#post nothing about second one (sekai)

[miriadalia]

About Keenry and how the CK writers ruined one of the best relationships of the show...

I'll try to keep it short.

These are the reasons why I think Tory and Robby shouldn't be endgame in Cobra Kai anymore:

Their miscommunication will only lead them to more heartbreak.

Back in season 4 I became a fulltime Keenry shipper, especially after the Prom scenes. And the main reason was because we could see how they understood each other, talked things out and worried about the other... After the season 5 breakup nothing was the same for them anymore.

With Tory wanting to solve her problems always on her own and with Robby escaping and assuming things before talking with her properly... They made it pretty clear they have communication and trust problems. And I get it, they both have had hard lives. But I hoped that after they made up in the last episode of season 5, they both had learned their lessons...

Flash forward to season 6 and instead we had more of the same but a thousand times worse.

Their SECOND break up

Listen. I know many couples go on and off for years and then end up getting married anyways, especially when they started their relationship pretty young... But I don't think that's healthy at all.

If you feel the constant need to resort to a break up or pause to fix your problems then that probably means you don't actually go well with that person.

And that's fine. That doesn't mean one of the parts is a horrible person. Just means it doesn't work and even if it's hurting it will be for the best in the future.

And yeah, I think the same about Sam x Miguel in case you're wondering.

The "love triangles" they used to kind of made them up again

They really run out of ideas in the writing room. We already had the drama: Tory mom died and she had to fix her relationship with the Miyagi Dos. She could have been forced to fight Robby in the tournament because of the rules, not because she was angry at him.

Why did Robby had to go through literal SA with that freak of a girl while thinking his second girlfriend had also cheated with another guy??

Why did Tory had to be captain with a guy that was made to be just a cartoon villain instead of an actual companion? And why did she also had to experience watching the boy she loved kissing another girl for the second time??

Kwon and Zara were such a wasted potential it makes my blood boil. They had multiple time Taekwondo champions with really good acting skills and they just went with the psycho gang freak and the superficial jealous bitch (ahem, abuser). But that's for another post...

The solution to these "misunderstandings" was... Pushing their respective freaks to defend each other

I'm talking about Tory pushing Kwon in the hall and Robby throwing Zara like a potato bag during the brawl.

"You really choose her over me?"

"It's not even close"

WTF was that?? It wasn't a choice in the first place!! Robby was drunk to the point of unconsciousness. Who on earth wrote that?

And are Tory and Robby supposed to be back together just because he said that?

He also said: "I know you better than that. I shouldn't have let Kwon get into my head" Well........ Your actions didn't show, honey, you immediately accused her of hooking up with him during the last fight.

Kwon's death and its impact in both their lives

Even if they didn't like him and Kwon made things even more difficult between them, he was still a teen like them.

Look at Tory's face in the picture above. Do you think she can handle any more death after what she had to go through with her mother? Do you think she will be magically cured by the power of Robby's love and fight Zara to "get revenge" in part 3?? Please, don't.

Even if a year has passed between the Sekai Taikai and the new tournament, this kid is traumatised. I don't think she should be fighting at all for a long, long time.

Robby, I can see him fighting, but I'm really disappointed on how his character arc went... Yes, he has finally gotten over his second place complex and understood he is a good leader if he wants to... But I can't see how that can improve his relationship with Tory.

So, lastly, I hope this is what one of the CK creators meant when he posted that "some high school relationships last forever, other don't". It makes me sad if it has to be Keenry the one that doesn't end up being endgame. But at the same time is the only solution I see to this poor writing...

[project-sekai-facts]

I've seen many people stating that Airi is implied as transfem, and many saying it's merely a headcanon, but I haven't been able to find evidence to support either side as I have no idea of where that notion comes from. Do you know about any event/card stories or symbolism that could imply that she's transgender? Thanks in advance.

oooh this is a really interesting one for me actually! so straight off the bat, no airi is not canonically or implied trans. that said, a queer (in her case, trans specifically) reading of her story is totally valid, much like Toya's backstory for an in-game example, and for out of game examples stuff like Rin in Love Live! School Idol Project or Gwen in the Spider-Verse movies (these two support a trans reading, whilst Toya's story supports a more general queer reading).

I think the main cause of the reading comes from her fes story! While her childhood is first talked about in the first chapter of RE:START From Here!, it's very brief and the specific parts about her personality and presentation aren't much of the focus, aside from an incredibly short interaction between Airi and her mother where Airi thinks the idol on TV is cute and her mother tells her that there's nothing stopping her from being like that, then a similar interaction with her younger sister where she decides that she wants to be an idol.

What we learn from this is that Airi used to be a tomboy when she was younger, and was short tempered and aggressive, and often got into fights with boys (though in the interaction we are shown she does this to defend her little sister). She also discovered idols and decided she wanted to be one too, just as cute as the one on TV, which is the total opposite to how she was then. In terms of Airi's backstory serving as a trans allegory? I think you could get something out of this, though the allegory (intentional or not) is far more pronounced in her fes story. You could definitely view this flashback as her starting to realise she's a trans girl, and that she wants to be more girly. Especially when her sister says that Airi's just like the idol on TV, and she has a moment of realisation that she wants to be one too.

Now onto her fes story. First I'll just mention a little fandom thing. So back in 2021 when Airi's fes card was initially released, a fan translation (pictured) was posted to youtube that mistranslated her as being transgender. It was a error made by the translator where instead of saying how the boys she fought with called her a "too cute for a monster", she said they called her a "too cute for a boy". The translation was deleted a long time ago, but for some reason people still bring it up, even now. I think this is where a lot of misinterpretation over her being canonically trans comes from.

Now onto the actual fes story. In the first part of the story, Airi looks back on the interactions with her sister that we saw in Re:start, thinks that she'd love to see the look on her younger self's face if she could see herself now, which creates her fragment sekai. In the second part, after talking with her younger self for a bit, she calls little Airi a tomboy, and she's visibly uncomfortable with this. Present-day Airi then realises this past version of her must be from around the time she started to be bothered by how people viewed her as "rambunctious" or a tomboy. She also mentions that when she decided to become an idol she started ignoring boys teasing her about it, confirming that her tomboy personality and presentation was a source of mockery.

The most interesting part is that Airi says when she started wearing cute and girly clothing to school, she was mocked for it. Although the text explicitly states that for Airi, she was a GNC girl who was uncomfortable with her presentation and wanted to be more girly, this is literally something that has happened with Mizuki, who is all-but-stated canonically transfem. The rest of the story is Airi explaining what being an idol is like and her experiences to her younger self, who then proudly proclaims that she's going to become an idol.

As I said, the text explicitly states that she's a tomboyish girl before she decided she wanted to become an idol and wear cute clothes, which strongly suggests that she's cisgender (of course, she could be a GNC trans girl who came out when she was very young, but this is not canon). However, the fes story overall, and particularly the 3 lines of dialogue pictured above, strongly support a trans reading.

Airi was teased for wearing cute clothes, and while the text doesn't state it outright, you shouldn't have to be told that these were typically girly or feminine clothes, especially given the tshirt and dungarees that Airi wears on her child L2D model. As stated earlier, this exact same thing has happened with Mizuki, although the reactions from classmates and the girls themselves were slightly different on the account of Mizuki being canonically transgender. Airi is annoyed that her classmates think the cute clothes clash with her personality and make fun of her for it, but in Mizuki's case she questions if it's okay for her to wear such clothes because people think it's weird for her to be wearing it (the reason for it being weird is left unstated, but it's presumably because her classmates knew her as a boy at this point in time). Nonetheless, this mirrors the experiences of so many trans people in real life, who are mocked by the general public due to not fitting into the box of gender norms dictated by society.

Airi affirming that she's a girl is definitely the standout line here, though. It shows us how insecure little Airi was with her presentation, and how she wanted people to think of her as a proper, cute girl, instead of a "monster". So while Airi is not canonically trans, the text strongly supports her being read as such. It doesn't take a genius to work out how you could apply Airi growing up as a more masculine tomboy, then realising she wants to be a cute idol, then being teased for dressing in a traditionally feminine way is an allegory for a trans experience, intended or not.

