#bandori confessions

[stargazerlover]

Kanon as Pastel Palletes member

Art by stargazerlover

[thsc-confessions]

"Sven loves dairy but unfortunately he's lactose intolerant" submitted by anon

[thrilling-oneway]

whenever people want to hate on d4dj why do they jump straight on "It's queerphobic bc..." as if it doesn't have the best queer rep of any rhythm game out there.

1757 words about queer representation in D4DJ and other rhythm/gacha games below cut

Like there are actual valid reasons to not like d4dj. There's definitely an issue with sexualising the high schoolers, I've made posts talking about it before. But at the same time, if you as someone who plays other of the major gacha/rhythm games is going to say that, you should probably address that SIF, bandori (and maybe enstars? it's been a while since I played) have some dodgy cards as well. Admittedly these cards are mainly old whereas D4DJ is still producing these, but you shouldn't act like your preferred game is perfect either.

But especially saying that D4DJ is queerphobic is so weird. To say that just proves you have no idea what actually happens in the game, and you're just taking screenshots out of context.

Firstly hayakoko. Okay so in the flashback where they get together they said "but we're both girls". Yeah, it's a cliche line that screams 'written by a hetero person', but within the context of the story it's not that bad if a little cringe. Neither Hayate or Kokoa had liked a girl before they started dating, this is literally stated on screen: Hayate says that she was a little surprised to realise that she had a crush on Kokoa. They're baby gay at this point in time. I think Kokoa's an interesting one to point out as well, because she's the one who said the line in the first place, and even after she admits that she likes Kokoa as well and they start dating, the True Love Kiss side story shows her being insecure about PDA in school. It reads a lot like she's had a very heteronormative upbringing, which is very common for queer people. It's probably more common in Japan where they still don't have equal rights for queer people (they don't have marriage equality, same-sex couples can't marry, the exception being if one is trans and hasn't legally changed their gender. and after they're married they can't legally change their gender). Not to mention she goes to catholic school, and as far as I know there's some issues there. So I don't see anything wrong with Kokoa not wanting to be out publicly, and being a bit insecure when she and Hayate confess. You gotta remember they are 15 as well (and ~14 when they started dating). Their relationship isn't going to be perfect, and that's normal.

And then Aoi and her gender presentation. Aoi has always been a very masculine presenting character, and is explicitly GNC, so I can understand that some people were disappointed with her wearing long hair and a ballgown in the Aoi & Haruna Relations event. But the anger some people hold towards this. Come on, how badly can you miss the point? Aoi's gender presentation has been a part of her character since her initial card story. She says she actually used to dress more feminine and have long hair in high school, but decided to change her look because she thought she suited the shorter hair. She also mentions that when she presented fem, she would be told she looked like a cross dresser, which obviously offended her. It's not hard to see that Aoi just wants to be seen as Aoi. It's not about how she presents her gender, she's still Aoi no matter how she dresses - Tsubaki mentions this in the A&H Relations. Nothing was retconned or de-canonised when Aoi wore hair extensions and a dress, it wasn't a sudden unnecessary change. The event explores the fact she wants to try different looks outside of her usual 'princely' one, but she's a bit of a people pleaser and is unsure about it because people associate Aoi with "androgynous good looks". There was no pressure from anyone to be feminine, there was actually pressure the other way. She wore a dress and had long hair for one (1) event, and 2 illustrations. Her most recent card has her in trousers with short hair again. Like you don't have to pounce on it being erasure because Aoi wanted to dress more feminine one time. She doesn't hate being GNC now, she's not permanently feminine now - Aoi being GNC is a part of who she is. Aoi being fluid with her gender expression is a part of her queerness and I don't get how you can miss the point so badly to call it erasure.

