Tea With Tarvos - Tarvos' Log 2019

[eido]

I’m sure it’s really just delaying my full weeaboo evolution.

The way I didn't go full weeb was by shaming myself. Reading about how shameful some of these people can be reminded me that I can have an interest in anime, but getting obsessed to an unhealthy degree is not okay. I've applied the same principle to analyzing Korean and Chinese cultures, and work hard to get a grasp of the culture and history and language before diving into full pop culture massacre.

Knowing that Japanese people look down on "otakus" and quite a few of the average Korean people on the street (a lot that I have chatted with online as well) don't like k-pop so much tamps down on my enthusiasm for cute boys, animated or otherwise.

[vonPeterhof]

In my quest for more languages, my partner turned me on to the Japanese visual novel / anime / a lot Fate. I am now watching the stay night anime with English subs because Netflix doesn't have Japanese ones and my Japanese is bad.

Oh lord help me I am crossing over into weeaboo land! If I start punctuating sentences with soo desu ne we will know whether I have succeeded.

Out of all the franchises you just had to pick the one with the most judgemental fandom (in a "You're Enjoying This the Wrong Way!" sort of way). For the record, my entry point was the anime adaptation of Fate/Zero, which I guess makes me both a filthy casual AND a virtue signaller Oh well, you'll probably be fine as long as you remember one simple rule:

[tarvos]

I’m sure it’s really just delaying my full weeaboo evolution.

The way I didn't go full weeb was by shaming myself. Reading about how shameful some of these people can be reminded me that I can have an interest in anime, but getting obsessed to an unhealthy degree is not okay. I've applied the same principle to analyzing Korean and Chinese cultures, and work hard to get a grasp of the culture and history and language before diving into full pop culture massacre.

Knowing that Japanese people look down on "otakus" and quite a few of the average Korean people on the street (a lot that I have chatted with online as well) don't like k-pop so much tamps down on my enthusiasm for cute boys, animated or otherwise.

Otaku also means something else in Japan.

[tarvos]

In my quest for more languages, my partner turned me on to the Japanese visual novel / anime / a lot Fate. I am now watching the stay night anime with English subs because Netflix doesn't have Japanese ones and my Japanese is bad.

Oh lord help me I am crossing over into weeaboo land! If I start punctuating sentences with soo desu ne we will know whether I have succeeded.

Out of all the franchises you just had to pick the one with the most judgemental fandom (in a "You're Enjoying This the Wrong Way!" sort of way). For the record, my entry point was the anime adaptation of Fate/Zero, which I guess makes me both a filthy casual AND a virtue signaller Oh well, you'll probably be fine as long as you remember one simple rule:

The nice thing is I don't really read what the fandoms do. I just got turned on to this because my partner likes the visual novel and they've named their cats after some of the characters. (Yes, the cats are named Rin and Taiga...)

[eido]

Otaku also means something else in Japan.

All I knew before I posted that was that it was pejorative in Japan, like an extreme pejorative. Is there something else I need to know?

[vonPeterhof]

Otaku also means something else in Japan.

All I knew before I posted that was that it was pejorative in Japan, like an extreme pejorative. Is there something else I need to know?

I wouldn't call it an "extreme" pejorative; I'd say it's about on the same level as "nerd" or "geek", with some people still using it as a term of abuse and others considering it successfully reclaimed and using it as a badge of pride. The word お宅 literally means something like "your esteemed home" and can also be used as an honorific second person pronoun, and it started to be used as a term for geeks in the mid-eighties as a jab at their lack of social skills (the implication being that they would address each other overly formally due to not knowing at what point you're supposed to switch to less formal speech with someone you've befriended). The term entered public consciousness in the late eighties with the Otaku Murderer, which explains the initial stigma, but the public attitude towards the otaku mellowed somewhat in the later decades with things like the Densha Otoko phenomenon.

[tarvos]

That the meaning was originally different and not the same as an otaku in the US which just describes an anime addict, according to wikipedia. But then again, Wikipedia. But yeah, I always interpreted otaku to be stronger in Japan as a pejorative.

[tarvos]

Yesterday I finally finished that Russian tome. Now I'm on to Kokon by Joanna Lech, which is all in Polish. This will be my first Polish novel, so wish me luck!

[tarvos]

I've been extremely tired over the past few days as I'm not feeling too good physically. My liver is acting up again which means there's more fatigue and more itchiness everywhere, and on top of that I have had two sessions with psychologists last week (for different reasons) and I had to attend one more thing today for my partner. I've also got loads on my mind with my return to school, income troubles, the municipality and whatnot due to the fact that I'm physically unable to work normal work weeks (liver, colon, psychological issues) so I'm stuck on benefits because I can't even earn minimum wage right now.

That means that actual language study suffers, and so I have not done that much this week apart from watch Japanese animé and a short Netflix documentary on a Chinese gay couple and their newfound family's struggle for acceptance from their parents and relatives in China (they live in the US). I noticed that as long as they speak Mandarin, I'm fine, but thick Sichuan dialect gives me a lot of trouble.

Anyway, I'm exhausted and going to bed. All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl...

[tarvos]

Stuff has gotten worse because I also had a case of heartbreak the past week, which means that no language study has gotten done, but instead I'm just busy with self-care and playing lots of chess. Hence the lack of updates...