Milestones, Turning Points, and Activity Updates – January 2023

So it seems like I have more fun and potential than I thought when it comes to VTuber clips and vertical videos, considering this thing being the most Liked video in my channel now, for one. And I seem to find more fun in being mindfully slow and quiet about it, something all them many better HOLOSTARS clippers and Starlights reassure me about through their work. And speaking of HOLOSTARS, the English branch’s Tempus has gotten a second wave, the Vanguard, while the first wave is now called the Headquarters. So far, Shinri is my fave Vanguard member thanks to his serenity. And again, HOLOSTARS continues to humble me with their abilities and character and make my appreciation for hololive Production as a whole and VTubing in general more solid. And hey, the English branch of the Stars is now six months old, and it’s got me feeling how Stars EN is currently the VTubers I’ve had the most fun tuning into throughout my time as a VTuber fanboy. Makes me feel like creatively coming clean about my cishet male perversions, too, and again, I hope to overcome them in ways God Almighty wants.

As for other humbling stuff involving HOLOSTARS that’s happened to me and I’d like to discuss in more detail, I got a YouTube Community share by this dedicated Pinoy holo fan going by the name Rob L. Callistis for my English cover of Roberu’s POP-TALK. Honestly, I’ve never really watched his content much yet, but just the sight of this man having the guts to be a full holo fan, a holoPro fan, not just a Live fan or just a Stars fan, on top of striving to be a creative inspires me to keep on being myself, whatever that’s supposed to be. So yes, I thank him very much for this piece of support he did as himself. Thank you very much again for your humbling work, Rob, and I wish you more strength and worthwhile times.

Now, for other things that happened, I got these new meme vids spawned from my gutter brain and this poem inspired by the homily of the Epiphany Mass I attended. No new vlogs and livestreams, also. There was also my maternal grandfather’s death, which I discussed in my commentary for my POP-TALK English cover. And I ended up back in my immediate family’s house on top of having to go my day job’s office to sign some forms, mainly tax ones. I think I missed more than I thought the quiet of my immediate family’s house, too, and a recent recording session I did here probably was the main thing that got me realizing that. Getting a bit more used to commuting around by myself again, also, and the Nintendo Switch be growing on this more Nintendo-grown nut some more. I seem to have gotten into Project Sekai’s Vivid BAD SQUAD and this guy going by natori as well.

As for things coming up, I’m planning to release a fanfic and two song covers here next month. As for things beyond next month, I’m making progress with an original song. I’d also like to finish the three gaming stream series I currently have going on but haven’t gotten back to for about two to three months now. And get some VTuber clips and at least one meme video up. With offstream gaming and e-book reading as my breaks in between. I really should learn how to better handle being a streamer fan, look back at my childhood experiences with the television especially.

And I guess that’s as far as I’ll talk about for this month’s digest post. Again, I’d like to ask for honest constructive feedback, and may God Almighty keep on challenging and guiding us all.

Roberu Yukoku – POP-TALK – TOB English Cover

Yet another HOLOSTARS song I thought I could sing in the original key. But again, at least my singing can still work with it somehow. But that’s not the trickiest thing to me here, especially with the way I worked up the English translyrics for this song titled POP-TALK, Roberu Yukoku’s first solo original. I mean, I had been struggling with the second verse so much, I had to rewrite a portion of it in the middle of the recording process, and I think my lyrics here overall have more heaviness, especially through self-deprecation and how I decided to keep the “complete” in “And complete your puzzle” as is rather than adding an “s” to the end of it for subject-verb agreement’s sake. I bet it makes the difference in my and Roberu’s social skill level pretty clear.

In more fun news, though, k. found this song a fun song! She even liked her audio engineering work on this cover, making me even more easily inclined to agree ’cause she’s keeping all this freaking awesome work freaking consistent so far! And this is kind of a rush order too! I mean, you hear how my vocals blend into the instrumental? Considering how my vocals were mixed in the Rise duet cover as well, I feel as if I’m being taught about how to value having my vocals blending into and standing out from the background at least a bit more. Thank you very much again for your work, k.!

