#and got. a lot of merch. got a HAUL of stuff

[gibles-lovely-selfships]

Back home from con

This experience has proven to me that I Am Not Immune To Charms

[shwarmii]

**if** this is related to the Tumblr Reduced Staff nonsense (and i assume it is), @emporium, this is amongst my least favorite parts to say the least. i loved your guys' creativity and the products i got 💔 to everybody who has been interested in shopping here: i hope y'all got your shoelaces, tumblers, tea-lites, and/or other stuff you may have wanted :(

[finnieforkys]

Color Fiesta haul

[kieran-granola]

Material Boy

(This one is available on AO3)

When he’s not busy being a vigilante, Tim likes to think that he’s a pretty simple guy. He has normal, civilian friends. He's awkward when he talks to people he wants to bang. He likes skateboarding and playing Warlocks & Warriors. He dropped out of high school.

He also, like many kids of his generation, grew up collecting superhero merchandise and memorabilia.

And yes, maybe he never got out of the habit of collecting super-trinkets even after joining the vigilante game — a fact he keeps between himself and God, he can only imagine how much shit Steph and the others would give him if they knew — but it's not like he steals stuff from the heroes he knows. He just... buys things. A lot of things.

Which brings him to his current problem: the amount of merchandise created depends a lot on a hero's popularity. This means that Superman has insane amounts of merch. Wonder Woman and Batman too, to a lesser extent. In Gotham, Robin does pretty well for kids' stuff, and Nightwing has inspired more than one, uh, adult line of toys.

…But Red Hood? As tacky as brands can get with their products, they know better than to create merch of mass murdering rogues and villains, and unfortunately people aren't sure whether Red Hood qualifies a good guy. This means that Tim's haul is Very Poor when it comes to Hood. Which is an issue on account of Tim's massive crush on Jason.

How is a man supposed to pine in dignity when he can't even find a decent body pillow to warm his lonely bed? How?!

Tim obviously has to fix this problem. He has to rehabilitate Red Hood and ensure a steady supply of bling for his display cases. And shelves. And furniture. And possibly wardrobe, he's not picky.

He has to.

Which is why he ends up raving about Red Hood, his crime-fighting exploits, and his charity work on social media. He uses all of his covers' accounts and even creates a few more, enthusing people and posting praise until, finally, his amateur PR campaign snowballs.

He knows his job is done when his hashtags start trending outside of the Gotham metro area, and the first Red Hood plushie comes out of Build-A-Bear.

___________________________

Jason is bemused when he first gets wind of his rising popularity. Sure, it's nice to be appreciated and the genuine testimonials from Gothamites warm the cockles of his dead, dead heart, but where did the hype come from? And why are people trying to ask him for autographs? He's a crime lord! He's dangerous and scary, and people should definitely not feel comfortable enough to ask him for selfies!

…Oh fuck, is that it? Is someone trying to sabotage his reputation?

Disturbed, Jason reaches out to Oracle for some help with finding the person behind this heinous plan. He's not entirely sure why Babs laughs for five minutes straight after hearing his question, but she eventually tells him that the original accounts extolling his virtues belong to Red Robin's covers.

Shrugging to himself, he suits up and heads to Tim's nest. He busts in, ready to deliver the wrath of the Hood on Tim for making him look like a hero when he's a Very Mean, Very Dangerous Badass… only to find Tim eating Froot Loops out of some violently lime liquid, while wearing what looks like chibi Red Hood pajamas, complete with little cat ears over the stylized helmet.

Suffice to say, that display takes the wind out of Jason's sails. He holsters his weapons back and takes off his helmet so Tim can properly appreciate how appalled he is before speaking.

"Okay, what the fuck, Timbo?"

Tim blinks. "You wanna be a bit more specific there?"

"I wouldn't even know where to start. Just. What the fuck."

"Well, I'm having dinner?" Tim tries, shoving a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

"Froot Loops in, what is that, cucumber juice? That's dinner?" Jason stares harder.

Tim swallows his spoonful thickly. "It's Mountain Dew, actually."

"Okay but that's worse. You get how that's worse, right?"

"Did you seriously come here to talk about my meal plans?"

"I came here to ask why you decided to ruin my street cred, and to kick your ass—" Jason winces as Tim eats another mouthful, "—but apparently you're doing a great job at hurting yourself on your own."

Tim gives him a blank look. "I ruined your street cred? How?"

"You told people I'm a hero," Jason says accusingly.

"Ah, I see what the problem is. Look, Jason, this might come as a shock to you and I understand if you need to take a minute to process this very new piece of information but… you are a hero, dumbass."

Jason seriously considers throwing his helmet at Tim but, with the state Tim is in, he's pretty sure it would feel like pouring water on a drowning man.

"I'm not the kind of hero they make jammies of! I mean, what the fuck are you even wearing?"

Tim pulls on his shirt to show off the design, perking up. "These? They're Red Catting Hood limited edition PJs. They're cute, right?"

You're cute, Jason mutters under his breath, before taking a few menacing steps forward. "They're ridiculous. I'm not a cat. And I'm definitely not cute."

"We're going to have to agree to disagree there."

Jason stares at him. "You think I'm cute?"

"No, I think you're a cat," Tim deadpans, still eating his disgusting mixture.

"I… I tried to kill you, remember?!"

"Yeah, you did. And now I have little cartoon kitties of you on my jim-jams. Life's full of curveballs, isn't it?"

Jason is pretty sure he's having a minor breakdown in Tim's kitchen. He opens and closes his mouth silently several times, confusion robbing him of his words. Tim watches him for a couple of minutes, then he stands up and shuffles closer to pat him on the back.

Jason lets out a very unmanly squeak of horror when he spots matching Red Catting Hood slippers on Tim's feet.

Tim shushes him. "Hey, it's okay, dude. I understand that you don't know how to deal with people expressing positive emotions in your direction after getting the Bruce special growing up, but it's gonna be fine. Just breathe. You'll get used to it."

Jason stares at Tim with wide eyes. Then he gently takes him by the shoulders.

"Timmers. Tim. You crazy little birdie. Telling me I'm cute, talking about emotions... Are you okay? Is this a cry for help? Talk to me."

"You ask me that now?" Tim gives him a judgmental look. "I can't believe that's where you draw the line. I mean, where's your 'Be my Robin' enthusiasm?"

