#please make this a merch article

[sassy-hedgie]

everyone calling chappell roan just “queer” even after she publicly has stated she’s a lesbian will be my villain origin story

[scootatwoni]

Miku expo 2024 is off to a truly awful start but I haven't seen any posts on here detailing the mess. So here we go, here's what's happened so far.

I will be linking some posts and threads from Twitter and will update this post as need be.

5/1 edits and additions are in blue

**PLEASE DO NOT comment or send me DMs complaining about the setlist**

**Rather than tweet complaints at the Miku Expo twitter account, it may be best to email CFM and/or Crunchyroll directly.**

🎵 First up, ticket presales.

This year the expo was sponsored by Crunchyroll and ticket presales were only supposed to be available to those that had a Crunchyroll subscription. Those that qualified were emailed a code for presale. However, when that code was inevitably leaked to the public, it turned out anyone could buy presales because it wasn't set up in any way to verify your subscription.

Additionally, VIP tickets are supposed to give the holder early access to the venue and merch tables, but I'm hearing that this is not being honored despite it being advertised on some of the venue pages. (see replies to this tweet)

VIP for San Jose did not grant early access to merch

The VIP package does not include a glow stick (scroll down to "about MIKU EXPO VIP PACKAGE" here), which causes some more difficulties for those that were not able to buy a glow stick online.

🎵 Merch

Higher prices and lower stock than usual. This is especially frustrating for the glow sticks.

The only glow sticks that are allowed inside these venues are ones made for the event or ones from past vocaloid concerts. This is because other glow sticks are too bright and will reflect on the hologram screen. But what with the stocks being so low, many people can't even get these glow sticks.

Merch at the venues is also not looking promising. People are reporting there have only been a quantity of 95 glow sticks per venue.

The Official Miku instagram announced on 5/1 a merch restock. At this point there are only 7 shows left (the next of which is on 5/2). It is unlikely any of the merch will arrive on time.

🎵 so about that screen

The biggest news to come out about Miku expo 2024 is that they arent using the hologram screen. The Vancouver and Portland concerts have used an LED screen.

This was neither advertised nor communicated from CFM or Crunchyroll to the public.

This also makes the prohibiting of outside glow sticks redundant, as they won't interfere with an LED screen.

An LED screen is much cheaper to use than the transparent screen used for the holograms. And a lot of folks are pointing out the discrepancies between this and the higher ticket and merch prices.

The LED screen is also a lot more noticeable and out of place, it hasn't been blended well on the stage so far. Views from further back and the sides are not looking great.

The Miku Expo team have stated that the Vancouver show was filmed officially. Seeing as the LED screen was also used in Portland, we can reasonably assume the LED has nothing to do with the filming.

Fans are speculating that the reason the Miku Expo team have prohibited photos and videos at this year's expo is to hide the fact that an LED screen is being used for multiple concerts.

There's also speculation that the hologram screen is in CA in preparation for Coachella, where Miku is meant to preform on the 13th and 20th of April. Please note that this is just speculation, we have no way atm to confirm this. UPDATE: The LED was used at Coachella

Additionally, I personally would recommend not getting your hopes up about the hologram screen replacing the LED one for any concerts after Coachella. Seeing as neither Crunchyroll or CFM have communicated or addressed any of the complaints yet, we may just be stuck with the LED for the whole tour.

A spokesperson for CFM addressed the concerns via this article from Business Insider. The LED will be used for the entirety of the NA and Europe tour.

The LED screen broke during the phoenix show. Apparently the vibration from the bass was so strong it shook the connection lose. It was fixed at the end of On The Rocks.

🎵 the doujin goods incident at Vancouver

Please refer to this thread for the full info, but here is a summary:

The Miku Expo team refused to let a fan distribute free doujin goods despite this fan getting prior permission from CFM to do so. An individual also took this fan's miku cutout, though I believe it was returned later.

🎵 there is still a live band

I figured I'd clear this up since I've seen some mild miscommunication on it. There is a live band, just not the usual band they have for Miku concerts. This is not at all an issue, and in fact I've heard nothing but good things about the live band. I figured I'd bring it up for information's sake.

Honestly, kudos to them killing it on stage in the midst of the mess.

🎵 Miscellaneous

-Someone Allegedly pissed on the floor of the Vancouver show. I have. no words. What the FUCK dude. If anyone can find the original tweet(s) claiming this, please link them to me. I'm not rooting through vocatwt to find the piss tweets.

-There was a car crash outside of the san jose concert, in front of a full line of miku expo attendees. The driver's plate fell off. Fans got a hold of it and took pictures with it, some using the hashtag #trafficjam as a reference to the NILFRUITS song of the same name. Someone even kept the plate.

UPDATE: The plate was returned to the authorities

-Fans cheering for Elmo at San Jose.

-Someone is looking into a class action lawsuit. This has sparked some discourse. Many want some kind of justice irt to the poor organization of Miku Expo thus far, but others are fearful that taking any kind of legal actions will put the future of NA vocaloid concerts in jeopardy.

-Someone brought a ball pit to the atlanta show

-Master Chief in the miku expo pit. Jesus was there too.

-Garfield

-A man suspected back in 2016 of having CP and investigated by the police, attends the Atlanta show. Do not exchange personal info with this man. If you already have, please cut ties immediately. Please report any suspicious activity to the authorities. Here is his entry on the US sex offender registry.

🎼Concluding notes

It's been 6 years since Miku expo has come overseas. The 2020 tour was cancelled due to covid and Miku expo 2024 is it's 10th anniversary. This was supposed to be a big deal, a huge comeback tour for NA!!

However, due to absolute abysmal planning on Crunchyroll and CFM's parts, Miku expo has been a massive disappointment for many fans so far.

I know I'm nervous for when I go in May, but I want to try and end this on a more positive note.

Vocaloid has, first and foremost, always been about the music and the community. It's undeniable that we as fans have been mistreated by CFM and Crunchyroll here This is not the concert tour we deserve, but I'm sure we can still find things to enjoy.

Hearing vocaloid songs live has always been a dream of mine, and for the first time in my life I'll be surrounded in person by folks who love vocaloid as much as I do. I couldn't even fathom being in this situation back in the early days of vocaloid, being a little kid listening to Melt and World is Mine for the very first time.

I'm absolutely still angry about how the expo has been handled, but I still want to enjoy what I can, being with folks who share that same passion.

There are plenty of fans on twitter detailing the fun time they had at the shows so far. If you do end up going, you can absolutely still have fun too!! And please please please do not spread your negativity to the producers on the set list for Miku expo and Coachella. These artists worked so hard and they are not responsible for the bad decisions made this year.

[sweet-as-an-angel]

Miguel’s Reaction to You Taking Him to Watch The Barbie Movie

Warnings: Mainly Just Miguel Being Defensive, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Miguel Secretly Being a Barbie Girl, No Pronouns Used for Reader Except ‘You’.

Miguel loves you. So, so much. And he would move Heaven and Earth to ensure even an ounce of your happiness.

However, he is 100% convinced that this excursion, this ‘girls’ day out’, will be anything more than a mind-numbing jaunt to the cinema.

At first.

He can’t deny that his heart sank and all enthusiasm he held for your date drained from his body the second you said the words ‘Barbie’ and ‘Movie’ in the same sentence.

But alas, he swallowed his dismay and took you out, plastering on a thin smile while he thought of a million and one things you could both be doing besides watching this masterclass in colour theory.

Sat beside you, packed in on either side by yourself and the many other attendees, waiting for the film to begin, Miguel can feel his patience trying to escape, trying to convince him to run, to get out while you still can!

Because of his heightened senses, he can hear every single word passing between the crowd. And with every mention of “Pink”, “Ryan Gosling,” and “Margot Robbie!” he can feel his mind numb.

The film starts. And for you, sending a watery smile your way, while your eyes sparkle with nostalgic wonder, he endures.

Five minutes in, Miguel is assaulted by pink. The very essence of the colour and all its vibrancy sends hot pink pain through his skull, his senses raw.

Quietly, he slips his sunglasses on.

This is going to be a long movie.

And, for the first quarter of the film, Miguel held that notion. Near and dear as if it were the antidote to the current situation.

Then, halfway in, the story started to intrigue him.

The colour scheme is…tolerable now. Even pleasing to the eye in some scenes.

And, dare he say, Miguel found the music to be catchy.

