#that is how japanese looks when you know chinese actually

[olderthannetfic]

Now I'm wondering how countries like Japan and China teach literacy.

Since kanji / hanzi don't really have that much in the way of phonetic elements, they kinda have to teach them by memorization and I don't think they have many reading comprehension problems over there.

(Although both countries do have supplementary phonetic writing systems in the form of bopomofo and pinyin for China, and the kanas for Japan)

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It's a little closer to teaching vocabulary than spelling, but the same kinds of principles apply: You teach the building blocks, like the traditional radicals, which aren't so different from teaching Latin and Greek roots in an English class for English speakers.

And, as a matter of fact, lots of those radicals do predict pronunciation, just not in every single case. They can also be clues to meaning, but again, not absolutely consistently. Many characters have a sound-cueing radical on one side and a meaning-cueing radical on the other. It's just that only some are still useful in the modern day, while others are more like the English word 'plumbing' where knowledge of Roman lead pipes explains why this word comes from the one for lead, but the root probably wouldn't help a kid learn the word in the first place.

One similarity to teaching phonics would be teaching students to tell very complicated and similar characters apart: you want to help a student spot all the little building blocks of the character and then spot the ones that are different, not just glance at the whole character and get a general overall vibe. If you do a whole look-based approach, too many characters are too easy to mistake for one another.

Remembering a bajillion Chinese characters is hard if you're trying to memorize them in a year and not all of elementary school, but I think people who don't read them underestimate how many component parts there are and how approachable they can be if you start by learning fundamentals, not just memorizing a few individual characters as though they have no relation to anything else.

They're actually pretty systematic, just in the way that English spelling is with its overlapping systems and historical artifacts, not in the way that highly regular Spanish spelling is.

Having taken a lot of Japanese classes, I will say that Japanese as a foreign language textbooks often do a piss poor job of this and totally do teach kanji in a sight words-y way... But my Mandarin class started with important foundational concepts that served me well in Japanese later even if I bombed out of Chinese class at the time.

Can you tell how irritated I am by all the foreign language learners who think characters are sooooo hard when, really, it's just their crappy textbook? Haha.

They're moderately hard in the way that learning a full adult spectrum of vocabulary is hard, but people do that for foreign languages all the time. The countries that use characters do tend to make sets that are smaller for certain kinds of applications, same as we have things like simple English wikipedia, but a literate adult will always know lots more, whether it's from their career in engineering or their predilection for historical romance novels.

Uh... anyway, the answer is "Bit by bit in elementary school, just like in any other country".

[linghxr]

Tips for finding Chinese-language media you like

I’m sure some of you started studying Chinese because of Chinese webnovels or dramas. But for others (myself included), it's challenging to find enjoyable Chinese-language media. Here are my tips! I will mostly mention TV shows, but these tips apply to other types of media as well. They can apply to other languages too.

Tip 1 - Start with something similar (but not identical) to content you already like.

My entry to Chinese TV shows was idol survival shows like Produce 101/Chuang and Idol Producer/Youth With You. I used to watch the US version of The Voice and The X Factor, so I was already interested in singing/performing competition shows. Yes, China has its own version of The Voice (or at least it did). But why would I struggle through watching the Chinese version when I could watch the English version effortlessly? On the other hand, idol survival shows didn't have a direct equivalent in English. Once I got hooked on them, I had no choice but to keep consuming Chinese media.

Tip 2 - Don’t force yourself to consume popular media that you don’t enjoy.

The first Chinese scripted shows/dramas I tried were iPartment and Love O2O, both very popular shows. But I didn’t like them and had to force myself to keep watching. Eventually I abandoned them. After that, I basically didn’t watch any Chinese shows for 2+ years. I wrongly thought that I didn’t like any Chinese shows or there were no good ones—definitely untrue! In retrospect, those shows are not the types of shows that I tend to watch in any language, so they were really poor choices. By forcing myself to watch something that I didn’t like, I was just wasting my time and sapping my motivation.

Tip 3 - Be willing to invest time at the start.

I won’t lie, it’s a large time investment to find the first few pieces of media that you really like. But after that, it gets so much easier. Especially with Chinese-language media, it’s not as popular as Korean and Japanese media, so you might not know where to start. Luckily, Chinese-language media is becoming more readily accessible! Open YouTube/Spotify/Netflix, etc. and invest some time upfront trying different things until you find what sticks. There may be some duds (like me with iPartment and LoveO2O), but don’t give up! Keep looking, cause it will pay off in the long run.

Tip 4 - Don’t let embarrassment get in your way.

It’s important to find media that you truly enjoy so you’ll feel motivated to spend time with it every day. So keep an open mind when exploring formats and genres that may be unfamiliar to you. I used to be embarrassed about watching Chinese idol survival shows, so I hid them from friends and family. I learned later that my friends are actually really receptive and willing to watch with me, even though they don’t speak the language! You don’t need to announce your favorite media to the world, but please don’t let embarrassment get in the way of your enjoyment and your language learning goals!

Tip 5 - Use what you like to strategically branch out to new mediums.

You can take advantage of adaptations and other connections to expand to new mediums. While watching idol survival shows, I would look up the songs’ original artists—that’s how I got into Chinese music! When I decided to give dramas another try, I watched Someday or One Day after seeing the ending theme song covered on Youth With You. Another drama, The Disappearing Child, starred actors I knew from the show Sisters Who Make Waves. When I decided to tackle webnovels, I read the original webnovel of Reset, since I loved the drama adaptation. This is the perfect way to expand your repertoire.

[mitskicain]

navi | m.list

. ⁺ . ✦ the doghouse — ken sato x reader

© mitskicain all rights reserved. the modification, translation, and plagiarism of my work is strictly prohibited.

synopsis: date night; you talk about dealbreakers and what you want out of life, and each other.

content warning: cursing and profanity, suggestive, innuendos

word count: 1.4K

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003: play date

He arrives fifteen minutes early, with Indian, Chinese, Italian and Japanese takeout.

“I didn’t know what you liked,” he says, letting himself in and kicking his shoes off by the door, setting the bags on the counter. “So I got a little bit of everything.”

You stare at the food with a bewildered look in your eyes. This would last you the whole week. What the hell is this guy—made of money? Well, okay, granted his apartment and how he didn’t even ask you for the 400 bucks back suggests maybe, but christ, doesn’t he have other things he should be spending this on, like supercars or thousand dollar clothing?

Your train of thought is interrupted by him shoving you a greasy tub of butter chicken, alongside some garlic naan with a side of udon noodles. Interesting combo. You take your seat on the floor, setting the food on the shallow coffee table that’s littered with unopened mail and receipts.

“Do a lot of shopping?” He asks, mouth full of lasagna—he’s already chowing down on the food without as much as waiting for you to have taken your first bite. What a gentleman.

“No, well, not for me,” you reply, pushing around the food on your plate, “it’s for them.” You point towards your two dogs that are eyeing him keenly from behind the screen door, their eyes a flash of light in the dark. From a stranger's perspective, they must look absolutely vicious, but to you they were just Lassie and Strauber—from childhood, from the old days.

“Mm,” he hums, taking a sip of his Diet Coke. “Not much of a dog person, I’m afraid.”

You make a face.

“Date’s over, eugh,” you say, “dealbreaker.”

The both of you laugh, faces cracking up and all teeth—a flash of canines, again—something in your stomach churns.

“Seriously?” You ask, looking over at Ken who’s still hunched over, trying to stifle his laugh. “How could you say no to dogs?”

“I got chased by one as a kid, I guess it stuck.” he says, scooping up another mouthful of lasagna. He motions over to the two, “they bite?”

“Hard,” you grin, reminded of the time you asked him the same question. “When they bite, they don’t let go.”

He grimaces a bit, imagining the bloody, messy scene. You dip the naan in the curry, mopping up all its goodness. Ken devours his plate, and reaches for more—it’s a disgusting sight, like he’s been starved for days—but there’s something fulfilling about it too, like watching Strauber absolutely demolish a serving after you run an extra mile with her.

“You’re a mess,” you say, leaning forward and wiping a sauce streak away from the edge of his lip. You see the surprise on his face when your finger meets his skin, like he doesn’t expect it—didn’t know you were capable of being tender. Part of you didn’t expect it either.

Silence for a moment; the atmosphere still. The two of you realize you barely know anything about the other. You were just two strangers sharing a meal in your apartment.

“I read some of your stuff from the dayplanner,” he says, clearing his throat, hand on the back of his head. “It’s really good, I mean—you’re a writer?”

You give him an incredulous look, and laugh, shaking your head.

“No, not me, well—” you set the plate on the table and reach for your drink, some Indian rose milk he picked up that actually tasted really good, “not yet, at least. I’m hoping to make my big break soon.”

Silence, again—just for a second.

“You’ll make it,” he says, voice soft, looking over at him. His head is resting on the cushion of the couch, hair messy and cheeks slightly warm. Did he run on the way here? From restaurant to restaurant, trying to figure out what you would like before deciding: fuck it, and getting everything? You feel his fingers twitch slightly, inching towards yours. You turn away and wrap your arms around yourself.

“Don’t do that,” you struggled to pinpoint the feeling—the twisting, the churning—it made you feel sick, like you wanted to puke. The world seemed to spin. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you believe in me,” your voice falters. “It’s cruel, you know—giving false hope.”

He presses his lips into a thin line. He reaches for your hand again, this time you turn to look at him.

“I do mean it.” He says.

God.

You tear your gaze away from him—it’s too much, all of this. You can’t possibly comprehend it. His fingers tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. You reach for his hand and look up at him—his eyebrows furrowed, gray irises shimmering in the low light, mouth slightly open.

“Hey,” he breathes, voice just barely above a whisper.

“Hey,” you reply.

“Am I still just a one night stand?” He asks, and your stomach sinks. You frown a little.

“What does it matter?” You ask.

“Because I want to be more than just that,” he says, quick and easy. He sucks in a breath, as if preparing himself. “I want you.”

Your shoulders fall, and you lean forward into him, his lips finding the sensitive skin on your neck; nibbling and sucking. You squirm underneath his touch.

“Please,” he sighs in between kisses, his breath hot against your ear. “Please.”

His teeth sink into your flesh, followed quickly by his tongue rubbing soothing circles, then a kiss—like apologizing. He does this throughout the entirety of your neck, from underneath your jaw all the way along your collarbone. Your skin is slick with saliva and sweat, face red from the heat. Your hands find their way up his neck, when they grab a handful of his hair—you hear him moan.

God, the way he sounded.

“Please,” he says again, begging. Breathlessly. Desperately. “Please, I’ll be good.”

You whine, and push him away, trying to catch your breath. He falls back but catches himself by his arms, biceps flexed and straining underneath the black shirt he wore. It’s tight enough that you can make out the rouse of muscles underneath. His face is flushed, eyes half lidded, mouth open—breathing shallow. What a sight.

God.

He’s about to lean forward to reach for you again when he knocks over the half full cup of rose milk all over you, splattering all across your legs and the floor. His face twists into a look of panic, and he frantically grabs a fistful of tissues, trying to dab away at the mess before you change your mind or yell at him.

“Stop,” you say, and he freezes in his tracks, looking up at you. You tilt your head, gauging his reaction—the way he looks up at you with wide curious eyes, arms still frozen in position, so eager to please—like a dog.

“You said you’d be good, right?” You murmur, leaning back, “then clean this up.”

He tries to wipe at the mess but you stop him again, making a sharp ‘tsk’ sound with your tongue. He stops, perplexed gaze fixed on you, trying to figure out what you mean. You smile at the sight and raise a pointed foot, his hands instinctively reaching for the flesh of your calves.

“Lick,” you command, a glint in your eye. He stays still for a moment—breath hitched in his throat—before leaning down, eyes still fixed on you, and kisses the skin of your legs. His tongue is warm, gliding over you in slow strokes, sending shivers up and down your spine. You can feel the soft, velvety texture of him as he moves upwards, savoring every inch of you. The sensation is both soothing and electrifying. A mix of gentle pressure and lingering heat.

You lean forward, and push him back again, his back against the couch. He’s surprisingly lenient, not struggling when you climb onto his lap and straddle his hips. You trail your hands on his chest and you feel his heart, thundering against his ribcage. His hands feel up the milky skin of your thighs, resting on your waist.

“Please,” he says again, so close you can feel his breath on your lips. “Please, I want you.”

You grab his hands off your thigh and pin them by his side, a gasp escaping his lips. Your other hand grabs his face roughly, forcing him to look at you before you turn his head to press a wet trail of kisses up his jaw. He shivers and moans underneath your grasp.

“Mmm,” you hum into his skin, pulling away to whisper in his ear. “I love it when good boys beg.”

