#lesson type: language and useage

[tgmsunmontue]

It's all academic darlin' PART 2/10

12k+ Hangster AU. Updating 2-3 parts per week and will be finished by 31st January 2024. (Each part is ~1500 words).

Bradley is a professor but living his best life with IceMav parents. Jake is a pilot. Maverick sort-of tries (and fails) to play matchmaker, so he tries again. Touch of epistolary and sprinkling of one-sided unknown/mistaken-identity.

(Note for later parts/chapters - Ice uses sign to communicate at home, I’m typing it like sign is English despite the fact that I know it isn’t (while NZSL is my third language, I have no working knowledge on the grammar useage in ASL).)

PART TWO

                The next morning he wakes up slowly. There’s music again, although quieter, and he can smell coffee. He’d gone to bed early last night, using the excuse of the long drive, because saying he was developing a pressing headache wasn’t something he wanted to mention. He showers and inspects his bruises in the mirror, presses gently on the cuts where the stitches were removed only two days ago. Nothing feels inflamed or more tender than what should be expected.

                He grabs a black Henley from his bag and pulls it on, only feeling very mild discomfit as he moves now. It’s looser and darker colored than what he usually wears, however his usual form fitting things were dragging across the stitches, catching on them. So, he’d succumbed to Phoenix buying him some shirts that didn’t show blood every time he reached too far when playing pool or rubbed his stitches. Not that it’s a problem now that they’re gone, but the shirt reminds him that someone cared enough to help him feel comfortable. Walking toward the kitchen he finds Bradley standing at the stove, poking at the contents of a pan. Whatever it is smells good, and he hopes that there’s the intent to share.

                “Mornin’,” he greets, his voice sounding rough.

                “Hey, morning. Help yourself to coffee, or there’s tea and stuff. I’ve made some breakfast. Sorry it’s a bit, uh, mixed. I’m just trying to get through the perishables so no one has to deal with the repercussions next time we visit.”

                Jake has a closer look at the pan and sees fried potatoes with some ham and egg thrown in along with some spinach and tomatoes, small sprinkling of cheese and it smells a perfect combination of crispy-salt-fat and his mouth is watering.

                “Smells good. Thanks. You didn’t have to.”

                “Seriously man, you turning up means I won’t have to gorge myself too much today to get through everything. I don’t want to have to come back to this place and find liquified vegetables in the fridge.”

                “Learnt that lesson the hard way huh?”

                “Unfortunately,” Bradley laughs and shakes his head ruefully.

                Jake takes a breath, a shaky smile making its way onto his face in response to the wide smile and crinkling eyes. Bradley smiles so easily, like it’s natural to just be smiley and friendly and simply… good natured. Jake would bet money he doesn’t get called an asshole on the regular. Unlike him. Considering he’s Mav’s son though he might just be hiding his more asshole-ish tendencies much like Jake is ensuring he doesn’t stray from the societal norms of being the most polite and accommodating of guests.

                Bradley is making him think though, maybe finding someone who is more mild mannered and edges on too polite would balance him out. It’s not what Jake usually finds attractive, but with the year at work he’s had maybe quiet, safe, and friendly… could make a nice change. Not that he’s in a hurry for any type of relationship, but he might table it for consideration for the future, because maybe coming back to the same place, the same person, has started to have some… appeal.

                “Did you sleep okay?”

                “Yeah, better than I expected,” Jake replies, and he’s assuming the combination of drive and headache had made his brain unable to formulate its semi-regular nightmare fodder. That’s what disrupts his sleep these days, not the location.

                “That’s good. Here,” Bradley says, passing him a plate piled high with food and moving towards the dining table with his own. “You won’t get this again sorry. I’m leaving early tomorrow, so I’ll probably be gone before you get up.”

                “It’s fine. I lived plenty long enough looking after myself, I’m sure I’ll survive a couple of weeks on my own here. I didn’t expect any cooked meals when I decided to come stay. Are you driving back?”

                “No. Well, partly I guess. I’ve got a plane at Fallon, so I’ll drive there and then fly back to San Diego. Perk of the job,” Bradley says, and he grins. Jake assumes it’s a reference to Mav’s connections, that he can store a plane at Fallon and use the runway and airspace for personal use. That’s one hell of a perk. The food tastes as good as it smells and Jake lets himself savor it, enjoys the novelty of food being cooked for him.

                “Actually, I have a favor to ask. Nothing major, just… can I use you phone later? I need to make a couple of calls. First one needs to be to Mav.”

                Jake agrees easily, it’s no issue for him. They do the washing up and Bradley continues to sing along to the music playing from a portable speaker. The man doesn’t seem to care that Jake is virtually a stranger, no embarrassment at all as he belts out the words to the song being played and tries to encourage Jake to sing along as well. Jake guesses he’s someone who is truly confident, which with a new Hawaiian shirt today, easy smile, clearly happy with whatever lot he has in his life… well, Jake guesses Bradley probably is.

                He’d probably be just as happy right now with or without Jake there, singing along to himself. He clearly doesn’t feel like he needs to impress Jake, and for once Jake feels a little unsettled. Unsure about how he should act with no crowd to play up his own abilities, someone he doesn’t need to harmlessly flirt with, it leaves him without a guide book of basic social interaction and he feels unmoored. He excuses himself to go and grab his phone from his room and thumbs through to Mav’s contact and puts the call through.

                “Hello. Pete Mitchell.”

                “Hey Mav, It’s Hangman.”

                “Hangman. Good to hear from you. Did you find the place alright?”

                “Yeah. Although Bradley wasn’t expecting me. He wants to talk to you actually.”

                “He wasn’t expecting you and he can’t call me himself,” Mav says flatly. “Let me guess. He lost another phone.”

Jake barks out a laugh, because hearing Mav’s disappointed tone and not have it aimed in any way toward him makes him feel like he’s in on a private joke. And maybe he can go with a teasing thing rather than a flirting thing if this is a thing. He walks back to find Bradley lounging on the sofa, looking at something on a tablet.

                “Yeah, fell in the lake,” Jake provides and Bradley’s eyes shoot up to meet his, narrowing as he realizes that he must already be talking to Mav.

                “Jesus. That kid. I swear he goes through a phone a year. Falling in the lake is probably one of the least exciting ways it’s happened. There’s been the top of a car, wing of a plane, compressor which was a stupid prank when he was an undergraduate… Can you put him on?”

                “Yeah, of course.”

                “Hi Dad…”

                Jake moves out onto the porch, trying to be polite and give Bradley some privacy, but the other man just follows, clearly not seeming to want or need privacy as he listens to his father talking. “Yeah, I know.” “Yes. Another one.” “Please stop keeping count.” “I’m good. How’s everyone at home?” “Okay. I’m glad to hear that. Tell him I fixed the smoker.” “Yeah.” “Ugh, I know.” “You’d think so wouldn’t you?” “What? Uh, good I guess?” “Got a whole bunch of stuff done.” “Yes Mav, all the important shit.” “Jesus Mav, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, you can grill me then.” “Well, it’s not like my fridge is going to be overflowing with food, I thought the least you could do was feed me dinner.” “I knew you’d want to see me…”

                Jake listens to the one-sided conversation, can almost imagine Mav’s side. Not that he knows who else Mav might have at home, but the easy laughter and conversation makes part of him ache for what he doesn’t have with his own father. It’s a small passing ache now; he’d like to think he’s managed to work through the worst of it and accepted that the rest is something he can’t change; more importantly accepted it isn’t his responsibility to change. He listens again and the conversation has shifted to confirming times at the airstrip for take-off and he briefly wonders where the plane is stored in San Diego, because from the sounds of it Mav is picking Bradley up and Jake knows Mav has his own plane. Actually, maybe that’s the one Bradley flew here. Or they store their planes together.

                “Yeah, love you too. See you tomorrow. Did you want to talk to Jake again?”

                “Here…” Bradley says, and he passes Jake’s phone back to him before walking away back inside, leaving Jake with his privacy and he appreciates it.

                “Uh, hey Mav…”

                “Hey kid, I hope Bradley isn’t too much… you’re meant to be taking it easy and I know you didn’t break that drive up over two days like you were meant to.”

                “I’m good.”

                “You are good kid, and I want you to stay that way. It’s why we follow the orders of our doctors.”

                Jake snorts because he’s pretty sure Mav ignored half of the orders he heard prior to his retirement.

                “I’m here now, and I will do nothing but rest. Once Bradley leaves with his blisteringly bright shirts and music it’ll be the perfect place to rest and recover.”

                “He’ll get rid of both if you ask –”

                “Nah Mav, it’s kind of nice having someone not walkin’ around like I’m about to collapse any minute. He even cooked me breakfast this morning, he’s a good host.”

