Ranting #2: Why Money Doesn't Bring Happiness

     This is going to be a very short post, because I honestly cannot figure out why this hasn't been completely resolved yet.

     Today, I will prove that money does not necessarily bring happiness.

      First, I will admit that the lack of money does bring sadness. Here, I assume that the "lack of money" is the status in which an individual cannot provide for himself/herself the basic material necessities in life. In other words, a person "lacks money" when they cannot afford the combination of food, water and shelter, at the lowest quality that sustains human life.

     From there, we have the following,
A: Lack of money
B: Sadness
If A, then B: If a person lacks money, they are sad.

     Indeed, if you are starving, thirsting or unable to find shelter, your quality of life is significantly compromised to the point that you are indeed suffering physically.

     However, it would be wrong to say that having money brings happiness.

     This would be equivalent to saying If not A, then not B, as in if not "lack of money" - if I have money, then not "sadness" - I am not sad. That, my dear friends, is called the logical fallacy of denying the antecedent. Now, if that line of logic itself is considered a fallacy, can you truly tell me that money brings happiness?

Ranting #1: Dere Types

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      For those few unaccustomed to the "-dere" types, these are archetypes prescribed to Anime characters that exaggerate certain personality traits in order to create more distinct characters. The more common "-dere" types are: 1. Tsundere 2. Kuudere 3. Deredere 4. Dandere 5. Yandere I feel like I needed to make this post since I do plan on posting more Anime stuff in the future.

1. Tsundere = "Tsun tsun" + "Dere dere"
     Tsundere is one of the most commonly used archetypes for girls in Shoujo anime. The term itself is a combination of ツンツン ("tsun tsun") which, in Japanese, is the action of turning away in disgust and デレデレ ("dere dere"), the Japanese slang for "lovey dovey".

     The Seiyuu (Voice Actor) renowned for being the "Queen of Tsunderes", Kugimiya Rie, has voiced many Tsundere characters, one of which we will be using in this archetype study - Aisaka Taiga from Toradora! She is a very typical example of a Tsundere and, in my opinion, one of the greatest downfalls of Toradora is that her Tsundere-ness becomes overly predictable if you already have a strong understanding of such characters.

     On the outside, Tsunderes are extremely haughty and violent, especially towards the one that they supposedly love. As an example, Taiga's "true love" in Toradora, Ryuuji, is often subject to her violent tendencies. At a younger age, I thought that Tsunderes were rather cute in those moments, but as I reached the later years of my teens, I find Tsunderes to be awfully childish and immature, because their characters revolve around the idea of outwardly denial.

     The "depth" comes in at the "dere dere" part, which is also the part that attracts male viewers to the female character. Tsunderes have the tendency of becoming embarrassed, to an extreme extent, whenever they are faced with their honest feelings. This is often accompanied in the anime by an outrageous blush and a turning away of the face, followed by a "B-Baka (stupid)" outcry.

     I used to think of myself as a Tsundere, but upon further re-examination, I realised that I am definitely not a Tsundere. No, I'm not denying it as part of the Tsundere charm (Tsunderes have a tendency to even deny their own personalities). I realised that as cute as the idea of blushing and looking away in annoyance sounds as reaction to a confession, the many times I have been confessed to in my life, I force myself into the most calm disposition I can manage. This segues into the next type.

Other Examples of Tsundere:
Suzumiya Haruhi from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu

England/Arther Kirkland from Hetalia:Axis Powers

Kirino Kousaka from My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute

Personal Ranking: #1
     What can I say? I am someone who enjoys toying with people's emotions from time to time (with no harm intended and no harm done) just to get a reaction out of them. In other words, my favourite male characters are often Tsunderes. It is also a guilty pleasure of mine to imagine some of my favourite male characters as blushing Tsunderes.

Sebastian Michaelis blushing makes me want to...eat him up, even if he is the demon and he's supposed to be doing the eating. I don't mind it either way~

2. Kuudere = "Kuu" + "Dere dere"
     Just like Tsundere, Kuudere is a combination of two words: "Kuu" deriving from the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "cool" and "dere dere" meaning "lovey dovey".

     Now, I must clarify that I don't claim to be a Kuudere on the basis of liking Kuudere characters. On the contrary, I often like Tsundere male characters or just straight up the extremely charming characters (but still, those on the "dark" side). In fact, one of the most notable Kuudere character in Shoujo - Tachibana Kanade  from Angel Beats - is my least favourite character in the show.

