#also the signature is my twitter btw lol

[ceefra]

the eggs are all alive and the parents tried to get them to pose all cute <3

[moldybonessmell]

So.. There are some of my genshin characters' builds I'm kinda proud of + team comps as AR 60 playing for 3,5 years

(esp proud as f2p except for Shenhe skin)

______________________

Tartaglia main since year one he's my absolute babygirl

And I wasn't even simping for him, I liked him bc of the gameplay in the first Hyakunin Ikki event

Farmed hydro set for him, then the nymph set and then RE-BUILT him by farming the whole new nymph set the dedication is proved I think ahah

Childe C2 was a double accident trying to pull for Heizou and Freminet (I haven't got them btw lol)

The fact that his best team is still the International is vile but also incredibly based

______________________

Arlecchino enjoyer

Ngl I also wasn't really simping for her but for her gameplay and animations and ESPECIALLY SCYTCHE yes I did end up spending 100 f2p pulls for her weapon and I have no regrets

I use to play her in Overload team (with attack sands) but recently only been playing Vape

______________________

Neuvillette yes I'm a meta player

He's pretty straightforward and thankfully low-investment and he's been carrying me easily since release

I play him in few different teams, including double geo with Albedo, but teams other than Hypercarry are only for overworld

______________________

Fischl appreciator

Ngl I was pretty annoyed by her before this one summer event where we got to know her story and since then she easily became a top character for me (including damage-vise)

She's a sub-dps so I literally put her in every team I can lol

______________________

Proud Kaeya main

C6 Triple-crowed

Kaeya main day one. Literally the reason I started to play genshin. I didn't even know it's gatcha at the time imagine that. Just saw a pretty character on twitter and decided to try. I'm like super lucky he's standard chara lol

I've tried a few different builds over the years (physical, freeze, melt) and end up stopping at melt one

Yes, he's in his og outfit even tho I have the skin, I just like it more

Even pulled Shenhe for him (even tho she ended up being my absolute favourite female chara in genshin) I even got the skin for her and broke my f2p journey

Her build is hybrid, support noblesse but also cryo goblet for some damage

And yes, she has her signature, but to be honest I was trying to pull for Mistsplitter for Kaeya

I play them both in Melt comp

______________________

Alhaitham autism bonding /j unless

He's just that bitch you know. Plus I'm a meta player once again.

He's rocking 3* weapon because he's a low-investment king definitely not bc I'm broke

Hyperbloom team is my favourite yes I put him with 2 archons and what about it

Kuki is my queen btw but she's low-investment support so there's no need to show her build. I actually liked her since release and KNEW she's gonna get better over time.

______________________

Traumatised like Xiao

I was saving the entire first year I played just to get him (I started to play on his banner but couldn't get him), I never got any Inazuma 5* except for Kazuha just to get Xiao.

..And then devs decided to rerun him every 3 months FUCK

I was definitely hurt but oh well

Tried many different builds and teams for him (even pulled Albedo for double geo). Every time he was getting buffed, I got this chara/artifact.

Is my build doing enough damage? Still no. But he's still my favourite deadly little meow meow and I'm not ashamed to admit it (I kinda do cringe writing this please know it's meta ironic)

______________________

Last but not least Tighnari

Liked him since beginning and yes I did pull on his banner instead of waiting for standard and I don't regret it. He's a good dps and best standard chara

Tighnari's is a day-one build btw I haven't changed it since he came out I think it's still good.

______________________

That's it, thank you for reading if you did haha!!

[abysssserpent]

new blog who dis

hey there, I’m abyss. My pronouns are they/them. I’m an artist who tends to hoard all their art to themself. Everything from character designs to comics to full on illustrations. I love sci-fi, fantasy, and vaqueros.

Made this blog to hopefully stop hoarding. I’ve also got a tiktok and instagram which I post on rarely. Likes and reblogs are welcome, reposts of my art are not. I don’t have twitter or any other social media sites for my own reasons. This blog is 18+, I don’t want to have to limit my blog to the point I can’t actually draw and post what I want. Tumblr pls be kind… So since I have a backlog of art I’ve never posted/posted part of on other accounts my best friend made me realize I should actually post my stuff. So a lot of the upcoming art pieces are going to have old dates and old signatures of mine… I’m not updating the signatures either because eugh I don’t want to take the time. Everyone say “thank you @spacelia ” because it’s…. It’s bad how much art I have tucked away lol

I am also saying thank you because all of this art wouldn’t see the light of day otherwise.

btw if you don’t want to see text posts from me you can block “sssserpent speaks” as a tag, I don’t mind.

[jondoe297]

this is a trend i can get behind. well it's not exactly a trend but seeing artists all over the place post this image/graphic is great an i thought i'd join in.

you know what's not simply 'just a trend'? this A.I. nightmare that we also see flooding our feeds(and more). A.I as we're talking about here,and how it's being used,is nothing short of horrible,unethical and straight up wrong.

i actually had the idea to doodle the image instead of posting the original after seein artist Ian McQue's instagram post. cuz that's(even if it's just a small thing) how inspiration and ideas work. not a machine or algorithm sweeping the internet for artists' work and Frankensteining it. which is astonishingly and infuriatingly an analogy used by some to justify doing this!

it's done on a tiny piece of scrap paper i have. it off-center an sloppy,you can see a rough pencil shape underneath. an i forgot to make the top of the 'A' and the 'I' overlap the red circle lol. cuz i am a human with a specific level of skill that is also affected by things like my mood. i may take too long to do a sketch that others do in a much shorter time but i don't do it in the same amount of time an the same effort it takes to google search. There is an effort an a process to go through an also enjoy. i may suck at drawing hands but i know how many fingers are in one. i may follow in the footsteps and a similar art style of my favorite artists but i don't shamelessly absorb their work,spit it back out distorted signature an all an call it mine.

but that's what art is an what artists are. Human and sloppy an messy an complex an full of emotion an experience an fellings an moods an the movement your hands and your tools do to put that on whatever material you choose to put it on. Art is the distillation of the human emotion and experience or any part of it at any given time. even if it's not intended to be,cuz sometimes you just wanna have some fun or derive some joy from it. an that itself is the most human it gets and in the best way. Not a machine mimicing the visual part of it with no essence! Skip straight to the 'pretty' pictures. Worse,it's humans using the machine to steal others' work not even some evil machine doin it by itself. we always say 'no shortcutss in art'. It's the process! The emotion!

so many other aspects and things to touch upon. and that i think about. but i rambled on a bit. many others are better with words than i am. We gotta keep on fighting the good fight. for our and our fellow artists' Rights. i myself will continue to help an share in as many ways as i can,even if small.

btw the original 'no to A.I.' image was created by artist Alexander Nanitchkov(cuz always credit the original artist or creator!) on artstation where a protest's happening against the platform implementing A.I. in an act of betrayal we're sadly seeing on many art sites and platforms. it was sparked by artist Nicholas Kole,you can read some about it right here or follow Kole on instagram or on twitter

[karla-the-elemental-dreamer]

Terra Week 2023 - Day 5 Package

@terrakhweek

Prompts Addressed: Duel + last-minute-bonus!

Pieces: 1. Drawing of 'Property Dispute'; stemmed into Grandma vs. Xehanort. 2. Picture of Orange Flower from Dad 🤨

Requires mod/re-share on Twitter (written pieces)?: No - published via Twitlonger.

-------------------------------------------

The one and only piece I had ready for Day 5 based on the prompt ‘Duel’.

I decided to call this piece “Property Dispute”:

A very powerful scene as it’s pretty much the battle for Terra’s heart, but it gets preserved with the last minute safeguard. Terra also says some powerful words here.

Trivia: I showed my grandma (mum’s side) a picture of the older Xehanort, and she got so traumatised, saying she never wants to see his ugly face again XD She doesn’t even know what he did to Terra.