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author’s note: Lassie and Strauber watching you make out with him from out the backyard be like 👁️👄👁️ HAHAHAHAH i love men when they beg and yearn like 💥💥 need him crawling, sobbing on his knees 🫡🫡‼️‼️‼️ my favorite genre of men is when they’re a little bit pathetic HEHEHEH🤭🤭🤭🤭 BUT ALSO‼️‼️ I wanted to ask: do you guys have any specific dealbreakers when it comes to dating? Like for me I absolutely can’t stand when they’re rude to staff like waiters or salespeople 😭😭🙏 or when they’re messy eaters—what about you guys?? feel free to share them in the comments, and as always, thank you for supporting my work ‼️‼️‼️‼️ MUAH MAUHHH👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

taglist: @luneariaa @moonjellyfishie @sweetcheeksbby-deactivated20240 @shittingonyourgrave @shauu @witcwitchy @fcklxnaa @despacito-uwu16 @mqshido @miffysoo @ybbayk @hore4ken @mochminnie @femmefqtqle @miratastic @lovingyeet @mythicalmo @yourfellowmarzipan @softdumplingposts @shinebright2000

[pedal-writes]

Lloyd garmadon hcs (romantic & reg hcs)

A/N: This is first post on here 😭 I’m super into ninjago right now so I might as well write abt it. And Lloyd is super pookie bear 🫶

Romantic:

-When you guys first start dating, Lloyd is a bit awkward since A. He’s never been in a legitimate relationship before and B. He has insane trauma from Harumi.

-But over time, he’ll start to warm up to you! You just gotta be patient with him.

-Loves to read comics with you, it’s such a guilty pleasure (and he’s a big nerd.)

-When he’s with you, he’s always holding your hand or resting his hand on your lower back. He’s protective in a casual way rather than a possessive way, yk?

-Very prone to venting to you.

-Every once in awhile, he takes you out in ninjago city for a date on a rooftop of a building. It’s not the best place for a date but he’s not much of a romantic. But he does try for you!

-Always takes care of you when you’re sick. He makes soup and tea for you, and sits by your side, holding your hand while talking about whatever.

-He’s such a cuddle bug!! He loves laying on your chest while you tangle your fingers in his hair. And vice versa.

-Loves to kiss you on your face, esp your cheek and your nose. Seeing your face get all blushy after he surprises you with a kiss really makes him happy.

-Feels a little self conscious around you about certain things, like his dad, his oni form, or the idea of being a master since those things bother him deeply. But a little reassurance and kind words from you will help his self esteem a ton.

-He likes it when you braid his hair or play with it in any way.

-If you’re up to it, lloyd loves training with you. He’ll go easy on you considering he doesn’t want to hurt you, but if he does he feels so bad 😭

-When you two are together, Kai will do EVERYTHING in his willpower to embarrass Lloyd for funsies.

-One time, he totally showed you a picture of when Lloyd was little and he had that atrocious bowl cut. Let’s just say Kai was locked out of the monastery for a good 3 days 😁

-Doesn’t use many nicknames but does like to use a shortened ver of your name, to keep it simple. But he doesn’t mind calling you “gorgeous” or “beautiful” once in awhile, since to him you definitely are.

-Misako and Wu would definitely love you immediately after Lloyd introduces you (more so misako), no questions asked.

-Garmadon though? It depends. If you get to know him a bit better, then he’ll probably warm up to you. He’s just a bit weary because of his trust issues.

-Kinda same with the Ninja honestly, but they’ll warm up to you super quick when they see how you treat lloyd and how happy you make him. They just want the best for him is all.

General:

-Lloyd really values his hair, like a ton. He takes super good care of it. And I really like to think after the events of crystalized, he started to actually grow his hair out.

-And by the time of dragons rising, his hair is all the way down to his lower back (he puts it in a low ponytail most of the time for combat reasons.)

-He’s both Japanese and Chinese!

-Demiromantic/sexual and omnisexual!!

-Looked up to Nya as a mother figure when he was little, and still does. He loves misako so very much, but resents her deep down.

-Has a little stubble in DR, kinda canon but whatevs.

-Has a pretty good singing voice, but only really does it in private.

-Outside of his Gi, the clothes he usually wears is just a jacket, a t-shirt and jeans 😭 he has like 15 jackets in his closet (he’s just like me fr)

-Has scars like all over his body, and some on his face from like the millions of battles he’s been in.

-He’s a little chubby, but has pretty muscular arms (🤭)

-Lloyd has like small non-human features that nod to the fact that he’s half oni and dragon.

-Like pointy ears, sharp teeth, and slitted pupils.

-Still has an adoration for candy.

-Every once in awhile, he still heads to Ninjago Doomsday Comix to buy a new issue of a comic he likes.

-He would probably enjoy music like Radiohead or some other sad stereotypical man music.

A/N: I can’t think of much else but I hope you guys enjoyed these!! I’ll write at my own pace for a little bit and then I’ll open requests. I gotta make a carrd sometime soon lmfao 😭

( @weirdotaku1000 these are the hcs I was working on!!)

[loventian]

Touchstarved character name meanings!

Lemme preface this by saying I’m not a name meanings expert I just love crawling through google pages and over analyzing things ALSO to make sure the results weren’t influenced by fandom everything here is from pre-2020! With that let’s get into things!

Mhin:

Mhin is a little bit tricky, as I can’t find anything for their name spelled as it is. Min, however, has several different sources and meanings.

In Chinese, Min (敏) meanings “quick, clever, sharp” Which seems rather fitting for our neighborhood soulless hunter. An alternative script for Min (民) translates to “people, citizens” which could have some interesting implications, as Mhin is implied to have strong connections to the city of Lovent.

In Burmese Min means “king, ruler” which, connected with the second Chinese translation, could perhaps be some foreshadowing? We don’t know how Mhin is connected to Lovent, but the city must have had a ruling class, perhaps Mhin held a position of power? It could also be why they survived, and which a powerful curse nonetheless

Finally, in Irish Min is said to mean “smooth, fine, small��, though I can’t find as many sources on this one. I include it because people have pointed out Mhin’s cloak pins are triquetra, which are Celtic symbols.

Kuras:

Please know I adore Kuras when I say this, but he really got the short end of the naming stick it seems. The most promising thing I can find is the usage as a Hindi surname, which doesn’t seem to have a meaning listed. If you remove the S and go with Kura, it can mean “river” in Turkish or possibly “fierceness, tiger” in Japanese.

Now here’s the silly translations! In Arabic, Kuras (كراس) seems to translate to brochure. In polish, it translates to chicken.

I truly doubt the devs thought brochure/chicken were good labels for the dear doctor, so I’m favoring the Turkish translation. Mostly because Eridia is a city divided by a river; could there be something deeper hidden in there? Maybe!

Ais:

So clearly Ais has a lot of Japanese influence, with his design being inspired by Oni, so I looked for those possible translations first. Ai (愛) translates to love in Japanese, and is typically used as a broader term to refer to emotions tied to like compassion, empathy, or platonic forms of love (as opposed to 恋/koi which refers to romantic love).

I’m gonna focus on this translation for a bit. Someone on a translation forum phrased it in a way I really love: “Ai” is something you do or give. Ais is our introduction to the Seaspring, and to groupminds in general. While the concept of a hivemind is usually used in horror as a way of taking away agency, the Seaspring is framed as a refuge for people to turn to. Could Ais’ name be an allusion to a goal he keeps hidden? Is the Seaspring a manifestation of a desire to give love despite the violent world? Or am I just reading into this too deep?

Vere:

Vere actually has a straight up name meaning! Most of the sources I found say that Vere is a French/Gaulish name meaning “Alder”, and it usually pops up in the surname “De Vere”. Alders are a kind of bitch tree, and I have no idea how that tie into Vere as a character.

But if we take “Vere” as a word rather then a name, then Latin translates it as meaning “truly, really, actually, rightly”. Vere’s introduction to us is as someone to not trust, a cunning fox waiting for the next meal, stealing our darn room key and lying about it! So I find it really interesting that his name could be a word for truth. Perhaps before his chains Vere was someone a lot more truthful ?

Leander:

Big shout out to Leander for having a plain ass easy to translate name. I’ll give you googles exact definition here: "lion of a man", from leon, "lion", and andros, "man".

That was easy, so now let’s pick it apart!

Traditionally, lions are symbols of nobility, courage, strength, and protection. Leander has a reputation for being That Guy; he’s a leader, a protector of the masses, etc etc. for all intents and purposes, Leander really is a lion of a man!

…On the surface at least. Because under all the symbolism, lions are still predators, no matter how noble.

[lilac-nites]

List of Lolita Resources

Someone in my comm encouraged me to make this list of resources for new lolitas. We were talking about how hard it can be to find information from Google search and there's just so much misinformation out there. I have a list of links that I've bookmarked and read over the past decade for when I finally become a lolita. I organized the list by sections in a specific order. It goes from information about the fashion and then to where to buy it.

To any new lolitas, there is so much information out there about lolita fashion that is still available. Part of the fun for me was researching the fashion, looking at coords, and learning what makes lolita lolita. There's so much information out there for you to immerse yourself in and even more stuff that's not listed in this resource list.

What is Lolita Fashion

Fyeah Lolita - This is my favorite blog and I still go back and read it. The last post was made in 2016 and the fashion has changed a lot since then, but it's pretty comprehensive and provides a good base knowledge. Imo, I think these articles (1 2 3 4) are required reading for anyone entering the fashion Lolita Fashion 101 - Bay Area Kei did several videos on lolita fashion during lockdowns. I recommend them for anyone that prefers video format. Raine Dragon's Lolita 101 series - Raine is a lolita that still updates her blog and has a lot of information on the history of lolita fashion. And she has a really great article on Chinese indie brands that should also be required reading for anyone new to using Taobao.

Costs of Lolita Manufacturing - One of the first things you'll notice is that lolita can be expensive. This resource breaks down the costs associated with manufacturing and why brands charge what they charge.

Substyles of Lolita Fashion

The below links are for the three basic styles of lolita fashion. If you research more, you'll find that there are different directions that you can take your wardrobe, but I recommend starting with one of the three above to make it easier for to build your wardrobe. Classic Lolita Sweet Lolita Gothic Lolita

Where to get Lolita Fashion

Before even buying anything, you will need a tape measure to take your measurements. You'll need to measure your bust, waist, hips, and shoulder width in centimeters. That's how you will find out which clothes will fit you. Sizing can be different from brand to brand and country to country. I know many are used to buying using letter sizes, but it's best to go by actual measurements. Aim to buy clothes that are 4 - 6cm larger than your actual measurements to allow room for breathing/eating/etc. If you're brand new to the fashion, I highly recommend sticking to the sources listed in the videos below. It's very easy to get scammed if you don't know what to look for and I'd hate for anyone to lose their money on barely wearable clothes from Amazon/Ebay/Aliexpress. Where to Buy Lolita FashionHow to shop for Lolita Fashion online - secondhand is life for lolita fashion and there are so many options. PinkFakeFlowers goes in depth into the many ways to get it. I personally recommend 42lolita for anyone looking to buy from Chinese brands on Taobao.

Plus Size Lolita

Unfortunately, many of the Japanese brands and even some Chinese indie brands are not size inclusive. If you can't fit into the mainstream brands, don't worry there are still options. I always recommend Meta since they have a Plus Size and occasionally a Plus Plus size of their dresses and blouses that goes up to 160cm or even 200cm in some releases. Plus Size Lolita Crash Course Where to Start as a Plus Sized Lolita - This is a wonderful resource listing brands that are size inclusive.

Online Spaces for Lolita Fashion

Lolita fashion is pretty spread out now compared to the EGL (still recommend reading livejournal because its a cool time capsule of the lolita comm) days, but there are still groups on Facebook. BSoLF - Great for beginners to ask questions and be helped by others. It's hard to search here but I recommend looking through the group for info. Your Local Comm (if applicable) - most are still on Facebook even if they still have a Discord. You can search for your local one on this list.

More Resources for New Lolitas

Lolita Tips for New Lolitas Three helpful tips for coordinating an outfit Lolita Tips Tumblr - I don't recommend Fanplusfriend anymore, but 42lolita is a good replacement. This tumblr is a great resource for inspo and there are many answered asks to reference. Unfortunately, polyvore is no longer a thing and many pictures are missing as a result.

Bonus

These are just a mishmash of links to resources/lists/blog that I like. Lolita Collective

Lolita youtubers ask

Lolita tumblrs ask 20dollarlolita and her post on replicas

More plus size lolita brands ask Japanese Wikipedia entry for Lolita fashion and list of brands

Azuki Mikan

Buttcape

Old School Lolita

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: giant salamanders

Everyone knows salamanders, right? The little lizard frogs that show up around ponds. Well what if I told you that not all salamanders are little. In fact, some species can get quite large, but none get bigger than the aptly-named giant salamanders. I'm not just talking about any big newt, I'm talking about the unique members of the family Cryptobranchidae.

