Hello, everyone!

You have reached the rambling, the fangirling, and the general chill-pad of theOtaku's NightBeck, a.k.a Becky, a.k.a Crimson Lotus the Irish Ninja.

... okay, maybe not the last one. But people will be calling me that one day.

This is your place to chill, talk about life and fandom, and be generally crazy. So go on. Play nice, be good to each other, don't make me hurt you.

My favorite series: Princess Tutu, Ookiku Furikabutte, Mushishi, xxxHOLiC, Monster, Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy, Escaflowne, and Baccano!

My writing: Cafe Cliche

Because this is becoming a weekly thing.

Re: FMA Brotherhood 4 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH ARAKAWA HIROMU WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME REPEATEDLY?! ... ;;; Yeah, so that plot twist never gets any less depressing/horrif...

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Dear host family: please cut it out. Love, Becky.

So I was told so many times what to do about cultural differences between my family and me. What if they're just ignoring me? What do I do then?

It's been going on for a little over a week. I'm trying so hard to be more social, but it feels like I'm talking to a brick wall. They barely address me unless I address them first. Hell, Nomu-san barely talks to me directly at all anymore unless he's telling me what time dinner will be or something. We talked so much at the beginning. Feels like kind of a contrast.

I thought I was handling it well, and then I had to go to my room and cry for a few minutes because I sat with them for hours and the one time I thought someone was talking to me, they were actually talking to someone else.

I've been listening to everyone else talk about their families and how much enthusiasm they have for their exchange students, but I'm beginning to feel like my presence doesn't make much of an impact on their life at all.

Part of the reason I came here was to try and become more independent, and kick some of my lingering insecurities. I didn't need to regress back to high school and feel invisible all over again.

Re: FMA Brotherhood 3

Yes FMA is taking over my life okay. I had a stressful day, therefore fangirling is the best medicine. - Well that was definitely more entertaining than I expected! The problem with Lior is that the anime had the same basic events, but dre...

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A mixture of :D and D:

- Today I went to a club event and made some Japanese friends! I also made a U-Turn in a swan boat.

- Went to karaoke afterwards. My first time! 'Twas pretty awesome. I got to sing Bump of Chicken's KARMA at the top of my lungs, which I have wanted to do forever.

- Have been helping out around the house with various things since Nomu-san and Michiyo seem pretty stressed. They had some much-needed family bonding with the girls tonight, but... the downside to that was that they didn't really include me in the conversation, and I just ended up sitting there at dinner not-talking. It was kind of lonely.

- We're apparently leaving the house before 8:00AM tomorrow to go eat sushi. I am... not entirely sure why we're having sushi first thing in the morning. ;;

Bleh.

Your recs, I needs them!

So it would appear that I've discovered the cure for homesickness (though mostly "I miss pomegranate lemonade" and "I miss my cellphone"), culture shock (though I'd say it's more "host family shock" and "this-is-not-orange-juice-you-liars shock"), and school-related stress (though granted, the stress mostly stems from the fact that by the time I get out of classes for lunch, there's nowhere to sit and all the anman are gone).

That cure would appear to be, for one reason or another, mystery stories. ;;

Unfortunately I've run out, and my thirst has not yet been quenched. (God, I miss pomegranate lemonade.) Does anyone have any recs for a good mystery or suspense book/TV show/movie/manga/etc that I can sink my teeth into? It has to be available online in e-book/download format for obvious reasons, but otherwise I'm up for anything. It just has to be fun. <3

Thanks in advance! I'm... going to go down to the 7-11 and buy some juice.

EDIT: ... another reason to distract myself? Crazy marathon arguments between my host parents. Joy.