#who was experimenting with a new (at the time) vocaloid

[pricechecktranslations]

I have a question. Not about the lore but about mothy himself. Was it always his intention to create the massive universe that is the evillious chronicles by intentionally releasing everything out of chronological order or did he just decide to expand upon it after realizing how popular Daughter and Servant of Evil became? By no means am I trying to question mothy’s ability at world building or overall writing cause it is clever. I’m just genuinely curious if this was his plan all along or if it was an afterthought once he realized the potential of expanding on his story.

I don't recall where it's explicitly said (I believe he makes remarks in an interview or on his blog somewhere, but I don't remember the specifics on where), but to my understanding mothy's work is a mix of pre-planned ideas and writing by the seat of his pants. He did not start with all of Evillious in his head--it was only around Re_Birthday or so that he was actively working on making a big, interconnected series, rather than standalone songs. Though I'm sure he already had some of these ideas before then, by and large the story developed as he wrote it, and he probably was bolstered by the success of Daughter of Evil in doing so.

The early Evillious songs are pretty self-contained narratives, so chronology feels a bit irrelevant. Yes, Lunacy of Duke Venomania takes place before Evil Food Eater Conchita in the timeline--but what does that matter? The two songs have nothing to do with each other except that they take place in Evillious. You can understand one without the other. That's less true of his late songs in the series (like Master of the Heavenly Yard), but early on, he probably just wrote the stories by order of which ones interested him. I don't think it was always a deliberate choice in the beginning.

That's not to say Evillious had no planning at all--there's clearly reveals he must have planned years in advance, and he has stated that he does create extensive outlines when writing the novels. But I don't think he had a roadmap in mind when he first started making songs, no.

Anyway--I'm not mothy, so take all this with a grain of salt.

[mcq-heartmark]

the gang's hobbies (and a little bit of an insight to them)

this is my first time posting something like this publicly! as I'm writing this, I'm still a bit unsure. I think this is not good enough, but I still want to share anyway. posting this without people knowing their personalities is probably not a good idea, but I hope their personalities shine through in my writing (u_u). I'm certain there will be grammar mistakes in here as english is not my first language, so I apologize in advance. please be kind (= =;)

characters: tommy, eva, tyrone, akira, tatsuaki, hiromasa, jackie, siobhan, ursula (everyone is here!)

🐚 tommy - drawing

tommy has been drawing for as long as he can remember. when he gets sick and unable to go outside — which happens more often than he would have liked — he'll get restless. finding something to distract himself from his sickness, he'll pull up a sketchbook and then start drawing

he doesn't have much time for his hobby however. between his usual sports practices and a part-time job as a waiter at sakura's cafe, he often finds himself too tired to do anything after the day ends. at most, he'll just draw the illustration for the cafe's chalkboard

I imagine his artstyle would be something like akame kiyose's chibi artstyle in love live school idol diary. he does know realism but he just prefers to draw chibi more

he only does traditional art and is not familiar with digital mediums, but someone adaptable like him could certainly pick that up in no time

🌟 eva - stargazing

eva has always preferred the night sky more than any scenes in the world, thinking about the endless possibilities that lie beyond the horizon, which is... unexpected of someone seemingly crass and direct like her. she doesn't really care about the scientific aspect of it, she just likes to see the stars

back when she hasn't moved to the island yet, she used to work in retail with a shitty pay. one day, she found a second-hand telescope for cheap at a thrift shop. she was still saving up money to move out, but she just couldn't pass on a good deal. the sole reason she bought it was just because she wanted to see the stars better. it's super old and barely works half of the time, but it's good enough for her. to this day, the telescope is still one of her most prized possessions

other than this, she also does makeup! she doesn't consider it as a hobby, but she's pretty skilled at it

🔆 tyrone - singing & dancing

tyrone actually started doing these hobbies quite late — at 23, around when he had just moved to the island. it was his first time being free without anyone controlling him. having the freedom to explore himself like this was trilling, but also terrifying at the same time

at first he was listening to music and just... kinda walking around, imagining some scenarios inside his mind. it later evolved into learning dance moves and now he's full on dancing! when he feels courageous enough, he'll record himself dancing and post it on youtube. his videos don't have much viewer, barely hitting 200 views, but maybe in the next 10 years they will become internet relics, who knows

about singing: he found out a bit later that he also like singing. he drags his friends to the karaoke so often that it's now a tradition to go there every friday night. he also sings in the shower. (tommy does hear that but he doesn't mind)

the kind of music that he enjoys is vocaloid music! he first discovered vocaloid in high school, introduced to him on a school computer. he has been a fan ever since then

🌸 akira - cooking

akira's family runs a ryokan business, so he already have an experience in cooking by helping out. even though he mostly cooked japanese food back home, his skills in other cuisine are not to be scoffed at. his specialties are japanese sweets (wagashi)

despite akira's outer demeanor as someone who's meek, he has a burning passion inside to strives to be a better cook. but lately, he has been trying out new recipes for western cuisine. his housemates (hiro and tatsu) said that the food is good, but akira himself still needs a new perspective. then he realized, he needs a new tongue. he needs helps from a certain someone who's not japanese like his housemates to try out his food...

👓 hiromasa - …playing rhythm games, maybe?

hiromasa has always have an interest in rhythm games, especially arcade games. but even then, he considers that he doesn't do it that often to count as a hobby. even back in japan, he usually reserved those moments for a special day, or a really bad day. what he does more often though is playing mobile rhythm games, but he doesn't count those as "real" rhythm games (that's just his elitism coming through.)

on the island here, hiro usually goes to the game center at the least busiest time of the day (early afternoon) just so he could has that place all to himself. the mobile rhythm game that he's playing the most currently is llsif, which he has frequent banters about it with tyrone (who also plays it.) it's a great source of entertainment in the group

(bonus: at some point, hiro made some scouting videos and uploaded it to youtube, documenting his strings of bad lucks and tragedies. those videos have gained him a small, but dedicated following)

🎸 tatsuaki - playing guitar & marimo care

music has always been tatsuaki's interest ever since his teenage years, started when he bought his first ever cd at 14. he was in the music store, just looking around. when he was about to leave, he didn't want to seem like a suspicious person who came out of the store empty-handed, so he picked out a cd at random from a clearance sale, which turned out to be coaltar of the deepers's 2001 album "no thank you". when he went back home and listened to it, the album immediately made an impression on him and sparked his interest in music

tatsu's one and only guitar that he owns is the tokai love rock. he chose this guitar because it was simply striking to him, always seeing it on the front of this very same store that unintentionally introduced him to his favorite band. he bought the guitar with his own saving of three years and started practicing right away when he got his hands on it

while tatsu already plays guitar as a hobby (and formerly as a job), he also has another unexpected interest — marimo! he has a tank set up with its own current switch, so the marimo just kinda tumble around when he turns it on. he finds watching them to be very relaxing. he wouldn't be caught dead admitting that he like these little moss balls though

↓ a little doodle I made about this around a year ago

👆 jackie - …no hobby currently

before jackie moved, she spent most of her time doing her job as a writer, sparing no time to do anything, staring at her laptop screen. at most, she would just watch some reality shows or whatever that was on at the moment. she did travel for a bit to refresh herself and to gain inspirations, but she was still too focused on her job to enjoy anything properly

when jackie was younger, she used to go camping with her father all the time, but she stopped doing it since his passing. if she has to count, it probably has been around 10 years since then

since jackie finally moved to the island, she has been trying out new hobbies, but none of them seem to really stick. one thing she has come to realized recently though is that she likes to try out whatever akira was cooking, so maybe her current hobby is tasting akira's food?

🎧 siobhán - people watching

when siobhán is not making music or doing anything significant (or when she just want to goes outside in general), she will grab a drink and something to eat, get on her bike, go to her usual spots — the fountain or a rooftop — and watch people going on their way, imagining what they are talking about over there. simply observing them

because of this, siobhán's friends often compare her to a stray cat, not just in appearance alone, but also her mannerism, like a cat watching over peasants on the rooftop. but truthfully, she doesn't like cats that much. she doesn't even care about animals in general. to her, they are just living things, nothing to fawn over about

I would say that music is also siob's hobby, but that's more of a side job

🎀 ursula - garage kit assembling

ursula came from a rich family, so she has plenty of money to order garage kits directly from japan, along with buying equipment for painting. airbrush, paints, all that jazz

she would spend months focusing on one kit. sanding out the nubs, applying masking tape oh so carefully, airbrushing each piece, slowly painting the eyes and other details. these require endless patience, which she fortunately already has

ursula displays her work on the glass shelf in her bedroom. occasionally, she brings one of them out to place at her desk

sometime she thought about filming her process and upload it to youtube, but she decided against it because her workflow is quite messy and sporadic

...and that's all! thank you so much if you read this all the way through :>

[chibishortdeath]

Genuinely debating just deleting all my accounts and starting new doing something else because I am miserable. The Castlevania fandom is the worst fandom I’ve ever been in my whole life.

