As our second chance bid offer to creators has gone out a little later than usual this year, please check your email ASAP. Make sure to also check any additional tabs in your inbox, such as your social and promotional tabs (and of course, always check your spam folder if you are expecting an email and can't find it!). We have received some reports that the second chance bid offer email has been sorted into the "promotional" tab of some inboxes.
We will only process second chance bid offers that are submitted through the form included in the email. If you'd like to offer a fanwork to your second place bidder, don't delay! We need to hear from you by end-of-day on the 14th of March.
Bidders: here are some numbers to help you decide which org to support!
We've received many generous donations to all of our supported nonprofits. As always, some get a little more love than others. If you're looking to support an org that hasn't received as many donations so far, the orgs with the fewest donations are:
Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty (MadCAAP)
St. Louis Park Emergency Program (STEP)
Votebeat
Peninsula Poverty Response
All of these orgs have received less than 500$ in donations.
The orgs with the most donations are:
Gaza Soup Kitchen (which has already received over $10,000!)
National Immigrant Justice Center
Advocates for Trans Equality
Lastly, remember: if you're donating on behalf of our Regiment of Fan Labourers (ROFL), you can make a donation to one of seven previously supported organisations, such as Sherlock's Homes or Hope for Ukraine.
It will take a while to actually close all auction forms - bids that are registered after 8:00:05 EST WILL NOT BE COUNTED.
Bidders:
We will email you in the next day or two with a list of all of your winning bids and a link to submit your donation proof. Please do not make any donations until we have validated your bids and sent you this list.
Creators:
Please do not contact your bidders until you have heard from us! Once your high bidder has donated and we have processed the donation, we will email you to confirm and put you in touch with your bidder. Remember that bidders have until the 18th to make their donations, so this may take a while. We will also be contacting you soon about the possibility of making an offer to your second bidder - please do not contact anyone about this until you hear from us, either.
Everyone:
Although the main auction is closed, plenty of Craft Bazaar stalls are still taking bids/donations! Remember that donation proof for crafts goes directly to the crafter, it cannot be submitted along with your regular auction donations.
We know how hard it is to browse EVERY auction, especially with over 1600 on offer this year. As we approach the final day of the auction, weāre opening up the āgolden needleā tag.
This features all auctions that are looking for their first bidder - that could be you!
So take a look at whatās on offer, and if you're still searching for something to bid on, now is the time to get some golden needles in our very large haystack.
Remember to combine the tag with your chosen fandom using our tag searching tips to find the golden needles in your fandoms.
In 2025, we responded to the infuriating influx of AI-generated slop in creative spaces with the following policy: Our Stance on GenAI. Given the significant developments in GenAI since last spring, we thought it was important toĀ issue an updated statement and remind you where we stand. The TL;DR is that weāre more anti-GenAI than ever; please see below for our expanded policy for FTH 2026 and onward.
To start, let us firmly reiterate:
Generative AI has no place in FTH. It is not welcome here, under any circumstance.
Non-exhaustive list of unwelcome slop generators:
image generators like Imagen, Midjourney, and similar
video generators like Sora, Runway, and similar
LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and similar
vibecode generators like Copilot, Roo, Replit, and similar
audio generators like ElevenLabs, MusicLM, and similar
text editors like Grammarly that are known to be powered by LLMs
Starting this year, the following policies apply to all creators (including those in ROFL) and bidders, respectively:
For Creators
Participants found to have used generative AI to produce a fanwork, in part or in whole, for their bidder(s) will be permanently banned from participating in future iterations of Fandom Trumps Hate. This includes fan labor of all kinds.
We strongly advise (in FTH, but also more generally) that creators of all mediums keep some kind of work history, insofar as possible (we understand this may be more difficult for fan labor). You likely already do, intentionally or otherwise! Documenting your fanwork progress is one of the easiest ways to prove that your work is truly yours, should the need ever arise. To be clear, we don't require that you provide your bidder with intermediate stages of your fanworkāthat is entirely up to you.
For Bidders
Participants who deliberately introduce any AI-generated materials into the fanwork creation process (see below for concrete examples) will forfeit any unfinished portion of the won fanwork and will be permanently banned from participating in future iterations of Fandom Trumps Hate.
This includes (but is not limited to):
giving a creator an AI-generated prompt (of any medium) (e.g. requesting a fanfic based on an AI-generated image, generating a fanwork prompt using ChatGPT, etc.)
requesting fan labor be performed on AI-generated material (e.g. beta-reading a slopfic, getting help with a vibecoded workskin, etc.)
requesting a fanwork (of any medium) that is intended to accompany AI-generated material (e.g. cover art for a slopfic, photo manips of AI-generated images, podfics of slopfics, etc.)
feeding creators' fanwork(s) into a generative AI model
We are keenly aware that since last year, existing beloved tools and workflows have had unasked-for generative AI features forced into them, with varying degrees of transparency about whether or not they can be shut off or excluded. Our ask is that all participants make an effort to avoid using features known to rely on generative AI in anything even peripherally auction-related. Familiarize yourself with the tools you work with and use your best judgement; if a new feature would make your fanwork trivially easy for someone without your skill set to create, it may rely on generative AI.
A Reminder:
The more generative AI intrudes into creative spaces, the harder it becomes to distinguish between slop and human-made work, even to a trained eye/ear. We absolutely encourage everyone to educate themselves on how to get better at spotting it. That said, it can be very tempting to over-correct and default to the assumption that anything you come across with certain characteristics is AI-generated. We ask that everyone strive to assume that your fellow FTH participants are operating in good faith. Not every piece of text containing em dashes* was generated with ChatGPT; not every video with a cool, improbable-looking effect was generated with Sora; not every piece of audio with a noticeable skip or glitch was generated with ElevenLabs.
Please be kind to each other. If you suspect your fanwork or prompt contains AI-generated material, please reach out to the mods via email so we can address situations on a case-by-case basis.
We recognize this policy may seem unusually rigid in comparison to our others; most aspects of FTH operate on an honor system, and in general we try to be as flexible as we can in our policies to allow for the best experience possible for all FTH participants. This, however, is something we are not willing to be flexible on. We ask that you trust we have given this serious consideration and respect that while we are always willing to answer clarifying questions, we are not open to debate on this topic.
Why do we care about this?
We understand that there can (still, somehow) be contentious debate around the use of generative AI, we know individual people have their own reasons for being in favor of it, and we recognize that many people may simply be unaware that generative AI comes with any negative impacts at all. Regardless, we are firm in our stance on this for the following (non-exhaustive) list of key reasons in no particular order:
Over the years, weāve supported multiple environmental organizations doing important work to combat climate change, preserve wildlife, and advocate for renewable and sustainable energy policy changes. The increasingly massive computational demands of generative AI models are causing a spike in greenhouse gas emmissions, polluting the soil around data centers with hazardous e-waste, and gobbling up our already limited supply of fresh water (which we hear is critical to the survival of organic life or something). Using generative AI to produce a fanwork flies in the face of the work of every environmental organization we have supported to date.
negative, unregulated societal impact
Paramilitary-wannabes, among others, are leveraging AI to enable mass surveillance and commit unforgivable acts of domestic terror, primarily against already underprivileged groups. Using generative AI to produce a fanwork contradicts the efforts of all immigrant-justice related organizations weāve supported to date.
Actual creative work is being increasingly devalued, leaving writers, artists, computer programmers and many others unemployed at a time when inflation is high and housing costs are out of control.
Use of generative AI is enabling students to avoid learning, and even reducing brain activity in people who use it in lieu of doing their own research using standard search engines (a valuable skill to develop in its own right). Having a less-educated populace with lower critical thinking skills paves the way for political manipulation used by fascists everywhere.
The companies responsible for forcing generative AI into all aspects of our lives are helmed by increasingly right-wing tech bros who lack the capacity to care about who or what they may be destroying in the name of alleged technological āprogress,ā and who leverage their over-inflated wealth and influence to effect major policy decisions (either via lobbying or by being directly hired to do so).
plagiarism and lack of artistic integrity
Most if not all generative AI models are trained on some amount of stolen work (across various mediums). They operate by taking massive amounts of data (much of which they do not have sufficient consent to use, in our opinion) and averaging it down into a uniform sludge. As a result, any output generated by these models is at worst plagiarized and at best extremely derivative and unoriginal. In our opinion, using generative AI to produce a fanwork demonstrates a lack of care for the craft, a lack of respect for the work of creators, and a lack of respect for your bidder and your commitment to them.
undermining our community-building impact
The pervasiveness and sheer volume of generated AI slop is skewing the perception of what kind of creative work is considered āpolishedā or āprofessionalā, exacerbating existing harmful implicit and explicit biases along the way and leading to an increasingly narrow (and boring) scope of what constitutes valuable creative work. This is bad news for creatives and consumers of creative works alike.