Now, I just told her what I was doing, and she called out “ugly ko smrt!”, which means “ugly like death!” in Croatian XDDD BTW, you don’t have to listen to grandma, you’re allowed to like or dislike this man lol.

-------------------------------------------

GOOD WORK DAD:

I’m not making this up when I say that today (25 MAR), my dad went over to grandma’s (his mum’s), and when I opened my phone, I got this picture in my inbox:

It’s another orange flower! A simple daisy this time.

Now what does this have to do with Terra week?

My dad must have been paying attention to where I posted the chrysanthemums and why I did it. I’ve told him that this week, I have all these pieces to share for ‘an online project’.

Even though my parents don’t have avid knowledge of Kingdom Hearts lore, they do know who Terra is well as a number of other guardians. Due to how I portray Terra in the house (and in my timeline), my mum really likes him, so my dad must be tuning in.

What conclusions can we draw from this?

My dad understands what the ‘project’ is that I’m involved with: Terra Week 2023.

My dad understands that Terra’s signature colour is Orange.

So this work deserves to be recognised.

The friend I just spoke to also said that flowers can represent ‘New life and new beginnings’. So we can relate these images of flowers being posted to Terra’s redemption and future discoveries and aspirations.

-------------------------------------------

Summary of grandma’s: Mum’s side – Traumatised by Xehanort. Dad’s side – Grows all these orange flowers that just found the camera on the right day/s.

-------------------------------------------

Last minute laughs at 9:00 PM (AEDT):

I was just having a joke with my mum in the kitchen and grandma on the couch.

I said “if grandma went up against Xehanort, she’d win with her frying pans and her tongue. Terra should let her fight the battle for him. No dark forces would overcome my grandma”.

That’s definitely on the topic of ‘Duel’ alright.

-------------------------------------------

To link us back to Terra-Week 2023, I bet Terra's having a cackle at the stuff with my grandma (mum's side) and Xehanort.

Terra: "I'll name my next finishing command 'European Grandma'".

-------------------------------------------

Thank you and see you on Day 6! 27/28 MAR (TZ dependent).

[cakejerry]

Persona first batch of listens thoughts. Did not look at the lyrics for any of these btw.

1. The who am i skool luv affair intro SAMPLE is genuinely a banger. Glad they brought it back although it does seem kinda cheap to bring up your old albums like that when its not even like they're leeching off of their old fame, or promoting a song that they think deserved more, because they make it very clear they don't consider anything pre-2015 canon but... Sure. Sell the "we're proud of our roots" story. Namjoons flow actually brings to mind haruman, for some reason. Im sure someone out there was gagged at his improvement over the years. Him refusing to use coherent english is certainly a choice. Also the song is too long.

2. Same issue with the self-referencing. Several white woman related problems i mentioned earlier. Just confused and personalityless, which is ironic. Do you want to be korean or american???? Choose, greedy. Makes me feel nostalgic, which might just be because I'm pissed about the direction they're taking in general. "Modeunge geumgeumhae hajilte" "YOUR ONE YOUR TWO" Jungkook randomly glew up in the mv I will have to investigate this further....... Im mad asfk about how attractive I find him btw. Yoongi just doing whatever in his verse ohhh he hates white people. Mv is literally so confused with its concept, 2012 sm-level box sets, when they promoted themselves with this deeeeep jungian philosophy, please. Just funny and shameless.

3. I was actually expecting to be so gagged by souju especially since sakura said she loved it but its a SKIP. ITS A SKIPPER. ITS A SNOOZER FOLKS. A gift for the fans, was it? Why it's so beloved is beyond me. Literally a tear reject, sounding like magic shop. Sounding like the ost for a random webtoon actually but FROMIS_9 did that better with LOVE ME BACK so. Byeolbit part kinda catchy but not enough to not skip the song. "Shine dream smile" okayy i bring wind sunlight water. "Nanana" ohh bts you are on a downward spiral and you don't even know it

4. Am actually kinda GAGGED over the make it right sample/riff ngl! Gaslight potential. On loop for 8 hours while I look at spreadshees potential. It reminds me of something and i cant put my finger on it. Sounding like a girlgroup song probably im ngl. Was eddy boy on this one? He slayed so hard I almost forgave him for plagiarising April's snowman (cakejerry 2017 twitter reference, don't worry about it.) "I can make it better i can hold you tighter" okurrrr shawn mendes!!!!!!!!! I know jungkook was cheesing

5. Another tear reject, was it? Wasnt 'crazy for myself' an army meme or something, whatever. Rhyming rich and switch? Okayy inna up. Your love- I want that? Okurrrr ariana grande 7 rings!! Why that "naega" sounding a bit.... The houoououm part sounding like the average song that would be playing on mtv, oh bts you're so done

6. Jamais vu NOW OKAY THIS IS A REALL SNOOZER. And also another tear reject ctfuuu they really had a signature sound during this period didn't they. And it was TRASH. Sounding like an ending credits song for an episode of Grey's anatomy.

7. And the grandiose DISAPPOINTMENT. Dionysapppintment lol. Everyone gagging over this one i thought they were actually gonna serve rock realness when all they served was a seo taiji reject.... And again with the "haters"... Bts got more imaginary haters than itzy in 2019. Massyeo part kinda okay. Did jungkook just say he was feeling saucy???? FFFFFA- Wait hoseok just slayed omg okurrr onomatopoeia!!!! Is this supposed to be like the mic drop of the album?... Okay... Whateva that means. Brings to mind the injustice 6.5 faced but whatever. Wow you can actually almost hear an instrument here at the end. Bros think they rockstars 😭😭😭😭 okurrr opening song for a korean remake of a random flop japanese shonen anime from the 1990s!!

[cubicsugar]

quick doodle.. Vil would scream if he saw Epel in that outfit lol

[tamachan221]

SPEEDPAINT _____________________________________________________________

Name- Neith Mutou

Nicknames- Nie, Nia

Gender- Female

Age- 15

Date of Birth- December 8th

Ethnicity- Japanese-Egyptian

Occupation- Student of Duel Academy/ Duelist

Favorite Food- Omurice

Least Favorite Food- Himono

Deck- Invoked Witchcraft

Signature/ Favorite Card-  Milla the Temporal Magician

Other Notable cards- Aleister the Invoker, Witchcrafter Madame Verre, Invoked Augoeides, Invoked Cocytus, Quintet Magician (Most Powerful/ Acquired during Field Trip to Domino City, usually used in combination with Magicalized Fusion)

Theme-Fly by Hilary Duff

Personality- Neith is peppy, somewhat confident, but also kinda clueless. She is often intrigued by lore and puzzle solving, but it takes her some time to register or figure out the riddles. Unlike her mother, Neith is not much of an expert on foreign languages. She tries but is usually struggling, but she can make out some Egyptian writings.

When it comes to dueling, she has an easier time determining her opponent’s strategies during matches. However she can be somewhat timid on the first move as she doesn’t know what monster or spell/trap she’s dealing with. Most of the time, she’ll try to pop the back row first for a clean battle phase in fear of a Mirror Force being sprung on her. That said, she isn’t always prepared with the cards to combat her opponent. She will sometimes hesitate on attacking even though she may have had the upper hand that turn.

_____________________________________________

Background- (Note- I’m still working on this)

Neith is the daughter of Tamaki/Nanu and Atem who were reunited after an incident involving the Kaiba Corp Space Station (well more specifically, the Quantum Cube Kaiba had obtained in the end of DSOD) and it’s Dimensional Travel then using the Millennium Gate to get back to Domino City and stabilizing the travel system.

A young Neith (four years old) had slipped through the Millennium Gate (Sanura’s spirit had been set free prior, the gate is unguarded ) from another timeline and appeared about one year later, unconscious in front of the Kame Game Shop. She was found by Kissa and Solomon Mutou.

