#i learned so much about reading kanji and making names with them

[donuts4evry1]

Portuguese person from portugal hello 🥺 I loved your portuguese little meme doodles omg

Its always fascinating to me when ppl seem interested in our language, even if its the brazilian Portuguese

// Ok but in all seriousness, I'm glad you enjoyed them :)!

It's been a real blast learning about Brazil and Portuguese (though now that I think about it... I think I just broke my streak in duolingo lol), and @nautilus-that-eats-hyacinths has definitely made things so much more fun :)

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 2

Part 2 - Anya's "Anya-isms"

I think Anya has one of the most interesting ways of speaking out of all the SxF characters. But like with Twilight's dialogue that I previously discussed, it can only be fully appreciated in the Japanese version. Probably the most noticeable thing about her dialogue is how it's written compared to the other characters.

Written Japanese is comprised of three different alphabets: ひらがな (hiragana) and カタカナ (katakana), which together are referred to as "kana," and 漢字 (kanji). Kanji are the characters that hold the meaning of words, while kana simply represent the various Japanese syllable sounds and don't have any meaning on their own (much like the letters of the English alphabet). There are only about 100-ish total unique kana symbols, however, there are over 2,000 kanji in common use today. So Japanese children will start out learning kana and then learn kanji gradually during their school years. This is why Japanese children's books are typically written only or mostly in kana. This is also why manga and books aimed at a younger audience will have kana "translations" of kanji written above kanji characters, which are called furigana.

With that in mind, it's not surprising that all of Anya's dialogue in the Japanese version of the SxF manga is written entirely in kana. Even though using kanji in her dialogue wouldn't necessarily mean she knows kanji, reading a character's dialogue only in kana definitely gives off childish vibes – it conveys feelings of youthfulness and innocence, like "they're speaking only in kana because they don't know the kanji for these words…they're just a little kid, after all." At least, that's the feeling I get when I read Anya's dialogue. Though I haven't read enough manga in Japanese to say for sure, it seems like this concept of making little kids speak only in kana is not unusual, as there's at least one other example I know of: a manga from the mid-2000s called Yotsuba also has a titular 5-year old whose dialogue is written only in kana.

What's also interesting is that all of the other Eden kids speak "normally," using kana and kanji properly in their dialogue. This helps to convey the fact that, despite Anya being roughly the same age as them, their "rich family" upbringing has forced them to grow up faster. In the below panel, you can see how Damian's dialogue uses kanji (with furigana translations) while Anya's uses only kana, even for words that have kanji.

Interestingly, I found at least two cases where Anya does use kanji in her dialogue: when she's calling out the name of her big "Arrow of Light, Seize the Star" move during the dodgeball game, and when she calls out her "Lighting Bolt, Deliver my Aid" move when she tries to throw Yor's weapon back on the deck in the cruise arc. As you can see in the below panels, the names of these "moves" is written in kanji (with furigana translations). This makes sense not only because this is parodying shonen series where the characters shout out the names of their moves, but because it emphasizes how determined Anya was at these moments.

But going back to how Anya's speech compares to the other kids, another thing that stands out is that she speaks very "plainly." Her grammar is (mostly) correct, except for a few mistakes you'd expect a little kid to make. But she uses pretty much no colloquialisms, almost as if she knows the language but lacks the experience for using it in normal social interactions. I don't think this is unusual for a kid her age who's still learning, but it definitely stands out when compared to her classmates. For example, in the below panel, Becky uses normal interjections and other colloquialisms in her speech, like "ne" (ね), "wa" (わ), and "yo" (よ), which are all standard Japanese linguistic devices for softening or emphasizing your sentences. However, Anya doesn't use things like this in her speech. Again, this makes her speech come off as very plain and abrupt, almost like she's not a native speaker.

She also refers to herself in third person all the time in the Japanese version. In fact, I don't recall her ever using an "I" or "me" pronoun. I don't know why the English version of the manga doesn't keep this characteristic of her speech. I think it's very important in highlighting the childish aspect of her personality.

Putting all this together – the fact that she doesn't use typical colloquial speech and refers to herself in third person – really emphasizes the childish, naive, and almost baby-like nature of her character. I'm curious if Endo made her speak this way simply to show what a little kid she is compared to her classmates, or if it will somehow tie back to whatever roots she has in classical languages that he keeps hinting at. Regardless, as I mentioned in my full Anya analysis, what she lacks in speech and school smarts, she makes up for in empathy and resourcefulness.

Besides all this, Anya does make typical speech mistakes a normal kid would make, like mishearing words or saying things wrong. She mostly uses casual speech, but does try to use keigo (polite speech) on occasion, though not always correctly. For example, she says "ohayaimasu" (おはやいます) for "good morning" instead of "ohaiyou gozaimasu" (おはようございます).

But the most consistent "mistake" she makes (though it's not really a mistake) is what she calls Loid and Yor – "chichi" (ちち) and "haha" (はは) respectively.

Japanese has many different words for relatives depending on whether you're talking about your own relatives or someone else's, and whether you're talking to them or about them. "Chichi" and "haha" are the general, neutral terms for "father" and "mother," and are also used when talking about your parents to someone else. However, they're not used when talking directly to your mother and father. There are many other words for that, the usual ones being "o-tou-san" (お父さん) and "o-kaa-san" (お母さん), or some variations of these with different honorifics. Damian refers to his dad as "chichi-ue" (父上) which is very formal, while Becky calls her dad the actual English word "papa" (パパ) which is very informal and normal for kids to use. But again, "chichi" and "haha" are typically only used when talking about your parents, not to them the way Anya uses them. This started from the very first chapter where Loid asks her to call him something that sounds "elite." He originally suggests the very formal "o-tou-sama" (お父さま), but when Anya says "chichi," he doesn't bother to correct her.

Hearing a little kid call her dad and mom "chichi" and "haha" is kind of like calling them "my father" and "my mother" even when speaking to them directly – it's not wrong necessarily, just strange. But again, this serves to further emphasize the childlike nature of Anya's character.

<- Return to Part 1

Continue to Part 3 ->

[thepersonperson]

Sukuna's Loneliness Part 1

(Thoughts on Sukuna's Dehumanization as of JJK 261.)

Part 2

Some things to keep in mind...

1) This analysis deals with topics of ableism, racism, and discrimination. (Very brief suicidal ideation mention.)

2) I will be mainly using the TCB scans because of their accessibility. 

3) There are a lot of links so you know I'm not making stuff up. The sources are both formal and informal. Please do research on some of the discussed topics to gain a better understanding of them.

(Click pictures for captions/citations.)

The Name Ryomen Sukuna

Before we start this needs to be made clear. Ryomen Sukuna is not a first and last name. Ryomen is a title. Sukuna is a name.

Ryomen uses the kanji 両面 which can be translated as "two-faced".

Sukuna uses the kanji 宿儺 which can be translated as "specter". Individually the kanji can be read as "lodging, inn" (宿, suku) and "exorcism" (儺, na).

Two-faced specter is not a nice name to put it lightly. It's such a mean spirited name that the JP fanbase suspects he was called something else before becoming The Disgraced One.

Normally I would assume his parents did not name him this, however, Sukuna himself had this to say about his birth.

In the original Japanese, Sukuna calls himself 忌み子 (Imigo) which can be translated as "Abominable Child", "Unwanted Child", or "Shunned Child." None of these translations in my opinion get across how severe Imigo is. It's closer to meaning "child who should've never been born". Like the child's very existence is an affront to god. (If you play Elden Ring the Omen are called Imigo in Japanese for this reason.)

You combine this fact with his name and it starts to paint a nasty picture. Sukuna straight up may not have a last name in part from what is implied to be disownment from birth.

Sukuna's Trauma

(Even if he won't acknowledge it as something that has deeply affected him.)

As a Basketball American (aka one of those people with a unique skeletal structure and muscles as Mr. Gojo Satoru would say), I consider myself a professional experiencer of discrimination. This means when a character has likely experienced something similar to me, I can sniff it out like a bloodhound. Though what Sukuna experiences is much closer to ableism than racism. (Discrimination across the board is pretty similar in a lot of ways you know.)

Sukuna is disabled—not as in he lacks an able body (my goodness he is too ablebodied), but as society is not built with any consideration for him. He’s a massive conjoined twin with 4 eyes and 4 arms and 2 mouths. If you know anything about being tall in Japan, it's that it’s a nightmare. Doorways, showers, bathrooms, and buildings are built for small people which leads to the very infrastructure causing problems for anyone big. But Sukuna’s size is just the start of those kinds of problems. He canonically wears women’s kimonos to accommodate his arms since they have larger sleeves. He often goes shirtless or wears a shawl simply because clothing isn’t made for him.

If you’ve known or read anything by people with mobility issues or missing limbs, a major complaint is clothing. For example someone with a missing leg can either pay for expensive customized pants, or they can purchase regular pants and tie off the extra pant leg. They can have trouble buying one shoe since they almost always come in pairs. (To rectify this sometimes they find a mirror twin called a Sole Mate who they share the extra shoe with.) 

Now if I’ve learned anything from people with mobility issues, it’s that ablebodied people are really fudging annoying and rude. They will grab mobility aids unprompted and even move people around in wheelchairs without permission. In this treatment, the ablebodied dehumanize the disabled and treat them like objects in their way.

Sukuna also experiences objectification in a similar manner. People see him as an obstacle to conquer, a means to test their strength, a helpless thing that needs curing, a test subject to study, and a symbol for their own use. All of these things are extremely dehumanizing and things disabled people may have to deal with.

We’ve got Yuji and co seeing him as a curse to exorcize.

Kashimo and others using Sukuna to test their strength.

Yorozu seeing Sukuna’s lack of interest in romantic/sexual love as a thing to be cured. (Your honor, he is aroace.)

Kenjaku using Sukuna as a test subject and insurance for The Plan.

Heian era society revering him as a god to use him in rituals for their benefit.

The last example is a very interesting form of discrimination. If you aren’t familiar with the term, there is one called benevolent prejudice. This is when discriminatory beliefs are flattering instead of malicious. (Examples: Black people are athletic, Asian people are smart, etc.)

Benevolent prejudice still results in negative outcomes for the group affected, but to me personally, some of them are kind of hilarious in isolation. Here are some of my favorites:

I’m pretty sure this is why Gojo apologizes so readily to Miguel and without resistance. He realizes “oh crap I’m doing to Miguel what everyone does to me”. 

And yes this belief had a negative outcome for Miguel—it’s likely the reason Gojo beat him so hard compared to other characters in the JJK 0 movie. (Remember Gege has direct involvement in the anime.) This is canonically a racially motivated beatdown, trauma response from the black ropes mimicking Toji notwithstanding.

On the ableism side of things this benevolent prejudice can manifest as turning people with deformities or atypical features into objects for worship, fetishization, or sacrifice.

As an aside, I suspect Uraume’s gender is ambiguous because they’re intersex. And boy howdy do intersex people experience dehumanization as objects of worship (fetishization and religious symbols) or as a problem that needs to be corrected (forced surgical procedures/mutilation and erasure). This, in my opinion, might be the reason Sukuna likes them more than anyone else. Uraume may not fully understand the isolation of strength, but they do get the dehumanizing way in which society treats them both.

