Fannishness and RL
Dec. 5th, 2018 11:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouseSince I (hopefully) will have more folks stopping by here to check out fannish stuff, I will lead with the fact that I just finished watching the anime for Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san / Skill-faced Bookseller Honda (the link takes you to the review I did at MangaKast, my manga review blog.) I felt very 'meh' about this one, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of humor that depends on me finding typical nerd behaviors funny. I never much liked "The Big Bang Theory" for similar reasons.
This is not a universal problem I have, however. I rather enjoyed what I read of Watashi ga Motete Dousunda / Kiss Him, Not Me despite the problematic schtick of the TV trope 'beautiful all along' nerd-style. I think part of the difference is that I get the sense that in the case of Kiss Him, Not Me, there's an underlying... appreciation of geekdom? Like, the humor isn't only to point and say: LOOK AT THE WEIRDO BEING WEIRD. Instead, it's more of a gentle 'isn't it funny when...." with specific nerd habits. I have no problem laughing at myself or my community. I do it all the time, in fact. But, there's a subtle difference when it's done with an 'us' vibe, instead of a 'them' vibe.
I felt Skull-faced Bookseller Honda had a lot of 'them' vibes.
But, the anime is short (only 9 episodes), so you can decide for yourself. Or you could follow the link I provide in the review and read the two chapters of the manga that are online.
Possibly the best manga a read this week was Shimanami Tasogare by Kamatani Yuuki. It's an #ourvoices manga, as Kamatani-sensei is non-binary... and talk about an 'us' feeling, holy crap. The story is a coming out story of a boy who is outed by his browser history and a bunch of bullying, nosy high schoolers. The boy consequently considers suicide. He's saved from his attempt by the vision of a woman leaping out a window.... she invites him to a clubhouse for GLBTQIA+ folks and he finds his people. It's really a lovely story. I cried all the queer tears. I reviewed that one over at Mangakast, too, but this is basically all I said about it, because I really want people to go read that one for themselves.
So, that's my fannish news.
Meanwhile, in real life, I'm sipping tea that my friendnaomikritzer brought back for me from China. She's recently returned from a trip to Taiwan to see our mutual friend jiawen who sent back stationary for me, which is very cute and which I plan to use right away! (Thanks, R!) Naomi also gave me a gorgeous handmade notebook filled with handmade paper, which is almost too pretty to write in. She also got me a cool bent metal sculpture that is, apparently, the Chinese character for the sounds my name makes (LIE-duh). And, as if that wasn't enough, she also brought me some fun candy to try and one of those funky little prizes you always see in anime that people get out of machines and are in round, plastic balls.
So much wonderful stuff.
And, more importantly I got to hear all the travel stories. I LOVE traveling, even though I can't afford to do a lot of it, internationally. My family and I are all about the road trips--particularly Mason and I, who have been known to spontaneously head off to small Minnesota towns to see statues of Vikings and whatnot.
I like traveling vicariously, too, so it was a wonderful afternoon for me.
Now, I think I'll just sip my tea and hop over to Tumblr to see what mayhem is happening there.
This is not a universal problem I have, however. I rather enjoyed what I read of Watashi ga Motete Dousunda / Kiss Him, Not Me despite the problematic schtick of the TV trope 'beautiful all along' nerd-style. I think part of the difference is that I get the sense that in the case of Kiss Him, Not Me, there's an underlying... appreciation of geekdom? Like, the humor isn't only to point and say: LOOK AT THE WEIRDO BEING WEIRD. Instead, it's more of a gentle 'isn't it funny when...." with specific nerd habits. I have no problem laughing at myself or my community. I do it all the time, in fact. But, there's a subtle difference when it's done with an 'us' vibe, instead of a 'them' vibe.
I felt Skull-faced Bookseller Honda had a lot of 'them' vibes.
But, the anime is short (only 9 episodes), so you can decide for yourself. Or you could follow the link I provide in the review and read the two chapters of the manga that are online.
Possibly the best manga a read this week was Shimanami Tasogare by Kamatani Yuuki. It's an #ourvoices manga, as Kamatani-sensei is non-binary... and talk about an 'us' feeling, holy crap. The story is a coming out story of a boy who is outed by his browser history and a bunch of bullying, nosy high schoolers. The boy consequently considers suicide. He's saved from his attempt by the vision of a woman leaping out a window.... she invites him to a clubhouse for GLBTQIA+ folks and he finds his people. It's really a lovely story. I cried all the queer tears. I reviewed that one over at Mangakast, too, but this is basically all I said about it, because I really want people to go read that one for themselves.
So, that's my fannish news.
Meanwhile, in real life, I'm sipping tea that my friend
naomikritzer brought back for me from China. She's recently returned from a trip to Taiwan to see our mutual friend jiawen who sent back stationary for me, which is very cute and which I plan to use right away! (Thanks, R!) Naomi also gave me a gorgeous handmade notebook filled with handmade paper, which is almost too pretty to write in. She also got me a cool bent metal sculpture that is, apparently, the Chinese character for the sounds my name makes (LIE-duh). And, as if that wasn't enough, she also brought me some fun candy to try and one of those funky little prizes you always see in anime that people get out of machines and are in round, plastic balls. So much wonderful stuff.
And, more importantly I got to hear all the travel stories. I LOVE traveling, even though I can't afford to do a lot of it, internationally. My family and I are all about the road trips--particularly Mason and I, who have been known to spontaneously head off to small Minnesota towns to see statues of Vikings and whatnot.
I like traveling vicariously, too, so it was a wonderful afternoon for me.
Now, I think I'll just sip my tea and hop over to Tumblr to see what mayhem is happening there.
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Date: 2018-12-07 05:16 am (UTC)What I've seen of this so far is great. ^_^
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Date: 2018-12-07 02:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-07 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-07 04:23 pm (UTC)For me, I assuage my guilt by subscribing where I can (like to Weekly Shounen Jump) and buying the tankoban after they come out.