#a2 script

[pandorapromises]

HER OWN SECRET SHAME??!!!?!! HELLO??!! 😰

[nilnether]

So it looks like the people at the CinemaCon saw the beginning of Avatar: Fire and Ash. Including the new title look of fire and ash:

It looks like they saw a lot of the film opening and that a lot of the concept art (and some screenshots from filming) we saw so far is just from this part (there is nothing about Jake being taken prisoner by RDA and Factory Ship).

It starts with all the kids hanging out - both Metkayina and the Sullys and Spider - and watching Windtraders come in while Jake and Neytiri are flying to meet them.

The descriptions of all the kids hangin out togethers seem so cute. And we had picures of Tsireya and Spider and Spider on the back of Payakan.

And then the Ash Na'vi attack.

It seems like some of the fight with Ash Na'vi attacking the Windtraders will happen in the floating mountains or some similar place so there might be more than one of those as I don' think anywhere near Awa'atlu has a bit of this terrain but not in the amounts and size like shown below. So this might be later - maybe after escaping Mangkwan and Ash Na'vi are chasing them here as that chase is supposed to happen in the forest.

The Ash Na'vi kill people and destroy some of the Windtraders ships. And it seems like they kidnap the kids so Jake and Neytiri go to Ash Na'vi land to save them. Since Jake seems to travel to Ash Na'vi village that's probably means the script about the batle there are also correct.

That's when Neytiri fights with Varang and gets injured. The wound is mentioned in the leaked script and Collectors Edition of ATWOW had this concept art with a healed shoulder with stiches still visible.

It looks like either, or most likely both, Neytiri and Lo'ak will channel their grief into hate of humans and wanting to fight them at all cost. It's understendable but it also dangerous. Jake seems to be worried about the cost of that hate and the danger they put themselves in. It makes sense in both cases. Jake at tthe end of A2 understands Lo'ak more and he probably understands why he would want revenge but it's not worth losing another child. Lo'ak doesn't have the experience to think of consequences.

Neytiri has lost so much that it's almost impossible not to go on a warpath. She tried to leave the fight and let go and skypeople hat had followed her and took her child. How could she not want to burn them all of her world. So it seems like such a great foil to make her main antagonist be another Na'vi. The enemy that challenges her view of this conflict. She firmly rejects Spider no matter what so maybe him proving anything about humans or even himself is not the way for her to question her stance. Maybe it's having Na'vi be antithesis to everything she stands for. Some of the descriptions have Varang say “Your goddess has no dominion here” to Neytrir not Kiri after all.

I'm so excited for more Neytiri in A3 and I can't wait to see what her arc is going to be like. This beginning sounds awesome already.

Bu I also like the option of Varang saying that to Kiri because I need to see Kiri's arc too. I'm just not sure Varang is going to know anything about her powers that early on. I don't think anyone really does, not even her, even after she saves Spider but the leaks made her journey of self discovery look super exciting.

We basically get confirmation that Spider will need to be saved. It looks like they will be escaping the Ash Na'vi in the forest and his mask will get damaged, he loses consciousness and falls of a cliff (sounds terrifying but at least we know Jake gives him a hug). And then leaks shows Kiri gives him ability to breathe without it.

It looks like Jake is there with the kids so this also confirms the leaks which in turn means that Quaritch is also there. Maybe he wasn't helping them escape. Maybe he was chasing them. And then Spider gets hurt.

Because now it's very clear Quaritch will ally himself with Ash Na'vi. He is wearing their paint but also his tactical gear and it looks very menacing. So all of this is for sure happening and Quaritch is all in on the fighting with Mangkwan not against them.

Although, it isn't all like that from the beginning so maybe that's later and first he gets imprisoned and the Varang tries to get into his head and all the other stuff comes later. The photo right above certainly seem like it came from the later part of the film (it might Jake as prisoner on board of Factory Ship).

He doesn't look like he has the paint on here yet when the kids are taken prisoner but then some versions of concept art of the attack have Quaritch there so who knows. Maybe he is alrady with them. Maybe it's a different attack and they teaming up for the Factory Ship attack.

Tonowari is daunted by the prospect of fighting aliens and I suppose this will be how a lot of Na'vi will think (comics showed that too). And it's even worse with humans and Ash Na'vi making an alliance but they cannot avoid this. One thing we know that's probably from the end of the film is that the Factory Ship fleet is coming and the battle cannot be avoided.

The sources with the details under the cut

This is io9 description of the trailer

Cameron wasn’t there in person, but he put the presentation in the capable hands of Neytiri herself, Zoe Saldaña. The footage began with the water tribe, the Metkayina, as characters swim through some kind of wreckage (maybe from the end of the last movie?), followed by scenes of the kids like Lo’ak, Kiri, Tsireya hanging about.

“The strength of your ancestors is here,” Tsireya says to Lo’ak as she touches his chest.

The Wind Traders show up, and all of the Metkayina are excited. It’s friendly. People are cheering, and some of the younger characters like Kiri and even Spider are riding with them. Cameron films these scenes with a real love for these people. These are basically flying pirate ships with sails made up of almost translucent material. Members of the tribe bark out orders around the ship like you’d see in an old pirate movie but the ships just keep gliding along. This is peaceful. This is beautiful. This is nice.

The ships slowly float through the mountains with some other Na’vi, like Neytiri, riding alongside on her Ikran. Spider playfully dangles his foot off the side. Again, everything is quiet and calm. But not for long. Neytiri spots something watching them from the sky and screams for Jake. It’s the Ash tribe and they have a much more menacing presence than the Na’vi people we know, thanks in large part to the bright red war paint they wear and the sparks coming off the back of their Ikrans.

The Ash tribe swoops down and attacks our heroes in a massive midair battle. Jake fires his gun. Neytiri fires her bow and arrow. But the Ash tribe shoots arrows with fire, which start to burn down the Wind tribe’s ships.

We see Jake seemingly trekking across Pandora by himself, walking by massive volcanoes and eventually arriving at what looks like the gate of the Ash tribe with his hands in the air, giving himself up. He and Neytiri are having problems with Lo’ak and tell him, “You can’t live in hate!” They hug him.

Tonowari, leader of the water tribe, says that they can’t defeat enemies that come from the stars. We then see the Ash tribe seemingly teaming up with Quaritch and the rest of the human army.

Neytiri is in the hospital and screams for her children. A raid is happening. There’s a quick shot of the eye of a Tulkun. Things end with a massive battle that’s happening on what looks like floating rocks. They seem to be in the middle of some kind of floating wreckage from a battle that’s still happening. Neytiri and the leader of the Ash tribe, who we’ve seen throughout the trailer, are fighting but Neytiri’s snarls come up against her flame thrower type weapon. “Your goddess has no dominion here,” the Ash woman says, confirming they don’t believe in Ewa. And that’s the end.

So you have the serenity of the Wind tribe, the kinetic energy of the Ash tribe and in the middle, the water people, which now includes the Sully family. We have a feeling not everyone is going to make it out alive.

Here is the Discussing Film one:

Exclusive Footage Description: CinemaCon 2025 showed audiences the first ever footage from Avatar: Fire and Ash in the form of a sizzle reel. The first footage we see is the water tribe floating on a strange jellyfish-like ship. The detail is out of this world, with the high frame rate photography looking genuinely cinema-redefying. The next scene involves an aerial attack on Jake, Neytiri, and their clan by the Ash people, who have red paint on their mouths to indicate their tribe. We then transition to more of a traditional trailer.

The Ash People are a vicious tribe, pushing the Water Tribe out of their home. One of the biggest threads is a rage growing in Neytiri, which Jake calls out in a harrowing moment. Jake hugs Spider. There’s a tense confrontation between Neytiri and the leader of the Ash Tribe. Similarly, the leader of the Ash Tribe tells Kiri that “her God has no dominion here”. Spider at one point has his mask smashed. The last thing we see is hints of a massive action sequence in the sky, with platforms surging up to towards the top of the sky. The footage is completely unreal stuff, delivering on more than expected.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Here's confirmation about Quaritch's new look and alliance with Asn Na'vi:

[tmbgareok]

Flans, do you have any memories of a song whose lyrics you agonised over and found really difficult to get right? I’m always wondering if you write your songs in a spontaneous hour of inspiration, or you spend weeks redrafting until you’re happy with them.

JF: there certainly are others, like "Protagonist" (which was informed by the style limitations of a "spec script" for a film, and although doesn't really follow the rules of those style limitations, it does explain the idea in a compressed way) For something that presents as pretty simple, it took a while to resolve.

But the one track that comes to mind right away is "Hate the Villanelle". The form was something my wife Robin had talked about a lot, and once I came up with the title line, I felt like I had to commit to finishing it. In the beginning the form feels kind of loose because, while the rhyme scheme is really prescribed and kind of odd, the meter is flexible. So while the meter is not prescribed, once you establish it, you do have to stick to it. But there are so many complications with the rhyme scheme that makes laying out a lyric kind of treacherous. Trying to write a villanelle quickly would equate with doing a crossword with the DOWN clues with no regard for how the answers are fitting in with ACROSS. You are going to jam yourself up pretty fast. The two primary lines need to work off each other and have a bit of energy or edge, or their many repeats can feel anodyne and become lulling. But if they are too specific it loses its poetry and kinda turns into a chant if not just a matched pair of non sequitors.