D4DJ is genuinely one of if not the best mainstream gacha/rhythm game for queer rep. There's so much more than just this: Tsubaki and Aoi are canonically in love with each other and there was even an attempted confession (they got interrupted), KyoShino have implied romantic feelings, same with NagiHiiro and RinMuni (mainly from Muni's side). Haruna was pretty much confirmed as lesbian during the A&H relations, and has had crushes on two separate characters. Saori's sapphic as well (there's one or two implications that she's bisexual). Having Hayate and Kokoa in a relationship opens the doors to more ships becoming canon in the future. The only negative representation I can think of in this game is Noa, so if you really want to go out of your way to say D4DJ is queerphobic, there you go. Noa likes cute thing, cute girls, and flanderisation took hold quickly to the point of her being creepily obsessed with the ri4 girls and a few others, and literally stalking them. Yikes. Her writing is improving though, especially in All Mix where she just occasionally comments on how cute they are without taking it too far, and they actually let her have other personality traits expressed that had pretty much been forgotten.

My point here is that if you're going to say D4DJ is bad rep or homophobic, you're admitting that your game is worse for representation. I'm not saying that the games in the "Big 3" (proseka/bandori/enstars) are bad by any means (idk about enstars actually I didn't play for very long), but D4DJ has definitely taken some big steps in queer representation that those games are seemingly too scared to make. Having a canon sapphic couple is a game like this is a huge deal, I'm not even sure if it's been done before. And before anyone says "but anhane and minoharu went on a double date in Buddy Funny Spend Time", neither of those pairs are stated or even fucking implied to be in a relationship outside of that event. It kinda just happens in one event, and even then it's still a bit vague on whether either of the couples are actually dating in the event. It's definitely heavily implied that anhane/minoharu have mutual romantic feelings, so they are arguably canon in that sense, just not in an established relationship sense. Bandori has done this as well with PareChu, have them go on dates and be clearly romantically interested in each other, only to never actually be a couple (I know tsumutsumu and reochi have called parechu an official couple, but that's word of saint paul rather than word of god, so take this how you will). Hayakoko is HUGE for this genre, and could mean good things in the future of other rhythm games (especially other Bushiroad ones).

--Break here where I went on a tangent about non-D4DJ queercoding--

Outside of schroedingers dating, both bandori and proseka have characters who are implied/canonically queer. I'll make this short because this is getting really long now and I apologise to anyone who's still reading.

For bandori, Arisa has a crush on Kasumi, Kaoru can be considered as canonically lesbian just from how she's presented, YukiLisa has a lot of implications for romantic feelings, as do MocaRan. Himari is also an interesting case, as she could be read as bisexual or comphet lesbian, it's never really made clear (at least as far as I know, I stopped playing bandori a while ago, and am not up-to-date on story, so anyone who's still reading feel free to add to this or correct me). There's probably some stuff missing here as well.

As for proseka, it actually has quite a lot of queercoding. I already touched on anhane and minoharu earlier, but Kohane and Minori are both heavily implied to be lesbian, An as well (although there's like one or two hints that she could be bi. I can cite them if needed). Mizuki is canonically transfeminine (their gender is unconfirmed), and they have been shown to be attracted to women. ShizuAiri and AkiToya have a lot of romantic implications in their relationships, EmuNene has gradually been getting more and more actually (Amidst a Dream). Ena is implied wlw and Rui is implied mlm okay I think I got everything tangent over.

--End of break--

Regardless of my criticisms, all of the games I've mentioned definitely show how much queer rep has grown and become a lot better in the last decade or so. While not focused on the rhythm game, the first generation of Love Live (2010-16) queerbaited* a fair amount. To give one example, there's an 'interview' with Honoka from 2015 where she heavily implies that she's straight, despite having ship tease with other female characters. Compare that to what we have 8 years later, and you can definitely see improvement. However I think it still needs to be addressed that what we have isn't perfect, and it probably will take while to get to a point where we can have more openly queer characters/couples, especially considering Japan as a country (and american/else localisation teams). But I think more people need to recognise how important D4DJ is for queer representation within this genre. It's really not common to have queer romance and gender presentation be directly addressed and frequently shown, and not just for the sake of making money.

I'm bad at ending essays.

