jaymee

Yo peeps. I wanted to talk about an issue that's very dear to my heart, and that's called planning a family, or a lack of it. Just like the title says.
 
At my age, most women (and possibly also men) are, if not already totally at it, at least planning for their own family. You know. Husband, kids, golden retriever, stuff like that. Most women have silently agreed to have children, even if they don't particularly want them, just because society thinks they should.
 
I stand at the other side of the whole concept: I don't want kids. Ever. I've been told ever since I was a tot that I'll change my mind and when I'm older I'll understand the need to have children. Bitch, I'm older now and still don't want any. In fact, I would gladly have my tubes tied into one hell of a knot to ever avoid even considering the idea that I might be with a child. The idea of pregnancy scares me. The idea of childbirth scares me. I don't like kids. I don't think babies are cute, not in the least. In fact, I believe children up to the age of 10 are, at best, a bore, and at worst, horrible spawns of satan I want nowhere  near me. And yet, medical specialists argue I'm too young (nearing 30 here) to decide if I want kids or not, so they won't perform a sterilisation. Yo, people can decide on a sex correction surgery once they turn 18 but I'm not old enough to know I hate kids and don't want any. And I'm not saying this to mock anyone or say that transgender people shouldn't have the option to do that, but just that both are a part of body autonomy that I think one should have the right to rule over after a certain age.
 
Are there other people who feel the same way as I do? Ladies and gents who just don't want kids, no matter what? Or people who want them but can't have them? Tell me your thoughts and give us some peer support.

this is so fucking great, how did shape shifter even happen

Dragging up this old topic. D:
 
I dated my husband for a year, and then I had to move back to the U.S. to graduate so we we did a year and a half long distance while I was studying and looking for employment in Japan. Then we moved in together and got married. We've been together over 12 years.
 
Not gonna lie, the long distance part was really hard. We almost broke up a few times because our ways of dealing with the relationship was different... For my husband it was easier to try not to think about me and not text or write so he didn't have to deal with feeling lonely and for me I wanted more contact to ease the loneliness, so we fought sometimes about that. But having gone through that, it has certainly made us more appreciative of our relationship and we don't take our time together for granted.

I banned myself from listening to vkei on public transportation because of this.

Deadman, PIERROT, Laputa, Malice Mizer, The ROMEO...
 
Especially The ROMEO because their lives were really fun and I haven't found a lot of people doing their style of music. SiXX is kind of like the softer incarnation of them, but not quite the same.
 
 

I agree with Metronome! Dare I say their newer stuff has rivaled or even outdone some of their older stuff. Still wish I'd been able to see them with PLC.
 
As for PLC, I agree they've had a few not-so-great songs post-reunion (but they've always had random filler-ish stuff in their past albums so I guess that's par for the course), but what's wrong with "Mirai Shounen x Mirai Shoujo"? The lyrics are cute and the MV is about a queer/trans couple where the trans girl (played by trans personality Haruna Ai) finally gets her sex change operation at the end. It makes light of the "hospital/major illness" drama trope, is cute, and overall pretty progressive for not only starring but showing trans people in a positive light.
 
Other VK bands I don't think have lost their "spark":
 
- D'ERLANGER - Their last album was great and they rocked live. Looking forward to whatever they come out with next.
 
- BUCK-TICK- Some people might disagree, but I've enjoyed them expanding into different genres over the years. While I don't always enjoy their new music as much as their older music, I've never hated an album they've put out.
 
- LUNA SEA - They've given some great performances, even rivaling some of their older ones, since they got back together and I feel like "Will" was one of the better post-reunion albums by a VK band to straddle the hard line of old sound vs. new.
 
- sukekiyo - I see so much potential in this. I don't think they've had a bad release yet.
 
- lynch. - Every time I see them live they're been better than before. My live impression of them over the years has gone from "every song sounds the same" to " I would actually consider buying a CD of theirs/keeping up with them more". I think musically/technically they have room for improvement but I see them sticking around and only getting better.
 
- Considering how I never really was a Nightmare fan, I'm surprised at how much I've been liking Jakigan Meister and Gremlins.
 