One of the best things to come out of the auction every yearāwe canāt even call it a side benefit, because itās so central to usāis that bidders and creators form collaborative relationships which sometimes even turn into friendship. Using generative AI undermines that trust and collaboration.
undermining the value of participating in FTH
Creators: bidders participate in Fandom Trumps Hate for the opportunity to prompt YOU to create a fanwork for them, in YOUR style with YOUR specific skill set. Any potential bidder is perfectly capable of dropping a prompt into a generative AI model on their own time, if they want something generic and soulless.
Bidders: creators participate in Fandom Trumps Hate to channel their creative energy into a force for good, enriching the available content in their fandom while supporting causes they care about. They are offering their time and talent to create something to YOUR specifications that YOU will love and appreciate. Any creator is perfectly capable of generating themselves an uninspired, milquetoast AI prompt to work from, if they wish.
Ideally, all who participate in FTH aim to play a role more significant than āunnecessary middleman.ā We appreciate your taking the time to read this, and we hope some or all of our reasoning here resonates with you too.
We donāt allow physical fanworks in the main auction for a variety of reasons, so to accommodate these we started the FTH Fan Crafts Bazaar.
This year's Bazaar is so far tying last year's record of 28 crafters offering a wide variety of crafts in dozens of fandoms (and many who will create for any fandom you like).
Every crafter has set up their own stall with their own policies - some are offering custom-made creations while some are ready to ship; some are holding their own auctions while some have items for a set donation. So be sure to read the details carefully!
The Bazaar will stay open until March 18, so if you donāt win the auctions you have your eye on in the main event, head back over there to find other places to direct your donations toward! (But some may be ending their auctions earlier than the 18th, while others may run out of ready-made stock before then, so check those details.)
Weāll also continue to add stalls as they come in over the next couple of days, so be sure to check again in a few days to see whatās been added - and if youāre a crafter who hasnāt had a chance to sign up, you still can!
Great news! We have gotten through (almost!!) all of the final details, and the 2026 Offerings Blog is now open for browsing. Creators, it's time to start promoting your auctions to your friends and followers! Bidders, it's time to peruse your fandoms and start getting excited!
When you get there, please see our post about our cool new navigation feature, creator directories! We will also soon be posting some tips about how to navigate using our tags.
VS AMBIVALENZ 2nd ; EP.11.5 Nexus Drama [ENG Translation]
video form on youtube | official vsa channel's video
Auguri: Ohh! My makeup is pure genius today!Ā
Auguri: Hey, look at it!
Sakuya: Ohh! Yup, yup!
Sakuya: You always look good, but youāve really got a crazy shine today.
Auguri: I know, right~
Auguri: Theyāve been in charge of styling us since our debutā¦ They understand what we need without us needing to tell them!
Auguri: Thanks as always! Iām taking a pic~
Sakuya: Theyāve been with us since our debut, so I trust them about as much as I would a second parent~
Auguri: Right!
Auguri: They feel so much like our parents, they were even crying backstage during our second concert!
Sakuya: I was surprised when they started fixing my makeup with tears in their eyes~
Auguri: Huh?
Auguri: You think weāve improved since our first concert?
Auguri: Thanks so much~! You really do feel like parents~
Sakuya: No, no, seriously.
Sakuya: Lots of people have been praising us thanks to our second concertā¦
Auguri: Iām super happy~
Auguri: Thereās the XlariSās praise too, but when people from the industry compliment us, it really feels like weāve grown.
Sakuya: Makes me feel like I should work even harder~
ćć¼
Jintaro: Long time no outdoor shoot! Letās get hypeeed!
Jintaro: Nagomu, today weāre gonna eat ramen, ramen, and MORE RAMEN!
Nagomu: While we are filming a ramen search today, this isnāt some kind of competitive event, so letās make sure to properly convey how delicious everything is.
Jintaro: āCourse we will!
Jintaro: Didja hear?
Jintaro: The staff today asked us to be on this show because they saw our concert and became our fans!
Jintaro: We gotta show āem our cool sides!
Nagomu: Iām grateful.
Nagomu: Not only did they come to our concert, but they also gave us workā¦
Jintaro: They praised us and said we were super duper cool!
Jintaro: My coolness is gonna be known all around the world!
Nagomu: Then, Iām counting on you to make this an international-level ramen shoot.
Jintaro: You just leave it to me!
ćć¼
Lion: ā¦!
Lion: This showā¦ Not bad.
Issei: Whatāre ya so proud for?
Issei: They did say catering would have all kinds of protein bars lined up, butā¦
Subaru: This is an impressive collection of protein barsā¦
Subaru: Are there fans of Lion on setā¦?
Issei: Letās not mix business and pleasure, please~
Issei: Thereās a buncha very attentive staff here.
Issei: When ya say Lion, ya think of protein.Ā
Issei: When ya say protein, ya think of Lion.
Issei: Maybe itās ābout time ya got an offer for a protein commercial.
Issei: Wouldnāt be so strange when they even include it in yer catering.
Lion: ā¦ā¦
Issei: Cāmonā¦ Can ya not start eatinā without a word?
Subaru: Incredible, Issei.
Subaru: Weāre going to be on a variety show today.
Subaru: Youāre practicing being the straight man even in the most unassuming conversations, arenāt you?
Issei: Huh~ Am I the only comedian here? Are we gonna show up on a podium?Ā
Issei: I thought I was called here as one of XlamVās idols, but theyāre askinā for a straight man~?
Lion: Speaking of, the comedian host earlierā¦
Subaru: Anaconda Maeyamata?
Lion: He said our second concert was good.
Subaru: Huh!? IādĀ have never thought a mainstay in the comedy world like Anaconda Maeyamata would come to our concertā¦
Lion: I guess he came because his daughter is a fanā¦ and he ended up becoming a fan himself.
Issei: Thatās real happy news.
Issei: We oughta do some fanservice later.
Subaru: Thatās great to hear about one of our seniors in the entertainment industry.
Lion: Guess so.
Issei: We gotta make sure ta leave a lastinā impression today.
Subaru: Yeahā¦! Iāll do my best as the funny man...!
ćć¼
Auguri: Iām proud of you all for doing your best at your work!
Sakuya: Oho, here comes Auguri-chan praising us for anything and everything.
Auguri: Iām proud of you just for living!
Auguri: Iām proud of you for today, guys!
Subaru: Itās nice having someone to raise our self-esteem.
Auguri: Yup, yup. My self-esteem was sky-high today too~!
Auguri: I got lots of praise about our concert on-site!
Nagomu: You guys too?
Nagomu: The staff complimented us a lot too.
Jintaro: They said Iām the greatest Jintaro in the universe, and that we had the best concert ever!
Subaru: They did not say all that.Ā
Subaru: But itās true that a lot of people have been telling us that they saw our second concert.
Sakuya: It feels real good~
Sakuya: Makes me want to work even harder.
Auguri: The response on social media has been good too.
Auguri: Letās keep on putting more and more of our all into it!
Everyone: Yeah!!
XlamVās concert disc comes out soon~
XlamVās concert was so good itāll stay with me forever
iāll stan them forever~
pisses me off that XlamVās getting preferential treatment just cause they beat illuvista and fun4re
ćć¼
Auguri: Itās been some time since I last went to such a big shopping mall~!
Auguri: I love this show, so Iām happy they invited us~
Lion: Spending exactly 100,000 yen is no easy feat.
Auguri: That's the thing about buying high-cost products, right?
Auguri: If we go over the limit, we have to buy them ourselves, you know? Scary.
Lion: Buying a lot of cheap stuff is way more confusing.
Auguri: I wonderā¦
Auguri: Oh, thereās the staff.
Auguri: Good morning! Thank you very much for having us today!
Auguri: Oh!? You came to our concert? Thank you very much. Iām happy to hear that.
Auguri: XlamV will do our best andā¦
Auguri: What? illuvista and fun4re?Ā
Auguri: Of course! Theyāre all doing their very bestā¦
Auguri: Yes! Please support illuvista and fun4re as well!
Lion: What was that?
Auguri: They said they became a fan of illuvista and fun4re through our concert!
Auguri: Isnāt that nice? We get to act as a bridge for them.
ćć¼
Sakuya: So Issei and I will be hosting a show where we ask people around town to cook without a recipe, huh.
Issei: Ya donāt wanna be with me?
Issei: And here I thought we were cookinā buddies.
Sakuya: Ah, no, itās exactly because weāre both pretty good at cooking that Iām worried weāll keep jumping inā¦
Issei: Weāre gonna hafta hold it in hereā¦
Sakuya: You said it~
Sakuya: Hmm, todayās menu is Lu Rou Fanā¦ Lu Rou Fan!?
Issei: Itās a tough feat to cook that one without lookinā at a recipe.
Sakuya: This is gonna be a long dayā¦Ā
Issei: Oh yeah, after our meetinā ended earlierā¦
Sakuya: Hm?
Issei: The staff said we put on a good concert.
Sakuya: Oh-ho, thatās great.
Issei: ān then they asked if illuvista and fun4re will be havinā a big concert.
