#Was honestly so happy by this hc being acknowledged but all the drama that happened is just upsetting

[milkamel]

I’ve absolutely adored this hc for quite a couple of months and I think it’s time I post something regarding it + add some kross sprinkled in <3 I made some doodles occasionally but I thought they weren’t good enough to post yk. Now I’m happy with myself <3

(Honestly I’m not sure how to label Killer, though those are the labels I see may fit him- anyway trans Cross makes me happy I love my boy sm)

Cross belongs to jakei Killer belongs to rahafwabas

[vlads-yuka]

A few Ikepri suitor theories (hc?)

So just earlier (not really anymore, since this took me a few d a y s) I was talking on discord about who among the suitors would be which type (the mom, yandere, tsundere etc) and since I wrote such a long thing about Rio, I thought I could try to do the same for the others 👉👈

I base my assumptions on translations I found of canon content (as of June 7th) as well as my own understanding of Japanese (I might be wrong about things that I claim canon, so if I do please tell me).

♦

Leon

So it's pretty obvious that Leon is the Ore-sama type basic black haired first guy. I honestly don't have much to say about him, his animal is the Lion, often labeled as the king of animals (how funny haha) so he's going to be very proud and probably use MC just to do his thing and that's it. It's likely he treats MC unfairly and grants you a few misogynistic comments about how useless you are if not to allow him the throne. Eventually, he'll fall in love and become at first awkward af and then probably really sweet and somewhat protective (he has a goal to achieve and his pride won't allow him to let you be hurt in front of him). He'll have some kind of sexy scene when feelings are returned and single handedly resolve whatever drama happens while swearing to protect you and make you happy once everything is over.

♦

Yves

Yves is really awkward. He tries to act tough like he doesn't give a damn but that's to hide that he's too clumsy to say things honestly (unless it comes to Licht). Pretending to be a tsundere, maybe his lack of luck will also come with the fact that being a bitch to everyone draws them away from you, and he's probably scared of hurting the people he cares about with his harsh words, but that's his only way to hide his "weak" self. He actually doesn't feel comfortable with a lot of people so he doesn't bother opening up. He's dense as fuck and doesn't realize that Licht DOESN'T CARE. Once you try hard enough and keep on being nice to him even though he'd expect you to hate him by now, he'll be so thrown off guard that you'll get to see his adorable stuttering messy self. He'll probably threaten you to not spill what you know about this part of him. He'll gradually sweeten and allow himself to touch more MC and he probably has the cutest laugh once he fully opens up. He's not really clingy unless he's sleeping with MC (you're not getting out of the hug until he says so) and will act selfishly from time to time because suddenly he wants a hug but doesn't want to do it in front of everyone. Note that his earring will be an important part of his past and since there's only one of it, it's either that the other is somewhere else or it's originally not an earring and was something else belonging to someone dear to him. He might break/lose it at some point in his route (since he's unlucky). After MC help him trying to fix/find it for his sake he'll grow soft and tell her how she makes him happier than ever by being her lover and he doesn't need it anymore if he has you, thanking you to have let him love you (I'm thinking about that one adorable cg in the trailer where you can't see his earring and I can't tell if it's just hidden or not) and he'll find/have it fixed soon after. He'll probably tell you that being by your side makes him feel better because he's so lucky to have you that it's almost like his usual rotten luck is meaningless (or at least that's what he'll think if he's too embarrassed to say it). He probably needs to be praised (not exaggerated or he'll sulk thinking you're making fun of him) and he'll blush into an adorable mess.

♦

Licht

Licht is that one suitor who thinks he doesn't need anyone (and no one needs or wants him). He's super love deprived and will say mean stuff like he's too cool for you (it's canon he's a kuudere and misanthropist) and sincerely doesn't want to have to do anything with anyone. He's the definition of a lone wolf (funny innit) and will be cold, interested and mean with MC for a good part of the beginning of his route. Now this could go two ways. Either Nokto will reveal you about his/their past (because he's that bitch but he probably cares about him) which will allow you to somewhat find your way inside his shell and let you do something he likes, which would, for once, let him show his pure and cute smile, or something will happen causing him to have to protect you (it may be a real danger, but I'd rather think it would be something not necessarily dangerous but triggering to a trauma) and he'd drop his resting bitch face. I think his case could be similar to Kenshin's. He doesn't dislike people, he just hates that he can't/couldn't protect them. His animal being the wolf, I think Licht would become very protective once in a relationship. Him being the powerful male of you two, he'd act like the leader of a bundle of wolves and protect you as you and him. By that I mean he doesn't protect you especially, he protect what the both of you are, and it's like protecting himself at the same time. I think he'd be really quite but would love nuzzling in private. He's that one prince who's icy to everyone but warm to his lover in private. In the same logic as protecting, he'd make sure that you have everything you need and I can imagine Nokto working a bit behind the scenes too to make sure Licht can open himself in a good environment with MC. I don't think Licht hates Nokto, but I definitely think he'd be mad that Nokto is popular and can keep people around him (and in that way, somewhat protect them) so I can see Nokto understanding that and plotting things so MC can help his brother regain confidence. Licht would be the type to, like wolves, have his lover stick to him all the time, but it wouldn't feel obsessive, it'd feel more natural and protective (he's definitely not a yandere imo). In terms of displays of affection, he wouldn't be too vocal about his feelings (he doesn't know much about it yet, it's not really familiar to him to let himself feel so much) and wouldn't say much in general, he's more of an action person. In public, your hands would probably be GLUED but that's about it. In private he'd definitely hug a lot more than kissing and would be the big spoon most of the time when cuddling.

