#so i could get the full coord bonus

[pretty-idol-hell]

(Piggybacking on the below post)

Me: *thinks about all the money she wasted on gatcha for ugly @$$ coords just to score high on the arcade game because she was competitive*

......

*decisive nod*

Good times, good times. 👍

[mahou-queen]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚lolita fashion then vs now: how the fashion has changed over the last decade ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

I started getting into lolita fashion in 2010 and so much has changed in the fashion since then. Trends, websites, community opinions, etc. So I thought we should take a look into the past and reminisce about lolita fashion since 2010~~

Everything below is based on my personal experience and perceptions in the egl community. These are not necessarily facts, and other lolitas may not agree or relate to everything stated below. 

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

✿❀Rectangle headdresses:

At the height of 2010-2012 sweet these types of headdresses were not in style. They were considered ita and absolutely taboo for new lolitas. At the time the community was trying really hard to separate themselves from lolita cosplay and maid cosplay which were both really popular at the time especially at cons where a lot of lolitas would also be. In recent years with the resurgence of old school lolita, rectangle headdresses are back in style and I personally couldn't be happier as I have always liked them. 

✿❀Animal ears:

Also considered ita and taboo for its associations with cosplay. Today we see a lot of animal ears, particularly bear and bunny, sometimes cat but not as much. Even big brands like angelic pretty are releasing animal ears regularly. While they can definitely still be ita if they are costume quality or irrelevant to a coord, they are definitely back in style and looking very cute

✿❀Chiffon half blouses:

The 2010 sweet era was all about cotton blouses. And while cotton blouses are still alive and well, these days we have the wonderful chiffon half blouse. Very comfortable, more size inclusive, light and pretty. These were not in style/ not widely available when i first got into lolita. 

✿❀Low collar blouses:

Absolutely existed, but were not as in as they are now. Peter pan collars and high necks were all the rage, these days with the prevalence of chiffon blouses, we are seeing a lot of slightly lower neck lines.

✿❀Chocolate explosion:

Around 2013, it seemed like every release was chocolate themed. All these chocolate prints came out in 2013:

Angelic Pretty started transitioning into “sweet classic” around 2014 which was when I took a break from the fashion. 

✿❀Split wigs:

Split wigs were super popular in the early 2010s both in natural and unnatural color varieties. These day some people would say they’re ita but I think the fashion has come to a really nice place of balancing old and new styles so many loltias still wear split wigs and wear them well. 

✿❀Circle lenses:

When i got into lolita it seemed like circle lenses were almost mandatory. They were a part of every makeup tutorial, every popular lolitas coord, circle lenses were everywhere. I could never wear them due to my astigmatism so I was always upset about circle lenses. I am glad to see they have not been prominent in recent years.

✿❀Replicas:

It seemed like replicas were everywhere, everyone had one, they were generally accepted, and promoted by other lolitas. Dream of lolita was making replicas of all the major AP prints and filled the pages at clobbaonline, oo jia was a facebook based brand that made the most convincing replicas available. Replicas still exist but since 2011 major bans have been placed on reselling them and reputable resellers stopped carrying them for the most part. They are not celebrated and most lolitas are against them now. 

✿❀RTBU:

Refuse to be usual was a taobao reseller on ebay in the early 2010s. Idk if they are still around but i know they up-charged more than twice the price of the item. Secret shop tea parties were going for $95 on rtbu. They had hit or miss reviews and a lot of people didn't trust them. I never bought from them but i did window-shop

✿❀The only real resellers were clobbaonline and qutieland:

Clobba did not have a full website, only a gallery where you had to place your inquiry and order via email. These days clobba has a fully functional website with a wishlist and shopping cart feature. Qutieland no longer exists. These days we have seemingly endless taobao reseller options of varying quality

✿❀Egl comm sales:

I never figure out how this worked because lacemarket took over not too long after i got into the fashion. But it was an entire second hand market being run out of livejournal. It seemed very Intricate

✿❀Bodyline:

Ohhh bodyline in the early 2010s. The lace monsters, mr yan, the sundries department, the items never restocked, good times. I have 3 bodyline main pieces these days and I love them and plan to keep them for as long as i'm in the fashion because they are cute, comfortable, and the prints look good. There was a time in the mid 2010s where bodyline and people who wore bodyline were scoffed at and everyone who had only burandoo thought they were better than everyone else. But these days with the booming lolita industry in china (on taobao) and even western brands getting bigger, the emphasis on brand is becoming less and less and what makes good lolita is based more upon actual quality and coordination skills and less on the tag. 