Sakuya: Oh, yeah. Those guys are working hard too~
Sakuya: Iām glad they asked about that.Ā
Issei: Yer right.
Issei: Itās pretty touchinā to know their popularityās grown so much that weāre beinā asked about āemā¦
Issei: Well, theyāve still got a ways to go.
Issei: Still, those guysāre our eternal rivals.
Issei: But yanno, theyāve got a ways to go.
Sakuya: Geez, if only youād be honest once in a while.
ćć¼
Jintaro: H-Heyā¦
Jintaro: Th-This is the highest bungee jumping spot in the world, isnāt itā¦?
Subaru: Yes. I believe itās 400m high?
Nagomu: You canāt see the bottom, huh~ Weāre so high up.
Jintaro: F-Four hundredā¦?
Jintaro: Wouldnāt we be done for if we fell from here?
Subaru: Itās fine. We wonāt fall.
Nagomu: The local staff said not that many people have fallen.
Jintaro: Not that many!? The heckās that supposed to mean!?
Subaru: Itāll be okay, Jintaro!
Subaru: Nagomu and I will jump too. We wonāt let you be alone.
Nagomu: And look. Donāt the bright smiles on the staffās faces make you feel like everything will be alright?
Jintaro: You think sooooo!?
Jintaro: Actually, why are we the ones doing bungee jumping!?
Jintaro: This type of stuff is Lionās bread and butter!
Subaru: Lion could probably jump with ease, though.
Nagomu: Right? He seems like heād be able to jump without a cord too.
Jintaro: HEāD DIE!
Jintaro: Uuuughhhhā¦
Jintaro: No, Iām the awesome Jintaro, dammitā¦
Jintaro: I can do it.
Jintaro: I can do it, I can do it, I can do itā¦
Jintaro: IcandoitIcandoitICANDOITICANDOITā¦!
Subaru: Apparently, the producer created this project because he came to our concert and was drawn to how cool you were, Jintaro.
Jintaro: Huh.
Nagomu: That means itās a special project just for you.
Nagomu: ā¦ I wonder what Jintaro would think if he learned that they actually tried to get illuvista and fun4re for this projectā¦
Subaru: I donāt think heād think anything of it.
Subaru: I think heād be happy to know illuvista and fun4re are so popular in rural filming locations.
Nagomu: Right?
Nagomu: ā¦ Weāve been getting asked more and more about illuvista and fun4re.
Subaru: We have.
Subaru: Every time that happens, I end up talking so much that people tell me I seem to love them a lot.
Subaru: Itās a little embarrassing.
Subaru: I start feeling like Futabaā
Nagomu: ā¦
Subaru: What is it, Nagomu?
Nagomu: Ah, nothing.
Nagomu: Oh, Jintaro came back up!
Nagomu: Are you okay, Jintaro!?
Jintaro: The whole worldā¦ is sparklingā¦
Subaru: Oh. Thatās not good.
ćć¼
Auguri: Jintaro bungee jumped from 400 meters!?
Auguri: Youāre amazing! So brave! Genius!
Sakuya: Thereās Auguri-chan praising us for anything and everything.
Jintaro: Yeah! The staff really laid on the praise saying that I could do it ācause Iām the awesome Jintaro, the toughest guy in the whole universe!
Subaru: They were really happy. Thanks to you, the show got really good ratings.
Jintaro: Howzat!Ā
Sakuya: It really does seem like there have been a lot more programs giving us offers because they watched our concert.Ā
Sakuya: Things are going well.
Subaru: Yeah. A lot of the producers have been saying the same thing too.
Issei: Thatās right.Ā
Issei: Iām happy with any typeāve work we get.Ā
Auguri: Thereās people that became new fans of ours too~
Auguri: And thereās tons of people talking about how great weāre doing on social media too~...
Auguri: Ahā¦
Iāve had enough of XlamV. Hurry and give us info on fun4re and illuvista!
tbh, seeing illuvista and fun4re do their very best is hitting right in the feels
getting hooked on fun4re and illuvistaĀ
Iām glad illuvista and fun4re have been getting more work lately. Congrats on the magazine cover
Auguri: ā¦!
Sakuya: ? Whatās up?
Auguri: Ah, ummā¦
Everyone: !?
Iyamita: Hello! XlamV!Ā
Jintaro: Geh! Youāreā¦!
Subaru: Jintaro. No matter how much you donāt like someone, itās rude to react like that when our seniors come to pay us a visit.
Subaru: Heās Iyamita-san, he appeared on the show with us today.
Issei: Didnātcha just say somethinā wild with no hesitation?Ā
Iyamita: Thanks for inviting me to your second concert the other day.
Iyamita: I did go and watch it.
Sakuya: Huh!? You came to see us? Thank you!
Subaru: Iām happy to hear that. I know youāre busy.
Jintaro: Ohh, the heck, so youāre actually a good guy!
Iyamita: Saying I was invited to XlamVās show will get me more female fans, you see.
Jintaro: Youāre not a good guy at all.
Iyamita: At any rate!
Iyamita: Despite your second concert being a hot topic in the industryā¦
Iyamita: There seems to be a lot of harsh criticism from the general public, huh?
Jintaro: Huh? Whatāre you talking about!?
Iyamita: Do you not use social media?
Iyamita: Youād best check it out properly, you know?
Iyamita: Youāll fall behind the times, you know?
theyāre the group that āonlyā won against illuvista and fun4re lol
whoās XlamV
Whoās this XlamV we keep hearing about lately? An informative thread! Recently fun4re and illuvista have been suuuuper popular.Ā Iāve looked into XlamV, who have been trending on social media while chasing after the shadow of the two groups whose popularity is skyrocketing!
Jintaro: W-What the hellās thisā¦
Nagomu: To be honestā¦ Iāve been seeing this kind of thing lately tooā¦
Nagomu: Auguri just saw that a minute ago too, rightā¦
Auguri: Yeahā¦
Auguri: Well, but! Social media is huge. Of course thereās people who think that way out there!
Iyamita: Well, thatās just the tip of the iceberg.
Iyamita: Iām telling you all this precisely because I feel for you.
Issei: Wow. Thank you for your consideration.
Iyamita: Itās true you all are overwhelmingly popular and that you are the apple of the public eye, butā¦
Iyamita: The interest in the winning idols slowly dwindles down both from the general public as well as the fans who supported them.
Lion: What are you trying to say?
Sakuya: Okay, okay, donāt let him rile you up, Lion.
Iyamita: Everyone likes a success story.
Iyamita: Iām saying that stories about the losing idols making their way to the top are more popular.
Iyamita: Meaning, you all, at the peak of your popularity, are a thing of the pastā¦
ćć¼Lion kicks a chair
Sakuya: Lion!
Subaru: Lion. No matter how unpleasant someoneās being, you canāt go around kicking chairs!
Subaru: Think about the poor chair!
Lion: I didnāt kick it.
Lion: It just went flying on its own because I stood up too fast.
Sakuya: Geezā¦
Sakuya: But, wellā¦ If youāre saying it flew off on its own, I guess thereās nothing we can do about itā¦
Iyamita: Grr!Ā
Iyamita: You sure are barbaric!
Iyamita: Anyways, Iām just saying if you guys donāt work harder, youāll have the carpet ripped out from under you!Ā
Iyamita: Give it your all!
ćć¼Iyamita runs off
Sakuya: Okay, okay, okaaay. Letās switch gears.
Sakuya: Itās true that illuvista and fun4re are working hard, so we canāt say anything about all those rude comments.
Auguri: Youāre right! Itās also true that recently, weāve been getting asked about illuvista and fun4re moreā¦Ā
Nagomu: I get it.Ā
Nagomu: And thatās why what Iyamita-san said isnāt completely off the mark eitherā¦
Nagomu: Ah, Iām sorry.
Subaru: That just goes to show how seriously both illuvista and fun4re are working.
Auguri: Rightā¦Ā
Auguri: But having that much out in the open all of a sudden isā¦ well.Ā
Lion: Weāll be overtaken in no time.
Everyone: !Ā
Lion: It could actually be trueā¦
Lion: This might be it for us.
Jintaro: !
Jintaro: Thereās no way!
Subaru: Right. For you to say that weāre done for just because illuvista and fun4re are popularā¦
Craft Bazaar signups don't close until auctions open for bidding!
You have another full week to sign up!
Do you crochet amigurumi of your favorite characters? Bind physical copies of fic? Design and print fandom stickers? Make fandom-themed jewelry?
If you create anything that has to be physically shipped to the receiver, or a digital item that isn't custom-made to your bidder's preferences, you may not be able to enter it in the main auction but it's a perfect fit for the FTH Fan Crafts Bazaar! (We'll let you in on a secret: it doesn't even necessarily have to be fandom-themed, although most people are looking for stuff from their favorite fandoms.)
The Craft Bazaar is different from the main auction in a few key ways:
Crafters can offer either custom-made or pre-made items
Crafters can offer their items at auction or for a set donation (if you run an auction, you'll be responsible for it, but we'll provide a template)
It stays open after the main auction closes so that people who lost their bidding wars can check it out with their leftover donation budget
Crafters can charge shipping separately (to them, rather than as part of the donation) if they need to
If this sounds like your thing, read all the details here, then head over to the signup form!