♦

Jin

I have a feeling Jin is one of those suitors who thinks MC is too pure for him and he shouldn't stain them with however disgusting he thinks he is. I expect him to be a fun mix between Shingen and Arthur and I'm pretty sure his route will be a RIDE. He's absolutely shameless and probably touchy (it's canon he's a boob man, Clavis said it so you better believe it), but I don't think he will with MC. Since he said in his profile he wants to watch MC chose a suitor rather than get involved in becoming king, I think it's going to start by him spending gradually less time with Clavis as he spies on you. Naturally, he'll fall in love (before MC does) and understand quite fast but might take some time to acknowledge it. Something will probably happen like MC randomly tripping or facing a dangerous situation for him to come out of the shadows to protect both her body and her pureness (the type of guy to fight while telling you to not open your eyes and remove your hands from your ears until he says so). Upon you thanking him, he'll go with a bitter smile because he knows he loves it but doesn't deserve it. MC will probably try to make it up to him and so he will spend more and more time being intoxicated with love while trying to push you away. Will come a moment where something bad happens and he realizes that the only way to protect what he wants to protect is with the throne. He'd probably say some cheesy line like "I didn't intend to become the king but I guess it wouldn't be too bad to have you as my wife" and will end up accepting. He'll be a king putting the well-being of the people before his and he'll keep on saying how proud he is of you. In terms of affection, he wouldn't go overboard in public but he'd definitely say some inappropriate stuff in your ear to make you blush in front of important guests. I think he would definitely keep PDA to a minimum because you're his woman and he doesn't want anyone else to see your pleasured face. But boy once you're together between 4 walls he has no self control and doesn't care a single bit if you want to work a little more before sleeping, because you're not going to be able to anyways with him in your bed. An eagle looks like it'd be free spirited and proud so I think this is where his personality will go.

♦

Chevalier

The information we have on him definitely makes him one of the hardest characters to guess for me, so I'm quite unsure and I'm sorry (I love him tho). For a start, I think a good comparison would be Nobunaga, since the first impression is pretty much the same. Now Chevalier certainly isn't as shameless as Nobu when it comes to touching women (in fact, I think that in the beginning of the route he'd be treating MC with respect but lots of distance). I'm pretty sure I caught him referring to himself as a monster several times, and he's convinced that his core is filth. However, the fact that he's a monster doesn't mean he can't do anything good. The fact that he's often drenched in blood means he fights a lot and this comforts him in his own thought that he's a monster (my best guess is that he's been called so by people in his childhood because he beat some brat up or something and he just decided to stick with it because it's just more convenient than trying to explain why he did), as well as the fact that he probably doesn't smack just anyone and does so it protect his ideals (in that way, he's quite like Mitsuhide). Again, I think that, like Mitsuhide, he overall doesn't bother supporting his acts with saying why he does them, and just does what he thinks is right. Rio mentioned that Chevalier is a late riser and Sariel added that tigers are nocturnal. During night, I think he secretly does some sort of charity stuff (secretly, because it's just laughable to have a monster do charity and he wants to keep acts of light away from his name, that's associated with filth) and probably also beats up some criminals here and there. I think that this would be uncovered a night where MC can't sleep and follows Chevalier out of the castle (maybe she's curious and wants to understand him more, maybe he dropped something) and finds about it. He's not stupid and MC probably is to some extent as usual so he'll notice and will start to tell her why he does this and why he doesn't want it to be known. Following this event MC will start to think that after all he's not just a monster and will stick with him when he goes doing charity at night because you can "Do whatever, it's not my business". While spending time there with you, you'll slowly creep up on his list of things he wants to protect even if he has to stain his hands. Of course, some kind of drama will lead him to have to do it, probably in front of a large number of people and I can see him leaving his sword aside and kneeling to the enemy to protect MC from danger. There, he'll show his sweet side and his desire to see you happy more than anything. Of course, you, who already loved him, will call him out on his bs and tell him you don't want him to be hurt either and you love his beautiful smile. He'll definitely be confused at first but then will take a new breathe and save you, who became a part of him. He'll obviously still think of himself as a monster, but he knows that doesn't mean you can't love him. He won't stop fighting for his ideals, but now that he has to protect himself to protect you, he'll stop being as reckless and definitely will be thankful that you helped him access the throne to pursue his dreams (even though at first everyone told you that you should stay away from him, but you loved seeing his eyes so full whenever he was doing something good). In terms of relationship, Chevalier will be reasonably protective and will trust you to not betray him because "Only you could love a monster like me, and I won't stop loving you either" or something like that. He'll definitely be quite of a tease in private when he wants things to get heated but most of the time it'll just be fluffy with small forehead kisses, hair combing and warm hugs (he's always the big spoon and he's soo warm).

