#like. well. japan and china and korea and whatnot.

[blurrymango]

When I look at her. The faggotry leaves my body. And my only desire. Is Asian women.

She is not thicc but she's a trained soldier or whatever so she could still crush my head between her thighs. Thank ffuck for that.

[yuzuocha]

𝚢𝚞·𝚣𝚞·𝚘·𝚌𝚑𝚊 | ユズオチャ

noun

1. a type of citrus tea that originated from China and is now also widely produced and consumed in Japan and Korea.

2. the owner of this ridiculous blog.

‣ about me

hi there and welcome to my primarily sfw blog! i am yuzuocha but call me yuzu :D

they/them

日本語/한국어/ENG

i write mainly for love and deepspace, but there might be some other fandom content here and there (i.e. project sekai)

this is a fic, art and incorrect quotes blog that is 16+! while i know i can't prevent under 16 folks from reading, content here can get freaky.

INBOX IS OPEN. PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE IM LONELY HERE

‣ please click below for more info and a masterlist!

‣ requests

i only accept up to three characters per headcanon/drabble request. you're free to request the same headcanon/drabble for different characters, though; this is to make requests into bite-sized pieces for me! you are welcome to also request one-shots or even multi-chapter fics >:D do your worst!

however do know that i only accept these requests as suggestions, not explicitly favors i have to do. if it interests me, you're in luck. if it doesn't interest me, you ain't in luck. only times i'd take it as a request is if it's for a friend i personally know or whatnot.

this blog will be NON-EXPLICIT for the most part, anyway. obviously there's going to be suggestive themes, plenty of implications and a whole lot of softcore (like c'mon look at my first post kek), however i absolutely refuse to write or draw outright smut. we got enough smut artists and writers in the lds fandom and i think we don't got enough fluff-angst writers HAHA

‣ things to know

this blog is 16+ — while I don't explicitly discourage readers under the aforementioned age from consuming my content, most, if not all of my content contains somewhat suggestive themes and contain suggestive, violent and/or triggering themes. additionally, the game itself holds aforementioned themes, so i thought i might as well put a soft-minimum just to give myself some peace and mind lol. please use your personal discretion before you consume my work!

i have a taglist! please let me know if you'd like to be a part of it through commenting here or through my inbox! i'll give you lots of smooches as a ty <3

finally — i have commissions available for both art and writing! please contact me through my discord yuzuocha for details :D

‣ masterlist

headcanon

‣ the horrors of gacha. — Xavier & Zayne & Rafayel

‣ kith? kith. [pt. i] — Xavier & Zayne

‣ moments of panic. — All

‣ back in the days. — All

‣ domestic times. — All

‣ a living proof of your love. — All

one-shot + drabble

‣ heartstring fortissimo. — Xavier

‣ eclipse. — Xavier

‣ drunk mind, sober feelings. — Xavier

‣ a second love at second sight. — Rafayel

‣ post-care. — Zayne

multi-fic

‣ player one, player two. — Xavier

‣ illuminate. — Xavier

but really really fast

main story ‣ prologue

main story ‣ chapter ɪ

main story ‣ chapter ɪɪ

main story ‣ chapter ɪɪɪ

main story ‣ chapter ɪᴠ

main story ‣ chapter ᴠ

main story ‣ chapter ᴠɪ

main story ‣ chapter ᴠɪɪ

main story ‣ chapter ᴠɪɪɪ

incorrect quotes

ɪ ‣ truth conundrum

ɪɪ ‣ caleb v. ladder

ɪɪɪ ‣ xavier's mc sensor

ɪᴠ ‣ rafayel's morals

ᴠ ‣ anti-consolation

ᴠɪ ‣ following directions with faith

ᴠɪɪ ‣ rafayel's rancid rizzing

ᴠɪɪɪ ‣ who let xavier cook

ɪx ‣ "helping out"

x ‣ false alarm

xɪ ‣ fiery motivation

xɪɪ ‣ self love

xɪɪɪ ‣ vroom vroom

xɪᴠ ‣ how to treat a short person

xᴠ ‣ is rafayel into choking?

xᴠɪ ‣ sanity loss documentary

xᴠɪɪ ‣ spooky broccoli

xᴠɪɪɪ ‣ xavier's tendencies

xɪx ‣ "what keeps you up at night"

xx ‣ speling is hahrd

xxɪ ‣ subway surfers was fire ngl

xxɪɪ ‣ whoever threw that shell, fuck you

xxɪɪɪ ‣ innocent until proven guilty

xxɪᴠ ‣ happy middle fingers

xxᴠ ‣ single when drunk?

xxᴠɪ ‣ a cursed bless

xxᴠɪɪ ‣ serotonin, too!

xxᴠɪɪɪ ‣ he isn't wrong, per se

xxɪx ‣ lie detector

xxx ‣ an artist's perspective, apparently

xxxɪ ‣ yeah no he bucked up

xxxɪɪ ‣ a cursed bless 2.0

xxxɪɪɪ ‣ caleb's sick of it lol

xxxɪᴠ ‣ propriety over honesty

xxxᴠ ‣ words of (questionable) truth

xxxᴠɪ ‣ caleb technically didn't lie

xxxᴠɪɪ ‣ she thought she was playing chess, he was playing 4d chess

xxxᴠɪɪɪ ‣ as long as rafayel's happy, i guess

xxxɪx ‣ who let xavier cook 2.0

xʟ ‣ nice card, shitty purpose

xʟɪ ‣ put a price tag in bed

xʟɪɪ ‣ mission accomplished (?)

xʟɪɪɪ ‣ asshole of the year

xʟɪᴠ ‣ "KILL IT KILL IT KILL ITTTTTT"

xʟᴠ ‣ local fish intentionally stranded on walmart parking lot

xʟᴠɪ ‣ cereal hits when drunk

xʟᴠɪɪ ‣ zayne can't be left alone, poor him

xʟᴠɪɪɪ ‣ a chair that can kick you

xʟɪx ‣ needs and wants

ʟ ‣ honesty so brutal it hurts

ʟɪ ‣ yea just buy whipped cream instead

ʟɪɪ ‣ words v. stones

ʟɪɪɪ ‣ living in the present

ʟɪᴠ ‣ popcorn doesn't last

ʟᴠ ‣ war of words

ʟᴠɪ ‣ it is trash can, not trash cannot

ʟᴠɪɪ ‣ newton's rolling in his grave

ʟᴠɪɪɪ ‣ carnival avocado

ʟɪx ‣ how much white stuff can fit in a mouth?

ʟx ‣ 6 cm per second, which is frankly impressive

ʟxɪ ‣ xavier v. jeremiah getting punched

ʟxɪɪ ‣ hunter's "reflexes"

ʟxɪɪɪ ‣ declaration (?) of love

ʟxɪᴠ ‣ double friendzone'd

ʟxᴠ ‣ rafayel's garden

ʟxᴠɪ ‣ reminiscence (?)

ʟxᴠɪɪ ‣ xavier the almighty sun

ʟxᴠɪɪɪ ‣ xavier the almighty mosquito

ʟxɪx ‣ the duality of fish

ʟxx ‣ didn't happen if there ain't no evidence

ʟxxɪ ‣ life is just one big capitalist experience fr

ʟxxɪɪ ‣ oof lmfao

ʟxxɪɪɪ ‣ you something get eat might

ʟxxɪᴠ ‣ father v. further v. farther

ʟxxᴠ ‣ hobbies

ʟxxᴠɪ ‣ the ends justify the means, right?

ʟxxᴠɪɪ ‣ so short they can duck liability

ʟxxᴠɪɪɪ ‣ cashed in the wrong way

ʟxxɪx ‣ love is an open door

ʟxxɪx ‣ efficiency > flirting

ʟxxx ‣ viral for all the wrong reasons

ʟxxxɪ ‣ killer fashion

ʟxxxɪɪ ‣ package

ʟxxxɪɪɪ ‣ cancelling out

[myrfing]

i dont doubt that ala mhigo has some SWANA influences especially very heavy turkish aspects but i dont. think it’s. primary basis is off of northeast africa man or any part of the continent. it’s pretty north india. like even just looking at this pic of jodhpur, not even mentioning the style of the temples and whatnot:

tangentially related i think people tend to view xiv’s colorism and racism towards its depiction of brown ppl from an overly american lens and thus cant imagine why they’d “make india twice” to the point where people tend to utterly overlook its influences in ala mhigo’s design (unlike them making “japan” twice in which the answer is obvious) but extremely brief oversimplified version is that jpn and india have been very close geopolitical allies for a long time and many in india (in contrast to closer neighbors in SE/E asia) consider jpn to be a heroic anticolonial liberator ally from british rule. this fact and a very weak understanding of “pan-asianism” and WHY japan in particular’s attempt at it failed and the legacy it left is kind of missing entirely from most critiques of sb in english where most people think SE included countries like thavnair and ala mhigo as nothing more than them just happening to include a flawed but well-meaning attempt at making a more diverse than typical fantasy world. also 2 be clear im NOT saying they intentionally only included india (nor that india is the sole basis of inspiration; most citystates are a mix around a main base imo) and cut out opportunities to portray, say, vietnam, or indonesia, or korea, even a china with chinese people at length to make a clear political statement; I mostly think they do it out of a habitual familiarity, like how american writers are comfortable utilizing western europe in their fantasy the most. but i do mean that this is a case of real life biased understanding of history bleeding out into fantasy writing that wants to incorporate political intrigue (based off of real life politics—we have no other frame of reference, obviously) and on the fanbase’s side people are never quite looking at ala mhigo in particular from the right angle in their empathetic critiques of sb and seem to always have a misunderstanding of what it even is based off of. which sb does deserve heavy critique but very few who do make it even take off from the bay because their fundamental understanding of it is flawed. Ok anyway 🐓 usual disclaimer i dont know the writer’s intent nor am I really an expert either so even I’m probably guilty of this but it’s something I have just observed forever

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

What do you feel about how homophobic it is that Wei Wuxian always says he is the wife in MDZS book? It is why I can't support the Wangxian relationship tbh

I don’t care?

Like, I have gay friends where one likes to call himself the ‘wife’, and their relationship seems pretty rock solid. If it’s what a couple wants it’s what a couple wants.

I think overall people just need to remember that you can’t flat-line judge LGBT tropes and treatments in foreign media. Asian cultures are making pushes to improve LGBT representation and depiction, I know Taiwan has been doing it for a long time and so far in 2021 I’ve noticed Korea has made a huge push (which I am 100% for and love).

Western depictions of LGBT dynamics and relationships and whatnot... that’s evolved a LOT over even just the last 15 years. When I was in high school people were still using “that’s gay” as a way to say something is stupid or wimpy. It was disgusting ((and in junior high it was “that’s retarded” which is just as disgusting and wrong)).

No one gets it all right from the start and in China it’s all still illegal (well I know it’s illegal in media and such, IDK beyond media). The journey still has to be made. So don’t judge it from further down the road like you’re supposed to go from zero to perfect in 1 day (not implying NO progress has been made and not that the US has even finished the journey).

Updating this also to just add that anti-LGBT sentiments have historic roots that are different in each culture and making the change has to be done with that cultural identity and history in mind. Western cultures have it via Christianity that permeated to a social level over millennia. 

I don’t know the history of LGBT acceptance Asia-wide but I did see a documentary unrelated to LGBT specifically that mentioned Japan had to change a lot of their cultural approach to sex in the 19th-20th century due to extreme pressures from Western civilizations who didn’t like how liberally sex was viewed. If it turns out that homophobia was also forcibly transplanted (and again, I don’t know, the documentary was about something un-related and mentioned increasingly conservative views on sex), then there is a lot to consider in how to push it back and win ground for the local LGBT communities.

It isn’t up to Western audiences to point at Eastern audiences and say “This is what you have to do and how you have to be”. It’s up to people to work within their own cultures and address matters on their level. Support from afar, lend so-called “soft power” to the movement by creating a commercial demand for improved representation in content, but don’t think that you are the one who has all the answers to how someone from a different culture should fight their battle. Support, don’t overrule.

But also back to the original point, some same-sex couples choose to use heteronormative labels. It’s their own choice. The biggest thing has to be that they are free to make that choice.

 At the end of the day freedom to choose to be how you wish to be is exactly what the LGBT movement is all about.

[algernoninwonderland]

Hey uh hetalia is about a bunch of countries running around being stupid. It doesnt promote japanese imperialism (japan is made fun of just like every other countries) OR fascism, like... it's pretty much all satire and anti-war it's not that deep... (the axis powers so called are NOT GLORIFIED. They're described as fucking useless also they cover history BEFORE and AFTER ww2) as opposed to countryhumans where the largest ship is literally nazi germany x soviet union

Hey, anon!

Hetalia is indeed about a bunch of anthropomorphised countries running around being stupid, with lots of silly gags. It has a fun art style, fun characters-countries.

Some of these countries happen to be, oopsie, Japan wearing a WW2 naval uniform, Germany wearing Wehrmacht and Waffen SS uniforms, Italy wearing WW2 uniforms, all of which are quite detailed too. Together, they form the Axis powers, a military alliance that formed during WW2 to fight against the Allies. It’s in the title of the anime. 

There’s a storyline taking place during WW2. Wonder why you don’t mention that, anon. You probably forgot about that. Funny how memory works sometimes.

Now, would you agree that Germany committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the second world war, including among other things the Holocaust? Would you agree that Italy was fascist during WW2 and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during that time? Would you agree that Japan militarism has lead to uncountable war crimes and crimes against humanity, including but not only the Nanjing Massacre of 1937? 

Wait, you don’t have to agree, those things did happen, and if you think they haven’t, you’re a holocaust denier, a revisionist and a disgusting human being, simple as that.

The manga and anime pretend it’s possible to use these aesthetics without having to address the fact that, hey, maybe the people who wore nazi uniforms were nazis (or part of the royal family in the UK) and maybe having Germany be a funny bloke while wearing his nazi uniform isn’t a very good idea? Maybe presenting China and Japan as good pals is disingenuous? Maybe some of the jokes are really in poor taste? 

The thing is, you could have had all these characters be anything but the representation of countries they are with the aesthetics they have adopted. You could have them be, I don’t know, part of an international campus, have them be a bunch of lads, have Germany wear Lederhosen, have Italy cooka da meataball, have France rock his striped jumper and whatnot instead of his WW1 uniform. No need to sweep horrifying warcrimes under the rug, because nothing there is making you think about it.

The aesthetics Hetalia uses are referential, they send back to other things. A character wearing a suit of armour sends back to the Middle Ages, for instance. The costumes Hetalia’s main cast wear mean things. The characters inside these costumes are shown as good-spirited chaps, fun scamps, and we don’t mention all the bad things that happened associated with these uniforms. Uniforms that are lovingly drawn, with impressive accuracy, too.

