#and how would they learn english when they wouldn't have access to books and such y'know?

[hood-ex]

I was doing the dishes and thinking about the Beauty and the Beast AU when it hit me... The Little Mermaid but make it DickJoey. Because! What if Dick signed his voice/tail away because there was something on land he needed to retrieve in order to save someone? And what if Joey ran into Dick, realized Dick couldn't talk, and then tried to see if Dick knew ASL? And Dick was like umm... and then just started writing in the sand alskdja. Except it wouldn't be English and so then Joey would be the one being all umm... Then they'd just communicate via body language or drawings until Joey started to teach Dick some ASL. And anyway, I just think it would be fun if they went adventuring together to hunt down whatever Dick needed.

[spritecranverry]

(Spoilers for 'Babel' if u haven't read it yet and don't want those)

Hi I'm re-reading this book after my physical copy got delivered and I'm here to argue that Robin's fate is sealed the moment he chooses his name:

When Robin's mother dies, she says his name - his real name - one last time. It's only two syllables, but he'll never hear it again; Professor Lovell decides it's not worth keeping because the English tongue wouldn't be able to pronounce it. It's in this portion of the book that Kuang establishes one of the first instances of language as a means of wielding power: namely, the power to erase.

Even further, the scene where Robin chooses his 'English' name encapsulates his relationship to his identity for the rest of the book: he is simultaneously disconnected (or "un-anchored", as Kuang puts it on page 15) from his culture and 'othered' by it while living in English society, no matter how hard he tries to assimilate. Lovell makes Robin drop his own family's surname on page 12 (which we also never learn), effectively cutting him off from ever re-tracing his own ancestry and lineage. I think it's interesting to note that part of why Lovell doesn't value Robin's surname is because to the English, a name that isn't linked to status and capital is worthless.

What's even more interesting, though, is that Lovell doesn't let Robin take his last name, even after Robin realizes that he's his biological father. Instead, he forces Robin to choose a random English name. He tells him on page 10 that he has no family, and that his father is "unknown". Lovell wants Robin to remove all markers of his Asian identity from his name while simultaneously never claiming his son as his own despite his dependency on him.

This effectively places Robin in this odd liminal space where he is only allowed to participate in English society conditionally, but he also doesn't have the option to ever return to Canton because he no longer has the ability to fully reconnect there. His identity as a result morphs into this ambiguous thing that is constantly in flux relative to how white society perceives him. The choice to make him literally half white and half Asian as opposed to a fully Chinese man trying to assimilate makes this especially poignant; at no point does he have the ability to opt out of this constant state of limbo that the construct of racial identity puts him in. Robin - and perhaps Kuang did this intentionally - exists during a time when diasporic and mixed identities are still being formed and conceptualized, which means he wouldn't have much access to communities of people in similar situations. With the exception of Griffin, he's basically alone here.

It's during the scene where Robin first sets off on that ship to England that I'm reminded of what happened to the identity of enslaved Africans once they got through the Middle Passage: they and their descendants would never be able to fully re-integrate into their cultures of origin, but would also be permanently 'other' in the eyes of American society, relegating them to a constant state of place-lessness. An un-anchoring, if you will. (Obviously these are not the same, but a similar thing is happening in terms of cultural belonging and as an African American this is what came to mind. Please don't jump me 🤚🏾)

Let's circle back to the footnote on page 11 that quotes the book Robin took his name from: "I killed Cock Robin. Who saw him die?"

For the entirety of 'Babel', we see Robin struggle for the rest of his short life against the implications of his name and the circumstances that led to him choosing it, and none of it of his own volition. I think the most tragic part of Robin's story is that Lovell decided what he was supposed to be long before the book even begins. Robin's decision, then, to stray from that path renders him with (at least in his eyes) no other viable way to exist in this world in the state his father has left him in. Once he decides to stop participating in the imperialist machine, neither England nor Canton (which he has no way to return to after killing his father) has a place for him.

Long before he makes that final decision at the end of the book, Lovell subjects Robin to what I think can be interpreted as its own kind of death. He's become a ship permanently lost at sea with nothing left to anchor him and with no destination in sight. The other characters never really seem to fully understand the extent of the loss he has experienced because he is the only character other than Griffin who has been 'un-anchored' in such a specific way. Re-reading the book knowing what his fate will be, then, makes the rest of the story feel like a very slow, winding, and complicated march towards death.

