• How does one define “fanfiction?” Awesome podcast Fansplaining did an immersive survey of over 3,500 readers about how they would describe the genre.
• Remember yaoi paddles? A glimpse into fandom past that it’s probably for the best that we’ve forgotten.
• Dragons Are for White Kids with Money: On the Friction of Geekdom and Race. And why being a geeky person of color is in itself a positive, performative act.
• Do you listen to Translator Tea Time on Organization Anti-Social Geniuses yet? I am fascinated by the 3:00 mark in which the translators discuss not looking at anime subtitles—the better to not be influenced by the anime translator’s decisions.
• Dee wrote about ignoring social expectations and pursuing your own goals in Chihayafuru. I loved the anime and want to read the manga now.
• Thanks to a beloved Disney show, Japanese kids bought raccoons and learned the hard way they don’t make great pets. Now freed, they’re a nuisance that competes with the native tanuki and red fox, and attacks owls and herons. (HT Zoe).
• The Secret History of Gainax: 1981-1992. This article is two years old, but still the most fascinating thing I read this week.

Screenshot via Gainax’s Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise.