#i can only find kaoru merch

[numberoneauguardian]

my ouran hoard + artwork in the sketchbook

[s-a-i-s-a]

Hello again, dear fandom. I have received some interest in the discord server. However… I have thoughts and questions. This will probably read more like a journal entry than anything else.

—

TW/CW: CP, Watsuki

I continue to struggle with how much I personally want to engage with RK given that the author is still alive, profiting, and more than likely continuing his crimes behind closed doors.

My initial intention was to open up a discord that centered fan-created content, particularly queer content and discussion. Despite a series that literally has “romantic” in its title, I have always viewed Watsuki’s shallow handling of RK’s canon relationships and female characters to be, at best, incredibly unsatisfying. Now knowing what we know now, it’s not surprising. Kaoru, Misao, and Megumi deserved better.

Things like supporting official merch and pedo apologist arguments were not going to be welcome in the discord. Piracy is a thing, and the only somewhat acceptable way to consume RK at this point, in my opinion anyway. However, a quick google search will lead one to articles that suggest piracy can actually boost sales and market awareness. Thus, my cognitive dissonance continues.

The anime reboot, while aesthetically pleasing to look at, is also more faithful to the manga. And thus, closer to Watsuki. For some reason, I was hoping the anime reboot would distance itself from some of the problematic narrative choices that already existed in the manga. And now, as I am watching this reboot with different eyes, and with the knowledge of its creator’s unspeakable crimes, I’m beginning to see just how outdated the series and its tropes actually are. I can’t find a reason to justify its retelling, other than the occasional nostalgia-driven dopamine hit. But that’s not good enough. There are other stories that are much more deserving of being animated.

Meanwhile, the Hokkaido arc is barely worth mentioning. It’s garbage.

—

TW/CW: fan death

Additionally, as some hardcore saisa fans may already know, one of the most prolific saisa fanfic authors, Kuroiyousei, passed away about one year ago now. While they were not the only one still producing queer RK fan content (newer fanart can still be found on pixiv), the English-speaking queer fandom has essentially died along with them.

So where do we go from here? Do we, as queer and trans fans, try to reclaim what we can? Is that even possible? I ask all of this as someone for whom Rurouni Kenshin was my favorite series. Its depiction of Saitou Hajime, my favorite character. And saisa, my OTP. I have fond memories of all the friends and experiences I had in this fandom.

But there are other stories out there. Other saisa-adjacent pairings and ships to sail.

Still. It’s not the same. I can’t blame fans (including myself) for continuing to feel something for a story that has impacted them.

But these days when I look at the RK manga on my shelf, instead of fond fandom memories there’s this question in their place: Is this no longer worth saving?

[kaorucafe]

Minnie your new blog is so pretty!!! :000!!! love the soft pink vibe its so comfy...might i get headcanons for rei, kaoru, and kuro with a fem!idol!s/o? thank you in advance~

✩. .thank ya so much! okay so as soon as i have read this request i felt the urge to write it because i love idol!au -and idols too, im listening to snsd 2011 live rn AHAHA- ANYWAYS HERE YOU GO AND THANK YOU AGAIN~

Rei with a fem!idol!s/o

ღ,. he knows it, of course~ and he really enjoys the fact that you're an idol too! already watched some of your lives online, and oh my god: already in love with your skills! but when he watched you in person he was so astounded...yeah! that's his s/o! thought it is hard to believe...www

ღ,. he was so speechless! your vocals!! dance!!! everything is just too much for him! he's proud ol' grandpa =w= after your lives, expect him to come hug you tightly and say stuff only an old man like him would say ww acts like a big bro at times you know~ and i think that he would spread a lot stuff about you such as a new song, or an album, or a photoshoot! so your fans know that you're doing your best٩(๑ˆOˆ๑)۶

Kaoru with a fem!idol!s/o

ღ,. you're both idols, and he had a looot of scandals, but when it was announced that you two were together everyone was so happy actually! -yet, there are still some close-minded people that are jealous but yeah that happens www, but the most of ur fans were supportive and happy for you two! loves to see you perform, and so happy to hear you sing while there's a loud fanchant in the background~ "uoh, does [name] really have this much fans? heh, very proud~"

ღ,. would constantly ask rei to perform with you until he doesn't agree...he would absolutely love to go on stage with you, singing on different harmonies that perfectly balance~ and he's already planning to practice for your next live! when you're there, he loooves practicing more than he ever did ww let's not forget mentioning that he's more than supportive and he'll enjoy every single thing you do as an idol!! (pspsps fans even gave you two a ship name~ and can't wait for you two to get a photoshoot together😽)

Kuro with a fem!idol!s/o

ღ,. he's like a proud dad: throwing a big thumbs up with a smirk everytime you're on stage, doing perfectly that step you found so difficult during practice, after a lot of tries~ the sight makes you chuckle, but right now you have to focus on your exhibition! he would absolutely buy some merch of yours and even make you an outfit for your debut...how nice of him! make sure you give your best, okay?

