#Hits From Japan 2017

[probablyasocialecologist]

Saito has made a career of teasing out an eco-theory from the late, unpublished writings of Karl Marx. He earned his doctorate at Humboldt University, in Berlin, and now teaches philosophy at the University of Tokyo. His first book was an English version of his dissertation, titled “Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism” (2017), which tracked Marx’s study of the physical world and communal agricultural practices. (Saito is fluent in Japanese, German, and English.) In a second academic book, “Marx in the Anthropocene” (2022), Saito drew on an expanded repertoire of Marx’s unpublished notebooks to argue for a theory of “degrowth communism.” He gained a following, not only in philosophical circles but among a Japanese public facing the contradictions of tsunamis, billionaires, and same-day shipping. “Slow Down” has sold more than half a million copies in Japan and launched Saito into a rare academic celebrity. He appears regularly on Japanese television and aspires to the public-intellectual status of Thomas Piketty, the French economist who had a surprise hit in his 2013 doorstop, “Capital in the Twenty-first Century.”

The key insight, or provocation, of “Slow Down” is to give the lie to we-can-have-it-all green capitalism. Saito highlights the Netherlands Fallacy, named for that country’s illusory attainment of both high living standards and low levels of pollution—a reality achieved by displacing externalities. It’s foolish to believe that “the Global North has solved its environmental problems simply through technological advancements and economic growth,” Saito writes. What the North actually did was off-load the “negative by-products of economic development—resource extraction, waste disposal, and the like” onto the Global South.

If we’re serious about surviving our planetary crisis, Saito argues, then we must abandon capitalism, with its insatiable appetites. We must reject the ever-upward logic of gross domestic product, or G.D.P. (a combination of government spending, imports and exports, investments, and personal consumption). We will not be saved by a “green” economy of electric cars or geo-engineered skies. Slowing down—to a carbon footprint on the level of Europe and the U.S. in the nineteen-seventies—would mean less work and less clutter, he writes. Our kids may not make it, otherwise.

[jiraisupportgroup]

is it okay to be jirai kei if you can't afford the clothes and your parents won't buy them for you does that make you a fake jirai?

♡ short answer ♡

Jirai kei isn’t about the clothes themselves; it’s a community based in accepting & de-stigmatizing mental illness / mental health struggles.

♡ absolutely unreasonably long answer ♡

(Disclaimer: I am not Japanese nor do I speak Japanese. All of this is what I’ve gathered from other people on the internet in my own research when I was first looking into jirai-kei. I could very well be wrong or just talking out of my ass here - I would take my word with a grain of salt.)

Jirai Kei was loosely formed in 2019-2020. It is primarily based out of Kabukicho which is generally considered the red light district Japan, although the Japanese government is trying to change this.

Kabukicho used to be mostly known for soaplands & host clubs & bars & concept cafes - generally more adult or night-life activities. It still is home to these kinds of places, but before the Olympic Games held in 2021, the Japanese government wanted to clean it up and make the area more presentable to foreigners. Starting around 2017-2018 (from what I can tell) they started adding things like movie theaters, bowling alleys, just overall more general-audience attractions to the area to try and make it more consumable. This did start changing the image of the area; it was now seen more as a cool place to hang out - especially for those who were old enough to participate in the host clubs etc. The downside of this is that although it was seen as a cooler area to hang out & it’s image was more positive - there were still plenty of adult or night-life centered things there & many “catch-guys”. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it did kind of make a perfect storm.

Since Kabukicho was starting to be seen more as a cool hang-out spot, a lot more younger teenagers started wanting to go there. And especially once the pandemic hit and most places were closed down (while many establishments in Kabukicho chose to stay open) the sentiment of “I hate where I am right now, my life here sucks, I want to go to Kabukicho where things seem like fun” got even stronger.

This led to an influx of runaway teenagers going to Kabukicho. Additionally, a lot of runaways in Kabukicho were very fed up with their living situations (hence, why they chose to run away in the first place) and mental health during the pandemic was not great anyway since there was a pandemic going on obviously that’s going to negatively affect people’s mental health. Even further: in 2022, Japan lowered the age of adulthood from 20 to 18, so even more & younger people could participate in the nightlife scene. Again, not necessarily a bad thing; however, it meant a lot of the runaways going to Kabukicho with little money, poor mental health, and generally not knowing what they want to do with their lives were now surrounded by catch guys & night-life workers. Night-life workers make a lot of money. A lot of these kids needed money to support themselves, especially if they didn’t want to go back to their hometowns.

Now, am I saying all adult work is bad or all jirai’s were adult workers - no absolutely not. However, this environment is what kind of started the ball rolling.

Alright so we have set the scene now wtf is jirai kei.

Jirai kei stems directly from the derogatory term “jirai onna” literal translation “landmine woman”. This is a term pretty much used to say “that woman is going to pop off” (like a landmine) & was leveled towards any woman with mood swings, intense emotions, poor coping mechanisms, etc. Keeping in mind that Japan does not have a great medical or social infrastructure for dealing with mental health - and that many people’s mental health was greatly impacted by the pandemic - it is not surprising that a lot of people were in this position. In western circles I’ve seen people tie this really heavily to BPD specifically - but the term isn’t specific to bpd - it’s really anyone who has an emotional outburst, or that the people using the term derogatorily think would have one.

So a lot of people decided to reclaim this term & spin it to be their own thing. Kind of saying “yeah, so what? I am a landmine. My mental struggles are real. They are my reality. And if you don’t like that or think that’s ‘wrong’ fuck you. I’m not going to sugarcoat myself for your comfort”. Additionally the idea was also used as push-back for the societal views around mental illness. They’re pretty much signaling “being mentally ill or facing mental struggles does not mean we are bad people, it does not mean we don’t deserve love, and we should not have to hide our mental struggles or go through these things on our own”.

So if it’s a subculture based around accepting and fighting for mental health, where does the fashion come in?

Most of the fashion you’ll see in jirai kei tags are girly kei, dark girly, ryousangata (loose translation: mass production), or extensions of larme kei (another Japanese fashion which is really similar to girly kei but slightly different). Why is that?

These fashions are generally mass produced & easily available in Japan. Think about Liz Lisa and MA*RS for example. These are BIG brands. They’re not niche or hard to find. Additionally, the style is very popular. Ryousangata is considered SO mass produced that “everyone looks the same” (it’s actually quite popular amongst fans of boy groups). It’s not like a strange or niche or overly special style in Japan.

Especially not in Kabukicho, a lot of people working at concept cafes & the like would wear these types of styles because they’re easy to get, easy to style, and super overly adorable. The fashion also works GREAT for runaways in Kabukicho. They’re capsule wardrobes you can make like 10 outfits with 5 pieces of clothing so it works really well if you’re living out of a suitcase. Also it’s a pretty inexpensive, easy to obtain & super cute so it’s very appealing to these teenagers.

From what I can tell these fashions were most popular in Kabukicho and spread out from there, which is why you’ll see a lot of people say that if you’re dressing in these styles people will assume you work at a con cafe or other night-life-adjacent work, but the style has gotten much more popular over 2023-2024 so this doesn’t seem to necessarily be the case anymore.

However, since these styles were associated (albeit not exclusively) with Kabukicho & con cafés, etc, and because a lot of people in this area were drained from types of jobs or runaways & living in a culture where they’re told they should not talk about or show their negative emotions - the term “jirai onna” would be used against many people in these fashions.

Now, again, this term was not exclusively used for everyone dressed in this style, and not everyone dressed in these styles was considered that, but the link is definitely there. Jirai Kei is not completely removed from dark girly or ryousangata, but it is definitely more nuanced than “jirai kei is dark girly+”, that’s just not the case. Especially now that jirai subcul is much more popular - and a lot of the fashions you’ll see in jirai subcultures are barely girly kei / dark girly / ryousangata, if at all. I’ve seen jirai subcul people wearing just t-shirts and shorts.

However; especially in western societies, a lot of people falsely associate jirai kei with dark girly WAY too heavily. My best guess is because we don’t see ryousangata regularly. A lot of people have only seen the style in a “jirai kei” context. They are related to each other, jirai kei does have links to dark girly, but the fashion style itself is not necessarily “jirai kei”. It’s a common style in Japan - it’s not a common style in other parts of the world - so people mashed the two together in one concept because they don’t know otherwise.

This is where a LOT of discourse in the Jirai Kei community stems from - I’m not going to go too deep into it because everyone gets extremely mad about it & im not trying to open that can of worms and spill it all over the table.

I’m sure you’ve seen posts mentioning “fashion landmines” and “lifestyle landmines”. “Fashion landmines” being people who just like dark girly or ryousangata and mistakenly identify the fashion itself as “jirai kei”, and “lifestyle landmines” being people who hold to the values of accepting and raising awareness of mental illness / struggles that was the movement which started the reclamation of the term “jirai onna” to begin with.

Tldr they don’t like each other and people get really mean about it.

All of this being said: Essentially, yes. Dark girly and ryousangata and girly kei are related to Jirai Kei, but no, you do not have to have the clothes to be a part of the community. The clothes are secondary (and honestly optional) to the community’s values.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk lmao

[hrts4hanniehae]

Special Announcement Video Jan 2023

*this is not a representation of the members of svt irl. y/n race and character type will be pre-determined to allow for a better plot.

*relationship has been established to other Seventeen members

masterlist

[a special announcement? what could be happening?]

Dino appears in front of the camera and sits down in a chair

Dino: Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Seventeen’s Dino.

Y/N goes to sit next to him

Y/N: Konnichiwa, I’m Seventeen’s Y/N.

Dino: We have an announcement to make.

[the announcement]

Dino pulls Y/N’s chair towards him and holds her hand tightly.

Y/N squeezes his hand back and leans onto him.

Dino: In June 2018, Y/N and I became a couple. I liked her since 2015 and she began to like me in 2017.

Y/N: We dated in secret until 2020 when the pandemic hit and I was sent back to Japan to help with HYBE Japan promotions. Dino accidentally let it slip to the rest of Seventeen, who helped to keep our secret until 2022. 

Dino: We told our managers and the company at the end of 2022 and got scolded for quite a while for hiding it. But finally… in 2023, we were allowed to share our 5-year love with Carats worldwide. 

Y/N: This video is being released because today is officially our 5th anniversary. Thank you for supporting Seventeen thus far and I hope that you all will continue to support Dino and me in our relationship.

-

S.Coups: I sort of expected Y/N and Dino to have feelings for each other, but I didn’t expect them to have been dating for 2 years before we found out.

Seungkwan: We were all very shocked to find out.

Vernon: It was crazy.

Jeonghan: Dino was in tears when he found out Y/N was staying in Japan for almost 2 years. 

DK: Wah… I remember his face…

Mingyu: I remember the horror on Y/N’s face when Dino let it slip that they were together. “How can I not react this way when I’m going to be in a long-distance relationship with the love of my life?!”

Wonwoo: You even remember it word for word, LOL!

Joshua: Y/N was horrified and we were so… in shock.

The8: In Dino’s defence, he was drunk when Y/N told us she was leaving Korea for more than a year. When we told Dino that Jun and I were going back to China for the same period, he didn’t even react that… much.

Jun: Yeah…

Woozi: I could tell that Dino liked Y/N in some way.

Hoshi: Really? I couldn’t.

-

Masaharu: Konnichiwa, I’m Kimura Y/N’s twin brother, Kimura Masaharu. I’ve met with the other Seventeen members a few times when I travelled to Korea and Dino was introduced to me as my younger sister’s boyfriend back in… 2020. 

Jirou: Konnichiwa! I’m Kimura Jirou, the youngest of the three Kimura siblings! You may also know me as Kiji from the 5th Gen Kpop group, TOX6! I became an idol because I was inspired by my sister. When I first watched ‘Hit the Road’, I finally realised how much my sister went through. That inspired me to audition for TOX6 and I got in!

-

Jirou: When she told me about her relationship with Dino-hyung, I was a bit scared because I knew how the public saw relationships in the idol industry. But when I looked at Dino-hyung, I knew he wouldn’t let my sister cry.

-

[Now you may be wondering why we did a video of the relationship reveal like this. Well… that’s because we want to show Carats how many people support this relationship in the hopes that you all can continue to give support to Y/N and Dino.]

-

Twice

Dahyun: I didn’t expect Y/N to tell us directly about her relationship.

Momo: Neither did I. 

Sana: She was shaking as she told us and I could tell she was so scared to let us know about it. 

Mina: I’m so glad she trusted us enough to tell us. They make a wonderful couple!

-

TxT

Yeonjun:  I was very surprised that Y/N-noona and Dino were dating.

Soobin: Yeah no kidding… 

Yeonjun: Of course, I’m happy for my two good friends!

Soobin: Y/NDino has TxT’s full support! 

-

Skz

Changbin: Y/N-noona, fighting! Dino, fighting! You’re a great match!

Leeknow: Congratulations, Y/N!

-

Atz

Yunho: They’re dating? No way… 

Seonghwa: Really? Wow…

Wooyoung: Wow… Good job, noona…

Hongjoong: Since 2018? Wow…

Mingi: That’s insane… 

San: Congratulations!

Jongho: Wow…

Yeosang: Y/N-noona, fighting!

