#I know them being japanese means some of the handwriting ones don't actually work but I mean it in like a localized videogame way

[cak3iscake]

Yeah sure I'll post these I guess

[artacetinker]

Uhhhh how am I doing this

Probably more then pics to go with

Yeah let's do that 👍

Here we go

It's set in the future, I haven't made a date yet but it's a work in progress like every thing else. It's far enough in the future that a bunch of cities have either grown or merged into a bunch of metropolitan cities all over earth. Obviously this means more power to keep them running hence there's I giant nuclear reactor in the middle of this one.

Having learnt from other accidents, they build the actual reactor bit with the radiation and stuff as realistically far underground as they can

But they apparently didn't learn and the reactor does a little Chornobyl

Now a little magic comes in and instead of killing everyone, it's stop the residents from physically aging

NO IT'S NOT REALISTIC IT'S A FANTASY UNIVERSE THAT MAKES ME HAPPY. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM RESPECTFULLY MOVE ALONG PLEASE!!

so the residents now have I minor form of basic immortality and this is just the prologue? Intro? Of this little universe

NOW

my world is set only a few years after, I'm thinking about 4-6 ish years. Adults are having fun and just currently finding ways to cure illnesses as the reactor obviously didn't stop them from getting sick. So that's going on and if the adults stopped, then the children have obviously not aged either.

Now kids will be kids.

They have basic wants, needs, desires etcetera etcetera and the government is the government. A bunch of assholes. They don't care about the kids and have kind of abandonded them at this point resulting in A LOT of children either in orphanages or simply on the streets, being uncared for, with only some lucky ones being able to stay with their families for a plethora of reasons I can't be asked to make or explain.

This has caused groups to form which I'll go into more detail about soon but the Metropolis has been divided into 4 groups, or sectors as they're called, each with a different characteristic

First we have the North sector also known as the Education sector

The East sector known as the Industrial sector

The South, known as the Leisure sector

And finally the West, commonly known as the trade sector

Each sector has a chosen leader or (in the West's case) group in charge

In charge of what?

Trading, gaining money, alliances, saftey and in general; caring for the children that make up their group or whatever

So far; North, south and east are represented with colours

North is gold

East is crimson

And South is a light purple and neon green (woooo Disney villain colours or whatever)

I haven't decided west yet, give me time

I've got a few basic ideas for the areas sorry if my handwriting is shit I'll type it aswell

It's not the best yet but I'm saving that for later

Anyway

The North sector- knowledge

The North is led by Amir, aged 15

He's half Syrian and is lucky to still live with his mother

Most educational systems are located here, mostly unis and colleges

Not too many children stay here as there are more adults up here than anything as the government is most notably located here aswell

It's seen as strict and formal and is represented with the mark of a golden quill because quills... Knowledge, you get the idea

Next

Sorry it's side ways, I'm not spoiling anything yet

The East sector- industrial

The East sector is led by the youngest leader, Irene, aged 14

She's 1/3 Japanese from her mother and 1/3 Greek from her father (weird combo I know makes it better)

Industrial was a friends suggestion because I had no other idea what to call it.

It has most of the cities seamstresses, blacksmiths (cuz cool ass weapons) and shops in general

Over here it's custom to wear animal themed masks (interpret this how you like just don't be an ass about it)

Some do it to hide identity, some do it as a form of identity (don't be an ass) but some do it as Irene wears one and they follow suit

Irene herself wears a lightweight deer make that shes decorated the Antlers with using various jewellery such as rings, bangle, bracelets, necklaces, small chains and earrings. This causes the mask to make small jingles (how tf do you describe jewellery sounds?) as she moves

This sector is represented with a mark of a crimson key (it's a mix of the Greek and Japanese symbol for power and I'm very happy with is :D)

Up next

The South sector- leisure

The South sector is led by Cael, our Irish little drawf (I made them ginger too cuz LEPRECHAUNZZ). They are (funnily enough) the second oldest leader at 16

This sector doesn't need to much explaining as people come here to relax, have fun, party, yadda yadda ya

(Shit I could have called it the recreation sector... Leisure sounds more right tho... Fuck)

This sectors group is known for being a wild bunch, with Cael gladly taking charge. Wearing a brightly colored assortment of clothes and styles, this lot are known to host 24/7 parties in many hidden clubs, nooks and crannies

This sector in general has most of the big ass multi story buildings in such a small space giving it a maze like feel with all the alleyways and such. A great place for unmonitered children to go nuts to their hearts desire

This lively bunch are represents with a Royal lotus, a symbol of relaxation and in my head cannon, refuge