Two thirds in and he’s sat forward in his seat, hands clasped and his lips resting atop them. Not that you can see, but his eyes are blown wide, his mind arace with possible outcomes.

By the end of the film, Miguel’s holding your hand, forehead pressed to your shoulder, a single, silent tear illustrating his cheek.

“Miggy?” you say, leaning over to try and see his face. You recognised the singular jutting of his shoulders immediately. And, with a smile teetering on the edges of your lips, you try to console him.

“Mig–”

“S’nothing. M’fine,” His cut-off is blunt and non-negotiable. You drop the subject and escort him from the screening by his arm, the music bright as the credits roll. The dimness of the room gives way to light, gradually, slowly. The streak of Miguel’s tear glistens.

Miguel’s visceral reaction to Barbie’s movie doesn’t stop when you get home, by the way.

It actually gets worse.

If you’re lucky, you can catch Miguel reading articles on his phone, an unmistakably pink banner and the title of ‘Top 10 Things You Missed in The Barbie Movie!’ leaving little to the imagination.

Confronting him about it will lead you nowhere. Miguel will sooner shove his phone up his ass and pretend it never existed than admit that he is indeed curious as to what happened to that one background character who fell off a cliff in that one scene. Is she okay? Does anybody know where she is? Does her family know?

The fact that you find his curiosity (empathy) endearing, ‘Aww’ing at him and pinching his cheeks, makes him ever the more secretive.

Just about secretive enough to keep his volume to a minimum when he’s singing; tunes which you know are from the soundtrack.

“I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world~”

“Babe, what was th–”

“Nothing.” He’s blunt, but there is haste to his tone. Shame, even.

Occasionally, you’ll see him eyeing up Barbie-themed merch when you’re out shopping. But he never makes a move to purchase any. Not for himself, anyway.

He’ll buy you said merch – anything that catches your eye, your fancy. Even if it is a shirt ten sizes too big.

“Babe,” you say, pinching the shirt up at your shoulders, the fabric in enough excess to cause the neck to expose most of your chest. “I may be wrong here, but I’m fairly certain only you would be able to fit in this shirt.”

“Oh, well, guess I’ll just have to take it off your hands, then,” he says, his elation barely concealed behind his faux-disappointment. As if him doing so is a chore – that he’s doing you the favour by taking the garment whose shoulders could only fit his insane proportions.

Please just buy him the merch. Any shame he may feel upon initially receiving it will fade when he realises – when you reinforce – how his liking of Barbie is “Adorable, yes. But uplifting; it’s so relieving to see that you’ve found something you actually like that isn’t to do with the Spiderverse!”

“It’s actually called the–”

“Yeah, I don’t care, Babe.”

His favourite present you ever got him was a brightly-coloured exercise suit Barbie and Ken wore in the movie. He had to turn away, the fabric neon in his periphery, tears filling his eyes and balling in his throat when he saw that you’d bought a matching one.

“So we can fight crime in style!”

Miguel’s watery smile twitched, faltered. His Brow furrowed.

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” he said. “You don’t think my suit’s fashionable?”

The way your face drained was enough to spark laughter in Miguel’s chest. His only line of defence against the tears that pricked his throat, played him like an instrument, with you as the orchestra’s master.

While he can’t wear the suit out on superhero duty, he does keep the headband on beneath the suit.

A reminder of you when he’s throwing himself at every threat, every monster, every evil, the band a halo hugged to his skin; a slim substitute for your warm touch, your scent, but a reminder all the same.

Reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself tremendously and it is greatly appreciated :-)

Masterlist Masterpost

Yandere Masterlist Juicy Original Content <3

[munariplans]

YES PLEASE WRITE ABOUT THAT

the second i heard about all the merch nat had amassed i thought about what readers reaction would be if they would think its sweet or tease her or make fun of how she most definitely got ripped off for most of them but will now get them free (and the most important signature of all going on the marriage certificate duh)

But it also made me think what about readers 🤔

In my head reader has all of nat’s articles printed out some even framed

synopsis: just a short one-shot / drabble based on the cute request above!

read the original forty, love.

natasha romanoff x tennis player! reader

word count: 1.9k words

it had been a spontaneous decision; natasha inviting you back to her apartment. the both of you were more than slightly tipsy at that point, and you were in no condition to drive back home. luckily, or not, the bar had been right by her place, and within walking distance of her way home.

natasha thanked her lucky stars that she had liquid courage fuelling her bravery, as she asked, “do you just want to go back to my place?”

at your surprised glance, she laughed, and slapped you on the shoulder. “n-not anything weird, i promise. you will take the couch, and i will be very cosy in my bedroom.” 

you were holding her up by then, and the smirk on your face was so teasing, so smug for a moment, that natasha had to remind herself that she was drunk, and it was wrong to kiss a friend. a friend she very much had a deep history with, a friend that she wouldn’t want to stay just friends with.

“okay, lead the way, ms. romanoff,” you gestured out of the bar, and natasha and you leaned against each other the whole walk home, in the freezing temperatures of new york in winter.

it was only when she had let the both of you in through the threshold of her space, and cursed drunkenly as she tried removing her thick socks, that she noticed you weren’t by her side anymore. and you weren’t as drunk as she had been when you left the bar.

natasha heard a snicker, and when she turned to see you crouching over the television stand, her heartbeat began to raise in embarrassment and her palms cold. 

she was across the room in the next moment, screaming, “no, no! don’t look at that!”

but you were quicker, and you caught her right as she tried to block your view of the rows and rows of memorabilia that she had of you, carefully curated and collected over the years. her flailing arms trying desperately to release herself from your hold and swipe the memorabilia off of the stand and out of your memory. 

then, she heard your laughter. a hearty, amused rumble from the depths of your chest, ringing against her ears as you laughed, and laughed, at her embarrassment and the blatant obsession over your career that she had followed through the years. “oh, natasha, my natasha.”

if she even had half her mind right on trying not to make her cheeks any redder, she would have blushed at the proclamation of you calling her yours. but you were already kneeling back down to eye level with the memorabilia then, inspecting each one with amusement, and slight fondness, in your eyes. she began right after your qualification for the Australian Open, while you were still in college, but broken up. 

natasha decided it was pointless trying to stop you, and simply resigned and fell flat on the couch behind her, sighing until you had your fill.

“this was from years ago!” you picked out a ball that had been used for your final round in the qualifiers, and natasha threw her arm over her eyes. 

“i know.”

you picked out a cap this time, “i remembered signing only about ten of these to give out to fans during the festive season.”

“i know. i signed up for your team’s emailers, lucky draws, even bought your stupid posters and water bottles, anything, to get a chance of winning that thing.”

you let out another grin, and while she couldn’t see you, you let your eyes soften at the fact that she had done so much to support you, and you hadn’t realised. all these years. it made everything a little bit of a shame; the lost time and wasted efforts.

finally, you took a row of little figurines of your racket designs over the years, neatly arranged and kept in an acrylic casing. “nat, you could start a museum about me at this rate.”

“oh, shut up!” she shot up this time, trying to wrench it out of your grasp, but you pulled away, giggling at her cheeks reddening again. 

“seriously, how much have you spent on all this? must’ve cost you thousands, i’m a really expensive player,” you gave her a cheeky grin, and she took your cheeks in between her fingers, pinching as hard as she could. you yelped in pain as you jumped back, “ouch!”

“i hate you, i hate you so much.”

you rolled her over, grabbing a marker that you had spotted lying nearby, and immediately taking her arm to sign on it. she tried to bite you this time, but you managed to escape just in time. “your collection seems to say otherwise.”

that night, the proposition for you to sleep on the couch and her in her own bedroom was quickly forgotten; as the both of you ended up play fighting all the way until you landed on her bed. natasha pointed you out on it, but you were adamant, and pulling the covers over the both of  you, exhausted from the bar and natasha’s punches, you sighed happily. “too late, i’m here now. bed’s too warm.”

she grumbled that she hated you once more, as she came in closer and slung her arm over your midriff to pull you close, under the guise of still being cold. you decided not to point out that her limbs were practically tangled with yours in the morning, head on your chest as she slept as peacefully as a child who had just gotten their first tennis ball signed by you in a tournament.

it was only years later, when you tried to point it out on the day of registering your marriage, had natasha threatened you sleeping on the couch in your shared apartment again. this time, you knew she meant business; and the threat was most likely real, so you shut up quickly and followed her into the registry.

while you signed the certificate beside her, she caught you stifling a laugh again, and jabbed your side to ask you what it was about. 