"It drowned in your bowl of Mountain Dew next to the Froot Loops. No, but seriously. If I'm your last resort, then you can tell me what's wrong. No need for tacky PJs, I'll listen."

Tim's eyes narrow. "Okay, then listen to this. First of all, my PJs aren't tacky. Second, I like you, dumbass, and yeah, I think you're cute. And third, I hyped you up on social media because I wanted Red Hood merch for my collection."

Jason takes a second to let that confession wash over him. He regrets removing his helmet. He's blushing, he knows he's blushing. In fact he must have been a redhead in another life, because he must be reminiscent of a tomato at this point, and oh no. He's a grown-ass man, why is he blushing like a nerd for this incredibly sleep-deprived, adorable maniac?

"You have a collection?" he squeaks.

"Uh, yeah. I started it when I was 4." Tim raises his eyebrows. "But nevermind that, are you seriously going to leave me hanging? I just told you I like you, man."

"I don't know what to say," Jason chokes out. "This... You're—I'm not good for you."

"Sorry but the entire internet would disagree. You're a hero, remember? And I can take care of myself, thank you very much. I don't need to be patronized."

Jason gestures at Tim's dinner. "That is demonstrably false."

Tim pouts. "Well. If you were my boyfriend, you could make sure I eat properly."

"Is that what you want? To be my b—" Jason's voice breaks. He swallows before trying again. "To be my boyfriend?"

"I mean, yeah?" Tim shrugs. "That's not why I hyped you up, I'm not kidding about the merch thing. But. Yeah. That would be… Good. Nice."

"Oh."

"Is that something you'd like too?"

Jason licks his lips. "Yeah, I—I think so. Yeah. There's just one thing though..."

Hope sparkles in Tim's eyes. "What?"

"It's just... I can't let people think you like me more than I like you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means—" Jason tugs on the fabric of Tim's PJs, "—that for every Red Hood item you own, you have to get me some matching Red Robin merch."

Tim grins a wide, bright, genuine smile that almost offsets the deep purple bruising under his tired eyes. "It's a deal."

___________________________

(They show up to the Manor together two months later to announce their relationship. They walk in hand-in-hand, Jason wearing a Red Robin hoodie, Tim in a Red Hood henley. Damian doesn't even have to pretend to gag at the sight.)

[boinin]

Blue Lock in Japan fandom diary

I was in Japan for my holidays, which was incredible—it's somewhere I dreamed of visiting for a long time, and it lived up to every expectation.

I'll talk a little bit about my experience from a Blue Lock fan perspective, as it's something that interested me prior to going. April 2024 was a good time to visit, thanks to the Episode Nagi film coming out. There was a lot of pop-up cafés/collabs open, and no shortage of merchandise.

In Harajuku's Takeshita Street, there were a series of banners/pendants for the new film, featuring all the main characters. There were also digital ads for Episode Nagi in a few places—I recall the trailer playing at Shibuya Crossing (which is exactly as surreal and overwhelming a place as I'd imagined).

Rambling and pics under the cut, including gacha machines, stores, general anecdotes and my merch haul.

In case anyone's uncomfortable seeing IRL pics, be warned there's couple shots of my hand below. No face reveals 😛

Gacha

So, gacha machines are EVERYWHERE in Tokyo and other cities, often randomly in the street, but also in dedicated stores. The biggest selection tended to be in arcades or shopping centres. Akihabara had a few big ones (Gigo comes to mind), but I found multiple. And Blue Lock is really well represented! There's loads of stuff to waste money on, from little acrylic keychains to small figures to... tiny cushions with characters' faces on them 👀

One minor annoyance is that the gacha merch for a fandom doesn't tend to be grouped in one place, so you spend a lot of time wandering around stacks of machines squinting at their content. Only one store I visited in Osaka had all the Blue Lock stuff grouped together.

In general, most of the machines are priced between ¥300 and ¥500 a spin (€1.80 to €3.00 at time of writing), so it's reasonably affordable unless you're a completionist set on collecting ALLL the merch.

Much of what's in the gacha machines is seasonal, so it's worth snapping up anything that you like while it's there. That said, I found a few stores selling same season or older gacha merch at a markup. The most expensive ones were older merch/limited edition, which can cost many multiples of what you'd pay originally. Other places (like Ani Ani) sell current gacha merch at a small markup. I was able to buy a Rin to finish a seasonal collection for only ¥100 more than I'd pay at a machine, which saved me whatever multiple of ¥300 I'd have paid on spins to get him in addition to the four others.

Throughout the trip I saw the same gacha content over and over again in various places. Specifically for Blue Lock, you don't generally have to worry about throwing money at the first set of machines you find or risk missing out. That said, one regret of mine was passing on some really cute gacha figs of the Bllk boys in casual clothes on a street on Akihabara, which I never saw anywhere else.

There's also heaps of claw machines in similar locations, which mostly had figures of Nagi and Reo in their Hakuho uniform.

Pop-up stores/collabs and merch stores

Blue Lock is well represented in cafés/pop ups. This is likely due to the EpiNagi film releasing this month, but with some research beforehand, you'll likely find a venue should you wish to get some Bllk themed food/venue exclusive goodies. Be warned—many of these will require a reservation, and they book out quickly. That's the case for most of the fandom cafés. If it's a must-do for your trip, research a venue before you go and try booking a slot if you can.

I only went to one myself, which was a place in Harajuku that did Blue Lock themed drinks. I chose Nagi's, which looked mysteriously black on the menu. It turned out to be tea with lemon flavoured jelly—tasty and canon inspired! I also got a free card of Bachira, which the store assistant handed to me at random. This was overpriced at ¥800 (€4.77) compared to what you'd pay normally in Japan for a drink, but that's the branding mark-up. In comparison, a bottle of soda, tea or coffee from a vending machine costs on average around ¥150 (€0.90).

Regarding stores, there was a Blue Lock pop-up in Ikebukuro in an electronics store which had SO many acrylic stands and plushes. A lot of this was bishounen/pretty boy appreciation material for each of the characters. Think stands of the boys smiling handsomely at the camera in various outfits.