And finally

Again sorry for it being sideways

The West sector- trade

Much like the south, this sector needs probably no explanation

Unlike the others, a group of friends leads the biggest sector of the Metropolis, all of them are Colombian so not only do they know their way around the city like the backs of their hands, they know a lot of people and can get away with shit a lot of other children cant

We have:

Carlos- the oldest of the bunch at 17, hes the strongman if the group

Next we have Gitana aged 16- she's the traveller (illeagally but thats not a problem)

Then we have Tayci and her twin brother Kaimi both at 15- Tayci is a silent runner with Kaimi being a perfect lookout for the group

There's a lot so buckle up

The West sector is by the shore, with most of the citys docks being located here with ships constantly moving in and out. This group was the first to form, having claimed most of the city and has used this to trade with the other sectors and a few smaller groups, overall earning the most income

Each member has used the docks to their advantage as well, having different roles allocated to them through their strengths in order to do so.

What is this may you ask?

Easy

Theft

They steal from boats coming into to the city in order to supply the rest of it in general. They group together with a bunch of other children and split up, collecting anything useful or I'm demand

Carlos is the oldest and strongest, being able to carry heavier crates

Tayci is quick and quiet, being able to zip around unnoticed

And Kaimi has some insane fucking vision, making him a perfect lookout from a high enough angle, using walkie talkies to guide the group undetected

Gitana's approach is a bit different and with Carlos's approval, has her own group of 8-11 that illeagally hop on the boats leaving the ports, travelling to other countries. Once over there they take anything that may not usually be imported over to the Metropolis and bring it home.

They do not currently have a symbol or colour but I'm thinking a grey one with Gitana's go up having a blue one to go with, the blue representing the water as they travel overseas

DONE

This was a lot to type, time to address stuff

Yes there are probably many faults in this which will be covered in posts to come, either on purpose or by coincidence

No I'm not giving too much info on the characters

HOWEVER

I have 2 designs which I might do like teasers or something for so anyone reading this isn't left in the dark for 2 spontaneous months (I need to get my shit together and be more consistent. I'm trying I swear)

Ive got some background for the South currently as it's so far the most visually pleasing to imagine for me and I may post either later or tomorrow depending on how quick I do my fucking homework

I'm trying to sort a lot of it out so it makes more sense

I hope anyone reading this is as excited as I am

I will post moths at some point but this has me hooked right now so I might do a huge art dump

Also next month I'm getting a iPad for me birthday 🥳🥳🥳 so I can finally do digital art so anything I post now shall hopefully be better quality

I will remind anyone probably closer to the date aswell

If you read this and am interested, please stay 🙏🙏🙏

I'm very passionate about this and if anyone at all enjoys it I'll be more than happy to continue

Thank you for reading this far

I admire your patience, willingness and overall generosity to listen to a yr 11 ramble about their passion project

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

In the absolute nicest way possible: how many languages do you speak? I know English, of course, and I have passable Spanish, and I’m simultaneously working on my Italian and French but I don’t even know enough to get by in either of those. And you’ve mentioned quite a few languages that you speak, or at least, that you’ve studied, and as someone who knows the struggles of trying to be multilingual, the amount you know is amazing and very, VERY impressive!

I also happen to love linguistics and language theory in general and I’d love to hear anything you might have to ramble about and discuss when it comes to linguistics in any languages, because it really is such a fascinating area of study.

Speaking of Tolkien linguistics specifically: I’m not someone who has actually really STUDIED a language. I grew up around Spanish speakers and did it for all four years of high school, but I never studied any of it from a scholarly perspective. It was always just learning about how to speak it, how to write it. What sort of linguistic quirks does Tolkien have when it comes to creating his languages? Do you see specific or obvious influences from real life in any of his languages? What are some of your favorite things about his languages, and the EVOLUTION of his languages?

Basically, please talk Tolkien linguistics at me!!

Hi, thank you so much for this ask! :)

Oh no, I don't really speak that many languages fluently! To start with, Latin I certainly don't speak, even though I took it the longest, but it's not a spoken language of course. (Plus when I was studying it in the later years and we were reading the Aeneid and stuff, you have like a page of vocabulary notes next to each page of Latin text to help you with the translations.)

I became reasonably conversational in Japanese after taking it for three years, but I'm definitely not fluent, and my skills are a bit rusty now. And I only took one year each of Russian and German, so that's not much. But I love learning languages and I would really like to polish up my Japanese, and revisit the other languages I've studied, plus study other ones :) I took at least one language each year of college, sometimes two at once, and I really miss it.