-

Bnd

Jaehyun: Noona? And Dino-sunbaenim? Wow… Congratulations…

Riwoo: Fighting!!

Sungho: Congratulations!

-

EN- 

Heesung: Wow I didn’t expect that… Congratulations, Noona! 

Niki: Congratulations,  Noona.

-

Kim Sejong: Congratulations my dear little sister! I wish you many days of happiness!!

-

&TEAM

EJ: Noona, congratulations!!

Fuma: Y/N-san, I hope you have many happy days ahead!

K & Nicholas: Always be happy, Y/N-san!

Yuma & Jo: Congratulations!!

Harua: Congratulations, Y/N-senpai!

Taki & Maki: Fighting!

-

The scene fades back to Dino and Y/N. 

Y/N: So, that’s our relationship reveal! The day this is released is the day of our actual anniversary. I know this isn’t the most conventional relationship reveal, but we managed to hide our relationship from Carats for 5 years. I think that’s something worthy of a huge reveal.

Dino: So, we shall end this video with a video montage of pictures from our 5-year relationship. Thank you for loving us all this time. 

-

“I see the world in her eyes.” - Dino

“In my eyes, he is the world–my world.” - Y/N

[Happy 5th Anniversary, Dino and Y/N]

current taglist: @fairyofhour @megseungmin @sun-daddy-yoriichi @woozixo @euphoric-univers @christinewithluv @haowonbins @ocyeanicc @asyre @superhoshisvt @bangantokchy @chimmy-bts @angelarin @daisawa @writingbarnes @jeonghansshitester @belladaises @wonwootakemyheart @wonwooz1 @luchiet @kookssecret @thepoopdokyeomtouched @isabellah29 @leah-rose03 @coupshour @sooheehan @heesbees @hyuckxtagram @kissesfrmwonwoo @httphera @porridgesblog

[svt-kiki]

( 🩹 )　𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 ⌅ .

　　＿＿＿　　𝒹𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝗆𝗒 𝒶𝗅𝗆𝗈𝗌𝗍　⌇　𖥔 ݁ ˖

( 𓈀 ORIENTATION　)　𝓭　⦂　it doesn’t have to be the absolute setting that needs to be shared with everyone who watching this blog, but for my headcanon, i imagined kiki as aro spectrum. from my understanding, aroflux / demi / quoi / gray / recipro romantic are the categories she possibly fits into. when it comes to love, nothing else but the pure platonic affection comes first in her. kiki loves others very deeply, and romantic or not is just not a huge matter for her. she could care less about the idea of romantic love and has only mere interests. she doesn’t realize it is what it is until someone indicates directly there’s some kind of romantic feelings in between. however, it’s not that she dislikes the idea of romantic love nor the marriage at all. when she felt right, kiki will agree to be in a relationship and further — but her dates don’t always see her feelings as something they expected, often lead them into breaking up. kiki is not labeling herself as aro spectrum but just questioning, she aware that her romantic orientation is not quite fitting into society’s standards, but she prefers to stay in vague for her identity.

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐋　/　non established

　　until 2015 .　　

seungcheol and kiki was mutual first love. their romantic feelings ( it was for kiki too at that time ) grew silently behind the friendship and bond as comrades in arms. both knew saw one another more than just friends, but they were basically mom and dad among the trainees in project 17. the two felt responsibility for others and own dreams, avoided to leave any hint that company would notice their relationship — well, only if they can call that. she was always there for him, when his grandmother was taken to a hospital, he had a rough time through monthly evaluation, struggled for the situation in the process of training. she felt secure when she was around him, he always created safe space for her, learned how to take care of her ( because she often forgot herself ). they sometimes hung out at the park or just took a walk outside of the dorm at night. they shared first kiss after seungcheol graduated from high school, but the thing hasn’t ended up there. at the age of nineteen, when they went to seungcheol’s home together to spend lunar new year holiday as their tradition, seungcheol spilled his feelings, put into words how he likes her for the first time. underwater, the two knew this was the last chance left. even if the feelings were different then his, she likes him. loves him. he was special for her, just like kiki is to him. they lost innocence to one another. both knew they couldn’t choose secret relationship only to risk everything — literally. there was a lot of tears, but young un-lovers were okay to keep this way. or, perhaps otherwise?

𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐖𝐔　/　established

　　2018 .　　

they knew each other before the proper first meeting ( you know, kpop industry is a small world ), but greeted for the first time when seongwu gathered his every courage and asked minhyun to introduce her. kiki was his celebrity crush since seongwu saw her dance performance on hit the stage, so he finally felt like a celebrity, too. they were good colleagues until seongwu confessed her after the mama 2017 in japan. she surprised, couldn’t answer right away, but seongwu waited patiently to kiki said yes in hesitant after the new year. seongwu has a golden heart. he is the one of a kind boy, genuinely good, funny and generous. this was the first time she built a relationship — not only after the thing with seungcheol, but her lifetime in general. she was kinda unsure but willing to try and learn, and seongwu was the happiest man on the earth. he adores her, cherish every moment he can spend with her. she had her first tv drama appearance in japan, and wanna one was on the ongoing prime, so both were extremely busy. but they knew how to put effort and keep things working. kiki didn’t put into words that much about his relationship, but members knew all about. they dated about six months, but it was enough time to make her realized her feelings is not same as his. kiki doesn’t mind if seongwu went out with other girls, if she was his friends, and that was the problem. she couldn’t help but puzzled every time he got jealous when she went out with her male friends. it’s not that deep toxic behavior, just indicated his annoyance in a cute way and got powty, so she hasn’t bothered, simply confused and couldn’t understand. she, doesn’t know what jealous means — and it snapped back both of them to reality that no one knows exist. after the week of talking and late night conversation, he teared up and confessed he couldn’t keep this relationship. i know you like me — but our heart doesn’t fits its shape. and i couldn’t bear that, was all he said. kiki agreed, they split. now they were good friends, although he still feels guilty that he couldn’t accept her shape of love, and either she that wasn’t able to answer his affection in right way. but it’s all in the past now.

𝐘𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐀 𝐘𝐔𝐊𝐈　/　established

　　2019 .

it was a short term thing. they met through an advertising campaign shoot in japan, and yuki almost fell in love with her at first sight. he approached right after they wrapped up the shooting. she had a rough time in the first half of the year due to false bullying accusation from former trainee, but his bright presence and humor helped to cheer her up. plus, seventeen and kiki as an individual had many opportunities to do job in japan in 2019, so it was not as hard as usual for her to keep in touch with someone in japan face to face. he was curious everything about her, basically head over heels. they dated about five to six months, but the amount of time they spent was not as much as when she was with seongwu. they broke up because he couldn’t be confident about that she actually liked him or not — and the doubt was not quite far from the truth. but not the whole truth neither. in fact, she actually liked him. but the form of affection was just a bit different than others. she cherished him, valued him in her own way, but again, that way didn’t matched with his one. and it was too late after he realized it.

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐎 𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐀　/　non established

　　2023 .

they met in 2022 for the first time through mutual friend, yuta. yuta and aki co-starred in the movie high & low / the worst x that year, and they had a chance to grab some meals together. then kiki and aki co-starred in huge project in japan next year ( taiga drama ), make them grew close to each other. they played the historical emperor and his most beloved empress consort. aki made clear from the beginning he’s interested in her with romantic way, helped kiki a lot to avoid the confusion later. aki flirted with her casually with a manner whenever he had a chance, somehow made her comfortable. she had no intense to start relationship again especially both past ones didn’t end up well for same reason, and aki was a bit disappointed ( bcs his crush was more serious than she thought ) but understand her shoes, pushed nothing. kiki was able to put into words at first time about iffy dynamics between romantic feelings and herself. they went casual meals, movie nights — it was hang out for her, while he considered as romantic dates. what’s new for her, was both aware of the difference and okay with it. he was the first person who showed the way she can feel it might be work. she takes the agreement of being in relationship with other, as the proof of her consideration and affection to you, so that you can understand she cares about you. and aki was still questioning but kinda okay with it. however, they agree to stay friends since she rapped up her filming and back to her regular schedules in korea. the words he said — i see why you say the typical romantic is not on your shoes. and still, you are the most loving person i have ever met. even if the other loves you romantically, they still embrace your shape of love if their love was right enough. you don’t need to be afraid — still make her heart warm.

an.　if anyone knows HiGH & LOW series,,, you won’t be surprised that i’m obsessed with it 🙂‍↕️

(    📁    )   :   NAVI   :  MASTER LIST     

(    tag list    )   :   @smh-anon @jennwonwoo @angie-x3 @scarlet789

[absolutebl]

Hello ABL. First of all, let me just say, that I love your devotion to Seven Days. It was my very first bl and what got me to discover the genre. Of course it was all downhill from there lol. Just kidding. Maybe... Anyway. I've been doing this thing since the beginning of the year where I watch older jbls (usually before 2020, although that is not old by any stretch) to kinda get a broader view of the genre in Japan. I haven't been in this for that long so I'm still catching up. Some of the stuff I've watched so far. All the Pornographer series/films ; Dangerous Drugs of Sex; Takimu-kun 1 & 2; Junjou (2010); Athlete (2019) Udagawachou de Matteteyo (2015); Ai no Kotodama (2008) No Touching At All (2014) ; The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (2020). I've also watched things like His (series and film), Restart coming back home, Life Love on the Line, and I'm probably missing a couple but not a lot. So I was wondering if you had more recs for me. Anything you can think would fit with what I'm trying to do.

Thanks so much for your time.

Rose💜

Hi darling!

You're missing Boys Love, both of them. If you can stomach it.

Did you see my History of Japan thingy? I'd say try to hit everything discussed in that post: (The top 10 is out of date tho)

And the ones I picked from Japan for the 101 Syllabus

Apart from that's I'm gonna just give you my list of older JBL stuff. I put a * next ones often referenced in the zeitgeist of weedy discussions here on Tumblr in particular, some of which you already mentioned but I just want it to be as complete as possible. These are by date (sort of).

Older Japanese BL (Live Action Yaoi)

* Boys Love 2006

* Boys Love: The Movie AKA Boys Love 2 AKA Schoolboy Crush 2007

Itsuka no Kimi e 2007

Asymmetry 2008

* Forbidden Love 2008

Gymnasium Baby AKA Taiikukan Baby 2008

Melody of Our Love AKA Bokura no Ai no Kanade 2008

Ai no Kotodama 2008

Ai no Kotodama 2: Sekai no Hate Made 2010

* Takumi-kun 1: And The Spring Breeze Whispers 2007

* Takumi-kun 2: Rainbow Colored Glass 2009

Takumi-kun 3: The Beauty of Detail 2010

Takumi-kun 4: Pure 2010

Takumi-kun 5: That, Sunny Blue Sky 2011

* Junjou: Pure Heart 2010

Fujimi Orchestra 2012

Shape of Happiness 1 AKA Love Place: Hakanaki Kata Omoi - Gaiya no Koi 2013

Shape of Happiness 2 AKA Love Place: Shiawase no Katachi 2013

Coming Out AKA Kamgu Auto 2014

* No Touching At All AKA Doushitemo Furetakunai 2014

* Same Difference AKA Docchi Mo Docchi 2014

Forever Summer 2015

* Wait For Me at Udagawachou AKA Udagawachou de Matteteyo 2015

Candy and Kiss 2015

* Seven Days AKA Seven Days: Monday-Thursday AND Seven Days: Friday-Sunday 2 parts 2015

* Double Mints 2017

* Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru 2017

* The Novelist AKA Pornographer (Pornographer series) 2018

Mood Indigo (Pornographer series) 2019

Pornographer Playback (Pornographer series) 2021

* Does the Flower Bloom? 2018

* Ossan's Love (original) 2018

* The Shortest Distance is Round (Noir) AKA Saitankyori wa Mawari Kudokute 2019

The Shortest Distance is Round (Blanc)

The Shortest Distance 3: Fallen Flowers AKA Saitankyori Wa Mawari Kudokute: Rakka Ryūsui 2020

The Shortest Distance is Round 2: Rain and Soda AKA Saitankyori wa Mawari Kudokute: Ame to Soda Mizu 2020

* His the series: I Didn't Think I Would Fall In Love AKA His - Koisuru Tsumori Nante Nakatta 2019

Athlete 2019

* What Did You Eat Yesterday? AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? 2019

* The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese AKA Kyuso wa Chizu no Yume wo Miru 2020

* Dangerous Drugs of Sex AKA Sei no Gekiyaku 2020

* Love Stage!! AKA Rabu Suteiji 2020

The Reason Why He Fell In Love With Me AKA Kare ga Boku ni Koishita Wake 2020

The Reason Why He Fell In Love With Me 2 AKA Kare ga Boku ni Koishita Wake 2 2021

* His the movie 2020

* Life: Love on the Line AKA Life Senjou no Bokura 2020

* Restart AKA Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de 2020

* Cherry Magic AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho 2020

Post 2021 - A few lesser knows that might be worth it

Given 2021

Kiss Kiss Kiss series

The 8.2 Second Rule AKA 8.2 Byo no Hosoku

[ausetkmt]

Where It’s Most Dangerous to Be Black in America

Black Americans made up 13.6% of the US population in 2022 and 54.1% of the victims of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, aka homicide. That works out, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, to a homicide rate of 29.8 per 100,000 Black Americans and four per 100,000 of everybody else.(1)

A homicide rate of four per 100,000 is still quite high by wealthy-nation standards. The most up-to-date statistics available from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show a homicide of rate one per 100,000 in Canada as of 2019, 0.8 in Australia (2021), 0.4 in France (2017) and Germany (2020), 0.3 in the UK (2020) and 0.2 in Japan (2020).

