#also she's extremely talented like it's /gen impressive

[utterentropy]

Someone illustrate this

[camilieroart]

COLORCODED UNEDITED RANT : PART 4

Colorcoded TMNT AU Masterpost :

how sentient is Shelldon? you said he's a pet so I'm guessing he probably can't talk?

shelldon is literally just a pet, as sentient as Icy or Buckle hguirugerhiughre

he's just a lil boy

a really weird doggy

buckle and icy also have their owner's color hguierhger shelldon was a project by tiny turtle tot Donnie, they're VASTLY different from Meets :D

aww so Shelldon's been around for a while then?

yeah ! he's the family pet :) until mikey gets icy and raph gets super jealous and mad then reconcile with icy and hten get buckle

splinter was okay with shelldon because it's a robot messed up dog so he wasn't going to leave fur or poop eveerywhere splinter was less okay with Icy but got convinced and I mean if Mikey got Icy and Raph couldn't get Buckle that would have been extremely unfair

Splinter: "can you kids stop randomly adding new members to the family"

Donnie in hte back working on Meets, sweating

Leo, the only one without a pet: "can we get a pet mouse or something, I don't wanna be left out"

actually i think leo and shelldon would get along really really well like shelldon is the pet of both leo and don :)

icy has like different stages of melting, when she's straight out of the fridge she looks like a normal cat with fucked up stripes

Casey, taking something from the fridge: "that's a weird fucking cat"

mikey from the couch "that's a weird fucking family"

casey at the beginning of the show is just that one guy with common sense that's like "nothing here is normal"

"everyone here looks insane and it's great"

does Splinter get along with certain pets more than others? does he do the "no pets allowed" and then immediately become best buds with one of the pets fvgdffd

oh absolutely

it's hte Dad Thing ™️

Splinter : "No pets ):< they're dirty and leave things everywhere" Also Splinter : baby voice "oh that's my little angel, my adorable treasuuuure, yesssssssssssssssssssh yes you are"

Raph, holding Buckle: "can we keep it?" Splinter: "no" Raph: "please :((??" Buckle: doing the puppy dog eyes (which is impressive without eyes) Splinter: Splinter: "okay"

slow zoom towards buckle, little hearts and the fuzzy look appears, but it's just zooming into her fur

Splinter: "your puppy dog eyes face does not faze me" <- totally fazed by the puppy dog eyes face

Also unrelated to all of that I got a cool ask about like making different tmnt gens + cc interact and it's very cool but it's also stressing me out

I think they'd get along really well with the Rise crew

all the Mikeys would be immediately besties

esp the donnies since Donnie CC won't try to be like "actually I'm better because I can do things better" because of his self-esteem he's prolly just gonna be like "wooooahhhh you're so coooo and talented and amazing"

I feel like CC Leo and Rise Leo would get along great until Rise suggests pranking their brothers and CC would be like "why ???? Except if the prank is to shower them with love, affection and support, I don't see the point" and then Rise would short-circuit

CC Leo doesn't do pranks fjevfhe except like super nice pranks to his siblings. However Mikey and Donnie do. Raph doesn't do them often unless he has to get someone back about smth rjevfbe Raph is like "why prank when you can just look at thzm dead in the eyes and say mean things. Isn't that the same thing ? No ? I feel like it is."

i'm thinking about mikey and raph and i think there should be a whole ep dedicated to resolving their conflict, and that at some point (maybe after the big fight I mentionned there ijgreijuergg) it's particularly bad and Leo and Donnie are particularly worried about them and then Mikey drops a bomb in the moment like "I wish you weren't my brother" or smth like that and then he'd immediatly regret it but like Raph fled

and so Leo and Donnie get really mad at Mikey and leave to find Raph, leaving Mikey behind at the lair devoured by guilt and he talks with Splinter about it

but like the talk isn't like just calmly talking you know like Mikey is absolutely freaking out, he's like "dad I said something horrible and I don't mean it and I don't know why I said it, and I'm so scared" like he's a mess And on his side Raph is really hurt and furious but since he's alone and there's no video games he just takes out his anger on things and villains if they happen to cross his path, he just keeps punching and making people hurt like he's hurting, until there's nothing left to punch and he just starts crying. That's when Donnie and Leo find him and they hug silently

So after the raph rage moment, we have Mikey cuddling up next to his dad that's trying to calm him down. He's crying, he can't even speak, he feels awful about himself. And like, Splinter knows this is THE moment to lay all the hard truths his son couldn't see and he knows it's going to be brutal, and he needs to soften it a bit. Once Mikey is a little more calm, Splinter starts by talking about his obsession with the Gender ™️ and the pronouns and this kind of things. He explains that people, a lot of people out there don't see things like him, and they try to make him think like them. And the thing isn't to know who is right or wrong, but to understand eachother's point of view and find a middle ground. Forcing someone to act like you because the You is Better, isn't going to lead anywhere. And it's the same thing with Raph. Raph thinks differently, acts differently, but that's just how he is. The way Mikey acts isn't the right or wrong one. It just is and he needs to accept that. It's with the comparaison to people who refuses "pronouns" and "gender" that Mikey finally realizes what he had been doing to Raph. And like, as soft as Splinter tried to put it, that's still extremely violent and like a punch in hte guts. The guilt triples, he feels like he's going to throw up and cries even more.

Raph, Donnie and Leo are on a roof, shielding from the rain and talking more calmly about what happened, and reassuring Raph. Raph is unusually talkative and very vulnerable, still crying a little bit, explaining how he had been feeling lately, how he had been trying to close the rift that had been happening between him and Mikey but whatever he did was always wrong. He talks about how Mikey seemed to continually try to make him like him and that he tries to make his brother happy but it never works and it just makes him angry. He even talks about how he feels about Leo and Donnie and about their family and how scared he is to lose it all but he doesn't know how to say it. Leo and Donnie don't say much, just reassuring him when he's spiralling, listening. After a while Raph calms down and quiet down to his usual talk flow and they just watch the rain pass silently.

Back at the lair, Mikey has trouble accepting all the bad things he's done (but I just wanted my brother to be happy !! But it hurted him... But it came from a good place, maybe he'd understand ? No, this isn't his problem, he doesn't need to understand I need to understand.) but he's trying. He's mostly extremely anxious about his brothers who have yet to return, and how to apologize to Raph. He's pacing in the living room, muttering while Splinter is on the couch watching him silently. Then the lair's door open and Leo and Donnie enters, revealing Raph behind them that seems hesitant to go in. Mikey immediatly runs up to him and open his mouth but nothing comes out and he panics. He wants to say so many things but what if he accidentally hurts him again ? What if it's the wrong thing to say ? He tries several times and then the stress and frustration build up and he just starts crying, mumbling apologies and his brother's name. Raph finally steps into their home and the door closes behind him and he hugs Mikey tight. Mikey is surprised then quickly hug back, burrying his head in his brother's neck and continuing to apologize without actually forming any coherent sentences.

Mikey and Raph have a more long term conflict

Mikey and Raph's biggest problem and the cause of most of their fights is their inability to actually understand eachothers. Mikey is super optimistic and very positive and always want people to be happy and cool with eachothers and friends. He talks a lot and doesn't listen much. Raph is really reserved and snarky. He likes to tease and sometimes borderline bully but he has trouble seeing the line. He's not good at social interactions and try to stir away from them. He's a good listener but doesn't talk about his problems and would rather punch them out. The problem is that Mikey's hyper positive attitude makes him think that Raph's reserved attitude is a problem that needs to be fixed. That Raph sometimes insensitive comments once he is forced to be in a social environment is another problem that needs fixing. The problem is also that Raph tries very desesperatly to grow closer to Mikey but the only way he knows how to do that is to tease, which Mikey absolutely hates. So, it often clashes.

Of course Mikey doesn't realize he want to "fix" his brother, he thinks of it more as in "helping him flourish", but it's not really what he's doing

Mikey: "he just needs a little push :)!" Also Mikey: yeets Raph a mile away out of his metaphorical comfort zone

But like for him it's not that big of a deal, he doesn't see it that way and since Raph is reserved he doesn't vocally express how uncomfortable he feels, and physically he just looks a little bit embarassed.

he think he's doing the right thing

and since he's not very good at listening, he's not realizing what he's doing isn't helping at all

mmmmmm bad communication all around

they're trying but they just don't get the other ):

so like afterwards in the next few eps, Mikey and Raph are walking on eggshells around eachothers (just in the background, like details, it's not the main focus of any scene), being very careful to not upset the other and trying to figure out how to act normally while also not hurting the other. Eventually they figure it out, over time, organically, just Raph's teasing is more soft, whenever Raph doesn't want to be in a social moment, Mikey sometimes give him one of his comic books or go get the pets for Raph to hang out with... just a lot more respect from both sides. :)) growth !!!

as sad as it is I'm actually really happy with Mikey and Raph's relationship, it's one of the rare thing in Colorcoded that feels really fleshed out

question: do they have t-phones or smartphones like in rise

I KEEP THINKING ABOUT IT AND I HAVE LIKE NO CLUE I think they have nothing before going out for the first time on their own

what about both

they have a smartphone for everyday use and t-phones for missions

the t-phone act more like walkie-talkie, and can have a tracker to find each other and an alert button and stuff like that

that's actually an amazing idea ties back nicely to donnie's staff thing too

and Donnie has to tell his siblings every single mission not to take their smartphone because they are too easily trackable by enemies compared to their t-phones or something

Mikey: "but I don't have any games on my t-phone :(((, or internet :((((("

plus it's like actual warning for actual people like "if you go out on a mission [protest] don't take your smartphone because it is easy to track"

[the turtles about to leave for a mission] Donnie: "Mikey, what do you have hidden behind your back" Mikey, nervous: "Nothing" Donnie: "For the 100th time, just leave your phone at home"

Donnie : "In order to prove to you that your smartphones are too easy to track, I will now tell you everything you've done in the past month" Mikey : "Yeah but you can do that because you're smart, that doesn't count" Donnie : "Mikey our ennemies are smart-"

Donnie: "To show you how vulnerable your phones are, I could also pull out everyone's search history in like, a few minutes" Mikey, who has been looking up many many tutorials of pranks to pull on his siblings later : "Please don't"

I'd imagine Mikey would often get the Adhd Boredom™️ during long missions and would need his phone as a distraction

ohhh maybe his t-phone has like a game in it just for him

and like it's a co-op game they all have but Donnie put the function in just so Mikey wouldn't get the Itch ™️

at first it didn't and then Donnie decided to add some silent (emphasis on SILENT, for missions) video games for him

Mikey suddenly : "OH COME ON I WAS THIS CLOSE !"

dk if CC Mikey does a lot of pranks but that's the only thing that came to me

ohhhh he's the one that do them the most yeah

even if he doesn't go all the way i think he's spend hours looking up pranks just to see and get inspired

colorcoded Dr prankenstein

While writing MIKEY AND RAPH ep thing

you can make the anger build up with an internal monologue or something bhff "We could have died! What kind of plan was that? Of course Raph wouldn't think twice about putting us in danger, he never thinks things through because he doesn't care!" etc idk dvhdf that would imply Mikey thinks Raph isn't taking his leader role seriously which I think you did imply in what you wrote? do you think Mikey would have some anger towards Leo for letting Raph take the lead?

well i think he should if it was the only reason he was angry, but the fact that he doesn't even speak to leo about this like it's just Raph, Raph is wrong, Raph did the bad thing, like it accentuates how he's been acting, raph taking the blame for everything mikey finds upsetting he doesn't realize it but it's slowly what had been happening

maybe when leo tries to intervene like "mikey you need to stop" "I need to stop ?? No Leo, YOU need to stop giving leadership to a reckless idiot"

Donnie being the lil bro: "you know what, I think I'll let everyone sort this out and not intervene"

i mean donnie is very non-confrontational

everytime any of his siblings fight imagine that he looks like that in the background because he do

does he still sometimes have fights with his siblings?

he really doesn't, he caves in really easily because he doesn't want to fight, and that's like a problem in itself colorcoded info here (modifié) he doesn't have enough self-esteem to go "yeah i'm probably right" or "yeah i deserve this" "hey donnie can you give me the last of these cookies you love so much ?" "ah... well I kinda wanted to eat it..." "aww, c'mon D, pretty pleaaase ?" "I mean yeah okay"

he would get in a fight, or in a prank or anything that means him standing up for himself a bit more, if it was with another of his siblings. Like if Mikey is like "hey let's not bring our bros their umbrellas", he'd be down. But if he was alone, even if he REALLY didn't want to. Heck, even if he was sick he would go.

it's also a bigger problem in the last part of the season, when he thinks they should focus on hte Krang but Leo insists to be on the Foot. And Donnie doesn't insist because he doesn't want to argue. so when he discovers how screwed they are because of the technodrome and how little time they have to stop them, he blames himself

Still while writing MIKEY AND RAPH (@calista-222 was a big help)

Mikey is being pretty ableist tbh (whether it's intentional or not), I'd mention that instead, he may have adhd but if he can't handle Raph stimming or not being good at socializing, then it should be said as it is instead of using a completely different but similar topic but if you do use it I would simply use a real example instead, like Splinter saying something like "Michelangelo, what would you say if someone used the wrong pronouns when referring to you?" and Mikey would obviously say he'd correct them, "then what if that person keeps using the wrong ones because they think they are right and that it's how you should be referred as?" (if think you see where it's going bddf) and then link it to how Mikey has been acting with Raph and how he was trying to change him etc

oh that is so much better than what i idd also yeah he's being ableist I should say the fucking word "Micheal my boi you're being ableist and htat's pretty fucked up."

I mean, it's not just about MIkey being ableist xD trying to change someone, neurodivergent or not, is still bad

and anyway splinter can't say the word because like to them neither raph nor mikey are neurodivergent like they don't even know what neurodivergent is

having a good day

I'M SO SORRY MIKEY THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GET SO FLESHED OUT AND NOW I'M STRUGGLING

you're not transphobic my baby boi you're the opposite i'm sorry you're baby ! you're still all the other things at the moment tho BUT DON'T WORRY IT'S COOL !!!! you'll learn from your mistakes and admit you are wrong and you'll be fine and the most important thing is learning !! you're open minded and you only want the best for everyone (even if that led you down a pretty fucked up path)

Mikey: "I want to help people so much that when it doesn't work I try way too hard and it ends up in disaster"

that's actually pretty much the take i wanted with mikey

I wanted to like make being overly positive a bad thing, like he's being so Positive that he tries so hard to help, he wants to spread the positivity and the happiness but like he's starting to enforce it instead and like yea,,

(art by @calista-222 )

Mikey : "I'm positive I can help my brothers be happy and their best selves :D" Mikey 2 years later : "I just told Raph I don't want him to be my brother anymore"

me: "I will speedrun the line art" also me: procrastinates

me: "i will finish the text today" also me : procrastinates

mikey happens to take the toll on our procrastination

"you make artists and writers procrastinate, Michelangelo" Mikey: "what"

this feels like a great meme template

new Mikey meme format just dropped

Mikey: "Next thing you're gonna tell me is that I'm being overly positive, haha" Everyone: Mikey:

JZIOIHUHNUDI

this is the funniest thing

free the boi i need to work on the text

sure isn't his day

"you are hard to write, Michelangelo"

HOWDARE YOU

SPLINTER HOW DID YOU SAY THAT OUTLOUD

Splinter: "Michelangelo, I want you to know that I am never going to give you up, I will never let you down. I won't ever turn around and desert you-" Mikey: "ARE YOU RICKROLLING ME"

Mikey : "DAD I'M CRYING ON THE FLOOR"

Splinter coming into the room and breakdancing then leaving that's the equivalent

Mikey: crying on the floor Splinter, breakdancing softly: "what's wrong, son"

Still writing MIKEY AND RAPH :

"Sometimes when he gets excited he moves around a lot" suggestion: "Sometimes when he gets excited, he expresses it more physically than you and your siblings"

DID I WRITE THAT FEYUZFYZGVYZ THAT IS THE FUNNIEST WAY TO PUT IT OH MY GOD

"your brother moves around a lot when he's excited" "yeah i uh i can see that"

Casey: "hey Raph, I got you this new video game you've wanted for months-" Raph: vibrating in excitement Leo: "CASEY WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, HE'S GONNA LAUNCH HIMSELF INTO ORBIT-"

writing April meets the turtles for the first time :

has the media ever talked about mutants or anything before all that?

not yet ! Splinter and the boys are the first wave of mutants, so they're not public knowledge yet, there's not enough around to be noticed.

while I was trying to fall back asleep this morning I was thinking of a thing CC Donnie would do with his bros since he was a baby AND THAT'S LITERALLY THIS POSE. LIKE DOWN TO THE CHIN ON HEAD.

(art by @calista-222 )

Just Donnie hugging his brothers from behind, and then putting his chin on their head and sometimes he’d fall asleep like that.

he started sleeping on his brothers' shell and when they grew up he just fell asleep like that sometimes

how to be comfy for donnie : a full split and resting head on brother

they'd probably like spiderman dfgd Mikey: "when you think about it, Spiderman is kinda of like a spider mutant" Raph: "Mikey what- Raph: "Wait. you're not wrong actually"

the turtles answering like an ask that goes "do the turtles play pranks on each other ?" and it's leo, raph and mikey answering "yeah we play pranks but we try not to do any on donnie because he's got a soft shell" cut to one of the pranks where donnie get a water balloon in his face and mikey goes "HAHA SUCKER" and immediatly donnie's eyes well up and he goes "i'm a sucker ????" and he starts crying on the floor

Casey really doesn't like to be touched, it makes him feel unsafe. EXCEPT HIS SISTER AND DAD If the touch comes from behind/he didn't see it coming, his immediate reflex is to elbow/punch/jab the person touching. He can't control it. He was not physically abused, it's just his trust issues. The main crew work around that to make him as comfortable as possible. In tense situation he doesn't mind it as much, but it depends where/why/who Raph is okay with touch as long as he's the one initiating it. If he's not he feels very uncomfortable and if it lasts too long he feels a bit sick. Usually his family work around it by starting a touch (hug, grab...) and stopping midway and waiting for him to finish the move. It is how he expresses affection however, so he does initiate touch often. In tense situation tho he just gets yanked if needed. Leo is VERY okay with touch and will initiate touch WHENEVER HE CAN. If he goes without touching someone for an extanded period of time he becomes nervous and fidgety. It's his main love language. He wants to be caring, supportive and loving to his family whenever he can. He thinks it's very important. To express affection to Casey he often uses sign language as a replacement for touch and it works very well for both of them. Mikey really likes touching, but not at Leo's level. he expresses affection both physically and verbally, and alternates between the two often, or use only one if necessary. Donnie is okay with touch as long as it's not by surprise, it had caused enough incidents to make him nervous. April and Metalhead are cool with touch, without an actual opinion on it. They think it's nice.

it comes from what my dad and I used to do for uh. reasons. We have like this evening ritual where we hug after brushing our teeth (thinking of implementing it in colorcoded), but there was a time where we couldn't touch each other so he just stood like 2 feet away and reached out, and opened and closed our palms and that was the equivalent of hugging. So like I think that when leo wants to express affection to casey he just says the thing in sign language. To him, it's not verbal, it's a movement so it's like touching. To casey, it's NOT touching but it's affection, and he likes that. Like if Leo wants to pat his shoulder he'd just sign "pat pat" instead. That'd be the same level of reassurance for Casey as an actual pat for like Mikey.

expressing affection in different ways my beloved

boundaries !!! respect,,,

want me to turn that fluff into kinda angst but not really ?

when in the beginning of season 2 Casey and the guy finally meets up again, Casey's first move is to run and tackle hug them all. and cry

the turtles when no-touch-guy suddenly tackle hug them : shocked stares raph, quietly : "what's happening" casey, bawling his eyes out

he felt very alone and very lost big relief

like it's his way of saying "i trust you like family now"

the only people he's comfortable with touching him was his dad and his sister, and now also the turtles and april

i think colorcoded is lacking worldbuilding

that and like, not a lot of places are actually said so far besides the lair, and april's place

like at the end of season 1, new york gets destroyed, but why should anyone care, the viewers barely know anything about the city so it's not as impacting yeah i think it might be time to expand a bit XD like you know the one off villains in 2012 eps, they added life to hte world, same to minor villains in Rise colorcoded's world feels a bit flat and lifeless besides hte turtles rn

have an ep or two showing off April and Casey's life (with relevant plot of course) outside of the turtles Like that one ep in rise with April and Sunita, the turtles can still show up, but you can use it to show the city

maybe add a character like Murakami from tmnt2012

like, maybe have April have a teacher who's a little bit relevant to the plot for example? one teacher who's really nice and for example, some days April arrives to class super tired or hurt because she had been fighting some enemy and the teacher gets worried and she has to avoid questions

they can be a reoccurring character that's one example a reoccurring side character that adds a little worldbuilding but human, to have more worldbuilding on the humans' side

that or you keep it like that and simple lean more on the human characters you have like make Kirby more relevant, even Baxter can add a lot of stuff despite being a villain

baxter dies like 5 eps in

Baxter, as a ghost: "IIII CAME BACK TO GIVE YOU WOOOOORDBUIILDIIIING INNNFOOOOO"

make up events

like, idk, an ep about a random book fair for example

i was thinking an highschool festival or smth and the turtles showed up in disguise to support their buddies

but yeah i do need to flesh out the human part of it a lot more. I think it's important for season 1 to get as much as human world as possible, and barely any mutant thing because it's going to be explored more in season 2. So i need just to make this city more alive with more stuff, human wise

steve is at first a background character that have throwaway lines about 2012 and someone with him would always say "shut the fuck up steve", sprouting a social media # called #steveneedstherapy, and later in the season becomes relevant as Casey's therapist in the beginning of season 2 he's also one of the survivor and advocate for the turtles

"hey wouldn't it be fucked up if like there were squirrels that'd could go into your mouth and reproduce in your stomach" "shut the fuck up steve"

CC Leo being an extremely supportive brother my ABSOLUTE BELOVED

Also I had completely forgotten about the whole Raph and Karai arc where they both went in bad directions except Raph had the common sense not to become a murderous villain (Shredder) like Karai did

Also Leo and Mikey having one single braincell when alone, beloved dumbasses (affectionate)

imagine like a super serious version of leo left alone with cc mikey for 5 minutes and suddenly he actually acts like a teen

cc mikey's power over all leos

IDW Leo, extremely serious: "Alright everyone, let's focus on the plan. But first, there the hell is the other Mikey?" goes to looks for him CC Mikey, in the kitchen: "hi :), sorry, I was getting everyone some sodas" IDW Leo, suddenly not serious: "I bet I can stack more soda cans than you" CC Mikey: "YOU'RE ON!"

oh this could be a great ground for angst

like imagine a very serious leo is left alone with Mikey and like, it cracks his "very serious and strong and mature" mask and suddenly it's just a teen, a kid, and all the burden falls back and he cries

CC Mikey: "Holy shit, you had such a shitty life dude, and you had to be so serious and mature for so long, I'm sorry" CC Donnie: "Can't you have any more tact???" IDW Leo, crying his heart out: "BuT hE'S RiGhT tHougH,,,,"

tbh it's more likely for Raph to be blunt than Mikey but yeah

Splinter: "If we were human, I'd have to have 911 on speed dial constantly, but since we're not, I have to ask you to please, please stop putting yourselves in danger over bets"

"hey Leo, do you think a chainsaw could go through my shell ?" "I don't know Mikey, let's try it out !"