At time of writing, merch tends to feature just the characters from season 1 of the anime, specifically the Egoist Four, Nagi, Reo, Rin and Sae. I saw little for the other characters, and next to nothing for manga-only charas. My favourite manga character find was a sticker of Hiori, which has subsequently gone missing amidst the chaos of unpacking 🥲 If it turns up, I'll add a picture. Found it!

In terms of spots for Blue Lock merch, Ikebukuro and Akihabara were the best and most concentrated. Akihabara gives tourist trap vibes, but if you're willing to navigate every nook and cranny plus the crowds on the hunt for blorbos, you'll almost certainly find merch to your taste.

Ani Ani in Akihabara was pretty good for BLLK, and excellent in general for its selection of fandom merch. Smaller shops have more niche content, which is great if you favour side characters.

Ikebukuro has a more chill vibe than Akihabara (less tourists) but still a decent selection of fandom merch. Hands down the best spot for Blue Lock on my trip was the Animate store there (pictured above), which had five or six shelves just for our favourite football prisoners. Lots of plushes as you can see, but also things like clear files, acrylic stands, keychains, stickers, pins and more. Again, big focus on pretty boy appreciation, but there were also cutesy things like chibi figures/stickers. There's also heaps there for other animanga fandoms.

Animate Ikebukuro had the Blue Lock fragrances! I only sniffed a couple of these—both Isagi and Kunigami's were reminiscent of blue shower gel, but with woody notes in Kunigami's case. Chigiri's fragrance was more floral and fruity. They cost somewhere between ¥7000 to ¥8000 I think (around €45ish).

In addition, Harajuko has a lot of anime stuff along Takeshita Street, but the selection can be hit or miss. I found two shops there that were reselling Blue Lock goods (things like gacha figs and limited edition merch). These could be pricey, but these were the best for cute/older Chigiri and Kunigami merch IMO.

Snacks

Again, availability may relate to the timing of anime releases etc, but I tried a bunch of BLLK snacks in Japan. The most common type were these chocolate wafers, which you could get cheaply in convenience stores for loads of different shounen fandoms (I recall seeing One Piece, JoJo and MHA). The wafers themselves were mid, but the packaging was cute and you get a free sticker or card in each. I managed to get a Kunigami card on my first try 🥹

"Slowbar" is like a protein or granola bar. Again nothing to write home about taste-wise, but I saw a few with Bllk packaging. Go figure, I bought one that had Kunigiri. No freebies, but it was a more substantial snack than the wafers.

My merch haul

Here's what came home with me! It's modest as far as fandom hauls go, particularly next to all the stuff I bought in the Pokémon centres. I didn't go as nuts as I thought I would, but the gacha machines definitely put a dent in my bank account. They're fun, but should be treated with caution by anyone who likes owning complete sets of things.

Close up of gacha figs, minus Rin + the bonus Chigiri I picked up on.

I ended up spending around ¥3000 (about €18) to get the full set of sleeping figs (including duplicates). Spent around the same to get the sleeping bag figs, then at least half that again on Chigiri's when I spotted him at a resale store (he's from a previous release).

As a result of my gacha spree, I have a bunch of duplicates 🥲 It would be a shame to bin 'em, so might do an interest check to see if anyone's interested in taking them off my hands.

These are the cards/Zantetsu sticker I got from the combini wafers, the Bachira card from the juice café, plus a random cushion of Rin from a gacha machine. It's way too small to be practical, but still cute.

I bought the two Kunigiri chibi plushes at a resale store for ¥3000 altogether. Chigiri was twice the price of Kunigami, lmao.

Kitty!giri came with a little sleepy eyemask. As soon as I saw him, I had to have him. Bought him at Ani Ani in Akihabara for ¥2500 I think? (€15 approx). They had kitty Isagis and Bachiras too.

Now for a story: there's a gacha series out now which has gold rings featuring the names of the main BLLK cast + Aryu. I swore not to buy any of these, cos it's a little self-shippy; no shame in that, but it's not really my bag. I also dislike gold jewellery.

Relatedly, partner and I just decided to get married, and half-talked about looking for a engagement ring in Japan before we travelled.

So. A few weeks later, while wandering around Harajuku, partner walks back to me after disappearing for two minutes. They hold out a gacha capsule with a shit eating grin—"Hey, got ya something!"

I shit you not: not only was it one of the stupid rings, but out of eight choices, they managed to pull Kunigami's 😭 I laughed/despaired for about five minutes. Partner was amused.

I don't have small hands (¥100 for scale); Ringsuke loosely fits my baby finger but gets stuck on my ring finger if I shove it on past the bottom knuckle. Based off my own measurements, the BLLK rings are probably around 50-53 mm in size (Japan size 12 maybe). It's surprisingly good quality for a ¥400 capsule machine prize.

So yeah: that's how this Kunigiri stan ended up with an ill-fitting engagement ring with her favourite blorbo's name on it 🙃 ...I'll get a proper one eventually, and Kitty!giri will inherit Ringsuke. Y'all are about the only people I'm ever admitting this story to.

Finally, my favourite purchase is these two acrylic stands of Chigiri and Kunigami, with pop ups of their stats. I'm not big on acrylic stands generally, but this was one of my favourite official art releases and I couldn't pass it up. They were ¥1800 (€11) apiece in a Harajuku resale store—probably more expensive than their original sale price, but I'm not complaining.

That's about it, I think! I've tried to recall as much detail as I can about places/prices here, but happy to provide more info if anyone's curious about anything—just ask!

[meraki-yao]

Mini RWRB Haul!!!

These are badges designed by an rwrb fan, I got these second-handed from LRB and I FUCKING LOVE THEM SO MUCH (I loved them since the design came out but I didn't have the means to get it first time around)

The design:

This was the first time I ever bought fan merch and anything second-handed from one individual. The seller was lovely! I got these at a very good price and she also gave me a lot of freebies!!!! (only the rwrb stuff, the notebooks are just my stuff lol also pls ignore my pants and slippers in frame)

I also got a couple of RWRB "polaroids" which turns out are just cards of the stills and posters just printed like a polaroid but whatever

quick note about the badge: it's non-profit: the artist posts their design and asks about interest. The interest group then splits the production cost.

[starrbitez]

Rick and Morty Merch Hunt!!

Hey !!! I went to 8 different stores today on the hunt for rick and Morty merch, so here i will show u what i found and some little silly things that happened while i was out :)

PLAZA:

target: absolutely nothing. Shocked tbh

Five below: nothing, but i did get some hello kitty rubber ducks for my Sanrio collection!