Also absolutely not solid evidence of anything at all, but I often see people point out that Airi's trained The Strongest Idol Smile! 4* has a trans flag color palette, something we've seen in Mizuki cards before. However this is very likely unintentional and just done for artistic effect, the pink ribbons on the card are actually red on the costume (and you can tell in some parts of this artwork too). Still think it's a neat end to this post though.

[gacha-incels]

the otome gacha “Love and Deepspace” made a shit ton of money last month and apparently it scared the guys on gachagaming so shitless their thoughts instantly went to “being replaced by sexbots” for some reason. Does this happen when any all female gacha or female banner would top the charts? No, I’ve never seen women immediately make paranoid posts about being replaced with sexbots when this happens or discussing “well it made money, BUT….” I’ve seen men think women will freak out en masse about the thought of being replaced by some “sexbot” but I’ve never seen it actually happen, at least not as much as men freak out and think it’s the end times when like…a gacha game with a male cast makes a lot of money. It’s very telling.

I posted this here for a few examples in english/more western SNS of what we’ve been seeing while looking at the specific incel groups in South Korea and to a lesser extent China recently. Some of the posters may even be from those communities, in which case it’s also worth it to note how these ideas may travel from community to community. A big one is “this doesn’t count because the money is actually not even from women to begin with it’s from (male in her life)” - in this way it doesn’t matter how much or how little the game makes, the financial success will always be due to the powerful finances of a man. they flatter themselves thinking they own the industry in this way, even the games that pander to women. Newer ones I’m seeing are “actually it only makes this much money because men can spend on different gachas/vtubers(?)/games and this is the only thing women can spend on,” and “women are really hard to market to that’s why no one does it” - the first one you can tell is coping. the second one is also ridiculous as the reply says, women spend on male character banners and merch like crazy and the data is, again, right in front of you. The panic of “I hope this doesn’t catch on globally 😰😰😰” from the OP in one of the replies is funny but reminiscent of the “(if there are) men don’t play (the game)” fear of “genshinification” of gacha where male characters pandering to female players will be increasingly be added to gacha games.

Finally (and I’ve mentioned this in previous posts)I added the last one because it’s something I’ve witnessed frequently in all of these “communities,” if there must be male characters in the game they need to be “manly” and “masculine” - these things meaning looking strong, buff, built “proper men.” they will describe Genshin/mihoyo male characters as “femboys” or “twinks”, on a related note I have no idea how that term has gotten so far away from its original meaning and community that these anime nerds throw it out left and right like it’s nothing. You are probably looking for the term “bishounen”. anyway this poster says “women want masculine men” and I’ve seen a lot of guys say this regarding these games though the data absolutely does not show it. this is just the type of male design that they want because the bishounen male that panders to women in “their” game makes them uncomfortable. Look at the male characters who are designed for women in these games. Project Sekai, Ensemble Stars, Genshin, etc. they’re typically lithe and beautiful, mischievous, cute looking. Look up the type of fanart women and girls from a big target market like China make on Lofter, they’re not making these guys in the western ideal of “proper masculine man.” But frequently I see guys pretending the majority of women hate these types of designs that they actually hate. I mean you can already tell what kind of guy this is when he writes “modern woman is not feminine” lol. But there is absolutely a consistent hatred shared between all these men from different communities on male characters that pander to women in this way, part of this is definitely hating the fact that this character has been made for the female audience who they don’t even want playing the game.

[keeneschoices]

how is it POSSIBLE that toxic Miguel stans make everything Robby does or gets about Miguel??

and hear me out, I'm not talking about ALL Miguel stans, I'm talking specifically about the ones who glaze him so bad they don't care about other characters' narratives and worship Miguel's as If he wasn't also written to be a flawed character (everyone in the show is, THAT'S LITERALLY THE ENTIRE POINT OF EVERY PLOT).

the reason I'm bringing this up is that I keep seeing ppl posting tik toks like "how tf did Robby get a sponsorship and Miguel, who won the Sekai Taikai, got nothing?". babes, first of all, the Sekai Taikai trophy comes with the title AND A SHIT LOAD OF MONEY (they say so in s5). plus, he literally got into Stanford apparently BEFORE he even competed (so the one thing he was actually competing for was absolutely unnecessary bc he'd already gotten before he even became champion, but whatever, they were doing the "starts with him, ends with him" stuff so it doesn't matter).

Robby's plot the entire season was that he was second place and that he hated the feeling of always being second place in everything his whole life. It was literally crafted for us to believe he had everything to gain and everything to lose If he didn't win the tournament when Miguel himself had Stanford to lose (it's the only thing he talks about when the Sekai Taikai is ever mentioned in s6) but actually, he didn't, because he had already gotten in without the tournament's help. And yet, Robby still lost.

That's okay (I still wanted him to have won but whatever) because I get the message that he had gotten a lot more from karate than a trophy and a title could ever give him, and that he could do differently than Johnny and not let the loss eat him up for the rest of his life. But the thing is, he still lost the whole future the Sekai Taikai could've given him as well. And Miguel won, in the end.

So why is it so unbearable for people that Robby got even a slight of what Miguel did with that sponsorship? Robby getting sponsorships doesn't necessarily mean Miguel didn't, either. AND he likely didn't take up on them since he was off to Okinawa with Sam and then, off to Stanford.

Robby being sponsored doesn't take away Miguel's title, or his fame, or his fortune, or anything of the sort. Stop making things that aren't about Miguel, about him.

[riftwirecrystal]

NINJAGO STARSTRUCK AU - SPINJITZU AT 25:00 OPENING

This is the opening of the Ninjago x Project Sekai Nightcord swap.

Hey guys, I worked hard to make sure I kept most of the character's traits present, while coinciding with N25's main story. It would mean a lot if you stopped by to read a bit!!

Harumi Yoisaki

"This isn't right. Maybe if I…? Yes, that works."

My name is Harumi Yoisaki. I am a digital composer.

I would be a second year student of high school, but I do not go to school. I live by myself and complete online courses. My parents used to work in music.

I work in a group. We meet every night on our night chat, Spinjitzu. Ever since my parents were hospitalized I promised to keep doing what they did.

I don't live in a very roomy apartment. I barely pay the rent. Sometimes I will forget to eat.

But, I continue. Because I must compose.

I visit my parents sometimes. They don't wake up. They never will.

Because they are dead. And it's my fault.

So I continue. And the cycle will go on.I must compose.

Even though sometimes it's hard, I continue. Because this is my place. I will save someone.

I just need to keep composing. And soon…I will be able to save someone from the same fate as my parents.

They went out to drive…

"No. I will not think about it. I will keep going. I must save someone…

"My screen lit up.

"Hey Rue, I finished arranging that part for you. Do you want the demo?"

It was from L. He arranges my music and adds lyrics.

"Yes please," I wrote back. He sent the file, and I pressed play.

A harsh, but sweet melody flooded the room. The composition flowed smoothly with the arrangements L did.

"Thank you, L. It sounds good," I typed.

"I'm glad. I think I'm going to log off," he typed back.

So early? That's weird…"Get some sleep! You must be tired, but it sounds good though," typed Nyad.

"Yeah, I heard you had class tomorrow, so rest well," added PIX.

Nyad works with our other member, PIX. Nyad does the art while PIX does the editing.

We post songs and music videos on our shared account, S25. Usually I get slightly more of the cut we make due to my living situation, but I still make sure to give them the amount they deserve too.

We've never met each other face to face, but I find joy in working with the three of them.

Even with that, I'm not doing this for fun.

I must compose.

Lloyd Asahina

I logged off the computer.

I am Lloyd Asahina, a second year high school student.

I glanced at the sheet of music on my desk, then the workbook that’s shoved to the floor.

Guess I should do that then, huh?

I slowly and miserably picked up the book from the ground, then placed it on my desk.

But I couldn't open it.

I didn't want to open it.

But I had to, didn't I?

I had to.

I ended up finishing the notes and assignments I was supposed to take next week.

Hopefully that will be enough…

My mother called from the hallway. "Lloyd? Are you still awake?"

"Yeah. Just finishing some things for next week," I said.

She softly opened the door. "Good. I don't want you being all caught up with those people online again. You know what happened last time. You're so talented and gifted, and I want the best for you… okay?"

It's hard to fight with her. I gave up a long time ago. Now I only hide.