“nothing.”

“tell. me,” she glared at you, “or i’m not signing that thing.”

your eyes twinkled with amusement, you looked so entertained by your own memory. “j-just…i was just thinking…how much the you in the past would have paid for this signature right here, on this certificate. you were my number 1 collector and fan, of course.”

the witness couldn’t control his own chuckles, seeing natasha pull you in by the ear and scolding you for teasing her until her whole body turned red with shame.

afterwards, however, when the two of you were alone, did she finally admit, “i still am your number 1 collector and fan. don’t you ever forget that, or try to replace me.”

– 

but natasha had her own arsenal of materials to make fun of you for your obsession with her too, of course. while you hadn’t had memorabilia or kept up with her over the years with no contact, that was a problem that was quickly alleviated once you learnt of natasha’s full-time job as a reporter and editor.

the next match natasha came to after your first grand slam win, your manager had asked her how her day at the office the previous night went, and while taken aback, he sheepishly admitted that you had asked him to, and to make sure she was comfortable at the seats. she had first chalked it up to a lucky coincidence that you knew she was on the news yesterday, reporting on a recent economic trend that hit the country. 

then, it was all debunked when you came to her later, and while distracted with fans that were coming up to you at your hotel, you had left your phone unattended at the bar with natasha. it wasn’t really her fault you received a ping from a message then, to reveal your lockscreen had been changed to one of a scheduling sheet. upon closer inspection, it had been natasha’s schedule sheet, of when she would be on air for the month, complete with the locations and timings that the firm had published for her. she presumed the ones in red highlights were when you had your matches, and true enough, they were, when she found your manager helping to record a segment of her news portions one day, and having to admit to her that you had asked him to so you could watch her after to destress. she could hardly control the butterflies that erupted in her belly at the confession. 

when the both of you had gotten closer and you would spend some dinners and mornings at her place, natasha would find that you had even pinned her as the top editor in the morning news you would read, always reading what she had published first before anyone else, as if her writing was your morning coffee. she chose not to say anything of it, silently gleaming at the fact that you paid so much attention to what she wrote.

you would often say, “i really liked that piece, the one on the impacts of artificial intelligence in sports,” or some other topic that she would have written, and point out your own thoughts on her piece. it was like having her own personal editor, with no judgments, no criticism. just love for what she had put out, and validation for her work. natasha was glad she had a supporter so ardent as you had yours.

and when the two of you had officially gotten together, natasha once received a text from your best friend during your match, while she was at work, and sighed at the opportunity that she had missed. however, when she did open up the text, it gave access to a video that said best friend had recorded, and there you were, in your dressing room before the match, crouched over the small television set there was, watching her cover the daily news like it had been an action movie. you paid attention to every word, eyes following her as she moved around like an entranced puppy, and when you had to get up and leave, natasha saw you leaning close and pressing a kiss from your fingers to the screen where she was, in replacement of the lips you couldn’t kiss in real life then, and she couldn’t control her burst of laughter. you had to know about this, at the very least.

you physically recoiled and clamped your eyes shut in embarrassment when you saw the video yourself, natasha still fighting hard to control the chuckles coming out of her, and you begging for her to delete whatever you had just seen. “nat, please, please!”

“no, this is hilarious!” she said between fits, “you are hilarious. is this your pre-match ritual, baby?”

“it is not! n-no, i can’t have anyone else see me like this, i can’t have the public see me like this,” you tried to wrestle her off for the phone, but only half-heartedly, because natasha was never in a million years going to let you delete it. 

“oh relax, it’s only going to leak if you really, really piss me off one day, or if this phone gets hacked,” she replied, eyes still dancing in amusement as you hid your face in your hands, shaking your head in shame. “it’s kind of sweet, i must admit.”

you pouted at her. “promise me it’s not going anywhere. promise me you won’t send it to anyone else.”

she interlaced her pinky with yours, “i promise.”

natasha had already sent the video to your manager, however, and allowed you to become the laughing stock of your team just days after that match occurred.

[myung-jaes]

hi! i just wanted to come on here again to encourage everyone to please please participate in the boycott against sm! this doesn’t just help in getting justice for seunghan, but also helps in addressing and advocating the fan parasocial relationships & bullying/mistreatment issues in the industry! please unfollow all official accounts on all platforms and avoid streaming any official content and music— here is a link of someone who made mp3 files of riize music for the boycott & for spotify users, there are podcasts with the boycotted music so that we won’t give any streams to sm! also please sign this petition if you haven’t already, and encourage other people to participate in the boycott as well!

as much as it may seem like sm had no intentions of bringing him back w the szn greetings announcement & removing him from under the riize list on their website, there is so so much progress being made with this boycott!:

- our efforts have reached many kpop stores internationally, all of which have decided to halt restocking riize merch! this also include subk which is huge considering that they have collaborated with sm artists before!

- constant trends between the hashtags on twt

- we’ve gotten the support of plenty of non-briize kpop fandoms & non-kpop fandoms (arianators, harries, swifties, beliebers, etc.)

- plenty of large influencers and creators on youtube and tiktok speaking on the situation! there is also the spread in recognition of the situation overall across social media with many videos (such as evidence of the bullying) going viral!

- we’ve reached the recognition of others in the industry, such as a tweet that was retweeted by leeteuk (an artist under sm) & a tweet by jae (former day6 member) talking about the situation!

- i believe pineapple manager also liked an ot7 post on insta?? but pls correct me if i’m wrong!

- drop of riize twt followers from 809k to 730k & riize insta from 4.2m to 3.9m

- the petition has over 260k signatures

- we’ve gotten many big and well-known news sources writing articles on the boycott and the bullying situation with seunghan as well as regarding sm and their treatment of their artists

- tons of korean news sources have released articles on the situation as well as the boycott and updates on it!

- the naver article that covered seunghan’s departure was taken down!

- recent events of ot7 k-briize joining the effort (lots of have tweeted about the hope they have for this!) and organizing a protest outside of sm on friday, the 18th!

- i believe there have also been accounts of people on twt seeing some knetz/ot6s attempting to delete evidence and/or admitting to what they did which shows that our efforts are reaching them! (PLEASE correct me if this is misinformation bc my sources are a few accts on twt!)

please let me know if i am missing any other points of progress and i will add it!

if you would like to continue to make a change beyond unfollowing official accounts:

- if you have twitter (x), please please continue to share the ongoing hashtags we have for seunghan, it is important that we don’t let them drop!

- ALSO!! do not engage with any official accounts regardless of what they post, it will defeat the purpose of the boycott!

- regarding ot6 comments, especially on wv, do NOT interact with them, ignore them! ignoring will help prevent any traction towards their comments, and help increase our efforts!

- helping with funding for ongoing fan projects! one that i’ve seen recently is the sunflowers for seunghan project! this tweet has all the info on it if you’re interested!

— MAJOR UPDATE on the flower project here pls click the link and help in any way!

- some other projects that i’ve heard of but will update more on are the airships (this link includes funding for day 2 of the flowers as well!) & there are ongoing trucks being sent that you can help support!

- there is also the protest happening on the 18th, so if you are or will be in korea during that time, please participate!

- emailing other big accounts that you may know, news sources, or those who write articles on this, or stores that still supply riize merch! (templates & links below):

— template for emailing stores who supply merch!

— template for emailing news sources!

— template for emailing journalists!

— template for other contacts within the media!

— there is also the kwangya project, here is the template!

— template for emailing sm ent!

- there are also tons of updates on the boycott on this account as well as their linktree which has so much info on what you can do for the boycott, such as plenty of email templates as i mentioned above, which i suggest everyone to look at!

again please let me know if there is anything i’m missing on any ongoing projects or updates!

[bycmykae]

🍵☕️Caffeine Rush: A Coffee and Tea x Color speed run zine

Concept: Contributors will about 2 weeks to complete a mini piece that relates to the theme of coffee/tea, features one of the colors from our palette and incorporates one of our secret prompts.

Content Restrictions and Requirements

Prompts: 🤫 Our secret prompts will be revealed in the Discord server once the project begins to add to the challenge. We will have 4 prompts that your work should relate to. Our prompts are open to interpretation.

Rating: SFW, PG

Original Zine: Caffeine rush is an original zine. OCs are not necessary as work just has to feature coffee or tea and people are not a requirement.