Now, I feel like I should mention this especially because of how the POP-TALK MV prominently features rain alongside warmth and how I’ve been able to keep on making stuff like these music productions thanks to the increased convenience I’ve found in my grandparents’ residence, so yeah, I think I’d like to quietly dedicate this cover to my maternal grandpa, who had passed on recently. I don’t think I was that close to him, especially with how badly I took in some stories about his darker times he grew out of, and I might be more like myself as a quiet consoler, something these walls of text of mine expose my insecurity about, but as far as I’ve known the old man, he had been learning and doing his best a lot, especially for his family, and especially with how jolly he was. I think his Catholic faith also helped. So yeah, God Almighty grant him peace, and may my work here manage to build on the goodness God Almighty managed to help him make.

And now, the mp3 and the lyrics sheet. Please credit and link me if you’re going to use my stuff. And I’d like to ask again for honest constructive feedback.

Under His Dot We Fade Into

Under His Dot We Fade Into

a poem by The Overlord Bear/Jem De Ocampo

We seek the future in the dots
In the will of the dimness
That seem deaf to our pleas
Unless they seek their pleasure
So we march upon the orders
Of a king we see as a cruel god
Like the gods we always looked up to
And then we found an infant
Always ripe for the culling
Under His dot we fade into
Through how He always sought us
So much that He seems faded
To us reveling rebels restrained.

Milestones, Turning Points, and Activity Updates – December 2022 + 2022 in Review

Happy Birthday to the Word That Became Flesh, and may He challenge and guide this wannabe writer and artist and entertainer and more into being more lovingly careful with his words, among other things, for I often put too much emphasis on the “careful” part, and like my fellow fools, I was born to not just be loved but also love. And I feel like He’s been doing that work freaking well even before this latest demand of mine, most especially with how much I’ve been enjoying hololive Production and VTubers and more way beyond what my down abyssal butt ever expected through HOLOSTARS English. Those boys made me feel like I can have fun even with my slow growth and even without the rushing I honestly wanted to do with that slow growth after ending Lisa the Tearer earlier than I planned and starting streaming some time after on top of churning out all them covers and one name-your-price fan song and a bunch of other works more dumbly exhibiting my heavier desperation for power and responsibilities I don’t know how to handle. Watching the rest of HOLOSTARS on top of holoTEMPUS’s streams thanks to the latter inspiring me like how Calli and holoMyth inspired me into becoming a hololive fan on top of becoming a VTuber fan, I’ve gone as far as also watching and enjoying the second concert by the 1st-3rd Generation of HOLOSTARS, the nine whom I also call the HOLOSTARS Nine, and the 3D debut of UPROAR!!, whose variety program Jump UPROAR!! I’ve also grown to enjoy looking forward to and tuning into. I even found myself taking my Japanese, subtitling, and video editing skills to the next level because of them, considering how I’ve been translating Gamma Hizaki’s YouTube Shorts and how I’ve started clipping VTubers. Combine that with stuff like the appreciation for my HOLOSTARS covers, especially the ones for Kaika Sengen, Monologue in a row, and Silent Night Requiem, and here’s this freaking motivated me who feels like he has an improving sense of direction now. Yes, I’m pretty scared about coming out with skeletons like how down abyssal I am about the Live ladies in the process, especially by hinting to you about the fact that I’ve been writing and posting smut starring some of them out there, and how I realized that I’ve been watching the Live girls and the Stars boys way more shallowly than I thought until the Tempus boys came around. But I’m reassured about my capability and need to do better, especially as a man, by the Stars boys’ ability to be responsible with the lesser power they have, so much that my interest in following the girls got renewed and this piece of fanfiction starring Tempus and Kronii got made. Perhaps this meme vid and this vlog can give you a better idea about my improvement this year, too.

But if you’re looking for more signs of improvement that are posted on this blog and aren’t just HOLOSTARS content, then you might want to look at my other stuff from this month first, them being the one TRY for this year and my latest collab cover. As for categorized older stuff from this year, there are:

In terms of individual older stuff from this year, I recommend:

And looking at the 2021 review post, I guess I have at least a bit more evidence that I went above and beyond my overall expectations and/or went against my dumb expectations for myself and my Tobbyworks this year. As for my expectations next year, I think I’d like to make more content as a fan of VTubers, especially holoPro, probably even in a way that would get me some sort of sideline, though may God Almighty help me handle that more properly if I’m meant to have that. On top of that, I think I’d like to release one or two original songs, make more time for my gaming backlog on stream and off stream, go through more of my reading backlog and maybe even my podcast-listening backlog, post one or two fanfiction pieces worth sharing here, post one TRY and one Superheroes vs God Almighty piece, and do something I’d find more healthily entertaining with my handwritten reflection habit. And while I don’t think this desire will be that fruitful this coming 2023, there’s still my desire to get a lovely lady. Whatever the case, may God Almighty challenge and guide me towards what He wants.