Splinter: "NO-"

Mikey: "Leo, if you manage to do a backward somersault from this building to that other building I'll buy you a copy of Tanako No Ichi the game" Leo, 100% confident: "PREPARE TO LOSE, BROTHER" Splinter: "Leonardo, is your life really worth an old video game" Leo: "IF MIKEY IS PAYING FOR IT, YEAH"

Leo then proceeds to fall and Splinter had to casually catch him mid-air because he 100% knew it would happen Leo: "okay, maybe it wasn't such a good idea" Splinter: "think first, then act" Leo: "act first, then think" Splinter: "no"

Splinter : "Oh, thank god Metalhead, you are the savior I needed. You will be responsible, and mature, and watch over your brothers." Mikey : "Hey Meets, if you manage to do a backward somersault without using your robot thingies from this building to that other building I'll help you win against Raph in the next game tournament." Meets : :D!!! Splinter : "Oh no"

he did the same thing with Casey and he immediately realized he also was the same dfbhdfhdf Casey: "HEY GUYS, WANNA SEE WHO CAN EAT THE MOST PIZZA IN 30 SECONDS?" [everyone cheers] Splinter, head in his hands: "please please can I have at least ONE responsible child"

Donnie : "Oh no, don't tell me they're going to eat all of these at once ? I'm going to be the one having to clean up and help the belly aches ):" Splinter, desesperate : "Yes so you should definitely prevent it right"

Donnie: "Leo challenged me and now my honor is on the line, forget everything I said, I have a bet to win" Splinter:

splinter : "in retrospective, adopting a robot turtle, along with my 4 turtle sons and 2 human children was not the smartest move"

he literally has to take care 7 teenagers how is he surviving

he is not

Splinter: "I have been trained in many arts of combat, meditation, and more but parenting is by far the hardest I have ever faced"

Kirby : "Why do you keep adopting kids then ?" Splinter : "Well I want to protect them and keep them safe and help them have a good life and-"

Jong-Min : "I appreciate that you took Casey under your care but uh... You have a lot of kids, so why...?" Splinter : "I fucking love kids man."

Splinter: "Taking care of all of you has been and still is a very difficult challenge.... but I would not change anything about our life for all the money in the world, I love you all dearly and I hope you know that." Everyone: Splinter: "however if you could clean your rooms and do your chores every once in a while-"

Splinter: "You're giving me more gray hair than a man my age should have" Mikey: "but your fur is already completely white and gray" Splinter: "exactly"

Splinter : "Casey, April, you are part of the family as much as anyone else, and since you'll be living with us for a while in Japan, this sentiment is even stronger." April : "Thank yo-" Splinter : "That's why April, it's your turn to do the dishes and Casey, go get the laundry."

So still in the line of the brother "pranks" the bois do, remember, they avoid pranking Donnie too harshly or else he takes it badly ?

Well, they still do like stupid sibling shit, like taking the last pizza slice of Donnie's fav pizza and going "as your older brother, I need the food more than you to grow stronger", or when they need to shower, going past him saying "as your older brother, i need to shower first". So like not really pranks, but it's things that makes donnie mad, but it's cc donnie it's not like he was going to go "hey ):<" so he says nothing and he lets it slide

OR DOES HE

so like, imagine still the same ask "Do you guys prank each other a lot ?" (this would be a question before Meets shows up), and the older brothers would be like "Well we prank each other quite often, but not Donnie because he tends to take it personally." then the thing I said with donnie crying on the floor if he's being pranked THEN It goes back to the 3 "Donnie never pranks though, he doesn't have the guts for it." then it cuts to a smiling Donnie "I prank them all the time. They just never know it's me." cut to after the 'i shower first' thing, we see donnie scheming around the lock. When they go to brush their teeth like they do every night, all together, Donnie pretexts feeling tired and leaves first, making sure to close the door. When the bois try to leave to, they're locked in. They call for Donnie but assume he went to sleep. Donnie is on the other side of the door, smirking. "The thing is, they're just so convinced I would never that I could be standing there, with a water balloon in my hand, and they'd assume one of them put it there." cut to after the 'take the last pizza slice incident', donnie is scheming around his bros fav pizzas. He says it's a new pizzeria that just opened, and he bought it with his economy to thank them for [insert something stupid they totally believe here]. He didn't have enough for a pizza for him, but he was hoping they'd share. What they don't know is that Donnie poured a shit ton of laxative on there, and he has an antidote just for him. So they share the pizza. And the bois are super sick. Donnie pretends to be sick too and even gags to go first on the toilet. He then stays there for much longer than needed while his bros are dying outside. "I've been doing it for 10 years, revenge pranking, and they've never suspected me. I'm just too smart."

that last prank is a bit too mean to be just a simple nice prank imo tho

no you don't understand they stole the last slice of his favourite pizza do you understand how grave of a crime that is they needed to understand. to be punished. to regret their heinous crime. the shower thing is annoying

stealing the last slice ? Call the state police, lock them up so they can comprehend the horrible thing they've done. donnie was ANGRY. but he's VERY non-confrontional. so he just said it like that

Donnie: "I can excuse my brothers being assholes to me, but I draw the line at them stealing the last slice of my favorite pizza"

Donnie knows revenge when donnie get back at them, he get back at them on the same level of annoyance/anger he felt don't steal his fucking pizza

Donnie is this close to become a supervillain when he's angry Donnie: "violence is never the answer :), unless you deserve it"

but only quietly and in his corner like when he gets mad, he will not look mad because his self esteem is too low to believe he's allowed to be angry and talk back. so he just smiles and stays quiet and act naturally then he strikes when you expect it the least like 2 days after any incident that made him mad, he's standing quietly in the corridor with a knife while they're asleep

Mikey, waking up to someone with a knife over him: "AAAAAAAAA- oh wait Donnie it's you, hi :), why do you have a knife?" Donnie: "no reason"

Donnie : "Go back to sleep, brother."

Mikey: "OKAY :D"

Mikey, watching tv: "Do you guys ever think about how weird it is that we get super unlucky after we prank Donnie or say something a bit too mean to him" Raph, next to him reading a comic book: "nah" Leo, watching tv too: "It's probably just a coincidence" Mikey: "It's weird I'm telling you. it's like, karma biting us in the back for what we did or something" Raph: "pshh, stop worrying about that so much, it's nothing" Donnie, in the shadows with a remote that'll blow up the tv in their faces: :)

Mikey plotted to murder Donnie after he couldn't draw him, and now Donnie plotting to murder all his bros because they are his last slice of pizza

On Meets' first birthday in the beginning of season 2, his brothers all gift them some kind of blanket made to fit around their shell. It makes their spikiness less of a problem for their siblings, and hides the NYC sewer hatch that was a constant reminder of their collective failure. Mikey's is cat themed, very furry, with a tail and a hood with ears. Leo's is in the shape of a box turtle (deep pink to fit Meets) Donnie's has a little pouch where Buckle, Icy or Shelldon could fit. Raph's is just black with an odd texture. Raph explains Mikey gave him the idea, it's a chalkboard texture so he can draw on it (since Meets always really liked Mikey's stickers and drawings but if they put it on their shell it can clog the opening system to release the drone thingy that can make them fly)

hides the NYC sewer hatch that was a constant reminder of their collective failure. how what it a failure ?

the destruction of New York The Krang winning

it's literally made from NYC sewer hatches

I mean, yeah. but like, it's not like Meets can do anything about it, there are plenty of reminders everywhere but wanting to hide that part of Meets just because of bad memories sounds pretty unfair to them

it's mostly a problem for them than for their brothers. like it makes them feel really shitty about their body and themselves

lmfao yeah imagine "your shell remind us of bad things. hide it."

"happy birthday or whatever" it's the equivalent of going "here. take this toothpaste and chewing gum. your breath stinks and we hate it"

wait so Meets can sleep?

yeah it's one of the earliest fun fact about them : originally, they had a long during battery who required almost no charging time (sleep), but that meant that Meets was always awake during the night and bored out of their mind. Which meant they were really annoying and also messing with the house stuff and making noise. So Donnie made them a battery that would better match a flesh person rythm. so whenever they sleep, they're charging :)

since you were talking about pranking yesterday, does Meets prank their brothers? I think you may have said it before but I can't remember

i also can't remember if i've said it before but yea probably less than mikey leo and raph (or donnie lmao. they also don't suspect him), because they're less use to the entire family sibling thing. like it's just been a year. of course they're VERY used to it, but still less than the 4 others. I'd say they only prank back. they don't initiate a prank war, but just don't start it with them, they will strike back

Meets & Donnie "if you prank me, you will regret it"

"don't start something you can't finish" so like donnie and meets don't prank each other, and don't work together because donnie will Never Admit any of their older brothers, pranking them : >:) (modifié) meets : sh a m e.

ooh unrelated question but still CC related! Does Leo drink tea? in a lot of tmnt iterations, he seems to like drinking tea, idk if you ever mentioned that in CC

i'd say they all drink tea (except meets for obvious reasons lmfao). It is Leo's preferred beverage, whereas for Raph it's coffee (makes him calm), Donnie loves hot cocoa, and Mikey is a juice boy. His favourite is orange juice, but he also really really REALLY likes banana milkshake whenever they can get some

also i feel like i need to underline : meets doesn't hide THEIR revenge pranks

ok so, while they were napping/charging in the lair (plugged somewhere), Raph gets the idea to "whoops" trip over the cable and unplug meets. Which just wake them up. Of course they're like ):< i was having a nice dream ):<. Raph just snickers and apologizes and plug them back. Fast forward at night. 3 AM. Raph is soundly asleep. Suddenly his speakers starts blasting at full volume "NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP, NEVER GONNA LET YOU DOWN"

PERFECT REVENGE

raph was like "hehehoho harmless short term prank :)" meets was like "TIME TO GIVE THIS TURTLE INSOMNIA"

Leo: "gee Raph, you look tired today" Raph: "I got loudly rickrolled at 3am and I think I lost some of my hearing from it, I sure wonder who could have done that" <- knows it's Meets Meets: :)

Donnie, sounding very much not sorry : "Wow I'm sorry Raph. But I sure am glad we soundproofed every room, individually. So you could suffer al- I mean so it didn't wake us all up"

Raph : "That sounded. Weirdly sarcastic coming from you." Donnie : "Ah, well. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the last pizza slice you took yesterday"

imagine if Meets is the only one who knows Donnie pranks them back in secret

like they walk in and donnie freezes and they stare at each other for a solid 5 minutes

so they can team up in getting back at their bros youngers siblings teamup

good for them they're bonding over pranks

also Meets being Donnie's self control dfbhf Donnie: "Raph stole my last slice of pizza, you know what that means...." takes out a chainsaw from out of nowhere Meets, lowering Donnie's chainsaw: "I think we should settle for a simple prank and avoid fratricide if we can help it"

well i was literally thinking that but in the opposite direction fear the day they are both unhinged and no one is being rational

Meets : "We could push them off the building" Donnie : "nO-"

Meets : "Come on, what's a 20 feet drop for a turtle ? They did steal your pizza..." Donnie : silently considering it

Meets: "just tell them to hide in their shells right before pushing them, they should be fine" Donnie: "I like that reasoning"

they are both acting as eachother's self control

one day they'll both be very angry and their siblings will better run when that happens

meets and donnie are like leo and mikey but on the opposite end of the spectrum

a Colorcoded short where Leo, Mikey, Raph and Donnie are out (separately), and Splinter is at Kirby's, so they ask Meets to take care of the pets while they're gone. As soon as the door closes Meets turns around and the pets are gone. They panic, look all around the house, and doesn't find them. They go back to the living room and the pets are just sitting there. Meets slowly gets on the couch, staring at them. The pets are staring back. Suddenly Buckle moves and Meets jump to stop her, but miss and crash, and when they get back up they're gone again. They look around, suspicious. Something falls off a bookshelf, then there's noise in the kitchen, a door open and closes, horror vibes you know ? hezighfue Meets puts on big person pants and go investigate. When they get to their corridor with their room, with the blocked out end, they see it's slightly open. Their brothers had a lot of creepy story about this place, so Meets is nervous. They go in anyway, not reassured, looking around, using their natural body light to see. Everything is very dark and abandonned, and there's creepy cracking everywhere. They hear a big noise not far from them and they're sure it's one of the pets and gain back composure. They start confidently walking there but then hear a meow from where they come from. They turn around and all the pets are standing in the corridor in the house, looking through the hole. Meets freezes, realizing that whatever made the noise is unknown and probably dangerous. They slowly turn back to where they were going and there's two glowing eyes staring back. When they blink, Meets freaks out and run back to the house, straddling the pets and hiding under a cover on the couch, STARING to the corridor, whith all their weapons out and ready to launch. When their brothers return, they're just like "uhh you okay ?" and then the short ends hguerhigeur

mikey’s shell looks like a biscuit. I want to bite.

you know how like Karai had a nanny take care of her when her dad was busy, and the nanny basically raised her, and when she turned into the shredder she 'kills her' for calling her "karai" and "sweetheart" OKAY SO I THOUGHT ABOUT IT

and what IF she was the foot equivalent of Bishop in term of informations ? Like, Karai tries to kill her, and dump her body somewhere but she gets saved by another member of the Foot and at some point the gang stumbles upon her and she reveals everything about karai they didn't know yet. like what happened to her, who she is, why she killed saki and stockman... and like she can't help them (she doesn't want to hurt the baby she raised and also she literally can't because i mean well almost dying wounds leave things behind). but she tells them everything she knows and wish them luck and that hope be by their side [16:01] i may or may not name her shinigami

slowly building a small group of human allies that will make a quick comeback end of season 1 and beginning of season 2 as like "they saved me during the wipeout »

so like you know how raph's main love language (like only love language) is touch ? only if he initiates it but like he can't express it verbally. And you know how Casey literally cannot be touched or he will elbow you in the eyes out of reflex ? yeah So like

i feel like past the Raph Awkwardness Phase ™️ he'd be very self-conscious of his inability to express affection to casey. He'd see Mikey tell him he's a great friend, Leo doing his sign language (if leo associates it more to touch, raph associates it more to talking so it blocks him), Donnie having the incredible privilege of sometimes being able to Touch in Casey 'my mental health is good enough' days, and when he can't, hang out with him and tell him that he loves him and cares about him. So he'd see all that and then he'd see how he acts where he hangs out, sure, but he wouldn't be able to make little reassurance pats or squeeze saying he cares and like he misses that, he wants to make Casey understand he really likes him and he's a friend and part of the family. But he doesn't know how.

So he'd overcompensate. Whenever Casey comes over he would always let him choose what he wants to do, when he can he give him tons of gifts of things he likes (sometimes things he made with Mikey's help), if he stayed over to eat, he'd always be the cook and make him his favourite meal and then STARE at him as he eats. He'd bake him cakes with like a big ol' heart in the middle of it (he'd write 'i love you' but he can't), make him cookies, walk him to the door... etc. and Casey would just be SUPER confused. He'd go over the others and be like "so uh... what's the deal with Raph recently ? Is he like... flirting with me or something ? If he is, someone needs to tell him he's terrible at it." The turtles would look at each other and be like "no we think he probably just wants to show you he cares. he's just trying way too hard and not sure how to do it." "Wh- why didn't you like tell him to stop or help him ?" "Ah, well, we would, but it's really funny to watch, and it doesn't harm anyone. Actually better than that, it showers you with love and care so it's pretty cool in our opinion"

(typo) babiefed ← about Meets

fed like a babie

THEY HAVE NO MOUTH

fed like a baby : through the cordon ombilical

Meets: "I charge with a cord, and electricity is kinda like food for me, so-" Leo, holding Meets' hands to stop them from signing more: "imma stop you right there, I know you're gonna say something stupid"

i read the notification and it cut at "holding meets" and I immediately went "ah yes hold them like simba" in teh lion king

Leo, holding Meets like a cat, singing: "IT'S THE CIIIRCLE OF LIIIIIIFE"

Raph: "the fuck you guys doing" Leo: "reenacting Lion King" Raph, extremely confused: "why??" Leo: "We're just very bored"

Mikey is very into musicals he’s love this

I'd totally imagine Mikey singing disney songs at random and annoy his siblings with it

omg a colorcoded ep that's just a musical play organized by mikey and leo

question fbhf: We know CC Raph loves video games, but is he good at it? (cause, ya know, you can like something but not be a pro at it dfbhf) would Raph absolutely destroy his siblings at Mario Kart for example or would his sibs still have a chance at winning xD?

oh no no raph is very good at video games. His favourites are strategizing games but he suck at it. However he's excellent at fighting games, RPG, these kind of games. He's also very good at race games higerhuigre

do you think Raph would let his family win at video games when they're upset as a way to try to make them feel better,,

yeah, and he probably used to let casey win to show affection when he first started to hang out with them

then he went "okay i know you now time to annihilate you in video games"

Casey: "were you letting me win before??" Raph: "not at all, I have no idea what you're talking about"

casey before : smug because he was the only person able to defeat raph casey after : D:>

Casey: "HA y'all are just bad at video games, I win against Raph all the time" The others, who know: "enjoy it while it lasts :)" Casey: "what's that supposed to mean"

Casey : "i've been fooled. i'm been completely bamboozled"

random cc quote that got stuck in my head all day :

Leo : "Don't worry guys, we still have a ninja's greatest weapon !" Mikey : "Family ?" Donnie : "Hope ?" Meets : "ME !" Leo : "Wh- no what ? No ! No, blinding powder ! You guys are so mushy"

Meets and April are down for murder Raph is down for murder if necessary (would like not to) Leo would murder if he had absolutely no other choice and it would completely break him Casey is okay with stealing if necessary (is not down for murder) Donnie won't like it but will steal if absolutely necessary

Mikey have strict morals and he will go by it

Donnie would kill if you steal his last slice of pizza

yes but that's unrelated

Donnie: "I would kill you if you steal my pizza but I swear I don't condone murder"

Hye-Jin is so smoll,,, so baby,,,

also she gets along with raph best like when she comes visit she always run up to raph

all the turtles love her but she prefers raph :)

why does she like Raph? cause he's the most chill?

he's very good with kids

and she thinks he's so cool and fun usually meets is there too to help communicate clearly but when they're not they communicate anyway (since Hye-Jin only speaks Korean) a bit more rocky but it works

like if he plays video games with someone she's watching on his laps, if he walks around he's holding her in his arms, or she climbed on his back sometimes raph just plays around with her

raph REALLY likes kids

Casey, @raph: "don't you dare take my place as Best Big Brother™️"

casey is actually super happy of how well she's getting along with everyone, and that she's having a good time too when she visits

mikey however is disappointed he's not the cool turtle brother

he's trying VERY HARD, like baking cakes (taste horrible) or trying to make her toys, or pretty drawings and she really likes it !!! but she prefers raph

it's like "here hye-jin I made you this cool drawing !" and she's like : GASP !!! So cool !!!!!! And then walks straight to Raph to show him her cool gift and how cool the drawing is

Mikey: "WHY CAN'T I BE THE FAVOURITE FOR ONCE? :''(((" Hye-Jin, just chilling with Raph: :)?

leo, patting his shoulder : "hang in there mikey.... popular with people our age, and not with kids... rough times. Rough times."

Mikey: cursed with people having crushes on him despite him being aro and being not particularly popular in any other cases

does Casey and Hye-jin have the same bracelet on their right wrist? is that intentional? I just noticed it bhff

yeah siblings bracelet :)

april has one on her ankle too they just thought it was neat and made the same in black

also unrelated but i think leo would be down for murder if he had no choice

Leo: "I'm a pacifist but..." takes out sword

Yeah basically But only if he has absolutely no choice It'll make him sick to the core and he'll hate it and then himself and will live with the burden for the rest of his days but he'd do it if he absolutely has to

For example, Mikey could never, even if he had no choice, he just wouldn't be able to Like if one of Leo's family member or the entire family is in mortal danger and he has to kill this one guy to save them, he will. He won't like, he'll hate it, it'll disgust him, but he will Meets would kill someone that'd just threaten the family a bit too much. And then go get ice cream

Mikey: "It's okay to ask for help" Leo: "you're not a burden" Meets, April and Donnie: "murder is okay" Raph: "your feelings matter"

DONNIE IS NOT DOWN FOR MURDER stealing his pizza is AN EXCEPTION

JUST WHEN YOU STEAL HIS PIZZA IT'S VERY SPECIFIC MURDEROUS INTENTIONS

Also April has like more morals than Meets she's just VERY intense, just don't mess with her. She would never kill an innocent or someone that mispoke or smth, just don't fuck with her

Meets is a wild card Raph would be less traumatized than Leo if he had to kill someone. He'd 'take it better', carry the burden and go on with his life.

