Stintan's blog! - Summer 2024

08/21/24 - I'm moving but I have more interesting things to talk about...

because it's boring, I'll make it short, I'm moving on campus a few states away from home. I brought all my Gintokis :D That's all. I never liked when blogs get too into people's personal lives, like, I'm hereto talk about gyaru, anime, and music, idc about where I live. So I'll start with anime I guess... it's been a while since I last posted so I'll talk about what I've been watching...

I started watching Kimi Ni Todoke season 3 and I think it's still so cute!! Sawako acts like me in high school I was so excited to have my first partner I didn't know what to do x-x... I like how slow paced and soft it is, just like real young love. I also really love the detailed, sparkly style of the enviornments. It feels realistic, because everything looks beautiful when you're in love... (❤ω❤) my only criticism is why are the episodes twice the length of those in the first two seasons? I feel like a lot of the excitement behind the show was so see what cute relaxing thing the group of friends would do next, and theyre's no anticipation if they do so much in one episode. Why would they make them so long? I watched the first episode and it could easily be split in two. I have no idea why they did that...

I'm also watching Gintama, obviously... I love the diviner arc so much it is so sweet. I like Seimei he's awesome... I liked Gintoki's outfit too... I like how the families made up in the end because they both cared for Ketsuno („• ᴗ •„) I also really like it because Gintoki fought a demon just to help two guys make up and to make a girl happy... without even caring if she knew... things like this are why I love him... He is so caring and he did all that because he admired her and wanted her family to be happy... I am gushing over him so much!!

And last I want to talk about some of the music I've been listening too recently... mostly jpop, shibuya kei, Gintama ost, and 2nd gen kpop... good stuff... Lee Hiyori, f(x), KARA, snsd, After School, and Orange Caramel... all are so awesome... I think my fave 2nd gen kpop gg songs rn are Shadow, Bubble Bath, DIVA, and Love... if you can't tell f(x) is my current favorite... Their songs are so cute I like pop music from the 2000s-first half of 2010s the most!! I recently discovered some new shibuya kei and jpop artists and I need to talk about them. Meg, Chara, Hosokawa Fumie, Dahlia and HALCALI... especially HALCALI... I LOVE HALCALI!!!! Rental Dollypink Sea Anemone is such a great song I wish I found it sooner... I should have listened to more Dahlia songs... Suki Suki Suu is so good... I've never heard of Hosokawa Fumie until I heard this song but I really like her... The music video is so weird but like in a cool way. It definitley has that "strange old Japanese music video"vibe. Kinda reminds me of some Jun Togawa videos (more bc of the visual style and not the music.) HALCALI is my favorite though. Upbeat retro Japanese pop songs always make me think of Gintama for some reason? Probably because they're both things that make me happy idk. Maybe it's just my interest in them overlapping. Sakuranbo by Ai Otsuka always reminds me of Lovely Complex... it literally sounds like it could be in the anime! Very cute... I found these artists in this playlist and I'd reccomend checking it out!!

08/03/24 - unpopular otome opinions

to preface this, I am a relatively new otome fan. I have only played 4 games but I hold them very close to my heart. Memories of the Shinsengumi is the only Hakuoki game I have ever played, and I do not yet own Edo Blossoms or Kyoto Winds. (but I will one day...) Understood? okay. Everyone is going to hate me for this but... I don't like Chikage. Cancel me if you want, gen z. It's just my opinion./j I'd imagine he's much more likable and interesting in the 2 main games, and I think if I played those I might like him more, but in Memories of the Shinsengumi I can't stand his corny ass. Every time he starts saying some edgy deep stuff I want Toshi to hurt him. "My sweet Toshi... please save me from this strange man..." In short I do not like a blond man talking to me like that! I don't understand why he's so popular based on what I've seen so far. He is mean to your friends in the game I played, and that's an immediate red flag for me. I don't like how he's always trying to kidnap you like leave me alone dude >:( let me do what I want!! I never understand how people like the male leads like that. Chikage isn't that bad, but I know some can be mean, creepy, and borderline abusive and I don't understand the appeal. Cold should not mean mean, flirty should not mean creepy, and "bad boy" characters should not be murderer criminals with no redeeming traits that your'e expected to fall in love with. Not judging though. If that's your sort of thing that's okay. I just don't personally understand it.

07/28/24 - healing is cool!