Yes yes yesssssssss let's talk about Tolkien languages. So, the obvious inspirations are clearly Finnish > Quenya and Welsh > Sindarin. But it's not a case of simple borrowing. Tolkien was too creative for that. Most people would struggle to create even one invented language. Tolkien, as you know, created multiple languages AND histories of how they all related to each other! I LOVE HIM! THIS MAN WAS INSANE! Exhibit A:

WHO DOES THIS? Also, he had beautiful handwriting.

Anyway. I don't even know where to START I have so many thoughts about Tolkien's languages. This will be very haphazard.

Okay, here's one that I think about a lot. Aegnor's name in Quenya was Aikanáro, which means "fell fire". The aika part means "fell, dire, terrible." Which is descended from an Eldarin root word gaya, "awe, dread". That same root word is the origin of part of the Sindarin word Belegaer. Beleg means great, and aer means sea. But aer is derived from that same word gaya, "awe, dread".

I just find this really cool because this is how etymology works in the real world! It's not a simple case of an ancient word for the sea turning into a modern word for the sea. It's a case of a word that means one thing being applied to another thing until it comes to mean something completely different than before. And I love that! And I especially love that you can trace root words from Eldarin into both Sindarin and Quenya!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE CREATED AN ACTUAL, FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE TREE. I'M SCREAMING

Like, if you know enough words in Quenya, it's not hard to translate them into Sindarin, and vice versa, because they're actually, functionally related. IT'S GENIUS. IT'S AMAZING.

Not ONLY can you trace Eldarin root words into both Sindarin and Quenya, I also think it's so cool that Tolkien came up with multiple etymologies for things sometimes (party because he kept changing his mind!). For instance, he came up with both an Elvish etymology and a Valarin etymology for Taniquetil. In Quenya, it means "high snow peak". But another theory (yes... Tolkien came up with a theory for a word he created) is that it is simply the Elvish pronunciation of the Valarin word Dâhan-igwiš-telgûn. He came up with multiple (and conflicting) etymologies for the name Felagund too, among other things.

It will NEVER cease to amaze me that Tolkien not only made up etymologies for his invented words, he also sometimes went back and forth on which etymology was "right"! I remember reading a note in one of the volumes of the History of Middle-earth that said something along the lines of, "One of these etymologies for Balrog is correct, but I don't know which one." YOU MADE UP THE LANGUAGES, TOLKIEN! But I honestly love that he thought of himself more as a recorder of what was already there than the person making the decisions.

For example, there's that video of Tolkien writing in tengwar where he says, "My writing is very inferior to the Elves..." !!!!!!!!!! TOLKIEN, SIR. YOU INVENTED THIS ALPHABET. I love it so much. You have to watch it if you haven't seen it already! It's wonderful:

The way he talks about languages here is so quintessentially Tolkien... the delight connected with discovering a new language like a "new wine or some new sweetmeat or something". It reminds me of what he had to say about "cellar door"—and I'm sure this is not new to you, but for those who don't know, it was a phrase that he considered to have a beautiful sound independent from its meaning. He said in one of his lectures,

"Most English-speaking people...will admit that cellar door is 'beautiful', especially if dissociated from its sense (and from its spelling). More beautiful than, say, sky, and far more beautiful than beautiful. Well then, in Welsh for me cellar doors are extraordinarily frequent, and moving to the higher dimension, the words in which there is pleasure in the contemplation of the association of form and sense are abundant."

Hence, the influence of Welsh on Sindarin. In creating his Elvish languages, Tolkien wanted to create beautiful languages, but not in the sense that they would be frivolous or flowery, he wanted them to be beautiful in the sense that they would be very pleasing to the ear, like "cellar door". Well, I'm extremely biased, but I think he succeeded. He DEFINITELY succeeded.

Oh, and back to the inspiration for Tolkien's languages for a second, there's been more discussion of the phonetic/grammatical influence on his languages but less discussion on what influenced his alphabets. I want to know how he came up with tengwar! And sarati! I would think that Japanese and Chinese would have had some influence, not on the sound or grammar of the languages themselves, but on the script. Tolkien sometimes wrote the sarati (the alphabet that preceded tengwar) vertically, like Chinese and Japanese, and his visual art drew some inspiration from Chinese and Japanese paintings, so I wonder if there is a connection there. Some people have also noticed similarities between Chinese characters and Tolkien's symbol that represents his initials:

One thing that I find really amazing about Tolkien's languages is that they were so fully formed and so interconnected that there are some cases where there are probably connections that he just didn't spell out, leaving Tolkien scholars and linguists to come up with their own theories. For example the potential relation between Valarin and the language of Mordor! Basically, the Ring of Doom in Valinor was called the Máhanaxar, the first part of which is derived from Máhan, "chief Vala", a loan word from Valarin māchanāz. Máhanaxar is the Quenya pronunciation of the Valarin word Māchananaškad. Here's what's so cool... David Salo, a Tolkien linguist who worked on the LOTR movies, theorized that the second part of this word may mean "ring"—it is the name for the Ring of Doom, after all—meaning that the Valarin word naškad could be the root of nazg, as in Ash nazg durbatuluk and Nazgûl. It would make so much sense for the language of Mordor, which was created by Sauron, to have similarities to Valarin.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's very late so this post has no rhyme or reason, but when asked to talk about Tolkien's languages I will HAPPILY do so! :) Thank you for the ask!!!!!