The Craft Bazaar will go live when browsing opens Friday, Feb 27, but signups will continue until bidding starts for the main auction on Tuesday, March 3!
Browsing starts next Friday, February 27! And once you start browsing, tags are definitely the easiest way to find the auctions you're interested in.
We are always trying to improve our tagging system to help bidders find what they're looking for. This year we have a few major changes:
We no longer have tags for each individual username. We have replaced these with username directories.
The "fandom: any" tag has been broken up into several subtags.
New "country of origin" tags, so that you can view all auctions offered for, for example, Chinese fandoms or British fandoms.
Under the cut you will find explanations of why we made the changes we did and how these changes work - please read so that you can navigate this year's auction smoothly!
No username tags
One of the main reasons we host the auction on Dreamwidth is for its robust hierarchical tagging system. Unfortunately, even with a premium paid account, there is a limit on how many tags a blog can have, and this year, if we had individual username tags, we would be over that limit.
Instead, we are setting up username directories. At the bottom of the tag list, you'll find 27 tags of the form "username: X". Each of these leads to one post, which is an alphabetical directory of usernames that start with that letter/number. Each username is its own heading, with a list of links to that creator's auctions.
Important: These are not up yet (as of 2/21)! We can't generate them until all auctions have been posted.
To find a creator: Go to the "username: X" tag that corresponds to the letter or number their username starts with, and either scroll down to find their name alphabetically or use ctrl/command-F (or Find In Page in your mobile browser's menus) to search for their username.
To generate a link to your auctions: The nice thing about individual username tags was that you could post a link to that tag on social media and bidders could find all your auctions at once. This year it will be a little more complicated, but still possible! We'll post instructions on how to generate your own username URL once the directories are up and functioning.
New Fandom: Any Options
In the past, you could click the "fandom: any" tag and find creators willing to work with any fandom you like. You can still do this, but it's a bit more focused now! We made these changes based on feedback from both creators and bidders who wanted more specific tags.
We've split this into three tags:
fandom: any: can work fandom-blind - Here you'll find creators offering things that don't require familiarity with a particular fandom. For example SPaG betas, or artists who just need a reference picture to work from.
fandom: any: will engage with new media - These creators are offering fanworks that do require familiarity with the media in question, such as fanfiction or characterization beta. But these people are willing to watch/read/play new media in order to create your fanwork!
fandom: any: medium/genre - These creators are willing to create for any fandom within a specific medium or genre. While we are tagging medium and genre separately, be sure to read the auction carefully - someone who is offering for "any romance novel" will get both the "medium: books/novels" and "genre: romance" tag, but that does not mean they will create for any book/novel. Whatever they have written in the text of the auction is their limit, not the wording of the tag.
Another small change: Creators offering in any of the above "Any" tags are now allowed to specify up to five fandoms they are not willing to create in. This is not tagged, but is in the auction text. Please be sure to check this list before bidding.
Country of Origin
You can now view auctions by the countries of origin of their fandoms! This means you can view all of the auctions for Chinese fandoms, or British fandoms, etc at once in one tag.
How did we determine the country of origin?
For video games, it's the country the developer is in, not the publisher or distributor.
For books, it's the author's nationality unless that is difficult to pin down (they have moved a lot, say), in which case it's the first country the book was published in.
For many movies and TV shows, we went with what their wikipedia article says (e.g. "The X-Files is an American science fiction drama television series...")
If there are multiple creators in multiple countries (such as with many MCYT fandoms), it will be tagged "international." A handful of cases where there are multiple creators and we couldn't determine their locations/nationalities are also tagged "international."
If you believe a fandom has been miscategorized, please email us. We may have had reasons for categorizing it the way we did, but it's also very likely we missed something while trying to determine the country of origin for nearly 800 fandoms!
Mio: (We brought in a huge screen so we could all watch the stream together and even got juice and snacks, but things just kept getting crazier and crazier and we didnāt have enough.)
Mio: (We ordered pizza delivery, sushi delivery, and fried chicken delivery, and just when we were talking about what to order next, something crazy bad happenedā¦)
Mio: (This isnāt the time to be ordering food anymore~!)
Mio: (What should we do~!? If this is gonna drag on, maybe we really should order something while we can~!)
Subaru: Monet was just pointing at Atarashi, wasnāt heā¦?
Sakuya: Donāt tell me, the spy weāve been looking for is Monet-kun, and we were right that it was under Atarashiās orders?
Nagomu: So Monet-kun is the spyā¦
Kazu: But if heās the spyā¦
Mio: Then it wasnāt Hiromiā¦?
Issei: Huh? Iāve been sayinā itās Monet-kun the whole time, though?
Mio: Huh?
Issei: Huh?
Mio: Huh?
Issei: Huh?
Mio: Huh? No no, all you said was āthat oneā back then, I totally thought you were talking about Hiromi.
Issei: No, no, that āoneā? I wouldnāt be talkinā so casually like that about someone older.
Cuc: How did you know itās Monet?
Issei: I mean, he was the only one who spent so much time alone, yeah?
Shinonome: Since when were you a detective?
Issei: The truthāll always prevail for each person!
Nagomu: If a truth prevails for each person, wonāt that make too many truths?
Kazu: Hey, Iām probably bringing this up too late, but why does Atarashi even need to plant a spy in the Internat?
Lion: Who knows. Since heās the head of the agency, asking for a report should get him anything he wants to know.
Rey: Indeed. Rival companies aside, there is no reason to send a spy to an agency you have under your control.
Lion: And yetā¦
Sakuya: So basically, itās not under his control.
Sakuya: Or, it is under his control, but he needs a spy to report the things that arenāt included in the regular reports.
Shinonome: President Inamoto did go with the candidates to the Internat in order to protect them from Atarashi and to prevent information from getting out as much as possible, after all.
Cuc: He doesnāt have information? And just because of that he spied?
Nagomu: Youāre smart, Cuc.
Nagomu: Regardless, I think Atarashi is planning something with the audition in the Internat.
Rey: Mmmā¦ Argh! I need to know the rest! Resume the stream posthaste!
Lion: Cut it. You wonāt accomplish anything by hitting the screen.
Shinonome: Exactly. Cut-kun canāt go against Atarashiās orders.
Shinonome: We have no way of knowing whatās happening in the Internat from here.
Rey: Mmm~~ Curses!
Rey: In that case!
ćć¼Tapping phone, phone rings
ć¼
Atarashi: Oh my, saying that I asked you toā¦
Atarashi: Why would you do that, Monet?
Atarashi: We had to stop the stream because of you.
Kyouya: Monet-sanā¦ Go on, pleaseā¦
Monet: Yeah. Thatās right.
Monet: Iām the spy.
Everyone: ā¦!
Kyouya: Thatāsā¦!
Jintaro: Youāre the spyā¦?
Auguri: I canāt believe itā¦
Mikera: Thenā¦ Donāt tell me the reason our assignments overlapped with other auditionsā is becauseā¦
Shimba: Because you leaked the details?
Akashi: Why did you do such a thingā¦?
Cion: But how did you contact him?
Futaba: Th-Thatās right!
Futaba: The moment candidates enter the Internat, their belongings are strictly inspected, so there should be no way for you to carry any means of communication.
Luvnosuke: Donāt tell me! You put a transmitter in the back of your mouth like Rey-senpai did and communicated like that!?
Monet: ā¦ The phone.
Kyouya: The phoneā¦?
Kyouya: The phone we got shouldnāt be able to contact anyone outsideā¦
Atarashi: I installed a special communications app on it.
Atarashi: It wonāt be on the screen if you unlock the phone normally, but if you enter a PIN code, it appears and opens a line of communication with me.
Jintaro: Damnit! I KNEW you were the mistahmind!
Cion: You mean mastermind.
Inamoto: So you were the one pulling the strings.
Atarashi: Oh please, you make it sound so bad. I didnāt do anything bad.
Atarashi: This was all part of my business strategy. Although I donāt expect you all to understand that.
Jintaro: Whaddya sayā¦!?
Riam: Shit! Were we just dancing in that guyās palm!?
Meguru: Monet, why did you choose to aid himā¦?
Akashi: Did we do something wrongā¦?
Akashi: Did we hurt you somehowā¦?
Monet: No. It has nothing to do with you all.
Monet: I agreed to become a spy before I was even accepted for the auditionā¦
Kyouya: What happened back then, Monet-sanā¦?
Meguru: Weād be grateful if youād be willing to tell us the truth.Ā
Monet: Rightā¦
Monet: Thereās no need to hide it anymore, is thereā¦
Monet: I went to a certain training schoolā¦
Monet: I made friendsā¦ Found a place to belongā¦
Monet: I wanted to debut with themā¦
Monet: Butā¦ They left meā¦
Monet: They told me we werenāt friendsā¦
ć¼
Monet: I turned the solo debut down.
