While I'm still on my literal trip to heaven, let me tell you a very simple story.
Once upon a time there was a TV teen drama aired by the local channel, channel 72, which became a huge hit in the whole Philippines because of its own uniqueness. Scratch off the last term. It was a mistake to say the term unique here because no one could say for sure if a drama was not actually another plagiarized version from another. However, as mentioned earlier, this particular drama turned out to be a mega hit and this is the one of the main points of this story.
Okay. So what are the reasons for its big popularity in the country? Well, it's just simply not another 'Temptation of Wife' Filipino nth version or any other TV series derived from other antique and new adaptations. It's just a teen story resembling a random Japanese or Korean shoujo manga or comic. But it was patronized all over the nation because aside from its absolutely enchanting casts, the production and settings have not been neglected. One more thing, the ones doing the face-slapping scenes here are not middle-aged ladies which was more pleasant to the eyes!
Well, kidding aside, the story was fresh and good so it became a huge success. It aired for almost half a year, meaning for its 5-6 months span of time it hooked so many devotees waiting for it to appear on TV every weekdays, two pm. When it ended, the newbie casts turned into super idols and actors. Especial mentions were the two mains whose fan-bases expanded considerably. Anyways, despite reaching its conclusion, its mass influence have yet to die down. Commercials, songs, ads, TV shows, newspapers and magazines. It was so phenomenal that even though people are supposed to get tired of it already, what was happening was actually the opposite of this. It's still the talk of the nation. And from the looks of it, perhaps another half year is needed to completely calm down the waves it has brought.
So now let me narrate the actual drama and its plot.
The title is 'Forever is Real' - a modern drama centered around the high school life of a commonly seen beautiful girl who luckily chanced upon the opportunity to get enrolled into the most elite school in the country.
Is the title so wacky? With the synopsis sounding so cliche? It's a meh. But sometimes things like these could actually bring good results and I don't think I have to repeat again what happened to this drama given those title and plot. Mind you, it's a universal fact that success in dramatization is not all about acts and casts. Advertisements and media hype are quite trendy nowadays. Anyways, I won't comment about this anymore since I know for myself that I'm a total idiot when it comes to showbiz.
So... the story started with the heroine's debut in that said school of elites.
And now here comes the next necessary ingredient of a good drama. Since it was an elite school... if there are commoners, it means the busybody elitists have had bullying targets. Remember again, the heroine is a mere commoner so as natural as it can be, she turned into every local and social bully's 'apple of the eyes'. And well, this was further fueled by the fact that she suddenly became involved with the school's Emperor.
Who was the Emperor?
You say the male lead?
Of course!
A matter of fact, he's the hottest, wealthiest, most popular guy in the school! This was a given because to become a protagonist, either the guy is gifted with looks, abilities and hotness, or looks, abilities and coolness. In short, he's the Emperor, and he reigned over all school heartthrobs. A guy like this couldn't possibly not have his own fan-base, right? Just nod. He's popular, that's it. And based from the drama, almost ninety percent of the school's female population and fifty percent of the single ladies in the capital are dead over heels for him.
We can now guess what comes next. The commoner girl got involved with that someone who she should not get involved with. It's unfortunate for her because even if she didn't want to, she actually had no choice but get involved given that she's in a teen drama.
Now, this Commoner Princess had no choice but gained, of course, the wrath of those envious froggies led by the supposed to be Empress of Villainesses, Malan Dee. Please take note, her name in Filipino language, when literally read will become 'malandi'... which means 'flirty' or even in heavy context 'slutty', something the fans didn't question as they said that the name suited her.
Back to the Commoner Princess, because of her good fortune of having taken the Emperor's interest, she ended up a bullied puppet by Malan Dee who always bragged she was the Emperor's girlfriend even though she's actually not.
Throughout the story, Malan Dee never failed to obstruct the love between the two main characters and it led to the fans wanting to stab her to death and bath her in sulfuric acid before pushing her to be crushed under a hundred raging ten-wheeler trucks. It reached the point where even the innocent actress acting Malan Dee's role received the fans' 'affections'. This was caused by the part when Malan Dee's evilness, according to the script, reached its peak. Well, you can try guessing the bad deeds but no to killing please. No gunning scenes happened here. That's not in the scope of a high school story. What I mean is, high school level of evilness has a different peak.
Wait, let me utter some well wishes for the actress behind Malan Dee. If I'm not mistaken she has already disappeared from the showbiz world because of the never ending harrassments from Malan Dee's haters. Sigh. I hope she's still alive. The devotees' scary antics must have been shifted to her as they have no way of defiling a fictional character.
Away from the Malan Dee actress and back to the real Malan Dee, at the end of the story she received a bad end and this point was not at all questioned. It has always been like this, right? If you're a baddie, go receive your bad end. If you're the opposite, plus you have a protagonist's halo, then good for you, a happily ever after is your ending. This has always been the rule of drama and stories. An unbreakable rule that Forever Is Real had also not escaped from.
And now, since the ending was already mentioned, that's how the simple story was concluded.
...
So... if you have a sharp memory, you should be able to recall that I said I'm still on my way to heaven...
Let me tell you again a very simple and embarrassing story.
I am a fan.
This point should be obvious as I've been talking about a teen drama all this time. And yeah, the target of my fanaticism should also be obvious.
Forever is Real.
It simply started out like this.
Since I am a fan, I hastily ran out of my house when I heard and read from the TV, radio and FB that the latest magazine covering 'Forever is Real' was already out. I really had this so called avid fan aura when I charged towards the nearest retailer of magazine. I was so happy back then, to the point I couldn't stop myself from pulling the arms of every magazine buyer like who happened to be at the same stall as I. Fortunately, those people didn't lash out at me as it turned out that we're from the same fan-base. They have also bought the same magazine issue.
On my way back, I could still remember how happy I was, even flipping magazine pages and squealing at the sight of my hot idol. However, who would have thought that this simple blunder turned me into a huge idiot, forgetting the simple rule of checking your left and right when crossing a street.
What came next should be guessable by now.
I... was gloriously trampled by a delivery truck in a way I couldn't even describe. At that time, I didn't manage to scream. All I know, I was soon going to meet angels.
Anyways, this second simple story ended just like that, precisely the reason why I said I'm now on my way to heaven.
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