* Queerbaiting - intentionally and maliciously leading a queer audience to believe they will receive representation which is then not provided. Whether the rhythm games mentioned do this or not is... debatable? It's done for the money which ticks the intentionally malicious box, queer people aren't for capitalising on. But a good amount of the time it's done to bait straight people who like yuri/yaoi. I do think it's queerbait though like heavily ship teasing a couple and then throwing in a line to imply one of them is straight definitely queerbaiting. april edit: it took me over a month to realise that there were words missing in that last sentence sorry about that. hi anyone who's reading this in the future

[harrowharr0w]

confession time back in ye olde days when i was only a bandori player i was one of the ones who would like obsessively hate on pjsk until i was swayed into downloading it (my friends played it) (also i liked shiho only. because of yukki)

[the-sun-princess]

Hell, I'm always down for new fic prompts. Can't promise I'll know any of em, but what're some examples of these rare pairs what're on your mind?

well. im always down to just List off my rarepairs lol. they're almost all just bandori and revstar ships that just haunt the back of my mind

BanG Dream

yamabuki saya/udagawa tomoe: big sisters who drum growing up in the same neighborhood who are both very kind and helpful and Understand each other on a deeper level than most (plus. have an event where tomoe bursts in to stop saya from marrying someone else. it was a wedding photoshoot not a real marriage but the dynamic is real)

okusawa misaki/matsubara kanon: the two sane people in a band of crazies who lean on each other. esp since kanon is the only one aware misaki is Also the DJing bear mascot. very early on one crazy made misaki confess to kanon (as an acting exercise) but they're still very close n admire each other a whole lot

futaba tsukushi/yashio rui: not Exactly the only two sane people in the band but the ones more likely to be strict. tsukushi also doesnt tend to dismiss rui's way of approaching things the way others do and is often mediating between rui's harshness and the rest of the band

shiina taki/takamatsu tomori: baby gays. taki is angy blunt gayby who is protective ANd crushing over tomori who is a sensitive shy beanie baby

wakaba mutsumi/yahata umiri: nonverbal girl and the One person who has been genuinely nice to her in the past year even if it was like 2 lines of dialogue

(the last two are partly bc they new so they have less canon content. also mutsumiri was maybe onscreen together for half a minute)

Revue Starlight

tsuyuzaki mahiru/kagura hikari/aijou karen: roomates who's dynamic gets thrown off by the arrival of hikari, karens childhood friend, suddenly transferring and they had a big important promise to act together and mahiru feels left out, unwanted, and worthless. after Struggles and Talking karen n mahiru n hikari manage to get past the jealousys and issues and end up having a really cute dynamic of mahiru taking care of the more physical things while hikari n karen cheer her on emotionally

akikaze rui/tomoe tamao: Extremely Shy And Anxious rui starts acting bc she sees tamao on stage and wants to be up there with her as close as she can be. and tamao is the densest person in the entire world bc rui is Not subtle about her crush and tamao has No idea about it. but she thinks rui is adorable and also swore to be gayer with rui than her rival is with Her gf.

tsuruhime yachiyo/yumeoji shiori: fashionista genius actress yachiyo who also makes costumes but has always kind of kept a distance from others being charmed by shiori's genuine hardworkingness and appreciation of all the details in yachiyos costumes and understands the themes she puts into them. also they flirt/are paired off quite a lot and do cute widdle pda like laplaying n such

ebisu tsukasa/kano misora: probably have the 2nd-least amount of content. but. pretty older girl who has genuine grounded advice to give and energetic younger girl who admires the hell out of her and is the reason misora even went to frontier bc she was so captivated by tsukasa's acting. they are Also kind of the 'saner' pair of frontier students

honami hisame/yukishiro akira Or honami hisame/yanagi koharu: honestly idk how to describe either of these more than 'hisame stubbornly tries to communicate with the aloof cool leaders she meets on stage and she melts them both in different ways'

no biggie if ur not into those fandoms or anything i dont expect anyone to write me stuff, esp not since they smaller fandoms and i also tend to be. pretty picky lol

just sometimes i go so long in canon between getting my nibbles of content i want fanfic to tide me over and there's just. nothin. so i whine about it

EDIT: i added descriptions bc i like saying why i ship them too lol

[curewhimsy]

Rainbow Week 2022

With Rainbow Week coming tomorrow, I felt the need to share the uh, “schedule.”

Rainbow Week is a highly personal time for myself, but if you want to join in, please do, and share it with me!