[forbidding-souda]

I saw ur research post and got inspired hehe

can we get some yasuhiro x m reader hcs where the reader just moved to japan and is still learning japanese?

Yasuhiro Hagakure with a boyfriend who recently moved to Japan and is still learning Japanese headcanons

Hi hib hi hi hi hi hello

I am once again using your request to self promo but omg guys look at my bestie poo poo kun! He has subscribed to my 5 dollar a month tip thing meaning all of his requests are first priority. And also he has my instagram and now he's my lil stink stink

-Mod Souda

❤ There is speaking as well as reading and writing. He puts a lot of effort into helping you with writing, and it works out since out of anybody, he's the best teacher: he has surprisingly neat handwriting.

❤ He might have a lot of like, those remember-cheat-sheet tunes and similarity spottings that people do to help remember the lines and such. Those can help for sure.

❤ You wording things wrong is so cute to him, and you can tell whenever you do it because a small smile with grow on his face.

❤ You learn a lot of casual words and expressions from being around him, too. You've even picked up the "-chi" thing he does.

❤ ^ Chronic casual Japanese.

❤ ^ You try to practice formal Japanese with him and he's like stop it feels weird.

❤ He can read you some of his clairvoyant books. He uses teaching you as an excuse for him to actually finish reading them, too. He both never tried to sit down and read as well as, not remembering he had the books in the first place.

❤ You learning was what drew him closer to you, he almost felt special that decided to learn the language, no matter how common it may be. Your everything was perfect.

❤ Hiro learning more English for you, too. His cute accent.

❤ After meeting you for the first time, you stuck in his head. You were the cute boy who had the foreign accent. It was as if you were straight out of a movie.

❤ Japan is a beautiful place! When you move to Japan and get together with him, your house is going to become his house too (whether you like it or not). He's wiggling his way into your living space.

❤ ^ Your house is going to suddenly have house plants and crystals on shelves and tables.

❤ Buys you flashcards even if they're elementary level stuff.

❤ The first date the two of you go on is quite a fun one, especially since your vocabulary wasn't wide enough to understand a lot of the casual words he uses.

❤ Sometimes you can get him into museums for you to practice reading, and plus, you learn about a lot things regarding history and art.

❤ ^ Hiro learns things, too, but he'll often start getting bored and, instead of looking at the artifacts and their descriptions, he'll start looking at you.

❤ He unironically recommends some manga's he knows are popular.

❤ The main problem you encounter when it comes to learning Japanese is trying to find something that isn't so rigid. Therefore, being with Hiro is a good thing, as he can just casually teach you random vocabulary, and he will do it over and over again, not minding if you don't remember some of it.

❤ ^ This includes walking around the kitchen with him pointing at things.

❤ He helps you with the complicated words! Some might be tongue-twisters for you.

❤ He will hold your hand to lead you around outside as he drags you from place to place, letting you read signs and menus, testing your knowledge in such a way that the challenges are easy, making you all the more happy when you get something right.

❤ Watching the cogs turn in your head is his favorite.

❤ Imagine a build-a-bear where he does the little voice box with a romantic Japanese phrase.

❤ Him breaking into the school to give you a tour just because you're new to Japan and he wants to show you his favorite places.

❤ His mom being impressed by your language skills and thinking the fact that you're new to Japan is soooo adorable. She might pinch your cheeks teasingly just because of how cute you are.

❤ ^ You can see how similar they talk (and it makes it much more contagious).

❤ She invites you over all the time, and the two of you make the trip over to her. It's a very good environment, the energy is a very kind one.

❤ "Which one is this?" He holds the paper in front of you, having written a character on it with sharpie. Parts of the character are a little unclear from the paper that was on top of it, which he also wrote on with sharpie.

❤ You suck in a breath, staring at it and running words through your head.

❤ He watches you with soft eyes.

❤ You say, "I don't know which one that is."

❤ "I thought so," he puts the paper down, "since I just made it up." The smile on his face stops you from groaning.