"Yes, mom," I replied.

My mother is Dr. Misako Asahina. She is one of the most famous and world renowned doctors in the world. She has no interest in music, and expects me to take a similar career to her.

But I don't know what I want to do. I don't know who I am.

What do I want to be…?

But I continue to do whatever she says. I don't know why. I just can't defy her, no matter how hard I want to.

I'm supposed to be the best for everyone around me. Why stop now…?

I haven't known myself for a long time now. It's nothing new to feel like this.I can't help it. I still hate it.

But if that's the case, why can't I leave it…?Deep down, I knew the truth.I could not escape.

I have been forever alone.

I hate it.

I hate myself.

I have lost who I am.

Nya Shinonome

For forever, I have wanted to become an artist.

I have many names.

Nya Shinonome, for one.

But I can also be Kai’s sister, a little girl, the loner, etc.

I am all of them.

Yet I am none of what I want to be.

I do not go to school during the day.

I have never been able to choose my own path.

When I try, I am constantly told I’m not good enough.

I should give up.

I should stop trying.

I am not talented.

I am not valued.

But I persevere.

My destiny should be what I make. Not what anyone else says. I will be good enough. I can be good enough.

But am I really?

Yes, I always tell myself.

As I tell myself this again, I get a text message from PIX in the chat.

“Hey Nyad, can I see the storyboard you were working on for the next song?”

I quickly sent her the progress I’d made so far. “Here.”

“Thanks! You’re so talented, I’d never be like you,” she responded.

That made me feel a bit better.

Sometimes it does get hard.

Sometimes I feel like I can’t do anything right.

Sometimes I feel completely and utterly useless.

Sometimes I just feel like I want to disappear.

It’s the worst feeling in the world.

But I need to prove everyone who doubted me wrong.It doesn’t matter who tells me I can’t do it.

My parents, my teachers, my brother, none of them.

I will pursue my dream.

Even if it means I’ll have to fight all the doubts clouding my head.

Pixal Akiyama

I sighed.

Everyone else had logged off already.

What do I do now..?

I looked at my bag and remembered the schoolwork due next week.

"I really don't want to do that right now…"

I tried to ignore it and started working on the new music video. My name is Pixal Akiyama. I am a first year high school student.

I use my friend Nyad's art in edits for Rue and L's songs. Lately my inspiration has been lacking. I'm not sure why.

School life isn't much better either. It's been a while since I've talked to Sora… I noticed an influx in people calling me names and avoiding me too. I'm always excluded and made fun of.

I don't know why.

I miss my dad…

My dad is Cyrus Akiyama, a clothing designer with a very different approach to styles. He moved away to work for his company a few months ago.

I haven't had many people to talk to recently.

I miss talking.

It's been so long…

I miss having people to confide in. To run to. To trust.

No one accepts me. And no one will.

I am alone. Forever and ever.

[theweightlessness-recedes]

"Ｍｙ ｈａｎｄｓ ａｒｅ

ｎｏｔ ｗｏｒｔｈｙ．"

－ Ｊｅｒｉｃｈｏ

"ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ."

- ᴛᴇʟᴏᴍᴇʀᴇꜱ

"𝗜 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄." - 𝗘𝘂𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗱

Greetings! Welcome to a Multifandom Blog where I always post about something that interests me.

You can now call me Descend, I used to name myself Crimson before, but you know what..?

I wanna make things new and better. I want to be someone new, now here we are.

First of all, a simple DNI:

NO MORE BAD ONES IN THIS SAFEPLACE BLOG

Second, a simple fun fact:

I want to be a multi-media creative artist, that is my main goal for today's future.

Now with that out of the way, let me show you some tags you need to know about me: ↓

My social accs:

Insta acc - here

Discord acc - @sl33p_cl3rgy

Bluesky acc - ↓ @adeceipherdescend.bsky.social

Spotify acc - here

Top 5th of my music tastes(there were lots, but I had to make sure to do my mains):

Sleep Token(1) - Bad Omens(2) - Vocaloid(3) - Cg5(4) - Chonny Jash(5).

Top 7th of my main fandoms(as..a multifandom too, had to tell my top mains.):

Omori(1) -

TF2(2) - Dark Deception(3) - FridayNightFunkin!(4) - SonictheHedgehog(5) -

Call of Duty(6) - Analog Horror(7)

Silli facts about me:

☆ I am good at writing Fanfiction, tho it needs some little spice.. but I hope to improve someday. ( also yall should prepare for my st oc lore fanfic hehehehe )

☆ An Owl, Raven, Bunny and Cat fan.

Any species is SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!

☆ My favorite seasons are both Spring and Winter, cuz the cold makes me happy/hj?

☆ Expect me to...multitask everything in plan, but I will try my best to take breaks.

☆ Very creative, but also good at analyzing things! (Maybe? 👀)

Not a big fan of the dark....its scary

:((

☆ Big fan of the Stars, Oceans, Snow, Moon, Symbolism Flowers, and Adventure!

☆ Mobile gamer, I played some rhythm games, horror games, adventure games, shooting games, storytelling games and puzzle games.

☆ Since I was young, I suffered from social anxiety, yet i'm trying to overcome my self-hate and self-worth. Right now, i'm trying to express my emotions whether it's real or not.

☆ Horror genre lover, Action genre lover and cartoon genre lover.

☆ Sometimes, I yearn about Nostalgia and wanted to return from the past. Expect me to post some about it.

☆ Favorite Aesthetics(that fits me well, also apologies for the long list!!:)

2010s Internet

Analog Horror

Arcadecore

Artcore

Bloomcore

Cartooncore

Cottagecore

Digital Horror

Dreamcore

Doodlecore

Emo

Fairycore

Frutiger Aero(and Eco)

Gamercore

Glitchcore

Halloween

Indie

Kuromicore

Liminal Space

MS Paint

Nostalgiacore

Naturecore

Old Web

Pastel Academia

Poetcore

Rainbowcore

Virgo's Tears

Winter Academia

☆ Favorite Kuromi characters: My Melody, Little Twin Stars, Cinnamoroll, Sugar Bunnies, Bonbonribbon, Cocoa and Vanilla, My Sweet Piano, Kuromi and Rilu Rilu Fairilu.

☆ Favorite PJSK characters: Kanade Yoisaki, Mafuyu Asahina, Emu Otori, Ena Shinomone, Nene Kusanagi and Minori Hanasato!

☆ Characters I kin(and also fits my vibe):

Kanade Yoisaki ( From Project Sekai )

Mari ( from Omori )

Shadow the Hedgehog

Nene Kusanagi ( from PJSK )

Suitcase ( Inanimate Insanity )

Viktor and Ekko ( Arcane )

Strawberry Cookie (Cookie Run)

Yashiro Isana ( K-Project )

Soul ( CCCC / Chonny Jash )

TF2 Sniper / Mick Mundy

☆ I did have some RP blogs if you wanna give it a go!:

TF2 OC RP BLOG - @ask-th3slayer

Sleep Token OC RP BLOG - @ask-ace-dimensionhopper

☆ SIDE BLOGS!:

Aubrey-centric OMORI dessert headspace based AU - @aplacecalled-dessertland ( aka a MOURNING BUNNY AU )

Omori SideBlog - @theboyand-thetulipg4rd3n

If needed, Drawing Requests is now in session! Either request a oc, canon character, anything you like!!

Okay, It should be all for now. And with that said...

"Nothing lasts forever."

[leoneedincorrectquotes]

Thoughts about a second Fes Card for Ichika

So the first round of Fes cards are coming to a close, with only 3 left, and as some have been speculating it's possible we get a second round, starting with Saki's first and Ichika's second. As I am very totally normal about Ichika, I have a few thoughts about how it could look, and potentially tie in to a future character arc/story for her, as well as tie in to the previous Fes trained card. It's gonna be a long post so buckle up. Send in asks if you love it, or absolutely despise it!