ღ,. always inviting you to practice together! you have some difficulties hitting a very high note? no worries~ he'll tell you that you're doing your best, you'll hit that in a couple days for sure..! same goes for a step, he's learning it so that he can explain it better to you! also expect to find flowers behind the scenes of your next stage, from an anonymous that loves you a lot~☆

[emeraldnavypotato]

So I did the Inuyasha/Yashahime escape room at Tokyo Dome City today, and, while I'm going to do a full write-up/summary/translation with pictures and videos soon, I thought I'd give at least a little preview today!

The story is that you're an ordinary farmer who gets cursed by a dragon demon. Kagome gets immediately kidnapped by the demon, so since you and Inuyasha are both after the same enemy, you team up to find and defeat him. The demon is attacking a mysterious "amusement park" and you have to find clues on the attractions. (For us, we rode a spinning teacup-style ride and Inuyasha attacked it. It was delightful.) Eventually, you find out that he can only be defeated by a human with no demonic, spiritual, or priestly energy, and, since Sango's not feeling up to it, it's gotta be you.

You defeat him, but 20 years later, a similar demon is attacking the village and amusement park. This time, you team up with Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha to defeat him and find out his connection to the original demon.

A really nice touch is that they're playing Yashahime music throughout the park the whole time, and I stan Wada Kaoru to a ridiculous level, so that might have actually been the best part for me.

A less nice touch is that, hilariously enough, the escape room was true to form in that the Yashahime section was more confusing, more poorly-written, and terribly animated (I wish I could have recorded the second dragon's death scene. My friend and I lost it at how bad the animation was.) compared to the Inuyasha section. My friend has never watched either show and even she noticed how much less effort was put into the Yashahime part.

An interesting point for discussion is that they specify it's been 20 years between the two attacks, and since Kagome is still in her school uniform and they mention Naraku might be connected to the demon, the first attack must be during the course of the original series. This would mean Yashahime actually takes place 17 years after the end of the original series, not 18, right? (20 years minus the 3 Kagome spent in the future.) Obviously, I'd trust the in-show timeline over a non-canon escape room, but it shows that the manga-based starting-in-1996 timeline is definitely wrong.

The clue book for the Inuyasha portion of the escape room. (I'll scan the insides later, I promise!)

The clue book for the Yashahime portion.

A bonus book of extra puzzles to solve while you're waiting on line for the attractions. (Sticking to the "only child Rin on merch" theme, I see.)

The only characters that appear in the game are Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippō, Sango, Miroku, and Myōga in the first part, then Towa, Setsuna, Moroha, and Myōga again in the second part. So, I had to see if they had Kagura anywhere, of course.

They had banners of almost all Naraku's incarnations hanging over the entrance area.

Then, there was this giant mural in the underground walkway. If you zoom in . . .

Of course they put Kagura and Sesshōmaru right next to each other. I don't know who at Sunrise is being paid to mess with my heart, but I don't appreciate it.

(Slightly closer-up pics if you want 'em. They were at the top of the mural, and I'm short, so this is the best I could do, sorry.)

Overall, it was fun and if anyone in Japan is reading this, I'd recommend it! It seems pricey at ¥3600, but that includes tickets to 5 attractions, so it's actually a great deal.

That's all for now, but more pictures and information to come! Feel free to ask questions if you have any!

[osakaso5]

Momo Twelve Hits! Rabbit Chat Part 3: Request Hits 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5

Yamato: Sorry about the disturbance. Can we continue now?

Momo: I'm good, but are you sure you are? lol

Momo: Iori and Tamaki didn't notice your whoopee cushion until it was too late, right? lololol

Yamato: We're good. We agreed that I'll make decorated school lunches for them on my next day off.

Iori: It's not that I fell for his bribery, I just didn't want to prolong this pointless fight.

Tamaki: It's been super long since we last got Yama-san's fancy lunches!

Yamato: I'll put in a little dessert, too.

Tamaki:

Riku: Where did you get a whoopee cushion, anyway?

Mitsuki: Apparently he got it from a bingo at a wrap party, lol

Yamato: I did get it, but I wasn't sure when to use it.

Sogo: That doesn't mean you had to put it in the living room...

Yamato: I forgot I left it there (lol)

Nagi: Goodness. Sogo is right, the living room is not your personal locker.

Mitsuki: You're one to talk, Nagi! The merch you bought online is still lying around in there!

Nagi: Just think of them as decorations :-)))

Tsumugi: In any case, I'm glad the whoopee cushion incident has been resolved! lol

Momo: Yep! Let's get back to the requests, shall we! (^O^ゞ

Tsumugi: Right! Go ahead, Mitsuki-san!