[yukusaki]

Hi I've been trying to learn the Japanese language for quite a while, I've been using Memrise and NHK Japan but i am having trouble with their grammar and I'm not sure if I ever made progress. Now, I don't know what's my next step to improve. Do you have any recommendations? I hope u had a good day :>

And to no one's surprise. I wrote an actual novel on the topic.

I'll give you some resources but I recommend trying out different kinds to see what works for you. Learning about your own learning style may also help--for example, I'm a very hands-on learner so I can read about grammar rules all day but until I actually try to put together my own sentences using those rules and get some feedback on what's right and what's not, I Will Not be able to use those rules effectively. Also I have no motivation so I don't study on my own unless I'm working towards a goal (such as the JLPT or answering an ask)

I started with the Pimsleur program, recorded audio lessons that were at my library to check out. You'll learn phrases mostly, but it does not go into detail about grammar and you will learn nothing about writing. If you're mostly concerned about grammar you can definitely skip this one. You can try programs and apps like Duolingo, Rosetta Stone. etc. Duolingo is a bit better about grammar rules and stuff but depending how in-demand the course is, it might not explain anything (try the PC version if it doesn't). I personally think apps like this are good for basic grammar and stuff but once you get more advanced you need More.

Textbooks are actually not a bad way to self-study. I used Genki in my first 2 years of Japanese at university and it's supposed to be one of the best. There's also so so many resources online now. Follow some blogs and get bite-sized tips during your leisure time.

Now, for how I like, Actually learned a lot of my Japanese before I started learning it in organized classes. Listen to music, look through the lyrics, pick out some words you hear a lot and look them up. Watch drama/anime/movies/etc and do the same. Or just put on the subs and don't really pay attention to the audio. I generally have a pretty good ear for pronunciation and intonation already but I attribute how often I get comments on my pronunciation to how much time I spent in my weeb days just hearing naturally-spoken Japanese even if I wasn't totally paying attention. I always recommend exposing yourself to as much content as possible, even in the early stages of learning.

I've got some general study tips on my blog (search studytips) that should help. If nothing else, remember to not burn yourself out. Learning vocab for 5 minutes a day is better than studying 2 hours one day ond taking a 2-month break.

One thing I might not have mentioned in those tips that I feel like more people need to be aware of: a lot of programs are like "learn naturally by immersion like you learned your native language! Just hear phrases and you will Understand the grammar eventually!" okay but like your brain goes through a critical period for language learning when you're like 2. You are (presumably) no longer 2. Your brain is not the same as it was when you were 2. You should not expect to learn the same way as you did then. I read somewhere that being able to learn rules is the one advantage the adult brain has over a child's brain when it comes to second language learninp. So what this means in practice is: when you come across some grammar thing you don't get, don't let people tell you "oh you'll get it in time, you'll just Know." Look that shit up! What's the difference between は wa and が ga? There a literal list of rules you can memorize! (I don't have a link, it was a handout from one of my classes, sorry!) Familiarizing yourself with English grammar even helps to learn how to apply those rules to a new language. Learn the difference between a subject and an object and all that good stuff. You have different resources now as a not-2-year-old so use them!!

Finally, some resources I personally use:

Kanji draw (app): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.lusil.android.kanjidraw.jlpt5 (not sure if there's an IOS version sorry)--like flashcards for kanji but makes you actually write it, and with correct stroke order which I promise makes them easier to remember (and this was the only app I found that actually checks you for accurate writing). It has some algorithm for how often you see each character that is fantastic for memorization--more often when you first learn a character and after you get it wrong, less often once you know it well, introduces new characters gradually but keeps the old ones in rotation for a while so you never get thrown into a set of 20 completely new kanji.

find you a good dictionary app--I can't find the one I use on the app store but I can search in kana/kanji or romaji or English, any conjugation of a verb or adjective, and find what I'm looking for. Also has a kanji lookup tool with radicals.

Google translate--yeah, for real. I use this one when I want to scan a large section of text for something specific. Or when I'm writing a long sentence that I want to doublecheck. Also has a kanji lookup tool you can handwrite in, and of course don't forget the camera translation tool.

honyakustar (website)--a website with a lot of sentences in both Japanese and English. I use it All The Time to figure out how a word is actually used in practice--what particles it uses, if it's formal or informal, if it's stative or dynamic, collocations, etc.

Hellotalk (app)--it's super well known, just google it. A social app for chatting with native speakers of your target language.

Common Japanese Collocations by Kakuko Shoji (book)--collocations are words that "go" together naturally. We say "take" a bath, Japanese says "enter" a bath (お風呂に入る). This book is a good reference for looking up these collocations.

