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pencil-peach · 2 years ago

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G Witch Onscreen Text: Episode 14

Part 15! Of the G Witch! Onscreen Text Analysis! Where I transcribe and discuss! Onscreen Text! And also just generally analyze the episodes! When I have time!

We are on Episode 14! "What They Wish For!"

Click Here! To go back! To Episode 13! Or! Go to the Masterpost!

Or! If you'd like! Join me! Beneath the Cut! (This one is really long! Wow!)

Before we start, something I forgot to discuss at the end of last episode, but there's this moment when Prospera asks Miorine if she'll be friends with Suletta again after the investigation, and Miorine says that of course she will.

Afterwards, Prospera pauses and smiles before proceeding to discuss Quiet Zero with her. I like to think she was genuinely relieved for a second, knowing how much she means to Suletta. (And also it maybe makes her easier to manipulate too. It can be both. Tomatoes tomatoes.)

We learn here that Prospera had been in talks with Delling about Quiet Zero since before she sent Suletta to Asticassia. Something that always gets to me about the timeline of events regarding Quiet Zero is Delling's behavior in Episode 2 during the trial.

Clearly he was devoted to developing Quiet Zero, so what was his goal with the trial? Prospera seemed to act as if she genuinely needed to convince Delling to accept Aerial by blackmailing Vim, and Delling seemed to be genuine when he spoke of disposing Aerial and "Getting Rid Of" Suletta

Prospera even makes a face like she wasn't expecting this. Was Delling trying to find a way to proceed on QZ without making use of a Gundam, and Prospera purposefully went behind his back to proceed with the plan in her own way? Delling does say, "Right now, Quiet Zero is still MY project," to her, as if he thinks she's getting ahead of herself.

Or maybe he just didn't want Aerial to be at the school, and wanted it to increase its Permet Score in some backwater sectors in space, and was just going to pretend to get rid of it and ship Suletta and Aerial to some distant war front. Who knows!

Utterly meaningless little detail, but I'm learning Japanese and I wanted to point it out. The title of this episode is "What They Wish For," and in the original JP name, the word they use for "They" is "彼女たち" (kanojotachi), which is the "they" you use when referring to a group made up only of girls. If it's a group of men or men and women, you use "彼ら" (karera).

So the title here is most likely referring to Sophie and Suletta in regards to their duel. It's probably obvious but it's a neat little thing that doesn't translate 1 to 1.

At the GUND-ARM Inc booth, they've set up a little info tablet for the prosthetic legs. How cute! Wish it was legible.

OHHHHH FUUUUUUCKKK!!!!!! Rubbing hands down my face FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKK!!!!! Okay lets go.

TEXT: (TOP LEFT)

ASTICASSIA SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY Welcome to ASTICASSIA, a front for learning that cultivates the pilots, engineers, and managers on whom the future of the Benerit Group relies.

As a higher education facility operated by the Benerit Group, we train the personnel who will form the core of the space development business.

The Asticassia School of Technology is a higher education facility operated by the Benerit Group. It implements a boarding school system that teaches the basics of communal living, a highly advanced professional curriculum, and a comprehensive instructional program in which we have invested all the technological confidence and accomplishments that the Group has built up in the mobile suit industry. Here we train the personnel who will support the space development business in the future. *To enroll, recommendations from Benerit Group [investment?] companies are required.

Chairman of the school board: Delling Rembran.

(BOTTOM LEFT) (NIKAS STUPID ASS HAND IS IN THE WAY THIS IS MY BEST APPROXIMATION)

[Enrichment?] [School Grounds?]

In the educational front constructed at Front Sector 73, there are schoolhouse areas where students can study in state-of-the-art facilities, residential areas where a House system fosters cooperation as they eat and sleep alongside their comrades, and tactical testing sectors where they can perform combat exercises with mobile suits. Interfront Monorail systems are also installed for travel between areas, enabling smooth movement. The schoolhouse areas include facilities such as cafeterias where students can relax during breaks between classes, and training rooms to promote the maintenance of mental and physical fitness.

Curriculum Fostering Independence

[??] an educational policy of respecting our students' independence, the curriculum has adapted a system of free choice. In addition to compulsory subjects that are common to all three special courses, students can build their own curriculum, selecting from classes corresponding to the department in which they belong, making choices specific to the improvement of their personal skills.

Equipment Complete facilities and mobile suits

The Burion company's Demi Trainer is used for mobile suit training exercises at the school. There are also many mobile craft, and a full compliment of maintenance docks equipped with cutting-edge technology. Thus pilots and mechanics can perform their exercises in the most perfect environment and facilities. [Burion company's Demi Trainer]

(Righthand side)

Special Courses Three Special Courses

Three specialized courses have been established at the school. The "Piloting Department" develops high grade pilots, the "Mechanics Department" creates professionals in the maintenance of mobile suits and working equipment, and the "Management Strategy Department" trains experts in corporate management. In each of these three-year special courses, students learn from the ground up under the guidance of outstanding instructors.

1. Piloting

A course to develop "high-grade pilots" with outstanding skills as mobile suit pilots, able to participate in development projects and conduct instructional training for ordinary pilots. In addition to control techniques, their skills as pilots are cultivated from many different perspectives, including physical training and immersive courses to understand the construction of mobile suits and mobile craft. *Enrollment in this special course is limited to those with mobile suit operating experience.

2. Mechanics

A course to create professional mechanics and engineers who can handle the maintenance, repair, design, and development of mobile suits and mobile craft. Its aim is to train personnel skilled in fast and reliable maintenance, who can perform customization and tuning for different pilots and environments, as well as designing and developing new mobile suits and mobile craft. In addition to basic technology, this department also places great emphases on creativity

3. Management Strategy

A course that teaches the knowhow of corporate management. The curriculum has been designed to instill abilities that are indispensable for managers, such as information analysis skills, the foresight to anticipate the trends of the times, fast and accurate judgement, and management skills for motivating subordinates.

(The Curriculum section is incredibly blurry, as the blur effect on the screen in this shot seemingly increases from left to right for some reason. This section is already incredibly long, so for the sake of legibility (and my sanity) I'll omit them from this transcription for now. Apologies, I'll try and make a separate post giving my best guesses as to what they say later.)

HOKAY. During Nika's flashback where she talks about how the DOF allowed her to go to Asticassia, we see her reading an actual Asticassia info pamphlet. A lot of this is just reiterating info we already know, but we actually Do learn some new info that clarifies some things about how Asticassia works

We learn that in order to enroll in the school broadly, it's REQUIRED to have a recommendation from a Benerit Group verified company. It's not like a normal school where it simply increases your chances of getting admitted, it's a baseline requirement. That's why Nika, Sophie, and Norea needed fake companies only registered in the group by name.

Somewhat more importantly, we also get an explanation as to why there seem to be so few piloting students at Asticassia as opposed to the other 2 courses. It's because a student needs to have Mobile Suit operating experience as a PRE-REQUISITE to enroll for the course. Asticassia's Piloting program isn't a course where one can learn to be a pilot, it's a course that reinforces and improves the skills a pilot must already have. (A lot of other things make sense too, like, the fact that students are responsible for the support and repair of their own mobile suits, or that the school doesn't provide any mobile suits other than Demi Trainers for class.)

