Senior Research Paper: The Otaku Community

Please note that this is the incomplete essay since I didn't have time to cover everything I wanted due to my deadline, but the essay WILL be updated when I have the time.

Birds

So we're learning about poetry in English class now, and guess what our new subject is?

Birds. Yup, I have to write a poem about birds. And not any birds, no. I have to write about the Northern Cardinal. Granted, the Northern Cardinal is pretty fucking cool, but writing a poem about birds? HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO MODERNISM?!

I mean, sure it would be easy to write a short poem about birds, but not a modernistic piece. I mean, maybe if I make it ambiguous enough it would work. Maybe...

Anyways, just wanted to share my thoughts on bird poetry. 

Uuuuupdate or Something Like That

So the Teacher Assitant who made my class initially create our blogs finally finished her timw with us and went back to college I think. It's kinda weird not seeing her here anymore, but class is still the same. We really didn't do anything with the blogs except for that one post, but it was a good idea while it lasted.

Now we're reading a play called A Doll'a House, by Henrik Ibsen, and it's really good. Like, I'm surprised by how much I actually like. It's an old play, and apparently it's considered one of the first feminist plays ever. It's pretty great. Maybe I'll do an analysis on it later. I know I still need to post my Senior Research Paper here, but I want to add more to it before I do so, because I had to skip some parts to fit the deadline. I also have another interesting essay I had from junior year about vampires. Maybe I'll post that one too. 

Frozen Wasteland

Anime Club: My Bride is a Mermaid, Fill the Damn Survey, and T-Shirts/Fundraiser

Hope you're having a wonderful day Anime Club. The snow's being a bitch, no? Anyways, we have a few things to announce today.

My Bride is a Mermaid:

From now on we will be watching My Bride is a Mermaid. Yup, you guys voted and the verdict is that everyone really loves the show and wants to keep watching it with me. So from now on we will watch MBiaM until we finish it. We may watch a few episodes of something else in between but the number one show we will be watching is My Bride is a Mermaid. Awww yeah guys! Can't wait to see the Masa backstory. All time fave. We may have some cool stuff to do with MBiaM, like debates/trivia, competitions, and the like. Who knows~!

Survey:

Guys, fill out the survey. Please! It's not that hard to do and shouldn't take too long. Thanks guys.

T-Shirt/Fundraiser:

Ok guys, we will be doing T-Shirt Designs and the Fundraiser Art really soon. We bumped the fundraiser to the third week of March instead of the second, so you have an extra week, but don't let that let you slack off guys. We need art and we need it ASAP. Send me your stuff at ladychan101@yahoo.com. And remember guys, school appropriate.

Next week we will be watching episodes 10-12 of My Bride is a Mermaid. We will also start the initiation process. You'll know what I mean by next week. ;) Have a nice week Anime Club.  

Anime Club: Initiation & New Titles, and the Fundraiser

To those that don't know it already, I'm Anime Club's Vice President, or as we now call it, the Hokage of Anime Club. As such, I have decided to use this blog not just for school, but for Anime and Webcomic Club (I have taken over the latter in a peaceful coup d'etat). Because of the disconnection within all the clubs, and the fact that no one actually goes to Anime Club's website, we'll be using my blog as the standard frontsman for connectivity. Huzzah. So here's what's new for you guys at AC.

New Titles:

That's right guys, from now on we have new titles. They go as this:

• Club President = Daimyo (Lord)
• Vice President = Hokage
• Sargent of Arms & Secretary/ies = Elder Council
• Office Members & Treasurer = ANBU
• Members that have been with us for all four years = Jonin
• Members that have been with us for two/three years = Chunin
• Members that just joined us = Genin

I may make some buttons or keychains for you guys to signify your ranks. But that may take some time, so we shall discuss this further next meeting. There may be an initiation process with these new titles headed by me (Hokage), David (Elder Council), Cooper (Elder Council), and Marrisa (Daimyo).

Fundraiser:

I have said this once, I shall say this again, the fundraiser is the second week of March, and if you have art that you think is good enough to sell, send me scanned pictures to ladychan101 (at) yahoo.com. Seriously guys, how are we going to go to ACen if we have nothing to sell? We will be working with Webcomic Club and some members from Knitting and Area 51 to sell, but the main brunt of the sales will be from us. It doesn't have to be perfect/complete. Just something usable. Scan them, send them to my email, and we'll take care of it from there.