Neith woke up without any recollection of the events that sent her through the gate. It took a bit for Tama and Atem to adjust to her sudden appearance and with no way to find out where she came from (as well as everything else that’s happened prior), they accepted it as fate. Neith also forms a close friendship with Kissa.

Ten years later, Neith excitedly participates in the Entrance Exam for Duel Academy, which she passes. However she is placed in Slifer Red due to some hesitation and lack of skill. She then meets with Jaden and Syrus, whom she becomes friends with. Neith is also met with Youko, who will be her roommate at the Slifer Dorm (Kissa is also in the academy but is a Ra Yellow in her second year).

- Insert the first year here bc I have not thought up that part yet, but Neith develops an interest for the lore and stories Banner would often tell. I kind of want Crowler to pit her in duels with Chazz and/ or Alexis or someone else in the Obelisk Dorm. During the Shadow Riders half, maybe something pops up hinting her Ancient Egyptian lineage or she gets ill before finals as she gets visions of the Millennium Gate-

Again, not much is thought up yet but during the field trip to Domino, Neith opts to actually go home instead of the hotel. This is where she would receive Quintet Magician. (Kissa is under Sartorius’ influence and Neith is determined to free her.) She informs her mother of the Society of Light dorm, which will lead to Tamaki making a visit to Academy Island (she still has the Millennium Wings btw) but loses a duel against Sartorius.

Later in the second year, it is revealed that an older, corrupted Kissa was responsible for sending Neith through the Millennium gate. That same dark Kissa will take over her counterpart who will suggest a trip to Egypt, where duel monsters originated. However the main purpose is to get to the Millennium Gate and seize control of it. Neith will duel (probably with Ka/ Duel Spirits idk yet) and defeat her in the end where Kissa will return to her own time ( I’m doing her bio next btw) and assume the role as the gate’s guardian.

_____________________________________________

Extra-

-Her Love Interest is Jaden Yuki

- Like many other characters, Neith eventually gets the ability to see duel spirits, beginning with Milla, The Temporal Magician

- She would be voiced by Molly C Quinn who voiced Bloom in Winx Club (4Kids version)

-Tarot Card-  (It’s not major as this is only for the SOL Arc ) She is represented by The Moon

______________________________________________________________ Finally getting around to more redesigns! Neith was a big one, especially with her origin and such. I wanted to make her much more unique as she is my main GX character. Her old/original design, not that great lol then again I was still starting out with digital art at the time so uh, yeah- 

Neith- TamaChan221 Yu-Gi-Oh!- Kazuki Takahashi ___________________________________________________________

-Buy me a Ko-fi~!-Commissions- Redbubble - Instagram- Twitter-Twitch-YouTube-

[ezmerayrune]

My entry for the #dreammaskcontest on Twitter(btw I have a Twitter). Still don’t know why I put the flowers but I like them so it doesn’t matter lol.

Seriously though it was a lot of fun to make this and, even better, I finally got an excuse to use the pics I took in Portugal! (Only took 2 years)

[!] I will be posting my speedpaints on my YouTube(btw I have a YT too)from now on cuz I’m lazy and don’t wanna edit shit.

[!] Also, I have a watermark now! I’ll replace the signatures on old drawings with it eventually.

{Links to my Twitter and YT are on my link tree, so def check those out if you’re interested :3}

[maevelin]

Hey Maevelin I've read a lot of your KC metas being KC fan and I think youre spot on with your authentic criticism. I like youre neutrality too and I wanted to ask you do think that KC was sort of random or in the beginning was it properly executed? Thank you

Hey back! 

You got me in a KC mood so this may end up long as per usual with me. Sorry in advance for my ramblings but here we go.

There is a difference between something coming out as random due to lack of quality writing when it comes to nuances and introductions and more so when it comes to handling the secondary characters and plot stories with care or lack of it and another thing all together of something coming out as random because it was unplanned.

One things that I am known for is my good memory. Back in S3 of TVD everyone thought that Klaroline was unplanned and later on the writers and especially JP tried to make it seem so especially when we were nearing the spin-off and afterwards when the KC fandom and the writers went in direct confrontation. As if either way that was meant to matter and the fans were meant to be grateful for and not criticize anything because the writers had done to the fandom a favor we didn’t deserve when it was the other way around. The spin-off’s creation owed a big part of its creation to Klaroline and the KC fandom the writers got advantage of over and over again while treating it with disrespect; a story that kept repeating itself for as long as TO lasted and even for the new show that was created out of it based on the media attention that KC kept providing and still provides occasionally with all the bait and switch JP is known for.

Getting back on KC though. One of the things JP hated was that she didn’t create it. She let it in Caroline Dries’ hands because she didn’t care and honestly she didn’t care much for the Originals either way. At least not in the way the fans did. This was why when the time came to create the spin-off you had only but a few Originals in. Kol was killed for no reason because somehow he was deemed too dark for the dark mature show. And to add insult to injury in the episode of his death they also had him referencing NOLA when they never meant to make him part of that show because what a crime for the fans to support something the writers don’t approve or want when everything are things THEY created in the first place (the nonsense and immaturity of it all makes my head spin). Rebekah was barely in the backdoor pilot and that as an afterthought. Finn, Esther, Mikael all dead. Stories retconned. The writers that got hired for that show did not belong to the genre (check gossip girl etc) and worse of it some of them that had no experience in writing shows hated Klaus’ character with a passion (and were hired for Klaus’ show). And all of the sudden a show about the Originals that was gained and built on the fans’ love for Klaus (born from Klaus, Joseph Morgan, the TVD Originals AND YES Klaroline too as JP had admitted in one of her interviews “KC gained Klaus his show”) became a show about a hated and rejected character like Hayley was and diapers that demanded the mythology and lore to be demolished and everything to become OOC.

Let us backtrack it a bit and connect all the pieces for anyone that is not too bored doing it and reading me speaking about it. Back in S3 of TVD Joseph Morgan who played Klaus loved Klaus and also let us face it loved having a job. He knew his character was gaining traction and he also knew the show and the writers in question and most of all the network he was working in. To exist in CW you need to be part of a popular ship. We can pretend as much as we like but we are talking about light entertainment and trash shows that thrive on media attention born from shipping. The most successful shows in the CW are those that have successful flagships. The characters that survive are those that are part of successful ships. Ships like Delena, Olicity and so on secure a show’s longevity and success.

Joseph Morgan back then knew that they would kill his character in the end. There was only one way for him to stay afloat in the universe and keep his job and the character standing. A ship. So he kept nagging and insisting for one. JP had humorously said so too back then. And granted I am a cynic but I will also give it to the guy that he also wanted, and for good reason, to give more layers to his character and expand his acting and make it more challenging and a love story could add more layers to his story, his characterization, etc. Nothing wrong with that. 

And then one day JP gets all excited (so to get him off her back? lol) and tells him YAY! We have a GREAT idea you won’t believe but you are going to love! We will give you the love interest you have been begging us (and annoying us) for. And there you go enter Klaroline. Which they added -admittedly- a bit bluntly/awkwardly but on the other hand there was the barest of hints in 3x09 with the camera zooming up and down Caroline as Klaus called her Tyler’s “Pretty little girlfriend”. Directing when it comes to intentions is always important in the CW shows. Of course for an audience like the one in TVD that expects everything to be spelled out even in the foreshadowing and given the exposition the TVD writers were known for anything unexpected comes out as WTF moment and given how much hated a character or a ship is or how much another character and another ship may be this results in rejection or adoration and certainly in ship wars.

So we got 3x11 and Klaroline. And it really was no surprise given the situation that the first thing Morgan did was get in twitter and start promoting KC as much as he could. Just moments after 3x11 aired.

Did KC start a bit randomly? Maybe. It is not as if I’d expect anything better or a more intricate writing from these characters.