It's not new information, but now that I think about it the fact that Burion is the company that supplies Asticassia with its Demi Trainers is probably why Secelia and Rouji are allowed to be members of the Dueling Committee, despite their company not being in the upper echelon of the Group, nor either of them being piloting students themselves.

Nothing about the Dueling or Holder systems are explained in this pamphlet, at least, nothing on this page. Suletta didn't know anything about it before arriving to the school, so if I had to make a guess, I figure it's only something you learn once you get to the school. (Or maybe it's just...explained on another page.)

All the lovely things stated about the school's grounds and house system are really funny when you remember that Earth house looks like this.

I like this scene where Norea hands 5lan his phone back. She doesn't even hide the fact that she stole it, and then she reveals to him that he knows about him and his relationship to Peil (Probably because she read his email correspondence with them.) 5lan calmly takes it back, not to plussed about it, and probably not interested in even telling Peil the phone was stolen at all. They both say that the other is annoying. True love!

There's this bit where Suletta tells Sophie about her promise to Miorine, and she responds by calmly and emotionlessly repeating out loud everything she knows about her before cutting back to her usual outgoing personality. This is the only time we ever really see her do something like this. I wonder if this is something she does often when she's deep in thought about something.

In this scene, Suletta is also still unaware about the reality of the situation. She says she can't let Sophie win their duel because in her mind, if she does, she'll lose her status as Holder. When Sophie runs away, Suletta reaches out, telling her that they need to do the dueling vow. She doesn't understand what's really happening.

TEXT: RUMBLE RING The Rumble Ring, the main event of the Open Campus, is about to begin! All participating students, please report to the 9th Tactical Testing Sector. All viewers[...]

The Rumble Ring event screen. We never see the full thing so we don't know where the viewers are told to go. [Punches the wall in anger] FUCK!!!! WHY CANT WE KNOW!!!!!

Lauda says that the rumble ring will be the last thing he does before he becomes CEO of JHM. It's sad that he has to bear that burden on his own, but we later see that Petra was working as his assistant while he was CEO. It's sweet that she seemingly unenrolled too, just to follow him.

Couple of fun things about this scene, so, firstly, underneath the photos of Sabina and Renee, in the window, we can see Renee and Sabina's fans holding up signs and hearts and cheering them on.

The other is that, in this battle, Sabina and Renee are using different mobile suits. In the Earth House duel, the Grassley Girls were all using Beguir-Pentes, while in the Rumble Ring, Sabina and Renee using Heindrees. We can actually see that the UI on their photos has been updated to reflect this.

Now, this is clearly not, like, a standard thing, right? Like, we only ever see these specific Pre-Duel spreads for the Grassley Girls. Shaddiq himself doesn't even have one, so it's not like it's a Grassley thing. So that probably, definitely means that these are fanmade spreads, and there's either one, or a group of extremely dedicated Grassley Girl Fans who make them.

Oh, and because I didn't notice last time, all the Grassley Girls have a shape flourish around on their Duel Info. Sabina, Renee, and Henao all have a star, but Maisie and Ireesha have a heart.

A funny thing about the Rumble Ring (That you will only notice if you do some stupid thing like rewatching this show double digit number of times like I have.) Is that, when the 9th Tactical Testing Sector fades out into its simulated environment, it shows a dark, overcast sky. But during the actual Rumble Ring, the sky is clearly, um. Not that. This isn't a case of a prior animation having been used without edits either. Up to now, every single simulated environment has been unique, including this one. It seems there might've just been a miscommunication between the environment artists who were in charge of the simulator scene and the background artists responsible for the Rumble Ring scenes. Maybe nobody caught it or had time to fix it before the episode aired. I wonder if they fixed it in the Blu-ray version?

Unlike Guel's Dilanza, Lauda's isn't custom colored. It uses the same color of the base model. I wonder if he requested that.

When Norea targets Chuchu's cockpit, she receives an alert on her monitor saying ALERT YOUR COCKPIT IS BEING TARGETED. That's how she knows Norea had done it and managed to shield herself.

Rouji then states that they must not have the regulation program installed, so in addition to limiting beam output, the program also ensures an MS is unable to target an opposing MS' cockpit, so as to avoid a lethal attack.

I like that Secelia knows when to drop the snark and keep a steady head when it comes to people's safety.

Maybe I'm just a bit too sentimental, but there's something about this scene, where Chuchu is about to fully give into her wrath and follow the same path Norea went down, only to be brought to her senses by somebody yelling for help that really makes me mourn the time that G Witch didn't have to tell its story. Even just a little bit more time to explore that idea....ah well, it is what it is, and I still love this scene.

This is the screen that pulls up when Norea tries to contact Sophie and cant get a signal because she's out of range. But more interestingly, this is our first look at the Thorn (and presumably Ur)'s main menu (it's faded out behind the Communication mode UI)

It's the same as Aerial's! Not surprising, but pretty cool.

Sophie's death is kind of interesting when you think about it. At this point, Eri has produced a miniature data storm, and thus taken control of the Gundvolvas and the Ur.

But Sophie still pushes through and manages to maintain control of Ur, pushing herself closer and closer to Aerial, even still being able to defeat the now rogue Gundvolvas.

We learn later in Episode 22 that in order to maintain control of a Gundam in Eri's Data Storm, you have to clear Score 5. But Sophie's case is still somewhat different. When Suletta Pilots Calibarn, she's told that it doesn't have a filter for data storm feedback, but as a result can produce a higher score within the same amount of Permet.

That means that, despite Sophie and Suletta each having surpassed Score 5, Suletta in Calibarn is actually not being exposed to as much Permet as Sophie is in this scene. (Sophie and Suletta have a similar Permet Scar Pattern on their faces, but unlike Suletta, the Permet scars are running through Sophie's Eyes.)

And Sophie doesn't have Suletta's natural resistance to data storms either, so on top of that Permet Exposure, the Data Storm is frying her too.

Norea wasn't lying when she said that she died before Suletta could kill her.

This is scene is such a sad conclusion to her duel with Sophie. The whole fight, Sophie is forcing her to confront and ask herself uncomfortable questions.

When Sophie tells her why she kills, Suletta tells her it's wrong, that you can't kill other people just to get what you want, and then she remembers Miorine's horrified face, and remembers that she did the same thing to save her.

When Sophie forces her to ask herself what Aerial was built to do, what she needs all these weapons for, she freezes. She doesn't know the answer.

And when she sees that Sophie has died, Norea tells her to her face that Gundams will eventually kill anyone who continues to pilot them. Something her mother told her wasn't true.

But...when she talks to Aerial, she can only rationalize it by saying that Sophie had to be wrong. That Gundams are supposed to save people. Because that's what her mother told her. And above all else, at the core of Suletta's being, the very foundational idea that she has built her entire life up from is the belief that her mother loves her and would never lie to her.

Eri can only tell Suletta what she thinks will make her feel better. That it's okay, because she saved everybody. And Suletta agrees, because again, move forward gain two. Just like mom says. And just like that, all 3 of the uncomfortable ideas that Suletta had to confront during her duel with Sophie are completely shut down.

But even as she says that, with a smile on her face, she's crying. Deep down, she doesn't want to do this. Deep down, she knows that it's wrong. Deep down, she's in so much pain. But it's fine. It's okay, because even if it hurts, even if it's unbearable, it has to be right. It has to be right, because her mother is always right.