Zine Specs: Free Digital Artists: 1748 x 757 px Writers: No Min or Max but you only have 2 weeks FAQ listed after the “Keep Reading”.

🍵 Schedule

Interest Check: September 01 - 14

Contributor Sign Ups: September 17 - 30

Finals Due: October 19

☕️ Moderators

@cmykae - graphics, design, social, org

@thelocalmuffin - all things writing, org

🍵 What is a zine? New to zines? Check out https://zinebaby.carrd.co/ for some general information. For this project, a zine is a digital PDF that will be released for free.

☕️ Who can participate? Anyone who applies during the application period. No previous experience. No portfolio needed.

🍵  What type of mediums are allowed? 

Anything that can be put into a PDF, which means no music or animation. (Although contributors are encouraged to turn their pieces into animations if they choose to outside of this project).

Physical mediums like painting, clay, or embroidery is allowed as long as the contributor is able to crop and prepare files to zine guidelines. Please apply as an artist.

Chefs, baristas, and bakers are allowed to participate to create recipes using coffee/tea flavors, write about coffee blends, etc. Please apply as a writer.

Although short stories (fics) are most popular in zines; poetry or article styled writing is also welcomed.

☕️ Contributor Expectations:

Adhere to the guidelines

Discord attendance: mandatory.

Final deadline: non-negotiable.

🍵 Cover Artist Due to the nature of this zine (a speed run), we will not have cover artist applications.

☕️ Using our Color Palette: The main highlight of your work should be the one of the five colors provided. Artists: You only have to use ONE of our colors. It does NOT have to be monochromatic. You are NOT required to use all our colors. Writers: How you interpret and incorporate the color into your piece is up to you. 🍵 Is romance allowed? Coffee dates are okay! Please remember this zine is rated SFW, so nothing scandalous is allowed.

☕️ Can I draw digital merch? Although not a popular choice, artists are allowed to make digital merch. From social media assets to printable pages. If you are interested in making digital art, please apply as an artist. 🍵 Is it only Coffee and Tea? Anything made from coffee and tea is allowed as well. Fruit tea, Milk tea, Affogato, Iced Coffee, Tea Cookies, etc, etc.

☕️ Is fanart allowed? Yes, fanart will be allowed in this project. — - — - — - — 

Additional Questions? Feel free to reach out through email or ask box

[nieded]

#RainbowRoad for Rainbow Railroad Charity Drive

CLICK HERE TO PREORDER

Hello, everyone!

As you may know, a couple of years ago I wrote a Good Omens fic called Sit Tight, Take Hold. It kicked off an amazing friendship with a group of people who have now come together to organize a fundraiser to support an LGBTQ+ non-profit.

I'm really excited to announce that we are running a charity drive to support Rainbow Railroad alongside the release Good Omens Season 2 and the third and final part of the #rainbowroad series, Fools Rush In.

What is Rainbow Railroad?

Rainbow Railroad is a non-profit organization that works to relocate at-risk LGBTQ+ individuals to safety globally.

"As a result of Rainbow Railroad, more LGBTQI+ individuals can access lives free from persecution, and ultimately, we envision a world where LGBTQI+ people can live lives of their choosing, free from persecution."

If you've read STTH and AALS, you may remember that Formula 1 visits a multitude of countries that have poor human rights and are unfriendly to LGBTQ+ individuals. I vacillated between many charity organizations before settling on this one, which encompasses the global nature of the #rainbowroad universe and some of the challenges the characters face. Thank you, @kookaburra-laugh, for suggesting this charity!

Great! How can I help?

@dustandhalos, @blairamok, and @cinnabarmint are releasing prints of their art for #rainbowroad on Etsy. Art options include:

a. A 5x7 postcard pack of 6 prints featured in STTH!

b. An 12x18 poster of Crowley's C8ZR1 from part two, Accept A Little Spin

c. And last but not least, an 18x24 print of Ezira's signed Anthony Fucking Crowley poster.

[Preview images are protected with anti-AI cloaking technology Glaze, and may depict slight pixelation and/or distortion. Printed art will not depict this distortion.]

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. WE ARE PRINTING SIT TIGHT, TAKE HOLD. Thank you, again, to @blairamok, who made the astounding cover art.

I will update everyone once I get the physical proof, but the book includes 428 pages incorporating the tumblr posts, news articles, and text messages. The dimensions will be 6x9x1, printed in color on 80lb matte paper.

How does this work?

CLICK HERE TO PREORDER

Preorders open TODAY and will run for a month until Friday 9/1. Once preorders close, we will submit the orders to the various printers. All proceeds will go to Rainbow Railroad, minus the cost of printing and shipping orders. We hope to start shipping out merch mid to late-September. Depending on how many orders we get will depend on how quickly we can ship everything out, but we will keep you posted once preorders close.

Hopefully, if you order something and live in the US, it will arrive by the time Fools Rush In finishes posting on 10/13.🤞🤞🤞 We will be shipping internationally as well!

What if I can't afford to order anything?

That's okay! Please reblog this post so more people can see it. It will bring more attention to the charity drive and more attention to Rainbow Railroad!

What the heck is #rainbowroad?

#rainbowroad is a trilogy about our favorite Good Omens characters reimagined as Formula 1 drivers. I have no idea how this came into my head beyond binging Good Omens and Drive to Survive at the same time. The final part of the main trilogy, Fools Rush In, is currently posting and slated to end on 10/13. It is COMPLETE.

Thank you to my friends and all the readers who have made this possible! I am so excited to share this with you. Please reblog to boost awareness. If you have specific questions, shoot me an ask!

Massive thanks to @dustandhalos, @blairamok, @cinnabarmint, and @kookaburra-laugh for making this possible!

ni <3

[kfaem]

Love and Deepspace; when their S/O is a kpop idol

notes: brrr new fandom lets go. also yes i went MIA but hey im not like dead

the boys when MC is an idol :) this is self indulgent. im a zayne girlie but i got carried away with raf lol. im tired so this is unedited, poorly written, no structure, and kinda just rambling

Rafayel:

here me out

he was a fan for the longest time, creating multiple pieces based off of you and your likeness

you and your members go to one of his exhibitions and when you make eye contact he's immediately in love more than he was before

kinda in a weird way

but when you approach him first he's in shock and doesnt know what to do

after the initial talking period and when the relationship starts he acts like his normal self

attends every concert and fan meeting

spends hundreds of dollars on your albums, collecting your photocards and solo posters

brags about being your boyfriend on sns and your manager tries to get him to stop

thomas is so embarrassed everytime your manager reaches out and begs him to calm down cause its a bad image

doesnt care about the reporters, is willing to fight with elites over you and your reputation

he's a simp but is also kinda mean sometimes lol

is jealous when you go live and refuse to respond to him to at least an hour and makes his presence known in your chat

i find the image of the matching outfits, couples goals posts on sns, and articles where he names you his muse to just be so <3333

Xavier

You guys bumped into each other at a convenience store, both reaching for the same bag of chips

both flustered with red cheeks, you let him have it and apologized

awkward

so, so very awkward

both of you are stuck in a awkward, silent encounter and neither of you want to say anything

one of your members comes over to see whats taking you so long and realizes that you're in a standoff with a cute blond and decides to play cupid

it worked

you two end up becoming good friends, and then eventually some sort of situationship

he doesnt want to damage your career and acknowledges that you both dont have time to spend with each other

but still acts as a loving boyfriend, buying your albums, concert tickets, merch, birthday specials etc.

then when you guys go on a snack run, a reporter recognizes you and within the week you're caught up in dating rumours

deciding that you guys couldnt avoid the truth, the situationship turned into a real relationship

doesnt really make a big deal out of your relationship or your popularity. would rather spend your guys' spare time reading together, watching movies, eating good food and relaxing

the media eventually forgets but the fans dont

they love every piece of media that ever gets showed, glimpses of xavier in mirrors, reflections on water, glasses, windows. mentions of a lover in interviews when asked what inspired you

just a loving boyfriend who tries to give you a sense of normalcy outside of the flashing lights

Zayne

Childhood friends

he hates your career and how much soul it has taken from you, but also acknowledges that you love what you do and are willing to risk your health and privacy

zayne is the king of situationship lmao

dates all the time, dinners at small restaurants hiding in booths in the far corners since you both like to be alone, together

your members genuinely dont understand how hes "not your boyfriend"

has lingered on music video shoots, using his title as your personal doctor to not raise any eyebrows

doesnt go out of his way to buy your albums but... if hes at a corner store and sees it, he'll buy it. or two. or three.

