#this is just sooo much rambling but the fanbase is just me and the people in the comments section i'm pretending dont exist

[felikatze]

talking abt The Beach Episode of a webnovel i like cuz why not. sure man let's make The Beach Episode about the protagonist trying to cope with the trauma he endured in the previous arc. sure man

like goddamn i love The Beach Episode of the demon prince goes to the academy cuz it just. the contrast to the previous arc being the darklands arc

like in the previous arc reinhardt and ellen are in a harsh environment with few resources and these two schoolkids are forced to kill. yeah, this is a fantasy novel, but the previous darkest moment of the series was the beginning, where reinhardt fled the demon castle to not get killed, but even THAT didn't have any on-screen murders

when reinhardt and ellen wipe out the bandits in the badlands arc, the narration (reinhardt's narration, in first person) points out how disgusted and scared he is. he has to do this or fifty innocent people will be ruthlessly slaughtered. but he can hear the bandits scream. he can smell their blood and bodies.

the motion reminds him of cooking. take the knife, and make the cut.

the zombies don't help. taking those you've killed and killing them again.

ellen and him can barely sleep. after they return to temple, they have nightmares, constantly. they cling to each other because nobody gets it.

they're literally offered therapy by the school! the novel literally says this experience traumatized them, badly! and they refuse the offer because of course

they're kids!!! ellen is seventeen!! sure, she's stoic, and she's strong, but she was still scared. and she has to face that she was ready to lay down her life. just like her brother.

AND THEN COMES THE BEACH EPISODE!!!! let's go hang out at liana's beach house, everybody!!! let's go swim!!

like. oh my fucking god. the novel took the beach episode and made it abt how trauma alienates reinhardt and ellen from their peers.

like. let's make silly small talk! what did you do on your vacation? i heard you went to the darklands? how was it?

and ellen and reinhardt don't want to tell "look at me wrong and i'll cry" harriet about That Time An Insane Quasi-Immortal Zombie Almost Killed Them, so they lie about it and say nothing happened

because they wish nothing happened. the experience made them stronger, and they hate it. they went there of their own volition, and they regret it.

so everyone else is like, seriously? nothing happened?

everyone goes swimming but ellen can't enjoy the wonder of the ocean anymore. reinhardt sits out on most activities. he just wants to rest.

everybody else is not stupid, though. they can tell something happened! why are ellen and reinhardt so goddamn moody? why are they refusing to talk? harriet may be sensitive but she's smart. liana is a people person. just heinrich is an asshole

and like. you're gonna resolve this plotline of the two traumatized kids refusing to tell anybody anything by having everyone get drunk and have an asshat yell at reinhardt for being moody despite "nothing having happened?" bruh

ellen really deserved to snap and threaten to kill heinrich. casually invalidating all her recent trauma!! great!! of course she's super mad!!

i just. hrgjth. i could go on but i was just so pleasantly suprised that the series actually went and addressed how traumatizing experiences affect the characters in casual life. something else i'm thinking abt is how charlotte is said to be a picky eater, because nothing is ever gonna be as delicious as the one biscuit she ate while she was starving

a fantasy isekai webnovel making the protag do fucked up shit and then dedicating the beach episode to just. pointing at him + ellen going look at that bitch he got ptsd now!!!

[anonbinaryweirdo]

HI !! i feel like we shld get to know each other more outside of what weve already told each other sooo-

im filipino !! sometimes i use taglish (tagalog + english) when speaking <3 m a lot more fluent in english tho ;; i loveee all shades of blue, specifically periwinkle (its so pretty……..), n i also love pokemon, kny, n mha :3 (rlly hate their fanbases tho. i have. words. about them.) i have several phobias, some of them pretty weird to have as a 16y/o 😭 its uh,,, stairs, dolls, tight spaces, tiny holes, clowns, darkness n the smallest problems cause me a lot of distress… (yesterday i couldnt use spotify abroad for more than 2weeks n i was panicking for like 15 minutes until i was able to change my location 😭) i watch a lot of matpat (namely film theory n game theory), n coryxkenshin !! a few poketubers here n there (mandjtv, patterrz n pm7) but these two r who i watch mainly <3

omg

i only know English BUT I'm learning German :D (I haven't seen Duolingo in months but i can pick up on things fast)

my attention span and memory is... phew. I also tend to have a short fuse but I'm very patient and I can control myself I promise pls don't run away from me. also my first instinct when someone does something to upset my friend is to get physical (and if it's through screen I can argue for hours. one of my teachers+ bestie said I could run for something (governor, president, etc.. I forgor)

green. i love greens I love them all sm. I like earthy colors but green <333

i curse... a lot :D

i also watch a lot of matpat !! I'm also an 8bitryan (my comfort YouTuber fr) and Kubz Scouts enthusiast 🫶🏽

i also like kny and mha !! Nezuko n Kaminari my loves <3 (t.. the fanbases.......//neg)

I'm typically calm in situations most of the time, save for when I'm not going feral and committing arson on this very blog

I'm not scared of much? probably adults that are over 25 but other than that nothing IMMEDIATELY comes to minspiders.