You could say a lot about Miorine's actions in episode 17, and maybe it wasn't the best way, but separating her from her mother was not a mistake.

Thank you for reaching the end of this part! Quite a long one huh??!??!?! I don't blame you if you couldn't finish this one...there was just so much to talk about!!!

For my final gift...

Erm...

youtube

Here's the theme that plays for a majority of Norea and Sophie's attack on Asticassia. This theme also plays a bit during the infiltration of Quiet Zero.

A fun fact about this episode is that it has one of the few Enemy/Non-Aerial Gundam battles that "Pharact" doesn't play at some point for. Click to go to Episode 15! >>

Click to go to the Masterpost! >>

#g witch #gundam the witch from mercury #Youtube

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sayitaliano · 2 years ago

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So I’m learning Italian on Duolingo which means I’m not getting a whole lot of explanation but I am getting a lot of examples that seem to contradict each other.

How do definite articles work in Italian? When do you have to use them, when do you need to omit them?

I’m very lost. Every time I think I’ve figured a pattern out Duo throws an example at me that contradicts it and I can’t tell if I just don’t get it or if Duo itself is making mistakes (which happens!).

I get that the answer may be “you gotta learn to tell by vibe” but I’m coming at this from English, with familiarity with German and Japanese. I have no baseline vibes for articles in Romance languages. I could use some rules of thumb.

Thank you.

Ciao Yeah I understand well your situation: Italian course on Duolingo is useless if you only use that as a source of learning. I realized this trying it myself and from other Italian learners who were as lost as you when it came to understanding the language and using it. I don't want to sound rude or anything cause I understand it seems helpful and well buildt but... I personally discourage its use as it contains grammar mistakes and, as you noticed yourself, it's unreliable and doesn't explain anything. It makes you rush through grammar but teaches you anything in the end. There are far better apps/websites imo and you can always use other grammar resources together with them so to clarify your possible doubts.

Now, to answer you, there are a bunch of posts here in the grammar masterpost and on my instagram (@/sayitaliano) as well all about the articoli determinativi (and indeterminativi too ofc + other variations). There are also posts about when to use them or not: on this specific matter though, I want you to know that there are rules exceptions that you will only learn with practice and once you'll get more comfortable with the language. Seen where you're coming from and all your confusion, I'd suggest you to stick with studying the general use's rules and grow acquainted with the right choice of article (you'll need to learn nouns genders too for this). It doesn't matter if you add an article when it's not required: especially in the beginning it's perfectly fine, just learn to use the right one and how (with which combination of vowels/consonants/gender/number). You can easily postpone the "when to use it or not" to a later moment.

grammar masterpost (look specifically at the articoli section) The main post I am suggesting you and that you'll find in that section is the first one: articoli . There's also the when not to use (more links the masterpost) but again, I would suggest you to not add more confusion to your actual one, and just go step by step. Read the first 3 links of the articoli section and start with them (or read the 2 articoli posts on instagram, which are a resume of these posts). When you feel ready, go on with the others.

Let me know if you need anything or would like to practice what you learned with me one day :) I'm up if you'd like to send a short text or a few sentences just to check your understanding of the rules.

#it #italian #langblr #italiano #italian language #italian langblr #language #languages #parole words #italian grammar #grammatica italiana #grammatica grammar #lingua italiana #articoli #i really dont like duo sorry i may be biased or whatever but i cant

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rigelmejo · 11 months ago

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Hi anyone new: just an fyi my pinned resources post is unfortunately not exhaustive. There are a lot of newer things I've shared that I didn't add yet, mainly because I haven't edited that post in a long while.

Some useful tags

Rec list (some resources shared under this tag)

Japanese resources (japanese learning resources or immersion I've found like some lets plays, graded readers, manga)

Chinese resources (chinese learning resources or immersion I've found like some webnovels, shows, graded readers, manhua)

Japanese reference (information containing grammar or vocabulary, or links related to study materials like Textbooks)

Chinese reference (information containing grammar or vocabulary, or links related to study materials like Textbooks)

Resources (general tag for learning resources or immersion material)

Reference (general tag for grammar or vocabulary explanations or study materials)

Listening reading method (posts about listening reading method)

Lr method, l r method (other tags for posts on listening reading method)

Reading list (stuff I've read in chinese or japanese, or plan to read)

My reading list (a more specific tag for stuff I have read)

Comprehensible input, comprehensible input method, nature method (tags on posts related to learning with comprehensible input)

Comprehensible input resources (resources for learning with comprehensible input. I do not use this tag enough as some posts for this are untagged)

Study plan (my summary or notes on study plans I have done, or am planning on doing, or study challenges I am attempting)

Progress (my general tag for notes about progress on how the study plan is working or not, and reflections on old study plans and my general progress over time)

I used to use tags such as: january study plan, january progress, etc. But in retrospect that only helped with tracking in the first year. So at this point everything is just under the general tags: study plan, progress

Study method (i do not use this tag much anymore, i used to use this tag for posts explaining certain study methods or experiments/challenges involving certain study methods)

Refold, mass immersion approach, massive immersion approach (these are all generally the same study method, i did not consistently tag, I mostly made reflections on attempting this method to a degree and what i saw as its short comings and positives)

Apps, app review (i need to consistently tag these. Further tags for more specific apps: duolingo, clozemaster, glossika, lingodeer, memrise)

Article (i need to use this tag more, tag for sharing articles i have found about either about language learning, or specific articles for teaching particular language information, or articles explaining various study methods)

Rant (my general tag when im not sure where a post falls, it may not be informational in any particular way, and it's more of a personal journal entry of how studying is going or things i've been thinking about that are related to studying)

Chinese reading, japanese reading (i do not use these tags much anymore, but i used to use them to share either reading materials i found or reading skill progress)

I have a few tags for my resources and reference masterposts, and study plan masterposts, but i do not remember them at the moment so i'll need to look them up

#rant #tags summary #tags

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hades100stages · 9 months ago

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100 Days of Productivity~ My goals for this challenge

2024:08:15

Masterpost

I have compiled a list of some things I’d like to keep consistent during the 100 days. I know some people try to specify hours and times but I don’t have my university schedule until the first week of September so I can’t make my own timetable until I know when my classes are. Until then, I’ll probably just be doing my best to do whatever’s practical and compatible with other things happening in life.

I’d like to try to immerse myself in Japanese language throughout, watching films, YouTube videos, and tv shows in japanese, and also focusing on reading japanese literature and history- basically try to use as little English as possible.

I really struggle with my mental health so I’d like to take notes and monitor my mental health closely to recognise triggers and healthy habits to learn from and reflect on.

Work on my handwriting so it’s actually legible when I go back to check my notes.

Try to study with other people and share notes and ideas… I find it’s genuinely the best way to study but my social anxiety makes it seem impossible sometimes.

Study at a desk instead of in bed… I know I get depressed but it genuinely helps make everything easier.

Take more walks, even if it’s really short. Depression makes a 10 minute walk feels like hours but when I get back home I feel so much better.

Get into a routine… I’ve been experimenting for years now and I think I’ve safely established that no matter how hard I try or how much I try to change, I’m not a morning person. I’d like to get into a routine that fits this and I’d like to stop feeling guilty about not being able to wake up hours before classes to have a full relaxing and healthy morning routine… it’s just not possible.