Donnie and Casey would never, unless on accident, like a wound a bit too deep Mikey literally cannot

Mikey: "You wouldn't lie to be on Donnie's side, would you?" Meets: ["I would never"] <- probably would

Splinter, with the turtle tots, struggling a bit to give them all attention : "I sure am glad I only have 4 kids to take care of."

fast forward 14 years later

Raph : "DAAAD, MEETS BLASTED DESPACITO IN MY ROOM AT FULL VOLUME ! AGAIN" Meets : THAT'S NOT TRUE ! THAT'S NOT TRUE ! AND ANYWAY IT'S BECAUSE DONNIE TOLD ME TO DO IT Donnie : "HEY DON'T DRAG ME INTO THIS !" Casey : "Mister Splinter sir, I think the toilet are clogged, should I call a plumber orrrr... ?" April : "Splint, I can't find my phone, have you seen it anywhere ?" Leo : "DAD ! MIKEY IS MAKING FOOD FOR DINNER ??? WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK CASEY ? OR ME ? OR LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE ??" Mikey : "PAPA ! LEO IS BEING SUPER RUDE AGAIN !" Splinter : "Mmmmmh." <- dead inside

also i will stick with the fact that Casey will call Splinter Mister Splinter sir even when they live together

Splinter every five minutes "please call me Yoshi or Splinter. or at least Hamato" Casey : "I'll try Mister splinter sir" splitner : "my fucking god kid"

Splinter afterwards "why didn't you get an umbrella to your brothers ?" Mikey : "Why didn't they just power through" Donnie : "Yeah like real ninjas do" Splinter : Splinter : "all of you are grounded."

COLORCODED TMNT AU MASTERPOST

[cha-ra-nui]

2022 Retrospective

So, it's April. I have exactly nothing written for any of my usual categories but KPop, and very little interest in doing so. That doesn't mean that there wasn't any good stuff elsewhere. My favorite band released a new album. There were a couple of good Anime, live action shows, and movies I enjoyed a lot. Puss In Boots is amazing. Chainsaw Man made me binge the Manga in a day. I read Dune and it was A LOT. I just didn't take notes throughout the year, and looking back I can't come up with much to say, nor muster the energy to go through everything I should talk about to make this an accurate retrospective of my year. So KPop only it is this time.

In retrospect, I'm not quite sure if KPop was good in 2021, or if I just went on a SHINee deep dive and fell in love with the group all over again. And they still have a choke hold on my playlist, Jonghyun especially, there's just a lot to catch up with. It also didn't help that last year was incredibly dry, especially in the boy group department. But one thing at a time. First, a lighting round of everything noteworthy to me that I can't find enough to say about to warrant a complete paragraph. APink's “Dilemma” disappointed with a confusing and underwhelming chorus, and their subunit, while having a cute idea, also failed to leave much of an impression on me. Astro is out of the dark dungeons for good, and they're doing well with it. NU'EST disbanding was expected, considering the awful track record HYBE has with renewals of bought-out groups, but it stings nonetheless to see another one of the 2012 line-up go. Kingdom has an interesting concept, but their music always fails to convince me. “Ascension” is their best effort to date though. CLASS:y had a fun debut with “Shut Down”, and no follow up of theirs stuck the landing. Finally, BIBI's “Animal Farm” is cool. She knows what she’s doing. I also have no idea how she got “JOTTO” past age restriction on YouTube, but good for her. 2022 had an unreasonable number of releases I like to put on the “WTF are you even doing”-pile. Where 2021 saw a development of trends I've never been fond of coming to a head, especially within SM entertainment, last year was the desensitization phase. A lot of what I complained about before was put into perspective by the utter failure at successfully recreating those trends by new and established artists alike. There are some of the usual suspects, like certain NCT units, which feel designed to provoke confusion on my part, so I won’t discuss them anymore. In a post “Sticker” world, just being obnoxious was no longer enough to truly baffle me. And I can't stress enough just how much of KPop last year, especially coming from boy groups, was utterly obnoxious. In retrospect, GOT The Beat dropping “Step Back” on New Year’s Day was a perfect indicator of where the year was headed. Not only does the song sound unfinished, SM couldn't even be bothered to film a MV for it. The mixing is almost as awful as the lyrics, and considering the questionable theme of the song that’s saying a lot. And I can't help questioning why it had to be that way. Why did SuperM get to sing about how cool they are, but their female counterpart gets to play out a tired and sexist cliche? And repeatedly rhyming “level” on “level” certainly isn't great lyricism either. Such a waste of talent. No wonder BoA has no idea what she's even in the group for. ENHYPEN had a fantastic 2021. No, I wasn't convinced by them even then (thanks to HYBE's awful vocal processing), but their music was very recognizable, and at least “Drunk-Dazed” was undeniably a slam dunk for them. Last year though? “Blessed-Cursed” sounds unfinished, like it was only released to take advantage of the lack of competition on the charts last January. It's inoffensive, but also entirely forgettable and a slight departure from their established sound. But “Future Perfect (Pass The Mic)“ is truly unrecognizable as ENHYPEN. It's extremely generic 4th gen hype music, with none of the charm and energy the best songs in the genre showcase. Anyone could've released this. They even forgot to put the hyphen in the title. And this was only the first offender in the 4th-genification of HYBE boy groups. By all accounts, TXT should've ended the year on my favorites list. I loved their releases the previous year, and really thought that this was a direction HYBE would move them into further, considering the commercial success of the Chaos Chapter. Instead, they dialed back the rock influences and went for edginess instead. This was the first comeback last year where I've seen the VIXX comparison being made, and hell no, VIXX had more maturity than this even during their rookie-days horror phase. “Good Boy Gone Bad” is just frustrating. There's stuff to appreciate about it, like how TXT is still the group under in-house bighit who is least affected by HYBE's infamous vocal production. But the song ultimately falls flat due to played out and edgy lyrics, and a static and repetitive chorus. With how utterly devoid of personality this song is, it’s hard to remember that TXT is one of the major reasons for the rise of pop punk concepts in recent KPop. Seventeen is the third HYBE group to drop everything that makes them unique to go for a generic 4th gen song instead, and “Hot” is exactly good as that sentence suggests. They know what they're doing, but I doubt this is what anyone is stanning them for. Then of course the one HYBE group whose musical style would fit the current boy group trends, partly because they had a huge part in coining them, releases...whatever “Yet To Come” even is. If you're not trying I won't either. I did somewhat like J-Hope's solos though. If I was interested in the genre or not as dead tired of BTS as I currently am I would be all over “More” and “Arson”. At least he sounds like he means it. In a similar vein, Big Bang's long-awaited comeback was not at all the triumphant return I expected. “Still Life” sounds like a swansong. They're done being idols, that's the impression I got from this release. And if that's the case, good for them, hope you don't have too many regrets leaving this life behind. But it's weird that they aren't in the same room for the entirety of the MV. They're on the “WTF are you even doing”-pile not because it's a ballad, or because it's somber, but because it too sounds unfinished. The song ends very abruptly, and half the lyrics are filler. There is no physical release, and no B-sides either. After 6 years of waiting, and especially compared to every other recent 2nd gen revival, I expected more. The final boy group in this category is ONEUS, and it pains me to criticize them so heavily. They just had an awful year, even ignoring their big scandal. “Bring It On” is a mess and overstays its welcome. The MV also wastes the concept set up by the teasers. But ONEUS has always been hit or miss with me. No, it is “Same Scent” that landed them a spot on the bad pile. Not only does it sound like a less interesting and polished rehash of “A Song Written Easily”, not only does it phenomenally waste the concept of its teasers, but it also asks for VIXX comparisons once again. And unlike “Luna”, it just does not withstand those. This is the most phoned-in a comeback of theirs ever felt. Luckily the girl groups this year were not nearly as fond of developing into confusing directions (with the notable exception of Weeekly). But one group came out of the gate swinging with the goal of wasting their talent as efficiently as possible. And it’s impossible to talk about them without discussing aespa first. “Girls” is a nice showcase of everything wrong with their concept. Already the forced focus of every title track on SM's lore feels stifling. There are only so many times you can sing about fighting the same villain on a backdrop of world building this shallow before it becomes repetitive. The choreography is a bad joke, and the song itself isn’t all that interesting either. The breakdown comes in too late to save it. While I didn’t like their output last year, I found myself at least thinking about it sometimes, this was forgettable in comparison. Their songs are a hot mess, but it could work. They have the talent to make it work, their lyrics just take me out of it every single time. And yet, it always feels like they will inevitably get that one song that will convince me somewhere down the line. But what happens if you try to copy the messed-up song structure they got famous for with “Next Level” and do it without any understanding for what makes aespa popular? “0.0” might just be the worst debut song I have ever heard. God, this is a mess. This is beating a dead horse at this point, I'm aware, but there was no way I could pretend this didn't happen. The girls have talent, that much is clear, but their title tracks are awful. It's aespa's messy song structure, but the stitched together songs range from forgettable to obnoxious and screaming “NMIIIIIIIIX” during the sorry excuse for a transition they allow the two frankensteined songs to have does not make it better. “Dice” is arguably even worse, because “0.0” at least is loud enough to force a reaction. Everyone has an opinion about that song. “Dice” meanwhile is just forgettable. And yet, even with how much JYP was trying, NMIXX wasn't even the biggest waste of talent for me. No, that honor belongs to BLACKPINK. You give us nothing for two years, and then we get...”Pink Venom” and “Shut Down”. Okay. Let’s see. “Pink Venom” is certainly the lesser evil here. It had potential to be good even. The final breakdown is incredibly jarring, the intro is obnoxious, and sampling “Pon The Replay” was a horrible idea, it just made me want to listen to that instead. But the chorus is a nice change of pace for them, and they sell it. All the song needed was a bit more polish, and a proper final chorus. “Shut Down” meanwhile was one big nothing of a song. “Whatever” is not the reaction anyone should have to a BLACKPINK comeback, and yet that's all I can bring myself to feel about it. When I was talking about CLASS:y's debut with my sister she called it “The better of the two Shut Downs we got this year”, and I genuinely couldn't remember that BLACKPINK, the biggest girl group on the planet, had a title track with that name. It’s very repetitive; the baseline never changes once during the entire three-minute song. But despite that repetitiveness it fails to be catchy or memorable. For the first time, a BLACKPINK comeback did not feel like a big deal, and despite my many gripes with their music, that saddens me a bit. Finally, Red Velvet may or may not belong in this category. Their releases this year weren’t awful but confusing for sure. “Feel My Rhythm” could have been nice if it just stuck to its own concept. The modern styling that shows up halfway through the MV in tandem with a more modern KPop sound is distracting, but the overall song is boring rather than confusing. “Birthday” meanwhile sounds oddly juvenile coming from a senior group. This would make much more sense if it were released by rookies. It has moments that sound a lot like Red Velvet, but they are startling in a song that sounds like it was written for someone else entirely. Seulgi's solo debut was nice though, “28 Reasons” may fail entirely at living up to its title, but it’s a good fit for her, and I like it more than anything the group released in a while.

I initially planned to structure the KPop part of this retrospective into 4 categories. The “WTF are you even doing”-pile first, then everything I had mixed opinions on, followed by artists that stood out positively this year, and closing the segment with a look at how my faves did. But the more I look at my notes, the less I feel like writing the middle two segments. There just wasn't much I have unbridled praise for, and half of the good category is sorted in there only for lack of anything negative to say on my part, not because I loved the releases. So, I'm going to start with those three artists.

I have never been a fan of GOT7. Neither the members nor the music JYP handed them ever convinced me. They have a few good songs, but they never stood out to me beyond having the power of a big label behind them. And JYP liked to do them dirty anyway, especially compared to Stray Kids. GOT7 was never allowed to take creative control of their own music and image, a fact their fandom has bemoaned for a long time. And this year I found myself agreeing. They should have been cut lose way sooner. Not because their reunion was noteworthy beyond the fact that it happened. No, because Jackson Wang's solos are better than anything he ever contributed to GOT7. Yeah, turns out the problem was not JYP, it was not letting Jackson sing at an orgy. I like “Blow” as a song (turns out Jackson is a better singer than rapper, who would have guessed?), but the music video adds a lot to the experience. And that much is true for all his singles this year. “Blow”, “Cruel”, and “Come Alive” all convince with great choreography. And by that I am not referring to just the dance, the videos are well thought out, shot, and edited. “Cruel” is a three-minute fight scene disguised as a choreo video. It says a lot about their quality that by the time Riot Games made a kick-ass animated short for “Fire To The Fuse” all I thought was: “checks out”. Though seeing him perform at League worlds was certainly wild. I have less to say about the other two. PSY's “That That” was fun. Duh. This is PSY. Who else would get a BTS member to feature on a song just so they could punch each other in the face? The song is catchy as usual, and the music video is bound to at least make you smile at the absurdity of the rap battle. TWICE is the last artist on the good list for lack of anything to criticize. “Pop” was exactly what you would expect from a Nayeon solo debut. If anything, it was too expected, and wouldn't be surprising as a TWICE single. You don't have to stretch your imagination much to make up a line distribution for OT9 TWICE. Still, it was a catchy song, and she did well with it. Mostly I'm just glad that they're sticking around. “Talk That Talk” is very unapologetically a TWICE song, shock full of all the quirks and personality you'd expect. That is why I don't have much to praise. It's TWICE. It's a proven formula. They work. They managed to mature without changing their core appeal, and I'm sure they're going to continue being a nice presence to have around. Which is good, because this year it felt like the reign of 3rd gen groups was finally over. Most of the big hits came from new artists. 2022 reminded me of 2017, when, after a few years of coexistence, 2nd gen groups started to fade from relevance. I'm going to miss the generation that got me into KPop, the 2012 boy group line up especially, but it's not like there aren't any older artists sticking around. The 2nd gen is more alive than the 3rd gen at the moment, and I'm living for it. I never have much to say about Super Junior, but I never want them to change their style either. While “Don't Wait” is fun and should've been the title track, “Mango” was one of the better boy group singles last year, for lack of competition, but also because it's pleasant to listen to. BoA's “Forgive Me” may sound very in line with current trends, but her attitude and vocals are on point. And “When I Move” was a nice surprise at the end of the year. We need more adult woman in KPop. There is a certain quality that comes with experience, and we rarely see girl groups stick around long enough to celebrate a 15th anniversary. The biggest of which certainly was Girls' Generation's “Forever 1”. I'm not sure if the song makes up for the long wait, but I love that it was a love letter to the group. They deserve to celebrate themselves. Once again though it feels like SM's second gen solos are more interesting than the group releases, and Taeyeon did well this year. “Can't Control Myself” doesn't even make my top 3 SM 2nd gen solo pre-releases of 2022 (very specific, I know, blame Key and Changmin), but more due to the quality of the competition than its own shortcomings. It's a simple song, but she sells the hell out of it. Similar things can be said about the title track “INVU”, a clever wordplay I am sure the lyricist is very proud of. I wish they'd done more with the concept, I feel robbed of Artemis Taeyeon, but it seems like it revived the interest in her solos, and I can't begrudge it that success. (G)I-DLE, against all predictions, might just have been the most commercially successful 3rd gen group this year. Did they deserve it? Eh, kinda. “Tomboy” is a bit of a hot mess. The hook is strong enough to justify the commercial success of the single, one of the best beatdrops released this year for certain. Their vocal line still slays too, Yuqi especially, and their attitude has always been on point. But for everything good or even amazing about this song, there is something awkward holding it back, most infamously Soyeon's 2nd verse. Go film a tiktok kiddo, and...swear without cigarettes? Eh on drinking whiskey? What? And once again, dead horse, but you really don't know what tomboy means. “Nxde” meanwhile is consistently good start to finish, but the hook doesn't hit as hard. Karmen is an overdone sample, and this wasn't a creative use of it. It's a song that profits a lot from its music video though. I can't help but respect the pure guts of the concept, and that they managed to make sexy empowering. This was one of the cleverest comebacks this year for sure, and another case in point for why we need girl groups to stick around for longer than just a few years. No rookie group could've released this. That didn't stop the rookies from going absolutely nuts this year though. IVE might've debuted last year, but their debut was still taking music show wins well into February. In any other year, they would be the biggest rookie group without any competition, I don't think I've ever seen a group dominate that hard with just three singles under their belt. “Love Dive” is going to take most SOTY awards, and already has three in the bag as of writing this. It's far from my favorite song this year, but it's easy to see why it became so big. It's nice to listen to, catchy, and comes with a super cool prechorus. The production on their songs is super clean, and that also shows in their follow up “After Like”. The problem I'm having is that their vocals aren't strong enough for the song. Only Wonyoung delivers the chorus with the flair it demands. At this point, it's clear that the true star is their production team. Nevertheless, that is already more than many groups have to offer, and they're young. They're probably going to stick around for a while, and it'll be interesting to see them grow up artistically. The other big post-IZ*ONE group debut meanwhile didn't go down as smoothly. “Fearless” is fine, I didn't have an issue with the song, and the EP even had some good B-sides. The problem is that their entire debut promotion cycle was overshadowed by a bullying scandal that ended with a member leaving. And as a former victim of bullying myself, I am absolutely disgusted by what happened. The collective internet ruined the life of a 16-year-old girl over unproven allegations of something she supposedly did at age 12. Fighting fire with fire is never going to work, and bullying is not a problem we can solve by bullying minors out of their dream job. LE SSERAFIM is always going to leave a bitter taste in my mouth because of that. “Anti-Fragile” then reads as super ironic to me. You can't tell me that your group is fearless and anti-fragile if that is your debut story. Shame, because the song has grown on me quite a bit. The “anti-ti-ti-ti-fragile” chant is annoying, but it is a catchy song otherwise, with much more personality than their debut had. If you want to flex your biceps though, maybe actually have one? There are other ways to portray strength than flexing muscles, and if anything, this move makes them look more fragile, not less so. And because two big debuts battling it out wasn't enough, HYBE pulled a SHINee on us and dropped another new girl group without much more than a rumor leading up to their debut. Also like SHINee, they're going to change this industry, if not at all for the same reasons. In an industry that has embraced its own artificiality, NewJeans' laid-back concept is a breath of fresh air. They look like no other group on the market, and they don't sound like any either. “Attention” is the official debut single, and it is a decent enough song. Nothing impressive in the vocal department here either, and the final chorus overstays its welcome quite a bit. But attention it grabbed indeed. “Hype Boy” was the second single of their debut EP, and I enjoyed that one a lot more. It's a true mood lifter of a song and shows off the charm of their concept better than “Attention” in my opinion. They also dropped “Ditto” just before the end of the year, and I really like it. The song is super chill and has been stuck in my head since its release. The music video is also very well made. It's charming, although this song too has no idea what its titular word means. But like with LE SSERAFIM, there is a giant asterisk next to any praise I have for them: The controversy surrounding “Cookie”. It would've been better if the girls weren't minors, but the song would creep me out either way. I have a passionate hatred for cheeky, cutesy, innuendo-filled songs. If you're not mature enough to talk about sex, you're not mature enough to have it, you know? And then there are the stories about Min Heejin. I'm not one to judge people based on rumors, but some of her work with SM was incredibly creepy too, and I'd much rather have her stay away from idols period. While I would admire the group's concept for being genius marketing, one must question if marketability was even a consideration when the creative mind behind them was also responsible for making SHINee, whose oldest member was 21 at the time, look even younger by all possible means for their “Sherlock” album, milk bottles and digital removal of muscle mass included. And I struggle to reconcile my abhorrence for Min Heejin with my growing appreciation for NewJeans' music. The copycats didn’t take long to appear this time too, with TripleS' first unit's debut, “Generation”, feeling very inspired by NewJeans. It has the same intend of making the girls look like normal teenagers, appealing to a sense of camaraderie in younger fans, and nostalgia in the older ones. I think they did a better job in some respects (certainly at not being creepy about it), and the song is nice, but the similarities are certainly noteworthy. TripleS also has a horrible group concept I refuse to engage with, and I'm worried that giving young idols such a girl next door image will bring back some of the horribly entitled stan behavior we've seen during 2nd gen. The fun part is, I'm still not even done with girl group debuts. No one seems to be sure if XG counts as KPop, but they certainly have the same appeal. Their lyrics could use some improvement, but I've seen much worse even by native speaking English artists. And the girls own their songs. “Tippy Toes” is a decent debut, and the confidence they deliver it with is impressive. But well, what do you expect from a group that is canonically a pack? No seriously, it's in the lyrics. And “Mascara” has been a guilty pleasure for me. It should be cringey by all accounts, but there is enough genuine good about it to make me come back despite, or maybe even because of the cringe worthy bits. This song is pure girl power, and in the age of girl crush that is much appreciated. Lastly, there is one boy group debut I want to mention. TAN's “DU DU DU” really ticks all the boxes for red flags you can imagine. A group formed by a fairly unknown survival show? Check. A group name that is impossible to google? Check. A onomatopoeia song title? Check And yet, the song is good. The beatdrop is smooth, the group seems to have a decent vocal line, and it's been ages since I've heard a well utilized rapper in a vocal focused song. I didn't enjoy any of their other comebacks, but this was one hell of a song to start out on. Even beyond the debuts, most of what stood out this year came from 4th gen groups. I liked ATEEZ this year, though maybe that is familiarity bias after playing some of their songs in Beatsaber extensively. Their music seems ideal for that game. “Guerrilla” feels like everything I could want from a 4th gen hype song. It's super cool. ATEEZ has the vocal line to build up to and deliver on a proper chorus, and they aren't afraid to get a bit dirty with it. I wish they did more with the MV concept, but that's the Starlight in me talking. “Cyberpunk” is also a strong B-side, and I feel like the only person in the world who prefers the title track over it. Like NewJeans, they also sneaked in another comeback after everyone was already done with their year-end lists. "Halazia" is the usual affair for them. A bit too much autotune in the verses for my liking, especially since ATEEZ really doesn't need it and the effect adds nothing to the song. But that's forgivable considering how cool everything else about this comeback is. And if you told me a year ago that my favorite boy group song of 2022 would be by P1Harmony I wouldn't have believed you, but here we are. Some of that is certainly due to the utter lack of competition, but “Doom Du Doom” is a good song in its own right. The anti-drop is extremely smooth, and it works start to finish. The MV is also a delight. Backyard Olympics are a fun concept, and the small details really sell it. From the burning satellite dish serving as the Olympic flame to the boxing announcer counting choruses like rounds of the match. It's not quite ONF level of delightful, but delightful nonetheless. I still wish E'LAST wasn't as nugu as they are, and Wonhyuk might be actually cursed. So much talent, so much bad luck. Of all the groups to get their account hacked and taken down in the middle of a comeback, did it have to be them? They are barely dodging disbandment already. “Creature” is the most 4th gen they have ever sounded, but it’s a very E'LAST take on a beatdrop for sure. They have the talent to sell their epic sound, and the anti-drop here works well too. I doubt they're ever topping “Tears Of Chaos” at this point, but they're worth checking out nonetheless and could seriously use more attention. Then we have StayC, who, just when I started to come around on them, had their first real miss. “Run2U” is fun, catchy, and a super clean production, as I've come to expect from them. There still wasn't anything outstanding about them, but the lack of negative things to say was refreshing. Then they dropped “Beautiful Monster” and all of that went down the drain. The song is generic in all the wrong ways. Still a clean production, but it feels empty and pointless. The final group in the mixed section is ITZY, and no one is more confused about that than I am. I had given up on ever understanding the hype around them. I don't like their voices, and I loathe a decent chunk of their title tracks, “Sneakers” included. The chorus wastes all the good will the first verse manages to amass. Congratulations JYP, you reached the “sneakers are empowering” stage of feminism. But “Cheshire” is fun, and the first song of theirs I ever downloaded. I tend to like JYP groups more as their careers go on, so who knows, if this is a direction they stick to maybe they'll release other songs I like in the future. As for the artists I don't stan but have nothing but praise for...well, I'm still not done talking about rookies. Billlie might not have impressed me with their debut, but they killed it last year. “GingaMingaYo (the strange world)” has one of the best choruses I heard all year, and the rest of the song is no letdown either. I've called most girl group releases fun and catchy this year, because that was the trend, but this one takes the cake. The song and MV are sure to put a smile on my face, and certainly put the group on my radar. Their 2nd title track, “RING ma Bell (what a wonderful world)”, was one of the better takes on pop punk too. They imbue the song with just enough personality to make it work, and the anti-drop is surprising for once. Most importantly, they perform the song with a lot of energy. The sense of joy that seems to permeate everything they release mixes well with the pop punk concept. Fitting then, that the other rookie I was happy about is not only just as joyful, but also made pop punk work. Among all the post-IZ*ONE projects, Yena's solo is my favorite. “Smiley” and “Smartphone” are equally fun and catchy title tracks, and “LxxK 2 U” is a deservedly popular B-side and the aforementioned venture into pop punk. Beyond the songs though, the strong sense of personality both of her releases have is what I loved most about them. Not even a year in, and she already has a distinct and recognizable style. There's a risk of that becoming stale if not developed long-term, but for now, her releases have been a delight. And because we didn't have enough noteworthy girl group debuts yet, Fifty Fifty crawled their way into hidden gem status by the power of their strong debut EP "The Fifty". It's good start to finish, "Lovin' Me" being my personal favorite, but it's the girls themselves that stand out here, not just the production. There's some real talent on display in this debut, and I hope to hear more of them. Finally, in an entirely different niche of KPop, there was once again a 2nd gen SM solo I did not have on my radar at all. If “Step Back” was an indicator of where the year was heading, Changmin pre-releasing “Fever” during the same concert was what I wished had been a sign instead. The entire EP is one big flex by the original evil maknae, and if I explained what I love about the vocals in all the tracks I want to highlight I'd sound like a broken record. Changmin is an amazing singer, and he's from the generation of SM idols who're so far past the need for hits, they can't be bothered to follow the trends. “Fever” might as well be a musical number, and “Maniac” is a complaint about a stalker told in Hitchcock references that just gets better the more I hear it. The pre-releases are so good, they almost overshadow the title track. Which is saying something, because “Devil” demands your attention. It's loud, not because its noisy, it's quite subdued even, but because it's dramatic beyond reason. “Alien” then somehow manages to be simultaneously smooth and cute, and even an avid ballad hater like me can appreciate “Airplane Mode” sometimes. Except for one song, the EP is an absolute slam dunk in my opinion. If I have one gripe with it, it's that the velvet album cover, while cool, collects dust like crazy and is impossible to clean. KPop wasn't just in general not to my taste last year, and even the artists I like didn't deliver as much as I hoped they would. With one exception: Every time WOODZ releases something it's entirely different from his last comeback, and every time it's somehow exactly what I want from him. “Colorful Trauma” is my favorite EP of his to date. Even with the abundance of pop punk concepts we've seen recently, no one else comes even close to being as good at it as WOODZ is. He's the only one I can actually imagine singing in a rock band, and he's proven that he knows how to properly use a guitar in KPop before. "I Hate You" was really the only possible pick for a title track but might just be the least remarkable song on the album. Every song works. "Dirt On My Leather" is just a straight up rock song, no pretense of KPop at all, howling electric guitars and rock vocals included. "Hijack" too is extremely cool, and something about "Hope To Be Like You" makes me come back to that song time and time again. WOODZ absolutely knows what he is doing, and I can't wait to hear what he releases next. I wish I could express the same level of excitement for my other faves, but their releases were a lot more mixed. I'm not sure what to make of Dreamcatcher's sci-fi era. “Locked Inside A Door” is the only B-side on “Apocalypse: Save Us” that I liked enough to download, and while “Maison” was certainly among the better title tracks this year, I just can't make sense of it. The song is lacking a chorus, and the final breakdown is easily the best part. I still like it, but that's mostly on the members. Dreamcatcher is a group where every single member adds to their songs, and there's never a shortage of fantastic moments to pick a favorite from. It just doesn't come together into a cohesive whole on “Maison”. “Vision” meanwhile may have weaker moments, but the song as a whole slaps. Once again, the members do a lot of heavy lifting, Siyeon especially, but the songwriting is quite strong too. The EP is fine, but the title track is the only song that stands out. Nevertheless, I'm super happy that they're sticking around for a second contract and am looking forward to where they're heading next. My favorite rookies meanwhile had their first big miss with “memeM”. The song leans very hard into the type of 4th gen noise music that I appreciated Purple Kiss for not doing, and it's the exact opposite of what I want from them. The entire EP was disappointing after the impeccable run they had up to this point. “Pretty Psycho” is the only song I put on my playlist, and I think even RBW realized that it was more popular than the title track. But it was also supposed to be the intro to their comeback last year, so at least some of it has already existed for months, which was worrisome. So I'm glad to report that “Geekyland” was everything I wanted. “Nerdy” is my favorite title track of theirs so far. It's fun, quirky, and catchy. The MV makes perfect use of their quirky horror concept and is one of the very few this year that is consistent with the teaser concepts and delivers on their potential. “Bye Bye Bully” is such a good intro, I wish it would receive the “Pretty Psycho” treatment and be turned into a full song too. The rest of the EP is mostly good as well. “Love Is Dead” is cool, and “SuMMer RaiN” is a lovely ballad. I also finally figured out that Stray Kids aren't single artists. I'm not the biggest fan of "Maniac", but it works within the context of "Oddinary". None of the songs on that EP made it onto my playlist, but I liked listening to the album (and playing every Alekcake map of it in Beatsaber). I didn't enjoy "Maxident" though. The songs felt like just more of the same. Except for the title track. "Case 143" is a straightforward love song, and damn is that weird coming from this group. It's fun though, and the MV is fantastic as usual. ONF's entire existence has been a delight for me, so of course they not only handled their military hiatus as quickly as possible, but they also prepared a special album to release in the middle of it. The title track of which, "Your Song", falls under the category of fansongs that are only truly enjoyable if you already like the group. Luckily for me, I do, so this has been a nice surprise to carry us through their hiatus. I can't wait to have them back for real this year.