Every day of November 16 to November 23 is jam-packed with character birthdays (including OCs, my plushies, and characters I have yet to create.) I will focus on those particular characters those days, as well as those themes for that day!

I will also be on vacation for the second half of rainbow week.

———

November 16- Excitement Day!

Birthday list:

Butterscotch lioness (My Webkinz)

Slumber owl (my squishmallow)

Daisy dog (Animal Crossing)

Cosmo alien (OC)

Trixie Pixie (OC)

Carmella (OC)

Aristo Kratt (OC)

Azuki (OC)

Charles (OC I will soon flesh out, named since it’s Charles day.)

Andy (OC)

Isuel (OC)

Shortcake pink horse (plushie)

Simon red panda (Squishmallow)

Jolly the clown (OC)

+

+

(The plus signs stand for two more OCs I will create on that very day.)

About the day:

“Believe in the future, look forward to the excitement!”

National holidays on November 16: Clarinet day, Teddy bear party day, Andy day, Button day, Charles day, Fast food day

Meta: The Owl House day, obscure fandoms day, stuffed animal day

November 17- Compassion Day

Birthdays:

Ruko Yokune (UTAU)

Mallary duck (Animal Crossing)

Soda bunny (Squishmallow)

Pizza Pikachu (Pokemon plush)

Emi Byul (OC)

Ibuki Komatsu (Idolmaster)

Makoto Tachibana (Free!)

Uki clown (OC)

Aster (OC)

Musa (OC)

Diamond snow leopard (plush)

Rolly unicorn (plush)

Blue.wav (OC)

+ Jaden (oc I will make on account of Jaden day)

+

About the day:

“A little kindness can go a long way, and has a profound effect.”

National holidays on November 17: Homemade bread day, baklava day, Jaden day

Meta: Ruko day, fictional shipping day, My Little Pony day

November 18- Wonder Day

Stelle Shimmer (OC)

Lunette Shimmer (OC)

Celestine Shimmer (OC)

Yuki Nagato (Haruhi)

Kuro cat (plush)

Mickey Mouse (Disney)

Minnie Mouse (Disney)

Sowon Moon (OC)

Fangzhi Liu (OC)

Gladys (OC)

Toby (OC)

Cookie birthday bear (plush)

Bread corgi (plush)

Jelly jellyfish (plush

AL.exe (OC)

Tia elephant (Animal Crossing)

+

+

About the day:

“The world is filled with wonder and beauty. Life is mysterious.”

National Holdays: Princess day, Apple cider day, Stand up to bullying day, Married to a Scorpio day, Occult day

Meta: Pokémon SV release date, Love Live day, Princess Tutu day

November 19- Laughter Day

Birthdays:

Josie Bell (OC)

Amelia eagle (Animal crossing)

Risa Matoba (Idolmaster)

Naosuke Izaki (OC)

Pandora Panda (OC)

Todd Hamburg (OC)

Parisa (OC)

Yuzuki (OC)

Pastella monster (plush)

Rosette pink cat (plush)

Wolfgang (OC)

Rui Yashio (Bandori)

Tsubaki Sayama (Anne Happy)

+ Alina

+

About:

“Laughter is the most powerful medicine. It can purify the heart.”

National Holidays: Men’s day, Have a bad day Day, Alina day, Adoption day, Toilet day

Meta: Vocal Synth day, OC appreciation day, Sailor Moon day

November 20- Hope Day

Bdays:

Taya Soune (UTAU)

Sonata Coda (OC)

Daina (Vocaloid)

Dex (Vocaloid)

Petunia cat (Plush)

Cure Egret (Precure)

Tiny gray cat (plush)

Zero (OC)

Amy (OC)

Tangerine cat (plush)

Cyan cat (plush)

Cara cat (plush)

Q-Tea (OC)

Sparro bird (animal crossing)

+ Lucia

+

About:

“It’s okay to feel sad sometimes, as long as you keep hope.”