But 29.8 per 100,000 is appalling, similar to or higher than the homicide rates of notoriously dangerous Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. It also represents a sharp increase from the early and mid-2010s, when the Black homicide rate in the US hit new (post-1968) lows and so did the gap between it and the rate for everybody else. When the homicide rate goes up, Black Americans suffer disproportionately. When it falls, as it did last year and appears to be doing again this year, it is mostly Black lives that are saved.

As hinted in the chart, racial definitions have changed a bit lately; the US Census Bureau and other government statistics agencies have become more open to classifying Americans as multiracial. The statistics cited in the first paragraph of this column are for those counted as Black or African American only. An additional 1.4% of the US population was Black and one or more other race in 2022, according to the Census Bureau, but the CDC Wonder (for “Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research”) databases from which most of the statistics in this column are drawn don’t provide population estimates or calculate mortality rates for this group. My estimate is that its homicide rate in 2022 was about six per 100,000.

A more detailed breakdown by race, ethnicity and gender reveals that Asian Americans had by far the lowest homicide rate in 2022, 1.6, which didn’t rise during the pandemic, that Hispanic Americans had similar homicide rates to the nation as a whole and that men were more than four times likelier than women to die by homicide in 2022. The biggest standout remained the homicide rate for Black Americans. 

Black people are also more likely to be victims of other violent crime, although the differential is smaller than with homicides. In the 2021 National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (the 2022 edition will be out soon), the rate of violent crime victimization was 18.5 per 1,000 Black Americans, 16.1 for Whites, 15.9 for Hispanics and 9.9 for Asians, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. Understandably, Black Americans are more concerned about crime than others, with 81% telling Pew Research Center pollsters before the 2022 midterm elections that violent crime was a “very important” issue, compared with 65% of Hispanics and 56% of Whites.

These disparities mainly involve communities caught in cycles of violence, not external predators. Of the killers of Black Americans in 2020 whose race was known, 89.4% were Black, according to the FBI. That doesn’t make those deaths any less of a tragedy or public health emergency. Homicide is seventh on the CDC’s list of the 15 leading causes of death among Black Americans, while for other Americans it’s nowhere near the top 15. For Black men ages 15 to 39, the highest-risk group, it’s usually No. 1, although in 2022 the rise in accidental drug overdoses appears to have pushed accidents just past it. For other young men, it’s a distant third behind accidents and suicides.

To be clear, I do not have a solution for this awful problem, or even much of an explanation. But the CDC statistics make clear that sky-high Black homicide rates are not inevitable. They were much lower just a few years ago, for one thing, and they’re far lower in some parts of the US than in others. Here are the overall 2022 homicide rates for the country’s 30 most populous metropolitan areas.

Metropolitan areas are agglomerations of counties by which economic and demographic data are frequently reported, but seldom crime statistics because the patchwork of different law enforcement agencies in each metro area makes it so hard. Even the CDC, which gets its mortality data from state health departments, doesn’t make it easy, which is why I stopped at 30 metro areas.(2)

Sorting the data this way does obscure one key fact about homicide rates: They tend to be much higher in the main city of a metro area than in the surrounding suburbs.

But looking at homicides by metro area allows for more informative comparisons across regions than city crime statistics do, given that cities vary in how much territory they cover and how well they reflect an area’s demographic makeup. Because the CDC suppresses mortality data for privacy reasons whenever there are fewer than 10 deaths to report, large metro areas are good vehicles for looking at racial disparities. Here are the 30 largest metro areas, ranked by the gap between the homicide rates for Black residents and for everybody else.

The biggest gap by far is in metropolitan St. Louis, which also has the highest overall homicide rate. The smallest gaps are in metropolitan San Diego, New York and Boston, which have the lowest homicide rates. Homicide rates are higher for everybody in metro St. Louis than in metro New York, but for Black residents they’re six times higher while for everyone else they’re just less than twice as high.

There do seem to be some regional patterns to this mayhem. The metro areas with the biggest racial gaps are (with the glaring exception of Portland, Oregon) mostly in the Rust Belt, those with the smallest are mostly (with the glaring exceptions of Boston and New York) in the Sun Belt. Look at a map of Black homicide rates by state, and the highest are clustered along the Mississippi River and its major tributaries. Southern states outside of that zone and Western states occupy roughly the same middle ground, while the Northeast and a few middle-of-the-country states with small Black populations are the safest for their Black inhabitants.(3)

Metropolitan areas in the Rust Belt and parts of the South stand out for the isolation of their Black residents, according to a 2021 study of Census data from Brown University’s Diversity and Disparities Project, with the average Black person living in a neighborhood that is 60% or more Black in the Detroit; Jackson, Mississippi; Memphis; Chicago; Cleveland and Milwaukee metro areas in 2020 (in metro St. Louis the percentage was 57.6%). Then again, metro New York and Boston score near the top on another of the project’s measures of residential segregation, which tracks the percentage of a minority group’s members who live in neighborhoods where they are over-concentrated compared with White residents, so segregation clearly doesn’t explain everything.

Looking at changes over time in homicide rates may explain more. Here’s the long view for Black residents of the three biggest metro areas. Again, racial definitions have changed recently. This time I’ve used the new, narrower definition of Black or African American for 2018 onward, and given estimates in a footnote of how much it biases the rates upward compared with the old definition.

All three metro areas had very high Black homicide rates in the 1970s and 1980s, and all three experienced big declines in the 1990s and 2000s. But metro Chicago’s stayed relatively high in the early 2010s then began a rebound in mid-decade that as of 2021 had brought the homicide rate for its Black residents to a record high, even factoring in the boost to the rate from the definitional change.

What happened in Chicago? One answer may lie in the growing body of research documenting what some have called the “Ferguson effect,” in which incidents of police violence that go viral and beget widespread protests are followed by local increases in violent crime, most likely because police pull back on enforcement. Ferguson is the St. Louis suburb where a 2014 killing by police that local prosecutors and the US Justice Department later deemed to have been in self-defense led to widespread protests that were followed by big increases in St. Louis-area homicide rates. Baltimore had a similar viral death in police custody and homicide-rate increase in 2015. In Chicago, it was the October 2014 shooting death of a teenager, and more specifically the release a year later of a video that contradicted police accounts of the incident, leading eventually to the conviction of a police officer for second-degree murder.

It’s not that police killings themselves are a leading cause of death among Black Americans. The Mapping Police Violence database lists 285 killings of Black victims by police in 2022, and the CDC reports 209 Black victims of “legal intervention,” compared with 13,435 Black homicide victims. And while Black Americans are killed by police at a higher rate relative to population than White Americans, this disparity — 2.9 to 1 since 2013, according to Mapping Police Violence — is much less than the 7.5-to-1 ratio for homicides overall in 2022. It’s the loss of trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve that seems to be disproportionately deadly for Black residents of those communities.

The May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer was the most viral such incident yet, leading to protests nationwide and even abroad, as well as an abortive local attempt to disband and replace the police department. The Minneapolis area subsequently experienced large increases in homicides and especially homicides of Black residents. But nine other large metro areas experienced even bigger increases in the Black homicide rate from 2019 to 2022.

A lot of other things happened between 2019 and 2022 besides the Floyd protests, of course, and I certainly wouldn’t ascribe all or most of the pandemic homicide-rate increase to the Ferguson effect. It is interesting, though, that the St. Louis area experienced one of the smallest percentage increases in the Black homicide rate during this period, and it decreased in metro Baltimore.

Also interesting is that the metro areas experiencing the biggest percentage increases in Black residents’ homicide rates were all in the West (if your definition of West is expansive enough to include San Antonio). If this were confined to affluent areas such as Portland, Seattle, San Diego and San Francisco, I could probably spin a plausible-sounding story about it being linked to especially stringent pandemic policies and high work-from-home rates, but that doesn’t fit Phoenix, San Antonio or Las Vegas, so I think I should just admit that I’m stumped.

The standout in a bad way has been the Portland area, which had some of the longest-running and most contentious protests over policing, along with many other sources of dysfunction. The area’s homicide rate for Black residents has more than tripled since 2019 and is now second highest among the 30 biggest metro areas after St. Louis. Again, I don’t have any real solutions to offer here, but whatever the Portland area has been doing since 2019 isn’t working.

(1) The CDC data for 2022 are provisional, with a few revisions still being made in the causes assigned to deaths (was it a homicide or an accident, for example), but I’ve been watching for weeks now, and the changes have been minimal. The CDC is still using 2021 population numbers to calculate 2022 mortality rates, and when it updates those, the homicide rates will change again, but again only slightly. The metropolitan-area numbers also don’t reflect a recent update by the White House Office of Management and Budget to its list of metro areas and the counties that belong to them, which when incorporated will bring yet more small mortality-rate changes. To get these statistics from the CDC mortality databases, I clicked on “Injury Intent and Mechanism” and then on “Homicide”; in some past columns I instead chose “ICD-10 Codes” and then “Assault,” which delivered slightly different numbers.

(2) It’s easy to download mortality statistics by metro area for the years 1999 to 2016, but the databases covering earlier and later years do not offer this option, and one instead has to select all the counties in a metro area to get area-wide statistics, which takes a while.

(3) The map covers the years 2018-2022 to maximize the number of states for which CDC Wonder will cough up data, although as you can see it wouldn’t divulge any numbers for Idaho, Maine, Vermont and Wyoming (meaning there were fewer than 10 homicides of Black residents in each state over that period) and given the small numbers involved, I wouldn’t put a whole lot of stock in the rates for the Dakotas, Hawaii, Maine and Montana.

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/14/where-it-s-most-dangerous-to-be-black-in-america/cdea7922-52f0-11ee-accf-88c266213aac_story.html)

[curio-queries]

I think AYS definitely found its flow post-US trips. Compared to the later trips, you can tell their time in the US really was more spur of the moment, less thought out. I think that's probably why the editing and filming were better in the other places and they had product placement. I wonder if they originally had something else in mind for the content, such as making it just a bangtan bomb kind of like some of the solo adventures we got during chapter 2 (like jungkook's camping vlog), but then they decided to do more trips or pitched it to Disney or something so they put more money and effort into it.

About the behind the scenes content, I do think whatever was kept out of the main episodes was primarily for pacing reasons (despite the fact that I don't think the pacing was super great until Sapporo) and/or some content that was kept for the purpose of making money off the behind the scenes package. Weirdly I don't think bts cares at all about 4th wall breaks. I saw another blog complain about this a while ago, about being able to see staff in the background and ruining the vibe of AYS or messing up the illusion from a production standpoint, but I think bts themselves never try to put up that 4th wall. Obviously the content is supposed to stay focused on them, but the boys have never had a problem talking to their staff on the other side of the camera even during things like run episodes and even in AYS, the last night Sapporo, jikook are sitting around the table drinking and talking with their staff. Beyond what takes focus off the members or respecting that staff aren't public figures, I don't think the members ever care to create that illusion that they aren't filming something or surrounded by staff. I remember reading parts of bts' book and jungkook talks about jikook's trip to japan in 2017 and mentions how the company was worried about their safety if they went and when they arrived in japan, staff was already waiting for them. Even in a private trip that was meant just for the two of them, because of who they are staff were involved and they don't try to hide that.

Also side tangent, but their book was more interesting than I was expecting based on how I'd seen people talk about. A lot of it is summarization of events with bts' thoughts thrown in throughout, but there were some interesting tidbits I didn't know. Like jimin listening to Army sing-along of Young Forever and that's basically what made him come out of a dark place regarding the band's future and contract renewal tensions. Reminded me of Wembley when he cried and said that song had helped him a lot. Also the book and reading things as a timeline really emphasized how much jikook helped each other through that dark period from 2017-2019: the japan trip when they needed to get away from everything, then jimin showing up at a bar for jungkook and them both crying together (the crying together seems to be a theme for them LOL).

Anyway, back to AYS. For the title cards, we can see in Sapporo that they already edited most of the US trip, so the title cards were probably an idea they thought would be good when editing that, but then they didn't really fit as much in the editing of the other trips. Like the Sapporo vibes are just different from jimin's silly little title card recordings.

I really hope we get more AYS when they come out of MS. I expect group activities will be back in full swing, but since they seem to really enjoy traveling together, I think it'd be nice if we got to have future seasons. Its obviously still work, but I do think its on the more enjoyable end of work for them. I want to see them in Montana, US on a ranch riding horses, or in Venice, IT doing a romantic gondola ride, in the Australian outback where jungkook can finally fight a kangaroo.

Hi anon,

You definitely hit on many of the points we'd been discussing here through these posts so it's nice to see I'm not the only one with some of these thoughts.

After seeing the I Am Still documentary though, it's do feel more confident saying that this team's production engine likely gives very little control to their distribution partners. Again, I still need to do an album watchthrough of most of the Disney documentaries but for now, I'd wager that Hybe fully completes their product and then only sells it for distribution. Maybe there's some back-and-forth if there could possibly be any content censorship for brand cohesion but BTS content as a whole is already very low-risk on that front. I'd even go so far to say that the product placement sponsors had more of an impact on the actual end result of the content than Disney did. But that's purely supposition on my part.