I use endearments a lot !! despite being the (so far as I know) second youngest of all my mutuals I call (as long as I know they're comfortable with it) a lot of them "baby," chances are I'll use platonic endearments on you too out of habit so lmk if this makes you uncomfortable <3

i love kids 🫶🏽 I helped raise a few and I was/am a babysitter,, love them just as much as I love dogs

i like. i like to ramble and rant (as you're seeing rn). don't let me find out we have a similar interest AND you allow rambling I'll go crazy real fast. speaking of I hyperfixations I fixate on a lot of things at the same time sosjksj(rihh now its mainlty Hamilton and Genshin)

i can't remember much (like. birthdays, names, dates, or anything you might have told me two seconds ago. i probably zoned out or it just flew past my head) but I do (try to) remember small details about people :D

I am. not on any medication for adhd so I go insane on here. a lot. my thoughts are js.. if I think it I say it and THEN think about what I've said AFTER I say it and bang my head against the table in shame

i like collecting leaves

i also like women but I mean I guess men are attractive too

[rasp-passion-tea]

A small (big) update/catch-up post for anyone curious on where I've been and where I'll be:

*rides in on a skateboard with sunglasses and a mocktail in hand* yo

The past couple of years, I've been pretty M.I.A. I'd feel bad if I'd have any remaining folks who cared about me are left in the dark (as much as that anxious part of me will try to convince myself otherwise, I did build genuine connections on here 🥰). There also just might happen to be old inactive friends of mine who might randomly wonder where that random raspberry girl on tumblr ended up only to come back to see that she might've disappeared,,, or been sold on the dark web 🧐. There could also be any eventual new people to our small community to wonder that. So y’know what 🤔 I'll keep a little post up top so people can know (also, it'd be nice to give a speech once more to my imaginary audience c:)

With that said, I'll ramble about sum up under the cut:

So, where ya been, Rasp?

Well, to start things off, I'm doing really good :D looking back, I might've given people the vibe I was majorly depressed and that might've woried some people 🥲 it was never anything major, but I was still dealing with some teenage girl stuff, and this blog and ship and the fanbase I joined because of it became my mini safe spot. Simply put, I didn't have any sources to be able to properly word that to. I have that now and feel much more grounded and capable, and that's all I could've wanted years ago :)

You might've already guessed, but I've been busy lately, with adult stuff specifically. Yup, the fandoms resident little sister is grown now. She's working!! And she's in college!!! Wow!!1! I HAVE BASICALLY NO MORE FREE TIME!!!!!!!11! :DDD That, and a bunch of other reasons have made it harder to focus on one thing at a time, which is why I've been pretty scarce on this app, and online on general.

Soooo how ya been then, Rasp?

Uhhh... good question. Fine, I suppose 😗 kinda just existing right now. I have a feeling a lot of that has to do with me being unmediacted at the moment, so I haven't been able to do a lot of the things I love the past few years. Sooo... if you're wondering why I never posted those fics I teased in the past, that's why 🥲 I have a feeling I will one day, though. Just a matter of time. Speaking of, let's go into my last point:

Does that mean you're abandoning this account, Rasp?? ☹️

Mmm not quite. I've been popping in every couple of months, and I might keep doing that. But I definitely won't be as active as I used to. Couple reasons:

I mentioned a lot of reasons why, but I've been. Very busy 🥲 being online hasn't been at the forefront of my mind lately, so I've decided to not stress about it right now. Like I mentioned before, I'd like to come back to all this one day, but that's not now. Speaking of:

As much as I feel bad saying this, once the show ended, the ship and its fandom got really quiet. For me that makes it harder to participate in things if there's not a large community. I've joined other fandoms cuz of that, but not like this one... this fandom was special...... *looks off into the distance*

Bonus reason that ties into the last one: a lot of my friends are inactive with me not having any way to reach out, and that makes meeee very sadddd 😔 So if anyone I've met happens to see this:

...heyyy 🤪 I hope you got something out of this post,,,, like I said before, I'm unmedicated and have been very scatterbrained recently, but I tried to make this as cohesive as possible 😭 guess to end this off I'll link some other socials:

My side blog: rasp-passion-two

(Also pretty inactive on there, but if you wanna see what I've been into lately, that's the spot (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ I'm pretty sure I never ended up sharing it fsr lol)

My discord: rasp-passion tea#5877

(I'm not active in servers anymore cuz I think I grew out of using discord, but if you wanna chat? Let's chat (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ we could also do it on here but vsiwjsisvqisgwu)

...that's it lol. I think I'm kind of an enigma on here now, but thats alright. Uhhhh not sure how to "close" this off, so I guess I'll just say: if you read this whole thing?

🤍🖤🩶

^me rn

I'll see you all when I see you, but I'll always be here!!

