神推しについて (About my Kamioshi)

You can tell by the featured image: this post is about my (kami)oshi, HOLOSTARS EN TEMPUS founder and guild leader, Regis Altare. This is my very first birthday post to my (kami)oshi Leader, since I launched Starpura Space sometime after Altare’s 21st-S2((21 Season 2… or in this reality, 22?)) birthday. Finally, with my own platform where I can share my thoughts using the written word about my favorites.

Because I got busy in late 2022 and I had no motivation when it came to the arts then, the only thing I was able to afford is a birthday tweet and a superchat during his birthday stream last year. This year, I participated in this year’s fan birthday project, The Aquariumtare, as part of the Sensitivity Reader team. We do thorough reading of the names, alt-texts, and descriptions to make sure that not only they’re grammatically consistent, but to also clean out certain words and phrases that may deem sensitively triggering to some people.¹ I feel that we worked hard — all of us who participated — even with the smallest roles. Even the ones who didn’t get a chance or unable to participate in these projects, at least they have a chance to share their greetings to him.

I still really want to continue (self-)learning art, especially with character art. I only do objects and scenery, and I feel that’s not quite enough.

That aside, let’s proceed.

Why Regis Altare?

My favorite color is blue, however, when it comes to characters, anime or video games, I don’t really find myself attracted to them just because their signature color is blue. I guess it was more of towards their character and nature that get me attracted, rather than their color.

When I got into vTubers, starting with TEMPUS, it took me some two weeks to determine who my oshi of TEMPUS is. Originally, I would have remained a daremo daisuki² Tempura instead. But, the more I watched all four members and collabs, somehow I find myself relatable to Altare the most. We almost have a lot in common. We’re both introverts, to be specific, INFP. We both love spending time doing anything we wanted by ourselves, but that doesn’t limit us to be able to spend time with our friends, colleagues, and loved ones too. We almost have the same types of games we like, although he’s more into FPS and I’m more RPGs. Lastly, whenever we’re with other people, we also made sure that everyone around us are as comfortable and well. We both like to be “middle of the road” rather than being able to take sides, unless when there’s concrete evidence.((INFP is also known as “The Mediator” after all.))

We also have similar likes too when it comes to favorites. For example, we have the same StarsJP oshi.³ He doesn’t often talks about his oshis or just the JP senpais in general on his streams unless he gets curious about some of them or if someone in chat would mention any one of them that are in ties with the games or projects he’s interested in. Bringing up other vTubers in his streams from out of nowhere unless he brings them up himself⁴ are against his chat rules, but there are at times where he’ll pay attention if it’s about someone from Holostars, whether it’d be one of the boys or one of the senpais.⁵ Most of the time, I just watch along or listen when I’m at work.

Other than all those details, I found myself drawn to him the most among the HQ boys – even when VG and ARMIS made their debuts still. I like hanging out with homeboys who have chill, comfy vibes but still creative all at once. Maybe I had some kind of parasocial thinking before in the beginning, but I like the idea of being able to support a talent with so many ways. As a not-so-active fan, I have a lot of ways to show my support: from just hanging out in his streams, sending superchats, even with little money, or simply make one tweet saying things like “May you have a wonderful day!” or something like that.

The meaning of community

I admit that there are times where I didn’t feel like I’m a dedicated fan. I know there are some of us Altventurers/Cultares who aren’t active everyday because of our busy lives. Unfortunately, we’re not students, we’re not arubaito⁶ workers, and some of us aren’t fortunate to work at home even. But that’s just how it is in real life. Many of us rely on the VODs or even clips, but even then, sometimes we just don’t have to watch anything of our oshis at all.

Many of us can’t afford akasupas⁷ or even rainbow superchats and end up being envious to those who do. A lot of us aren’t as creative or artistic, let alone having the motivation of being creative. The only “art” that I know I’m good at is writing, but there’s also the factor of motivation too. However, I noticed so far in the vTuber community in general that most are into (fan)art, tangible crafts, animation, video games, and other various types of visual media, but not very many fans are interested in writing/reading fanfics. Again, that can be something that some of us busy fans feel inadequate of. I feel it all the time.

If you’re a fan who just happens to be a fan who simply don’t have much time to spend for your oshi, it’s okay. Altare knows, understands, and still acknowledges you. You see other Altventurers/Cultures who are regulars in his streams… practically every single stream you stop by, you mostly see the same names. Sometimes, it makes you feel intimidated, thinking that they’re more recognized by your oshi than yourself. I feel that way too sometimes. But Altare still acknowledges you because he knows you’re there.

After all, he senses what a community should be. No one gets left behind. Earlier today, I felt embarrassed by sending an orange superchat in the middle of a birthday poem rainbow superchat that I thought that I broke the cycle. He didn’t read my superchat during streams because he was more focused on the poems, but he always reminded everyone that he will read the ones he missed.

He thinks of us as much as we think of him, overall. At the same time, he constantly reminds us to look after ourselves and prioritize ourselves too. More often, for those sending superchats often,⁸ he would also remind them to save money on their necessities too. Every single stream, he always does this. One of the reasons is to mind the distance in terms of closeness,⁹ but most of all, he wants us to not forget or abandon our own lives just for him. For that, I really appreciate it.

This is what it means to be in a real community. We may live in different worlds, but the wonderful invention known as the internet, as well as streaming services such as YouTube or Twitch, has drawn all of us closer. I hope we keep the cozy, comfy vibes of our community present as long as we’re here.

What am I looking forward to?

Altare and myself may be both INFPs and we’ve got common interests and (sometimes) traits, but there are some things that he’s said before that I personally disagree with. But, I keep all of that to myself.

Someone asked him in a superchat (?) in one of his comfy gaming streams if he would even consider having Japanese originals and/or covers. I understand that the original songs should be English, because we do need more of them. However, not planning to attempt to cover a Japanese song kind of made me sad a bit. There are a lot of thoughts running in my head regarding that, in which one of them says “Leader, I really do hope you branch yourself out of your comfort zone. Because if you don’t, you won’t be able to improve and it’ll be a lot harder for you to find your own definition as an idol if you stick to your comfort zone.”

However, it looks like his views on Japanese covers has changed. In one of his first few unarchived karaokes since he landed in Japan included some Japanese songs that have easy/slow lyrics. Thinking about it, maybe I should start bugging him again about a particular song that I suggested to him from two years ago. For those who remember me from his debut year, it was the song Kenka no Ato De (After the Quarrel) by Kikuta Tomohiko. Since he had been singing classic city pop and slow ballads like Baka Mitai more often, I think it’s time, don’t you think?

Other than that, I really can’t wait until he and Axel are done cooking. He’s mentioned it’ll come in the next few weeks, meaning we’ll be expecting that excitement sometime in February or March. I hope it’s February because it’s Valentine’s. Maybe.

That’s it for now. Happy 21st-S3 Birthday, Leader! May you have many more birthdays to come!