Despite this, I’d like to stop being late for morning classes. I want to wake up and leave the house at the same time every day (even if it’s not to go to a class, I’d like to do something like to go the shop or for a walk, even if it’s only for a few minutes before I go back home.)

I may update this post and add new things to my list, like when I get my timeline and when I get new ideas- however I won’t add anything new after I begin my challenge on the 1st of September.

#100 days of productivity #bookblr #coffeeblr #uni student #university #study blog #studyspo #study motivation #100 days challenge #japanese studies

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psychoticwillgraham · 3 months ago

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au's in progress to pick from

this is gonna be the masterpost for all the au's i'm working on and when they're all posted i'm gonna make a poll to see which one y'all want me to work on first

first au: where Will is a ball jointed doll, mostly as an excuse for me to write a lighter and more 'happy' au and to flex my knowledge about bjd's. none of this is edited so apologies if it looks wonky.

-The concept: Hannibal is an extremely lonely genius who decides to sculpt a life sized bjd of what he would consider to be the perfect man (basically his version of the statue of david) and uses an ancient form of magic to will life into the doll to see if it takes. A few days pass with no change, and Hannibal tries to accept that it didn’t work, but still dresses Will in outfits and treats him with care as if he’s alive. Hannibal goes to work the next day and when he returns home, it’s snowing (this is important later), and he gets a feeling that something in the air in his house has changed, so he goes straight to his workshop to see if Will is still there where he left him on the workbench chair. He’s not, which proves to Hannibal that he’s finally alive, so he searches through the house for him, and eventually finds him in the study, sitting in a chair near the lit fireplace, mesmerized by the fire. Hannibal quietly approaches him and Will turns to face him, immediately smiling at him and Hannibal introduces himself as Will’s ‘creator,’ and calls him by the name he’d already picked out for him. Hannibal brings him in for a hug and legitimately cries, and tells him how much he loves him already.

-The first few weeks are spent with Hannibal teaching Will how to be as human as he can be, and introducing him to the animals in the forest, and the wonders of nature. He teaches him how to read using classic literature and shows him his favorite classic films, and, at Will’s request, animated films (such as Miyazaki films and general classic Japanese animated films), and teaches him how to play the piano. Will can’t eat anything unfortunately, which Hannibal is devastated about at first, but still teaches him to cook very basic things. A year passes with Will being alive, and Hannibal starts to wonder when and if the magic will run out, but tells himself not to be concerned about it. On the day of his first anniversary of him being alive, Hannibal begins to notice that the magic is fading and that Will is beginning to slow in his movements and start to become a doll again. He does everything he possibly can to prolong the time they have left together, but nothing works. So they spend every last moment they have left together and two days before Will ‘dies,’ they finally share their first kiss. At this point, they both know that Will only has maybe two days left and they spend it constantly kissing each other and just existing together. On the final night, at midnight on Christmas day, will ‘dies’ in Hannibal’s arms in bed together, and once again, Hannibal sobs.

Hannibal spirals into a deep, deep depression and kills more frequently to distract from his grief, eventually attempting suicide at least four separate times. But each time he tries, something prevents the right circumstances from happening (it’s Will’s soul or whatever the equivalent is in this). Eventually, Hannibal accepts the reality of living without a sentient Will, but diligently continues to dress him in new clothes every day, brush his hair, and generally treat him as if he’s still a person like he always had. Then, two years later, on New Year’s Eve, Will stirs after all this time and greets Hannibal at the entryway to the study, the place they first met all that time ago. Hannibal becomes overwhelmed with emotion again, and hugs Will until Will’s ball joints start to creak, and they share a long kiss at the stroke of midnight and the fic ends.

Potential bonus part two: As Hannibal grows older over the years, he adopts Abigail (who doesn’t even bat an eye that her other dad is a literal doll) and has successfully integrated Will into his public life (at this point, magic is better understood and science has progressed enough to the point where he give Will a synthetic skin to wear out in public that disguises his joints). When Hannibal turns 50, he’s finally able to give Will a completely synthetic body (think like an android sort of thing) that allows him to eat and sleep and truly be human. He also makes it so that they can finally have sex together, and when they do for the first time, it’s slow and gentle (not only because they want it that way, but because Hannibal has gotten older and Will wants to be mindful of that). Eventually, the time comes where Hannibal is dying from old age, and Will tries to convince him to upload his consciousness into an android (which is standard practice now) so that they can both live forever together, but Hannibal instructs Abigail not to let Will do so under any circumstances, and when Hannibal finally dies, he dies with Will by his side, holding his hand as he takes his last breath.

Epilogue: Hannibal’s mansion has long since decayed into disrepair, his body buried under Will’s favorite tree in the backyard, and Abigail comes across it, finding Will’s original bjd body now overgrown and yellowed, laying next to Hannibal’s grave. She smiles as she lays flowers on them, and walks off into the sunset, leaving their bodies behind. The final scene is of Hannibal and Will’s souls in a forest somewhere in the afterlife, hands entwined as they kiss under a tree, with Will finally being real, and both together forever.

#my fic #my writing #idk i just thought this would be a cute au

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junipersailor · 5 months ago

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Prolouge

MC AU Masterpost

2011, Japan (TMNT 2012 universe)

Karai angrily kicked the dust in the dojo yard. She was disappointed with the way her kunoichi training was going. Although her father advised her to be patient, she herself was dissatisfied with herself. Of course, she already knew well at the age of fourteen that she could not be a professional, she felt a bit untalented around the members of the Foot Clan.

- Karai, don't go far! Takashi sensei said after her from the door. - I have to go now, until then you take care of the dojo.

- Where are you going, sensei? - asked the girl, although she was happy to accept the task. If she is entrusted with the dojo, that means Takashi sensei and her father trust him, right?

"Saki-san's orders," the man answered shortly.

Karai watched her teacher leave unhappily, then continued to ramble aimlessly. A small stream flowed at the end of the yard, and she finally settled there. She was sitting on a rock and dangling her feet in the cold water when she heard strange sounds. Looking up, she didn't notice anything strange and in the silence she thought she was imagining things, when she saw a blue glow beyond the stream, behind the trees.

The yard was bordered by a stream, and Takashi had specifically asked her not to wander off, but what if the mysterious light was a threat to the clan? Karai waded across to the other side without hesitation.

However, when she could have glimpsed the source of the glow behind the trees, the light disappeared. Frustrated, she looked around to see if he could find anything, anything, that would point to the mystery. She was about to give up when a bush rustled and a strange stranger appeared before her eyes.

" A kappa? " she asked almost in a whisper, when the little green creature started to squirm.

"Ouch, that hurt " he moaned to himself when he noticed Karai.

Several emotions ran through his face, decorated with red stripes, from confusion to fear.

"So... You are from Jersey? " he finally asked with an awkward smile.

" Here you go? " Karai was puzzled, even before she could understand that he should speak in English.

"Nothing, nothing," said the newcomer first, to her surprise, in Japanese.

He was no longer looking at Karai, but studying his surroundings. Karai recognized the calculating looks, but didn't want the kappa to leave, so she quickly grabbed him by the arm.

" Wait, kappa! " she shouted. " What's your name?"