(Image: a Chinese giant salamander. It is a large, lizard-shaped animal with brown skin and black blotches. Its limbs are short and its tail is flattened to look like a long fin. It has wrinkly folds of skin along the side. End ID)

There are three(ish) species of giant salamander in two genera: the Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders of the genus Andrias and the hellbender of genus Cryptobranchus. The name Cryptobranchidae means "hidden gills", which is appropriate as giant salamanders are unique in that they are the only salamanders who reaming fully aquatic as adults without retaining external gills into adulthood. All salamanders are aquatic as juveniles and have external gills and many groups have independently evolved to remain fully aquatic as adults. However, other species, from axolotls to olms, adapted by retaining their external gills as adults, a trait called neoteny. Giant salamanders have had to find another way, especially since a body as large as their needs quite a bit of oxygen. Their solution was to take a common amphibian trait and turn it up to 11. It is common among amphibians to be able to absorb dissolved oxygen in water through their skin. This is usually a supplement to either gills or lungs, but giant salamanders use it as their main means of respiration. The skin is thin and filled with small veins that can perform gas exchange with the water. Giant salamanders evolved very wrinkly skin flaps along ther sides to increase the amount of surface area available for gas exchange, allowing them to sustain themselves. They do require access to running water with a high oxygen content, as still or low-oxygen water doesn't provide enough oxygen to survive. They do have lungs, but use them more for buoyancy control than breathing.

(Image: a man holding/bear higging a giant salamander. The salamander is longer than his torso, not including the tail. end ID)

The Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders are very closely related to each other and rather similar in physiology and behavior. There's also not just one Chinese salamander. Genetic testing has reveals that what was once called Andrias davidianus is actually a species complex. This is when what was thought to be one species turns out to actually be a group of related species. There is some debate over whether the five identified populations of Chinese giant salamander should be classified as subspecies or their own species, though the latter interpretation seems to be the most popular. All the populations are very similar and can interbreed with each other, so I'll discuss them as a group. The largest of the group (and world's largest amphibian) is the South China giant salamander (Andrias sligoi) which can reach 1.8 m (5.9 ft) and 50 kg (110 lbs), but adults average 1.15 m (3.8 ft) and 25-30 kg (55-66 lbs). The Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus) reaches a slightly smaller maximum size of 1.5 m (5 ft) and 25 kg (55 lbs), with most being smaller. The Chinese and Japanese giant salamanders are closely related enough that they can hybridize.

(Image: a Japanese giant salamander resting on mossy rocks underwater. Its body is light brown with darker blotches and the head is covered in nodules. End ID)

Because of how closely related the Japanese and Chinese salamanders are, their biology and behavior are quite similar. They are mostly a dark brown color, but can also be other tones of brown, reddish, or black. The eyes are lidless, small, and poorly-developed, giving the salamanders poor eyesight. Their primary sense comes from the lateral line, a line of hair cells that extends down the body and sense movement of the water. Using the lateral line, the salamanders can sense the movement of prey and threats in the water around them. They utilize suction feeding, slowly approaching prey, then rapidly opening the mouth to generate a vacuum and suck food into the mouth. The prey is then killed or incapacitated with a powerful bite. The esophagus is lined with powerful muscles and uses mucus as lubricant to allow the salamander to swallow large prey. The head and throat have nodules on them, the arrangement and number of which can be used to differentiate Chinese and Japanese salamanders. Both groups of salamander can secrete a strong-smelling, milky white substance to ward off predators. A low metabolism and generally low activity level allows the salamanders to last of up to a few years between meals. The Chinese salamanders can make vocalizations including barks, hisses, and sounds very similar to the crying of a human baby. The hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is smaller than it's Asian relatives, reaching a length of 30-74 cm (12-29 in) and up to 2.2 kg (5 lbs). They are usually brown or reddish-brown, but can also have a gray, yellowish, or black coloration. Hellbender biology and ecology is fairly similar to that of their relatives.

(Image: a hellbender underwater. It looks like the other two species, but is smaller, lighter brown, and has no nodules on the head. End ID)

Chinese and Japanese giant salamanders live in cool, clear streams and rivers in the Yangtze river basin (Chinese) and the islands of Honshou, Kyushu, and Shikoku (Japan). Hellbenders live in similar treams in the eastern United states, with one population (which may be a subspecies) living in the Ozarks region. As predators, their diets include worms, fish, crayfish, freshwater crabs, other amphibians, and small mammals. They are also cannibals and will opportunistically feed on smaller members of their own species. All species are territorial animals that will attempt to drive others out of their territory, though hellbenders are less territorial than the other species. Hellbenders prefer to live in cavities dug out under rocks, which helps them shelter from predators. Due to their low metabolisms, giant salamanders live much longer than most amphibians. Captive individuals have been recorded living for 60 years (Chinese), 52 years (Japanese), and 25 years (hellbender). All species are nocturnal.

(Image: a hellbender emerging from beneath a rock with a crayfish in its mouth. End ID)

Mating occurs seasonally, triggered by warmer water in the summer. During this period, males will search for ideal nesting sites, leaving their territories if necessary. An idea nesting site is sheltered beneath a rock. There are often fewer nesting sites than males, meaning only the largest and strongest males will be able to claim nests. Males then use courtship displays to woo females. Alternatively, male hellbenders will chase passing females into the nests and refuse to let them leave until they mate. Unlike most salamanders, giant salamanders practice external reproduction, where the female lays eggs and then the male fertilizes them. The male then guards the nest until the eggs hatch. During this period, he will keep the nest and eggs clean and use his tail to keep water moving over them. Males will eat eggs that are unfertilized, unhealthy, or show signs of infection. This helps keep the other eggs as healthy as possible. The offspring are born with external gills, which they will lose as they mature. It can take several years for the larvae to reach maturity.

(Image: a group of giant salamander larvae in captivity. They look like smaller versions of the adults, but with feathery gills emerging from each side of the neck. End ID)

Both hellbenders and Japanese giant salamanders are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN, while Chinese giant salamanders are critically endangered. Their primary threats are habitat loss as streams are dammed, dry up, or become polluted. Warming water temperatures also threaten them. Chinese giant salamanders have experienced a major drop in population since the 1950s. In addition to habitat loss, Chinese giant salamanders are also eaten by humans. While hunting wild specimens is now illegal in China, they are heavily impacted by poaching. The fine for poaching giant salamanders is pathetically small compared to the sale price for one of them, further encouraging poachers. Captive breeding and release programs have shown some success, but may have contributed to the spread of disease. In response to the rarity of the salamanders, a new farming industry has sprung up in, raising giant salamanders for food. The captive population of Chinese giant salamanders in farms vastly exceeds the estimated wild population. Chinese giant salamanders have also been introduced to Japan, where they have been hybridizing with the Japanese salamanders, a major hindrance to conservation efforts. Japanese giant salamanders have been legally protected since 1951. The origin of the name hellbender is unknown. Other names for hellbenders include the water dog, Allegheny alligator, grampus, snot otter, and (my personal favorite) lasagna lizard.

(Image: a holding pen in a Chinese giant salamander farm. Over a dozen salamanders are sitting in a shallow water enclosure stocked with bricks and small fish. End ID)

I will leave this post off with a weird fact. In 1726, a Swiss physician named Johann Jakob Schuechzer declared a fossil giant salamander to be the remains of an ancient human who died in the mythical flood of Noah's ark and named it Homo diluvi, meaning "man who witnessed the deluge". In 1812, paleontologist Georges Cuvier examined the fossil and realized (probably very quickly) that it definitely wasn't a human. Once the fossil was identified as a salamander it was given the name Andrias scheuchzeri. As Andrias means "image of man", both the genus and species names acknowledge Schuechzer's weird idea.

Behold: a man (Image: the original Andrias scheuchzeri fossil that Schuechzer thought as a human. It is a front half of the skeleton of what is clearly a lizard-shaped animal and not a human. End ID)

[toskarin]

what warband mods would you rec? I only ever played vanilla warband years ago and that was probably on fairly low AI settings, but I'm definitely intrigued by getting the full feudal clusterfuck experience as well as indulging in some nostalgia.

there's a few qualifications to these, because I usually like them for different reasons and I have something wrong with me, but...

< ! PREEMPTIVE WARNING ! > you should be running modules in Warband Script Extender even if they don't say they need it! people have historically been really bad about clarifying when it's expected

Bannerpage - vanilla for people who want More of it, and then more after that. it reminds me of a spiritual successor to Floris Modpack. an enormous expansion that's also a bit of a tongue in cheek what-if for "Bannerlord, except as continued development of Warband" with increasing complexity. this one will probably spoil you a bit on other modules just because of how many little enhancements it pulls on the native systems lol

Prophesy of Pendor - the premier feudal fantasy rpg experience. this one is brutally difficult and throws some battles at you with genuinely bewildering enemy force sizes. I'd feel fairly confident in calling this the most difficult of the major total conversion modules that maintain core M&B gameplay

Touhou Gensokyo Warfare~the Castiron Flame - this is straight up glorious kusoge and I love it dearly. it often breaks so severely due to its own design decisions that it creates a unique high-skill gameplay expectation that exists in literally no other mods, but also it can't really be called "core" M&B gameplay anymore. this module actually consists of three chinese mods (Touhou Tinder, Touhou Origin, and Touhou Beat), one of which is derived from a fork that was extended by /jp/, another which was just translated by /jp/ (a shoddy translation but not distinctly a 4chan translation, if that's a concern), all of which were merged into one mod and managed by a passionate and cool chinese mod team. none of this comes to a consistent artistic vision. every single character looks like kigurumi cosplay and they all look like they're from different manufacturers. this is my favourite module. I could play it for years.

Perisno - a strange bird of a module that I don't see mentioned much anymore. a shame, honestly, because it's quite fun if you like higher fantasy settings. a bit overconfident with its own setting lore at times, but that really just makes it more authentic as a high fantasy setting, doesn't it? anyway they funnelled the mod development efforts away to a standalone game in the setting because of that, and I wish them well, but you know how it goes with that sort of thing

Gekokujo Daimyo Edition - a modification of an older warband module that was originally a touhou hijack that was originally a mod for the non-Warband game made by japanese players annoyed that nobody in the western playerbase was making mods with a japanese setting. it's buggy, it's incomplete, it will explode at you randomly, but it's still pretty neat. there's really no other mod out there that gives you such a thorough "I HATE THE TANEGASHIMA I HATE THE TANEGASHIMA" experience. Sengoku Era, a successor mod, will probably replace it on recommendation lists when it eventually releases.

Warsword Conquest - this is the Warhammer Fantasy mod. it has all the problems you'd expect from that. that being said, the sheer level of detail in this mod makes it more than worth dropping in to check it out. some of the environments are gorgeous enough to make Warband feel like an entirely different game, and with a surprising variety of firearms, the average campaign ends up being a pretty wild ride

Brytenwalda - I'm not recommending Brytenwalda as an experience, because it's actually not that good a very interesting moment in M&B modding history. Brytenwalda is the birthplace of a lot of mod tropes that became standard in mods going forward, namely most culture-related systems and the modern standard for module graphics. it also introduced tripping and represents the moment people started making really annoying attempts at jury-rigging balance into the game before Warband Script Extender came around and actually allowed them to modify the lower systems of the game. still kinda neat if you like historical settings, and definitely foundational enough to warrant a look

Last Days of the Third Age - infamously hard-headed in a way that only a mod for a feudal warfare simulator rpg made by Tolkien nerds who insist on book>movie aesthetics could pull off, this isn't really core M&B gameplay and is very rigid, but it's another case of something being so detailed and passionate that it's a fun experience anyway.

Solid and Shade - this is actually the best hardcore survival horror experience made for Warband, which is a bit like saying that Harvester is the best FMV game ever made about waking up in a town named Harvest. the Harvester comparison is more than surface level. the writing often feels like Harvester. this is one of the only modules (hell, one of the only games even!) I've ever seen that successfully pulls off the concept of corrupting players with the promise of immortality. it's a horror mystery where every single character creation option affects your longterm gameplay... but to provide a fair warning, reading the developer's commentary on this mod will sour you on it. the developer is an edgelord who just kinda kitchen-sinked horror elements in a way that reminds me a lot of Revolution of Terror (the old Well of Souls mod). the compelling esoterica and atmosphere seem to have been achieved largely on accident

[daily-hanamura]

If Rise is a proxy for the game trying to give Yu a thinly veiled "default romance", then her parallels with Yosuke and the way they interact with Yu make for a fascinating comparison

(aka follow me down this weird delusional rabbit hole. Strap in because this is going to be a long and very weird one.)