♦

Clavis

You heard it, the court's number one problem child is romanceable (and this is so messy wtf I literally can't decypher him at all I feel like I wrote something so wrong for him ugh I'm so sorry). He loves to stir up drama and then sit back to watch and has no shame in doing so. Since MC will, as usual, be kinda dumb and innocent, Clavis will tease her A LOT, and use her to stir up even more shit. No one at the court really likes him (COUGH Sariel COUGH) but some somewhat tolerate him, like Chevalier (but if he goes overboard he'll end him). I mean I say no one important, because he sure has a lot of women swooning over him, but I can see him being all flirty and stuff but then not doing anything because he just doesn't really care, it's for fun (lol). When he mentioned Jin's preference, I think he said that he himself was more of an ass man (he said something like leg or something iirc but bruh we all know what that entails when the other option is boobs). Clavis will propose you to mess up the king election (more like drag you into it), but I'm pretty sure that it's because he knows that something fucked up is happening or bound to happen. It seems he will pull up a Mitsuhide except he drags you into it, probably to have you by his side when shit will go down so he can protect you (since you'll trust him, i guess ?). Everything will go according to plan, except for the fact that he's starting to be fond of you, so instead of just having you into the drama and protect you from afar, he'll start to actively stick with you, which will screw up his plans. I'm honestly not too sure about what will happen but basically he realizes he can't be as carefree as usual when something so big is going on and his love interest is in the middle of it because of him and decides to tell you what is happening so you can untrust yourself to him. I think from this point onwards, you both will somewhat have understood what you feel for each other, but nothing will have been said. Hand holding will be normal, and cuddling too if the situation forces you both to stick together outside and/or hide. He figures he'll just confess properly after everything will be over and he'll get to apologize for getting you into all of this. Once it is actually over, he'll turn into a big romantic (Chevalier but cringe) to start the relationship like it deserves to and then will proceed to tease the shit out of you. Overall he'll be a Mitsuhide or Leonardo type lover in my opinion. Now HEAR ME OUT, have you ever seen a leopard walking ? It's beautiful. He knows it. I can just see him walking while somehow seductively balancing his hips sjshid imagine him crawling on bed djdbjd MY MIND IS GOING DOWN THE GUTTER. He's such a flirty seductive ass but I swear he's loyal he just wants to see your cute pouting face. He's quite blunt when it comes to PDA (that's where the fact that he's an ass man comes in handy if you see me haha I can't help it he has a thot dot) and will not hesitate to straight up make out in public if he thinks it's needed (he's not dumb sjbsix he likes to stir up shit for fun but he wouldn't do something extreme if he knew it would end up bad when there are other ways).

♦

Nokto

Two words: skirt-chasing liar. The man painted his nails to have them black when he does the fox/kitsune hand symbol, he's totally trying to have people distrust him. It is mentioned that Nokto's behavior is a great contrast to his past heroic acts. Linking this to what I wrote of Licht, I think he might have been praised for whatever he did and he hated it because he didn't reach his goal (like nobunaga who unites Japan but hates the fact that there are victims nonetheless). What would be the most interesting would be if it was like I hypothesized of Licht, that he couldn't protect someone in particular. In that way, there would be a contrast between Licht feeling like he can't protect anything and Nokto who can protect everything but what he really cares about. Following this logic, his womanizer personality could be explained in the way that by chasing skirts left and right he can feel like he doesn't have anyone important and protect himself from the pain of loving someone too much and the pain of losing them. Now, either the two's traumas are totally different, or it might be the same event; if so, my best guess would be their mother's death. However, Nokto being a womanizer leads me to think that it was actually a love interest that he lost. Being a good liar and trickster (kitsune things), I assume he's good at reading people and is probably very observant of his brother. If his brother even confided in him, I'm pretty sure Nokto would hide his disappointment of not having been able to protect a few people for his brother's sake. I think his route (or at least the beginning of it) would be a mix of Mitsuhide and Arthur's, being some bold flirting at first as a warning because he wants to draw pure MC away from him. I think MC would then be drawn by his caring attitude toward Licht (almost like a big brother, even though he's the 7th prince and Licht is the 6th) and would make him notice how kind he is. Nokto would probably find a way to make her uncomfortable with heavy flirting mixed up with denying but if it repeats, he'll probably just say that he wants to protect the last person he dares to care about. MC would probably see pain and sadness in his gaze and choice of words and kind of like Arthur's route, she'd be drawn to this vulnerable caring side of him and understand the flirting is only a part of Nokto. Drama will happen, and Nokto will have a breakdown, because he got attached to MC and is convinced he won't be able to protect her. It's likely he tries to push you away even more to make you mad and break his own heart before he has to see you die before his eyes too. Due to this bring a heavy and very bottled up trauma, he will be looking very distressed and MC will rather try to soothe him. I do think Nokto might be crying at this moment (the other one I have in mind would be Yves) and both will realize their feelings at this very moment. However Nokto still won't think he can protect you, but maybe Licht would think something like "I can't protect anything by myself but I can help my brother protect what he cares for" and help him, which would easy Nokto into the idea of having to fight. It's also possible Clavis and Chevalier join in, but I'm not too sure about that. In terms of relationship, Nokto would be a super touchy fluffy lover, liking to feel your chest move in rythm with your breath against his chest while hugging you tightly reminds him that you're alive and that he could protect you and he always will no matter how many times he has to. Like Licht, he would be very protective, but he won't become too obsessive if you soothe him back enough and prove him that you won't break in his palm (the fact that he becomes king also helps since you can have personal royal guards). He's a bit more into PDA than his brother and won't mind resting his hand on your hip in public, but your cute facial expressions are for his own pleasure only~