Now, I’d like to show my appreciation for some more ordinary life stuff that allows me to do these Tobbyworks. There’s my day job’s company doing better, and I wouldn’t be able to up my production values and my sister’s fun in life without that. There’s my more personal space I have while being mostly emotional support for my grandparents, which also contributed to my streaming ability especially. And there are my long-time friends and my immediate family I often take for granted, my loved ones who learn and do their best to support me more than I like to think. And of course, there’s God Almighty, the Word whom I underestimate and overestimate like how my fellow fools underestimate and overestimate words. May He keep on challenging and guiding as all as He wishes.

And again, this hopefully even more smartly obvious villain of a man we can healthily cancel anytime asks for honest constructive feedback, for yet another miracle. Merry Christmas, my fellow filthy animals, and may we have a Happy New Year.

Oga Aragami – Silent Night Requiem – TOB English Cover

So I faced what’s probably the greatest challenge for my lower range so far in this cover of Oga Aragami’s first original song. The way the gritty lore is combined with Christmas themes also helps. And yes, I decided to have two song covers this month (the other one is of holoCouncil’s Rise) because I also want to scratch my now stronger itch to cover more HOLOSTARS songs, especially in English.

Anyway, yeah, this cover was a challenge, especially in the verses and in the volume. I don’t think I can boom my lower register as well as Oga does, but at the very least, I think I made up for that with my expressiveness. And goodness, k. enhanced that freaking well with the rough vibes she gave the mix. It feels like something that you wouldn’t believe if you only knew the idea on paper. So thank you very much again for your help, k.!

Also, it’s been a while since I last made a song cover with my own translyrics, huh? With how I’m still writing translyrics and forming habits out of other translation stuff lately, I think it’s pretty much me being impulsive about things again. Hopefully, I’m learning and doing my best with it, and whatever the case, may God Almighty keep on challenging and guiding us all.

Now, here are the cover mp3 and the lyrics sheet. Again, please credit and link me if you’re going to use my stuff, and please give me honest constructive feedback.

hololive English -Council- – Rise – RingNin and TOB Vocal Cover

So here’s the big one I was talking about posting on the Sunday before today, my birthday. Just so happened that I started showing some symptoms of the Rona last Thursday, and hopefully, I’ll be fully recovered today or sometime soon, but anyway, that had this release slowing down, especially with my video work for this. But hey, at the very least, I got some sort of break, and I even learned some more about using AviUtl, my top highlight there being the use of curve movement for the camera control! And of course, this upload’s on my birthday! I feel like the most intense song cover I’ve made so far in terms of the production process should be posted on such a time, you know?

Talking more about how intense this is, this is a duet cover, and I haven’t done a collab cover for over six years already. And this cover singer who’s now more focused on VTuber songs, especially holo ones, had the honor of doing a cover of holoCouncil’s Rise with RingNin, whom I think I first encountered while looking through Shigeru’s mix commissions info again. Remembering the well-contrasted vocal combo in the epicness that is holoCouncil’s first original and my eager listening to the fluffiness that is Nin’s singing voice, well, I ended up wanting to cover this song with her, and I’m very humbled by her work! And it seems like this is her first song cover in English, too!

Leanna also made a smart move in putting Nin’s vocals in front and mine in the back. I mean, why have a voice as cute as Nin’s in the back? And I tend to blast my dude voice, so yeah. Add the warmth Leanna managed to add in a revision, and we got this epicness here! Also, it seems like Leanna and I share a birthday? Well, whenever her birthday actually is, I’d like to greet her a happy birthday!

And last but not least, Nin and I got help from Syd for our avatars and the background in the cover MV! The designs match the members with the individual lines we covered, with me having Kronii’s and Bae’s and Nin having Mumei’s, Fauna’s, and Sana’s. Other references include Fire Emblem Engage’s Alear (who was also designed by Bae’s character designer, OG-level artist Mika Pikazo), and The World Ends With You’s Neku Sakuraba for this take on my avatar, while the titular Cardcaptor Sakura served as a reference for this take on Nin’s avatar. And I feel like purple is the hard-carrying color in our avatars here. As for the background, it makes me think of Syd as even more of a badass with how detailed and complementary it is! And speaking of Syd’s awesomeness, check out their official work for Elaine of KoMETA’s second original Nakaukit too!