Did it happen fast as a story? I don’t think so. Not in TVD given the fact that as a show it was built on Stefan and Elena that they start their epic love story in the pilot, share their first kiss in the very second episode of the show, declare their love in the speed of light and have their first sex scene in the tenth episode of the show.

How about Klaroline being unplanned though? Of course it was not planned in the way Stelena and Delena ever were. Let us get that out of the way. But what of Caroline’s ships?

Let me remember that after 3x11 aired just a few days later the promotional pictures for 3x14 came out. Which meant that by the time 3x11 had aired and before people got interested in Klaroline 3x14 was being filmed or was already filmed but for sure the scripts were already written for it. Scripts that had Klaus saying to Caroline that he fancied her and there was flirting and building up a ship. So you tell me how the writers didn’t plan Klaroline from the start. When 3x14 was meant to be the original pitch for the spin-off in the network. There was a certain hype in the internal promotion of that episode in the network. That was the first taste they gave the network and basically said watch this is what we can do. 3x14 is still considered one of the most important episodes of TVD (to which there had been a lot of preparation for) and one of the most successful and popular that was basically the untitled backdoor pilot for what the Originals were meant to be (as a collective for building a show on them) and what TVD was all about. From the way the Originals reunited, to their infamous shot in the stairs, to the intrigue, the warfare. Right down to the romance (Klaroline, Rebekah and Matt (which no one spoke of how unexpected that was btw) etc), the magic, Esther as the villain, Finn as the antagonist, the blood tree with the Viking names, with how the TVD triangle was presented, the dance, right down to the hints they had given for Damon and Kol but later took back. For such an important episode nothing is left to chance trust me. And episode they were planning before 3x11. Klaroline was a big part of that episode that was set in motion before 3x11 aired. So let us get the fake pretenses out of the way because I am tired of them. (Also let me point out here that for an episode that was meant to be one of the signature episodes of TVD we saw exactly what JP was all about…her racism was showing big time…Bonnie was suddenly missing in an episode where a witch like her should be in her gown in the front and center but you see the trademark episode of TVD was whitewashed down to the last moment of it. Shocking right?…said no one ever…)

Anyway do I believe that Klaroline as it ended up being was planned? No. I think they meant it as a fluke. Something to fill air time for when Trevino due to his contract would be gone. Since Forwood had being doing relatively well back then. You know KC was meant to serve as an obstacle no one would particularly bother with aside from it being a fleeting thing. And a way to give more attention to Klaus and the spotlight to the Originals too. I think it was meant to do its short circle and if the network would not be interested in the Originals for Klaus to die by the end of S3. Something that Joseph Morgan and Claire Holt were fighting against as they were the ones that fought for getting a show for the Originals. They fought for the spin off and we all saw what happened with it and especially with Claire. And who ended up signing first even before Joseph. Goes to show how much JP had the Originals’ best interest in mind (Yes, that is sarcasm.)

But plans and what not Klaroline took them by storm. They hadn’t expected such popularity. Something to rival even Delena. Something from secondary characters that did not want to bother that much with and something that JP didn’t create. If KC was her baby I assure you her treatment of it and of the fans would have been much better. Especially since later on she tried to copy paste it and replicate it but couldn’t make anything work.

So if I think Klaroline was well executed. Tricky question LOL...I am always defending Klaroline. Subjectively and objectively to a degree but that does not change that Klaroline was still part of a certain work that lacked certain things.

In the midst of chaos that TVD was I’d say yeah for the most part but that doesn’t say much.

Let me be honest here. Klaroline never reached the potential it could have had. i used to be bitter about it. And I felt that I was cheated out of something awesome but later on I realized it was just as awesome exactly because it was left unfinished in the way it did. Given the alternatives as we saw them later on. 

I think one of the reasons that Klaroline was saved -somewhat- quality wise (relatively) was because Klaus in TVD was straightforwardly the villain (no sugarcoating and bullshit to suddenly justify his crap in the expense of the plot and the other characters and even his own character) and both Klaus and Caroline were secondary characters. The focus thankfully was not on them. That meant that the usual crap Julie threw to the characters (especially female ones) and the ships she works with were not thrown in to Klaroline. There was not much screen time for JP to mess the ship up and most of the control for it was left in Caroline Dries’ hands. Of course the chemistry Joseph and Candice had was spectacular and that always helps but it was like catching lightning in a bottles. KC was more or less a ship that served its purpose as a characterization piece for both Klaus and Caroline when it came to them as a ship and their individual characters. Klaroline did not affect the plot that much -if at all- but did wonders for the character development of Klaus and Caroline. We saw more layers, depths, nuances and things that belonged to the particular vampire genre that were missing from the show in certain ways. Everything just clicked. And there were also controversial scenes given to them that they would never dare give to anyone else that added to the complicated web of everything that Klaroline was. It was raw and demanded a more intellectual approach to fill in the blanks. What I loved about Klaroline was that it was not brimming with exposition. Not everything had to be spelled out. Which is always good. More is less in many cases. Some may feel that less is undeveloped. And I’d agree up to a point that Klaroline’s development was cut in half because of reasons that had nothing to do with Klaroline and the writing to pander to those reasons lack consistence, respect and logic. Otherwise up to the point Klaroline was worked with I’d say that things were generally executed decently. Of course even back then JP kept KC for the sweeps and the promotion so the pace was jarring many times with KC being absent even for up to six months until the KC fandom was needed for the ratings and the media circulation. But I am also a believer that good things come to those that wait and quantity does not necessarily mean quality. Klaroline in the end had substance, something that TVD was known for lacking but I am also honest enough to admit that a lot of that when it came to Klaroline was created by the potential it had as a ship. What could have been and would have been ended up being the pillars that kept the KC fandom going and was better that what was in the end which is something that applied to everything TVD ever did. And by everything I mean...everything. Not a single thing excluded. 

So overall if I take a step back I think that Klaroline was the ship of dreams in the way that dreams made it float. Klaroline was all for the potential. Of what it was promised to be. Of what it could be, what it could have been. The kind of ship that in the hands of capable writers would have left history but in when it came to the TVD writers we unfortunately were left with wasted potential but even so it still held on to shreds of quality that many things from TVD were missing. Because in comparison I believe that despite the wasted potential Klaroline as it was was still far better than most of the things TVD ever worked with. And that speaks volumes. (I am not even including TO in because that’s just a joke at this point.)

Klaroline was built on interesting tropes and subverted certain tropes too. While Delena for example was based on the bad boy/antihero - good girl trope Klaroline was based on the enemies to lovers trope with one part of it being the villain and the other part being the kind of female character that didn’t regress but found agency in the ship something that was denied from every other female character TVD had. The fact that Klaroline also belonged to the golden writing age of TVD before the quality went to shit was a blessing in disguise as was the fact that they dropped the ship when they did.

I honestly believe that we dodged a bullet. As weird as it may sound. Given the mess TO proved to be, given what JP did with TVD once Kevin was completely out. I’d say that even though they cut Klaroline in mid development given what followed then we were particularly lucky. Better wounded and saved than completely and utterly destroyed in the core.

[nalyra-dreaming]

  So I always post a recap, mostly for myself 🙂 (for later^^), but I hope you will enjoy as well! (Got a kiss from Will there and Hannibal didn’t kill me!  – Win win!!) 🙂

I arrived on Wednesday afternoon this time, planning on working on Ravage stuff that evening with Romina, but we ended up with Electra and room service instead, which was awesome. (Thank you soooo much for the little firefly man dear!!!)

Thursday was Ravage ToDos then and London – going by Fuller’s on the way

getting my daughter a Harry Potter „Hedwig“ (as requested^^)

and dinner at the Michelin-star „Aquavit“ (Skandinavian Restaurant – the Blood Pudding was DELICIOUS!)

  and then Pinter’s Theatre, watching Martin Freeman’s performance.