♦

Luke

So Luke is the big brother one (but only for MC) and apparently he's lazy. Like a bear, he's huge but you can bet he would spoon you For his lazy traits, I think it might just be his personality, but I do think his doting comes from his past. A guess would be that he was very fond of his little sister but lost her to another man for arranged marriage. I don't know where or when Ikepri happens but arrange marriage can be planned very early, and this would explain his hate/disinterest for official affairs and his doting (it's like he would try to see his little sister in MC while treating her as such) and the fact that he tries to drag her out of official affairs as well. Like mentioned in his profile, his eyes sometimes look somewhat dark and dull, so I assume this could be when he thinks back about his past. I wouldn't go as far as saying he's a yandere, but he'll definitely try to drag her away from court life (not especially people, not especially violently, he'd just try to not lose her). It's sad, but you will probably get sis-zoned for a nice long time before he realizes that 1. he can't force you to do something you don't want to and 2. he doesn't just love you as a sister. Maybe this realization will make him want to become king with you to not lose you, or maybe he will be needing a little something else to be pushed to do so. In terms of relationship, he'll be doting and have remnants of big brother behavior but he'll finish his light scolding sessions with a big fluffy hug. Jokes on you if you wanted to spoon him. For PDA, I think he'd be pretty much just like hand holding and head pats/hair ruffling.

♦

Sariel

Sariel is known in the court as the "Devil". I would say his role is a mix of Giles (midcind) and Mitsuhide. As the profile says, his past, identify etc is quite of a mystery so I wouldn't get too much into this. Now Sariel expects MC in his profile to kind of suck up to him and do as he pleases while she finds a new king. Whether Sariel is loyal to the princess (you) and the crown or not will determine whether he's simply a shady suitor or the villain of most of the other routes if not all of them (William things hehe). He'll obviously be EXTREMELY shady and will make it very clear that it's best you stay away from what his job entails. However MC will find a way, consciously or not, to get involved way too much in Sariel's affairs (Mitsuhide things haha, he radiates the energy of other chaotic shady suitors only) and he will have to first of all scold her a ton shit and secondly a find a way to get her out of his business. They will probably struggle together their way out of an important job of his and MC will most likely have a good impact on the overall outcome but he'll mostly scold you for getting on the brink of death thanks to what he'll consider a foolish move. As a relationship, once king, I don't think Sariel would go any further than formal hand holding, arm holding and back of the hand kisses. I have a feeling that in private he wouldn't be the touchiest either (I mean he's busy with his shady stuff) but he would definitely pull you into his lap without asking and I could see him stroking your hair while your head rest on his shoulder until he finishes work before carrying you to bed, whether you're asleep or not.

♦

Rio

Rio IS the yandere and it's 100% canon I'm not accepting critiques on this (someone saying "Look only at me, you only have to think about me" screams yandere already, not to talk about my obsession consisting of comparing him with Toneri of Yuroma) and I honestly think it's soooo cool that the yandere is a butler I love it. ANYWAYS. Rio lost his memory 3 years ago (he was already your butler back then) which means his memories only consist of serving you. That said, you're literally his world, his only friend and his master. I think Rio would be scared not only to forget about everything again and see (I assume) you sad again and forget all your smiles he saw for 3 years (I definitely think he's one of those suitors that love you right off the batch but give you the liberty to be happy with whoever), but also lose you as easily as he lost him memories. If he lost you to someone else, either he'd be forced to watch you be happy with another man, or be left behind. As a loyal dog, he would totally hate the later. Now being your love interest's butler is extremely convenient as a yandere. If he doesn't want you to get out of your room he just has to give you some sort of somniferous stuff or lock you in saying you're sick and "My Lady does not wish to receive anyone in her quarters". Butlers not only attend to their master's wishes (he does say that granting your selfish wishes is also his job), but also are their first connection to the outer world. If your butler doesn't come with you outside, he'll at least be there to see you off and the first person waiting for your return. Now I don't know what entails the secret behind his memory loss at all so I'll leave it as it is. I don't think Rio will be as brutal as Toma from Amnesia or anything (Sariel is watching too) and will probably try to convince you that you need to stay in for a while and that he'll look out for you (bonus points if something bad actually happens). I'm actually not sure to what extent Rio would go. Would he harm others ? Just keep them away ? I don't know, but a dog sure knows how to bite to protect its owner. The route will probably follow the classic yandere schematic: everything is fine, he gets really obsessive, you try to push him away, he gets hurt, you explain him that you love him too but you can't stay locked in forever, he eventually chills. As a king, I think he'd take some time to stop being there for his Mistress' every needs but he definitely would in private, he just wouldn't want to embarrass you in public. For PDA, he would also not be too touchy, sticking to basic butler extent touchy, but he'd be extremely cuddly in private, trying to hook up as much time as possible from you. He'd give a lot of little pecks and smol kisses everywhere on your face and neck until you stop working so he can pull you on the bed in his arms for a slower making out session.