                Mav makes a weird choking sound and there’s mumbling he can’t make out before he clears his throat.

                “Well, I’m glad. I’m going to call you in a couple of days and check in with you, okay son?”

                “Yeah Mav, that’s fine.”

                Ending the call Jake slides his phone into his pocket, although he should really go and see if Bradley wants to use it to make the remainder of his necessary calls. He wonders what he’d have done if Jake hadn’t turned up. He should probably call home and check in with Javy and his siblings. He flicks off a couple of messages and lets them all know he’s okay. He stares out at the sparse scrubby forest, can see the shimmer of water off in the distance, looks at the lean-to stacked high with firewood and wonders what it would be like to have a place like this of his own. Somewhere he chose to be for longer than the length of a deployment, somewhere to return to. Not to one of his siblings. Not Javy. His and his alone.

                The bang of the screen door startles him and he turns to see Bradley, changed into running shorts and a loose tank.

                “I’m just going to go for a run before it gets too hot. Did you want to come with me?”

                Jake pulls a face, because normally he’d love to, but the jarring nature of running would not be great for his head. Today needs to be a rest day.

                “I’m meant to be taking it easy. Running probably isn’t the best idea.”

                The look that that new information gets him makes him wish he’d kept his mouth shut, but he’s feeling okay right now, needs to allow his body to recover after the drive yesterday if he wants to get back to flying as soon as he can. Bradley just nods his head though, accepting it without asking further questions.

                “Okay. I’ll show you the best place for swimming later, and the docking spot if you want to take a kayak or paddle board out.”

                “Sounds good,” Jake replies, failing to mention that he definitely won’t be kayaking or paddle boarding, although normally he’d love to do either of those things. Swimming sounds good though. He’s been aching to exercise in some form and swimming is something that he can gently start with. Maybe work up to the others.

                “I’ll be back in an hour or so. Make yourself at home.”

                He watches Bradley head off to what may or may not be a regularly run track before heading inside. He’s not going to snoop around, but he figures he can definitely go through the kitchen and maybe figure out what he could make for lunch. There’s an odd assortment of things, but he thinks he could cobble together some type of sandwich, but there’s no bread. Okay. This gives him something to do. He likes his bread too much not to have some on hand for a quick snack so he quickly searches for a recipe. No yeast that he can find, but there is beer, so he sets to work.

PART THREE

[bangjiazheng]

02.01.2025 23.47 Today evening recording,Happy Happy!!!!

02.01.2025 23.47 Today evening recording,Happy Happy!!!!

Today I finished today's working at about 22.40,But very tired…………

Today I come to the company's another working and living place,I need to learn the map (supermarkets and other necessary items…………) Meow~!!!!……………… And here,Althrough I can use natural gas stove,But it is not very effective,Meow~!!!!………………

Today evening,Because too busy,I didn't have time to go to supermarkets to see long time(Foods)…………Meow~!!!! I only see some foods in another middle supremarkets. A new friend,He said to me:Here's supermarkets are all small ones,If I want to buy some food,May be I need to take underground train,Go to another place big supermarkets………… Meowing Meowing~!!!!

But,When I was in that supermarket,I saw some tools,And they are some expensive. And I will send some tools to Czech,After the living place(Meow~!!!!…………)………… I will continue collect some tools,And sell some tools(Some of the tools I brought for collecting,Others I brought for selling,Happy Happy!!!!) Every tool has its useage,Very Happy Very Happy!!!!

I will never over collecting tools!!!!(…………Meow~!!!!!!…………)May be sometime I will collect very small amount necessary tools,Not too much.(…………Meow~!!!!………………) Here,Tools are too expensive.(………………)Recently I don't collect more.(Just a little.) As a man like tools,Very Happy Very Happy!!!!(Tools are useful,Can use different tools are very happy~!!!!)

But,Why here tools are so expensive?The worker's costs are very high. If in the near future,Here use AI robots to make tools and other necessary industry products,They can make countless products,And costs are not high.Here will become more happier!!!! Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy!!!!!! I am waiting the day's coming.Happy Happy!!!!!!!!!!

Today I didn't come to the center of Prague,Another(Another working point of company),But,I will always go there.Just today,I am coming here and adjusting………………

And,Today evening,I will also learning some Czech language,But I will not learning too long time,Because I set the alarm clock at about 05.45,Tomorrow morning continue learning Czech language,Happy Happy!!!!