The rhyme scheme looks like this: (From the wikipedia entry on Villanelle)

Refrain 1 (A1) Line 2 (b) Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 4 (a) Line 5 (b) Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 7 (a) Line 8 (b) Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 10 (a) Line 11 (b) Refrain 1 (A1)

Line 13 (a) Line 14 (b) Refrain 2 (A2)

Line 16 (a) Line 17 (b) Refrain 1 (A1) Refrain 2 (A2)

[cyren-myadd]

Even though Lo'ak will be the narrator of Avatar 3, I hope he doesn't get as much of a focus as he did in Avatar 2

Don't get me wrong, I really like Lo'ak. I enjoy his bravery and youthful recklessness and how he parallels Jake in a lot of ways. I also don't mind him being the narrator either since Britain Dalton can monologue well, but even though I like him as a character, I don't want him to become the "main character" of the Avatar franchise, you know?

One of my biggest gripes with Avatar 2 was how there was a disproportionate amount of set up for important payoff moments that skewed in Lo'ak's favor to the detriment of other characters. I'm going to use the "son for a son" scene and compare it to the scene where Lo'ak saved Jake as an example. The movie spent multiple scenes establishing Lo'ak's issues with his father; how he feels like Jake is constantly disappointed in him and how he's desperate to prove himself a worthy son of Toruk Makto, which leads to him making dumb choices. So when Lo'ak uses the skills he spent months learning to save Jake, and Jake finally says "I see you," it's a satisfying, heart-warming payoff because of all the scenes that helped set up their character conflict.

Compare that to the "son for a son" scene. That scene was a HUGE moment for Neytiri, Quaritch, and Spider's characters, with major ramifications for the plot moving forward. For Neytiri, it showed just how far Neteyam's death plus the years of trauma pushed her, for Quaritch, it revealed his true feelings for Spider as his son and how he's willing to put Spider's safety above his desire for revenge, and for Spider, it set in motion his decision to later save Quaritch's life. It was an absolutely fantastic scene that had me on the edge of my seat, and it SHOULD have felt like a satisfying payoff... except there's so little build up to it. Neytiri spends all but the very end of the movie sidelined as just "mom" or "Jake's mate," and the audience spends so little time with Quaritch and Spider as their relationship develops that the majority of the audience walked out of the theater thinking Spider was in some long-con to betray the Sullies.

I feel like the "son for a son" scene would have had a much greater emotional impact if the writers spent more time setting up the character conflicts for the payoff scene. I'm not asking to add an extra hour to the movie or anything, I just think that some of Lo'ak's scenes of getting into petty arguments with the other teenagers or swimming around with Payakan could have been shortened or cut in favor of one or two scenes that better setup for the payoff in "a son for a son." For example, including a scene where we see Neytiri struggling with PTSD, or expressing how terrified she is of experiencing another Sylwanin/Hometree/Eytukan-like incident to Jake (I think there was actually something like that in the OG script?), so when the audience sees her go through her worst fear again, her snapping hits harder. It already hit hard, but it hit hard in the way you'd feel sad for any stranger who lost their kid unexpectedly-- because Neytiri feels like a stranger with how little time we spent with her in A2. Taking time to get to know her more and explore her fears would elevate her scenes in the climax greatly.

Same thing goes for Spider and Quaritch. The audience is TOLD that they care about each other because we see them save each others lives to the detriments of their own goals, but we are not SHOWN why they care about each other. They were together for months and we saw none of it except for Quaritch getting his banshee and burning down the villages. Once again, I'm not asking for an extra hour tacked onto the movie, I just think one or two little scenes could've been swapped with Lo'ak's scenes to show the audience why Spider cared about Quaritch and vice versa. I don't have anything specific in mind, but if you've ever seen the movie Treasure Planet, there's a similar character dynamic between Jim and John Silver, and there's a montage where you see Silver and Jim slowly bonding and developing a parental/mentor relationship, and its conveyed through a series of brief dialogue-less scenes. Even one little scene of Spider and Quaritch genuinely bonding in that way would have given the moments where they saved each others' lives more impact.

If James Cameron wants Lo'ak to be the main character, that's fine! I like Lo'ak and he works fine as a vessel for the audience to see Pandora through. But why have Neytiri, and Quaritch, and all these other characters have these important plot-impacting moments if you're not going to set them up so you can spend more time focusing on Lo'ak? You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either commit to an ensemble cast or commit to a main character/secondary character/tertiary character cast, because going in between leaves audiences frustrated with underdeveloped character arcs.

All of this is to say that I'm hoping Lo'ak will take a bit of a backseat in Avatar 3. Still be present of course, but not hog the majority of the screentime to the detriment of others' character development. Jake was the main character of A1, Lo'ak got the spotlight in A2, so let someone else get a turn for A3. Neytiri, Quaritch, Spider, and Kiri have all had major character development hinted at for A3, and they're also going to introduce new characters like Varang and Peylak. With such an overcrowded cast with major roles to play, I'm a little scared future impactful moments might be undercut because of the writers choosing to focus on just one or two "main characters." I guess it just comes with the territory of having an ambitiously large cast, but its still frustrating to watch and think about what could've been.

The TLDR of what I'm trying to say is that if they want to have an ensemble cast, and they want to have multiple characters have big plot defining moments, they need to earn it by dividing the spotlight and setting up for every major scene to pay off.

But no matter what happens with the movie in December, I know I'm still going to enjoy another adventure in Pandora. And if anything feels underdeveloped to me? Well, that's what fanfiction is for 🤷🏻‍♀️

[indigostudies]

06.03.2025 // winter quarter

buckling down on qazaq—our professor isn’t offering another class in the spring due to course load, so i need to get to a minimum a2 level on my own :’) but luckily i did more or less the same with german on my own when i first started studying languages properly, so i know i’m capable!

i happened to remember that i had come across a great qazaq textbook geared towards independent study last year—and i found it again! it’s kazakh for beginners: a comprehensive self-study course, and from the start it provides so much more information than any of the other textbooks or grammars i’d found. plus, it’s in cyrillic script, so i don’t have to try and relearn how to read! (the routledge grammar uses the latinate script, but our professor teaches with cyrillic, so…)

i’m planning on writing down specific goals for where i want to be by the start of summer quarter, but for now, just having a reliable, well-structured text to study off of helps a lot. and the warning weather and blossoming flowers all around campus definitely help improve my mood haha

[nowtoboldlygo]

korean podcasts for beginners+ 🇰🇷

all my bookmarks for korean podcasts! mostly high beginner to low intermediate, and i put a star next to the easiest! i'll keep this post updated as i find more :)

김꼽슬's Korean Podcast for Beginners not updating; total time 2hrs, average video length 5mins with a script repeat

몰입한국어 Immersion in Korean's Super Beginner/A0-A1 Short Stories and Beginner/ A1-A2 Short Stories total time 8hrs, average video length 9mins

미루는 한국어 공부중's beginner podcast not updating; total time 3hrs, average video length 12mins with many repeats

속닥복닥's 🍃 SDBD Korean Podcast for beginner super prolific!!!! this woman is updating!!!!; total time 3.5hrs, average video length 9mins

최수수 ChoiSusu's beginner podcast ⭐ total time 8.5hrs, average video length 13mins with a script repeat

케이진 KJin's beginner podcast total time 12.5hrs, average video length 13mins

타요니 TAYONI's 타요니의 한국어 팟캐스트 Korean Podcasts total time 7hrs, average video length 12mins

토토의's Korean podcast for beginners ⭐ total time 2hrs, average video length 13mins

Focus Korean 포커스 코리안's Beginner-level Korean Podcast 초급 한국어 팟캐스트 total time 2hrs, average video length 10mins with a repeat

한국어 한 조각 A Piece Of Korean's Podcast for Beginners total time 2.5hrs, average video length 8mins

한국어는아일린 KoreanwithEilleen's pre-intermediate podcast total time 6hrs, average video length 8mins

한국어 con 앵덕 For Beginners ⭐ not updating; total time 5hrs, average episode length 5mins

K-Tube 해달이's beginner podcast not updating; total time 2hrs, average video length 7mins with a script repeat

HeeyaKorean 희야한국어's podcast 한국어팟캐스트 not updating; total time 26hrs, average episode length 12mins

Alpha Korean Class's podcast not updating; total time 4hrs, average video length 19mins

Didi의 한국문화 팟캐스트 podcast total time 42hrs, average video length 28mins

Inspiring Korean Podcast, Gachi not updating; total time 1.5hrs, average video length 13mins

KORABC's graded reader readalongs ⭐ level one book one total time 51mins, average video length 2mins

Korean Lover (koreaneldo)'s Podcast in Korean total time 8hrs, average video length 19mins

Koreansunflower's 🎧Korean Podcast for Beginners total time 1.5hrs, average video length 5mins

Namuori Korean's beginner podcast total time 2hrs, average video length 10mins

Narae Korean Podcast total time 9hrs, average video length 8mins

Pronounce Korean's 🇰🇷 Korean Words for Beginners and Korean Story for Beginners 📚 ⭐ super prolific!!!! this man is updating!!!!; total time 10hrs, average video length 20mins with a script repeat

Storytime in Korean's beginner podcast not updating; total time 1.5hrs, average video length 7mins

Study Korean with Sol's Easy Korean Listening👂playlist total time 3.5hrs, average video length 9mins with two repeats (three total sections with the same script)

Talk To Me In 100% Korean not updating; total time 6hrs, average video length 7mins

Talk to Me in Korean Yeji's podcast not updating; total time 2hrs, average video length 17mins

[micromys]

Don't mind me, just coming down from the High of seeing the NieR: end of data orchestral concert -- and if you're going to see it, perhaps don't read farther than this if you want to preserve the experience.