Mitsuki: Gotcha!

Mitsuki: Mine is to recommend a game!

Mitsuki: You're really busy, but you play a lot of stuff, right? I figured you'd know everything from the most popular stuff to more niche stuff!

Momo: I'm not an expert or anything, lol I just casually play whatever catches my eye.

Mitsuki: You play  a lot of stuff, but aren't action games your favorite?

Momo: They're so exhilarating! When I'm in a bad mood, I play games to let off some steam, lololol

Momo: Plus it's fun to plan the allotment and pacing of my weapons and ammo when I play.

Nagi: So you are a strategical player, Mister Momo.

Gaku: Wow. I don't play games that often, but when I do, I just shoot at everything until I run out of ammo and lose.

Ryunosuke: I usually get surrounded by enemies and die because I'm too busy checking my surroundings...

Tenn: Even if it's just games we're talking about, it's worrying that two of our members are the self-destructive type

Kaoru: They're very on the nose, though...

Momo: Everyone's got their own playstyle, so I can totally see that (≧▽≦)b

Momo: I've also been playing mobile stuff lately, like escape games! I'll make a list of my top game recs later.

Mitsuki: A ranking! Awesome! I can't wait to see it!

Momo: If any of them seem interesting, try them out and let me know what you thought ☆

Mitsuki: I will!

Tsumugi: I'm sure Momo-san's game ranking will be very interesting!

Tsumugi: Yamato-san, you're next.

Yamato: I wanna hear if there's anything in particular that you do for relaxation.

Yamato: You're really good at stuff like mental control. I was wondering if you had some kind of trick to it.

Momo: Do you have anything, Yamato?

Yamato: I drink beer and sleep (lol)

Iori: It feels like all you do is drink...

Riku: There's always beer in the fridge!

Nagi: Yamato... Are you actually drowning some sort of sorrows in alcohol..?

Yamato: Nope, I mostly just drink beer because I love it.

Nagi: (´・ω・`)

Sogo: It's hard to tell whether you're drinking for fun or to relax... Maybe you could come up with some kind of signal?

Yamato: I don't exactly want to let everybody know when I'm stressed, y'know (lol)

Yamato: Well, Momo-san?

Momo: I don't think I do anything special to relax.

Momo: If whatever's stressing me out is something I can't control, I just close my eyes. If I need to eliminate whatever's making me feel that way, I do that.

Yamato: You say the scariest things sometimes.

Tsumugi: Mental balance is important. I try not to let stress build up, either.

Tsumugi: Yaotome-san, may we hear your request next?

Gaku: Mine is to do a one-man Re:vale show!

Momo: What's that supposed to be, lol It sounds really funny, lololol

Gaku: You pretend to be Yuki-san and host the show as if you're both there!

Yuki: Momo's going to pretend he's me? Great idea

Gaku: You did it for me off work just the other day, remember? Your so-called Supreme Hunk act was really funny.

Momo: I didn't want Yuki to find out about that, lololol

Yuki: Oh. Did he sound just like me?

Gaku: No, not really.

Momo: That's harsh! I feel a little hurt by that, lololol

Gaku: My bad (lol)

Gaku: It's not that your tone or the language you used were too different from his. It's just that the pose  you took every time you said  anything kinda overshadowed the rest (lol)

Momo: I know, but I couldn't help it...

Yuki: Now I really want to see that

Momo: It's too embarrassing to do in front of you, Yuki!

Yuki: I'll be praying that you end up with Gaku-kun's request ^^

Gaku: Thank you! (lol)

Tsumugi: That would drive all Re:vale fans wild! 

Tsumugi: Tsunashi-san, are you ready?

Ryunosuke: Yeah. Mine is to tell everyone  a weakness of yours,  if you have any! 

Ryunosuke: You've got fast reflexes and you're a great speaker, so I feel like you're kind of great at everything. I can't even imagine anything you couldn't handle...

Banri: Momo-kun's such a multitalent. He's got skill, guts, and courage.

Yuki: He never gets lost at a place we haven't been to before.

Banri: And he's good with bugs...

Ryunosuke: You must really be fearless, if you're even good with bugs!

Momo: I can handle bugs, but I wouldn't say I'm "good" with them, lololol

Momo: I've totally got weaknesses! Like the sound of two pieces of styrofoam being rubbed together!

Riku: Aagh! A chill just ran down my spine..!

Tamaki: There was a bad taste in my mouth just now..!

Sogo: These two are very sensitive to those sorts of things.

Momo: Sorry, lololol

Momo: If I said this on radio, would it have the same effect on the listeners!? I'll have to come up with an answer everyone can handle, lol

Ryunosuke: Thank you! I'm looking forward to it.

Tsumugi: I can't imagine Momo-san having weaknesses, either!