National holidays: Transgender remembrance day, Lucia day, Peanut butter fudge day

Meta: Drama day, Taya day, Pokemon day

November 21- Miracle Day

Birthdays:

Haku Yowane (Vocaloid)

Bianca Luna (OC)

Flan Flanagan (OC)

Cana husky (plush)

Rio Momose (Idolmaster)

Tails the Fox (Sonic)

Sei Hoshizora (OC)

Dot the clown (OC)

Mira (OC)

Eve (OC)

Xavier (OC)

Ronnie (OC)

Legend dragon (plush)

Nutmeg hedgehog (plush)

Mimo owl (plush)

Grape giraffe (plush)

Artemis (OC)

Flip monkey (Animal Crossing)

Minori Ichinose (Precure)

+

+

About:

“Believe in the miracles of everyday. Keep faith in the world.”

Holdays: Stuffing day, False confession day, Gingerbread cookie day

Meta: Haku day, Cookie Run day, Ojamajo Doremi day

November 22- Whimsy Day

Birthdays

Queen Rainbow (OC)

Momotaro Momone (UTAU)

Guardian of Whimsy dragon (OC)

Daydream cat (plush)

Hayato Akiyama (idolmaster)

Rei Shinohara (Idolmaster)

Icy (OC)

Shiori (OC)

Roy G Biv (OC)

Alvin the elf (OC)

Jubilee pastel bunny (plush)

Gumball panda (plush)

Jumbo dinosaur (plush)

Choco (OC)

Claudia tiger (Animal Crossing)

Sable hedgehog (Animal Crossing)

Kyoya Otori (Ouran)

+ Aaron

+

About:

“You are unique, and filled with a universe of wonder and awe.”

Holidays: Amelia/Amelie day, Go for a ride Day, Aron/Aaron day, cranberry relish day

Meta: Whimsica’s Anniversary, Aron (The Pokémon) day, Precure day

November 23- Light Day

Birthdays:

Yume Hoshine (OC)

Fantasia rainbow alpaca (plush)

Beans dog (plush)

Miki Hoshii (Idolmaster)

Chija Cha (OC)

Sora Naegino (Kaleido Star)

Sirius (OC)

Saga (OC)

Sebastian (OC)

Rin Arasaki (OC)

Pixel unicorn (plush)

Cotton bunny (plush)

Max Potion (OC)

Knox chicken (Animal Crossing

Celestia Ludenberg (Danganronpa)

Kaede Ichinose (Aikatsu)

Cure Selene (Precure)

+ Margaret

+

About:

“Your light is stronger than the darkness. You can make it through.”

Holdays: Eat a cranberry Day, Cashew day, Margaret day, Thankful for dog day, Jukebox day

Meta: Idolmaster day, furries day, Kaleido Star day

[fatherfigurefusion]

Bandori Girls as that one TikTok Audio.

Love Interest: Why are you so kind to me? Do you like me or something?

And now presenting, the four different types of reactions to a confession!

The Dog: (Ako, Eve, Hagumi, Himari, Kasumi, Kokoro, Touko, MASKING, PAREO) You finally noticed?! Uh-huh! I do! Y'know, y'know! I REALLY really like you! I love you!

The Cat: (Arisa, Misaki, Ran, Sayo, Yukina, Rui, CHU2) Huh?! Like? N-No, I don't...Don't get the wrong idea...dummy...

The Fox: (Chisato, Lisa, Moca, Saaya, Tae, Nanami) Yes, I do. Huh? Are you embarrassed? How cute~. Y'know, I love seeing you react like this~.

The Hamster: (Aya, Kanon, Maya, Rimi, Rinko, Tsugumi, Mashiro, LOCK) Eh?! Oh..uh...Th-that...W-Was it that obvious?...Yes, I like you! P-Please go out with me!

Mixes: Hina (dog-fox hybrid), Kaoru (fox in the streets, hamster in the sheets), Tomoe (same as Kaoru), Tsukushi (has dog, cat, and hamster energy all at once), LAYER (same as Kaoru and Tomoe)

[reecehaswritten]

Also here's two fics I didn't post here since one's bandori and the other Pjsekai feel free to read them if you want dfukhskfa

My Cinderella <3 (kasuari, bandori) - Of all songs, why did Kasumi have to pick Romeo and Cinderella. Arisa is met with a surprise while playing, and she's left red enough to the point that she looks like she's about to pass out from over-exhaustion. And it's all the fault of the energetic lead, who happens to be her girlfriend.

