Love Undefined: A MaxTul Love Story

All The Way & Always

How to kill a fandom in 3 days.
I should write a book on that.
Or rather, we should.
Because that was exactly what we did.
We killed our beautiful nameless fandom.
One who has been with us for the last 6 years.
And we died together with them.
In order to live.

***

As Jin Lin predicted, the fans systemically withered.
In silence.
The Extended Memories clip nearly broke them.
Just as that slimy spa picture did.
At the beginning, only half of the diehard Maxtul fans knew about the spa photo and hate account.
By the time XM aired, almost all of them knew.
After watching XM and feeling its vibes, they started to wonder.
Yet they still persevered and rebutted those who thought XM was a good bye.
And scoffed at those who thought Secret Love was an unrequited love ode from Tul to Max.

"We should tell them, PPi, those haters, that I'm the one who's head over heels over you," Max huffed, "not the other way around."
"Hey," Tul looked at Max in surprise, "I love you like crazy too."
"Yeah, but you're not obsessed about me."
"Who says I'm not," Tul laughed, "I'm just better at hiding my obsession, that's all. And way more subtle about your peaches than you are about mine - that's Tul Pakorn's butt, and I Iove it."
"Yeah, maybe," Max laughed at Tul mimicking him, glad for the short comic relief.

They have been monitoring the internet for the latest buzz – IGs, Twitter, Youtube comments especially – since XM aired the day before.
And were extremely upset, at seeing the fans in disarray.
Albeit subtly.
Some congratulated them for wanting to move forward.
Some forecasted business ventures and studies abroad.
Some said thank you for the beautiful memories.
Some said Maxtul will never die.
While some were adamant it was just a short break.
In fact, Max himself was lost as to why Mae Nui suggested such a tone for the clip back then.
True, they wanted to try out the latest VR and CGI technology Thunder just purchased.
But the vibes for the clip were anything but progressive.
It was in a way, a full stop.
A goodbye.
And a melancholic one at that.
For Maxtul.

After the spa photo silent fracas, they did try to reverse their strategy and tell the fans that XM was really a gift to the fans.
But the tone was set and the damage done.
And again, Maxtul fans were no fools.
They knew Thunder and the boys were trying to convey a message.