Longevity of Pairings
I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately, and Pond said something in his and Phuwin's interview with Zach Sang that really made it click. When actors are at odds with each other and the status of their pairing is on the line, a lot of times there is a divergence in the actors' goals. In PondPhuwin's case, Phuwin wanted a Hollywood star-like acting career, while Pond just wanted to care for his family. And in many ways, this explains a lot of what I saw about the pair on and offscreen (which is what had caused me to think they needed to break back then). Pond always seemed more interested in the ship itself and created amazing chemistry between the two onscreen. On the other hand, Phuwin seemed disengaged and even a little uncomfortable with the whole thing (especially around the Never Let Me Go era). Come to find out, there was actual tension between the two during this time and it came across on screen and during official appearances. And it all seems to have spurred from this 'difference in goals.' And that framing that Pond and Phuwin so helpfully provided in their Zach Sang interview has me recontextualizing a lot of actors' behaviors, especially regarding fanservice.
Now I'm realizing that the amount of fanservice a pairing does and that pairing's potential for longevity are directly proportional to how tied one of the actors' success is to the popularity of the pairing (bonus points if only one side initiates most of the fanservice moments/goes harder on the fanservice than the other).
So, for Pond, he would frequently try to keep the PondPhuwin together an in the public eye from Day 1. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Phuwin didn't put in any effort, but it's clear that Phuwin felt he had many options to maintain his success in the industry (or ways out of the industry if he grew tired of it). A similar situation plagues many pairings. I personally feel like Joong, Zee, Almond, Thomas (ThomasKong), Net (NetJJ), Fort (FortPeat), and Boss are the main guys I think of who fight the hardest to keep their ships alive if it came down to it.
For Thomas, Kong comes from money and can decide to end the ship whenever he wants and still be successful. I'm not sure about Thomas's background but I know that he's not nearly as privileged as Kong.
For Net, although I think he genuinely gets attached to his screen partners, I also think he's very calculated and knows what will keep his career in optimal form.
Almond is practically an industry baby and is probably just following directions when it comes to all the fanservice. But I do think that as he and Progress get more experience in this industry, if Almond isn't given the training he needs at his craft, it'll become increasingly clear who needs who more in the AlmondProgress pairing. In a way, it'll be a lot like late 2010s OffGun.
I don't follow FortPeat closely but it comes off like Fort is better built for the industry than Peat. The problem is, Fort's acting needs a lot of work. It's one of those situations where the person who enjoys the attention more doesn't have the chops to keep it on them for long.
Joong, to me, is in a similar boat as Fort where he yearns for the industry but maybe doesn't have the right appeal on his own to maintain the same level of success that he's had with Dunk. And although I think Joong and Dunk are more equal in terms of the amount of effort they have to put into their ship than other pairs, it just comes off like Joong has slightly more interest in staying in the industry long-term than Dunk.
Like with Net more generally, I think Boss feels some kind of attachment to Noeul. It's like if he doesn't work with Noeul, he thinks he can't be as successful. I personally don't think that's the case, but the way Boss talks about his career and Noeul's place in it seems a bit unconfident to me :/
Zee is probably in the most unique position of the 7. He had a successful pairing before Nunew. But unlike the situation with NetJames -> NetJJ, Zee's second pairing is orders of magnitude more popular than his first. So, in many ways, Zee's own standing in the industry is intrinsically tied to Nunew. If Nunew decided to exchange partners today, I can almost guarantee that his new pairing would be successful to some degree. But if Zee did the same, I just don't see that same reaction. Not only are many ZeeNunew stans Nunew stans first and Zee stans second, but Nunew has an entire career outside of Zee that he can stand on. Nunew fans would say that what Nunew may lack in acting talent, he makes up for in vocal talent, stage presence, and the type of androgynous appeal that's in high demand these days. Zee doesn't have that same reputation and so the pairing is his main focus.