Poems, Treasure hunts, and Akito Shinonome (akirui, project sekai) - Akito finds himself alone in Kamiyama, Rui having made a little treasure hunt for him to complete. It's on Valentines day too, and he'd already gotten a confession letter from hiim. What's Rui up to?

[sr-colle]

my latest tenso package came in!!

first thing i see after removing the air packaging is shulegs. real unmei moment.

the way the clear file was packed is kinda concerning, as it looks like it's just slightly too big to fit perfectly and one of the corners got bent upward...

but it'll probably be fine after i flatten it under something heavy for a day or two.

so here's everything unplastic'd!

the tcg cards spooked me for a second because i was looking at claude's face through the plastic sleeve and turned him over and saw a weiss schwarz blau card back and i was like !?!??!?!??!??!? until i remembered yuto was in there too lol. claude will be joining my two byleth cipher cards, and i think it'll be cute if i surround yuto with my bandori weiss schwarz cards so it looks like he has an audience 😊

the reiji title pin surprised me with how big it is!!! for some reason i thought it'd be like 3cm wide at most, but it's 6.5cm across and almost 2cm tall!! guess it's to make sure the dense kanji are more legible in itabags and stuff. i only got this title pin since i didn't care as much for the wording of the other one, plus this one is the higher ranked title in dbes so i'm showing the proper amount of oshi-ism 😎

soooo happy to finally have the janus reiji and lrfes shu tickets. when i first decided to start collecting, these were the items i wanted most, as they're my favorite cards for each of them in dbes and the frame design is really beautiful for them!! i love the dots in reiji's romanized name forming an elegant little arc, and the holo elements are really vibrant and gorgeous. i'm going to try my best to make these stand out on my board arrangement since they're so special to me.

confession: i had little idea what the egoistic才Φ shikishi even was when i ordered it. i was just like "song jacket art in some kind of collectible form? add to cart" but i really like it!!! now i want the yume no ato one too lol. there's something really satisfying about nice cardboard (<- predictable words of a collector)

not much to say about desfes sol except that its disc case is identical to the pwy s-sol case, so if i go through with customizing them it's nice that they'll match. not sure if these are original cases or supplied by suruga-ya.

the real prize of this batch is my beloved original reiji acrylic stand, who i never thought i'd be able to obtain for less than 3k... instead i was pointed to a 330 yen listing— unopened!— on some secondhand shop i'd never heard of (lashinbang) and i ordered this thing faster than when i got a stock alert for the tears of the kingdom collector's edition.

interestingly, he appears slightly shorter than suit reiji! it might be the pose though. the art printing quality is also lower, which i'm chalking up to its age in the franchise history, as they probably had a lower budget for merch back then. i won't be looking that close though, so no problem!

his matching kusogaki is on the way, so for now he gets to stand between the suits like a king.

lastly there's the clear file; it has this odd offset effect around the character art and i'm not sure if it's a printing misalignment or intentional or what.

but who cares look at how cool it looks when i put it in front of the window light!!!!

so that's everything!! i've got a buyee order coming soon so i'm holding off on rearranging my board til then. i'm gonna go watch the desfes disc 🌸

[bandoriconfessions]

"Come on, Bushimo... Give us the forbidden Yukiran 'Magnet' cover... I want to watch the chaos unfold..."

[luymani]

ppl who think video games give children anger issues r focusing on the wrong genre. they havent seen what rhythm games do to ppl. that shit makes them VIOLENT

[goatboard]

KIAN PLEASE BE INSANE IN MY NOTIFICATIONS, IT ALWAYS MAKES ME SOOO HAPPY TO SEE IT

do nor be afraid to ask me about bandori, i might not be as active in the fandom but MAN ive been playing the game a little recently and always will go apeshit over my girls because... i mean i've been there since 2018, you expect me to abandon them??? after all the adoption papers have been filled out????