Finally, there is SHINee. Even with the group on hiatus, Shawols had no shortage of new music to enjoy. The one upside to their current military break is that Onew, Key, and Minho finally get to establish their solo careers on their own terms, with the budget of the group at their disposal. Minho surprised us by releasing an EP right when we'd given up hope for it. Ever since Jonghyun made his debut album a copy of Taemin's in everything but music, SHINee had a running joke about their solo debuts plagiarizing each other. The albums are all in the same format, have the same font and layout, and most importantly, the titles rhyme. “Chase” is the long-awaited final entry in the plagiarism series. And it's a decent effort, but I think it mostly exists not because Minho wanted to release solo music, but because he wanted to complete the joke Jonghyun started. The songs even make multiple references to Jonghyun's solos, with the title track being named after “Let Me Out” (a favorite of mine), and a reference to “Take The Dive” in the lyrics of “Waterfall”. The latter is also the song I listened to the most on this EP, and its only real standout track. Onew too released an EP last year, and everything about “Dice” is delightfully Onew: a bit weird, a bit awkward, soft, and adorable. That charm, and its interesting concept, is what makes the MV one of my favorites of the year. Shawols also showed their chaotic queer energy by simping not (only) for Onew, but for the girl in the MV. And for good reason. She's the most perfect love interest they could've given him. I love how the story plays out, with Onew being entirely in over his head, but trying his best to save her anyway because he's just a good person. Even though she never needed his help, the mere fact that he tried is enough. It's very sweet, and suits Onew so much. The same can be said about the music. “Dice” makes for a fine title track, “Sunshine” is pure serotonin, and “On The Way” is the kind of vocal flex that doesn't sound like much on first listen, but gets more astonishing the more you pay attention to the details. He's SHINee's main vocal for a reason. I'm not as fond of the rest of the album, and overall Onew's might just be the SHINee solo I'm least into, but that's more a compliment to the other solos then a dig against him. Even if his music doesn't quite align with my taste the way Jonghyun's does, this is still a SHINee solo, and they just don't miss. Then of course there is Key's 2nd album and boy do I have beef with it. The retro horror themed teasers and album packaging are nothing short of amazing, and then the MV is something else entirely. Give me Key playing multiple villains for an entire music video, I beg you. “Gasoline” also isn't what I wanted musically. It's the type of song about hyping yourself up and sticking it to the haters that every single boy group has done at this point. But it works here for three main reasons: First of all, Key is one of the most charismatic and engaging performers KPop has to offer. He can save worse. Secondly, and more importantly, he delivers the song with exactly the right attitude. Key understands that a song about doing your own thing no matter what should be one you enjoy performing, and he very clearly does. And that's made even more powerful by the final reason: he earned these lyrics. Key has gotten so much shit just for being himself (mostly for rumored queerness) over 14 years of being an idol, and he never backed down. So if he goes on stage and sings about how this is his joy, his style, his ego, it rings true. And the rest of the albums feels designed to proof just that. It's all very Key. “Bound” is what happens if you hand a lost VIXX song to Key and let him run wild with it. It hits the same fine line between sexy and creepy that VIXX was so good at, lets him flex his vocal range, and adds voguing to the performance because this is Key, and he knows exactly what he is doing. “Villain” tells a story about a fictional villain deciding to go off script because they're fed up with always losing and tired of playing by the rules. “Ain't Gonna Dance” is confident and fabulous and comes with more ironic uses of pet names than the average MinKey interaction. “I Can't Sleep” is a song about insomnia that hits very close to home and proves once more that SHINee needs more lyrics written by the members. “Burn” is a breakup song treated with nuance and maturity. Key also kept his tradition of putting an English song on every release, and “Another Life” with its space imagery is very noticeably a late cut made from “Bad Love” the year prior. SHINee and synth pop is always a win though, and this is no exception. Really, the entire album is a win, these are just the songs that stand out to me the most. And by the power of future sight (aka, laziness and being five months late with this retrospective), I can tell that I'll praise his repackage this year too. So, I guess this is it. Key can have song of the year, again, for “Bound” this time. WOODZ gets album of the year with “Colorful Trauma”, and idk…if the three solos count as combined effort by SHINee they can have artist of the year, I guess. No one else earned it, or at least, I don’t want to hand it to any of the groups who might’ve earned it. This was a demotivating year, I’m glad it’s over.

[testingcheats0n]

Chapter 2

Imagine being scared of the primary mode of transportation in your world lol 👀

Anyway. There were a lot of descriptions in this chappie that I enjoyed, actually. There are many ways to introduce the food, the climate and the geography of your world and describing a journey through the lands is quite effective. I also liked the detail with the dyed tunic (which got torn rip) many people think that medieval peasants were all dressed in brown and grey which isn't true since dyes were found naturally unless they lived in cities and were extremely poor. They were even more colorful than nobility who tended to combine their clothes.

"Do you announce what you're going to steal before you do it?" Yes, yes he does. He has a precedent of doing just that- you were aware of it... for an important mission the magis didn't give him a debrief or anything huh? I wonder if it's a good idea (it's not)

Gen is stupid after all, I was just giving him the benefit of the doubt.

He's traveling with the magis (weird but ok) and 3 other dudes. One is a warrior of some sort (Paul? Pol?), and the other two look young and not good at fighting (something weird with "A" and Sophos)- "well-bred" and dressed in blue. Our main character judges the youths for not being big and strong, despite he himself being described as short and lanky, without an apparent talent (and even his thieving isn't that great) so I do believe he's throwing stones at glass houses while he has one right behind.

Then he procedes to complain while Useless the older and the younger don't utter a word 🤨

Anyway. He jumps from his saddle without stopping the horse and predictably stumbles and falls on his face. Turns out the megis (?) hasn't fed or taken care of him, despite the long voyage to come presumably weeks in advance

They arrive at an inn. I suppose the inkeeper only serves to noblemen and that's why she was so picky of the smell? Though I wonder how good do the "well-bred" smell after a few days of travel on the road with no baths. I imagine like roses. They must also travel a lot if she can afford to turn away five paying customers out of fear for the sheets she probably doesn't wash herself.

~at the inn~

Wtf are these ppl doing undressing Gen lol? In any case some servant or other should have done it long before they parted. What a lack of planning...

"Useless" the young and Pol: Wash, clothe and heal Gen

Gen: lol they're so useless I hate them, despite being incapable of doing either of those things myself

Well, he was impressed afterwards, I admit, and then Pol (Paul?) had to ruin it by being an idiot. Lmao when is ever a good idea to take a dirty unsanitized knife to an open wound and stab it in the infected sores of an underfed peasant boy?

Then the gag- ugh the cringe, what a bunch of douchebags. Imagine causing pain to someone intentionally and then getting annoyed that they scream. Not even Ramsey Bolton is this cruel, lmao I hate all of them I hope they actually die.

[welcometomy20s]

June 30, 2021

Coco (and Lulu’s) Legacy

Coco wrote the book on how to be a Hololive member, from front to back. She plotted out how one can amass an audience, how to interact and build a worldwide fandom, how to integrate ideas of the audience to the grand narrative of the company, how to deal with tee-tee and pairings, how to cope when YouTube strikes you down in its impunity, and how to cope when Cancel Brigade comes to destroy your work, along with how to bring a more cohesive workplace, how to protect yourself from the unmooring of identity that is inherent in VTube, and finally how to leave when you are in a rollercoaster that is only going up. Coco wrote the book and now we follow.

AsaCoco was brilliant from its outset. Having a place to know the ins and outs of various members of Hololive was a great way to connect the rabbit hole. But there is a deeper reason for the brilliance. I talked before about how the major tension in VTube is one between the corporate back-end tradition of Japan colliding with the audience front-end tradition of YouTube. AsaCoco is something directly in line with that second tradition. The visual language of YouTube is different from those of movies. A jump cut in a movie denotes a different idea than a jump cut on YouTube. Movie critic complaining about jump cuts in vlogs is like a Spanish reader complaining about a sentence in English being awkward. Of course it is, it’s in a different language. Unlike movies, which come from theatre and literature, vlogs’ lineage comes from news broadcasts. Many of the early web successes were styled in a news format (rocketboom, Ze Frank, What the Buck and so on…) One does not complain about the jump cut between different presenters in a newscast, and so one does not complain when a similar thing happens in vlogs. But the point is that AsaCoco harkens to the audience-based tradition.

One might write off the ARK arc as an aberration, but I think ARK did add something constructive to Hololive and VTubers as a whole. I like to think of ARK as a training wheel for Minecraft. Minecraft is relatively challenging compared to ARK. Minecraft speedruns are mildly impressive, ARK speedrun less so. ARK is actually like the middle ground between Monster Hunter and Minecraft. You can play ARK like Monster Hunter, gather a bunch of friends to hunt monsters, or like Minecraft, build your own zoo or house or so on… And in that flexibility, one can easily learn how to tell a compelling narrative in an open-world setting. Pekora’s war criminal tendencies developed there, Miko’s ‘pon’ nature was crystalized there, and so on…

Holohouse was an underrated achievement. At first, the idea feels like the natural extension of their idol nature. Idols live together, so why not virtual idols? But having virtual idols living together comes with additional benefits that Nijisanji should note.

Stalking is an awful thing, I know since I experienced and have done something similar in my past, but stalking is also a desperate thing. And desperation tends to abate when people are more open about themselves. One of the articles talking about Coco’s graduation infamously notes the mystery of Coco’s identity, which is chucklesome since Coco’s identity might be the most open secret in all of Hololive. This was in line with Hololive’s more open policy, several of Hololive members do their own personal work on the side, while in many early companies, this was forbidden. Nijisanji’s background is less open than Hololive, perhaps due to the number and less mass attention, and that leads to stalking being a more adventurous one. One that livers have to deal with more alone, while for Hololive, it’s likely people would catch and perhaps even tar the perpetrator. More attention means more risk with less excitement.

Holohouse also protects aggressive fan behavior by introducing VTuber solidarity. With more offline collabs, the people would know each other more personally and therefore have a ground of contacts in which to alert suspicious behavior. Safety in numbers.

Holohouse also brought us KanaCoco, which was a lesser known pairing until the couple ring story, and now it has become one of three big couples of Hololive, the other two being NoeFlare and OkaKoro. The big three all have a different style of their tee tee. KanaCoco is the type of a longtime buddy. Both Kanata and Coco struggled with familial and economic circumstances, and they are both struggling under the same roof. And within that struggle comes comity and friendship. It’s not love in your typical sense, but it is a type that would lead to marriage and childrens… but the current LBGTQ+ status in Japan is pretty bad, so tee tee and hush hush it is.

In a sense, KanaCoco provides for an excellent cover. It is one of the most inspiring portrayals of woman-woman friendships in media and it would be one of the more enduring aspect of Coco’s legacy as it passes down through the generations.

[Note: This somehow became an apologia of the past week. Well, I do like to show my thinking with my behavior, perhaps to my detriment, so… just be warned.]

For the past week, I was hyping about the fact that Gura passed Kizuna Ai to become the most-subscribed VTuber. And I made the point, not through immaturity, but because I realized this coincided with Coco’s graduation. Without Coco, there wouldn’t be Hololive English, or Gawr Gura, and therefore this event would not have happened. This, therefore, was one of the last great accomplishments of Coco. An indelible mark of her foresight and perseverance. A realization of her plans. So, in a sense, this was one of my ways of celebrating Coco’s career, albeit in an admittedly twisted way.

But beyond Hololive English, there was the famous Meme Review, which has a weak lineage with the early meme review series from PewDiePie. Now for the digression, whoever ends up at the top gives us a flavor for that specific era, since one naturally assumes success means finesse and would try to emulate the style. Vlogbrother’s visual style and mannerism was largely lifted from Ze Frank. PBS Idea Channel famously emulated Ray William Johnson’s background to his own ends. And Kizuna Ai was famously inspired by PewDiePie at several points in her career. Which is why PewDiePie’s Congratulations felt right as a tribute. One of the big shared characteristics of the two was the lonely years at the top. PewDiePie is probably going to be longest reigning ‘King’ of YouTube for a while (of course, depends on if Cocomelon catches T-Series in due time) and at the time his reign was abnormally long. Most people hold onto the top spot for a year or two, so it felt odd that PewDiePie was untouchable for so long. Similar things must have been raised for Kizuna Ai as well. Many people must have felt that Kizuna Ai just did not represent VTubers at the current time.

So, when competition showed up, of course people were excited. It felt like it was time. I believe PewDiePie’s Congratulations was not a simple diss track, although it’s formatted like one, just due to the culture at the time. So the hypothetical Kizuna Ai version would be extremely light-hearted. The ‘diss’ would be your typical “she’s short”, “she’s hydrodynamic” and so on… it would be clear there is no actual bad blood, and the song would be welcoming of the new era. Era, as I said before, brought on by Coco.

Back to the Meme Review, meme review was great as it centered reddit as the base for the fandom, rather than twitter, which is a horrible platform to bring a sense of communal welcomeness. Reddit is probably the best functional place for stuff like this, even though we all know it has its host of problems that needs to be resolved.

What is the most important stream in Hololive? Well, some people would point to Aqua and Coco’s The Raft stream, which is a poignant encapsulation of a stream. The dramatic counterweight to the other greatest stream in Hololive, Korone’s all-english Mario stream. Aqua and Coco are always the odd pairing, but it could have worked, and it might have been beneficial. Aqua is one of the most shy people in Hololive, and Mio is already busy with Ayame and Subaru, so the best person might have been Coco.

But China. There were two big beneficiaries from China in Hololive, one was Fubuki and the other was Aqua. While Fubuki, in Coco’s last months, famously went out of her way to intertwine herself with Coco to directly redirect her audience, like the mensch she is, Aqua always struggled with her audience retention, therefore played shy with Coco.