Monet: I want to be with you all.
Monet: I donāt want to give up until we all debut together.
Trainees: ā¦
Monet: I mean, weāre supposed to be the best of friendsā
Trainees: Weāre not friends anymore.
Monet: Whā
Trainees: Youāre not our friend anymore, Monet.
ć¼
Everyone: ā¦!
Monet: I didnāt know what to doā¦
Monet: I think I became too desperateā¦
Monet: And thatās when an instructor told me about this auditionā¦
Monet: Thatās when I met himā¦
Everyone: ā¦ā¦
Monet: I figured I wouldnāt care whatās going to happenā¦
Monet: Thatās whyā¦ I did what he told me toā¦
Monet: I thought no one would complain if I didā¦
ć¼
Monet: Iāll do what you told me to. Then no one will be able to complain, right?
ć¼
Kyouya: Monet-sanā¦
Jintaro: What the hellās all that about, Atarashi!
Auguri: Right!
Auguri: Thatās the same as taking advantage of Monet when heās down!
Futaba: Why would you need a spy in the first placeā
Atarashi: I needed a spy. Inamoto wouldnāt confide in me the details of the assignments, after all.
Atarashi: He made all sorts of excuses and kept me out of the loop, you see.
Inamoto: The risk of a secret leaking is proportional to the people that are aware of it.
Inamoto: If two people are aware of it, the risk of it being leaked is quadrupled.
Inamoto: If three people are aware of it, it becomes 9 times more likely to be leaked.
Inamoto: Even within an affiliate company, it is best to keep knowledge of confidential information to a minimum.
Atarashi: Thatās why I planted a spy.
Atarashi: If I were to leak the assignments and other auditions put them to use before you, itād look as though VS AMBIVALENZās planning skills are more than lacking, wouldnāt it?
Atarashi: If your assignments kept changing, you would wear yourselves out, and your performance would suffer.
Atarashi: The appeal of VS AMBIVALENZ would decline, and its power as a form of content would be lost.
Atarashi: Eventually, all the projects would compete with one another, leading to a major decline, and the entire concept of an audition competition would become a thing of the past.
Atarashi: And that is my final goal.
Atarashi: You see, I believe talent is a thing that should be recognized properly.
Riam: Recognized properlyā¦?
Atarashi: From dancing, to singing, to performing, and all other forms of expression. Sometimes precisely, and sometimes boldlyā¦Ā
Atarashi: Being an idol requires the ability to always be able to provide the appropriate feeling for any given situation.
Atarashi: But what is this? A voting influenced by the emotions evoked by a communal living situation and overcoming the troubles that occur within it has no right to be called an audition!
Atarashi: An evaluation that makes light of evaluating oneās talents is an insult to auditions!
Atarashi: This kind of competitive audition should up and disappear!
Everyone: ā¦
Jintaro: Youāre still saying that kindaā!
Cion: President Atarashi.
Cion: Was it a coincidence that you picked Monet to be your spy?
Atarashi: Whatever do you mean?
Cion: It seems too convenient for him to have just fallen into your hands.
Cion: Arenāt you the reason Monet was rejected by his friends at the training school?
Atarashi: You make it sound so dreadful.
Atarashi: Lookā
Atarashi: All I wanted was to save a poor, talented child from being buried under all those talentless nobodies.
Monet: ā¦!
Atarashi: You canāt expect people who ostracize their more brilliant teammates out of jealousy to have any kind of talent.
Atarashi: Those instructors who sold their finer subjects for a bit of pocket money arenāt all that great, either.
Atarashi: Monet. That training school was not where you belonged.Ā
Monet: Thatāsā¦
Luvnosuke: So, youāre saying you bribed them to betray Monet!?
Hiromi: Thatās awfulā¦
Hiromi: Waitā¦ Donāt tell me, the rival pairings tooā¦?
Hiromi: And the way we ended up with 10 of us when there were originally 16ā¦!?
Atarashi: I pulled 6 of you out at random and sent them over to a different audition.Ā
Atarashi: I figured things would get hectic here and I could burn this whole thing down if I got things all lively over where they are.
Akashi: But thatāsā¦!
Futaba: So you really were behind those 6 dropping out.
Jintaro: You didnāt think theyād be flamed on social media after changing auditions!?
Auguri: Yeah! You shouldāve known that would happen if you gave it even a second of thought!Ā
Atarashi: Defamation on social media?
Atarashi: If they had the talent to back themselves up, theyād be able to put a stop to that.
Atarashi: And if they canāt, then it just means thatās all theyāre worth.
Cion: Just what do you take peopleās futures to beā¦!?
Atarashi: Their futures?
Atarashi: Thatās each individual personās own responsibility to take.
Atarashi: All I did was talk to them.
Atarashi: If they took my suggestions, thatās on them, is it not?
Monet: Thenā¦ Iāve just been being played with this whole timeā¦
Monet: I seeā¦ Thatās how it isā¦
Kyouya: Monet-san.Ā
Monet: Iām so stupidā¦ I really amā¦
Monet: Because of me, you allā¦
Kyouya: Itās not your fault. You didnāt do anything wrong.
Monet: Noā¦ I did something horrible to you allā¦
Monet: I betrayed you allā¦ The same thing happened to meā¦
Monet: And yetā¦!
Meguru: Monet. You were driven into a corner through his underhanded schemes.
Meguru: There is not a soul here who would condemn you for that.
Akashi: Exactly. You did nothing wrong, Monet.
Atarashi: Correct, he didnāt.Ā
Atarashi: If anything, he was absolutely useless as a spy.
Atarashi: The only information Monet leaked was for the first assignment, and even then it was the same things that I had gotten my hands on in advance through my own personal channels.
Atarashi: After that, he didnāt send even a single thing to me.
Atarashi: Heās a failure as a spy.
Kyouya: Then, you meanā¦
Mikera: Monet didnāt actually do anything?
Monet: I donāt really know why myself, butā¦
Monet: I couldnāt let myself leak any informationā¦
Monet: I was just supposed to do what I was told to, butā¦
Monet: I couldnāt do itā¦
Kyouya: I seeā¦
Kyouya: Then, youāre a lot like me, Monet-san.
Monet: Huhā¦?
Kyouya: That just means that this audition here with everyone has become an irreplaceable safe place to belong for you too, right?
Kyouya: ā¦Itās the same for me.
Monet: Youā¦ think soā¦?
Kyouya: Yeah. So much so that you canāt bring yourself to betray us, even unconsciously.Ā
Kyouya: Besides, if that wasnāt the case, I doubt youād be able to sleep as soundly as you always do.Ā
Monet: ā¦
Hiromi: Monet-kunā¦
Hiromi: It hurts to be betrayed, doesnāt itā¦
Hiromi: It was so frustrating for me too, and I wanted to get my revengeā¦
Hiromi: But while being here, I came to really care about all of you.
Hiromi: I wondered if it was really okay for me to be so close with everyoneā¦
Hiromi: Thinking that way was painfulā¦
Monet: Hiromiā¦
Monet: ā¦Is thisā¦ where I belong?
Monet: Am Iā¦ allowed to think thatā¦?
Riam: Donāt go askinā stupid questions.
Shimba: Yeah. Youāve belonged here since day one.
Monet: ā¦!
Kyouya: Yeah.Ā
Kyouya: And thatās because youāre my rival.
Cate: Everyoneās accepted you from the start!
Luvnosuke: What they said.
Mikera: Cāmon, youāre saying all this now?
Akashi: Of course!
Meguru: Indeed.
Monet: You allā¦
Atarashi: Hahaha, what a wonderfully inspiring scene.
Atarashi: This is what the VS AMBIVALENZ Theatre is all about, isnāt it.
Atarashi: How absolutely revolting.
Everyone: ā¦!
Atarashi: No matter how much you all flaunt your bonds, itās pointless.
Atarashi: The audition has already endedā
Rey: It most certainly has not!
Atarashi: ā¦!?
Rey: Rey Kisumi of the First Generation of VS AMBIVALENZ stands before you!
Lion: We heard what you were saying.
Taiyo: We wonāt forgive you for making light of everyoneās earnest feelings!
Subaru: We will not let you cancel this audition!
Cuc: We wonāt!
Issei: We canāt just sit pretty ān watch without liftinā a finger as their seniors, yanno.
i havent isseied in so long .h elp
Futaba: Why are you all here?!
Rey: We had Moriya prepare a car and came racing over.
Rey: He holds a Class A license for his driving technique, after all.
Rey: We got here in a flash thanks to him.
Mio: (UWAAAAH~~!?)
Mio: (I was sure we were following the speed limit, but we got here unbelievably fast!)
Mio: (Not to mention he was driving a van big enough to fit all of us!)
Mio: (Just how on earth did he do that~~!!)
Rey: When there was an emergency with our shooting schedule, it was Moriya who took charge of driving the studio bus.
Rey: This much is mere childās play for him.