The other stopped in surprise. He considered his situation, but since she didn't seem intimidated by his appearance, he finally extended his right hand for a handshake with a friendly, confident smile.

- I'm Leonardo, but you can call me Leo, Leon, Blue, or most importantly: Neon Leon!

#mc au #multiuniversal chaos #rottmnt #tmnt12 #rottmnt leo #12 karai

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veephoenix · 1 year ago

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Chapter tags & trigger warnings: blind best friends, angst, alcohol intake, Japanese folklore. | Word count: 3.3k | Series masterpost. ✧.*

General trigger warnings: This work addresses and depicts issues related to addiction and violence, contains explicit sexual content, and explores themes of childhood trauma. Reader discretion is advised. +18

I had been sick for the past three days, with fevers coming and going and coughing up flowers that had me not just confused, but considering the idea that I was definitely going mad. I had only told someone about it, and that was obviously Lia. However, I hadn’t been able to let her know until she stopped by for longer than thirty minutes.

She had officialy started dating Mitch and I was barely able to see her.

When she sat down on the kitchen isle and started researching my symptoms on her phone, she didn’t find anything that wasn’t just speculation. She suggested on calling my doctor or taking me to the hospital, but I dismissed the options, asserting that I was starting to feel a bit better.

And it was true. The time she spent with me that day made my health improve. She’d busied herself preparing me herbal teas and soothing down my fever with whatever we had in the house.

Aside from her care, things were different. She was in a relationship now, and for some reason, I felt there was a bridge growing between us. She avoided getting as close to me as she did before, and the way we used to hold each other’s gazes became null, for she would drop her eyes every time I caught her staring at me.

We had said that whatever we did, whatever relationship we got into, it wouldn’t affect our friendship, but there we were, drifting apart even while her hand was on my forehead, checking my temperature.

The day after her last visit, I felt pissed.

I went to the studio we had rented downtown to continue working on the new record. Lia wouldn’t be there that day. She was busy in a meeting a few hours from Los Angeles. Lia and I had had dinner and she had left right after, but that morning, I checked my phone expecting a message from her, letting me know that she was on her way to the meeting or that she had reached. There was nothing. Her absence and the fact that Mitch probably knew more about her whereabouts than I did put me on a foul mood.

I slumped in a chair, and my fingers immediately started tapping on the armrest as I listened to Matt talk. After ten minutes, I was sure the guys could feel the tension I have brought with me permeating the air in the studio. When Matt said something that I didn’t agree with, I replied to him in a tone that was not typical of me. Jolly and Folio exchanged uneasy glances, but I ignored them by moving to the next room.

Nicholas was the one to follow. When I crossed looks with him, there was concern etched across his face. I couldn’t avoid the inevitable question just the same I couldn’t avoid feeling like this.

“Noah, you okay?” He inquired, placing his coffee on the desk.

“Yeah,” I lied.

“Is this about the coughing? Has it wors—?”

“No, nothing to do with that,” I replied, pulling my phone from my pocket, checking once again for a message from Lia. Nothing. I returned the phone to my pocket. Nicholas still studied me intently. “I mean, I’m okay. If my voice doesn’t work, then fuck it. We’ll wait another week.”

“That’s not very typical of you,” he murmured, eyeing me suspiciously. No, it wasn’t. Breaking the planned schedule wasn’t my style, but I was also not known for being someone impatient. “But yeah, if you’re not feeling well, you should rest and let your voice get back to normal. We’re in no rush.”

“I am,” I responded, determined and frustrated. I was in a rush.

“You know things won’t work out if you force them to happen.”

I needed to distract myself, to escape my thoughts. It was the reason I’d dragged myself out of bed and driven to the studio that day instead of calling Matt to say I was sick.

“Oh, yeah, thanks for the great advice, man.”

I couldn’t handle it. I was irritable.

“What’s wrong with you, Noah?” Nicholas asked, irritation creeping up to him and into his voice, too. “Why are you so pissed?”

“Well, I think I have an idea why that is.” Jolly retorted, entering the room. He had overheard everything. Not that I’d done any effort to keep my voice down. He adjusted his guitar, ignoring the volatile energy around me.

I scowled; my jaw clenched as I glared at him.

Matt attempted to lighten the mood, sending only a sideways look my way as he joined us. “Come on. We’re all feeling the pressure here. Why don’t we just channel that into the music, yeah?”

I sighed, running a hand through my disheveled hair. I wasn’t sure I could give my best, given that I had spent the last two days coughing, but I was there for a reason, and I planned on making the most of it. “Fine,” I mumbled. I set my phone facing down next to Nicholas’ coffee. “Let’s get to it.”

Mitch was the first guy that Lia ever called “her boyfriend”, and the name nagged at me. Every other guy that had come across her way had been a flirt, a one-night stand, or a two-week fling. She never really felt anything too special for them, and she had always prioritized me before them.

With Mitch, it was different.

It had been two months. She was overly ecstatic. The first few weeks I had a feeling that Lia might enlighten Mitch with all the things that had happened in her life, maybe including the fact that I had been her first kiss. What little I knew about Mitch was that he could be very persuasive when it came to getting what he wanted, and I had never seen anyone so fixated on Lia as he was. Lia wasn’t one to open that easily, but it was the first time she was like this, so entranced with a guy, and I had my doubts at how much she would retain. She was always very careful about what information she would give away. Sharing with people facts about her childhood and her mother was something that she didn’t find comfort in, and every time someone asked how the two of us met, it was a common understanding that we would give a simple answer and diverge the topic. I didn’t know now if Mitch had any idea about her past, about where she came from and the things that her mother did —or didn’t do— to her.

Maybe I was being too overprotective. Lia had already told me a few times that I was, but so was she, always disliking the girls I went out with and playing pranks to get them to leave the house the next morning in a rush, as if they had learnt something scary about me, whatever it was. Lia was getting really good at making shit up. We had actually had an argument a month before she met Mitch because she introduced herself as my fucking wife to the girl I had just slept with, mentioning the tattoo of her name I had in my neck. Lia pretended to be super angry at finding another woman in my bed. The poor girl thought I had cheated on Lia and left with her heels on her hands, screaming.

When Saturday came, I was expecting Nicholas to come over after lunch so that we could spend the evening playing videogames, but I received an unexpected visit in the middle of the afternoon which caused me a mix of happiness and unease.

Lia threw her arms around my neck, exclaiming a very elated “hi” in my ear. It felt nice to have her in my arms again, but my tight grip loosened as soon as I spotted Mitch coming from behind. His car was parked in the driveway, next to mine. I could tell he was not very pleased with Lia’s affection toward me. I understood his perspective, though. His girlfriend had a best friend, another male, and she had a history with him, a life, if you’d call it. We had grown together, lived together, and slept together in the same bed countless of times. I wasn’t sure how much Mitch knew about our friendship, but it was enough to send him over the edge sometimes. He had already made a couple of comments about people mistaking her for my girlfriend instead of his, and he’d made it clear that he didn’t like it.

All I could think of was fuck you, dude.

In a matter of thirty minutes, the house was full of people.