Hetalia’s aesthetics clash with its intended goal, fun comedy between bishounens, with some mildly stereotypical humour making for most of the jokes. Or is it really a clash?

What do I think of that? It’s simple, really. That’s a tacit endorsement of Japanese imperialism and fascism. You’re meant to think, aww, poor Germany, he likes to bake cakes, isn’t that cute and loveable? And that’d be really easy to get behind that if not for the uniform he wears all the time. Because Germany wears the damn uniform, several of them, in fact. So does Japan. So does Italy. And the rest of the cast as well.

By refusing to address all that comes with these uniforms, Hetalia makes them acceptable, and clumsily tries to decontextualise these aesthetics, but not really, but also really? Uh… Let’s only keep the good parts, alright? They’re bishounens, they’re sexy, funny and silly!! Weren’t the Axis powers funny bishounen, y’all? Don’t they look good in their uniforms? Don’t worry, jokes are made about them too so that it isn’t too obvious that they are meant to represent countries that are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity? Won’t you buy the manga/DVD/Nendoroids and not think about all the war crimes and crimes against humanity? Pretty please?

That isn’t directly glorification. The term I used in an earlier post was “commodification”. When you turn something, anything, into something that is a commodity, that you can buy and sell. Japan is less sensitive to the fact that, well, maybe the nazis weren’t the good guys, or worth looking up to in the first place. It’s an actual problem with Japan that needs to be addressed.

As for C*untryhumans, I didn’t know that existed, it seems pretty awful and I don’t care for it. One thing about that, though. It’s not because something worse than Hetalia exists that Hetalia isn’t ideologically disgusting.

There are lots and lots and lots of things you can enjoy that aren’t ideologically perfect, and that have questionable element in them, while not pretending that they aren’t there. I quite like Lupin the Third, but man, the nazi stuff that sometimes pops up sucks massively. It’s there. I won’t pretend it’s not there because it’d be dishonest to do so.

Why can’t you do the same with Hetalia? Well, you can’t, because the entire premise is rotten to its core. It’s not really satire, because satire points at what it makes fun of, while Hetalia makes vague gestures and purposefully omits what would make Japan, Germany and co characters you don’t want to engage with and spend money for. I did not walk out of Jojo Rabbit wanting to buy nazi memorabilia.

Anyway, hope you have a good day and find something less vile to enjoy, anon! Hetalia has been banned in South Korea and you really ought to wonder why that was

[seoafin]

tbh,, i havent read the raws of the interview yet, only the translated ver from fan-translator and b4 i start, i think that this will be just me talking in circle and in no particular order AND a real mess (my brain does weird things after exams) but uhh here we go

gojou collects talented people, and by doing so he finds the people he can most probably relate to, except that he can't, not really, because something in the universe shifted when he was born. and it makes me think of how he's always known it, that he is special, and he's proven it, time and time again— he wants to take in talented ppl and he does, but there rly isn't much he can do for them. for they are talented, more talented than the world can understand,,

but they aren't gojou satoru

gojou took in megumi, bc he knew megumi was strong, and would grow up to be someone even stronger, but gojou can't facilitate or encourage his growth, bc for all they're similar, they are so fundamentally different. ALSO,, while geto was in his life, gojou rly judged everything according to his understanding of geto’s moral compass. gojou wears a human suit and geto is how he learnt to wear it well 🏃

the dragonfly analogy regarding to geto’s response to gojo, who was shown wearing a dragonfly patterned yukata in HI arc,, i’m trying to not think abt the fact that dragonfly symbolized victory in jpn....pain. i quoted from a web here for more explanation : In Japan the dragonfly is known as the "victory insect", or kachimushi, because of its hunting prowess and also because it is known to never retreat. Dragonflies are agile and fast fliers and can even hover, but never fly backwards

and bringing this up again, matricide and patricide are 2 of the 5 worst act to commit in buddhism, and it was said that if u commit one of those act u’re going to spend a real long time in the deepest pit of hell before continuing the samsaric cycle (higher chances to be born as an animal after that probs)— this might be geto’s divine retribution. held no power over his own body and could be considered that he’s the same as those “monkeys” 💀

ALSO the fact that sukuna's interest is "eating" rly drives home his hedonistic philosophy of seeking pleasure for himself. and he’s a cannibal...makes me think if he’ll just chomp on ppl with the mouth on his stomach

randomly, to date i think he hasn't really called himself a human, shaman, or a curse, and has held himself apart from all 3, and we've also the intro of the cursed wombs so i wonder if he’s trying to become, or is, a different entity altogether

so onmyoji got mentioned in the interview and what they practice is called onmyodo and abe no seimei and kano no yasunori were the notable practitioners,, and the kamo in jjk is the same as irl who served the imperial court back then

maybe i was right when i said that the relation between the govt. and jujutsu elders are similar to how the shogunate and imperial court work (ie, the former holds the actual power) but... lets see later,,

and i cant believe that i actually nailed it on the analogy of jujutsu practices by religion,,, so mahayana buddhism, shintoism, and taoism is present in jjk along with their respective jujutsu practices...but between the 3, it shld (?) be taoism > shintoism > mahayana buddhism (which could took a path to pure land buddhism)

it’s weird that the number of curses are supposedly higher in jpn comparable to other countries when taoism was brought from china....tengen sus

so the zenin family tree is sth like :

brothers: [toji's dad] ; naobito ; ougi

so toji, naoya, and maki & mai are cousins of the same generation

[toji's dad] → jinichi (probs) ; toji → megumi

naobito → other brothers, naoya

ougi → maki, mai

but yea i’d call anyone who’s within/close or below my age range as cousins and others above 30 as uncles/ aunts LMFAO,, i dont rly memorize my own family tree 😭😭 especially since most call the other by honorifics instead of names : aunt, uncles etc or attaching said honorifics at the end of a name for an older sibling figure/ older cousins [but like ppl in my country also call the other who are older with sibling honorific even if we’re strangers,,, rly similar to korea’s hyung/oppa—eonnie(unnie)/noona but some uses more genderless honorific] (1)

tw // topic of incest, mentions of abuse

if anyone got the wrong idea when reading this : i am not glorifying/ romanticising incest(uous themes),, i’m looking at this with absolutely no lenses of bias even tho im rly against it

初恋 = literally : first love, or puppy love

恋 = romantic love/ deep longing

i literally don't know how else to put this...🧍and with language barrier...using a western interpretation of the eng word "love" to explain a jpnese term is not quite that simple, unfortunately

that thread omg,, i rly do understand how exactly someone could associated kindness with love bc of my upbringing, it was when i was slightly older that i was just...oh so its not like that orz,,, so the most plausible explanation would be that

but the problem is that,, akutami never specify when exactly she had a crush on them,, and when megumi answered todo’s question she had a “♡” reaction 😶,, uhmmm there’s rly no way to look past this if its this way or be in denial

i’ve seen some of "why wouldn't mai react that way after hearing megumi say he'd like someone who's compassionate when she's surrounded by men like naoya",, well I MEAN,,, that, but also mai probs admires that megumi grew up so well out of the clan, regardless of the fact that he had the foundation (10 shadows) to do so. imo she seems happy for him the way she can't be for maki, bc maki ultimately had to leave her behind

hate to say it but yea,, the 3 clans most likely still practice inbreeding in order to preserve their power and presumably their wealth too 😀

i had an idle thought abt it at first but i filed it deep in the back of my mind asap,, bc i ont wanna jump to conclusion abt this out of all things too early. it’s probably not even in jjk, but all those elite clans in other ani/mangas that produce powerful heirs and whatnot also do the same,,, but this way of (my personal) thinking was influenced when i first got into tsukihime (type-moon),,, i read abt the nanaya family background and found out that they practice that in order to keep their bloodline “pure” (to keep it short : they have an optical power),, and i had this kind of assumption ever since so there’s that

i’m,, convinced the zenins' inbreeding made it more difficult for them to get powerful shamans bc they got 2 jujutsu technique-less children with heavenly restrictions in the same generation: toji & maki

even more convinced that maki might be a bit stronger than toji bc toji could see curses without aid while maki can't so the pay-off must be higher,,, SJJASN IDK ,,, plus naoya sort of implies his older brothers are nothing compared to him, and idk if we should take that as his arrogance or that his older brothers rly are weak/powerless. it would make sense as to why naobito had a lot of sons, ig, as head of clan

i feel so bad that if one of the factors that can caused heavenly restriction is inbreeding,, toji and maki and mai had no say in how they wanted to be born but are scorned for it,, typical asian families projecting their traumas and ideals onto their kids but get mad when they realize that those ideals are ugly...😁😁😁

since the zenin are conservative,, i wonder if they still hold onto old jpnese dining traditions. where in ancient jpn, hierarchical relationships were made readily apparent even within families. a dining table where everybody sat down and ate as equals would be unheard of. rather, each individual is given their own table that indicates their status,,, someone who is not considered “strong” according to the zenin’s views most likely have no place at the table, and probs eat when those who are “strong” finished/ serve them when they are eating

if toji was tossed into a swarm of curses,, i dont think abuse during said time is below them,,,

the zenin clan was already great, but they further amassed power and strength by, what i assume to be, marrying and adopting powerful individuals into the clan 🤔 ,,, i imagine they're like the hiiragi but without doing what they did to shinya (ons reference)

BUT after all that, i like to think that since akutami’s a big horror fan, jjk might be an outlet to explore said topics or even darker ones, so i wouldnt be that surpised abt it. given that there’s more than enough “red flags” before this was dropped : a reference to “tale of hikaru genji” when a grown woman asked for gojou’s number in HI arc (out of all things); granny who transformed into the man’s daughter, sat on his lap and man just touched her waist; mei mei and ui ui ; and...this (incestous theme is in the novel btw)

lets not start with whatever the fuck in kubo’s head in the interview otherwise i’m writing paragraphs with every curse words possible,, those big 3 mangakas are so— UGH,, a planet w out (cis) men like him sounds real good rn 😌 if one of yall out there decide to do it,, pls hmu rly cant do this shit anymore

akutami said i like my men pretty and i like women who will step on my neck and spit in my face (I REMEMBERED TATSUKI FUJIMOTO’S INTERVIEW WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABT MAKIMA AND IT WAS SO 😭😭😭😭) but ykw,, love that for both of them <3

when i said 3 : one piece, bleach, naruto. aside from the blatant depiction/ characterize of women in those 3,, idk if some ppl arent aware yet but oda is friends with two (2) convicted pedos,, man...the major disappointment and disgust when i first find out abt it

anyways this is just my 2 cents (which i think rightfully belong to the trash can) so pls just take this w a lil to no grain of salt - 🐱

YEAH THE ♡ LMFAO I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A “good answer ♡“ heart BUT NOW IM RE-EXAMINING?????

honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if the three clans practiced inbreeding. but ik people are going to be  😡😡😡😡😡 about it when the queen of fucking england is literally married to her (something) cousin. i’m not justifying it but like....love the double standards, just as always with the west 😍

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING PED* LIST THEY SHOULD ALL BE IN JAIL. JAILLLLL. it’s all so gross. that’s why i fucking hate when people look towards manga for positive representation because the chances of that are super slim to zero, especially since the industry is saturated with misogyny and ped******* and a lot of other gross stuff.

i think ppl forget jjk is a horror manga LOL so obviously it’s going to confront darker themes. the question is whether it’s going to be done tastefully or not......

[diaryofanangryasianguy]

Could you explain a little more about the hierarchy of Asian countries thing? I think I know what that's referring to but I just wanted to make sure lol

It’s like a mixture of national, ethnic, religious, and class hierarchy, clashes, and genocides that everywhere has.

East Asia is seen as being “better” than the other regions (Southeast Asia in particular) but within East Asia itself, Japan and South Korea tend to be more praised than China. Japan and South Korea have more global influence through soft power with media entertainment (that also caters to western countries) but China doesn’t care about catering to anyone. Obviously North and South Korea have had on-going military and political tensions, China has tensions with both Taiwan, Hong Kong, and many countries everywhere tbh, and Japan has nationalistic problems and other issues with Indigenous folks like the Ainu people and Okinawans.

Moving into Southeast Asia, Thailand tends to be seen more as an “exotic land” in comparison to Laos or Cambodia because it wasn’t bombed to shit nor faced genocide during the Vietnam War (Vietnamese folks had the most deaths obviously). At the same time though, Thai and Filipino women and children are heavily sexually exploited by westerners. Speaking of that, the Philippines has been colonized and occupied multiple times back to back by both western and eastern countries. The Rohingya (a Muslim minority) in Myanmar have also been facing genocide by Buddhist extremists for years. Regardless of what strides Southeast Asian countries have made and recovered from (including Thailand), they’re still seen as dirty and poor (similarity with South Asia).

In South Asia, India is known for having a caste system and I’ve read stories where people will fight or get murdered for marrying/dating someone “below” them. “Honor killings” are horrible too. There are also religious conflicts between Muslims and Hindus in some parts of South Asia, particularly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. There was also a Sikh genocide in India as well. Kashmir has been a huge issue between India and Pakistan even right now. But in the same turn, many South Asian (especially Indian) migrant workers are treated like trash in West Asia and elsewhere.

In some West Asian countries like Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, they have trafficking and modern day slavery issues, particularly with South and Southeast Asian (also African) migrant workers. At the same time, poor Lebanese folks have been protesting economic conditions for a long time. Same with Iran. Meanwhile, Yemen is getting bombed by Saudi Arabia funded by the US and we can’t forget about Palestinians facing settler colonialism by the Israeli government or the Yazidi (a Kurdish minority) genocide in Iraq. And the on-going Syrian civil war that has displaced millions and millions of Syrian people even today.

I don’t know much about Central Asia except that some of them have issues with China (especially Uyghurs and Kazakh Muslims). Don’t know much about North Asia either except that no one ever acknowledges them.

But as you can see, there are tons of national, ethnic, religious, and class clashes between Asian countries and even within them. Much more than what has been stated here. At the forefront though, East Asia is still seen as the “face” when it comes to all of Asia (probably because of yellow peril racism) with Japan and South Korea being some of the top Asian countries leading with probably the most positive images overall. Though it doesn’t mean they aren’t without problems underneath nor clash with other countries and whatnot.

So the stereotypical hierarchy to many people is that East Asia is the home of anime and K-Pop. Southeast Asia is the sex tourist destination. South Asia is dirt poor. West Asia is a war zone. And Central and North Asia are both non-existent. But regardless of what anybody says or all the shit going on, I got love and respect for the homelands. There’s so much we’ll never know beyond all the negativity until we see them for ourselves. It’s easy to generalize about a place while never thinking about the people that actually live there.

