#Rambling Japanese

[tariah23]

White people are miserable, racist losers period. They’ve even been getting mad at Japanese people for correcting them about Yasuke as well.

[wasyago]

joel with a ponytail ( best kind of joel tbh )

( plus an attempt at drawing him with green skin but idk i don't think im gonna use it )

[happypotato48]

This Is A Gay Asian Rant About BL Comments Made By Some Queer Westerners I See Sometimes.

So you know of those gays (usually white) that made dumb tiktok dancing to list of countries that legalized same sex marriage and list of countries that discriminate against LGBTQIA+ poeple as a way to say something racist. yeah i kinda got the same vibes from some comments regard how asian BL is homophobic just cause they don't live up to queer western standard. look, i'm not saying that some BLs and their creators don't deserve criticism regard how they capitalized/exploited queerness for an easy cash grab.

But people need to understand that Asian countries despite recent progress are still very much culturally conservatives. so when people says that thai bl is homophobic and all the characters looks like bunch of straight guys, which is true for some olders thai BLs i'm not gonna denied that. but after all this time and newer BLs generally being very queer and most of creators being out queer themself and poeple still making these comments, i'm annoyed.

And don't get me start on the actors. you don't know them! why are you making assumption and calling them queerbaiter just cause they acts in bl. like maybe they're straight, maybe they're not but what they're definitely doing is making queer content for you know, queer people here. so when you made halfass comments about their sexuality what do you think that made other queer people who still in the closet feels. and when you add the nationality to that, "these thai bl pair are this and that, this korean actor is so ungrateful for his bl past", etc. when our societies are still very much still in progress regard LGBTQIA+ acceptance. it make us living here feels fucking awful like somehow we're lesser queer than people in the west just cause we don't have citibank at pride or some shit.

And the shittiest in my humbled opinion are comments regard censored chinese bls. people do know like, that the creators making these bls are risking their livelihoods for this. that these shows getting make at all are miracles. yes it sucked that they're censored but they're still very much queer shows making by queer people who want to express thier queerness despite the chinese government being the chinese government. when people dimissing these shows as not belonging in queer media, you're also dimissing their creators and audiences as not belonging in the community.

Look what i want to say is that we're trying our best over here, and maybe our best are not up to your liking. the ways we talk and express our queerness maybe still can be perceived as problematic by western queer standard. but these media are our house and you're the guests. for people aren't shitty we appreciated that you're here engaging and loving our media, this is your home too and you're welcome in it. i can speak for myself that i very much love being here on tumblr and interacting with people from all over the world who love BL. but for people who are being shitty sometimes about asian bl.

YOU'RE THE GUESTS, BEHAVE!

[whatremained]

[chrliekclly]

the shirts went over rly well with everyone :)

[dreamingaboutsakuratrees]

I know Tim is usually portrayed as a "thinks mayonnaise is proper seasoning" white guy, but I love the idea of mixed Tim, especially half east Asian Tim, and even MORE specifically, half Japanese Tim. Idk why it just makes sense in my brain. Every Tim I write is half Japanese in my mind even if it doesn't make it to the final product.

I also like the idea of white passing, half Korean Tim. Imagine everyone thinking he can't handle spice because they've seen Bruce trying to eat takis and he almost died, but Tim grew up with his mother's kimchi which was made to burn through solid steel and has an unhealthy obsession with spicy noodles (think buldak, shin ramyun, etc). This guy could eat California Reapers like grapes without so much as flushing and is honestly terrifying to witness (i guess this scenario would also work with Japanese!Tim, but tbh I know more about spicy Korean food than spicy Japanese food).

[unforth]

As I deepen my study with Chinese, the more I'm struck by how word meanings work. The monolingual USAdians I know or encounter online, who studied only as much as needed to get through school, really do seem to think languages are plug and play: know the word in both languages, and swap.