♦

THAT'S IT

That took me quite a while, phew ! Sorry if there typos and sorry for the huge length inconsistency !

If you have something to add, especially regarding the ones I didn't write as much, please do say so in comments or in my messages and if it adds something to the analysis (and if you're okay with it) I'll add it with credits !

I'm so excited for Ikepri I hope to be able to play soon but for now it's 3am haha

[tenebraetrash17]

When are u going to give up and just ship Lightis already? U mentioned being in a discord so U clearly kind of ship it, ur posts don't get any notes so ur 'raire pair' or whatever u call it isn't all that popular and ur trying to keep it alive as long as possible before it sputters and dies. Square Enix already acknowledged the existence of lightis. Ur videos, hcs and edits are trash, lightning or ravus would never act that way and it shows that u only like them because favorite characters.

Oh boy, ok, you know, I’m actually going to tag this and not ignore something like this. Why? Because I’m honestly tired of it. And I want to call out everyone who has this kind of mentality. Especially to those who ship rare pairs.

Fun fact, I have gotten messages like these multiple times, telling me to stop, just give in, quit shipping it, this one is better, etc. 

Just to let you know, do you want to know how hard it is? Being almost the only person who is for a ship? You have people on Twitter attacking it because they might assume I’m not on there, you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel trying to find ways to promote it, just about hoping that someone out there sees and becomes interested in what it has to offer. 

Why? Just in order to have someone to talk to, to have a shared interest, ships bring people together just as much as they tear them apart. Why else do you think I get so excited when someone else messages me about it? The only reason I haven’t turned off anons is because I enjoy the questions, the interest and the want to see more! Do you know how happy that makes people when they find that small minority who actually like this?? 

People like you make me just hate the concept of shipping, and you want to know why? This kind of thing is what made me originally hate Lightis in the first place. And honestly, I’m so glad I joined that discord, because now I know that the lot of you aren’t scumbags who insult anyone who doesn’t ship it, attack the favorite characters of the person who disagrees, and act as if they’re stupid for not being on board with it.

Fun fact?

My first experience with this was after I played XV, I tried to join a relatively small rp group because I enjoyed that sort of thing. It was a generally just final fantasy, mediocre tame stuff, little quests, relationship building, etc. Well, there was a discussion topic and the mention of ships came up.

Everyone was so insistent on the ‘dark and brooding’ Noctis being like some kind of killer, and Lightning leading him to the light or fighting him or some shit. What’s worse was that they were acting like this Noctis was cannon. I tried to play it off, saying that it would be cool if it was an AU, because Noctis is actually just some awkward dork. Well guess what happened? Immediately I was asked who I shipped Noctis with, when I admitted to it being Luna because I adored the long distance communication thing and I could somewhat relate, I was immediately swarmed with insults on her character, on how her relationship was handled, on how weak she was.

There were people insisting that Lightis would have been cannon because of same universe shit, how they were made to be with each other, just, everything. I can’t even begin to tell you how overwhelmed I got until I was basically kicked from the group because of the massive drama I caused. 

Later on, I began to rp again, where I made a bunch of friends and I still adore them and try to keep in touch to this day. However, there was one who admittedly became quite toxic when my Ravus and Lightning grew close and we started throwing around ideas for a ship, tada!thebirthofmyrairepair! So, this toxic ‘friend’ happened to be a Lightis shipper as well and subsequently drove my Lightning rp buddy away and hijacked the entire thing we had going on.

After all this, you think I would absolutely despise the ship and what’s associated? No, I don’t. I have a lot of people whom I consider friends, and they all ship Lightis hardcore. But they listen whenever I go on one of my Raire rambles, and I’m so grateful for it, and sorry for burdening them! This in a whole has raised my opinion on the ship tremendously, and I’ve even made edits and requests for it!

However, some people aren’t so lucky, they don’t find a group of people who are like this, it can be pretty rare. 

So people who says the things that you do, who drag people for shipping things, who insist you just ship what you think is right?

You guys are some of the worst.

And it’s people like you who drive people away from a fandom, from a ship, from a character, and leave just a sick feeling of hatred for it.

And this applies to all fandoms.

Respect most ships. There are places where a line needs to be drawn, but if it’s doing no harm and it’s healthy, then please, just let people have their fun.

[venus-says]

Aikatsu Friends! Episodes 52-57

The best of both worlds. Or is it?

⚠ ⚠ Warning! Very long post ahead, be prepared. ⚠ ⚠

I have a lot of things to say about this batch of episodes so I’ll skip an intro and go right away to it. Also because of the sheer amount of stuff I wanted to say I wrote this as a review instead of my reactions like I usually do with Aikatsu posts here on the blog. Anyway, let’s go.