    (We tried to catch him at the Stage Door, but he came out after 2h(?) and we left after 1h in the snow, because you know, Mads and Richard wouldn’t go so well with pneumonia^^).

Friday I spent a LOT of time trying to catch all the Fannibals I saw, say hi and invite them to sign „my Mads“ – bought back then for the German Comic Con 2016 (when he canceled) this has now been utterly filled up with Fannibal love from all over the place! (And Evalie brought her Will! It’s the same one from the meme photo you might have seen btw^^)

(And I had him sign it, too :))) Picked up lots of beautiful things from the con, but they’re mostly in the big package still and on their way home.

Opening ceremony had standing ovations, driving home the fact, that these people were actually there!

  Truly amazing.

Meet and greet was fun but short, they only did a few minutes each.

  Still enough time to realize a few interesting things about them, Scott being really aware of what we put on the table for example and interested in Radiance (looking through it ) and trying the Hannigram smarties that @TheCakeIsPeople brought, Aaron loving that people liked the Go-Getters and his other projects so much, Jeremy very unsure at that point still (Twitter feed later showed he always said the same things^^) but very deep and elaborate answers already, Richard interested in where everybody was from and commenting when he knew the place, Mads on beer 4 (afaik) at our table and a bit brisk, recognizing fans he met before, talking swedish with the Fannibals there and refusing to put on the bite mask we had laid out (as decoration) on sight^^^^. Darn. 😛

  On Saturday I had 5 (!) photo ops, group with Romina, Aaron & Scott, 2 Mads and a Mads and Richard one. I took the cardboard to the photo op with Mads and we had to redo the photo 4 times, because of the glare :))) (Starfury put them all up for digital download, wohooo) and he was amazed by all the signatures on it!! Also – really life size 😛

The other was with something for the Kickstarter, I can’t show you yet^^.

Richard didn’t really pose that day, he was very stiff, hands in his pockets, standing to the side – we wondered if he maybe had a bad con experience before. (That was different day 2, yeah, good job Fannibals!!). Unfortunately you cannot see the “I’m fine” on my shirt, that’s what I was pointing at^^

Panels from noon, with Aaron and Scott being their usual hilarious selfs, Mads kind and witty (even though some of the questions were really… ugh. Disgraceful – someone asked him if he got „excited“ in the sex scenes for Polar(!) and someone else told him he didn’t have a fashion sense (like what the actual fuck?)).

Richard had an introduction interview with Sean on the first day, with only a few audience questions. Again, I think he was a bit … IDK, careful. On Sunday he did an open panel and was way more relaxed there as well! And he is SO WITTY and intelligent! And much more good looking in person than on screen somehow. Like really. A bit scary. :))

  Mads is very nice, smelling lightly of cigarettes (well, duh^^), it was funny to watch/experience the poses he switches through for photos^^. Very easy to ask and stand next to. My hands were shaking nonetheless^^.

Aaron and Scott gave me one of the best hugs ever, I already had my pose with them from last time and told them so, just wanting a hug 🙂

Signing was fun, Mads and Richard, with Mads signing my three books (not showing you Ravage yet!), and I showed him the scene with the illustration of „Will pushing Hannibal in a wheelchair, at Bedelia’s dinner“ – because he had said in his panel that Will would have really enjoyed having the upper hand in S4, pushing Hannibal around in a wheelchair(!!). AND I FUCKING WROTE THAT. (Not actually in „A blackish red hue“ (at least the Ao3 version! (The book version has that scene)) but the image has created for a scene EXACTLY of that (and then adapted into the book, with permission of the artist(!)). I just…. I WANT TO SEE THAT, DAMMIT!! He said „Very good call“ :))) And then personalized it to me <33

  Also, at that point he knew about the cardboard cutout being from the GCC, so they must’ve talked about it backstage! And I asked him to sign it all over his own face which he did, grinning. 

And he’s finally on the LA Times ad, completing it.

AND on the sword sheath, checking all the signatures and commenting on them. He wanted to know where it was from and I explained and he was amazed. (Since he and Richard signed so small (in comparison to Eddie Izzard^^), I was able to put Scott, Aaron and Jeremy on it as well – you can’t see Scott here because he didn’t press that hard, his signature is above Aaron’s).

Oh, and Mads didn’t know that Hannibal got an Emmy nom that year we put up the ad in the LA Times – he was surprised and asked me which ones and of COURSE I’d had forgotten. Hope his team relays him the info via the tag on Twitter^^.

Richard just grinned a bit when I told him that the book is my S4-8 and that it starts at the Motel. He had an interesting expression on his face, I can’t really describe it, maybe a „would’ve sported dimples if he actually had them“, you know. Amusement-tinged. Also very interested in the signatures on the sword sheath!

Life goals. :)))

I had dinner in the bar late afternoon (the London Pride ale is very good imho^^), and then the cosplay contest was on and Noah won, yay, as flaming Chilton!!! They put up the incredible Wendigo-Cake there, from KitchenConjurer – it was cut up the next day, because Mads wasn’t at the cosplay contest.

Don’t remember what I did after the cosplay, lol. Ahem. 🙂 I think I went to my room because I was exhausted. ^^ All the nerves shot from the photo shoots and signings^^.

Next morning were more photos – another with Richard (and a little red dragon by PersephoneSiren!!!!!), who was so much more relaxed that day, and one with Jeremy – who was a bit bewildered by my ask to give me Bunny Ears – and THEN went and did the same expression Hugh Dancy and Joe Anderson did!!!!!! ROFL. Amazing!

  Incredible panels followed – I would invite everyone who hasn’t to read through the Twitter transcript tweets – Aaron and Scott gave Mads a run for his money – aka he never stood a chance :))))

And then they went and cut the ear and nose/chin off the Wendigo cake and Scott kissed Aaron with its lips and you should have seen Mads’ face :))))) Hilarious! ❤

  Jeremy is a panel revelation(!), I would pay REAL money to have him, Richard and Hugh on one stage, talking. These three must be so extraordinary together. (They already are separately, just saying… that would be like an intellectual orgasm).

Had to queue early and so I went and got my autos from Aaron and Scott and Jeremy then, who were soooo sweet and appreciative. And Aaron smiled when he saw the Go-Getters DVD, gave the DVD inside a little pet and signed it to me with a very sweet personalization.

Can’t wait for his new film btw, because the Go-Getters is hilarious and you should definitely watch it!!!!!

Another bar visit for food and ale and then the closing ceremony. Already.

It’s been almost 5 days and yet the time flew.

I cried.

And then I went to my room and packed up everything, creating an impromptu bubblewrap-suitcase. Went through fine, fortunately.

It’s been incredible and I will gladly come back no matter the guests (though these were incredible of course!), who knows maybe I can go to FFT3 if/when it happens as well, and I hope I manage some meat-ups. I met more people than I can remember, spent some very precious times in deep discussions on not so easy subjects, which I love and which is so, so, SO important.

If you’re reading this – thank you for doing so!

And if I met you there – thank you for making my weekend. Because the guests is one thing, but meeting you guys…. that is incredible.

I hope you enjoyed this 🙂

Feel free to ask if you have questions!

Personal RDC5 recap So I always post a recap, mostly for myself 🙂 (for later^^), but I hope you will enjoy as well!

[ifirstdance]

F.A.Q

You can keep up with my work on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. Find me as ifirstdance

How old are you?

I was born on 1996. I’m currently 22.

Where are you from?

I’m from Argentina.

What program do you use for drawing?

I’m currently using Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop. My tablet is a Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch.

Do you take request?

I do take payable commissions. If you are interested then you can send me an email to ifirstdancex@hotmail.com. You can also read a description about commissions here. Commission also help me a lot on pay my real life bills and my college degree, so I appreciate it so much.