My point here is that Sukuna experiences regular prejudice and the benevolent type. All of which are dehumanizing from every single angle, leaving him in a state of near constant objectification. (Uraume puts Sukuna on a pedestal as their master which is emotionally isolating but they still see him as an individual on his own merits.)

What constant systemic discrimination does to a motherfudger...

So now that we've established how Sukuna's dehumanization happened, I can rant about how this is probably a major reason behind his disconnect from his humanity and a source of his loneliness.

Gege has stated that Sukuna and other people don’t really know how to categorize his personhood. He's so strong he's more like a natural disaster than anything else.

Sukuna says things like this about himself.

"If I was a cursed spirit…"

"...that's the sort of human I was."

He doesn’t see himself as a human or a curse. At one point he did consider himself human but stopped. He sees himself as this third thing which is highly likely to be a “living creature” as Gojo would put it. 

Gojo also experienced benevolent prejudice that lead to his dehumanization and subsequent objectification (thanks JJK 261 for making me realize it was much worse than I assumed). And from birth too. I think this is why they’re able to connect so well during their fight. Especially since this prejudice leads to them becoming sinks for everyone's burdens while being scorned in the same breath. (It's like how people adore "my kind's" athletic/manual labor abilities but then don't want us in their neighborhoods.) The world isn't made for them but it's going to exploit the very thing it hates them for.

The difference between those two is probably the stares of disgust and day to day inconveniences from the extra parts. Gojo can effectively blend in with other humans if he really tries. Sukuna cannot. (Maybe that’s why he says this too.)

Sukuna to me, feels like a manifestation of this rage against constant systemic discrimination. You look at him funny? He kills you. You treat him like a thing that serves you? He kills you.

I know I'm projecting but hear me out!

I don't think Sukuna was aggressively abused by others for his appearance to get to this point by the way. It's more of a death by 1,000 cuts scenario. Someone crossing the street to avoid you, a flash of revulsion when they look at you, backhanded compliments, name-calling in whispers, gentle reminders you don't belong in infrastructure and accessibility to resources. On their own they feel like paper cuts, but if you experience them constantly without time to recover, one day you look down and realize there's a massive rotting gash.

Thankfully I have friends and spaces where I can exist without being subject to discrimination. I can treat these wounds and keep going relatively ok. When I was a child, I didn't have a proper outlet for that and it ate me alive. I flip flopped between wanting to magically wake up fully white or disappearing entirely and wanting everything to explode. Sometimes I wanted all of these thing at the same time. These old wounds reopen on occasion but I know how to deal with that now.

In Sukuna's behavior and attitude, I see that kind of hurt. And his coping strategy appears to be making everything explode since violence is all he knows. Maybe cannibalism wasn't the healthiest way to deal with this but you know it's Jujutsu Kaisen.

Speaking of cannibalism, the definition of a cannibal is an individual that eats members of their own species. Sukuna is regarded as a non-human by everyone around him in every instance except when he is called a cannibal. He’s not human enough to be a part of society but just human enough to be a cannibal. His status as a human changes in what makes it easiest to disregard him as an individual worthy of respect or consideration. (Think of how conservatives misgender gender non-conforming cis people and then turn around and misgender trans people for hypocritical reasons.) 

Sukuna’s acknowledgement of both Jogo and Gojo is bittersweet with this lens. Jogo is a curse fighting on behalf of curses’ humanity. He wants curses to live as humans after being born lowly and unwanted in a world that wants him erased. Gojo is a human forced into godhood by circumstances he couldn’t control. He’s someone who became isolated and rejected by others until he stopped seeing himself as a human. Sukuna has lived both of these experiences and connects with them in a way no one else can. 

Unfortunately, because Sukuna only knows how to love through violence, he kills them. (Great job, Sukuna, you did this to yourself. You could've had friends.)

I also suspect this is why Sukuna believes this.

This type of society is one in which Sukuna can exist. He can relentlessly pursue the strength through which he builds his self-esteem and be acknowledged as something. However, that is still isolating. And Sukuna is a human, which means he’s a social creature that needs companionship. (Not necessarily romantic or sexual mind you.)

I find Sukuna’s vague suicidal ideation and refusal to die extremely relatable for all these reasons. Much like Gojo, he seems to be convinced the world will never treat him the way he wants to be treated and wants out.

There’s also something to be said about the unique loneliness aromantic and asexual people experience from wanting deep and fulfilling relationships without romance or sex in a world that only values relationships with both of those things.

So why is Sukuna like that?

Despite knowing how much it sucks to be dehumanized, Sukuna still participates in dehumanization himself, referring to humans as insects/animals or things for him to play with. 

And in a Kenjaku parallel, food for him to enjoy as well.

I predict this attitude he has towards humans is the direct result of his dehumanization and objectification for his appearance and strength. It’s all one big unhealthy coping mechanism.

I think this is why Yuji ideologically pisses him off so much. Imagine truly believing all this isolation and suffering for innate characteristics made you stronger, only to find someone who experienced none of that starts rising to your level and shatters your entire world view.

Trauma isn’t something that makes people stronger, but Sukuna likely believes it does as a cope. In my last analysis I called Gojo a sopping-wet pathetic cat who pretends everything is ok. Sukuna is no different if you ask me.

[hibiscusseaart]

huge ass post with MadaTobi Babies

its finally done, its almost 1 am, I started at 7 pm

OK SO HERE THEY ARE

So a little lore and then I'm gonna introduce them.

As you may remember from my earlier post, Tobirama (they married when he was 19) after the marriage, decided to create a child to tie Madara to him and the village stronger just in case Madara would try to leave the village. He couldn't destroy the village if there's his kid running around, right?

So Tobirama started learning biology pretty early in their marriage + Itama (@oh-no-its-bird 's one) helped a lot too. Mito helped with the seals to make an incubator. Tobirama didn't want a surrogate mother just because he was afraid that Madara would get attached to the mother of his children and he didn’t want that (plus he's jealous but doesn't realise it 🤭).

He created some sort of very real transformation jutsu that would trick his body to think that he has ovaries and he'd get the eggs that way! But he couldn't keep uterus and ect for 9 months, plus this jutsu is HARD to keep on for very long periods of time. It's easier to make a few organs from chakra that could produce real eggs than a whole new system. Plus Tobirama really didn't want to get pregnant and he wasn't sure he wouldn't fuck up his own body. Tobirama, with as gray morale as his, could just scrap failed embryo and start anew. He can't do that with his own body.

Anyway, incubator it is!

At first he did all of that in secret, stealing Madara's sperm (that's... a thing now) for his first experiments while they had sex. (Tobirama fucking Madara real hard that he’d pass out after and then take samples) ANYWAY

So he announced about his plans when the first stable and pretty healthy embryo was ready.

The first baby, Motoko! The melanin quee. She got all of it. Nothing left for her brother or sister. Ofc she's not THAT dark skinned, but she is for an Uchiha who are mostly white as a paper in canon.

(Tobirama is 21 for reference)

Her name literally means "Experiment seed first". Tobirama named this project this way for secrecy if someone would overhear his talks with Itama and Mito. It’d be Uchiha clan head’s child so hush-hush.

The name meanings + kanji! Hope I got them right, I have no japanese knowledge

oh and there is flirting with past and time in general in this name so it might be Tobirama reminiscing his first timeline. Like Motoko didn't even EXIST before.

So when he presented the embryo to Madara and Hashirama, they were ecstatic of course.

Madara almost cried. Hashirama became a river of tears.

Madara never really hoped for his own children since he married Tobirama cuz, well, they're both men. Doesn't really work that way. But Tobirama made it work and Madara is in love all over again.

Madara refuses to leave their future baby for a long time, just looking at them in the incubator. But the baby doesn’t need much there so Tobirama makes him leave and live a life while they’re waiting when the kid is ready.

Oh and Madara was SO against the name that basically means “experiment seed 1”. But when Tobirama asked if he got smth better, he ran away to his compound and tried to find the PERFECT names. He got lost in so many variations and never really decided. So when the kid was “born” (Tobirama just… took her out of the incubator*) and medics checked her, Madara took her in his hands, started crying and while he was having “A moment” Tobirama wrote her name as Motoko, cuz they needed it for administration and Uchiha clan.

*come to think about it, wouldn’t it fuck up a kid a bit? i mean, children develop under pressure of their mother’s organs and they’re in tight position. maybe test tube kids don’t really like to be wrapped in cloth? as i know ppl do that with newborns to imitate feelings like they’re in the womb.

But this name also can be read as “Festival child” so its kinda cute? Madara def told her that that’s exactly what her name means. No seed 1.

Interesting thing, when Tobirama made the baby, he thought he’d make a boy first, a heir. But something went wrong and the kid developed to be a girl. Tobirama was confused why. But technically, the kid is a boy with XY chromosomes but bc of their development and being a genetic experiment something went wrong and they developed as a female (its a real thing btw).

In the long run it didn’t really matter except that Motoko can’t have her own kids bc of all hormonal weirdness. And I don’t think that Tobirama would figure all of that out. He’d think he made some mistake when choosing gender, but kid was born healthy after all. Ofc when they found out that Motoko can’t have kids Tobirama will blame himself, that he ruined his daughter’s life. But she’s would be ok, she had her little siblings growing up and other clan kids so she’s done babysitting.

Okay for her personality! I think she’s kinda like Shisui? Very happy kid, spoiled rotten by her uncles (Hashirama and Izuna compete who is THE BEST uncle) and Tou-san (Madara). Btw Tobirama refuses to be called Kaa-san or any motherly terms. He’s barely holding a kunai in his pockets when Madara calls him wife.

But she’s also very Uchiha with temper and protectiveness. She was trained to be very much Uchiha cuz she’s the future clan head so her jutsu’s are strongly fire natured. Oh and her secondary nature is eath! She took it from the Senju side :)

Good sensor, but not as strong as her other siblings. Have really good chakra reserves and vicious on the battlefield.

Surprisingly looks really like Madara and Izuna’s mom. Her face is all that. Has soft dark hair and soft features. Considered to be very beautiful among Uchihas.

Oh and as you can see, I wrote that she has the Mangekyo. She got it when she was around 14. She was already really strong and cuz of her family, she got cocky. So, you ask me, who died? I think it’d be her female teammate (maybe from Hatake clan? idk I take suggestions) who she was in love with.

So yeah, she got a reality check. Because she got Mangekyo, Tobirama didn’t want her baby to lose her sight, so he improved his own seals that helped him with his albinism. Seals improve his sight and protect from the sun. So he drew Motoko tattoos on her face, like his. Years later it’d be a new feature of the main line.

But before that, when Motoko is 12 and Tobirama is 29, after 8 years of research (and possibly sealing/killing Black Zetsu in the meantime) he decided to try to make another kid. He still wanted a boy.

And he was successful. Meet Akemori! The Music King

The name was suggested by Hashirama. It means “red forest”. Red eyes, plus he sensed that the kid has a bit of mokuton!

But on the downside, Akemori was born an albino. Tobirama himself was really lucky, cuz he had a strong health and I hc that he still has healing abilities, but not as strong as Hashirama’s. But it still helped him in his childhood.