MALL #1:

My first stop was Newbury Comics, where they had 4 aisles of funkos but only these two rick ones :( they did have a punch of pins and I bought 2 !! Yay :3

My next stop was this random store I dont remember the name of that had lots of anime and sanrio stuff . They did have ONE rick and Morty lanyard, that i did not buy bc i have so many lanyards.

Next I went to Spencers, and hit the jackpot! There were a bunch of shot glasses, some blankets, hats, and wallets. I almost bought a wallet but they were all around 25 dollars and I was looking for figurine type stuff.

^^ the guy at this Spencer’s hit on me it was quite awkward

I also went to box lunch at this mall, but that was a fail so. Onto the next one.

MALL #2:

My first stop here was a SECOND Newbury Comics, where I actually bought something.!! Yay!! There was a book sale and comics were on clearance, so I was able to secure volumes 2 and 7 of the rick and Morty comics for only 9.50 !! ( this Newbury comics also had the exact same pop figures and nothing else smh ) they had two figurines at $14.99 each, so i didnt buy them.

Finally, my last stop was a second Spencers, where there was way less. They did have slight variety in their shot glass designs tho, and i considered buying one for like. A second

That’s ALL!!!

I got mildly lost and the whole adventure took me like 5 hours but i got this haul

[imnotavamp1r3]

♡ Scemo clothing haul! ♡

A couple of weeks ago, I got to order some stuff from Hot Topic, so I thought I'd do a bit of a haul and show you guys some of the things I got! I took all of the pictures for this post so some of them might look kind of weird since I'm not great at taking photos but I tried my best.

🎀 Accessories

I got a pair of fishnet gloves, skeleton gloves, leg warmers, and a black and pink studded belt. I'm really happy with all of these, especially the fishnet gloves since I've been wanting a pair for the longest time and I've been wearing them almost every day since I got them. I'm also really glad to finally have a pink studded belt for my pink outfits!

🎀 Hole Pretty on the Inside shirt dress

This is actually my first piece of Hole merchandise which I'm really happy about because I've been listening to them since I was like nine. I also really love these sort of oversized dress length shirts because they're great for when I want to go for a more grungy look. These types of shirts styled with a cute necklace, a flannel, boots, and some over-the-knee socks just makes for a great outfit.

🎀 Leopard print skort

For a short period during the summer of last year, I was pretty into the rockstar's girlfriend aesthetic and one of the staples of that aesthetic was leopard print, so I got a leopard print skort. I don't have many skirts that aren't black, so this is a pretty different addition to my wardrobe.

🎀 Monster High hoodie

This was one of the items that I was most excited about since I really love Monster High. I haven't really had a chance to wear it yet, but I definitely will soon because I really love it.

🎀 Ruby Gloom crop top

I've been watching a lot of Ruby Gloom recently, so when I found out that Hot Topic carried some Ruby merch, I just had to get something. The shirt's so cute and I especially love the sleeves because black and red stripes remind me of the mall goth aesthetic. This is definitely one of my new favourite shirts!

🎀 Misfits shirt

I already had a Misfits shirt, but I didn't have any of their shirts that have the Crimson Ghost on them. Plus Johnnie has this shirt so of course I had to get it. It also goes great with the skeleton gloves.

🎀 Skull tutu skirt

The main reason I got this was actually because it reminded me of that one skull outfit Eugenia used to wear a lot. I also don't have too many gothic clothing items so I wanted to get some. Plus this skirt styled with a pair of fishnet tights, the Misfits shirt, and skeleton gloves would just be so perfect.

That's it, byeeeee!! ˚｡⋆୨୧˚♡

[idolish7imagines]

can i request tamaki with a reader who’s a trigger fan and some new limited edition trigger merch comes out and reader is determined to get the whole collection and drags tamaki along (we’re running the trigger new merch drop like the army telling him what to get when we get there how were gonna split the store up etc etc) (cute and fluffy and hes supportive and tries his hardest but also maybe some jealously hehehe)

Yotsuba Tamaki x Reader :: Merch Sweep

A/N: these drabbles are getting longer and longer so if yall read it all i love you

He's pouting and you haven't the faintest clue why. Again.

"Tama, what's with that face? Perk up! We're almost at the store and we have to be on our toes as soon as we get in there." You explain, nudging his shoulder as the two of you walked through the sidewalks and streets bustling with life already even though it was fairly early.

"I hate waking up this earlyy.." He rubs his eyes, there were clearly still crust and tiredness in them since he barely got up despite you shaking him so much to the point you nearly considered body slamming him.

"I'm still sorry but we've been planning this for almost a week so its not like you didn't have time to mentally prepare yourself." Letting out a sigh, you wrap your arm around his lest he think about wandering off to go buy king pudding or something else of interest.

A gasp escapes you, seeing there was already a line wrapped around the corner of devoted TRIGGER fans waiting to get their hands on a limited edition signed CD at a vendor that was outside.

You grunt, but still have a look of determination, counting the amount of people in line in comparison to how many CDs they said they were going to sell on social media a few days ago.

Tamaki just stares. "Couldn't you have gotten So-chan to do this instead.."

"Sogo needs his rest he's got a lot of work this afternoon."

"But he wakes up earlier than I do anyway!" Tamaki retorts, lifting his hands in the air before you shush him.

After a moment of tapping your foot and thinking throughly, you turn to him. "So you remember the plan right? We can come back to this line later when its calmed down, maybe in about 6 to 7 minutes. But other than that its likely gonna go down how I predicted. So I'll take the stores on the left and you take the ones a little farther down on the right. I know you'd hate waiting in line so I'm gonna come back here while you keep shopping, and when thats done we're meeting in the food court."

'Food court' is probably the most reassuring thing Tamaki has heard all morning.

"kaaay." He lazily drapes his arms behind his neck. By now he knows its pretty useless to complain, and that you are gonna turn into a whole animal if he doesn't get all the stuff you want.

-----------

Tamaki understands that you and Sogo are entitled to your opinions. What he doesn't understand is that sometimes you treat TRIGGER like a bigger deal than IDOLiSH7, he's working hard too you know?