How long have you been drawing? / When did you start? / Do you take art classes?

I have always love drawing (basically since I was a kid) but I was never that serious or curious about the quality of a drawing or proportions until I finished high school on 2013. I started to get more interested on becoming a illustrator when I started college on 2014 (btw, I was studying medicine and actually did it for 3 years but decided it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life so I dropped the career). I started studying Graphic Design & New Media on 2017 and that helped me about colors and compositions but since it’s not Fine Arts I had to study by myself about anatomy (Thanks doctor school, at least I learned something lol), dynamic, etc.

I’m a new artist, do you have any advice on drawing? / Can you make a tutorial on how to make…?

My advice is to practice a lot. My drawings were awful at first but with practice I improved a lot. Make sure to use reference pictures, I use them a lot. Also, search for other artists, I follow my favorite artist on social media because they inspire me a lot.

I have made a few tutorials, you can see them on my social networks.

Can I use your art for profile picture?

Yes, you can, but please do not crop my signature.

Can I repost your drawings?

You can easily rt/reblog/share an illustration on twitter, tumblr or facebook, so I would appreciate if you do that and not repost. If you’re going to repost it on Instagram please make sure to credit me in the post. More important; DO NOT crop or erase my signature from it.

Where can I buy your merch?

I have a redbubble store (sorry if it’s not up to date, usually forget about it).

[klaralachman]

Case Studies

do Today's post is dedicated to case studies of two creators I highly admire. I will look at their websites, social media use, and branding to seek inspiration as well as possible improvements. The main question today is: What can you take away from them and apply to your own industry?

The first creator I am going to look at today is Matt D'Avella.  He is a well-known filmmaker, YouTuber, and minimalist who is passionate about challenges, coffee, and his biceps (his own joke, lol).

https://mattdavella.com/

This is Matt’s website and in order to analyze, we need to answer the following questions:

How do they promote their work and skills?

Matt has his own website, a youtube channel (with more than 3mil subs), an Instagram account  (350 k followers), and a podcast called The Ground up Show. Also (as if that wasn't quite enough), he has filmed two Netflix documentaries and created his own course Simple habits where he gives guidance to people trying to stick to their habits.

Website pro’s and con’s

Pro’s

Everything is clear, very minimalistic, and easy to find. He has linked all his social media accounts as well as his course and podcast.

Con’s

In my opinion, his website is a bit bland and uninteresting, on the other hand, he really is a minimalist, so it was probably an intend of his. I do not like the Sign up for emails option on the main page – If I were new, I would want to get to know him a little bit first, before signing up for anything.

How do they describe themselves on their ‘About’ page?

His description of himself is, again, very minimalistic and I think he could have added a little bit more information or informality to make it interesting and to connect to his audience on a higher level. For example, I really like this 'about me' piece by Jenny Johannesson (that we were shown as part of our module), it's informative and funny at the same time and that makes it way more memorable.

http://www.jennyjohannesson.com/

What social media do they use and how well do they use them?

Matt uses Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. His branding is very consistent – the same profile picture, username, and even the descriptions are pretty similar. He lacks a logo, but I don’t think that it’s big of an issue in his case, his profile photo is quite memorable itself.

He does have all his social media platforms cross-linked, but except for his youtube channel, there are no links for his website.

Do they have any advice about their industry? How they got the job? What skills they needed?

He doesn’t really have an article or a saying that I could quote, but I watched one of his videos about becoming a professional filmmaker ( and he says that education is really not that important (or in his case not important at all). What matters is your love for the subject and your will to work hard and to grow as a creative. You need to enjoy it first, and down the road, it turns into work in many ways. But in the beginning, you really need to push through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd9mMqL7s1I

From some of his other videos, I remember him saying that in the beginning, he was in 100 000 dollar student debt, was living with his parents, suffered from anxiety, and was terrified of dating. He talks about the beauty of rules and how they help us to achieve our goals, dreams, and better lives in general. He loves setting rules for himself and his channel is full of 30-day challenges that are really interesting and encouraging to watch. He says that rules and hard work were what made his life 100% better. He started as a freelance filmmaker and eventually became a full-time Youtuber. He has filmed two Netflix documentaries, countless youtube videos, created his own course, and is now happily engaged. To me, that’s pretty impressive.

The second creator I am going to analyze today is Brandon Woefel, young portrait photographer based in New York.

He is known for the distinctive look of his photographs and his love for pastel colors and lights.

How do they promote their skills and work?

Brandon mainly uses Instagram where he has a huge following base of almost 3 million followers. He also uses Facebook, Youtube, and his website with an embedded shop where people can buy his art. He also taught a photography course on Skillshare (which is great btw.) and had some partnerships with Adobe Photoshop.

Website pro’s and con’s

https://www.brandonwoelfel.com/

This is Brandon’s website layout. You can either click on the actual website or shop his newest photo book Ultraviolet. This is the look if you proceed to his website.

Pro’s

His website is pretty clear, minimalistic and everything is easy to find. It showcases a lot of his artwork, which is obviously amazing. All his social media platforms are linked and there is a contact form available. What I really appreciate are his ‘before and afters’ where you can see his photographs both edited and unedited. I really like looking at these, and it shows his editing mastery. Another nice feature is that he has a page on his website dedicated to recommending cameras for beginners.

Con’s

I do not like the fact that you need to click ‘website’ to get on his actual website. It would be much more elegant if he just had a ‘Shop’ page where you could get everything you need. Another con is that his website lacks an ‘About me’ page, which is really a shame. – Therefore I am not able to answer the following question ‘how do they describe themselves on their ‘About’ page? Also, I think the font families on his website are not consistent and neither is his branding. He does have a logo, but it’s very inconsistent, and his social media platforms only have the link for his book Ultraviolet, not his website.

What social media do they use and how well do they use them?

As I have mentioned, Brandon’s primary platform is definitely Instagram. He is pretty consistent with posting and his feed has great aesthetics to it. He also uses Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, where he shows a lot of behind the scenes, which is quite interesting. He has a consistent username @brandonwoefel and his accounts are linked across. The only shame is that he doesn’t link his website, only his book Ultraviolet, but that is apparently his priority right now.

Here, on his youtube channel, he uses a font family that looks 'handwritten’ but unfortunately it doesn’t match the logo nor the fonts on his website.

Do they have any advice about their industry? How they got the job? What skills they needed?

https://fstoppers.com/business/photographer-brandon-woelfel-shares-shooting-and-editing-secrets-gained-him-3-408866

In this article, Brandon talks about his story of becoming a famous freelance photographer. The funny thing is that he didn't even intend to be a photographer at all, he studied computer graphics and eventually found his way to photography. He says that consistency is the key and having a signature style to your photos is what's gonna get you recognized. "Having a certain aesthetic can get you recognized, instead of blending into the crowd." He also actively engaged with his audience and paid attention to what they responded to which has helped him to improve his craft even more.

His youtube channel is also full of videos, where he shares his tips and tricks on how to take better photos as well as behind the scenes. How to take self-portraits, how to manipulate colour in Photoshop, how to use the light – these are just a few among many, and they are all really useful. He also advises on how to find your unique photography style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq7wLHEkYnY

Even though I have criticized some aspects of their branding I highly respect both of these creators and I think their work is spectacular. They are a great inspiration to me and they encourage me to get better every day. Thank you for reading and see you next time

Klara

[adurnah]

Two days in Numazu (Love Live Sunshine real life setting): a report

Heya! I know I haven’t used my Tumblr in ages, but I didn’t know where else to put this so here I am.