Not for Akemori tho. He was a sickly child, almost blind and burned on the sun easily. Tobirama had to put seals on him when he was about 3 years old. But even then his eyesight was still poor. Seals can’t fix everything.

Tobirama, once again, feels guilty that he didn’t notice any mistakes when he was creating the child.

And being born almost blind in Uchiha clan of all people wasn’t really nice. Though he is still clan head’s child and has a whole bunch of very powerful adults to protect him. Plus his older sister who loves him very much and wants to protect him from any harm.

But because of health issues Akemori was never really trained in shinobi arts. Well, he was trained (his fathers are literally… them) just that he could protect himself, but no one expected him to go on missions or even become a shinobi at all. Uchiha elders treated him as a potential political marriage pawn (even though Madara and Tobirama would never let them do that). Akemori caught on that and never had the motivation to become a shinobi at all. He was offended and said that he’d NEVER become a shinobi.

Madara was a little mad at that, cuz they’re SHINOBI clan, what the hell. But he shut up the second Tobirama sent him The Look. Tobirama was ok with Akemori’s wishes, like his twin and himself are shinobi by necessity, but they finds more joy in research.

Akemori was trained in Mokuton by Hashirama of course, even though Senju elders bitched about him selling clan secrets to Uchiha. But Hokage does what he wants.

Akemori’s mokuton isn’t as strong as Hashirama’s, plus he never really wanted to fight. But he was good with plants so he joined Itama-oji in his research a lot! Especially since Hashirama is busy with Hokage stuff, Itama was delighted to get a new helper.

Akemori is also a really good sensor because, like Tobirama, he had to compensate his bad eyesight. Basically, Akemori is a very Tobirama’s kid.

Surprisingly, he awakened the Sharingan! He was 6 and some foreign ninja (prob Kumo) thought it’d be cool to steal a kid with the Sharingan. Because of his naturally red eyes Akemori got stolen. Ofc when Tobirama felt his kid out of Konoha bonds, he sounded the alarm in the whole Uchiha clan to check on their kids whereabouts and was first to chase the kidnappers.

Kumo nin were killed by a very mad Tobirama and bc of the stress Akemori awakened the Sharingan. It wasn’t much of a use for him, since he’s not a shinobi. But at least Uchihas acknowledge him as a fellow Uchiha and not just Tobirama’s carbon copy.

(btw noone outside immediate family actually KNOWS where the kids coming from. They don't see any pregnant women in the main line house or anyone in the clan with the same time who gave birth these days. Tobirama himself or god forbid Madara aren't ever seen pregnant. Where the fuck kids are coming from? Do they just spawn in the house or what)

(they basically do spawn)

Sharingan helps Akemori to actually see! At least he could see something and could read. But stll, its not really strong, cuz not trained enough.

Basically Akemori is a perfect mix between Senju and Uchiha with Sharingan and Mokuton, but he was nerfed by albinism.

Being almost blind boy who can navigate only with his sensing, doesn’t gives him much hobbies. Ofc he helps Itama and he studies plants and medicine a lot with him, but he still needs a hobby. Books don’t work for him, any type of handicrafts too cuz he can’t just use Sharingan all the time, his head hurts and sometimes he doesn't want to remember a whole book perfectly. He’s also not very interested in training as a hobby.

So in his tweens while Itama and he were traveling (with Uchiha escort (prob Motoko) just in case) to the near town for some medicine and plants, he noticed (heard) a group of musicians and he fell in love.

Itama immediately bought him an instrument (maybe Biwa?).

And now the second son of Uchiha Madara became a musician! Isn’t it fun. Elders are furious.

Madara was baffled but “You do you, son. When you learn, show us? Oh and maybe you can copy someone else’s playing, but be discreet. They may not like that you’d try to copy their music. Shinobi don’t really like when we copy their jutsus too”

With age he learned to play several instruments (I take suggestions on which ones). Some people even thought that he’s trained to become geisha (he's not, he's just a pretty boy who plays music for fun).

When he grow old enough, Itama started to give him weed for inspiration and to relax. Akemori is prone to quiet anxiety attacks after he was kidnapped.

Okay, the final kid. She was born 4 years later after Akemori.

Nari! The pout queen

Madara finally got to name his kid. Her name means “Calm, harmonic village”. Yeah he decided to name his kid after a village. It's still better than Konohamaru

And she’s the final kid, because Tobirama finally got it and produced a “normal” healthy kid. Plus he's not sure how many kids (3) and students (another 4 and Kagami) he can actually handle.

She has very Uchiha coloring, but Tobirama’s facial features. She also inherited his stare.

She’s the baby of the family, but she grew up slightly strict and serious cuz she stayed a lot with Tobirama, cuz he decided he won’t spend another maternity leave out of the Tower. The first two times were a disaster when he came back.

Tobirama left on maternity leaves just cuz he needed to monitor his kids health, especially Akemori’s. Idk about Konoha maternity leaves, but they should be really short, since well shinobi are needed all year long and they can’t wait for mother-shinobi to spend a whole year on that. Though on the other side, mothers need time to recover or they won’t be able to perform good on their missions (plus they probably have a milk smell lol). Who knows, maybe Tobirama was the one who drafted a law about at least one year maternity leave. He got very popular among kunoichi (can you believe that I just remembered that this word exists)

Nari is really like Izuna, but got her temper under control. Maybe think of teen Kakashi but without dead fathers and angst. But also brat.

Her chakra is water nature and she has 0 affinity with fire. Still she did produce great fireball as their traditions dictated, even though it took her many trials and errors. After that she decided that she hates traditions like that. Got really rebellious in her teens, about 13 and even tried to challenge her sister (25) for the clan head position. She didn’t win ofc and was bitter about it.

Also because her sister and brother both have seals, she always dreamed of the same, cuz as a baby she thought that it’s something special for their family. But Tobirama doesn’t think she needs them cuz her sight is perfect and her skin is pale, but it doesn’t burn like Akemori’s.

It triggered interest for seals in general cuz “FINE if you won’t give me seals, I’ll just make them myself!”

Tobirama was completely okay with it. He always strives to encourage kids when they want to learn something new. So he sicked her at Mito. Though his aunt was quite happy to teach her niece sealing art.

also idk why i write evil near her. she's just a brat. though she has the potential to become Azula ish

And that’s it!

I will write more about them later cuz im tired. I have some other ideas I wanna expand. Like Tobirama introducing his pups to his Hatake aunt (did i tell you that i LOVE Hatakes?),

Oh and fun little sketches close ups for a treat

i love this Hashirama with the kids, ugh he's so father

if you have any questions you can send them to my ask box!

[joyce-stick]

The Beef Stroganoff Song! (arbitrary subtitle discourse edition)

So, you may have noticed here that the subtitles in this clip (from Symphogear GX episode 3) are fairly different from what you're used to seeing when people post this video, and the phrasing in the subtitles is fairly different from what the associated memes often say

For those who don't know, Symphogear got itself released on blu-ray by Discotek, and with that came with a new translation authored by Noelle (@ulsairi on twitter ) who is notable for being the only trans lesbian anime translator I know of off the top of my head.

Her translation appears, in my opinion, really rather polished and very good, and I strongly appreciate the way it's written and how much character it adds to the dialogue by giving everyone distinct voices and adapting things into more natural English. It's also a fair bit gayer. I haven't encountered many people who've seen these subs, but I think most fans of the series would consider these a net positive change. There are some people who are mad about these subtitles, and they can die mad.

Anyway, let's talk about the different phrasing of the beef stroganoff song. I'm mostly going to compare to Crunchyroll's subtitles for reference since that seems to be what most others go off of. Here's a link to that version.

So right off the bat we can see here that while CR's translation appears to be a lot more, for lack of a better word, functional, Noelle's translation tries to apply more dialectal force "it's beef stroganoff/Yes! It's THAT beef stroganoff!" And generally communicate through the tone how excited the girls are to get started. Additionally you'll see throughout that the latter is a fair bit more lyrical, there's a lot more punctuation and verbal tics and filler phrases written into the dialogue to express that they are singing, which makes sense since Japanese tends to omit a lot of the sorts of prepositions that Noelle threw in here,

Like, Yumi (yes I went and looked up her name on the wiki) just says "beef stroganoffu" because it's obvious from context that it is beef stroganoff, she doesn't need to spell it out, at least, not in Japanese

(We know like maybe ten hiragana and 1 kanji do not trust us on Japanese this is all just basic shit we learned from online guides)

So this probably leads to a rushed translator from Crunchyroll (they are notoriously crunched for time) who's just trying to Get It Done probably not really bothering to throw in extra additional connecting letters to express the tone of the character, only doing so when it's required to make basic grammatical sense in the target language. So they likely didn't think to make the subtitles have flourishes like this that aren't explicitly in the original Japanese. Noelle meanwhile had the time to consider things like this and take such liberties in order to attempt to convey the same tone that was arguably implied by the Japanese, even if not explicitly put forth

And that's about all the things I should not repeat I guess, TL;DR, these subtitles are more fun to read because the translator had more time to think about the best way to make them more fun while still being accurate to the spirit of the original dialogue, who'd have thought!

(In case you're wondering, the Commie subtitles say kind of the same thing here, and y'know, it doesn't seem like a wrong translation, but also I really dislike this subtitle styling, orange on pink with that font and that drop shadow is just kinda bad. I appreciate the effort but like. Come on. Please fansubbers, please think about if the font and colors you chose actually work with the image you're putting them on)

Moving on!

horizontal and middle rhyme with each other so you can almost actually sing this, actually let me take a moment to try it right now- never mind, I can't sing. Hahaha. I don't actually think it lines up that well with the melody But I thought it did! Didn't I? That's significant, that this actually reads like plausible lyrics to a silly song someone made up instead of a literal translation of a Japanese song

Anyway, here comes the first major difference!

So in the Crunchyroll subtitles, Yumi says "it doesn't have to be beef" which in English (in my estimation) sounds a tad scatterbrained, like, "oh yeah sure beef but whatever really it doesn't actually matter," while Noelle's subtitles rather say "Got no beef? Don't you worry!" Which implies something different.

"It is recommended to use beef, but you may substitute something else if you are sorely lacking in beef" as opposed to "Oh the beef doesn't actually matter, zoinks lol!" CR's translation is kind of a bit funnier in how it sorta comes from nowhere without this qualification, which probably lead to this phrase's memeticness, but Noelle's translation seems more reasonable to me so yeah again, tada, yay for sensicalness.

Now here's another interesting change:

Again, the flat manner in which the CR subtitles say "finish with salt" with rendezvous only being included because that's literally what they said, is sort of absent any stronger emotional implication,

Noelle's translation meanwhile going with "don't forget them, they need it" imparts personhood upon the salt and pepper. The implication being that the girls are saying, "the salt and pepper are in love, please reunite them, they must be in gay love together." Or maybe you think the salt and pepper cannot be forgotten and must be reunited because they are Only Friends.

Whether you choose to believe that this is the salt and pepper getting married, or merely subtext, or an interpretation, or salt and pepper shipping bait, this is a deeply important tonal indicator because it reminds you that these girls are ultimately playing with their food!