keeps one of your photocards and a normal picture of you in his wallet, grayson found it on the floor in his office once after it fell out of his wallet and he could never live it down

the entire hospital staff knows but wouldnt say anything for fear of their life

always sending messages no matter what side of the world youre on. Please remember to eat, drink water, and rest as much as you can. Too much strain on your body can cause long-term side effects.

buys tickets to your concerts, trying to hold back his smile as you glow on the stage while performing in front of your many fans

yeah he gets jealous

wont say it

and you can barely tell

but the chill that fills the room when another idol hugs you and is being overly touchy is so very much obvious and has people rushing to do something else

a reporter approaches him and tries to ask about your dating life. he shuts them up with a glare. the reporter doesnt even dare publishing that article.

your fans have a basic idea of what zayne is to you, but they respect you enough to not make a scene of it.

then one of your members gets drunk on a live and asks about your boyfriend and it comes unravelled

you post a picture with him, captioned with a heart, and its never brought up again

has brought your fans food and drinks whenever they set up cafe events for support

he appreciates everything that your fans do for you and has asked them to take care of you when hes not around

your relationship is never actually made official but yall live together when you arent required to be at the dorms and own like two cats so idk

still the caregiver that we love

[tamazine]

Tamazine Pre-orders are now live!

Tamazine is a zine about Tamagotchi, cheering on the childhood nostalgia, the colorful characters, and the collecting that make playing with Tamagotchi so fun!

Inside this zine are 70+ pages of beautiful full-color illustrations, craft patterns (including how to make your very own Kutchipatchi!), illustrative articles and stories, and 2 large comics. And that's not it. That's not all. Digital merch such as printable stickers, printable polaroids, and a phone background is also in store!

PLEASE NOTE: This is currently a PRE-ORDER. This zine will release on February 17th, 2024. Cover is NOT FINAL and may appear slightly different upon release!

[rivalsforlife]

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Interview Highlight

This is coming a little late - on September 1st, just before the release of the AAI collection, there was an interview on Netlab with Tatsuro Iwamoto (character designer), Kenichi Hashimoto (named in this article as the producer of the AA series overall), and Shunsuke Nishida (producer of the AAIC collection) about the games. It's a long interview with a lot of interesting elements including the reactions to the announcement, a brief mention of the consideration of changing some moments for modern times (example given is the LGBTQ content in the 456 collection - I believe referring to some events in DD, but no specifics), details into the process of upgrading the character minisprites, the staff's favorite characters and cases, why Franziska is 13 in the key art, and other fun details. The part I want to highlight here is what they say about upcoming merch and the future of the ace attorney series.

This small segment of the interview had one part previously translated by nintendoeverything, but there are some little details that I noticed in the full interview that were incorrect so I'm posting this here. But please note that I'm doing this primarily with auto-translate with tiny corrections on the tiny bits of AA-related words in Japanese that I know, which isn't much, so there are likely still inaccuracies in this. Please don't hesitate to correct me if you spot any!

--The " Ace Attorney Series" merchandise has been very popular, including the "Ace Attorney Investigations Lottery" held on Capkuji Online. What do you think about fans purchasing merchandise? Hashimoto : As for merchandise, I have the impression that it sells out across the board for the past few years. The "Ace Attorney" series merchandise is basically sold out on the first day, and it's the same for the "Ace Attorney Investigations" series. This year is the 15th anniversary of the "Ace Attorney Investigations" series, and I've been talking to the store staff about "putting out a lot of Ace Attorney Investigations-related merchandise". There are things that we haven't been able to put out before because it's the 15th anniversary, so this year, the "Ace Attorney Investigations" series is especially hot. There are still some goods that haven't been released, so please look forward to them.

Since there hasn't been much AAI merchandise since around the time of the original release of AAI, I'm super looking forward to seeing what they'll put out. The Capkuji Online lottery they speak of is the one that had the giant tsum of Edgeworth, and I really hope they someday will make that available for general purchase.

--Many fans are hoping that purchasing merchandise will lead to new releases, but is that actually the case? Hashimoto: That's true. The fact that we have such passionate players' support is something that the entire company, including the management, can recognize, even more than just us developers, so it's very important. Of course, the sales of merchandise itself do not cover the development costs of new titles, but it does lead to discussions about how to develop the game in the future if it's that popular, so the fact that people are purchasing merchandise is a very important indicator.

AA merchandise does seem to be doing very well.

--Since this is a work with many overseas fans, we asked overseas users, "What would you like to tell the developers? What would you like them to hear?" Particularly impressive was the feedback from users living in independent language regions, who were pleased with the multilingual support for "Ace Attorney Investigations 1 & 2 Collection," following "Ace Attorney Apollo Justice Trilogy." In the midst of all this, the one thing that has been attracting attention is the future development of the "Ace Attorney Investigations Series." What are your thoughts on this? Hashimoto : We will not stop the "Ace Attorney Investigations Series" content. Of course, we want to develop it in various ways, including other media types. I think there will be something to tell you when it is time to make an announcement, but at the moment I can't say anything.

This part is what was translated in the interview I linked, but it misses a few key distinctions: One is the specification of "Ace Attorney Investigations" over "Ace Attorney". (Or "Gyakuten Kenji" vs "Gyakuten Saiban", if that makes things clearer.) So that makes me think that this isn't referring to an AA7 or Apollo Justice anime, but something specific to the AAI games -- whether that's an anime adaptation, maybe another stage play, or possibly in the future...... aai3.

Another note is what the translated interview calls "mixed media", which comes from "メディアミックス" (literally "media mix"). "Mixed media" in English, to my knowledge, generally refers to a single piece of art which is made up of different forms, which is not what they're talking about here. The Japanese term used here appears to mean more of a "multimedia franchise" - extending the series beyond just games, to other forms that will bring in a wider audience - which makes me think they have something in the works that's not a new game, but something in a different form related to AAI. So I'm curious about what they have planned, whether it would be an adaptation of the existing games or original work with the same characters like my favorite stage play Turnabout Teleportation.

And on the topic of stage plays...

--While there are many die-hard fans of the plays, unfortunately the performance of " Ace Attorney: Turnabout Parallel World " has been postponed. Will we ever get to see lawyer Miles Edgeworth, the perfect idol Franziska von Karma, and the number one host Larry Butz? Also, is there any possibility of a novelization? Iwamoto : (Whispering) Please say it. Please say it more (laughs). Hashimoto : Due to the schedules of the cast, it may be difficult to do it in exactly the same format, but I personally would like to see it. I'm always thinking about how I want to do it and make it happen.

Turnabout Parallel World was a stage play intended for 2020 that got postponed for obvious reasons... and then rescheduled for 2021, where it was postponed again for the same obvious reasons. It hasn't been officially cancelled and we haven't heard anything about it since then, and to my knowledge this is the first acknowledgement of it since then. It does sound like they want to include it in some way.

Novelizations of new AA stories aren't a new concept, but have typically been Japan-only and not gained much traction in the English-speaking fandom.

Finally, Hashimoto's comments to close out the interview:

Hashimoto: As I mentioned at the beginning, I thought it was important to have people play existing content on the current platform, and with the release of "Ace Attorney Investigations 1 & 2 Collection," we're finally ready. I want to deliver it to people who don't know about the "Ace Attorney Series" or haven't touched it, including people in countries with additional languages, as well as in Japan. As I mentioned earlier, we will not stop the "Ace Attorney Series" after that, and it will continue to the 25th and 30th anniversaries. We would like to continue preparing for new developments and expand the series.

The use of "Ace Attorney Series" here doesn't make a distinction between mainline or investigations (just "Gyakuten series"). So while there's definitely something in the works for AAI, there's probably something for mainline as well.

The 25th anniversary is coming up fairly soon in 2026, with the 30th anniversary in 2031. This is not nearly as far away as it feels like it should be. Judging by this interview and similar ones over the last year, it feels more and more likely that we will be getting new ace attorney content in one form or another in the next couple of years at least.

Of note to the Athena fans, the interview also contains this comment from Hashimoto, when talking about favorite characters in AAIC and the series overall:

Throughout the series, I've always liked Athena (Cykes). I've always thought to myself, "I wonder if there's something Athena can do as the main character?" (laughs).