Next Week's Anime Will Be: My Bride Is A Mermaid Episodes 5 & 6. We are watching the whole season most likely before moving onto either Dangan Ronpa or a Ghibli film of our choosing. Have a good week Anime Club!

In Which Mabel Does Xir First Assignment

 The Metamorphosis Assignment One:

In Part I, the manager says to Gregor’s family, “We businessmen – fortunately or unfortunately, whichever you prefer – very often simply have to overcome a slight indisposition for business reasons.”

 How might this manager’s attitude affect Gregor’s attitude towards himself and his work? Are there times in your own life when you might need to ignore personal discomforts? In your opinion, is this a “fortunate” attitude to have, or is it “unfortunate”?

That's the prompt to my first assignment for class, so here I go, since I have nothing better to do.

The manager is a total asshat, (as exemplified with his lack of care/decency to Gregor's sickness), and from what we can gather from the way he interacts with Gregor, it's not un-normal for him to treat Gregor this way. As such, he's begun to hate his job more and more, holding it in contempt since he isn't treated with decency (or as even a human being, hurr hurr, see what I did there?), and because of that, his own self worth diminishes. Like, big time. see, Gregor has no real care for himself. Everything he does and strives for is for his family and their well-being. In a way, he has begun to see himself as a mere machine that constantly works for the good of others rather than himself. Which is kinda sad.

But you know what, I can relate. A lot actually. *Painfully see's self in Gregor.* While it is unfortunate that one has to ignore their personal discomforts for whatever reason (or the Greater Good^TM), it's a necessary attitude. And because of that, I can heavily relate to it. Just like Gregor, I gave up a lot of shit as a kid because I knew that, in my family, we were broke. We were working poor. We still are working poor. And at a really young age, I never asked for a single thing as a kid. It actually frustrated my parents (my mom especially) that I never asked for anything, because they always thought "Goddammit, she* must want something?!" And I did, I just never asked for it. I would get really jealous over the kids who had cooler and nicer and newer things than me, but I never said shit because I knew we didn't have money for it. It's made me really awkward at receiving gifts from people. Especially my friends. I always get weirded out when they give me things. >.>

So yeah, in all honesty, while I do think it's unfortunate to have such an attitude, I do think it necessary. And that's all have to say about that.

*I used female pronouns because, obviously, at the time, my parents didn't know about my genderfluidity and my preference for gender-neutral pronouns.

Senior Research Paper: Or In Other Words, Mabel Saw An Opportunity to Talk About Manga and Took It

Since this is a brand new blog, and y'all don't know very much about me yet (or read my About Me page and decided that it must not do me justice, because how could it?) nobody on this little corner of the internet knows that I'm a hardcore otaku. Really hardcore. I mainly prefer manga (because it's easier to absorb versus an anime that's shit quality on my dinosaur of a laptop), but when I heard that my senior research paper had to be about an art form and its influence upon the world, I knew what I was gonna write it about.

In Which Mabel Begins to Read the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

So I just read the first few pages of The Metamorphosis for English class two periods back (I would've posted this last period, but someone *coughCoopercough* didn't want to share his laptop), so I'm just gonna talk about my first impressions here.

Gregor Samsa, the main character, is pretty interesting insofar how he acts in other's considerations is a direct contradiction almost to his true nature and the way he perceives of the world. Like seriously, the guy hates his job with a passion, and would love nothing more to do than yell at his boss and tell him all the shit he's gone through, just to enjoy the expression on his face, yet he tries very hard to keep his job and stay in it out of familiar obligations and a sense of duty.

He comes off as a quiet soft-spoken person in his manner of speech, yet what he says, in it's content, is no where near the soft spoken attitude he gives off. In fact, he's surprisingly witty so far, and a bit strong in his speech, yet I can't quite get the image out of my head that he speaks in soft hushed tones. I'm really enjoying the clashing of this personalities, as if he's almost leading a double life without even knowing about it.

The writing's also in a way that is not overtly flowery to disinterest the reader, not simple enough that it's bland. I believe my favorite part so far is the fact that he just accepts that he's now turned into a large spider/insect thing and accepts it as something that just is. I'm definitely going to have fun reading this from now on.

The Dreaded Intro Post

And so it begins. This is a blog I'm doing for school. As such, I have no idea what's going to happen. Since it is a school related thing, it'll be clean enough. It's for an English class, so it'll probably have to do with World Literature. So yeah, who knows what's going to happen.