"And there, now you're in for a treat!" I don't think I need to explain this one.

Now, here's an interesting one!

In the Crunchyroll subtitles, it just says the memetic "boys don't know this." With no context, no elaboration, no clarity, no qualifiers. Boys don't know. Did the boys magically get their brains wiped? Are the boys biologically incapable? Who knows. Nothing is said but that.

Noelle's subtitles, on the other hand, qualify this statement by saying "Boys aren't taught to cook, so they may not know" (And note again how, it says "kno-ow" to emphasize, once more, that they're singing, and also this lines up with the long "ooooo" sound they make at the end of this lyric, so cool)

There is now context! Boys aren't taught to cook! Anime and Japan's culture in general still pigeonholes people into gender roles! And an anime translator just wrote you a hidden translation note about it! You might be a boy, you might know how to cook, but certain boys in another part of the world aren't traditionally taught cooking, so they may not know

They may not, but they could!

Trust a trans person to express gender facts with subtle nuances like this in anime translations.

And with that lovely bit of good translation and good writing and good localization of a thing to make it make sense to people

Mew!

[missmyloko]

Hi! Lately, I have been very interested in Maiko/ Geiko and Yujō/Oiran/Tayū culture, their differences, but the most popular known books, documentaries have so many lies and discrepancies. I hope you might know some answers.

I don’t know if you read “Autobiography of a geisha” by Masuda Sayo, but she described her life as a hot-springs geisha during W2. While she learned “gei” (art), what happened to her was truly not different from prostitution. She was given different points after sleeping with men depending whether he was her danna, someone else’s danna or just a random guy.

There is this whole thing about American soldiers thinking “geisha” meant “prostitute”, bc some of the prostitutes decided to dress as geisha to attract more customers, I suppose?

Then, what Americans thought wasn’t exactly wrong (if we are not looking at Kyoto or Osaka)? Or was Masuda Sayo just a prostitute and she herself didn’t even know about it?

Are geisha outside of major districts (idk how to call them, Ponchoto, Gion Kobu etc) not considered geisha? Were times just so difficult that geisha had to resolve to prostitution under a banner of love instead of money, so it doesn’t make it illegal? Did Masuda just lie?

Masuda Sayo wrote the book herself in freaking Kanji, I believe her more than what “foreigners”, who only lived in geisha district for a couple of months, managed to understand. And Mineko Iwasaki was a queen among the geisha of completely different time period. I am more curious about how life was for “third rate” geisha.

I guess I am just somewhat confused about the statement that “Geisha are not prostitutes”, while there is an account that poor country girls sold in shitty okiyas were in fact as good as prostitutes.

In specific areas of Japan there used to be "double registered" geisha; that is, they were registered by the government to work as both geisha and as prostitutes. However, there were areas that worked under these double registration rules but didn't have official registration, so pretty much anything went. Sayo Masuda worked in one of those areas. These areas were often in small seaside towns or resort villages, which lead to onsen geisha having a tainted name that endures to this day. What they considered a geisha may as well have been night and day from what was going on in the large cities that had proper geisha associations that actually looked out for their members. This isn't to say that districts like Gion Kobu or Pontocho were perfect as at the time that Masuda was active young girls were still being sold into the karyukai across the country. So, where geisha populations were large and in larger cities they were primarily just geisha who, by government law, could not engage in prostitution. However, in small towns and villages, those who were identifying themselves as geisha also often took part in prostitution on the side as it was sadly a way for them to "serve" their customers. Sayo Masuda also wrote her autobiography in hiragana, not kanji, as she couldn't read or write kanji since she never had a formal education. American GIs brought back stories of "geesha girls" due to women who were not geisha but used one of the only Japanese words that they knew to have sex with for money in order to survive after the war. The Americans had no idea what a real geisha looked like and the karyukai didn't reopen (if they weren't bombed to shreds) until 1947. So, there were two years of regular women calling themselves geisha having sex with GIs that really didn't help with the Western perspective of geisha. By the time that Mineko Iwasaki came along, which was decades after Masuda was active and the Americans had mostly pulled out of Japan, prostitution had been made illegal across the country, so no double registered geisha existed anymore and no geisha anywhere were supposed to be having sex on the side for money (sex on the side is fine as long as it's consensual between two adults and no money is being exchanged though). Since geisha are incredibly exclusive for the most part, it's far cheaper and easier to hire a call girl or a hostess if someone wants to have illegal sex in Japan (it would be naïve to say that it doesn't happen even though it's illegal). So, were there different "levels" of geisha when Sayo Masuda was active? Of course. Was she lying? I don't believe so. Her story is extremely compelling and detailed to the point where it would be hard to be made up. Were the lines blurred on what was a "geisha" prior to World War II? Depending on where you were, yes. Has the karyukai changed drastically since that time? Very much so. Is there still work to be done when it comes to how geisha are perceived both inside and outside of Japan? Indeed, there's quite a great deal. But, we all have to start somewhere and I hope that this has helped to answer your questions ^^

[corvid-language-library]

Hello!

I am working on kanjis and as is probably common, I find it ok to "learn" them as in recognizing them and knowing how they are read, but much more difficult to get good at writing them, with a proper pen and paper.

I have seen you adding a lot of new kanjis to your vocabulary recently, and I was wondering how you go about it! Do you sit down and learn to write them by hand, or do you focus more on reading them and knowing how to identify them, since most writing is down by computer, where it's more important to recognize it than to know how to write it stroke by stroke?

Hi there!

I'm going to preface this by saying I don't think it's particularly important to learn how to handwrite kanji for the vast majority of learners. Knowing the stroke order makes your handwriting neater, but in terms of actual practical Japanese it is waaaaay down the list of necessary skills to master. Even a lot of my Japanese colleagues have said they can't write (complicated) kanji or they don't know the stroke order because they just type it out on their phones anyway. I could probably get away with never handwriting kanji even living in Japan (I even fill out forms in romaji sometimes if there's a long queue behind me and the staff say it's okay because it saves time. Like I can write my name and address, but it'll take like 5 minutes, and there's a chance they won't be able to read my shit handwriting anyway).

That being said: I use the Kanji Dojo app for learning/reviewing kanji, and I do use the writing feature more than the reading feature because I've found that's the most effective way for me to then recognise them when I encounter them. I guess the mechanical action of writing them helps commit them to memory for me. Also in the JLPT you have to choose the correct kanji for some questions and the options will be like 待 特 時 恃, and if I've spent time writing out words by hand using those kanji, I'm much more likely to know the correct option. I also use the Renshuu app, but that's only for reading.

So yeah, if you can read and recognise kanji but can't write them, I wouldn't sweat it too much. It's a nice skill to have but if you're struggling with it and it's not something you have any particular desire to work on at this point in time then there's no need to agonise over it. (And if you DO want to learn how to handwrite them, I highly recommend the Kanji Dojo app!)

[twilightmalachite]

Kanata Shinkai - Original "Kanji"

Author: Kanata Haruka

Characters: Kanata, Shinobu, Souma

JP Proofer: 310mc

EN Proofer: verdantcrimson

"They’re not fish?! But I felt so certain they all must’ve been!"

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪] 

Season: Winter

Location: Starmony Dorm Common Room

Shinobu: *gulp, gulp*… Fwah. The tea you brew is delicious as always de gozaru, Kanzaki-dono~!

A freshly brewed cup of hot tea will warm you up from the mid-winter cold from the inside out~!

Souma: Today is of especially frigid temperature, is it not? You would do well to keep your body warm.

Do let me know if you wish to have an additional cup. I have some excellent tea leaves I procured from Kaori activities the other day.

Should you desire it, Sengoku, I could attempt to brew those tea leaves.

Shinobu: Are you sure, de gozaru? Then I would love to have another cup!

But before that, I shall first enjoy this cup through and through!

Souma: But of course. There is no need to make haste. Savor the drink thoroughly!

Kanata: Fufufu. Both of you look to be in quite the warm and cozy “mood”~.

Souma: Why goodness, if it isn’t Shinkai-dono! I presume you have just now returned?

In that case, I shall brew a pot of my green tea at once, so that you may warm yourself up with a drink.

Of course, rest assured that it shall be cooled to a suitable temperature for you, Shinkai-dono.

Kanata: Thank you very much, Souma. But, I’d like to request one thing first.

It’d be perfect if you could pour the “tea” you brew into this cup here.

Shinobu: Oh, it’s one of those! Those teacups you sometimes see at sushi restaurants and such, de gozaru![1]

Souma: Indeed. It appears to be a teacup with kanji characters that contain the radical for fish (魚).

Now then, I shall pour your tea… Here you go, enjoy.

Kanata: *gulp, gulp* ♪ Phew. The “tea” you brew is delicious as always, Souma~.

The “temperature” was just right, and my body feels nice and warm, too.

Souma: It makes me glad to hear so. Now, Shinkai-dono, why is it you happened to possess a teacup so opportunely? 

Kanata: Fufu. I happened upon it, and simply “couldn’t stop myself” from buying it~.

That, and I thought it would make for a good “reference” for “merchandise” as the “centerpiece” for “AOUMI Aquarium”~.

Shinobu: I see. You’re right, this teacup would indeed be a good way to learn fish names, de gozaru!

Souma: Hm. The impression it leaves reminds one more of a sushi restaurant rather than an aquarium, however…

Kanata: I agree~. I also did not feel too sure about using it as it is.

And so, I thought that by using it as a “reference”, I would be able to come up with some good “ideas”.

Shinobu: Is that so, de gozaru? Hopefully, you can come up with something nice, then…

Still, though, I was not aware that there were this many kanji out there for fishes.

I remember a time I saw teacups at a sushi restaurant that included kana readings de gozaru, but this one doesn’t appear to have any.[2]

Oh, this one here is maguro, “tuna” (鮪), de gozaru. Even I can read some of these, like sake, “salmon” (鮭) and tara, “cod” (鱈)!

But how do you read this kanji…? This one with the radical for “fish” (魚) next to the radical for “bay” (浦)?

Some of these fish use radicals that are easy to read on their own, like “sense” (念) and “flower” (花), but… I don’t have the slightest clue how they’re read all together.

Kanata: Fufufu. You see, some of the “kanji” you just mentioned just now, Shinobu, are among the ones for creatures of the “sea” that are not fish~.

Shinobu: They’re not fish?! But I felt so certain they all must’ve been![3]

Souma: Kanji that contain the radical for “fish” (魚) are rarely taught, as they are not commonly used. It is not surprising that you would be unable to recognize them, Sengoku.

Shinobu: Mm… You don’t look to be surprised at all, Kanzaki-dono. Could it be that you know how to read these, de gozaru?

Souma: Heheh, well, I am a member of the Marine Biology Club.

Under the tutelage of Shinkai-dono, I have acquired a fair amount of knowledge pertaining to fish. ♪ 

Kanata: Don’t worry~, Shinobu. At first, Souma didn’t understand a single thing at all, either.

I still remember the time Souma read this “kanji” as “uoura” (魚浦)-dono.[4]

Shinobu: Uoura-dono, huh? Ahaha, that’s just reading the radicals out as separate kanji readings!

