#discssion

[mooglepoogle]

What fighting game character do you think of with the color blue?

[nocandnc]

yugami trying to peek into the art & craft clubroom to see if chihiro's there-IM JUST-MY HEARTTT just say you miss her and go! i'm loving the j-twitter reaction about this chapter everyone's on chihiro's side & all they want is for yugami to take responsibility and make her happy

It was soooo cuuuuute!!

Something really important to note is the side he’s peeking in from. If he was just passing by he’d be looking in from the left windows, but instead he looks in from the right before turning to leave in the same direction. He wasn’t just passing by and looked in when it was convenient. He went out of his way to walk to the club room window and then rounded back to his original destination. He diverged from his usual path to seek Chihiro out, which is definitely unusual behavior for him!

Seeing the Twitter fans rally in Chihiro’s defense was really so sweet! But! What I really loved about this chapter is that… Yugami didn’t really do anything wrong? At least, he’s done nothing different from what he’s always done. It’s Chihiro who suddenly wanted him to behave differently and got upset when he failed to meet those desires, which is exactly what she criticized her classmates for a few chapters back.

But of course, caring about someone only to feel they don’t view you in the same light is painful, so Chihiro is quite down for a majority of the chapter. Yugami is really very precious to her - he’s helped her more than anyone else throughout their time together, and all her current connections are arguably thanks to him. In her mind, that makes Yugami her ‘friend’.

Thinking back on everything she’s received from him, tangible or not, Chihiro comes to terms with the idea that asking for a reciprocation of friendship is greedy of her when he’s already given so many other things. But just because Yuagmi doesn’t view her a ‘friend’, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t view her as ‘precious’. Yugami wouldn’t help Chihiro out so much if he didn’t think something of her, after all…

At the Yugami household, Yuuko-chan is worrying over Chihiro going to a difficult college, wondering to her brother if she’s be able to get in.

Yugami’s response shows us that he thinks very highly of Chihiro - he’s confident she’ll be able to persevere as he’s seen her do many times now. His compliment to her being someone who keeps trying to push forward is reminiscent of Chihiro’s letter to him in which she talks of him doing the very same thing.

But Yugami’s little sister is surprised, thinking he was looking down on Chihiro this whole time. Yugami is genuinely confused by this. He’s fond of her, and in his mind he was doing everything necessary to express this, which is why he was taken aback by Chihiro’s tearful outburst. It was totally unexpected - why would he forget about her? It’s not until Yuuko flat out tells him the error of his ways that he realizes his feelings weren’t being conveyed after all.

And so, he sends her a New Year’s card to prove that she’s someone he wants to stay connected to. It’s subtle enough to pass off as a formality if anyone asks, because we all know Yugami is actually a bit of a shy guy when it comes to these things - but luckily Chihiro knows him well enough to understand this time around.

AAAAAAH LOOK AT THAT HAPPY FACE~~~ so you see, Yugami’s doing his best in his own way!! I wonder if we’ll get to see what kind of reply she writes?

Anyways, I’m sorry I took so long to reply!!! The next chapter is already almost here ^^;;;

[valereth2]

Episode 94 of the Press the Action Button podcast is back online once again

[nocandnc]

ok so i just read your post regarding the hayashiyama arc where yugami likened chihiro to stellar's sea cow like i have no idea what that animal looks like so i googled it and it turns out its the same as the plushie that yugami gifted chihiro when he thought chihiro is going to move. he gave the plushie so haphazardly but now it's kinda apparent that he actually put a lot of thought into it :')

That’s right! I love connecting moments like these. There’s oodles of sea imagery that pops up in the series, particularly reguarding the main pair! I’m thinking makeing a compilation at some point ^^

[freewhispersmaker]

Week#3 Discssion# 1Data Collection Paper , Order, or Assignment Requirements Data Collection Most new educators are nervous about the classroom management aspect of teaching.

[junkofourmind]

0032 - Back to reality

As soon as a holiday or vacation is over people would often say, BACK TO REALITY.

Here is my question. WHY say it?