I remember a year ago when I first read the Gintama spider arc and thought, "I have felt like Tsukuyo does before." the reaction was almost immediate because I could recognize it so easily. The story I'm about to tell is a bit heavy, so I'd just like to put a disclaimer here that it miiighhttt be triggering to some people, so if you're not comfortable with it, I'd reccomend just vreading a different blog post. Still here? cool. Anyway, I remember immediatley after hearing about Jiriya and Tsukuyo thinking, "wow, I knew someone like Jiriya. and they didn't treat me very well." and after starting to watch it, I guess I was reintroduced to those feelings. It always made me especially sad the way that she grew up. When I was younger (middle school to be exact), I had a friend who treated me pretty badly. They were very manipulative, and likely didn't like me for my personality, but more of just the vague concept of me. The idea of someone they could use and bend to their will. They wanted an ideal companion that didn't exist in real life. A standard that was unattainable. And if I stepped out of line, wanted to stop talking, wanted to spend time with other people over them, then they got extremely upset and guilted me into staying with them. Not a fun experience for me. If you've watched Gintama, you can probably make the connection.

Something I especially could identify with was how Tsukuyo 'gave up her life as a woman.'I grew up having trouble fitting in with traditional feminity at that age, and I had bad self image and kinda never really felt like a typical teenage girl. I felt like I coud never have a close relationship, or spend time with friends or do anything that is seen as part of teenage girlhood because I was always focused on doing what this person wanted. It sucked. But like Tsukki, I know good people now. Those people are real friends to me. (if you're irl friends with me and reading this right now, congrats!! you guys passed my test. You're real ones.) I haven't fully got over this until recently, and it's to the point where I feel a lot more comfortable talking about it, and even joking about it sometimes. I'm glad. Healing is good. It's a slow proccess, but good. So while I highly doubt Tsukki ever cried over an internet friend while listening to hyperpop, I think she'd understand what I was going through. Life is good now. Hope I can find my own Gintoki some day.

07/13/24 - ???

I've been staying inside a lot recently. Not really because I want to, but more because I lack the resources to be able to go out and do things on my own. I don't have a car, and I don't have the slightest idea how to drive, so it's mostly resticted me to sitting in my room all day. I will do my nails, watch a movie, maybe take a bath. I watch Gintama a lot, I usually stay up late to be able to talk to my friends about the episodes, because they make me hapy, and I have lots of things to say about them. The nails I was wearing this week would not stop falling off, I think I will change them to longer ones. It is frusturating. Today I wore my cutsom Gintoki shirt, it makes me smile because every time I see my own reflection I see him too. I haven't touched hakuouki in a while. maybe because it makes me sad, I guess I'm just scared of losing my Toshi again. Pushing that save button feels like I'm betting my life on it. I know I can always start a new save file, but it feels like a waste of my time without Toshi. It's beginning to be that time of day where I start to feel tired for absolutely no reason (2-4). I think it's some sort of side effect from high school, since I used to get home around this time. I think I will sleep until 4, shower, make something to eat, and watch Gintama in my room, which isn't particularly exciting, but it's something to do. I live my life like an isolated shoujo girl. I do simple tasks and the small things are enough to make me happy. Just listening to lamp and drawing in my bed is good enough for me. after I watch Gintama, I might try to play Ikemen Sengoku for a bit, and then maybe continue my Gintoki fanfiction I was writing. I odn't ever plan on publishing it anywhere. I have shared the first few parts with some friends, but now I think it would be best to keep it to myself, because it is very dear to me. It feels like it's just between me and Gintoki that way. My desperate need to leave my house has resulted in me contacting serveral people, though it seems that I will not be able to go anywhere other than my room until tomorrow when I will visit a friend's house. I think I will go Randonauting next week. I want to find something interesting. I know some people have found very scary things using Randonautica, but I don't believe in all the conspiracies. I think it's just confirmation bias. If you expect to see something weird, and you see something weird, you'll think it's not a coincidence. That's just how the mind works. I'm hoping to find some more interesting places in my neighborhood, Because I feel like I've seen everything around here already. That's all. Will update soon.

07/12/24 - graduation, and etc

I graduated high school about a week ago. Not much to say, but I'm glad I'm done with it. Like most people I didn't love high school too much, I found it mostly super stressful and a toxic enviornment full of people who weren't willing to try to understand me. But it's over!!!! So that doesn't really matter now. It was super hot outside and I felt exhausted after, the ceremony was a few hourss long, and I just felt gross and sweaty the whole time. One of the positive parts of this experience was my ita grad cap- My friend helped me make the pins. I expected them to be bigger so I originally was going to cover the entire thing, but since they were small I decided to only cover half of it. I was very happy with it, it was nice to have my little Gintokis with me the whole time. When graduation was over, I actually reused the pins on my itabag (which I might post somewhere later...)

you can see my dog in the picture above. She's a little Chihuahua.