So, I’ve been to Japan for two weeks in late February and I managed to spent two days (Sun 19th and Mon 20th) in Numazu and Uchiura, the places where all of Love Live Sunshine is set. It was an incredible experience, so I’ve wanted to write a report both for me to remember it but also to show other people the place. I can’t believe I procrastinated two months in this

From Kyoto (where we were before this) we arrived at Numazu on Sunday morning at around 8am, by night bus. This is Numazu Station, featured a lot of times in the anime. We’ve been really lucky and had a wonderful weather! at least for one day

After going to check-in to our hotel (if you’re interested in going, I really recommend you Sanco Inn Numazu Ekimae, it’s super close to the station and the staff knows English pretty well), we came back to catch the bus for Uchiura.

Right in front of the station there’s a collaboration cafè, Yudai Festa Sun! Sun! Sunshine Cafè. We went there later for dinner.

This is the bus stop to Uchiura. You’ll see Love Live is literally everywhere here. Unfortunately I already knew we had no chance to catch the LLSS collaboration bus if we didn’t want to waste time (the first was at around 11am iirc)

While we were waiting there for the bus, another bus arrived and a girl next to us asked us “Where are you going?” so I said “Izu Mito Sea Paradise” (since it’s the most known attraction from Uchiura and it was actually our first stop), and she said that that other bus that arrived was going there too. So we took that bus.

Random photo of the scenery from the bus.

Comes out, that bus wasn’t going to Izu Mito. I don’t know what happened, if she didn’t understood what I said or she was just wrong, but at some point on the road to Uchiura the bus changed direction. I kept looking where the f- we were going on my phone, and comes out we were going to the near city of Izu-Nagaoka. I tried asking to the driver if the bus was going to Izu Mito Sea Paradise (maybe taking a longer route) but he said “No, *something else I didn’t caught* Sea Paradise”. IDK. In the end I found with Google Maps that there was another bus going to Izu Mito from that area, so we dropped off the bus and waited for the other bus. 

The funny thing to all of this is that at that bus station in the middle of nowhere and far away from every LLSS location there was this:

No matter where you go, Love Live is there.

An old woman also asked us (in Japanese this time) where we were going and she confirmed that this bus was actually for Izu Mito and she was right this time. I got pleasantly surprised that people are so friendly there, even with weird gaijins like us.

This detour unfortunately cost us a lot of time, but in the end we managed to arrive to Izu Mito Sea Paradise! If you don’t know, this aquarium is the setting for the Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM PV.

I forgot to take a photo outside This is the Show Stadium of the Aquarium, where most of the scenes in the KoiAQUA PV happen.

I loved this tank with sakura flowers inside.

I haven’t took a photo of the whole coloured jellyfish pool (where You is being emo in the PV) but I had a bit of fun photographing the single jellyfishes.

Shukas Otteeeeers so cute. I went to see them hundreds of time.

A dolphin came to say hi to us! o/

A nice view of Awashima Island and... Fuji-san being shy and hiding behind clouds.

Aqours images signed by the seiyuus. In front of this place is where you can see half of the aquarium’s audience are Love Livers, a lot of people came here to take photos of the posters. I loved the guy that posed next to Mari doing her “Lock on!” pose lol

Best grills and best seiyuus signatures

The aquarium shop has a literal aquarium with Aqours acrylic standees inside

YouChika under the sea and a fish staring at me

Aqours standees inside the aquarium shop.

The visit to the aquarium took us until midday, since we also saw the shows. After lunch, we went out and headed to our next stops.

First of all we stopped at the close Sannoura Tourist Center, aka the tourist center of the town. I tried periscoping inside of it so here’s a video: https://streamable.com/d5n33 (I can’t find a way to embed it sorry)

As you can see the place is FILLED with Love Live, it really is the main attraction there.

If I recall correctly this page in their signature book was signed by the seiyuus when they first came here in February 2016. I witnessed one of Rikyako’s best masterpieces with my own eyes I feel blessed.

After we looked around a bit the two staff members showed us a map of Japan where people put a round sticker for the place where they were from, and they also had spaces of overseas. For Europe iirc they had a space for UK, Germany and then “Other Europe” lel, so we put our sticker there. There were only 2 sticker on “Other Europe”, and I wondered who they were... comes out it was my friend and her boyfriend who come here in December :’D Not a lot of people are as crazy as us uh better for them

After this the staff girl asked us if the wanted to write a post-it with cheers for the seiyuus for their First Live. After I wrote mine, she took it, looked at it and asked “Yousoro?” (since I wrote it in blue and added an anchor), I said yes and then she disappeared for a bit and came back with two You keychains as a present for me WTF I was almost crying as I thanked her, so kind!! They also gave some Chika goods to my friend, I was speechless. As if it wasn’t enough, while we were going out the staff guy stopped us and gave us one of their big posters??

Like seriously WTF. Are they really so happy to see tourists?

I feel sorry that they also tried to make some conversation with me but unfortunately I’m still a beginner in Japanese and they didn’t know a lot of English ;; They managed to ask me if we were going to see some locations and I said that in fact we’ve already been to Izu Mito. They were so happy ;;

Another nice thing I didn’t expected is that outside of the Tourist Center we found a few itashas. Not comparable to the one you can see in UDX in Akiba but they were nice!

This one was very well made, except for the fact that one side was wrongly mirrored lol

This guy has good tastes.

We left the Tourist Center in the direction of the school. This is the place where Mari falls while running, in fact, to the school to meet Kanan.

A bit ahead we found this groceries shop called “Oh! Mos” that sells mikans and specifically the Jyutaro x LLSS mikans, and also has this big Aqours shrine. I told ya LL there is really everywhere.

Fun fact: Suwawa, Rikyako and Anchan went in this shop a few weeks later, when they were there for their DIVER photoshoot, and left a signature (that’s the shop twitter account).

We took a bag of mikans and when we went to the counter to pay, the old woman pointed at Chika’s image in the bag and said “anime?” to us, lol. When we said yes (?) she showed us that they even have the cardboard box of mikan, the megaphone and the sign that Chika uses in episode 1 to gather people for her school idol club, lol. SUKURU AIDORU BU DEEESU. My friend took a pic with them

Btw, mikans are really good.

Moving on, we went to the place where the girls (try to) shoot a PV in episode 6. The place is called “Nagahama Castle Ruins” but there really isn’t much except for a really nice view.

Actually, I had printed a lot of these postcards with anime screenshots to take this kind of photos, but unfortunately I realized taking a good shot takes a lot of time and effort, plus the wind was not helping me. In the end I gave up and took really a few of these. I still have all of them so maybe I’ll try again if I manage to go back in August.

If you turn back you can already see the school!

My friend took a panorama of the bay.

Moving on to the next stop: the little shrine where Kanan ends her morning run and dances under the stalkers other girls’ eyes.

I saw a lot of people thinking that the shrine where Kanan dances is the same as the one in episode 4 to where Ruby and the seconds year run, but it’s not: that one is in Awashima Island and it would have required Kanan to take the boat from where she starts her run. In fact it’s this one, a bit before the school. There were two other Love Livers there taking photos.

After this we finally got to the school bus stop! Featured in the ending, as well as in episode 1 when You joins the school idol club.

I failed this photo on so many levels.

Going up the hill to the school, such a nice scenery.

And here it is! Uranohoshi Girls Highschool is in real life a middle school called Nagaisaki. It was Sunday afternoon so no one was around, except for the gym where we could hear some people inside.

After this we walked all the way back to Izu Mito and beyond to see the other locations, like...

Yasudaya ryokan, aka Chika’s house!

And right in front of it, the beach featured in the very first LLSS image, as well as the scene in episode 1 where Chika and Riko talk. Someone already wrote Aqours on the sand.

And the pier when Riko tries to kill herself jump in the water.

Early blooming sakura.

Last one I tried to take. Kimi no kokoro wa kagayaiterukai?

Shougetsu Cafè! aka the place were a CYaRon radio drama is set, and also were the 2nd years seiyuus went during their Teku Teku. Of course we went to grab some mikan dorayaki! They are super good. I even bought mikan jam, but I still have to open it.