PLEASE I LOVE COUPLES SENDING LETTERS TO EACH OTHER IT'S ALWAYS SO CUTE its also so funnt for Himarinko since they probably live like 20 minutes away from each other and also are constantly texting each other

Himari assumes Rinko already knows the answer is yes to her marriage proposal so she just kinda forgets to say it and Rinko is SO ANXIOUS about it because??? is she ok with it??? or not??? and then Himari starts to ask her about the wedding details (like what kind of dress would be better ect.) and Rinko is like what are you playing at, I love you but WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHOSE WEDDING

Himari would absolutely boast about being THE girlfriend

if Rinko was a streamer she'd come into her room to give her some cut fruit and a smooch and Rinko is so flustered because Himari Im streaming and the chat goes wild

BUT PLS AFTERGLOW TRYING S O HARD TO GET THEM TOGETHER AND THEIR CONFESSION ENDS UP COMPLETELY UNRELATED THATS SO FUNNY honestly after they start dating i NEED for aglow to start treating Rinko like an old friend and she's just so happy to be accepted by them

BUT AUGH YOU MADE ME THINK ABOUT THEM TOO..... OH GOD I LOVE HIMARINKO

Kit I'm not having a good time the mental illness is back and its name is Himarinko Disorder please help me oh my God.

heh

I adore how you made Rinko write Himari a letter, what if Himari says she loved it so much Rinko decided that writing letters to your gf = good grade in girlfriend so she decides to do it for things like little anniversaries or whenever she feels like it. for her part Himari would also decide to sneak in a letter into Rinko's shoe locker, Rinko is so flustered the whole day because she. did not. expect that.

Himari also puts up all the letters from Rinko on her wall :) at one point she no longer has any space to hang them and it makes her so sad :( she wants to keep her girlfriend close

Himari seems to be the kinda girl who has a very loose concept of boundaries and often shows up to Rinko's house unannounced, at first Rinko is sooo anxious over it and would propose going out somewhere rather than staying in. overtime she grows used to it though and Himari starts to slowly invade her room (leaving clothes around, books, magazines) and Rinko is just soo happy to find them and have an excuse to invite Himari again (which obviously wasnt a genious plan invented by Himari to come around again and again, why would you even think that, she'd never do that)

Rinko's love language is gift giving and she'd often handmake something for Himari. obviously Himari Has To Repay Her (usually in making an accessory also or kisses, a lot of kisses)

Rinko's FGO mutuals are often baffled because she's been grinding in low-level areas recently, actually she's just been helping her gf gain some experience

also whenever somebody in mean to Himari online Rinko turns into an absolute white knight, either absolutely obliterating them or runing their reputation

fuck this, Himari carries a picture of Rinko around

I'm torn between Afterglow being 100% oblivious or 100% invested into hmrnk, both are so hilarious, they think Rinko is another one of Himari's gal pals or are jumping the ship for any opportunity to leave them alone

[aikatsuandprecureconfessions]

I want an Aikatsu/Bandori crossover event which we get Bandori covers of Aikatsu songs

Submitted by: Anon

[uten4]

Thank you very much for the input!! :) It seems I've indeed missed some important developments along these lines; what you describe with Pareo and Chu2 in particular sounds like it could be some focused gay subtext.

Re: your tags, I want to clarify that I agree that there doesn't need to be a kiss for love between two girls to be considered verifiable and real-- I feel that there just needs to be enough build-up in a specific direction, without a lot of misdirection caused by many of the characters seeming to shift the focus of their romantic feelings constantly.

But I see that what you're saying is that even though Bandori has a lot of yuri moments between a lot of different characters, there have still been some core relationships that emerged. So there's still valid gay subtext amongst it because there is *enough* specific direction for those particular pairings, yes? That's fair!

I wanna say that even though Misaki's vibe with her confession to Kanon was more suggestive of true romantic feelings than with Kaoru, there's still a truckload of yuri between Misaki and Kokoro which also comes across as sincere, so it's like, which girl is Misaki being written to have true romantic feelings for? Kokoro or Kanon?

