I started a small, two-person
book club with a mutual on TikTok! I proposed to her that we read the book
chapter by chapter (every time there’s a dropped capital) then we discuss the
book and could compare it to the movie as well.
I'm really happy the English
version was finally scanned and uploaded on the Internet Archive! Thank you
kind stranger...I've wanted to read this for a very long time, and I'm
interested in Novala Takemoto's other works too. More specifically Soleilnuit:
For Becoming a Proper Young Lady and Emily (2002).
A story about a girl
who loves Emily Temple Cute, you cannot tell me that’s not made for me...Novala
gets me like no one else. The characters are also otaku nerds that struggle
with bullying and worry about their future. I really wanna know more about
their friendship
(Actually as I was writing this, via the Internet Archive I found website where someone has translated all the essays from Soleilnuit!)
She said she needs to
do some studies so I'm not sure how often she will read and how much effort
she'll put into this. We didn't set any expectations, I don't want to pressure
her either.
I'd like to share my thoughts, quotes and notes for each chapter. I don't know how many there are. I’m really happy and excited to embark on this new journey!
24.4
Overall I find this
chapter very inspiring, all the lines about choosing to do only what matters to
you most, what pleases you.
Prizing
elegance, sweet emotions, and fantasy more than morals and truth; wallowing in
fleeting romance rather than trying to give meaning to life, when who knows
what's going to happen to you anyway; ignoring virtue and conventions to
cherish only the pleasures you are definitely experiencing now: this is the
Cocoro of Rococo (a little
pun in Japanese, if you please. Cocoro means “spirit”). Pg.7
I love the punk rock
line, I agree being a lolita is totally punk, going by your own rules no matter
what society thinks, and also the sustainable aspect/values of the subculture
And even if
something is made just for laughs, if you find it pleasing, it has value. Other
people’s opinions and labor do not figure into your assessment; choosing things
with your own personal sense of “I like this, I don’t like that” is the
ultimate individualism that sustains the very foundation of Rococo. Rococo,
therefore, embodies the spirit of punk rock and anarchism more than any
philosophy. Only in Rococo—elegant yet in bad taste, extravagant yet defiant
and lawless—can I discover the meaning of life. pg.7
The line about a baby’s
first laugh was funny but soon after she said that people often their forget
their promise and start to follow societies rules when they’re older… that hit
me.
[…] the baby
thinks, if you're saying I have to live in this crazy world, I’ve got my own
ideas. I won't kick up a big fuss now because that’s just embarrassing, but I
will take the liberty of ignoring the rules for living quietly, and do whatever
the hell I want.
[…]
Most people,
however, forget that decision over time as they grow up. And before they know
it, they are following all the rules and conventions they vowed to ignore. But
there exists a small minority of people who do not forget the vow they made
when they first laughed. Pg.7-8
I must’ve forgotten my
vow when I was younger…hard. But I’m glad I’ve found my way back home. I want
to be that small minority for the rest of my days!
Lolita is
defined as a type of street fashion known only in Japan. But for me, Lolita
goes far beyond fashion and serves as my unwavering, absolute personal policy. Pg.8
Amen!
Her talk about people
in the Rococo period doing the nasty and it not being something shameful, just
a part of (her description of) the rococo lifestyle, makes me think Momoko would
be in support of ero lolita. She understands the substyle isn’t trying to sexualize
lolita fashion in anyway. It’s just to allow people for more freedom and self-expression.
This all aligns with her quotes from earlier.
Deeper into
the night, you do the nasty. For people of the Rococo era, doing the nasty was
not shameful, but more like a game, or even a kind of sport. Pg.10
Momoko’s romanticized
and idealized version of the Rococo period is very entertaining. I wonder where
she got all her information from? I think there’s some facts mixed in there
alongside her daydreams and fantasies about the life of a noble in the Rococo
period.
The whole time reading
this chapter I thought to myself “she’s so funny” but Momoko is dead serious,
this is her unwavering truth. I like exploring her mind like this, I really
like her monologue in the movie and I’m super happy to be able to get more
insight on her thoughts about the life of a lolita. I liked it when she briefly
broke the 4th wall, I wonder if there’ll be more moments like these?
(I hope so!)
I admire her
philosophy. Momoko is such an interesting girl, and I want to be a little more
like her.
Random notes:
I didn’t know Momoko
wore corsets!
I also learned a new words:
frivolous, disdain
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