Shionposting: “I’ve Decided”
Jun. 24th, 2025 11:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gildedstageI’ve been thinking about Shion a lot again. I did wonder if it had even been long enough to write another full post about her, but I was surprised to see it’s been exactly a month since my first post so I’ll take that as a sign.
In my last post, I mentioned Shion’s pattern of avoidance, weather symbolism, and speculated about what her dream could be. This post will be about the developments in each of those areas.
The main reason I wanted to make the post is because I thought the changes in Shion’s pattern are cute. It’s very difficult to develop a character that entrenched in maladaptive habits in the span of a month, but I think they managed to show change without erasing her flaws.
- May 29th: Shion was told by her parents that it’s better to transfer sooner rather than later. At first, she was about to avoid it by falling asleep to ASMR on the futon. Instead, she decided to hate-watch the Ikizuraibu video, which she saw over a week before, with her followers. Most importantly, we learn that idols (specifically Umi Sonoda) are important to Shion and she feels that Ikizuraibu is disrespecting their legacy by being so bad and inexperienced. Shion avoids her pain with another source of pain for her, which is a first.
- June 6th: Shion was very distressed to see that Ikizuraibu was successful enough to increase its members to 7. Shion is very clearly trying to avoid thinking about this, posting “it doesn’t matter because it has nothing to do with me” and “leave them alone? is leaving them alone the right thing to do? ugh enough, it’s pissing me off.” Unlike her previous posts, she doesn’t jump to the next distraction but concludes that the best thing to do is to teach them a lesson about Umi herself by transferring to L High.
- June 12th: Shion came to the conclusion that try as she may, she can’t pretend like she hasn’t seen the video. She has to act on her feelings.
- June 15th: Shion reflected on her transfer and joining Ikizuraibu. It was only through her nervousness now that that she realized she never intended to go to school from the start. She used lofty language like “a once in a lifetime adventure” and “a time where you need to stand up for what’s right.” She made fun of herself for using grandiose words and admitted it was just something she couldn’t let go.
- June 20th: Shion became angry again, wondering if she should pretend she didn’t see it again before complaining “the Tokyo girls aren’t fair, not fair, not fair, not fair.” Shion then calmed down and admitted there was nothing to be done.
I really like that even as Shion has realized there is something she can’t give up (her respect for idols and the youth they represent to her), she still has difficulty accepting change. She struggles against it, rages, and lashes out at others. She reverts back to old habits, but can catch herself doing it.
However, now that the “weather” has been lifted, what is holding Shion back? Since my last post, two videos have come out that give more information on Shion.
- “On Days Where I Skipped School, I Want to See You” / May 28th Video: Like Shion’s first video, this video broke form and instead of a self-introduction, we got a clip of Shion streaming.
Shion blamed anything and everything for why she misses school: rain, any weather at all, waking up late, and a crease on her uniform. Partway through, Shion became even more impassioned than when she talks about fashion. She raged about the Ikizuraibu video and considered it disrespectful to school idols to the point wanted to act about it.
- “No Way Ikizuraibu! I Joined Them… Ugh” / June 16th: The name “Ikizuraibu,” even if a lame pun, still made her heart ache. She criticized them for their terrible dancing, but admitted that she was so moved by their seriousness that she cried. Even if they were sloppy, they made her realize she also wanted to be a school idol. Shion also concerningly mentioned not going to school normally like the other girls, but instead using an avatar. However, she believes that they can still feel connected and be together even if they’re far apart.
It seems like there is still something unresolved. So far, Shion is the only character besides Polka that deeply resonated with the “life is hard” moniker. Considering that Shion is still using an avatar, she still feels people online know her better than people who know her IRL and struggles to have her self-expression recognized in real life. I also think it’s interesting how Shion admires Umi specifically for her gap between seriousness and embarrassment at cute things, especially since Shion considers herself serious while also loving uniforms. I doubt that’s the only reason why Shion is isolated, though.
Finally, in my first post I speculated that based on Shion’s pattern of avoidance, she potentially has a dream but was repressing it. There hasn’t been any new information on her dream in the past month, so it’s possible she really doesn’t have one yet. I still think it’s interesting that there hasn’t been any mention of her piano or violin skills yet. As of right now, she seems to parallel Polka. Both faced failure and have no dream, but sincerely want to be idols more than anyone else in Ikizuraibu.