1. Similar patterns of flirting

Unlike Rise, Yosuke is of course a lot less intentional and a lot more oblivious to what he's actually doing, but his behaviour is actually very similar to Rise's in some ways.

For example, the both of them find an in with Yu through "being shown around" Inaba.

(actually there's a scene with naoto's first day at the school, where a few girls are trying to flirt with naoto using the same lines of showing him around, so that's fun.)

There's a difference in context here - Yosuke is playing that senpai-adjacent role for Yu, whereas Rise is asking Yu to play it for her (even though Inaba is Rise's hometown, and when you take her to souzai daigaku she says she's always wanted to go there).

But this difference is also important because...

Yosuke's type is someone he can look after. (Btw, this is an extremely common male response in Asia - that men like dating someone they can look after. Remember this because it'll come up again later.)

I think throughout the course of the game Yosuke is very much consistently someone that likes taking care of people - quite obviously he looks after Teddie, but he's also always looking out for Kanji and everyone else, actually.

But there's something that changes slightly between him and Yu - as their relationship develops, Yosuke becomes more willing to be the one being looked after, but by Yu especially! This is something that is picked up on by others in the group, such as when Kanji says that Yu tends to spoil Yosuke, or when Chie tells Yu that Yosuke is going to come begging him soon.

Neither Kanji nor Chie talk about how Yosuke asked them for help - because Yosuke, for the most part, is pretty resistant towards asking people for help... unless it's Yu. Yu is the exception in this regard, because where most people see Yosuke as being reliable, they also know that if Yosuke has issues, it's Yu that he turns to. And he does! In front of Yu, Yosuke lets himself be vulnerable, both in more serious settings but also in casual ones. Look at how Yosuke playfully ask Yu to "save him/them" (from Yukiko, Rise and Chie's cooking). It's a little dramatic. It's a little whiny. And it's all part of that role!

But this is exactly the kind of role that Rise is playing as well.

In Japanese culture, there is the concept of 甘え (amae), which is closely related to the (perhaps more commonly known) Chinese notion of 撒娇 (sājiāo). It's hard to explain this in English because it's not really a concept that exists in Western contexts in the same way, but I think it's important because Persona is ultimately a Japanese game, and so the cultural norms and contexts that inform the relationships there are important. It's been talked about in more detail by people smarter than me (see: Takeo Doi, 1971) but the tldr is that it refers to a kind of childishness employed as a means to seek indulgence from a loved one - it's a little bit affirmation, it's a little bit flirtation, but really, the point is looking for someone to care for them. And it works the same way for the other person as well - to indulge is to love! (Remember Yosuke's response of wanting someone he can look after? Yeah.)

When Rise drawls out the word "senpai" and whines a little, that's one example of her playing up that role so Yu would pamper her (actually I don't play in dub, so I'm not sure if she does this in EN too). But we see this with Ai as well, when Ai tells Yu to carry her shopping or buy her coffee. Ai is of course perfectly capable of doing both things, but the point is to have someone like you so much they do things for you.

Compare this to the way the others ask Yu for help - there's hesitation, and it's framed in a "if you have time, could you..." sort of manner and is markedly less playful. I think to some extent it's also their personalities, but that's kind of the point here.

I think it's important to caveat at this point that this "submissive" role during amae isn't, like, a fixed role that they assign themselves into in their relationship - critically, it's temporal, contextual and momentary. Yosuke and Rise are only playing up their childishness so they can get attention from Yu in that moment, but it in no way speaks to how they expect their relationship to function, because it's just brief instances of flirtation. For both Rise and Yosuke, their relationship with Yu is still primarily defined by their equalness and what they can do for Yu as well. It also goes both ways - Yu is also welcome to do the same with Rise and Yosuke! It's also very much a purposeful demonstration of vulnerability, because if you've read the signs wrongly, then it may not be perceived as flirting, just general annoyingness. Which is why...

I think they're both particularly sensitive about accidentally being a bother to Yu, and the way the both of them speak has these layers of boldness and shyness interspersed and folded into each other.

To put it another way, you can think of this indulgence as an extension of the love language of acts of service - and amae is essentially a way of pretending to be helpless to encourage that act of service. (this is an extremely dumbed down definition stripped of nuance)

The point here as Rise flirts with Yu in this manner... I think so does Yosuke, even if he's not totally conscious of it.

2. The shared fear of loneliness

Both Yosuke and Rise express this same fear - Yosuke's shadow reveals his fear of being alone so he actively surrounds himself with as many people as he can, while Rise reveals in her slink that she was a shy, lonely child and became an idol because she thought it would help her connect with people and make more friends. There's this powerful desire of acceptance on their part that forced them towards behaviour that they felt would make them desirable and liked - Yosuke makes jokes and buys food for his friends and tries to be a dependable big-brother type, and his shadow says he's only like that because he's terrified of being alone, while Rise's idol image is about being bright and enthusiastic and bubbly, but her vulnerable moments reveal her to be withdrawn and she says it was all an act.

I think there's a really interesting parallel here, because they both learn that it doesn't really work the way they hoped - the relationships that they had previously formed can be superficial (Yosuke talks about this point with Marie and Yu on the rooftop, while Rise learns that people only see Risette but not her), or temporary and easily forsaken (Yosuke doesn't really have anyone calling him back after his move, while Rise talks about how quickly people moved on from her).

Critically though, it's also in how they are resolved, and in both cases, Yu is the catalyst that helps them understand that not only is that desire normal and understandable, but that both that desire and their responses to it are all part of them. Yosuke's and Rise's cheerfulness and care are not any less meaningful just because of where that sentiment came from. There's no real Yosuke or real Rise, and while this is also a theme for the rest of the IT, I think it's with Yosuke and Rise especially that this particular thread of a fake self created to be accepted and help them make friends is especially pronounced.

(for Kanji, his violent, abrasive self was created to hide away and push people further away, while Naoto wasn't seeking acceptance amongst peers, but their individual ideal of whom they should be).

The distinction here is meaningful insofar as it then speaks to how Yosuke and Rise subsequently perceive Yu in relation to themselves and the rest of the team. For both of them, Yu was the first person where they actually felt Seen with, and in Rise's case, it's what sparked her attraction to him, with her starting to flirt aggressively with Yu after her rescue. I think that in Yosuke's case it's very much the same thing as well, which is how we have Yosuke calling Yu his 相棒 (aibou) shortly after the fight with Yosuke's shadow. I can't place exactly when Yosuke starts doing so, because it can be as early as Marie's slink rank 1 if you did it right after, but in their conversations after the fight at the liquor store, I think the foundation is already there.

In English, 相棒 is translated as partner, which I guess is a fair translation that is captured by the sentiment of "partners in crime". It's a term that is also used in, say, buddy cop pairs (like Reno and Rude in FF7. It's also how Adachi refers to himself, as Dojima's aibou), but it's intended to capture that essence of someone that you trust above and beyond everyone else. Working on a case and your boss and colleagues say no? Doesn't matter, you aibou's got your back. It's the person that you share this absolute connection with, that knows you like you know them, maybe even knows you more than you know yourself.

But imo there's a bit of nuance that is lost, because there's also the weight of exclusivity inherent in the term - you can have a lot of friends, but only one aibou. It's one of the highest, most intense and exclusive relationship that you can have with someone... platonically.

Kick that platonic label off and we find that Yosuke and Rise are the only two that end up attached to Yu with that same, absolute intent, and hold this similar wish for some exclusive relationship with Yu. By helping them understand their loneliness and what the intimacy of being seen means, Yu has triggered the same reaction in both Yosuke and Rise - just coloured slightly differently, romantic for Rise and platonic for Yosuke. But Yosuke's route wasn't even intended to be necessarily platonic so

3. They're the two that ask Yu about his type the most

I think that with a heteronormative lens, it's easy to interpret Rise's question as one coming from romantic interest and flirtations, while Yosuke's questions are coming from patterns of locker room talk, but fuck that, I think they're both testing the waters of romantic interest and looking to see what Yu would say.

Of course, if Yu takes that one opportunity he has to say Yosuke is his type, Yosuke gets flustered and his hair-trigger nohomo reaction kicks in... but then he goes into a thing where he talks about how yeah, he'd make a pretty good boyfriend! He likes Yu's answer here, he even has the little flower animation of happiness!

In contrast, if Yu picked Kanji, the conversation derails into a thing about Kanji's manliness. Furthermore, considering that Yosuke's romance route was cut but all of the previous conversations and interactions remained, there's no reason not to think that Yosuke wasn't responding positively to Yu's affirmations, even if he didn't necessarily understand what they meant at that time.

In the same way, if Yu responds positively or goes along with Rise's questions, Rise is also noticeably happy about it.

Because at the end of the day, they're not actually asking because they want to know what it is - they're asking because they want to hear Yu say that they are Yu's type. And I think Yosuke is guilty of this, even though he hadn't realised it yet.

[illubean]

Chrollo and illumi(maybe hisoka if you want!) w a Latina or Mexican reader? Like they introduces them into their culture or etc! If not it’s okay !!

Illumi and Chrollo with Latina/Mexican!reader

Characters: Illumi Zoldyck, Chrollo Lucilfer Type: Fluff, Headcanons, Gn!reader

unfortunately I do not write for Hisoka >.< also I'm not Latina so if anything is incorrect pls tell me, I don't want to be offensive!

Warnings: None

Illumi Zoldyck

he's definitely the most culturally ignorant out of the two

like as a small child only asian people existed to him 💀

as an adult he obviously knows about other ethnicities existing but that's about it

if you speak in spanish/portuguese/any other language or dialect to him hes like "??? speak english"

bro doesn't like not knowing what you're saying

in my head Illumi is trilingual (mandarin, japanese and english) but I don't think he's interested in taking the time to learn another one

so yeah, he knows that whenever you speak your language when it's just him around you're either mad or don't want him to know what you're saying

honestly he could care less but if you talk about your culture to him he'll sorta half listen 😭

he vaguely remembers the things you tell him

I think the only cultural thing he'd really pay attention to is when you celebrate dia de los muertos

considering in both chinese and japanese cultures it's important to honor the dead so he respects that you do the same, even if the rituals and whatnot are different

Chrollo Lucilfer

I headcanon Chrollo as being part Latino himself but I don't have like a specific country in mind so yeah

butttttt growing up in meteor city maybe Chrollo doesn't know his background

he has a good amount of knowledge on the cultures in Latin America

Chrollo is #woke

but anyways, most of his knowledge he's gotten from books, so he listens with an open mind when you explain things to him

he likes it when you tell him authentic stories or legends and myths and whatnot

like Illumi, he pays attention to dia de los muertos

he actually celebrates it with you, putting a picture of his dear friend Uvogin on the ofrenda, knowing that he would appreciate it

he'd be interested in learning your language, in fact he may actually learn it behind your back

so when you're yelling at him in your mother's tongue he can give a response/understand

and you're like >:0 "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU SPOKE ___"

I think Chrollo would be really good at dancing and likes to go to bailes with you

if you take him to family functions they're actually pretty impressed on how cultured he is

one thing he doesn't know about is rosca de reyes.

he ends up getting the baby and by the look you're giving him he decides to hide it in his pocket and ask you about it

after you explain it to him he's relieved that he hid it before anyone else noticed he had it, because his tamale skills are LACKING

[fgumi]

game caterers pt.2

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ synopsis: game caterers day has arrived! you’re more than prepared to beat boynextdoor and brag about it.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ pairing(s): boynextdoor x idol!f!reader, jungwon x reader, hybe!artists x idol!f!reader ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ genre: slice of life, smau, comedy ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ a/n: i hope you enjoy all the interactions! ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ word count: 2796 ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ read: previous or next

the guys lifted their heads to see moka making her way to the start line, and you threw your head back in laughter. they messed up.

the event started, and the girls got a head start. taesan sprinted as soon as na pd gave the signal. he grabbed the paper on the floor and opened it: someone who can speak the most languages. there were a lot of seniors who could fit that bill, but he was betting it all on one person.

you watched with a big smile as the idols scattered to find someone, and you caught taesan making a beeline towards your tent. he pointed at you and shouted, “ya, y/n! you, now!”

with wide eyes, you clumsily got out of your seat and grabbed his hand. your group members screamed in delight as chaos erupted in the other tents. you ran with taesan towards the center. you guys were the first ones there and secured the first try. you looked at him curiously. “what was written on it? you came straight for me.”

he smirked. “someone who can speak the most languages. i know you studied languages for years.”

you nodded slowly as the rest of the idols filed in.

“taesan, you came in first. what does your paper say?”

he flipped the paper towards the camera and read it aloud, smiling confidently.

“oh, you went straight for illit’s y/n. actually, you said ‘ya, y/n! you, now!’ is there any particular reason?”