Also, how much have I been watching holoCouncil recently? Well, like with the rest of the girls of holoPro, I feel like I’ve come to watch them more than I did before thanks to HOLOSTARS and their brand of classiness humbling and grounding me. As for specific members I’ve been tuning into, the most I have so far might be Fauna if we’re talking solo streams, Kronii and Bae for collab streams, and Fauna, Bae, and Mumei in terms of music. Surprisingly, overall, Fauna is at the top of my fave Council member ranking right now. I guess it’s the fluffy voice and the horror writing.

With all that said, here’s an mp3 copy of the cover~ And as always, I’d like to ask for honest constructive feedback!

Milestones, Turning Points, and Activity Updates – November 2022

If you’ve had the guts to bore yourself to death by fully watching my instances of streaming this month and before this post, you’ll have already learned that I’ve gotten some more free time, a new controller cable, and an additional monitor. Still, I don’t know how much use I’d get from all that, especially from my additional monitor, if I weren’t staying at my grandparents’ place with my more personal space and the stronger Internet connection. So yeah, may God Almighty keep on challenging and guiding me to learn and do my best to be of service to my grandparents.

Oh, and speaking of hardware upgrades, I now feel like I should’ve mentioned this some time in a monthly digest post right after I got it a few months ago, but I also got a new phone, one that can help me be a VTuber. But since I’m pretty picky about quality on top of being this squishy-brained bum, you’re gonna see more of me taking advantage of the HD front camera first. Also, speaking of YouTube stuff, I think I forgot to mention this in the last monthly digest post, but the Community tab in my YouTube Channel is now open, so yeah.

Other fun stuff this month worth noting here…Well, I think I really further got into holostars’ Uproar, especially Gamma, particularly through his YT Shorts I’ve been doing translation attempts on in their respective comment sections. Jumproar and Uproar’s 3D debuts also helped a lot. And one song cover by all four of them has been kinda stuck in my mind lately. And so continues my discovery and appreciation of holostars’ bro energy I’ve been missing out on and been in denial about for so long because of how I’ve been cynically leaning into my stereotypical cishet maleness, which I think my struggles with also helped spawn this reflection I posted this month.

And speaking of holostars some more, I’ve made my first cover of a Rikka solo original. More holostars covers to come in the next few months, too. I also made a fanfic starring Tempus and Kronii. Even got the strength to write more English translyrics for holoPro originals. Also, to conserve my strength and all that in line with doing what I like, I’ve decided to lighten up on original music plans.

And the following month shall be my birth month, with me turning 26 on the 13th. I’m planning on releasing something big on the Sunday before that, too. And apparently, all of Uproar’s gonna stream in 3D together on December 3. And of course, there’s Christmas, which happens to be the day of my final monthly digest post for this year. May I also have the strength to endure them crowds during them celebrations.

Now, honest constructive feedback, please~

Rikka – Re:Hello world (English Ver.) – TOB Vocal Cover

Back to holoPro covers, and I make a comeback to covering Rikka, though this is the first time I’ve covered a Rikka solo, given the first time I covered him along with Calli as a more obnoxious perv posing as a wise guy. And what I’m covering here is Rikka’s and holostars’ first original song, with this official English version having been made and released in commemoration of the original version’s MV hitting half a million views on YouTube. As someone who wants to cover holostars songs in English, official stuff like this and Tempus’s Top of the World go higher up in my priority list, and this song’s heartrendingly bright and refreshing vibes certainly helped me have fun with it. I think I also wanted to put this off for later, but remembering Rikka’s 3rd anniversary that got celebrated last month in so many ways had me wanting to upload the cover not any later than I already have.

Now, if you listen carefully, you’ll find that I did some modifications on Polymorphic Symphony’s lyrics for more natural flow. I also lowered the key, thus the extra dissonance as you watch Rikka being synced to my brattier voice. Still was a challenge to sing, though, especially considering how I had to control myself away from making my voice break while adding a bit more power during the final chorus. I mean, I wanted to yell that one part in the final chorus harder, but yeah.

Also, this is my first time working with k., who gave crisp tuning and clear and fluffy mixing to my vocals! She even convinced me very well into adding some artificial harmonies to the mix! I don’t think I even had to ask for corrections! It’s an honor to work with her, alright!

All that said, here’s an mp3 copy of this cover. Looking forward to your honest constructive feedback, too!