Jolly had a delivery coming up, new furniture for his room, and he had called some guy from IKEA to set it up because for the love of God he was awful at it and didn’t want us to help. Last time we set up his bed, he found two screws on the floor after a month and he was so scared that the bed would crumble at some point during the night that he unmounted everything and had a specialist come in. We thought we could entertain ourselves with videogames while the job was getting done on the other room, but with Lia and Mitch in the house, and Mike who came later with his girlfriend, the evening turned into an unexpected small event.

Beers were served, food was taken out. Before we realized it, we found ourselves sharing drinks with the folks from IKEA. Despite not lingering for long, they managed to enjoy a free beer and indulge in a plethora of snacks, enough to satiate their hunger well into the next day.

Jolly was just farewelling them from the door when my gaze diverted to the sofa, where Nicholas was playing videogames, and I spotted Lia in the corner, in the furthest area of the sofa, sat on Mitch’s lap, her mouth on his, his hand on her ass.

“Noah.”

“What?”

I turned around. I was standing by the kitchen isle, my hands gripping the edge of the counter. My knuckles had gone white. Mike’s girlfriend was looking at me with a friendly smile.

“I said ‘do you want another beer?’” She offered nicely.

“Yes, sure,” I gave her a smile and accepted the beer she handed me.

Taking the first sip, I casually turned away from the group of guys gathered in the kitchen. Just as Mike, his girlfriend, and Jolly delved into what appeared to be an intriguing conversation, I made my escape.

Securing myself in the studio, I powered up the monitor, launching X and reviewing the latest piece I had been working on. Less than ten minutes later, a knock echoed on the door, and I knew it was Lia, evident from the gentle taps and the intervals between each.

She peeked through the door and smiled widely when she saw me.

“Hey, I noticed you slipping away from there,” she said.

She did? She had looked pretty busy to me.

She made her way in, leaving the door slightly ajar. The studio bathed in a soft, comforting light. Despite the noise coming from the living room, this was my sanctuary. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m not really in the mood for a party,” I admitted. “But I’m glad you came by,” I reassured her after I saw her features fall. Turning the chair, I faced her until I had her at arm’s reach. “How was the trip?”

She had been gone all weekend. Mitch had surprised her with some getaway weekend in Las Vegas, and I didn’t hear from her since the day before she left.

“Good. A bit rushed, though,” she replied, her attention shifting to a new book I had bought recently and that sitting atop a pile of other that I had pending to read. It felt to me that she wasn’t much eager to talk about the trip. “We did some sightseeing and I managed to drag Mitch out of the casinos and go visit the Neon Museum, it was super interesting. You would have loved it.”

Her smile could’ve lighted up the whole room if it wasn’t for the tinge of melancholy I saw in her eyes.

“I’ll make sure to check it out next time we’re in Las Vegas for a show,” I promised. “Did you do get time to go see the Antelope Canyon?”

“I wish! But Mitch isn’t much into walking.”

Too bad. Lia loved hiking. Two years ago, we had gone trekking to Yellowstone and had spent the night in the campsite, playing guitar and singing songs under the moonlight. I couldn’t imagine what fun she had found in Las Vegas if most of their time had been spent in the casinos.

“What does he like, anyway?” The question slipped out involuntarily from my lips.

Lia narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at me.

“I’m serious,” I quickly interjected, refusing to let guilt take over me. “I know he’s cool and he’s into music and all that, but what did you see in him?”

“Noah, let’s not go there again,” she said, weariness evident in her tone. She allowed herself to sink into she sofa, her eyes pleading and a faint smile on her lips. “I don't know what you have suddenly got against him. I’m happy, isn’t that enough?”

I sighed.

“Yeah, it is.”

I guess, I thought.

“But if it makes you feel any better,” she continued, straightening herself, “he takes good care of me, he makes me laugh and he makes me feel important.”

“He better do that, otherwise I will kick his ass.”

“I do not want to see that happening,” she affirmed.

A laugh escaped me, releasing some of the tension. After a moment of quiet, another question slipped from my lips.

“Does he know about your relationship with your mother?”

Lia’s demeanor shifted, a familiar guardedness that used to settle in whenever her mother was mentioned.

“He knows she didn’t care much about me. I didn’t go into detail because I don’t find it necessary.” She stood up. Her expression changed and I knew she was about to shift the topic. She approached me and grabbed a strand of my hair. “Your hair has grown so much. It’s longer than mine now.”

Good way to steer the conversation, Lia.

“I’m thinking of cutting it.”

“Why?”

“I’m just tired of it. It gets so inconvenient sometimes.”

“I can braid it, if you want,” she offered, tilting her head a bit.

“No, thanks,” I replied, my words accompanied by a dismissive pff sound and a displeased look.

“Okay, Mr. Grumpy,” she teased, letting go of my hair. “How’s the coughing?”

“Coming and going,” I replied, not giving it too much importance. I was sick of it, of not understanding it. I had called grandma a few weeks ago and she told me something related to fairytales and love stories. I didn’t need any of it. I needed a cure before it got worse. “I was pretty fucked up a couple of days ago. But today, alas, I woke up just fine.”

“I’m tired of telling you to go see a doctor,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“This has nothing to do with doctors, Lia. If I tell them what’s happening, they’ll either lock me up in the psych ward or treat me like a test specimen.”

“I know, but there must be a solution. What if it gets worse?”

I shrugged.

“Grandma said the solution is that you stay by my side, and everything will be fine.”

“Oh, how convenient for you.”

Despite what she thought, I wasn’t joking. I said that casually, but I was still grappling with whatever grandma had meant when she involved Lia in this strange sickness.

“Not interested in playing nurse for a while?”

“I had my fill of looking after you, Jolly, and Jesse when all three of you caught the flu three Christmases ago.”

That had been a crazy Christmas. All three of us laying in bed and Lia going from one room to another checking our temperature and making sure we were eating properly, and in the meantime, she’d kept on working, designing stuff for the merch drop we had planned for the beginning of the new year while trying not to get sick all at the same time. She was unbelievable.

“Oh, by the way. I wrote something while I was away,” she suddenly remembered. She took out a sheet of notebook from the back pocket of her jeans and handed it to me. “Will you check it out and let me know what you think?”

It was a song. She had written a song while out on a road trip with her boyfriend.

“Of course.”

“Not now, though. Maybe when there’s less chaos in the house.”

I nodded, a little smile playing at my lips, eager for everyone to leave and night to come so that I could lock retreat to my room, MacBook at myside, and Lia’s handwritten lyrics in my hands.

I saved the paper in the pocket of my sweatpants.

When my phone buzzed, I glanced at it briefly before deciding to ignore it.

“Are you not gonna reply?” She asked, curiosity evident in her tone.

“Nope.”

“What if it’s someone important?” She inquired, moving some hair away from her face.

There was a hint of something in her voice, as if she wanted me to answer that there wasn’t anybody.

I made a clicking sound with my tongue, swaying in the chair.

“It’s not.”

“Come on,” she oddly insisted. “Are you not gonna tell me? Are you seeing someone?”

“Lia, last time I brought a girl home, she ran away before I could get her naked because someone told her I had herpes while I was in Jolly’s room looking for condoms, and because of you I was left with a boner that I had to tend by myself.”

She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggles.

The sound didn’t last long, though. The door opened promptly, and Mitch appeared from the well-lit hallway, his smile growing wider as he caught sight of Lia.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you for twenty minutes.”

The house is not that fucking big, I thought.