Edit: Well, my initial final impression was… what a wonderful finish. The interview portion was well-meant, but honestly a little formal. When the 4th Gen went together, is when the stream turned into something special for me, and the final performance was actually really well-done. Coco went out like an idol, which makes sense. For whatever provocation Coco perpetuated, Coco only did them out of love. And ultimately Cover knew that. Coco’s final month was a warning and a reminder.

Can I talk about all the different tributes lately? In some sense, Usaken Summer Festival is part of this… for an organization that is immensely popular, I just adore how Cover and their talent always has this drive to throw everything and see if it works. I noticed this during Golden Week. Golden Week in Hololive was jam packed. There were great events, Mio’s morning stream was astounding, leading to one of biggest growth spurt for Mio. Miko’s drawing collab was absolutely hilarious, for such a simple and seemingly hastily put idea. One of the people in a forum commented on this and affixed something that left my mind… what did Nijisanji during the same week? Even I was surprised by how little Nijisanji did that Golden week. They barely did anything!

The innovative spirit does give them trouble, more than it is worth, but Cover never really stopped its momentum, even when most other companies would have stopped a long time ago! This is the greatest thing about Hololive and Cover, the most redeeming feature. One that would serve them well. Coco wrote the playing book, let us pray that Cover sticks to them, because the fall of Cover comes the moment they stray.

The Pre-Coco era was about a company struggling to get their idea through. The Coco era was about writing the playing book. So the Post-Coco era will be about remembrance, it’ll be a struggle to keep the memory of what the playing book is. It’ll be about them being Hololive as they become part of the global zeitgeist.

[az3422]

VIRTUAL YOUTUBER WIKI

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VIRTUAL YOUTUBER WIKI

Shirogane Noel



BASIC DETAILS

ORIGINAL NAME

白銀ノエル

NICKNAME(S)

Danchou (Party Leader)

Noe-Chan (3rd gen members)

DEBUT DATE

2019/08/08

CHARACTER DESIGNER

Illustration: Watao

Modelling: rariemonn[1]

AFFILIATION

hololive

MEDIA

CHANNEL

Noel Ch. 白銀ノエル

SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter

bilibili

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

hololive.tv (English)

hololive.tv (Japanese)

PERSONAL DETAILS

GENDER

Female

AGE

18 (+ ２〇 months) years old

BIRTHDAY

24 November

HEIGHT

158 cm

WEIGHT

50.7 kg

ZODIAC SIGN

Sagittarius

EMOJI

⚔️

LESS 

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This is a Japanese name; the family name is Shirogane.

Associated pages

Noel (You are here)

Gallery

Discography

Platinum Collection Build Your Own Bundle. Choose up to 7 games

BUY NOW FROM FANATICAL

Shirogane Noel (白銀ノエル) is a female Japanese Virtual YouTuber associated with hololive, debuting as part of its third generation of VTubers under the name of "hololive Fantasy" (ホロライブファンタジー) alongside Usada Pekora, Uruha Rushia, Shiranui Flare and Houshou Marine.

Introduction Video



Noel's introduction. 【 白銀ノエル初配信】はじめまっする！白銀ノエルですッ！【ホロライブ 新人Vtuber】

Personality

Noel is a clumsy but mostly wholesome knight, with a more girlish voice than her appearance would suggest (though she can pull out a mature older sister voice if the occasion calls for it). Her character archetype is best described as having more muscle than brains; she often streams video games, but is rarely seen actually doing well in them.

Noel's thirst for Shiranui Flare is arguably matched only by Natsuiro Matsuri's thirst for girls in general. She gets jealous if Flare so much as interacts with someone else, and since Flare is somewhat of a chick magnet, this happens very often.

Profile

"Hey muscle! Shirogane Noel's here!"

While she is easy-going, she has a dangerous side where she attempts to solve all her problems with muscle power. As much as this fluffy, meatheaded knight hungers for power, she came to the world of VTubers where all the stronk people are, for training.[2]

History

Background

Her Twitter account was opened on 22 July 2019 while her YouTube channel was created on 26 July. She debuted with her introduction stream on 8 August.[3]

On 14 November, she announced on her Twitter account the debut date of her 3D model,[4] which later debuted during a stream on 17 November,[5] being the first of her generation to get a 3D model.

2020

On 1 January, her YouTube channel got demonetized, she stated on Twitter that this was caused because of her ASMR videos,[6] just like Haato, Choco, Aki and Mel.

On 2 January, she got a kimono as her New Year's oufit, being her second 2D costume overall.[7]

On 24 January along with the other hololive girls up to the third generation, she debuted her 3D idol outfit at hololive's 1st fes. Nonstop Story.[8]

On 31 January, she announced in her Twitter account the remonetization of her channel.[9]

On 16 October, hololive's Twitter account announced that Noel, Houshou Marine, Murasaki Shion and Yuzuki Choco would get new 2D costumes.[10]

On 21 October, Noel debuted her third 2D costume during a stream, a huge contrast compared to her knight outfit, she wears modern casual clothes, she wears black choker with a blue snowflake, a white blouse, with a brown squares skirt, black socks and brown shoes, she also debuted a new air style and as an option she can wear glasses.[11] In addition to this she also got her 2D model updated, with improvements to her facial expressions.[12]

On 5 December, she reached 700,000 subscribers, the 12th member of hololive to do so. On the same day, Nekomata Okayu reached that same threshold.

2021

On 21 January, she reached 800,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel, during an endurance singing stream.[13]

On 6 March, Noel reached 900,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel, during an endurance singing stream.[14]

On 12 April, Noel reached 1,000,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel, during an endurance singing stream, making her the 12th member of hololive to reach that milestone and the 9th member of hololive JP to do so. This makes her the fourth member of hololive Fantasy to reach that milestone as well.

On 31 May, Noel announced on Twitter what in the moment appeared to be a new 2D costume to celebrate World Milk Day.[15]

On 1 June, celebrating the date mentioned before, instead of getting a new outfit, Noel got new accesories for her casual costume, including cow's horns, ears and tail alongside a new set of clothes with a cow pattern and a cowbell.[16]

Discography

Main page: Shirogane Noel/Discography

Kirameki Rider☆▲as hololive IDOL PROJECT    Release Date24 February 2020Track List

"Kirameki Rider☆"

"Kirameki Rider☆" (instrumental)

External linksDigital Release • YouTube

DAILY DIARY▲as hololive IDOL PROJECT    Release Date21 January 2021Track List

"DAILY DIARY" (でいり〜だいあり〜！)

"DAILY DIARY" (instrumental)

External linksDigital Release • Music Video

Events

On 28 January 2020, it was announced on Dengekionline that she would made an appearance in the game Neptunia Virtual Stars as one of the VTuber guest characters alongside Tokino Sora, Roboco, Sakura Miko, Shirakami Fubuki, Minato Aqua, Yuzuki Choco, Inugami Korone and Houshou Marine.[17]

Fans

Her fanbase is officially called "Order of Shirogane" while in Japanese they are called "Shirogane kishi-dan"「白銀騎士団」.

Trivia

Her kanji, Shiro-gane「白銀」, means "white" and "money" individually and generally alludes to silver when put together.

On several occasions when pressed to specify her bust size, Noel has claimed that she is a K-cup. She has also jokingly stated that this stands for "Knight-cup". According to other members of hololive, her avatar's bust size is an accurate depiction of her true size.

She has a large appetite, indicating on several occasions that she enjoys extremely large serving portions when they are available. Fans have commented that this increased caloric intake makes sense considering Noel's height, athletic abilities, and impressive bust size.

Dissatisfied with her own singing ability, she works with a voice coach in hopes of improving her musical talents. According to Noel, her coach is particularly harsh and difficult to impress. However, after hearing Ookami Mio singing during the Toyosu PIT live-event, her voice coach remarked at how talented Mio was, much to Noel's dismay.

She has seen Kamen Rider Den-O back in her grade school days.[18][19]

During one stream, she mentions that during her school years, she was nicknamed "The Running T*ddy Cow", in reference to her large, absolute bust. As such, she is typically depicted around cow imagery and anything to do with milk, and on occasion baby bottles due to breasts maternal role in feeding. The fact that she has Shiro「白」in her name only strengthens this milky depiction.

She is the seventeenth hololive member to join the official Hololive Subreddit as a moderator.

On February 2021, she and Flare got custom made platinum rings.

External Links

Media

Noel Ch. 白銀ノエル - YouTube channel

Shirogane Noel's corporate profile on hololive.tv (EN)

Shirogane Noel's corporate profile on hololive.tv (JP)

@shiroganenoel - Twitter account

白银诺艾尔Official - bilibili channel

@shiroganenoel - Marshmallow account

Twitter hashtags

白銀ノエル - General

#ノエルーム - Stream talk

#白銀聖騎士団 - Fans

#ノエラート - Fan art

Further readings

白銀ノエル - Nicovideo Encyclopedia

白銀ノエル - Pixiv Encyclopedia

白銀ノエル - Japanese Wikipedia

白銀ノエル - unofficial hololive Seesaawiki

白银诺艾尔 - Moegirl Encyclopedia

Shirogane Noel - Hololive Fan Wiki



Solo Debutants

(hololive 0th Gen)

Tokino Sora (🐻) A-chan and Ankimo ·  Roboco (🤖) ·  Sakura Miko (🌸) ·  Hoshimachi Suisei (☄️) ·  AZKi (⚒️)

[yeaahishowedupatyourparty]

MORE ABOUT MY NEXT GEN BABIES. 

Adelaide ‘Addy’ Maeve Coleman - daughter of Zara & Danny. 

- scars to your beautiful - alessia cara   - july 1st, cancer  - actress, studying at diamond bridge (LA) - bisexual with no preference, single  - esfp, hufflepuff  - raised in lilac heights in zara & danny’s home they live in now  - ditzy, naive, energetic but also sensitive and insecure. she has a tendency to let herself be walked all over by friends and lovers. she also lacks the confidence to really accept that she has talent and is capable of doing things.  - she was painfully desperate to be one of the popular girls in high school, to the point where she would let her “friends” treat her like dirt. even though she’s now in college, the effects of the underhand bullying stay with her and it makes her very reluctant to trust and open up to new people.

Allison ‘Ally’ Marie Cortes-Smith - daughter of Adrian & Holly. 

- seven - sleeping at last - august 13th, leo  - model & athletics (surfing, figure skating & dance), studying at gold coast (australia)  - heterosexual, dating brett jackson - entp, gryffindor  - raised in violet springs (?), in her family home with adrian and holly - energetic, outgoing, adventurous but also explosive and stubborn. ally is constantly looking for family-like connections away from holly, adrian and haley. she craves feeling like somebody’s first choice because - particularly with holly - she felt like the back-up plan until she got custody of haley. she has one song about her, whereas haley has enough for an EP of music with holly worshipping her and she’s just always felt that subtle favouritism in her household.  - from an early age, she’s sought out love in all of the wrong places but is currently in a good place with brett, who is definitely her safety net. she’d be lying if she said living in australia made her homesick. 

Aurora Faith Kingsley - daughter of Soraya & Julian.

- boss bitch - doja cat  - january 17th, capricorn  - fashion designer, studying at rosewell (paris)  - heterosexual, bisexual dating peter romano  - entj, slytherin  - raised in violet springs (?), in her family home with soraya and julian. she definitely has a dual-citizenship like soraya, though, and often spends summers in cuba with her grandparents.  - outspoken, confident, witty but also explosive, judgemental and harsh. aurora was definitely spoilt with love when being raised by her parents; both soraya and julian doted on her in different ways, and while she knows the value of materialistic things, she’s not entirely used to not getting her own way or not having people adore her. that being said, she’s a fiercely loyal friend and shows the love she was given when she was younger to people she thinks deserve it. - aurora’s expectations and standards are impressively high and she’ll always credit her parents, who always modelled a healthy and secure relationship to her. she doesn’t take it for granted & always strives to find people who treat her the same way julian treats soraya.

Belle Cynthia Carmichael - Daughter of Anastasia 

- donatella - lady gaga  - november 3rd, scorpio  - dancing & modelling, studying in west ivys (london)  - heterosexual, single  - esfp, slytherin  - raised partially in los angeles and also in lilac heights with anastasia and her father (divorced) as well as her older sister, darcy.  - aesthetic, good-humoured, magnetic but also irresponsible, self-indulgent and superficial. belle is the baby of the family and took a shine to the socialite los angles lifestyle from around 12 years old. she’s a big spender, loves the night life of any big city and is a BIG fan of the attention that being a rising star brings her. unlike her sister, who’s a lot more lowkey, belle demands attention and will do anything to get her own way in any situation. - everyone was expecting anastasia and ryder to split from their (what would have been) their fifteen year marriage. everybody except belle and darcy, anyway. the girls were caught off-guard and it wasn’t easy. belle had the most extreme reaction, becoming very emotional and self-indulgent. her way of dealing with it has been to do everything in her power to go against anything either of her parents ask of her; she’s definitely out of control.

Daisy Louise Romano, daughter of Florence & Dominic. (tw: cancer) 

- style - taylor swift  - may 22nd, gemini  - dance, studying at liberty (new york city)  - heterosexual, single   - isfp, gryffindor  - raised in violet springs (?) in dom and florence’s family home, but i imagine they have a family home in italy because of dominic’s roots too. florence and dom spend a lot of time in italy in general, so it’d make sense.  - creative, friendy, warmhearted but also over-protected, nervous and idealistic. daisy is the only daughter in her family and it definitely shows. on top of dominic, she also has carter and peter who have kept a close eye on her growing up and has definitely been protected from things other girls her age may have learnt to deal with themselves, or without as much back-up. rather than rebelling against it, she’s very comfortable & probably relies on her brothers - especially peter - for more than she should. she’s very rooted in family and while she’s a hopeless romantic and loves flirting, going on adventures and seeing the world, her heart is with her family. - daisy’s pre-teen years were snatched away by the fact that she was diagnosed with cancer. she spent three years of what would’ve been her high school life in hospital and was far too weak to dance or do anything she usually did. she was put into remission at 15 and was cancer free for three years before it made a return, now she’s nineteen (pushing 20), she’s once again in remission but her anxiety and trauma from the sickness are very much alive.

Darcy Briar Carmichael - daughter of Anastasia. 

- nothing breaks like a heart - miley cyrus  - february 27th, pisces  - modelling, studying at st judes (violet springs)  - bisexual, single - infp, ravenclaw - raised partially in los angeles and also in lilac heights with anastasia and her father (divorced) as well as her older sister, darcy. - patient, imaginative, loyal but also argumentative, guarded and defensive. darcy has always been wise beyond her years in the sense that she’s mature and has a responsible head on her shoulders. anastasia used to worry that she wouldn’t enjoy her early twenties/teen years in the same way everybody else seemed to, but it just never appealed to her - she preferred to lose herself in art, reading and individual activities rather than going out to huge parties and festivals like her sister. she’s quietly confident and is happy to be seen as the ‘boring’ one if it means not having to be forced to sit at social events she’d rather not be a part of.  - darcy’s confidence was knocked by her parent’s divorce. it actually ruined her application to blossom bell academy - where she wanted to go and do art and photography. she was unorganised and just a mess in general, so she knew she’d get rejected. st judes, her second choice, also rejected her art portfolio but because of her looks, offered her a modelling position. she figured it was better than nothing but it’s never been her passion. only now is she starting to feel inferior in comparison to her little sister.

Dixie Gisele Carmichael - daughter of Disney and Brody. 

- god is a woman - ariana grande  - october 1st, libra  - fashion design, studying at rosewell (paris) - heterosexual, single  - estj, slytherin  - raised in new york but spends the summers in france & christmas in violet springs to be close to grandparents  - confident, hard-working, charming but manipulative, calculated and jealous. dixie has grown up in the spotlight due to being the child of arguably the most famous couple to come out of st judes in her parents era. she’s very used to it and it’s something she’s numb too. however, unlike her sister, who seems to just get things a whole lot easier than dixie, she has clawed her way to the top of everything she has, not caring who she scratches on the way up; being the most popular, young socialite on the upper east side, her fashion career and everything else are things she’s had to fight for out of the threat of otherwise being branded as ‘fleur’s twin.’ she holds herself and others at a viciously high standard. she’s been on dates and enjoyed attention from guys but she hasn’t slept with anybody and has never had a boyfriend; it’s not something she hides either. her main goal right now is to become the best designer there is, and she’s proven that she’ll stop at nothing to get there. - while at gallagher high school, fleur was already booking modelling jobs and becoming the more successful of the twins. dixie resented it. she couldn’t stand feeling inferior or lesser than and wasn’t happy for her sister at all. quite the opposite. the two of them applied for rosewell but unfortunately for fleur, when their acceptance letters came through, she was out at new york fashion week, leaving dixie to reject her offer and forge a fake one telling her she’d been rejected....and she’d do it again.

Dylan Samuel Powell - son of Janey. 

- fine line - harry styles  - february 15th, aquarius  - photographer, studies at west ivys (london)  - heterosexual, dating lily  - infj, hufflepuff  - raised in sweden until he was thirteen, and then moved to violet springs to be closer to his family with janey.  - patient, practical and compassionate but over-protective, nervous and sensitive. dylan had a quiet childhood. when janey graduated from west ivy’s, she moved out to a rural part of sweden where she started a new. her life consisted of writing and exploring until she had dylan with a man who’s no longer in the picture. dylan fell into janey’s lifestyle too; quiet, peaceful and creative. he enjoyed it for the most part, but the trauma of janey’s experiences definitely became his too. he grew up seeing his mother have anxiety attacks in public or not want to leave the house if she had a feeling she was being watched. in many ways, dylan became the parent. he was the one who made his mother feel safe. he was the protector. he never really understood until he finally met his grandparents at 15 and was told exactly why janey was the way she was. this only brought out an even more protective side of him, after having his eyes opened to how disgusting the world can be. - dylan was reluctant to study anywhere too far away from janey, but she pushed him to branch out at least a little, because she has a lot of guilt about holding him back for al of these years. 

Emmett Charles Hamilton - son of Imogen & Nate. 

- go stupid - polo g  - april 12th, aries  - actor, studying at st judes (violet springs)  - heterosexual, single  - entp, slytherin  - raised in london (south kensington) with imogen and has always been a city boy. he’s your typical private school kid; his father has been out of the picture only for a few months but it hasn’t had much effect. his younger brother, ethan, chose to move in with nate while he stuck with imogen. - intelligent, intuitive, social but lazy, restless and unmotivated. out of emmett and ethan, emmett definitely takes the crown for the family disappointment. his brother’s childhood was full of sports trophies, A*’s on report cards and being at the top of the social hierachy. emmett, on the other hand, would’ve happily lived in his parent’s loft and never seen the light of the day if he could. he did pretty wel in school and had al of the potential, but a life of getting high and falling back on to his trust fund seemed way more appealing. imogen was more willing to let him coast through life (being from wealth herself), whereas nate was always pushing him to go out and make something of himself, meaning naturally he prefers his mother.  - emmett is in the process of burning through his trustfund. he’s impulsive and careless and without proper guidance, will soon find himself with nothing. he has no respect for his dad - who is the stricter parent - and thinks he’s invincible. 

Jay Alexander Hamilton -  son of Park. 

- tonight you’re perfect - new politics  - september 17th, virgo  - athlete, liberty academy  - heterosexual, seeing sylvia(?)  - enfj, ravenclaw   - raised partially in the canary islands with his dad, running their hotel, but also in violet springs with his grandparents.  - friendly, ambitious, a deep thinker but also impatient, overly-critical and a perfectionist. jay was brought up on the canary islands with his father after losing his mother when he was eight. constantly being at the beach, the hotel and new people, he’s a social person with an active imagination and is always on the go. he’s both book and street smart but can at times hold himself to impossible standards; he definitely gets his perfectionist streak from his aunt. the loss of his mum has hurt him, but he buries his feelings as much as possible to avoid talking about them. jay’s always fit in with popular crowds seamlessly and it’s exactly the same story for liberty academy. - jay has already shown huge potential at liberty academy and has been given attention that first years usually don’t get. he’s currently dealing with the end of a friendship with ethan, though, his best friend for many years. it’s lowkey weighing on him but he’d never show that it effects him.

Kai Arden Powell - son of Louis & Lexi. 

- fireflies, owl city  - march 3rd, pisces  -  writer and actor, studying at willow house (cardiff)  - heterosexual, dating sofia  - infj, ravenclaw  - raised in violet springs (?) with louis and lexi, close to his family with good connections to both sides.  - imaginative, selfless, creative but pessimistic, self-pitying and emotional. kai is the perfect example of a high achieving burn-out. all through his school life, he boasted great grades and came at the top of the class for most things, but as the years went on, he lost momentum and started to rest on his abilities. while everybody else levelled up and got better, he declined and started to slowly stop caring about his academic achievements. he was more concerned with the social side and fitting in with people who really didn’t care much about him. when it came to college admissions, he was already failing many classes and got rejected from everywhere besides willow house. he hates it and refuses to even try to enjoy it. - sofia is his lifeline, at the moment. she’s trying to get her dad, wesley, to negotiate with people at st judes to get him a space, but it isn’t necessarily going to work. especially if kai can’t get his grades up and apply himself to his writing and acting seriously. 

Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Bradford - daughter of Drew & Annabel.

- first man, camila cabello -  june 30th, cancer  - singer-songwriter & musician, studying liberty academy (new york)  - enfp, ravenclaw  - raised with drew & annabel as an only child  - romantic, loving, protective and sympathetic but touchy, defensive and an overthinker. lottie grew up with both of her parents and spent a lot of time on the road with drew when he was touring. she’s used to big crowds, music and moving around a lot but grew up very attached to her mother, annabel, she’s her favourite person in the entire world and everything she does is to make her proud.  - lottie ended up dropping out of high school to go to a stage school in london when drew stopped touring; she was around 14, but eventually got homesick and returned, spending her last few years at springs park high before she got accepted into liberty. she’s really set on making memories and doing her absolute best in music - but she’s prone to falling in love with people and getting extremely distracted.

Sullivan Rosini - son of Ruby.