     On the outside, Kuuderes are very cold, calm and are often the more composed characters in the show. They show little emotion and seem to have difficulty in grasping the fact that they are emotional beings. Unlike Tsunderes, however, most Kuuderes are actually quite adept in understanding the other characters and have sometimes acted as guidance figures for the main characters.

 
     The reason why Kuuderes are less popular than Tsunderes is because their reaction towards love is much milder. Some Kuuderes only part with a smile and a faint blush, while others may not even react at all on the outside. For those who enjoy the ridiculous romances of Shoujos, I can see why Tsunderes are much more attractive.

     On the other hand, the cold other shell that a Kuudere possesses is much firmer and concrete than the volatility of a Tsundere, making it much more endearing when that shell is momentarily taken down. The idea of a composed character who pushes through everything with a calm facade, only to break down eventually on their own accord is common-utilised in many films as well.

     Why am I a Kuudere? Well, I won't say that I'm calm. I just have this instinct to steel myself against everything that could possibly create violent emotional reactions. For every time I have been confessed to (often by people I have no intention of becoming more than friends with), I react by blinking slowly and then drawing on the most logical reply I can give. This is the sign of a Kuudere; Tsunderes would freak out on the spot.

Other Examples of Kuudere
Shizuku Mizutani from My Little Monster

If she were a Tsundere, Haru would be dead on the floor already.

Misaki Mei from Another

Ackerman Mikasa from Shingeki no Kyojin

Personal Ranking: #4
       Yes, I am a Kuudere myself, but that does not mean that I like my own archetype. Why? There are multiple reasons:
- Kuudere girls are sometimes portrayed are passive to the point of being utterly useless (e.g. Misaki Mei)
- Kuudere girls lack the character development other archetypes get (e.g. Kanade vs Yurippe in Angel Beats: I like Yurippe much more)
- CIEL PHANTOMHIVE IS A KUUDERE AND IF THEY SHIP HIM WITH MY SEBASTIAN AGAIN, I WILL TURN YANDERE AND MURDER HIM.

Poor Sebastian, having to serve that little shit for the rest of eternity. This is why I have about 20 Fanfics for Kuroshitsuji in my folder with Demon!OC getting rid of Ciel on way or another.

     In other words, the reason why I hate Kuuderes so much is because this one Kuudere stole my #1 Anime bae. But hey, I'm the type never to fight over a guy in real life, but I will literally rip Ciel apart just to get to Sebastian, because hot damn, if you find a guy this perfect in real life, you'd better fight to keep him. Sebastian is incredibly smart. He is incredibly good-looking. He is incredibly efficient in everything. AND he looks damn good without a shirt on. ...Oh, what? He's an actual demon and I'll go to hell for this? WHATEVER. I AM ON THE WAY THERE ANYWAY.

Sebastian Michaelis turns me from no-expression-Mikasa to frigging Grell Sutcliffe.

3. Deredere

       Plain and simple, "dere dere" means "lovey dovey". This character's main personality trait is how open and happy he is with everyone. Such characters are often portrayed as being a little too insensitive in their happiness, or are just incredibly stupid. However, these character can have their cool moments.

      I will be using Anime bae #3 for this example (since bae #1 is Sebastian and bae #2 is a straight-up Tsun). Say hello to Ryouta Kise from Kuroko no Basuke.

     Ryouta Kise, off the basketball field, is a slightly hyperactive, happy-go-lucky and laid-back guy. He is the perfect example of a deredere in that state. He gets bullied by the rest of the Miracles because of his easy-going personality and even has a cute suffix he gives to people in "-cchi" (e.g. Kurokocchi~).

     In many anime, however, where the deredere is a significant main character, he possesses a "switch" that, whenever flipped, turns him into the exact opposite kind of person, becoming incredibly serious and sometimes, sadistic. In fact, the facade Sebastian Michaelis puts up as a regular butler vs him being a demon can, in a way, justify classifying him as a part-deredere.

Other Examples of Deredere

Tainaka Ritsu from K-On!

Fay D. Flourite from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

Personal Ranking: #2

      I'm such a queer person, aren't I? I put Tsundere at #1 and then its polar opposite, Deredere, at #2. Try to see it this way: in most anime where I like the Tsundere, they have a rival in the form of a Deredere that is often the main character. For example, many have claimed Naruto to be a Deredere while Sasuke is a Tsundere. Of course, being a Shounen, it's not that easy to classify.

      Not only that, Deredere characters with a "dark" side have some of the most intriguing back stories, e.g. Fay D. Flourite. They can also be incredibly cool in Sports animes, e.g. Ryouta Kise, Oikawa Tooru. I mean, watch these scenes with Ryouta Kise going into his serious mood.