Regarding the 4th wall breaks, I don't think i worded my viewpoint very well previously and I don't think i have much better to say here but I'll try. While I agree that BTS's content isn't trying to shy away from the fact that they have staff around them, I do think there are very specific methodologies behind how they've approached it in the past and likely will continue to.

Take Run BTS for example, at the beginning, they attempted to rely for more in on-screen graphics and having the members themselves deliver the necessary exposition. But...I've said this before and I'll say it again, their production actually really sucks at delivering content that needs to be informative. In my opinion, they realized they weren't doing a great job of this and it was a lot more effort to try to mask, when the episodes that they left in a disembodied staff member explaining didn't have any noticeable drop so they decided to just go with including it.

I know i haven't really talked much here about the Run Jin episodes (as I'm likely going to do review posts as well once I'm done with Run BTS) but one of the main things I've been keeping my eye on is how they're compensating for there only being one member. It's seemingly to fall into relying on guest cast and the staff to give Jin the necessary foil, sometimes successfully and other times less-so.

Anyway, back to AYS, it seems to me like they were absolutely still trying to find the line of staff inclusion. Honestly, I wonder if there was a version of the edit where them watching the first cut of episode 1 would have been only included in the bonus content. Without it though, that episode woukd have been much shorter so I think they kept it in the main release purely for time. It fits so well with the overall tone though and I'm so glad they included it.

Again, wondering about the future. I'm sure they will try to revive this show again after military service and I genuinely hope they try to stick to the format of several mini-trips compiled into one 'season'. It will take a skillful team to be sure there's cohesion though. These episodes worked because there is the overarching tjmeline of their solo projects as they prepare for their service that ties the little trips together. I still think my idea of scheduling trips while they're on tour could work but again only if the tour schedule is a little more relaxed than it has been in the past.

It's all theoretical at this point! I would love to see our guys traveling around to some of the less-dazzling destinations as well. I am from a very rural area in the western US and could not even comprehend what it woukd be like for BTS to even be aware of some of those places, let alone actually visit. That was some of the charm of the USA section. They were out in the middle of nowhere seeing just a little bit of Americana. (But I also completely agree with you and want to see a JK / Kangaroo moment as well!)

I'm remembering now another point that I'd wanted to delve into a little more with AYS, which was how they balanced luxury vs the simple life for this show. It's definitely something I noticed shifting over the episodes and I think that had more to do with those sponsorships as well as wanting to give JM and JK some comfortable experiences prior to their enlistment.

Sorry, i went on quite the tangent anon. If I didn't respond to any of the points that you'd like to further discuss, please point them out in another note. I've already rambled far too much for this one!

[shopwitchvamp]

Ello!! Same person who was trying to emo-fiy his mom lmfao. (Just changed my username) but anyways, how exactly did this business start? It seems newer.

How new does it seem? I'm curious!

Witch Vamp has been solidly it's own thing since 2017, though it was originally "Witch Vampire" for a while and only on Etsy / at conventions. I think my first skirts hit the con scene in 2015, but at the time the vast majority of what I was doing was crocheted amigurumi plushies (which I'd been selling since 2008).

The most ancient of my skirts!

This is gonna be SO long sooo if you want a whole spiel, it's under the break-

How those first few skirts started was that a friend said, "Hey, I found this place called ArtsCow where you can get custom clothing printed! Wanna try making skirts?" And I was desperate for anything I could try selling that didn't involve me literally and actively breaking my body to produce it (I had multiple bouts of tendonitis in my wrist from crocheting a ridiculous amount to produce enough plushies for cons ✌️🥲), so I tried designing some patterns to put on skirts, zipper bags, lanyards, etc. After a time, skirts were doing really well in particular.

Between 2015-2018 there was a gradual shift from the focus of my time/work/con tables/etc going from plushies to clothing. By 2019 I gave up crocheting all together and had fully shifted my focus to Witch Vamp, and it's also when I set up my shopify so I could have a stand-alone site and start escaping Etsy.

Side note, 2018 and especially 2019 I was slowing down on cons a lot. I used to get sick all the time, be exhausted and miserable all the time, and generally had started feeling too old & weary to keep doing them at such a grueling pace. I also spent about 1/4 of each of those years having run off to Japan to do an English teaching/Japanese learning exchange program in a countryside town called Ojiya. Going into 2020 I thought I might be returning to Japan to teach full time and help the program director open an English school for adults in a nearby city.. But 2020 had a big surprise in store for us all, didn't it? As you can guess those plans got absolutely demolished. So 2020 hit and cons got cancelled, Japan plans got cancelled, thankfully I had already started up my shopify so I went fully online-only pretty quickly. Things started picking up quite a bit in 2021 & 2022, and in 2022 I left Fresh Hot Flavors (a group shop I was in with other artists, including the one that got a bunch of us ((as in me, FHF, Vetiverfox, and Maya Kern)) all started on this clothing journey) to only run Witch Vamp. Around the same time my partner quit his increasingly awful job and started helping me out with the shop instead. January 2023 is when we made the business part of our partnership official and Witch Vamp became Witch Vamp LLC. Up until then I'd been a sole proprietorship the whole time and doing all of everything myself. With my partner around to start taking on various tasks (like fulfilment and customer service emails) and with my clothing order schedule no longer being tied to FHF, things started to speed up a ton. This is when Witch Vamp fully coalesced into Witch Vamp as it is now, with the weekly restocks and more frequent new designs and preorders. If you consider the business as having started (in it's current state) as when the LLC was formed, then yeah it is pretty darn new! But depending on when you consider it starting it also goes wayyy back. It's been a long road, haha. PS: if you're interested in seeing old designs, plushies, and con tables from my past life, I made a big long post about it -here- :D

[supermaks]

max released his very own verstappie all-time win list, i must get your analysis 🔎

Omfg tastyyy ok heres Max's picks for his top 10 wins according to his latest red bulletin and transcribed by the awesome @tyrannosaurus-maxy , lets check if they feature in the verstappie rewatch

spain, 2016 ✅ mexico, 2018 ❌ ((analysis: a classic maxiel shootout that I wud have included if not for format limits and my pick of china, 2017. although very cunty of him to pick this as a crucial victory in his career, because it was a proper 'u wont win while I'm here' send off.)) austria, 2019 ✅ germany, 2019 ❌ ((analysis: ok I get it because that race was like .. netflix's drive to survive live action so to come out of it p1 is a classic max slay. also rip Hockenheim shout out to a real 1 u put the fear of god in those men fr)) 20th anniversary, 2020✅ france, 2021 ❌ ((analysis: entire 2021 season shud be its own verstappie rewatch lets keep it FRESH and TRUTHFUL howevr. I did go wid Emilia Romagna for my pick of the first wins because of what it represented ..dramaturgically. Like imagine the existential horror of knowing Verstappen has the car to challenge u in a classic f1 track on pure pace. Horrifying. But France did start to chip away at the 'average qualifier' myth in the culture and it did show rbr were willing to go freak for freak to dethrone Lewis. Looking back to it , it IS a champion drive from Max at such an early stage of his maiden wdc run, so makes sense it felt like that to him too.)) COTA, 2021 ✅, Spa, 2022 ✅ miami, 2023 ✅ , japan, 2023✅ 

Veredict: verstappie seal of approval. Some new insight particularly into COTA, 2021 which answered a few questions I had about the Silverstone crash and its consequences. Idk if yall ever saw pics of Max's lid after the crash, but the paint on the left side was completely scrapped off. Obvi we knew it the hit was serious enough from his radio, the general state of his car, how he looked climbing out of it, but I truly never expected him to share the full extent of the concussion. This isnt like the cramp or the like the bird he hit that one time, concussions are scary and uncomfortable and we still learning how to deal wid them in sport. Its an ongoing debate between medical responsibility and individual choice and that demands sensitivity and care and often lacks both. Because this time it involves Max and he didnt die, it now invites the worst people in the world to be purposely nasty and disingenuous in their interpretation of what he shared. But I think its important he told us. He shud not have to hide how much a crash like that impacted him, his title run, and what it meant to come out the other side a champion. I always said COTA 2021 is when he went from lil bro to big bro and now I'm sure he feels the same.

[fernandopiastri28]

insomnia (what if you never come back?) ~ dr3 x mv1

Max doesn't know how to cope without Daniel anymore now that he's at RB- turns out Daniel can't either.

insomnia ‧₊˚ ☽ ⋅

Burning my eyes red Not slept for weeks Testing your torment My future is bleak Lost in the moment With no words to speak …. Am I a fool Waiting for you? What if you never come back?

Staying up far too late into each and every single night isn't a new aspect of Max’s life. He can’t remember a time in his life when he’s slept peacefully, allowing his mind to switch off and his body to rest. It’s a habit picked up from being so alert of living with his father, worrying that he’d sleep through his father doing something seriously dangerous to someone in the family- especially his mother. He wasn’t sure when the word ‘Insomniac’ became something he called himself, associated himself with, but it’s definitely from far before his f1 debut in 2015- meaning that the hourly hours before a race are either spent secretly working out, gaming, or wallowing in the silence like he is now.

He sits on the edge of his bed, red eyes and a mind full of torment. He has a warmed Red Bull in his hand, condensation long dripped off of his wrist and onto his thighs- a reminder of how long he’s been sat in this very position, lost in the moment. He’s sat hunched over, the thin fabric of his team supplied polo stretching across the length of his back.

In his peripheral vision, he sees a sheen of light hitting into the glass cabinet full of bits of his trophy collection. His eyes are transfixed on it, despite how it hurts his eyes to focus on a spot he’s hardly looking at. His eyes slip up to where there’s a trophy from the 2017 Japanese grand prix- the podium that he and Daniel had shared at his elder teammate’s final year at Red Bull. He feels a tense throb of reminiscence as he remembers how they’d stood up on the top steps together, covering one another with champagne.

It was the last time they would ever do it together, instead of against each other.

His thumb slides down the wet length of the can, tipping the tin back to allow the last few acidic droplets to spill down his throat. He crunches the can in his palm, the edges splitting to cut into his skin. “Fuck,” He hisses, tossing the crushed metal across the floor where it hits into his desk. He rubs the cut against the soft fabric of his shorts, a red patch appearing in lieu.

The pain isn’t unfamiliar, verging on sparking memories of the exact feeling from being a child. Young Max panicking that he’d dropped a glass, quickly picking up the shattered material into his soft hands, the jagged edges piercing his skin as he would hurriedly try and remove the evidence of breaking something. His mother would tend to his wounds after cleaning off the bloody skin, promising to not inform his father of the event.

He compartmentalises the memory once again, focusing in on the now. Pressing the injury further into the cotton over his thigh, he stands up, walking over to the cabinet he had been previously mindlessly admiring. Two of his fingers press against the glass just in front of the Japan trophy, two dirty finger prints appearing as a result. Vivid flashes of how cold the fizzy liquid had been over his sweating body, how it had dribbled down Daniel’s chin as he had greedily guzzled it down after spraying the majority onto the dutch man.

Even more vividly, Max remembers how it had tasted inside Daniel’s mouth when the two men were hidden away in the motorhome, lips attached to each other’s, skin to skin. He drops his head in shame, hot red flush spreading across his pale skin. He smears the two fingers across his dry lip, relishing in their slight chill from being against the glass. It’s near enough to how Daniel had felt; cold, wet lips on Max’s desperate and needy ones.

After enough time staring down at his bare feet, he shuffles away from the cabinet of memories, his uncut hand wrapping around the door handle. He heads out of his bedroom in his apartment, only the dim illumination of a shop outside lighting up his corridor. He needs a drink, almost desperately so. Being back in Monaco means he could go out with his usual group, but it’s not quite the time of year where all of his non-f1 friends still have work, and especially on a wednesday night- no one’s going to be able to go drinking. So that leaves him with the other drivers who also live in Monaco.

He scratches Charles off his internal list of possible candidates, knowing he’s off somewhere in Portugal with Alex. Lando could be good, but he’s pretty sure the brit is off in Bali or somewhere else random on his winter break world tour. Sure, Max likes Fernando, but he’s not really the type of guy he’d invite out drinking- the same with Lewis. Checo’s with his kids, barely gracing social media throughout the holidays, the same with Bottas and Hulkenberg.

Once he’s reached the end of his mental invite list, only a single name remains. One that Max knows will reply no matter the time of day- Daniel. Max reaches into his back pocket, using a single hand to type a message away to the Australian. He clicks send then ignores it, returning to his room to search his closet for something more club appropriate then the ‘team-merch-pyjamas’ he has on currently. It’s not until he’s pulling his shirt over his head that he feels a vibration shoot up his arm.

‘Which club?’ Daniel shoots back. Three dots of an impending message bounce below the text for a few moments until they disappear, leaving the sole message there. Max types back, mentioning the closest club to him. He doesn’t want to make a huge night out of this, just get enough that whenever he gets home he can crash out and sleep well into tomorrow.

