Geekorner's Spiel

Went through a small process over the last few days, so I thought I'd share what I learned. I had a crush on someone. I fall for people very very rarely, but when I do, it is the same as any new interest - I dive into it with all of my being, with all of my intensity. And sometimes, it happens very quickly. It seems to not be based on anything, but sometimes I just know I get along with people.

So this happened. This person made it very clear that they are not interested in a romantic relationship with me, but that they are compatible with me as friends. It is very nice of someone to not beat around the bush. Well, as you know, falling out of love, or out of a crush, takes time, and is painful. So over the weekend I had three days of heartbreak, for a relationship that I realized would never be.

As a result, I came through the other side. I was no longer smitten. I realized this person is flawed, as is, well, any person. And though it took a couple of days, I managed to feel better, once I've hit acceptance, of how things are. And then, I realized I love that person. Now, I love my brother, I love my friends, all of them, all of you. So it is not romantic love. Romantic love is just a manifestation of loving a person.

I can see that person's downsides. I can love and appreciate them for who they are, because love is about the other person, unlike a crush, that is about an idealization which a person is fitted into, about a hole in yourself that another person is fitted into.

So, I fell out of infatuation with this person, but now I can just love them. If they'd tell me they want to be in a romantic relationship with me, that'd be great. But I don't expect that to happen, and it doesn't matter. Just like if a partner of mine decided to undergo sex-change operation, I might not be sexually attracted to them anymore, but it wouldn't mean I don't love them.

And that is a process I went through over the weekend. And due to how clear the revelation has been to me, and how quickly it all happened, it feels just so *mature*, which feels silly to even say, but there it is. It should be obvious in any relationship, and perhaps I didn't realize it before, but I think it just usually takes longer to get there, and some don't, and thus break up.

Depression Reality – A Poem (Mental Health Awareness Week)

For those who don’t know, this is Mental Health Awareness Week, at least in the USA. I know many people who suffer from mental health issues, and my last postwas on the topic as well. There should be an update post coming from me soon. I know most of you are here for anime and such, not this stuff, but well, this topic is why I hadn’t been watching or writing much about anime in the past couple…

Living with a Chronic Illness – Chronic Depression

Writing of Chronic Illness: How and why do you write of something that’s as ever-present in your life as the eyes you look at the world with, the air that you breathe, or the internet in your net-addict life? Where do you start approaching it from, as it is impossible to untangle from every other facet of your life, due to its presence permeating anything and everything else? Well, you just talk…

Journey with Kino’s Journey – Second Stop – Hard Questions (Monthly Watch)

I am now watching Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World (also known as Tabi no Kino in Japanese). The series has an episodic, metaphorical, and allegorical nature, reminiscent of Gulliver’s Travels or Voltaire’s Candide, but more sombre. As such, I think it lends itself well to being watched one episode at a time, and also to being discussed, or kicking off discussion, so that’s what I aim to do.…

Journey with Kino’s – First Stop – The Value of Experience (Monthly Watch)

I am now watching Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World (also known as Tabi no Kino in Japanese). The series has an episodic, metaphorical, and allegorical nature, reminiscent of Gulliver’s Travels or Voltaire’s Candide, but more sombre. As such, I think it lends itself well to being watched one episode at a time, and also to being discussed, or kicking off discussion, so that’s what I aim to do.…

Netoju no Susume – On Compersion and Virtual Identities

You know that feeling where you’re watching kids run around, laughing, and it brings you joy? Or perhaps when your best friend is celebrating a promotion at work, and you feel happy for them? Or, say, when you watch a romantic comedy, or an underdog story, and when the couple kiss or the protagonist overcomes all struggles, you fistpump and/or cheer? There’s a term that encapsulates this feeling,…

In my many years of reading, I’ve encountered three “perfect” science fiction books, and I’d like to share them with you, because they are more than worth your time. As a short preamble, this isn’t a listicle, and this isn’t a “Top 5 Sci-fi Books!” for two reasons: One, I hold a distinction between “favourite” and “best”, and not all of my favourite books are likely to also be yours. Second, I’m…

I don’t know whether you guys missed me or my writing, but I missed both: Both writing, and engaging more with you lot, and having some form to have longer form anime discussions. Wait, I seem to have gotten ahead of myself. In case you hadn’t noticed, this blog suddenly grew extremely inactive towards the end of May 2016. Sadly, in case you hadn’t been following my Twitter, or hadn’t noticed, I…

For those of you following this account for anime-related content, it should after a very long paucity return soon. And no, I’m not going to use this account for many opinions on politics. Many political ones, sure, as every post on human interactions or society, including in whatever anime you choose to consume, is steeped in politics.

So, people are freaking out over it. People are cheering over it in Israel, people are condemning it in the Arab world and frowning over it in Europe. Here’s the thing though: Both sides don’t really make sense. Both sides are making this into something big and meaningful, when it is anything but. I’ll go over the reasons for that now.

First, let’s talk about the real world. Jerusalem is a split city. Western Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. No amount of trying to act as if it isn’t will change things. Not only that, but this brings to mind the recent UNESCO declaration that essentially declared Jerusalem has no historical ties to Judaism. You can make such claims, but it doesn’t really do anything, neither to the truth or to people’s opinions.