I had wondered if the new script Yoko Taro wrote would be another post-game story, and indeed it was, which made me a little nervous for 2B and 9S because YT is the way he is. And I had reason to be, as it leads off with 9S and 2B traveling together, but each of them are preoccupied with the fact that 2B's black box is failing because of how it was damaged when A2 killed her. Naturally, being themselves, they try to keep this from each other, not realizing that they both know, obviously.

They end up on a journey to find stray transporters in order to stock up on replacement YoRha parts, but these transporters seem to be leading them to them purposefully, and every time they do find one, they are inundated with memories from the old world -- specifically, from the time of Replicant. They learn about the plague, about Nier, Kaine, Yonah and Emil, and about the Shadowlord. They even end up at the ruins of Emil's mansion (which sparked a gasp from someone near me in the audience).

2B is pretty resigned to her fate, but 9S gets more frantic, wishing he could give her his own black box, and they go through Many More trials and Many More memories before essentially ending up in chapel created by dying YoRHa soldiers, where 2B herself, naturally, also dies.

9S cries and curses and prays, asking if this is a punishment, and why, if it's indeed what it is, then was he not taken instead of her (though we know what happens in that particular scenario, thank you for the suffering, YT). 2B is saved, however, by the souls of the fallen YoRHa soldiers -- whose black boxes responded to 9S's pleas and filled in her damage with their own pieces.

Clinging to each other, they make it back into the sunlight -- 2B stating her one wish is to take away 9S's pain, and 9S stating his is to bring back her smile. Both agree that there's no meaning to the world, and that they are cursed, but that they are going to continue forward together and embrace the world anyway.

Which was all part of the performance of Weight of the World, interspersed with clips of all of their most important scenes together from the game. And I might have gotten a tad emotional, though not nearly as much as the dude sobbing behind me. Respect, dude.

And then Yoko Taro popped up, SO THERE'S THAT. Anyway it was a gorgeous show, loved it, 10/10 would suffer again, etc etc, I'm glad 2B and 9S are still getting to keep the change to live their own lives even if YT isn't exactly going to make it easy for them along the way.

Or me.

[haxyr3]

When I see work done well, I love sharing it. Russian with Max is a gem for anyone learning Russian (A2+). Podcasts, scripted videos, audio lessons—you name it. Max skips dry grammar explanations and shows how we actually speak. Bookmark it and dive into his free podcasts!

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Dangancember 2024 - Danganronpa Top 24 Class Trials - Number 5: Danganronpa V3 Case 1 {BEST CASE FROM DRV3}

//Me running from the angry mob who think this case is fucking overrated:

//Okay, okay, I already knew going into this, looking at my top 10, that this is probably the second or third most divisive placement on this list, because the feelings that people have for this trial are generally mixed, and all of it rides on one particular aspect of it, that carries the whole thing.

//But that's not a problem becase we already have a set precedent for that on this list, and yeah, I will not deny it. This trial is only up here because of one massive bias that I have towards it, and if you know me by now, then you already know what it is.

//But I have lots of other reasons as to why I absolutely love this Class Trial, mainly because even if it's not as good a mystery as 2-1 or A2-1, this is the best opening case for me because of how it kicks V3 off with an emotional bang.

//This isn't like the first trial of Another 2 where I think it's generally not a good sign that my favourite case in that game was the first one. This one has a legitimate reason for being up here because of how, even to this day, it sets itself apart from every other Danganronpa trial that we've covered so far, not just among the openings.

//And trust me, it was SO GODDAMN DIFFICULT trying to decide which I liked more between V3-1 and V3-4, because they're both AMAZING. But the thing that ultimately decided it is that I actually have come back to this case a few times over the course of my time as a DR fan. While I only sparingly go back to Chapter 4 of this game, because it's already had its impact on me.

//If you thought the opening cases in previous games were wild, V3 comes out swinging (literally) with a mystery that doesn’t just set the stage but completely flips the script on what you expect from a Danganronpa trial.

//It’s not just about solving the murder; it’s about the emotional gut-punch, the clever twists, and the bold storytelling choices that make you question everything you thought you knew about the series.

So let’s dive into what makes this case such a standout moment in the franchise.

//The first victim in Danganronpa V3 is Rantaro Amami, a man of mystery whose Ultimate Talent remains unknown during the first chapter. His untimely demise occurs in the library, where he’s tragically bludgeoned on the head with a heavy shotput ball.

//I know there are other aspects of the trial that stand out to people more, but I actually want to kick this review off by saying that Rantaro’s death is not just shocking but downright brilliant.

//It's one of the best character fakeouts in the series, and the only time I think Kodaka does it better in any of his mystery games is the prologue case of Rain Code (If you know, you know.) It's executed so well that it leaves you doing a mental double take.

//At first glance, Rantaro seems poised to become this game’s equivalent of Nagito. i.e. a morally ambiguous outcast with potentially twisted ideals.

//His enigmatic vibe and cryptic behavior practically scream "plot relevance." Honestly, he even gives off shades of Yuri from SDRA2, with that same aura of someone you’d expect to stir the pot in bizarre and unsettling ways.

//To emphasize this further, all the other Ultimate ???'s have been integral to their games. Kyoko was the deutragonist and leading lady of DR1, and Hajime was the protagonist of DR2. And in the first chapter of DR1, Kyoko is mostly unnasuming, and you don't know what her relevance to the plot is until the trial actually happens; since most of the screentime of Chapter 1 is taken up by Makoto's relationship with Sayaka.

//But before we even get to unravel his deal, he’s unceremoniously removed from the board. It's as if the game chuckled to itself and shouted "SIKE!"

//This clever bait-and-switch caught me completely off guard. I was ready for Rantaro to take center stage as the group's wildcard, only for the game to pull the rug out from under me.

//Instead, the role of chaotic, antagonistic schemer eventually falls to Kokichi, who turned out to be another fantastic choice, though his brand of chaos is a touch different.

//I'd really like to see a potential fanfic rewrite where Rantaro survives, and serves as the rival character to the main protagonist. Because most V3 rewrites are one's that have Kaede survive the first chapter, but Rantaro still dies, and he hardly gets any screentime, if any. And that's a shame, because I'd like to see what people do with his character.

//Please read all these fanfics by the way, they're so good.

//And sure, you could argue the setup feels a bit reminiscent of Danganronpa 2, where the first victim is also a character cloaked in mystery, and then later, his real talent is revealed to be something monumental to the plot of the game. But hey, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? It’s a bold way to kick things off and keep players guessing, and it sets the stage for the rollercoaster ride of twists that V3 is known for.

//But...okay, let's not delay ourselves any longer. All ya'll motherfuckers know the precise reason why it is that I love this trial.

//When it comes to the first trial of Danganronpa V3, the victim is certainly a shocking element, but let’s not kid ourselves...there’s one reason why this trial is etched into the annals of the series’ history as one of its most mind-blowing moments.

//And that reason is…The culprit.

//So, who killed Rantaro Amami? Who's the mastermind behind this library bludgeoning?

//You are!

//Okay, to be more specific, the person who turns out to be Rantaro's SUPPOSED murderer is Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist, who starts V3 by serving as the player character.

//Yep! The character you’ve been controlling this whole time is the murderer. And that alone is one of the best plot twists in the entire series, already rivalling the final plot twists of Danganronpa 2.

//And if that doesn't set a precedent for this game, I don't know what could have.

//To elaborate, the game opens with you playing as Kaede, a talented and determined pianist with a big heart, a hopeful spirit, and a knack for rallying her classmates. Everything about her screams "main protagonist," from her bright demeanor to her prominent placement in marketing materials.

//But as this trial unfolds, the game pulls the ultimate fast one.

//At first, the trial plays out like classic Danganronpa fare: you gather evidence, debate your classmates, and cross names off the suspect list. The usual, right? But as the suspects dwindle and the pressure mounts, it becomes clear that solving this case won’t come easy.

//The group edges closer to despair as they struggle to pinpoint the killer. This is where Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, the game's current deutragonist, becomes the prime suspect for much of the trial.

//After some prompting, Shuichi, putting his sleuthing skills to good use, proposes a theory that flips the entire case, and the game, on its head. The real killer isn’t anyone standing on the sidelines. It’s Kaede herself. The cheerful, hopeful pianist you’ve been guiding through this madness turns out to be the one who orchestrated Rantaro’s death.

//Let’s pause to appreciate just how wild this twist is. Up until this point, Kaede was framed as the central figure of Danganronpa V3. You’ve bonded with her, rooted for her, and poured hours into her perspective. And now, she’s sentenced to death.

//The "main character" doesn’t even survive past the first chapter! It’s a daring, genre-defying move that caught players completely off guard.

//To make this twist land, the game’s developers went all out. They weren’t just pulling a fast one on Kaede; they were pulling one on us. Here’s just some of the things they pulled off this grand deception:

On the game’s official Steam page, the promotional images heavily feature Kaede as the protagonist. Shuichi, on the other hand, is LITERALLY a background character.

Kaede is front and center in nearly all official artwork; at least those that dropped at the time of release. Shuichi’s presence is muted, making it seem like she’s the undisputed lead.

V3 is the only one of the Danganronpa games that had a fully released demo. In the game’s demo, Kaede is marketed as the hero, reinforcing the idea that this is her story. Makoto and Hajime, both of whom make reappearances for the demo, specifically refer to her as a "fellow protagonist."