Vent under a cut. Read the warnings in the tags.

First time I started being a fan of it I was a young teenager. At the time I was heavily suicidal, playing SotN is what got me distracted enough not to do it. Started out with Instagram because that’s where I heard most people went to start an art portfolio and do commissions.

First few months of being a fan of the series the hashtags were frozen due to the election happening, so I, a suicidal teenager, was immediately subjected to graphic gore porn of my favorite character (Simon) who I turned to looking up for comfort that was stuck there until the hashtags were unfrozen. For months I could not turn to my source of comfort without seeing that, and turned to dissociating even worse than I already was instead. That was the first red flag.

After this I had some sincerely good experiences with some live streams. Genuinely nice people doing cosplay and gaming. But there was one person I watched who did not end up as good as everyone else. This person followed me, liked my outfit stories, talked to me in chat. I was still in high school. Not gonna go into details for anonymity’s sake, but long story short I got groomed. And at around the same time I had made another “friend” in the fandom who turned out to be homophobic and would take out all their problems on me, a teen, while they were a grown ass adult. Instagram continued to get worse. Found out someone I was close to made some racist rant behind my back. Found out another was a MAP. So on and so forth. And the worst part is how many people I knew who were close friends with these people, people who would not have believed me if I’d told them. Especially since some of them were more popular than I.

So I gave up on Insta, stopped posting, stopped talking, and I got a discord. Which started out fine! Found a small server of nice fans, made good friendships I still have. I had Reddit for a short amount of time and found out how dogshit it is when a smaller server I thought was cool started bullying a small artist for drawing gay fanart. I use it purely for game dev and vocaloid help questions now. Eventually I got the courage to come here, to tumblr. Months into that move I run into CP. And then several TERFs. And then a necrophile in the main tags. And then misogyny. And then racism. And then defending CP. Then a surge of transphobia. And then I get shit for getting the courage to call out CP. I try to go to YouTube to find content and escape— run into out in the open slurs and people bluntly claiming albino people aren’t human in comment sections about Juste. I try to watch videos and see the art of my groomer being used everywhere. I am constantly reminded that I am outnumbered.

I go back to discord. The main mod of it ends up interacting creepily with minors and is transphobic to my friends. Whole server blows up. Large amount of people take the mod’s side and blacklist us from a large amount of servers, gossiping about everyone involved to completely unrelated people while not telling the whole truth, all while being horrifically transphobic about a friend. Someone else in the server turns out to be an abusive piece of shit. I don’t even try making a twitter because it’s a hellhole anyway, and someone I’d know about from most other platforms I’d been on harassed a friend of mine on there. Not to mention the transphobic roleplay account that’s still around somehow.

I swear I have to block a new person in this fandom every. single. day. I swear some bullshit happens in this fandom every. single. day.

I want to draw a vampire hunter and not be absolutely thoroughly terrified that I am going to run into more vile shit and dangerous situations if I talk to anyone. I want to draw a vampire hunter and not be deeply afraid of meeting new people in this fandom. I want to draw a vampire hunter and not have my paranoia confirmed every day. I want to draw a vampire hunter and find comfort in doing so again.

Is that too much to ask.

[saika077]

I know the Vocaloid fandom makes fun of pjsk fandom a lot (especially those on TikTok w/ how many misinfo they spread lmao), but I feel like that there are a lot of Vocaloid moments that you just had to be there to experience it. (Feel free to add more.)

Galaco discontinuing. (Was genuinely sad when this happened)

Umetora releasing Ifuudoudou and we all collectively lost our minds bc how tf did they do that?? It was pretty mind blowing at the time to make Vocaloids talk, let alone moan.

IA English demos. English vocal synths was never be the same after that.

Kaitoverse and Kaitocest. It's giving those Onceler and Sans AUs tumblr era.

That one Kaito x everyone mmd video. You Know Which One.

SeeU's voice provider who got arrested for blackmailing.

SeeU fetish art being broadcasted on Fox News??

Iroha's voice provider telling transphobes to go buy Iroha instead of whining about his new voice after his transition. (He's still a great singer imo, people are just haters fr)

NeruP's musical transition that's basically just

Hachi/Kenshi Yonezu and Syudou's "beef", which is just some lighthearted fun and people joked about it when they announced that they'll be working on the CSM op and ed respectively. Just overall good times.

The OG UTAUs that started off as a "joke Vocaloid" complete with joke-y info in their official profile (Teto being a 30-something year old chimera, Tei being a yandere for Len, Ruko being a futanari, Ritsu being a crossdresser who shoves nukes in their bra, etc.)

Fanloids like Zatsune Miku, Sakine Meiko, Yowane Haku, Akita Neru, etc. People just be making whatever tf oc they can by making adjustments to existing VBs and I think that was cool af.

I remember back then that some people are genuinely upset that people are sexualizing Acme Iku and other H-loids like, my brother in Miku, what did you think the H in H-loid stands for? 😭

[an-inspired-eternity]

Shuffle AU Summary

These are the groups of my PRSK Unit Shuffle AU! They each loosely correspond to the genre of the groups in official PRSK, but naturally with more of their own styles and spins.

Different group set-ups means different dynamics, and while some canon dynamics remain (or are even strengthened), not every one will take the same form, if they remain at all.

Under the cut, I will send their logos and give some additional info as needed! Note that I have.. more developed for some of these guys than others.

First, Juvenile/Glory! J/G is a kind of a rock band (I am not in this kind of music scene, bear with me a little bit sghfdfh), initially formed by Airi and Ichika, Airi ends up dragging Ena and later Akito into playing/performing with them.

Airi meets Ichika at Miyajou, and ends up befriending the somewhat shy girl. She learns of how Ichika once had a dream of being in a band with her childhood friends, but explains they all drifted apart so she never got the chance. 

Upon hearing this, Airi proposes the two form a band together, it might not be with her childhood friends, but this is better than nothing right? To get more numbers, Airi ends up inviting her long-time friend Ena, who bitches and moans but ultimately agrees to at least try (even if she laments having to change her classes and sleep schedule.) 

It’s during their first practice sessions that something changes- the group suddenly find themselves the ability to access a new world- their SEKAI, a underground metro type areas with shop stalls- and gorgeous wall art that stuns Ena, it inspires her to keep up with the occasional art piece. 

The three are doing well, but they find something’s.. missing, in their band, particularly vocally- not that any of them were bad singers, it just felt like there was a kind of sound missing from them that none of them could fulfill. That’s when Airi had the suggestion for Ena to invite her brother to sing with them.

Ena, once again, bitches and moans at the idea of having to work with her brother, but Airi is stubborn and insistent, so she eventually gives in and asks Akito. Akito also bitches and moans, but once again, Airi is relentless, so he offers to try. That’s when things begin to click together for the group. Akito had experience with music but had ultimately not gotten as far as he did here than he did with canon due to being less invested in Rad Weekend and also having never met Toya. The two siblings bicker a lot at first, but end up finding they enjoy having something to do together that their dad can’t ruin.

(Akito was technically to their SEKAI first but ala those dream visits in the main story prologues, and only properly got introduced to it later from Ena and/or Airi bringing him.)

J/G’s main vocaloids, Miku not withstanding, are Rin and Meiko! Intentionally pulling from VBS here, I don’t have much in mind for the J/G vocaloids at this time, although I do think Akito’s relationship with the Kagamines here is similar to that of canon Akito with the VBS Kagamines, something Ena is very entertained by.

Second up we have SWEET SYNDROME! SS is a idol group, half composed of newcomers and half composed of veterans- starting as a pair with Emu and Honami, they ended up taking Mafuyu and Shizuku in, forming a proper group.

Emu and Mafuyu met as young children, when Mafuyu got lost on a trip with her mom to PXL. Emu found the lost Mafuyu on her own, and with the help of her older family members, she helped Mafuyu to reunite with her mother.

Mafuyu’s mom was angry at first, for Mafuyu wandering off- but realized the one who had found her was the daughter of the rich and highly influential family that ran the park. Thinking that this would be good both for her own image, as well as the family being a possible good influence for her daughter, she allowed the two to remain friends.

Mafuyu ended up being entered into many child pageants at a young age, a early exposure to stardom. Once she got older, her mother began working to get Mafuyu into a idol agency, where Mafuyu could gain fame as a beautiful and elegant young lady, just how her mother raised her. Mafuyu lost sight of what who her true self and tastes were, molded by her mom to be the perfect girl her agency would want.