Souma: I-I would not make the same mistake again! The radical for “fish” (魚) which is to the left of the radical “bay” (浦) is read as iruka, “dolphin” (鯆)!

Shinobu: Whoa… So this one is “dolphin”, huh?

You’re right, dolphins aren’t fish, they’re mammals, de gozaru.

Kanata: And to explain the others, the fish that has the kanji with the radical for “sense” (念) is the namazu, “catfish” (鯰).[5]

Souma: As for the one with the radical for “flower” (花), it is read as hokke, an “atka mackerel” (𩸽).

Shinobu: Ooh, Shinkai-dono, Kanzaki-dono, you both are so knowledgeable, de gozaru~! I’m learning a lot!

But all these kanji for fish are making me wonder if there is one that uses the shinobu (忍) radical…

Are there any, de gozaru? I’d love to learn about that one!

Kanata: Hmm, maybe I simply haven’t heard of it yet, but I do not think there is a fish “kanji” like that.

Shinobu: Is that so, de gozaru… That’s disappointing.

Souma: I see, if that is the case, why not create the kanji yourself, Sengoku?

It would merely be something for your own satisfaction, but as long as you yourself enjoy doing so, there is no harm in it.

Shinobu: Creating your very own kanji, huh… Ooh, that does sound really cool! ♪ 

Kanata: …Souma, about your “idea” you came up with. I think you might be onto something.

By creating their own "original kanji" for the fish they like, and making it into “merchandise”…

It could be made into “memorabilia” just for those who visit “AOUMI Aquarium”! ♪ 

Shinobu: Ohh, that does sound like it could have potential, Shinkai-dono!

Souma: Hm, it does sound like it would be fun to have one’s “orijinaru” kanji written onto clothes, handcloths, and the like.

Shinobu: How should the kanji written with the radicals shinobu (忍) and sakana (魚) be read… Perhaps as “ningyo”, de gozaru?

Souma: I think that is quite nice. However, if it’s read as ningyo, then wouldn’t the radical for “blade” (刃) be more suitable beside the “fish” (魚) radical?

Shinobu: No, no, that isn’t what comes to mind naturally at all, Kanzaki-dono![6]

Kanata: “AOUMI Aquarium” doesn’t have mermaids (ningyo) to begin with~.

However, I do think this will make for good “opportunities” for everyone to get together and “talk about” fish.

I also love to “talk about” fishes with everyone, so I’m sure this “idea” will be absolutely wonderful. ♪ 

[ ☆ ]  

story directory

The teacup Kanata has here is a sushi yunomi; a type of teacup characterized by having no handle decorated with various kanji for fish on the sides, a teacup often served at sushi restaurants. You can see it in his unbloomed art from his card ("Strange" Fish) Kanata Shinkai here.

A large number of animal and plant kanji are considered obscure or difficult to learn and write, and are more commonly spelt in katakana; such as ネズミ (nezumi) for mouse, instead of the kanji 鼠. These sushi yunomi teacups will typically have kana readings to indicate how they are pronounced.

If you’re as surprised as Shinobu is, back when these words were created, a lot of sea mammals would be grouped in with fish, as opposed to the mammal/fish grouping that we’re familiar with today, and so they were named as such. For example, the kanji for crocodiles, 鰐 (wani), essentially means “sea dragon”!

Souma tries his very best reading the kanji 鯆 by reading it as 魚 and 浦, separately—not even as a compound kanji. It’s very clunky and funny-sounding. 

The 念 radical in “catfish” (鯰) here is actually derived from an old Chinese reading of the radical that means “to be sticky”.

Reading the radical for “blade” (刃) as nin is very rare.

[shitpostingkats]

What are your Twewy reaper headcanons?

NORMAL, I HAVE A NORMAL AMOUNT OF REAPER HEADCANONS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING

Okay so if you count Def March (which I absolutely do) there's twelve named Shibuya reapers. Which fits with the fact that every reaper corresponds to an animal of the chinese zodiac.

I'm just guessing with BJ and Tenho, according to Nomura every reaper has a hidden kanji in their names representing their animal, but I can't read japanese so I took a shot in the dark. Also, fun fact, Minamimoto can't rearrange the radicals in his name to spell boar, like he can with lion, his true noise form. But he's got a lot of boar symbolism, being found in Pork City, and his Leo Cantus Armo form having tusks, which ties into the fact that the Shinjuku reapers all have motifs based on hanafuda suits. MORE ON THAT LATER I AM VERY NORMAL ABOUT HIM.

Ahem. So awhile back I was considering writing a fic on all the Shibuya reapers and how they came to have their current jobs, what their games were like, etc. (Might still write this. I've been busy)

So I sat down to try and come up with headcanons for EVERY named Shibuya reaper, and now I hold every one of them near and dear to my heart.

Kariya is mentioned in game as the oldest reaper, probably having been around for longer than anyone else. I like to imagine there's a huge gap between him and any other current reaper, which drives Mitsuki CRAZY, this chill dude just hangs around and eats candy but also has seniority???? Also he's more powerful than any other reaper save maybe the composer?

The thing that did him in was lung cancer. The lollipop's a replacement cigarette, in much the same way people recommend chewing on hard candy if you're trying to quite smoking. Why did he decide to quit after he died, and he no longer had anything to worry about? Listen the Game's all about growth, and Kariya is possibly the strongest because he is so capable of change, of going with the flow, and learning from his mistakes.

Like every ex-Player, he had a partner when he won his game, and I don't have a whole lot of headcanons for them except 1) they chose to return to life, and 2) Uzuki reminds him of them a lot.

Mitsuki was a woman working her ass off to try and make it in male-led office, until she literally worked herself to death. As you might expect, this royally pissed her off. She was desperate to return to life, but unfortunately, her entry fee came as a pair. What her partner, a simple farmwoman from out of town, valued most was the ability to go unnoticed and unremarked on, while Mitsuki deeply coveted every scrap and morsel of recognition she could get.

So their partnership was cursed so no matter what they did, people's eyes would skate over Mitsuki, dismiss her, and Mitsuki's partner would be lauded with the credit. Mitsuki became almost invisible, while her partner was forced to step up and do most of the talking.

This led her partner feeling more comfortable with being seen, with taking up space, so when the chance came to return to life, she took it with grace. Mitsuki, on the other hand, came to realize she liked working from the shadows. And besides, she could have more power as a reaper than anything a stupid company of the living could offer her...

Higashizawa is pretty simple, both in the game and in my headcanons. He's a cook. Maybe an army cook, but the point is he values food as a part of life, and had to cope with entry fee in the game being unable to eat, despite all the other players, including his partner, being able to.

I picture his partner on the younger side, maybe a cadet, maybe not. They had a very sweet dynamic, very paternal. Even though he couldn't eat, Higashizawa would break into restaurants that didn't have a reaper decal, and "commandeer" their kitchens to make dishes, which, despite only one of them eating them, saved them enough yen and gave enough stat boosts for them to win the game. And led to a spiked increase in reports in "haunted kitchens" for the week they were playing.

Kitanji is TRANS. I know this for a fact. Mr. Square Enix himself told me.

"Megumi" is technically a unisex name but much more commonly a feminine one, something that is actually brought up in the manga, when my dumb cat son tries to nickname Kitanji and Kitanji snaps back that he's very sensitive about his name and was bullied as a kid. This is a trans guy.

He ran a record store in life that unfortunately fell victim to an armed robbery, and Kitanji was killed. His most important thing, his name, was taken from him as his entry fee. This further parallels him to Neku, who woke up in the game knowing nothing but his name. It could also explain why he's so distrusting of Shibuya and thinks the world would simply be better if everyone conformed; after being on the end of transphobic bullying in life, the idea of standing out and embracing the chaos of being a unique soul terrifies him.

MINAMIMOTO is my dumb stupid goth catboy son and I am INSUFFERABLE about him. I have SO many headcanons it's insane.

First off, he died of general exposure, as he was homeless for most of his life. This nicely ties into his habit of collecting garbage, making trash into something brash and artistic, and his general attitude of making himself heard and assertive, while still being so in tune with the flow of the city and people that he has powers unseen in any other reaper. Minamimoto was ignored by the city in life so in death HE IS GOING TO KILL GOD AND TAKE HIS PLACE. WHILE BEING EXTREMELY LOUD ABOUT IT.

So it stands to reason that his entry fee, upon entering the game, was his voice. For the entire game, he was completely mute.

(One of the first things he did as a reaper, was get his megaphone.)

His partner was a diver from the coast who's entry fee was her memories of her home. She knew she had one, she just couldn't remember where, and who was waiting for her in the living world. They developed a series of hand signs for Sho to communicate with, both having a rough grasp of JSL, Sho from some fellow homeless people who were deaf and her from her experience as a diver.

My other big, big headcanon for him is, about 3/4s of the way through the week, she died. Sho, knowing about the seven minutes rule because he picks things up quickly, knew he didn't have long to live if he let her soul energy dissipate and that she would never find out where he home was, but it was MOSTLY about his own survival, shut up, collected up her soul data and tried balancing her equation and a bunch of other Minamimoto nonsense I am not smart enough to write. x = acos(t) and y = asin(t) over root 2 and all that.

He turned her into a noise.

After all, transformation is kinda his thing, and he's notably skilled at manipulating Soul and giving it new forms. He was the one who discovered the loophole that Beat would use to save his sister in week 1. It's what originally put him on Hanekoma's radar as someone to keep an eye on. Hanekoma also made note of the process in case he ever needed it.

After that, Minamimoto went on to win the game, have his partner restored to life, and was now far too curious about studying Soul and Noise to even think of doing anything else but staying in the UG.

His noise form, while originally a boar, he managed to by complete force of will shape into a lion, just because he wanted to be a lion.

He had a short tenure as a wall reaper, where he would ask impossibly long math questions of the "A train leaves Philadelphia at 8:00am traveling 90 mph" variety. This caused him to be promoted to an Officer just to stop him from being a Harrier, and some rules to be laid down regarding what can and can't be a viable quiz for the wall questions.

Def March was a real band before they died, probably in some hilarious way, that killed all three of them. Being Shibuya's only instance of a rare three person pact, their collective entry fee was their memories of knowing each other in life, but they decided to stick together anyways despite having no idea who these random two other guys they woke up in the afterlife with were. Cue clown music as they proceed to become best friends and vow to start a band together once they win the game.

They decided to stay as reapers once they won because none of them could think of anything cooler than a metal band that was actually dead.

Although still very passionate about music, most of their memories of being a band getting erased meant they had some space to explore new hobbies. BJ and Tenho decided to combine their newfound loves of bar trivia and local history into a new method of Harrying, known as the Reaper Review.

Coco wasn't able to see much of the city when she was alive, being hospital bound for most of her life before losing the fight to a chronic illness at a young age. So she took to being a reaper with gusto, diving in to the local trends and culture like she was starving for it. Her entry fee might be considered a paltry thing to most, the ability to see color, but it truly was the thing about herself she valued most. After a life of drab grey walls and sterile surfaces, color was deeply important to her, none moreso than the colors she chose for herself.

She's also the most adventurous of the Shibuya reapers, being the one to actually leave the district and travel to other places in the city, which is how she and Tsugumi became friends.