✿❀My old dream dress list:

I never got any of these and many of them would never fit me anyway. I did get sweetie violet but in lavender as I no longer like the sax colorway and I don't know why I ever did.

My favorite lolita online at the time was @herajika-blog

✿❀bonus:

Sweetrococo.com, does anyone remember this place? You could allegedly design a lolita dress yourself with any colors/prints/images from the internet and they would make it for you. I remember designing a my little pony skirt on the site for fun and not getting it because it was $200 LOL. I swear that site was a fever dream. 

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚as we can see a lot had changed in the lolita fashion community and trends over the last decade. Do you remember any of these things? What is your experience? I really enjoyed this trip through memory lane. And while sometimes i miss the times when i was just starting out, these days the lolita community is so much more accepting, more accessible, and more experimental. It doesnt even seem like there are trends right now, just that any trends are ok as long as theyre lolita. What do you think?˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

[venus-says]

Aikatsu! Episodes 169-173

We’re almost there.

Back for more OGkatsu! This will probably be the shortest of these posts because not a lot happened here which is understandable since the tour has already ended and there's no way for them to make the SQC be 10 episodes long so, it's only natural that we would have this "cooling off" time.

The first episode of his batch is also my favorite of this time. This episode follows Hinaki as she tries to get her new PR for he SQC, but the highlight of this episode was actually Mikuru! I mean, yeah Hinaki is the focus and she's the one who shines the most, but the person who was catching my attention wasn't her, but Mikuru. Hinaki and Mikuru interacting was lovely, don't get me wrong, but the way Mikuru was so active in his episode, and she was being on top of her game giving the best suggestions ever, and we actually got to see a new side of her that wasn't explored as much during season 2 and this served o crown his episode as my favorite from the ones I watched today. Also, I love the Street Art coord and Hello Hello so, this episode had many positive things going for it.

Sadly, Episode 170 ruined the momentum and was very underwhelming. Again, I don't care for Akari and Sena's relationship so this episode loses all it's flare to me since the main conflicts are centered around this same relationship that I could care less. I know they tried to set this as an episode to show that Akari has a smile that inspires people, but the way they've done wasn't the best IMO. I think if they had shown Akari being an inspiration for a fan or some other person she meets somehow, and Sena watching that and then having the spark to finish Akari's PR would've been a better way to showcase that, and it would make for a more interesting episode.

And it seems like we're on the rollercoaster again because the next episode is also pretty good, I wouldn't say it was as good as 169, but it was still a joy to watch. I feel like Madoka and Rin's friendship wasn't showcased at its best on season 3 and we didn't have a lot of episodes that would focus on that, so seeing this one made me very happy and pleased because it was something I was wanting for quite some time. Is not to say this episode doesn't have flaws, I think we didn't have a lot of Madoka and Rin on his episode and to me it was a bad decision because I would rather see more of them instead of having short inserts from other characters, I'm also kinda iffy about this Madoka birthday thing because you would think this would've been a bigger deal than it was here, and also, I don't know if this is a problem only with the episode I have downloaded but they messed up either on the performance or the recording because in the audio I was hearing Madoka sing but on-screen Rin was the one moving her mouth and vice-versa. But even with all these problems, this episode was still lovely, Madoka and Rin are adorable together, the decision of putting them to sing Friend was perfect, and they've actually used the message I thought they were trying to sell on Episode 168 by showing that even if they're separated a lot they're still best friends.

I have mixed feelings about Episode 172, I think what they were trying to do was nice, but the execution was the most boring ever, Istg as I was watching the episode I thought I was already very close to the end but hen I checked the time and I was still in the first half and I was "Oh God, please take me out of here". And I think it's pretty obvious they didn't have this episode better planned out and they really didn't have a single thing to say because by the end we had a mash-up of cut performances followed by a full stage and was the most awkward thing ever. I expected his episode to be about DreAca's world tour that is advertised on the OP, and I really wish we had got that because this episode as it is is just a joke, they didn't even put Noelle to perform, CMON.

Wrapping things up is the "pre-show" for the SQC, and if the intention was to get me hyped they failed completely because, again, this was very underwhelming. I thought that a possible WM comeback would have a better build-up for it, but this one was just flat, and that's literally all I have to say about this one.