Emu and Mafuyu had grown a little apart during all of this, but Emu still treasured her friendship with Mafuyu, and as Mafuyu became an idol- she admired her. Less familiar with the darkness happening backstage, Emu had begun training and auditioning to become an idol in hopes of maybe getting to make people smile just like her dear friend- maybe even getting to do so together, too!

It wasn’t easy, she found she wasn’t what a lot of people were searching for. But she kept trying! And trying! And eventually while she was practicing during a break period at school, she was approached by her classmate Honami, who asked about what she was doing, and upon being told, if she could join too. Thus the two girls had become a pair.

Honami’s help had been deeply needed, as with the two now working together, they decided to start their own group- albeit a small one not capable of much. But word got to Mafuyu, and Emu explained what she had wanted- to sing and dance for people to make them smile just like her! And something stirred in Mafuyu, feelings the girl thought herself incapable of still having.

That was the key to their SEKAI- a museum that framed idols in a bit of a dark view, like they were only something to stare at and admire with no free choice of their own. Emu didn’t like it, she didn’t agree with that idea of what being an idol meant. Idols are supposed to make people happy, and that includes other idols! 

It’s this thought process that helps them additionally reach Mafuyu’s school friend and felllow idol Shizuku. Shizuku had been close to giving up on being a idol herself due to the pressure and how unliked she felt for being “too perfect”, but the positivity of Emu and Honami had encouraged her to not give up, and thus Shizuku becomes the third member of SWEET SYNDROME.

Mafuyu’s mother was their biggest opponent, holding a growing distaste for the way the youngest Otori child had never seemed to grow out of her childish demeanor, but where she “failed”, her older siblings grew into mature responsible adults, people who could be good influence to her daughter and maybe send their youngest sister onto their respectable path instead.

But the group made their attempt, an effort to please Mafuyu’s mom in order to allow Mafuyu to work with them. She was very hesitant to allow Mafuyu to join, given her less than great feelings towards Emu- but her view of Shizuku and Honami, two more “mature and responsible” figures in the group, softened her resolve, and ultimately lead to her agreeing to the group’s formation.

SS’ main and only starting virtual singer is Miku. A quiet and somewhat odd version of the Virtual Singer, who clung to Mafuyu’s side a lot, but otherwise mostly kept to herself at first- occasionally leaving the main area of the museum to sit alone on the stage and sing to herself.

Third on the roster we have Spring CIRCUIT! A live show/street music group.. and also admittedly the one I’ve developed the least. The group was formed, a bit shakily, by Nene and Kohane, having witnessed one of Shiho and Haruka’s performances. It’s also something of a second chance, for Nene and Haruka. 

Haruka, after quitting ASRUN, found she had missed singing, and ended up looking into alternative activities she could enjoy- and found the similar-but-different-enough world of live shows. Through this as well, she met a classmate from Miyajou, Shiho, who had been doing solo shows on her own. They realized they had similar interests (plushies lmao) and something of a friendship and partnership formed.

Kohane, like in canon, was a bit of a drifter, not quite having any activity she could commit herself to, and Nene had been fearful to return to being on stage in any capacity since the incident from when she was in younger- going as far to deny her childhood best friend’s offer to join the more private group he’d formed.

But fate ended up bringing these two together, having been out on errands when they came across a venue mid live-show, with Shiho and Haruka performing on stage. It sparked something in them both- Kohane a urge to try singing and live shows, and Nene a urge to sing again- even if not in a play. 

Shiho was quick to bounce and go on her way- not one for small talk, but Nene and Kohane had the chance to talk with Haruka, in which the pair both came to her about their newfound inspiration- and also subsequently realized they both had been inspired. 

Haruka had given them a light warning about Shiho’s distant cold and demeanor, explaining she’s nicer than she appears, but that she has to warm up to you first. Past that however, Haruka was willing to work with and train them- and it was at this moment their SEKAI appeared- a large expansive arcade within it was a chill Miku and a strong aura’d but otherwise very polite Luka- who had a taste for photography that she and Kohane were quick to bond over.

It takes a bit, for Shiho to warm up to these new members Haruka picked up. Nene finds herself struggling to gain the courage to sing with all her heart again- but seeing how hard Kohane, a complete newcomer to all this, is trying, it inspires her. She’s done this before, she can do it again. That’s how the two manage to impress Shiho, and the group finaly becomes a full quartet.

Fourth on the list and second to last is Echo-Show! A theater troupe situated at the Wonder Stage of PXL! Run by Tsukasa, this group was formed along the way by Tsukasa’s basically sibling figures he collected along the way.

It starts with a hospital- specifically, a hospital housing Saki Tenma and a Mr. Yoisaki. Tsukasa, ever the dutiful older brother, visited his sister whenever he could afford to- but during one such trip, he met a odd girl. Her silver hair seemed to reach to her knees, the girl clearly hadn’t been doing well- physically or mentally.

Tsukasa quickly got to what he did best- making people happy. He doesn’t quite get a laugh, but the girl smiles, and he considers that a win. Tsukasa introduced himself, and the girl introduced herself back in turn- saying that her name was Kanade and that her only living parent was in a coma- something Tsukasa offered his condolences for. 

The two became friends, and Tsukasa found himself visiting and checking on Kanade every so often. (In addition to Honami being Kanade’s housekeeper). Later on, Tsukasa had finally gotten his chance to form a troupe, having auditioned and been hired to perform at a small stage in PXL called the Wonder Stage, courtesy of the youngest Otori daughter. 

Tsukasa found himself a bit.. shit out of luck in regards to actors. His sister had been scooped up already- but he turned to his brother figure, Toya- Toya had recently defied his father, quitting classical music and looking for his own thing he wanted to do. Tsukasa reached out to Toya, asking if he wanted to join his troupe. 

Toya was a bit nervous, not having ever really been part of the shows Tsukasa put on for him and Saki as kids, but he wanted to give it a try. Plus he thought it would be something his dad would hate, which was a spiteful little bonus for him. This was one more addition to Tsukasa’s crew, but he didn’t think just the two of them was enough to work with, so he reached out to Kanade- who had become something of a sister to him.

Kanade vehemently did not want to perform on stage at first, but Tsukasa was understanding enough to say they’d start small in anything physical so that Kanade could work her body strength up. She could also help with any technological stuff behind the scenes as well- which is something she’d enjoy doing a lot more.

Their first test show wasn’t a huge hit (but not QUITE to the disastrous level of WXS’ first show LMAO), however it did attract the attention of one Minori Hanasato, who ends up being really into the show and their ideas behind it. Tsukasa, ever the resourceful one, basically scoops Minori up into the troupe.

There were.. incidents, involving the start of their fully formed troupe- Toya taking extra blame on himself and thinking he was bringing the group down, backing away for a while. (IE: the whole thing in the VBS main story where Toya questions his own resolve and Akito has to chase him down and prove otherwise.)

Last, but certainly not least (I would know, they’re the favorite child of this AU.) is House of Outcasts! A group youtube channel dedicated to doing skits and plays online. (Inspirationally I was thinking of both Starkid, as well as the Man On The Internet channel- or rather a less specifically gaming centered version of them). 

The group starts with Rui and Mizuki, two lonely souls who connected in middle school over their shared isolation and disconnect from their peers. Deemed too "weird" to fit in amongst them. This friendship carries into Mizuki’s first year and Rui’s second year of high school- Rui having recently transferred to Kamikou to get away from a suffocating prestigious school he’d been at for his first year.

Rui had his solo live shows he’d try every so often, but the story begins when Rui comes to visit Mizuki and show them the most recent idea he had- Mizuki finds themselves very impressed, and explains that with their abilities in editing software, they could probably post Rui’s show online and get decent publicity with it.

So Rui and Mizuki end up forming their group- and after a bit of time Rui offers to Mizuki that they could perform with him, if they were comfortable doing so. Mizuki is hesitant at first, afraid that people online would be judgemental, but gives it a try and finds that not only is it more fun than they thought- but most people watching didn’t seem to care.

That’s when their SEKAI appeared. A rooftop building underneath a fantastical sky of stars and the moon- a light energy not unlike a child’s imagination to offset the aching familiarity a rooftop brought the pair. It was there they found a sisterly Miku, and a excitable Len- who reminded Rui, painfully so, of his younger child self. It was a safe place- somewhere the two would be accepted and not judged. 

Things went on mostly as normal, in spite of the strange world they’d uncovered, and Mizuki ultimately invited their friend and classmate An into the group- An was more of a street musician than a street actor, but with a low activity in her search for the perfect partner, she ends up slotting into the group. Rui and An aren’t on the best of terms at first- not to say they didn’t like each other, it was just hard for the two to work on each other’s wavelengths. But they had managed.

It was later on then that they found Saki. The group had been out on a shopping trip when Saki spotted and recognized them, excitedly explaining that she was a huge fan and that their shows reminded her a lot of the ones her brother used to do for her- but a lot more in a style she really enjoyed. Hearing this, Rui ended up offering her to come aboard and perform with them, and Saki happily took it.