Thinking over this for a while has left him with a pout, hand on his cheek while dipping a fry in some ketchup after you bought him food as reward for putting up with your demands.

You on the other hand, was deeply satifisied with the amazing haul you had gotten from both you and his splitting up to buy all your new TRIGGER CDs and merch. Looking over everything, from Tshirts to perfume, a content sigh escapes you, paired with a giddy smile.

"Thank you Tama, you're the best!" You jovially compliment.

He mumbles in response, shoving another fry in his mouth.

"Oh come on, you can't still be mad about being sleepy, are you?"

Another grumble. "(Y/N)-chan doesnt get it at all.." The teen mutters.

You lean in, a sign to inquire on what he meant.

"I don't hate shopping with you, but you always talk about TRIGGER." His cheeks puff a little. "Why not talk about I7 or King Pudding?"

You pause for a moment, blinking a few times in the silence.

Deep down you know what this is about; he wants some praise. And well, you figure you might as well give it to him.

His turquoise eyes widen, suddenly feeling the weight of your hand on his head.

"You're a good boy, Tama." You ruffle his hair. "You're a talented dancer, singer, and a goof, and I love spending time with you."

Tamaki's lip slightly pokes out, not entirely an embarrassed pout, but he does take your hand off of his head.

"Its weird to pet my head when you're shorter than me." He says like an objective fact rather than to put you down. Despite that, he's still holding your hand.

"Okay, I'll stand up while you're sitting down and then i'll be taller." A grin spread across your face.

"Ehh? It doesnt work like that! If you do that I'll stand up too and still be taller!" He says as if its becoming some sort of competition.

You shush him a little so no attention is drawn towards your way.

"No seriously, I really do appreciate you Tamaki. I don't know if it means much from me, but IDOLiSH7 is a great group and you're part of why it is."

The idol seems calmer, smiling at you.

"TRIGGER is good too, but we'll have to pass Tenn Tenn, Gakkun and Ryu-aniki one day."

"Shshsh not while I'm still in hardcore fan mode for them." You shush him again but for your own personal reason.

He gives an offended exclaim. "But you just said-"

Before he could finish, you burst out into laughter, covering your mouth with your hand, but it was hardly masking anything.

Tamaki pouts, but your laugh always had the ability to make him join in, so he did.

[figurecollection]

So, my suruga-ya haul came in that I got during their free shipping campaign. Lots of figure magazines, lots of trading figures, some Lucifer merch, and a Keroro figure I've wanted for a long time.

More pics under the cut.

A lot of figure magazines I am very excited to read and scan. I will upload them to The Internet Archive once I do so, although it might be a while. I'm really excited to post stuff from here on this blog and find some rare GKs. There is also a Mine Yoshizaki artwork and one of the Haruhi Newtype magazines (weak to gay cover)

Here's the full set of Wonda Shot Coffee Haruhi figures. They're really lovely, and also include the only official figure of Sasaki, in the middle. These were a Family Mart exclusive, and the gaps in the packaging would have had a bottle of coffee in them.

Some trading figures; a lot of these are ones I've been meaning to put in my collection for a while. I'm particularly happy with the Saber Konata Nendo petite, the Hypmic Movic set, and the Iwatooshi Koedarize. SMT Mary (far left) came with some broken pieces from her candle, but its nothing some plastic glue can't fix.

Some Lucifer bits for my itabag; his merch is very expensive everywhere for some reason so being able to get it relatively cheap second hand was nice. The bag smelt of cigarettes though lmao.

And my beloved Natsume figure. I've wanted this for a long time. I really did get her at a good price. I'll take more pics of her soon.

[exdeputysonso]

comic-con wrap-up ✨

Thursday Did the dexter offsite. Honestly not really worth the hour wait, but the shipping container theming was cool!

After that I said no more offsites or lines. The rest of my trip was exhibit floor and panels. I just didn't even try for any big Hall H panels this year. Too much camping. Other panels were pretty easy to get into if you just show up a bit early. I typically sit through one to three panels to make sure I get in and get a good seat for what I actually want to see. So there's a lot of random stuff in here. But a lot of the random stuff was fun! The Todd McFarlane panel had David Dastmalchian as a surprise guest to talk about a new comic he's writing. I'm like 90% sure David waved at me as I was taking pics of him. I was off to the side, towards the front, with not many other people around and I'll just say it was trippy.

Then I was there for the Teacup panel which I knew nothing about except James Wan was producing so thought it'd be cool to check out. And it was!

Friday

Okay, so I reallllly wanted to get into the Dexter panel so I sat through four (4) random panels for this one. You can kind of see my pics get progressively better as I move up seats between panels lol.

The panels were Snowpiercer, "Brave New Warriors" (basically a random guys panel about action roles), "Collider's Ladies Night" (random ladies panel), and "TV Guide Fan Favorites" (just completely random lol). The TV Guide panel was my fave and a lot of fun. Bruce Campbell is always a riot and idk anything about Percy Jackson but Leah Jeffries was adorable. Oh, also back to the ladies panel... shout-out to Katy O'Brian for being a Sinister fan.

Then the main event was the Dexter: Original Sin panel. I was happy enough just for anything Dexter, but then Michael C. Hall showed up as a surprise guest and made my life. They also showed the intro for the new show and it looks great. Everything I heard just makes me extra hyped for it. And hyped about Michael C. Hall narrating. I'm still working out my feelings on the Dexter: Resurrections announcement, will have to wait and hear more on that one haha.

Saturday

Saturday was my see-random-panels-for-actors-i-like day. Jack Quaid, hollywood's good boy (cbb joke I can't resist), was there for the The Safe Man audio drama.

And then Hamish Linklater was there for a panel for voicing Batman: Caped Crusader. My Hamish feelings are resurfacing after this, he's just such an interesting soul and a joy to listen to. Matt Reeves was also there which I guess is pretty cool!!! (But this panel only got vague references to the wider DC universe.)

Sunday

Sunday was just me finishing walking the rest of the floor I hadn't hit yet. And finishing my game of how much chucky merch can I find.

And finally my haul of random stuff I bought off the exhibit floor. <3

[chibivesicle]

Gokinjo Monogatari got an English release. I am just - feeling like I got my wish from 1998.