- song undecided  -  14th may, taurus  - actor & singer (vc: frank ocean)  - esfj, gryffindor  - raised by ruby  - independent, humanitarian and sociable but also head-strong, stubborn and judgemental. sullivan was adopted by ruby when he was seven and settled very quickly into the family home. since around 12 years old, he’s been an activist and had a huge presence online for animal rights. he’s been arrested multiple time at different protests and it gives ruby the most anxiety but she’s also very proud of him. 

[kykyonthemoon]

The Dreamweaver

Name: KyKy

Nicknames: Ky, Moon Moon (by Chime)

Rank: S

Class: Soul Dancer

Age: 20 (in most fic)

Gender: Female

D.O.B: Oct, 18

Star sign: Libra

Blood type: AB

Ethnicity: Asian 

Affiliations: Cassell College, Lionheart

Colors: gold, white

Appearance: a short, slim girl with dark hair and dreamy amethyst eyes that change into golden while using EX Skills. Her appearance may give people the impression of harmless, innocent girl, though she’s actually a powerful S-rank hybrid.

Traits: Peacemaker - Spirited - Righteous Ally

KyKy is a dreamer. She’s very creative and daydreams a lot. That’s why she enjoys reading and writing fictions. She’s curious and often gets lost in her own thoughts. She’s a romantic - the type that always makes up a perfect love story in her mind; and an idealistic who sees the world in bright colors.

She might be quiet and distant at first, but she’s actually very sweet. She cares a lot about her friends and loved ones. She’s also sensitive, compassionate and kind. She hopes to use her healing power to help everyone in need. 

She gets shy easily and be speechless. Her friends find that expression cute and often tease her a lot, especially when it comes to her love interest. She can be very clumsy and forgetfull too.

However, KyKy is not always a bright sunflower. She’s very insecure and can be over-dramatic at times. When she’s in a bad mood, she might close herself off to everyone. She doubts herself a lot.

Hobbies:

Reading and writing stories - She wants to become a writer one day

Dancing

Cooking (though she often leaves a mess in the kitchen)

Stargazing

Fears: Darkness, nightmares, being left behind and being forgotten

Skills:

-She has soul dancer’s skills and talents. -Her power is related to the Moon, therefore, she gets extremely weak on moonless nights, and most powerful during full moon.

-She can enter and alter a person’s dreams (for example: turning a nightmare into a good dream) by touching them or finding them in the dreamworld. -KyKy’s Special EX Skills:

Lullaby: Soothes one’s mind and puts the target to sleep.

Dreamweaver’s Dance: Performs a dance with the gemini and turns the illusions in her dream into reality for a short amount of time. Costs a large amount of Vitality. Cannot be used without The Golden Thread of Dreams. (This skill is like a summoning ritual. She uses it to call upon mythical creatures that aid her in battle.)

Sleepwalk: The Golden Thread creates a portal, connecting dreams and let her travel to a chosen destination. This is a very hard-to-master skill that costs an enormous amount of Vitality. It is not recommended to use without supervision (from Cassell). Without high concentration, the she might be lost between realms and erased from existence.

-Gemini: Gemini might not take the exact image of the soul dancer, but it can be the image of what the soul dancer loves, or deeply connected to. KyKy’s gemini is a spirit came from the dreamworld. It connects to her soul and guides her. The gemini has two forms: one is astral (a mirror image of the soul dancer - as seen in game); and one is physical (the gemini becomes a living creature - other people, beside the soul dancer, can interact with it too). KyKy’s gemini is called Midnight, and it often stays in the physical shape of a cat.

-The Golden Thread of Dreams: Like most soul dancers, KyKy doesn’t use a weapon. But she has a small golden thread tied on her wrist. The thread is endless and made of countless tiny threads, each of them represents a beautiful dream she has encountered (could be her dreams or others’.) The thread is believed to have a connection to her heart and soul. It is also the soul link of a soul dancer. KyKy ties the thread to the one she wants to share a soul link with (and gives them buffs in battle~) The thread can be used as a weapon, or to perform special EX Skills. It cannot be cut by most weapons, and if cut, it will take time to regain power from dreams.

Background:

Her bloodline from her mother’s side was very pure, but the clan could not maintain their bloodline, and the later generations have lost their powers. KyKy’s mother was an S-ranked soul dancer. She wanted a normal life, so she changed her name and married KyKy’s father - who is only C-ranked. She lost their unborn child and blamed herself for not being able to save it with her healing power. She never uses her power again.

KyKy inherited her mother’s bloodline. Feared that her daughter would have a tough life of an S-rank, or met the tragedies like her before, she faked her blood test report and found away to suppress KyKy’s power. This caused her power to be unstable.

Brought up in a small town as a normal girl, KyKy was not aware of her powers. When she was in middle school, she started seeing illusions from her dreams becoming real, walking into other places she had never been to. Her wounds from daily activities seemed to heal very quickly too. Yet her mother refused to tell her the truth.

After graduating high school, her powers got out of control. Cassell College found her and offered a special scholarship for the S-ranked. She confronted her mother again and was told the truth. Her parents prevented her from going to Cassell, and warned her about the harsh life, the dangerous missions that they might put her through. KyKy managed to put her parents to sleep, using her new-found special power. She left a letter for them to apologize and ask for their understanding. Eventually, she was able to talk things out with her parents and they let her stay in Cassell.

Relationships:

-Good friends:

Cery (@4-komacery’s MC): roommate - best friend. They met on the train to Cassell and Cery signed up for KyKy to join Lionheart with her (while KyKy had no idea about it.) The two are at the same age. Their traits are different, but they share a lot in common; like arts, creativity, food, fashion,... KyKy often forgets her stuffs, and Cery always has to remind her. She loves to tease KyKy about her crush too. They know almost all of each other’s secrets.

Johann: senior - book buddy. Johann often gives KyKy books to read, although most of them are non-fiction and completely not her cup of tea (she never tells him that.) KyKy knows how crazy her friend Cery is over Johann, and she’s very supportive of their realtionship. KyKy hangs out with him more after he becomes Cery’s boyfriend.

Chisei Gen: beach buddy. They share an undying love for the beach and sunshines. At first, KyKy was mad at Chisei for leaving her team at the bottom of the sea, and what he did to Chime. But as she gets to know him more, she thinks he’s a good friend. She literally goes out of her way to help the brothers reconcile.

NoNo: senior - fashion guru. 

Caesar: senior - sometimes like a big brother to her.

Finger: senior - cooking buddy.

Luminous: seniors - anime friend.

Erii Uesegi: shopping/gaming buddy.

EVA & Adam: KyKy greets them every day in the office. She actually likes talking to them.

Vinya: book buddy. KyKy likes to spend time in the library. She also helps Vinya with tidying up the place, sorting books and cleaning the telescopes.

-Soulmate:

Chime Gen: KyKy met Chime when they were kids in the dreamworld. She thought he was just her imagination (x) and promised to find him if he’s real. They parted when Chime became a devil (Ruri Kazama) and stabbed by Chisei. She has been looking for him ever since, without remembering his name. She doesn’t know he’s Ruri Kazama until later.

Ruri Kazama: On her mission to Japan, KyKy meets Ruri. She always has a feeling that he’s someone she knew before. Later, she finds out that he’s the one she’s been looking for. But she’s confused and hurt because Ruri doesn’t seem to remember Chime’s dreams with her in the past. 

Dragon Lord Ruri Kazama: KyKy is frightened of this form of him. But she still believes he can regain control and break away from Osho’s grip. She uses her power to help him even though she might get hurt. Eventually, she succeeds and he’s able to remember the past dreams with her.

They might seem to be opposite, but they have a very deep connection, like dark and light intertwining. Her cheerfulness and healing power calm him and get him through darkness, while he protects her like the night sky embracing the moon (hence they call each other “night sky” and “moon moon” - silly, I know!) They’re both crazy about the other, but they don’t know that yet. 

-----------------------

Masterlist: x

[glamrockqueen]

incoherently written music history #1: billie eilish is the gen z taylor swift and here’s why

don’t laugh at me for making my first history rambling start from 2006 okay i promise i’ll be taking these further back eventually

this particular claim was made in a conversation i had with a friend a few weeks ago and i figured what better way to start off my new tumblr experience right

these pictures of almost identical scenes were taken almost exactly ten years apart. how did both of these ladies become mega-stars and redefine their respective genres as teenagers and what do they have in common? let’s discuss.

for starters, female singer-songwriters are not a new phenomenon. alanis morissette, tori amos, annie lennox, kate bush, the list goes on. so why were taylor and billie good representatives of the late 00s and late 10s respectively?

taylor swift released her self-titled debut album in 2006 as a country singer/songwriter at the age of 16 which is pretty impressive! and billie eilish released her debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? last year in 2019 at the age of 17.

although there are plenty of young singers/songwriters, not many of them can reach this level of success. and at first glance (just look at the covers of taylor’s lover and billie’s album, for example) they seem like opposites. but they actually have quite a bit in common!

both started their careers with an audience that is primarily composed of young girls

both wrote or cowrote the songs on their albums

both perfectly capture the mood of the time periods in which they became popular

while taylor debuted in 2006, in my opinion, she didn’t become a superstar until the release of fearless in 2008. considering this was now 12-14 years ago, the process of becoming a superstar was different than it was just last year. taylor was originally signed as a songwriter with sony/atv (the youngest EVER to do so at age 14) and literally built the big machine label with her success when she signed with them. with the rise of streaming and widespread usage of the internet for listening to music (which didn’t exist in 2006-2008 when all music was individually purchased), billie entered the public eye when she released ocean eyes on soundcloud and rose to megastardom within a few years, with a pretty astonishing speed. the picture of taylor swift with her grammys was taken in 2010, a full four years after her debut album was released while billie won all those awards for her debut album in the same year it was released. the rise of such platforms can certainly accelerate the path to superstardom, and it certainly did in this case.

the important note here is that for both, the audience heavily relates to the emotions in the music and the authenticity of the songwriting. taylor’s music suits the early 00s and the young millennials/zillennials well. in the mid to late 2000s, music was upbeat. pop punk and emo pop/rock like fall out boy, panic! at the disco, and my chemical romance were at their peak (just remember early tumblr), and a lot of pop and pop adjacent music was generally happy and fast paced. taylor brought country music to the previously untapped market of teenage girls (and eventually other young female country singers like kacey musgraves, kelsea ballerini, maren morris, etc became popular, almost certainly because taylor proved young women could be successful in the genre) even as she transitioned into a pop artist. she succeeded as a teenage girl in an extremely male dominated genre (in fact, to this day, many country stations are not allowed to play two songs by female artists in a row).

taylor’s greatest strength is still considered to be her songwriting, and many of her lyrics are second to none in terms of modern mainstream artists. her fans appreciate the vulnerability and pure emotion of songs like all too well and dear john, even though they’re generally less well known than many of her hits. even through multiple genre shifts, her storytelling still shines through and feels authentic even if occasionally interspersed with more lighthearted moments like me! or we are never ever getting back together. in fact, the recent folklore album appears to be a return to the very thing that brought her to prominence in the first place, with its focus on lyrics and real instrumentation rather than her recent more synth-heavy pop sound.

people related to her music because it felt like they were getting a glimpse into her diary, and that authenticity wasn’t necessarily present in pop music at the time. she appealed to the hopeless romantics (especially during the fearless and speak now eras) and was definitely relatable to the teenage girls of the 00s. taylor captured the hope and heartbreak of teenagers in such an elegant way, and many of her fans still feel closely connected to her and have a sense of “growing up with her”, even if they’ve never met her in person because of the evolution of her persona and storytelling (and also her former use of tumblr). her songwriting talents are what initially drew fans to her and why she has a such a loyal base of fans even fourteen years after the release of her first music.

however, things are different now than they were even ten years ago. young people are sad and angry and billie captures these emotions in her music. today’s teenagers are not interested in sparkles and ball gowns or sundresses and cowboy boots, but would rather wear oversized tshirts/hoodies and march in protests. they were looking for someone who dresses uniquely and who takes pride in being different. it’s clear to see even through gen z humour that happiness is generally a thing of the past. pop music has gotten slower, more melancholy, more indie-oriented, and hip hop/rap and edm-inspired music is currently topping the charts rather than bubbly pop or rock. billie represents and possibly started the trend of “bedroom pop” (as her album was quite literally recorded in a bedroom) and its more relaxed, lofi sound. with this in mind, taylor has been and continues to be a master of trends and versatility, including releasing the 1989 album before retro nostalgia became popular, as well as including elements of every conceivable genre, including hip hop (throughout all of reputation), pop punk (paper rings is essentially a pop punk song, and i will defend this claim), rock, indie, and even folk and funk in her music. 

this shift almost resembles the way punk and grunge were rejections of mainstream rock at the time; people are looking for something new and “fresh”, and for many young gen z girls, that took the form of billie eilish, since she captures the emotions they’re feeling just like taylor did for millennials. in fact, billie can almost be seen as the punk to taylor’s classic rock. the way billie can speak to this audience is remarkably similar to the way taylor spoke to the underserved market of teenage girls who like country music and fairytale romances (and reminiscent of early rock’s roots in genres that were neglected by mainstream pop radio at the time until being succeeded by activist punk music that rejected the theatrics and fancy production of 70s rock in favour of a DIY ethos). both were appropriate for their target audience.

in short, taylor’s brand wouldn’t have worked in 2019 and billie’s brand likely wouldn’t have worked in 2006, but they suit the atmosphere of their actual time periods. we can no more expect a star of the 00s to represent the teenagers of the current era any more than we can expect a star of the 80s to do the same. however, their popularity comes from the same sort of energy - young people wanting something outside of the contemporary mainstream that feels new and expresses the emotions they may not have been able to express themselves. while taylor represents teenage dreams, billie represents teenage rebellion and loneliness.

in addition, both have been politically active, as well as advocating for change in the music industry. taylor has a long history of fighting for artists’ rights, including not releasing her music to apple music until they agreed to pay artists during the three month trial period, the feud with spotify, and now her struggle to gain control of the masters for her first six albums. she has also expressed support for democratic politicians and social movements like black lives matter, despite people close to her expressing concerns that it would cause damage to her image or career. billie has also been vocal in supporting progressive causes, which again shows that she is a perfect representative of gen z stardom as young fans expect the celebrities they support to use their platform to speak about important issues.

the most important thing that links these two artists together is the impression of being genuine and relatable, especially for an audience of young women who feel as if their voices have not been heard or are not valued by the mainstream. another interesting note is that fans of both artists are/were mocked for being fans, which is almost certainly rooted in misogyny and the dismissal/trivialization of things that are enjoyed by teenage girls. neither of them are taken as seriously as they deserve to be.

for years, taylor’s music was generalized as only being about her ex boyfriends, and that opinion is still widespread, despite the fact she has incredible songs that weren’t written about romantic relationships. since the beginning, taylor and her fans have been relentlessly mocked and dismissed. taylor was bullied online to such an extent in 2016 that she disappeared from the public eye and released the reputation album in order to take back the narrative after being accused of lying and being a “snake” even though it was later shown that she had, in fact, been truthful about the situation. billie’s fans have also been mocked in the past, even though both artists have been revolutionizing pop music and will likely continue doing so. they have also expressed their strong support for each other in the past!

it’s truly past time that people recognize the power of young women to change the music industry and society as a whole. taylor and billie are good examples of a constantly changing music scene, and how the “faces” of music can be drastically different depending on generations and the demands of society and the industry. taylor and billie are both trailblazing trendsetters who have successfully tapped into the unique energy of youth in their own ways, and the way they seem almost like night and day shows just how different millennials and gen z are as teenagers.

[glassrain83]

Dear Yuletide Writer

I am GlassRain on AO3, and thank you for writing for my tiny fandom(s)!

I love all these characters and any fic about them will make me happy. If you already have an idea feel free to run with it. If you want extra prompts or ideas, that’s what this is for.

Yes please: gay stuff, outer space, magic. Non-con, dub-con, and mind control. Relationships where there’s a power imbalance but they also truly love each other and do the work to make it good. Relationships with size differences (not as in short human/tall human, as in human/building-sized dragon). Identity porn/any kind of reveal where the audience knows something and gets to enjoy watching the characters figure it out.

No thanks: Gore/body horror/graphic depictions of violence, embarrassment, extreme underage (teen characters having sex is fine), bodily fluids (except the usual ones for sex scenes), non-canon character death, mundane AUs.

Fandoms:

Doctrine of Labyrinths - Sarah Monette

Characters: Felix, Mildmay

The Doctrine of Labyrinths is a series of fantasy novels by Sarah Monette. It is set in the secondary world of Meduse and tells the story of the adventures of the wizard Felix Harrowgate and his half-brother, former assassin Mildmay the Fox.

Lush fantasy melodrama full of codependence and great hurt/comfort. I have gotten Felix/Mildmay fic before and will keep prompting more of it until the end of time (or until a TV adaptation turns this into a megafandom, whichever comes first). Gen about them is also welcome.

Prompts:

Sci-fi/cyberpunk AU. Make the hocuses into hackers, the magical curses into corrupted cybernetics, the petty thieves into data pirates. Could be the alternate version of a canon event, or a whole new SF-themed plot twist.

Missing scene from Felix and Mildmay’s journey across the continent in book 1, something where Felix has a bad turn and Mildmay successfully calms him down. Just lean all the way into the h/c in their weird-but-deep sibling bond.

Guilty frantic brothercest. (During a time in canon when they’re both mentally capable of consenting.) Especially if it’s already an ongoing situation when the story starts, so it’s not a story about how they fell into it but about how they can’t seem to get out.

If you are up for writing crossovers: it’s a crime that there are no Labyrinth crossovers yet. How would Felix and Mildmay face off against the Goblin King?

The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells

Characters: Murderbot

Science fiction series about an artificial construct designed as a Security Unit, which manages to override its governor module, thus enabling it to develop independence, which it primarily uses to watch media. As it spends more time with some caring humans, it starts developing human feelings, which it finds inconvenient.

Ongoing sci-fi adventure in an interstellar corporate dystopia. Grumpy sarcastic Murderbot (it picked the name itself) just wants to be left alone to watch TV, but is smart and competent and keeps deciding it likes humans who need inconvenient rescues. No romance for Murderbot please, but go as hard as you want on the intense friendships it doesn’t want to admit it has.

Prompts:

Murderbot finds itself in charge of an impromptu So You Just Achieved Self-Determination, Now What? support group. Possible members: SecUnit Three, the unnamed ComfortUnit, original characters who hacked themselves independently and figured they were the only ones until they saw it on the news...

ART figures out that Murderbot enjoys very specific kinds of touch (low-key, platonic, comfort-seeking, non-threatening), and starts gleefully engineering situations where it can get some.

Murderbot’s love of Sanctuary Moon becomes public knowledge. Let’s see the reactions from SM fan forums, or in-universe cons, or the media company and its marketing department.

Leif & Thorn (Webcomic)

Characters: Any

Leif is a gardener in thrall to a mysterious debt, serving his native Sønheim at a foreign embassy. Thorn is a Knight of Ceannis who got severely burned while dragonslaying, and was rewarded with a cushy job guarding the embassy gates. Thorn doesn’t speak Leif’s language too well at first — but as they get to know each other, he finds a lot of reasons to learn.

Ongoing fantasy dramedy, with a cross-cultural romance and a great ensemble cast. (Read it here.) Leif/Thorn is canon. I’d love fic about them, and/or any romance (canon or not) that doesn’t break them up, and/or gen about anyone else.

Prompts:

Canon divergence AU where Thorn joined the Secret Order of Monster Hunters instead of the knights...and meets Leif while in the middle of a vampire-assassinating mission.

Holiday fic where Leif and Thorn share their traditions with each other. Warmth and fluffiness a plus.

Violet’s participation in fandom on the magic-crystal-internet. And maybe off of it, if a convention comes to town. What is magical-crystal-Yuletide like? Which series have split fandoms over badly-translated Ceannic-language dubs? Who else in the cast loves Violet’s fic without realizing she’s the one behind the pseudonym?

Tender, loving, slow-and-thorough Thorn/Kale. With Leif’s encouragement...or participation...or, depending on how you want to play it, direction.

Jeeves & Wooster

Characters: Jeeves, Wooster

Bertram Wooster, a well-intentioned, wealthy layabout, has a habit of getting himself into trouble and it’s up to his brilliant valet, Jeeves, to get him out.  

Completed TV adaptation of the books by P.G. Wodehouse, starring Hugh Laurie as Wooster and Stephen Fry as Jeeves. Funny, charming, impressively complicated for how low-stakes the outcomes are. Gen or Jeeves/Wooster romance (with or without any of these prompts) all welcome.

Prompts:

Magical AU where they’re supernatural creatures – fae, elves, angels, demons, nature spirits, things in that category – and still manage to have the same dynamic, over much more ethereal problems.

Role-swap where Jeeves is a smart-but-disaffected member of the idle rich, and Bertie is a fanciful valet. Problems are solved by a mix of Bertie’s own talents and his ability to inspire Jeeves' brilliance.

Bertie discovers the fandom for his published writing (and probably needs Jeeves’ advice on how to keep professional boundaries). This can be a modern AU if you want to get the internet into it.