[stepswordsen]

【Magi】 Judar Wearing Hanfu 🖤❤️🐈‍⬛

【Magi】 Judar wearing hanfu 🖤❤️🐈‍⬛

【マギ】 漢服（ハンフ）を着るジュダル

Intro

Judar is my fave Magi chara, and JuAli is my fave Magi ship, so I REALLY wanna create plushie designs of them one day, as well as a Tegaki fan-animatic MV... It's my dream 🙏

My unhinged gremlin black cat son who's Black Sun, Moon, and Eclipse themed! 🐈‍⬛☀️🖤🌙

1st Judar doodle is a planned concept art reference sheet I wanna do for my headcanon design of him wearing black and red hanfu 💞

2nd Judar doodle is based on a Vocaloid song parody with JuAli (Judar/Alibaba) x Unfriendly Hater by Meddmia (drawn by WOOMA) 🖤❤️💛

In my HCs, Judar wears a type of hanfu called Ruqun (襦裙). Ru (襦) is the cross-collared top of a hanfu, and the wrap-around skirt is called Qun (裙). The coat jacket is called Da Xiu Shan (大袖衫)

He'd look great wearing black and red hanfu with white and gold accents~ The black outer coat jacket is slightly translucent, so it'll show the cross collared top's red sleeves through it.

I drew some tentative rain drop earrings for now, but I imagine he would wear gold and red hanfu earrings, and/or snowflake/icicle ones (since Judar is an ice magic user) ❄️

I've been forgetting to post my doodles from my side account onto main, so here you go. I missed talking about my son and drawing him.

I think my art style is getting more refined 🥰💖 The way I draw faces/eyes has been improving steadily! The first Judar doodle was the first time I experimented with an eye style with thicker eyelashes and underlashes! I love the new eye style a lot, so I've comfortably settled into it for the rest of my arts.

I want to draw him in different styles of huafu too, but I made the main hanfu he wears in my HC version, simple to draw (black coat jacket, red cross collared top, black wrap around skirt) with simple patterns, just for my own sake.

...

I'm obsessed with Meow meow mf charas. Black and white colour scheme and design aesthetics. Black and/or white hair. Black Sun & Moon themed. Sharp tsurime eyes. Eyeshadow. Causes problems on purpose. C*nty Sen-core bastard cat. Smug chaotic edgy evil asshole character. Violent, unhinged, bloodthirsty and murderous. Arrogant with a huge ego that distances them from humanity (or social interactions).

I love "Sen-core Meow meow mf" and "Cunty Sen-core" bastard cat Annoying Nyam Nyam types like him /pos <3 🐈‍⬛💗

Judar's long black hair with braids, and black + white + red + yellow design hits my fave aesthetics 💗I love his braids sm

Judar is my fave Magi chara. No one is surprised LOL. Judar is a perfect Sen-core character.

Especially since I KNEW I have a history of being obsessed with Kuroha (KagePro) since I was 12. I knew exactly what would happen

The fact that my evil unhinged meow meow pipeline has led me from Kuroha (2013) to Judar (2022) is really not surprising at all.

It's so funny rereading my messages from 2022 when I first read Magi and guessed that he'd be my fave after seeing his 1st CAMEO appearance 😭😂 It's like watching my downfall in real time /lh

My friends mainly associate me with my meow meow mf faves like Douman, Xanxus, Judar, Idate, Kuroha, and Hibari. To be known for them is an honour ✨ It makes me very happy (❁´◡`❁)

Judar's a fun chara and a perfect squishable gremlin it's natural I'm devoted to him. I love my son

I wanna draw even more of him cuz he's just so fun to draw. I need to practice more cuz I have trouble drawing his spiky hair at times

I put the rest of my doodle WIPs, and talks of my headcanon design for him, and my art process under the cut ✨ Cuz I don't think I ever talked about how I got obsessed with this chara in full? I'll put that too

WIP Shots

The last one is an older doodle. I still like aspects of it but I'd redraw it (also the above doodles are just better drawn versions of it)

Headcanon Design

Judar wears hanfu and hanfu earrings in my headcanon design.

I imagined that he would wear gold and red hanfu earrings, and also snowflake/icicle ones! Silver snowflake ones, and glass icicle earrings would be cool...

So I think I may wanna put snowflake/ice and dragon patterns on his hanfu. The silhouette of a Chinese dragon (ice dragon) would be rad 🐉

I want Alibaba to wear traditional Arabic clothes (white and yellow). I've been looking into it for now, but I wanna draw it soon... I also HC Alibaba to have tanner skin in my HC design

Ohtaka is really good at harmonizing colour palettes (seen with the volume covers). I loooove using teal/cool tinted black when colouring my meow meow mf faves, so this is a treat hehe

Since Judar is from the Kou Empire, which is based on China, I wanted to project Judar's ethnicity onto his design more (since many friends who I've spoken to from my other interests didn't know he was even CN inspired until I told them)

I always take aspects I like from canon and imbue it with my own tastes! I base my drawings on my own headcanons/interpretations of my faves.

I agree with the above post <3

Magi is in my top favourite series ever in terms of art and writing. It's generally peak imo

Magi's biggest flaws are the whitewashing, colourism and racial stereotyping (ex. racially stereotyped clothing in the character designs) and some parts of the setting being bastardized takes on SWANA and South Asian cultures, and I've always been critical of that.

Of course, it's totally normal for cultures to do cultural exchanges with each other, but that's not what's going on here.

A lot of EA media feeds into insensitive/distasteful racial stereotypes on non EA cultures, we don't need more of it being perpetuated in fandom spaces. I personally won't be drawing certain Magi charas in their canon clothing designs.

Ohtaka's drawn him (Judar) in hanfu before, it should've been his canon clothes instead.

I love his hair design with the braids sm. I draw him in huafu in my HC design instead as a fix-it for the obvious colourism going on in Magi's chara designs, and also, the charas' clothing designs and parts of the settings too, being bastardized and racially stereotyped takes on SWANA and South Asian cultures.

WIP Shots (Art Process)

I drew these, which I like, but I liked the original best (up top). A few of them have slightly more curled hair strands! I think 1st and 2nd are the best in capturing the vibes, but the others are also interesting to see. I might incorporate some aspects from them when I refine this doodle

I think there's a lot of improvement from my past doodles. I still like this but I'd redraw it (since I feel like my recent doodles are just better drawn versions of this)

Admittedly I'm MUCH better at drawing meow meow mfs, so I haven't gotten the chance to draw Alibaba yet.

I find Judar's spiky hair hard to draw so I'm still trying to decide how I want to draw it...

I love how Ohtaka draws the shape of his braids. I didn't get the time to refine the sketch yet so I just blocked in the shape of his braids roughly with a silhouette (so I'll go fix it later)

I wanna redraw and refine the hair and clothes later 👍

I think when I actually get to colouring, though, I'm gonna desaturate the teal tinted black colour slightly

On the 1st sketch pass, I just care about making the face and eyes look good (since it's usually the main focus of my pieces)

Then I just scribble whatever for the clothes.

And then when I go back to clean up the sketch, then I fix everything else, including the clothes

Inspiration

(Magi: Kou Empire Arc - Ch. 255 Spoilers)

I was rereading the Judar vs. Aladdin fight in the Kou Empire arc and I love how dynamic Ohtaka's art is. I'm in love with the compositions

Judar's ice dragons and the the last page with Judar being themed with the moon!!! That's so cool. My son is so cool and iconic

Judar’s leitmotif is the Black Sun and Moon ☀️🖤🌙

I reread the Kou Empire arc so many times cuz it's SO good art/writing wise and just in general like WHDSHDHSH

But this is why I want Judar's hanfu to have snow/ice and ice dragons on it. I'll make it an easy pattern/silhouette and use a stamp brush probably cuz uh I don't want to have to draw that by hand every time

...

Ohtaka is one of my main art inspirations of what I wanna draw like someday in terms of technical skill. Her inking is godly.

Ohtaka is BRILLIANT with inking, dynamic battle compositions, perspectives, and colours... Her art is soooo good, it's such visual eye candy.

Ohtaka is brilliant with complex dynamic perspectives and inking. She draws GREAT expressions. Her colours harmonize really well. She's a brilliant author/story writer.

Her inking style is so unique. And it fits thematically too with how Magi is mainly in black and white (black and white rukh)

Since Magi was loosely based on 1001 Nights for the charas' names and parts of the setting, the roc/rukh is a giant legendary bird.

It's apparently a reference to Rukh/Rok (A mythological bird) and Rūḥ ("Essence/Soul")

Source: (X)

The way her inking stands out on its own with minimal screentone usage (except for BG effects and lighting) is a testament to her skill

Misc Rambles

These are my top fave meow meow mf faves.