Now,I am serious and happy recording,Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy!!!!

I like a unlimited serious and happy big meow,Always serious and happy!!!! Very Happy Very Happy!!!! Happy Meowing~!!!!!!

After seriously and happily recording,I will go offline,And learning some Czech language,Very Happy!!!! (The bedrooms have not hearter,But the outer rooms have some hearters.Happy Happy!!!! )

(Today learning Czech language situation: Will continue errata and adjust the 【B1 textbook】【Lesson 14】)

Bangjia Zheng I am Very Happy Very Happy!!!!

How can I prove this simple fact:(I absolutely love Czech language,I learning Czech language absolutely serious and absolutely happy.)????………………Meow~!!!!!!!!!!…………………… Very Happy Very Happy!!!!

I Love Czech Language!!!! I Love Learning Czech Language!!!!!! I Love Czech (…………)!!!!!!!!!!(Meowing~ Meowing~!!!!!!!!!!!) Living And Working In Czech,The Happiest The Happiest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Note:As Happy As Living And Working In The Universe,Or living and working in the ………… of …………，Unlimited Happy Happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Now,Czech New Year 2025!!!!,Happy New Year 2025,Happy Czech New Year,Happy Meowing~!!!! Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy!!!!!! Unlimited Happy!!!!!!!!!! Happy New Year!!!! Happy Czech!!!!!!Happy Czech New Year!!!!!!!!!!!Happy Universe!!!!!!!!!!!Happy 【????Meow~????】/【God】!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now,I will learn some Czech language,And S,Happy Happy!!!!!!

02.01.2025 23.47 (Prague) Happy Happy!!!!(Meowing~,Meowing~!!!!!!………………)

[jrphelpline]

JRPH 101 - Lesson two: Honorifics, part 2

For today's lesson we will be covering:

more common honorifics: -sama, -dono, -sensei, -shi

familial honorifics: -nii/-nee, -oji/-oba, -tousan/-kaasan, -jii/-baa

cute honorifics: -chan/-tan, -chama/-tama

archaic honorifics: -ue, no kimi

how/when honorifics can/should change

It would be impossible to make a comprehensive list of every honorific, in part because it's not uncommon for friends to invent new ones as wordplay and in-jokes for use with each other. There are specific honorifics for corporate titles, honorifics for use in court documents and reporting, martial arts honorifics, and honorifics specific to a variety of professions. While it may be passingly useful to know that company president Hayashi should be addressed as Hayashi-shacho or as shacho-san, for our purposes, we'll be focusing on those honorifics most likely to be seen floating around JRP*.

General Honorifics

-sama This honorific is a high mark of respect, used when other honorifics aren't respectful enough or as a way of teasing between close friends.

-tono/-dono More common in writing than in speaking, this honorific can be used to indicate respect between high ranked individuals. It is generally agreed that -dono is a lower respect level than -sama, although not universally.

-sensei An honorific of respect for certain authority figures, such as doctors, teachers, and lawyers, as well as highly skilled artisans and martial artists. Like -senpai, -sensei can also be used as a noun and paired with other honorifics.

-shi In theory, this honorific is more commonly used in writing than in conversation as a way of showing a standard of respect in referring to a person the speaker/writer hasn't actually met. Preferred over -san for formal writing where other, higher level honorifics are not appropriate.

Familial Honorifics

-nii/-nee Indicates older brother/sister respectively. Can be combined with other honorifics to show more or less formality/intimacy with the other person. Oniisan/Oneesan are commonly used for strangers who are young adults, especially for younger speakers.

-oji/oba Uncle/aunt. Like -nii/nee, -oji/-oba can be combined with other honorifics for more or less formality. Ojisan/Obasan are commonly used for strangers who are middle-aged adults.

-tousan/-kaasan Father/Mother. The roots are actually -tou and -kaa, but they are always paired with -san, -sama, or a derivation of those as a sign of respect.

-jii/-baa Grandfather/Grandmother, often paired with -chan or similar diminutive to show affection. Ojiisan/Obaasan are commonly used for elderly strangers.

Cute Honorifics

-chan Diminutive of -san, -chan started as babyspeak but is now an accepted “proper” honorific for young women. Use of this honorific can also take the place of a term of endearment, since it indicates affection, cuteness, and endearment.

-tan Diminutive of -chan, this honorific is even more cuteness and affectionate. Often used for anthropomorphisms, such as the OS-tans.