Angry Asian Guy

[languagebraindump]

CELTA certifacate. Is it worth the time, money and effort?

To all my fellow English teachers and those who are considering becoming English teachers! I’m not going to explain what CELTA is. If you’re considering taking this course, you already know what it is, but you’re probably wondering what CELTA looks like in reality.

Before I jump into a long rant, let’s make some things clear. 

Would I take it again? No.

Was it fun? No.

Was it educational/enlightening? Yes.

Did I question my teaching career during the course? YES!

Did I enjoy it? Yes (it was immensely educational).

Was it expensive? AF.

Did I learn anything?Yes. I learned a few things about myself as well. 

Do I regret taking it? Yes and No. Yes, because as a non-native speaker I’ll have a hard time landing a good job outside of Poland. No, because it helped me become a better teacher (a student-oriented teacher).  

Was it tough? Yes and No. No, because I love the fast-paced environment. I work fast and expect others to match my pace. During these 4 weeks, I wasn’t feeling tired or overwhelmed, but when the course finished, I felt it. Yes, because I consider myself lazy; I like taking breaks, stare into the distance, and all that. There was no time for any of that. Monday to Friday was scheduled top-to-bottom (classes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and then homework, lesson plans, etc.).

CELTA made me feel a lot of emotions. I did enjoy it, but it wasn’t fun. I learned a lot, but it made me question the idea of pursuing a teaching career (even 2 years after taking this course). I enjoyed preparing lessons, but the number of things I had to remember about (problem anticipation, handouts, solutions, lexis grids, grammar grids) frustrated me beyond belief (they do even today). I know, I’m no longer a CELTA trainee, so I can ignore some of the grids and rules, but truth to be told, you have to keep them in mind if you want to plan a good and effective lesson. Preparing such a lesson takes a lot of time (time outside of your teaching hours; you basically work overtime). If you don’t want to burn out too fast, you need to look for new materials. You can’t be using the same ones over and over again. New materials = new lesson plans (and whatever comes with a new lesson plan). 

Before the course, I was extremely stressed out. Mostly because:

1. I’m not a native. One of our tutors was a native speaker and I felt nervous around him, especially when it came to explaining grammar and telling my students what was right and what was wrong in English. I felt judged (He probably didn’t want me to feel that way, but I couldn’t help it.). I felt like I needed to know everything. Besides, who wants to study with a teacher who makes mistakes. He said “no one,” and added “but people want to study with a teacher who can admit to his own mistakes and then look for the correct answers. This way, you level yourself with your students and you make a connection with them. If you’re unsure of something, check it even in the classroom (if that’s a pressing issue, of course)” GOOD LIFE TIP. 

2. Workload. I like working, but even I have my own limits. You get up at 6 am, you get ready, you go to the center to prepare your handouts and classroom, then you practice your lesson out loud in the empty classroom; it’s just you and chairs, but you need to practice your lesson out loud! It helps a lot. My host lady gave me that tip. She was a university teacher for 30 years, and for 30 years, every day, she kept practicing her lessons out loud in an empty lecture hall. It helped her adjust her lesson plans (you know, add/remove/better some things). I did it in the evening and, again, in the empty classroom in the morning. You also get homework. It wasn’t challenging (look at Academia.eu for example CELTA assignments). And after a whole day of teaching practice (TP) and input sessions (IS), you go home (it’s 7 pm), and you start preparing lesson plans, thinking about fun exercises, good exercises, exercises that will force your students to practice the target language you want them to practice, etc. Lots of stuff to think about. 

3. People. (I’m quite anti-social. Social distancing is my thing! I do like my students tho. Mostly because they don’t want to hang out with me, haha) People want to socialize. If you struggle with the course, don’t do it. It’s only four weeks, and you won’t be seeing them again (probably ever). If you feel like socializing, then go out on the weekend, but remember they can kick you out and you won’t be getting any money back. If you choose a good center, they will help you pass the course; however, in some places, they don’t care. I was lucky to be in a place where tutors cared a lot. Also, it’s good to help each other. I helped others with their lessons and whatnot. It’s not a race! Share your materials and knowledge; share your labor, and the course will become less challenging.

4. Time-management. You need to be organized. I had people in my group who kept preparing classes till 4 a.m.! 4 a.m.! Can you imagine? They were snowed under sheets of paper, couldn’t find the right handouts, forgot things, and then cried. Yeah, it’s tough. I signed up for the course as a teacher with 3 years’ worth of professional experience, so I knew stuff. I knew how to organize my work. But the newbies; oh, man! If you haven’t worked as a teacher before, don't do it. 

Useful links here and here. If you’re interested in how to teach CELTA style.

Conclusion

When you’re a native, it’s worth it. When you’re a non-native, I’d reconsider taking it. If I could turn back time, I would have reconsidered taking the course. I did learn a lot, but it's an international certificate and I can't use it as they promised I would be able to use it. "Travel and teach wherever you want (my ass!)" Especially when you’re thinking about working in Korea or Japan. They don’t hire non-natives anymore. China does, but they will change their laws soon. Europe and Latin America are fairly OK in that regard, I guess. 

[ladyofpurple]

answer all of the questions!!

holy SHIT ok bless you omg

(sorry it's a full day late i took this shit SERIOUSLY. don't ask me how many hours this took, i was in A Mood™️ last night. removed the ones already answered xoxo)

angel; have you ever been in love?

yeah. didn't end too well, but i loved him.

petal; favorite novel and author?

this is like asking me to pick a favorite child. i guess favorite author would be stephen king, if only based entirely on the sheer quantity of his books i own alone. favorite book would probably be special topics in calamity physics by marisha pessl, and i'm only saying that because it's been my go-to response for years. i have lots of favorite books. ask me again in five minutes and i'll give you another one.

honey perfume; favorite perfume/scent?

freshly made coffee. lilacs. jasmine. cut grass. the ground after it rains. chocolate chip cookies in the oven. cigarette smoke on skin. my mom's shampoo. my grandma. my dog when he's just had a bath. thanksgiving dinner. acrylic paint on canvas. sawdust. that one cologne i can't name but can smell on a guy from a mile away. mulled cranberry and apple juice. vanilla. coconut. fresh laundry. peppermint.

sweet pea; what’s your zodiac?

virgo sun, pisces moon, scorpio rising ✨

softie; talk about your sexuality.

i'm biromantic asexual, primarily attracted to men more than women (but have had too many crushes on girls to consider myself het), generally sex repulsed when it comes to the thought of having it myself. i prefer to call myself queer in passing conversation, it's easier than explaining asexuality and the differences between sexual and romantic attraction. if someone asks more specifically, i'll usually just call myself bi for simplicity's sake, even though the ace part is a much more important (to me) part of my identity. monogamous as fuck.

i'm still struggling with internalized homophobia and a lot of "am i even queer enough" thoughts, which is super fun. took me a long time to even consider the fact that i might like girls at all. i'll probably never come out to my parents. not that they'd, like, disown me or whatever, but they're juuuuust homophobic/transphobic enough that my few attempts to educate them when they say something A Little Yikes have shown me that i should probably just stay in the closet unless i absolutely have to come out. like i'm getting married to a woman or something.

sugarplum; what’s the color of your eyes and hair?

i usually say my eyes are green because it's easier, and they mostly are, but i have rings of greyish blue around the irises and sometimes they're more hazel in the middle. they always have a green tint to them though, even if the intensity of the green varies.

my natural hair is brown, a little on the darker and slightly ashy side of completely generic. currently a former blonde, although i'm hoping to bleach my fucking YEAR of growout soon, and then go some crazy color as a last hurrah before i have to go dark again. being broke fucking sucks.

wings; coffee or tea?

tea!! black tea. chai, to be specific, with an irresponsible amount of milk and sugar. chai lattes are a fucking drug okay? coffee makes me sick (not a judgement, a literal fact. last time i tried some i threw up).

fairytale; are you a cat or dog person?

cat!! but my family has a chihuahua named sonny and you can pry that little monster from my cold dead hands ok i will fight you.

snowflake; favorite time period?

okay, i wrote and rewrote my answer to this about 10 times. then i tried to divide it up into categories (aesthetics, history, fashion, vibes, geographical location, etc), but that didn't help. so basically: i don't have one, because i have too many.

i like the american 20s-60s for the aesthetic, music/movies, and the fashion. i also like the european 1600s-1800s for the interesting history and also vibe. i love the french and russian revolutions — the fashion! the art! the wars and political upheaval! I FUCKING LOVE HISTORY. then, of course, we can't forget the rennaisance. or the witch trials (pick your continent). and ancient greece? the roman empire? hello?? did i mention empires? how bout we mosy on over to south america — can i interest you in the mayans? incans? aztecs? what about china and japan? korea? vietnam? and don't even get me fucking STARTED on the black plague.

ancient egypt? sign me the FUCK UP. vikings? yes please. the celts? oh boy. the MYTHOLOGY. the ARCHITECTURE. the LANGUAGES and POLITICS and LITERATURE and REVOLUTIONS and GOD HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN ANY OF THESE

i uh. might have gotten a little excited. basically i like history a lot. and mythology. and linguistics. and cultural practices. and the politics and prejudices behind wars and stuff. and learning in general. moving on.

vanilla; do you believe in ghosts?

let's put it this way: i don't not believe in ghosts??

listen. we don't know jack shit. we don't know what happens after we die, there are constant scientific revelations that turn our understanding of the universe completely upside-down, and there is literally no way to know which religions or myths or urban legends could have some grain of truth to them. like, dude, i've literally thought i was haunted before. psychology is bananas and the universe is infinite.

demons could be real. ghosts could be real. what if we just haven't invented the necessary technology to prove it yet? what if we never do, and they just fuck around alongside us, moving furniture and making shadow puppets on the walls just for kicks until the earth explodes? what if that one tumblr post was right and ghosts are actually real people from alternate universes or timelines that we see accidentally bc some cosmic wires got crossed? who fucking knows.

i love horror movies and scary stories and ghost hunter shows just as much as the next gal. but listen. psychics? mediums? people who accept every single creepypasta retold third-hand from their neighbor's kid's classmate's second cousin who "totally knows a guy"? doubt.jpeg

i don't understand the sheer amount of assumptions made willy-nilly about the nature of ghosts and demons and things that go bump in the night. the assumption that "oh this machine that totally doesn't look like a coathanger taped to a walkman will work because ghosts have this temperature and can always communicate like this and are electromagnetic" or whatever just baffles me. to a certain degree, following a general consensus is one thing — some basic things everyone can agree on? that's cool. ghosts can walk through walls and are probably dead people or whatever. but oh my god, taking every single story as absolute, undeniable proof?? taking these stories and expanding on them to infer intentions and scientific facts to something that by it's very nature is unknowable and assuming, like, every spirit is created equal?? and yeah, ghost hunting shows are fun and campy and kinda creepy but like. you really, genuinely don't think any of them have ever faked anything at all??? even if ghosts are real, it's fucking reality tv, my dude. it's the entertainment industry. at least maintain the slightest ounce of critical thought before taking zak bagans' word as the goddamn gospel.

and sidenote, maybe it's just my limited exposure as a white woman in the western world, but of all the shows and podcasts and movies and documentaries and whatnot i've been able to find and consume, there's the constant use of christian ideology applied to every situation that just really burns my bacon. what, there's never been an atheist ghost? if you see a shadow person and you don't know the lord's prayer by heart, are you automatically fucked? why are there never stories about, i don't know, viking ghosts? does your religion in life preclude you from becoming a ghost in the first place? is that why people never mention buddhist ghosts? i don't get it, and that's why even though i'm self-admittedly the most superstitious person i've ever met, true believers make me roll my eyes so hard they almost fall out. makes me come across as more skeptical than i theoretically am. I HAVE VERY STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THIS OK

but like, you couldn't pay me to fuck with a ouija board. i'm not stupid.

delicate; diamonds or pearls?

both have their appeal and their place, but diamonds, i guess. i like the sparkle. but fake ones!! or synthetic. diamonds are overpriced and artificial scarcity is a scam and i don't need a dumb rock that some poor person in a mine somewhere was exploited and possibly died for. no blood diamonds in this house, thank you very much.

if i ever get engaged, i don't want a diamond ring. i'd want something cool, a little unusual, like a ruby or a sapphire or some other sparkly gem that isn't literally shoved in your face every waking moment as the expected standard symbol of True Love. they're cheaper, they're cool-looking, as a ring they still hold the cultural symbolism of an engagement/wedding ring. and honestly, as long as it's well-made and durable, whatever hypothetical gem it is doesn't have to be real either. i'm a woman of simple needs and demonstrably low standards. no point in going into debt for a fucking piece of jewelry, regardless of ~tradition~.

lavender dream; favorite album?

oh lord. welcome to the black parade, i guess. or anything by panic! at the disco. there are dozens of possible options — my interests are mercurial and my memory is garbage. but i'll always be an emo little shit. black parade and vices and virtues were also the first two albums i ever listened to where i loved every single song on them, and i happened to listen to them for the first time at around the same point in my life (i got into mcr super late. like, 2012 late. rip).

silky; what’s your biggest dream?

it's cheesy but i guess i just want stability and, by extension, happiness. emotional stability, mental stability, financial stability, stable living situation, stable routines, stable relationships... you get the idea. i have ambitions and passions, of course, but my ultimate goal is happiness at this point in my life, and i'm pretty sure stabilizing all those things would go a pretty long way in achieving that goal.

a little apartment with walls i can paint because white walls make me angry. bookshelves and posters and fandom merch on every wall. a computer i can actually play games on again, and somewhere i can paint and draw and record my podcasts. someone who loves me, maybe. a cat, if i'm stable enough. space for people to come visit me, and a place for them to sleep if they need. a tiny balcony, if i really want to shoot for the stars. a job i don't hate. the spoons to hang out with my friends, and the money to not worry about buying little presents for the people i care about sometimes. i don't need much.

strawberry kiss; do you have a crush right now?

nope.

glitter; favorite fictional character?

another loaded question. like books, if you ask me again in five minutes i'll probably give you a different answer. but in this particular moment, caleb and jester from critical role (please don't make me choose between them). i won't go full shipping mode rn, but jester is so funny and silly and sweet, so much more complex than she seems, and she tries so hard to make everyone happy even when she's so sad inside. the healer who treats healing as an inconvenience in battle (she's so fucking valid and also mood), the glue that keeps the party together. and caleb learning to trust again, facing his trauma and coming out of his shell. he loves his friends so much he plays wizard as a support class and i love him so much.

i love the mighty nein in general, of course, and all the guests/honorary members they've had. pumat!! pls don't be evil reani!! keg!! shakäste and grand duchess anastasia!! cali!! kiri!!!! the brotps! empire siblings! chaos crew! nott the best detective agency! i still love molly and all his assholery to bits (fight me), and mourn his lost potential. i adore yasha, even when she's gone; fjord has grown so much; beau and nott and caduceus — i love all their flaws and disagreements and their character arcs and the excitement of watching them grow and learn. but if i had to choose, caleb, jester and molly have always been my top 3 since day 1 and, well, molly isn't really an option anymore.

but like i said, ask me again in a minute. i have a fucking list.

swan; share a quote or passage that means something to you.

a collection of things off the top of my head:

Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition. — Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

a tired feminist Mood™️

"What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore, it knows it's not foolin' a soul." — American Gods, Neil Gaiman

i got my love of books from my grandma — some of my favorites i got from her. sometimes, as a treat, she used to take my sister and i to bookstores and we'd stay there for ages, getting to pick one out, roaming the shelves, the mental torture of having to choose. the peace of being surrounded by thousands of potential worlds, so much information, so many stories just waiting to be told; being surrounded by strangers who share that same wonder. the anxious drive home so we could read them, being unable to wait that long so i inevitably start reading in the car and make myself sick. telling her in excited detail all my favorite parts. if we were lucky, maybe we got to split a bear claw, or she'd drive past starbucks and get us something there too (tall vanilla soy steamer with one pump of vanilla syrup, whipped cream on top that always melted too quickly and squirted out the hole in the lid, so hot it burned my tongue but so good i didn't care). i have never felt more at home than i do when i'm surrounded by books.