Episode 52 starts promising, the stone appearing on Mio's bed is strange but that doesn't bothers me. The scene with everyone struggling at the 0 gravity room is fun and until this point the episode had me with a smile on my face. Even Aine's joke about the stone being cursed was good. But then it comes my first problem. Hibiki's back story doesn't add up with what we learned before from Mirai and Karen. From last season what's implied is that LMT went against Hibiki and Alicia in the zone and that was what made them "stop" aikatsu, this was the reason why LMT was so concerned about Mio being in the zone and the reason why Karen was afraid of doing it again. But from Hibiki's story the split up occurred before their turn on the DFC, and yes that could be a possibility - Alicia got the news, they went shaken to the stage, they lost, Alicia went back to her country and it would seem to everyone that the loss was the reason for the break up. But if that was the case we would be ignoring the fact that even though Hibiki and Mirai are rivals they're seem to be in very good terms with each other so she could tell her "No, it's not because of you guys, this happened so we're on hiatus" or something. And you can say "yeah but Alicia didn't want to go back and this and that", but Hibiki says she went to Alicia and the response she got was that she's not worthy of being her partner which means that in this scenario, for the people involved the problem would be on Hibiki, not Alicia, so once again Mirai would be able to openly go to her and talk things out. This seems like a small thing and it could be just a retcon, but if this is what they're considering the truth than this invalidates the entirety of the drama around the Aikatsu Zone from last season. And then we come to my other problem with this episode. First Mio gets selfish again, if you're a team you should strive to shine brighter with your partner. If you shine more than Aine things get uneven and Pure Palette goes anywhere, so this speech being part of the thing that triggers the jewel DOESN'T WORK. Second all of sudden they come up with "omg mio has a live today" and this is very unnatural, but this is a flaw of the format because for some reason they think they need to have a CG live every episode -which they don't need-  and this creates situations like this, this live is completely non related to everything else we've saw in this episode alone. Which brings me to my next point, Mio getting her JLR in THE SECOND EPISODE OF THE SEASON. I'm sorry but to me is hard to believe this rock would acknowledge? Mio's radiance just from being with her for a single day, and a day where she didn't do ANYTHING. "We wanna showcase her new song" okay, you can do that, just don't make her JLR appear in the first time. This takes off the value of these coords and make them feel not special. And honestly this isn't something that difficult to write. You can leave everything as it is till the moment Mio is alone in the chamber, when she have that moment in space make her just feel something weird on the rock. On the live make she feel that same thing again. She can try to figure out what that rock is trying to say to her in the next episode, then in episode she does the live again and the change happens. This would have been SO MUCH BETTER. Yes is a quick resolve, but at least it would make us feel something. I don't feel nothing but rage after seeing how they made it happen in this episode, it doesn't feel worth of anything, just feels like protagonist plot armor. But hey, at least Sekai was Mawaru is a bop, I guess that's something good.

Episode 53 does a complete 180º turn and is basically perfect. Hibiki's prank show was amazing. It works perfectly as both comedy and drama. We can laugh hard at the extremely weird situations Hibiki comes up with and still feel how strong the bonds between each unit are. It's a great starting point for Hibiki's character to grow and is the first glimpse of hope we have for her relation with Alicia, and this pays off a little later on the episode with Alicia starting to reply back Hibiki's texts as she shows signs of wanting more of her than just being an unit on stage, and eventually picking up her call in the end. That's really good pay off. Even Pure Palette's live going on here makes sense, is to show Alicia what  they can become once they come back again. The impact would be more impressive if PP performed Soko no Shikainai Mono in their diamond dresses, but oh well, this isn't enough to turn the episode bad.

One thing that is sad though is that PP new aura is so bland :/ not that I liked their old aura, but at least it was unique, this is just generic. But most importantly this episode gave us great reactions from Kaguya...

... and Mio being a freaking furry again.

Just perfect. XD

Episode 54 starts promising, is kinda of a call back (in a very smaller scale) to that episode where Aoi became Mizuki's manager for a day. Also getting to finally know Wakaba seems very exciting. But right before the opening we already have a red flag. Another magic rock is here. And judging by how Mio's episode went my excitement went all the way down to the underground. The episode pick itself up though. We have and amazing first half with Aine trying to be mature to impress Wakaba and being very weird at it. And I like how this plays out with the jewel disappearing since Aine's not acting as her true self and trying to be something that she's not. There's a good message on this.

Also Hibiki is having a Vegas residency outside Vegas and is just great to see. I also like Hibiki's speech about labels being bs and that you should thrive to be your natural self on situations, I think is very important to have a kids show putting these things out living on a world that seems to care more for appearances and how you fake yourself out to cause a good impression to others more and more each day. But then we hit a wall again. The rock being back makes sense, the rock turning into a jewel does not. There's no pay off here, and once again they make the jeweling dresses seem not special at all. And this, at least to me, makes an episode that was great become bad/medium. We're only 4 episodes in and all of the jeweling dresses introduced in the first part of the game are already here. And none of them feel special, not even Hibiki's. I can't say about Hibiki since she got her jewel before the season started, but Aine and Mio didn't work at all to receive these coords that are supposed to be worn just by idols who prove themselves worth of it. Disappointing. And is sad because Aine's JLR is my favorite of the 3 and I wish it had something more special going for it. Oh well.

Also wtf was that shady moment of Hibiki at the end asking who would get the next jewel? Did they forgot that she's not Elza, they just share the same VA? Like that was so random, we don't need this, stop.

Side note: Wakaba is adorable!!!