4. Dandere = "Danmari" + "Dere dere"

     Dandere is a rarer kind of dere, although it is also a very easily fulfilled archetype. Dandere derives from "danmari", which means to shut one's mouth all the time and "dere dere" meaning "lovey dovey". These characters are shy, sometimes to a fatal extent (e.g. fainting everytime they see their crush).

     I have a protective kind-of affection for Danderes and the one I'm using today is my favourite K-On! character, solely based on how cute she is, Akiyama Mio.

     Let me put it this way, I am a pansexual, which means I am into girls as well. And while I like guys who are cocky and arrogant...just so I can put them down and tease them into "submission", I get awfully protective about girls who are a good mix of adorable and shy. Akiyama Mio is one such character. She's adorable to the point where I cannot dislike her at all.

     

     The difference between a Dandere and a Kuudere is that Kuuderes are adept at social interactions, they just choose not to be as social because they don't see the necessity at all times. Danderes are socially awkward naturally and get embarrassed by things that Kuuderes probably feel extremely neutral about.

Other Examples of Dandere:

Hyuuga Hinata from Naruto/Naruto Shippuden

Japan/Honda Kiku from Hetalia: Axis Powers

Kuronuma Sawako from Kimi no Todoke

Personal Ranking: #3

     Like I said, if I were more open about my attraction to girls (I'm just attracted to humans in general), my ideal type for girls would be a Dandere. It's adorable how flushed they get about things...it's just like how I like to make Tsundere guys blush...and then pretend that I didn't know what I said with a Kuudere face on.

5. Yandere = "Yanderu" + "Dere dere"

     Oh dear, here comes the type that I never want to get near to. I don't want to date this type, neither do I want to date anyone who is related to this type. I mean, I don't appreciate a knife in my back...or my intestines turned out. If you want the guy/girl, just take him/her, it's not that serious man.

     That said, I have Yandere tendencies surrounding ships that I don't agree with. For example, even though Shikamaru Nara from Naruto is one of my favourite Naruto characters, I don't disapprove of ShikaTema because Temari is cool. However, if you mention NejiTen to me, I will ruin you and everything you love. I already expressed that sentiment with Sebastian Michaelis, because that Demon Butler is MINE.

      And speaking of Yanderes, we have the Queen of Tsunderes so why not the Queen of Yanderes - Gasai Yuno from Mirai Nikki. She did come up with the Yandere pose after all.

      The "yan" part of "yandere" is derived from "yanderu" which is the verb in Japanese meaning "to get sick". In other words, "yandere" literally means "to become sick with love". This is brought to an extreme in this archetype given how much stabbing the Yandere characters do just to get the one they love. Honestly...it's really not that serious (unless it's Ciel taking my Sebastian!).

     Yanderes have scissors and sharp objects and their idea of possessing their lovers can range from imprisoning them, stabbing them...and even killing them and keeping their heads. In other words, my kind of possessiveness is nothing compared to a true Yandere's.

Other Examples of Yandere:

Kotonoha Katsura from School Days

Sakamaki Kanato from Diabolik Lovers

Fuyou Kaede from Shuffle!

Personal Ranking: #5

       If I see this kind of person, I will tell them politely to "FUCK OFF" because I am not stupid enough to involve myself in their bullshit. This kind of people are clingy to the extent of possessive to the point of psychotic. Nope. The only psychotic one here will be me...over Sebastian Michaelis. Honestly, I'd probably never get possessive over a real-life guy because, bitch, you ain't perfect like my bae Sebastian.

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世界こんにちわ Hello World

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     I really, really wanted to kickoff this blog with a rant...but I figured that it would be way too random and disorganised. Also, I'm very likely to start off with a rant about a subject that I'm extremely passionate about and it'll really suck for it to be buried under all the subsequent posts that I plan to make.

     I wanted to do a general introduction thing, but honestly, no one cares. This is the internet. No one cares for who you are in the cyberspace until you actually create content that interest them. Don't even try to deny it. There is, of course, a very rational explanation for that. The inability to see the other person, hear the other person and even sense the other person creates that sense of detachment. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is also why people say things they regret on the internet -- They often forget that their target audience is a living, breathing human being with thoughts and feelings.

     Still, I am all about the formality of things if it doesn't prove to be overly unnecessary. Well, that notion itself is subjective, isn't it? Some say that being polite in a restaurant is unnecessary. They would be wrong, in my definition. I consider certain social norms completely necessary to facilitate conversation and to "prepare" the audience as willing receivers of information.

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     Yes, there are things I would keep private, as I am not the kind of person who likes throwing personal information around as if other people should care about it. There is also the matter of internet security and all that, but that's common sense...which is sadly uncommon these days.