- Visually Zombi/Zombie doesn't do much for me, but I've enjoyed a lot of their releases so far, and think they have potential.
 

That's good! I hope it stays that way (not getting any worse).

My mom's has gotten worse to the point she should really get hearing aids, but she won't because she has crappy insurance and doesn't want to spend the money. The US healthcare system is all kinds of screwed up :/

Tinnitus has been with me for two years now. It's not getting worse, so I don't fucking care about it anymore. I have other health issues to worry about though.

This reminds me! I recently found these pictures on my old photobucket account of my hand sewn Merry shirts. It was impossible for me to get legit merch in America back then (around 2007) so I finally decided to just make my own.
 
Attempt 1 Front and back design:  
 
Yeah, not great f(^^;) I do really like how the umbrella came out though! I am much more pleased with the second one, which is cross stitch (I am way more confident with cross stitch than embroidery) and I drafted the pattern by hand over the course of a month. The long blood drip in the logo has gotten a little crooked over the years so I think I'll redo that part when I go back to the US next week.
 

aren't handmade shizzels cute? XD
But yeah you better can make a bunch for more fans and stand together in the rows with the fanmade stuff to cheer a band, then just being the only one.
 
I usually grab those light sticks at cheap store and cheer the band with it!
Always also give some fans some sticks so that we can cheer together.
 
yet visual kei, I did notice it is  not really for me anymore. I grew up to be a metal/punk/underground rock supporter.  (mostly bands with members 40+) 
 

Luna Sea is probably releasing another album to show Yoshiki that it's really not that hard. 

My mom has this. I hope it for my sake it's mostly another side effect of her stress problems and not a genetic condition, but my grandmother's hearing also isn't great so I'm not exactly optimistic. I'm sure going to concerts doesn't help. I hope you find a way to manage your stress early on! My mom's stress issues have gone beyond ringing in the ears to Bell's Palsy and it's a never ending circle because the condition just makes her more stressed and the Palsy worse. :/

As for me, I developed OCD in elementary school and later social anxiety in middle school (especially talking on the phone and taking to strangers was difficult for me until university). The OCD was brought on by stressful living conditions at the time (in my case, the OCD was my brain's way of trying to bring order to a chaotic childhood), but that got better when my mom and I's living conditions got better. Since OCD was still relatively unknown and the internet wasn't a thing at the time, I didn't find out what I had was OCD until studying psychology later. I had the kind where everything had to be in even numbers (so like if I fell and scraped one leg I would have to fall and scrape the other to make it even) and had to constantly check to make sure doors, etc. were locked. My social anxiety improved a lot post-high school when I was no longer being bullied and had moved to another state on my own, and then disappeared after moving to Japan. Like with the OCD, I've only found out in the past 10 years that what I was going through during middle and high school was social anxiety.

I feel really lucky to have recovered from both before they affected my adult life, especially living in a country like Japan where it's difficult to take personal days or even find decent clinics treating mental illness.

Dragging up this old topic. D:
 
I dated my husband for a year, and then I had to move back to the U.S. to graduate so we we did a year and a half long distance while I was studying and looking for employment in Japan. Then we moved in together and got married. We've been together over 12 years.
 
Not gonna lie, the long distance part was really hard. We almost broke up a few times because our ways of dealing with the relationship was different... For my husband it was easier to try not to think about me and not text or write so he didn't have to deal with feeling lonely and for me I wanted more contact to ease the loneliness, so we fought sometimes about that. But having gone through that, it has certainly made us more appreciative of our relationship and we don't take our time together for granted.

The distance sucks balls, but it can be really worth it and rewarding when you finally get to be together, even if it's just for a bit of time.

I always thought that was Last.fm's job!
 
But in all seriousness, this is something that crosses my mind often. We have difficulty as a scene pinning down our roots because a lot of that information has been lost to time. There are probably all types of cheki, casettes, and photo shoots from the late 80s and early 90s that have never been converted digitally. It's important to catalog our history for the sake of fans yet to be, and my first thought for how this would be done is Last.fm. But from using the internet, I know that nothing is permanent. The biggest websites could be here today, gone tomorrow. I don't use it anymore but I don't know of a better music encyclopedia than Last.fm.
 