That's right, I'm alive but not very active on the meta for the time being. 2023 sped up for the second half; work got crazy busy for Q4. I worked up to Dec 18th through several weekends so yeah, needed some recharge time.

I don't know how I missed this, but thanks to watching Coleen's Manga Recs, I discovered that the one shoujo manga title that I had been wanting an English release for has finally arrived. Gokinjo Monogatari by Ai Yazawa!

I discovered Gokinjo Monogatari in '98. One of the local comic stores had the first three tankobons and I bought them based on the cover artwork alone.

It wasn't until undergrad I was able to meet a few more people and figure out more than just the name and artist. I tried to find the translation of the manga online, but was unsuccessful. I have to remind people that before scanlations, you had to buy a tankobon and hope you found the text based translation which would have the text according to page number and what panel location. I read a fair bit of Kenshin that way, but sadly, this series was not that popular with readers in the States. I've been moving my entire adult life hauling my three precious volumes of the manga hoping that someday I would first, collect volume 4-7 to complete the picture and that I'd have my matching English version. Granted, I haven't done a good job of looking for volumes 4-7 when I've been in Japan . . . or using the internet either.

As if to spite me, the follow up manga, Paradise Kiss, did get a translation in 2002 from Tokyo Pop which exists in the same universe as Gokinjo Monogatari. Note that a previous manga's characters show up at the Flea Market in Monogatari as well and Yazawa likes to keep a lot of her series tied together. Eventually, the scanlation of the series appeared and I read it around 2011. I'd only found an episode or two of the anime during the golden age of file sharing, but didn't follow through on it. I wanted to read the manga before watching the anime. In 2017, I visited the Manga Museum in Kyoto, got to see a cool display about Ribon magazine and of course they had Gokinjo Monogatari merch! I bought the file folder set and stickers! I bought the Gokinjo Monogatari UT shirt from Uniqlo featuring Ribon series. Yet each time I found more stuff, the universe got the last laugh. Japan released the collectors set with four volumes, there was a French translation, German etc and never one for English. So, you have to realize how I absolutely lost my mind when the thing I'd figured would never happen, happened! Not only was it a thing, I'd even missed the December 2023 release date -at least I didn't have to wait for a pre-order to get volume 1.

I'm happy to see that this version included some of the original color pages!

It has a few more at the end with a photo wall of Mikako's outfits. Everything about the style of this manga, I absolutely love. The fashion goes so hard even now. I get nostalgic with all of the mid-90s Japanese street fashion which has a mix of 60s mod and 70s flare. I think the series also does a good job of capturing that awkward time in your teenage life when you are trying to figure out how to act with people you are interested in. But failing to sort things out. Unlike a lot of other high school manga series, this one stands out with the much more "normal" appearance of the students. I remember picking it up and thinking that the characters looked like they could be my peers; though there is no way Mikako's outfits would pass my high school's own liberal dress code where dyed hair and piercings were permitted. Her bare midriff would get her in trouble . . . Funny how now when I look at it, this is a very unusual high school set up for a Japanese reader likely coming from a more regimented school environment with a uniform and strict dress code. I never thought about it at the time. More that I was plotting my own hair dying plans for when I moved out of the house for undergrad just like the characters had - while still in high school. I did read Parakiss back when it came out from 2002-2005; however, it never really resonated with me the same way a series that I couldn't even find a decent translation for. I started to watch Nana but couldn't get into it at all. Maybe it was my mindset or the fact that I wasn't the mood for young twenty-somethings figuring their shit out.

Yet, here I am in the winter of 2024, and I have volume 1 of the collectors edition format of Gokinjo Monogatari and I'm still loving every little bit of the story as I read it. Perhaps, Parakiss and Nana were more edgier/grittier than something like this which is why they never quite clicked with me. I wanted my fashionable shoujo drama but not over the top. I'm not sure what I'll write about it. It isn't a well known series both due to the fact it is from the 90s and that it is shoujo but perhaps I can reflect on what I was drawn to it all those years ago and what I think about it now.

[citrus-cactus]

Otakon 2023 Wrap-Up Post!

Otakon 2023 was this past weekend, and I gotta say I had a great time! (if that wasn’t obvious. From the deluge of posts about the digimon movie redubs). That was the main reason I went this year, and the screening took up a significant portion of my time there (WORTH. EVERY. MILLISECOND.), but during my one day I was able to blitz through the main halls as well. And I met @ahiddenpath ! That was AWESOME!!! She’s incredibly sweet, and we got to walk through Artist Alley together and talk (irl!!!) about Digimon, fandom, and life ☺️

My con haul!! I was like, “eh, it’s not that much” but some might beg to differ, including me, now that I look at it all together 😅 Most of it came from the Dealer’s Hall. There is one vendor who is a huge Digimon fan herself and sells a TON of amazing digi-merch, and that’s where most of my money went, ahahaha. She not only had some amazing hard-to-get figures and blind boxes (the Adv. kigurumi figures and Piedmon keychain set), but some Frontier 20th Anniversary merch as well! HOW CAN I SAY NO TO THAT??? That is a GIANT TAKUYA ACRYLIC STAND (which I would prefer to be a bit smaller), but aaah!!!! 🤩 I randomly got Sora from a blind box (💖), as well as Koji-in-pajamas (!!), and spent a little extra to get Takeru unwrapped. Unwrapped Jyou was the same price as a random blind box, because she said no one wants him and she always has extras! Can you believe it?? JYOU! 😭 Hidden and I agree that she’s not reaching enough of this audience on Tumblr, because HOW DO YOU NOT LOVE JYOU? Look at his face! He HAD to come home with me 😤

Ahem. Anyway, I found those oldschool Fox Kids-looking vinyl clings at a separate stall that sold a lot of vintage 90s stuff. Dub merch!! I do have a small collection of that.

The pencil-board… folder… thing… is two-sided and I believe it was originally an extra with a specific issue of Animedia that covered both tri and Appmon! I had to. Because APPMON (also I do love that tri art) 🥺

Some close-ups of the small stuff! The resin statue of the mountains came from Artist Alley (actually, a friend of Hidden!) because it reminds me of home. I also really liked the moon-shaped pendant. And a citrus pin! MY BRAND!! I have a shirt with Togemon on it (the cactus), but I have a hard time finding citrus merch, so YES, I can now rep my full screen name in an outfit 👍👍👍 One lone Goomy pin is my sole Pokemon purchase this year. “Hen with a Tie” cracked me up (if you’re an anime dinosaur like me, you know), and the Mimi button was actually a gift from Hidden! 😭

Finally, Takeru and Jyou side-by-side, where they belong ☺️ The contrast of their poses/expressions cracks me up!