~Tayah, AKA Rasp (and yes, it's pronounced "Razz" 😤👋🏽)

[fantasmafanta]

chipspeech rambles so i dont explode

hi this is prolly gonna be a long post that makes no sense srry i just need to brainrot dump. but most important thing if ur not weird and you like chipspeech PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE dm me here so i can give you my discord or instagram where i am actually active more ahhhhhh.

ok anyway blue robots woohoo. these little bastards have been stuck in my brain for like a month now and its just gotten worse. the cool thing about chipspeech is it like doesnt entirely go with the rest of the vocal synth/vocaloid fanbase but rather than being its own seperate things its like this neat little extension of it in like multiple ways. it not only is just a really cool software that tried a lot of new cool things that we dont really see with like vocaloid and synthv and stuff but it also kinda shows the history of how we got to the point of modern vocal synth software in a cool way! even if you dont dive into it like i have you still get the basic “oh well voder was made in like 1939 and it had to be operated by hand how cool” and like through chipspeech you kinda get to see the evolution of how we got to where we are now and i think that thats really neat. 

but then if youre a nerd like me you get to have a ton of fun diving into all of the history and cool old tech stuff. liking chipspeech has made me find a new interest in old computers/tech/software/videogames do i fully understand how they work? hell no! do i love looking at them and having them explained to me by some dude on youtube? hell yeah!! and like its just so cool to go in and research the machines/softwares that inspired the chipspeech bots because even though its difficult sometimes you get to see these advances made and how each one differs from each other in how it was made, how it was operated, its function, etc. and thats SO. FREAKING. AWESOME. like dude have you seen the video of one of the tests for the votrax?? (the one that bert gotrax is based on) if you havent basically it was made so that people with disabilities so they couldnt talk could have conversations over the phone. they tested it by trying to order a pizza using only the software. it took like 3 tries before someone took them seriously and they got the pizza. and the moment they were like “yeah deliver that to the msu computer center” i got so excited cuz that just felt so badass!! like put yourself in their shoes, its 1974, you’re testing your new speech program, and it finally worked. a room full of people, a camera, a news broadcast (iirc), theyre all watching you struggle to order this pizza and then you finally do it and get to tell them to deliver it at the lab you just proved your intelligence to and fehjvddsujfs i cant explain my thinking but DUDE its just so cooooooolllllll!!!!!!! 

but like yeah i need to rant cuz in one of my lovely friend’s words i need to “GET THESE QUEERS OUT OF MY BRAIN!!” (a silly thing my irl said) also like i love the way the voices sound. like yeah sometimes i have no clue what theyre saying but thats not the point of chipspeech!! like vosim has such a nice buzzy voice and like dee no matter their range just sounds so.... great. i dont even know how to describe it it just makes my brain sooooo happy. like sam to most people would be like static weird... idk man but i loooove the staticky sounds theyre just so neat. but its so hard to find nice chipspeech covers/songs. luckily im starting to find how to discover chipspeech stuff but its still so difficult :(

and like fanart and general fan content toooooo how do i find it?? i think the answer is i dont but that makes me sad. cuz the twitters are no longer active and its never been very popular so it doesnt seem like we get much. and literally the only discord server for chipspeech is run by... not-so-great (from what ive seen/heard) people in the fanbase. even if the main accusations arent true it still seems to be a safe space for proshippers which makes me feel icky sooo. help. 

anyway im not re-reading through this so like sorry its so long and makes no sense i just need to get chipspeech thoughts out. if you like it PLEASE TALK TO ME!!!! im losing my mind ahhh

[notroosterbradshaw]

Hi lovie! 💕💕💕

From the fic writer ask list, I wanted to know:

🕯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

Since I recently messaged you!! I have this habit to message writers I admire because I just really want them to know how their work had an impact on me!!I've gotten very different reactions from them, yours was by far the sweetest one thank u sooo much 😭💞 As a very talkative person I felt seen KSKWKSKSKDK thanks for putting up with my rambling 🤝🏼💓

howdy nyn!

🕯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

I love hearing from anyone here, except maybe the bots hah I love communicating with writers myself whether it's through an ask or reblogging their amazing fics. I love seeing things I've reblogged, especially other writers, and knowing I'm helping them get themselves out there. I think I've got a decent-sized fanbase for a short amount of time and limited fics, so why would I not reblog other in return? I don't understand why people would be uncomfortable about that.

I just don't engage in fandom bullshit. I see some of the most trivial trash asks on here and it's just exhausting. Delete and block was created for a reason. Some people are happy to engage in fandom hate, thick-skinned, and laughing at their anons. Cool, but if it is distressing you, you must take action to ensure your experience on social media works for you and only you.

My inbox is always open, messages too. And you should see me when I get a goddamn comment reblog. Stop by anytime x

[enevera]

I,Z

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

idk about any like whole fandoms but ive developed a severe dislike of abt half of the jjk fanbase and like mosttt of the csm fanbase. plainly, i think they are wrong abt the characters and plot and i dont like them <3

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go!

the hellhole i was in for a week a bit ago where i was back to a ship i used to hyperfixate on but like i am SOOO picky and so 400 fics become 200 becomes like 50 and part of it is me and part of it is some people are freaks but like,, i do miss those characters and that ship. i just love when shits complicated and awful and no one has any fun and everyone dies and/or loses all their friends bc they do kinda suck yeah. beloveds to me they suck sooooo much i would say i hope they kill each other but yeah canon did that already sooo

ask game!!