The Basics of Japanese Grammar: Verbs (book)--I downloaded this on my nook in high school for like 2 dollars and 50 cents give or take and it pleased my rule-oriented brain greatly. just has like all the verb conjugations with short explanations and example sentences and stuff.

Thanks for your question! Feel free to ask me anything!💕

[muggle-writes]

Rules: Answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better.

tagged by @elizabethsyson

Nickname: Muggle is my nickname, but when I went by Muggle in person for more than a month at a time, it naturally got abbreviated, usually to Mugz

Zodiac: Aquarius

Last movie I saw: into the spiderverse (same answer as last time. I don't watch that many movies tbh except around Christmas. unless YouTube counts in which case... music of some sort? idk links for the next answer)

Favorite musician: changes by the day. I've kinda been in an acapella and/or folk music mood recently so the Maccabeats and Peter Hollens are in my YouTube and Spotify history a lot recently. also I'm eternally in awe of Forte Handbell Quartet (eta a longer video; i recommend skipping to the techno piece or the Jurassic Park theme)

Last thing I googled: "vine why are you buying clothes at the soup store" (my wife hasn't seen it; also i can't find the vine because apparently it's a much bigger meme than I realized). before that it was "chgrp not root" because work and group permissions are useful when they work

Song stuck in my head: well for most of the day when I haven't been actively listening to something, it's been the Pokemon RSE route-walking music. (but that somehow happens frequently when I'm in the no-music-no-internet room at work, as I was for most of the day, and I don't know how I accidentally trained my brain to make that connection). right now, surprisingly, I don't have any background music playing in my head. I think it's because the humidifier provides just enough white noise that my brain doesn't feel the need to provide its own

Other blogs: my main is @muggle-the-hat and I'm a mod on @why-do-neurotypicals but we've gotten one ask ever so that blog has been dormant for a while. I have a bunch of other sideblogs, but they're all small and I use different screen names on each of them (enby life: no idea which name suits me best so I may as well try them out) so i feel like it would just confuse things to link them.

Following: blogs matching all the themes of my sideblogs, (including this one, which is writeblr), korean langblr, jumblr, assorted fandom blogs, authors of my more favorite fanfictions (some overlap with other categories), and irl friends and acquaintances (including one fandom blog turned irl friend)

Do I get asks: on my main if at all, which isn't really surprising because i have hundreds of followers there and maybe 60 followers combined among the rest. but I get asks far less often than I reblog ask memes so... I'm always happy to get more. I do get tagged in ask games more on this one, but writeblr is actually vaguely organized about tag lists so that makes sense. also I used to get tagged a bunch on my main and I rarely could find the posts again to follow up when I had time to answer.

What I’m Wearing: pajamas. staying warm and cozy

Lucky number: I don't remember what I said last time, but I like a lot of numbers. 64 is a good number. recently I've been debugging software in which 0x3E is my lucky status number and 0x0E taunts me. (um, decimal 62 and 14). Also my other favorite number i can't share until it's no longer the combination to the lock to the Secret Room. (or realistically never because opsec and i shouldn't make public the types of parents we use for that combination lock), honestly I aim to be like.... ah, I'm sure the anecdote involves G.H. Hardy but i don't remember on which side. anyway one mathematician remarked to another about how the id number of the taxi he rode in was sadly uninteresting, and the one I aspire to be like, argued "what are you talking about, this number is interesting because ______" and I'd like to be able to do that for any arbitrary number thrown at me. (hi yes math is good, history is hard, math history is interesting yet i still forget the people even if i remember the math. except when things are named after people, but that tends to be, like, Euler and LaGrange and other people who did lots of cool science things so i remember the methods and the names of the methods separately which never helps)

Amount of sleep: ....depression both screws with my sleep schedule and means I always feel like I need more sleep except when I wake up at 5pm and feel like I've wasted the day. so yeah. I can never get enough sleep

Favorite food: yes (why do I have to pick a favorite?) uh, chocolate in most forms, many other sweet things, red meats (especially if served with potatoes), curry (especially if it has "too much" ginger), fresh-baked bread, chai the way my favorite local Indian restaurant makes it (spicier with just a little bit of sweet, which is the opposite of what i can get from the mocha machine at work which is wayyy sweet with a hint of spice but that inferior chai is still superior to coffee so i drink too much of it). also vegetables which I really don't eat enough of: sauteed zucchini and onions, roasted broccoli

Dream trip: dreaming requires creativity and tbh I funnel that mostly into my writing instead. I wouldn't mind going back to Korea for another visit though

Dream job: my current job is pretty good when I feel productive and when my debugging tools actually produce data maybe??? (they were not being helpful today. but i still mostly like my job.) dream job is probably this but with seniority and confidence and double the salary (while living in a similar area of the country; I wouldn't want to double my salary by moving to work for Google in California and having less available after rent than I do now)