The untrained is Ichika passing by other characters in the game, the rest of L/N as well as Kanade and Mafuyu. This directly ties into the side story for these cards. It begins with Ichika in school, talking to Honami and Kohane about how far they've all come. Ichika begins to think about how she really hasn't gone through much in comparison to others, and how she was never able to truly help when they needed it the most (And at this point flashbacks occur relating to the rest of L/N and others she has a close connection to). This plays on her mind throughout the day, and when she gets to Sekai she's early. She notices a fragment, and recognising it after the previous one, decides to head in on her own. The typical blinding light appears before her, and we actually see her in the fragment for a bit. It resembles a long art gallery, but one where the paintings are being worked on that moment. Tins of coloured paint line the floor, and there are spots for the eventual denizens of this Sekai. at that moment, however, there are the 19 other main characters (At this point Ichika has met them all).

This could be the second part of the side story, but there's another good place for it. As she walks past them, they are all absorbed in working on their art, all self portraits. All relate to how they see themselves, and their struggles. So for Saki it's her in the hospital alone, for Mizuki it's being on that rooftop, surrounded by gossip, and for Mafuyu it's nothing but a black void. Some are being secretive and not showing others, some are constantly trying to improve. Ichika arrives at her own spot, inbetween Saki and either Mizuki or Kanade (Last character in the order or last leader). This is the other place I would end the first part.

Miku appears and explains that this is for Ichika to represent herself and her struggles, and show who she is. Once she is happy, she can leave. Ichika struggles for a bit, thinking about who she is and what she want's to show. Looking over at everyone else, though, she has an idea. Flashbacks play of interactions with other characters, how they've helped, and their meaning for Ichika. Ichika collects paints, and begins her artwork. The trained version of this card isn't shown in the story, but is placed here thematically. It's Ichika, or rather her art, with all 20 of the colour's that represent each character, and a 21st for Miku, covering the painting, through her outline. Put simply, it is her made up of everyone else. Miku approaches and asks what it means to her, to which Ichika explains.

She is, more than any other character in the game, someone to who the people around her, and those she cares about, is shaped by. Everyone she is friends with has helped her discover more about herself, understand where to go forward, encourage her. She is made up of the rest of the cast, and will move forward with a small part of each of them. She explains that she will never finish this art, it will always be added to, but that that's okay, that's who she is, someone who is striving to be the best person for others.

Miku smiles, and says that it's time for her to go. Ichika protests, and says that she needs to help everyone else, some of them don't know what they are trying to make, some are scared to show others their art, and some are focused on bettering their art because they need to be good enough. Miku explains that, they aren't there, really. It's just how they are all doing, and how they are feeling. Ichika tells miku "In that case, I will be the one to help them finish their art. To make them feel happy with what they've accomplished, to allow them to take a break, and to know that they don't need to be scared. I won't leave them to struggle alone. Not again"

She leaves, and ends up back in sekai just as the rest of Leo/Need are beginning to wonder where she is. A small memento of her trip remains, that being the painting she made, hanging up proudly on her wall. The story ends with her beginning practice, with renewed vigor and determination

To me, this would effectively counter those who say Ichika has no personality or is boring. It shows that she is caring for others, and gives her something to explore both in her own stories, and in others, as someone who is perceptive to others feelings, and makes sure they know that they are not alone. In future Fes Cards, have Ichika appear, maybe not as herself, but have the Ichika that other's see do as Ichika said, help them make it through, show them that they have done something truly impressive. Ichika is often seen as an audience surrogate, or someone who is seen as the dev's favourite. So why not show that Ichika is someone more, and is a character to love.

[justaperson15]

Hello, Project Sekai Colorful Stage featuring Hatsune Miku fandom of Tumblr.

It is I, justaperson15, from the Cells at Work fandom

and I'm here to share my proseka oc with everyone

so, this was the demo version (February 2023 maybe?) - nameless

yeah he was nameless

and trans

anyway I knew NOTHING about the game, so I had no idea on how to make him work and gave up on him

Then, starting in March 2023 (during the jpsekai event of The Phoenix Through Blurred Eyes) I got back playing, started to read the lore - went apeshit

my best friend also made a prsk oc at the time, so I was even more motivated.

By that time, I finally started to like Tsukasa (I actually despised him, and so did the nameless oc) - thus, the second demo of my oc, that finally had a name

March 13th, 2023 : the 'birth' of Benjiro Takamoto

that's his first 'official' design, as a in-depth character

at the time, I was just starting on making his lore

"a silly boy with no trauma"

but he felt boring, so I gave him ⭐lore⭐

and then, I started to make his first Live2D model

it was a flop.

a total flop.

and using Akito was a bad idea

anyway, I edited my first two fake screens of prsk dialogues

Total messes fr

Benjiro used to look goofy I'm actually giggling

my boy

anyway, Benjiro's live2d kept looking off in my eyes. So I gave up for a couple of weeks

until recently

I'm still pretty proud of this one, he finally has the aura of 'yeah, that's definitely him.'

all I did was using Tsukasa's live2d model as a reference

that's it.

that's literally all.

and then I edited them together again

silly goobers

the amount of pictures of these two on this post is incredible.

So yeah, for those that still didn't understand it

⭐These two are dating⭐

You've been lured into a oc x canon trap. /hj

but hear me out,

they have the childhood friends to lover dynamic

👀

okay enough bullshitting around,

jst gonna post some other pictures here

My son, he's so silly

anyway I think I've reached the picture limit on the post so

goodnight from these silly gooses, I'll add infos on Benjiro soon <3

[girlscoutbrownies]

introduction post ii.

okay this is the second introduction post i've made

hi! i'm isen, or aiden. feel free to call me whichever you'd prefer. i am a fictionkin of aiden clark from school bus graveyard and isen from unordinary. of course i have more kins but those are my main two. please do not interact if you are anti fictionkin or anti irl!!!! also interact mediamates :3

i go by xe spark she it pronouns, but feel free to stick to just one! i use any gendered terms.

i mostly post school bus graveyard, marionetta, or project sekai stuff on this blog, or just random things i think about. it'll probably be really rare if i say anything else, but i sometimes reblog other fandoms! feel free to talk to me about anything you think i'd like. i also draw and write! my ao3 is girlscoutbrownies, although at the time of writing this i haven't updated it in a while.

before you follow or interact : i'm a minor. seriously, it's in the bio. don't follow if you're a nsfw account or something. i may be awkward and nervous around people i don't know well or have just met. i'll warm up quickly, though! i block accounts that have nothing on them (no banner name or reblogs.) just show signs of life!

don't interact : basic dni criteria, anti irl / anti fictionkin, [anything]phobic, nsfw accounts. also, if you interact with the intention to hate on my interests for whatever reason, then i'll just block you.

by the way, i'm not omniscient! i can't see everything, so please tell me if i reblog something from a problematic user or if i do something wrong !!

tagging system under read more! ^_^

#aiden rambles - my main talking tag! most of my posts will be under here, unless theyre reblogs or something.

#sbg - tag for all my sbg posts. if it's an image dump or analysis, then i'll also tag #school bus graveyard

#pjsk - pjsk posts. usually reblogs.

#marionetta - my marionetta posts! usually analysis posts or commentary on the latest episode. (for some reason, these always get more likes than my sbg posts...)

#ask - for my very, very few asks...

i don't really tag my reblogs (although i definitely should,,,) and there are more tags that i use that i forgot about but these are my main ones. if you ever have an inquiry, feel free to talk to me on discord! dm me for tag ^_^

[strawberryjamsara]

🔥I’m interested in your LeoNeed is better than Wonderland Showtime opinions🔥

Well Ruikasa shippers are fucking annoying.

This post was sponsored by Audible-

Okay so jokes aside. Putting aside fandom grievances, how did Leo Need my least favorite band start to rise above Wonderland now one of my most hated?