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     Well, what would people ask first when they meet someone new? Their name? It's in the "About Me" section at the bottom of the blog. Don't be lazy. ......Oh, fine then. My name is Skylar Cheng, and that's an English name that I just adopted recently.

     No, I do not live in China, although I was born there. I was raised on the sunny, tropical hell known as Singapore where the weather doesn't change, the people don't change --- nothing ever changes. "Oh, your English is not bad!" you say? Most Singaporeans are bilingual, you imbecile (I'm kidding), because it is necessitated in our education system. *Ehem* You have to study and take exams for your Mother Tongue until you manage to pass the corresponding paper in the GCSE "O" Levels. And, for you non-Commonwealth countries, that would be at the age of 16 and at the end of Secondary School. Thus, I am fluent in both English and Chinese, and to the utter disappointment of my family, I am much more proficient at the former.

     I am currently 20 years old and I feel like I am entering my midlife crisis with how much the "2" devastates me. I will be attending my first year of University in a month's time. Yes, I am a year late, and that's because I voluntarily changed from the Science stream to the Humanities stream. That's another story by itself. I will be attending the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and taking MA (Hons) International Relations. No, I don't consider it a "meme course".

     Oh, right, I am a girl. Wow, how surprising. Skylar is a girl. And no, if you ask me if I got that name from Pokemon Black/White/Black 2/White 2, the answer is NO. Skyla is one of my least favourite gym leaders and Winona is much better. Skylar just seems to go well with the meaning of my Chinese name in a sort-of poetic way, with my Chinese name having "dove" as a character and "sky" being part of "Skylar".
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     That segues quite well into the less general information.

     I am a girl but I have strong distastes towards gender norms. And before you agree and tell me "gender norms don't exist" or "I don't abide by gender norms", rethink those statements and slap yourself. Gender norms DO exit and I DO abide by them...time to time, but I don't think they should. It's not that I take a very feminist view about things, not at all. I dislike gender norms on the grounds that it is a very old-fashioned thing, a notion that humanity identified itself by since we were cavemen.

In some ways, Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club) and I share some similar views.

      Yes, girls are biologically weaker, but just as IQ doesn't fully define intellectual success, biology doesn't fully define strength. I go to the gym regularly and I did sports as a child. I can say for sure that in the Humanities class I was in, I can probably beat the shit out of 4 of the 6 guys in 1-to-1 combat. And before you claim that I am bragging, let me remind you that I reached Black Belt in Taekwondo in Primary 6, and skipped belt levels not through pattern (performing moves) but through sparring (actual fighting).

       Like other girls, I use cosmetic products from time to time...although I will NEVER use makeup. After all, if I had to mask my entire face under makeup for you to talk to me, then you aren't deserving to talk to in the first place. I am also completely confident in my ability to charm people that I meet for the first time (i.e. people I don't need to constantly be around).

       Yet, like a guy, I game and I gym. I enjoy MOBAs as much as RPGs, from Overwatch and Smite to the entire Elder Scrolls series. I started gaming with an FPS and played the first 2 games of Halo. I like trying out new games on Steam and I currently loved playing Dead by Daylight as a Wraith. I love to "bing-bong-bing" cloak to annoy friends. I have thousands of hours in Indie games like Necrodancer, Undertale, Binding of Isaac and much more. In other words, if you want to tell me that girls can't play games, I will challenge you to one. I can't wait to see you admit your loss.

      I take things very seriously, even in gaming. I have a habit of getting pissed off at people who claim to know things, but don't. I have played all the Elder Scrolls main series games and I know the lore like the back of my hand. I make sure to know the lore of every game I play. I make sure to resolve every question I have about the world and record it in a little book. I make sure that I defend my favourite anime characters with facts and logic as if it were an actual debate. In fact, it blows my mind that people are content with not knowing things. ...No, really, I want to understand why you don't want to understand.

       It doesn't mean I have no sense of humour. In fact, I seem to have all of them. Dirty jokes, lame jokes, witty jokes, I have them all. I will be the judge of which you are deserving of.
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      Is that enough? I did cover the most important parts of me and here is a small list, in case you want to check:
General Information: My name; country of residence; age; level of education
Deeper Information: I'm probably stereotyped as a tomboy; I like to game; I like to learn new things and be good at them; I allude to being an anime fangirl who is quite aggressive and competitive

     I'm sure I'll reveal more in later posts, whenever I'm ranting, but I think this is enough for now.

These anime quizzes tell me that I'm a Kuudere...ok then.