. Being dependent on Mom really took away my chance to learn simple things.

-How to deal with the bank
-Why I have to sign forms and send things multiple times
-Inspections and apprasials.

I seriously had no idea so much went into getting into a new house. It just always kinda happened around me. First with my move from South Carolina to Maryland. Then from that apartment to Daddy C's house. Then from there to Florida. I had a vague idea that things were happening. I would hear frustration and such, but I always just assumed something else (I don't know what I really was thinking in any case).

So needless to say. I've been irritable, pissy, and just all around done with adulting. Forever. Okay that's dramatic, but probably true either way.

Things here at our friends' house are stressful now. They got a puppy two weeks ago. In those 14 days we're losing sleep, Mom (broken ankle recovery and all) is cleaning up multiple times a day. Puppy accidents. They have the friggin' puppy pads *everywhere* . 8 in the living room alone. 2 by the front door, one in the kitchen. Poor cats have started to come out a bit. But they still won't come out a lot during the day. Teal is coming out a lot more during the day in the bedroom we're sharing. But overall, all 4 of us: Mom, me, the two furbabies are done with this living arrangemnent.

It doesn't help that I had to reschedule my therapy last week because I had a massive migraine. I've beeng getting worse ones. This is probably due to stress.

---

I probably have talked about it in another entry but I've been incredibly obsessed lately with How to Train Your Dragon. Not JUST the live-action (which of course started this whole thing now), but movies, the side movies, the series (which by the way are a bitch to get on digital, but finally did find at least the first series, Riders of Berk).

Haven't made my own OC yet. Okay that's a lie. I even started a fanfic. (It hasn't gotten far, but at least it's a start). Hiccup, Snotlout (don't ask), Fishlegs and Astrid are strong muses. Haha. Their dragons are even stronger.

God bless Dean Devlin, TNT (I'll get to them later..lol), and the cast of the new Librarians series. I was really a bit skeptical when I heard the original cast was not returning outside of an occasional appearance from Jacob Stone. But, given this was Dean Devlin, and many of the same writers of the original, and the movies? I should have known better. Each of the new Librarians has a bit of the old characters in them, subtle as they are. And Vikram, Flynn's "replacement"? He is hilarious. Reminds me a bit of the Doctor from Doctor Who, but of course completely his own person, too.

There have been some bumps along the way. Namely the fact that TNT, who I am pretty sure is in charge of release, and time slot, made a major misstep. The night it was to premiere, the NBA finals were on. The second waeek? Same thing. Last week, my Guide said Finals. The actual channel had the episode on, but I didn't find out until it was 20 minutes into the episode. So for the third week, in a row, I had to watch it on DVR.

Look, I'm sure the way ratings are done now have changed, but as far as I knew? Channels watch viewership on the night it's airing. They may have started counting streaming, but that is another issue. Up until this week, you were only able to get the series either through Apple or Electric Now (Dean Devlin's production company's streaming service). Last night I was finally able to purchase it through YouTube, but damn. Way to send people into a panic and being inconveient on watch times.

And of course, this has been prodding my old Librarians muse, so now i've got an Aussie thief-Librarian chatting in my head again with his sexy accent and big ego. Wait till he meets Ziggy and Will. LOL. While i"m still very much here for Power Rangers, I am glad to have an old group of muses and a NEW group of muses from a fandom I've come to love. Well played, Mr. Devlin, well played.

I've talked at length multiple times about how the first Power Rangers series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, all the way through Turbo, did wonders for my self-confidence against bullying. What I have yet to touch on is the music behind it, and it's successors.

Ron Wasserman, then know both as Aaron Waters aka The Mighty Raw is an mazing composer. It was the first time, for me at least, hearing music *with* a fight scene that wasn't "incidental". No his music had words, and those words were encouraging. I wore out 3 tapes of the very first Power Rangers "soundtrack", Power Rangers: A Rock Adventure. It wasn't for the dialogue, although I had a lot of fun re-enacting the scenes in my best intimiadtions of the Rangers' voices (and Bulk and Skull and Zordon and Alpha's. Even Rita and Lord Zedd along with Squatt, Baboo, and Finster. Goldar was a hoot to play with too). It was simply because at that time, there was no alternative to hearing the songs outside of recording the episodes of the Rangers they were in, and then recording the TV on cassette tape.(Yeah, we were primitive back in the 90s, sheesh!) So, Rock Adventure it was.