My top main faves are all very important and personal to me, just in different ways. So I tie them all as no. 1 ✨

Irt Judar and Kuroha/Saeru, they're completely different characters personality wise, since Judar is mischievous, bratty and playful, childlike and emotionally immature (due to his personality and context), but they have similar~ish designs and a couple similarities, in terms of their basics.

As in, they're both evil black haired meow meow mfs with similar expression ranges, who are bloodthirsty, sadistic, and love causing violence for fun. They have the same Sen-core character type.

They have similar~ish hairstyles (black hair with braids in the back, unique eyes (Kuroha's snake eye pupils and the rings in Judar's eyes), and are unhinged bloodthirsty meow meow mf core charas

...

My History

(Magi: Ch. 15 - Judar's 1st Cameo Appearance)

Ok I don't think I ever told in full my origin story with this chara, I guess. Basically I was going off the mutuals/blorbo osmosis and just my friends' rambles at this point before I read the series.

And I was reading back my messages of what I sent to my friends at the time

I first read Magi, I think around Sept 2022, two chapters, then started again in Oct 2022 read to Ch. 15 saw Judar and was like. (.) 🧍 This design is Sen core. Don't let me go down like this.

When I first saw Judar’s CAMEO in Ch. 15... I had a feeling.

Cuz I sensed Sen core meow meow mf.

I felt my doom. I knew it... I sensed it with my instincts 😭

WHEN I FIRST SAW THIS PANEL OF JUDAR, I WAS LIKE OH NO... I SENSED MY DOWNFALL.

And then I was like, "Well I made my bed, so time to go lie in it 👍"

Since I saw the charas from my friends' tweets before, can you believe that at this point I was like "Wow I wonder how my would be ship interact together. They're on the same page!!!" 🤸

THIS IS INSANE OF ME DSAKLSDKLKLSDKLS

My friends were like "I can't believe you're shipping them this early 😭 Even before they actually interact omggg"

And I started shipping JuAli by Ch. 15. So before they even interacted. So when I JUST saw Judar. And then I doodled them right after (it was my first doodle of them!) 😭😂 LMFAOOOO

Good god me getting obsessed with charas/ships is like my insanity speedrun

Me with JuAli and KuroEne... Insanity speedrun x1000000

Like I had a feeling that he'd become my fave by his first CAMEO appearance... He makes his first major appearance around like ~Ch. 44

Douman took 5 days for me to be obsessed with after I found out about his character/writing.

Judar just took me seeing his 1st cameo appearance in the manga.

Kuroha/Saeru took just seeing the Outer Science MV when I was 12 (Tbf, Outer Science is peak KagePro and is one of the best KagePro MVs in terms of visuals and storytelling)

...

Judar is extremely important and personal to me, I feel this as someone who comes from a similar cultural background to him as well, Judar is EA/CN inspired and so his background and backstory context really makes me feel for him… Speaking personally, as someone who is Viet/SEA diaspora.

Considering Judar's backstory context, and his character arc themes of resentment and grief… Wahhhh ;__; I can mildly relate to him.

Like, ahhh, this character makes me so emotional… He makes me want to cry (in a good way). Emotional tears, cuz this chara is so healing and cathartic for me. I'll punch him out of love! 🫶

[1loer]

also i always think about an AU where they bring Nanami back, but not Nanami from Hope's Peak, the Nanami from the NWP.

In Kingdom Hearts (BARE WITH ME), everything can have a heart (metaphorical/metaphysical. not the literal organ, but is vital for something to be fully alive). It's formed from your connections to others, and the experiences you have. Even digital beings grow hearts if they're put in the right conditions and form enough connections to others.

I think that right at the start, Nanami would have been a blank slate, simply a stand in for code, just a representation of the therapeutic software of the NWP (like how Miku is just a representation of her Vocaloid sound package) but designed to be someone so intergral and important to their lives, someone they all loved, possibly to boost the potential for success within the program. But I think that as their time within the program goes on, as her relationships with the others expand and deepen, she became more and more 'real'. I think she grew her own heart, one seperate, original, and her own. One unconnected to the girl she's supposed to be a copy of.

If this heart could have been saved from deletion, just like the rest of the Remnants were, and been brought back into the real world, made physical, put into a vessel, Nanami could have been resurrected.

But the implications of this.

Everyone has their memories back of this girl that she isn't, wasn't and never really could be. She's someone different now, forged by different experiences, colder, jankier. What would this mean for their grief? Kamukura grieved Nanami, even if he didn't know why. Hinata grieved Nanami, repressed as he was by the Project. The whole class turned to despair watching her die. Some watched her die two times over. Now Nanami is back, and she's everything they remember and she isnt. Nanami is back and she has to live up to these expectations of who everyone thinks she should be, and who she really is. Would the Remnants still greive? I think they would. I think she'd feel that. Where would the therapy tool she was built around end and a real girl, a newly real girl, who has never lived before start? She didn't even ask to be brought back. Would it be selfish to force such an existance upon her?

I think, as hopeful an ending as it would seem on the surface, Nanami coming back to life would be a whole new form of despair.

[kawaiichibiart]

I'm still fleshing it out, but here's what I got so far for my new PRSK AU:

It's called Shelter. Because of animal shelters, a place of protection, and the song (I'm very specifically thinking about the Vocaloid and UTAU chorus version ↓)

The idea so far is that for the past decade or two, there's been an illegal experiment going on where this group of "scientists" collect kids with the intent on turning them into animals. The majority of these kids were kidnapped while on their way to school, from parks, even from their bedrooms. And others were sold to them by their parents as a form of punishment.

Of course, after years of tests and experiments to see how far their animal instincts can go, some of these kids were able to escape.

Rui, Akito and Mafuyu were the fastest in the group who escaped and thus were able to help get more kids out. In total, eleven of them were able to escape:

Rui, Akito, Honami and Minori (who were turned into dogs)

Airi (who was turned into a cat)

Shizuku and Mafuyu (who were turned into rabbits)

Kohane (who was turned into a snake)

Emu and Mizuki (who were turned into birds)

and

Ichika (who was turned into a spider)

Everyone else was caught before they could escape.

The ones who did are planning how to get everyone else out. But a hurdle hits them when Mizuki and Emu, who were able to fly back and hide from sight, overheard that the other kids were being separated and sent to different labs. Having them all together proved to be an error since a massive breakout had happened and some managed to escape. Having them in smaller groups means less kids to focus on. Less kids to focus on means the people guarding them can keep a closer eye on them. And if another breakout occurs, everyone who tries to escape will be put into lockdown. No food. No water. Just them in a dark room until whoever's in charge decides they've learned their lesson.

With that in mind, they become more determined to help free the other kids from that prison.

Slowly, but surely, they're able to do so. It's dangerous and they have had times were they were only able to save one or two kids.

The ones who were saved were taken to Shelter, a sanctuary made by Mizuki's and Emu's sisters who were both grateful when the younger girls returned home. The two, along with the rest of the Otori family and parents of some of the other kids, provided what they could to ensure these kids would be safe and comfortable, especially those who wouldn't return home because they were sold into the experiment (Mafuyu, Toya and Ena).

There are just three more kids they need to save. But while they were able to get everyone else while on they were on the road, these three have almost made it to their new location. So if they want to get them out before they arrive, they have to go fast and they can't stop.

The ones who ultimately go on the last rescue mission are Rui, Akito, Ichika, Mafuyu and Mizuki. Following their plans, they're able to catch up with the van transporting these kids. They were able to quickly subdue the "scientists" and open the van revealing the last three kids. Two boys and a girl. One of the boy and the girl looked alike and the other boy had two toned blue hair. The blue haired boy and the girl were holding onto the other boy as he growled at them. It took them a moment to realize they weren't the "scientists" and a little longer to fully trust them.

And that's what I have so far. Here's some more stuff I plan to add but want to flesh out more:

"Scientists" are in quotes because they aren't scientists. At least either not anymore or they never got the title officially. They call themselves that because they're doing experiments and trying to "discover" something new. It's also to make them seem less threatening whenever they approach a kid with parents around. They lie about the experiment and will switch up their story to appeal to parents. They lie about how well behaved the kids who attended their classes went. How they learned respect and became obedient. Sometimes they just tell the truth: your kid seems to disobey you, wouldn't you think having a way to make them obey would be better?? A way to ensure they never leave you. We can do something for you. For a price, of course.

There is no one specific breed of animal they get experimented as. It's a combination of them, so they're all classed by the basic names (dog, cat, bird, etc.).

Mafuyu's, Toya's, Ena's and Akito's parents all try to see their kids once they escape, but are prohibited from doing so. The only one who can is Mafuyu's dad, but he respects their decision to not see him for the time being. Part of me wants the parents who sold their kids into this illegal experiment to face the consequences, but I'm not sure when to have it happen or how long it should be.