Takeru: I think I’ll cause problems on purpose.

Jyou: NOOOOO PLS MY BLOOD PRESSURE!!!!

So there you have it: the results of an intense and incredibly exciting digi-day! I’m still so shocked that my local con got this amazing premiere, and I got to watch the whole thing (er… when I wasn’t live-texting information to certain people who couldn’t be there in person, lol!). I’m SO incredibly grateful to the Discord group for notifying me about it, because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have even gone to the con at all this year!

Really hoping I can see my OG con buddy either at Otakon 2024 or her local con, so she can take a well-earned break from being a new mom and join in on the fun! 🤞🤞🤞

[purplekoop]

Part 2 of the haul! Less thrifty, more gifty!

Here's the full image of EVERYTHING I got this past trip! My partner likes to get me a lot of little gifts at once whenever we meet, though still got some really exciting stuff from them, as well as stuff we got shopping together! A few things were even just stuff they decided to part with while cleaning out their room.

Highlights (ignoring anything I mentioned in the last post about the thrifty items) include:

PvZ Garden Warfare 2. Gotten for me at a special trade event. My only piece of PvZ merch I guess?

Spamtong perler bead. Press f1 to [f1ndh1m]!

Pachimari plush, spare cowboy man figure (missing 2 flashbangs, an alt left hand, and the gun flash effect), support themed shot glasses, logo keychain, and Zenyatta and Mei funkos. My partner was less of an OW fan than I was even back in the day, but still held onto a few things up until now. I let them keep their Rein funko, but took the ones for heroes I didn't have anything else for yet.

my first pride flag :D

4 inch Jakks figure of Daisy. This was actually not an initial gift, but was instead gotten for me when we went to a gamestop, while they also got a Ludwig for the same price of 12 bucks. Considering Daisy goes for 30 online, I'd consider it a nice deal.

And best for last again, an extra toy-pack-in childhood copy Magical DoReMi! This is the ONLY part of the dub to get a physical release in America, so as horrendous as the dub is, it feels right to have it.

[blazehedgehog]

What sonic merch do you have? I kinda wish I could get a statue but there's less of those than you think. Megamans been a lot easier to get good merch for for some reason

It's really not much. So as previously mentioned, I have that Sonic candy dispenser...

The Caltoy Sonic and Tails plushes...

I used to have a full set of the Sonic 3 McDonalds toys, but who knows where half of those are anymore

And the two Sonic Underground plushes from Denny's.

This compromised basically 80% of Sonic's entire american merch catalog in the 90's, outside of some books, clothing and assorted odds and ends.

Since then, things haven't grown massively, but I have picked up a few items here and there. For the above images, none of those were my photos, but we're going to start getting into pictures I have personally taken of my newer stuff.

A friend gifted me the "basic" version of the Sonic nendoroid. The basic version comes with fewer accessories, so I don't have the checkpoint posts or item capsule, and I don't think I even got separate hands. I am not complaining.

I bought the Sonic amiibo for myself when it came out.

I got a special poster from the Sonic Mania reveal event courtesy of TSSZ having someone there as the event was happening. I framed it since it's such a nice, heavy duty poster.

I have the 11" Metal Sonic figure that I picked up at the thrift store I used to work at. He was like, maybe a dollar? Kind of a steal.

I grabbed one of those Pixel Pals lights back when it seemed like they were getting discontinued. They had a bunch on pretty deep discount (like $4 when normally they were like $15), so I grabbed Sonic.

I don't have a super good photo of this, but I was gifted the Orbot and Cubot figures I think for a Christmas or a birthday by the same friend that got me the Sonic nendo.

This is a mixed photo of a bunch of different figures I got at different times. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are from the 25th Anniversary collection by Tomy, and I bought them when we arrived in Nevada as we were moving out of Colorado. Eggman and Mecha Sonic are, once again, from the same friend that got me Orbot, Cubot, and the Nendo Sonic. I cannot express how much I love them, and I love that the Tomy figures are almost in the correct scale.

Now we're gonna get into things I REALLY don't have good photos of...

This horrifically blurry photo is probably from 2007? 2008? It's my Sonic 06 preorder statue, my Sonic Adventure 2 "10th Anniversary" pin, and my "Thanks for all your support!" pin from Sonic Team. I'm sure I have a clearer photo of these somewhere, but I can't find them. I could also, like, take new photos of some of this stuff, but where's the fun in that?

While digging through my imgur looking for photos, I found this photo of a Sonic 20th Anniversary plush. I couldn't remember where I got it, but given he's in a photo with some books I picked up at the thrift store I used to work at, I'm assuming he came from this same haul.

Getting increasingly difficult to find photos now... digging through twitter...

This is the... 15th? 20th? Anniversary Sonic 1 + 2 Album that famously features Masato Nakamura's demo tracks. I think this was Christmas 2011 or 2012. Not pictured, but I also have the soundtrack to the original Sonic Adventure.

This was Christmas 2021. Eggman and Metal Sonic are part of a KidRobot collection and came from my sister-in-law's parents. The Sonic coffee mug was the last Christmas present I ever got from my Mom, and unfortunately it was one of those super cheapo ones where the print washed off the first time it went through the dishwasher. I think this was the same Christmas those in-laws got me that short little Werehog action figure.

This is a Hallmark keepsake ornament that I think was intended for Christmas 2022, but didn't arrive until April 2023. They are beautiful. Also got Sega Genesis and SNES ornaments with them, which have little switches on them to play VERY loud music.

For Christmas 2023, my brother got me this limited edition flocked Knuckles Funko Pop. Some of the only Funko Pops I have are from my brother because it's kind of his thing, and I think this guy looks alright.

This hardly counts because it's definitely not official, but a friend pointed out one of those "daily pop culture t-shirt" sites was selling a shirt that was Sonic crossed with Mega Man. Literally the first fangame I ever worked on was something called "Sonic Infinity" that was Sonic + Mega Man X and it looked extremely similar, so I couldn't pass it up.