“oh! i heard from woonhak that she mentioned knowing multiple languages when they saw each other at inkigayo,” taesan said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“okay, y/n, if you’d please.”

“i have a question,” you glanced at taesan. “if i prove that i know multiple languages, only boynextdoor wins points, right?”

“that is correct.”

taesan’s smile dropped when he realized you could sabotage him. you giggled at his reaction. “okay, challenge.”

“please translate the following sentence in every language you know: today is a nice day to spend with my co-workers and hope this will make us closer in the future.”

you agreed and translated it into the six other languages you knew. everyone around you was impressed and clapped.

“wait! how do we know she said everything correctly?” jungwon shouted from his tent. you turned and glared at him as he shrugged and stuck his tongue out at you.

“that’s true! what do you have to say to that, y/n?”

your jaw dropped as you waved your hands in innocence. “i would never cheat. you can check google translate!”

“actually, do we have anyone who speaks the same languages?”

some hands went up in the tent. ni-ki from enhypen came out for japanese.

“how are you so casual with your japanese? you sound like a native speaker?”

“i watched anime without subtitles while i was studying.”

“so, you’re a weeb?”

“i prefer to call myself an appreciator of your culture.”

you and ni-ki high-fived before he returned to the enhypen tent. the8 was next, eager to test your chinese.

“your chinese sounded a lot better than i was expecting.”

“that’s a huge compliment. thank you. tones were tough for me when i was learning.”

“jun and i were surprised when you translated it so casually. we became fans.”

“thank you so much! i’m a big fan of yours too.”

satisfied, the8 gave na pd a thumbs up and returned to his tent. na pd looked around to see if anyone else wanted to challenge.

“she’s like a native english speaker!” yunjin shouted from her tent. you shot her a heart and kiss that she tucked into her pocket.

with everyone’s (reluctant) approval, you passed and taesan got his point for boynextdoor. he gave you a high five and thanked you for not sabotaging him. you two watched as the rest of the idols tried to gain their points.

everyone returned to their tents to choose their next competitors. you volunteered after seeing woonhak leave their tent. when woonhak saw you come out, he whined, “na pd, can y/n noona start with the guys? she’s basically a track star.”

you feigned ignorance and shrugged, looking anywhere but at na pd. chaewon yelled in agreement from right next to you. jungwon and niki cheered from his tent, cackling. sunghoon tried to defend you until his members provoked him, saying he wouldn’t be able to beat you. with the overwhelming support, na pd asked you to start with the guys.

you glared at woonhak, who bounced in his spot happily, and made your way over. you bowed to your seniors and took your place at the inner edge. you tightened your shoelaces. you were not going to lose to woonhak.

“go!”

you bolted towards the papers, narrowly avoiding yeonjun’s shoulders, and got there right after the girls. everyone was yelling in shock and excitement at how fast you were. jaehyun was frantically waving his arms, shouting at woonhak to go faster. you picked up the paper: someone who can guess the notes correctly. you only knew of one person in your company with perfect pitch, so you sprinted towards the enhypen tent.

“heeseung sunbaenim, please come with me!” you hopped impatiently, extending your hand. looking like a deer in headlights, he got up as jungwon protested. you grabbed his hand and ran towards the center. you two made it second to yeonjun and jaehyun. while you were hunched over panting, your friend gave you a greasy smile before yeonjun spoke to him.

you turned to heeseung and bowed slightly. “thank you for coming with me. you’re the only person i know with perfect pitch.”

his mouth formed an o as he blinked. “how did you know i have perfect pitch?”

“ah, yunah mentioned it during r u next? after you appeared.”

he nodded and grinned. “i don’t think jungwon wants me to help you though, especially after the spoiler.”

you nervously laughed and folded your hands together. “please! i promise i didn’t tell anyone.”

heeseung threw his head back and laughed, patting your back. before he could say anything more, everyone had returned, and na pd prompted yeonjun to reveal his paper.

someone who can freestyle rap.

jaehyun bit his fist, quickly trying to piece together some words before na pd made him do it. yeonjun explained that jaehyun’s covers always had impressive self-written raps.

“jaehyun, go ahead.”

“i’ll see you there tomorrow” started playing and caught jaehyun off-guard. he counted the beats before rapping about winning the picnic and making friends. it was impressive, you guess… na pd turned to you, and you lifted your paper. “i got someone who can guess the notes correctly.”

they tested heeseung’s perfect pitch and received a wave of impressed noises. na pd gave you the green light, and you cheered, high-fiving heeseung for his talent. after the third person passed, everyone returned to their tents with wins or losses.

your group members cheered and patted you on the back for your hard work. you smiled and sat down, sipping on your matcha greedily. as the staff set up for the next event, jake turned to your tent. “y/n, i think you need to go out for the olympics.”

you coughed on your drink, frantically waving your hands. “absolutely not. i’d get dusted.”

“why do you run so fast?” sunoo asked.

“i do hiit training to stabilize my vocals,” you sheepishly admitted.

enhypen nodded slowly before turning to each other. “we should try that, but we could barely handle working out for 6 minutes.” you and your group members hid your laughs behind your hands, returning your attention to keeping cool.

it was time for the last segment of the day, the most anticipated one: random play dance.

everyone gathered in the center and waited anxiously.

“ah, seungkwan! welcome back! who do you think is a favorite to win?”

“na pd, i think txt are still the strongest contenders. i hope the few mcs that we have in our company will also do well on the most recent songs.”

“who do you want to win it all?”

“personally, from seeing how hard she’s tried in the other events, y/n from illit.”

“you and i had the same thought.”

you hid behind your hands in embarrassment and bowed in thanks for their confidence. “i’ll do my best!”

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹

the segment lasted for so many rounds because all of the dance challenges that everyone participated in. yunjin was hilarious with her gaslighting and made you cackle until the end.

there were a couple of dances you didn’t know and had to copy yeonjun, but, thanks to le sserafim’s gaslighting, you managed to pass. you lost iroha to infinite’s “before the dawn”. you silently thanked your obsession with getting the scorpion dance right.

at the end, it came down to who could dance the best between you, jaehyun, hoshi, yeonjun, and soobin. soobin got first and you, jaehyun, hoshi, and yeonjun shared second place. overall, you’d say it was one of the best days of your life, gaining new friends and having a lot of fun with the games.

[kaiswifeblog]

GONNA REQ REAL QUICK BUT I AM IN NEED OF A HUENING FLUFF JDJFKSJCND

Newly established relationship where reader is just teasing hueka using all the couple nicknames and for a cuter tone them learning ones in he speaks in like korean, chinese, japanese or german (any language he speaks in we'll pretend hes fluent) and its just making him blush kdnckskc this boy has my whole heart i can't

a/n: YES YES YES YES I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS THIS IS ACTUALLY SO CUTE 😚 TY FOR THE REQUEST

Title: other language nicknames

Genre: fluff

Pairing: bf! Hueningkai x fem!reader

Warnings: for the other nicknames I used Google translate so if there is something bad with them say it!!!!

you always knew Hueningkai was from nearly every part of the world: Germany? He had a royal ancestor from there, Hawaii? He was born there, Korea? His mom was from there.

So you knew that he also knew a lot of laguages, and ever since you started dating him, you started teasing him! And this week you had a plan...

Teasing Kai in every language he speaks for every day of the week!

DAY ONE:

For day one you decide for the nickname ''engel'' in English it's angel.

now you're just waiting for him to come home from the convenience store and in that time you started pronouncing it a lot, so that you wouldn't embarass yourself while pronouncing it.

After Kai arrived home you started you plan started.

''Hey engel did you get everything'' you said obviously Kai was shocked ''honig when did you start learning German?'' ''because i wanted to know one of the languages you can speak!'' ''okay now let's go so we can make dinner'' ''mein freund is so responsible''

Even if Kai was turned around you could see his ears redening and you were proud of yourself.

DAY TWO:

as soon as Kai walked through the door he knew something was wrong. He remebered the interaction from yesterday and how you were just giggling the whole evening.

As soon as he entered the apartament he saw you sprinting toward him with your arms open to give him an hug.

"おかえりなさい、かわいい子！(Welcome home sweetie!)" Kai looked up startled as you just spoke in japanese and yesterday you just talked in german, how many languages are you learning?

"baby... how many languages are you learning!" "i just want to speak better the languages you know so that we can communicate better!"

you saw him turn away like he akways did when he blushed.

"baby i know we haven't been together for a lot but we can still talk!"

and he just went into the bathroom to wash his face.

DAY SEVEN:

It was the last day of you plan and today you were going all out, you were not even gonna say anything in English.

You were going to talk only in korean

You hear your phone ringing, it's Kai telling you to meet him outside for your date.

" 안녕 자기!! (Hello! Sweetie!!)" You spoke catching Kai of guard "oh hello! Are you ready?" He asked.

"그래 가자!! (Yes let's go!)" Kai was confused why were you speaking Korean? You always spoke in English.

He left it alone but you only spoke Korean and it made him worry but the pet names being used he also got flustered a lot.

*after dinner*

"did you like dinner darling?" He asked after exiting the restaurant.

"네, 저는 정말 그것을 좋아했습니다... (Yes, I really like the...)" You started trying to remember how to say the word you wanted to say

"steak? Yeah it looked really good!" He said with too much enthusiasm in his body.

"now let's go home 천사."

[sakurapika]

How TWST characters would react to getting money for New Year

Author's note: I originally wrote this around January 1st and intended to post it at that time. However, I never had the chance to finish, as I was too busy actually celebrating New Year's Day with my family. Luckily, the Lunar New Year has rolled around, so I have another chance to post this!

🧧🎊Some fun facts about this tradition: 🎍🎉

New Year's Day, or お正月 ("oshogatsu") is the biggest holiday of the year in Japan. Since most Japanese children aren't given their own allowances, getting an envelope of money from your relatives is a big deal. This tradition is called お年玉 ("otoshidama"). At this time of year, there also tends to be a lot of sales, hence the New Year Sale event in the game. Of course, if your parents are like mine, your money goes towards your education instead of toys, lol.

I grew up in an area with a large Chinese population, so sometimes I would also get red envelopes on Lunar New Year from family friends. However, the typical money envelopes in Japan, which are called "pochibukuro" are usually white. They tend to feature patterns with images such as daruma dolls, ribbons, origami, popular childrens' characters, or the yearly Zodiac animal.

Pochibukuro are usually given by adults to children to symbolize good luck and to thank them for their hard work over the past year. However, we're going to imagine a scenario in which you give the TWST boys money for fun.

If you also have special traditions on January 1st or Lunar New Year, whether in Japan, China, Vietnam, or another country, please let me know what they are! Also, if you'd like to buy some pochibukuro of your own, you can find them at shops such as Daiso or Kinokuniya.

Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts: He would be surprised by the idea of receiving such a gift, and would thank you profusely. He would likely save the money for something in the future like medical school expenses or textbooks, but he would keep the envelope as a bookmark to remember your kindness.

*I like to headcanon that Riddle is of Japanese descent on one side of his family. At some point, maybe one of his relatives gave him something for New Year's, but his mother stored it away for "safekeeping." At NRC, when he meets you, he has a chance to hold onto his own money. Maybe he'd even indulge just a little, and buy himself a strawberry tart or two.

Ace Trappola: He'll shamelessly spend it all that day, but at least he'd buy something high-quality and useful, like some shoes or a new basketball.

Deuce Spade: Like in Chapter 6, Deuce would likely say something about how he'd like to give the money to his mother. "But this is for you," you would say. "Spend it on something you like." In that case, he'd buy a snack at the mall or a new shirt. He'd also buy you something small in exchange.

Trey Clover: It's hard to imagine what Trey would spend his money on...maybe a new hat, a fancy kitchen set, or a motorized toothbrush. He'd probably ask about where to get money envelopes so that he could get some for his younger siblings.

Cater Diamond: He would probably hug you if you gave him such a gift. I imagine that he has been looking forward to all the sales on New Year's Day and has been looking forward to buying trendy new clothes and accessories. Maybe he'd even bring you along.

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar: Why are you giving money to a prince?! Leona has no need for this little herbivore tradition, but he'd at least thank you. He'd also misplace the envelope before he could spend it, but he probably wouldn't be bothered.

Ruggie Bucchi: Luckily, Ruggie would find Leona's missing otoshidama. Finder's keepers? There's about a million things Ruggie would like to buy, but he'd probably end up using the money for household things like laundry detergent and toilet paper. Leona would most likely keep his, in addition to the envelope that you give him.

Jack Howl: Jack may be surprised to get such a gift and have a hard time accepting it from you until he understands that it is tradition. Like Ace, he would make sure to spend it on something practical, such as workout clothes, but he'd also buy a few cacti--and maybe give you one as well.

