The day is finally here. I can't even begin to describe how excited I was and how happy I am to celebrate Chika's Birthday~ There's so much I want to say about and to my best girl!

When I discovered Aqours, my initial best girl was Mari. I didn't care much for Chika at all, in the beginning. The reason I started giving her more attention is actually kind of silly, to be honest ahah Everyone in the LL community has done at least one of those "Which Love Live girl are you?" quizzes, right? Well, I've done a ton of those and, no matter how many I did, the result would always be the same: Chika. I didn't like it at first, I confess. "Why Chika? I don't even like her." I used to think. But then, after a while, I started pondering if there really was any similarities between us.

Chika is a normal girl, she thinks she's absolutely average with nothing special to note. She wants to shine like the idols she admired so much but she didn't know how to achieve that being the normal girl she was. Even then, she always works hard alongside her friends. When they're able to succeed, she praises her friends' efforts; when they fail, she blames herself entirely. She blames herself for being average, for not being special. She couldn't realize that, a lot of the things Aqours were able to obtain was also thanks to her. If she wasn't there, Aqours wouldn't have existed to begin with. Chika was the one who gathered everyone around her, with her kindness, with her sunny disposition, with her desires to follow her dreams and never giving up. She was an inspiration for everyone. And to me too. After slowly getting to know Chika like this, I noticed how we're indeed similar. I always try to show a smile to everyone I meet and give them a push whenever they need. My friends tell me they like me for this or for that, that I'm good at the things I do. But, more often than not, I brush it off. "Noooo, I'm not that good. I have a long way to go. You're the amazing one." When I'm able to do something I had set my mind on, I usually thank my friends for their support, that I wouldn't have been able to make it if not for them. However, when things go awry, I put myself down. "Of course you failed. You're useless. You never do anything well." Very much so like Chika feels. But, one thing Chika taught me and my friends taught me is that, no matter how many times I fall, no matter how deep the hole is, I can keep moving forward. One step at a time. I can get back on my feet. It's okay to have days when you think the world is against you, it's okay. Take that time to sit back and breathe. And when you're ready again, get up and walk. I still need to be reminded that I'm loved and that I deserve said love a lot of the times. I do need the support of my trusted friends. But I'm slowly learning that I can praise myself too for my achievements and forgive myself when things don't go according to plan. And for all of this, thank you Chika. Thank you for being an inspiration to me and to so many people in this community.

What? You thought I was already done with this post? BUUUU BUUUU DESU WA! I still have a lot more to show my love for her! I don't have much anime/games merchandise and, this little beauty was a gift from my best friend, but I love her to bits!

I started loving Chika a little bit "late", so to speak, so I don't have as many cards of her as I wish I had. However, I'm very proud of the ones I do have. I saved up 800 gems to scout her Limited Birthday UR and, after a few pulls, she came home~

I scouted for last year's Limited too and she graced me with her presence on the first pull!

I can make a full Chika UR team now, with a couple of extra URs~

And, last but not least! My birthday gifts for Chika~ These are some of the graphics (mostly phone wallpapers) I've done for the past year, including some I made exclusively for this day.

This one is part of double set, matching with Nozomi for my best friend.

And a Twitter header~

To wrap everything up, I'm thankful to be a part of this community and to have found a character I can identify with and give me motivation to be a better me. Happy Birthday, Takami Chika!