Tsumugi: Momo-san, could we hear your request for yourself next?

Momo: Okay!

Momo: My request is a super deep Re:vale talk, about stuff only I know! (*^▽゜)v☆ミ

Momo: The show isn't just for me, it's for our fans too. I figured it'd be a nice treat for them!

Yuki: If it's stuff only you know, does that mean it's something even I don't know about?

Momo: Basically, I'll be approaching Re:vale's charm from my own perspective!

Momo: Like the time Yuki almost dropped his phone in a pot because he was half-asleep, or how all of Yuki's pictures turn out amazing, even when I try to take them without warning!

Tamaki: You're only gonna talk about Yukirin!

Momo: Oh! Am I?

Tenn: That won't be much of a Re:vale talk

Iori: I suppose this is the impact of marketing yourself as a married couple...

Ryunosuke: I'm sure your fans will be happy to know how close you are!

Yuki: Re:vale is both of us. If you only talk about me, I'll be sad, and maybe even a little angry

Yuki: Maybe I'll get so sad that I barge into the recording booth with you

Momo: While I'm broadcasting!?

Yuki: No, not really.

Yuki: Even if I want to

Momo: Yuki..! I'm so sorry for making you sad! I'll make sure to talk about myself, too!

Momo: I'll tell you all about how important you are to me ☆

Gaku: Did he listen to anything Yuki-san just said..?

Tenn: Who knows?

Rinto: Yuki-kun has gone quiet...

Tsumugi: IDOLiSH7 could learn a lot from Re:vale's intimacy..!

Mitsuki: Nah, they're way too intense, lololol

Yamato: Our manager says pretty unhinged stuff sometimes.

Nagi: I do not mind doing a marriage routine with IDOLiSH7 :-)

Riku: There's seven of us, so it'd be really hard to decide our roles..!

Tsumugi: Lastly, Yuki-san, may we hear your request?

Yuki: Yeah

Yuki: Momo, try treating me more coldly

Momo: Huh!? You mean I gotta be mean to you!?

Momo: No way! That's too hard! Σ(T□T)

Yuki: I had a different request for you originally, but I changed my mind.

Momo: You change requests too fast! You told me the same thing just a while ago.

Yuki: That's good. Keep going

Momo: No! That wasn't me being mean, I was just calling you out!

Yuki: But it's not quite enough. Say something meaner

Momo: Yuuukiiiiiii~~~~~~ ・゜・(ノд`;)・゜・

Kaoru: Do you think he'll get mad and start sulking if you say something mean to him, even though he asked for it?

Yamato: Ugh, that's so annoying.

Rinto: This is Momo-kun we're dealing with, so I'm sure he already has the proper aftercare in mind...

Yuki: Say anything you want

Momo: I'm absolutely never gonna get this request!!!

Yuki: ^^

Tsumugi: What a passionate development..!

Tsumugi: I'm sure you've all got more things to say, but that's it for the requests. Thank you!

Yuki: Now it's time for Momo to request something from us

Sogo: If there's anything you want, let us know.

Choices/outcomes:

1. Do you have a request for us?

Momo: To keep playing with me, I guess! Thanks for being such good friends (○´д`人´д`○)

2. Do you have a request for TRIGGER?

Momo: We've got a tour coming up, so come see us if you've got the time!

3. Do you have a request for Yuki-san?

Momo: Change that request from earlier to something else right now, please... |ω・`)

Gaku: Those were some great requests!

Yuki: I hope they get fulfilled ^^

Momo: I was serious about all of them, so here's hoping!

Mitsuki: It's almost your birthday, too! I hope you'll let us celebrate it with you, even though it comes before the requests!

Momo: Yay! I've been waiting for this, lol

Mitsuki: Happy birthday, Momo-san! I'll bake you a cake later!

Ryunosuke: Happy birthday! I'm glad you were so excited for this!

Tamaki: Momorin, hbd! Make sure to get my request!

Riku: Happy birthday, Momo-san! I'm looking forward to your radio show!

Tenn: Happy birthday. Thank you for always looking out for us.

Kaoru: Happy birthday. I hope you have a good year.

Nagi: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Sogo: Momo-san, happy birthday. As both your fan and junior, I will be praying for Re:vale's continued success.

Iori: Happy birthday. I hope you continue to look after IDOLiSH7.

Gaku: Momo-san, happy birthday. Come see TRIGGER's lives, too!

Yamato: Happy birthday. Here's to many more years of being friends.

Banri: Happy birthday! I'll be cheering for you, as always. And I look forward to your upcoming live.

Rinto: Happy birthday! It makes me very happy to have celebrated all these birthdays with you. I hope I can continue doing just that.

Tsumugi: Happy birthday, Momo-san..!

Momo: Thanks for the requests and birthday messages! I'm super happy right now..!