Tsukasa, Saki and Toya were the first group to be taken to the new labs. Because of this they got the furthest out before the others could get to them. While on the road minor experiments were done on them, expanding on the animal instincts they had, which is why Tsukasa ended up growling at them (the rescue group) when they opened the van. To him, the doors opening was always a sign of a threat. A threat he had to face on to ensure Saki and Toya weren't hurt.

Mizuki's sister moved back to Japan as soon as she finished college. Knowing her sister was taken made her want to return home so she could help search. It was during this time she met Hinata Otori, who's sister was also taken. They would end up creating Shelter when the two girls quite literally crashed into the Otori household.

Animal instincts and features vary depending on how long they got experimented on and a bit of Frankenstein-ing. For example, Tsukasa and Saki both have cat eyes (literally and in the sense they can see in the dark), better balance and their hair can puff out (it doesn't stand up right tho), since they were both amongst the first taken, while Akito, who was amongst the last taken, only has a slightly better sense of smell and hearing.

Kohane had the biggest amputation done since she was turned into a snake (she lost both her legs). And while she can get around, it does hurt. She also has a lot more fainting spells due to her instinct to play dead when she gets scared.

[itslouisan]

Well, short post on Urahara as a vocaloid fan

Okay so, I said how I believe Urahara is a vocaloid fan in my last post, so I thought why can't I elaborate? Hell maybe expand it to what I think other characters would listen to

Urahara:

• He'd like Miku, Vflower, Fukase, Len and Kaito songs.

• His first ever vocaloid song would be strobe light, world is mine, triple baka or rosary pale; (even though I'm sure there's others songs he'd like and I'll talk about it in a second)

• He'd love the idea of virtual singers, probably nerding out to ANYONE about how he thought it was a great technology for musicians who didn't want to expose themselves, were beginners or just wanted to experiment something new, and how he thought this source could be the future of the music industry or even idol industry, having so much potential to evolve and change (which he was correct)

• He would probably try his best to go to a magic mirai show, would get the light sticks, everything.

• About producers, I think he'd be into Kikuo, Materu, Wowoka, Kanaria, Aira, Pinocchio, Akka and Deco 27 (perhaps Ichika too), but there's millions of producers, and since I'm not fluent in japanese, I can more easily list songs than the producers unfortunately since searching about the producers takes time and has a language barrier, specially considering vocaloid is all over the place and in theory everyone who makes music using vocaloid, even covers and small stuff, could be a producer, so ehhhh-

• Collects figures. I think he would be more into the complex figures and looks rather than the prize ones that are simpler

Some examples of figures I think Kisuke would like:

Songs I think Kisuke would relate/like more than others:

1- Strobe Light

An underrated song, in my interpretation of strobe light, it talks about breaking the routine, a girl who's so stuck in it she craves for something new but doesn't have the courage of trying. At the same time could talk about the line between life blurring and becoming gray, boring, with nothing interesting easily, it talks about how everyone around you seems to move on while you're stuck in a point of your life trying to change and try, still people move on, die, give up, and you can't do anything about it, yourself wanting to give up and feeling lost.

My take is that Kisuke would like it since he'd find it in his early months of exile, feeling lost, that everyone moved on, that he'd have to fight to adapt and survive in this new life, together with guilt of his friends being stuck with him now and losing their lives due to his own mistakes. He'd be stuck in a lifeless hopeless situation and routine, trying hard to break free but unable to, after all the situation wouldn't allow him to. He'd crave for freedom, for giving everyone comfort and rest, yet he couldn't rest, stop, live comfortably for a long time, everything blurring out, I think he'd listen to it a lot in his first MP3 player.

2- Cinderella

Okay urayoru moment, in my view, Cinderella is about 2 people leaving everything behind, their lives, their expectations, just wanting to be with each other and trusting that despite the odds of their situation they can be together and happy having each other's company even in dark times with a great love and trust to change their lifes

WHICH IS SO KISUKE AND YORUICHI??? Yoruichi giving away her status, her expectations as a member of the Shihōin clan, her old life, everything to save her friends BUT SPECIALLY Kisuke, trusting that he could pull it off and make a better life for them.

3- love trial

A song about someone who had such a terrible experience in love and relationships, that lost the trust completely in others, judging a partner who had previously liked and had affection for, and in the first place trying not to warm up to them and liking them again.

Another urayoru take, because we all agree Kisuke has trust issues, but I say maybe he always liked Yoruichi, but, because of his issues, when Yoruichi WAS ready to show and give him affection, he wasn't ready in the first couple of weeks or months because of previous events in his love life and life in general (which I hc Kisuke never got the handle of emotional romantic relationships and his first time doing sex with someone was terrible so yup, poor thing) but eventually melting this resolve and accepting he wanted to be happy with her.

4- Plus boy

OKAY HEAR ME OUT, he IS a pervert, no matter what you think, SO A SONG LIKE THAT FROM LEN? Hell he eats it up, plus, plus boy is about a teen boy (or teens in general) and the first signs of sexual attraction and leaving the childhood innocence of stuff, I hc Kisuke became more perverted around 14 years old, so it matches. Plus it's fire.

5- Copy cat

So, Kisuke definitely can't get the handle of social interactions and social cues, I view him as the nerd cast out kid, so, I imagine due to my hc of him having autism, he learned with time to mask all his "undesirable" and "unlikeable" traits that pushed people off, taking this facade for so long he copied the behaviors of other kids, teens, colleagues, liked people, viewing himself as someone with no essence or real personality, that is, he said "fuck it" at some point stopping the masking traits but still having personas, which is progress I guess when we're talking about Kisuke and the fact Shinigami are ageless so this could take centuries of evolution :v

Honorable mention:

In one of the asks kon made, we can see the door of Kisuke's room in the shōten, which translated to "Kisuke's castle", FIGHT ME BUT THIS DOOR DEFINITELY BLASTED WORLD IS MINE INSIDE THERE SOME POINT AND HAD LED LIGHTS CHANGING COLORS TO IT, WEARING A PRETTY DRESS AND CROW.

[pricechecktranslations]

Mothy RealSound interviews for Miku Symphony (2023)

A summary of the key points of two interviews for the 2023 Miku Symphony linked here and here

(September 22nd)

-Mothy is pretty chuffed (positively) that the series has lasted as long as it has. He began making songs in the early days of VOCALOID, well before it was profitable (people hadn't even done CD releases yet), so it was really just a hobby he did for fun. He cites this as the reason he's been able to go on for this long (as it was low-pressure for a while).

-He didn't have this huge story in mind at the very start, but he did come up with the characters' stories over time--part of this is because he noticed back in the day that songs with good illustrations tended to be more popular, so he also wanted something that could have good illustrations (talking about Servant of Evil specifically). VOCALOIDS were easy to use for his (and other people's) stories because they didn't have concrete stories of their own (he even cites how Rin and Len are weren't even strictly twins, but a lot of people think of them as such because of his series).

-He doesn't think Servant of Evil would have been as popular if he'd released it today, citing his success to it being the early days of NicoNico (and shortly after Rin and Len were released, when their popularity was high), as well as a lot of luck.

-Early on, mothy would come up with the songs first and make the story for it later, but around the time of Judgment of Corruption he began to make songs with the whole story in mind first.

-Mothy was in a metal band in college, and was also very influenced by the metal bands he was listening to the at time, a lot of them having fairy-tale and fantasy themes in their work (Scandinavian and melodic speed metal). He again also references Makihara Noriyuki, who he liked in highschool.

-For his stories and plot twists, mothy mentions inspiration from novelist Tsutsui Yasutaka, especially his short stories, saying that he's always liked the way they'll have a twist at the end. He also thinks it's more impactful for the songs as well, that they leave more of an impression on viewers of his videos on NicoNico. He's walked back on this a tiny bit though to keep it from becoming too overdone, so sometimes he will have things end the way people expect them to. He intends to make his new series a bit less dramatic along those lines, although it'll still be with the same tastes as his other work.

-mothy feels there's benefit both to mechanical sounding VOCALOIDS and ones that sound human--that each have their own uses in making music. He essentially views voice software as a type of musical instrument.

-He's gotten the impression that games like Prosekai have increased his audience, and that while most of his fans have been women, he's seeing more men getting into the series from it too. He's also seeing a lot more diversity in the age-range of his fans, seeing some people who were kids when they started and are getting closer to middle-aged now. This is a little complicated for him because he wants to appeal to both new and old fans alike. He's been thinking about re-releasing some of his old music, but it's tricky for him to do alone.