But that couldn't be further from the truth. There's on Chinese word, 稳当 (wĕn dang), that's really struck me for that. Because my flashcards give three translations for 稳当: reliable, secure, and stable. And in English these words are all fairly different! Clearly related but very much do not mean the same thing. How can one Chinese word mean these three different concepts? Well, of course, it doesn't. 稳当 means 稳当, some fusion of those three concepts we have words for in English but not quite any of them, that makes it appropriate to use in places where English would use any of those three. There are surely shades of meaning, and which interpretation of the meaning is most appropriate to a given context will be understood upon reading.

Now, expand this understanding - that a word doesn't mean (exact direct swap in English) but rather the word means the word, and we approximate it to the closest English equivalent we can - to *every single word in every single sentence in an entire book.*

Then translate that book.

Translation is an art, not a science, requiring tremendous verisimilitude in *both* languages, and an understanding of the story, and a deep familiarity with the culture (social, historical, linguistic, etc.) of the original work, and often knowledge of the authors intent (if possible to ascertain), and a range of other skills. Translation will always be interpretive and transformative, because (word in one language) doesn't precisely mean (word in another language). They're not "the same." If I present you a sentence with 稳当 in it, does it mean stable, reliable, or secure? Well that depends. On what? How it's being used, the surrounding context, other factors, and of course... the reader or translators interpretation.

It drives me insane when I see people present alternate translations as some kind of "gotcha" that one translator got things wrong. And don't get me wrong - of course some translations ARE just wrong, obviously if I translate 稳当 to mean "goldfish" I'm not interpreting I'm just incorrect. But beyond obvious mistakes, a world of nuance exists, and different translators can in good faith reach different conclusions on the most appropriate translation. This is WHY famous books not in English get translated repeatedly by different people, and why a reader would want to read multiple translations of the same work - to see, in different translations, some shadow of the wonderful nuance embodied by the original words that do not, and cannot, simply be swapped 1 to 1 for a perfect English translation. And this is *especially* true of a language like Chinese, which is ancient and beautiful and deeply steeped in understandings of Chinese history and literature.

Why do you think I and many others are studying Chinese for years? For me, it's all so I can read the actual books myself and get that much closer to the story, that much closer to my own interpretation. I'll never have the skills of a knowledgeable translator - this isn't my profession, it's my hobby - but I'll gleen things nonetheless and it's important to me to try.

Too many of yall disrespect those skills so much that you'll throw a sentence of a language you know nothing about into Google translate and then declare the translator Wrong (and sometimes Bad and Malicious) based on that.

稳当 means 稳当. It doesn't mean "reliable." It doesn't mean "the exact translation of 稳" plus "the exact translation of 当". It's a Chinese word with a Chinese definition that we retrofit English on to.

And the hardest part? Look, I'm still a Chinese novice. For all I fucking know, 稳当 actually MIGHT have three distinct definitions. Everything I said about it above might be wrong. I don't know enough Chinese yet to know for sure, and that's a level of nuance and understanding I'll only reach by reading more.

Multiply that by *every single word in both the original language and the language it's being translated into.*

That's what translation is.

Good luck.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Random QL Superlatives: 2024 Edition

I will eventually do my faves list but since @lurkingshan opened the festivities I thought I'd give it a shot.

Best Obviously Fake Tattoos - Jack & Joker

There was no attempt at making them look even remotely real and I love that. Obviously the fact that they are on War does help.

Biggest number of Cats - The On1y One

CATS!!! I love them. That's it.

Best Plant Dad - Shiba Ryoma, Love Is a Poison

DELIGHTFUL. The sound effect, the visual effects, everything about these succulents was perfection.

Best Puppie - Mr. Mitsuya's Planned Feeding

FRITO! He's the best boy.

Most bilinguals in a show - Eccentric romance

The suspension of disbelief that it was required to just go with the premise that everyone understood thai but no one could speak it, it was already a lot. Then murder and kidnappings and a sweet friends to lovers somewhere in there. It was a show.

Best Product Placement Moment - Cherry Magic Thailand

Tay Tawan my beloved. Several times watching this show I had to pause and just sigh. He so pretty.

Best Neighbours - She Loves to Cook, She loves to Eat

I will move to Japan if I can have a meal with them.