[gayspock]

you mentioned in some of your tags that you don’t know what the fanon/general fandom opinions were. from what I’ve seen (I’m also a new fan) vi/caitlyn is pretty big (my guess would be because of how blatant it is), however, with...idk how to put this? average LOL fans think it was rushed and don’t like it. tumblr, of course, is into it tho. jayce/viktor is also huge. a lot of people seem to resonate with jinx and silco’s familial relationships. I’ve also seen a lot of people in the fandom not recognize the ableism in Viktor’s arc, which is worrying. if you don’t care to spoil yourself on where these character’s arcs will go in future seasons, I suggest you look up the LOL lore of: vi, ekko, viktor, and jayce. some are just...a slap to the face. anyways, have a good day/evening.

OHH okay omg (nods) tysm for a brief little insight, bc i was looking in the tag a little but it feels like tumblr's tag algorithm is a lot worse thn wht it was even before. unless the fanbase on here is smaller than wht i thought or sth HELP OK lemme dump this reply under a read more bc im rambly pjhpsrgjssfpgs

but a lot of tht hm? i THINK thats just about wht i expected - so no big surprises.

i dont blame the average LOL fans- a sentence i never thought i'd say skpgjsp - bc i can deffo see a lot of the places where it was like..eh. yknow. i said it myself. it feels a little undercooked in some places, and seemed more paced to keep it fast and snappy. like they kinda like they really could have spent more time on a lot of things- and so i presume tht'd be rllly frustrating if u were deeper into the pre-existing lore.

then regarding these little guys.... yeh i think i heard abt vi/caitlyn bein p big. :3 i still stnd by not rlly giving a damn (HELP, thats said with love i prommy)- but you kno nonetheless im happy tht ppl are enjoying a wlw relationship..... like its good they arent being sidelined by ppl. even if im not into tht scene i'll just nod from a distance.

BUT, THOUGH DO YOU KNOW WHATS SO, SO FUNNY? like ok. viktor and jayce obviously, like, occurred to me- but i also just kinda. kept pushing it to the back of my head? does that make any sense? like- jesus like. WELL DUH THEY'D HAVE SOME TUMBLR GIRLIES GOING WILD... silly me... and its like i feel like i sorta figured tht'd be going down, but it was in my peripherals out of clear sight HELP. wasnt helped by the fsct they kept separating the besties in the latter half- which i mean, obviously tht was bc of them drifting away frome ach other and stuff, but oh sniff sniff im emo nonetheless bc i rlly loved their relationship... 💖 LIKE i think its just in my head i kkinda just . i have no idea i never labelled them as anything i just kept jokingly mentally referring to viktor as his little bestie with a heart above the i, keeping them fun an ambiguous whilst medara gets her shit rock'd by him HELP PGJS[0JDH[PGKBPSD.

but also, on the subject of viktor- ah... yeah. :/ i wasnt sure if tht'd be sth tht'd be talked abt and.... the more it rlly became apparent, the more i hoped it wouldnt just be glossed over but . also ik tht happens a lot with things like this. god. i do hope tht those conversations are had at some point, more openly- like,granted im probs not gonna be knocking abt the communities on here tht much (and even if i was, im not sure how much i could really input into that?!) but yeah. thats a shame. 3:

and hm.... you know i might look into it. just bc theres some guys here im GENUINELY pretty into and idk if the show itself will fully give them their dues, even if it doesnt diverge- bc im INTERESTED... i love viktor. and ekko. and vi. sooo badly. and im super curious abt jayce. so help. i might go spoil myself now (bc in truth ive never been tht mad abt spoilers irpdgphjdhj and idk how much it counts here anyways).

THANK U FOR THE LITTLE THOUGHTS ANON. ITS NICE TO HAVE ANY JUMPING OFF POINTS TO CHATTER AWAY. i will have a good ... norning... <3 its like 2am here omg

[murasaki-murasame]

Rambling about YoI’s sales data [and also LGBT representation in anime and how rare/unsuccessful it tends to be]

I know that there’s other people in the YoI fandom keeping up with and talking about the sales figures for the series, so I might just be repeating what other people are already saying, but according to someanithing.com [which is a really convenient blog for if you want some info on anime sales data in general], the sales average of the series stands at 62,666 [as of us getting info on volume five’s second week of sales]. Which is pretty astounding on multiple levels. Someanithing has a really convenient list of anime since 2000 that have gotten a 10k+ sales average [ignoring data from rereleases of series], and Yuri on Ice currently stands at sixth place, right above Nisemonogatari, and right below Osomatsu-san [which are at about 60.7k and 66.7k respectively].

Rest of my thoughts under the cut because holy shit this got REALLY long and only the first few paragraphs really specifically talk about sales data, but yeah the above paragraph is the gist of it, and the rest is just me rambling about really specific stuff, and wider anime fandom/industry stuff [emphasis on ‘rambling’, haha]. ALSO near the end I give my personal thoughts on how happy I am to see a show with a queer protagonist/central romance be so successful, and how notably against the norm it is, AND I shamelessly plug the manga Shimanami Tasogare, which I recommend to pretty much anyone looking for more LGBT representation in this general sphere.

Given that v6 has the whole Welcome to the Madness thing going for it, I expect it to get to at least 60k in sales lifetime, and I’m pretty sure that the Oricon half-yearly rankings at the start of July will give us a comprehensive idea of how every volume’s sold by then, which will effectively boost our data on the earlier volumes, so I can totally see the series maintaining a 62k+ average, maybe even a 63k average. Which would be kinda agonizingly close to Osomatsu-san’s number, but I don’t really think it has room to get quite that high, sadly. Oh well.