I often see reality as something that is on-going. As if it doesn’t stop. Whether you go on a vacation or working, the reality is present. You didn’t leave your reality. You were pretty much in it. Right? :) You were continuously breathing, thinking, your heart beating, and mind working. So yeah. Did you really leave your reality? For you to say, Back to reality.... What are your thoughts about it?

[jwtu]

對談(三): 身份、關係與社群

何為好的二人關系？我一直沒有答案。同志之間的二人關係是一個與異性關係不同的特別問題嗎？如果有某些關系是「好」的，那應該好在哪裏？我在自己的關系當中經常有些存疑，在周圍朋友的關系當中也沒有很確信的答案。背景差異小(like-minded)是好事嗎？未必。一方對另一方有著較多愛慕甚至崇拜而無條件付出，是好事嗎？未必。

長期存續的關系就是好的關系？也未必。蔡康永說過，婚姻對他而言並不是重要的東西，除非對方認為一定要，他才要。那我們是不是可以進一步推定，在一個異性戀主導的世界裏，婚姻只是異性戀「賞賜」或「讓渡」給同志的某種權益。對於同志實現社會福利和提高社群地位，當然有不少幫助；只是植根於異性婚姻的價值觀，如尊崇一夫一妻、夫唱婦隨、從一而終，恐怕也會深深影響同志族群「移植」而成的婚姻制度。對於同性組成的家庭，未必是最佳方案。

身為同志，或多或少感受過各種各樣的困難甚至危機。而我所在意的「身份危機」，並非社會環境反對同性婚姻或者長久關系，甚至不害怕長期無法消除的歧視；而在於在「反同」或「恐同」的聲音太大的社會環境下，同志社群長期把社會性別角色當做不見天日的隱私，導致自己和理想對象之間只是一再錯過——即使相見恨晚亦不可得——始終在疑惑和等待中耗費生命。

很顯然，同志社群不是只有一個聲音、一種面貌。但是在當今的華人社會，能浮上水面的，通常是與異性戀價值能夠「媾和」或者「兼容」的部分。近些年來，對於男色的消費在華人社會大行其道；「腐女」、「花美男」、「鮮肉」等「新」概念不絕於耳，中性美再非負面提法，相反沖擊了陽剛主導的男性形象，甚至重新定義了何為男性之美。不錯，同志社群的能見度似乎提高了，但這意味著同志社群本身浮上水面了嗎？未必。男色消費背後的社會性邏輯，與長期由純粹異性戀主導的消費女性的趣味，幾乎是毫無二致的。現在兩岸三地的情形是，跟朋友和同輩人出櫃已毫不新鮮，甚至不少同志也覺得自己生活自由，要不要坦白性取向，完全是個人選擇；殊不知社會對於同志的認知，仍然處於非常低的程度，很多認知是似是而非、甚至是與事實完全相反的。似乎所有受到「接受」與「諒解」的同志，都應該是個俊男帥哥；似乎每個同志就一定需要一個固定的男友⋯等等這類完全由異性戀提前規定好的價值觀。有了一定的社會能見度，當然不是壞事；但在認知水平低下的社會，能形成什麽樣有利於同志社群的社會認同或者社會共識？我深表懷疑。

同志身份在華人社會到底是不是問題？個人的同志身份與社會大環境有多大關係？恐怕有天大關系。為何少數群落的社會議題，例如LGBT的話題總是與政治參與（如香港的雨傘運動）聯系在一起？又為何總是與其他性質不同的「弱勢」和平權議題（如美國的婦女問題、族裔問題…而他們早已顯然不’弱’）聯系在一起？簡單認為，沒有真正民主自由的社會，是難以兼容多元社會觀念的；也是難以把不同主流的少數群落的利益，真正落到實際面的。他們要麽遭到有意無意的排除、滅聲或者忽略(symbolic annihilation)， 要麽被汙名化或者深受刻板印象的困擾。沒有平權或尊重不同族群利益的社會價值，也就不會形成改善少數族群的議題和方案，同志追求人生理想的基本權利，就有難以破除鉗制與阻礙，真正的幸福無從得到。這樣互為影響的邏輯看似簡單，但在華人社會，鮮有得到深刻的認識。