-While he doesn't currently let his fanbase influence him much, in the past he would usually take into consideration the fact that a lot of his fans were female when working on the story. As he's a man, though, this had its limits, and ultimately he decided to focus on what he wanted to do instead. He can do things as requested, but ultimately prefers his work to be free of limitations.

-He's excited for the Miku Symphony, thinking it's perfect for the tone of his work and that it'll get a large audience for the songs. It's also important because it's just about the music itself, rather than visuals or story.

-He considers the orchestral remakes a learning experience, since they sound nothing like the original music used to make the song. They also sound different depending on each performance, as well. Classical music is also considered a much more respected medium, so he was also happy to get that recognition as a songmaker. Essentially, he enjoys them a lot and it's a fresh take on the series.

-He also talks about the other symphony performances that have actual VOCALOID singing in them--he uses a lot of technical language I'm not familiar with here but essentially he was skeptical it would work and was pleasantly surprised by how it sounded.

-mothy feels that while those who like his work are often very devoted to them, he does not view himself as being or able to become popular. He's fine with that. It's not a matter of him disliking popular stuff, he's happy VOCALOID has become mainstream, but he doesn't desire popularity for himself. He just wants his work to be remembered after he's gone.

-More of him being humble--essentially he seems to view himself as filling a niche rather than being a great player in the VOCALOID landscape, and he encourages the interviewer (and reader) to see some of the other work out there that's been getting popular as well. There's so much content out there that someone's bound to like some of it.

2 (December 6th) (note, this interview was done alongside MitchieM, who was also involved in the symphony--I am not summarizing anything in here's strictly about MitchieM, focusing only on things that are relevant to mothy)

-MitchieM talks about how inspiring mothy's work is in the creative story genre, which is something they've been interested in doing more of lately. mothy talks about realy impressed with MitchieM's work as well, such as their tuning of Miku and the wide variety of musical styles they do.

-There's a bit of contrast between them, as mothy works on one story while MitchieM does multiple, but MitchieM points out that mothy also likes to experiment with genre a lot (which mothy insists is to keep himself from getting bored doing just one thing all the time)

-mothy talks a little about the making of his two new songs, how he wanted them to feel a little orchestral since it's on the symphony album, but since it's a digitally made song and not a live performance he gave it more of a rock-like feel. "Thousand Year Vow" is intended more as a series synopsis to capture its tone overall, while Grim the End is more of a nod to long-time fans who know more of the story. They're both intended to stand on their own without feeling like a continuation of the series, necessarily.

-They talk a little about the Miku symphony performances they like, their impressions of it, etc. Mothy mentions that it's not really something you listen to while dancing, but more something you listen to while relaxing. Also the importance of it being a performance with live instruments rather than being purely digital like a lot of music out there now (furthermore being a performance in a proper auditorium with all the acoustic benefits that provides).

-Also apparently the symphony this year is being recorded on an SACD, which is a super fancy CD that can record more nuanced and delicate sound than traditional CDs?

[dizziful-clown]

unit shuffle au part 4: Castle⭐️Calamity

"An eccentric theater group that spreads smiles to the audience"

Toya

Kohane

Shizuku

Rui

backstory

toya was tired of being forced into classical music by his father. he told his father many times that classical music was not his passion, but he wont listen. toya tried looking for music he would join to spite his father. suddenly, he finds that phoenix wonderland is building a new stage, and theyre holding auditions. he gets accepted, along with another blue haired person, shizuku hinomori. they get along really well, and they realize they auditioned for similar reasons- wanting to experiment with new music. they do their first show together, and although it was amateurish and had a small audience, they enjoyed themselves. on their lunch break, toya recognizes rui performing one of his illegal drone shows and asks him to join, on one condition. "do not put me up in the air." the deal was accepted. their shows were growing, but they felt something-or someone-was missing. shizuku knew just who should join. her sister was friends with phoenix wonderlands biggest fan, kohane azusawa. kohane denied shizukus request; why would such a talented group ask for a shrimp like her? she eventually obliged and meets the group. she sings to the group nervously, expecting to be kicked out, but they accepted her. the group is complete and their shows become popular at the park.

the sekai is the village sekai. the houses have plush inhabitants. the main vocaloids are miku and kaito.

[pillow-anime-talk]

music & vocaloids month ; seventeenth day.

synopsis: Being a fan is a 24/7 job.

# tags: scenario; idol-fan dynamic; fluff; comedy gold; soft!kaito; cute!reader; video call; sfw

includes: female reader ft. kaito {vocaloid}

Kaito was used to various kinds of live performances: concerts, music programs, television and radio interviews. He also talked to fans more than once at Meet&Greet or during breaks between songs, thanking for coming or asking random people about their well-being or their favorite song/album. However, his music company decided to do a little experiment and the young idol was in the middle of a video call with one of his fans; video fan call was something new, strange, exciting and fun for him. It was just him and the person on the other side of the screen who was showing him a drawing of his character and thanking him for so many beautiful memories. Kaito was delighted, moved and incredibly happy that his CEO came up with such an interesting idea.

The young idol had already had several such conversations and each of them was amazing for the artist; one of the male fans sang a self-written song for him, another young girl told him a touching story in which she said that during hard times, Kaito’s songs helped her feel better. He also heard many words of thanks and words in which people said that the twenty-year-old inspired them to create music, sing or dance and express themselves.

After about twenty people, it’s finally time for you; you waited patiently in line with your idol’s little mascot and a glass of water just in case. The moment the connection started, a huge smile and a very big blush appeared on your whole pretty face.

“Hi, I’m Kaito. What’s your name?”

“... Uh, hi. I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you, really.” You said with a slightly shaky voice, then waved the blue mascot gently. “I don’t know where to start... But I really thank you for what you do and you’re amazing. It’s not just that you’re an amazing idol, but also that you’re a wonderful person.” You hesitantly started the conversation, and Kaito listened to your words intently. You told him that his music helps you study and often helps you fall asleep – singer was really happy.

“Do you have a wish, Y/N?” He asked suddenly and you just nodded.

“May my loved ones always be healthy and happy.” You answered truthfully. “And the people I like always be fulfilled in life and professionally, for example – you.” You added with a smile. “What about you, Kaito-san?”

“I? Well...” It was a nice moment. Usually people talked about themselves or their love for Kaito. This time, however, he answered your next questions with a smile. You helped him to relax and mentally take a breath.

It was definitely one of the most interesting conversations in his life.

previous day ; otome tohoten from party of words ♡ next day ; anne faulkner from bae

[astralfuchs]

Given how “unique” a Miku concert would be I’m surprised Crypton themselves didn’t send some team members or equipment personally to make sure things are set up right bc other than some performers that might hide their face/wear disguises idk how many usual concert locations have something prepped for “holo” projections compared to Japan and their Vtuber boom (although I’d rather buy a plushie from a booth but hopefully at least the theatres would have good sound quality)

Sucks for any workers scrambling and getting hate/hope it doesn’t affect the sales of any other indie ppl performing their concerts

The weird thing is it worked before. I went to miku Expo 2018 in cologne and 2020 in Berlin. Both times it was an actual hologram concert with the same band as magical Mirai. Neither of these two locations had a concert like this before, I'm pretty sure. All of the equipment must've been toured around with thew Miku Expo crew. Going against advertising and expectations (basically all of these concerts, and like all of them in recent years were holographic) without notifying buyers beforehand and also not even afterwards when people keep asking is, to put it lightly, customer unfriendly at best and a scam at worst.

I arrived a bit late in 2018 since I only had standard so I don't know how it was there, but in 2020 people went around giving out free stickers and badges, or general stuff they got from other miku events. One of them seemed to be a huge meiko fan so when she gifted me something I gave her the meiko badge I got from the random gacha button bags. Stuff like that really made it feel like a community coming together, so reading that giving out badges, stickers, etc. wasn't allowed this year, even for people who specifically got an okay from cfm and also got their stuff stolen from is surreal.

I had vip in 2020 and as far as I know everyone got their vip merchandise, which doesn't seem to be the case this year, which makes no sense because you would know how many people at this location have the vip ticket. Another thing I read is that vip ticket holders were supposed to be let in earlier for merchandise and the concert hall but it didn't happen, which also worked flawlessly before in my experience.

Merchandise being not enough for everyone is sadly not new, I was in line for it in 2018 and when I was three people away the store people shouted they were all sold out, which was very much a bummer but I thankfully bought the penlight and t-shirt beforehand in the online store so it wasn't too bad for me and as I said I was quite late to the so definitely in the latter half of the people that got in. Still should've been more but I would chalk it up to being the first concert in Europe and them not having expected such a huge crowd maybe. How this is still the case 6 years later and in America where there were concerts way before 2018 is beyond me.

I don't know if this is because of crunchyroll (it probably is tho) but I can't say cfm is innocent either since they partnered with them and it's their job to ensure everything is up to standard, which clearly didn't happen.