In my last post, I mentioned Shion’s pattern of avoidance, weather symbolism, and speculated about what her dream could be. This post will be about the developments in each of those areas.
The main reason I wanted to make the post is because I thought the changes in Shion’s pattern are cute. It’s very difficult to develop a character that entrenched in maladaptive habits in the span of a month, but I think they managed to show change without erasing her flaws.
- May 29th: Shion was told by her parents that it’s better to transfer sooner rather than later. At first, she was about to avoid it by falling asleep to ASMR on the futon. Instead, she decided to hate-watch the Ikizuraibu video, which she saw over a week before, with her followers. Most importantly, we learn that idols (specifically Umi Sonoda) are important to Shion and she feels that Ikizuraibu is disrespecting their legacy by being so bad and inexperienced. Shion avoids her pain with another source of pain for her, which is a first.
- June 6th: Shion was very distressed to see that Ikizuraibu was successful enough to increase its members to 7. Shion is very clearly trying to avoid thinking about this, posting “it doesn’t matter because it has nothing to do with me” and “leave them alone? is leaving them alone the right thing to do? ugh enough, it’s pissing me off.” Unlike her previous posts, she doesn’t jump to the next distraction but concludes that the best thing to do is to teach them a lesson about Umi herself by transferring to L High.
- June 12th: Shion came to the conclusion that try as she may, she can’t pretend like she hasn’t seen the video. She has to act on her feelings.
- June 15th: Shion reflected on her transfer and joining Ikizuraibu. It was only through her nervousness now that that she realized she never intended to go to school from the start. She used lofty language like “a once in a lifetime adventure” and “a time where you need to stand up for what’s right.” She made fun of herself for using grandiose words and admitted it was just something she couldn’t let go.
- June 20th: Shion became angry again, wondering if she should pretend she didn’t see it again before complaining “the Tokyo girls aren’t fair, not fair, not fair, not fair.” Shion then calmed down and admitted there was nothing to be done.
I really like that even as Shion has realized there is something she can’t give up (her respect for idols and the youth they represent to her), she still has difficulty accepting change. She struggles against it, rages, and lashes out at others. She reverts back to old habits, but can catch herself doing it.
However, now that the “weather” has been lifted, what is holding Shion back? Since my last post, two videos have come out that give more information on Shion.
- “On Days Where I Skipped School, I Want to See You” / May 28th Video: Like Shion’s first video, this video broke form and instead of a self-introduction, we got a clip of Shion streaming.
Shion blamed anything and everything for why she misses school: rain, any weather at all, waking up late, and a crease on her uniform. Partway through, Shion became even more impassioned than when she talks about fashion. She raged about the Ikizuraibu video and considered it disrespectful to school idols to the point wanted to act about it.
- “No Way Ikizuraibu! I Joined Them… Ugh” / June 16th: The name “Ikizuraibu,” even if a lame pun, still made her heart ache. She criticized them for their terrible dancing, but admitted that she was so moved by their seriousness that she cried. Even if they were sloppy, they made her realize she also wanted to be a school idol. Shion also concerningly mentioned not going to school normally like the other girls, but instead using an avatar. However, she believes that they can still feel connected and be together even if they’re far apart.
It seems like there is still something unresolved. So far, Shion is the only character besides Polka that deeply resonated with the “life is hard” moniker. Considering that Shion is still using an avatar, she still feels people online know her better than people who know her IRL and struggles to have her self-expression recognized in real life. I also think it’s interesting how Shion admires Umi specifically for her gap between seriousness and embarrassment at cute things, especially since Shion considers herself serious while also loving uniforms. I doubt that’s the only reason why Shion is isolated, though.
Finally, in my first post I speculated that based on Shion’s pattern of avoidance, she potentially has a dream but was repressing it. There hasn’t been any new information on her dream in the past month, so it’s possible she really doesn’t have one yet. I still think it’s interesting that there hasn’t been any mention of her piano or violin skills yet. As of right now, she seems to parallel Polka. Both faced failure and have no dream, but sincerely want to be idols more than anyone else in Ikizuraibu.