Also, in case anyone cares, there’s been some vague debates over the last few months about if Love Live Sunshine would be able to beat YoI, sales average-wise, but that seems increasingly unlikely. Since LLSS is currently at a 54.3k average, and would thus need to add, like, 40-50k copies to get close to YoI. I was curious to see if LLSS would have been able to do that, but we’re a good way into it’s second event ticket application period, and it hasn’t really gotten a noticeable boost at all. So yeah. With just a few weeks left until the event tickets become basically meaningless, I don’t exactly think it can add quite that amount in time to beat YoI. Of course this entire comparison is meaningless because they’re completely different series, and it’s kinda impossible to compare YoI’s fairly standard two event tickets to LLSS having five. This is mostly just something I’ve been looking at from afar as it’s panned out. I’m not trying to be weirdly snarky and hostile toward LLSS for “““losing”““ to YoI, and I don’t want anyone to use this data to be rude to that show and it’s fanbase, and gloat about YoI’s success.

But it IS still worth noting that the main reason I was intrigued by the comparison between these two shows is because they’ve been fighting for the spot of the number one best-selling show [by sales average, at least] of 2016 [I’m counting Osomatsu-san as a 2015 show]. So, with how it seems to be about to ‘beat’ LLSS, that also means that YoI will pretty much become the best-selling anime of 2016. Of course, there’s a looooot more to it than that because physical media like this is slowly declining in importance to a show’s financial success, and of course there’s aspects like how the animation studio might not be getting as much of a profit as this might imply because of their placement on the production committee [I forget where Mappa is on the committee but I think it’s near the bottom] but still. You all get what I’m trying to say. The bottom line is that YoI is incredibly, incredibly successful, and that’s wonderful. [Though it’s also worth noting that the merchandise and soundtrack and so on for this show are ALSO selling incredibly well, so bringing up the decline of physical media and whatnot is slightly less relevant here than if this was the sort of franchise where ONLY the BDs were selling well. And this is also obviously the most financially successful show Mappa has made, so even if they’re low on the committee you can probably say as a rule of thumb that they’ve gotten more from this show than their previous ones].

Back on the topic of YoI’s #6 spot on the ‘anime from 2000 to present with a 10k+ sales average’ lost, it’s pretty exciting that it’s so incredibly high, since it’ll probably maintain a top ten spot for, well, pretty much ever, considering how rare these sorts of successes are getting. LLSS is the only thing from last year that has any competition with it on that list, and that’s probably not going to surpass it. The only things, in terms of TV anime, I can see potentially surpassing YoI would be Granblue Fantasy, Osomatsu-san S2, and maaaybe LLSS S2 if that can have some kind of a notable sequel boost which I REALLY doubt, but you never know. Osomatsu-san S2 is also slightly doubtful but at least that wouldn’t need to surpass it’s respective first season to pass YoI. We’ll see how that turns out when that comes out, I guess. Granblue Fantasy is also a distinct possibility as a ‘challenger’ of sorts. It’s at least gonna be the best-seller of this current season, and will probably be in the running for best-selling TV anime of 2017. I have absolutely no idea how to predict anything with this anime though since it seems disproportionately successful at Amazon compared to other places and so estimates are out of whack for it, and also because each volume is bundled with a different sort of code, or some such, related to getting special items/characters/etc in the GBF mobile game. So it’s really hard to tell how that’ll affect things. Especially since I’ve heard some people in that fandom say that the rewards aren’t really equally interesting, so there might be some heavy fluctuation in sales between volumes. Possibly. Which would throw off estimates even more. So basically who the hell knows with that series. For reference, v1 has, as of two weeks of sales, sold a bit under 45k. But yeah that doesn’t really mean that much just yet. It’s still a bit lower than I expected given it’s kinda absurd popularity at Amazon, and it’s sorta amusing but meaningleses to compare it to YoI v1′s week one sales of 50k, but still. [[Again, I’m not trying to stir up any fandom wars of whatever here, and I don’t want anyone else doing such a thing either. There’s no reason to get mad at these shows or their fandoms if they sell well, or to be condescending and petty to them if they don’t]]

And since I’m on a roll of making interesting but mostly meaningless comparisons, it’s definitely noteworthy to compare YoI’s 62k average to Free S1′s 29.1k sales average. Like, wow. For reference, Free S1 is the current second best selling sports anime post-2000, unless we count Girls und Panzer as the second place at roughly 36.3k. But I don’t think most people count that as a sports anime sooo yeah. I’ll focus more on the Free comparison. It’s still REALLY surprising to me that we’re looking at around about a 110% increase in sales average between the two. That’s a pretty huge gap between first and second place on the sports anime genre list. It’s mostly surprising to me because Free always seemed like such an insurmountable juggernaut of a franchise. It still IS super successful and influential, of course, but still. For some reason it still surprises me to see YoI sell so much MORE than it. Of course Free also has it’s own second season plus two currently-airing compilation films and an upcoming sequel movie [I think] to even things out, but you get what I mean. It’s an interesting comparison to make. It really puts into perspective how big of a success YoI is. It’s sort of bonkers.