Most unexpected use of a canvas - Sunset Vibes

Honestly this whole scene was hilarious in a way that I don't think was the point.

Most environmentally unfriendly flirting- The Trainee

They are too cute.

Best Fashion Montage - Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko!

Poor Hiroko. But also, can she make it any more obvious?

Best PSA - Wandee Goodday

Yeah I had some issues with this show by the end, but this was great.

Funniest use of a vegetable - Every You Every Me

I will never look at a carrot the same way again. This was hilarious. Just thinking about it makes me laugh. Best Fight Scene - Ossan's Love Returns

Their dynamic is everything. This show made me laugh so much. THEY ARE FAMILY!

Well that's all I got for now. It's been a fun year in QL Land.

[seagreenstardust]

Izuku being oblivious to all the ways he deserves love and therefore oblivious to the love the people around him show him is so real though

And Katsuki being the only one to finally get him to understand that he is loved is THE hill I will die on

Just like Kats was the only one who could make Izuku stop running from Class 1A, he gets Izu in a way no one else ever will and that is canon

[quetzalpapalotl]

Just as a fun fact, in basically every G1 Transformers thing I've seen in Japanese Optimus (or Convoy) uses watashi as his first person pronoun. This is the type of usage that denotes professionalism, although his speech patterns tend to be manly enough but not too rude. It fits his image as the Autobot commander who takes his duties seriously, but is still friendly. Characters with a similar vibe also do this, like the All Might dude from bna. If you watched Bravern you can see how Smith's pronoun changes from ore to watashi when he turns into Bravern.

Now, Megatron I usually see using washi, which in anime is an old man pronoun. Except in the All Spark manga (that I need to finish translating omg), where he instead uses yo (余). A pronoun no one irl uses anymore, and in anime has the connotation of being ancient, grandiose and pompous. Really fits the unhinged and full of himself Megatron that Tsushima portrays.

[oobbbear]

Me standing here watching Americans praising China like it’s heaven on earth like you do realize the system is beyond fucked there right it’s important to me that you know that 🧍‍♂️

[tariah23]

Sigh…

[morningnoodles]

does the song fit really well with your otp or are you so deep in the trenches that you can make any song fit them?

[yukipri]

So over the past few months I've started referring to my boys more and more as "my loves."

And I think I initially intended it so I could insert more historical romance vibes into my boring daily life, but I'm belatedly realizing now that vibe I've actually created is less maiden in a fancy gown writing with a quill pen, and more, Gollum.

Some common quotes you may hear from me:

"Mustn't go outside today, my loves, the heat is so nasties." "What is it that is inside your little mouthy, my love??" "Spit it out, my love, spit it out!" "Ah, I see we have cronched a bug, my love. It was cronchy, yes? But we mustn't eat them." "We mustn't be on the countertop, my love!" "Such lovely fish breath today, my love." "That is indeed a lovely butthole, my love. Thank you for showing me." "Here you go, my loves: wet, warm, and juicy!" (as I give them lightly heated canned food) "What a most pungent stink, my love. Did you have a nice shit?" "You claws are like needles, my love. They are sinking into me tiddy."

Gothic maiden vibes failed.

Bonus, picture of my loves:

Cats tag: #YukiPriASLKittens

[shisasan]

Moving to Japan many years ago and being introduced more meticulously to its culture, history, and philosophy sparked a deep and lasting fascination that took root within me. Through extensive reading, research, observation, and reflection, it offered me valuable insights that, for some reason, blended organically with my own Balkan mentality. Japanese thought is like a quiet, endless ocean - vast and mysterious, yet full of deep truths for those curious to explore its depths. It’s not only that we can learn from it - it’s that we are drawn to it. The soul, restless and searching for meaning, finds itself captivated by its quiet elegance, by wisdom that is not shouted but whispered, like a secret offered in the stillness of the night. Herein lies its true beauty: it doesn’t force itself on you, it invites. It calls the spirit to explore the unknown, to face its own shadows, and in doing so, to find peace.