TL; DR: Robin's been dead since the very beginning of 'Babel'. In fact, he's dead the very moment he becomes 'Robin', and Lovell killed him. But who saw him die?

[acourtofthought]

I received two more anons which I'm adding below the "read more" button just in case anyone wants to avoid HOFAS spoilers (or the spoiler theories going around based off the book).

Seriously, how would that even work? Does he have to cut people in the chest to sever their bond? Ask them to try to find the thread that connects them (you know the one INSIDE of them) and play surgeon to snip, snip, snip? I said it in one of my last posts but the King of Hybern, who had access to the cauldron, was unable to break Feysands bond which Tamlin requested that he do. Which Feyre requested that he do (in order to save her family and friends). Amren confirms that "that sort of bond cannot be broken. The king is a fool, that sort of bond cannot be broken" and he couldn't as he he broke was the bargain. If the main big bad of the original trilogy was unable to harness the kind of power while using the actual Cauldron to mess with mating bonds, then how exactly could Truth Teller? Also, WHY would SJM create this super mysterious backstory for Truth Teller only to have it's super special power be that of breaking bonds? What would the fucking point be? Shall we just call Az the Anti Cupid? The Prythian Divorce Attorney because he's going to go around Prythian helping poor fae trapped in loveless bonds free themselves from it's shackles? This is what is said about TT with translation (not sure how it will read in English): "The Starsword is Made" "The knife can undo things." Done and undone. Matter and antimatter. With the right influx of power, a command from the one destined to wield them, they can be fused. And they can create a place where there is no life and no light. A place that is nothing. Nowhere." It's funny that the knife can "undo things" and they think that gives them carte blanche to have it undo everything, even that which was decided by a divine being. Bonds created by the mother herself? Truth Teller's got you covered! Humans turned Fae, Made by the Cauldron? Don't worry Elain, I'll unmake you in no time! Especially when the entire point of what was being said about the power of TT is that when fused with the sword, it can create "no life and life, a place that is nothing." Considering the conversation was talking about how the Starsword and TT were connected, wouldn't the more logical conclusion be that the as the sword is Made, the knife (it's opposite considering one is matter and the other antimatter) can "unmake" things, maybe objects? Like maybe the Trove which was made? Other weapons made by the Cauldron? Mating bonds are not made by the Cauldron but determined by fate / destiny. There's nothing to "unmake" as they weren't "made" in the first place. Bryce confirms that Az does not have the same shadows as Ruhn (Ruhn who has the same shadows as Rhys). Rhys confirms Az does not have the same shadows that he does. SJM CONFIRMS Az's shadows are not that of Rhysands. Rhys's shadows belong to him, they don't whisper to him or keep him company. The are an extension of him. Azriel tells us his shadows are his companions meaning they are not actually part of him. He says they keep him company, Rhys says Az learned their language. That all means that they are independent of him regardless of them being in sync at times or reacting to Az or whatever else they've done. As of the most recent book, his shadows do certain things with certain people / situations. They aren't very brave in the sunlight, all but one hiding while he steps into the sunshine. They reacted likes snakes ready to strike on two different occasions (one which had nothing to do with Elain). They are afraid of Koschei. They were curious about Gwyn and danced and sang in response to her her song / breath. I'm pretty sure they twirled around when he was interacting with Nesta too. Az confirms that they tend to vanish around Elain. Considering Az considers the shadows his companion, that they keep him company, don't you think he'd enjoy seeing them curious and playful and singing instead of vanishing or afraid of Elain's "light" that even E/riels admit to her having since they love the dark / light aesthetic?

This is such a ridiculous argument they're spreading around. The Cauldron was "messed" with while the Daglan had it in their possession. They took what the mother once used to create all life and used it for evil. To create monsters, to create things that would serve them, to create evil weapons. But the second the Daglan no longer had possession of it, the Cauldron returned to it's normal state which is not good or bad. It just is and the only thing that determines what the Cauldron is is the person wielding it but no one can alter the Cauldrons essence for eternity. After the Daglan ruled, it was used to turn Myriam fae (used for good). Just like the King used to to bring down the wall (bad). Just like Feyre / Amren used it to unleash Amren (that turned out to be a good thing). Mating bonds are not determined by the Cauldron, as proven by Amren they can not be altered by the Cauldron, and if they were, then how did every single other SJM endgame couple with a mating bond end up with a fantastic one despite the Daglan "messing with it" yet ONLY Elucien's bond has fallen victim to the Daglans influence 15,000 years later?