It's not the most serious statement or necessarily a promise, but maybe the tiniest nugget of hope for Athena fans.

Anyways, those are the highlights of the interview from me - again please correct me if there's anything that needs correcting. I highly encourage people to check out the full interview since it has lots of interesting stuff, and hopefully there will be a properly translated version of it out someday!

[thewritersalchemist]

Brandon Sanderson did make smart career choices, but they might not be what you think.

(originally posted on a different writing blog in March 2022)

This is NOT another post breaking down “what you can learn!” from Sanderson’s massive Kickstarter earlier this month. Well, it kind of is, but it’s the opposite of some of the others.

Buckle up, it’s unpopular opinion time.

On March 1, 2022, fantasy author Brandon Sanderson announced a Kickstarter: pledge to help him publish four standalone novels he’d secretly written during the pandemic. He and his team set a goal of one million dollars, and he estimated they would get two to four million total.

In three days, the Kickstarter had reached twenty million dollars, and it currently (as of March 27, 2022) sits at thirty-three million dollars.

The publishing world was—and still is—staggered.

In the last three weeks, I’ve seen a dozen indie authors and marketers try to break down that massive success and what lessons others can take from it for their own careers. Most of them write to various Amazon markets. Some of them made good points. One thing everyone keeps repeating is that Sanderson has made “smart career choices.” But every time, I’ve walked away from those articles shaking my head. Most of the articles seem to be missing the biggest and most important point. It's hard to talk about taking lessons from Sanderson’s marketing before you talk about lessons from his WRITING career.

A few facts:

The four novels Sanderson will be publishing with the Kickstarter money are already written. He wrote them for his wife (and because he wanted to explore new stories) during the pandemic.

He will be publishing them through his own company: Dragonsteel Books. He created the company to publish special editions of his books, carry his book swag*, and have an alternative option for people to buy his books if Amazon ever stops selling his books again.**

Sanderson has a reputation for being reliable with his book publishing. If he says he’s going to publish something, he does it, and he tries to keep fans updated as he goes.

*Book swag / book merch = special items created for fans of books. **Years ago, Amazon briefly stopped selling his books because of contract disputes. You can read more about it here.

And some facts about Sanderson himself, if you’re not familiar with his work:

His first book to be published—Elantris—came out in 2005. It was the sixth novel he wrote, and it was published by Tor. It took eighteen months for someone to read the book and then call him about it.

Before Elantris was published, he’d written thirteen novels.

He now has so many novels out that Wikipedia has a separate article for his bibliography.

He was handpicked by Robert Jordan’s wife to finish the Wheel of Time book series, and he was on the writing team for the Wheel of Time TV series.

So what were Sanderson’s “smart career choices” as a writer?

He didn’t write to market. This is going to be the most unpopular opinion of all, but hear me out, please. Sanderson tried it. Back before Elantris was published, after a lot of people told him his books weren’t being accepted because they were too long and didn’t have the popular format and tropes of the time, he tried writing to market. He’s said those were the worst novels of his writing career. So he stopped. He went back to writing what he loved. That love and passion kept him writing books that have resonated with fans for almost twenty years now. If we’re going to talk about why his fanbase loves his BOOKS so much, let's start with how much HE loves what he wrote and how much that love spills over in how he talks about his books.

He constantly pushes himself to improve. He knew from the beginning that he needed critique, and he got it. Since college, he’s been in critique groups and had alpha readers, and they keep pushing him to be better too. He himself says that some of his earlier books (yes, the published ones!) aren’t his best. He’s honest that he keeps wanting to do better and looking to improve.

When he made plans about publishing, he didn’t just think about it like a writer. He thought about it like an author. He figured out his writing pace and he tried to be consistent with that. You can talk for hours about how he finishes books and how that “makes him better than Patrick Rothfuss and George R. R. Martin,”*** but I don’t see many people talk about how Sanderson learned from them and others and FIGURED OUT what he had to do AHEAD OF TIME so he wasn’t doing that to his fans, intentionally or accidentally.

He also approached his published author career like a reader. He treated his fans like he would have wanted to be treated as a reader. He used social media to connect with them and to keep them posted. He was and still is actively involved in his fandom.

He’s given back to the community. He’s taught at university for years; he’s talked at conferences; he’s free with his advice on his writing podcast; he’s given fans advice for years at cons and book signings and through his website, and he always has a smile for his fans.

***I’m not going to discuss Rothfuss’s or Martin’s choices; I don’t know what’s going on in their lives, and I think there’s a difference between authors having a responsibility to finish a series and authors ‘owing’ fans the way their particular fans claim. This is only about Sanderson and his decisions.

THESE were his smart career choices. THESE are the reasons his books are so popular and why his Kickstarter got to twenty million in three days. Sure, finishing Wheel of Time helped get his name out there to some readers, but the majority of Sanderson’s fans don’t talk about Wheel of Time like they talk about his own books. Wheel of Time fans (some of them) talk about being grateful he finished the series, yes. But Sanderson fans talk more about Elantris, Mistborn, and the Stormlight Archive.

If we’re going to break down Sanderson’s success, we have to go back further than his marketing. We have to look at his foundation and be honest about why and how he is where he is.

If you write to market, three things sell your books:

your ads

your other marketing (but mostly your ads)

and how well you followed the recipe for that market

Whether your plot and characters are objectively well written doesn’t matter as much. (I'm not saying it doesn't matter at all.) Why? Because the recipe is what the ads sell. So if you’re good at following the recipe, readers will keep coming back after their first few from you. Not so much if you like to change recipes a lot or can’t follow one well. You might get other readers, but you won't get that particular market's readers.

I’m not dissing writing to market. If you DO mostly write to market, you won’t be able to take many lessons from Sanderson’s Kickstarter success (or his career in general) because Sanderson’s marketing isn’t what keeps his fiction selling. His writing is. His fan interaction is another huge part.

A note on consistency.

Sanderson is a prolific writer. He can sustain a publishing pace that many people can’t. I can’t, for sure. I would LOVE to be that prolific, but I’m not there, at least not right now. Being consistent doesn’t mean you have to publish every year or write every single day. It means finding what pace works for you and then being consistent with that. If that means publishing once a year, good for you. If it means once every three years, go for it.

Building a fanbase takes time. Sanderson has been publishing for almost twenty years, if you count how long the process took for Elantris. He’s been writing for twenty-five years. No one likes to hear that something they want right now takes time, but it’s the truth. Building a consistent fanbase takes time, and it does tend to take more time for indie authors than traditionally published ones.

I've worked with a lot of competitive write-to-market indie authors. I know exactly how unpopular this opinion is. But for all the authors wanting to really understand the writing craft and find the path that helps them build their own consistent career of putting out good stories, this post is for you. If you're asking “Why is Sanderson so popular that his Kickstarter reached twenty million in three days?” and wanting to know what you can learn from it . . .

This is why. And this is what you can learn.

[chickenfriedawesome]

Can I say I just love it every time you post about Monoma, it feels like we share a brainwave

-@smallvictorianchildwhofoundwifi (this is a sideblog so I can't send asks from there)

we truly are the handshake meme and the topic is Loving Monoma Neito. in honor of our shared braincell, please have some headcanons for Pro Hero Phantom Thief (under a read more due to spoiler-adjacent topics)

Deku canonically listed Monoma as someone who was climbing rapidly in the rankings (which kicked my ass, btw), so i like to think that he's currently somewhere around number 7 or 8 on the Hero Billboard Chart

Monoma was the first person in class B to make it to the top 20; Pony saw that he had broken in at number 17, and she was so excited that she blasted the old Class B group chat with a bunch of messages written in English before she realized that only a handful of her friends could understand her

despite ranking well on the Hero Billboard Chart, Monoma still shows up pretty consistently in articles about "heroes with villainous quirks;" it used to sting, but he's always leaned into the "unheroic-hero" archetype, so he's learned to roll with it

Kendo has not learned to roll with it, and she is constantly ready to throw massive, massive hands for him

actually you know what, i'm not done talking about it; after graduating, Monoma was in this weird limbo wherein the public recognized him as an important hero who helped massively during the war, but they also kept drawing comparison's between his quirk and All-for-One; Monoma ended up tipping the public's opinion in his favor when he saved an elementary school by copying quirks from the children that he was protecting

Monoma constantly shows his support for his previous classmates, especially now that he's in the public spotlight. he namedrops them in interviews. he showcases their quirks as often as he can. he wears their merch on casual days out, even when it is sometimes painfully unstylish (i am looking at you, Tetsutetsu)

a few years out of high school, Monoma and Shinso decided to start an agency that specifically scouted for unconventional (read as "useless" or "villainous") quirks like their own. public response was initially mixed, but after a few years, there's no denying the incredible work that they have done

Monoma's social media game is unrivaled. he's active on every platform and routinely posts absolute bangers. there isn't really any bad blood between him and the previous class A students anymore, but sometimes he likes to ratio Bakugo just because he can.

where canon left off (i.e. 6 years post-graduation from UA), Monoma is able to copy up to 5 quirks for 25 minutes a piece, and he's able to store them for later use. the timer only runs when the quirk is active.