Now as a final comment, something this batch has done and I appreciate immensely is with the worldbuilding, we see characters from the past and we see how they've grown, what they've been up to, and to me this is perfect. Seeing how other characters developed themselves is amazing because it makes this world feel alive, it makes us feel that even though we're not following these characters they're still active and following their dream, achieving their goals, and growing more and more and I think this is extremely necessary, you know? So, bonus points for this very good aspect.

OGkatsu is ending tomorrow and I'm already gloomy about it. Anyway, I better be going because I have a full packed day tomorrow. Bye-bi~

[pretty-idol-hell]

"Idol ni ... Yameru"

I tried my best for the gran prix. I played about 36 times and haven't gotten the full winter set. Guess my efforts were worthless..., 😔

I'm sorry to hear that.

I mean honestly, same...

I played maybe about 130 times increasing my bonus as I went, and I ended up in 114th place with 8,882,834 points when the cutoff for top 100 was 9,808,089.

This means I could have stopped after 5 million and still had the same rewards. I did nearly 4 million extra points for literally no reason hah ha ha...

So we'll both have to plan a little better next time.

I dunno if you read my post but you only needed 1 million to complete the silver coord, which I think wasn't too bad if you were able to convert your promise tickets to grandprix tickets before the event. I try to explain how to get all the rewards within the day the event is released. And if you have any questions feel free to hit up my inbox!

I heard a lot of people gave up on this event because they didn't want to play the same song anymore. And yeah. I didn't either haha! Basically what I do is I play it until I know the rhythm pattern, then I turn the volume down and do something else while I'm playing like listen to YouTube. Towards the end of the event I was literally walking around the house tapping the screen and still getting gold hearts hahh!

And now that it's over I honestly miss my Idol Land and chill time at the end of the day. I used to do that with LLSIF and replaced it with Idol Land, but only during events... uuu.....

[pretty-idol-hell]

A while back I got Janice’s Kami Accessory in the “purple” category of shopping. And I was like “Oh cool” because I thought I already had it.

Weeks later when I was sorting my tickets I suddenly realized. NO. I DIDN’T HAVE IT BEFORE. And in fact I really wanted it at the time because the recommended color for the fourth Kami Idol Grandprix was purple and I could get a huge points bonus by having it. But I ended up not doing that Grandprix so it became irrelevant and I forgot.

SO after a full year I finally finished Janice’s Kami Coord. 

But.... well... okay, now that season 3 is over.... I think I can finally admit something.... *deep breath*

I don’t like the Kami Coord.

I HAVE NEVER LIKED IT. 

I always thought through the excitement of doing the Grandprix I would get to like it. 

NOPE!!!!!

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!!!

IT’S A COMPLETE MESS!!!

I HATE IT!!!!

Like it has so many different themes going on. Like stars but also Jewels, but also those rock wings, but also feathers. WHY THE FEATHERS. The Time Coord is SO MUCH BETTER.

And yet....

Perhaps the most pathetic thing is. A part of me still hopes I can complete Jewlie’s Kami Coord someday. Just because. Just to have it. 

....Ugghuu....g..uuu....

[pretty-idol-hell]

OH YES BABY. 

….Except…. both points wise and aesthetics wise this is the least useful part of Nino’s Yume Rare… 

Oh well. 

Some babbling about points and the upcoming Grandprix under the cut. 

So this is now my highest possible scoring outfit with regards to the upcoming Grandprix (pop/blue):

It looks…. pretty bad hahaha…. 

But that’s the way it is. At first I thought that Dorothy’s team SCR shoes would be better since you sacrifice the Fortune Party brand bonus with Nino’s. But no, the point total with the new item bonus overrides it. 

….but JUST barely……

And Yui’s accessory looks dumb no matter what. Really wish I could have gotten Nino’s accessory instead of the shoes but that’s the way she goes. Depending on how competitive I’m feeling I may choose aesthetics over points. Maybe. 

Anyway I managed to get in a few practice runs today. Just enough to the point where I began to do worse because I was getting sick of the song (haha it’s easy to over practice in PriPara). This was my best score, using the mismatched outfit above (it changes to the full SCR after Cyalume Change):

With three gold hearts I think this is probably the best run I am going to get with the coord pieces I have currently and it is damn good, 1st place easily at a lot of venues. 

I have more or less only one shot to make it into the Grandprix this time, but I doubt I can recreate this score in competition anyway. So if I don’t make it in this time at least I have this?