"There are a lot of different types of freedom. We talk about freedom the same way we talk about art, like it was a statement of quality rather than a description. “Art” doesn’t mean good or bad. Art just means art. It can be terrible and still be art. Freedom can be good or bad, too. There can be terrible freedom. You freed me, and I didn’t ask you to." — Alice Isn't Dead, season 1, chapter 2: Alice

as cringey as it is to admit it, this line made me cry a lot after my breakup.

"So you aren't American?" asked Shadow.

"Nobody's American," said Wednesday. "Not originally. That's my point." — American Gods, Neil Gaiman

[side-eyes white america real hard]

there's more, of course. there's always more. don't even get me started on song lyrics, we'll be here all day.

lace; what’s your favorite plant/flower?

lilacs and roses.

mermaid; do you prefer the forest or the ocean? why?

both, i guess. but in different ways, and in different circumstances.

the sea is wild. it is endless and deep and unknowable. it is beautiful and dangerous. i am terrified of the ocean, and yet my favorite place in the world is an empty beach on the oregon coast. i have picked sand from between my toes for days with hair crusted in salt, danced around bonfires and watched the stars while marshmallows burn, gotten pulled under the waves as a child and nearly swept out to sea. picked starfish and crabs from small pools in the rocks, and swum (accidentally) with wild sea lions. in a long skirt, too early in the year to be swimming, i once took off my shoes and waded fully clothed into the water to my waist and just... danced. splashed and kicked and laughed with a boy i barely knew until our throats were sore and our toes were numb, walking home hours later with our soaked clothes clinging to our legs, shoes squelching, dripping algae as we went. the ocean is freeing and overwhelming all at once. i love it and am petrified by it in equal measure.

the forest is beautiful in a different way. it is silent and dense and serene. you are surrounded by life and yet, somehow, completely alone. there is magic in the forest, and history, and even when all else dies, that will remain. the trees grow from the corpses of their ancestors, and some have lived dozens of our lifetimes — with luck, a few dozen more. it is quiet there, peaceful, even the tiniest wood in the middle of a city muffling the outside world through the trees. you can feel the ancient ways deep in your soul as you follow winding paths strewn with fallen leaves, the mystery and wonder and superstitions of your forefathers. you wonder what it would be like, to run your fingers over the moss, to take off your shoes and socks and just run, leaping and dancing over rocks and roots, hair wild and air filling your lungs in deep, pure gulps as you shed the responsibilities and struggles of modern life, for just a moment remembering what freedom tastes like. it is primal, this connection to nature, one we have nearly forgotten over time. and as the sky grows dark and the silence of night presses against you, shadows looming, every footfall deafening, perhaps you begin to understand why some believed in monsters.

honeymoon; do you keep a journal?

i used to. honestly, that's a good idea, i should start doing that again. lord knows i have enough empty journal-type books.

starlight; do you believe in love at first sight and soulmates? why/why not?

i want to. i want to believe there's someone out there for me, the love of my life, someone to whom i'll be the love of their life, and that when i meet them i'll just... know.

but when i met my ex, i didn't really look twice at him for a while — no love at first sight. and when we were together, when i loved him and he swore he loved me back, i thought he hung the stars in the sky and knew i would marry him someday. couldn't even consider the idea that that wouldn't happen. and then when he broke up with me, he ghosted me so suddenly and thoroughly that he even preemptively cut contact with every single one of our mutual friends he thought might side with me in the breakup, before anybody even knew we'd had a fight. so, not soulmates either.

i really want to believe that someday the perfect romance will just fall into place and i can have the happily ever after i've always dreamed of. but the reality is i might never even have another s.o. for the rest of my life. maybe i'll get hit by a car tomorrow, or my hypothetical soulmate moves to argentina to become an alpaca farmer on a mountain somewhere and we never even meet. maybe i'm so traumatized by the betrayal and lies that i'll never have the courage to even try again.

and even so, happily ever after doesn't have to include a fairytale romance, regardless of whether i want it or not. i still like to cling to that hope though, deep down.

princess; what do you value most in people?

i'm going to assume you mean "real people" as in people i have positive relationships with, and not random strangers on the street.

loyalty. kindness. support. humor. similar values. patience. being able to grow together and teach each other things, so we can make each other better. honesty. trust. compassion. confidence. emotional vulnerability. communication. intelligence, or at least a willingness to learn. strength.

[hetalia-tlw]

Hetalia: The Lost World Part 2

“Oh no no no” said England while walking around the room in circles. “I thought he was gone for sure” England then went back into his spell book until he stopped at a page. “It’s all my fault, if only I haven’t cursed him that day” said England. “Now now lad. How could it be your fault?” asked a calm voice that’s similar to England’s. “Who said that?” asked England.

Suddenly a puff of pink smoke appeared and vanished only to leave behind a similar looking England, but was wearing a velvet overcoat, with a pink shirt along with a blue bow tie and he had light blue eyes. “Ello, did you miss me?” asked the England look alike with a smile. “Excuse me? I’m pretty sure we never meet before” said England. “Oh I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name is England, but you may call me Oliver Kirkland” said Oliver. “Ah sorry to burst your bloody bubble, but I’m the one and only England” said England while pointing at himself. “Well lad, I’m your counterpart also known as your dark side. But most importantly I’m your 2P” said Oliver.

“2P? What in the name of all bloody things holy is a 2P?” asked England. “Well if only if you weren’t such a bloody git and look more into your book of creatures, demons, and whatnot it tells you about 2Ps” said Oliver. “Hey! I’m not a bloody git!” yelled England. “Now now England or should I call you Arthur, everyone in your own world/dimension has a dark side, including the country personifications. However during the tide of the balance there’s only a few number of the 2P countries left” said Oliver. “Like how many are left?” asked England. “Well there’s me, also following with the 2P version of the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers. However can you guess whose leading the 2Ps?” asked Oliver.

“Uhh…. 2P America?” asked England. “Close lad, he’s actually leading the 2P Allied Powers, but in a more… how should I call it? Ah, in a much more brutal way” said Oliver. “Umm… is it 2P Germany?” asked England. “Oooh… so close, but no he isn’t. 2P Germany is actually *coughlazyallthetimecough*… what I mean he’s busy way too much and isn’t leading. In fact he isn’t even leading the 2P Axis Powers” said Oliver. “So who is it then?” asked England. “Oh that’s easy, it’s-” and without an explanation Oliver then vanished from England’s sight.

“Hmm… 2P? I could of swore I heard it before but where exactly?” asked England in wonder. England then found a book about different dimensions which was put together with the former North Korea that was his friend and ally. England was roaming through the pages until he came across the page of the 2Ps. England separated the list of the 2Ps between Allied Powers and Axis Powers. England then put down their country names along with their human names, in this order:

1P Allied Powers/2P Allied Powers

1P America: Alfred F. Jones/2P America: Al Jones 1P England: Arthur Kirkland/2P England: Oliver Kirkland 1P France: Francis Bonnefoy/2P France: Francois Bonnefoy 1P Canada: Matthew Williams/2P Canada: Matt Williams 1P Russia: Ivan Braginski/2P Russia: Vladimir Braginski 1P China: Yao Yang/2P China: Xiao Yang

1P Axis Powers/2P Axis Powers

1P North Italy: Feliciano Vargas/2P North Italy: Luciano Vargas 1P South Italy: Romano Vargas/2P South Italy: Flavio Vargas 1P Germany: Ludwig Beilschmidt/2P Germany: Lutz Beilschmidt 1P Prussia: Gilbert Beilschmidt/2P Prussia: Akbar Beilschmidt 1P Japan: Kiku Honda/2P Japan: Kuro Honda

After the list was done, England then heard a noise outside his magic chamber. England then grabbed paper that had the 2P country names along with the 1P country names. England then found the source of noise to a chamber he never dared to go in. When England opened the door and to his surprise, he found Oliver with a man that has an appearance to that of Austria’s. But had black hair and red eyes, in fact he seems to being wearing a punk rock black suit with spikes and matching black heeled boots. “Oh ello there lad. I’m just here to visit an old friend. Ahh… I was exactly trying to set him free” said Oliver.

“Who in the world is that?” asked England. “Oh him, well he’s the 2P counterpart of Austria. Hey there you punk rock reject, care to introduce yourself to my 1P counterpart, Arthur?” asked Oliver. “To hell vith jou all” growled 2P Austria. “Hey do you even remember my little swear jar, poppet? You know, if you say one swear word, you’ll have to pay up” said Oliver mockingly. “I don’t have any money on me, jou cupcake making sweet talking dummkopf!!!” yelled 2P Austria. “How rude of you! I have you know I haven’t even bother to make cupcakes yet” said Oliver.

While both Oliver and 2P Austria were arguing, England quickly took out the paper of the names to the 2Ps and simply wrote the following entry: “1P Austria: Roderich Edelstein/2P Austria: Roland Edelstein” under the newly added section of “1P/2P Extras”. After writing or should I say, giving a name to 2P Austria, England placed the paper back into his pocket. While both Oliver and Roland were still busy arguing, England then pulled out his wand and mumbled something, causing a beam of light to go unnoticed and broke the chains that held Roland. Oliver who then noticed Roland was free, quickly ran behind England, while Roland got up and pulled out a rock guitar from his back. He then came over to both England and Oliver only to stop about three steps apart from England. “I demand jou to step aside for me, so I can kill zhis cupcake loving dummkopf” hissed Roland.

“What will happen if I do or if I don’t?” asked England who wasn’t afraid of Roland. “Hmm… zhere vill be a chance zhat I’ll kill zhe cupcake lover und if jou don’t move, I’ll slice jour throat open und drink jour pool of blood” said Roland through clenched sharp teeth. “Well… there is a slight chance I’ll might do this” said England while using his wand and a spell to knock Roland’s guitar out of his hands and summoned magical binds on him so he doesn’t move. “Vhat iz zhis!? I demand jou to release me at once or suffer zhe consequences!” yelled Roland. “What consequences? With this binds on you, you can’t even do a thing” said England.

“Vhy jou little… vhen I get out of zhese binds und vhen I get mein hands on jou, jou’re-” before Roland can finish his sentence, Oliver covered his mouth with a handkerchief. “Say there lad, we make good team” said Oliver. “Uhh… team? I don’t think so, when I’m working with magic, I usually work alone” said England. “Oh nonsense lad, I’m pretty sure you don’t work alone. In fact don’t you work with Norway, you know the other magic user?” asked Oliver. “Well no, but usually I do work with others. But I don’t trust them at all with potions, because they usually drop them or spill the liquid all over themselves” said England. “So you do work with people. Too late to change what you said. I believe that you do work with people while performing magic” said Oliver.

“Whatever you bloody git. Speaking of which I’m heading upstairs to the kitchen to make tea” said England. With that England left the room and was heading up the steps to the kitchen, leaving Oliver behind. “I have no idea, why I didn’t ask him if I can come with. Say Roland since you’re going to be suck down here, might as well eat something. Speaking of eating I’m going upstairs to make cupcakes for you” said Oliver. Which Roland replies to only being able to grunt angrily while Oliver stands there looking at him, while smiling cheerfully. “Don’t worry I promise you that they’re not going to burn. See ya later poppet!” said Oliver. With that Oliver ran out of the room and up the stairs to England’s kitchen, while leaving behind an angry Roland who was about ready to scream.

While waiting for his tea to be done, England quickly leaves amount of text messages to his friends. But mostly he kept sending text messages to Germany, but mostly France to only call him a ‘bloody git’ or 'bloody frog’. Soon England heard his teapot whistling and England then came to the kitchen to taste his tea. While backing up, he accidentally bumped into Oliver. “Gah!” screamed England. “Oh my! No! Not the cupcakes!” yelled Oliver.

“Geez, why are you in my kitchen and how dare you bump into me!?” yelled England. “I was going to ask you the same question. In fact why are you in here making tea? I was just about to put my cupcakes into the oven, until you bumped into me causing me to drop the cake pan” said Oliver. “Cupcakes!? Why the bloody hell are you making cupcakes!? I thought my counterpart still makes scones!” yelled England. “Ah ah ah, even though I’m your counterpart it means that I’m the complete opposite of you. I have you know that I find scones disgusting and prefer cupcakes. By the way you swore, now pay up the swear jar” said Oliver will pulling out his swear jar from god who knows where. “Well that makes sense and hey! My scones aren’t disgusting. By the way I don’t have money to pay for swearing at you, in fact why do you even have a swear jar?” asked England. “Oh the jar? Well since I’m the opposite of you, I’m very sensitive to hearing swear words. They make me wanna throw up and rip my ears out. In fact with a swear jar, I’m making a living” said Oliver.

“How much money do you even get, when you hear a swear word?” asked England. “Well if I’m hearing a lot of them I make people give me five dollars” said Oliver. Oliver then put in another batch of cupcakes in the oven, he then turn to England only to ask “Say do you mind telling me of what kind of spell you used?” “I guess I can tell you” said England as a flashback appeared. “Alfred! Alfred! I have no time to play your kiddie games! Come back here now!” yelled England. “So little Alfred, are you ready to scare the living stocks out of your brother?” asked a man with long black hair, along with a curl with a face in the center, who was up in a tree with a child with blond hair.

