[NOTE: these terms are weaponized language, & meant to
give offense. Which is the whole & compleat point of insult &
invective, obscenity & blasphemy, & other political speech.]
JAPANESE: 豆腐小僧 — tōfu-kozō §
JAPANESE: 妖怪 — yōkai §§
JAPANESE: あやかし — ayakashi §§§
JAPANESE: 物の怪 — mononoke §§§§
§) Lit., Tōfu
Boy. Or Servant Monster. In modern & post-modern usage most likely
to be a pejorative for hardcore manga nerd wimps, or can refer to a specific yōkai (妖怪) character from 18th. & 19th.
C. manga & pamphlets, or toys & clothes; tōfu-kozō had no
particular special powers, & arrives
as a servant monster with a dainty bamboo umbrella, bringing tōfu or sake, often during rainstorms… But mold might grow
on the tofu before anyone can finish eating it, or the sake go sour; Tōfu Boy often has a huge baby-Huey-like head,
sometimes a large tōfu-brick head & one eye & no
mouth, & usually presents the tōfu with an autumn leaf design on a round tray; Tōfu Boys are considered wimps by the other yōkai (妖怪), & sometimes bullied or picked on,
just like manga fanboys;
§§) Yōkai (妖怪) is a difficult term to pin down, (in kanji)
it might refer to something bewitching or attractive; or to calamity, &/or
spectre, apparition, mystery, something
fishy or suspicious. The Yōkai (妖怪), based on Shinto folklore’s impish sprints
&/or dæmons can act as servants or boon companions; yōkai by nature are compulsive & impulsive
energumins, to say the least, & can be malevolent, treacherous, even deadly, but are more usually obsessive-compulsive pains
in the arse, just like manga nerds. Think of them as tutelary stalkers. Yōkai (妖怪) transitioned as characters in 18th.
& 19th. C. manga & pamphlets, as well as finding their way into decorative
illustrations on toys & clothes or as charms to ward off smallpox or ill
fortune; Shinto folklore being more animistic,
their Yōkai (妖怪) aren’t like Western European folklore’s
goblins, they’re likely to be a sort of
monster servant or companion or tutelary dæmon, a grieving child’s imaginary friend, & closer to dæmons or eidolons of ancient Greece,
or to rakshasa dæmons of India; yōkai (妖怪) are also known to give solace & comfort to people in grief;
§§§) Ayakashi (あやかし) is a variety of yōkai (妖怪) that may haunt the surface of a lake
or river or sea, often as ghostly lights at the water’s surface; ayakashi are thought to be vengeful ghosts
of those who drowned, usually at sea & trying to trick or entrap unwary
people into joining them; they can be seen on the beach at night, seeming to be
a child walking through flames; pilgrims walking along the coast may encounter
them in the form of a mountain, an obstruction, but if they confront it, &
rush against it or strike at it, it disappears, clearing their path;
§§§§) Mononoke (物の怪), a yōkai (妖怪), whether dead or alive, are said to
possess mere mortals, cause great suffering, disease or death; monks &
priests would pray & chant incantations, drive away the yōkai, perhaps even
moving them to a servant or apprentice & then completely exorcise them
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from curse + berate in 69+ languages, from Soft Skull Press
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=curse+and+berate+in+69%2B+languages http://softskull.com/?p=271
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