So yeah I didn’t like Leo/Need at first. I honestly wasn’t too enthralled with the idea of childhood friends which… I’ll be honest, I think I was just projecting my own experience of my childhood friend becoming my bully onto that. I was like ‘Ugh is it really so bad if Shiho wants to leave the band?’ partly because I was thinking of how my friend started to spread rumors about me for being clingy. But we don’t have time to unpack all that. I think the event that made me start to really like Leo/Need was the Stage Of Sekai event. Ironically the LN event from before was probably my peak boredom with the group, having to spend a whole event on writing lyrics, but Shihos struggles and the push and pull between her friends wanting to help and not being experienced as her so she wanted them to be able to relax was so refreshing and it made Shiho start to rise through the ranks as one of my favorites. I started picking up on more of Honamis silly and neurotic tendencies, and Ichikas shy but goal oriented personality. And like. There are still things I have problems with. Their sekai is probably the most boring (just a school? Why not an observatory?) and I also get very annoyed at how Ichika hogs the mic during songs. I also think that the hard rock songs like teratera and Peaky Peaky are more fitting to their brand than slow soft ones like Made To Order, but that’s probably just me. But I started to reread some older events and I realized how strong a team they are. I loved watching them slowly march forward, their set goal, the discussion of what makes musicians create. Even the Miku software thing, while it’s pretty egregious product placement in a game that is a literal giant product placement, shows a want to understand how to make music. They very much go over how yes, achieving your dreams isn’t easy, and you will have to work hard and it might not be at the same pace as others so you’ll just have to commit which is a theme they commit to (unlike Wonderland does later but I’ll get there when I get there) and also Saki is a great character when you get her out from being ‘Tsukasa’s sister’. She’s incredibly peppy despite the fact she lost so much of her childhood and even because of that so she has to make up for it now. They write her illness well, and I adore how even though Shiho is strict, she will drop everything and make sure Saki is okay if she pushes herself too hard.

Okay now Wonderland…. Um…. So I read ahead some of the events and I remember being so upset at the ending of Arc 1 Wonderland. One of the most mature ideas in the game was that this high school friend group couldn’t last forever, but that was okay, they were going in different directions with their different dreams but they’d treasure these memories forever. The scene of the group hug where they cry together hit me hard. And I’m fine if a story wants to be a coffee shop au where nothing bad happens. But a cop out? Oooooh I get mad when a story spends so long building up that something sad will happen, and then it cheats out of that happening at the very last second. And yes I know it’s a gacha game they weren’t gonna make their most popular group disband but I think there was a very easy fix to this. Just have them split apart and post timeskip, have an inciting incident that gets the gang back together and show how they’ve changed. And boy does it make it feel like the last few events ruminating on this were filler when this happens. And that’s not the only event that feels like filler. Tell me what was the point of the stranded on an island event? Nothing of significance happened there, it felt like watching a filler episode with the ‘Were going our separate ways’ part tacked onto the end to give it meaning. Like do the writers even know what to do with these guys? These are good characters who are being put to waste! Oh yeah and also there’s that racist event that weirdos treated like 9/11 was happening when it wasn’t put in the English version. Sorry they hit the fucking Ruigon I guess, wish you’d show this same enthusiasm for literally anything else in the game.

[deserttheavuline]

Introduction post (or whatever it’s called)!

Heyo! I’m Desert (At the time of writing this at least)! >:3

About me:

You can call me:

Desert

Polina

Ethel

Lillie

Lily

Nihilecho

Echo

Nihi

Nil

Jeez I have a lot of names

Aster

Allium

There’s a lot of flower themed names by the way

Foxglove

Marigold

Yeah I’ll sometimes see a word or name and just be like “Ok so that is now a name I will go by”

Snowbell

Aniseed

Mint

The list just keeps going btw

The Void

Saorise

Matilda

Chandelier

Eli

Also a lot of these are just names I’ve given ocs of mine

Ether

Mari

Shurei

Mycelia

Fondant

Glass

Charlie

Astrid

Astro

Epsilon

Alice

Aspen

There’s still more but that’s all I can think of rn

My age: Hah, as if I’d tell you directly!

Pronouns: Any/All

Gender: Everything and nothing at the same time

Romantic orientation and sexuality: Aro/Ace

Fandoms I’m in:

OSC (Primarily BFDI)

CCCC (Chonny’s Charming Chaos Compendium)

Hermitcraft and the Life series

Favourite characters from each fandom:

Bfdi:

Favourite in general: Nine

Favourite contestant: Tree

Favourite host: Two

Other favourite that I don’t know how else to include: Pillow

CCCC: Mind

Hermitcraft:

Favourite: Zedaph

Second favourite: Cubfan

Life series: Tango

Fun facts about me:

I really like emoticons and kaomoji :D

My favourite animal is the fox

Cats are second place

I also think fungi are cool but they aren’t animals

My favourite type of mushroom is the bleeding tooth fungus

I think aspen trees are cool

I have too many favourite flowers

I am trying to make an object show

My favourite musical artist is Chonny Jash

I like vocaloid music as well though

My music taste doesn’t fit cleanly into a box

I will ramble on and on about myself if given the chance (sometimes)

I like increasing the length of lists

I live in Australia

I suck at tags

I have ADHD and Autism and probably some other stuff but I don’t have diagnoses for the other stuff so idk

I should be wearing my glasses right now but I’m not and I’m probably not wearing them when you are reading this either

I have multiple different laughs and I do not control which one I do unless I am forcing a laugh

I think we need to bring back the words overmorrow and ereyesterday

My mind will often just go completely blank when I am asked a question

My favourite colour is purple

I can only use the dark blue straw I don’t know why I’m sorry I just can’t use the other ones

I also can only use specific spoons

I am bad at picking favourites for a lot of different things

I love chocolate oranges

And I love these Woolworth’ fairy bread hot cross bun things they are so good

I suck at drawing

I am relatively good at Project Sekai

A lot of headcanons I make for characters can be related to at least one song

A lot of headcanons I make for characters (especially favourite characters of mine) are just me projecting

I have many contradictory headcanons

I don’t know when to end a list

I am decent at singing

No seriously when do I end a list-

I really want shorter hair

I also really want dyed hair

I wrote an entire thing about black holes once just because I wanted to

I think fondant tastes good

I think space is cool

Okay maybe this is when I should end a list

Alright introduction post over, might add more stuff later

[project-sekai-facts]

How are we feeling about ensekai’s emu3 translation!!! (I’m mad)

(if you remember the 3 whole posts i made when asahi got de-gayed on EN you'll know i am mad too and that this is probably going to get long)

i don't like to be too cynical but it was so obvious that they were going to change that line, i had a feeling since the event first released on JP and after the incident with Asahi where I went through and tracked down multiple other examples of EN removing queer subtext it became clear to me that in no way shape or form was "emu-chan really loves nene-chan" making it to EN without getting changed. what i didn't expect was them changing Nene's line after Luka's comment, which actually makes this whole situation far worse than many of their other instances of toning down queer subtext.

for anyone who isn't aware of what happened, in chapter 5 of the current Emu event, there's a scene where Nene, Rui and the Virtual Singers are talking about what would cheer Emu up. The vsingers all talk about how much Emu loves spending time with Nene, leading to the following exchange

If you look for them, any fan TL of this scene will be something similar to this:

Luka: ...Fufu. Emu-chan really loves Nene-chan, doesn't she? Nene: Th-that's nothing special...

EN's official translation is this:

So what's the issue? I'll start with Luka's part. In the original text, she uses the word daisuki, which can mean to "like a lot" or "love". It's a word you will see frequently in the idol/idol-adjacent genre of games, due to its ambiguity in that it can be read as either platonic or romantic when used towards a person, and often will be used in ambiguous situations so that it's harder to confirm the writers' intentions either way. so here, fans of the emu/nene ship could view the fact that emu loves spending her time with nene as more on the romantic side, but people who don't like the ship could view it as platonic and move on.

while they didn't translate daisuki directly, Luka's line still works, and still contains the ambiguity that works as ship tease in the original text. it's a perfectly fine localisation that still conveys the original intent. despite that, there is something to be said about EN's consistent refusal to translate daisuki as love in most instances when it's not used on An/Kohane (but then again, EN has literally teased An/Kohane on their twitter account so is it all that surprising?).

Here's some examples:

Aibou no koto ga daisuki de / he loves his partner -> he cares about his partner very much (The Power of Unity chapter 7 when Kaito is comparing Arata to Akito and Toya)

HARUKA-CHAN, DAISUKI DAYOOOO!!! / HARUKA-CHAN, I LOOOOOVEEE YOU!!! -> You're the best!!! (Dear Me, As I Was Back Then chapter 4 when minori is at an ASRUN concert. this one isn't actually that great of a localisation)

Honachan no koto daisuki dakara. Kore de iinda yo. / I love Honachan, so this is fine. -> I want what's best for her. And this is it. (Leo/need main story chapter 14 after Saki tells Honami she won't bother her anymore)

Minna daisuki de - taisetsuna tomodachi na no / I love them all - they're my dearest friends -> They're all amazing, and very dear to me. (Leo/need main story chapter 17. this isn't good either)

What's particularly amusing about that last one is that there's a second official translation for it that I assume was done by JP staff (since EN never promoted doing the Journey to Bloom subs like they did back when they provided subs for Petit SEKAI) that actually keeps the word daisuki as love.

Yeah. I love all my friends - and they mean the world to me.

It's a better localisation than the official EN team one.

Questionable localisation choices aside, Luka's line is fine and is actually in line with the original. The issue with this localisation very much lies with Nene's part, because that is an entirely new line.

In the original text, Nene's "that's just normal" or "that's nothing special" or however you choose to TL it, is meant to be her questioning Luka's statement, since all the things that the other vsingers said that Emu liked were pretty normal things like going shopping and playing video games with nene. To Nene, these things are normal activities for them to do together, so she gets embarrassed by the fact that Luka concludes from that information that Emu loves Nene. When I dissect it like that I think you can really tell what the writers were going for here lol.

"That's just us being friends" does still convey the idea that Nene thinks these activities aren't anything out of the ordinary and she isn't sure why the vsingers are picking these out as some of Emu's favorite things to do, but it's very different from the original line. "But those are just normal things we do together" is something I just came up with on the spot, but it's a lot closer to the original text and still conveys the same meaning. The fact they changed the line to "that's just us being friends" is, honestly, not even subtle that they're covering up queer subtext. The original scene was very clearly written in as ship tease, and EN mentioning "friends" for no reason, especially since the word nor anything close to it was not used in the original, is instantly a red flag because it's like the go-to for queerbaiting and censorship. This was intentional. There was no need for them to specify that the relationship is platonic, Luka's part is ambiguous for a reason so that fans can view it how they like.

Just to top all this off, here's Rin's original line just before that Luka+Nene interaction:

Oh, and! And! She said that playing games with Nene-chan is also super fun!

And here's Rin's line from the official EN translation:

That's not the same thing, but even more weirdly, the incorrect part (super fun->really loves) is a correct translation for the part changed in Luka's line. So, they can do it, they are willing to say "really loves", just not in the right places. Maybe because Rin's part is less personal than Luka's part? It's strange actually, this isn't the first time they've done this either. Off the top of my head I can think of an example from Shiho's Varied Kindness 2* story where they translated the word "suki" as really loves, despite that being much stronger than the original word used (and the fact that daisuki is used a lot in the Leo/need stories and it's incredibly rare if not entirely unknown for them to translate it correctly).

It's not subtle that they're trying to remove implications of the characters possibly being queer, they did it in curtain call and they did it in walk on and on, and multiple times before then too. And considering some of the content in this year's events and the amount of times they say daisuki alone, it's gonna keep happening. honestly i hate the fact that i keep trying to justify the translations in these posts. these translations are intentional. what happened in the curtain call translation back in october says enough. when a character who uses explicitly romantic language towards another guy passes as a straight character in the translation you know they're doing it on purpose.

oh and once again, it's only the EN server that has this issue. The scene in question was translated almost word-for-word on the TW and KR servers.

read fan translations. they're better than what EN gives us and people put a lot of effort into them.

[bmpmp3]

Happy mothers day! STOP spending time with your loved ones and READ my posts about music instead <3

So for this week's Cover-Remix Weekend, I'm gonna talk about another oldie: -ERROR by niki!

(I couldn't really do this for the first one super easily, but for these posts I am going to try to point to places to buy these songs (MP3 or CD) if applicable. You're own your own with streaming unless there's a KARENT link or something that compiles everything though: I'm an MP3 freak (as you may have assumed by my username...) and outside of YT and NND videos, streaming means nothing to me. For fellow MP3 freaks, I do recommend OTOTOY specifically: lots of vocal synth music is put on there and its easy to use as an overseas buyer!)

-ERROR! A song that is difficult to google ("-" is a boolean thing that removes excludes terms from results HKJDSHldgkdgfd) but a wonderful tune nonetheless!

The original 2010 version above, and the later Youtube upload below that appears to have different mixing, and maybe tuning too:

You know, it seems this song wasn't super huge when it first came out (we'll talk a bit about its rise later) and its original versions are kind of overshadowed but listening to it again - the original NND upload is quite strong. Obviously the instrumentation and melody is great, I love a good big huge emotional rock ballad. The bit of digital theming (errors and such) is also a classic, you don't see it as often anymore but I'm a sucker for vocal synth music that plays a bit into the virtual aspects of the software. I also quite like niki's use of drums, the sort of marching band sound. But going back to the vocals, even though the NND original is a bit muffled, it kind of works for me! Lily's singing her heart out even as she's being drowned out... AND of course the remade Youtube upload sounds perfect.

My familiarity with niki is moreso through his heavier electronic works, such as WAVE:

and on the same album, GLIDE:

Which are absolute classics for my vocal synth journey, especially the latter! He uses these like, velvety deep synth sounds and really.. heheh.... GLIDES across the track with them and I'm a big fan!

The game can't run on my phone so I don't really know much about Project Sekai, but I do check out the music: earlier this week a commissioned (?) song was released for the game by niki and its really good! 烈火 (Rekka):

Those signature fading-in deep synths make an appearance again! I also like the black-haired girl's vocals, especially in the bridge with her vocalizations combined with the bass synth line underneath. I also am a fan of the lil orange guy's vocals at the beginning of the second verse, a sort of campy articulation that sounds quite nice. Luka sounds very interesting here, I will say: as in... she doesn't sound very much like Luka... BUT um. she still sounds great and um. that might. be because I'm not really a huge Luka fan (is immediately dragged away and shot out back)

JK JK Luka's fine I love her character and design, I love that she is pink and there is. octopus. but unfortunately I tend to find her vocals a bit weak in most songs using her: she might just be hard to mix, because she tends to blend into instrumentals too well for me. BUT I do like her here, she sounds a bit brighter and doesn't get fully eaten by the music which is nice~

TANGENT ABOUT OTHER SONGS and also Luka DONE, BACK TO -ERROR. Speaking of mixing, I think -ERROR might be a really hard song to mix. Most of the covers I'm going to highlight are vocal synths, and I'm realizing that it's probably in part because a human being singing this song is already a challenge (intense high ranged and powerful chorus) but also, I think the mixing will really sneak up on you! The instrumental with the emotional drum work and unrelenting guitars is gorgeous but also it's REALLY hard to keep a voice above instrumentation like this without it either falling under or separating entirely. I wonder if maybe the extra digital edge of a vocal synth voice helps it stand out from the more naturalistic rock backing track...

Anyway, now it's time to talk about this songs rise to fame! While I can't verify it's pre-2012 popularity, it seems what really bumped this song into particularly the English-speaking vocal synth canon was a cover featuring the UTAU voicebank Namine Ritsu by kyaami:

At over 2 million views, getting popular enough to be released on KARENT an entire decade ago, this cover is. well. pretty big! Kyaami also released a remake in 2018 using a different Namine Ritsu voicebank that's nearing 3 million views now:

I think both covers are really, REALLY good obviously, there's this sharpness in the 2012 one using Ritsu's old "kire" style bank (a style of voicebank where lower pitches are recorded softer and higher pitches get gradually more powerful, also called "powerscale") that I really enjoy, and the 2018 has a wonderful clarity in the mix. Both covers have a great emotionality in their vocals, which may be why they nearly have a combined 5 million views!

One of my absolute favourite covers is this piano arrange with MEIKO V3 by Earthy X6:

I'm a big Meiko defender, she's hard to use for those expecting a Miku or a Rin, but I adore her character and design and I think she can sound really beautiful and expressive such as here! Using her V3 expressions for softer parts and powerful sections sounds so so good, I really love it.

And here's a KAITO V1 cover by someone named ミズキ (Mizuki) on NND:

I'm a Meiko defender in general, but I'm especially a Meiko and Kaito V1 defender: honestly I prefer Kaito's V1 sound over his V3 most of the time! A really nice richness and depth that's missing in his later iterations, and for this song specifically the robotic aspects of the engine work in its favour! Very nice cover.