ALSO I want to just let myself gloat a little bit about how meaningful it is to me to have a show with a queer protagonist [a male one, in particular] AND a queer romance as the sixth best-selling TV anime since the year 2000 because HOO BOY. Sweet vindication. It’s always good to get shows like this that help prove that queer protagonists/romances aren’t always a death sentence to something’s success/popularity/mainstream appeal, even if these sorts of things, particularly in anime, still feel a little too few and far between for my liking. It’s sort of depressing looking at that big sales average list and seeing the huge lack of queer characters, especially in the protagonist sense. It’s not like there aren’t ANY, they’re just . . . pretty damn rare. Especially with male characters, where other than YoI it looks like we basically just have, uh . . . Tiger and Bunny and then Hetalia? Which I think are both way more vague about their queer representation, protagonist-wise, but I haven’t watched them so I won’t touch upon them. And obviously there’s a lot of other shows on the list that I haven’t seen, but most of them are popular enough that I have enough of an awareness of them to know that their protagonists are straight. For completeness’ sake, in terms of queer female protagonists we at least have Madoka. I think Lucky Star counts as well [and I THINK that the first MariMite season is just barely on the list???]. I’m less familiar with shows with queer female protagonists, though, so if anyone else knows more on the topic than I do, I’d love to get your input. It’s also worth noting that Revolutionary Girl Utena isn’t on this list at all because it came out before 2000, so it MIGHT have sold at least 10k but I don’t think we have any data on that at all.

I just think it’s sorta interesting, and depressing, to look at this sorta thing. It definitely makes me appreciate YoI even more. Especially since the queerness of it’s lead characters was obviously a noteworthy element of it’s success. But it’s worth noting that that’s by far not the ONLY reason for it’s success. At all. I mentioned the mentality that “““gay stuff”““ can’t sell well, but there’s definitely also a widespread mentality of ‘YoI just sold well because it’s about hot gay guys!’ [also throw in a generous heaping of misogynistic uses of words like fujoshi, and an almost complete passive erasure of the queer male portion of the fanbase for good measure!], which bugs me a lot, and looking at this list shows exactly why. Focusing specifically on stuff about male characters [since, again, that’s what I’m more familiar with], YoI is, as said, one of probably less than five shows to have sold more than 10k on average in the last 16+ years that have queer male protagonists, and the other ones seem even LESS focused on romance elements than even YoI. I don’t think that there’s a single BL/yaoi genre anime on that entire list. Which is odd because I thought that Junjou Romantica hit around 10k but I can’t find it on the list so I guess it didn’t. But that’s by far the most successful BL/yaoi TV anime out there, so . . . yeah. Really puts into perspective this weird idea people have that a show having gay characters in it is some sort of a ticket for immediate success. I mean, I sure WISH it was, but the world isn’t so kind, sadly :V [[also anyone who wants to act like that’s how things work should really look at how bad/forgettable the sales of shows like Shin Sekai Yori, No.6, Samurai Flamenco, HaruChika, etc etc, were]]

But yeah my point is that you really can’t brush aside YoI’s success as just ‘well of COURSE it sold well because FUJOS amirite???’ because, uh, no. I mean, there’s definitely stuff to be said about how female otaku in general seem to be more and more willing to actually buy anime they like rather than male otaku, and there are definitely shows that do “““pander to fujos”““ or however the hell you want to phrase it, but YoI’s success isn’t somehow commonplace. As both a sports show AND as a show with a queer male romance in it, it’s in a class of it’s own, and it really is a mix of so many different aspects that lead it to being so successful. It’s not just one single thing.

Even though the queer romance is obviously just a single facet of YoI as a show, I still hope it can serve as an inspiration for other creators, and for the anime industry as a whole. I hope it can help give support to the idea that you really can have this sort of story without it being dead in the water. You can take risks, and they can pay off, even if there’s no guarantees. So if this can, down the track, inspire more shows like this in general, especially in the specific sense of ‘non-BL/yaoi anime with queer protagonists’, then that’d be wonderful.

Basically I’m just desperately hoping that Shimanami Tasogare gets an anime adaptation at some point, haha. If you want a manga with some astounding LGBT representation, READ IT, SERIOUSLY. It’s one of only a tiny handful of manga I’ve read that actually specifically addresses how homophobia ‘works’ and how integrated into society it is, and how it affects LGBT people. But I won’t gush about it too much here because this is more of a YoI post.

[kveom]

one of the reasons i didn’t stan any kpop groups before seventeen was because the competitive nature of the kpop industry is just.. not my thing. getting views, sales, competing on music shows— i just feel for the groups that don’t have as big a fanbase as other groups or groups that just don’t get the views, sales and wins. it scares me that they’ll think it mean they aren’t as talented or hard working as the other groups-- which is not true at all.