The developers warned fans repeatedly on social media to avoid spoilers, knowing this twist was too good to ruin.

To cement the illusion, they even slapped the "Female Protagonist" tag on the game’s store page.

//This level of misdirection is nothing short of genius. It’s one of the most ambitious twists the series has ever pulled off, and it solidifies this trial as a standout moment in Danganronpa history. Clever, daring, and a little cruel, it’s the kind of narrative gut punch that keeps fans talking years later.

//Also, as a side note, while I was doing this analysis and getting screenshots from YouTube to use as part of it, I found this comment, and I never actually thought about it this way, and it's so goddamn funny for some reason:

//It definitely keeps ME talking years later, since these days, Kaede is quite possibly my favourite character in the entire series.

//And yes, I'm sorry, this is turning into a rant about why I absolutely love Kaede, but it is very relevant to the plot of this trial, since this is her one and done. So I want to establish what she was able to achieve within her time.

//Kaede is a delightful bundle of joy, determination, and just the right amount of chaos, and even though she is the protagonist initially, she sets herself apart from the previous series hitters; Makoto, Hajime, and Komaru.

//She’s a hardworking leader type with a strong will, unshakable beliefs in herself and others, and a heart set on making people smile. especially through her music. But while her Ultimate Pianist title highlights her talent, it’s Kaede’s personality and quirks that truly make her shine.

//For starters, Kaede’s kindness and selflessness often lead her to put others first, sometimes to a fault. She’s so trusting that in the game’s demo, she outright fakes an alibi for Makoto based solely on gut instinct, even though she has no rational reason to believe he’s innocent. She does this for Shuichi as well, but obviously, as far as she's aware, SHE'S the culprit, so she knows that if Shuichi is voted for, she gets executed.

//She’ll lie if it’s for a good cause, but at the same time, she’s hilariously bad at it, squirming uncomfortably every time.

//Like previous protagonists, she’s sensitive to others’ struggles and listens earnestly to their concerns. But Kaede takes it a step further: she actively pushes people to improve, even if that means bluntly pointing out their flaws.

//It's easy to go through all of V3 without seeing her FTE's, because she's obviously only around for this chapter, and has two per character. And unless you reset the game multiple times, you won't get to see them all.

//Which is a shame that you have to go through so much effort to see them because they're all packed with moments of encouragement that show her as an unshakable force of positivity. Unsurprisingly, most of her classmates quickly grow to like her.

//That said, Kaede isn’t without her...problems...In fact she has quite a few.

//Her obsession with piano borders on comical; she works musical metaphors into everyday conversations and avoids any activity that might harm her precious fingers. Her Free Time Events with Tsumugi even lead to a minor existential crisis when she realizes her entire identity revolves around piano, prompting her to desperately search for new hobbies.

//Which is not true, because personally, I think she's among the deeper characters in V3, but it's still funny.

//Kaede also has a goofy, impulsive side that often makes her unintentionally funny, or awkward or awkward depending on the situation. For example, she has absolutely ZERO sense of restraint

//In K1-B0’s Free Time Events, she casually asks questions about his robotic nature in ways that come off as insensitive. She’s the type to poke buttons (literally in Keebo's case, where she pushes his emergency shutdown) or cheeks without permission, giving her a playful, almost childlike quality.

//But then there’s her tendency to blurt out comments that can sound…questionable. She enthusiastically calls Tenko cute, describes Tsumugi’s "sexy aura," and even threatens to lift Tsumugi’s skirt to get her to talk, prompting Shuichi to point out that she’s acting like a creepy old man.

//Her layered personality doesn’t end there. While she’s a genuinely kind and brave person, Kaede also has a fiery temper and a knack for standing her ground. She’s quick to lash out when provoked, whether it’s snapping at Shuichi for panicking, telling Himiko to shut up during an investigation, or calling out Kokichi for his attention-seeking antics.

//Yet, these moments of frustration come from a place of passion, as Kaede firmly believes in justice and doing what’s right. She’s not afraid to call out any behavior she deems unacceptable, earning her a reputation as a bossy but well-meaning figure.

//However, Kaede’s determination to do the right thing is both her greatest strength and her biggest flaw. She’s relentless in pursuing her vision of justice, even when it’s misguided or downright dangerous. In this chapter, she rallies the group to escape using one of Monokuma’s obvious traps, earning everyone's pointed criticism, specifically from Maki and Kokichi. Her pushy attitude sometimes rubs others the wrong way, but Kaede genuinely doesn’t realize how her actions affect those around her until it’s pointed out. When her good intentions go awry, it leads to moments of genuine regret.

//Of course, Kaede’s defining moment comes in the trial, where her unwavering sense of justice drives her to extremes. To save her classmates, she attempts to murder the Mastermind, a decision that ends in disaster when her plan misfires and Rantaro becomes the unintended victim.

//And despite the inclusion of the First-Blood Perk, which allows whoever commits the crime to escape the school without the need for a Class Trial, she refuses to take the chance, because she wants to use the trial to out the Mastermind.

//This twist not only redefines Kaede’s role but also highlights her complexity. She isn’t just a good person in the traditional sense. Her belief in her own righteousness blinds her to the consequences of her actions, making her a beautifully flawed and deeply human character.

//Now...before I go onto what I actually liked about the trial itself, and how, while the Kaede twist carries it, it's still supported by a bunch of really neat moments, mysteries, and pacing, I want to go over one massive concern that we haven't really established with this case, and give my opinion on it. Because this is something that we've kind of already gone over, but I want to talk about it in more detail here, because this is where the point becomes relevant.

//During the trial, the evidence begins to point toward the fact that Rantaro was killed by a heavy shotput ball dropped from the vent above the library’s bookcases, which is how Kaede set up the trap. Initially, suspicions are scattered among several characters, with Shuichi himself being a prime suspect for much of the trial.

//However, in a dramatic reversal, Shuichi pieces together that Kaede’s actions prior to the murder align with the placement of the murder weapon. He theorizes that Kaede had hidden the shotput ball inside the air vent with the intention of setting a trap for the Mastermind. This trap involved the ball rolling out of the vent and hitting whoever triggered the motion-detecting cameras set up in the library. Tragically, Rantaro happened to be the one caught in the crossfire.

//Or so we thought...

//In truth, Tsumugi Shirogane, who is secretly the mastermind of the killing game, altered the events of the murder after Kaede set her trap. Kaede’s plan to kill the Mastermind failed, and the shotput ball actually MISSED Rantaro. He was instead killed directly by Tsumugi, who procured her own ball and smashed him over the head with it.

//Using her authority over Monokuma and the game, Tsumugi manipulated the evidence to make it look like Kaede’s trap had succeeded. Ensuring that Kaede would take the fall for the crime, not only eliminating a strong-willed leader who might disrupt the killing game early on, but also, due to Monokuma's threat of killing everybody if nobody died within a certain time limit, to ensure her own survival.

//The group unknowingly plays into her hands, convicting Kaede as the blackened based on incomplete and fabricated evidence. And it's quite possibly the only substantially evil thing Tsumugi does in the whole game.

//Now...this element of the game is controversial, both for me, and for the audience, for several reasons.

//My big issue is that it's an unfair manipulation of the rules of the killing game, which usually relies on airtight logic and player-driven deductions. Knowing that the evidence was tampered with by Tsumugi retroactively feels like a betrayal of the game’s premise of uncovering the truth.

//And yeah, this isn't the first time the Mastermind does this. Junko does this in Game 1, in fact. And it's highly unrealistic for you to believe that the Masterminds would ever willfully play by the rules, but my problem is that it really undermines them from being the powerful villains that they play themselves as in the final Chapter. It's why I believe AI Junko in the second game is the best Mastermind of the lot, since she's the only one who doesn't royally fuck up at one point (barring Mikado and Akane T.)

//The bigger issue for people in general, however, is that some fans feel that the framing diminishes Kaede’s role in the twist. Instead of her actions directly leading to the crime, her plan is sabotaged and used against her by an outside force. This makes her appear less culpable, which can feel like a cop-out for such a high-stakes moment.

//One could argue that if Kaede had actually succeeded in killing Rantaro, the twist would have been more impactful. It would’ve forced players to grapple with the moral complexity of Kaede’s actions, as she would’ve knowingly crossed a line to protect her friends. By shifting the blame to Tsumugi’s interference, the narrative somewhat softens the weight of Kaede’s decision.

//And I do agree with all of these notions, and understand where people are coming from. HOWEVER, despite these criticisms, Kaede’s framing still works within the context of the story and doesn’t take away from the emotional impact of her being the Chapter 1 culprit.

//What you have to remember is it isn't simply that Tsumugi committed her own crime individual of Kaede. Kaede started the murder plan, and Tsumugi finished it.

//It still means that Kaede isn't the killer, and shouldn't have been executed for it, but it doesn't change the fact that she still TRIED to kill somebody.

//It doesn't take away from the complexities and flaws of Kaede as a person in this game. The Despair she felt, and the corner she was driven into, still mattered, and she still acted on it in the worst way possible. Had the shotput ball hit Rantaro and not missed by pure coincidence, she would still have been the culprit.

//Even though she was framed for the actual murder, Kaede’s actions remain central to the story. Her plan to kill the mastermind reflects her unyielding determination to save her classmates, even at the cost of her own morality. Whether her trap succeeded or not, Kaede willingly put herself in a position where she would’ve been responsible for taking a life. This is the heart of the twist, and it’s not about whether she succeeded, but about her willingness to go that far.