Well, today, given the clock is currently reading 00.33

He sets his phone down on his desk, shoving his shorts down over his knees until they pool around his ankles. He steps out of them, selecting a pair of skin tight black jeans and an equally fitted black tee, the word ‘daddy’ printed across it in thick white lettering- sure to get a laugh out of Daniel. He toes on a pair of sneakers and slips his tag heuer over his hand, clasping it around his thin wrist.

He shoves a white red bull hat over his hair, heading out the door once Daniel announces with a text that he’s just arrived at the club. Max sends back a text to assure him that he’ll only be five minutes. A perk of Monaco being so small- you’re basically ‘five minutes’ from anything if you live in a general enough area. He sneaks down the front stairs of his apparent building, staying relatively light on his feet so as to not disturb anyone who lives in the rooms he’s walking past.

He hears Daniel before he sees him, heading into the thick of the illuminated dance floor. The RB driver is clad in a beige t-shirt, a design from his own brand enchanté, and a pair of white lounge shorts. He already has an orange cocktail in hand, his opposite arm up in the air. “Maxxxxieeeee,” His thick Australian accent calls out to the younger man. It dawns on Max how long it had actually taken him to get here because Daniel is far from sober, likely having been here for far longer than five minutes as Max had promised him.

“Danny,” He gives him a grin, brushing tightly past a few other heavily inebriated clubbers to get to his friend. “You’ve been well?” Daniel replies with a huge grin, lazily slinging an arm around his shoulder, a nod into his neck to confirm.

“Peachy,” His breath is hot and reeks of tequila- far from Max’s ideal choice of a drink. He slips out from under his grip, stumbling past a few other people to get to the bar- ordering a gin tonic. The bartender slides it across the table to him and he greedily gulps it down, ordering a second one almost immediately as the bottom of the glass makes contact with the bar again.

The overdramatic thwack the glass makes triggers another memory, the noise is an exact replica of what he would hear almost each and every day. His father pouring himself a drink as he would sit Max down in front of him, making the young boy explain each and every mistake he’d made in either a race or just while ‘casually’ karting. In reality, karting when your father is Jos Verstpane can never be casual. Those conversations almost always ended in gulped tears and slammed glasses- often creating cracks in all the cups in the house.

The feeling of the cold surface around his new drink against his fingertips brings him back to reality. He takes his time with this one, taking longer and more gradual sips. He squeezes back over to where Daniel is still ‘dancing’ away to the music, more so swaying his body in the most off rhythm moves and swinging his arms above himself, luckily his once full cup is now disregarded off somewhere else. “Maaaaxxx!” He calls out again, regaining sight of the reason he’s here in the first place. The two fall back into their places next to each other, just like back in 2017.

The hour progresses, flicking over to 1am and nearing 2 am. Both of their throats are dry from continuous singing along to the music that is blaring all throughout the small and overheating area, dancing around to distract from the discomfort of their cotton shirts becoming saturated with sweat and each other's spilt drinks.

“I’ve missed you,” Max tilts his head down ever so slightly, the gap between the height seeming larger than usual as Daniel’s posture slumps down. He licks the corner of his mouth, his wet tongue peaking out which catches the eye of Daniel who’s almost shamelessly staring. “At red bull,” He clarifies, keeping it a strictly friendly moment. It’s partially the truth- he does miss him as a teammate, because despite how much he really does like Checo, Daniel had a sense of fun that no one could ever match.

Daniel mimics the lip-lick the other man had just previously done, his pink tongue wiping along the length of his bottom lip. “I miss you moreee Maxi-Taxi,” His voice is thick and oozes out like honey, all perfect and heavily sitting in Max’s ears. Daniel sucks in his cheeks, leaning closer and closer until his hooked nose is pressing up against the other man’s curved one.

A set of soft and inviting eyes meet those brooding, pale ocean ones, a clear softening occurring as Daniel’s eyes bore into them. “You’re my favourite teammate- always,” He brings a hand to the Dutch man’s chest, the back of his hand gently smacking into the breast of his black top. “Lando- god- he's such a kid, mate,” He shakes his head, laughing mainly to himself. “Great fun but.. Yeah, immature,”

Max scoffs, draining the last of his drink before setting it down onto the nearest flat surface to him. “Like you aren’t,” He grins, a matching one occurring on the Australian’s face.

“Hardly,” He rolls his eyes, clicking his tongue into a wet squelching nose. “He’s only somewhat.. ehhh, ‘normal’ now that he’s got Piastri keeping him sane,” Max can get that, making a quick mental comparison between the two young McLaren drivers until he realises Daniel is still speaking about his teammates. “Jean-Éric, nice guy, kinda forgettable,” He rubs a hand across the width of his neck which Max oogles out, trying to seem discreet.

“Kvyat,” Max nudges him, a wide smirk painting across his face. Daniil Kvyat, the man who Max took the red bull seat from back in 2015. He’d also taken Daniil’s recently ex-girlfriend- Kelly Piquet, daughter of 3x world champion, Nelson Piquet. The romance had been short lived however, especially cut short after Max had enjoyed his en makeout session with his then teammate, now the man in front of him, more than he’d ever enjoyed kissing Kelly.

“Yes,” He lets out a mix between a sigh and a laugh, “Daniil Kvyat- fucking guy hates you,” Dan whacks him in the shoulder, pushing a sharp exhale out of his mouth. He waves over a bartender for yet another drink as Daniel continues his seemingly never ending list. “Huuulkennbergggg,” He wheezes, never forgetting his dramatised rendition of pronouncing his ex-teammates last name. “Ehhh, Ocon, and nowww… tsunoda,” He’s so clearly drunk given the way all of his words are blending into each other and he’s becoming more painfully difficult to understand.

“Quite the list,” Max muses, laughing absentmindedly to himself sliding a hand up his own shirt to separate the soaked fabric from his abdomen. When he’s drunk, he hardly gets sad or tired- he just finds absolutely everything incredibly comedic. “I’ve had, ehh, also Jean-Éric,” He remembers, a memory of a short lived three races with the French driver. “Kvyat for same amount. Sainz for.. my whole season at Toro- yeah?,” Daniel nods, sipping away at some drink he managed to secretly acquire throughout their conversation. “You- the longest amount,” He furrows his eyebrows, struggling to remember the two exact drivers he’d had in between Daniel’s departure at the end of 2018 and Checo’s arrival in 2021.

“Gasly and Albon,” Daniel interrupts his thoughts, his eyes far from looking at where Max is deep in thought. He’s distracted, distracted by the younger fiddling away under his drenched shirt. Max lets out a hum of remembrance, his mind clicking into a timeline displaying just how long he’d race with each man for.

“It’s really hot in here,” He murmurs, tucking two fingers into his t-shirt collar, pulling it away from his skin to help cool himself down. The two of them come to a consensus of heading out, already having paid means they can slip out into the night as soon as they’ve agreed to leave. The rest of the city is quiet, acting according to being near 2 am. Daniel slings his arm back over the span of Max’s shoulder, holding himself up as they stumble down the cobblestone streets.

“You smell like shit,” Daniel wrinkles his nose up, wiping a thick sheen of sweat off his forehead, “very strongly of alcohol,” He muses, slipping a hand down into his pocket as his free one finds its place on the small of Max’s back.

“Happens when you drink,” The younger murmurs, pushing his nose into the base of Daniel’s throat, pushing a gurgled sound out of him. He swallows thickly before aimlessly mouthing at the spot of skin just above the hem of his collar. “You taste like sweat,” He mumbles out, a twisted grimace coating his expression.

Daniel brings the hand from his pocket back out to slide into the hair on the back of Max’s head, fingers tangling up in the messy and dampened blond strands. “Like you don’t?” He taunts, tugging back on the hair so Max’s looking up at him from the slightly crouched angle he’s standing at.

Neither of them realised at what point of the night they suddenly became desperate to be in this position, the exact one they’d been in back in 2017. A few experimental times later in that year, a few in 2018- once as a ‘goodbye’ for the Australian in 2022. Nothing had been like the post podium one yet- not until now.

“Try,” Max challenges him, sticking his tongue out ever so slightly. “Taste,” His words are beginning to become fuzzy in his head, a weird static trailing along with every noise that travels past his ears. He can’t tell if this is a good idea, or the worst he’ll ever make- but he wants to make it regardless.

Daniel looks down at Max’s nose, studying the curvature of it. Back up to his eyes, the deep and cloudy ocean blue that engulfs his pupils. The wispy and dark curls that frame those eyes, how they clump together with perspiration. His red lips, wet with a mix of alcohol and spit. Fuck, how good they look right now.

“Yeah,” Daniel nods, resting his forehead against Max’s. They breath out against each other’s faces for a few moments, both waiting for the other to take initiative and jump the bullet to get the end product they’re both keen for.

Daniel takes it in the end, taking his fingers higher up against Max’s scalp to cradle the back of his head, connecting their mouths finally. He was right, he tastes like bitter gin and salty sudate. Harsh around the edges and intoxicating the longer the kiss lasts. If Daniel wasn’t before this, he definitely is now. Max lets a moan pass into Dan’s mouth who eagerly engulfs it, desperate for more of those same noises. “You’re not mine, shouldn’t have you like this,” He hums as Max whines needily for more.

“Danny,” Max has to forcibly detach his mouth from the older man’s, a thumb pressing into his Adam's apple while his remaining fingers splay across the back of his neck. “Neuken- you’re all I want, I’m all yours'' He laughs, licking straight back into his mouth.

“Fuck you, Max,” Daniel murmurs straight back to him, wrapping two arms around his waist, hoisting him closer to him as he pins him into a wall nearby. “You let me go for so long thinking I was second to Leclerc- but I was always first, wasn’t I?” He taunts, a thumb playing with his bottom lip as he kisses as his top one. “You don’t fucking want him?” Max nods, confused as to why Charles is being brought into the conversation.

“Not at all, just you,” He promises, his huge hands squeezing into Daniel’s narrow hips as he flips them over, effectively shoving Daniel against the stone wall instead. “Why would I want him?”

“I see how you look at him,” He looks up at him, his eyes transfixed on the layer of sheen decorating the dutch man’s forehead. “Like you wanna fuck him,” He grins stupidly, “like how you’re looking at me right now,” Max clicks his tongue, shaking his head as he forcibly kisses Daniel again,

“I don’t do anything with him though,” He sneers, “I do things with you,” His stare softens, his thumb swiping down along one of Daniel’s tanned cheeks. “I only want you,” He whispers against his parted lips. His adam's apple bobs up and down, a long swallow accompanying it.

“What’s that make us?” His Australian accent is further amplified by his intoxication. Max twists his lips, shrugging at the question. Neither of them really know. If this means they should date, be friends who hook up whenever they want, or just never do this again- the lines between them fade into one another.

“Just mine,” He tilts his head, narrowing his eyebrows. “And all yours- we’re just each other’s,” Daniel agrees, a signature Danny-Ric smile spreading across his face.

“I can deal with that,” He pushes him away, wrapping an arm around his waist as they stumble down the same street, the dim lights of the street lamps illuminating the sides of their faces as they silently admire one another.

[bluwavez]

DeepDive began their journey originally in 2014 under the publicly known money laundering flop company Stormedia with an original five-member lineup. The group was in the pits of nugudom, only having four releases and a consistently rotating lineup. Son Jinhwa, the former Angelico CEO, would buy the rights to the group in late 2015. Nothing is ever simple with Jinhwa. DeepDive would go under an intense rebranding, where not only all the content and music they made under Stormedia was wiped from the internet and is now considered lost media but would also put the group through a survival show where the lineup would be remade.

Many fans believe that the official start of DeepDive was in 2016, excluding the ones who have been following the group for almost 10 years. They consider the true original lineup to consist of Han, Jisung, Blue, Noah, Woojin, Kiwoo, and Finn. Unfortunately, the group faced some difficulties when Woojin left the lineup in 2019, and he was quickly replaced by Jacob Lee, a former member of Wanna One. The last lineup change occurred in 2023 when Han exited the group due to their contract being acquired by Flowerbank Entertainment.

Though the group's history is a complete mess, there is one undoubtable fact: The music goes hard.

THE SOUND OF DEEPDIVE cannot be described as one sound but as cohesive noise that is regarded as one of the best and most diverse boy group discographies in Kpop.

2016 — WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ENERGY ?!

Debuting three months after their survival show concluded, the now seven-member piece would come out the gate with the physical single "Energy," which, despite being a banger, was overlooked by most of the general public.

While not having a strong debut like they planned to, DeepDive would come back with their first mini-album, "Happiness," promoting the title track "Get Around" relentlessly just to end up with the same disappointing results. The mini album would perform better than their debut, but that's not saying much since Energy didn't chart anywhere, and Get Around only managed to hit 103 on the Goan digital chart.

Their last release of 2016 would still stick to the sweet and fun concept, dropping the once nugu beloved hit "Daisy Dayz, " the title track from their second mini album of the same name. Daisy Dayz would manage to break into the top 100 but would only hit #89 once again not meeting expectations.

2017 — OH...THEY'RE TRYING SO HARD...

The boys stayed on a consistent release schedule shockingly enough. Ushering 2017 in with the floppiest single, "Sweat," which fans don't even remember, nor do they rarely bring up when discussions of their discography arise. It seems the hundreds of fans they did have were over their sweet concept despite most of the boys being teenagers at the time. Listening to fans, their first full album, Our Ocean, would have a more "mature" concept.