the rest is under the cut because it’s just me being a mess

i understand that this is why the fans and groups have such a close connection, not like in western music, and that connection really is so amazing to me. it shows how dedicated fans are in ensuring their group’s success, and in return the groups work sooo hard for their fans. but i’m a really emotional person. if people i love are feeling down, i feel it as much as they do. and right now, hearing people saying that this might be a disappointing comeback for seventeen, i can’t help but think how they’re going to be feeling if it does end up being that and my mood is just dropping (like a gyro drop) by the second. so when i said i wasn’t ready for my first comeback, i meant that 100%. i try to say to myself ‘don’t worry, as long as i know how awesome they are and all the other carats know how awesome they are’ but that’s not what it’s all about in kpop and i get so :(((

so to sum this ramble up, i know it seems like i’ve given up on this comeback already but that is in noooo way true. i’m just a worrier-- i worry before something happens, when something happens and after something happens (so yes i’m a wreck). i still believe that our boys will make this a glorious comeback, but if it’s not what they wanted i hope they will never doubt how amazing, hard working, creative and loved they are and that this comeback or the amount of views and whatever doesn’t change that nor dictate their success. our self-producing idols produce their own path after all (¬‿¬). also, at the end of the day, what makes me believe in them 200% is the fact that they have each other. oh boy, do they. to cheer each other up, to make each other work harder or just to be there. WITH COUPS AS THEIR LEADER. they’re worth me getting this emotionally invested in (no more groups though-- svt will never get out but no other groups) and i’m so proud of them already :’)


sorry, i just had to say this even if no one reads it

[meswiftiesince06-blog]

ME!

Hi guys! (I literally have zero followers..) Still going to come on here and post the easter eggs, theories, and thoughts/feelings I have about Taylor Swift’s new song ME! featuring Brendon Urie. I’m sure everything has been said before but just for my own need to get this out into the world, here we go!

1. The white and pink snake. Obviously a reference to her previous persona from reputation. I love love love that it’s white and a pale pink. Just goes to show this album/era she is stepping into the light.

2. Explodes into butterflies. I love this new symbol she’s embracing this era mostly because of the symbolism behind what it is to be a butterfly. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Change. New beginnings. Blooming. Light. Beauty. Blah blah blah. You get it. So the butterfly goes through 4 stages before it becomes who it's meant to be. Egg stage, larva stage (caterpillar), pupa (cocoon), and full adult hood (butterfly). So during the pupa stage, it appears from the outside that the caterpillar is just resting but in fact this is the stage that it changes the most. So in reference to Taylor...she was off the grid for what seemed like a lifetime. To us and the world, looked like she was resting, nesting, hiding. But in fact, she was in the most beautiful part of her life, METAMORPHOSIS!! She was growing into her true self during that time, falling in love with herself, her music, and the people that surrounded her. Wow. ALSO the butterflies are all in the design of the mural in Nashville, right?? Love that. Detail, Taylor, I seeee you.

3. French fight. UMMMM this totally took me by surprise. Love how she sounds speaking french. Not really sure why she decided to fight in another language. There has to be some significance to that. What could that be?? GAH.

4. The Christmas tree. This could be significant for two reasons. One being she grew up on a Christmas tree farm--could very well be going back to her roots, nostalgic album to come? Orr second, there’s a line in ME! that says “livin in winter, I am your summer” now the way I see this, Christmas is in winter, but her album might be coming in summer of this year?? My bet.....July 13th 2019. I’ll get to that later. 

5. The chicks wall. Paintings of chicks with sunglasses. Also sign of a summer album... And a painting of the actual Dixie Chicks. Definitely thinking we are getting a collab track with the Dixie Chicks. I will fucking DIE. Man oh man if that theory is true....whew. That would be awesome.

6. Palm trees in the windows of the hall. Okay, as I’m writing this, I’m playing pausing playing pausing the music video so I can catch whatever clues she's leaving. Don't blame me ;) anyway, so I just noticed there are freaking palm trees in the window!!!! Couldn’t count them..but they’re significant for sure. 

7. 13 clouds. Counted the clouds when she walked down the staircase (same staircase from the iconic LWYMMD music video).

8. Pink phone reference. Sooo remember when the old Taylor couldn’t come to the phone? Why? Oh, cause she’s dead. Well this has to be a stab at that. And it’s pink. Maybe this is Taylor’s way of telling us, new phone, who dis?

9. Snake clouds. This makes me think of Out of the Woods, where the monsters turned out to be just trees. The snakes turned out to be just clouds, harmless clouds. Something she could come out of, brush off.

10. Shadows in the window. SOOO this might be a stretch and it might be nothing but as she walking out the front door of this building there are three shadows that appear on the floor--her own and two on either side of her that almost look like they’re dancing outside..again this might be nothing but it caught my attention.

11. Rainbow brick road. I said this in my previous post. I feel a lot of Wizard of Oz vibes in this entire video. Instead she has a rainbow brick road, genius. Just goes to show her love for the LGBTQ community once again. There are rainbows all over this video, and colors galore. Just reminds me of Dorothy and her travels. Also, she referenced herself as a witch in the last album “they’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one.....so light me up” 

12. Colored briefcases. If you count the briefcases around her head right before she gets into the chorus, there are 7....7 briefcases. This is her 7th album. Makes sense. But she is holding up 10 fingers...so July 10th? I’m still sticking with July 13th. 7th album, 7th month, and the obvious 13! Only time will tell!!

13. Pale yellow suit. Taylor mentioned in an interview that this song is about embracing yourself as you are, as an individual and being confident in a relationship to not be insecure. "I’m the only one of me......You’re the only one of you” and notice she is the only person wearing this pale yellow colored suit. Just stands out to me. Also, just this whole scene screams BUSINESSSSS. POWER BABY!!!! 