性是認識人的第一道門，也是最後一道門。美國大部分地區已經實現了婚姻在法律層面的平等化。在聯邦範圍內的立法，很快要成為現實。在同志婚姻合法化已經成為全球趨勢，甚至在很多原先保守地區開花結果的今天，華人社會要在門外徘徊多久，真是一件難說的事情。我目前的觀察是，臺灣社會相對具有踐行民主和落實保障少數群落權益的土壤，而與「多元成家」相關的實踐也是最為豐富。婚姻平權的希望，有可能在臺灣最早開花結果。但是中國大陸、香港乃至其他華人社會能否有類似的共識和實踐？現在說可能還為時過早。

放在這個具體的背景下檢視。香港雖然美其名曰國際大都市，事實上一般民眾都多被生計所迫，蜷縮在自己的小小圈子，工作如機器般，光陰匆匆顧自己過活，鮮有機會打望窗外；流光溢彩、兼容並包的國際化社會，更像是一廂情願的想象，與本地人的每日圖景，沒有多少直接關係。一眼望去，首先不免看到香港樓價高企，多數年輕人無力償付高額的租金或者按揭，和父母長輩長期生活，幾乎沒有任何長期獨立生活的經驗。出門獨立打拼或遠遊，也絕非人人機會均等。與之對應的個人成熟度（社會化程度）都是堪憂的；對於自己身處的社群，既是知之甚少的，也是無力關心的。和年輕同志聊天，會不時產生這樣的錯覺——聊來聊去都似不同名、不同臉的同一人：對於未來生活目標大喊追求“LTR” (Long Term Relationship)，自己似乎只負責等待和索要登船的boarding pass，而如何達到理想生活，幾乎是同樣的毫無想法；對於生活品味，無外乎高度雷同的美食或時尚，幾近一個模子的無知或無趣。可惜又可憐的是，在國際化大都市這看似交流繁多、機會大把的背景下，沒有多少人有機會一手一腳建立過穩定的戀愛關系，沒有多少人可以和別人在心理上得靠近一些，甚至沒有多少人有管道去實際體驗’性’是怎樣一回事。我的理想的另一半會不會有這樣的生活背景？如果碰巧是，我要如何建立與之長久緊密相處的關系？真是一個難題。

在很長一段時間內我沒有交過男朋友。有時我也不免覺得，這一情形(對我而言)可能「不妙」。原因可能部分在於上面提到的社會因素。香港本地人，不少被當下的不穩定的社會環境嚇得不越雷池半步，把自己封閉在高度本地化的社會心理中，交的朋友、談的對象都只限於local，對於外來人士，抱有很大的懷疑，多半止步於泛泛之交。另外，從自身處境看過去，自己也許和很多人一樣，把不多的、可以用於交往的時間耗在沒有多少價值的打望上，興趣已耗損到缺乏。跟自己趣味相投、可以有所發展的人，與自己一樣顧慮重重，深藏在對各種社會關系的考量當中，彼此早不可相見。其實，越是個性成熟、越是社會經濟地位較高，對身份顧慮也就越多，這種處境在任何社會都是類似的；但個人除了深鎖身份而無其他選項，恐怕也是不合理的——最終也只是顧慮了半天，看似安全而一事無成而已。這樣的日子所付的代價與風險，其實才大。

[wayrest-blog]

Tumblr as a Platform for Serious Discussion

Most of tumblr seems to be just reblogs of pictures and short quotes, I was trying to find blogs on science/engineering and there doesn't seem to be many. Is tumblr just for teenagers to echo each other?

Other blogging platforms seem to have longer posts and serious articles, it'll be great if this can become a part of tumblr too. There's a great sense of community here on tumblr, tumblr has great ease of use and the reblogging/tags system means its really easy for great content to float to the top. Unfortunately right now, what floats to the top is mostly cute pictures and TV show gifs.

Tumblr has potential for so much more.