Describe yourself as aesthetic things:

the smell of old books

the first glow of sunrise (the sunrise painting the mountains pink and gold)

a rainbow in the spray from a waterfall

the flicker of distant lightning (watching a thunderstorm fade into the distance)

this picture

Random fact: about me or about the world?

how about a combination answer: when we got our new handbell music this season, we only looked at half the pieces our first rehearsal and afterwards I tried to look up one of the pieces we hadn't gotten to on YouTube because it's got a weird time signature and I wanted to get a feel for how fast it would go and how strict the counting is...... except it turns out we're the first group to ever play the piece. it was commissioned recently but seeing my conductor's name on the page didn't tell me how new it was because he's super prolific. (the fact that it was on printer paper without the publisher's graphics should have been a giveaway but it's only the second time I've been among the first to play one of his pieces so I think I can be excused for not realizing)

Languages: mostly just English, but I took Spanish for years, so I can hold simple conversations in it. I can almost read sound out Hebrew fast enough to keep up in services, and I know some random Hebrew vocab but comparatively no grammar. and I took Korean in college, enough that I can recognize sentence structure but I can really only speak tourist-Korean, though I can sound anything out (if it's typed. handwriting is hit or miss.) in both Hebrew and Korean (and Spanish tbh but i don't often listen to Spanish music) I'm very proud when I can separate the words enough, listening to a song, to translate them without looking up the lyrics. also I tried to learn Japanese from Duolingo when it was new, but I still hadn't gotten the kana straight when it started progressing to kanji so that was a rough time and I went back to Hebrew.

tbh I "dabble" in "language learning" which really means I start a million courses on Duo and stick with none of them. with the notable exception of French, which I acknowledge is super common and probably a good idea to learn but the spelling and pronunciation seem so arbitrary I'm scared to look close enough to learn it properly, and I've never particularly considered starting the Duolingo course for French

I think I lost a few questions, because that's only 18 answers. whoops.

um... who to tag

@abluescarfonwaston if school hasn't drowned you in work yet and @copperscales I'm interested in both of your choices for lucky numbers especially.

... wow I'm blanking on other mutuals I haven't tagged recently. as usual lmk if you'd like to be edited in, or just answer the questions and tag me back, that's great too.

[existentialstatesofmind]

Opening Up

Clare: made a face. “Sounds like a punishment. Was she trying to educate you or prove some point? I don’t think my mom is willing to go there. She answered some questions I had last year and it was actually more uncomfortable for her.” She nodded when Kota mentioned Skins. “Oh right, I have watched Skins and Game of Thrones is another one full of nudity. I don’t mind cute boy butts but I could do without gratuitous sex scenes.” Clare closed her eyes when it got to be too much. “I like crab so that would be okay. Not necessarily! I eat seafood just not fish. I won’t be the only one. Someone else will try it and not like it.” Clare protested. What were the odds a group of Canadians were all going to love raw fish? She couldn’t even stomach fried fish! “I’m fine with cooking it though. I’ve never thrown up from the smell alone.” She smiled at the mention of having weekends without Emi. “I hope she doesn’t forget about us.” Clare chuckled knowing how many friends Emi had left behind in Japan. She talked about them a lot. “Can I demand date nights?” Clare asked curiously. “Good point. I place more importance on stuff like kissing and cuddling since it’s all we’re doing right now. K.C did not.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t kiss another guy unless it was part of an act. Probably not even to make you jealous.” Clare hoped she wouldn’t have a reason to test that theory. “Of course I’d like to be a waitress! Thanks.” She gave exaggerated groan at Kota’s insistence it was cute. “No way.” Clare looked at her boyfriend in askance. “I have to keep track of how much money I’m spending! Somewhat at least. Dad’s not going to ask for receipts, it will just show up somewhere. Credit card statements, how much I withdraw from his bank account…” Her voice trailed off. “If you’re talking about buying me clothes, fine, I promise not to. I’ll trust you not to spoil me. What?!” Clare squealed in horror at the mention of dead turtles and other unthinkable things. There was no telling whether or not Emi’s mom would come back for her. If Emi left, she’d miss her and hope for visits. “I don’t want to hide our relationship. Not forever. We have to get them on board one step at a time. Then if they’re assholes about Emi...well. I’m not going to expose her to them. My parents wouldn’t have any problem with you raising your little cousin if you were in your 20s. They’re prejudiced against teenagers.” Clare grumbled. “I’m glad.” She whispered giving him one last lingering kiss. “Anything’s possible.” She insisted. “Kota being famous is news to me!” Clare nodded. “Ah. I’ve only been to Maine on ski vacations. I’m still working on going to New York. So my perspective is a bit skewed. Fashion’s dead last here. Kids at school still think they can just hassle Kota for Murder Bunny products. Music’s held in a higher regard.” She told Melanie. “Jimmy Fallon wears Murder Bunny? They do? Kota is?!” Clare looked like she’d been told the earth was flat after all. “Oh wow.” She looked at Kota as he explained about the fashion show and the lingerie line. She remembered the first time she slept over at his house and how Kota was baffled about Clare not wanting him to see her bra when she wasn’t even wearing it. He was desensitized. Her lips twitched as she suppressed hysterical laughter. Clare glared at her boyfriend a little at the mention of how he wouldn’t be touching model's breasts. There should never be a question of that. It wasn’t professional. The rest of it Clare had to accept must be part of his job as a designer. But she really, really didn’t like him seeing half naked women! After Melanie left to change, Clare continued to listen to Kota. Then gaped at the photo of Sia and the accompanying letter. “She’s so cute, I guess it really is her!” Not like Clare knew Sia’s handwriting. “Kota I don’t know what to say. Your life is crazy amazing.” She handed back his treasures. “You look great Melanie. It’s true. Our only local celebs are hockey players. West Drive films here and the cast is mostly left alone.” Clare walked hand in hand with Kota to his car. She got in and buckled. “The mall’s good. There’s a Chipotle, a few other restaurants, or the usual food court fare.” She had to meet Alli later, anyway.