“You’re sure bet I am, cause I’m the hero!” exclaimed the young boy. While moving to tree to tree, they suddenly stopped when they both saw England coming. “Geez! Why the bloody hell am I even bothering? Alfred, if you don’t show yourself to me then no cookies for you!” yelled England. “Boy, big brother Arthur seems very angry” whispered Alfred.

“Who cares? At the count of three we surprise Arthur” whispered the man while Alfred nods in agreement. “Okay, ready? 1… 2…. 3! NOW!” yelled the man as Alfred hold onto him tightly as the man grabbed onto a vine. They suddenly came down to England who was shocked and couldn’t move, as Alfred let go of the man and then clobbered his own brother. “Haha” laughed Alfred as he was on top of Arthur. “Okay enough of laughing, you got me. Now can you please get off of me so I can get up?” asked Arthur. As soon as Arthur got up, he picked up his little brother and looked up at his friend who was laughing on a vine, until he crashed into a tree.

“Ow! Who put that tree there!?” yelled the man in pain. “Looks like you got a piece of your own medicine!” laughed Arthur. “Not funny Arthur! I was just having some fun” said the man. “Now Alfred, since you’re going to be an actual country soon, I might as well tell you who my friend is” said England. “Is he a country like you?” asked Alfred.

“Close, but no. He’s the incarnation of a capital of a country” said England. “Is he the capital of your country?” asked Alfred. “You mean London? No, but I wish he was; however, he’s Korea’s capital and Korea’s older brother. He is known to be Seoul” said England. “Umm… England, you’re forgetting something else” said the capital. “Which is?” asked England.

“Little Alfred, I may be called Seoul but my name is Iyong ju” said Iyong ju. “That name sounds so cool. Where did you get that name from?” asked Alfred. “My brothers gave me that name” replied Iyong ju, “Brothers?” asked Alfred. “His brothers are the Asian countries of Japan and China, but his younger brother is Korea” said England. “So one day I get to see you with your brothers?” asked Alfred. “Of course you will” said Iyong ju with a smile, as England’s flashback ended.

“So let me get this straight, Iyong ju is a capital to a nation?” asked Oliver. “Why yes he is. Until that day when I stepped into Korea or so I thought it was, it was the same day where I regretted everything that I’ve done for him” said England with a sad face. Another flashback appeared. But this time only to skip after World War II and after the separation of Korea between America and the Soviet Union. “Yong Soo? Iyong ju? Are you two home?” asked England as he stepped into Korea’s home. England was searching for both the brothers until he heard a sound.

England searched for the source of the sound until he came across the door. England then heard the sound again and he then tried to open the door, but it was locked. England then pulled out his wand and after mumbling a spell, he got the door to open. England then went inside and to his surprise he was in Korea’s room. England saw broken glass and burnt furniture around the room, until he saw a mantel with a broken picture on it. England walked over to it and carefully picked it up.

A picture was shown in the frame, but the glass of the frame was broken. The picture of Korea was shown, along with Iyong ju next to him and both of them were smiling happily. The picture broke some of England’s feelings, he then took the picture out of the frame and placed it into his pocket as he set the frame back onto the mantel. England then turned to walk away from the mantel until he slipped over something and almost tripped. But England remained his balance and with a stern expression he asked himself “What was that?” England looked on floor until came across some blue and white cloth. That’s when he stumbled across the unconscious body of Korea.

“Yong Soo? Are you okay? Wake up!” yelled England with a panicked tone. England then picked up Korea and came into the living room and set him on the couch. England then gave Korea some painkillers and medical treatment. After an hour passed Korea slowly opened his eyes and noticed England coming from the kitchen with an ice pack and warm tea. “You’re not suppose to be moving, so here put this ice pack on your head” said England. “Thank you Arthur” said Korea.

“What happened here and why were you on the floor of your bedroom?” asked England. With a moment of pause, Korea was remembering his past moments before collapsing on the floor before saying “I was attacked” “By who?” asked England. “I was attacked by the Russians and by other words I mean by Ivan” replied Korea weakly. “Here drink some warm tea to conserve your energy” said England as he gave Korea a cup.

“Thanks again” said Korea as he took a sip. “Anyway after the war ended both Ivan and Alfred were starting to get off the edges” continued Korea. “You mean Alfred is fighting with Ivan?” asked England with a concerned expression. “Yes indeed. It wasn’t that long when they were fighting, they were both focused on my brothers and mostly me. They both decided to break Korea into two halves. However your brother was against it and came here to protect me from Russia. However he failed just like how I was trying to protect my brother” said Korea. “You mean Iyong ju” asked England. “Yes. Ivan had his men grab Iyong ju and I tried to help, but I was too scared of Ivan. I then forgot about my fears and focused on saving my brother. But I was knocked out and beaten by Ivan’s pipe” said Korea.

“Oh my, that’s terrible! What else has both Alfred and Ivan decided for your country?” asked England. “They spilt us up from each other. They took Iyong ju to the northern part of my country and called it North Korea and I remained by America were I’m no longer Korea, but I was called South Korea” said South Korea. 'It’s so disturbing to hear that Yong Soo has been separated from his brother, it’s even worse then splitting up both Germany and Prussia’ thought England. After a couple of years after 1945 it was already the start of the 1950s and during that time, England was called by America for a meeting.

“Okay Alfred, why am I here?” asked England as he walked through the doors. “Arthur, it’s terrible! My country got a distress call from South Korean officials that the North Koreans are going to attack South Korea!” yelled America while panicking and putting his head on the table just to start crying. 'Don’t tell me that the Koreans are now nationally called from whatever part the people are from’ thought England before America managed to get him out of his thoughts. “Another issue is that my country is also dealing with Ivan and this North Korean uprising! It’s even worse then the Great Depression from the early 1920s and 1930s! You know it almost broke me apart!” continued America. “So what do you want me to do about it? Do you realize that my country suffered the same kind of depression as you did? Even Francis that bloody frog, experienced it as well” said England. “I just… I just want your wisdom. I just want you to tell me what I should to do” said America while his head was still on the table.

“Well then like I always do, I side with the country who needs the most help. Trust me Alfred, I had to side with both Francis and Yao for both World Wars. That was also the time when Ivan came in to help” said England. “So you’re saying that I should side with South Korea against North Korea?” asked America as his read raised up from the table. “Yes you should. In fact I even heard that Ivan is going to side with North Korea” said England. “You’re right! I’m going to help South Korea defeat North Korea and save the world! I’m going to be a real hero after all, just like how I ended the second war by dumping two atomic bombs on Japan!” yelled America while standing up in a spotlight. “Ahh I see… so you’re going to be a hero again just like how you bombed Japan for about two times?” asked England while raising a brow. “Ahh… actually it was just a small tini-tiny accident” said America as he begin to laugh nervously.

After the Korean War it wasn’t long before South Korea helped England get into North Korea and which by helping I met by sneaking him in. “Are you sure this is where they kept your brother at?” asked England. “Yeah, I’m sure” replied South Korea. The two countries then went inside the building to find Iyong ju and get him out. They then found him, England was the first one to speak to him. “Iyong ju, I’m glad to see you again. How are you doing?” asked England. When Iyong ju spoke to him, his voice wasn’t smoothing and calming as it was before, it was now raspy.

“Doing? How do you think it is going for me?” asked Iyong ju “Uh… big brother do you remember me? You know your brother, Yong Soo also known as Korea?” asked South Korea. “Korea? There’s no Korea, only South Korea. I may be Iyong ju, but I’m no longer Seoul” said Jason. “What do you mean brother?” asked South Korea. “I mean that Seoul is dead and so is Korea. Only South Korea and North Korea are present and now you’re in North Korean territory boys” said Iyong ju with a grim look. “Okay you’re starting to scare me brother. Can you please stop?” asked South Korea with a nervous smile, until that’s when Iyong ju started to laugh hysterically and said with a grim smile on his face “You scared? That’s cute. I love to see the weak afraid”

“Okay Iyong ju we both know that’s not a nice way to treat your brother. Where are your manners?” asked England as he crosses his arms. “Me? Manners? Oh Arthur, you crack me up sometimes. Since you made me laugh, I suppose it’s time for me to literally break your funny bone” said Iyong ju while laughing at his own little joke until he was slapped on the face by South Korea. “Yong Soo? Why would you slap your brother like that?” asked England with a shocked and puzzled look. “Because of reasons. In fact I no longer know my own brother and I always thought of him as friend, but not anymore” said South Korea through clenched teeth and England even noticed a tear coming from his eye, when he was walking away. England soon followed South Korea and headed by to his country only to say goodbye to him. After years had passed it was already the start of the 1960s, England was in his office while looking at the picture of both South Korea and Iyong ju smiling together. “What happened to you, Iyong ju? You were so nice to me and your brother, but now you’re a jerk” said England while grabbing his cup to drink his morning tea.

He was about ready to do more paper work until, he heard a knock on his door, he quickly put the picture away underneath his plastic set of Revolutionary War army men. “Yes, the door is open. You can come in” said England. It was his secretary and she was holding something in her hand and she said to him “This is for you Mr. England. It’s from a friend” England then grabbed it and it turns out to be a letter, it even had his name written beautifully on the front. England then opened it and pulled out a piece of paper. He than read it and was left in a total shock, when his secretary was about to leave he stopped her only to say “Wait! Something is wrong! I need you to have our officials to call the former Allied Powers together for a meeting at the United Nations. There’s no time to waste” said England.

The secretary did what she was told and soon a meeting was called at the United Nations in New York City. England was the first one to be there and after two hours had passed America, China, and France came. “What’s the big emergency? I was busy finishing my new relationship to Japan, until my boss came to me and said you wanted me to come for a meeting. So this better be good, aru” said China. “Oui! I agree vith Yao here, vat vould ze black sheep of Europe vant me to hear?” asked France. “For the last time stop calling me the black sheep of Europe you bloody frog!” yelled England. “Yeah Francis! Even the hero agrees you should stop” said America while eating a Big Mac from McDonald’s.

'Wow, I’m surprised that Alfred is on my side for once’ thought England until he cut off his thoughts by saying “Look, I know you guys don’t want to be here. But I just got a letter from Yong Soo informing me that something bad has happened to him” “Arthur, I got a letter from him as well. Even Japan got one, aru” said China. “Same as I” said France. “So everyone must of gotten a letter” said England. “Everyone did expect for me” said America while wiping his face with something. “Actually if you just take a look of what you’re using to clean yourself, you might see it!” yelled Canada as he grabbed America’s hand only to reveal a letter from South Korea, which was now covered in cheese, grease, and ketchup.

“Oh thank you! Umm…. who are you again?” asked America which Canada replied while face palming “I’m Canada! Your brother!” “Oh sorry about that dude!” said America. “You better be sorry” mumbled Canada. “Say Yao, since Yong Soo is a brother to both you and Japan, why not tell us what your letter said?” asked England. “Well you’re not going like this…. but….. uh….. he’s d-dead, aru” replied China with a tear in his eye who then put his head down in shame. “WHAT!?” yelled England, America, Canada, and France together.

“Yes you all heard me, Yong Soo is dead. I wasn’t long that I got this letter his boss told me he died. It even said so on the my version of the letter, it even said it on Japan’s version too, aru” said China. “Zhen vho killed him? I mean countries aren’t meant to die, but ve are all immortals. Unless ve’re forgotten or dissolved” said France. “He wasn’t forgotten or dissolved, he was like killed by a special type of poison, aru” said China. 'What? Poison? How can that be? There’s no way poison can kill a country. Unless it was like created by magic and by hatred of a person. In speaking of a person… Iyong ju! Why would he kill his own brother? That’s it to prove that he is the one and only Korea! Well he’s wrong!’ thought England. With anger rising through England, he pulled out his spell back and placed it on the table. He flipped through the pages until he stopped at a spell.

'Iyong ju I thought you were my friend, but since I knew what you did to your brother, you shall be cursed until you dissolve with it’ thought England while a tear came from his eye. England than pulled out his magic wand and while everyone was busy talking, he started put the spell into effect. The building then grew dark, until when the four other countries stopped fighting. “Hey didn’t it just got dark in here?” asked America while having a panicked expression on his face. Then the four turned to see, England summoning a spell from his spell book. “Oh no! Ze black sheep of Europe is using his black magic of death!” yelled France.

Then suddenly a large purple glowing pentagram appeared over England and was on the wall. “This looks very bad” said Canada nervously. England then was mumbling words in another language in a form of a mantra and soon the lights were back on. England then looked up from his spell book to see his friends embracing each other like if they saw a ghost. England then laughed at them saying “Wow I never seen you guys afraid and hug each other for dear life, like you’re going to die” “Not funny, aru!” yelled China.

“Yeah! I zhought you vere going to curse ze beautiful country of love vith your black magic” said France. “Arthur, the hero thought you were going to curse Germany for being mean to me, when I was helping rebuild his country, but found me eating a cheeseburger and he began to yell at me. It really broke my feelings and mostly my heart” said America. “Oh I wasn’t. I was just going to curse both you and Francis, until I used my energy to curse someone else” said England. “Who exactly?” asked Canada. “Oh nobody that meets in all of your interests” said England.