It became clear with this shift in sound and concept that the problem with DeepDive's lack of success hadn't to do with their music quality but with the fact the oldest member at this time would be barely 20 years old and the youngest, turning 16 that year. To put it bluntly, they looked silly singing these grown ass songs with their baby faces, and everyone saw it! Still, this didn't deter Angelico, and DeepDive would release another classic in their discography, "Bounce," which would gain traction amongst K-pop fans.

It's worth noting that the boys, primarily Noah and Finn, began producing the group's music during this time despite their young ages. Noah was just seventeen around the time of Bounce's release, while Finn was still 15.

Bling Bling would not receive the same amount of love Bounce did. In fact, Twitter would tear this song to shreds. Though hated at its release, it has become a beloved song in DeepDive's discography, notably being one of their most hyped songs to hear live. Fans blame Bling Bling for Angelico shipping DeepDive off to Japan the next year.

2018 — JAPANESE DEBUT (THE NUGU DEATH SENTENCE)

Desperate to make some money off this group, Angelico would give DeepDive a killer Japanese debut. "Ride or Die," would be a massive hit in Japan, securing DeepDive a strong and dedicated fandom in the country. This success would result in the group practically living in Japan for the rest of 2018. They were so famous in Japan, guys. Ride or Die was literally everywhere, they were on every variety show, they were performing concerts practically monthly at that point. They were finally reaching the success Angelico wanted with just one album.

So, of course, they released another banging album. "Burning Up" would be more successful than "Ride or Die," getting an English and Korean release due to its online success amongst international audiences. Becoming the face of K-pop in Japan, Sirens began to fear the boys would never come back to Korea which, honestly, a valid fear because they would release another Japanese album that year.

"Reaction" was a more controversial release but successful nonetheless. Nothing notable happened with this release.

The boys returned to Korea in December after spending 11 months in Japan. They released their second full Korean album, "Click Play," with the title track "Click." Due to their massive success in Japan, this release actually broke into the Top 50 on the Goan chart, a first for their career. Click would be a notable turning point for their career, seemingly starting their rise in Korea.

2019 — WE'RE PICKING UP STEAM NOW ...

Okay, so, Click's success wasn't enough to keep them in Korea long because the boys were back in Japan with an EP within two months. "Love Fire," is a deeply beloved title track by fans but nothing notable would occur during this promotional period except that fans feared they really were staying Japan for the rest of their career.

The last Japanese release would be "Your Love," another beloved song by Sirens. The song is one of their softer and cuter ones, as well as being the last release with member Woojin before he was removed from the group.

Desperate to come back with a bang, adding newest member Jacob Lee to the line up, the boys would touch down in South Korea and release "FIRE" a single that would grab the attention of the general public. FIRE is notable due to it selling 65,000 copies, the highest amount of sales they've ever reached as a group. DeepDive was becoming known at this point, being called "up and coming" or "on the rise" despite being well into their career at this point.

No Pressure would be released to much fanfare, finally fully catching the attention of international audiences, specifically those in America and Brazil. They say that once you're famous in Brazil, you're famous for life, and DeepDive was famous in Brazil! Still, they were just under the mark of making it in Korea, but just barely.

Then...

2020 — DASHI RUN, RUN, RUN OUT OF NUGUDOM !

NUGUDOM IS FINALLY OVER! THE BOYS MADE IT! RUN would be the song to break the glass ceiling, truly. Topped every chart, won them their first music show award, and won them a MAMA award––Baby, they were everywhere and the standard. DeepDive became the poster child of "Rags to Riches" and was soaking up every second of fame they could.

Refusing to be one-hit wonders, the boys came back swinging. "New Things" would become a viral hit as well, with every idol and their mother doing the choreography, which was created by Jisung. Another point that made DeepDive so unique is that they created everything they ever put out. Music, album designs, choreography, they used to edit their vlogs––They are those boys! Always have been! They were working their asses off for this type of success.

Call Out My Name was a moment. Everyone was talking about it. It was on the radio, it was on your timeline, it was winning awards, and covers of it were everywhere. You could not escape this song, but it's not like you wanted to because it's a banger through and through. It was clear these boys were going no where.

2021 — DAMN...THAT'S LOUD AS FU—

So, this era is interesting! Finn and Noah would take a break as the producers of DeepDive, leaving Jacob in charge for the first time.

Then...Sticker was born.

Sticker, as you can imagine, was highly controversial and is still being discussed to this day by K-pop stans. Due to it's controversy, yet success it was literally super successful, Finn would return as DeepDive's producer.

Still, the music from this time would be notably noisy and divisive, but they were from at a point in their career where it didn't matter what kind of music they released; they were topping the charts.

2022 — THEY'RE THOSE BOYS !

You'd brag, too, if you were in DeepDive! There's not much to say here except they were still topping charts, selling out arenas, hit over 50 million albums sold overall. They, again, could've released Finn banging spoons together and it would've been a hit but they weren't! At least not this year! They released hot girl music and went on their first worldwide tour with 120 dates! Great year for DeepDive!

2023 — GIRL, WTF JUST HAPPENED ?!

Then the storm hit! Flowerbank Entertainment scooped these boys up and basically tried to ruin their careers! They only had two releases this year and barely any promotions because Flowerbank sucks at their job and was sabotaging them.

Notably, Han would leave the group this year, and Woojin rejoined the group. Which is literally the only good thing to come out of this year.

2024 — OKAY, BACK ON TRACK !

And we're at the current day and they're killing it again!

MOST RECENT RELEASE :: TAX WRITEOFF

[jinxedshapeshifter]

I think I might’ve figured out why I'm going so insane over The Great Ace Attorney compared to any previous games I've played (this actually includes any game I've ever played btw, not just Ace Attorney). Everything’s been set up since the first game.

Kazuma says he has something important to do in England but never gets the chance to tell Ryunosuke, so Ryunosuke goes to England in his place. In the first game, Sholmes mentions a dark truth about the city of London. The Reaper of the Bailey mystery is mentioned in the third case of the first game and continues throughout the duology.

Adventures and Resolve are intricately connected, which isn't something you get much out of game duologies because it's something that can be hard to plan, especially when you have different release dates (with Adventures being released in 2015 and Resolve being released in 2017). The fact that they're two parts of one story means that it's better to play them back to back (which is what I've been doing and it adds a lot to the experience).

It's such a unique gaming experience, let alone for a visual novel/point-and-click game, and I am quite sure that's why I'm going so insane over it. It's a completely different experience from the original Phoenix Wright trilogy (which isn't interlinked as heavily as The Great Ace Attorney duology; I can't speak on Investigations or the Apollo Justice trilogy because I've never played Dual Destinies, Spirit of Justice, or the Investigations games).

The more drawn out mysteries make it to where you're losing your mind as you play it. This is compared to the other games:

The mystery in the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is why Edgeworth has become how he is. This mystery is figured out by the fourth case.

We do get a more connected cross-game story in Justice For All and Trials & Tribulations, but it still feels a little disjointed because Morgan Fey's bullshit doesn't come up much.

In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, you have the first case where you get Kristoph convicted of murder, then it isn't really talked about much in cases 2 and 3 (aside from Klavier mentioning it's why he went back to prosecution after 7 years) because it's not relevant, then we get Kristoph being accused of murder again in case 4, and because there's not a whole lot of build up to it in cases 2 and 3, it doesn't hit as hard as it could have.

In The Great Ace Attorney duology, you're getting hints of everything throughout both games. The Reaper of the Bailey situation, Susato being sent back to Japan at the end of episode 5 of Adventures, Kazuma "dying" before he can explain why he wanted to go to England in the first place, Sholmes's comment about the "dark truth of the city of London", and all of it is interconnected.

I haven't even finished the duology yet, I still have the last part of episode 4 and episode 5 of Resolve to finish. It's fascinating that I was able to glean why The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles feels so massively unique (aside from the setting) from the other Ace Attorney games. The mystery is much more drawn out, and it means the payoff is better.

[zukadiary]

Kazuki Sora taidan diary 〜 2024.2.11

(also kind of a Boiled Doyle on the Toil Trail / Frozen Holiday write up)

I've now woken up eight times in a world where Kazuka Sora is an OG (changing that number daily, as I've been trying to write this for six days), and the sense of having somehow slipped into a severely incorrect timeline is getting progressively stronger. Coupled bizarrely with that is deep, deep gratitude that, despite everything that's happened in the last four years, and especially in the last five months, she got a gut-wrenchingly, absolutely devastatingly beautiful taidan. I can't say perfect, because perfect would have been after a well deserved top star run. But barring that, I never dreamed it would get this close.

Long post incoming.

I have to set the stage...

Once upon a time in 2013, Asaka Manato, then nibante in Ouki Kaname's Soragumi, got her turn starring in Brilliant Dreams +NEXT, a multi-part Sky Stage series where you got to like, do some stuff of your choice with other people in your troupe. She decided to recreate some of her favorite revue choreography, and a friend alerted me that one episode was dedicated to the infamous Rosso scene from Takarazuka's Dream Kingdom (which, as you can see in the linked post, completely short circuited noob me from a decade ago). Maasama was still a good 2+ years from winning me over at the time, and I think I reluctantly watched it with some level of offense that she touched a Komu thing. As I'm sitting in front of my computer rolling my eyes, out comes this tiny thing in capri pants, mismatched socks, suspenders, and thick glasses: ken-4 Kazuki Sora, here to report on the situation in the rehearsal room.

She spent her airtime cracking jokes, tripping on her tongue, riding on Susshi's shoulders, and generally acting like Soragumi's annoying kid brother. I thought she was funny.

Another friend told me she thought she was tracked. I absolutely did not believe her.

Then, against a fair amount of adversity, she got the 100th anniversary Rose of Versailles shinko lead, and my eyes widened a bit. The next time I found myself in Japan, I was gifted a 9th row seat to what coincidentally happened to be her first ginkyou crossing in PHOENIX Takarazuka! I'd been spending the show curiously scanning the stage for her, and when I witnessed the gap between reporter and performer, my jaw hit the floor.

Afterwards, my kangeki companion asked if I was interested in anyone in the troupe. I said Kazuki Sora. She recoiled and said "but she's so short."

***

Something that I noticed during this taidan trip is that covid-era fans met a wildly different Sora than I know. Growing up in 2010s Soragumi was uniquely rough. I'm not even talking about ::hand waves:: the present circumstances and what may or may not have lead up to them; I mean they persisted with a level of star saturation through the dawn of the pandemic that had kinda crazy consequences for the otokoyaku track. Not only was the track itself overcrowded, but the troupe also held onto a number of non-tracked upperclassmen to whom they seemed unwaveringly committed to casting in juicy roles. I remember when things seemed so untenable that Soragumi fans were universally on pins and needles waiting for what felt like an inevitable big transfer out, and I remember freezing in shock on the side of the road when instead they transferred Serika Toa in.

Here's some analysis for perspective:

Kiki is the third oldest top of all time, and spent more time as nibante alone than Tamaki Ryou took to get from debut to top.

Lord knows how long Soragumi will be in this state of flux, but if they come out of it and Kiki gets a normal number of shows, AND Sakuragi Minato is next, Zun could immediately overtake Kiki for third place

Speaking of Zun, her first two-city lead was in 2020. Looking at her top star douki, Rei Makoto's and Yuzuka Rei's were in 2017, and Tsukishiro Kanato's was in 2018.

Rukaze Hikaru's first bow lead was in 2019, two years later than her other tracked douki, Akatsuki Chisei (four if you count A-EN).

Slightly more invisible but just as devastating, the lessened exposure on stage between leads has likely resulted in lower fan club numbers and less overall popularity.

...and back to Sora. Hundreds of us filled Hibiya Park this past weekend, but Sora spent her early Takarazuka career so buried that, despite being a triple threat on stage and an utter delight off, her fan base was small enough that at ken-7 they let me, not yet even a club member, accompany my friend to demachi where I became the third attendee. For years, Sora was, frustratingly, an in-person only watch. I'd go to Japan, memorize her positions, miss the rest of the show for following her with my opera glasses, and pop in the DVD at home only to find her always just off screen. A Motion was one of the most fun times I've had in a Takarazuka theater, and on the DVD during my favorite Sora SOLO, the camera is on Sorahane Riku wordlessly dancing.

I was floored when she got Anita. I was livid that she could give THAT PERFORMANCE and immediately afterwards be cast as an ensemble soldier in Red River (although she was so good in Citrus Breeze that after 5 years of deluding myself that I "couldn't betray my beloved Yukigumi like that" ((ironic, right?)) I finally caved and joined club). I stress dreamed multiple times about the impending bow announcement before she got Hustle Mates. I cried when she finally came down the stairs between two musumeyaku in Ocean's Eleven at ken-10, in which she played Linus, a role that felt like a big break even though it had previously always gone to ken-6s. FINALLY, the massive Ocean's taidan relieved a little pressure, and I felt a tangible thrill when suddenly she was all over the Aqua Vitae shonichi digest, something that had never happened before.