//The framing doesn’t change the fact that Kaede is executed believing she is responsible for Rantaro’s death. Her guilt and despair as she tries to encourage Shuichi to carry on in her place still land with full emotional force, and the player shares her devastation, and her death leaves a lasting impact on the narrative. This doesn't change with Chapter 6's revelations.

//And on top of that, Tsumugi’s interference is consistent with her role as the mastermind and a villain who thrives on deception. The killing game has always been about manipulation, both of the participants and the audience. By framing Kaede, she ensures that the game starts with a shocking betrayal of expectations, cementing her as a calculating and ruthless antagonist.

//Only to fumble the ball much later, but this is more of a knock on Trial 6 than Trial 1.

//And that's mainly the big reason why I think this trial is great as an opening. It allows several characters to shine early.

//Kaede’s bold leadership, Rantaro’s mysterious potential, and glimpses of complexity in Kokichi’s manipulations and Kaito’s steadfastness all take center stage.

//But beyond Kaede, the real breakout star here is Shuichi, whose journey from hesitant sidekick to true protagonist begins in earnest during this chapter.

//At first glance, unlike Kaede, Shuichi feels eerily familiar to Makoto and Hajime, or previous protagonists. He’s polite, serious, and perpetually anxious, sporting a hat he refuses to take off because he’s self-conscious about making eye contact. He blushes, breaks into cold sweats, and often assumes everyone else is more capable than he is.

//In short, he doesn’t exactly exude confidence or charisma, and that’s exactly why his growth feels so satisfying. V3 may have ups and downs in terms of its characterization and plot development, but if there's one thing that I can say for certain, it's that Shuichi's character writing, throughout ALL of this game, is FLAWLESS!

//Despite his meekness, Shuichi shows surprising flashes of initiative early on. He’s the first to suggest they set a trap for the mastermind, proving he’s not as passive as he seems. He’s also quick to stand up for himself when pushed too far, such as his angry outburst at Miu accusing him of being a pervert.

//Kaede’s role in shaping Shuichi cannot be overstated. As the initial protagonist, she radiates optimism, courage, and determination. Her plan to stop the mastermind, though it fails, demonstrates her willingness to take risks for the group’s sake.

//When the truth of the trial forces Shuichi to accuse her, the weight of that responsibility crushes him, but Kaede’s faith in him remains unwavering.

//Kaede’s final words, encouraging Shuichi to believe in himself, become the foundation for his transformation. Her trust in him, paired with Kaito’s relentless support afterwards, helps Shuichi shed his self-doubt (and his hat) and step into the spotlight as the protagonist. From here on, Shuichi is determined not to look away from the truth, no matter how painful, a promise he makes in honor of Kaede’s memory.

//Trial by trial, Shuichi grows more confident and assertive. By the time the finale rolls around, Shuichi has fully stepped into his role, calling out the mastermind and rallying his fellow survivors with unshakable resolve. His passionate outrage upon revealing Kaede’s unjust execution shows just how far he’s come, not only as a detective but as someone who refuses to let lies define their lives.

//What makes Shuichi such a compelling protagonist is how different he is from Kaede. Where Kaede is bold and charismatic, Shuichi is quiet and thoughtful. He lacks her boundless optimism but compensates with razor-sharp intellect and a deep sense of responsibility.

//His understated heroism makes his victories feel earned rather than inevitable, and his struggles resonate with anyone who’s ever doubted themselves.

//In the end, Shuichi becomes the protagonist that Team Danganronpa never anticipated. While Kaede was ideal for their manufactured Killing Game, Shuichi subverts their expectations entirely. By rejecting the binary of Hope and Despair and refusing to vote, he takes a stand that transcends the game’s twisted rules. His quiet determination and intellect ultimately bring an end to the Killing Game and the series itself.

//Just as he promised Kaede.

//Kaede’s death and the way she passes the torch to Shuichi set the stage for one of, if not, THE most rewarding character arc/arcs in the series. Her impact is felt throughout the game, not just in Shuichi’s growth but in how her sacrifice inspires the survivors to keep pushing forward.

//Shuichi’s evolution from anxious and self-doubting to confident and decisive is what makes him such a standout protagonist. His relatability, paired with his ability to rise to the occasion, ensures that his journey, from the first trial to the game’s finale, is as compelling as it is memorable.

//But while the characterization and the relevance of Kaede is what carries this trial this high onto the list, I want to talk a little more about my thoughts and feelings on the invesigation, and the trial itself.

//The first chapter of Danganronpa V3 is just as heavy and depressing as its predecessors, but it cranks up the confusion factor to eleven. While Hope’s Peak Academy and Jabberwock Island had some sense of familiarity, the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juvenies in this game feels more alien, making the stakes even harder to grasp initially.

//I kind of already said this, but from the way Rantaro carries himself in the prologue, acting all mysterious and competent, I was convinced he was going to be a key player. Maybe even a leader figure who would stick around for the long haul. And then when he started going a bit off the rails, I thought, "Ah, I see where this is going."

//I began thinking that he was going to turn out like Tsurugi from the Another games. Like the morally rigid, justice-obsessed type whose sense of right and wrong is slightly…off.

//But nope! The next thing I knew, Rantaro was lying there, very dead, and I was sitting there questioning my life choices. That little arc of his really threw me for a loop.

//Unless you're NicoB and somehow channeling detective-level intuition, figuring out who the killer is in this case is next to impossible based on the investigation clues alone. And that’s exactly what makes it so brilliant.

//With Kaede as the culprit, you essentially experience the entire murder setup firsthand. You’re there for the plan, the execution (as in the crime HAPPENING in real time, not the execution that kills Kaede, although we are also there for that), and the aftermath. But the game cleverly omits just the right moments or twists key words in a way that keeps you from ever suspecting her.

//Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: some fans argue that the protagonist switch is the only good thing about this case, dismissing the rest as basic or bare-bones.

//Respectfully, I think they’re wrong.

//Sure, the protagonist twist is a massive highlight. It’s chef’s kiss in terms of execution. But the case itself has plenty to offer.

//As a first case, it had some big shoes to fill. On one hand, it easily outshines the first trial in Danganronpa 1, which, let’s be real, was serviceable but not exactly riveting.

//On the other hand, it had to compete with Danganronpa 2’s first trial, which featured Teruteru’s surprisingly intricate scheme. That one’s a tougher act to follow, but I’d argue that Kaede’s case pulls ahead in terms of how engaging and multilayered the mystery is.

//Teruteru's crime was more complicated, and engaging, but it wasn't as fun to solve as this one was for me.

//Is it the most complex case in the series? No.

//Does it redefine what meta means in V3? Not quite.

//But it’s still an awesome, tightly crafted mystery that deserves its spot among the series’ best. In hindsight, even though they are my least favourite set of mysteries in the main trilogy, V3’s cases are all pretty intricate, so the fact that this one holds its ground says a lot.

//And really, how can you not appreciate a case where the game essentially says, "You’re the killer, but good luck realizing that before we drop the bombshell?"

//It’s clever, it’s bold, and it sets the tone for V3’s penchant for subverting expectations. Whether you’re here for the shocking twists or just love seeing your brain get tied in knots, this case delivers.

//For good measure, I'll reiterate how this whole thing goes.

//So, the whole mystery kicks off with Rantaro getting murdered, and Kaede, being the brilliant hero that she is, takes it upon herself to help the group narrow down the list of suspects. She shuts down anyone who tries to throw blame at others, using hard evidence like a detective on a caffeine high.

//The excuses for why certain people couldn’t have been the killer range from, "They were miles away at the time," to "They’re physically too weak to throw a shotput hard enough to kill someone". Basically a smorgasbord of alibis and physical limitations that could’ve come straight out of a detective’s handbook.

//But as it goes, all suspicion seems to funnel onto Shuichi. After all, he’s the only one who could bypass the security system, because Miu, the mastermind behind the tech Shu and Kae used for their trap, told him how to do it, while Kaede was not informed beforehand. And since Miu has her own alibi, she's off the hook.

//However, in a classic display of Kaede's wits, she manages to throw a few crafty suggestions, and a little white lie here and there, to get Shuichi off the suspect list.

//But if Shuichi isn’t the culprit, then who in the world is? Well, Shuichi, after a brief moment of hesitation, and probably some deep internal screaming, suggests a bold new theory: Kaede could be the killer.

//Now, if this was a soap opera, this is where the dramatic music would kick in. The rest of the trial devolves into a full-on "everyone vs. Shuichi" situation. Which is a terrible situation to thrust the poor boy into, especially since this chapter also features a whole ass scene where Shuichi is crying about being scared of the truth.

//I get why Kaede did it, and it did help Shuichi in the end, but it doesn't change the fact that she was making him fight everybody over a truth that he didn't want to come to light.

//The tension is palpable, and the whole room is practically ready to tear him apart, but this is where Shuichi starts showing his detective chops. He doesn’t flinch, doesn’t back down, and argues with the same quiet determination you’d expect from someone who’s been taking notes on how to deal with chaos. It's a subtle flex of his growing skills as a detective, and honestly, it’s pretty satisfying to watch him hold his ground against everyone.

//Eventually, the trial wraps up with Kaede confessing to the murder. But here's where things get a bit…well, complicated.

//Now, if there’s one thing that makes this trial truly stand out, it’s how the protagonist switch ties into the game’s larger themes of Truth vs. Lies, and more importantly, the colossal twist that the world of V3 isn't even real.