-chama Diminutive of -sama, affectionate and cutesy, but could be interpreted as demeaning and offensive in the wrong context.

-tama Diminutive of -chama, even more affectionate and cutesy, but also capable of being seen as offensive in the wrong context.

Archaic Honorifics

You might never run into these honorifics at all, but they're worth noting, because you never know, you just might.

-ue Though rarely used as an honorific, it still sometimes appears in conjugations such as hahaue (honored mother).

no kimi Historically used to indicate a member of the Court (eg Hikaru no kimi), if it is seen now, outside of historical dramas, it is most likely in love letters a man might write to a woman

Changes in Honorifics

Ok, now for the other Big Question we've been asked: how does one know which honorific to use and can they ever change? As we noted last time, in a real world situation, -san is always the safe choice. In our admittedly biased opinion, this is still the safe choice when opening a dialogue with someone you don't otherwise know from Steve. It is, after all, a very Japanese thing to opt for more polite over less~

(So why not go to -sama, you ask? Because that can be too easily read as potentially mocking, especially in the semi-casual context of internet conversations. Unless your muse is working in a service industry and Muse B is a customer, better to stick with -san. And definitely don't use any of the cutesy honorifics until given permission, unless you're trying to pick a fight.)

In the context of JRP, many of the people your muse(s) will meet will be musicians. If your muse is a fresh young face in the music scene, those others are going to be largely senpai to one degree or another. In Japanese, the convention is to use (stage name)-senpai or just senpai with your seniors until one is given explicit permission to use something else. As one progresses in the business and gains kouhai of one's own, the convention is to call them (stage name)-san or (stage name)-kun for inside one's own company, while one's peers continue to be (stage name)-san. Moreover, one's senpai continue to be one's senpai, even after ten, fifteen, twenty years in the same company. Changes in a senpai-kouhai relationship will always come from the senpai side, but even after a senpai grants a kouhai permission to change honorifics, senpai remains respected as senpai. The linguistic convention is to continue with these rules until the senior partner in a pairing gives permission for a change. So for example, in a context where Kazuki is junior to Shinya, Kazuki would continue to call him Shinya-senpai until Shinya gave him explicit permission to call him something (specific) else.

School classmates address each other mostly as (name)-kun. As childhood friends move into other contexts, the use of -kun will continue with some drifting into the cutesy honorifics as shows of intimacy. So for example, given Mitsuki and Takemasa have been friends since high school, it wouldn't be strange for Mitsuki to call Takemasa “Take-chan,” especially in a teasing context.

Because not everyone comes to the music industry at the same age, one may encounter a situation where a musician who is older than another is technically kouhai to the younger one because the younger musician has been with the company and business longer. Politeness would dictate that the younger therefore be addressed as -senpai, however social mores would pressure the younger to offer the use of -san or -kun to the elder in short order. As an example, when Gazette signed with PSC, Miyavi, who had been with the company for awhile already, was their senpai in the company, even though he is younger than Aoi.

In a dating context, a man may use -chan on his girlfriend while she is still using -san on him. Indeed, a woman married to her husband for ten years could still be calling him (name)-san, if not Tousan (to reflect that he is the father of her children). As a general trend, women speak in a more polite form than men, although this trend is slowly changing.

Reflecting Changes in Honorifics in Your RP

As we noted in the previous lesson, there is no one right way agreed by all players on how to handle honorifics in JRP. What feels natural and appropriate to you may not to someone else. Linguistically, an honorific-less name would be far too intimate for use in anything but a private setting. However, in RP contexts, dropped honorifics could mean anything from a -kun level friendship to long-term lovers and the specific meaning will change depending on the mun doing or asking for the dropping. Therefore, our best advice is to find what works best for you and keep communication channels open so your partners know which conventions you're using.

And with that, we do believe we have covered the basics on honorifics! If we've missed something or not fully answered your question, please do let us know!

* this focus is why, even with the number of Kansai-ben-speaking muses, we opted to drop dialectal honorifics, though if you do know of any Kansai muses using -han extensively, that's Kansai-ben for -san.

[jrphelpline]

JRPH 101 - Lesson 1: Honorifics, part 1 / Intro to Honorifics

Honorifics are both simple and at times complicated, so we're splitting the topic into two lessons. For today's lesson, we'll be covering:

what honorifics are

conventions of use in spoken vs written communication

foreigners and honorifics

introduction to -san, -kun, and -senpai

** As an aside, lessons like this, which are literally based on decades of combined research and experience will not be particularly cited. **

What Are Honorifics?