Momo: Now that I got all this, I can head towards my birthday at full speed!

Gaku: Do you have any plans?

Momo: We have the afternoon off, so I'm planning to have dinner at Yuki's!

Yuki: It's too bad we don't get the entire day

Momo: Half a day is more than enough! lol I'm so happy I get to celebrate with you and Okarin (ノ*´▽)ノ

Momo: But I need to host a great radio show before that!

Momo: With all your requests, I'll make sure that my Twelve Hits! will be fun. Just you wait!

[eroticcannibal]

OK SO HERE IS EVERYTHING ABOUT MY HELLISH TIME IN LONDON TO SEE DIR EN GREY

If you are just looking for stuff about the gig, scroll down to the bold and italics bit cus I have some ranting to do. 

OK SO Everything was fine, was a bit cold when I left home but that’s fine, wore some trousers planning to change once I got to the hostel. Catching the coach was fine. Reached London, left the coach station like “ah, now I can smoke”. Go to roll a cigarette, BUT MY STUFF IS GONE. Couldn’t find it anywhere. Great. So I go buy some more and plan out my route to the hostel. Looks easy enough, catch the Victoria line then a 10 min walk. What could go wrong? Should take half an hour, I had an hour till my planned arival time, then an hour to change and do my makeup, then leave the hostel at 5. Plenty of time. 

So I get to where google told me my hostel was. And there is no hostel. Ok maybe it’s just hard to see, right? So I ask around. No one knows anything about a hostel. One person knows about a hostel across the road that was demolished, but that’s it. I was pretty sure I was in the right place, since I was looking for somewhere on Seven Sister’s road, and all the shops had Seven Sistsers mentioned on it, and there were tube stations that said Seven Sistsers on them. (Turns out this road was actually High Road! What the fuck! London is bullshit!) So I called the hostel (which thankfully did exist) and got some directions. Which weren’t very clear. And got more lost. So I called my girlfriend! To get more directions! “Hey I’m at the Costa” “ok theres like 4 of them” “across from tesco” “theres 3 costas across from tesco on that road”. EVENTUALLY I found the hostel. at 5. I had been no more than 15 minutes away the whole time but it took 2 HOURS TOTAL to get there. 

And then when I check in I CAN’T PAY IN CASH So I had to go get cash, fine whatever. Had just enough time to get changed and do the worst makeup I have ever done but w/e so then I went to catch the bus. This is when I find out that London is a hell city specifically designed to torture me and THEY DO NOT ACCEPT CASH ON BUSES UNLIKE THE REST OF THE FUCKING WORLD. LONDON IS THE BAD PLACE. 

At this point I’m just having a full on breakdown cus walking to the venue would take over an hour, it’s already past half 5, I don’t know what the fuck to do, I’m without my carer in a stressful situation and I’m already in so much pain from all the extra walking I’ve done I’m struggling to move. And I’ve been wearing fishnets and heels all day. And I forgot my pain meds. 

So I call my girlfriend AGAIN, and after much hassle we find somewhere near me I can buy an oyster card. Which I apparently can’t do without assistance from staff. SO FINALLY I can go catch the bus and get there. 

And then I had to walk all the way to the back of the queue on legs that already felt like they were going to give out. I was SUFFERING. That queue was LONG. But at least I got to witness people’s reactions to seeing how long the queue was when they turned the last corner >:D

I should have got there at half 5. I GOT THERE AT FUCKING 6.55, BULL. SHIT. But also bless everyone who goes straight to the cloakroom and merch table and bar so I still got about halfway to the front.  (ok yes actually phones out are actually anoying that far back, i’ve never been that far back so i’ve had like max one phone near me)

THE SHOW ITSELF

Ok so, y’know, they are a good band. When they managed to play, they played very well. The show was a fucking disaster though. I have no concept of time and had no way to check the time so please correct me if you were there, but felt like, an hour almost in total that nothing was happening. Some folks were speculating before the 3rd pause that “technical issues” was code for “kyo is tired” but I think the third one proved otherwise. First two times they walked off stage everyone was mostly confused but since we were told technical issues were happening and the third stop was in the middle of the song, that one got quite a big reaction. Kyo looked... really fucking pissed when he dropped his mic and left. (Also I heard Kaoru stormed off or got pissed off or something? I couldn’t see) during the next pause people started walking out. And my god we were all SO FUCKING HYPED when the encore started cus we were convinced we weren’t gonna get one. (also pls tell me I’m not the only one who saw Die getting all tangled up when changing guitars?)

I saw on instagram they said they lost the tracks on the computer, and I’m guessing they may have lost whatever they were projecting on the back too cus that stopped. But they changed the setlist and did a full set. And they did really fucking well! Miles better than last time I sa them, with some fucking audience interation this time too! And they played Saku! And a bunch of other older ones I love but SAKU. They didn’t play Ranunculus tho :/

Die’s speach was lovely. His english has really improved since I met him, and he is so sweet! I would die for him. His wind machine for his hair is ridiculous but I would still die for him. He is so precious. 