//Shuichi, the true protagonist, is like the ultimate punchline to the whole game. The fact that Kaede doesn’t make it past the first chapter is like one giant narrative rug-pull. Not only does it break your expectations for what you thought the game was going to be, but it also ties directly into the overarching narrative of deception that runs through V3.

//And, if you’re paying close attention, it’s not just a clever narrative trick. It's a commentary on the entire premise of the game. The creators themselves are in on the joke, which adds a whole layer of meta to the experience.

//In the end, this trial is a perfect storm of clever writing, emotional punches, and mind-bending twists.

//Kaede may not have been the killer, but her actions set the stage for everything that follows, and that’s what makes this trial one of my absolute favorites in the Danganronpa series.

//So yeah, I'm definitely biased. And I'm sorry if that ticks people off.

//But I should warn you. If you think THIS is the most controversial pick for the upper rankings? You'd best get ready for tomorrow's.

[i-hear-a-sound]

two more weird things about drakengard and nier I find really interesting

under the readmore. look at my dumb posts boy

So, in the events after Automata’s ending E, 9S’s mental data has gone into the ark, and 2B eventually just kind of… shuts off. This is all from the “Farewell” script.

Thing is.

A2 is mentioned maybe once in this script, but she is not present. We genuinely don’t know what the fuck happened to A2 after ending E, except for this shot that ends the game, of a dove flying to her.

Also notice her hair is back. It can be assumed this is the pods rebuilding her with her long hair back, or… like what a drunk Yoko Taro once said, androids hair can grow back. I guess.

Speaking of— there are exactly three things that remain repetitive throughout most, if not all the games. First is twins, second is white haired protagonists, and third— doves.

I mean, there’s automata

replicant

(oh, and one more thing: feel free to look up what the name “yonah” means :))

drakengar… hmmm

(also is visible in every cutscene from the game)

HMMMMMM

[english4studentsvn]

Lộ trình học TOEIC đơn giản cho người mới bắt đầu

Giờ tiếng Anh quan trọng rồi, nên việc học với có chứng chỉ tiếng Anh quốc tế như IELTS hay TOEIC, TOEFL dần trở nên phổ biến.

Tuy nhiên, với kinh nghiệm cá nhân của mình, TOEIC là một chứng chỉ tiếng Anh quốc tế mang lại nhiều lợi ích, phù hợp với đối tượng sinh viên sắp ra trường và nhân viên công sở. Nên nếu bạn là những đối tượng trên, có thể cân nhắc lựa chọn này nhé.

Vì sao nên học TOEIC?

Ở Việt Nam, TOEIC có thể được ứng dụng để tốt nghiệp ĐH và là một chứng chỉ rất OK để chứng minh năng lực ngoại ngữ khi bạn đi xin việc.

Lý do chính là TOEIC vốn là chứng chỉ được tạo ra để đánh giá khả năng tiếng Anh trong môi trường làm việc văn phòng - công sở chuyên nghiệp. Các tình huống, ngữ cảnh, từ vựng trong TOEIC cũng xoay quanh những khía cạnh này, nên mình đánh giá TOEIC khá là thiết thực để giao tiếp và sử dụng tiếng Anh thực chiến.

Vậy tự học TOEIC như thế nào?

Cách mình làm: tham khảo vài nguồn trên mạng, sau đó kết hợp với bản thân để xem có thực hiện được không.

Lưu ý: Mỗi người có một điều kiện học và cách học khác nhau, nên mình sẽ tóm tắt và chia sẻ kinh nghiệm dựa vào bài viết hướng dẫn mình tự học TOEIC thành công, bạn có thể tham khảo và xem bước nào có thể ứng dụng được với mình nhé.

Bước 1: Củng cố kiến thức nền

Bắt đầu với : Ngữ pháp cơ bản, từ vựng A1–A2, phát âm.

Thì: Thì hiện tại đơn, hiện tại tiếp diễn, quá khứ đơn, tương lai đơn => Học cấu trúc, trường hợp sử dụng và dấu hiệu nhận biết

Cấu trúc câu: S + V (+ O); Cách sắp xếp thành phần từ loại trong câu; Các câu hỏi và giao tiếp căn bản

Từ loại: Tính từ, danh từ, động từ, trạng từ, giới từ, mạo từ, liên từ, đại từ

Từ vựng: Bạn cần học từ vựng tiếng Anh trình độ A1 – A2, mình học qua Reading các bài đọc đơn giản

Phát âm: Học phát âm chuẩn IPA từng từ; Nhấn âm (Stress), Ngữ điệu (Intonation); Nối âm, nuốt âm (Linking sound) => chỗ này mình lên youtube đọc theo mẫu

Bước 2: Làm quen với đề thi TOEIC

Sau khi có được ngữ pháp cơ bản, mình chọn những đề sách hướng dẫn TOEIC mẫu theo từng phần để làm. Bước này hơi khó vì mình chưa quen, phải mất 1-2 tuần làm liên tục mình mới nắm được cấu trúc đề và luyện từng phần.

Luyện nghe: Giai đoạn này mình thực hành luyện nghe từ căn bản, bắt đầu bằng việc nghe một cụm từ, một đoạn. Vừa nghe vừa đọc theo transcipt và luyện tập lên nghe những bài phức tạp hơn.

Bước 3: Luyện đề đều đặn 

Sau khi đã làm quen, mình tiến hành luyện đề kiểu làm đề thật. Đề TOEIC có một đặc điểm là siêu dài, nên quan trọng là bạn phải làm thật nhiều để quen với khối lượng kiến thức siêu to khổng lồ cần xử lý, rồi sau đó mình mới có thể cải thiện dần dần các kỹ năng đọc nhanh, đọc lướt, tóm tắt văn bản… Chỗ này cần kiên trì, mình thì luyện đều đặn 1-2 đề/ngày, mỗi tuần 5 ngày trong suốt khoảng 2 tháng để đạt được số điểm như ưng ý.

Một cái nữa là sau khi mình làm xong, mình cần xem lại đúng - sai chỗ nào và có chỗ nào cần cải thiện không. Ví dụ như mình thường hay dính bẫy nghe trong part 2, mình không nghe hiểu được các tình huống để chọn phản hồi đúng. Nên mình sẽ thường cải thiện bằng việc copy đoạn script vào AI rồi nhờ nó giải thích vì sao lại chọn đáp án đó.

Mẹo học TOEIC hiệu quả tại nhà theo mình

Sau mấy tháng trời ròng rã học, mình đã ứng dụng được 3 mẹo khá là hiệu quả với mình, bạn có thể tham khảo để học TOEIC hiệu quả hơn.

Chia thời gian học thông minh

Như đã nói, đề TOEIC rất dài nên mình phải học kiên trì mỗi ngày và mình cố gắng hoàn thành trong khoảng thời gian cho phép. Ban đầu mình mấy cả buổi để đọc và làm hết tất cả những câu hỏi, mình mới xem vấn đề là mình đọc quá chậm. Nên sau này mình quy định lại thời gian đọc cho mình, có áp lực thời gian nên mình đọc nhanh lên hẳn.

Học từ vựng theo chủ đề + flashcard

Bài viết mà mình tham khảo nói rằng từ vựng TOEIC có một đặc điểm là nó chia theo chủ đề và rất gần gũi, quen thuộc với đời sống – hoạt đồng công việc văn phòng. Vì vậy, để học từ vựng TOEIC hiệu quả và nhớ lâu, ban có thể thử học từ vựng theo gia đình từ, học theo chủ đề, học từ vựng đồng nghĩa – từ trái nghĩa,… Mình có kết hợp học với flashcard trong những lúc rảnh như khi đi xe để nhanh nhớ từ hơn.

Nghe và đọc tiếng Anh hàng ngày

Mình xem youtube các video luyện nghe cho người mới bắt đầu và nghe thường xuyên khi mình làm việc nhà, mục đích là để cho tai làm quen. Còn đọc thì mình có đọc bài qua việc luyện đề rồi.

Kết luận

Bạn tự học TOEIC được không? Được! Mình cũng từng tự ôn TOEIC được lên khoảng 650 điểm thi thử, nên miễn là bạn có lộ trình ôn tập đúng và kiên trì thực hiện là được. 

👉 Bạn có thể khảo thêm lộ trình chi tiết mà mình đã áp dụng tại đây: Lộ trình học TOEIC từ mất gốc đến 990

[pandorapromises]

i kinda wish we'd gotten this tiny scene of lo'ak 😂

[nilnether]

Look at Spider all sunburnt with new hair, new clothes and that Reef Clans tattoo

He's been living with Metkayina and being accepted there. I think this shows that the leaked script is true and he goes with Sullys back to the forest only to be sent back to the ocean after his upgrade. And then he gets captured by RDA again.

This also shows @cyren-myadd was right deducing Spider gets captured by RDA again from this image. Spider's hair and loincloth look the same. The painted stripes looked partially washed off in the picture above but similar. Only the tattoo is missing but maybe this is mirrored or from rehearsal.

And Jake gets captured with him (maybe even tortured in that NeuroSect) because he will attack Parker Selfridge and Quaritch and Wainfleet will drag him away.

I wouldn't be surprised if this below refers to both Quaritch working together with Jake when Spider's life is in danger and then tricking him somehow to get him captured later.