On 4th of July, I tried my best to get a picture of sugi with the fireworks, because I know that thye make him happy. There are a lot of trees where I live, so it was kinda tough, but I managed to snap this photo, and I think it looks pretty nice!

06/27/24 - Prom + new Gintama plushies

Just a few days ago was my high school senior prom... It was fun!! I'm kinda weird about parties... I like them, but I don't like them... I think it really depends on the type of party and who is there. I like to dance but I don't like interacting with a lot of people. I didn't have an actual prom date so I edited in Gintoki... I went with a group of my friends though. I picked my dress based on some old Japanese hostess pictures- they always wear these long fancy dresses and I thought they were so pretty! I found some pictures of a hime gal model in a layered dress like mine, and I loved the color so I decided to buy it. It was perfect and so unique, no one else had one like it.

I brought my little Gintoki plushie to accompany... he was a great plus one!! ＼(≧▽≦)／

last but not least is my new Gintama plushies!! My mom got me the Toshi as a gift and I bought myself the Gintoki. The Toshi is so cute!! Now that I have the sitting Toshi, sittimg Gintoki, and Sitting Takasugi, I have completed the collection. they are all so cute and some of the softest ones I own. I love how they all sit on their own... quite cute... I watched the episode where Toshi and Okita get trapped together and it reminded me how fond I am of Toshi. I felt bad for him!! Poor Toshi! I like when Toshi gets nervous because he makes silly faces and his soft side shows (*/ω＼) I still for bad for him though... The Toshi plushie came with a tiny Toshi figure, a pin (which I put on my Toshi-themed sweatshirt) and a coaster with Kondo, Okita, and Toshi. The Toshi figure is covered in mayo it's so silly... He was only $12 I can't believe I got the other things for free... they are all so cute. The Gintoki plush has the outfit that he wore in the Final movie... I bought it for myself as a graduation gift because that arc and the plush mean a lot to me. It came with a little Gintoki keychain that I put on my phone. The Gintoki in that specific outfit always evokes a sense if meloncholy in me. Bittersweetness. I guess the themes of the movie just kinda connect to me considering it's such a transitional time in my life. Feels weird to be done with high school, but I'm not complaining. Good riddance! -Stintan

06/19/24 - recent updates and why I skipped a Gintama arc

I'm finishing high school soon!! My final day of class was about a week ago. We ended up not doing much and mostly just hanging out outside. I brought all of my Gintama plushies in that day, so I thought I'd take a picture with it. As of today, I only have one exam, prom, and the actual graduation left. For graduation I want to make an ita grad cap covered in Gintoki pins!! My friend is going to help me with it, but I think eventually I'll end up using the pins on a bag. I want to keep them there for graduation, but once I'm done I won't need them on there anymore. Second pic is me when I went to play mini golf with my friends! Notice the little Gintoki plush? The mini golf place also had an arcade inside, and they had an old DDR machine!! I'm not very good at it, but I love it so much because I love parapara and Eurodance music. I started listening to Eurodance, Trance, Eurobeat and Bubblegum Dance a lot more after that because I was reminded of how much I love it!

I should get to what I mentioned in the title- yes, I did in fact skip an entire arc of Gintama. Not sure if it 100% counts, since I read it in the manga, but I didn't watch a whole 5 episodes because of it. If your'e wondering which one it is, it's the one with the ghosts and the jojo refrences-honestly reading through it just annoyed me and I didn't want to have to go through it again. I don't like seeing Gintoki be bothered so much. I want to see a happy Gintoki. So I kinda just... didn't watch it because of how frusturating it is. If you've ever watched one of those spongebob episodes where they just hurt and annoy Squidward the whole time? If you have it's like that.

and finally the last thing I wanted to talk about was mobile otome games!! Right now I'm playing Samurai Love Ballad (which I haven't touched in FOREVER), Love365 (which I only downloaded to play one of the stories because Gintoki's VA was in it...) and Ikesen which I have been giving most of my attention to lately... I like Nobunaga I'm starting to get really attached to him now lolll He's weird sometimes but also very cute sometimes. I hope to play the game even more and maybe be able to participate in some of the events soon!

This picture greets me every time I open the app... His smile mocks me...