[writingquestionsanswered]

I have trouble with writing in general. Can you help me? English isn't my first language, but I really want to write a story in English someday. However, both I and my English teacher have noticed a problem. He says he can tell I haven't cheated on my assignments because I write like I speak. That comment broke my heart a bit and made me feel pressured because there's a recurring joke in fanfiction that all stories starting with "English is not my mother tongue / I'm not fluent in English" are masterpieces, haha. I'm very disappointed in myself because I don't feel as good as other non-native speakers. Do you have any tips for improving my writing?

Improving Writing as Non-Native Speaker

First, I'm so sorry that your English teacher or anyone else has ever made you (or anyone) feel bad about your speaking or writing. Anyone who tries to learn a language other than their native language should be commended, no matter the skill level they reach. Many people who have the ability and access to learn another language never even bother, so kudos to you for learning. If it helps, I wouldn't have known you were a non-native speaker if you hadn't told me.

Any time you want to learn to write stories in a non-native language, there are four things you can do to improve your skills:

1 - Watch movies, TV shows, videos, and listen to audiobooks and podcasts in that language. Not dubbed or with captions in that language... movies, TV shows, and videos where the people are actually speaking the language you want to learn. This type of immersion can really help you get a feel for how native speakers actually sound, which can help you with writing and with creating authentic dialogue.

2 - Read stories, books, magazines, blogs, poems, and posts in that language. Again, nothing that has been translated into that language, but things that were originally written in the language you want to learn. This helps to reinforce the visual of the language in your mind's eye as you write, and quite often, seeing things in text can stick out more to you than they do when only hearing them. Also, some people just learn better one way over the other, so both hearing and seeing the language makes sure you're covering both bases.

3 - Practice speaking in that language. Even if speaking isn't your issue, it's still helpful to practice speaking the language, because it helps to reinforce it in your mind. Try reading news articles, stories, chapters of books, and social media posts out loud. It can also be helpful to look up movie and play scripts and speak the lines out loud.

4 - Practice writing in that language. If you wanted to learn a concerto for a piano recital, you might practice by watching other people play it, listening to it, reading the sheet music over and over, and practicing the tune with your voice, but nothing would help you improve more than actually playing the song over and over again yourself. You would get better with each performance, and writing works the same way. The number one thing you can do to improve your writing in another language is to write a lot of stories in that language. It's okay if you're not perfect. Even native speakers don't write perfect stories without practice. ♥

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

��� Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[evolutionsbedingt]

Which language is the most beautiful and which one has odd, arresting glory?

Oh wow, what a question dear friend! Your time was impeccable too because I had just had four hours of language classes when I read your question and my brain basically went into overdrive. Thank you for rolling this particular apple of discord into my hands, I hope I did it justice! 💚💚💚

My immediate response was that Chinese indubitably is the most beautiful language and odd, arresting glory should belong to Old English.

But then I questioned my own assessment, because of course I would. I tried not to get lost in the 'well, it's not like you speak all languages, so how can you really say which one is the most beautiful - you know but a fraction of them!' But it also made me think about the languages I do know and whether they can even stand up to comparison.

You see, I know at least two languages only by their bible translations (Gothic and Old Church Slavonic), three only by short inscriptions and religious texts (Hittite, Old Persian and Avestan) and they, together with a number of others, are languages I speak only through the definitions offered to me by the dictionary. This also includes Chinese and Old English.

Then again, Chinese and Old English are the ones I've gotten most up close and personal with outside of English and German. I have translated a chunk of the Beowulf epos and read books translated from Chinese in a way that preserved the original language as much as possible, as well as trying my hand at translating a few of the Tang dynasty poems myself. Old English feels familiar because it's very closely related to German; something that is definitely reflected in my translation of it as well because sometimes I didn't bother translating at all - just adjusted the spelling or conjugation a little and we were good to go.

And Chinese despite it's often purported title of the most difficult language to learn is a language that makes terrible amounts of sense in my brain - so much so that I started picking it up simply by watching series and reading books and translation commentary. It has no declension of nouns or adjectives, it has no conjugation and tense and aspect are simply expressed through classifiers. Does one have to learn at minimum one thousand characters to be reasonably fluent? Yes. But how many words do you think I had to learn to be reasonably fluent in English and French? The only thing that differentiates characters from words in the grand scheme of things is that we are not familiar with a writing system like this. If I can learn to read and write Ancient Greek well enough to get a Graecum in 1.5yrs (with considerable effort) the same will be true for Chinese.