And I'm becoming more and more sure both Jake and Spider then end up on Factory Ship with Quaritch. I know this new shot looks superficially like the cell in Bridgehead Spider was in in A2 but that's not one way mirror and that door looks like a door on a ship. The space behind that window looks kind of like this space.

I think Reef Na'vi and (at least some of the) Tulkun make an alliance that attacks SeaDragons and Ardmore sends Factory Ship fleet to pacify them along with Quaritch and his allied Ash Na'vi. And he takes Jake (as information source/hostage) and Spider with him. He's not leaving Spider behind because 1. it's not safe to leave him behind (who caused those bruises, why are his stripes so faded, how did RDA react to Spider new ability) and 2. he clearly wants to try to reconnect. And then the Ash Na'vi attack the Metkayina and the final big battle happens.

I bet Spider looks like this because he can't believe this is all happening to him again. If this kid has to save the day again with nothing but a fire extinguisher...

[cyren-myadd]

Rant about Eywa theories

Eywa is one of the most interesting concepts in the Avatar universe, imo. The concept of an interplanetary consciousness that every native organism can "interface" with is so cool. One thing that really fascinates me about Eywa is how she goes about "protecting only the balance of life" as Neytiri explained to Jake. As of Avatar 1, Eywa did not react to the human threat mining and destroying the forest for several years, nor the genocide/abduction of the Sarentu clan, even though Eywa would've been aware of what was happening when the Na'vi shared their memories with her soul trees. She only reacted to the threat AFTER she was exposed to human memories of the destruction of earth when Jake interfaced with her via his avatar body, and then again when she interfaced with Grace’s human body. The reaction was similar to an immune response within a body attacking a foreign virus, with native fauna mobilizing to attack anything that registered as alien. One interesting thing of note about the immune response is that the animals were not physically connected to Eywa when they attacked, which means Eywa can somehow send commands to organisms “wirelessly.” This phenomena could also explain how the atokirina conveniently show up to stop Neytiri from killing Jake. Anyway, the immune response won the final battle of A1, in A2 we saw the immune response can't protect Pandora in its entirety. The recoms could get past the immune response undetected, and Bridgehead and the whaling ships didn't face an immune response at all.

Another interesting thing about Eywa we learned from the original script for Avatar 2, is that she is confirmed to have caused Grace’s pregnancy. Norm describes Kiri’s birth as “parthenogenesis,” which is a biological process in which an egg produces viable offspring without sperm from a male. (idk if the script needs a spoiler warning, so I'm putting one just to be safe) Based on the fact that Jake describes the pregnancy as “a mystery,” we can assume parthenogenetic birth isn’t something normal to the Na’vi’s alien reproductive cycle. On earth, parthenogenesis is only found in invertebrates and some plants. Assuming that Na’vi reproduction is somewhat similar to earth animal reproduction (which I think we can safely do since the Sully children clearly have inherited different traits from their parents, implying that they get half of their DNA from each parent just like on earth, but they are aliens so I could be completely wrong here), Grace would’ve had gametes inside of her avatar’s reproductive system, which are cells that only contain half of the genetic material to produce a viable offspring. A complex, multicellular organism like a Na’vi couldn’t exist without a full set of genes, so in order to produce a zygote (a new cell with a full set of genes that can grow into an embryo), the other half of the genetic material must’ve come from somewhere else, and the only place it could’ve come from is Eywa herself. This means that Eywa, to some capacity, can create or at least copy and reproduce genetic material. Since Kiri is so similar to Grace, it’s possible the other half of her genes are just a complete copy of Grace.

From all this we can conclude some things about Eywa.

We know she is not:

All powerful

All knowing

A “god” in the traditional sense

We know she is capable of:

Storing memories, including memories of the deceased from the last time they connected with her

Making decisions to react to threats based on those memories

Interfacing with an alien’s nervous system

Commanding fauna

Sending signals to organisms without physical contact

Creating/changing genetic material

What is still unclear is how Eywa’s consciousness works. Is she:

A sentient individual?

A hive mind of the deceased Na’vi?

An amalgamation of consciousness built from memories?

Something akin to a biological artificial intelligence?

Now that we’ve established the things that are confirmed about Eywa, I want to get into some speculation about what else she might be capable of. Note that from this point on I’m being purely SPECULATIVE and I’m not saying any of this is for sure possible in canon, I’m just coming up with hypotheses based on info we already have. After the end of Avatar 2, it looks like Jake and the Na’vi are planning to make their stand against the RDA, but if they want any hope of winning against the RDA’s superior technology, they’re going to need a combination of a Na’vi war force and divine intervention, just like in Avatar 1. The question is, how will Eywa help them? The one form of defense we’ve seen from her is the immune response, but that can only go so far. It can be fooled by avatars and recoms, and it is not strong enough to attack a heavily fortified base like Bridgehead. Eywa is going to have to step up her game, and I’ve created three theories on how she might do that.

📢potential spoiler warning for the last theory!📢

Theory 1: The 880 Virus

Project 880 is a screenplay James Cameron wrote in 1995 that eventually morphed into the Avatar we know and love today. One element in 880 that never made it to Avatar was the counter-viruses. For every earth virus the RDA brought with them to Pandora, Eywa created a counter-virus that would stop it, protecting both native organisms and the humans from getting sick from the viruses ever again. The RDA was even planning to create vaccines using the counter-viruses and sell them back on earth. At the end of Project 880 when the RDA is forced to retreat, Jake tells them that if they ever come back, Eywa will unleash a deadly virus that will wipe out any human that dares set foot on Pandora again. Even though Project 880 is not canon, I could see James Cameron revisiting his old idea to help the protagonists shake off the RDA forever. The problem is they’d need to find a way to protect the friendly humans like Spider and Norm.

Theory 2: Avatar Kiri

Between the parthenogenetic birth and Kiri’s ability to control vines (seen in The High Ground comic) and anemones (seen in Avatar 2), the movies are clearly setting up for there to be something special about her. In both the comic scene where she controlled plants and the movie scene where she controlled the anemones, the characters around her expressed confusion that she could do so, from which we can assume those are not normal abilities of a Na’vi. Since Kiri is also established to have a deep connection to Eywa, it is possible she is meant to act as an “avatar.” In the original context of the word, an avatar is a manifestation of a deity in mortal form, so Kiri would act as an avatar for Eywa. Since Kiri is a person and not a… whatever Eywa is, she can make her own decisions and react quickly to problems without having to absorb memories first. There’s no more information to speculate about what other abilities Kiri may develop in the future, so unfortunately, there’s not much else to discuss here that we can base on any evidence.

Theory 3: If you can’t beat em, join em

📢Here’s where we’re getting into potential spoiler territory.📢 In the BTS footage for Avatar 2, there were some scripts accidentally shown which described some very interesting scenes: Spider, breathing without a mask, and Kiri confessing to Mo’at that she caused it to happen. There was also some concept art shown in Las Vegas that depicted Spider with a neural queue plugged into the underwater spirit tree with Kiri. Full disclaimer, it’s entirely possible these are scrapped ideas and will not be seen in the Avatar franchise, but for the sake of this hypothesis, let’s assume they’re legit. I’ve seen a lot of people asking the question of HOW would this happen, but I haven’t seen anybody asking an equally important question: WHY? I’m very interested in the HOW and maybe I’ll make a discussion post on it later, but for my hypothesis let’s just talk about the WHY. Even though Kiri claimed responsibility for it, I don’t think this is something she could do without the help of Eywa, since Na’vi aren’t established to have the ability to radically alter other organisms. So why would Eywa want to give a human kid the ability to breathe the Pandoran air? Sure, he’s Kiri’s friend, but Eywa has never intervened to save an individual’s life just because people cared about them before (otherwise we’d still have Neteyam RIP). As Neytiri said, “The Great Mother protects the balance of life.” Eywa did not intervene to stop the destructive mining or protect the Sarentu, she only intervened AFTER Grace’s memories showed her that the RDA could potentially cause planet-wide destruction like on earth. So if she gave Spider this life-saving ability, there must be a bigger reason for it other than just Kiri wanting him to survive. My hypothesis is that Eywa has realized what a massive threat the humans pose to Pandora, and that her immune system response is insufficient to protect her biosphere. Her solution is to behave like a virus and weaponize the humans against themselves. When a virus infects a healthy organism, it “hacks” into healthy cells and reprograms them to attack uninfected cells and produce more viruses. Eywa will “hack” Spider’s biology the same way she “hacked” into Grace’s nervous system to interface with her, and will “reprogram” him to breathe the air and have a neural queue. Spider is already loyal to the Na’vi, so she doesn’t need to do anything further to him, but what if she repeated the process with other humans? Any human who gained a neural queue would be able to experience tsaheylu and the connection between all living things. Humans who are already loyal to Eywa would be able to fight back better with their new abilities, and it would give Eywa more access to more memories to gain a better understanding of the enemy. Humans who are loyal to the RDA would be more inclined to switch sides after experiencing Eywa’s consciousness, much like Jake did. I’m aware this final theory is a bit more out there than the others, but it spawned from me trying to answer the question of WHY would Spider get the ability to breathe the air and I felt like there had to be a bigger reason than just Kiri wanting to save him. Unlike Kiri, there’s not some special significance about Spider (other than his connection to Quaritch, but I don’t think Eywa would care about that) that would make him vital to the fight against the RDA, so I thought, what if he’s not special, he just happened to be the first piece of a much larger plan? And the result is this theory.

What do you think of my theories and do you guys have any of your own to share?