That's where we left off in February 2020, when the Diamond Princess docked in Yokohama, and my therapist didn't know what I was talking about when I said I was giving myself a stomachache watching live case numbers ahead of my scheduled trip, and I canceled my flight, and I put my freshly printed pack of homemade Suleiman postcards under my bed, and I didn't see her for 4 years 4 months and 3 days.

***

It's hard to talk about Sora's taidan announcement and not come off as biased and overly dramatic, given that she's my girl. But in 11 years of countless taidan announcements, I've never come close to being as blindsided by one as I was with hers. The vibe I've gotten is that fans, siennes, and patrons alike were all properly shocked.

I'd spent the better part of a decade internally screaming for Takarazuka to act like they recognize her undeniable talent. Frustratingly, it finally started happening during covid. While I was living under the impression that Hustle Mates was a genuine miracle, she got an unimaginable second lead... then, thanks to the breathing room in her new Yukigumi home, a third... and then a fourth. Having been burned for so long, I've always firmly been team I-don't-think-Sora-is-going-to-make-top, but despite that, I was actually starting to believe it could—dare I say would—happen. I wasn't even certain the people murmuring on twitter that she might leapfrog Aasa were completely delusional. I went into Hyperbolic Chart, my looooong awaited reunion, excited to assess Kasumi Sana as her potential future partner. I enthusiastically bought all her postcards for future writing, because the last time I'd seen her, she, at ken-10, didn't have postcards.

Two days after that I found myself again frozen in shock on the side of the road.

Two days after that.... yeah.

***

Somehow, despite 11 years of knowing how this works, of weathering various taidans with friends, of crying in bathrooms until they started cleaning the theater at taidans that weren't even technically mine, I was also completely blindsided by the taidan experience itself.

Part of it was definitely the time skip, from years of intimate Sora fandom to nothing to a couple of A-seki (she's the it girl now!) for a lead I wouldn't have chosen with a troupe I barely recognize anymore to bye, she's gone. Part of it was being thrown back into this after 4+ years of pandemic-dulled emotions, followed by the exhaustion of Takarazuka's crisis era. Part of it was lowered expectations from the largely uninspired and under funded lineup of forgettable shows churned out by tired directors of dubious morality. Part of it was the disaster-shortened Mura run, the self-preserving dissociation fueled by the pain and disbelief that there was a dinner show and I wasn't at it, followed by a month and a half stretch of work so busy it was still going while I sat at the ANA gate for my 1am flight.

But I got here and squeezed into one of those red seats and then all at once I was an unsealed vacuum, cracked wide open, and Doyle and Frozen Holiday rushed in and filled the airless void till it burst.

Boiled Doyle on the Toil Trail

I've been down on Yukigumi.

Yukigumi has been my home troupe for the vast majority of my fandom. I had the fancy Swarovski crystal Yukigumi bag charms, the whole Yukigumi getup from Sports Day '14, Yukigumi albums, Yukigumi chopsticks, etc etc etc. I literally didn't join Sora club for years because I couldn't imagine being pulled out of Yukigumi. But while I was locked out of the country, the march of time took my favorite top star and the vast majority of my emotional support upperclassmen. The pandemic spit Yukigumi out in a state that just made me reeeeeeeeally sad. So I stopped watching them. That's the exact moment they picked to put Sora there.

I hate to admit it, but I still haven't totally caught up on her Yukigumi time.

Which is probably the main reason this show caught me SO off guard... even having watched AND enjoyed the Mura livestream. Sora is best watched in person, after all.

Doyle—a silly take on Arthur Conan Doyle's life, and how he used a magic pen to write Sherlock Holmes by accident, thus setting into motion a runaway series of events—is not only a fun and joyful show, it's a masterpiece of casting. The top 4 were at their absolute peak, and it was a thrill to watch.

I've been watching Ayakaze Sakina since her shinjin kouen days, and my write-ups over the years probably betray my rollercoaster hot and cold journey through her career. I really liked Doyle as a lead for her though. She essentially plays a big idiot wifeguy with a dream, an imaginary best friend, and little conviction; she was very funny and charming. If you were one of the lucky few who managed to see On the 20th Century, think that guy but earnestly the main character vs. dude with main character syndrome. The older I get, the more I have a soft spot for shows where the top combi has "ecstatically celebrating at least their tenth wedding anniversary" energy, and this was one of those.

...Thanks in large part to Yumeshiro Aya, who is absolutely everything. She may be boosted by consistently reminding me of Shirahane Yuri since her partial lead in the 103s Bunkasai, but she also has a very particular type of girlboss energy that I don't feel like I've seen in quite a while. It isn't wearing the proverbial pants energy (a la early TamaChapi), but it is overwhelming I got this energy. I find her to be the absolute embodiment of a top musumeyaku, in that she understands the assignment (making the top star better), while perching on the edge of the backseat just enough that she doesn't overpower Saki, but she's still a knockout in her own right. She probably exudes an extra dose of this energy as Louisa Doyle, who plays a very similar role in her husband's life and writing career. I could not be more thrilled that Aya isn't retiring yet.

Asami Jun plays the aforementioned imaginary friend/magic pen-generated apparition, who happens to be Sherlock Holmes. Some people I've talked to seem a little disappointed in her stage time, but I really felt like this was also peak Aasa. She seems to have broken through a layer of ceiling and gotten really comfortable leaning into her c***y unique energy, which, though I can picture it being polarizing, really does it for me. I sure as hell have never seen an interpretation of Sherlock Holmes REMOTELY like Aasa's, but I was enjoying the Aasa of it all so much that I really didn't care.

When I saw that Sora was playing the editor of Strand Magazine, I was somewhat disappointedly imagining a role like Lestrade (not to invoke another Sherlock), the sort of there-but-not character that has dominated her Takarazuka career since she started getting named roles. My first surprise was how good of a role this was in general, and then how well suited it was to her. She gets to be aloof and handsome, but also incredibly upbeat and funny at times. Her little coworkers at her utterly failing magazine are obsessed with her (which is the mood of the century), and there is a cute little meta moment where Doyle threatens to stop writing Sherlock and Sora tries to quit her job, only to be restrained physically by said coworkers (which is the mood of the moment). Everything from the set of her off-gray permed wig to her 4 or so different plaid suits to her opening solo number was absolutely perfect (not as perfect as it was gonna be later!!!!!).

FROZEN HOLIDAY

It's weird watching a Christmas show in February

I rapidly stopped caring

Speaking of rollercoasters of hot and cold, Noguchi used to be my most hated revue director, hands down. Circa 2017-18, after being deeply personally burned by Super Voyager (and deeply personally confused by Beautiful Garden), the tension I felt while awaiting show announcements hoping I wouldn't have to watch another Noguchi was intense. Noguchi revues being something people covet nowadays still feels unfamiliar, but I count myself among people.

He turned it around for me with the Takarazuka equivalent of winning the grocery store ingredients episode of Project Runway: Delicieux, a covid-budget masterpiece of public domain music and foam macarons (incidentally, also a goodbye to Sora of sorts, as it was her last Soragumi revue). I officially owe him my life after what he did for her in Frozen Holiday.

Firstly, going into my 11th year of watching live Yukigumi, I've never seen Saki shine brighter. While ostensibly a Christmas spectacular, Frozen Holiday was also meant to celebrate Yukigumi's 100th anniversary. Despite the aforementioned rollercoaster, I'm so glad that the top star for the anniversary was someone who has not spent a day outside of Yukigumi in her sienne life, who I've been watching since before my first trip to Japan. And I think the joy of it really showed on her. Aya was an angel, so visually perfect in her snow queen dress that I believed she was destined to be top musumeyaku of Yukigumi from birth. Aasa continued to out-Aasa herself; the wave of feral energy she set off during the first livestream was well earned.

But... remember the disembodied arm just off the TV screen? The utter SHOCK I experienced when they treated her like a friggin' nibante...

Nanami Hiroki, who pulled top star numbers and probably had double our last day crowd at her average Hoshigumi ochakai, and Miya Rurika, who needed a simulcast for her last ochakai, didn't even get the final revue treatment that Sora did.

The disbelief that they did so good by her, the disbelief that I missed the transition, the disbelief that she was really leaving, shattered me.

In addition to general prominence throughout the revue, she gets a whole white-clad taidan number, complete with lyrics designed to blind her fans with saltwater, and one of the best bits of dancing I've seen out of her. After a seemingly impossible quick change, she rejoins the troupe for a very chuuzume-esque anniversary number (assuming the Christmas kyakusekiori is the real chuuzume), and that might actually be my favorite bit of dancing in the whole show. She co-leads the Noguchi-signature boyband number with Aasa, which I forgive because it's them and it's also T.M. REVOLUTION. She even gets a spotlight moment alone with Saki during the kuroenbi. And through all of it, she was so, so good. Good does not even begin to describe Kazuki Sora.

I felt like I cried for 48 hours straight.

***

I didn't manage to get myself actually into the theater for senshuuraku, but I did end up with two Hibiya cinema tickets. When I tried to pass one off onto one of the fellow jilted Sora Club members trying her luck outside of Chanter, I got pounced on by an old lady while those in their white wear were moaning about the cinema not being good enough. I was too tired and nervous to tell her I'd prefer to sit next to someone in club, so she got it. She and I ended up crying the hardest of everyone in the cinema by far. Thanks, old lady <3.

***

One thing that struck me was how desperately, frightfully grateful I was that Sora retired from Yukigumi. Sure, if she hadn't, her taidan would have probably just been canceled... but I don't even mean that. The anniversary aspect of Frozen Holiday was beautiful, and filled me with a joy and nostalgia I wasn't prepared for. It was my first kyakusekiori since 2019, and after Sora ran by me, I was blessed to find myself next to Kujou Asu, someone I adore enough to be in her club in an alternate universe. It was my first iride since 2019, and I had the privilege of seeing off one of my favorite musumeyaku, Sara Anna, as well. The way the troupe members talked about Sora, and what she gave them, and how thrilled they were that she joined them, made my heart swell. As genuinely mad as I was when they broke up KikiSora, I could see that Yukigumi gave her the space to blossom.

The farewell dinner was even entirely gluten free by complete accident, down to the fancy manju omiyage with mountain yam flour dough.

***

Five onsen dips, a massive weeb shopping spree a lifetime in the making, and one extremely bizarre Komu show later, I'm on the plane home, finally not crying on command.

But not having a runaway fave for the first time in ten years feels really desolate. I miss her so much.

[baeiseul]

|| ☓ 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗘 𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗨𝗟

Bae Iseul (Hangul: 배 이슬), born October 1st of 2001, making her the oldest in the group by two weeks. The singer-songwriter was born and raised in Kobe, Japan until she was thirteen years old, later on moving to Korea alone in order to train under JYP Entertainment (2014 — 2015), Cube Entertainment (2015 — 2017), and finally settling at HYBE Label's BigHit Entertainment (2017 — ongoing) and later on moving to their subsidiary, Belift Lab.

Iseul is fully Korean despite growing up in Japan, consequently being fluent in Japanese and Korean, which gives the group a considerable advantage over their foreign activities with her fellow member Ni-ki. This is not to say that her English skills are lacking, as she most definitely is on her way to becoming fluent in the language thanks to the constant help from her English-speaking members.

The performer has a father, Bae Dongwon, who owns and runs a restaurant in Seoul, previously in Kobe before relocating in 2017, called Kobe Kitchen, specialising in Japanese cuisine specific to the city of Kobe and its surroundings. Many of Iseul's acquaintances and friends have been spotted frequenting the restaurant and thanks to them, the restaurant has had a steadily growing number of loyal customers and excited tourists alike who are curious about their favourite celebrities' most visited hotspots!

Along with a well-known father in the culinary world, Iseul has a younger brother, Bae Inho, who has entered the entertainment scene and stolen our hearts with his role as Han Joonwoo in the hit Netflix show The Atypical Family! Only sixteen years old as of 2024, we are curious to see on what his next steps will be as an actor. There have been a few captured moments that have gone viral among fans of Enhypen of Inho being spotted with the members, so it's clear that he is well-loved by Iseul's group members, not to mention the singer herself posting countless pictures of their time spent together during her off days!

Iseul had been known to the public before her debut as Enhypen and her Instagram account (@ dewbaedrop) had a decent following as well, so she hasn't deleted her account post-debut. As of 2024, she boasts an impressive amount of followers on her personal account, which stands at almost 12M. Her impact as a K-Pop group member and as a solo artist herself is quite noteworthy. Good examples would be her accolades as being a global ambassador for Prada with her fellow Enhypen members, as well as being the first global ambassador for Buccellati in the Korean music world. She was offered to take on the highly revered position in early 2023 and has been working with them ever since. Along with Buccellati, Iseul is the Korean ambassador for another luxury jewelry brand, Chopard.

Iseul has consistently shown her skills and undeniable presence as a performer, but a lesser known fact, perhaps, would be the amount of writing credits she has gathered for herself throughout the years! She officially has 27 registered credits on both Enhypen songs and her own solos, however the number should triple when her label gives her the green light to release her other finished songs. As she was originally a rapper, Iseul finds great pride in having written her own music and is always expressing her desire to contribute more to Enhypen's music as well.

Find out more about Iseul in the next article!