Despite the amount of pain I was in I went FUCKING HARD and could barely get out the venue I can still barely fucking move but it was absolutely worth it. (and rip in peace to the dude next to me who had a drumstick bounce off his hand shjkdshdfjhskl)

Although y’know I gotta say it, why is it ALWAYS dir en grey gigs where someone sees two people stood touching each other and they think “ah yes, I can fit between them. That is where I am going to stand”. I’ve never had this happen quite as much with any other band as with dir en grey. DO NOT DO THAT. IT IS RUDE. THIS IS MY PLACE. GO FIND YOUR FUCKING OWN. I WILL LET YOU PASS THROUGH BUT YOU WILL NOT FORCE YOURSELF BETWEEN ME AND OTHER PEOPLE. KYO DOESN’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU AND BEING HALF A METER CLOSE TO HIM WILL NOT MAKE HIM FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU. Y’all carry that shit on you’ll end up like the one who tried to force me off the barrier during the K! tour. I got sharp elbows, and now I’ve got a cane too. I will use them. 

ALSO AFTER THE GIG I MET THE LOVLIEST DOG. I GAVE A QUID TO A HOMELESS GUY AND HE ASKED ME TO SAY HELLO TO HIS DOG CUS APPARENTLY EVERYONE IN THE AREA WERE IGNORING POOR LITTLE ALFIE AND HE WAS SAD. NO ONE HAD SAID HELLO TO HIM. I am VERY dissapointed in all of you who aren’t afraid of or allergic to dogs who didn’t stop to give some love to Alfie. He is so friendly! he’s such a sweetheart! And clearly so healthy and well looked after. I cried a bit when I had to leave him. I love Alfie so much. I would die for him too. He looks so lovely in his scarf! 

Anyway then going back to the hostel I got off the bus at the wrong stop, the plug by my bed was broken so I couldn’t charge my phone, and I had the lumpiest pillow I have ever encountered in my life and I am worse the the fucking princess in the princess and the pea. 

And on the way back the next day the walk from tube to coach station (9 minutes) thanks to my piece of shit phone and google maps too 40 minutes. And My ankles felt fucking broken so imagine what walkig round london was like. But I got home alive wo I GUESS EVERYTHING IS FINE. 

Still not sure if seeing them was worth all this bullshit given the technical issues, but I’m at “not sure” rather than “nope” so that’s something I guess?

ALSO I’m curious to hear what the VIP event was like pls dish the dirt

[carnelianwings]

Rules: answer the 20 questions and tag 20 amazing followers you would like to get to know better.

Tagged by @justhanderspositive

Name: Anzu

Nickname: Anzu

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Height: 5′ 2″

Orientation: Straight

Ethnicity: Chinese

Favorite fruit: Strawberries, Peaches, Nectarines, Cherries . . . I actually like almost all fruit, even some of the less popular ones.  Like durian.

Favorite season: Spring

Favorite book series:  Oh god, which do I pick?  Lord of the Rings?  Harry Potter?  Iron Druid Chronicles?  The Dresden Files?  The Cormoran Strike novels?  Discworld?  The Cinder Spires?  (Wait does that one even count because there’s only one novel written so far?)  Ms. Marvel?  (Or do comic books not count for this question?  XD)

Favorite flower:  Oddly enough, not really one for flowers, especially fragrant ones because I’m really sensitive to really flowery perfumes and scents, although I do find Angel’s Trumpets really pretty (even though they can be super deadly too).

Favorite scent: Grapefruit (or at least the kind they use for soaps) is one of the few scents I can tolerate

Favorite color:  Blue and turqoise.  The fact Mikleo wears those colors is pure coincidence (and clearly a ploy by Bamco to make me throw my wallet at them)

Favorite animal: Cats

Coffee, tea or cocoa: Yes.  I love my espresso drinks, I love mochas, and I love green tea lattes.  I refuse to choose, lol.

Average sleep hours:  6-8, depending on how late I stay up blogging.

Cat or dog person: Cats, definitely cat.