TLDR: Eywa is really cool, and in the future I think she could possibly defeat the RDA by unleashing a deadly virus, giving Kiri special powers, or "converting" Spider and other humans.

[spark-hearts2]

I AM SO GOOD AT CIRCUIT BUILDING AND PROGRAMMING RAAAAA

C++ script under cut :3

int UpDown;       //value for the Y direction of controller

int LeftRight;    //value for the x direction of controller

int LR_neutral;   //value for the 0 position in the y direction of controller

int UD_neutral;   //value for the 0 position in the x direction of controller

int Bprev;        //value for button edge detection

int Bcurr;        //value for button edge detection

int R;

int Y;

int G;

int B;

void setup() {

  Serial.begin(9600);  //begin communication

  pinMode(A2,  INPUT); //button press detection

  pinMode(4, OUTPUT); //set pin 4 to power the Red LED

  pinMode(5, OUTPUT); //set pin 5 to power the Yellow LED

  pinMode(6, OUTPUT); //set pin 6 to power the Blue LED

  pinMode(7, OUTPUT); //set pin 7 to power the Green LED

  LR_neutral = analogRead(A1); //set zero position of controller

  UD_neutral = analogRead(A0); //set zero position of controller

  //WARNING!!! YOU CAN NOT TOUCH CONTROLER WHEN INITALIZATION HAPPENS!!!! WILL MESS CONTROLLER UP

}

void loop() {

LeftRight = analogRead(A0);  //read X position of controller

UpDown = analogRead(A1);     //read y position of controller

Bprev = Bcurr;               //set current button state to previous state

Bcurr = analogRead(A2);     //set current button state equal to actual button state

if ((Bprev == 0) && (Bcurr > 0)){

  //turns all LED on

  digitalWrite(4,HIGH);

  digitalWrite(5,HIGH);

  digitalWrite(6,HIGH);

  digitalWrite (7,HIGH);

  delay(100); //wait

  //turns all LED off

  digitalWrite (4,LOW);

  digitalWrite (5,LOW);

  digitalWrite (6,LOW);

  digitalWrite (7,LOW);

}

if (UpDown >= UD_neutral) {  // checks if controller is up

  B = 0; //if up turns blue LED off

  R = map(UpDown, UD_neutral,1023,0,255);  //if up turns red LED on

}

else {

  R = 0;  //if down turns red LED off

  B = map(UpDown, UD_neutral,0,0,255); //if down turns blue LED on

}

if (LeftRight >= LR_neutral) {  // checks if controller is right

  G = 0;  //if right turns green LED off

  Y = map(LeftRight, LR_neutral, 1023,0,255); //if right turns yellow LED on

}

else {

  Y = 0; //if left turns yellow off

  G = map(LeftRight, LR_neutral, 0,0,255); //if left turns green on

}

//writes values to LEDs

analogWrite(4,R);

analogWrite(5,Y);

analogWrite(6,B);

analogWrite (7,G);

}

[nowtoboldlygo]

korean comprehensible input update 5/30

i've been struggling since the beginning to find quality videos or shows at a level i can understand, and this last hundred hours was very difficult!!! so i looked around at my options & basically decided that comprehensible input (as close as i can get to my level) is still the best option for korean language learning.

though i'm keeping an eye out on alternatives!!

general check-in notes:

immersion: started reading some manhwas in spanish! a friend recommended solo leveling & lector omnisciente.

plans for the future: i'm adrift at sea! even when i hit podcasts for learners, i'll be watching preschooler shows for the rest of my life, probably.

timeline notes: the key capability for the roadmap level three is beginning to understand audio-only input. so, under the cut are some beginner-level podcasts & my comprehension level notes for benchmarking.

tl;dr: all beginner podcasts made for learners are super beyond my current level. (but there are 100+ hours when i get there!)

benchmark notes, quoted directly from the Dreaming Spanish roadmap for level three:

You can now understand people if they stay within certain topics. They still need to talk to you in a way that's appropriate for you, but you know many words, and you don’t rely exclusively on visual information.

Now you can listen to videos or classes in which the teacher doesn't use as much visual input, and may even be able to take advantage of really easy audios and podcasts that are catered to learners at your level.

for comprehension notes, i listened to two random videos without any visual. level notes are from refold's definitions.

here is a post with the below resources listed out, without commentary.

1. 김꼽슬's Korean Podcast for Beginners

not updating

total time 2hrs, average video length 5mins with a script repeat

i could catch a couple of sentences, mostly random easy vocab. [le1, something]

2. 몰입한국어 Immersion in Korean's Super Beginner/A0-A1 Short Stories and Beginner/ A1-A2 Short Stories

total time 8hrs, average video length 9mins

the long pauses, monotone articulation & incessant repeats drive me nuts as a video. makes a mid podcast, could be worse.

understood the occasional short phrase/sentence, but definitely could not follow. [le1, something]

3. 미루는 한국어 공부중's beginner podcast

not updating

total time 3hrs, average video length 12mins with many repeats

about five clear words a minute, so definitely not useful atm. but i wish this channel was active!! [rounding to le0, nothing]

4. 속닥복닥's 🍃 SDBD Korean Podcast for beginner

super prolific!!!! this woman is updating!!!!

total time 3.5hrs, average video length 9mins

nah, definitely not. [close enough to le0, nothing]

5. 최수수 ChoiSusu's beginner podcast

total time 8.5hrs, average video length 13mins with a script repeat

definitely one of the easiest podcasts!! frequent vocab recognition, generally easy subjects. [le2, bits & pieces]

6. 케이진 KJin's beginner podcast

total time 12.5hrs, average video length 13mins

pretty incomprehensible! couldn't begin to guess at the subject while listening, but they were about kpop lyrics and martial law. so i'm not surprised. [basically le0, nothing]

7. 타요니 TAYONI's 타요니의 한국어 팟캐스트 Korean Podcasts

total time 7hrs, average video length 12mins

could understand some sentences, mostly isolated words, and guessed one subject easily! not super useful as comprehensible input, but yay!!! [rounding to le1, something]

8. 토토의's Korean podcast for beginners

total time 2hrs, average video length 13mins

could understand the occasional full sentence, and intuited the subject of the video for both examples!!! <3 [le2, bits & pieces]

9. Focus Korean 포커스 코리안's Beginner-level Korean Podcast 초급 한국어 팟캐스트

total time 2hrs, average video length 10mins with a repeat

didn't really pick up much! made me sleepy. [maybe le1, something]

10. 한국어 한 조각 A Piece Of Korean's Podcast for Beginners

total time 2.5hrs, average video length 8mins

one video was super tip-of-my-tongue familiar, and the other, i only caught a word a sentence, at most. overall definitely not ~unlocked~. [le1, something]

11. 한국어는아일린 KoreanwithEilleen's pre-intermediate podcast

total time 6hrs, average video length 8mins

understood very, very little. complex subject matter & vocab compared to most of the above. [basically le0, nothing]

12. 한국어 con 앵덕 For Beginners

not updating

total time 5hrs, average video length 5mins

i understood so much!! many full sentences, sometimes half of the individual words. [le2, bits and pieces]

13. K-Tube 해달이's beginner podcast

not updating

total time 2hrs, average video length 7mins with a script repeat

music background. although this is typical so far, so super monotone. understood the occasional word but generally very little. [le0, nothing]

14. HeeyaKorean 희야한국어's podcast 한국어팟캐스트

not updating

total time 26hrs, average video length 12mins

active, lively enunciation!! so many hours of content!! could get the subject, many words... still not comprehensible. [close to le1, something]

15. KORABC's graded reader readalongs

level one book one total time 51mins, average video length 2mins

sequential, increasing difficulty (presumably)

mostly including this source because it's so easy. a lot like pronounce korean but significantly less content.

can understand most everything [rounding down to le2, bits and pieces]

16. Koreansunflower's 🎧Korean Podcast for Beginners

total time 1.5hrs, average video length 5mins

she lists out relevant vocabulary before a monologue section, and repeats this method/process several times. it's not exactly useful for a person looking specifically for podcasts, but i can see that it could be a good resource for other folks!

17. Namuori Korean's beginner podcast

total time 2hrs, average video length 10mins

lots of comprehensible phrases but could only guess at the gist. definitely lost the thread in both videos. [le1, something]

18. Pronounce Korean's 🇰🇷 Korean Words for Beginners and Korean Story for Beginners 📚

super prolific!!!! this man is updating!!!!

total time 10hrs, average video length 20mins with a script repeat

i actually had to wait until he updated to listen audio-only to some of his videos, so my sample was from the most recent postings. that said, 100% the easiest podcast on this list. wish he would publish to spotify. [le3, gist, or even le4, story]

20. Storytime in Korean's beginner podcast

not updating

total time 1.5hrs, average video length 7mins

super low comprehension! guessed the subject of the videos, was incorrect for one of the two. also music in the background. [close enough to le0, nothing]

21. Study Korean with Sol's Easy Korean Listening👂playlist

total time 3.5hrs, average video length 9mins with two repeats (three total sections with the same script)

still very advanced for me, but i caught a fair few words. [le1, something]

intermediate honorable mentions! the below podcasts were not comprehensible for me at all, but could be a good fit for your level :)

Alpha Korean Class's podcast

Didi의 한국문화 팟캐스트 podcast

Inspiring Korean Podcast, Gachi

Korean Lover (koreaneldo)'s Podcast in Korean

Narae Korean Podcast

Talk To Me In 100% Korean

Talk to Me in Korean Yeji's podcast