Here are a few philosophical principles that I find deeply compelling, each reflecting a unique idea or value within the expansive spectrum of Japanese aesthetics, ethics, and spirituality:

In the philosophy of "kensho" (見性), the gradual awakening to one's true self, there is a calm defiance against the rush of modern life. How easily we are deceived into thinking self-worth is built overnight, but Japanese thought insists on a far more patient, sometimes demanding journey - a slow, deliberate peeling away of the surface until only the real essence of the self remains. This is not comfort, but truth, and the search for truth is never without a bit of struggle. Yet in this struggle, in this slow awakening, there is beauty - one that cannot be grasped by those who seek only the fleeting joys of instant satisfaction.

Much like "bushidō" (武士道), the way of the warrior, this journey demands honor, integrity, and the kind of inner strength that does not waver, no matter how treacherous the path, a kind of inner strength that stands resolute in all circumstances. Bushidō embodies Gi (rectitude), Yū (courage), Jin (benevolence), Rei (respect), Makoto (honesty), Meiyo (honor), Chūgi (loyalty), and Jisei (self-control). It is not simply enduring hardship - it is about living with powerful intention, where loyalty, integrity, and courage form the foundation of a purposeful life. This spirit of Bushidō isn't about suffering but about a fierce dedication to living with honor and resilience, and within that struggle, one’s character is shaped. There is no arrogance in true confidence, only a hard-won resilience, the kind that grows in the cracks like a delicate flower breaking through stone.

Then comes "shibumi" (渋み) - that quiet, understated elegance that goes almost unnoticed, simplicity hiding a depth of complexity. True self-esteem, true understanding, doesn’t need to shout. It exists in the way a person holds themselves, moves through the world with calm, steady presence that speaks volumes without saying a word. This is confidence born not from pride but from humility, from understanding one’s place in the larger order of things, and finding peace in that awareness.

The beauty of "wabi-sabi" (侘寂) lies in its celebration of imperfection. It rejects the idea of flawless perfection and instead finds beauty in the cracks of imperfection and flaws. There is something both bittersweet and freeing in this acceptance - that we are all, in some way, broken, and it is through those very fractures that we find our true beauty. It’s a perspective that would resonate deeply with Dostoyevsky, who found humanity in the brokenness of his characters.

Perhaps the greatest gift of Japanese philosophy is the concept of "yūgen" (幽玄), that deep, elusive beauty lying just beyond reach, in the shadows and the unseen. Life is not meant to be fully understood, and some things are better left as mysteries. This unknowable depth gives life its meaning, its richness. The surface may seem dark, but beneath lies an entire world for those willing to look deeper, to feel with their soul, rather than just see with their eyes.

Finally, there is "fudōshin" (不動心) - the unshakable mind. To be calm, to be still, in the face of the storm - that is where true strength lies. It lies not in the victory and worldly achievements, triumph or success, but in the calm, steady enduring of life’s storms. This is the magnetic presence that draws others in, not through force or charm, but through the quiet power of someone who has faced the abyss and emerged, not untouched, but unbroken.

In Japanese philosophy, I’ve found a mirror to the human condition - beautiful, tragic, profound, and endlessly deep. It teaches us that self-esteem, like life, is not something to be attained in a moment, but something to be continuously sought, patiently, through humility and acceptance. There is no end to this journey, and in that endlessness lies its greatest beauty.

[zimt-deathnote]

At first I was going "What if Mikami got his hair out of his goddamn face?" and then I went "What if Mikami was actually looking like a sweetheart instead of a villain...?" and then I was going "What if ALL the Kiras actually looked really sociable and unassuming and didn't have the evil eyes activated 24/7?" and I think I'm onto something.

And I wanted Mikami to be a mid 50s kinda guy, short and average looking, doesn't stand out from the crowd one bit, to set a contrast to the young handsome/beautiful Light, Misa, Takada scheme. I know Light isn't supposed to be particularly good looking but Misa is a literal top-model, Takada won some beauty contest at university and Light is at least having so much Rizz he can easily date multiple people at once, so... point stands.

But wait, there's also Higuchi... who is also DRIPPING villain vibes...

----- My other socials Commission Info Let's drink some Ko-Fi! 🍵