“Hey,” Lia greeted him, reaching out to touch his arm affectionately.

“What’s so funny?” He queried.

“Nothing,” Lia replied, shaking her head and trying to compose herself.

“Well,” Mitch draped an arm around her, “I think we should go. It’s getting late, and I have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Sure,” she agreed, her words being swallowed by Mitch, who leaned in until his mouth met hers.

My eyes lingered on the scene for a moment before I looked away, but not soon enough to miss Lia’s hand pressing against his chest and her nervous, uncomfortable laughter.

“Let’s get out of here,” she mumbled. “Can you grab my jacket and bag from the entry? I’ll meet you there in a minute?” She playfully slapped his ass, urging him out.

I pretended to be busy again with the computer during their interaction, but the truth was that I couldn’t focus my eyes on anything on the screen.

“In a minute,” he repeated, his voice demanding and stern. It was a good thing I didn’t see how he looked at Lia and how he pointed a finger at her; otherwise, I’d have told him to shove his demands up his ass.

With him gone, Lia turned to me, her hand briefly resting on my hair as she bid me farewell. She leaned in to peck my cheek and requested to text her whenever I finished checking her song.

“And don’t work too hard!” She shouted from the hallway, her voice fading away.

“Yes, ma’am!” I called back.

#noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian x ofc #bad omens fic #bad omens #noah sebastian #bad omens fanfiction #noah sebastian fanfiction

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dany-japanese-study · 3 years ago

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Putting all my Japanese Resources in one place.

Well, I wanted to make my life easier by cataloguing my resources, and I guess it might be helpful to someone so... This is gonna be long. (sorry for spelling mistakes)

Main Tools: what I use frequently

Dictionaries

Jisho (Web) - Classic, Clean and Easy, probably the best Dictionary out there.

Takoboto (App/Web) - really like this one it has a grammar section, and the App has JLPT lists.

Akebi (App) - You can search by writing the Kanji, very useful, but not a very eye pleasing design.

Memorization

Memrise - LLJ Series of decks (Kanji, Tae Kim’s Grammar and Core Vocab), a think because Memrise uses a multiple choice system it works better for me, more than Flashcards.

Anki - With Anki, I use Mostly Anime decks, for example, Japanese Like A Breeze. Jo-Mako decks: Core Anime Deck, Yotsuba, Your Name (Jo-Mako decks are really well done).

YouTube

Comprehensible Japanese - AMAZING resource, her videos are all in Japanese and they range from complete beginners to intermediate.

Japanese Ammo with Misa - Explains grammar, has Pacific vocab videos and even breakdown music lyrics.

Cure Dolly - More grammar, she has the most eye-opening explanations I’ve ever seen, some might get annoyed by the robotic voice but ITS worth it.

The Japanese Page - Less Known but cool short videos about kanji, vocab, idioms, etc.

Game Gengo - Learn with games, his N5 Grammar video is great if you’re lazy like me

Japanese with Shun - Great Genki Podcast.

Immersion (aka. The best part)

Anime (How you can study with anime)

Immersion Kit Dictionary - PLEASE USE THIS! If you’re like me and the sentences provided by normal dictionaries never stick in your brain, this is perfect for you, you insert a word or sentence and it will find an Anime/drama/game with it. You can even send sentence cards to Anki.

Animelon - Made to Learn Japanese with dual subtitles, translation history and quizzes.

Animebook - Video player Works With Yomichan and Anki, I use this notation type (Eminent Note Type V2) drag video file and subs in this page and Done.

Kitsunekko - Subs for Anime and J-drama

Nyaa - Anime Raw Files (No subs)

Japanese with Anime - If I could hug this person I would, very informative Manga/Anime Slangs and grammar in general.

Japanese Anime & Manga - Cool site with an interactive manga, kanji games, and quizzes.

JPDB beta - Has already Built decks of Animes, Texbooks, Novels and more, also if you insert a sentence, it explains each part of the sentence to you.

Ichi.Moe - Same thing it explains each part of the sentence to you, but it’s easier to use.

Manga (and reading in general I guess)

Manga.reader.to - I use this site to read my manga it has quite a big collection. Better Scans, and has Japanese options in most mangas

Docsumo Free OCR Software - Now let’s say you don’t know a word and want to search for it use this OCR, really easy to use and works quite nicely. There are better options specifically for manga, but again, I’m lazy so...

Aozora - This site is for public domain novels (EX The Little Prince) Audiobook on YouTube.

Japanese.io - You can read articles and news

Raikun - Pop- up dictionary for Words and Kanji. Simple and Quick

Yomichan - Now this one is a little more complicated, pop- up dictionary, but you have to download and set up the dictionary, Much more customisable than Raikun and create Anki cards

#japanese resources #japanese langblr #langblr #langblog #anime / manga #learning japanese #japanese study masterpost #learning from anime #日本語 #resources

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russenoire · 3 years ago

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a masterpost: this is how i study japanese・これが私の日本語の勉強法です。

as part of a dialogue with @chokopan, this is how i study japanese.

…i don’t know that anyone else would find my current process helpful or even realistic, though i will detail it in another post.

@russenoire

…Yes please, do share! I think all of us in the langblr community could find something useful to learn from you. The more we all talk about how we learn, the more ideas we’re exposed to - which can help us come up with new study methods we wouldn’t have thought of trying before. Like I said before, everyone learns differently; but sometimes, mixing it up with a new technique or note-taking method, for example, could help push us out of studying ruts or times of low motivation. To that end, I’d like to know what resources you use when you’re breaking down kanji and etymology. It seems like you’re learning kanji in a sort of… non-traditional way.

this is my response. it is a Very Long Post, but i hope others find it helpful. for the method i use to learn kanji specifically, go here.

table of contents under the cut.

table of contents

tools / apps.

online resources.

dictionaries.

grammar / cultural context / word nuance & usage notes.

japan-based japanese language schools.

youtube channels.

sundry goodness.

textbooks.

immersion content.

actual study.

daily.

weekly.

helpful tips.

for the morbidly curious only: what got me to start in the first place?

tools

a word processing program, for taking notes.

takoboto.jp (online and on android) - it’s a dictionary of words and kanji, with stroke order diagrams, kanji meanings, some notes on word usage, and a slew of additional info (like JLPT levels and school grades for individual characters). includes grammar search with renshuu.org.

anki (on mac/linux/windows) - the mack daddy of SRS apps. massive learning curve, but have you the time to surmount it, the serious flexibility it offers is yours; you can even add javascript to anki cards. i’ve used it for years for learning programming languages – it’s indispensable to me.

hinative (an app) - ask native speakers to correct your writing, pronunciation and word usage. do the same for other learners too. pretty eye-opening, especially for my native language.

a 原稿用紙 (genkouyoushi), for writing practice.

cool pens.

online resources

dictionaries

jisho - a dictionary with a search function that lets you input passages of text and look up each word separately. amazing for the vast majority of words, not always great at catching grammar patterns.

takoboto - much like jisho.org, with grammar patterns. the mobile app or a full subscription to the website unlocks easy grammar search through renshuu.org.

japanese language @ en.wiktionary.org - an embarrassment of riches. hella useful for etymology, verb conjugations from a japanese standpoint, historical word use and translingual information on individual kanji.