On a completely unrelated note, I will be joining artfight this year!! my username is the same it's just GyaruTobii I would love it if you could follow me! I'm on team Stardust!! I can't wait to start!

06/10/24 - Hakuoki (SPOILER WANING!!) and being a gyaru yumejoshi

hello lovlies! I have been playing a lot of Hakuoki latley, and I ended up at the final chapter. Turns out during my first playthrough I picked a few of- scratch that, ALL of the wrong choices, since I ended up with everyone except Chikage (who I don't care for much) dead, missing, or sick. I know they're just game characters, but it makes me sad, because the choices I made are what got them there. (╥﹏╥) When Chikage told me Toshi had died, I got so angry I literally threw my ds so hard the cartridge came out. (＃`Д´) (don't worry, it was fine lol) I was so upset I didn't bother saving the file or finishing the game. I just immediately started a new save file and played until I got my Toshi romance points up!! (´,,•ω•,,)♡ (what I call a "big Toshi win") I am content now... this time I have practice and I will try super hard to win Toshi's heart!!

on an unrelated note, I wanted to talk about what it was like being a yumejoshi otaku as well as a gyaru. It feels weird, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one, since most otaku girls wear girly kei fashion. I have my Gintama itabag, my Gintoki collection, and dozens of cute shoujo manga style drawings of me with gintoki, but sometimes I feel a little left out since I don't "look" like one. It's probably just imposter syndrome but I'm curious if there are any other gyaru otaku out there. signing off, -stintan.

06/05/24 - Toshi talk

this week, I watched the Gintama episode where Matsudaira's daughter falls in love with Toshi. Such a sweet episode, it's so cute. I love it when Toshi shows his soft side, I just love him!! I like that he started to fall for her too when she wasn't put off by his love of mayonnaise... Honestly it doesn't really bother me either, I don't understand why girls would turn him down over something like that. I totally understand why girls like him so much. He's super cute and he has a kind heart, even if he keeps it hidden. I feel that Toshi seems to really care for the women in his life, and he doesn't want them to get hurt. He didn't want Mitsuba to be with him because he would always be in danger, and he wanted he wanted Matsudaira's daughter to be happy, he is really so sweet.

pic above is my sweet Toshi. I just wanted to talk about how much I love him!! (´ ∀ ` *)

06/02/24 - recent co*des, cosplay, and other stuff

hello lovlies!! how are you? I haven't posted in a while, I thought that an update was required lol. I've been so busy with school since I will be graduating high school and stuff so yeah... I wanted to share some of the pictures I took at Cradlecon in my sacchan cosplay so yeah... Here's me!! I'm holding my Toshi and Gintoki plushies in the picture.

after I went with my friends, we stopped to get dinner and ice cream. I got french fries and asked for mayonnaise for Toshi. I also saw a Toshi cosplayer but I did not get a picture, unfortunately... (ಥ﹏ಥ)

here are some of my recent co*des! one himekaji and one rokku. I was thinking a lot about Kurama and jrock and listening to DOES a lot so it made me feel like a bangyaru lol... (japanese slang for jrock fangirl)... I thought the Kurama shirt was perfect, he is my favorite in Kamihaji. I kept seeing rokku gals wearing the aviator goggles and it gave me the idea to wear my own. I never expected to be wearing them for a regular outfit since I only bought them to cosplay as my sona. Himekaji code I just wore to go pick up my prom dress (hint for a future post...) btw, if you look close, you can see the new Gintoki sticker on my phone!! My friend got it for me :)

and to end the post, I'd like to mention how I started playing Ikemen Sengoku again!! Honestly I find this game super corny and mostly only like it as a joke, but some of it can be genuinely entertaining. It's a guilty pleasure. I'm going for the Nobunaga route, and if you know the game you'll know why (If you don't, it's because he shares a va with Gintoki... lol) Honestly I find him a bit annoying at times, but it's worth it to be able to pretend it's Gintoki saying those things... I'd say my other favorite characters are Shingen and Masamune, who's routes I'd also like to play one day. One of my biggest complaints is all the microtransactions in the game. I wish I could just buy the game for $5 at the start and then get everything. Well, at least I have a google play card now, so I should be okay. Bye bye for now!! ( ´ ω ` )ノﾞ before I leave I'd like to share my recently created instagram account. Don't worry, I will not be quitting blogging and moving to insta!! I will just start posting more pictures there rather than on my blog. I am planning on posting my art, itabeya, and gyaru pics on there, bur that does not mean that those things will be excluded from the site in the future. I want to keep the site as my main outlet for creativity.