Favorite fictional characters: Oh dear.  Time to show my age and my love for 90s/early 00s anime, lol.  Um, off the top of my head, more or less sorted by fandom/genre and in no particular order:

Tales: Mikleo, Sorey, Yuri Lowell, Leon Magnus/Judas, Emil Castagnier, Marta Lualdi, Lailah, Kohaku Hearts, Hubert Ozwell

Square Enix games: Terra/Tina Branford (FF6), Celes Chere (FF6), Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile)

Gundam: Heero Yuy, Quatre Raberba Winner, Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, Lunamaria Hawke, Setsuna F. Seiei

Other mecha anime: Sagara Sousuke, Chidori Kaname

Magical Girl anime: Kaname Madoka, Akemi Homura, Ami Mizuno, Fate T Harlaown, Takamachi Nanoha, Kinomoto Sakura, Kusakabe Maron, Kouyama Mitsuki (does she count as a magical girl?  XD)

Shounen anime: Himura Kenshin, Kamiya Kaoru, Mutou Yuugi, Yami/Other Yuugi/Atem, Mazaki Anzu (yes, that might have been where I got my online name from), Kirisawa Fuuko, Kurama (Yuu Yuu Hakusho), Hiei (YYH)

Actual books: Legolas, Harry Dresden, Rowl, Samuel Vimes

Comic books: Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Scarlet Witch (at least, her MCU incarnation), Black Widow (MCU), Hawkeye (MCU)

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few, but I have a lot of characters I’ve grown to love over the years.

Number of blankets you sleep with: 2

Dream trip: Japan.  Or more accurately, hitting up Akihabara, Shibuya, and Harajuku with actual disposable income, lol.  Been there once in 2007, before I had a real job (plus this was before the Tales store was a thing), would totally love to go back and basically raid the Tales store for all the character merch, if nothing else, lol.

Blog created: July 2016

Number of followers: 1805

Tagging (only if you’d like to): @talesofsymphoniac, @koko-ai, @amarietie, @neodiji, @talesofgay, @8bittheatrics, @pengiesama

[kyotakumrau]

2020.12.16 The World You Live In at Zepp Nagoya, 2nd event report

For this one I was sitting in the last row on the 2nd floor😂 but the view was good, especially when watching the live footage.

This time Takabayashi also joined, he sat on the left, and we again got Die and Toshiya, with Fujieda on the right who again acted as the MC.

F again started the talk with the topic of the show without audience and Ochita. He asked band members about the flow of working on the songs, which to choose, how they decided to go with a song like that for a single. D replied that they make many songs for albums, when they work on the singles they want them to connect somehow, and he thinks they were able to do that.

T: what he said.

(true mastery of short answers aka no answers😂)

Next F again brought the merch items, saying he was wearing Die's mask, he liked it black.

D: it's a mask you can wear easily.

F: (struggling) ne...si...cessity.

D: again.

F: necessity.

(just leave him alone😂)

D: some people might find girls wearing black masks scary, so I added a bright element (to make it easier to wear).

(...but one of them says HURT???😂)

D: Ta(kabayashi), can you say 'necessity'?

Ta: not gonna play this game.

Then they laughed a bit about 'ビッグピックキーホルダー・biggu pikku・big pick'

T: which colour is the rare one?

F: I think they're all same.

T: how can you use it?

F: attach it to your bag etc I guess? You should know as a producer!

T: I guess I will use it as my pick at our next show.

F also brought items produced by other members, handing Shinya's bottle to T.

F: S also posted video promoting it on his instagram. It's really tiny.

T: how many of those I can drink in one day? (?)

D: but it is a perfect size for a bag.

Then F handed the pouch produced by Kaoru to D.

D: I guess masks can fit in, pick keychains can fit in, bottle can fit in, anything can fit in. 😂

F: there are 5 different merch items,please get them all.

After this it was time for the questions submitted by fans again.

D: ok, got one, from Kumi-san...

F: Tommy-san?

D: what? Why would you bring the boss up? It's from Kumi-san from Kagawa. 'please tell us your memory from Kagawa'.

F: we went there on tour last September.

D: Takamatsu, right? I remember I was watching TV at the hotel, not going for dinner... ah no, I got a take out, chicken, a big one, I was eating it alone.

F: what about you, T?

T: hmmm, I guess udon?

F: you eat udon a lot.

T: I eat everything. It was good then.

F told a story about playing around when waiting for band members to get ready to leave (Kaoru), he imitated Shinya playing drums. He said it was very embarrassing so he remembers it very clearly. Did S upload a video of that on his Channel?

T: 'please tell us your good and bad points of Fujieda'. He can eat anything, everything tastes good for him? As for bad points, everything tasted good for him?

(everyone laughed)

D joked that instead of getting 'good point' (like a grade at school) he has more 'passable points'.

D: 'can you tell us about your outfits today? I noticed that Toshiya's socks are very cute!'

T got surprised people noticed something like that, his red socks. F said that most likely a fan who attended the 1st slot noticed and sent that question.

T: I received them, they are just red checkered socks.

Ta: 'what kind of bath salts do you use?'

D: recently I don't use any (then he joked about the smell of old guys at the gym?)

T: I don't really use it.

They teased F for playing with the foam in the bath.

Then D talked about some gel type bath Kaoru recommended him, at Fukuoka during the tour in the past (?)