[silveny-dreams]

So Who’s Down For A Winter Olympics Headcanon

And I know what you’re thinking: the Winter Olympics? THESE disaster children qualified for the Olympics? To which I say: bite me they may be disaster children, but they’re very talented disaster children

The first, and easiest, call: “representing the Republic of Korea as ice dancers, renowned sibling pair, Tam and Linh Song”

they are a sight to behold out there on the ice--you feel that they’re on a whole other level than their competition; ice dancing is an art form when you watch them; it’s like they can read each other’s minds; they are never out of step with one another; their lifts are outstanding; they absolutely win gold without question

“Representing the United Kingdom in women’s figure skating, underdog Biana Vacker”

Biana practically floats across the ice; she has the gift of making an extremely athletic sport look like the easiest thing in the world; she’s not as athletic a skater as some of her opponents and therefore cannot land quadruple jumps, but she makes up for it with finesse and perfect form; came one point short of the gold last Games and gets her vindication this time around

“Representing the Federal Republic of Germany in the men’s snowboarding half-pipe, favorite Keefe Sencen”

(tell me no one is surprised by this)

Keefe’s cheeks are almost permanently windburned from how often he’s out there absolutely tearing it up on his board; he blows his competition out of the water with absolutely insane flips and spins; people should hate or resent him for being so good, but he’s so naturally goodnatured and charismatic that everyone can’t help but like him; wins gold and is on track to be the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time if he can keep the dream alive

“Representing the Republic of Ireland on the luge track, dark horse Dex Dizznee”

luge is terrifying, y’all; he’s never strapped in, so he has to basically hold on or go flying to his death; he’s going approximately vomit miles per hour the entire way, and it isn’t just athletics, there’s physics to account for; what better event for Dex? I mean, really; he’s smaller than the others by a little bit, and that gives advantage; I think of in Keeper 1 when they were kidnapped and how he learned to lie so still that no one would know he was awake - so Dex would not budge a muscle on that luge runner; he sets an Olympic and world record in his gold-winning run

“Representing the United Kingdom in the 15KM biathlon, second-gen champion Fitz Vacker”

biathlon combines the power and aggression of cross-country skiing with the precision and calm of marksmanship; an Olympic event that regal has to be competed by a Vacker; Alden was a medalist in the event back in the day and passed it on to Fitz; it’s perfect for him, because he has the chance to channel his rage into a long ski trek and the chance to show off his uncanny sharpness in the shooting; he and Biana are the UK’s dream team and are highly popular back home; Fitz accepts nothing less than gold straight out of the gate; his father is so proud he’s glowing

“Representing Canada in the slopestyle freestyle skiing event, firecracker Marella Redek”

just the fact that she’s Canadian makes her an enigma, because she will unapologetically come for your bones with no mercy out on the slopes; when the sports broadcasters interview her about how she started skiing, she tells the story of how a couple of bullies told her she’d be absolute dirt at skiing, and she told them she’d go to the Olympics and prove them wrong; she is fueled by pure spite; and then she’ll shrug and say “and also, you know, I like skiing, too”; everyone, even the commentators, are impressed by just how many flips and spins she manages to fit in and land perfectly; she smirks at the camera when she gets the gold and you can just see that it’s meant for those stupid kids from all those years back

and then, of course,

“Representing the United States of America in the long jump, rookie legend Sophie Foster”

she’s the youngest Olympian of all time (yes, winter and summer); found out on a skiing trip as a young kid that she’d be a great athlete when she went accidentally flying off a jump on an advanced track and managed to land on her feet; her nickname is Moonlark because everyone always says she practically flies off the jump to impossible distances; she beats her own record (which is also already the world record) at the Games and beats out the reigning champ for gold; her beating him wasn’t what caused some upset - it was just how much she beat him by (put his record from in his prime completely in the dust); everyone from all other countries and all other sports want to know her, she’s that good

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 35: The Sports Festival Part 8: Round Four—FIGHT!

Presenting the next raw and unedited chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

Earlier chapters can be found here

Mika hadn’t seen Shiro since his fight with the moth girl from General Studies.  Which was worrisome.  Her ex-tweenage boyfriend was moody under the best circumstances and not always the world’s most gracious loser.  If he hadn’t rejoined his 1-B classmates in the stands, then it meant one of two things.   Either he had been hurt a lot more than it had looked or he was somewhere sulking.  

Her money was on sulking. With having Doc Clock and her Rewind Quirk for a doctor, competitors taken out of the fight generally got back up pretty quickly.  Plus, she just knew Shiro.

As expected, she found him on a bench in one of the hallways beneath the stadium, just outside the waiting rooms, hands folded in front of him, head down.  He’d lost to the moth girl and thus any shot at fighting Kirishima-Bakugo.  Kirishima-Bakugo had lost her own fight too, but she supposed that was small consolation to him.  Who’d known Todorki had had it in her?

When she’d talked with him at lunch with Kana and Anime, they’d offered him fairly contradictory advice. Kana had suggested cutting out the theatrics and just having an honest conversation with Kirishima-Bakugo. Anime had suggested a wacky scheme in which he pretended to be dating Kana in order to make her jealous (that had been shot down as both a) not desirable by either party, b) illogical because Kirishima-Bakugo knew Kana was interested in Haimawari and c) something that only worked in bad manga and soap operas).  Mika’s suggestion of hijacking the broadcast equipment and making an anguished declaration of love on the big screen had also been shot down.  Of course, she hadn’t been completely serious about that, but it would have been hilarious to see him try.  She’d ultimately sided with Kana.  Just because she loved drama didn’t mean she wanted to see him get hurt.

She plopped down on the bench next to him.  “You okay, ‘ro?”

“Mmm.”

She put an arm around him and scooted a little closer, until she was pressed right up against him. “You wanna talk about it?”

“Mmm-nnn.”

“Okay, you don’t gotta if you don’t wanna.”  She gave him a little squeeze.  “You wanna touch my boobs?  That always cheers me up.”

“Mmm-nnn.”

“You just been down here the whole time?”

He shook his head.  “I brought a post-victory gift to Kocho. She’ll need her strength to keep fighting.  I’d intended to check on Kirishima-Bakugo too… but lost my nerve.”

Well, at least he was talking.   “I’ve got some time before my next fight.  You want to tell me how to beat Dashi?”

“I’ve got to stand with my Class.  But I’m sure you can figure something out.”

So much for that.  “You want me to just sit here with you for a while?”

“Mmm…hmm.”

Sure, Shiro was a pain in the ass.  But he was also her friend.  She could be here for him, for a little while at least.

***

Koharu held her breath for a moment, then let it out slowly, thoughts racing through her mind faster than she could keep up with.  Sitting in the Waiting Room, getting ready for her next fight, she should have felt exhausted from everything she’d done so far, but instead only felt wired with nervous energy.

She’d beaten Shiro Monoma and made it to the second seed.  It was, frankly, almost unbelievable.  She’d taken down a Hero Course student.  Granted, she’d had an extremely favorable match-up.  She was pretty sure she couldn’t have taken down Deku’s kid or the bird girl.  But she couldn’t let psyche herself up like that.

Absently, she unfurled her proboscis and inserted it into the protein pouch she was holding, slurping up the contents.  Being unable to eat solid foods was inconvenient sometimes, but she managed. There were a surprising number of options available on the market these days; insect Quirks like hers or other variations were surprisingly common.  

Surprisingly, Monoma had actually brought it to her.  She’d meant to get one from one of the food stalls, but had gotten caught up watching the other fights before her next.  She’d tried to apologize for beating him, but he’d waved her off. Said he just wanted to support an up and coming talent, now that he was out of the running.

She didn’t know what to make of that.

And, of course, her next fight would be one of the few Hero Course kids she actually knew.  She liked Ojiro and her friends, Sero and Sato. They’d been more than welcoming and encouraging in just the short time she’d known them.  On the other hand, she was pretty sure there was very little Ojiro could do to her if it came down to it.  She just had to stay out of her way.  Even if she went invisible like she had in her fight against that cartoon girl… Well, Koharu might have a couple tricks up her sleeve for that.  She’d never tested them against someone invisible before, but she supposed there was no time like the present.

She wondered just what the odds were of making it to the Hero Course.  The famous Hitoshi Shinso, the Underground Hero known as the Voice, had gotten knocked out in his first fight, and yet had impressed Eraserhead for him to take him under his wing.  He was still a legend in the General Studies Courses.

Koharu had already gotten farther than he had.  She didn’t dream of winning, not with the people in the other matches.  She wouldn’t last a minute against Todoroki, she was certain.  Maybe she could take Mineta, if she could keep out of range of those sticky balls she shot.  Maybe.

The door to the waiting room opened.  “Kocho?”   She looked up to see a cat-eared woman with dark hair at the door.  One of the teachers from the Business and Management Courses, she thinks.  “They’re ready for you.”

She took another breath. This was it.

***

“And we’re back and ready for the second seed!  First up, Koharu Kocho, the Moth-Maiden of General Studies!  She’s already made her mark getting this far, surpassing even some of the Recommendation Students!  Will her winning streak continue?  And facing her is Kimiko Ojiro, the Invisible Girl of the Hero Course!  She proved her stealth and skill already, but is it enough to last?”

“You do realize this is a serious competition and not some reality television show?”

“It can be two things!”

Ojiro gave Koharu a friendly wave.  “Oh, man,” she said, “I can’t believe we’ve got to fight!  Totally unfair!”

Koharu shrugged apologetically.  “Just how the matches worked out, I guess.”

Ojiro crossed her arms. “Yeah, well…” she said, then pointed dramatically, “don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because I like you!”

She smiled.  For someone invisible, Ojiro obviously had a flare for theatrics. “Yeah, well, I’m not going to go easy on you either!”

“Ladies,” Hawkeye said, sounding very tired, “if you’re ready?  FIGHT!”

Immediately, Ojiro winked out of existence, her clothes becoming as invisible as the rest of her. Koharu drew in a deep breath, then flapped her wings hard, lifting off the ground.  Before she had gotten more than a foot up, though, she felt a leg smack into her midsection, knocking the breath out of her and knocking her back to the ground.   Another blow came almost immediately, punch upside her head.   Ojiro was obviously faster than she looked (Which, given that she was invisible, probably wasn’t hard.), having closed the distance between them quickly.  A third blow followed, another punch that made the world go blurry.

She had to do something, had to get back in the fight.  She couldn’t just get smacked around like this!

She flapped her wings hard, forward instead of down, feeling her left wing slap into Ojiro.  Koharu used the brief moment it bought her to let loose with a blob of String-Shot, unfocused and messy.  A yelp let her know she’d nearly hit Ojiro, who winked back into existence briefly, before turning invisible again.  

Another pair of blows slammed into Koharu before she could get her guard up and she lashed out with her wings again, flapping wildly until she her right wings connect with Ojiro again. It didn’t give her much time though; Ojiro was tough and Koharu was forced to bring her wings back in, folding them in front of her protectively.  They served as a shield for a moment, blocking several fast blows. Koharu winced. Her wings were tougher than they looked, but they couldn’t take too much of a beating.  She tried to swat Ojiro away with them, but missed each time. Ojiro was clearly getting her rhythm.

The blows stopped through and the sound of shoes on concrete suggested Ojiro was trying to get behind her. Koharu flapped her wings as hard and fast as she could, desperate to get airborne.  A rush of air behind her suggested she’d done it just in time. Now in the air and out of grabbing range, she actually had a moment to think.  She could unleash her Scales, but unless she knew where to aim, she’d have to throw them pretty broadly and even then, she might miss Ojiro.  And if she used up enough of them before she took Ojiro out, she’d be unable to fly and then they’d be right back where they started. So first things first, she needed to find her target.

“Hey!” came a voice from somewhere down below.  “Get back down here and fight me!  What’d am I supposed to do now?”  A broken piece of rubble floated up in the air for a moment before it went flying at her, but Koharu dodged it easily.  There weren’t any would-be projectiles big enough for Ojiro to hurt her with, even if she could throw that far.

With what most have seemed to onlookers like a violation of all common sense, Koharu closed her eyes.

The feathery antennae that sprouted from her forehead, which normally hung loose, lifted up and began feeding information to her brain.  For a moment, it was overwhelming.  Her antennae brought forth all kinds of sensory information, very different than the information returned by her eyes, ears, or nose.  It took a few seconds for her to make the switch from one set of senses to the other successfully.  But once she did, she was aware of where everyone in the stands was, aware of countless foods being eaten, of all kinds of conversations happening, and, most importantly, where exactly Ojiro was.

“HAAAACK!” Koharu shot out a thin stream of her String Shot, quickly entangling Ojiro’s legs.  The invisible girl let out a cry of alarm as she tripped and went down.  But she caught herself, keeping her from hitting her head or otherwise injuring herself.

“Hey!  No fair!” Ojiro said.  “I’m invisible!  Lucky shot!”   Koharu’s eyes snapped open and she could see that Ojiro had returned to visibility and was working to try and free herself.  This only served to get her hands stuck as well.  “Oooh, yuck!  This stuff’s disgusting!”

Koharu took another breath, then dove down, swooping in at Ojiro.  She grabbed the back of the girl’s gym uniform and kept flying, right up to the edge of the ring. Once there, all she had to do was let go and Ojiro went flying out of bounds.

The crowd exploded with applause.   “Ojiro is out of bounds!” Hawkeye announced.  “Kocho wins!”

“I think we’ve got a rising star here on our hands!  What’s a girl like this doing in General Studies? The Hero Course is missing out and the second seed is off to a bang!”

Koharu walked over to Ojiro. Her String-Shot was already starting to dissolve; she hadn’t put too much effort into it, she’d just needed Ojiro immobilized for a few moments.   She offered Ojiro a hand up and felt a hand wrap around hers.

“Thanks,” Ojiro said, as she helped her up.  “Also, gross! That stuff came out of your mouth! I’m gonna be washing my hands for a month!”

Koharu had to laugh at that. “You’re not the first person to say that.  Really am sorry about beating you, though.”

Ojiro shrugged.  “I didn’t even think I’d get this far. Besides, somebody’s gotta win!”

Koharu didn’t think that someone would be her, not beyond this.  But she was proud of what she’d done.  Maybe… just maybe, this would all work out.  Placing was no guarantee; there were stories of General Studies students who’d made it to the Tournament round more on luck than skill and hadn’t moved anywhere.

So she guessed the real question was, was she lucky or skilled?

She just had to keep fighting to find out.

***

“And now we’ve got Mika Miketa back again, facing off against Kimiko Dashi!  I’m really hoping for a good, clean fight this time!  Nobody needs a repeat of the last time Mineta got in the ring!”

“It’s the kind of trick that only works once anyway, Mic.”

Mika stepped into the ring, across from Kimiko Dashi.  The tri-hair colored girl looked pretty relaxed and that really wasn’t surprising. Her match against the wheeled girl from 1-C had taken less than five minutes, since all Dashi’d had to do was freeze her and then accelerate her out of the ring.  Which meant she couldn’t get hit, not even once, or it’d be all over for her. And that might be a tall order. She was pretty light on her hooves, but if all she had was one shot…

“Tetsutetsu warned me about you, you know,” Dashi said.  “And I saw your match against Kan.  I’m not going to fall for your mouth.”

“Really?  Kana’s ratting me out?  That is just so incredibly rude.”  Mika gave Dashi her best smile.  “You wouldn’t believe the number of people who’ve said that though.” She got a glare in return.  Must have been doing something right.

Hawkeye pinched the bridge of her nose.  The English teacher seemed to be having a bad day.  There had been a lot of talking and not fighting today.  But she knew the job was dangerous when she took it.   “Are you done making a mockery of things, Mineta?” she asked.

“Sure thing, Teach,” Mika said.

“My apologies for the delay,” Dashi said.  Mika made a face.  Suck-up.

“Then… FIGHT!”

In a snap, Dashi brought up her arm and fired a red “stop” beam from it, but Mika was already moving, the beam sizzling through the air where she had been.  She lowered her head and fired an opening volley of sticky balls from her horns, not really bothering to aim, just to disorient.  If they stuck to Dashi, so much the better. But even if they didn’t, they might trip her up later.  Mika would just bounce off.

She kept running, hooves slamming into the concrete.  Dashi kept firing, red beams racing through the air.  Hopefully they weren’t hitting anyone in the stands or anything.  Provocation probably wasn’t going to work here; she was actually going to have to fight.

Mika turned and fired, launching another volley of her sticky balls at Dashi.  Dashi was quick on the defense though and fired a red beam again, stopping them in mid-air.  They hovered there without stopping, neither moving forward nor falling. Just like she wanted.  Mika took a running start then jumped, sailing over the blasts Dashi put her way.  She landed on the hovering balls and then bounced, launching back up into the air.  

Dashi tracked her ascent for a moment then fired a yellow beam.  Mika hadn’t known she could do that!  Crap!  She’d only seen the blue and red beams so far. It struck her dead on and time seemed to slow to a crawl.  She was still falling, but at a fraction of the speed before.  Below, she could see Dashi moving out of the way, seeming to be a blur.  

After what seemed like an hour but was probably only a minute or so, Mika hit the ground.  Fast as she could, she spun around throwing a roundhouse kick.  Just like she’d predicted, Dashi was right behind her, about to fire another beam. The kick connected, hitting the weird traffic light looking gizmo Dashi wore on her arm and throwing off her aim. Probably helped her focus her Quirk or something.  A red beam went wild, heading towards the stands again.  Mika followed up with a second kick, hitting Dashi in the stomach and sending her flying back a few feet.

Mika fired off another sticky ball, a single one from her left horn.  Dashi, still dazed from the kick, fired off a series a red beams, none of them hitting it.  Instead, the ball smacked right into her open right hand with a slightly wet plop sound.  Dashi tried to shake it off, but it held fast, and would for a while yet.

Then, Dashi brought her hand up and jerked in surprise as nothing seemed to happen.  She looked down at her hand like it had betrayed her, trying again to shake the sticky ball from it.   .  “What the?”

She brought her hand up again and this time Mika could see the barest hint of red flashing around the ball.  Slightly bigger than a softball, her sticky ball had been large enough to cover Dashi’s palm and fingers.  And with the ball blocking the beam, Dashi’s Quirk was effectively taken out of the fight. All this time and Mika hadn’t seen her ever fire a beam out of her left hand.  Combined with her support item there, it had suggested to her that Dashi could only fire her beams from her right.

She’d been correct in that guess.

Mika raced across the ring and Dashi’s face twisted up in anger.  “You’re… how did you…  You’re not supposed to be this smart!”

Closing the gap, Mika lashed out, kicking again with her right leg.  Dashi sidestepped the blow, trying to return a punch of her own, but Mika ducked away from it.  Still partially ducked, she rammed into Dashi’s middle, horns on either side of her. With a jerk and a twist, Mika lifted Dashi, and gave her a toss out of the ring.

“Dashi is out of bounds!” Hawkeye announced.  “Mineta wins!”

“How about that, folks?  Class 1-A’s horned girl takes the win again! And all without a single dirty joke! I guess we won’t have to edit the home video version of this fight after all!”

Mika grinned.  And very quietly, she spoke to herself.  “I’m more than a pretty face,” she said.  “Or a foul mouth.  That’s just more fun.”

***

“You.”

Isamu jumped when the door to the waiting room flew open.  He’d been so deep in thought that he’d lost track of his surroundings.  But it wasn’t one of the teachers come to fetch him for his match.  No, it was the person who scared him most in all the world.  Kirishima-Bakugo.  Her red eyes were locked on him in an intense glare that, if she’d had some kind of eyebeam Quirk, would have meant he was dead.

“Yes?” he said.  “Me?”

Apparently his mouth was running on extra stupid today.

“You’re fighting Izzy.” It wasn’t a question.

“Ah, yeah,” Isamu replied, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.  He was pretty sure he could get away from her before she could kill him. And somebody would surely be here any minute to fetch him.  He probably wouldn’t die today.

Kirishima-Bakugo crossed her arms and frowned, hesitating, as though searching for the right words. Probably searching for the best way to describe how she’d explode his head.  It seemed to be her go-to intimidation tactic.

“If you’re going to threaten me,” he said, “can you just get it over with?”

That got a laugh out of her, which, in all honest, was far scary than any other sound he’d ever heard her make, including all the different times he’d heard her scream “die!” He scrambled up out of his chair and towards the back of the suddenly too small room.  There was no escape.

Katsumi recovered from her laugh and he thought, for just a moment, he saw something like amusement or approval in her eyes.  “You’re starting to grow a spine,” she said.

“Ah, maybe?”

She shook her head.  “And now you’ve blown it, Newb.”

“You were, you were saying something about Izumi?” he tried.

She nodded.  “Right.  I don’t like you, and you don’t like me.  But we both like Izzy.”

He nodded.  More like he was terrified of her, but not setting her off was probably in his best interest, so he was just going to be agreeable. Unless she was here to threaten him if he wound up hurting Izumi when they fought.  Which would probably be pretty hypocritical, given how all out he’d seen her go against their mutual friend, but he also wouldn’t put it past her.

“Izzy, lots of people treat her like she’s fragile.  I did. More than I should have.”  She jabbed a finger in his direction.  “So don’t go easy on her.  She wants a fight?  Give it to her.  Or you’re going to answer to me.”

Okay, he was not expecting that.  He didn’t claim to understand the full extent of the friendship between Izumi and Kirishima-Bakugo; he only knew how protective the latter was of Izumi.  That had certainly seemed to shift in the fight between the two.  A now, she was telling him to fight instead of trying to scare him off?

The coma theory continued to look more and more likely.  Coma dreams didn’t have to make sense.

“I can…  I can do that,” he said, finally finding his voice.

“Good,” Kirishima-Bakugo growled.  “Remember it, Newb.  I find out you went easy on her…”  She made a cutting gesture across her neck, then turned and left.

Isamu realized he’d been holding his breath and finally let it out, sucking in gulps of air greedily. That girl was going to be the death of him some day, he was sure of it.

But for now, he had to survive his next match.