And on a slight detour: for years my absolute favourite cover of this song was, interestingly, this rock arrange English cover as the demo for the UTAU KYE's ARPAsing voicebank by his creator, WinterdrivE:

Now I'm not so sure which I would consider my absolute favourite, I'm almost 26 and I like too many things to choose one!! But it still really is an absolute highlight for me: this is the first time I'd ever heard an arpasing voicebank, and as someone who's still a bit too scared to figure out how English voicebanks work in UTAU I barely understand what's going on BUT man what a first example to hear! At the time this was honestly the best English vocal synth I'd ever heard in general, he sounds fantastic.

The mix is also great, the well placed breaths emphasized and his rich and slight nasal vocals sit nicely within the instrumental without getting drowned out. I also think his vocals just sound really nice singing these lyrics despite some lisping here and there, I dunno, I think it makes him sound like a dude making maybe slightly imperfect but very passionate garage rock, which I feel fits the character well! And in general I tend to like expression and character over perfection in music, as you might be noticing in these posts so far LOL

Speaking of lyrics, the English lyrics by AkiGlancy are really REALLY good. Translating any song from one language to be sung into another is genuinely one of the most difficult things in the world in my opinion, because you really have to mess with cadence and melody if you want it to sound natural: languages just got different things going on! I'm pretty picking with English translyrics, I tend to prefer that people try to get the emphasis sounding natural and the general meaning the same rather than trying to get too literal - localization is an art! But these lyrics are interesting in that they seem quite close to a lot of literal translations floating around, yet they still sound so natural with the emphasis on all the right parts. Really awesome translyrics.

And one more before I go, a human cover! The cover by the utaite Alfakyun!

I was talking about this earlier but I really think this song is like, deceptively hard to sing AND hard to mix. It gets high in those choruses! It's really hard to not get lost in the instrumentation! But Alfakyun does absolutely unreal here: sometimes with this song people either have to forego expressiveness to get more power, or forego power to allow more expressiveness, but she manages to kep both in the chorus. I'm an expressiveness girlie so I tend to value that more but I can appreciate some power here and there and this song really shines with both. A very very good cover.

That's all the covers of -ERROR I wanted to talk about today, thank you and you may go back to your beloved family members again. (bluescreens and all my internal mechanisms overheat and explode)

[evilliyes]

As promised, I have more from the beginning of the Evillious section of Project Sekai.  I’ve screencapped what I can and will do my best to explain what’s going on in each image

While each image was taken from my own phone, @micia-posts-stuff helpfully informed me of a YouTube video that shows the opening sequence.  The top picture is the only picture I actually took of the opening.

The video can be found here, and shows two things.  The beginning shows the start of the event when it was first launched.  Miku comes up and talks about a new kind of SEKAI that the player can visit.  In Project Sekai, “SEKAI” are worlds that are made from the feelings of one or more people, and finding one’s true feelings will create a song.  Miku notes that this SEKAI is different, since it speaks to someone’s long journey.

The second part of the video is the “gacha” portion of the event.  As shown in a previous post, there was an ability to pull cards for crystals.  In Project SEKAI’s gacha system, three star and four star cards get a line of dialogue explaining the situation that the card is depicting before giving it to the player.  Amongst many other cards, the lines for these cards during the gacha, as well as what it looks like when the cards are obtained, are shown.

Back to my own pictures, the two below Miku are the inside of the SEKAI.  It’s a long horizontal hallway with many, many pictures alluding to various events and places in The Evillious Chronicles, from Arte and Pollo to Evil’s Theater.  If there’s interest in a list of each individual picture, I will go through them.

The bottom-left picture shows various items related to Project Sekai, but the one of note is the last one on the very bottom row -- the “Brioche” item, which is shown as a piece of brioche along with a cup of tea.  In the game, this refills 10 units of bonus energy, which can be used to get extra rewards when playing the rhythm game.

The last two pictures are how the SEKAI look.  In the game, there are two “hubs” -- the Real World and SEKAI.  Pictured is the hub for the various SEKAI that the player can visit.  For a limited time, the “Aku no Taizai SEKAI” was available amongst the other five usual SEKAI.  A character’s face above a SEKAI indicates that they can be found there.  In one of the pictures, it shows Miku, meaning that I can expect Margarita to be there.  In the other, I can expect Allen.

As shown by the first picture with Allen, conversations that the user has not yet experienced are marked with a “NEW!” tag.  Conversations that have already been seen have nothing.  This is how I could determine whether a new Evillious conversation was waiting for me whenever I opened up the SEKAI hub (which was very frequently throughout the event).

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 1 - living up to its name since it looks to be a series of redemption arcs. Launched with a college confession and a broken friendship, then a flash back to them as seniors in high school. Pairings include friends to lovers, nerd/jock, and maybe cafe boss/employee. There’s a lot going on, but it’s still... quiet and sweet. The script is pretty pat but it’s still WAY more watchable than Cupid Coach or Brothers and most of the acting is solid. Ep 1 tropes included: he’s in engineering, wound tending, fast & bicurious. This could turn into what I wanted My Gear & Your Gown to be. Fingers crossed. 

Love Poison 2 Ep 1 & 2 turns out I did watch and report on season 1 (8 eps), season 2 seems equally unmemorable. Thai countryside setting, strong dialect, incomprehensible plot, camp side characters, and ghastly singing. 

Y-Destiny Ep 1 (eng subs?) - opened with the sports romance enemies to lovers (they aren’t going in the teaser order). When the couple got over fighting, the flirting was v cute, but the flipping SPONGE BATH trope had to rear its ugly head. Still, this series is shaping up to be less coy and more frank than most BL, better than expected. It feels, I don’t know, gay-er or something?  *** Sources were correct that each couple is getting (at least) 2 eps, and MDL has been updated to say this is a 15 episode series (not 7). 

Cupid Coach 12 fin - The new Nite was great and should have been a main all along. It felt like we got a tiny nugget of what could have been in about 10 minutes worth of this last ep. It was way too slow with terrible editing and a criminally bad script, but at least it ended happy. Mostly, like Friend Forever, I’m just disappointed that these two actors were done dirty by the series. Bad Cupid Coach, no screen caps for you. 

Lovely Writer Ep 6 - breaking news, there’s a het couple I like: toppy bi femme + soft boi = such a good pairing! I know, but this NEVER happens. Meanwhile, Sib’s secret is out, Gene is a bit of a drama queen, and the plot thickens. We half way through.  

Brothers Ep 9 - Kaow had a serious moment of advice giving that was truly lovely. Lots of family dama made this a superior episode to... well... any of the others in this series. Which isn’t saying much. 

1000 Stars Ep 10 fin - at the start this series didn’t grab me the way GMMTV’s last BL, Tonhon Chonlatee, did. But boy did it end 1000x better. Might have given us 2021′s best forehead kiss. I enjoyed the ultra romantic cliff-top reunion kiss, and I LOVED the stinger flirting scene. That was an absolute gift we had no right to expect. This drama is a poster child for finishing on a high note (always focus on that dessert course). Final thoughts? This was FAR more a classic romance than it was BL. There were some BL tropes used but not many and most of them originated in the romance genre not yaoi. A picture perfect ending bumped 1000 Stars much higher up my best-of list than expected. Not sure how often I’ll rewatch it as a whole, but this last episode? I’m probably rewatching it right now. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Dear Uranus (Taiwan GL) Ep 3 fin - I guess that’s it? Okaaaaay  

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 3 (AKA Ep 5-6) - we got actual legit gay culture not just BL (always appreciated) from XingSi. I’m starting to find LiCheng’s “show them we fucking” hijinks hilarious rather than annoying (not sure why, maybe I just love a rubber chicken, or maybe it was the STUFFED CORN WITH THE TASSEL that did it). 

-- H4 Moment of RANT --

Tropes included beach trip, there’s only one bed, cook for him, baby is a floppy drunk, carry baby to bed, and.... drunk non-con. Whoopdedoo. Here we go again. Did TharnType teach us NOTHING? (Apparently it taught us if the chemistry is good enough, I have no morals at all.) At least H4 seems to be taking us out of cheese into serious when it comes to assault. Or is it? 