[waraupiero]

under the cut because there’s some culturally sensitive stuff in here

mmm, there’s someone whom i’m in a mutual discord server with, and she’s of chinese and korean descent. it’s well-known in the discord that i’m ethnically chinese but my cultural background is rather culturally japanese, and i do like japanese culture

she dm’d me and was like, ‘is it bad that i drag weaboos?’ and i was like ??? ‘cringe culture is not great but like, we all self-drag anyway lmao so idk’ and she goes on this entire talk about how she can’t think of japanese culture as something worth ‘worshipping’ and how she can’t ever appreciate japanese culture because she’s salty about japanese treatment of chinese and korean people in the 20th century

and at this point i’m like? kind of weirded out lmao because i think it’s kind of unfair? i’m in no way defensive about japanese history, especially for this time period, because my family is ethnically chinese. both my parents are chinese and my grandparents lived through this time period in history. also i’m a historian, and i don’t fuck around with erasure lmao

but at the same time i do have a japanese background. ish. my parents lived in hiroshima for a decade, and at home we’ve always eaten japanese food, listened to japanese music, watched japanese films/tv shows/anime, read japanese stories, were raised with really japanese manners ... the sports teams we support are even the local sports teams of hiroshima ... GO CARP

(though my relationship with my ‘japanese-ness’ is very complicated, because my parents never taught us to refer to ourselves as japanese -- we were americans, and my parents also never taught us japanese, i learnt it by myself at age 10 -- though my father confesses that he is confused about whether he’s really american, chinese, or japanese. my mom feels firmly chinese and my brother american. only my dad and i are confused lmao)

ok, so i explain to her reasons why i think westerners like japanese culture. but in turn she gets really defensive about chinese culture? and i’m like, ‘it’s not like i’m saying that chinese culture doesn’t also have these traits, but people think of these traits in relation to japan more than with china, i think, for the most part’. it’s not as if i’m not familiar with chinese culture either lmfao my name may be japanese but it's a reference to a chinese poem, and i lived in china for 6 long and terrible years

and she says she doesn’t understand why people can like japan and guesses that she just doesn’t like it because she’s biased (true). she says that she doesn’t like that her grandma is too embarrassed to even speak about wwii. which then kind of baffles me because i was never the kind of person to derive my own opinions from my grandparents. maybe i’m a bad descendant but i never blindly believe what my elders believe. lmao my father’s mother hates japan with a burning passion and thinks mao ze dong is the greatest man on earth. obviously i don’t subscribe to that kind of stuff

at this point i’m telling her that i can understand where she’s coming from. a lot of young people i know are really caught up in a lot of emotion when it comes to their historical background. i’ve never been nationalistic or emotionally connected to any country, so i can’t say i empathise. i do tell her that i think all cultures are beautiful and worth understanding and appreciating, but it is important to keep historical context in mind because one should never see a country or culture as ‘faultless’ (which is why i hate yellow fever and people idolising asian culture in the first place. you can admire and appreciate but you should also be aware and critical). yet at the same time it’s not fair to hold this one historical event against an entire culture

but all she does is tell me how much she dislikes japan and thinks they’re despicable. she’s upset that in american schools they don’t teach about this stuff. lmao as a history professional i am fucking aware and i say that it really is unfortunate but nations use the history as a nationalistic, propagandistic tool. also, teachers only have one year to teach SO MUCH HISTORY. they’re going to cut off what is ‘irrelevant’ to most americans

though, on the other hand, chinese national curriculum on the sino-japanese war is very, very much problematic. not to say that china’s grievances aren’t legitimate or valid, but the chinese government has been mining this historical event for years for nationalism by consistently portraying chinese people as a righteous people but always victim. taking on the role of a victim is a very quick way for a country to rouse nationalism. when i went to school in china, in 2003-2010, my textbooks on CHINESE LANGUAGE (not history!!!) included phrases like ‘日本鬼子’ (japan demons), which is the chinese phrase for ‘jap’. i was in primary and secondary school. i wasn’t even a fucking teenager yet. they were already brainwashing kids by this age (all textbooks are government-written and issued). we didn’t cover this in school because there were chinese-japanese kids in my school, but they could have easily read it. thinking back, i’m terrified by this

while i think it’s necessary to know your history, i don’t think history should be so sensationalised and so emotional. history is ... in many ways like a science. it requires objectivity and perspective. i also see it necessary to consider all sides of a historical event. i have read terrible things when i was in university. i have read mein kampf and i absolutely hated it, but i am glad i read it, because it was an invaluable resource and perspective. i think it’s cowardly to not want to understand someone or something just because you see one another as enemies or whatever. maybe that makes me insensitive, but i see that as my advantage

i think that in a way hypernationalism is contributing to this continued tension in east asia. japan is unwilling to apologise to china and korea (which is wrong ... @ abe shinzo bitch apologise!!), and as a result china and korea continue to mine the emotional trauma of this time, and continue to bewail and accuse japan as monsters while acting rudely towards japanese people in public ... and as a result japanese people think chinese and korean people are rude and ignorant, and their preexisting racist attitudes towards chinese and korean people are confirmed ... all sides are justified and valid in what they’re thinking but i think an unwillingness to move on is causing this cycle. and i don’t know if there’s a good way to break it

but the fact that?? there’s a younger generation who is also so vitriolic about this?? really disturbs me. how is this not also similar to young american conservatives who believe everything their grandparents say about guns, race in america, and whatever? (you could argue that white americans are not victimised and i would wholeheartedly fucking agree with you there, but the issue is that THEY believe that THEY ARE victimised because they don’t know their history, fools) how could you be so narrow-minded and reject an entire culture just because you’re angry about? history?

while history is not all past and gone, sometimes the memory aspect of history really disturbs me as a historian. it’s hard to grasp and understand, because all those emotions are valid, but at the same time they can be destructive forces in the recounting of history and engage in counterproductive ways with the present. maybe i feel this way because i don’t like emotions and i don’t have any. i’m not sure.

this was a really strange conversation to have. i don’t know why she wanted to talk to me about it, because she clearly wasn’t trying to make me feel bad about ?? my japanese background and liking stuff like anime and whatnot?? and i’m really, really ashamed for japan for what they did, but as a historian i have no emotion towards it besides an objective judgment that it was bad, and as someone with chinese and american background i don’t hold anything against japan either, despite what they did to both these countries.

i guess i’m just really disappointed that people just can’t move past things like this. even though i’m a historian and i deal with the past, i feel like it’s counterproductive and foolish to let the past stop you from enjoying something or experiencing something. her emotions were valid i’m sure and she probably couldn’t control it, but this conversation just frustrated me so much. i believe that the world is made better through mutual understanding, awareness, and a level of appreciation. if you spend your entire life hating everything about a certain country or culture, that’s really miserable and cannot enrich yourself.

furthermore, our conversation devolved into another tangent about how not enough stuff about ‘non western’ stuff is taught in america. which i agree, is true. as a multicultural state america should do this. but she talked about how we should teach LESS about certain figures in western history, and i disagreed so much. god, just because you think there are important events in asian history doesn’t diminish the importance of western history to a WESTERN COUNTRY. all history is important and worthy!! even though i don’t like it either there’s a reason why we spend so much time on the french revolution and less on, say, the opium wars! christ!

i don’t blame her at all, but i needed to put this somewhere because this conversation pissed me off on so many levels. it was too black and white when history and historical education is decidedly not. i’m just frustrated that people can’t move on, and try to argue with me about it when i clearly don’t want to argue. i just want to offer an explanation or historian’s standpoint. why is it so hard for people to understand? and am i weird for not feeling anything? who knows.

[kingofthewilderwest]

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people. I was tagged by @dyannehs​

LAST:

1. Drink: Water 2. Phone call: Myself. Because I lost my cell phone. Outside of that, my mom! 3. Text message: One of my awesomeful friends of awesomeness who I’ve nicknamed Hux (she’s the Hux to my Kylo!) 4. Song you listen to: A nerdy composition project I’m working on. *grins* It’s a secret ’cause I’m gonna share online when I’m done! 5. Time you cried: Actual-actual cry? Don’t remember. Tears in the eyes? Maybe like two days ago? Yay for being broke.

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: Yes, I have dated the same person twice, and both experiences were quite wonderful indeed! And I’d probably date her a third time if life came around to it - both times we broke up came from us being too timid to do basic communication about relationship goals. We’re still really good friends rn - honestly either as friends or as dates, I’m happy either way! 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: Yes 8. Been cheated on: Not in the sex way, but my first relationship ended because my current gf was hitting blatantly on someone in front of my face, and while we were talking about maybe doing a poly thing, this hitting-on-someone-else was in the venue of putting aside and ignoring me, and that wasn’t okay.  9. Lost someone special: Yes. 10. Been depressed: Oh shit I forgot my depression meds again... *runs to take them* Umm. Yes. The answer’s yes. High-functioning depression, here I am, prime example. Yayyyy [sarcasm] 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: I don’t drink alcohol so nope.

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS: 

12. Silver 13. Chocolate brown 14. Black

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: Aye! 16. Fallen out of love: Not really? I mean I don’t know how to explain it. 17. Laughed until you cried: Thanks to Lance and Kaltenecker, yes. 18. Found out someone was talking about you: I guess my coworkers thought I was quitting instead of just reducing my hours, so I had to fix that rumor chain straight. 20. Found out who your friends are: I think that’s always an ongoing thing in life. This year, I’d say that I’ve had reaffirmations that the people I care about care about me, so that’s really awesome. It’s wonderful to know that people are thinking of me. And I’m thinking of you, friends! 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: Yep!

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: About 99% of them. It’s very rare for me to add an internet friend to my FB contacts. 23. Do you have any pets: No. My apartment only allows cats and dogs, and I want guinea pigs again. ;_; 24. Do you want to change your name: I’m proud of my name and have used it as a source of inspiration (it means “pure”). That said, in the last few years, I feel increasingly distanced from my name and honestly think of myself far more as being named “Haddock.” Haddock is my name, my birth name is second. Still a good name, but I’m a Haddock. 25. What did you do for your last birthday: On the day itself: relaxed, bought myself froyo, Skyped family, chilled, was awesome. The general-ish week of my birthday: had a dinner with family, stayed up and binged all of VLD S4 the night it came out, hung out with a friend and also binged VLD. Basically, a lot of VLD. 26. What time do you wake up: The number fluctuates quite wildly day-per-day because “sleep schedule” is a myth. Today, I got up at 11 AM. 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Answering asks on tumblr and PMing/texting a few good friends. 28. Name something you can’t wait for: Having enough money to live comfortably and not stress every time rent week comes around. 29. When was the last time you saw your mom?: A few days ago, Friday. 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: Oh where do I fucking start... Well. The biggest thing is I’d do is go back in time and prevent a terrifyingly bad argument/falling out with my ex/ex best friend that happened in 2011-2012, not because I want to still be friends with this person (I don’t anymore), but because the experience was very... traumatic... to both of us and I’d love us not to live with those mental scars. I’m still getting over those scars and it sucks. 31. What are you listening to right now: The composition I’m working on. 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yeah. Don’t know anyone well named Tom, though. One of my coworkers is a Tommy if that counts? 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: There’s one wonderful friend of mine who’s going through a really challenging time. I want to help them so badly, but they’ve been closed off and hermitting themselves to the point I think it’s harmful for them, it’s hard to contact them to help them, and they live too far away for me to check on them in person easily. I want to do anything to see them in person to help, or to talk to them, or anything... sitting in silence makes me very worried because this wonderful human soul deserves all the love and support they can get for what they’re going through. 34. Most visited website: Tumblr, Facebook, Netflix, Google. 35. Mole/s: I have two bumps on my forehead, one to either side. I jokingly call them horns, but they’re not evenly lined up, and the one on my left is much larger than the one on my right. 36. Mark/s: Bellybutton scar from a second degree burning incident, lots of scars on my hands right now from falling on concrete two months back, lots of scars on my wrists from a whole bunch of whatnot (I even have one from my sophomore year of high school when a school binder scraped me?), oh. And I have basically leopard-speckled shoulders from countless acne/pimple scars. For unnatural marks... three tats! Plans to get at least two more. 37. Childhood dream: To be a published, bestselling author or a college prof. 38. Hair color: Currently dark brown with bleached bangs and a strip on the right side. Natural hair color is what I call “dusty brown” and some people would call dirty blonde; it’s in that random in-between blonde and brown where the top is blonde-ish and the bottom is rather brown. 39. Long or short hair: I have the conundrum of enjoying my hair either really long or really short. I’m in the process of regrowing it to the long stage. It’s sort of at the bottom-of-the-shoulder-blades/boob length now. Goal is to go back to waist length. 40. Do you have a crush on someone: Does Takashi Shirogane count? 41. What do you like about yourself: Honestly, quite a lot? XD I’m very thankful to be a nerd who is apt to learn anything from sciences to arts and music and sports. I’m thankful to be a musician, a composer, a creative writer, an animation junkie, an analytical and logical mind, a complete and utter NERD beyond belief who lives in nerd culture. I love my appearance, I love my facial hair, I love my eyebrows and face shape, I love my body shape, I love that I’m left-handed, I love that I’m not conventionally pretty. I love being a Christian. I love being aroace. I mean when I’m not in a depressive, self-deprecating mode, I really am proud and thankful to be who I am all across the board; there’s very little that I dislike about myself. Mostly what I dislike is my current life situation of not being anywhere career-wise. Everything else, pretty happy. :) 42. Piercings: Two on each earlobe and one halfway up the cartilage. Dammit and I wanted like a dozen piercings by this type in my life. Get me a more stable paycheck and we’re fixing this! 43. Blood type: O+. Most common blood type, woot? 44. Nicknames?: I’ve had a terrifying slew of nicknames over the years. Currently, the most common ones are Haddock, King, (Kylo) Ren, Spock, and Toast. 45. Relationship status: Single in my chill natural habitat. 46. Zodiac: I am so bitter about my Zodiac sign I refuse to say it even though it’s not too hard to figure out what it is given other answers to this meme. 47. Pronouns: He/his/him, though honestly I really don’t care too much what people toss at me. 48. Favorite TV Show: Voltron: Legendary Defender. 50. Right or left hand: LEFT-HANDED WOOOOOOOO LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFTY PRIDE YOOOO! 51. Surgery: When I was nine I had four baby teeth and then the four adult teeth under them removed. Basically, a wisdom tooth like surgery but younger and with different teeth. 52. Hair dyed in different color: FUCK YEAH! I was getting really bored of my natural hair color but was keeping it natural for the purpose of looking professional (job searches). I’d been wanting to reinstate some purple and black again, but with my current job only allowing “natural” hair colors, I decided I couldn’t go that route. Instead I bleached the front and dyed the rest dark brown in a sort of inspiration from Takashi Shirogane. 53. Sport: I played soccer all growing up, so much fun. Love jogging. Sports are great, miss having the opportunity to do team stuff. Also really enjoy watching professional gymnastics, soccer, American football, and especially tennis. 55. Vacation: I want to see so many locations oh my fuck. My “to go to” list includes Bhutan, Nepal, China/Tibet, Mongolia, Cambodia (again... come on I miss it!), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Japan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (England & Scotland), Norway, Canada, Peru, Mexico, South Korea, India, Myanmar, Austria, Germany, Iceland... um. Yeah. You. Get the picture. I NEED TO TRAVEL, YO! 56. Pair of trainers: Uh they’re like really raggedy and old and stuff

MORE GENERAL: 

57. Eating: I’m snacking on M&Ms again, like always. 58. Drinking: Water, though methinks I shall make some homemade ginger tea. 59. I’m about to: Probably go shower. It’s 3 PM and I still am in my pajamas. 62. Want: To fucking write and do NaNo and yet life’s been busy and I haven’t had the time for a word but I HAVE SO MANY VLD FANFICS I WANT TO DO AND AURGHGHGHGHGHGH the goal is to somehow write and finish my universal translator mix-up one this month???? We’ll see! Translators, stay tuned, and thanks again for offering to help! 63. Get married: 97% of me doesn’t want to get married I think? 64. Career: Linguistics consultant of doom. Not sure if this can be a career but if I could, I would enjoy continuing the remote work. To explain: I currently work contract positions with various companies who hire me for short-term projects, in which I use my linguistics expertise to analyze and annotate large sums of data according to certain guidelines. 65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs. I. LOVE. HUGS. SO. MUCH. HUGGGGGMEEEEE! I always look closed off in my body language but I swear the inside of me is always going “Giff me the cuddles and don’t let go.” 66. Lips or eyes: Eyes. Eyes are the most gorgeous thing about humans seriously. 67. Shorter or taller: I prefer to be the short one in all social situations. 68. Older or younger: For friends, I’m chill with whatever age you are. Dating, also chill, though I think I tend to prefer being slightly older just ’cause that’s how most of my relationships have been? But really doesn’t matter. 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: Arms. Nice arms are unique for me. I’m pretty happy with lots of different stomach types I see - tummies just are cute! :) 71. Sensitive or loud: A combo is fun but what I look for most in any platonic or anything relationship is someone with a deep heart. I want friends with whom I can confide in anything... so has to be that sensitive side (sensitive-logical if that makes sense is what I like best). 72. Hook up or relationship: I’ve done random PG hookups? But my answer for this is relationship; hookups are only fun for short-term boosts of self-confidence and not being 100% genuine and just being like carefree “whatever” for a night (make sure you both know you’re just doing the hookup night though, please guys, no deception!). Long-term relationships though are glorious like none other for their emotional power. <3 That is pure beauty, caring for someone deeply with lasting loyalty. But of course ya’ll know me... I find nothing more beautiful to cherish than deep platonic care! 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Combo of both!