Octavinelle

Azul Ashengrotto: A tradition...involving free money? Say no more. Like Jack, Azul would say he has a hard time accepting such a gift, but it is a clear façade. Deep down, he'd be delighted that you thought of him. He'd likely save the money for the Mostro Lounge's expenses, or he would treat himself to a new book or fancy skincare. He'd also try to take Floyd's and hold onto it before he spends it recklessly. Maybe he'd feel as if he'd owe you something as well, which is a feeling he hates.

Jade Leech: Jade would act like Azul, except he is better at hiding his delight. He might even scare you a little while asking whether he owes you money in return! As for what he spends it on...who knows? (My guess is a tea set, a fancy knife set for threatening people the Mostro Lounge, or some new hiking gear).

Floyd Leech: Giving Floyd money is like freeing every animal from the zoo and unleashing them at the mall. He'd most likely ransack the shoe stores first, but he'd also wreak havoc at the arcades and toy stores.

Scarabia

Kalim Al-Asim: Again, why are you giving the richest people at NRC money?! Kalim would be intrigued and would want to adopt this tradition, giving his money to everyone, young and old. He’d probably be like Trey and try to get some envelopes for his siblings, too. Honestly, though, you’re better off giving the money to Jamil, because like Leona, Kalim is definitely going to misplace that envelope.

Jamil Viper: Hmmm, this one is difficult. He’d probably take it with hesitation, asking whether you’re trying to bribe him or if there’s something you’re asking from him. Once he realizes that you’re being sincere and that the money is actually for him, he’d likely save it in a secret bank account. I imagine that he has some money saved for if ever he has a chance to leave the Asim family, even if just temporarily. After all, money is power, and anything he can get would make a difference. Don’t worry Jamil—the world awaits you!

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit: Vil is a smart man—he has likely heard of these traditions before after working with actors from different countries and watching movies. Although he may be a bit baffled at being on the recieving end of an otoshidama, he’d instantly reciprocate by giving you traditional deserts, like a box of mochi wrapped in tasteful wrapping paper.

Rook Hunt: You wouldn’t even have a chance to speak, let alone actually show him what you have. The (one-sided) conversation would go something like this: “Trickster, arrête! What is that in your pocket, hmm? An envelope with my name on it? Judging by the weight, you’ve given me about one thousand madol* for New Year. C’est bon, merci! Alas, I know not what to do with it. I would purchase something beautiful to look at all year, but true beauty is something you behold, free in nature. I know! The true beauty is your thoughtfulness! Merci beaucoup!”

*I assumed that madol/thaumarks are equivalent to Japanese yen, so that’s about 1,000円, or roughly $10 USD. That's really not a lot of money, but hey, you're just a college student, and you have 22 classmates. I think the conversion rate depends on the translation, though, as the ENG version of the event implies that the currency is closer to USD/GBP/Euro instead.

Epel Felmier: Epel is the type of kid who has been raised around older folks, and not a lot of kids his own age. I like to imagine that he would visit his neighbor's farms and help them with chores, and they'd give him pocket money in exchange. If you gave him a money envelope, he would be reminded of his hometown and probably send some of the money to his grandmother (he's a good kid). Otherwise, I think the boy would benefit from getting some new athletic wear.

Ignihyde

Idia and Ortho Shroud: Like Vil, Idia has probably heard of this tradition from watching anime/donghua or reading about it somewhere, but he'd still be caught off-guard by receiving one, feeling every emotion from flustered to excited. While Idia would go on a full-speed rant about how he wants to spend his money on this and that, Ortho would thank you politely. The two brothers are very close, so I'd imagine that they'd combine their money to buy something that they would use together, like a two-player game, manga from a series that they both like, or merchandise of characters from their favorite gacha game.

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia: Before giving him a money envelope, you greet Malleus with a "Happy Year of the Dragon!" Malleus proceeds to lecture you about the difference between dragons and longs (or 龍/"ryuu" in Japanese) again, but in a lighthearted way. Like Riddle, he is not used to receiving gifts. However, he is a very sentimental person, and would probably keep the pochibukuro in a special place, just to admire the shiny golden long on the envelope every once in a while. He wouldn't even realize that there's money inside until Lilia tells him about it.

*Yet another side note: I am once again begging the TWST developers to make a special Year of the Dragon card for Malleus (the next time they'll have this opportunity is in twelve years!!!). I know he'll eventually get a New Year's Sale card, and already had Qing Dynasty-style clothing for the Halloween event, but I really, really want to see him wearing hanfu.

Sebek Zigvolt: Sebek was secretly waiting for this day because he also knows that it is the Year of the Dragon, and is leaping at the chance to celebrate his liege again. In fact, I'm sure he has already gone all-out in decking the Diasomnia dorm in dragon/long/ryuu-themed decorations. He would still be genuinely excited to receive money envelopes, and tell you about how Lilia used to give them to him and Silver as children. He would then remark that although you're a human, you clearly know your stuff, and thus have the honor of being invited to the party he is throwing.

Silver (Vanrouge): Of course, Silver was dragged into planning the party with Sebek, but he's enjoying it as well. He'd accept your money envelope graciously and tell you about how it reminds him of his father doing the same thing when he and Sebek were children, as well as other stories he heard about his father's travels in The East. I like to imagine that you'd talk for a while with him while standing in the kitchen, preparing kagami mochi and soba, and desperately trying to keep Lilia out of the kitchen.

Lilia Vanrouge: Lilia has always been on the giving end and never on the receiving end of the money envelopes--after all, he is...quite elderly, and people usually give money envelopes to those younger than them. But who knows? I gave my grandmother a money envelope once, and it was fun. Knowing Lilia, he'd probably tease you, saying, "Yes, indeed, I am a very youthful boy!" Of course, Grandpa Lilia won't let you leave empty-handed. He'll give you your very own overfilled pochibukuro too, and won't let you go until you've had some of his special, homemade, traditional New Year's cooking! (Good luck.)

Do you have more ideas about how the cast of TWST would celebrate oshogatsu or the Lunar New Year? Please let me know!

To everyone reading this, happy New Year, and happy Year of the Dragon!

[delusionalmultilingual]

When will ya'll realise that Kirishima doesn't care about your looks or career 😭

He would literally date someone who knows literally nothing about heroes or doesn't even speak Japanese very well (I think he knows at least 2 other languages)

And omg the amount of talking this man does!! A yapper for the love of him, not that you mind ;)

If you got curly hair or anything he would recommend products, gel wise if you use! Ya'll bond over that shi

I want him to date like someone who knows their way around well but still needs some form of help. Gym bae, Bilingual? Definitely will date someone who works with flowers or plants. It just seems like a cute thing for him!

You could have a horrible scar that runs from your eyebrow down to your collarbone and he will still tell you how beautiful he thinks you are! Praise you for the life of him honestly.

He is literally the meaning of the song Guy.exe by Superfruit!!! Song will be down the bottom for ya'll who don't know.

He would actually love a plant girly/dude, teaching him to he gentle with the plants and flowers that grow around, even gifting him some lucky Chinese Bamboo, for its little maintenance and its strength!

Loves it when you rub his back! After a long hard mission, your soft touch is all he needs!

Be a florist and he'll ask for your favourite flowers and buy them constantly, and when he gains the courage he'll wait outside after you close and give them to you! Or like an environmentalist, biologist, if you were a hero who could control plants, that would be cuter.

If I'm honest I think he's definitely bisexual, like he's open to anyone basically! Just have a strong mindset and love him is all he wants!

Definitely a giver, you guys could be having some devils tango time and he'll eat you out and make you come three times before giving you the most head spinning orgasm of all life. But the minute your offering a bj or hj he's all blushy and saying that he would rather give it to you.

Your gonna have to force him to sit down before promising him it's fine, he would be biting his lip and throwing his head back for sure!

P.s, if wanted I will write about florist/gardener reader x kirishima

Song for above ヽ(●´ε｀●)ノ

[rigelmejo]

Really basic study tips. As in, you have no idea where to start, or you've been floundering for X period of time not making progress.

Total beginner?

Go to a search engine site. Whatever one you want Google.com, duckduckgo.com, or a searx.space site will work (I like search.hbubli.cc a lot). I think a non-google search engine will give you less ads and more specific results though so keep that in mind.

As a total beginner, search for some articles and advice to help you start planning HOW you are going to study a language. Search things like "how to learn X" where X is the language, "how i learned X," "guide to learn X." Ignore the product endorsement pages as best you can, you're looking for personal blogs and posts on learner forums like chinese-forums.com and forum.language-learners.org. After reading a few of these, come up with a list of general things you need to learn. This list will generally be: to read, to listen, to write, to speak. The articles/advice you find will likely mention Specific Study Activities people did to learn each of those skills - write them down! You might not do all those study activities yourself. But its good to know what possible study activities will help build each of the 4 skills.

Now get more specific. Think about your long term goals for this language. Be as SPECIFIC as possible. Things like "I want to pass the B2 exam in French" (and knowing what CEFR levels are), or "I want to watch History 3 Trapped in chinese with chinese subtitles" or "I want to read Mo Dao Zu Shi in chinese" or "I want to play Final Fantasy 16 in japanese" or "I want to make friends with spanish speakers and be able to talk about my hobbies in depth, and understand their comments on that subject and be able to ask what they mean if I get confused." Truly be as specific as possible. Ideally make more than one long term goal like this. And then specify EVEN MORE. So you want to "pass the B2 exam in French" - why? What real world application will you use those skills for. A possible answer: to work in a French office job in engineering. Great! Now you know very specifically what to look up for what you Need to actually study: you need to look up business appropriate writing examples, grammar for emails, engineering technical vocabulary, IN addition to everything required on the B2 exam. Your goal is to read mdzs in chinese? Lets get more specific: how many unique words are in mdzs (maybe you want to study ALL of them), how much do you wish to understand? 100% or is just understanding the main idea, or main idea and some details, good enough? Do you want to learn by Doing (reading and looking up things you don't know) or by studying ahead of time first (like studying vocabulary lists). Im getting into the weeds.

My point is: once you have a Very Specific Long Term Goal you can look up how to study to accomplish that very specific goal. If you want to get a B2 certificate there's courses and textbooks and classes and free materials that match 100% the material on the B2 test, so you can prioritize studying those materials. If your goal is to READ novels, you'll likely be looking for "how to read X" advice articles and then studying based on that advice (which is often "learn a few thousand frequent words, study a grammar resource, use graded reader material at your reading level, extensively and intensively read, look up unknown words either constantly or occasionally as desired when reading new material, and continue picking more difficult material with new unknown words"). Whatever your specific goal, you will go to a search engine and look up how people have accomplished THAT specific goal. Those study activities they did will be things you can do that you know worked for someone. If you get lucky, someone might suggest ALL the resources and study activities you need to accomplish your specific goal. Or they will know of a textbook/course/site that provides everything you need so you can just go do it. I'll use a reading goal example because its a specific goal i've had. I'd have the goal "read X book in chinese" so I'd look up "how to read chinese" "how to learn to read chinese novels" "how i read chinese webnovels" and similar search terms. I found suggestions like these on articles I found written by people who managed to learn to read chinese webnovels: Ben Whatley's strategy had been learn 2000 common words on memrise (he made a deck and shared it), read a characters guide (he linked the article he read), use graded readers (he linked Mandarin Companion), use Pleco app and read inside it (he linked Pleco) and in 6 months he was reading novels using Pleco for unknown words. I copied most of what he did, and did some of my own other study activities for theother 3 listening speaking writing skills. And in 6 months I was also reading webnovels in Pleco. Another article was by Readibu app creator, who read webnovels in chinese just looking up TONS of words till they learned (real brute force method). But it worked! They learned. So copying them by using Readibu app ans brute force reading MANY novels would work. Another good article is on HeavenlyPath.notion.site, they have articles on specifically what materials to study to learn to read - their article suggestions are similar to the process I went through in studying and Im confident if you follow their advice you'll be reading chinese in 1 year or less. (I saw one person who was reading webnovels within 3 months of following the Heavenly Path's guide plan). LOOK UP your specific long term goal, and write down specific activities people did to learn how to do that long term goal. Ideally: you will have some

SHORT TERM GOALS: you will not accomplish your long term language goal for 1 year or more. Probably not for many years. So make some short and medium term goals to guide you through studying and keep you on track. These can be any goals you want, that are stepping stones to the specific long term goals you set. So for the "read mdzs in chinese" long term goal, short and medium term goals might be the following: short term: learn 10 common words a week (through SRS like anki or a vocabulary list), study 100 common hanzi this month (using a book reference or SRS or a site), read 1 chapter of a grammar guide a week (a site or textbook or reference book), medium term: read a graded reader with 100 unique words once I have studied 300 words (like Mandarin Companion books or Pleco graded readers for sale), read a 500 unique word graded reader once I have studied 600 words, read 秃秃大王 and look up words I don't know once I have studied 1500 words (read in Pleco or Readibu or using any click-translator tool or translator/dictionary app), read another chinese novel with 1500 unique words, read a 30,000 word chinese 2 hours a day until I finish it, read another 30,000 word novel and see if I can finish it in less time, read a 60,000 word novel, read a 120,000 word novel, read a novel extensively without looking any words up and practice reading skills of relying on context clues (pick a novel with lower unique word count), read a novel a little above your reading level (a 2000 unique word count if say you only know 1700 words), go to a reading difficulty list and pick some novels easier than mdzs to read but harder than novels you've already read (Readibu ranks novels by HSK level, Heavenly Path ranks novel difficulty, if you search online you'll find other reading difficulty lists and sites). Those shorter term goals will give you things to work for this week, this month, this year. An example of study goals and activities might be: study all vocabulary, hanzi, grammar in 1 textbook chapter a week (lets say 20 new words/10-20 new hanzi,1-5 new grammar points - or alternatively you have 3 SRS anki decks for vocab, hanzi, grammar) along with read and look up unknown key words for 30 minutes a day (at first you may read graded readers then move onto novels). Those are short term goals you can ensure you meet weekly, and they also contribute to being able to read better gradually each month until you hit long term goals.