For the purposes of this lesson, honorifics is narrowed to refer specifically to those parts of speech used similarly to how speakers of English use titles. Primarily suffixes, these are attached either to a name or to another, stand-alone-enabled suffix to indicate appropriate respect for the person or entity being referenced, for example Sakurai-san.

Conventions of Use

When you are actually speaking and/or writing in Japanese, names are almost never used without some form of honorific attached. A completely naked name would be a level of intimacy inappropriate to being shared outside the house in most cases. When in doubt, the use of -san is generally accepted as correct.

In the context of JRP (and Japanese speakers in other realms of RP), conventions are a bit different, so it's important to be observant. Unlike when you're speaking in language, our RP verses, be they in English, Spanish, Russian, or what have you, are acts of translation - in other words, you're using English (or Spanish or Russian or bongo beats*) to represent Japanese. Translation, especially between two unrelated languages, is something of an art, rather than a strict science, which is why machine translations can be a bit ... hinky or downright nonsensical. As such, there are a couple competing conventions you may need to consider. Some people find tagging every single name with an honorific every single time to be cumbersome and opt to either drop them altogether or only use them sparingly. Others are more particular about their use, especially between casual contacts. There have been a great many arguments over which is correct and, at the end of the day, the truth is both are equally valid. It comes down to context and preference, the same as any other translation job. So the key, then, is open communication so all parties are on the same page.

Foreigners and Honorifics

Foreigners (gaijin**) in Japan are often stereotyped as arrogantly incompetent or well-meaning but inept, meaning many native speakers have low expectations of foreigners' ability to use Japanese correctly. As such, a gaijin using an improper conjugation or the wrong honorific is seen as typical and, if not necessarily given a pass, at least not treated as harshly as a native. The perhaps obvious exception would be for nikkei, diaspora Japanese on return visits to Japan.

What does this mean for your non-Japanese PC or NPC? It is possible for a gaijin resident to live for years in Japan and not progress far or at all in learning the language, but doing so will tend to annoy others and be seen as a bad reflection of one's character. Allowances are made for gaijin, but those who actively try to learn and improve are more likely to be encouraged.

Basic Honorifics

There are literally dozens of possible honorifics, from the common -san to the archaic -ue to the profession-specific -senshu and many, many more. We will cover more of them in the next lesson, but for starters, we'll go with the three one is most likely to encounter in JRP: -san, -kun, and -senpai.

-san When in doubt, -san is nearly always the safest choice of honorific. In formal writing, -san is typically translated as Mr. or Ms., though it is also used in less formal contexts where, in English, the use of those titles would be seen as overly formal. Gender neutral, class neutral, and occupation neutral, it's only considered incorrect where it's obvious another honorific would be more appropriate (e.g., -sensei for a doctor or teacher).

-kun Students are usually introduced to -kun as the honorific used for young boys, but it's actually not as strictly gendered as that. -kun is used between friends, classmates, and co-workers, as well as by seniors (senpai) speaking to their juniors (kouhai). Depending on context, it is a mark of respect and/or closeness. And yes, despite those early lessons, -kun is rightfully used for women, a mark of respect and seeing her as an equal of her peers.

-senpai In school, those students in the grade(s) above you are your senpai. After school, when one is employed by Company K, those who have been at the company longer then become one's senpai, while those who work for rival Company J, regardless of company standing, do not.

In JRP, senpai is usually extended beyond just one's own label, recognizing the hard work other artists have (presumably) put in to being musicians. The use of senpai is not technically linked to the age of the person to whom one is referring, but rather to the number of years that person has been a (professional) working musician. As such, it is possible for a younger musician to be senpai to an older one, though this can introduce special circumstances (we'll get into that more next time).

next lesson: In the next lesson, we'll discuss even more honorifics, as well as covering when to use each of them and when and how a person's honorific can change. We'll cover both how life events change honorifics as a linguistic matter and some options in how to reflect those changes in your RP.

* if you are RPing using bongos, please tell me how ** gaijin is sometimes accused of being derogatory, on the same level as the n-word, even though linguistically that's wildly inappropriate. It is literally [realms outside of Nihon] + [person from preceding realm]. With the right inflection/context, it can be used as an insult, but with the right inflection/context, so can “genius.” Nikkei, as diaspora, are not gaijin.