14. Clock set on 8:30. A lot of people are saying this might be her release date for the new album so August 30th. But I’m stuck on July 13th. Idk.

15. Brendon’s Mary Poppins scene. Not sure what the umbrellas signify. But it makes me think of the 1989 world tour with the light up umbrellas and dress (ugh what a look!!) and that was during How You Get The Girl. So maybe this is in reference to Taylor finally finding someone who took those steps (see How You Get The Girl) to make her a part of their life. Just an idea.

16. “A lot of lame guys out there.” I just need to pay homage to this line and how in her part says “There’s a lot of cool chicks out there”...can we say FEMINISM?! Girl power, girls supporting other girls. I am allllll about this.

17. Lover. There is a neon sign behind Taylor in the pink flowy magical dress while sitting on a stone unicorn that says “Lover” people are predicting this is a song title from the new album. Might just be a new word she uses throughout because she sings “babydoll when it comes to a lover...”

18. Gifts presented by Brendon. I love this part so much. On her live instagram situation today, she mentioned this scene and how it kind of breaks down those walls of how dating and loving someone should go, or what we all have come to know dating as. It’s not all flowers and rings, it’s important to get to know someone first. First and foremost. Get to know someone through talking, learning about likes and dislikes, make that the lead into starting a relationship. Fancy dinners, gifts, and what have you, only go so far. Which leads me to Benjamin....

19. Kitten, duh. So when I saw the mural, obviously picked that thing apart because as Taylor said, there are so many clues as far as what this song will feel like, look like. I saw three cats. And what better way to announce to the rest of the world that WE HAVE A NEW CAT PEOPLE. Benjamin Button. I can’t. So freaking awesome. Also, can I just say, how awesome it is that Taylor has broken that stigma of being a cat lady going hand in hand with being alone. YOU CAN HAVE BOTH IF YOU ALLOW IT. Just saying.

20. Heart door. This was not obvious at first to me, but thank god for the incredible detective work this fanbase does because my dumb ass didn’t put it together. This part refers to a line in Welcome to New York, “kaleidoscope of loud, heartbeats under coats” UMMM fucking genius!!! I love this a lot. This also has me wondering why she decided to reference to that lyric, that song. Okay...she spoke french at the beginning, refers to New York here...hm....is she moving to France?! Kidding. Idk. I’m rambling. Moving on!

21. Inside the heart concert. Very 60′s 70′s vibes here. Honestly kind of reminds me of hairspray. The big hair, the bright colors, the audience even. Also, her entire band are angels??? Someone mentioned that this might have something to do with the guest appearance she had on the rep tour, Robbie Williams and they sang Angels together. Maybe another collab?? We will seeee!

22. The bridge. So this isn’t so much a theory or personal thought, but I wanted to share what Taylor and Brendon were talking about on Instagram live today. About when he came to record his part of the song, he was extremely sick 105 fever (okay what a fuckin trooper!! I’d be dead) and he came through helping out with writing this bridge, very catchy. Also I love how they say “Strike the band...1, 2, 3″ I have a feeling that might have to do with the iconic swiftie add on we created during the rep tour, during Delicate “1, 2, 3...LET’S GO BITCH!!!” That’s probably one of my favorite parts of tour and how she caught on and even knew! So freakin cool. 

23. Ariel view of this city. So when you pause at like 3:09 in the music video you can get a pretty good view of what’s in this Taylor magical land of hers. This is what I see....I see the capitol building in Washington, Big Ben (famous London clock tower) (which might be just a reference to her new kitty, Benjamin Button) and maybe Notre Dame?? What do you guys think??

24. White cowgirl boots. When her and Brendon are dancing in what seems to be the inside of a light up rainbow thing, she is definitely wearing white cowgirl boots!! Boots being a reference to the old Taylor, but they’re white, so maybe a reference to the NEW Taylor. Or maybe we’ll get some country vibes within the next album.

25. Possible witch on broomstick?? So this might be a stretch, but immediately after the camera comes down from them dancing in the rainbow light thing, I see a black object that kind of takes the shape of a witch on a broomstick. Again with he Wizard of Oz vibes, and her witch reference to herself in IDSB song, this could be something! 

26. Last but not least, I want to mention her outfit choices during this ENTIRE video. I saw this on tumblr and just need to get it out because it kind of blew my mind. First outfit, black leo with white tutu skirt, she wore something very similar on the Red Tour while she sand Treacherous, a very beautiful song about love and ugh if that isn’t giving us feels, idk what is. Umbrellas I mentioned earlier. Her light blue marching band looking outfit has some definite You Belong With Me video vibes. Yes and please. And last but not least, her blue paint dress she wears in the last part of the music video has us thinking about her blue dress she wore at the end of OOTW music video and at the beginning of the LWYMMD music video. RIP Zombie Taylor. You were good to us. Anyway, lot of “old” Taylor vibes. Or maybe......a new and improved version of the person that we have all come to know and ADORE.

Alright, I think I got that out of my system. Not sure that a single human being will ever see this post, but it’s here. I’m here. I am so ready for this new Taylor Era of light and beauty and acceptance and self worth and glitter. All the glitter.

I love you T!!

@taylorswift @taylornation