Photos and signatures of the seiyuus.

We were so lucky we even found the LLSS kitchen car! I bought the You Noppo keychain.

Unfortunately, at this point my organization failed me. We wanted to go to Awashima Island, but I got wrong the place where the boat docks. I thought it was in front of Shougetsu, where there actually is some kind of port, but it wasn’t. We lost time looking around and on the web (how come that the Awashima Marine Park website doesn’t say where the boat docks?!), then tried to ask to the girls in the kitchen car who managed to explain to me it was 20 minutes by feet to get there. Unfortunately it was already kinda late, and since we didn’t want to rush it we decided to go back to Numazu. While riding the bus I saw the bus stop “Awashima” and the docks. If only we had take the right bus in the morning I would’ve know. Too bad.

Even if we didn’t rode the LLSS collaboration bus there was still some Love Live on board. Someone likes OmoiNare ships here.

At Numazu station we finally grabbed some Noppo Pan! I bought the LLSS (caramel) flavoured one this time, and later I tried the strawberry chocolate too. In the same shop in the station I also bought some really good mikan cookies.

Going around Numazu by night. This shopping district appears in episode 6, and it also contains Maru-san (Maru’s favorite bookstore) and the cafè used as a background for Guilty Kiss first illustration

Obligatory visit to Numazu Gamers, or Numazu’s Little Demon shop.

Inside the shop.

Going to the collabo cafè for dinner! They have this fake UraGirls bus stop sign which actually resembles the real one (including the timetable)

I got the full You menu: Youkisoba (I even got the appropriate coaster), You’s drink and You’s Magic Tea (it’s a butterfly pea tea, it’s blue but when you put lemon in it it becomes purple). I really liked it tbh to be just a collabo cafè (not famous for the quality of their meals...)

And this concludes our first day in Numazu.

The next day we decided to do just a short visit to Numazu, since going back to Uchiura just to go to Awashima Island was too expensive.

Nakamise again.

We went to see Yoshiko’s house, a building called Natty Numazu. At the first floor of the building, on the other side, there’s a watch shop that even has some LLSS merch, and when the shopkeeper saw us looking at it they made us enter and sign their Yoshiko signature book lol

This tiny temple is right next to the alley where Yoshiko is seen in the last scene of episode 5 (before starting running away from the others).

Of course since You is best grill I couldn’t miss this place: You’s house! Which is not a house but a Western-style cafè called Orandakan.

Just from outside you can’t be wrong this is the place.

Their You shrine from inside.

When we entered an old lady came to us and made us seat. She tried failed a bit to talk in English and brought us their signature book (I swear every single place has signature books there). My friends told me she also said “Welcome to You’s house” but unfortunately I didn’t catch it.

Their menu is only in Japanese but luckily since the teas are all in katakana and the cakes had pictures we managed to order something.

Not bad but tbh kinda pricey, I paid 1010 yen for a tea and a piece of cake... but it was at You’s house! So it’s ok.

Our message in the signature book, I did the writing and my friend did the drawing.

Moving along Yoshiko’s escape route, we passed next to Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium (where the first years go in their KoiAQUA radio drama, aka the shiirakansu aquarium) and Numazu Hamburger & Cafè, where the first years also came for their Teku Teku.

I took a photo of this sign and not of the place, how fail I am.

We finally arrived at Byou (which I discovered actually means View-O), the water gate/observatory where Yoshiko finally stops running and also where You and Mari go talk in episode 11. Going up only costs 100 yen but due to some circumstances we decided not to go. The weather got bad in any case so we wouldn’t have seen anything anyway.

And this concludes our trip around Numazu, and is also where we suddenly started having incredible bad luck.

The weather was getting worse and worse, with strong wind and rain. On our travel back to Tokyo we wanted to make some stops: at Atami to visit the Plum Garden since the plums were in full blooms, at Nebukawa station (the station of feels in the anime), and Kozu station (the beach of feels- yes, they’re in different places). After riding the train we already decided that we would miss Atami, the weather was too bad to enjoy a garden. We could still stop at Nebukawa and Kozu, I mean, we just have to stop and take some photos, it can’t be that bad, right?

Wrong. The wind was so strong we were basically flying away, I’ve never seen something like this. We run inside the station and I only managed to take these photos.

Being the wind so strong we decided not to stop in Kozu, since it would’ve been a pain with our luggages and everything. But, after arriving at that exact station, the train stopped. We heard a lot of messages but we couldn’t understand them. We checked online and discovered that all trains in the Tokaido line were suppressed due to strong winds. And we were in Kozu. But we couldn’t go down. I couldn’t believe our bad luck, lol. The train stayed there for three (THREE) hours before leaving, and even then it was going slow and occasionally stopping, making our travel from Numazu to Tokyo 6 hours long instead of 2. But in the end we managed to arrive in Tokyo safe and sound.

Anyway, except for this last part, I really loved going to Numazu. It’s a bit of a struggle if you don’t know Japanese and it’s kinda expensive, but if you’re a Love Live fan it’s really really worthy. It’s not just “seeing” those places in real life, you can do that from photos... but being there, living like them, taking the same bus they take to school, eating mikans and Noppo pan... it’s an incredible experience. It makes it feels like everything is more real, even if it’s just an anime. I really hope I’ll be able to go back in August!

I want to give many many thanks to LuciaHunter for the LLSS Locations Google Map (link: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.3623197,139.0468361,10z/data=!4m2!6m1!1s1cL4tMTO0iVaz69hqK88wyetWkR8 )

and also u/MasterMirage and u/FliryVorru for their reddit posts, they all were a huge help in planning this!

This concludes my report of these two days in Numazu. If you really read this till the end thank you, hope you like it! And if anyone has any question feel free to ask!

[kaoarika]

13th HypMic Niconama Rap Battle (Jun/08/18)

Ah, it’s been a whole month since this one, huh.

Subaru is REALLY such a gem, huh. 

One of the full premium ones, with Komada Wataru as guest.

If you fully notice, from the livestream previous to this one, they have been taking care of attempting to keep everything in time (this applies to times they also have professional guests). although we all know MC Overtime/Timeless here struggles with that (he talks a LOT), lol. That’s the reason why the “(English) skills” segment has been cut OR, well, when they are recording the lyrics match’ winner on live for the nana music app.

This was also a very normal program. Although I did fangirl a bit when they finally (FINALLY) spotlighted SOUL’d OUT in their intro (and this is my reminder to tell you how much I miss them, even though Diggy-MO’ has a solid solo career -10th year anniversary in 2018, btw!- and both Bro-Hi and Shinnosuke have been doing well in their own projects too). Song that was featured was “Wekapipo” (or Wake Up, People).

(I personally like “ALIVE” more :’))) important to mention they did more pop-oriented things after “Wekapipo”, tho) One of the featured screencaps above is actually Suba trying to do Diggy’s vocal signature :)

This program also featured this return of silly moments to screencap on motion, featuring these two dorks -

(This was also the episode where they were discussing “huh, how will be an appropiate way for the fans to call themselves, tho...?” IIRC. I s2g, Suba...)

For the entire Rap Battle, there was a draw between Ishiya and Komada so you know what this meeeeeeans, right? Aojiru punishment goes to Subaru, ofc :)

For the Dummy Head Mic segment, although not even a “preview” can be seen anymore for us, peasan- COUGH, free users, if you dig more into Twitter, you could find a clip of a fan requesting both Subaru and Komada to say something to the listener -in the DHM- in German. With Subaru, is a granted fact - he is German-Japanese, after all (and he stills makes me melt when he speaks in German, I kid you not). And while Komada’s English sounds good to me, I never knew he actually spent part of his life in Germany (studying in an international school, nonetheless), so his German is actually THAT good, too.