And then finally, most recently, a few months ago I was out running some errands and I saw some Sonic blind bag backpack charms, so I grabbed one and got this guy out of it. He's surprisingly big, solid, and well made! Paint is a little wobbly but I'm impressed regardless.

I think that's about it, though maybe I'm forgetting one or two things. There ended up being more than I expected.

[ahiddenpath]

Otakon 2023

Lil ramblin' about the con beneath the cut! But above the cut, my spoils!

I haven't been to a con since NYC Comicon in 2015, so this was a ride!

Amazing Stuff:

-Meeting @citrus-cactus at the Digimon redubbed movies screening! It was so amazing to meet her after being in the same online community for... Like... God, who even knows, like ten years?!?!?! And she is so lovely!

-THE DIGIMON REDUBBED MOVIES SCREENING!!! More on that here!

-My haul above! A sweet lil Kou-chan figure and a Luna plush from the dealer's room and an artbook from Shouri and a Sonic keychain from the artist's alley!

Not my fave stuff and neutral observations:

For reference, I went to Otakon all three days from roughly age 14 straight through college?? Well, in college it would have been Sat/Sun only. After that, I guess I didn't go that often, but any comparisons I make are to that time period (roughly 2003-2011 ish).

The DC convention center as a venue:

-The convention center was easy to get to from the Metro!

-The building was much bigger and better able to handle the crowd than the Baltimore Convention Center.

-There was. NO SIGNAGE. WHATSOEVER. For ANYTHING. Absolutely horrendous. What there WERE were volunteers/employees who bellowed directly into your face to... Do the things you were already doing. Or to... Walk the other way around the pillar. Because the other side leads into the faerie realm or some shit, idek.

-The guide books used to have maps, schedules, opening and closure times, etc. There was a map in this guidebook, but the opening and closing times for different parts of the cons and the event schedule were not printed. Meaning I had to use my phone to know, for example, when and where the Digimon screening event was... And there was poor reception the dealer's room in the lowest level.

Although the event schedule site couldn't load, I was blessed that some of Citrus' discord messages were getting through. She alerted me that the screening room was filling up and told me the room number (bless!!!! Thank!!!).

The con compared to ones I remember:

-I was shocked that there was a digimon panel and two separate Digimon screenings in one day? And the Digimon movie redub screening event was full to capacity- I missed the first film because I was next in line at the shut door D: So, like, Digimon is alive, and I saw two Daisuke cosplays, a Ken cosplay, and someone with a Patamon plush attached to their baseball cap. Patahat! There wasn't much merch. Citrus spotted the main place offering digimerch and sent me there (I got the Kou figure there). She also saw the lone Digimon fanart in Artist's Alley, and we found someone who made baby stage plushes. Another dealer's room place had some vintage plushies of the digimon that looked... like they had been through... some stuff.

Basically, Digimon seems to still be very much alive in terms of audience interest, but not so much the merch and fan art. I don't know what to make of that.

-The con seemed a lot less lively than the ones I remember. I only saw a few interesting cosplays (like the kind where you go, how did they even do that?!). My husband pointed out that the hall is far larger, however, and that the cosplay folks have tons of photo studio rooms to go to. They were likely there.

-The extra space was deeply appreciated (compared to what I'm used to from the Baltimore days), but... Okay, so the Dealer's Room provided empty space. Every aisle had an end area to "pull over in," whether it's for a water or food break, a photo op, or to wait for your bud to make a purchase.

PEOPLE STILL STOPPED DEAD DIRECTLY IN THE MAIN THROUGHWAY. WHY. WOULD YOU DO THAT. PLEASE I AM BEGGING-

My husband says I'm dreaming if I think the provided empty space will stop people from doing that, lol!

-DEMON SLAYER. EVERYTHING IS DEMON SLAYER. THERE IS NOTHING BUT DEMON SLAYER. Look, I enjoy Demon Slayer too, but good gracious, it's clearly the Naruto of the 2020s in terms of popularity.

-I learned who Rem is. Good God there were a lot of Rem figures.

-Looking at my purchases, I bought for three "classic" IPs and supported an artist I've followed for a long time. No new stuff. And I'd say the merch overall was about half "vintage" stuff and half newer stuff. Lots of Sailor Moon, DBZ, Pokemon, etc.

General Con Hardships:

-So a friend suggested to me recently that I might have sensory issues. I balked, because jfc have you seen my list of issues, please don't suggest another, I beg, I am full up, can I have some less sir.

Uh basically she mentioned how much she used to love going to the movies and I said, "I don't go anymore, I can't understand the voice audio." And she was like- Okay so it's true that some movies don't mix sound properly and can't be understood well, but if it's all movies... Um, babe, I think that's an auditory processing issue.

She suggested I get ear plugs, and god DAMN I wish I had them at the con.

Riding in the metro in tunnels? The whoosing and clanking hurt. Volunteers absolutely bellowing in your face at the con? Look, I guess it's their job, but please I am going to cry if you scream in my face like that. People playing music at the loudest volume in the dealer's room and hallways? Why, why would you do that. Someone was walking around playing an ocarina on the way to the dealer's room, so I was stuck with her for about 10-15 min, and I genuinely wanted to lock the damn thing in her backpack on a timer somehow, lmao. Look, ocarinas are easy enough to get the correct note out of, but they are difficult to control tonally. That high-pitched, harsh PHWEEEE noise clawed at my ears.

Of course, you can't control other people. The best I can do is accommodate myself to suit the place I'm going, which means... The damned ear plugs.

Apparently sensory issues and anxiety go hand-in-hand, as of course people feel stressed if the signals around them aren't being processed in the "typical" way, causing strain.

So... The con was exhausting and just... Difficult. But! I'm really glad I went! And I'll just buy the gd earplugs, here's what was recommended to me.

Also, PS: I found a piece of rare digimon merch that was way out of my budget at a dealer's room stand. But when I came home and looked it up, I found it for 35% less (which, at this price point, was a lot). AND NOW I HAVE AN ABSOLUTE TREASURE ON THE WAY AND I CANNOT WAIT TO SHOW YOU! Also, honestly check the retail on stuff in the dealer's room before you buy, this must be why there's no reception down there-

I am ready to not attend a con until next year! But to also go next year! Maybe I'll meet more of my online pals!!!! :D