three favorites of the moment.

[acchikocchi]

song. Utada Hikaru - Take 5. This song is so gorgeous. I can't stop listening to it. I wish there was a good translation for me to link you all to. ): I may have to do it myself, instead...

fic. Door, by fightfair (Gokusen, Hayato/Ryu). I just finished rereading it. What an amazing fic. If you've somehow missed out on hearing about it do yourself a favor and go read it right now, it's so fantastic.

book. Japanland, by Karin Muller. Recommended to me by winterspel. I've read a lot of books about Japan, and a lot of books along the lines of foreign-author-in-Japan-tries-to-find-him/herself. This is not like those. It's absolutely fabulous. The writing is sharp and her anecdotes are unique and enthralling. I got all teary while reading the last couple chapters. Anyone interested in Japan should read this. And then tell me your thoughts. :)

I hope everyone's week starts off well! ♥

Comments

[an-cat-dubh.livejournal.com]

I read it before I came to Japan, kind of to see what I was in for. I really liked it. I found some of the things she said to be incredibly true, while others were off the mark a little in my experience (for which I was thankful).

Overall, I would recommend it to anyone wanting to read about Japanland.

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

Oh, neat! I didn't read it until long after I returned - and I'm so glad or I would have been utterly terrified about a home stay! *g* Just out of curiosity, what did you find off the mark a bit? If you remember, of course - I'm having trouble thinking of anything specific and I only read the book a couple weeks ago. XD

[an-cat-dubh.livejournal.com]

The thing about taxi drivers not stopping to pick up gaijin . . . ever. I've never had a problem with that and never heard of any of my friends having a similar problem. I kept expecting it to happen, especially since when I initially got here I was in a much smaller town than Tokyo.

It is what I remember the most clearly.

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

Oh! Yes, that's right! Actually, something like that happened to me in Osaka, when I was with an American friend, but can't be sure if that's because we were gaijin or because of some other reason, because I never had any other trouble with it, and I was also in a small town (Nagasaki). Good point!

[asinful.livejournal.com]

This is me poking you - where is the meme, Mer? Where is the meme! :DDD

Also, that HayatoRyu fic is one of my favourite fics ever in any fandom, and definitely my favourite Gokusen 2 fic. I get knots in my stomach every time I read it. It's just such a perfect blend of angst and sweetness. And the characterisation is perfect too. I basically could ramble on about that fic for ages. :)

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

jsaklsdkjld thank you, there's a reason I told you to do that. XDDD (I was actually thinking, "wasn't there something I was going to post...? oh well!")

Yes, yes, yes. It's SO GOOD. I was chatting with mananeh at the time and was pasting all the hardest-hitting lines at her, accompanied by much key-smashing and T___T faces. *wriggles happily* It hurts so goooood.

[spurious.livejournal.com]

agggh I've read that fic before but every time I see it linked I have to read it again and then I become a wibbly mess. T__T

Downloading the song! ♥

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

god, I know, I was pasting all the best (read: most painful) bits at Moo over AIM, followed by copious T____T T___T T____T'ing.

[spurious.livejournal.com]

T________T I had to watch Kanjani8 stuff to make myself feel better.

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

it - it ends happily! thank god.

actually I went and reread it again because I'm trying to finish the Gokusen fic that you were supposed to get at, um, Christmas. >_> IT WASN'T THAT I WAS IGNORING YOU. I am just. slow.

[spurious.livejournal.com]

sdfkl;jsd yes but I have trouble with things that are angsty even when they end happily. I'm sensitive! T_T

excited excited excited :D

[pixisticks.livejournal.com]

I know that fic! I read it again anyway because it was awesome. ♥ ♥ ♥ And I will definitely download the song when I get a chance. :3

*snuggle* How are j00?

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

Isn't it so good. ♥ And I hope you like the song, Utada is a favorite of mean in general. Yeah, it's pop, but it's pretty. :)

I'm good. :))) I got lots of sleep! *cuddles*♥

[pinkpapyrus.livejournal.com]

Song is gorgeous. How come it cuts off at the end? The version I found on youtube does that too. Does it fade into the next track? (I love it when CDs are set up like that, but then it's inconvenient when you only listen to the song on its own.)

I've seen that book every time I go to Kino! I'll have a look at it next time I'm there. In twenty minutes. ;)

I close my comment with

RANDOM AMBUSH OF AFFECTION

RAAAAAWRRRR ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

rawr

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

It cuts off at the end because... the theme is death. That's she says, at least. o_o

♥&heearts;♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