Uzuki is the second newest reaper, having died recently of a heart attack (see the sprites where she clutches her chest when taken off guard) Like Mitsuki, she was originally deeply annoyed by her life being cut short, but adapted quickly to the new structure of the reapers and is aiming high after realizing how much more being a reaper can offer her. I genuinely have no idea what her entry fee might have been so I am currently in the market for a good headcanon there.

Joshua is the most recent addition to the Shibuya reapers

Okay, hear me out.

First off, I am obsessed with the fanon that Joshua and Fret knew each other in life. Joshua is heavily implied in the first game to have taken his own life, while Fret speaks in the second about losing a friend to what is heavily implied to be suicide. The idea that the loss that set Fret down the path of repression and insincerity was Joshua scratches my brain in such a satisfying way.

Second, he's a prodigy in all things UG related, but has the general attitude and personality of someone actually the age he appears to be. Boy is chronically 15. I think it's much more likely he died a little more than a year or two ago before the start of twewy and rose through the ranks quickly, rather than being some eternally 15 twerp whose been around for years.

It is mentioned he knew Hanekoma in life, and would visit CAT street frequently to talk about the UG, which is something he could see even before he died. He killed himself knowing where he would go, and how he was special.

So I think his entry fee is he got to the UG and couldn't see anything.

No noise, no reapers, no players. Hanekoma was waiting for him, being just enough of a non-game-related entity to at least give him a heads up and see he got a Pact. Joshua himself doesn't know much about his partner, being unable to see them for the entire game. But he did rely on them. Trust your partner. In Josh's case, he had to.

Also, think about the blood vessel Uzuki would pop if she learned that the all powerful composer who wields the power of the entire city with a mysterious anonymity had actually been with the UG shorter than she has.

[2n2n]

This is something I’ve always wondered, but during the mermaid arc, where Hanako rescues Nene from permanently becoming a fish… He had no way of knowing that Nene had refused the offer of becoming a fish princess, and yet he fished her out anyway. He even admits the mermaid’s world would’ve been kinder to Nene, but it doesn’t matter to him. He speaks about Nene as though she’s his belonging and not even a person— and to my knowledge he never does this again

Was this Hanako being peak possessive over Nene? It’s not really framed that way in the manga, but it’s what I got from reading between the lines. Maybe I’ve just become delusional lmao You

It's Hanako being normal Hanako degree of possessive over Nene-chan... a 'peak' implies it has since gone down, but it has infinitely gone upwards since then. You're also not reading between the lines, you are simply reading the literal lines of the manga. Welcome to the team!

Indeed, Amane doesn't care and does not factor in if Nene-chan would like to be a princess or not … he is even in Tsuchigomori's classroom when Nene-chan says it sounds "too good"…

Nene-chan is Amane's property. Even when the initial bond is made, he does not ask her if she wants that … he asserts "you'll take anyone, huh?" earlier,

and then, he simply asserts them as "like a couple". Hanako doesn't really wait for permission on anything … he claims. Nene-chan proceeds to constantly tell him "you're not my type!" and he doesn't care.

Amane does not care if Nene-chan likes another boy, or wants to do something without him… if Amane wanted Nene-chan to have her own will, he would not punish her for being interested in other things …

It's also worth noting he has never explained what being a 'kannagi' entails …

we don't even know, in this universe, what it entails…

I think you should think more about it...

For sure, Amane explicitly says kannagi are irresistible to kaii, who desire to consume them. Amane is a kaii, so he is not exempt...

a kannagi (in real life...) is sortof miko (shrine maiden)… who tend to a shrine (and shrines typically contain yorishiro, or objects which you pray to… which is what Tsukasa is). As I understand (I may not understand. lol) .. a kannagi is someone who performs various rituals within a shrine, to appease the God(s). Yashiro's name pronunciation itself reflects this destiny, as 'yashiro' (written with different kanji…社 VS 八尋) means '(shinto) shrine'.

Given that Hanako is a Mononoke, or an evil spirit, AND the mysteries are referred to by Teru as a kindof God, that makes sense; bring comfort to him, perform tasks for him, tend to him.

Similarly, the God of Sumire and Hakubo's village was given 'kannagi' as offerings of appeasement.

While HANAKO uses 'assistant' as his informal shorthand for kannagi, (to make Nene-chan not think too hard about it honestly...) that village thought of kannagi as 'beings wedded to God', offering women as BRIDES, to provide protection, to sever boundaries.

And who is more accurate here? Are kannagi like brides? Or like assistants? The village obviously spun a narrative in an attempt to make the reality less grim for the girls being sacrificed. Obviously, it means far, far more than 'assistant'. Does Nene-chan truly understand what she is, in the system of power? Why might Hanako not thoroughly explain? Why did we only just learn about past kannagi, what was done with them, how kaii respond to their souls? How should we feel about Hanako pushing a girl into a role that has been historically interchangeable with 'bride'?

Hanako is not only a mundane amount of possessive...

I have no idea what PP is to anyone, if not Tsukasa tempting Amane with the fantasy of turning Yashiro into a permanently kept soul, in much the same way Tsukasa seems to have been/be. Do you still want something like this, Amane? Or something else?

Thinking in terms of "forever and ever" is excessive … that goes beyond, even normal, marriage....

The mermaid situation is the tip of an iceberg. The greater picture of entire arcs is Amane's possessiveness…

I constantly repost this panel, I am begging people to understand the phrasing of "LIVE A LIFE BESTOWED BY MY HAND, AND NOT THE KID OR ANYONE ELSE". He doesn't ONLY want Yashiro to LIVE! He NEEDS to be the one to DO it, with HIS hands! He wants CONTROL! He wants her life OWED TO HIM! NOBODY ELSE! HIM!!!!

Nene-chan is here to help you interpret this …

Amane is a God. He has servants and objects for his servitude and for his comfort. These objects are Tsukasa and Nene-chan. Now his two objects are kissing, which is so radical.

"It is not really framed that way in the manga" is so crazy to say I'm sorry … Nene-chan understands she OBEYS Hanako. He is her MASTER.

Yes, the manga frames Amane as possessive, and not giving Nene-chan any agency. Nene-chan actively complains about it....

Vol. 4 contained such an early, almost comparatively twee, or charming version of this. We've since gone much further. We have seen MORE of what it means to AMANE, that Nene-chan's life is "his". HIS to make decisions about. HIS to control. He owns Nene-chan beyond what any person can. He owns her as God owns his servant.

AidaIro like yandere..... Narisokonai Snow White is a yandere story wherein two twin boys poison the girl they like. One of them paralyzes her daily, the other makes her die with him in a murder-suicide. Cult kills Lily in order to keep her forever, as he loves her too much.

You wanna know what 'peak' possessive Amane is? Killing his brother.

[lxmelle]

hi xmllex!! I've been curious, are you japanese or just speak japanese? :-o

cuz your analyses often mentions the meanings of japanese names/words and such... it adds another layer which makes them so interesting and unique in my opinion !

if it's the latter, where or how did you learn? u don't have to answer tho !

while I'm here, do you have any drawing requests? I would love to draw something for u ! ^__^

Haha, thanks for being curious!! I’m happy to answer anything within reason, although my answer is likely going to be long and may not be particularly interesting! 🤪

Ah, I am hardly fluent in Japanese, nor am I Japanese! I try my best to be careful with how I interpret phrases and words, but I think there is a lot that I miss because of the loss of cultural understanding/context 😔 sorry if I’ve misled in any way.

Some people have a natural talent when it comes to languages and - alas, I am not one of them 🤣

I took some Japanese language lessons back when I was a teenager, did some self study (with manga, magazines, novels, cds, dictionaries & workbooks), and when I entered university, I did two years of Japanese as part of my electives.

Nothing since!

This was actually kind of quite some time ago. Until I stumbled upon the jjk fandom, I hadn’t practiced any Japanese. I’m rusty 🥲 kanji is difficult to learn. It is infinitely easier with new tech these days, but in all honesty it makes me lazy so I don’t think I progress/improve much.

So now… I get by through passively reading the language, use google translate liberally, but don’t tend to speak it because I lack the confidence to do so.

Especially when it comes to interacting with people who speak it online, I’m not confident when it comes to polite Japanese anyway, and it’s a bit of a minefield trying to grasp the online etiquette of the Japanese 😵‍💫 so I tend to avoid conversing in it, unless it’d be rude not to attempt.

I’m like this with other secondary languages too. I’m really only fluent in English 😓

As for a drawing request…...

What - Really!!? 🤩

Ooh - would you be so kind as to draw something for me? 🥹😍😃 ahhh!! I’ve been thinking about a few scenarios for the longest time, but they’ve definitely beyond my scope to produce 😂

I’m excited! Shall I give you options?? I don’t want to request something too much… 🥲 although I’m greedy and excited

Hmm, I’m in brainrot heaven/hell with satosugu, so i hope that’s okay with you!

You can choose whichever inspires you... Or please don’t hesitate to ask for another suggestion!!

So, maybe…

1. Little Mermaid/Prince Eric? 🤭

2. Blushing Gojo? 😃

3. Blushing satosugu??

4. Hanging out on the dorms’ rooftop in the middle of the night!

5. Geto tucking his fringe behind his ear 🥰

6. I like teacher AU too!!!

7. Someone styling the other person’s hair!

I hope one of those ideas tickles your fancy 💕

[kafkaoftherubble]

做工前肯定要讲几句有关249的事: 憂太的 领域展开

// I Must Talk About c249 Before I Work: On Yuta's Domain Expansion

This post contains spoilers for Chapter 249 of Jujutsu Kaisen.

If I don't dump it here, these thoughts will distract me later! I'm already very distracted lately! Too distracted for my own good! Ahhhhh!

First off, I was eating so good. Yuta fans, simps, appreciators, and Rika (good taste, y'all)—rejoice, for this chapter is basically 95% Yuta! That's right; the next 5% was Yuta's Eyebags!

Look at this! He's so cute! So handsome!

Oh, I have to learn to exorcise spirits now. Then I can kick that fake Rika away and become his Rika!

Also, some people are somehow even more handsome just by being shown slow breathing. Is it just me who thinks that? Or is this what "rizz" truly means? I mean, look at that slight frown! Look at those eyebags! Look at him breathing!

... I'm sorry. I'm usually not one to write something with such trifling, substanceless content.

It's just... Yuta, man.

Anyway, the main point. Please, look at Yuta's

Domain Expansion

Shit is so magnificent. The many swords are obviously the first thing one would notice (and all that joke about Unlimited Blade Works and that Bleach... thing), but it's the abundance of crosses and the knots behind them that attracted my attention.

I'll get the easy out of the way first.

The Crosses

I would suspect these are meant to be "gravestones." Not too hard to think of "till death do us part," right? Though, to be fair, death didn't do Yuta and Rika part. In fact, it strengthened Yuta's split-moment craving for Rika and cursed her—in true dukkha fashion—into something quite macabre.

If one's Domain is the extension of their mental-scape, then it makes sense that Yuta's would incorporate gravestones, since his genesis as a cursed energy user effectively began on the day Rika died.

----

The Knots

Now this is the part that attracted the most of my attention!