Episode 55 got me really excited. By the preview it was what I've always wanted for Friends and with my favorite characters, how couldn't I love this??? And well I loved it. Though I have a few points I dislike that would like to discuss. To start off, I don't like how they were so keen on showing that the shuffle wasn't a good thing. The impression it gives is that the show is saying you can have friends but only one person can be your best friend, and I think that's such bullshit. I was watching that I was like "uhhhhhh no". I understand Tamaki not being that happy because in a business stand point yes it is an anuisance but still if the girls get along, let them be. The second point I didn't like is how rushed everything was, yeah I get that this is a one episode only thing and they can't drag things for a long time, but it felt so uneven and so rushed the way they portrait the units. Which brings me to the next point of I don't really think that rock was necessary. I do believe they could come to all of those decisions on their own and the time spent with them going to the shrine could be used to show us more moments of the girls together to make the experience more meaningful to us.

And to my last bad point, the stages on this episode were just disappointing. First Mio's live at the beginning was completely unnecessary, if they needed something to use as starting point they could've shown HC watching the live on a tv or something and having that discussion somewhere else. Second I would like to see the shuffle units performing together, if not for a full live show us just the chorus. Heck I would be happy if it was just a png moving around of the girls performing each other's songs. But we got nothing of that, instead we got a recycled live of HC, which to me doesn't make any sense since RM was also a part of the shuffle and they could hold this event together and have both perform, and to make things interesting finally giving them their miracle auras, I bet everyone would like this more than just the DFC stage being recycled. Such a missed opportunity. But despite all of that, I still love this episode. Seeing my favorite idols interact in such a good and fun way was amazing, and even though I had those bad thoughts crossing my mind, I truly enjoyed watching this episode. I was so happy I didn't even took notes while watching, all I did was press the auto screenshot key all the time because I would start fanboying everything happening on screen. ALSO THANK YOU AIKATSU FRIENDS! FOR GETTING MY TWO KIDS TOGETHER. AT LEAST THIS YALL GOT IT RIGHT.

I don't have a lot to say about Episode 56. I'm glad they touched the subject I was complaining about on episode 52, but that still doesn't make things right. Hibiki could and should have talked about the matter with Mirai before. I like Karen confrontation with Hibiki, it was necessary. What I don't like is how after giving all that speech to Hibiki LMT just let's things to PP to resolve, and they do it in a very dumb way. I honestly don't know how that audition was supposed to help Hibiki. Oh well we could see space Mirai and space Karen who had outfits 10000x better than PP so. All flashbacks in this episode were kinda good, but honestly what a horrible name "I Believe" is for an unit??? Ang I guess that's all I have to comment on this episode. They made that mistake on Hibiki's card showing Garnet instead of Ruby but honestly I don't really mind it. Alicia was way too mean in the end imo, but I also don't really care. This episode got me really bored after that scene in the boat, I just can't be bothered too write more on this, sorry. XD

If I already had few things to say about 56, I have even less to say about 57. Specially considering that not a lot has happened here.

This episode seemed to be about Aine messing up her preparations before the trip and I think I'd have enjoyed if they went that route, it'd be funny to see Aine running around trying to get her passport. But instead they just threw all responsibility to Tamaki, which to be fair would be the right thing to do since she's an adult and their manager, but by doing that they take away everything that could make this episode interesting, specially because nothing else happened.

We had a press conference -that was unnecessary-, then the next few scenes are of Aine and the girls just sitting down, when was the time for conflict to finally start they just ignore it, then Aine magically has her passport and is in her home packing, then she has a live and they're on the plane. Nothing interesting happened.

We had a few cute scenes with Hibiki, I specially like her moment with Reflect Moon, but that's all this episode has going for it.

I also have a question. If Alicia really vetting the girls on her country, like she said last episode, couldn't she just deny their visa? This could make for a way more interesting conflict. Imagine PP and Hibiki having to think of ways to get inside the principality and the final decision they make is to go in as spies in the best Charlie's Angels fashion? Yes, is not realistic, but if they can have magical rocks who follow idols around they can make this.

And that’s it. Kagayaki no Jewel started very promising at first but there’s just SO MANY BAD DECISIONS. Is just sad. I’m very against the idea of it being a season of just 26 episodes instead of the full year but honestly if they keep doing this may it is for the best to be a shorter season.

Anyway, thanks for sticking by. See yall later.

[universal-kitty]

   Still kinda feeling so many degrees of not good and I just...wanted to write them out? I dunno, maybe someone could help me settle all of this, bc self-shipping is such a wonderful thing, but due to my own problems, outside issues, and just...my personality, honestly, this blog does me more harm than good.

   So.... Yeah, venting beneath the cut.

   I think I’ll start off by talking about my “personality” mention bit... Cause that was really vague, but kinda goes right into one of my major flaws with community self-shipping (aka it’s not just me in the corner having fun, it’s me trying to enjoy myself in a GROUP environment).

   So! To be honest, I’ve been kinda getting worn out by my own kindness and overthinking of what others think of me, specifically when it comes to my F/Os. While I understand that everyone is different in their approach to how they self-ship, I am an open and happy individual overall. I do have my moments of depression, but usually I can recover pretty well given time and having distracting breaks from my own mind.