I take back what I said last week about XingSi & YongJie being codependency + salvation trope, that only works if YongJie is the uke. He’s NOT. So we got us an obsessive predatory villain with a possible redemption arc. That’s more common in crime dramas, mafia romance, and epic fantasy than BL. It’s real hard to redeem a sexual predator in a reality-grounded universe like contemporary romance (See Kla in LBC1&2). 

Next week is gonna be a test of the whole damn franchise. Imma remind both me a you that this was ep 3 of 10 so we got a ways to go yet... but ooof, what have we wrought, BL? (I ended up doing a whole post about the stepbrother trope because of this sub plot.) Taiwan is killing me.

-- RANT ended --

Word of Honor (China) Ep 19-21 - over half way point so we got ALL the back story (in a classic 4 act story structure midway reveal). Now we know who WKX really is and his lineage. We also got some cute hugs and hand holds. Moving along at a nice clip despite being 36 eps total. Still gayest thing to come out of we-not-gay China since Advance Bravely. 

Most Peaceful Place (Vietnam) Ep 2 - takes them a while to get eng subs together and ep 2 didn’t drop until late. So I’m putting this in a Thurs time slot going forward. Miscommunication already cleared up and a 2nd couple has been introduced. The pacing on these Vietnamese BLs is always a bit... off. But it’s still better than most of its ilk, enjoyable. I’m thinking it’s a 6 ep arc. 

We Best Love 2 (Taiwan) Ep 5 - after the initial drama DRAMA of ep 2, the current external crisis at work is much quieter, giving this whole season a top heavy feel. Taken along side the first season, I think it’s fitting nicely into a 4 act structure, but that might be my bias. I hope I’m not wrong, we’ll find out next week. Shi De puttering about being domestic with Shu Yi on his back was the best execution of the piggyback trope EVER. Meanwhile, our little D/s side couple of codependency, salvation trope + mental illness is becoming weirdly appealing. I don’t know. H4 done mess with my head. 

Stand Alones 

Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko  (Japan) Ep 1-4 mini series. Found subs under A Man Who Defies The World of BL. IT’S HILARIOUS. It’s Japan making fun of us, but also itself for having started this whole BL nonsense - from yaoi roots to present day. It’s parody goddamn gold. Utterly cheeky unto the very last line. We are not worthy. 

Apparently the most powerful tropes of all time are: baby is a floppy drunk and the piggyback fo nobility. Oh and chocolate. {Full review here.} 

Honestly, this show may have been made with only @heretherebedork and I in mind. I don’t know if you’d even understand half of it if you don’t have a history with the manga source genre and an obsessive interest in underlying narrative devices. I haven’t seen much chatter in the blog’o’sphere on this one because, in the end, it’s not a romance at all, it’s social commentary. 

The ending line was a masterclass in lampooning a genre. I’m going to rewatch the whole thing just to catch all the digs I missed first time around. It is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. 

Thank you Japan. I forgive you all your hair-styling sins of the last decade. 

Breaking News 

Spring Line Up:

Scholar Ryu’s Wedding Ceremony AKA Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korean historical BL) April 15th 

Close Friend the series (Thai trailer) April 22. 

2gether the movie (Thai trailer) April 22 to Thai theaters.

Nitiman (Thai) May 7 on One31.

I Told Sunset About You 2 (Thai) May 27 on LineTV

Ossan’s Love (Hong Kong) June to Viu 

Gossip 

Bad Buddies released its first promo op via Arm Share, which means GMMTV is at least *thinking* about filming it. 

Fun behind the scenes gossip sesh with eng subs for Tell the World I Love You (that Perth Bas movie we are maybe getting someday but will likely be sad). 

New Thai BL Bite Me (adapted from novel Grab a Bite) dropped a teaser. It stars Mark Siwat (Kla in LBC) as uke character Ake, a delivery boy with special foodie powers, and chef Eua (seme played by Zung Kidakorn) who discovers him. It’s from the same author as Manner of Death so we might even get some actual plot. Since it’s an established BL actor who I happen LOVE, a known author, and a plot about FOOD, I could not me more excited for this one. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed a day later than actual air date for accessibility reasons. Some are dropping multiples at a time but just started so I’m not sure on numbering. 

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

[umbry-fic]

Box[Heart]

Summary: She begins carrying around a small box in her mind.

Fandom: Project Sekai Colourful Stage! Characters: Asahina Mafuyu Rating: G Word Count: 828 Mirror Link: AO3 Original Post Date: 19/05/2022

Notes + Warnings: This fic is about emotional repression. The tense might be a little weird since I don't usually write in present.

~~~

Mafuyu begins carrying around a small box in her mind. Every night, when she closes her eyes, she can picture it perfectly.

Nothing ornate. No elaborate decorations or inset pieces. Just plain wood. Smooth to the touch when she trails her fingers across. Small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.

The only thing special about it is the keyhole, holding the box shut and hiding its secrets from prying eyes. Even peering through the tiny crack yields nothing but inky darkness, enough to trick one into thinking that they had closed their eyes. When she dreams, a golden key is sitting in her palm, and she wraps her fist tight around it, the little pieces digging into her skin before she stashes it in her pocket, burning against her side.

She pictures the box every time someone smiles and calls her a "good girl". Imagines opening it and pulling out whatever emotion weighs in her chest, thread by painstaking thread, before shoving it all in without a shred of grace, turning the key and hearing the satisfying “click”. Hidden. Gone. Thrown away. As easy as picking up a marble and smashing it on the ground, into a million pieces that could no longer be put back together, reflecting different angles of her face in the shards.

After all, a good girl shouldn't feel like this when she’s complimented for just who she is. Right? So she has to make these unruly emotions go away. She has to be perfect. For her parents, for her teachers, for her friends.

For the girl they all see when they gaze upon her.

At first, some of it leaks out when she forgets to turn the key after shutting the lid. Leading to strange glances and concerned voices, asking her if she was alright, if maybe she had come down with something. She backpedals with feeble excuses that soon become well-practised lies, able to smooth over even the most obvious of mistakes. Like ironing out creases in her uniform, making them disappear, like they were never there in the first place.

And it's tiring, to have to separate the bright, colourful threads from the dull, dark ones. So many knots to undo, so many inches of string to follow. It leaves her fingernails chipped and her arms heavy from exhaustion.

Far easier to forego categorising them. So she does exactly that. Pushes it all into the box. Occasionally opening the lid to remember how to smile, such that she didn’t creep anyone out.

Until she finds that the key is no longer in her hands.

She searches. Night after night, in the landscape of her dreams, taking the form of the four walls of her room, she searches. On the table, under the scattered mess of papers, the red ink of the teacher’s checkmarks oozing outwards until everything was drenched in viscous crimson. Under the bed, where once she used to believe monsters crept, unable to sleep without a light on - a childish past. In the wastebasket, filled with worthless trinkets she couldn’t even remember owning - a dusty friendship bracelet, the colours long since having faded; an old book on nursing, worms consuming the yellowing pages and falling out onto her lap; a plush bunny, stuffing bursting out of its ears.

Breath quickening with each second until she’s choking on air, still empty-handed.

Her last resort is to scratch at the sides of the box itself, somehow producing sharp screeching sounds that tore at her ears, until red stains the wood and runs down her fingers.

It does not budge.

The next night, she throws the box across the room, hoping the force might shatter it from the inside. It simply bounces off the wall, landing with a dull thud.

And it does not budge.

The night after that, she simply sits with it in her lap, staring down at it. The walls slowly closing around her, ready to crush her. She thinks she’s supposed to be crying, but she can’t remember how to do that.

And still, it does not budge.

She accepts the simple truth.

It will never budge again.

~~~

“Thanks for doing this for me, Mafuyu. You really are such a well-behaved girl.”

“You're welcome,” she replied, a smile affixed to her face. Corners of her mouth upturned by a centimetre, eyes held just open enough, hands clasped before her. A position she had practised in the mirror countless times, until she had gotten it down perfectly.

What even was a good girl? She thought that to herself as she turned and walked away, the smile instantly dropping from her face. Ready to be put on with a single flick of the paintbrush constantly gripped in her hands, the moment someone who knew “her” walked near.

Perhaps the answer was stored in the rotting box which still refused to open to her, steadily growing heavier all the same.

She would never know, then.

What a shame.