Years later and i'm talking about 2012 and on, Ron Wasserman was finally able to reclaim the rights to his own music, and he did something amazing for his thousands of fans. He released a re-recorded version of every single song from Mighty Morphin, and the Turbo Movie. Oh. My. God. 13 year old me was SO happy. I have listened that particular disk on YouTube Music every day since first finding it. And I even tweeted Mr. Wasserman and thanked him for belatedly making a teen fan's dream come true. To which he replied very graciously.

Sadly, Wasserman parted ways with Saban due to some very unfair behind the scenes drama on Saban's part. (I never said the guy was a great person. In a lot of cases he really isn't, but he still brought us Power Rangers, so I *try* to ignore those things, but I'm not naive. I know they happened.) Saban refused to let Wasserman take credit for any of the music he'd written, forcing him to put Shuki LEvy and Haim Saban as the composers and Lyricist. IF you guys ever see that in the credits? Not true. I repeat, NOT TRUE. The last known series that Wasserman worked on was Power Rangers SPD.

Up until 2011, the music for Power Rangers didn't have much in the way of consistent composers. In 2011, Noam Kaniel, a former partrner of Ron Wasserman's, took the reins for a few seasons, starting with Power Rangers Samurai.

This is where I gotta talk a bit more personally. Up until Samurai, I had really liked the other composers' and their theme songs with very little exception. When I got to Samurai, I was equal parts elated and annoyed. Why? Well, first off, Samurai seemed to be a remix of the original Power Rangers anthem, "Go Go Power Rangers" from the very first season. And honestly, I was sort of okay with that. it was like a call-back to the franchise roots. What I was not okay with was Wasserman not getting any credit for the original that the song was based on. And that pet peeve has continued all the way to Dino Charge. (Which by far, has become my favorite of the franchise after the original music). This not Kaniel's fault. It was more than likely Saban not wanting to have to pay for the rights to it from Wasserman who'd left after SPD. I do wonder though, since Kaniel and Wasserman worked so close together if maybe some behind the scenes negotiating had gone down, and then shitty Saban not honoring whatever agreement was possibily made. That would not surprise me one bit. I don't know as much as much about Noam Kaniel as I do about Wasserman, but I can hope he's more honorable than Saban, and tried to get Wasserman credited.

The music for the Power Rangers franchise has very obviously changed hands and vibes. Most of the second part of that is probably changing with the times. And it's understandable. Ninja Steel, my currernt season, actually pays homage once again to the original. The music for the two "bullies" in the series is a remixed version of Bulk and Skull's theme from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. To me, though, the music doesn't feel quite as iconic as the original. In the original, I knew something was gonna happen the second I heard a specific piece of music. (ie: Bulk and Skull's theme, or putty patrollers, or, even, one of the songs I just talked about from A Rock Adventure).

Also missing from every season since the wrap up of Turbo (and probably a bit before that, but not entirely sure when it stopped, but definitely before In Space.) are the character theme songs. In Mighty Morphin and at least one other season in that era, we had three Ranger themes, and at least 1 villian theme.

Go Green Ranger was Tommy's iconic first theme after breaking free of Rita's spell. It was followed up again by White Ranger Tiger Power. meanwhile, later in the series, Jason gets his own theme, "Gold Ranger". We don't see that again after Turbo at the very least. Lord Zedd, to date, is the only bad guy with his own intro music with lyrics and subsequent "incidental" music. Rita of course had that, too, and it is iconic , but we never see that again after this series (and i"m talking Mighty Morphin to Turbo)ends.

At least for Mighty Morphin to Turbo I can say that we had a lot of great in series music that went beyond the theme songs. I attribute all of that to a man who would not get recognized for his work for many years. If I get to meet him at a Ranger Con one day, I will be very happy to tell him, in person, how exciting he made cleaning the kitchen, or my bedroom.

Noam Kaniel is a legend in his own right theme music wise. While i am still salty that Wasserman gets no credit, he took a classic theme song and managed to make it fresh for the "Now" generation. While older Ranger fans call it lazy, I call it awesome. There's not a day that goes by that I haven't rocked out to a Power Rangers theme of some sort since I was a teen, and I cannot say that about any of the other shows I have ever watched as a kid, teen, or adult. (Not counting Animaniacs. That show is a whole other level of music ingenuity.)

I hope with this new series coming out that Noam Kaniel is working on the music and theme. We're going to need a bit of familiarity here.