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a Stranger: Yeppers 75. Drank hard liquor: Nope 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: Yes ugh I have no clue where one of my pairs of glasses are again 77. Turned someone down: Yes 78. Sex on the first date: I’ve had sex never so this is an easy answer 79. Broken someone’s heart: Yes 80. Had your heart broken: Yes 81. Been arrested: No 82. Cried when someone died: Yes 83. Fallen for a friend: Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84: Yourself: Yes, typically 85. Miracles: Absolutely 86. Love at first sight: I mean I don’t deny it happens. It happens. But I don’t think it’s pragmatic to think that’s what’ll happen to you. 87. Santa Claus: Come on, of course North and the Guardians are kicking Pitch’s butt! 88. Kiss on the first date: Sure, why not

OTHER: 

90. Current best friend name: I don’t have one best friend right now. A few of my current closest friends are named Josh, “Hux”, Keith, JuLee, Rachel, Peter, and Meredith. 91. Eye color: Brown 92. Favorite movie: HOW DO I PICK ONE FAVORITE MOVIE FUCK YOU?? The Prince of Egypt, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the How to Train Your Dragon movies, Pacific Rim, there, I made a list.

Uhhhhh let’s so who should I tag... if you want to do it... @akkeyroomi @the-mr-eggplant @chiefrosepetal @thefuriousnightfury @insaneskye @fanwriter02 @dragonpride99 @jettara @margarethelstone @shailyesshadow @hubwalker1 @godguy0001 @theravenfliesagain @frosty-viking @jackthevulture @hiccup-is-left-handed @dragonnan @spacekeet @nightfury326 yaknowwhat I am not going to count but we’ll say that’s about 20 XD

[dontcallmesensei]

The Truth About Learning Japanese

(I’m going to start with a random side note: If I ever get a book deal to write Japanese primer, I’m going to call it I Eat Cake Everyday: A Complete Guide to Japanese with Stupid Sentences.)

It’s been a while since we’ve just talked, so I wanted to just take a moment to do that.

I think every Japanese platform at one point write an article about “the deep truth” of learning Japanese, claiming to give you the golden key that you need to become fluent in only 6 months or 1 year or whatever. 

The argument for those kinds of posts isn’t hard to understand: People are fundamentally similar. If people are fundamentally similar, it is very likely that works for me will will work for you. Thus, if this works for me, it will work for you. This does work for me. Therefore, it will work for you (most likely.)

This is why all articles start with something like, “I guarantee you that I’m no genius. [Insert daily task that the writer struggles with on a daily basis.] I’m just a regular person that tried out a few things until I found a winning formula.”

I, personally, want to do my own take on this kind of article. I won’t offer a golden key, but I’ll talk about learning Japanese.

1. Japanese is Coded in the Most Inefficient Writing System in the World

Kanji, the logographs that are the bane of all Japanese-learner’s existence, comes from China. Kanji itself, 漢字, means “Chinese characters.” Kanji were invented to suit the needs of the Chinese language (from way back when, before Mandarin/Standard Chinese was a thing.) Japanese, on the other hand, is a language isolate, and it is not related to Chinese. So the use of these Chinese characters has over time been used in different ways for different words and with different readings- for Kanji tend to have multiple readings, sometimes being just 2 and at other times 8. 

In Eastern Asia, the use of Chinese characters was widespread. It was used in Korea, in Vietnam, in Japan, to some varying extent in Malaysia, and the territories these nations conquered.

Korea developed an ingenious writing system called Hangeul, which now has all but totally substituted Chinese characters. Vietnam adopted the Roman alphabet with many diacritics. Japanese, well, Japanese developed two writing systems based on morae. These two writing systems could be used to write out the entirety of Japanese. Kanji is not really necessary. Further, there is no evidence to suggest that there are so many homophones such that even with context one could not make head or tails out of what was being said. 

So, Japanese does have a potential unique writing system that is easy to learn (it’s easier than Hangeul in my opinion), but it does not use it exclusively because of cultural reasons. Kanji is just hardwired into the culture.

But here’s where my personal opinion and advice come in: If you have to choose between loving Kanji and hating it, hate it. Don’t romanticize it. Don’t go “above and beyond” what you have to know because of your love for Kanji. Just learn what you have to learn, and leave it at that.

“How many Kanji must someone learn?” The official common use Kanji list (the Jōyō Kanji) lists 2,136 Kanji. How many readings are among these Kanji? Somewhere around 3,869. There are also some variations on Kanji that one should keep in mind and some Kanji that one sees only in names, so add around 400 Kanji to the official list and about 400 new readings.

“How many Kanji must I learn for my first year of Japanese?” All of them. That’s my honest advice. Don’t aim to learn only a few Kanji. If you’re going to learn Kanji, learn them all. Think in that mindset. As soon as you decide you want to learn Japanese, work on Kanji. Before you enter a classroom and learn your first few greetings and whatnot, make sure you know all the common use Kanji, or at least that you’re well on your way to knowing all the Kanji.

2. Language Learning is an Intensive Process

Learning a language is a process that scientists haven’t quite been able to describe accurately. We do know, nevertheless, that it’s a heck of a lot different from learning chemistry or carpentry or bicycling. 

In the Western world, there is this idea that one can learn a language in a classroom, normally as a subject period, with periods lasting somewhere from 50 to 70 minutes. Here’s the truth: it doesn’t work very well. (There are historic reasons for this way of learning a language, but we can talk about that some other time.) The success rates of language acquisition in classrooms is ridiculously low. This does not mean that language classes are bad: but it means that it just isn’t enough.

There are many reasons why learning a language in and of itself may be hard. It’d take forever to talk about all of them. 

But let’s talk a bit about lexicons. A lexicon, here, refers to the dictionary in your brain where you store the words you know. If you’re monolingual- you have a standard dictionary in your brain with a word and definitions. If you were raised bilingual, then you have one lexicon with two words and definitions. That is to say, if you’re an English-Spanish speaker, then you have “cat” and “gato” in the same space in your brain and you know that what applies to one applies to the other. Then, depending on your fluency and use, you may have two supplementary dictionaries where you store all the information about words that don’t exist in the other language and idioms and expressions and things like that. 

Now, if you’re an English speaker and, say, you want to learn German, part of what you’ll learn to do is to process your English lexicon entries into German. What that means is that you learn to engineer English words into German. “Father” turns into “Vater,” “to drink” turns into “trinken,” “Love” turns into “Liebe,” etc. So the words that have no relation with English (the non-cognates), turn into a supplementary lexicon and everything else is put through a mental processor. 

Because the brain can do this is the reason why many people in Europe can speak many languages. The fact that someone can speak Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Italian, and French is not terribly impressive. The overlap in words (and in grammar) is so immense that what you’re doing is processing one language into another and you’re guaranteed an astonishing success rate.

Japanese, however, is different because it’s a language isolate. You can’t process one language into another. You have to learn words one by one. That takes time. It takes repetition. Memorization is as much an active process as it is a subconscious process. When people talk about the benefits of “immersion,” what they’re talking about most of the time is putting your brain into survival mode, i.e. either you learn all these words (and grammar stuff) or else you will not be able to survive and thus you will die. That is one way of doing it, and if you do not choose this path you have to commit some serious time to this. I believe that if one knows around 5,000 of the most frequently used words in any given language, one is guaranteed to know at least 95% of all the words one will hear/read in a day (given that one doesn’t go read a super technical manual on how to calibrate a nuclear reactor or something like that.) So, the question becomes how will you memorize 5,000 words? How long will that take? If one learns 10 a day, then it’s 500 days, and if one learns 50 a day, it’s 100 days. 

The tradeoff when it comes to speed is that the faster you learn something, the faster you forget. (When you relearn something, it should be faster nevertheless.) So how much time will you commit to learning a language? How will you follow that up? These are important questions.

3. Japanese Media is Considerably Insular

Japan isn’t like the United States. The United States wants every nation to know what music it likes, what fashion it wears, what it believes ideologically and socially, etc. The U.S. is everywhere.

South Korea, recently, is everywhere. K-Pop, K-Dramas, K-SNL, K-Beauty. If you want to know what Korea is up to, it’s pretty easy to find out. They want you know! 

Japan... eh. Japan is pretty good at making anime available globally. People know about Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon and the Mighty Atom and all that. When it comes to dramas and movies and tv shows, they’re not quite interested in that. Ages ago I wrote a post on the misconception of “Whacky Japanese Game Shows,” where I basically explained that most of those shows aren’t game shows but segments on variety shows, the only person in my mind having totally insane game shows being Beat Takeshi.

Okay, fine, what does this mean? This means two important things. First, one’s expose to the language outside of going to Japan or talking to Japanese people will be based highly on anime, which is fine but there are other styles of expressing oneself. One needs a bit of variety. If one goes the information/news route, then one is exposing oneself to something very formal and literary, but dull. Second, it means that when people teach Japanese, they’re going to assume that one wants to speak Japanese for business purposes. This sounds strange to say, but let me put it like this: Japanese is an important part of the world economy and STEM and anime, on the other hand, is not a sufficiently large part of Japanese culture so that the Japanese can figure you want to learn Japanese for that sole purpose. If you want to speak Japanese, then it must be for business purposes (and we’ll consider academics to be within business.) So you learn Japanese through the perspective of honorific and respectful language. This isn’t a bad thing either, but the desire to make you sound nice will often lead to lies about how Japanese actually works at a grammatical level.

(On the other hand, in South Korea the K-Pop/K-Drama boom is such a big deal that people around the world start learning Korean in hopes of auditioning for the big production companies in hopes of becoming actors, singers, dancers, and hosts.)

So here’s my advice: Once you have your feet wet with Japanese, once you know your Kanji and you know how to analyze a sentence (even if the lexicon isn’t all there yet), look at something that isn’t anime. I recommend movies, a lot of which are quite nice. Okuribito (Departures) was a great movie. An (Red Bean Paste) is a more recent film that was wonderful. Look up some movies. Sit down, and watch them. Watch it with subtitles, so you know what the movie’s about. But watch it a second time and a third time without subtitles. Try to see if you can make out a few sentences, read a few signs that appear in the background, take note of expressions or words you keep hearing. No, you won’t be able to understand the whole film all of a sudden, but it’s something new and something good and the more Japanese you learn, the more you will be able to return to the film and make out. Eventually, you will be able to listen to a sentence, pause the film, and look up the words you don’t know.

4. Learning Japanese Doesn’t Happen with One Method Alone

This is rather obvious, but it’s worth finishing this off with. There is an abundance of book series, CDs, cassettes, and even online resources (our own included.)

A language is greater than any method, than any curriculum, than any teacher. No one source has all the answers. One has to be encouraged from day one to look at many resources.

A library is a language learner’s best friend. Why? Because books can be expensive, and you will probably not need all the resources you dabble into for a long time. So, when you begin learning Japanese, look at the entire Japanese section, order a few famous books through InterLibrary Loan, if you have access to that, and sit down and just read the books, as if they were novels. Don’t memorize a thing. Don’t do the exercises. Just figure out their style, their aims, their perspective. Do read the footnotes! The more footnotes a book has, the more useful it tends to be in the long run. Information that isn’t relevant in Lesson 1 may be absolutely vital in Lesson 10. 

Check out some old books if you can. The way people learn a language today is not the same way they learned it 50 or 100 years ago. The most useful Italian grammar book I ever read was written in the 1800′s. Japanese books published before World War II may have some slightly outdated things, such as the /we/ and /wi/ morae, but they will be good for most of everything else. I’m personally dying to get library privileges again somewhere to be able to look into these, so if I find some good book titles I’ll let you know.

Because a lot of language instruction was, until recently, modeled after the way Greek and Latin was taught, reading some of our own material gets you familiar with the lingo, should you heed my advice. So people like to talk about cases and declensions and conjugations and moods and all that. The works of William George Aston are some of the most important books on Japanese historically. So, if you can find originals of those, please do read them.

So yeah, food for thought

[hyolosupport]

Hyoyeon @ KBS SuJu Shindong’s Podcast

translated by  @ch0sshi

- They talked about how snsd used to have a fixed concept for each member, instead of being more fluid with roles in the group. hyoyeon said that was better off during their rookie days bc it was easier to memorize things. but as time goes on, that becomes so solidified that it doesn't seem that great. like, all trainees learn to sing/dance/act. but when she's constantly set as the dancer of the group, it kind of made her think like, 'I can only dance. I must be bad at singing.' She said it has its pros and cons.

-  I guess they were told hyoyeon's specialties are dance and speaking Chinese.. hyo: these talents are kind of old. lol

-  Shindong said when they were trainees, hyoyeon and choi siwon went to china to study abroad.  Lee sooman always said that china would be like an important place for advancements(?) early on, so he made everyone study chinese.  They'd even have Chinese song singing contests, and if you won, youd get to go and study in China for 2~3 weeks.

-They mentioned how hyo's blood type is AB. She said people usually think she's either type O or B, and they get surprised when she says she's AB.

-  Hyo kinda likes childish jokes, & she said fans call her kim choding, kim yeolsal/10-years-old. other nicknames like [snsd's] dancing queen.  One nickname that is a bit more familiar is kim choding. She said kim yeolsal makes it seem like she's really ten, lol.