   However...and this is NOT to rag on anyone who does this, I absolutely understand why and sympathize with you more than anything, but... It does shoot down my happy nature when one (or both) of these two things happen: either the person who I share an F/O with is against interacting with anyone who has that F/O or when I develop a liking for a character/group (in the idea of poly), but already know a “bigger” name who likes that character(s) and decide it’s better to NOT ship with them bc I’d be “being rude” or “making them feel bad.”

   Again, not trying to rag on anyone who does this, it’s just who I am as a person. Naturally, I want to share F/Os! I love it if we could talk about the same character that we both love and share HCs; just have a lot of fun bc we both have this thing in common and I just....love making friends.       So when I get excited, I immediately get sad when I realize that the other person wouldn’t want to talk to me, on the basis that we both like the same character and it would bother them to know that/see the things I post.

   ....I want to say it one more time, bc I feel like I’m being pushy or something, cause... Really, I do understand? That there’s just some characters you connect to and don’t really want to share with anyone else? There’s varying reasons, so I can’t really give examples or something, but...... Again, it’s just the side of my personality that wants to connect with people and have friends, but then runs into that and backs off, understanding, but just kinda sad that there’s now one more person I’m “not allowed” to talk to because we both like the same character.

   And that falls into what I mentioned earlier about not wanting to ship with new interests!! I’ve got at least 7 characters on a kind of “standby” list in my head that I really do like... One is passable in eventually settling as a platonic, but the other 6 are ones I like romantically and I’m pretty sure of that...but I don’t want to add them for fear of what others would think of me.       What if I add them, and a follower then no longer wants anything to do with me, since they know I’ll be posting about them now? The feeling I have that somehow I’ll be judged for just “hopping on a bandwagon”.... (An irrational fear, most likely, but an anxiety riddled brain makes do.)

   I know this is supposed to be a blog for my happiness and I shouldn’t give it any mind or so on, but... I’ve already long acknowledged the fact that I tend to put other people ALWAYS one step ahead of me when it comes to what I should worry about. If I want to reblog a picture of muscular Prince Sidon to my main blog, I would hesitate, because...what would my followers think of me? Would anyone even want to see that on their dash? They could potentially think differently of me, so.... Maybe I won’t do that, after all. Just like and scroll away.

   And so that’s been a part that’s hurting me, too.... Just not knowing what I’m doing because acknowledging my potential F/Os would make me happier, but in doing so, I might make someone not want to follow me anymore. On the other hand, clasping my hands over my ears and trying to pretend that I don’t like them for the sake of those people means it hurts by denying my own feelings.       Sometimes, even fictional relationships are just too real to handle.....

   Which can actually be a smooth segway into my next issue... Now, I’m gonna refer to it as “the community”, but it’s really not. My problem is with my aforementioned need to feel like I belong somewhere. Except now, more generalized. It’s not just a few people I admire and want to be noticed by, but also at least nodded to by the community as a whole.

   Now, I’m not saying, “I want to be a popular blog!!” cause boy... I know I wouldn’t be able to handle that. I’m saying more of just....being included. Talking to people without feeling like a nuisance. Being able to have fun and draw stuff/make moodboards/playlists for people or something...... Feel like an active, wanted community member.

   ...Which has also been a detrimental part of myself looooong before this. I know people usually just have fun and people join in, but I’ve always had this wish to belong somewhere and it’s ended up toxic.       The specific reference I make was to a Sans VA artist who streamed on Picarto sometimes and- through that- I ended up making friends. Lots of friends, once! It was awesome for a good while; I was considered the Mom of the group (especially during the streams), I provided some doodles and helped another VA in the group with scripts... Plus actually worked together with them and another friend on a full-length, really cool audio~! I showed them a picture that became a meme for us.... Really great time.

   ....But then I realized I started becoming less and less relevant. I could say something, but nobody would respond to me or keep a conversation going. The meme stayed popular, but I started feeling left out when nobody would give me credit for starting the idea and another friend started taking the credit for it. My VA friend made plans with me to collab on a voice thing, but it was never talked about again. They’ve never spoken to me again.       Of that group, only two people have been semi-constant in my life. And honestly, though I’ll always refer to them as “friends” I’m pretty sure barely chatting to me in a full year would qualify.

   I actually ended up leaving the group repeatedly, but finally forced myself out after the longest time. Drama, feeling unwanted and never having at least one person validate me and keep me included to a small degree..... I just couldn’t do it. It was bad for my health, to essentially be so obsessed with fitting into that group when I didn’t belong at that point (whether I really did or that was my perspective on it, it doesn’t really matter anymore).

   And the point of that? I don’t want self-shipping to turn into that for me. I’m TERRIFIED of it becoming like that for me again. The fictional/online world has always been an escape for me. It’s my sole coping mechanism, and considering I have more friends on the east coast than where I live, it’s a damn effective one. But second to that, has been self-shipping. I’ve done it since....about 2009 or later? Potentially later!       I’ve done it for fun. I’ve done it to cope. I’ve done it to soothe the bad days or make them go away entirely by immersing myself in their media. So I really don’t want to lose this by me being a fuckup.... It’d be nobody’s fault but my own, and it’d really hurt to go down that route.

   So if anybody has any advice for me about these things... That’d be awesome. Cause I’m entering old patterns I can identify, but have no way to cope with. Even with the obvious “do I ship myself with these potentials??” I don’t know if it’s a good thing to do... So anything helps.