But as you said, this happened long ago, and I'm not acquainted with recent Bandori developments, so it's not an debate I should be having. ^^' Not to mention that Misakanon and Misakoko aren't among the more consistent relationships you listed anyway :]

Disclaimer: I haven't played this game in several years and this is some roughly edited stream of consciousness

BanG Dream is a very interesting thing to look at from my perspective of someone who is on very high alert for gay subtext in any fiction I engage with (that sounds so lame on this website lol should I say "homoerotic" instead to sound academic?), especially since I've never seen anything like it that came out of my own culture(s). Honestly I haven't seen much like it in general, which kinda makes me feel like I'm talking about something that everyone else already knows about?!? Like, I'm guessing stuff like Love Live or Free are similar factories of randomized yuri or BL dressings.

But yeah, setting aside my ignorance, Bandori is a franchise that's extremely dependent on you liking the characters, and by extension their stories and relationships, because the main thing you win in the gacha is cards that display the characters. And it appears that one strategy they have for promoting that love and investment... is constant yuri fanservice LOL.

Things that I could normally note down as indications of romantic feelings between characters (ex. blushing frequently at each other's remarks or appearances, blocking and posing that evokes common romance tropes or literally looks like they're about to kiss, "jokes" from characters or situational comedy revolving around theoretical romance involving them) is like, kinda meaningless in Bandori, because it happens NONSTOP and switches around NONSTOP. It'll happen with two girls and then they'll go their separate ways and repeat the same scenario with other different girls (ex. Misaki has to give Kanon a fake love confession, and then in a card story from the same event, has to make a fake love confession with Kaoru as well). Or it'll happen with two girls and they never do anything like that with each other again (ex. Aya blushing Noticeably, Exceptionally when Maya was running to save her in the PasuPare island event story), whereas in a story that's genuinely trying to build gay subtext with relatively small moments like that, to my understanding it would normally happen several times with the same characters to reinforce the impression in the audience. The characters involved would at least continue to hold each other to a place of particularly special importance in their lives, above all their other friends!!!

But no, in Bandori it's just random. Well, it does make sense enough for every individual instance, but taken as a whole, it's kind of a disorganized mass of moments that are just asking you to get lost in the barrage of homosexualesque gestures. The Ho-Yay of it all. It never culminates in a kiss or a date or actual statement of love to clear things up, for many reasons that I can imagine, including that solidifying a relationship in that manner would upset the system-- the characters involved can no longer have their gay moments with other girls, and the other girls would have to be ushered into relationships as well to be fair, because they're all in a similar position wrt gay relationships.

Is it even worth it to say definitively that any of the characters are "gay"? Part of me wants to point to Arisa and Rimi and say that they are undeniably, obviously gay. I suppose that Arisa's blatant referencing of Kasumi in her love song, and Rimi's extreme flusteredness over Kaoru and desire to pose with her as a married couple, are things that satisfy me in some way over all the other yuri and makes me say "yes. These are the clear sapphics, clear in some way beyond the muddledness most of the other characters express." But then it's as if I compare Arisa and Rimi to a standard of heterosexual behavior constructed by the other characters, when that behavior isn't so very straight at all. It's a flawed foundation. They all might as well be gay! Some of them just show more loyalty and intensity than others of them, as a spectrum with Arisa and Rimi near the top in terms of loyalty and especially intensity.

But then perhaps they might as well all not be gay, because no random group in real life is all gay, but without any actual unambiguous love or courtship. It's a contrived, imaginary situation. Rather than expressing feelings in a manner representative of real people, they're products that are acting out impermanent, random feelings in a marketable way, aren't they?

Damned if it isn't fun though.

.

Right, it would have been funny to end it there, but I need to address the elephant in the room. Kaoru.

...She's obviously the "gayest" of any of them... and in a way that none of the other characters are. Because her gay words and actions are clearly textually related to gender, whereas most of the gay instances of other characters are focused on the personal target of the affections, with no acknowledgement of the fact that this is a girl. Kaoru is observably very aware that all the girls she openly flirts with are indeed girls. So perhaps she is the only one in the game who has been allowed to have an actual sexual orientation. Lol.

[bandoritea]

Original: kanon is soft and warm like mash potato

Confess here!

[zlsconfessions]

Tae Yamada = Tae Hanazono

(I find this funny as I may have nearly mixed up the surnames once or twice at first - Admin Tae)