Ta commented that when hot the water in Tokyo smells. Water in the countryside like Nagano is better quality.

F: 'what song did you listen to the most during pandemic? It can be an artist.'

D: Kimetsu one?

F: 'Kousui' is also played everywhere.

they also said they listen to dir songs. D said he listens to the setlists from the audiostreams and T and he joked a lot about not remembering some of the older songs, like 'we made this??'😂 they also talked about the flow of songs.

T: 'how did you decide the members for each venue?'

Ta: I thought about many factors before deciding.

F: basically Ta decided it.

Ta: I thought about who should go where, who to pair together, about who went to which event in the past.

D: I remember we had some event at a department store in Nagoya.

T: at Parco, there was a signing event at Tower Records. At the same time there was an event I liked? ...no one knows it? Sorry, I guess you're all too young, there's a generation gap here.

😂

T: 'do you have any plans for shows next year?'

They explained that the situation is not looking good and shows have big chance being postponed.

F: but we are thinking about the things we can do. But those two people definitely want to play a concert.

T: this many people are waiting so we have to.

D talked about getting out of Tokyo and ??

Ta: 'it suddenly got really cold. Could you tell us any stories about snow or cold weather?' (he added joking) Nagano stories?

T: you think you're funny.

F: but I love oyaki (it's famous in Nagano stuffed dumpling, grilled).

T: I saw a cockroach for the first time only when I went to Tokyo and then Kyoto. Nagano is too cold for them.

F: Hakkaido too.

(Toshiya, I really feel ya, I've only encountered roaches after I came to Japan💀)

they talked about fighting with them, D used something to immobilize them (???)

T: they are so big. When we filmed Clever Sleazoid video I just stepped on one.

F (laughing): went 'kyaaaa' and stepped on it!

T also talked about the old story when they just started a band and they came to Nagano to meet T, there was a lot of snow then and all band members got super excited because of it, starting to play in snow. T's mother took a photo of them, that photo is still at T's home at Nagano.

F: who was driving then?

T: Aki-san, from the previous company.

D: I didn't know it gets all snowy like that.

Then they talked about old simple phones without cameras and cameras they used, heavy bricks.

T: sorry, generation gap again.

F: what happened to the 'cold' topic? Why roaches???

Ta: we can do 2 more questions.

T: F, why did you ???

F told us a story about almost being in a traffic accident on a highway driving from Nagoya when suddenly their tyre got a hole, but thanks to his super special technique he could stop the car.

D: how long was this whole situation?

F: one minute. Thanks to my special technique.

they also talked about Shinya driving😂

Next, T: 'why did F use a name Rei with ShibireBajiru (band where F's played drums)? Question from Toshiya from Tokyo'

😂

But F's explanation was about the image names have and that Rei has a strong image. About which T and D teased him a lot.

As the last question they talked about alarm clocks, 'can you wake up without alarm clock?'

D: recently I can.

T: I can wake up when I can wake up.

F: ...so when you can't you can't?

T: ...(be quiet you)

D: so what time do you wake up?

T: 4 or 5, then I work.

D wakes up around 6~7

Extra question, F: 'what's your fav nabe (hot pot)?'

D: nabe?

F: for me it's motsunabe (offal hot pot). That place in Fukuoka.

T: you prefer miso type? Or soy sauce?

F: in the past Shinya gave me a very firm 'I don't need any of the miso one', he was so angry about food😂

F talked about the additional event online again and the announced video with virtual characters the previous day. Filming was done a bit earlier.

T: it was unexpectedly fun.

F: let's spend New Year Eve together.

Last comments.

Die: thanks for comming to the event, especially in such a cold weather. This was a safe way, the situation is not good, we can't hold shows at the moment, we want to make songs and work on the next album.

Toshiya: thank you for coming on a cold day. I'd like to say what I want, but it's hard because of this situation. The band is searching for the things we can do. Please wait for us. Next year, I want to stand on the stage in front of you (at a concert).

D asked T for the red version of the pick to take photo with it. He took it to his spot at kamite area, adding 'next year I will use it'.

(Die mobile members probably will get to enjoy that photo?)

[kyotakumrau]

Well someone commented about a incident you didn't talked about the talk event. Also you said t asked where you could put the merch but the other said Die was the one who asked. The incident was apparently die shocked toshiya by saying Kaoru's purse was for putting Toshiya's pic before their agent/manager come to soothes things telling you could put other things inside? It is quite different version of facts

The thing with events like this is it's live and it's fast. I am probably missing some bits, same as other ppl miss other bits. They don't stop for you, it's 25~min non stop talking. Now I can only rely on my notes and whatever I remember. The differences you mention are not life changing for me, if it's that important to you, keep reading all reports you can find.

(but there was no 'shock' unless you mean it in a joking way)