I've never been the type to care about visuals alone. It's the melding of visuals and audio that makes visual kei what it is for me.  The closest I get to cataloging anything is putting album artwork on things in iTunes and I've fallen off that wagon too. So, I have nothing to contribute to this endeavor. But I like reading so many people are still invested in the scene and their favorite bands, and I can guarantee you one day in the future you will be glad you saved all those pictures. Keep preserving history everyone!

新作EP「S」をリリースします 2017/10/25/(水)発売
qujaku 2nd EP『S』

1.rrr
2.KATSUKETSU
3.futAe
4.oSo
5.GYAKUSHI
6.MEI
 
 

"...in the anime, "Zoid", there's a bat character, Zabat. Well, I did not tell that to the other members. After the band name was chosen, and then I'm like "by the way, in the "Zoid"....(laugh)" (http://natalie.mu/music/pp/xa-vat)

Today was announced, that at awesome ZIZ x GOATBED two-man, Kozi and Ishii Shuji are going to perform as THE BAT with XA-VAT songs.
Sadie (Pink Galaxy) isn't able to come, and it seems Koma will not be there, too.
But HELL YES.

 

yeaaaahhh togenkyo mv
 
 

Thank you! I voted the same before seeing your post. It's one of my favorite songs and one of the few mucc songs not avaliable in good quality, because the official recording is terrible.
 
Everyone please help out and vote for Kranke!

I voted for クランケ because why not

Since I work as a translator I'll throw my two yen out there... A lot of it is just echoing @inertia
 
- Learn the language. My personal opinion is that you need at least N2 level. The more kanji and grammar you know, the better. Don't learn Japanese exclusively from anime, manga, or VK. Seriously no one in real life talks like that.
 
- Be well read in your own language (assuming it's English). It's difficult to  translate something well, especially poetically, if you don't know how to write well to begin with. Commercially you will probably have few or no fluent proofreaders so double check and proofread everything.
 
- Spend some time in Japan after you've become conversationally fluent. You'll get a better "feel" for how people of different personalities, genders, subcultures, etc. use the language. There are also a lot of Japanese words that are defined in the dictionary a certain way and might seem interchangeable, but really aren't, and hearing them used situationally helps. Example: "mesen" and "manazashi" both mean gaze, but the latter is almost never used in real life (but used in anime, etc.)
 
- Research whatever you're translating. I'd say sometimes half of my work or more as a translator is spent researching the topic. Unfortunately most clients fail to include essential background information or a guide of officially accepted translations of organizations, laws, company names, etc. that I then have to double check. When it comes to VK, like @inertiasaid, reading interviews or liners can go a long way. Even better if you are familiar with the band/their fanbase so you can provide tone to your translation.
 
- Japanese can be pretty vague so you'll probably have to offer up your own interpretations at times just to add subjects and have things sound natural in English. If it's a personal translation you can just mention that in the notes if you feel unsure, but for commercial translations it's better to seek confirmation from the client if possible.
 
- Be prepared to answer lots of annoying questions from clients like, "Why can't you translate this literally?" Or, "Google Translate says this, so why did you write it like that?" especially from Japanese people who only have a rudimentary understanding of English but think that qualifies them to be checking your work and second-guessing you.
 
Or people who have no idea how long translating takes nor its value, and don't understand that no, sorry, I cannot translate and proofread  10,000+ characters for you a day for 1-2 yen a character and give you a high quality translation so please quit wasting my time. Also people will want you to answer these dumb questions and edit for free.
 
If you aren't a freelancer and work for an actual translation company, be prepared to for your job take over your whole life and work crazy hours for likely not as much as you should be making.
 
- I did a lot of bad/ok translations before being able to do better ones. I still don't think I'm anywhere near the best out there and I'm still learning new things every day. If I could re-do things, I would have taken translation courses in college, studied harder, and gotten certified.
 
- It might help if you are well-versed in some of the major translating softwares like TRADOS, but honestly most of Japan is still technologically stuck in the 90s (most of their fancy tech stuff is export only lol) and you'll be translating mostly in Docs and Excel files.