Jintaro: āWe heard your what you were sayingāā
Jintaro: WAIT, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING FOR!?
Auguri: Things got real bad, you shouldāve gotten here way sooner!
Kazu: We couldnāt really cut inā¦
Nagomu: It looked like things were taking a turn for the worse, so we werenāt exactly sure when to show upā¦
Subaru: We didnāt want to rudely interrupt the conversation.
Sakuya: Right, right. So we figured it would be best to wait ātill everything was out in the open.
Sakuya: Especially with all your scheming.
Issei: Well, what we heardās pretty much what we were expectinā.
Cuc: No scheming, absolutely no! Cuc is everyoneās ally!
Shinonome: President Atarashi. We absolutely cannot accept your way of doing things.Ā
Taiyo: No matter what happens, weāll protect all the candidates here!
Atarashi: And how, exactly? This little charade of yours hasnāt amounted to anything.
Inamoto: No, it has.
Atarashi: Oh?
Inamoto: We wonāt know for sure unless we continue till the end and see the results.
Inamoto: Those results will surely become sustenance for everyoneās future careers.
Inamoto: For that reason, I wish to see this audition through to the end.
Inamoto: Both for the sake of these candidates, and for the sake of the Glanz who have supported them all this time.
Atarashi: Hmph. If youāre going to say all that, then fine.
Atarashi: If you continue the audition, Iāll allow you to have the final concert live-stream.
VS AMBIVALENZ 2nd ; EP.18 Emerald Shadowās Wahrheit FINAL PART [ENG Translation]
video form on youtubeĀ |Ā official vsa channelās video
Cate: ā¦ā¦
Luvnosuke: Hey, Riam.
Riam: What?
Luvnosuke: Donāt you have anything clever to say at a moment like this?
Riam: Huh? What the hell do you mean, anything clever?
Luvnosuke: Cāmon. Youāre always spouting lyrics as if youāre a lyric-writing god.
Riam: Iām not tryinā to look like Iām aā
Mikera: Quiet down, you two! Youāre being too loud.
Mikera: Cate will hear you.
Shimba: Well. Whoād have thought his rival is the āāāā whoās been āāāāāāā our auditionās assignments.
Shimba: Cate's not the only one who wouldā
Mikera: Dumbass, dumbass, dumbassā¦!
Riam: Youāre the loudest one hereā¦!
Shimba: Sorry. Didnāt think we had to keep hiding this even now, so I couldnāt stop myself.
Akashi: Shimba-san, your honesty is very charming, but as far as Iām concerned, after working so closely with everyone for the past year, I think there are things youāre better off not running your mouth like that aboutā¦
Luvnosuke: *Sigh*ā¦ What a headache.
Mikera: Umā¦ Cate?
Cate: ā¦ā¦
Cate: Huh? Huh?
Mikera: You okay, Cate?
Cate: Ah, ohā¦ Yupā¦
Everyone: ā¦ā¦
Meguru: Weāve returned.
Shimba & Mikera & Akashi & Riam & Luvnosuke: !
Akashi: Meguru-sanā¦ How is Hiromi-sanā¦?
Cate: ā¦!
Meguru: ā¦ā¦
Meguru: He does not seem willing to say anything yet.
Monet: He wonāt eat eitherā¦
Kyouya: The food we left him this morning was still in front of the room where we left it.
Kyouya: I imagine heās drinking water, at leastā¦
Akashi: This is worryingā¦
Mikera: Itās been three daysā¦
Mikera: A gossip site revealed Hiromiās past, Inamoto-san and the mentors asked to speak to him, and we havenāt seen him since.
Shimba: They havenāt locked him up in there, have they?
Riam: He shut himself in there, apparently.
Kyouya: That articleā¦ Is it true?
Kyouya: We couldnāt read it from our phoneā¦
Luvnosuke: Yup.
Luvnosuke: Well, I got the gist of it from the Glanzās reactions.
Luvnosuke: Sounds like Hiromi worked at a TV station, āāāāāāāāāāāā, and ended up shutting down a project.
Luvnosuke: I guess it said that heās doing something similar to the audition this time.
Akashi: Ifā¦
Akashi: Hypothetically speaking, that is.
Akashi: If that story is trueā¦
Akashi: Why would Hiromi-san do such a thingā¦?
Cate: ā¦!
Riam: Yeah, good question.
Luvnosuke: Does Hiromi have anything to gain from āāāāāāāāāāāā in the first place?
Luvnosuke: Arenāt the risks from being found out, like, crazy high?
Shimba: Well, lo and behold the results.
Monet: Maybeā¦
Monet: Hiromi is going through something devastating and has become desperateā¦
Monet: And thatās why he tried to make a mess of the audition.
Monet: Or somethingā¦?
ć¼
Hiromi: ā¦ā¦
Hiromi: Good morning!
Talent: Good morning. Youāre in high spirits again today.
Boss: Werenāt you working late yesterday?
Boss: How come youāre here so early today? Is everything alright?
Hiromi: I rented an apartment near the studio, actually.
Hiromi: Iāve been able to get more sleep than before.
Boss: You sure are motivated.
Hiromi: I like this job. I think itās my calling.
Talent: It makes me happy to hear that from someone so young. I have high hopes for you!
Hiromi: Thank you very much!
You traitor!
Donāt you dare show your face in front of me again!
ćć¼Knocking
Hiromi: !
Inamoto: May I come in, Hiromi-san?
ć¼
Mikera: Cut it out, guys!
Everyone: !
Mikera: Think about Cate! Heās got to hear you guys make all these assumptions about his rival!
Luvnosuke: Ack, sorry, Cate!
Akashi: Iām sorry! We jumped into an insensitive conversation!
Riam: Sorry. We didnāt consider your feelingsā¦ Wait.
Riam: Whereād he go?
Meguru: He was here up ātill nowā¦
ć¼
Cate: Hiā¦ Hi-Hiromiā¦
Cate: Um.
Cate: Um. Hiromi, Iā¦!
Cate: Iā¦
Cion: Cate?
Cate: Ahā¦
Cion: Oh. You are Cate, right?
Cion: You donāt have your hat on, so I couldnāt tell who you were for a second.
Jintaro: Hey, whatās up? Whatāre you doing here?
Auguri: Canāt you tell?
Auguri: He came here ācause heās worried about Hiromi! Right?
Futaba: Thatās right. Hiromi-san is Cate-sanās rival, after all.
Futaba: Of course he would be worried.
Cate: Ahā¦ Ahā¦
Futaba: Iām sorry! Did we scare you by talking to you out of the blue?
Cate: ā¦ā¦
Cion: ā¦ Why did you take your hat off?
Cion: I thought that you canāt talk well when youāre not wearing it.
Cate: !
Cate: Huhā¦ H-How do youā¦
Cate: Ohā¦ From the Documentary Dramaā¦?
Cate: I see. It even showed thatā¦
Cion: ā¦ Is there something you canāt tell Hiromi unless youāre not wearing it?
Cate: ā¦!
Jintaro: ā¦ Ohhh, I see.
Jintaro: Go on, then. Go talk to Hiromi with all youāve got!
Cate: Huhā¦?
Futaba: We also have something weād like to ask Hiromi-san about.
Futaba: But it seems thatāll be a little difficult right nowā¦
Cion: But he might listen to you since youāre his rival, right?
Cate: His rivalā¦?
Cate: Cateā¦ Is Hiromiāsā¦
Auguri: Could it beā¦
Auguri: That youāre worried that Hiromi doesnāt really think of you as his rival?
Cate: ā¦ā¦
Jintaro: Cāmon, whereās your self-confidence?
Jintaro: Whatās important aināt what he thinks of you!
Jintaro: Itās what you think of him! Right?
Cate: ā¦!
Cion: Itāll be okay.
Cion: Your words will definitely reach your rival.
Cate: ā¦!
Cate: Hiromiā¦
Cate: Hiromi, can you hearā
Cate: Are you listening?
Cate: I hope you areā¦
Cate: Thereās somethingā¦ I have to tell you, no matter whatā¦!
Cate: You know, Iā¦ Umā¦ Iā¦
Cate: Umā¦
Cate: I want to be your Chipi-chan, Hiromi!
Jintaro: Ch-Chipi-chanā¦?
Cion: Shh. Thatās his hat.
Cate: ā¦ When I was a kidā¦
Cate: The grandparents that raised me didnāt like kidsā¦
Cate: They scolded me saying that Iām too loud a lot, and I got worse and worse at talking to peopleā¦
Cate: But when Chipi-chan cameā¦
Cate: And we started singing and talking together, I managed to say what I wanted to bit by bit againā¦
Cate: Itās thanks to Chipi-chan that I can talk like this againā¦
Cate: Thatās whyā¦
Cate: I think I understand, why you canāt talk right now, Hiromi.
Cate: There are times when you just donāt know what words to use, right?
Cate: There are times when, the more you think that you just have to say something, the harder it is to speak, right?
Cate: Actually, I donāt really care why you did what you did, Hiromi.