Japanese knot-tying traditions are largely influenced by Chinese knotting (中国结) [1]. The word for knots in Chinese, 结, means "to bind," which then comes to represent all kinds of "union." Marriage, for example, is 结婚 (hanzi) /結婚 (kanji) [2][3]. Given Yuta's "love" motif, you can already see why the knots are part of his Domain.

There are plenty of meanings for the word 结, inter alia, it's a pun on 吉 (blessed) [2][3]. The fact that these knots are intertwined also comes to represent "interdependence," "connection," and "bonds." [2]

It's a bit of a stretch, admittedly, but I suppose one could probably draw this to that time Yuta described himself as "blessed." He is blessed because he was loved—he is enriched by connections and bonds with other people.

-

What is the knot type in Yuta's domain, then?

There are two candidates I could find.

I always rank each possibility from the highest confidence level to the lowest, so here goes. Note that I'm using the Chinese name (I would love it if someone added a more Japanese-focused viewpoint in this post on a reblog. I'm much more familiar with Chinese and cannot read Japanese, so...):

(1) 双钱结, The Double Coin Knot, 淡路結び [1]

It's shaped like two copper coins that are intertwined, hence its blessing is largely related to fortune and money [2][4].

However, the pronunciation of 钱 ("money") is similar to 全, "whole." Meanwhile, there is a pair of coins in this knot. This gives 双钱 an alternative reading—双全, "a pair that makes the whole." It also means 好事成双, "good things come in pairs." [4][5]

Yuta, as a jujutsu sorcerer, is more of a pair than an individual—he fights with Rika and is connected to her. These two together make a whole. A force of good that comes in a pair.

Due to sturdy enough sources corroborating the meaning of this knot, the similarity in appearance to Yuta's Knot, as well as the very fitting "pair + whole" symbolism, I have a higher confidence in this knot being the one in Yuta's Domain.

(2) 八字结, The “Figure 8” Knot

It's a pretty dime-a-dozen knot where the number 8 is formed. It has pragmatic purposes (eg. rock climbing), but here, because these two loops are intertwined, it apparently means "honest love" and "unchanging friendship." [6]

I rank this knot as lower in confidence level. It does at least pertain to the motif of love, according to one source, but it doesn't resemble Yuta's knot quite as well as the Double Coin Knot.

A bit of a caveat, in the spirit of intellectual honesty and rigor: The meaning of this knot has been found in only one source (see Citation #6), and it doesn't actually pass my internal rigor test. I've tried to search for corroboration from Chinese sources, but no dice. The only site in Chinese that corroborates the meaning of "eternal love" has busted web certificates and links.

----

The Name of Yuta's Domain Expansion

The translated name by OP Scan is terrible. It certainly pays homage to Yuta's fame (infamy?) as "The War God of Pure Love," but the actual kanji is 真贋相愛。

真 - Truth or real

贋 - False or fake

相愛 - mutual love, or reciprocal love, or "in love."

真贋 literally means "truth and false. Together it usually means "veracity." Here though? I'd interpret it as "The (Mutual) Love Between The Real and The False."

Isn't this shit metal as fuck? I mean, it's also fucking poetry. Truly the kind of magnificence only one with premium quality eyebags could provide!

It's worth nothing that 真贋 itself makes a contrasting pair, which again, links back to the Double Coin Knot's meaning.

I'm sure yall can make your own interpretation of what 真贋相愛 could symbolize vis-a-vis Yuta and Rika. Let's go, people!

----

Tangents to My Research - Side Dish

Knots have come to be a very important symbol of relationships, especially love, since the Tang and Song Dynasty [1]. To draw to the Japanese side of the practice, Chinese knotting practice reaches Japan during the Tang Dynasty as well [1]. It's not too surprising that this love connotation could also have been passed to Japan.

The entangling property of knots also comes to mind the term "连理（枝）", which means "interlocking (tree branches)." Here are two poems referring to the word:

(1) 同心结缕带，连理织成衣. —By Luo Binwang (骆宾王)

We tie this ribbon into a concentric knot, and we turn our interlocking branches (of love)into our clothes. Translation mine.

(2) 在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝 —By Bai Juyi (白居易）

In heaven, I want to become a Biyi Bird (with you). On earth, I want to be (a mesh of) interlocking branches (with you). Translation mine.

The Biyi Bird is a mythological bird recorded in the purely fantastical geographical treatise, The Classics of the Mountain and Seas (《山海经》). The bird is born with only one eye and one wing on one side. To fly, it needs a partner with the other eye and wing of the other side—and the two will fly together as a complement. [7]

It's very lovey-dovey and romantic and shit.

...Damn, Yuta is really all about love and connection, isn't he?

----

Wow, I didn't work on my actual job at all. Because I deadass spend hours just on this. Seriously?

But then again, there has been a precedence to me breaking my lackadaisical attitude toward writing JJK-related things—and that is when it concerns my favorite character. You don't need to click on the link to know who that other one is; it was Gojo Satoru.

Yuta, bless his rizz, deserves all of my time. If he dies (NO FUCKING WAY, GEGE!!!), then at least I have made something of worth about him.

Thank you for reading my ramble!

---- ----- ------

Citations:

"Chinese knotting" from Wikipedia

"中国结的历史来历和寓意" ("The history and meaning of the Chinese knotting") from 妍妍旅行记 on Sohu.com (in Chinese)

"Chinese Knots, Winding the Best Wishes with Cords" by Beijing Tourism

"双钱结寓意和象征，双钱结编法" ("The meaning and symbolism of the Double Coin Knot; How to Make a Double Coin Knot") on 结艺网 www.zhongguojie.org (in Chinese)

双色绳的编法有哪些？("Whast are the ways to make knots using two different colors?") on Zhihu (in Chinese)

"19 Popular Types of Chinese Knots and Their Meanings" on AnyofChina

"比翼鸟" from Wikipedia (in Chinese; English page not created)

There are also other links embedded in the ramble; these are references for that one specific instance and so do not warrant their inclusion under this section.

[fulgrimsrefuse]

On Marazhai's brand

I'm new-ish to 40k (my family was into it, so it was the background radiation for my entire life) so imagine my surprise when I learned that it's been around for this long and there is no functional eldar alphabet because the direction of the worldbuilding just hasn't gone in much on linguistics.

A couple of admirable supernerds have compiled various resources on what we DO have. This for grammar, terminology, and just how context heavy the language is:

This for runes. Some people who got a specific Nocturne of Oblivion ending slide might see something familiar:

Something interesting in the comments:

"I emailed Gav Thorpe 10 years about the eldar runes, and he forwarded my email to Jes Goodwin - here's the reply I got from him: There are three systems of Runic Markings

The Runes used for the aspects and other troop types/concepts. These are the geometric runes that are generally based around the triangle. They are simplified versions of the actual runes that a Warlock/farseer uses to divine the potential futures in a given situation. The are based on the use of the Norse Futhark for divination, although their forms are not nordic.

Eldar script. This is the stuff behind the eldar headers. These have no ascribed meanings, I.e there is no 'alphabet' of them. These are generally cursive and we use them in various places to give flavour, they sometimes include elements from the runes [Which would give them a kanji-like relationship to the runes] and are sometimes more blocky/simplified as on the warning markings on vehicles.

Eldar Seals. These are the complex symbols found on Titan Banners and on the back of the Wraithlord. They are used to represent the seals of Noble Houses or the Bonesinger schools of design. They are based on the idea of the Turkish 'Tugrah' , complex signature seals associated with the Ottoman Empire, meant to stop forgeries. To summarise, the forms of all the symbols don't have a single real world source, but their functions are influenced by real world sources"

I was just curious and wanted to know if we could build Marazhai's name out of what we do have from these sources. A lot of words beginning in "Mar-" seem to refer to death or death related ideas, and "Zai" is a known name meaning "morning". But there's nothing that I found in a written form for those sounds.

They do have a rune for Ynnead, their god of the dead, which looks like this:

Eldar runes can stand for an idea and not just one letter per sound. If this is their rune for a god of death, I'm making the wild assumption that somewhere in that rune is something that could be read as "Mar-". Since we have no idea how to properly "read" that rune, I just tried looking at their lettering runes for shapes in common with this, ssssort of like how kanji multiradicals work since that was the given example.

(Sort of. Kind of. If you squint at it and look at it sideways, maybe.)

It's a doomed prospect, because once you go looking at the runes, it becomes increasingly clear none of this follows any logic, or maybe it's just logic my simple mon-keigh brain lacks.

So, possibilities for "Mar-":

(Not quite, but close. Chalk up the difference to calligraphy styles, maybe)

(again, only close, but radicals in kanji can look subtly different depending on where in a given character they appear, so I just shrugged and said fine, elf logic.)

(Also only close, also operating off of elf logic.)

As for "Zai", the sun does appear as a pretty recognizable shape in some runes, like these:

(Craftworld Lugganath)

Without a linguistics person at GW telling us how to read this stuff, I say we have pretty free rein to figure out what the heck Marazhai burns into our necks. Like, we don't even know if it's read left to right, up or down. So I just made something up as an example, using what I posted above:

Trying for a balance of "relatively easy to burn into a person before they pass out from shock" and "cute", though it is missing the jaggy quality of Drukhari lettering. This is just an idea though, y'all go wild and have fun!

If you are a 40k lorehound and you think I'm W R O N G that's fine, I only got into this hobby a couple months ago. I'm curious if you know more about eldar writing, actually!

Edit: lmao how did I miss the literal “zhai” entry. I’ll try that later.

Edit 2: I tried it later. https://www.tumblr.com/fulgrimsrefuse/741450381287096320/on-marazhais-brand-2?source=share

[van-yangyin]

15 OC Questions!

I was tagged by @bl-sims-anime, thank you so much for tagging me, your sims and stories are so awesome and I'm looking forward to reading and learning more about them. 💖 Among so many sims that @lea-heartscxiv and I have created, this time I'll choose Ryuuya Kitta from our "save" IcarRyu, since last time I chose one of our sims from our "save" JAKK. (Although it doesn't really go for separate saves since they coexist in the same savefile, but it's to understand me better).

My name is 吉田竜矢（きった・りゅうや）/Ryuuya Kitta, nice to meet you.

Are you named after anyone? A long time ago my mom got pregnant of me, she was the one who chose my name. According to my dad she said something like: Ryuu, honey. I've always told you how much I love your name and the way it sounds, haven't I? How about Ryuuya? Our little Ryuuya, with the kanji for dragon (竜) and the kanji for arrow (矢). I'm sure he'll be very strong and fast. My mom was right about me being fast but as for strength I don't think I'm that strong, my best friend Icaro is more stronger.

When was the last time you cried? When Icaro and I saw a movie, a cat died because a murderer killed it and I don't like it when people kill animals, so I got sad and cried, even though I only do it in front of people I know!

Do you have any kids? No, I'm still too young (I'm only 17 yo) to have them but I would love to run away soon with Icaro from my fathers and start our own family, as I feel overwhelmed that they are always so clingy to me, they could be called helicopter parents. Hear me out, I love my fathers they're wonderful, but sometimes are so annoying that they overwhelm me.

Do you use sarcasm? No, I try to imitate people in order to appear more "normal", but sarcasm is something I have a hard time understanding, I don't know if it's because I'm autistic or just because it's something I'll never understand without any deeper explanation.