Kota: looked at Clare. "It was to educate us, though the movie The Girl Next Door taught us more than American Pie did and I don't believe there was nudity in The Girl Next Door either." he shrugged. "I've never seen Games Of Thrones to be honest." He admitted and looked at her. "We will probably have crab because Emi loves it. Connor hates seafood, but he likes tofu they will substitute fish with tofu. The only ones going to Japan that actually like sushi are me and Eli." he stated honestly and nodded when Clare mentioned being fine with cooking fish. "She'll be with us on weekdays so she won't forget about us." he chuckled. "You can demand date nights and I'm glad you won't kiss another guy to make me jealous because if you did that, it wouldn't make me jealous it'd make me think we were over so please don't do that." he chuckled softly at her next words. "No problem and some of the stuff in Japan is going to be written in Japanese in most places, if that's the case I'll only tell you if it's something you're going to buy and not something I'm buying for you and yes, they eat turtles and sharks in Japan." he assured. "If that's the case with your parents I'll show them report cards from TU to show them I can handle both." He suggested and Mel looked at him when Clare mentioned him being hassled. "The guy I saw last night hearing the football jacket when I went to surprise you.." she trailed off. "Wasn't hassling me, he needed to talk. Not many people can hassle me for Murder Bunny at school anymore. I've been busy with some things during free periods." He confirmed. "Yes, he does." Mel said going through her phone and showing Clare a screen cap she took of Jimmy Fallon showing off his MB socks on his show by putting his foot on his desk and lifting a pant leg. "It's not really crazy amazing." He chuckled knowingly, there were things in school that he was mixed up in that he couldn't share with Clare. "Thank you." Mel said looking at Clare as she stood in her disguise. Hearing Clare mention the mall caused him to nod. "The mall it is." He chimed and drove to the mall. Right as he turned in, he noticed someone behind him and sighed before parking. Once he got out of the car he was met by Todd, the yearbook photographer. "Thank you." Todd said and Kota looked at him. "I don't want your thanks." He stated venomously as he walked to help Clare out. "You stopped Owen from killing me." Todd stated. "I didn't do it for you. I did it to keep Owen out of trouble. Had it been a different guy I would let him kill you. I'm totally not on your side." He said wrapping his arm around Clare's waist and walking with Mel. "I asked to go to Japan, Simpson said to talk to you. It's for yearbook." Todd added and Kota stopped dead in his tracks before turning to the boy. "Over my cold dead body. There's no way in Hell I'm letting you on my plane especially with a camera. Are you fucking stupid?" He fumed as Todd fidgeted as Kota started to walk away. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to." Todd yelled and Kota turned to him. "Prove it." He said holding his hand out and looking at Todd as he looked down. "What would you do with them?" Todd asked. "What do you think?" Kota questioned back and Todd shrugged suggestively as he looked down. "You sick fuck." He fumed as he clenched his fists and felt a hand on his shoulder to see Owen. "Clare is here, remember." Owen said reminding him. "Go with her and your friend. I'll deal with this piece of shit." Owen said and Kota walked to Mel and Clare. "Food, right?" he asked softly.