[hoshees]

Hi there! Which of your mutuals do you associate with each member of Seventeen?

hiiii sorry it took me so long to get to this! i’m not really sure if this is supposed to be based on personality or bias so my answers are sort of a mix of both!

s.coups: @17dad - gen is one of the first svt blogs i followed when i got into them… she’s a go-to blog for seventeen content and in my view a major foundation of the fandom on tumblr!! very supportive of others, especially content creators. i feel like i always see her in my activity and it makes me smile! also really kind, just like s.coups (who is coincidentally her bias)!

jeonghan: @hannies - this is partly because of bias but also because zu and jeonghan are both extremely talented and beautiful people!! zu is really personable and open and isn’t afraid to talk about things that are important. she’s also very supportive of others and pays attention to details and what makes people’s work unique. 

joshua: @gayshuas (shuuvee) - both mega-talented cuties who have kind/gentle personalities but can also get a little wild–especially when using sarcasm/being silly. talking to kevin always makes my day a bit brighter! 

jun: @moonsjun - qarina is a china line enthusiast through and through and i love that!!! very intelligent, talented, helpful, and lovely inside and out!! also the power their selfies hold…… i envy it 

hoshi: @sooncheolie - one of my first hoshi stan mutuals and a bright, supportive presence! leader line enthusiast and great content creator too! stan talent, stan belle. 

wonwoo: @softwonwoo - jian is one of my favorite wonwoo stans! my first impression was soft and quiet but jian’s tags crack me up! a talented creator who deserves all the love. very encouraging to others too!

woozi: @wooziwish - chloe!!! i love her and jihoon so much!! i feel like she shares a wiseness beyond her years in a similar way to jihoon. very trustworthy and reliable and such a hard worker! i feel like chloe takes hardships and makes the most of them, which is something i really admire and want to emulate. a consistent friend!

dk: @sunnie-dk - amy and seokmin are both extremely talented and incredibly kind people. i feel like if seokmin had a tumblr he’d interact with everyone the same way amy does, always acknowledging the hard work people put into their content, pointing out details about what makes people/their content special, and being a constant supportive presence!! 

mingyu: @gyuhaoz (jinlix) - kelly is one of the NICEST people i’ve ever encountered. even when we haven’t talked much in a while she always greets me in a way that makes me feel valued! she shares a softness i see in mingyu and a joy and enthusiasm that i really admire!

minghao: @joshuahong - bea is SO TALENTED and has  a very distinctive style much like hao. i think they both appreciate beauty in similar ways and give thorough support/feedback. they’re also both very intelligent and kind!

seungkwan: @pledisanti - initially my first thought is about oranges and being music lovers!! :’) i feel like nom and seungkwan share a similar brightness and an unapologetic approach to things. 

vernon: @verngyu - i can’t think of deedee or vernon without thinking about COLOR. deedee is colorful in her work, her style, and her personality! i feel like both deedee and vernon take their time to make sure what they produce something that’s high quality and true to themselves. i think they both take that mentality and apply it to their worldview/relationships. 

dino: @bbaksu - one of my younger mutuals with a talent that is honestly UNPRECEDENTED. akemi’s creations are so inspiring and so prolific… i’m always in awe. very supportive and attentive as well, just like dino!

pls note these are only my impressions!! i’m not close with a ton of people on here so some of this is very surface.. but pls know i rly admire and appreciate each one of you! thank you all for making my time on this site a bit brighter!

[flatsuke]

2nd Gen Bidders - Naoko and Hayato

or, alternatively: what happened between Naoko and Hayato?

i plan on making a legit story/comic about this one day, but for now, have some bullet points lmao (sorry THIS GOT REALLY LONG)

@maidofstars @2bedroom-baddestbidderlove @bolt8826 @princessofspadesanddiamonds

How were they like before they started dating?

In the beginning, Naoko and Hayato disliked each other. Among all the people in their group of friends, these were the two that didn’t get along at all.

Naoko didn’t like Hayato because to her, he seemed like he didn’t care about anything or anyone but himself. Plus, he never seemed to work to achieve any goals or dreams. Since he was blessed with talent, he never had to practice/strive at all, in contrast to Naoko who always had to work hard.

Also, she never felt like he took her seriously.

On the other hand, Hayato didn’t like Naoko because he saw her as extremely high-strung and dull. To him, she always seemed to care too much about what other people thought. He felt like she was a mindless puppet of the Ichinomiya family who tried way too hard to impress her father.

He’d teasingly call her “Princess” as a way to make fun of her. She hated it. 

Basically, they really didn’t like each other.

How did they start dating?

Somewhere along the line though, things started to change.

One time though, Hayato visited the Tres Spades to lend some files to Kazuma.

What he didn’t expect to see was Naoko snap at Eisuke and Kazuma after being tired of playing second fiddle all her life. 

This was the first time Hayato ever saw her stand up for herself, and after that incident, he started slowly respecting her.

He teased her less and less.

Naoko noticed it and was curious, but nevertheless, she was happy that he was starting to see her as an equal.

Slowly, they start to hang out with each other a bit more.

In their time together, Naoko realizes Hayato actually does care about people and tends to help them in secret. He’s just really lowkey about it because he doesn’t want to attract attention or praise. 

Naoko starts to respect his unexpected humility.

Suddenly, she thinks “Princess” isn’t such a horrible nickname anymore.

Eventually, they both realize that the other isn’t actually as bad as they initially thought.

The others sorta notice that they aren’t fighting as much as they used to, but they don’t comment on it.

One time, Naoko was practicing ballet alone in the dance studio at the hotel, and Hayato was looking for her so they could hang out.

When he saw her dancing alone, poised with such graceful and controlled movements, completely lost in the music, his slowly budding physical attraction to her reaches an all-time high.

He realizes oh shit she’s fucking beautiful how did i not see this before?

After that, he thinks he should ask her out. After all, they both liked each other’s company, plus they both didn’t have anything to lose anyway. 

Still, he plans on keeping their relationship a secret because their friends might start treating them differently.

He eventually asks her out, and Naoko’s surprised by his offer (and also a bit confused as to why he wanted to keep everything a secret), but she says yes because she can’t deny her budding feelings for Hayato.

Naoko’s both excited and nervous because this is her first ever relationship, and it’s with Hayato, of all people. 

Even back when she still didn’t like him, she’s always found him very pleasing to the eye, but now that she’s actually dating him? Poor Naoko’s heart is gonna burst.

But she’s willing to learn how to be a good girlfriend because there’s nothing Naoko Ichinomiya won’t work hard at. 

Naoko tells MC all about it and MC’s happy for her daughter :’)

How were they like when they dated?

Hayato finds her eagerness to learn about relationships endearing, but to be honest, he was never expecting too much from this relationship in the first place.

All his past relationships were just commitment-free, casual flings. He doesn’t plan on getting too close to her or, god forbid, falling in love with her. 

All he plans to do is have a drama-free relationship with her and call it quits when they get tired of each other.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t plan on not doing his part. He’s a surprisingly attentive boyfriend, and Naoko’s surprised at how sweet he actually is? He still teases her, but there’s a softness in his eyes whenever he does.

He loves hearing her talk, but he never talks about himself and always dodges the topic whenever it’s redirected at him.

He always does this and Naoko’s a little sad because she wants to know more about him, but he won’t let her in.

How did they break up?

One time, he asks her out on a date. To Naoko’s surprise, he invites her to go clubbing, of all things. 

It’s so unlike serious, straightforward Naoko, but Hayato thinks that maybe she should start getting out of her comfort zone a bit. She reluctantly agrees.

Naoko and Hayato are still 18 and 19, respectively (which is below 20, the legal drinking/smoking age in Japan), but the bouncer lets them in because Hayato has some shady-ass connections lmao.

Naoko’s so intrigued and overwhelmed by everything because she’s never been to a club before. For the longest time, she’s been used to stiff dinners and dry business galas, so she’s completely lost. 

Hayato slowly lets her ease into the environment, encouraging her to let loose and have fun while secretly trying to shield her from creeps.

Naoko’s in her element when she starts dancing. Hayato joins in eventually and everything’s great.

They both step out to get fresh air.

Hayato looks and Naoko and sees her covered in sweat, with her perfectly-ribboned hair now messed up, and her smile bigger than it usually was. 

She’s happy — happier than she’s ever been in a long time because, finally, she feels free. The constraints of her family, her duty, and the pressure of being an Ichinomiya don’t mean anything here.

Hayato’s overwhelmed by how beautiful she looks at that moment that he kisses her.

She’s surprised at first because this is their first freaking kiss, and she kisses him back with the same fervor he kissed her with.

All they can think about is how good their lips feel on each other.

They separate eventually, and they’re both panting for air. 

There’s a slightly awkward air between them because holy fuck we’ve never actually kissed in all the time we’ve dated.

She gets a little bit shy and tells him thank you for the date and that she’d see him tomorrow.

When she leaves and Hayato’s alone, that’s when he realizes that he’s fallen for her hard, and he’s absolutely fucked because he broke his own rule of never falling in love.

Meanwhile, Naoko returns home and she’s practically on cloud nine.

Kazuma and Eisuke are wondering why she’s so happy.

MC, on the other hand, knows why :^) 

She and Naoko talk about the date the whole night, while the other two are confused.

On the other hand, Hayato arrives home completely shookt. 

He doesn’t even bother acknowledging Hikaru, who’s actually home for the first time in a while. Hayato just heads straight for his room.

Hikaru thinks something’s up, but he doesn’t want to pry into his son’s affairs.

He reflects on how secretive his son is, and Hikaru bitterly thinks that maybe it’s his fault Hayato’s been distant with him. His son is just so much like him, especially in the worst ways, that he’s regretting a lot of mistakes he did in raising Hayato.

The next day, Naoko and Hayato meet up.

Naoko’s excited to see him, but when she sees his conflicted expression, she’s slightly worried

He suddenly drops the bomb  — This isn’t going to work out. I think we should break up.

Naoko gets really dejected  — Why? Things were perfect last night...did I do something wrong?

Shefeels it’s her fault and her deep-set sense of inadequacy kicks in again as she starts to blame herself.

Hayato’s guilty when he sees this, but he still continues.

“I really think this relationship isn’t going to work. Everything was a fluke. Last night was...we were just lost in the mood, swept away by the heat of the moment. You deserve better than me, Naoko, I’m sorry.”

He tells her that, but in reality, he’s breaking up with her because he’s too afraid of intimacy. The thought of letting another person in his heart, letting them see all his thoughts, feelings, and weaknesses scares him, and he’s not sure he’s ready for that. He’d rather be alone than let anyone see him for what he actually is.

Naoko hears his explanation and she’s just...resigned. She tells him okay and she schools her expression into a smiling mask not-so-different from what her father wears when he makes business deals. She doesn’t bother fighting back or crying, opting instead to politely tell him thank you.

Hayato fucking regrets everything when he sees the look on her face, especially when he sees just how fake her smile is. He would much prefer it if she outright cursed him right there.

When Naoko gets home, she immediately heads straight to MC to cry in her arms.

"Was I not good enough, Mom?”

MC soothes and comforts her daughter. She can see a little bit of herself in Naoko and it breaks her heart to see her daughter so hard on herself.

Kazuma and Eisuke hear Naoko crying, so they rush in the room to see her being hugged by MC.

“Mom, why is Naoko crying?” “What’s going on, MC? Who did this? I’ll make them pay”

MC tells them it’s something between a mother and daughter and that they both should just be there for her. 

Kazuma and Eisuke want to question her further, but comforting Naoko is the priority.

The aftermath:

From then on, Naoko’s been treating Hayato clinically and professionally. She would never show anyone, Hayato especially, how hurt she really is.

She still hasn’t told anyone about it. Only MC knows.

Everyone in the group can feel this weird tension between them, but they all assume that they’re fighting again like before.

Hayato fucking regrets everything whenever he sees her. 

It’s even worse because he knows Tatsuya likes her, and he can see how earnest Tatsuya is with Naoko. 

He’s jealous, and he’s so tempted to take her back, but he knows he doesn’t deserve her. No one must ever know what he really feels.

And since then, Hayato has never called her “Princess” again.

[2whatcom-blog]

Sure, Extra Individuals Are Getting Plastic Surgical procedure. Right here’s Why

Dimension acceptance, physique positivity, and fats activism are actually a part of the cultural lexicon, but based on knowledge from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), practically 1 / 4 million extra beauty procedures have been carried out in 2018 than in 2017. And this is not a brand new pattern. The variety of folks getting beauty procedures has risen steadily over the previous 5 years. How are you going to #loveyourself but nonetheless pursue a beauty remedy to easy, shrink, or tuck a side of your look? In response to consultants, it is easier-- bodily, financially, and emotionally -- than you could assume.

What the info exhibits

In response to the ASPS, 1.eight million beauty surgical procedures have been finished final yr. The highest 5: Physique-sculpting procedures similar to buttock augmentations, which enhance the contour, dimension, or form of your butt, and thigh lifts, which cut back extra pores and skin and fats of your higher legs, additionally noticed a rise. 15.9 million minimally-invasive procedures have been additionally carried out in 2018. Of them, the preferred procedures have been: It is a numerous listing, however most of those seemingly share one factor in frequent. "Most patients seek procedures to feel like the best version of themselves," stated Dr. Lara Devgan, MPH, FACS, chief medical officer at RealSelf, a web site the place folks find out about beauty therapies, share experiences, and join with suppliers. "There's a magical paradox I'm helping people achieve: looking the same but better."

Why beauty procedures are on the upswing

Docs who carry out beauty procedures level to quite a few the reason why folks preach "Don't let anyone judge your appearance!" on-line but nonetheless shell out cash to alter their very own. Dr. Dennis Schimpf, FACS, writer of "Finding Beauty: Think, See and Feel Beautiful" and founding father of Sweetgrass Plastic Surgical procedure in Charleston, South Carolina, thinks cell telephones, selfies, and social media platforms have tremendously pushed the will for cosmetic surgery. "If you think back even 10 years ago, let alone 25, rarely would you see yourself in pictures," stated Schimpf. "Maybe a birthday or wedding, usually some type of special event. Now, with mobile devices and platforms, we're literally seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures of ourselves documenting things we don't like about our appearance, as well as the aging process." In different phrases, we're all below fixed scrutiny -- by ourselves. When Alan Matarasso, MD, FACS, first constructed his non-public follow in New York Metropolis over 25 years in the past, "I literally put in a back door because people didn't want to walk in the front." Matarasso can also be president of ASPS and a medical professor of surgical procedure at Hofstra College. "Now, with the rise of social media, people are in the recovery room, posting about what they went through and sending pictures to friends that show the bandage on their nose," he stated. "People are much more comfortable owning their self-care rituals -- including those that involve needles and knives," agreed Devgan. Since 2015, the entire variety of opinions on RealSelf has greater than doubled. Group customers usually put up earlier than and after pictures and share candid particulars in regards to the remedy they selected to have. "I also have patients come into my office and request to be on my Instagram feed, which is something we never would have seen 5 years ago," Devgan stated. She credit millennials for proudly owning self-improvement. They "feel that they don't have to apologize for their decisions, whatever they may be, and this attitude is making Gen Xers and baby boomers feel that they don't have to either," Devgan stated. In some unspecified time in the future within the not-so-distant previous, beauty cosmetic surgery was just for the uber-wealthy. In the present day, Schimpf's commonest affected person is normally "a working professional, often double-income family or a stay-at-home mom who now, after having children, would like to regain the physical appearance she once had," he stated. In different phrases, not the stereotypical housewife in Beverly Hills who "had her face done." Beauty procedures, each surgical and nonsurgical, "have also become more affordable," stated Schimpf. Loads of financing choices exist, from medical bank cards and private loans to fee plans supplied by physician's places of work. Medical health insurance usually solely covers beauty procedures resulting from a medical motive -- similar to breast reconstruction after a mastectomy. Technical procedures used throughout beauty procedures proceed to grow to be safer and extra dependable, stated Matarasso. So are the devices and merchandise medical doctors now have at their disposal. Nonsurgical therapies are an particularly quickly evolving enviornment. "Lasers didn't exist 10 years ago," famous Matarasso. And Botox was once the one line-smoothing neurotoxin in the marketplace. Now, three others exist, and a fourth choice, Jeuveau, was lately accredited by the Meals and Drug Administration and is poised to roll out this spring. So perhaps getting your lips plumped will not have advantages past rising your vanity. However "in certain circumstances, some cosmetic treatments can benefit your health," stated Matarasso. Botox, as an example, has been proven to assist with situations similar to power migraines, extreme sweating, Bell's palsy, and maybe even . Girls who select a breast discount usually get reduction from disc or again issues. And cosmetic surgery permits individuals who've gone by weight reduction surgical procedure to shed further pores and skin that may trigger extreme rashes and infections. "While we may not be curing cancer," Matarasso stated, "the impact and psychological benefit can be profound." In response to a 2019 survey by RealSelf/Harris Ballot, the highest cited motivations amongst those that've had or are occupied with a beauty remedy are "to improve self-esteem/confidence" and "to look as good as I feel." That is constant throughout each surgical and nonsurgical procedures -- and people causes have not modified since RealSelf launched a decade in the past. "Despite all of the changes in the technical aspects of aesthetic surgery, human desires and motivations remain the same," stated Devgan. "We all want to present our best selves to the world -- the ways we do that depend on who we are."

Recommendation for the cosmetically inclined

For those who're occupied with pursuing a beauty remedy for your self, make certain to: "And be honest," suggested Schimpf. "It has to be for you and the goal has to be to make you feel better about yourself. Having a procedure to impress someone else or make someone else happy will never make you happy." Sure, you possibly can go to a random dentist and have Botox finished with a Groupon, however why not rigorously analysis medical doctors first? Search care from a talented board-certified plastic surgeon who will prioritize your care. "You want to go to someone who can say 'This is best for you,' not 'This is best for me,'" stated Matarasso. "Plastic surgeons are trained as much as heart surgeons." In addition to beauty procedures, many additionally carry out advanced procedures like breast most cancers reconstruction and pediatric start defects. Do not assume any surgeon is aware of what you imply by "better skin" or "smaller breasts." "By understanding what you're seeing and hoping to improve, the surgeon can hopefully match a procedure that's safe, as well as one that meets your desired goals," Schimpf stated. Docs "aspire to an improvement over baseline, not a shortfall from perfection," stated Devgan. "Plastic surgery is medicine, not magic." And in case you #loveyourself, you ought to be completely tremendous with that. Read the full article

[kotorisaka]

170620 Hori Miona Real Sound Interview Part 3

Precautions: 1. Translation is NOT 100% accurate. Refer to my blog’s description before reading. 2. Sentences which context I’m not sure about is marked with (?). 3. Original article here.

Read the previous part here.

ーYou also have participated in previously released unit songs like “Kimi ni okuru hana ga nai” with Cinq Etoiles (Hori, Kitano, Terada, Nakada, Himeka); “Ano kyoushitsu” with Saito Asuka; “Atarisawari no nai hanashi” with Kasumi Kusa (Hori, Ikoma, Inoue, Hoshino). It’s true. In addition, I’m sorted out into each specification (?). And the fans… gods (laughs). Compared to senbatsu and under songs, I’m happy because each members would get more solo lines in unit songs. Plus, it’s exciting to guess what kind of song I’m gonna sing or who I’m gonna be with. I’m glad when I heard fans liking the unit I’m included, so I always cherish it every time.

ーAs with other idol groups too, unit songs in single or album are surprisingly popular among the fans in many cases. I understand them because I also like listening to a lot of AKB48 and SKE48’s unit and coupling songs. There’s a (unit) group’s unique or bizarre quality you can feel from the songs. It’s even better if oud favorite members gather there.

ーWe can’t easily watch it on TV music program, it’s something you can only see on concerts. In addition, there’s another new song “Settei ondo” sung by all 46 members this time. That song has a good line and harmony distribution. If it’s performed at concerts, I would like you to pay attention.

ーThe tune isn’t too bright, I think it’s Nogizaka-ish. I’m most glad when people say “it has a Nogi vibe” to any kind of song we sing, but when it comes to the group’s image as a whole, songs like “Settei ondo” has the right atmosphere. I feel that it isn’t too positive.

ーI understand. It’s not too negative nor serious (?). The impression of having a self-conflict matches the current members’ condition.

ーNogizaka46 is consisted of such people. It’s interesting that they can appear in such song. Anyway, to release an album once a year like this is extremely luxurious compared to the early days. That only means that the number of people who purely wants it is increasing. I think to buy all the single is difficult for students. I personally prefer to buy an album by saving pocket money rather than a single of my favorite artist every now and then. So, people who can’t afford many singles, on this occasion I want you to touch the world of Nogizaka.

ー"Manatsu no Zenkoku Tour 2017" is starting from July 1. Usually you will have the final show at the Meiji Jingu Stadium, but this year you will have the first show there instead. I hope it doesn’t rain like last year. But, it seems to be cooler compared to the end of August, isn’t it?

ーSurely. This is the first tour since the 3rd gen joined, and I’m looking forward to see what kind of content will it have. Even we’re having so much fun this time. I would like to challenge something new this year, so I guess it will be a little well-planned. If the guys on festival seating not fully enjoying it, the excitement can’t be generated to the rest of the crowd, so I’d like to have fun with everything. Also, this year my friends are coming to see me personally. I prefer not to have a lot of close friends that I haven’t invited anyone to concerts until now, but someone who I have been together with since kindergarten back home is now in Tokyo and we also have been hanging out since we met at the Coming of Age Ceremony long time ago. She will come to see this year and I want her to see me doing my best. I want to have a live that other people, including the fans, can enjoy happily. I want to be close with my fans, I think it’d be nice to get along with people who hold up [Miona] towel and fan, with those who support me.

ーWith the recent 1M record sales, Nogizaka46 will be fighting in a wider scale, not just in the idol scene from now. Does that consciousness seem to be growing inside yourself? Nogizaka46 is an idol group, but it’s bad to have “it’s because we’re idols” thoughts there. Yes, I entered showbiz to be an idol, but as I had various experiences I started wanting to be recognized in more places. I think all the members probably have the desire to be more needed too, like maybe just by having a notably good performance on stage. I have no choice but to work hard right now. Even if you’re watching other idols, when a member works hard to be recognized of their talents (from singing, acting, variety show, etc.), the group itself will also be more needed in the industry.

ーNogizaka46’s 6th anniversary is on August 21st. You’re entering the 7th year soon. What! I see… when in the 7th year, what was AKB48 on? Is it “Iiwake Maybe” (released in August 2009)?

ーThey was formed in December 2005, so that’s still far away. It was around the end of 2011, when “Everyday, Kachuusa” and “Flying Get” began hitting million record sales. Well then, I guess we have to work harder. We have to get public to know each member’s name more. The most well known members are still Maiyan, Ikomachan, or so. It’s gonna be a big problem for the future.