Monoma is also able to use two quirks at a time, but at least one of them has to be one that he's very familiar with. (it takes a lot of concentration to juggle multiple quirks, and it can be dangerous to both himself and others if he doesn't do it right).

[tiny-tk]

hi friends !! bit of a different post this time, but i wanna talk about disney and it’s place in the agere community.

i won’t get into specifics, but events in palestine r making a lot of people (including me) decide to boycott disney by not doing anything that lets them make money. if you don’t know about this, i rly rly encourage you to do ur own research (ideally while not in little space since it’s .. very rough topics) and make ur own choice on wether or not u wanna support them after knowing the full story of what’s going on n disney’s involvement.

this post is for littles who feel conflicted by the calls for a boycott!!

first of all, i know it can be scary to find out that something you’ve been giving money to for merch or subscriptions or whatever is going to a bad place. but no one is blaming you for that, and if you didn’t know then you didn’t know. but you can always change!!

"why are people boycotting disney?"

i won't go in depth to keep this post little-safe, but essentially the israeli military is currently doing terrible things to the people of palestine, and disney is helping them fund and promote it. here's a couple links that go more in-depth if you want to learn, but i'd recommend not reading them while regressed:

https://insidethemagic.net/2023/11/disney-israel-palestine-boycott-jc1/

https://www.dailygamecock.com/article/2023/12/column-why-boycotting-for-palestine-gaza-is-important-opinion-vanderhorst#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%20three%20main,financially%20or%20through%20public%20statements.

but i mostly encourage you to try n find out on your own, rather than listening to some random tumblr user about it.

“but disney is a huge comfort source for me.”

this doesn’t have to change. you don’t have to stop liking their movies n shows. you don’t have to stop loving your toys or books of disney characters. if something brings you comfort, that is sacred, and no one can take that away. a lot of disney media made me who i am today, and yet i’m still writing this post against the company, these things can both be true !!

similarly, agere is a safe space for so many people, which can be used to justify supporting things that really don't deserve our support, since people want to protect themselves by not finding out why. put bluntly, people knowing that there are problems, but choosing to ignore them, is part of the problem itself. if you feel at all capable of educating yourself, please do. it's so important.

“ok, so what can i do?”

if you’ve decided to join the boycott, that’s wonderful!! all that is being asked, is to not spend money on anything from disney. so branded food, toys, a disney+ subscription, stuff like that. if you’re used to doing that a lot, here’s some alternatives!

. :+* get disney toys second hand - they’re pre-loved!! they’ve already started a life with someone, and they’re eager to continue it with a new kid

. :+* pirate shows n movies instead !! this can be a little tricky to figure out, but it’s how i watch pretty much everything hehe, and can be a lot of fun! alternatively, you could just borrow a friend’s subscription or buy dvds second hand if you have a dvd player.

. :+* get merch from independent sellers. this way, you still get brand new things with ur favorite disney characters, but you also get to support independent creators n not support disney the brand !! also, these are often higher quality than official products too, which is like bonus points.

. :+* if you're posting about somethin disney related, add a note that lets people know that you don't support the brand n encourages ppl to find out why for themselves

it’s a tough change to make, but any help is better than no help. if you aren’t sure what i’m talking about, please do your own research. the scale of what’s happening in palestine is huge, and boycott movements like this have been proven to cause real positive change in the past. i won’t get mad at anyone for choosing not to boycott, but it’s important to me that as many people as possible consciously make that choice for themselves, instead of blindly following a company that’s using their money to hurt people.

hearing about terrible things happening is exhausting, regardless of how much you're doing to help. but try to remember that any action is better than nothing, especially with activism, and keep doing whatever you can. <3 take care of yourselves friends !!

[x-neurotoxin-x]

Thoughts on yandere endabi with Dabi as the yandere? Also hcs please if you want.

So many thoughts, and honestly it's low-key canon let's be real. He was yandereing so hard for his Dad.

I love love love the hc that Touya repeatedly would show up at the todofam house over the years after the coma to watch Enji, and probably broke in and touched himself in Enji's bed when nobody was home dozens of times

Stole articles of Enji's clothing for sure. I think it would be cute to think of Dabi stealing one of Enji's t-shirts and wearing it bc Dabi is so Small and Enji is so Big, his shirt would be huge on Dabi and that's adorably sexy to me.

Endabi is perfect for somno. I think Dabi should sneak in and fuck his Dad while he's sleeping. It's payback for all the times Enji snuck into Touya's room and fucked him while he was sleeping. Dabi needs to repeatedly remind him of that too to guilt trip Enji and make him feel so bad about it

I think Dabi was always obsessive about Enji, and once joining the league would rant and rave about Endeavor all the time to the point the league started theorizing Endeavor was Dabi's ex, or Dabi had some sorta parasocial delusional crush on him. The surprise when they learn he's his Dad

Like the idea that he got really crazy after the reveal, like went off the deep end and started cutting out newspaper clippings and pasting them on the walls with lipstick kiss marks on them and pieces of Enji's hair and whatnot taped up there.

The remaining league members are just very, very unnerved.

Dabi immediately began beefing with Hawks bc he saw Hawks as a threat. Saw one too many newspaper pictures of Hawks and Endeavor hanging out, and one interview Hawks had the nerve, the absolute gal to call himself the number one endeavor stan.

Dabi had to burn his wings off for that. Ain't no way.

Actually, strangely enough a lot of Endeavors sidekicks and friends end up hospitalized from "strange freak accidents" how odd 🤔

He periodically shoplifts endeavor merch.

Eminem - "Stan" but it's Dabi and Endeavor.

[roo-bastmoon]

Dynamic Pricing & AI

According to the Hybe Q1 conference call held on Tuesday, May 2nd 2023, the company has chosen to apply the dynamic pricing system to SUGA and TXT concerts in the US, with plans to opt-in to more dynamic pricing in the future.

"Dynamic pricing" is the strategy of constantly adjusting prices in response to demand. It's basically an auction model, where more bids drive up the prices. Meaning, you could select a modest concert seat for $175 and while in the cart, other people selecting seats will drive the price up to $975 right as you check out. You won't know until right as you pay. You can easily be blindsided.

While legal (for now), it's essentially price gauging, and it's unnecessary. ARMY is desperate for Hybe to restock merch (like JK's mikrokosmos lamp) and to sell again any discontinued boxed sets and special edition items. If done right, restocking merch and selling content from the last 10 years would absolutely help carry profits through the two years BTS serves. Additionally, many ARMY are willing to pay to see official live streams of concerts, or are comfortable with the company raising prices of concerts at a flat rate to keep up with the cost of inflation.

Dynamic pricing is short-sighted and will hurt the artists, because only rich people and scalpers will be able to afford concerts. In this hellscape of an economy, regular ARMY will have to make hard choices between merch, albums, paid content, premium streaming services, and concerts. The last thing BTS ever needs is to see empty seats during their performances. This decision is motivated by pure greed and in my opinion goes against the ethics BTS writes about. It's not BTS' fault, but the company needs to be held accountable. This is a serious breach of trust between Hybe and the fans that helped build BigHit through pure love, dedication, and hard work.

If you have twitter, please help K-ARMY and I-ARMY trend:

#하이브티켓값뻥튀기반대

#NoDynamicPricing

@HYBEOFFICIALtwt

Furthermore, I will say this with regard to the recent Billboard article in which Bang PD comments on exploring AI artists. I recognize that AI and virtual reality are the future, but absolutely nothing will ever match an authentic, organic, human experience between a real-life artist and a real-life fan. I will never support AI pop content, personally. I have an aversion to such things and you can totally blame the children's fable The Emperor's Nightingale in my case.