goo - a monolingual japanese dictionary. i’ve slowly started using its definitions for some of my cards — they’re also an additional vocabulary source.

grammar / cultural context / word nuance & usage notes

japanese with anime - another person learning japanese with manga and anime, but who has spent far more time poring over linguistics articles in peer-reviewed academic journals than i have. excellent for making sense of manga/anime visual storytelling conventions, tropes, slang!!! and grammar.

renshuu - kanji/word dictionary and grammar resource, with quizzes and games. lots of natural language sentence examples as well.

takoboto - like renshuu, but not gamified. i use this site more often, as it’s a little more user-friendly and i already use the mobile app.

japanese @ stackexchange - this is one of many offshoots of the venerable programming advice forum stack overflow. full of questions and answers from native speakers, academics and learners about japanese use in the wild. highly recommended.

self-taught japanese - a blog by a professional translator and long-time student of japanese culture.

imabi.net - an exhaustive grammar resource from an academic perspective. i like to point people here instead of tae kim, as imabi is less reductive, but people who need to ramp up complexity in their learning materials may find it overwhelming.

maggie sensei - i wish this site were easier to read and navigate, but the content is amazing. plenty of natural japanese examples for grammar points, some coverage of colloquial japanese and helpful explanations from a native speaker.

sci.lang.japan FAQ - Q&A from the usenet newsgroup. useful for cultural questions, some grammar.

japanese language @ en.wiktionary.org - see above.

the tv tropes wiki - given japan’s immense worldwide cultural influence relative to its population, this site has tons of useful info on japanese culture, from honorifics to the actual language.

japan-based japanese language schools

wasabi - indispensable. concise, exhaustive breakdown of grammar and an entire self-learners’ course for free. they also offer the instantaneous composition method, a technique for training up speech in japanese using common sentence patterns. i intend to try it this month.

genki academy - where i found validation for using literal translation to study. lots of articles on grammar and strategies for effective study.

youtube channels

onomappu - an adorable medical student explains his native language in very simple japanese. includes dual eng-jp subtitles.

cure dolly - the creator died last year, sadly, but she left behind some of the most illuminating explanations i’ve ever seen of japanese structure and grammar. polarizing presentation, but highly recommended.

cyberbunny (if only for the 30 min katakana song!)

sundry goodness

kanjialive - stroke order diagrams using real japanese handwriting, not typefaces.

youglish for japanese - just started using this and it’s fantastic. it crawls through youtube subtitles to help you find native pronunciations of japanese words in context.

massif - natural japanese sentence aggregator, meant to solve the problem of outdated and often inaccurate sentences in projects like the tanaka corpus and tatoeba.

dōgen on patreon and youtube - a linguist who pretty much made japanese phonetics his life’s work. his course is great if you are serious about near-native pronunciation. (i paid for it, but am not making it a focus until i have acquired more japanese myself. i also don’t feel this is strictly necessary for proficient command of the language – the author agrees.)

OJAD - university of tokyo’s online japanese accent dictionary. pitch accent contours for thousands of words and conjugations, with audio.

字幕プレーヤー (jimaku player) - a user script that allows you to add your own subtitles to crunchyroll or VNV videos. each line is sent to jisho.org as a text search. free / donation-ware.

kitsunekko - japanese subtitle files for hundreds of J-doramas, anime series, and movies.

awesomeTTS and japanese support, for anki users. fairly natural-sounding text-to-speech audio for flashcards.

textbooks

a dictionary of basic/intermediate/advanced japanese grammar, seiichi makino & michio tsutsui. possibly the beilstein of japanese grammar. exhaustive, organized in roumaji alphabetic order.

japanese: a comprehensive grammar, 2ed., by stefan kaiser, yasuko ichikawa, noriko kobayashi and hilofumi yamamoto. another excellent resource, focusing on modern and most frequent patterns.

essential japanese vocabulary, by akira miura. helpful for notes on nuance and words that learners confuse easily. it also helped me clarify the meanings of a number of words like 相手 (あいて, aìte == ‘someone one performs an activity with or against’).

the kodansha kanji learner’s course, by andrew conning and jack halpern. the ‘all japanese all the time’ and ‘matt vs japan’ learning communities – my introduction to study methods for japanese – love love LOVE heisig’s remembering the kanji 1.

i wasn’t sold:

it focuses on recognition and writing jouyou kanji as pictures only. readings and actual meanings are meant to be learned once part 1 is complete.

conning’s method was much more intuitive for me: it teaches you kanji with their original meanings and the most common readings, in increasing stroke complexity and by similar components. he provides some historical context as well. highly underrated. i use this as a reference and a backup, not a primary kanji learning strategy; i’m not in any hurry.

making sense of japanese, by acclaimed haruki murakami translator and yale professor jay rubin. if you can overlook his borderline racist dismissal of kanji (i couldn’t); the rest of the book wittily illuminates grammar points that trip up learners – like how the ‘passive’ actually works in japanese – in a cultural context.

immersion content

mob psycho 100, manga / anime.

MP100 is a character-driven, supernatural realist slice-of-life coming-of-age story, larded with hardcore action and darkly funny satire. it’s great. i love a well-executed slice-of-life story and they’re often perfect for language learning, but they’re typically not that popular among anime fans because ‘nothing happens’ in them. á chacun son gout.

it seems i got lucky when i chose this particular series for reading immersion:

the replay value is quite high. i notice something new almost each time i revisit.

it’s almost entirely free of weirdly specialized vocabulary that would be useless in the real world (though i did learn two entirely separate words for ‘exorcism’. LOL).

it contains a healthy mix of different registers of speech.

i got to tangle with slang (which is really only painful to work with because of the lack of resources for english speakers) and fairly polite japanese right away. the protagonist speaks very politely with most people he encounters in the anime, with some exceptions, and he code-switches as appropriate to the situation. he’s…less polite in the manga, but his character is otherwise unchanged.

the lack of furigana made me work a little harder for understanding. this and the mangaka’s not infrequent use of kanji for words typically written in kana are almost certainly meant as a satirical comment on 中二病 (chuunibyou), or 'second-year middle schooler syndrome’.

chuunibyou can include pretending to have magical abilities, behaving in real life as if you’re a character from a superhero manga, or wearing eyepatches for no good reason. apparently kanji overuse is one of its least embarrassing symptoms. self-satisfied teenagers often have a pathological need to show off the mess of kanji they’ve just learned in junior high…

a number of adult characters in MP100 clearly suffer from it.

a few other carefully curated anime series.

mostly watched without subtitles. this changes on a whim, and it can be difficult to find a story with a good mix of spoken japanese registers that is also watchable without subs. making a story so compelling that it can be understood and enjoyed purely on a visual level is a unique skill, it seems.

the ones listed below are ones i keep returning to:

uchuu kyoudai a story about two brothers who make a promise to each other to become astronauts as kids. it meets this and then some; i was pleasantly surprised. the animation is not great, but the realistic character designs, the story’s emotional depth and the careful details in the setting more than compensates for it.

shouwa genroku rakugo shinjuu a real slow burner in the best of all possible ways. different characters’ personal attachments to rakugo – a form of traditional storytelling best described as ‘a one-man sitcom performed for a live audience’ – and to each other across different time periods make for some affecting viewing. mixed speech registers, but leans more towards the colloquial side.