If you are very bad at making your own schedule and study plans: look for a good premade study material and just follow it. A good study material will: teach reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills, all the way to intermediate level. You may need to find multiple premade resources, such as 1 resource for writing/reading (many textbooks that teach 2000+ words and basic grammar will suffice) and 1 for speaking/listening (perhaps a good podcast, glossika, a tutor). Ideally formal classes will teach all 4 skills to intermediate level if you take 4 semesters of classes as an adult (beginner 1, beginner 2, intermediate 1, intermediate 2). Especially if the classes teach in accordance with trying to match you to expected defined language level skills (so formal classes that have syllabus goals that align with HSK, CEFR, or national standards of X level of fluency). So formal classes are an option. The same tips as above apply: make short term goals do do X a week, like study 30 minutes to 2 hours a day, to learn 10 new words a week, to get through X chapters a month, to practice speaking/reading/writing/reading oriented activities to some degree.

My short advice for picking a premade resource if totally lost: pick a starting material that covers 2000 words, basic grammar, and has dialogues if you don't know where to start. That will be enough to cover roughly beginner level language skills. I suggest you study by: studying the vocabulary and grammar of each chapter, listen to the dialogue with and without translation repeatedly until you understand it (listening skills), read the dialogue with and without translation (reading skills), write out example sentences using the new vocabulary and grammar (writing skills, the textbook exercises usually ask you to do this), speak your example sentences out loud (speaking practice), record yourself saying the dialogue and compare it to the dialogue audio - repeat this exercise until you sound similar in pronunciation to dialogue (speaking exercise - shadowing). Most decent textbooks will allow you to come up with similar activities to those listed above, to study some writing reading speaking listening. I like the Teach Yourself books as an example of the most basic version of what you need. Many languages have much better specific textbooks of that language. But if you're totally lost, get a Teach Yourself book and audio free from a library or for 10 dollars (or ANY equivalent book that teaches at least 2000 words and grammar) and go through it. If you buy a language specific textbook: keep working through the series until you've learned 2000 words and covered all basic grammar. For example Genk 1 and 2 cover 1700 words so you would want to work all the way through Genki 2 and ger near 2000 words before branching off to a textbook for intermediate students, or into native speaker materials. (Another example is I found a chinese textbook once that only taught 200 words... as a beginner you would not find that book as useful as one with more vocabulary)

Another adequate premade resource option: if you lile SRS tools like anki, look up premade decks that teach what you need to learn as a beginner. For Japanese you might look up "common words japanese anki deck" (Japanese core deck with 2k or more words is likely an option you'll see), "japanese grammar anki deck" (Tae Kin grammar deck is an option that covers common grammar), "JLPT kanji deck" or "kanji anki deck" or "kanji with mnemonics anki deck" (to study kanji). Ideally you study vocabulary, vocabulary, kanji, and ideally some of these anki decks will have audio and sentence examples for reading practice. Like with a textbook, you would attempt to do exercises which cover reading writing speaking listening. For reading and writing you may read sentences on anki cards, and write or type example sentences in a journal with new words you study and new grammar points. For listening you will play the sentence audio of a card with eyes closed until you hear the words clearly and recognize them, and for speaking you'll speak out the sentences and compare what you say to the audio on the card.

Keep in mind your specific long term goals! If your goal is speak to friend about hobby, you may follow a textbook and still need to ALSO make yourself practice talking weekly (on a language exchange app, with a tutor, with yourself, shadowing dialogues, looking up specific words you wish to discuss). If your goal is to read novels, you will likely need to seek out graded readers OUTSIDE your textbook and practice reading gradually harder material weekly. If your goal is listening to audio dramas, you will want an outside podcast resource likely starting with a Learner Podcast (chinese101, slow chinese, comprehensible chinese youtube channel) then move into graded reader audiobooks, then listen to audio dramas with transcripts, then just listen and look words up.

Once you hit lower intermediate: I'm defining that here as roughly you have studied 2000+ words, are familiar with basic grammar and comfortable looking up more specialized grammar information, and if you used a premade material then you have finished the beginner level material. If you desire to stay on a premade route then pick new resources made for intermediate learners. Do not dwell in the beginner material forever once you've studied it, continue to challenge yourself and learn new things regularly. (No matter what, continue to learn new things regularly, if you do that then every few hundred hours of study you WILL make significant progress toward your goals). Once you have hit intermediate it is also time to start adding activities that work toward your Very Specific Long Term goals now if you didn't already start. If you want to watch shows one day, this is when you start TRYING and get an idea of how much you understand versus how much you need to learn and WHAT you need to learn to do your goal well. If you want to read novels then start graded readers NOW if you havent already and progress to more difficult reading eventually into reading novels for native speakers. If you want to talk to people, start chatting regularly. If you want to take a B2 test, start studying language test specific study materials, practice doing the tasks you must be able to do to pass the test (so you can see what you need to learn and gauge progress over time), take practice tests. Intermediate level is when SOME stuff for native speakers will be at least understandable enough you can follow the main idea. Or at least, if you look up some key words you'll be able to grasp the main idea. Start engaging with stuff in the language now. For several reasons. 1. You need to practice Understanding all the basics you studied. Just because you studied it doesnt mean you can understand it immediately yet, you have to practice being in situations that require you to understand what you studied. 2. You also need to gauge where you are versus where you want to be, in order to set new short term goals. Once you do things in the language, you will see what specifically you need to study more. 3. By doing the activity you wish to do, you will get better at doing it. This is also a good time to mention that: if you wish to get better at speaking or writing now is the time to practice more. Just like listening and reading, you'll have to Do it more to improve.

The leap from using materials for beginners to materials for intermediate learners is harsh. It just is. The first 3 to 6 months you may feel drained, like you didn't learn much after all, annoyed its so much harder than the beginner material catered usually specifically to a learner's language level. Push through. I suggest goals like "listen to french 30 minutes a day" or "read 1 japanese news article a day" or "chat with someone for 1 hour total a week" or "watch 20 minutes of a show a day" or "write 1 page a day" and look up words you dont know but need to understand something or communicate to someone. Do X for X time period or X length of a chapter/episode type goals may be easiest to stick to during this period. Gradually, the time spent doing activities will add up and it will suddenly feel EASIER. Usually around the time you start understanding quicker and recalling quicker what you studied as a beginner. Then it keeps improving, as you gradually learn more and more. At first, picking the easiest content for your study activity will make the transition to intermediate stuff slightly less drastic. Easier content includes: conversations on daily life that only gradually add more specific topics (so you can lean on the beginner daily life function vocabulary), podcasts for learners entirely in target language and podcasts with transcripts, novels with low unique word counts (ideally 2000 unique words or less until your vocabulary gets bigger), shows you've watched before in a language you know (so you can guess more unknown words and follow the plot even when you don't understand the target language words), video game lets plays (ideally with captions) of video games you've played before, playing video games you already have played before and know the story for, reading summaries before starting new shows or books so you know what the general story is, reading books that have translations to a language you know (so you can read the translation then original or vice versa for additional context). Using any tools available (dictionary apps, translation apps like Pleco and Google Translate and click-translate web browser tools, Edge Read Aloud tool, reader apps like Kindle and Readibu, apps like Netflix dual subitles stuff).

Last mention: check in with your goals every so often. You might check in every 3 months, and say you notice you never manage to study daily (if that was your short term goal). That could be a sign it might be better to change your study schedule to study a couple hours on the days your life schedule is less busy, and skip study on busy days. Or it may be a sign the study activity you're trying to do daily is Very Hard for you to stick to, and maybe you should switch to a different study activity. (Example would be: I can't do SRS flashcards consistently, so when I got tired of SRS anki after a few months as a beginner, I switched to reading graded readers daily to learn new vocabulary then reading novels and looking up words. Another example: I love Listening Reading Method but could never do it as it was designed, so after a month of only doing 15 hours of it instead of the 100 hours the method intended at minimum in that time, I decided to modify that study activity into something I could get myself to do daily and enjoy more).

And, of course, its okay if what works for one person doesn't work for you. Everyone's different. As long as you are regularly studying some new things, and practicing understanding things you've studied before, you will make progress as the study hours add up. It may take hundreds of hours to see significant progress, but you Will see some progress every few hundreds of hours of study. I made the quick start suggestions for beginners above, because I have seen some people (including me) get lost at the start with no idea what a good resource looks like and no idea what to study, or how to determine goals and progress on those goals.

[thepersonperson]

How old do you think lived to be in the Heian era?

Also do you think the marks on his body are like birthmarks or tattoos to mark criminals?

Not a clue about Sukuna’s death age. The Buddha reached enlightenment at age 29. Sukuna is “enlightened” so I’m going to put him at 29+ years old at death.

I’ve been meaning to do a Sukuna Tattoo post so I guess I’ll use this as an excuse. They aren’t birthmarks that’s for sure.

Sukuna's Tattoos

Notes before we start.

1) I will be mainly using the TCB scans for the manga because of their accessibility. 

2) Written as of JJK 267.

(Click images for captions/citations.)

Preface

I'm drawing from a lot of sources here because documentation of Heian Era specific tattooing customs is not something I could find. The reason I’m comfortable using non-Heian sources as a reference is due to Sukuna borrowing both language and arts from other periods.

For example, Sukuna scolds Yorozu for not using a Haiku properly. The form of Haiku that Yorozu uses did not exist until the late 17th century. A good 500+ years after the end of the Heian Era (794 to 1185). The Haiku is actually derived from Waka poetry that became popular during the Heian Era. (Very short summary: Waka (Sedoka specifically) -> Renga -> Haiku)

It should also be noted that Chinese influences greatly shaped the development of arts and social attitudes in early Heian Era Japan. These influences declined over the this era as Japan looked towards itself for cultural development. Since the Heian Era was from 794 to 1185, most of the Chinese influences came from the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907).

For all these reasons, most of this tattoo analysis draws from the Tang Dynasty in China and the Edo Period in Japan. However historical Chinese tattooing in general is referenced more due to its availability.

Anyone with more historical Japanese or Chinese knowledge are free to correct me if I get something wrong.

Facial Tattoos

Let's first compare the facial tattoos on Yujikuna Megkuna and OG Sukuna.

Yujikuna and Megkuna have identical facial tattoos, but OG Sukuna lacks the markings over his nose and forehead. I think this is because those markings have something to do with Kenjaku's vessel creation. When Kenjaku casts Idle Transfiguration to wake up the Incarnated sorcerers for the culling games, they also have markings on their foreheads.

Sukuna's vessel markings might be different because his incarnation occured outside of the culling games. It could also be from his cursed object’s division into multiple pieces instead of just one. Whatever the reason, these forehead and nose tattoos prpbably hold more information about Sukuna’s relationship with Kenjaku than his past in general. All 3 versions of Sukuna share the chinstrap markings, so those tattoos likely have significance outside of Kenjaku.

Now onto what they could mean…

Sukuna has already demonstrated that he knows his Chinese literature and wordplay via Enchain/契闊 (Keikatsu). (The person who brought this to my attention may or may not have their account nuked. A doctored version of the Tweets is screenshottes here). What's important for this analysis is knowing that Keikatsu comes from a Chinese Poem.