I bring this topic up because I'd like to ask that ARMY stop feeding BTS' voices into AI to make cover songs and parody content. Any anti can manufacture one hell of a deep-fake scandal once our boys' voice and likenesses has been completely mapped. Please don't do it, and please politely encourage other ARMYs to not do it, out of respect for the artists' work and reputations.

As individuals, we none of us have much power to wield against a major corporation. As a collective, ARMY is powerful and can actually affect change. But it only works if you work it. Let us use our voices for good. Let us do what we do best: fight for our artists.

[thegvlaxyrvanger]

Hi, hello!! I found your blog through dead-dove's blog, and I was wondering if you would take a request for Katherine, your idol oc x yandere reader?

It's nice to meet you, I'm "💌 anon"!

~ 💌

GALAXY RANGER'S NOTES ;;

☆. Hey there 💌 anon !! Glad to meet you as well !! :] I just woke up to this earlier and I'm really happy that this is my first ever request and ask <D (I also changed her entire information, her name is now Shimizu Mei.)

☆. Sorry if this took really long, procrastination has been sticking with me these past 3 days. (You could pretty much tell that I got pretty lazy at the very end.)

✧. Taglist (Lmk if you want to be added!) ;

- @dead-dove-yandere

- @love-letter-exe

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𖥔. ♡ KATHERINE -— An Idol and Her Number One Fan. PART 1.

𖥔. ♡ Pairing -— Female Popular Idol x Yandere ! GN Fan

TWs : This story contains dark topics such as Stalking, Obsession, Non-consensual Photography, Obsession, Implied NSFW (Masturbation), Implied Murder, Kidnapping, Drugging, etc. Please proceed with caution. Minors DNI.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

You weren't exactly a huge fan of idols, not that you don't like them or that you're just trying to be different from millions of people hopping onto the bandwagon, it's just that their songs aren't the type of music that you would obsessively listen to 24/7, you like listening to a lot of songs and have favorites as well, but their songs just doesn't really stick to your taste.

Your friends on the other hand are basically on the opposite side of your coin, they absolutely LOVE idols and are basically just head on heels for them, each having their own preferences, you would mostly see them talking about their favorites non-stop, they could ramble about their bias to you for hours, so it isn't really surprising that they're basically one of those crazy insane and down bad fans, in which sometimes they even argue on which one is better, it's kind of annoying really.

They always drag you to their favorite idol's concert whenever they have the chance to and have a LOT of merch from them, from posters, to t-shirts, jackets, plushies, etc., you name it. You couldn't quite grasp why they would spend a lot of money just for some poster.

As for you, well, all that you could do is listen to their ramblings about their favorites and drag you to concerts, and to be honest, it kind of feels like they're pretty much shoving their interests into your face, but you don't really mind, actually, it's quite fun because you're hanging out with your friends and are just spending time with each other, nothing more.

But now? You finally get why.

You finally get why people would go crazy insane for someone who probably wouldn't even notice them.

Though, gazing at them from afar, screaming their name, and having lots and lots of merch from them, isn't enough to be honest for you to prove that you're their number one fan. It doesn't really make you feel a sense of, fulfillment, really.

You need to go through more..

Drastic and intense measures, just for you to prove it.

Of course, you know that this is too much, you're being crazy and this could lead to consequences that could be life-long, but it would be worth it in the end,

ŗ̲̯͕͎ͮ́͟͝͞͞i̮̭̭͙g͖̩͕̱ͦ͋ͤ́ͦ̾ḩ̲͍ͯ̒ͨ̄͌ͣ̚͝͡ţ̴̴̳̜͗ͩ̓̾ͨ̃ͪ͐̀̚͠͏?̸̵̫͈͙͖̠̫̖͌ͪ̿̉̆́͘͠

—

Recently, your friends have started talking about one specific idol, not the ones that they used to talk about, and as usual, they seem to be very crazy down bad for him, or her. You find it very strange and you feel really confused but also somewhat curious. Who are they talking about, exactly?

While the three of you were at a café, hanging out as usual, you find them talking about this idol again, curiosity got the better of you, and you then asked which idol were they talking about.

“Oh, you haven't heard? There's a new idol rolling around and her popularity has almost immediately skyrocketed, it's only been 3 days! I already get why because she's soooooooooo pretty and very cuuuteeee!! You should check the recent news article and her account!” One of your friends then said, as they gave you the said idol's account, this only made your curiosity grow bigger, and have eventually decided to search her account up later. You eventually find yourself talking to your friends about that idol, your curiosity getting bigger and bigger the more information about her you collect from your friends, it was unusual for you, really. But you don't really seem to care at all.

After sometime, you and your friends then parted ways, and while on your way back to your apartment, you eventually searched up her account, and holy hell, your friends were right, she is pretty and cute.

You were absolutely enthralled with her beautiful and dazzling appearance. You felt yourself getting engulfed, and eventually you decided to stalk her account.

She goes by “Shimizu Mei” on her account, a pretty brunette who's half-japanese, half-, wears Jirai Kei and Gyaru fashion, and her singing voice is absolutely stunning. You already forgot that you already walked past your apartment because of how submerged you are to her pretty looks and voice.

You then realize what you've been doing after what felt like forever and eventually snapped back to reality, you then hit and laughed to yourself quietly, you felt stupid for walking past your apartment.

But you also felt confused, what's wrong with you? This is very unusual of you, really. You've.. never felt like this before, you've never liked an idol before, and most importantly, you never would've thought that you'd actually be a fan of one, but it's not like you don't want to stop and restrain yourself, while you weren't exactly expecting this, you eventually just accepted it, you like her, you've become her fan, and that's that.

At least, that's what you initially thought.

As weeks pass by, your friends gradually start to notice that you seem to be, very fixated on the recent popular idol, Mei, not that they mind about it, it's just getting quite concerning on how much you like her.

You would only talk to them if it's about, her. If they try to change the topic by talking about another idol, you'd get really mad. They tried to calm you down by telling you to chill talking about her for a moment and just talk about something else instead, which only made you get even more mad. They found it very strange, you weren't like this a few weeks ago, what happened to you?

—

You only found yourself getting even more obsessed with the idol as days and weeks pass by. When you found out that she's hosting a meet-and-greet near your city, you immediately thought that you HAD to go with your friends since they told you that they were going as well.

The day of the meet-and-greet arrived, and oh boy this crowd was absolutely yet unsurprisingly really huge. You and your friends don't even know what was going on except for the fact that everyone was going batshit crazy while security was trying to calm everyone down, yet it was no use.

Amidst the crowd, you then saw her glance at you.

Yes, you.

As soon as you immediately noticed that she glanced at you for a mere second, your heart almost instantly stopped for a moment. You felt like you were about to fucking burst right then and there! As the voices of your friends calling out for your name in the middle of the crowd fell on deaf ears, not realizing that you were lost before you eventually snap back into reality, realized what was going on as you tried to find your friends while you steal a few glances back at the idol, who's sweet honey-like voice helped the security calm the crowd down.

Gosh, her voice is so fucking intoxicating.

After a while of waiting which seemed like forever to you, you finally get to see her.

In front of you, face-to-face.

Fucking god, was she trying to kill you? Was she trying to hypnotize you with that pretty little head of hers? Did she pull a spell on you or something? What the hell did she fucking do to you?

From her soft locks, to the most sweetest smile that you've ever seen from someone, to her outfit wear, to literally everything.

She's just practically begging for you to doll her up at this point.

...

!

“...- Eh .. -Ah ?- H-hello? Sweetheart -..? Are you even listening -?” she then said, snapping her fingers at your face, you eventually snap back into reality once more as you eventually find yourself frantically and repeatedly apologizing to her.

“No need to apologize, my dear ~ Would you like to take a picture with me, ? Or an autograph ? Just let me know sweetie !” She then replied, you found yourself a little lost in words as you then realized that she called you a pet name, your face turning into a bright, crimson shade of red as you eventually told her that you would just like to take a photo with her.

After the photoshoot with her, she then gave you the photo, signed it, and waved goodbye to you and your friends with a sweet smile on her face. Eventually you and your friends said your goodbyes to one another as you three parted ways.

...

It wouldn't be so bad to go back,

Take a picture of her,

And follow her on her way back,

...

Right?

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