Cate: Because I!
Cate: Because I believe in the Hiromi Iāve been looking at this whole timeā¦!
Cate: Thatās why, no matter what it is you want to talk aboutā¦
Cate: Iāll become Chipi-chan and hear you outā¦!
Cate: No matter what happensā¦
Cate: My rival will always only be you, Hiromiā¦!
Cate: ā¦ā¦
Jintaro & Auguri & Cion & Futaba: ā¦ā¦
ćć¼Door opening
Everyone: !
ćć¼Hiromi collapses
Everyone: !
Cate: Hiromi!
Cate: Are you okay?
Inamoto: It appears heās become anemic.
Inamoto: I will take him to the infirmaryā
Hiromi: Iām alright.
Hiromi: More importantly, I have to talk to everyoneā¦
Cate: Hiromiā¦
Cate: Were you listening to me?
Hiromi: Inamoto-san had left the door slightly ajarā¦
Cate: ā¦!
Hiromi: Iām sorry, Cate-kunā¦
Hiromi: I didnāt know what to say to you all and locked myself away for too long.
Hiromi: In the end, I caused you to worry for no reasonā¦
Cate: Nuh-huh.
Hiromi: Iām sorry. I know you believe in meā¦
Hiromi: But Iām actually not deserving of your trustā¦!
Cate: Hiromiā¦
Hiromi: While the audition has been going on, Iā¦
Hiromi: Iām aware that no apology will ever be enough.
Hiromi: Iād at least like to tell you the truth about what was written on that gossip site myself.
Shimba: Sure. Letās hear it.
Meguru: Yes. We all want to know your reasons.
Hiromi: Thank youā¦
Hiromi: Everything began back when I was still working at my company before thisā¦
Hiromi: Oh, the gossip site said I was working at some kind of TV network, but it was actually just a small filmmaking company.
Hiromi: We did work with TV networks fairly often, though.
Hiromi: Working as an assistant director was hard, but it suited me.Ā
Hiromi: I thought that getting to be of use to others in the entertainment industry I loved so much was my lifeās calling.
Hiromi: I love this job. Itās what I was born to do.
Talent: Itās great hearing that from someone so young. Iāve got high expectations for you!
Hiromi: The talent who complimented me was someone Iād been looking up to since I was a student.
Hiromi: I felt like I had to work even harder because of that.
Hiromi: The two of us became close while working together, and even became good friends outside of work as well.
Hiromi: Weād take care of everything we were given, and things were going smoothly.
Hiromi: ā¦Until something happened.
Friend: Hiromi! Is that really you?
Hiromi: Ohā¦!
Friend: Do you remember me? We went to the same vocational school.
Hiromi: Yeah, itās been ages! How are you?
Hiromi: I ran into an old friend by chance, and he was super interested in my job.
Hiromi: I thinkā¦ I mightāve gotten a bit carried away back then.
Hiromi: I wasnāt thinking at all about what he was feeling, or any ulterior motives he may have had behind his complimentsā¦
Hiromi: In the end, I recommended him to my company since he had quit his job a bit before that.
Talent: Huh, so youāre Hiromi-kunās friend.Ā
Friend: Itās a pleasure to be working with you!
Hiromi: Iām looking forward to working with both of you too.
Talent: Yeah, same here. Any friend of Hiromi-kunās is a friend of mine.
Hiromi: I slowly started feeling more and more uneasy, but it still took me by complete surprise.
Hiromi: Good morning. About todayās scheduleā¦
Talent: Oh, thanks. I already heard from your friend, so donāt worry about it.
Hiromi: Oh, alright! Iām looking forward to working with you today!
Hiromi: Iām sorry to bother you! We have a meeting after thisā¦
Talent: Huh? You didnāt hear?
Talent: I thought your friend told you about the schedule changes.
Friend: Cāmon, Hiromi! Didnāt I let you know about it yesterday?
Friend: Did you miss it ācause you didnāt get enough sleep?
Hiromi: Whā¦ Oh, you did?
Hiromi: Iām sorry.
Friend: This guyās a bit of an airhead.
Friend: Iām sorry about him~
Talent: Yeah, no worries, Iām no match for you after all.
Friend: Really~?
Hiromi: ā¦ā¦
Boss: Fudoura, the higher-ups loved the mini talk corner you put together!
Boss: They said theyād love to work with you again.
Hiromi: Really!? Thank you so much!
Friend: ā¦ā¦
Talent: Oh-ho. Youāre really soaking up all that praise.
Hiromi: Ahā¦
Boss: Thatās right, he worked very hard on thisā
Talent: But didnāt you actually finish this project thanks to the support you had from the people around you, especially that friend of yours?
Talent: Are you sure you should be taking all the credit for this?
Hiromi: ā¦!
Hiromi: I-Iām sorry.
Hiromi: Wait!
Friend: ? Whatās up?
Hiromi: Um, you seeā¦ This might sound a bit weird, butā¦
Hiromi: Were you talking about me to him?
Friend: Himā¦?
Friend: Oh! That artist you like so much?
Friend: No, I wasnāt.
Hiromi: Ohā¦ I see.
Friend: Oh, butā¦
Friend: See, he did say that he was a bit worried with how you keep buttering up to anybody and everybody.
Hiromi: Whaā¦
Friend: Be careful. If he gets the idea that youāre a poser, itāll spread through the company like the plague.
Hiromi: Ahā¦ Right.
Friend: You two are working together on the next project, yeah?
Hiromi: Huh? Oh, yes.
Friend: That thingās super top secret, huh?
Friend: Even when he got wasted he wouldnāt say a word about it~
Friend: Whatās with that? We get along great as coworkers, donāt we?
Hiromi: Donāt say that. If things were leaked, itāll spread way outside the company.
Hiromi: Huh? Whereās my laptopā¦
Hiromi: There it is. Why is it over hereā¦?
Coworker: Oh, your friend was borrowing it.
Coworker: He said he was having trouble connecting his to the printer.
Hiromi: Huh?
Boss: Hey! Fudoura!
Hiromi: AhāYes! Did something happen?
Boss: Youā¦ Do you have any idea what youāve done!?
Hiromi: Huhā¦?
Hiromi: Did you know?
Hiromi: After being exposed to a feeling of unease for a time, you get used to it.
Hiromi: Thatās why you donāt do anything until something really bad happens.
Hiromi: ā¦All thatās nothing more than an excuse, though.
Hiromi: Wait!
Hiromi: It was you, wasnāt it?
Friend: What was?
Hiromi: The information leak! You did it, didnāt you?!
Friend: Hah? Do you have any proof?
Hiromi: Butā¦
Friend: By the way, did you see his social media?
Friend: He didnāt drop any names, but he definitely made that post knowing it was you.
Friend: Look.
Youāre a traitor who steps on the kindness offered to you!
Donāt show your face in front of me ever again!Ā
Friend: He really hates you. Well, guess thatās only natural.
Friend: Donāt you think people who get cocky and act all modest, talking like what theyāre doing is nothing special in front of someone whose life is falling apart are just disgusting?
Hiromi: Youā¦!
Friend: How unfortunate. Donāt think for a second that youāll get to work in this world again.
Hiromi: Whaā¦
Friend: On another note, how about we strike a deal?
Friend: You could make some extra cash by selling info to a different company.
Friend: Youāre gonna be fired either way, so that doesnāt sound so bad now, does it?
Friend: Thisāll just be take two. Youāll just have to do the same thing again.Ā
Hiromi: ā¦!
Hiromi: Thatās the truth behind what was posted on the gossip site.
Everyone: ā¦ā¦
Cate: Then, the person who āāāāāāāāā wasnāt you?
Hiromi: Yes, I can assure you it wasnāt.
Hiromi: But I didnāt have any solid proof that it was him, either.
Hiromi: Thatās why I had no choice but to accept being firedā¦
Hiromi: Iām sorry. I didnāt think this would be how this would all be brought to lightā¦
Luvnosuke: I seeā¦ It was rough, huh.
Luvnosuke: āBut, you know!Ā
Cate & Hiromi: !
Luvnosuke: Whyyy would you go and do the same thing to others if having it done to you hurt you so bad?
Hiromi: Huh? The same thing?Ā
Riam: If youād told us just a little earlierā¦
Riam: Well, I get that itās tough, though.
Akashi: Itās difficult to talk about yourself.
Mikera: The deeper the wound is, the harder it is to talk about, huh.
Shimba: Thatās desperation for youā¦
Hiromi: Huh? What are youā
Kyouya: Donāt tell meā¦ Things turned out to be exactly as Monet-san said they wereā¦!
Monet: ā¦ā¦
Meguru: Hiromi, is that truly the āthing you must doā?
Hiromi: ā¦! Wait a second, what are you guys even talking about?
Jintaro: Whaddya meanā¦ Arenāt we talking about how youāre the āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā about the audition assignments to someone outside?
Hiromi: āāā ?
Futaba: Hurt by your old job, you āāāāāāāāāāāā about the assignments in the same way that things went down in the pastā¦
Futaba: Isnāt that what you were telling us about?