-  Shindong asked what hyo's nickname was as a kid, she said she was really well-behaved. she said kids used to call her 'trainee'.  Asked hyoyeon how kids at school reacted since, time-wise, she debuted while she would've been in school. but she didn't really get to  experience that bc she went to study abroad when she was in middle school. so she came back to korea and took a qualification exam.

-  Hyoyeon said she's kinda homely..she's really neat, well-organized, and tidies up well.   Shindong: what about cooking? Hyo: I'm..gonna do that slowly. I'm gonna start with getting organized.  Said she's also good at taking care of others.

-  Hyoyeon said she started properly dancing after joining sm and learning. the first time she saw herself dancing was in sm's I AM movie.  She said whe watched thinking, 'so thats how I danced for my audition'. She hadn't learned to dance at the time of that audition.  When she was in like elementary school, she just enjoyed copying dances. She only officially started learning to dance after joining sm.  So that dance team hyoyeon was in and when she danced with min, it was all after she had joined sm.  She wasn't that into dancing, but an instructor saw her popping, and told her to learn it properly. so she just went there for like 2 years.  Even shindong said he assumed she was at that dance team first and then got cast in sm.

-  Something else surprising she said is that her dad wanted her to be in this line of work, so he sent a photo he took of hyoyeon around roses in a park to sm. said she was too timid atm to do something like that herself

-  All those dance competitions that hyoyeon got recognized participating in when she was younger..she went without telling sm.  Shindong said those things used to release on vhs bc the internet wasn't that huge..but later, those clips started getting shared online.  The other dj dude said he watched her dancing online.. Hyoyeon: I watched them online too

-  They named her schools and gave exactly how long she trained at sm.. Hyo: you guys are really detailed here. lol

- Hyoyeon said she really likes ddeokbokki, could eat it for all three meals of her day. and while she's promoting all the staff will probably have to eat nothing but ddeokbokki bc of her lol

-  Hyoyeon said she likes spicy foods. she said she only eats one brand of ddeokbokki, sinjeon. shindong said laboum is their cf model.  Hyo: they have a cf model?; Shindong: laboum is doing it.; Hyo: oh, congratulations.. lmao

- Hyoyeon said it's been a while since she weighed herself. she said she uses her jeans as a way of being conscious of her weight.  She said she even washes her jeans all at the same time since they can stretch/shrink.

- Hyoyeon wrote her height really accurately: 160.45 cm xD

- Hyoyeon's alcohol tolerance: it's gradually increasing.

-  Shindong said once Hyoyeon was walking up the street like, in the middle of the night..he said she must have been really drunk bc she didn't even recognize him. Said she was walking alone, Hyo said she's usually not alone...so she must have really been drunk.  He even called out to her, but she just kept walking past him lol. said she doesn't really like the taste of alcohol.  Shindong said that one time was the first and last time he saw her drunk. 

- Hyoyeon said when she drinks champagne, she loses her voice.

- A 'body secret' she has is her stomach fat..said there's a connection, since she's been drinking a little more.

-   Hyo's favorite song when she goes to karaoke: Jessica h.o's 인생은 즐거워/life is good

-  Hyo's hobby: playstation. she likes playing rayman. didn't really like gaming, usually only played things like tetris or mahjong, lol  She said she got into super mario, and then got introduced to to the playstation and said rayman was similar.  Said she could lose sleep to play it, and she always has to get the gold medal.

-  She said she recently went to a pc bang, and had fun. Overwatch gave her motion sickness. she said she's going to put that sticker  behind her ear to help with that next time she goes lol. she said she just played the game adults like....go-stop. lmao

-  Hyoyeon said she relieves stress by having a drink with (non-celeb) friends..she said she never had any interest in like meeting  friends/having a drink early on bc they were so busy anyway..but now it becomes like a time of healing.

- Hyo's role model: Rihanna. 

- Hyo's goal/dream: perfection, like, self-contentment

-  Asked what her goal for this promotion is. said there's a picture she has drawn out, so she hopes that transfers onto the stage.

-  Hyo's ideal type: Yoo Ah-In. for his looks/style, and like his voice.

-  Hyo's motto: no matter what you do, become an honest person who does your best. she said this is something her dad made  her and her little brother memorize since they were little.

-  She said she got in a lot of trouble by her dad when she dyed her hair and got her ears pierced...yet he got her into sm, lol

-  Words that supported hyo: think positive things.

-  'if i got 24 hours to myself without a manager'- i think she wrote it happens often, lol.

-  She said compared to the number of members, the amount of managers they have isn't that large. hyo said she's a bit impatient and doesn't really like waiting around once things end. she said it's not good to do, but sometimes she'll just leave first after they get done with things. she said it could be a good thing for managers, having one less person to take care of.

-  If hyoyeon got 100,000 won out of nowhere, she'd go and eat yukhoe/beef tartare with friends. said she really likes it.

-  If she didn't become a celebrity, hyo said either dancing in the US/japan, or study and become a fashion designer.

-  Said she used to have an interest in fashion design. but now, she said the more you think about it, the more you realize how difficult it is. She said there are those times where you think your style is the best and you know everything, but you really don't, lol.

-  After doing shows regarding fashion, she said she realized 'there's a reason why there are specialists [in these fields]'

-  Shindong asked if dance is naturally acquired..she said the groove/soul you have with dance is something you're kind of born with.  But she said it's something you can overcome with effort/hard work.

-  Hyo said Shindong to her is just an oppa she's known for a long time. shindong said that is true, bc they don't share any memorable moments.  Hyoyeon said there are some oppas that she's awkward with, even if she's known them for a while. but that's not the case with shindong. 

-  Asking her what like a special skill she has [like something to show on a variety show] hyoyeon's response: sorry. lol  If she goes on variety shows, bc there were so many members, there'd be fixed questions for each of them..and she usually just danced lol  Hyoyeon: whether it rained or snowed, i just danced. lmao

-  They played just the first 10s of 'wannabe', so it was just the instrumental/her voice didn't even come on.  hyoyeon: is this bc of copyrights or are you just teasing me? lol. they said it's to give people just a taste/they're going to play more

-  Asked when the album comes out for their anniversary..she said since it's their 10th anniversary, there should be a meaningful present..?  The other dj said he recently interviewed yoona, and she said an album comes out this year. hyo: did she say it? oh, she said it. lmao  the dj dude went on saying yoona said they'll be releasing something in the summer, hyoyeon seeming unaware that she said these things.. Shindong said she can just continue to act like she doesn't know anything..hyo: are they releasing something without me? xD  dudes: you're not really unaware are you? hyo: i've been getting my news through articles. lmao

-  Hyoyeon said seohyun has become a bit more chill and whatnot than before..got influenced by her unnies lol

-  Hyoyeon said she used to do track in school. she was good at long-distance running and even went out as her school representative  for schools in incheon. she was so unaware of things like having the proper shoes for running. so she took her lightest pair: ballet shoes.  In the qualifying round, she got 4th place. but at the finals, she was so nervous that she got an upset stomach and didn't do as great.

-  Said how she wants to get married early and have about 5 kids. said she really likes kids. in the past, she always said  her dream was to become a good wife, without really knowing wtf that was. lol  now, she said she just wants to keep working hard while she can lmao.

-  Asked if she still wants to have a lot of kids, and she said she thinks it would be good to have more. other dj: you should rethink that..xD  hyoyeon: i think i'm saying this bc i haven't had any kids yet dj: yeah, i'm currently doing that [has a kid]..

-  hyoyeon said now that the podcast is coming to an end, she's getting kind of scared bc it feels like she talked without much filter lol

-  shindong's scenario: you get an offer to become a cf model for yupki ddeokbokki..you can eat other brands, but just have to film their cf.  asked if she would do it. hyo: of course. other dj: what if you can only eat yupki ddeokbokki? hyo: then i'd order it [secretly]... xD

-  They asked hyo which sinjeon ddeokbokki location she usually orders from, and she said she pretty much knows where they all are  bc she'll order it when she's in like a broadcast station's waiting room and stuff. she'll order through apps, or go there herself.

[dvewrites]

TAGGED BY : the love of my life aka @elskct 💖 TAGGING : @nalawritcs @jikook1x1 @pcy1x1 @bee1x1s

NAME :  dove NICKNAME : none tbh  HEIGHT :  5′6″ NATIONALITY / ETHNICITY: chinese american !! ORIENTATION : heterosexual  FAVOURITE FRUIT : watermelon, peaches and grapes ( but only the green ones ) FAVOURITE SEASON : fall/winter. sometimes spring is nice too.  FAVOURITE FLOWER : baby’s breath or sunflowers. both.  FAVOURITE SCENT : anything fruity tbh. but my new perfume which i have been obsessed with lately is macaroon rose. FAVOURITE BOOK :  memories of a geisha. eleanor and park was really really cute too even though it was an easy read.  FAVOURITE COLOR : orange FAVOURITE ANIMAL : dogs and otters. and whales.  COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: i like to drink tea but i need coffee to survive.  AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP : i either get like 3 or .... 12 hours, there’s no inbetween.  CATS OR DOGS : dogs but i would really really like a cat.  NUMBER OF BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH : one, two in the winter  DREAM TRIP :  hong kong, i left my heart in that city. china i suppose too, visit family and whatnot before south korea and japan!! BLOG CREATED : 3 weeks~month.  NUMBER OF BLOGS FOLLOWING : this is a side blog so it’s a mESS  NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS : 12

tagged by: my petal @nalawritcs 💕 tagging everyone listed above !! 

🤗🤗1ST RULE: tag 9 people you want to get to know better

2ND RULE: BOLD the statements that are true

APPEARANCE:

I am 5'7" or taller I wear glasses I have at least one tattoo I have at least one piercing I have blonde hair I have brown eyes I have short hair ( kind of , it’s a bit longer than shoulder length rn ) My abs are at least somewhat defined I have or have had braces

PERSONALITY:

I love meeting new people People tell me that I’m funny Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me I enjoy physical challenges I enjoy mental challenges I’m playfully rude with people I know well !!!!!!!! I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY:

I can sing well I can play an instrument I can do over 30 pushups without stopping I’m a fast runner I can draw well I have a good memory I’m good at doing math in my head I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES:

I enjoy playing sports I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else I have learned a new song in the past week I work out at least once a week I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months I have drawn something in the past month I enjoy writing FANDOMS ARE MY #1 PASSION I do or have done martial arts

EXPERIENCES:

I have had alcohol 

i have had my first kiss

I have scored the winning goal in a sports game I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting I have been at an overnight event I have been in a taxi I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year I have beaten a video game in one day I have visited another country I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

RELATIONSHIPS:

I’m in a relationship I have a crush on a celebrity I have a crush on someone I know   I have been in at least 3 relationships I have never been in a relationship I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them I get crushes easily I have had a crush on someone for over a year I have been in a relationship for at least a year I have had feelings for a friend

MY LIFE:

I have at least one person I consider a “best friend” I live close to my school My parents are still together I have at least one sibling I live in the United States There is snow right now where I live I have hung out with a friend in the past month I have a smartphone I have at least 15 CDs I share my room with someone

RANDOM SHIT:

I have breakdanced I know a person named Jamie I have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce I have dyed my hair I’m listening to one song on repeat right now I have punched someone in the past week I know someone who has gone to jail I have broken a bone I have eaten a waffle today I know what I want to do with my life I speak at least 2 languages I have made a new friend in the past year

[diaryofanangryasianguy]

On the point you made regarding sex, it infuriates me, a queer Asian woman, when guys (esp white guys) see me as an object they can release their sexual fantasies onto. They think I, as well as many other Asians, are these submissive, kawaii anime waifus when in reality we’re real ppl with different experiences. They think that they’re gonna be worshipped when they go to Japan/Korea/China when they’re just another foreigner. (1/2)

I’ve met many white guys who also acted p colonistic as well (ie superior white guy gets to fuck the poor submissive Asian girl). Also, bc I’m queer, I get sexualized even more bc apparently I’m “slutty and ok with multiple partners”. Yet when I tell them I’m actually sex repulsed due to bad experiences in childhood and/or show I’m upset abt how they treat me, they all of a sudden are “woke” and wanna act as if I’m “hurting myself bc I’m desexualizing myself”🙄. (2/2)

Sorry for the late reply, just didn’t know how to answer this tbh.

Anyway, the ironic thing about white guys is that they always talk about how “Asian cultures are oppressive to women” but oppression is woven into white men’s very existence. They’re so used to oppressing everything and everybody else, they have no idea how infuriating it is just to be around them tbh. They don’t even recognize how the rest of us feel and they try to gaslight everyone into thinking that everyone else is the problem when in reality, it’s them. (Granted that this isn’t strictly a cishet white guy thing either because there are definitely oppressors in Asian groups too but that’s what you’re talking about for now.)

So when it comes to sex, white men expect everyone to be sexually available and consumable to them, especially Asian women (don’t forget that sex can be a tool of oppression). Like they literally created the “submissive Asian woman” stereotype through sexual slavery and forced prostitution in the military—the military being a tool of colonization. And on a general scale, they hijack sexual liberation movements and try to use them for their own benefit. How? Let’s hold off for a second.

In western countries, particularly the US, sexual liberation movements largely focus on cishet white women right. And that’s because skinny attractive white women have always been the epicenter of beauty and womanhood so it’s easier for cishet white women to advocate for sexual issues. Their standards of sexuality get placed onto non-white women. Even though women and LGBTQ+ of color need sexual liberation the most (or at least self-ownership of it), the progressiveness of sex, empowerment, feminism, and everything else is seen in white women.

Now this ties back to Asian women because they get swept under the sexual liberation movements of white women without actually being allowed to own their sexuality for themselves. This false sense of sexual liberation which crosses over to self-empowerment and feminism definitely hits Asian women, and especially Muslim women that find liberation in being covered as opposed to white women not wanting to be covered. You might be seen as “not woman enough.”

This is why white men are saying that you’re “desexualizing” yourself because not only do they equate Asian women with stereotypes and as sexual objects, but they’ll also guilt trip you by using the sexual movements and empowerment of white women to make you sexually available to them (I’m not saying white women are at fault, but there is some involvement in all of this).

Since you’re a woman, you *must* be sexual but because you’re an Asian woman, you must be exotically sexual. If you’re not, then you’re being “oppressed” or doing a disservice to social movements/women’s rights or “desexualizing” yourself which would make you less than a woman. They’re gaslighting you into thinking this so you make yourself available to them. White men are so oppressive with these tactics, they don’t even know they’re doing it. Remember, sex can be a tool of oppression.

To be honest though, this also goes for non-white men, leftist men, allies, and whatnot too. Finally, being LGBTQ+ just adds another layer of objectification which I’m not qualified to go into.

Anyway, this is just what I notice so I’m not saying this is true for everybody but hopefully something makes some sense in there.

Angry Asian Guy