[pretty1npnk]

Ever since she hit the mainstream internet in 2017 through her ever-popular YouTube channel, Chouka Aikawa has been fashion's favorite It girl. However, fashion isn't the only thing she's good at. She's a designer, a businesswoman, a former ballerina, and more recently, an idol. And she's taken the industry by storm. From her debut in the States to her debut in South Korea, Chouka has proven that she can really do it all, positioning her as the world's next pop princess.

𝜗𝜚 ... BASICS.

BIRTH NAME ... Aikawa Chouka

ENGLISH NAME ... Love Rose Antoinette Aikawa

BIRTHDAY ... March 14th, 1999

BIRTHPLACE ... Milan, Italy

HOMETOWN ... Kyoto, Japan // Azabu-Juban, Tokyo, Japan

ETHNICITY ... Japanese

NATIONALITY ... Italian-Japanese-American

𝜗𝜚 ... PHYSICAL.

HEIGHT ... 5'8" 1/2 (174 cm)

WEIGHT ... 119 lbs (53 kg)

BLOOD TYPE ... O

PIERCINGS ... N/A

TATTOOS ... N/A

FACE CLAIM ... Minatozaki Sana

𝜗𝜚 ... CAREER.

COMPANY ... Republic Records // Flowerbank Entertainment S.Berry Media

DEBUT DATE ... April 5th, 2024

YEARS ACTIVE ... 2024–present

FANDOM NAME ... Rosettes (로제트 // ロゼット)

COLORS ... #FFA3B9 // #FFFFFF

𝜗𝜚 ... BACKGROUND.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ �� … ONE. IF I WAS A RICH GIRL

Aikawa Chouka was born on March 14th, 1999 in Milan, Italy. And unlike most in her field, she was born into immense wealth and prestige. Her father, Aikawa Chujirō (also known as Michael Aikawa), is the current president and CEO of the Aikawa Group. Originally founded in 1969 as a technology conglomerate, the company sold its shares twenty years later for $20 billion, turning itself into a sprawling holdings company. Owning mostly luxury brands (including Versace), they also own multiple department stores in the United States such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy’s, and even Paramount. The Aikawa Group has been touted as the “Samsung of Japan,” and with a net worth of over $480 billion, the Aikawa family is the richest in the world.

Meanwhile, Chouka’s mother, Nakamura Aiko (also known as Liliane Aikawa) is an accomplished, London-born actress and designer, as the founder of luxury lifestyle brand Lily by Liliane, as well as a socialite, art dealer, and former model. Aiko was born into a family older and wealthier than her husband’s (or at least that would’ve been true in 1990), and is the only child of Nakamura Hiroaki, the president of the Nakamura Foods Company. Founded all the way back in 1909 (although the Nakamura family was rather high up in Japanese society generations prior), the food packing conglomerate is worth over $20 billion. Like her husband’s family, Aiko’s family also owns a department store, having acquired ownership of the Tokyu Department Store in 2009.

Obviously, Chouka grew up in the lap of luxury. Living in Milan for the first five years of her life, she attended a Japanese international school and learned her native language of Japanese, along with Italian and English. In 2004, Chouka and her family moved to Kyoto. And due to her family’s wealth, they would spend a lot of time moving.

During the summers of 2009 and 2010, they would live in three separate cities: Berlin, Amsterdam, and Paris. Starting in 2011, they would live in Singapore for a year. And finally, in 2015, the Aikawa family would move for the final time to the wealthy and fashionable neighborhood of Azabu-Juban in Tokyo. Chouka completed her final two years of high school there, and was involved in quite a few extracurriculars. She was a cheerleader, a member of her school’s tennis team, and she served as editor-in-chief of its newspaper club. Chouka would move again in 2016, but without her parents this time. She spent that winter at a boarding school in Switzerland, like most rich girls of her caliber.

By then, Chouka was a seasoned ballet dancer. At the age of three, she was placed in classes by her mother at the request of Chouka’s grandmother. She attended two separate ballet academies at some point: the Dutch National Ballet Academy and the Paris Opera Ballet. For years, Chouka believed that she would become the world’s next prima, but the universe had different plans.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 🩰 … TWO. DRESS TO IMPRESS

For the most part, Chouka’s childhood was normal. However, when you have a designer for a mother, you tend to get dragged to a whole lot of fashion shows. At the tender age of thirteen, she attended her first show for Dior. And it wasn’t just that, either. Chouka grew up watching her grandmother order couture from Paris and Milan, she would be gifted old pieces from her mother, and her father even gifted her Louis Vuitton for her tenth birthday. After that Dior show, however, Chouka’s entire world changed.

She became quite obsessed with fashion, and she would spend hours flipping through fashion magazines or rummaging through her mother’s closet. All the balls and launch parties and red carpet events that Chouka would attend with her family changed her outlook on fashion, and after she was scouted by a modeling agency at fifteen, her interest only grew. She attended Fashion Weeks in Tokyo and New York, and modeled for brands like Betsey Johnson.

Chouka kind of knew that her career as a model was temporary, though, and her “true calling” was a fashion designer or journalist (courtesy of her mother). With the rise of the beauty guru, Chouka’s interest in fashion blogs, and all the time she spent on Instagram, however, she decided that, instead, she would become social media famous.

In 2015, Chouka launched a blog of her own: Love Moda. This was unusual for her family, as like the real-life, Japanese rendition of the Young family from Crazy Rich Asians, they were notoriously private. They would sporadically appear in news articles, Aiko would give the occasional magazine interview solely for brand reasons or to promote a new project, and Chujirō mainly limited his media appearances to business publications. Obviously, though, Chouka had vastly different aspirations. Love Moda was mentioned in an editorial she did with Tatler, and that kind of exposure—plus the fact that she had money—made interest in her blog skyrocket. By 2016, it had amassed over 10,000 readers.

By the next year, Chouka had cemented herself as a somewhat of a “baby influencer.” Despite the invites to Paris fashion shows and the articles being written about her in Vogue, however, she was far from mainstream. Her small legion of fans wanted her to be, though. Chouka was asked to start a YouTube channel by one of them, and so on May 19th, 2017, she did.

Chouka was already a bit of a “micro-celebrity,” so by the summer, her sizable following had transferred to her new channel. Her YouTube gradually begin to grow larger than her blog as the beauty community gained traction themselves, and her status as the “Aikawa Group heiress” was definitely a selling point, alongside her feminine, “rich girl” fashion and peculiar accent. By the end of 2017, the brand deals were beginning to roll in, and everyone was gradually starting to know her name.

In early 2018, a particular video of Chouka’s suddenly went viral. What followed afterwards was the exact mainstream fame that she’d been looking for. She moved to Los Angeles from New York and was scoring ambassadorships with the likes of Kate Spade, Nina Ricci, and even Prada. She was getting invited to award shows, launch parties, and was a seasoned Fashion Week attendee at that point. And by 2019, Chouka blew up even further. She was named “fashion’s newest It girl,” she made her way into the acting industry, and it was pretty much impossible to escape her.

2018 was also a rather difficult year for her, though. At that point, Chouka had been a ballerina for sixteen years. But with her rising career online, she knew that she couldn’t pursue her lifelong dream of prima stardom without giving up her YouTube career.

Although ballet would always have a special place in her heart, her career aspirations had obviously changed. Even then, though, Chouka was still training, and she still wanted to attend another ballet academy. But balancing that and what clearly transformed from a hobby into her way of life was asking for too much. So that year, Chouka hung up her pointe shoes and bid goodbye to ballet. That decision was a difficult one, but it was probably for the best, as her career as an influencer has done more for her than a ballet career ever would. And there was still a whole lot more in store.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 🩰 … THREE. ALL THE INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD

Within the next five years, Chouka would grow to become one of the best fashion influencers on the planet, with 11 million subscribers, over twenty brand deals, and countless successful business ventures to her name. Even with a billion dollar bank account, though, she—like most influencers nowadays—couldn’t help but branch into the music industry.

In late 2023, Chouka suddenly signed to Republic Records, unexpectedly promising her fans a music debut by the next year. And on April 5th, 2024, she fulfilled her promise. Debuting with the single “Girls Don’t Cry,” her debut was a smash hit. Surprisingly, it was received far better than the music of other influencers, nearly becoming a No. 1 hit and turning Chouka into an up and coming pop princess. Months later, she signed to Flowerbank Entertainment, which was definitely... a choice. Chouka was pretty much the only active artist under the label, but her debut was still fully-funded and massively successful. However, she only had two full comebacks afterwards, before she jumped ship herself. Immediately after her departure, Flowerbank was no more.

In October 2024, Chouka founded S.Berry Media, her very own entertainment company. As of now, she's the only artist underneath the label, but like everything she touches, it could quickly grow into something much bigger. But with complete control over her career and a vision like no other, Chouka's not leaving the industry anytime soon.

Flowerbank Entertainment belongs to @pinkscaped // @venusvity ... 𝜗𝜚

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: July 2023 ~  

🕶️ Happy August!!! 🌻

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post!

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff!  -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Be Mine SuperStar - July 3rd (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 - July 5th (Japan)  

🌟 Stay by My Side - July 7th (Taiwan)

🌟 Stay With Me - July 7th (China, censored) 

🌟 Senior Love Me? (short film) - July 7th (Thailand) 

🌟 Low Frequency - July 8th (Thailand)

🌟 Hidden Agenda - July 9th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Bump Up Business - July 9th (South Korea) 

🌟 Laws of Attraction - July 15th (Thailand)

🌟 The Star Season 2 - July 15th (Myanmar) 

🌟 Wedding Plan - July 19th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 After Sundown - July 20th (Thailand, cinema-release)

🌟 Jun and Jun - July 20th (South Korea)  

🌟 Monochrome (short film) - July 25th (Thailand) 

🌟 Papa, What Is Love? Season 2 - July 28th (Philippines) 

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Be Mine Superstar - once in a while a trashy low budget show comes along and hits just the right spot - this is that show lmao. I was looking forward to seeing JaFirst again but I did not expect to like it this much lol. It’s ridiculous but the kind that makes me laugh a lot. JaFirst completely reversing their roles has me rolling and is working extremely well. Love Stage vibes all around. I love it so far. 

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Night Dream - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 I Love You I Kill You (novel adaption) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Beyond The Duo (short film) - Date TBA (Myanmar) 

🎥 UniverSad (novel adaption) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Iridescent love - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Nai Hia Bok Mai Chop Dek - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 The Hell Guards (Hey Don't Mess With My Heart) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Even If I Try To Fall In Love With You (君となら恋をしてみても, manga adaption) - Date TBA (Japan) 

🎥 Wishing Upon the Shooting Stars - Date TBA (Taiwan) 

🎥 Bad Guy My Boss - Date TBA (Thailand) 

Other news from the BL world

❗️ The following BL productions & actors won at this year’s Asia Top Awards 2023:

Ohm Thitiwat: Best Actor (609 Bedtime Story)

Tar Atiwat: Rising Star (I Will Knock You)

PeeTitle: Popularity Award (La Pluie)

Gun Napat: Best Performance in a BL (Luminous Solution) 

Mew Suppasit: Best Serial Actor (Love Me Again) 

KinnPorsche: Most Popular BL Series

❗️ Former StarHunter actor Bas Suradet (2Moons, Gen Y) has joined Studio WabiSabi, along with 4 other new faces in their New Generation Lineup. 

❗️ The novel ไหนเฮียบอกไม่ชอบเด็ก will be adapted into a series by MFlow Entertainment. Auditions are currently being held. Further details are unknown. 

❗️ The upcoming GMMTV BL Cherry Magic released its pilot trailer after an 8 month delay due to copyright issues. Workshops are currently happening. The show will likely air in early 2024.  

❗️ GMMTV announced that GeminiFourth will no longer be part of the upcoming BL/GL drama 23.5 due to changes in storylines & characters. They have been replaced by View Benyapa and June Wanwimol who will play the roles of Aylin & Luna, making it a GL-only drama. Further cast additions include Ciize Rutricha and others. 

❗️ Actor Tul Pakorn (Together With Me, Manner of Death) announced his retirement from acting as he is pursuing a career in real estate in New York after getting his master’s degree. 

❗️ The upcoming Domundi BL Middleman's Love has started workshops. The show will likely air towards the end of the year. 

❗️ The Japanese BL Ossan's Love is rumored to get a third season which will likely premiere in January 2024. Further details are unknown. 

❗️ The Norwegian web series SKAM (2015-2017) will get a Korean adaption called Skam Korea. The series has a total of 7 remakes from 6 European countries + the US. Auditions are currently being held. 

❗️ GeminiFourth announced that they will be starring in another BL series which will be a novel adaption. Further details are unknown. 

Upcoming series & movies for August

👉🏻 Stay Still - August 1st (Hong Kong) 

👉🏻 Sing My Crush - August 2nd (South Korea) 

👉🏻 The New Employee (movie version) - August 3rd (South Korea) 

👉🏻 Love in Translation - August 5th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 My Personal Weatherman - August 11th (Japan) 

👉🏻 Love Class Season 2 - August 11th (South Korea) 

👉🏻 Only Friends - August 12th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Friend. Boy Friend - August 19th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Lucky Love - August 20th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 My Universe - August 20th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Kiseki: Dear to Me - August 22nd (Taiwan) 

👉🏻 Why R U? Korean Remake - August 24th (South Korea) 

👉🏻 Crazy Handsome Rich - August TBA (Thailand)