Hiromi: Itās not!
Hiromi: Itās true that I was asked to leak other plans, but I turned that down!
Hiromi: I cut off contact with him too.
Hiromi: And not just him, I havenāt been in contact with anyone else involved.
Everyone: ?
Auguri: Then the information on the gossip siteā¦
Hiromi: Please hold on. That site wrote that I was āāāāāāāāāāāā ā¦ā¦!?
Jintaro: Didnāt we tell you?
Hiromi: You did notā¦! I thought it only wrote about my pastā¦!
Inamoto: I apologize. That was a mistake in communication on my part.
Cate: T-Then Hiromi didnāt āāāāāāā at his old job or āāāāā the auditionās āāāāāāā¦?
Hiromi: I didnāt! I didnāt do either of those things!
Cion: Then what did you mean when you said āāāāāāāā earlierā¦?
Hiromi: ! That wasā¦
Hiromi: At some point, I started wanting revenge.
Cate: Revenge?
Hiromi: Iād get into the entertainment industry, Iād become even better than him, Iād get even more famous than himā¦
Hiromi: Then, someday, Iād reveal everythingā¦
Hiromi: I wanted to talk about this whole thing somewhereā¦!
Inamoto: And thatās why youāre participating in this audition?
Hiromi: Yesā¦
Hiromi: Ah, I mean, becoming an idol was a dream of mine back when I was a kid, but I gave up on it for a time after growing up, butā¦
Hiromi: I was influenced by that when I got into the film industry, tooā¦
Hiromi: Even then, I really am awful.
Hiromi: All of you genuinely want to become idols, and Iām here in the middle of you all with this kind of motiveā¦
Everyone: ā¦
Meguru: I see. So thatās what you absolutely had to do.
Everyone: *SIGH*~~~~~
Luvnosuke: Also, even if you do want to become an idol and get famous, isnāt any kind of motivation fine? Revenge aside.
Hiromi: Huhā¦?
Riam: You said it.Ā
Riam: Thereās a ton of guys out there who want to come out on top over someone else.
Riam: Revenge aside.
Mikera: Thatās true. Iād be lying if I said I didnāt feel that way too.
Mikera: Revenge aside.
Shimba: For sure. You gotta have a bit of rebellion in you.
Shimba: Revenge aside!
Kyouya: Thank godā¦ Iām so relievedā¦ Revenge aside.
Akashi: I know, right! Revenge aside.
Hiromi: Wh, huhā¦ Youāre really against it, huhā¦
Inamoto: I donāt recommend it either.
Inamoto: Depending on what happens, there is a chance that you will yet again be hurt in the same way that you were in the past.
Inamoto: Although I cannot be completely against it myself.
Cion: No one here wants to see you be hurt.
Hiromi: ā¦!
Everyone: ā¦ā¦
Cion: And that doesnāt just go for you. It goes for every one of you candidates too.
Cion: Even if one of you really was a āāāā.
Cion: We werenāt trying to find that person in order to catch them.
mmmmmmm
Cion: ā¦We wanted to help them.
Cion: We wanted to get them out of the situation that drove them into a corner.
Hiromi: ā¦Helpā¦
Cate: Yeah, me too.
Hiromi: Cate-kunā¦
Cate: Whether youāre a āāāā or not, Iām on your side.
Cate: I mean, youāre my one and only rival!
Hiromi: ā¦!
Hiromi: Thank you.
Hiromi: I was able to talk to everyone about everything thanks to you.
Hiromi: Itās because you became my very own Chipi-chan and had my backā¦
Hiromi: You really are my one and only rivalā¦!
Futaba: !
Auguri: Sheesh, Futaba, youāre such a crybaby.
Futaba: You are too.
Futaba: Really though, I didnāt think weād get to see such a moving scene liveā¦!
Luvnosuke: IKR~~ The Vivalenz DocuDra is god-tier~
Futaba & Luvnosuke: !
Futaba: I always thought that I would get along with youā¦!
Luvnosuke: Me too, Iāve always wanted to talk to youā¦!
Auguri: Huuuuh, why are you two having such a passionate handshake~ Iām jelly~
Cion: Well, itās all good. The situationās been resolved.
Jintaro: Huh? Whaddya mean?
Jintaro: You mean there was never a āāāā that was āāāāāāāāāāāā after all?
Inamoto: It seems to be the caā
Monet: There is one.
Everyone: !
Monet: Theyāre here.
Monet: The spy youāve all been looking for.
Kyouya: Monet-san, what are you sayā
Monet: Iā
Auguri: The ceiling is lowering!
Futaba: Someoneās comingā¦!
Jintaro: Thatāsā¦!
Cion: ā¦!
Atarashi: Hey, everyone. Itās been a while. Are you doing well?
Riam: Iām Riam. Iām competinā with Ainosuke over here for the orange color in this audition.Ā
Luvnosuke: Iām Ainosuke. Riam, youāre not gonna beatbox today? Arenāt you always doing that in your self-intros?
Riam: Thereās no point to doinā it in an interview.
Luvnosuke: Huuuh, but they wanna hear it, right?
Weād love to hear it.
Luvnosuke: Cāmon, cāmon!
Riam: (Riam beatboxing)
Luvnosuke: I wonder if theyāll write āRiam beatboxingā or something. Lol
Riam: Donāt laugh! Next! Go, Kyouya!
Kyouya: Iām a candidate for Blackā¦ Kyouya. My rival is the one sleeping here next to me, Monet. Iām sorry, I tried my best to wake him up before the interview, butā¦ Heās been asleep since Shimba introduced himselfā¦
Riam: So, from the start?
Shimba: Hahaha! Heās got guts to be sleeping even in this situation!
Monet: Merci.Ā
Kyouya: Ah! He woke up!
Now then, we will continue with our questions. Please tell us about how you felt during the recording for āThe Last Oneā.
Shimba: The concept for āThe Last Oneā is rock! And Iām rock as well! So I wasnāt worried about anything.
Luvnosuke: Could you explain that a little more, Shimba?
Shimba: Sure! This song uses powerful lyrics to express our desire to debut, so I figured we could use it to show our true feelings.
Kyouya: This song suits Shimba-san really well, he ended up leading us along.
Luvnosuke: The same could be said about you, Kyouya. Your expressiveness was awesome, you got most things down in one take, didnāt you?
Kyouya: Ah, yesā¦ I wasā¦ happy I could sing this song, it was fun.
Riam: The way Kyouya sang āNobody Knowsā was pretty overwhelming. Guess thatās to be expected from someone so highly rated in that department.
Kyouya: T-Thank youā¦
Riam: Is Monet up?
Monet: Barelyā¦
Shimba: You should tell us what you thought while youāre awake!Ā
Monet: Ummmā¦ Riam seemed to have a bit of a tough time with the hard part that went from āEven if the roadās difficultā to āThatās Vivalenz.ā
Riam: Ueghā¦
Monet: Among this group, Ainosuke had the hardest time getting into the rock feeling.
Luvnosuke: Gh!
Kyouya: I was thinking itās impressive how heās awake for a change, but he went right for the killā¦
Luvnosuke: Monet! Donāt say those things in an interview!
Riam: Weāre still lackinā lots of experience. Itās natural weād have a hard time!Ā
Monet: But that was only at the start.
Luvnosuke & Riam: Huh?
Monet: As expected of Riamās rap skills, he finished his verses in high quality, and Ainosuke got better with each take. I thought you two were wonderful.
Riam: Ohā¦Ā
Luvnosuke: Ohhā¦Ā
Shimba: Must feel good to be praised, huh!
Luvnosuke: Is this some kinda carrot and stick? As expected from the guy who was asked to sing with a devillish expression and did it no problemā¦
Kyouya: It was also impressive how he woke up and sang only during recording and fell asleep immediately after.Ā
Lastly, please share a message with all the Glanz.Ā
Luvnosuke: I'm suuuper happy to show you these cool rock visuals. Youāll be intoxicated by my gap moeā„
Riam:Ā Iām grateful I got to perform a song that makes use of my rap skills. I think I managed to take advantage of the chance I was given. Give it a listen.Ā
Kyouya: The music video is coolā¦ too. I hope youāll continue watching us as we grow from this place of nothing.
Monet: Thanks for listening. Please keep on supporting us, okay? If it means I can talk to you Glanz, I can stay awake properly.
Shimba: I noticed this in the other groupās āHello Future!!!ā too, but the āNo GLANZ No lifeā lyrics and melody at the end of the chorus are the same as in our āThe Last Oneā. I was surprised to see how much the vibe changes when the only difference is the instrumental.
Luvnosuke: Huh? FR?
Riam: Show me the lyricsā¦ Itās for real?
Kyouya: ā¦I just noticed.
Monet: Zzzā¦zzzā¦
Shimba: Mikera and I noticed. Probably ācause we were the only ones separated. Did you notice, Glanz? You should listen to the song right now if you didnāt!!
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