For me, I was really happy to hear there was going to be a Europe one again, especially since I really loved it, it is such a magical experience so the last year's being online only made me super sad since it isn't the same in the slightest, but seeing it's also partnered with crunchyroll I decided against it. It's because I loved it so much that it really saddens me to see what is currently going on (also probably why I wrote so much, very sorry). Miku Expo is one of the best, magical and insane events you can go to as a vocaloid/piaproloid fan and I wish for all fans, people who've been in the Fandom longer and already have been to Miku Expo, and newer fans that didn't have the chance yet, to have that same experience but this is not it. This being someone's first miku expo experience is just a sad thing to think about considering what a massive downgrade the experience is. I hope there will be official statements soon and that the people who are currently experiencing it still have a good time.

[bvannn]

Weekly Update November 29, 2024

I’ve had awful insomnia and not a lot of motivation to draw, but I think I figured out why the second one is true: I recently moved into a new apartment, and it has terrible ventilation, and my hands are freezing cold all the time! It’s going to get worse as winter approaches, since I live in the Midwest, but I ordered a space heater today to hopefully remedy this for now, plus I’m trying to get a better job so I can move somewhere nicer, but I guess a degree in the field and a couple years of experience in the field aren’t good enough nowadays. I think it’s because no one wants new employees once they realize they need to pay them, so they put out listings that never get filled. It’s fine I’m doing what I can about it. I’m trying to work around my problems.

Drawing has been very limited due to cold hands, insomnia leaving me with a lack of energy, and some illness flareups. They’ve been extra bad this week for whatever reason, probably stress. I did a couple more epithet erased TTRPG drawings at the beginning of the week, got some maps done and decorated. I figured out the digital tabletop I want to use insofar as map making, I’ll have a friend walk me through fog of war and other features at some point. I wrote out a doc with the villains’ backstory, and I’m getting really attached, which is great. I’ll post tokens for some of them once I have them. Theoretically I could run the first ‘episode’ as soon as the last tokens for that are finished, but I think I’m going to put it off until I have stuff for the next couple episodes done.

I’ve fiddled around with music stuff this week but tried to stick with what I’ve already started. I posted Raccoon Rock, I’ve done a similar animation loop for the Blow Off Steam re-edit to make a lyric video out of, and I have sketches for a few other cover arts, including one for a batch. I have plans for that batch, finally, but I’m still going to release the songs first, just for the sake of having something to release. I found a couple vocaloid producer mutuals on Bluesky so that should help with motivation.

FF has the first round of tuning done, I did learn about a new program called tunelab which can help with pitchbends and pronunciation, although I’m not sure it’s entirely legal? If it is I’m totally using it though it looks really nice. I also finagled with my vocal mixing strategies again to get a hold on how to do growls, and I found a much easier method than what I was doing. I’ve been finaggling with OBS again and maybe if my hands are still cold next week and I run out of stuff to do that involves drawing I’ll make a tutorial.

I did a bit more of another animation project that’s been on the back burner, that’s also at a bottleneck since I need to draw more assets. Comic has also been going pretty slow due to art bottleneck but I did get page 12 finished and page 13 is sketched, we’re 41% done. I think right now the main concern is going to be waiting for that space heater, I’ll try to catch up on sleep and maybe watch cartoons or something to fix my mood. I do have another craft project I could do but I’m not going to start another craft project until a couple more art things are off my plate.

It is Black Friday so I’m tempted to spend money on something for my mood, but right now I’m just raiding all the music plugin giveaways. Maybe I’ll write some smaller songs to throw on the pile of unreleased music. Or maybe not, who knows.

[thesnailtail]

hey your au firewood (leaders extensions of the Sekai etc) gave me a thought. as well as general thoughts of Sekais being used as a form of escapism;

What if ,, when they were at their lowest (in the progression of the units' stories) the unit leaders were offered the chance by Something (I haven't thought of if it's another entity or the original Miku or whatever) to become part of the Sekai forever, with the condition that they can't leave. I will not elaborate

;; OUGH

;; the negative feelings compelling the original miku to come try and sort it out only to make everything worse..

;; what if not only original miku did the offer but all of the other original vocaloids, and they took the form of the sekai version. ain't that cruel /silly

;; would they be upfront about the not leaving sekai part? or would it be more of a "it's your sekai. you can stay here forever if you need to" thing? because if it's not upfront it definitely makes sense as to why they'd take the deal: ichika wanting company and hey! being in sekai with too of your biggest role models doesn't sound too bad, minori believing it'll give her all the time in the world to practice, kohane having a similar mindset to that but definitely more along the lines of "i'll become a great partner for an-chan!", something something WARUDO FUTURE STAR! and kanade getting a "new" environment to compose in. none of these are good things.

;; i can think of every character's lowest moment in the main story except minori, who arguably is only experiencing second hand horrors in the main story and really only experiences her own agonies in hopeful show.. sorry side tangent.

;; this is a very very cool idea staring politely

[mimicteruyo]

Hello, this is very random ask about your KomaEiki fanfics!

I’ve been reading your KomaEiki fanfic for about 3-4 years and I love every single one of them! I think my favorites out of all of them include Sleeping Beauty, Reflections of Higanbana, Glass Mirror and Nothing Says Romance Like Holding Back a Scolding.

I do have one question though, is Reflections of Higanbana sort of a “happy ending fix it fanfic” to Glass Mirror? I’m not sure if this was your intention when it came to writing Reflections of Higanbana but when I first read the fanfic I couldn’t help but think this due to the fact Eiki and Komachi were able to figure how they would handle their romantic relationship while also their work relationship at the same time while in Glass Mirror this wasn’t the case and Eiki basically couldn’t even tell Komachi she loved her due to work rules. I don’t know, I always felt like the two fanfics were connected somehow and that somehow the events of Reflections of Higanbana were the key to fixing the unrequited love story shown in Glass Mirror. The names for both of the fanfics also seem connected since mirrors reflect what is shown within them. I might be looking into things a bit too much but I wanted to see your perspective of things as the author of those fanfics.

Also very unrelated but thanks to those specific fanfics I couldn’t stop listening to the song Romeo and Cinderella by Doriko (this is a Vocaloid song) and it’s one of my favorite Vocaloid songs now. I would totally recommend listening to it if you are interested. Maybe the whole tragedy and happy ending thing got to my head a bit when reading those two fanfics…..

Back on topic though, do you have any plans to write a hurt/comfort KomaEiki fanfic by any chance? I’ve notice there really isn’t any out there and it would be really interesting to see your spin on things with this specific fanfiction trope.

Anyways keep up the good work!! 🐾🐾

Hi! This was a really fun ask to receive! Sorry it took me a while to reply: I wanted to think my answer through since your question was so thoughtful.

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words! I'm so glad you like the fics! KomaEiki feels like a pretty niche ship these days, so I'm always super delighted to find other people who enjoy it.

The short answer is yes, Reflections of Higanbana is a fix-it for Glass Mirror (and the names are indeed intentionally connected). I didn't deliberately reference anything from the older fic besides the title in the newer one, but the intention was definitely there.

The long answer is a bit more complicated. Before Glass Mirror, I wrote a LOT of KomaEiki that I never finished and which thus never saw the light of day, trying really hard to make fetch the ship happen. I was still new to writing as well as lacking in life experience, and combined with my then present neuroses about adhering to canon I just couldn't get it to work in a way that satisfied me. Ultimately I wrote Glass Mirror as the closest thing to KomaEiki I could at the time and basically gave up on writing romance fics altogether for years afterwards.

The basic structure of Reflections of Higanbana actually comes from one of those unfinished fics: it was a short fic dominated by dialogue, similarly taking place over the centuries but with an ending very similar to Glass Mirror. Weirdly enough I couldn't actually find it when I went looking for it in preparation for writing Reflections, but I swear it existed. 😂

Before Reflections, I'd finally gotten back to writing pure shipfic and realising how much I loved it. At the beginning I deliberately only wrote fluffy established relationship KomaEiki to avoid the issues that stymied baby!Mimic's KomaEiki attempts, but then I decided it was time to give a more serious fic another try and write what I'd so desperately tried to write back in the day. At that point, I'd grown up enough to realise that, you know, the characters could in fact have an adult conversation about their relationship and thus sort things out (and also by then canon had revealed that the administration of Hell is messy lmao), and so I finally managed to write the fic little me wanted to read.

Thank you for the song rec! I'll check it out! 😊

I'm certainly open to the idea of h/c KomaEiki, but unfortunately I can't promise anything: I've been in a pretty serious creative lurch for a long while now and haven't really had any new fic ideas all year. The most I can say is that one of the fics I'm currently horribly stalled on might have some KomaEiki in it. Anyway, I'll do my best to get out of this mire and start writing again.

Thank you for your continued support! 🌼