The poem referenced belongs to the Shijing or The Book of Odes. This book is a part of the Wujing or Five Classics, a series of documents believed to be compiled by Confucius that has greatly influenced both China and Japan. Amongst the Five Classics is the Shangshu or Book of Documents that cites the use of punitive tattooing. Quoted directly from Wikipedia:

"It lists the "Five Punishments": the five primary penalties employed by ancient Chinese officials on criminals. The first (and least severe) of these punishments was the tattooing of the criminal's face with indelible ink."

In the Edo Period of Japan, the criminal markings on the face seem to only appear on the forehead. These were given to any lawbreaker as a punishment and a warning because they didn't have prisons. (Source)

These sources both suggest the facial markings are for criminals. However, there are alternative meanings that should be considered.

Kenjaku’s vessel markings are on the forehead and many of the culling game players consider themselves to be manipulated by the promises of incarnation. It’s also odd that the strongest sorcerer is unable to incarnate properly due to Yuji acting as a cage. Kenjaku is all but outright confirmed to have done that on purpose.

For these reasons, I think the following historical tattoo practice from the Chinese Song Dynasty (960 to 1279) should be considered. Quoting directly from the source:

“Tattoos for slaves were things like a label of ownership, or a brand on the forehead. There are some examples of slaves, and concubines, receiving tattoos as punishment for things like trying to escape…”

Uro is a former slave, a military slave to be exact. I go more into detail about this in my Initial Sukuna Backstory Theory. There is also the fact that Kenjaku sees the incarnated and has access to their lives/bodies like this...

They're essentially toys with built-in tracking devices for Kenjaku to monitor and tinker with as needed. The forehead and nose tattoos on Yuji/Megkuna can therefore be seen as a mark of ownership by Kenjaku. And maybe this is why Choso has one across his nose too.

There is one more meaning I can propose for the facial tattoos, though it mostly applies to the chinstrap.

Within China there are tribes that used facial tattoos for other purposes. The Dulong women had their faces tattooed to make themselves look undesirable to invaders that would abduct them for slavery and rape. (If you've read that one revised Sukuna backstory of mine, this is significant.) But more commonly, these markings became a tradition for girls coming of age.

The Ainu women in Japan also used facial tattoos for coming of age, beauty, and preparing for death. I bring up the Ainu because they’re mentioned as a non-Japanese group of sorcerers. There's also this Yuji is of Ainu heritage theory to consider. (This could link Sukuna to the Ainu by blood.)

The tribal uses are discussed here because Sukuna’s tattoos are vaguely tribal in appearance. Though tribal tattoos tend to be more detailed, his feel like a simplified version of them. I think that works well with Sukuna being labeled an unwanted child at birth. Japan has wiped out a lot of its indigenous populations and customs (see the Emishi). After all, what minority group practices haven’t been demonized and associated with criminal activity by the majority?

So the facial tattoos for Sukuna may be a marker for his vessel status, a claim of ownership, a punishment for being a criminal, a deterrent for sexual assault, or a signifier of belonging to a tribe. You can come to your own conclusions about this, after all none of this is confirmed.

Chest and Belly Tattoos

Comparing the versions of Sukuna again. (All these sections are going to start like this.)

Yujikuna and Megkuna once again have the same tatts. OG Sukuna has “C” hooked markings over his pecs instead of the “S” hooks of the other two. He also lacks the belly markings entirely. Since his belly mouth seems to be replacing the belly tattos, I think those markings on Yuji/Megkuna are a stand in for that extra mouth. The pec style differences I have no explanation for.

Due to the chest tattoos extending over Sukuna’s shoulders and onto his back, I won’t looking for possible meanings until the back tatts are addressed.

Back Tattoos

The tattoos running down Sukuna’s back appear to be the same for all 3 versions. Differences are slight enough to be considered inconsistency in the art and not deliberate.

The neck tattoos between Yuji/Megkuna and OG Sukuna differ slightly however. The bands of Yuji/Megukuna remain separate while OG Sukuna’s fuse together and extend further down his back. I don’t really have an explanation for this difference, much like the hooks differing on his pecs.

Back and chest tattoos are associated with criminal activities in Japan rather than criminal punishments because they are hidden under clothing. (Well not in Sukuna’s case, but you know…) Most notably the Yakuza have very intricate chest and back tattoos.

But going back to China, tattoos were also used as dog tags for military members and could signify loyalty, mainly during the Song Dynasty (960 to 1279, which is still within the Heian Era). Despite this, cultural opinions at the time seemed to be conflicted due to tattoos sharing an association with criminals. Quoted directly from the source:

“According to Yue Fei’s biography, when the legendary general was slandered and interrogated for treason, he tore the shirt off his body, exposing four characters tattooed on his back: “Exhaust one’s loyalty in service of the state.” This study looks at two components of the Yue Fei story—patriotic tattoos, and tattooed generals—and examines their meaning in the broader stretch of Song dynasty history. Yue Fei was not the Song dynasty’s only tattooed general who came to a tragic end.”

“This study shows that underneath the nationalist historical narrative of the Song dynasty, of which Yue Fei is a famous example, there lies a different story of social conflict within the Song state. Rather than a story of Chinese fighting non-Chinese and of traitorous and cowardly officials struggling with loyal patriots, this study offers a narrative of a social conflict between high-born clear-skinned officials and low-born tattooed military men.”

Now that sounds a lot like how the higher ups clash with the Jujutsu Sorcerers who do all the actual work. This mentality existed even in the Heian Era, where Uro was exploited as a military slave by the Fujiwaras. And since Uro is a Sukuna parallel, these tattoos could also indicate a similar type of exploitation.

There are still tribal purposes to consider. Drawing more from Chinese sources, the Dai men had body tattoos as a symbol of strength that would accentuate their muscles. Sukuna’s chest and back tatts really draw attention his brawn. The Li women had body tattoos as a right of passage and as identifiers. Sukuna’s neck tattoos in particular are similar to these ones.

So my spattering of explanations this time around for the chest and back tattoos are criminal organization affiliation, military “loyalty” claims (this is a form a slavery), decorative pieces to accentuate the muscles, a right of passage, and an identifier.

Arm Tattoos

Remember how I theorized that the belly markings on Yuji/Megkuna were a stand in for OG Sukuna’s extra mouth? That’s what I think is going on with the arm tattoos as well. The double bands and circles on Yuji/Megukuna represent the extra limbs on OG Sukuna. When this fusion is pulled apart, you get the single bands and dots on the 4 limbs.

As for their meanings? There’s the criminal markings of the Edo Period that indicate where the particular criminal is from. (Courtesy of this Reddit post.)

Since Yuji/Megkuna tattoos are more related to Kenjaku’s vessel creations, this could hint that their deal took place in Nara, Oosaka, Koufu, or Edo. (Nara is most likely because of its significance in the Heian Era.) For OG Sukuna, this is more indicative of where he first got them.

However, the single band is not for a location but rather a status—Hinin. These are the undesirables and social outcasts that were marked for their uncleanness. Sukuna was born a conjoined twin and unwanted. It’s likely these markings directly correspond to that fact.

…

(An unserious suggestion. On queer men in the US, double rings on the arm can represent how far they can fist someone.

I don’t think Gege is referencing this at all. This is just an example of why cultural context is very important to consider.)

...

There are some other meanings to be drawn from armbands specifically, but those are easier to group with legs.

Leg Tattoos

Differing from the other sections, the leg tattoos have only been seen on Megkuna and OG Sukuna. As referenced in the image below, we have the ankle of Megkuna (top left), the upper thigh of Megkuna (right), and ankles of OG Sukuna (bottom left).

Instead of having the double rings, like on his arms, Megkuna only has a single band, which matches OG Sukuna. (It’s reasonable to assume Yujikuna is the same and that OG Sukuna has the upper thigh bands too.) This further supports the idea that the double bands and shoulder rings represent the fusion of the extra limbs. Sukuna never had extra legs so there’s no need represent missing limbs.

For what they mean? I have only the non-Japanese/Chinese sources to go by. Gege may be a fan of non-Japanese cultures, but I'm not sure if that means Sukuna's design elements would borrow from them.

In other cultures, armband tattoos can represent mourning. Which ones exactly I have no idea because all the sites making this claim don’t specify them in detail. (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3) It’s honestly pretty infuriating. If you’re going to “borrow” designs from “cultures” to sell, at least cite your got danged sources.

But if we are to read these as indications of mourning, I don’t believe they’re for a person. Throughout this analysis, tattoos recurrently are associated with some form of oppression—slavery, uncleanliness, social damnation. If Sukuna’s bands are to be read as mourning, I think it’s for the loss of his autonomy and personhood.

What does it all mean?

Sukuna's tattoos are permanent marks that appear to be directly linked to his soul. How he acquired them is currently unknown. Traditional means of application can be quite painful, using metal or bamboo rods to carve skin and fill the abrasions with ink. (Here's a video if you want to watch it be applied.)

If we consider Kenjaku’s use of brands to mark and control vessels, it could be assumed that Sukuna’s tattoos are ones others put on him through binding vows for his control. They could also be symbolic in nature, hinting at his heritage and origins, indicating that he was branded an outcast at birth or even blessed by deities for protection. Perhaps Sukuna wanted the tattoos himself as an act of rebellion against the changing social norms. Whatever the reason, one thing is clear, these tattoos separate him from other humans.

Existing on the Border

I think the ambiguity behind the purpose of these tattoos this fits nicely with Sukuna and other people not knowing how to categorize his personhood. He's so strong and different that he might as well be something other than human. But he's not a curse, he wouldn't be able to used Reversed Curse Technique if that were the case. Is he a monster? A natural disaster? A god? He's kind of all these things at once by way of projection. Other people assign these labels to him and Sukuna doesn't correct them. There's something profoundly gender about it all.

And if you noticed, tattoos in ancient China and Japan have purposes that differ by gender. For women they were used for beauty and protection, while with men they were used to mark ownership and criminality. Sukuna has a melding masculine and feminine elements which is why I consider the tattoo meanings for both with him.

That sounds kind of crazy given that Sukuna very much embodies strength born of toxic masculinity. However, he actively wears women’s clothing and seems to have no qualms with being associated with feminine things. (Godbless marketing team for leaning into that.) He may have a rough and masculine speaking style, but he loves poetry and flowers.

(Sukuna is lying when he tries to deny it. Megumi's hobbies have everything to do with animals, not flowers.)

The earrings he wears, though a direct reference to the Buddha (basically it’s shorthand for how Sukuna isn’t truly enlightened yet), are another symbol of Sukuna's non-conformity. Earrings are something the Japanese government went out of its way to ban for Ainu men during the Meji Restoration after it decided they were only for women.

Even the short hair both he and Uraume wear are quite rebellious for those times, if not an indication of their lower standing. Regardless of gender, long hair was seen as desirable, high-class, and attractive during the Heian Era. (Source for men and source for women.) Most of the Heian characters wear it that way.

Notice how the servant has her hair cut shorter. Sukuna and Uraume's is shorter than that. It would be considered ugly and possibly dehumanizing. And yet when Kashimo sees Sukuna's true form, he calls him beautiful. He uses 美しい (Utsukushii) to do that.

That kind of beauty is a bit deeper than the English language can get across. From the words of someone else, "...utsukushi can express the beauty of something that catches your heart."

Kashimo isn't really wrong, but he's also not entirely right. For every panel of Sukuna looking like an ethereal god, there's another of him being an amorphous creature or a rabid goblin. All of these types of faces for Sukuna occur within JJK 253 alone.

These contradicting elements that somehow fit together are what make Sukuna, Ryomen Sukuna. He both participates in and rejects beauty. He’s crude and classy, violent and merciful, masculine and feminine. That duality, that two-faced nature is Sukuna.

I think his tattoos reflect this. Directly quoted from the source:

“Tattoos have many different symbolic meanings in Japanese culture and can denote where an individual ranked in society or serve as a permanent means of defense against evil forces or perhaps members of the animal kingdom. With the arrival of the seventh-century, the idea of tattooing one’s body in order to make it more beautiful began to lose its appeal due to the strong influence of Chinese customs in Japan—specifically when it came to identifying and tracking criminal activity. Around 720AD during the Nara Period, it appears that tattooing as a form of punishment began to infiltrate Japanese culture. Once the dawn of the Edo Period began the art form was more widely used as a punishment for criminals as at the time there was really no such thing as a prison to send lawbreakers off to.”

The purposes and attitudes towards tattoos in the Heian Era morph in the way Sukuna morphs both physically and in perception. Since Sukuna is the Fallen One, that means he must have been Honored One first. What caused him to fall remains a mystery, much like the meanings behind his tattoos.

One last thing...

A small caveat in relation to everything else, Sukuna referring to himself as The Fallen is the only time he has introduced himself.

He’s not given someone his name nor identified himself as anything other than a former human (which was internal). Combined with the ambiguous nature of his form, tattoos, and origins, I don't think it would be wrong to read him as someone who has transcended gender.