What’s the first thing you notice about people? Their voices, I have a hard time remembering people's faces, but for me the voice is something easy to recognize.

What’s your eye color? Brown, a rather vulgar color from my point of view.

Scary movies or happy endings? I love scary movies, happy endings don't exist, only the movie ends, if you think about how their lives continue after that happy ending, it can end up being the opposite because only the movie ends, not their lives. I think sometimes maybe I'm too pessimistic.

Any special talents? Special talents? Talent? Playing the piano, I learned it in school. For now it's the only one I know.

9. Where were you born? I was born in Komorebi, but now I live at Evergreen Harvor on an apartment (Obviously with my fathers because I don't have a lot of money but I live at apartment next to Icaro, so I guess it's not too bad)

10. What are your hobbies? I really love music, nowadays I love astronomy too, thanks to Icaro who tells me about it every day because he loves astronomy since was little. Oh, of course I love legends and mythology too and also love fashion, I would like to wear at different styles and get different hairstyles, but I'm not very good at it, my mom was but she's now taking care of me from the stars, and my fathers are very traditional when it comes to clothes and hairstyles, so if they saw me wearing something didn't like, they would be upset. Another reason why I wish I could already have my own life. Oh, I almost forget it I also love to make cosplay as my favorite characters or of people who make awesome costumes or who for me are really an inspiration, like Sora my schoolmate or Prompto, the friend of prince Noctis from the continent of Eos that I had the chance to see him once, he takes wonderfuls photos.

11. Have any pets? No, in the apartments we have we aren't allowed to have pets, but I'll really love to have cats, a lot of cats, because I really love cats, tho Icaro is like a dog, so I think maybe I have a human dog pet.

12. What sports do you play/have played? Baseball, I'm really good at it, but my fathers put so much pressure on me that over the years more than having fun it overwhelms me, so at the end I ended up quitting. I've also tried surfing and skateboarding thanks to Icaro, but it seems that I'm better at running than holding myself on a board, although that doesn't mean I won't try it again, because I would really like to have a personalized surfboard or skateboard with many cats as graffiti, yes, probably more because you can customize the accessories, but I'll always have Icaro to hold me if I'm going to fall, which sounds pretty nice. Although I must clarify something, games where the ball is the main focus such as soccer or basketball among others, I'm not good at all. Running and using the ball are not my strongest suit. In the case of baseball it's different, because I can analyze where the ball will go and hit it with the bat or throw it with spin so that the opposing player can't hit it, that's why I liked it so much.

13. How tall are you? The last time I measured my height I was 1.67cm/5' 6".

14. Favorite subject in school? Music, I love to play piano at school.

15. Dream Job? I would love to be able to work on something awesome, but I'm an ordinary person so I would just like to be able to live day to day. Icaro's cousin Marena would like me to be her model in the future, because she wants to be a designer and likes to see how I try on the clothes she makes, but I'm not so sure, I don't think I have the personality of a model.

~⭐️~

I'm always too shy to write to people, so I'm quietly going to tag the following people, although feel free not to do so if you don't want to, or not to do so if you have already been tagged and have already done so, I really love to know more about one of your sims: @lea-heartscxiv, @simsfurr, @mocham-sims, @iowaisms/@freedomending (You can do it about any of your system members if you want, if it doesn't make you uncomfortable of course, if it's rude then please ignore my tag 🙇💦), @falsogod, @raccoonium, @void-imp, @saruin, @pralinesims, @fuku0330, @nonocanflog, @atelier-saramaro, @plantsasasim, @simmireen, @xxxtaiyaki, @sunseekersims, @simandy, @crazy-lazy-elder-sims, @bnt0, @kyou-sims4, @lu-simblr, @stargazer-sims

翻訳：私は次の人々をタグ付けするつもりです、みなさんがしたくない場合はそうしないか、すでにタグ付けされている場合はそうしないように自由に感じるが、私は本当にみなさんのシムのいずれかについての詳細を知ることが大好きです🙇💕また、ここに書かれている質問についてわからないけど聞いてみたいという方も気軽に聞いてみてください💖

[hiro-doodlez]

Similar to my last post about Spanish or Portuguese , this is how to tell the difference between chinese and Japanese, because of just how similar they look! (Keep in mind I'm only studying Japanese and don't know ANY Chinese, so some of this may be off! SORRYYY!!!)

GENERAL HISTORY AND BACKGROUND:

One of the big things that makes Japanese and Chinese writing so similar is that Japanese takes many words from Chinese and puts them into in the Kanji writing system, which has over 50,000 separate characters, although the average native japanese speaker knows between 1500 and 2500. Along with hiragana, which is used for words in/from Japan. Then theres katakana which is used for foreign words, (like names and foods) and each writing system is used interchangeably and can be mixed up even in the same sentence! (Its REALLY confusing)

In Japanese too (but not for foreign words) each word can have 1 or 2 translations, either in hiragana or kanji. All Kanji does to a word is turns it into a more complicated, but more comprehensive version to make it more recognizable and faster to read. (SO CONFUSING)

For example, the word for cat in hiragana is ねこ, (pronounced Ne-ko) while in kanji it would be 猫 (also pronounced Ne-ko!). They're pronounced the exact same, but written differently.

a good example of this would be numbers! The translation to japanese would be either いち (hiragana) or 一 (kanji) both the hiragana and kanji pronunciation would be the same, which would be I-chi. In chinese, one would also be 一, but pronounced Yī this time! same writing, different pronunciations!

Although, not all Japanese words have Kanji set to them. So to fill in the gaps, they have to use the other writing systems like Katakana and Hiragana. Every sentence can be written multiple ways!

VISUAL DIFFERENCES AND.. NOT HISTORY:

So, lets say I wanted to translate "My brother Oliver is from the united states" into both Japanese and Chinese. In japanese, words like oliver and United states would be translated into katakana since they are foreign words. while in chinese they would find the closest character to match the sound.

In japanese, quotation marks are represented with 「 and 」 , while in chinese its still " and "!

Keep in mind that compared to kanji, katakana and hiragana are much simpler!

(im taking these translations from google so take the writing with a grain of salt!!)

so, in katakana, oliver = オリバー and united states = アメリカ . these translations basically sound out the words, so if you were saying it it would sound pretty close to english! (O-ri-ba, and a-me-ri-ka)

the direct translation to japanese would be 私の弟のオリバーはアメリカ出身です. pay attention to the complexity of each symbol and now look over at the chinese translation, which would be 我的兄弟奥利弗来自美国. the characters are MUCH more complicated! To make up for that, sentences in japanese are more likely to be longer length wise because of the breaking up of the words (but not always!)

So, lets try with a couple more examples! make sure to be looking at the characters and the complexity of each of them!

Sentence: I need to go to the convenience store Japanese: コンビニに行かなければなりません Chinese: 我要去便利店

Sentence: Which curtain should we get? Japanese:どのカーテンを買おうか？ Chinese: 我们应该买哪种窗帘？

Sentence: Can I get another chip? Japanese: 別のチップを入手できますか? Chinese:我可以再买一个芯片吗？

Sentence: I was responsible for what happened to John F. Kennedy Japanese: ジョン・F・ケネディに起こったことの責任は私にあった Chinese: 我对约翰·F·肯尼迪的遭遇负有责任

Sentence: I like to play video games in my free time Japanese: 私は自由時間にビデオゲームをするのが好きです Chinese: 我喜欢在空闲时间玩电子游戏

Sentence: He asked me, "Can I pet that cat over there?" Japanese: 彼は私に「あそこの猫を撫でてもいいですか？」と尋ねました。 Chinese: 他问我：“我可以摸摸那边的猫吗？”

Many things i have said in this could be wrong, so feel free to correct me! I just am tired of people mixing up these languages and these are some of the things that I have learned (other than knowing some japanese lmfao) have fun in whatever you choose to do with this!!

[troofless]

Chapter 1.1 Notes:

Man this chapter was so long despite like. Almost nothing happening in it lol.

wtf i cant believe we have an entire pov (sub)chapter about flynn insane

man norein (i feel like localisation would put it as norraine or noraine) and finath are such whack names 

i still think its funny if yuri can’t read (he can at least read the letters on the wanted poster, but he does give flynn’s letter to estelle to read that one time, and the coliseum challenge letters) but yeah its canon yuri can read 😔

huh wtf is this sudden attack and we get to see flynn inner thoughts on yuri???

the yuri’s OUR SWORD meme returns. love it

if this is how yuri and flynn co-own a sword i can’t wait to see how they act around repede (this never happens in the ln.) (FLYNN ITS MY TURN TO CUDDLE WITH THE DOG) (NO SHUT UP GO AWAY I THOUGHT YOU HATED HIM) (I NEVER SAID I DID) (YOU DID TOO) (I DID NOT)

yuri besmirching ages old techniques even as he learns them never gets old 😔yuri is that guy who goes to lab in a fighting game and comes out learning sick infinite tech combos that can’t be dropped

the narration: if this continued, it was likely that they would murder each other.

everything changed with a single book: why did they have to put it like that man

oh if only this was a fanfic this would have turned out so differently

So when Yuri says his swordsmanship is self-taught what he really meant is Flynn taught

oh my god. i can see it coming. yuri is going to ask to be taught letters so he can read the goddamn book. bruh.

edit: yeah it happened

also flynn pov! very nice. can see he wants to murder yuri but is holding back just a smidge. 

gotta love how flynn has a whole sad monologue about his dead dad and his mixed feelings about his martyrdom and yuri just KYs his way into existence.

oh i see! so flynn. has learnt to restrain himself from young. because of yuri. the reason he has so much self-control is because he practised it in order not to beat the shit out of yuri at first sight. it all makes sense now. 

ok so fun fact. 秘奥義 is mystic artes. but 奥義 is arcane artes, which is how yuri refers to what is ‘hidden’ in flynn’s book. and his ‘learn even more amazing techniques’ moment he says 技 which is strike arte. but technically since they’re talking about (supposedly) techniques that can be used without blastia, defaulting to the phrase techniques shld be fine. b4 u ask. no katakana reading above the kanji either.

flynn acknowledging that him and yuri are friends and getting embarrassed is so cute. icy cold (raging) baby melting a little inside. 

jiri thinking yuri is thinking up another river escapade (somewhat true knowing his read books -> beat up people/monsters pipeline) interrogating yuri until he cracked is so funny

jiri doing a tails get trolled at yuri wanting to study is so funny

hanks, sensing an opportunity to be had is also funny

man. i really REALLY can’t wait for the moment where yuri is all like. rip to your mother but i would have eaten that medicine. and flynn beats him up (i have no idea whether this actually happens)

ok so holy shit. we learn that flynn’s mother has either a TON of pride or is super depressed from having lost her husband that she would prefer to starve to death. now i really can’t wait for yuri’s rip to your mother moment /j

ok thats cute so yuri is writing his name aka ‘yuri lowell’ on his slate

oh yeah and the norein name stays to make stuff easier to find. i sleep until official gives us something (which is never) but in my mind know that she is noraine (no rain... ok maybe there is a point to be matter in staying with norein)