I’d like to reiterate again though, Jerusalem is a split city. The line Israeli right-wing is selling is that it’s a unified city. It isn’t. And while you can disagree with some stuff, like Israel’s position in Eastern Jerusalem or the moral and peace process impacts of trying to surround and separate bits in Eastern Jerusalem through settlements, it’s more or less impossible to do the same with regards to Western Jerusalem.

You know the common refrain with regards to American media that in how they always present Creationism or anti-vaccination or what have you as having an “equal stance” in reports or studio confrontations they make it seem as if the two sides are equal? This is sort of like that. While the control over Ancient Jerusalem is definitely going to be a part of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, the position of western Jerusalem just isn’t going to be. It’s presented as if it’s an actual point, in a manner similar to the above.

Also, in case you’re wondering, just like every country defines its own capital, so will the Palestinian state, which will almost certainly declare Eastern Jerusalem as its capital, even though Israel will not like it and try to paint it as something that will have to be discussed - these things are not up for discussion with any other party, as these aren’t issues of relations between countries as much as they are issues of self-declaration.

Now a few more points about those European countries - their members come to the Knesset or the President’s House. Both are located in (Western) Jerusalem. They de facto acknowledge it as Israel’s capital.

So, this whole thing is about symbols. Capitals are a symbol. Symbols matter, but no, it’s not really an issue where they are saying it’s a symbolic gesture, but they also actually acknowledge the symbol while saying they don’t. If anything, it’s the stance that paints things that aren’t part of peace negotiations as part of it, and lumping more and more pre and post conditions, while trying to ignore both sides and reality that push peace away.

I saw a tweet by someone saying how this justifies Israeli behaviour, or ignores Palestinian feelings and plight. This is what I’m talking about. Accepting Israel’s position in Western Jerusalem has nothing to do with all those other things. And the black and white view that if you care about Palestinians then you must ignore Israelis (such as the aforementioned UNESCO declaration) or vice versa help nobody. And ignore how things actually are, and will be.

Spring 2017 Anime Season Preview and Expectations – Template!

Holy smokes, the spring 2017 anime season began today. Where did time go?! Also, did I really not publish anything since the Winter Season Preview? Turns out that is the case. Real life was busy, mood was low. But things are looking up, finally. Anyway, it’s time to look towards the new season, and put behind us a season where I watched literally nothing, though I looked forward to quite a bit.…

Winter 2017 Anime Season Preview and Expectations

The Winter 2016 anime season begins tomorrow, so it’s high time for me to release this post, eh? I’m still not back to two weeks prior to the season’s release, but at least we got back to getting this out before the season. Hurray to small successes! Real life is going to be very busy for me this month, but that doesn’t mean anime’s going to stop. So let’s find out what we’ve got to look for this…

Gatchaman Crowds (Rewatch) – Episode 12 (Director’s Cut) Notes

And we’re back to episodic content, being done with the essays until the time comes for my Gatchaman Crowds Insight editorial, on the 29th. But now, back to episodic content. Starting with the Director’s Cut ending, which was always intended to be the original ending of the show. Though I love the series so much, I hadn’t actually watched it until concluding my rewatch, so I was quite excited…

Gatchaman Crowds Rewatch – Episode 7 Notes

And we’re back to episodic content, being done with the essays until the time comes for my Gatchaman Crowds Insight editorial, on the 29th. But now, back to episodic content. Starting with the Director’s Cut ending, which was always intended to be the original ending of the show. Though I love the series so much, I hadn’t actually watched it until concluding my rewatch, so I was quite excited…

[Gatchaman Crowds] Rui’s Choice and the Nature of Good Decisions

This is the last essay write-up on Gatchaman Crowds’s first season. Am I “done” with covering all the series has to bring up? Not even close. My old episodic write-ups bring up many ideas I don’t even touch on here, such as The Bystander Effect of the Diffusion of Responsibility, or many more masks for me to discuss. But, Gatchaman Crowds doesn’t believe in chewing one’s thoughts for them, and as…

[Gatchaman Crowds] J.J., Pai-Pai, Sagayama, and Rui – The Impossible Leadership of God (Hajime’s Bridge)

As we’re nearing the end of the Gatchaman Crowds write-ups (there’s only one essay left after this one!), I once more return to the sort of article that I opened this project with, one that revolves around one of the more general issues the series tackles: Leadership. Leadership is one of the things Gatchaman Crowds explores from the most angles, even if it doesn’t give it the most direct…

Gatchaman Crowds – Hajime, Fun, and the Response to Trolling

(Guy: This post might be controversial, it also presents some of my personal views on life and life-philosophy. As such, I might find the need to moderate the comment section, if things get out of hand. Especially following this week’s Presidential Elections in the USA, the topic is even more topical than it always is. As always, this is not a review, but a Things I Like post, which contains…

[Gatchaman Crowds] Umeda’s World – Rash Power

This collection of two write-ups focuses on Umeda, who is the true “antagonist” of the show, unlike Berg-Katze who’s more of a phenomenon than a person, Umeda is the darkness within us all, and what we must all face and fight off. He’s also human. These two write-ups continue from Rui’s World and will to power to exploring the various manifestation of power and leadership within the series,…