And yet I wouldn't be able to actually, fully understand either language because that would only come with practice, with seeing it used in real life and learning the many, many ways it can be and is used - both colloquially and in elevated contexts.

So how can I dare to declare it a beautiful language if - at the moment - the only access I have to it is through translation? How can I compare any language that I'm not fully (or at least almost) fluent in? How can I compare languages that I only know from translated, religious texts (and we know they chose to translate closely to the original, making it an imperfect reflection of the language) with a languages I know mostly from poetry and fantasy novels?

I can't. But I can say that, knowing as many languages as I do, not one does poetry quite like Classical Chinese and Old English. They are similar in their economy of words and simultaneously strong imagery. There's a playfulness to both languages that makes them incredibly well-suited for the type of poetry I like and which thus makes them my choices for 'most beautiful language'.

You will notice that this leaves the category of 'odd, arresting glory' open again (and I promise it won't take me another- let's not check how many paragraphs -to answer this). The description of odd and arresting glory made me first think of Old English, because to me as a German speaker Old English certainly odd and having translated a bit of Beowulf it's certainly glorious.

But I think the language most likely to leave me to stop and stare (at least in translation) is Russian in 19th century prose. It's the very opposite of the minimalistic Old English and Classical Chinese, with its long and elaborate descriptions but closer to German prose (and even poetry) of the time and I really admire the imagery wrought there - it's one of the reasons why I still would rather like to learn modern Russian instead of 'just' Old Church Slavonic which is often bound by the Ancient Greek and biblical writing conventions. I want to be able to see that beauty for myself, instead of through the thick lense of others' translations.

Phew.

That became a very long answer and I'll definitely have to put a read more but I thank you very much for making me think about this and subsequently put my thoughts into words! A delightful way to spend my time while cooking the stew for tomorrow! I hope you enjoyed reading this 💚

[metanarrates]

Sorry if this feels really sudden but was there any specific catalyst that got you interested in media analysis as a hobby? Or did it happen organically? Intensive dissection of art and information wasn't really a habit of mine up until I watched/read Hunter x Hunter for the first time, so I can firmly say "yeah this series is what got me to work on my critical thinking skills" but this of course means fandom was pretty crucial to my development as an individual... was wondering how common/unusual that is for those of us who participate in these spaces 🤔

I've always been something of an analyst! my grandmother was a preschool teacher who switched to being a high school english teacher, so she was a huge influence on me as a kid. she taught me how to read when I was 3, and she lived in my family's house on several occasions during my childhood. i LOVED to read and my grandmother was a very capable teacher, so she was teaching me about literary devices and such when I was literally around 9. my parents are very highly educated people who also like book and film criticism, and my siblings also loved reading, so I just sort of grew up viewing literary analysis as a tool to help me enjoy reading and writing more than I already did. character analysis was and is a common form of discussion around my family dinner table.

however, most of my childhood and teenage education was about literary analysis as a tool to emphasize what an author did well. I didn't get into media CRITIQUE until I was around 15 years old and discovered twilight criticism on livejournal.

to give you some background, I didn't have unfettered internet access as a kid. my parents believed it wouldn't be healthy for my development and heavily monitored my internet usage. my smartphone, when I got one, had its internet browser locked down UNLESS my parents disabled the parental locks on it. but when I was around 15, I became friends with a trans dude at my school who Loved tearing apart bad media. we would hang out and read horrible smut fanfiction while trying not to laugh as a regular activity. around this time, I figured out how to jailbreak my phone to allow me to browse the internet more freely, and in doing so discovered livejournal communities that were dedicated to in-depth critiques of certain media.

i was OBSESSED with those critiques. i had never seen comprehensive literary analysis used to explain why something sucked, and it was very exciting to my teenage brain. i reread certain critiques over and over again, just because the type of analysis going on was something I had never seen before. some of these authors were very educated and talked a lot about feminist lenses of analysis, racial lenses of analysis, etc. and i just wanted to learn more. I started reading critical essays on other works as a major hobby, and my friend and I would regularly discuss media critique. since then media analysis has just been a Huge interest of mine.

so as far as your question goes, i suspect my background is pretty unusual. most people I know who got into fandom did so as a kid or teenager. and I definitely did get into fandom in my late teens, don't get me wrong, but I had an ENTIRE background of literary education under my belt already by the time I became a regular denizen of the internet. fandom ended up not being very influential to my critical thinking skills at all lmao

[marias-wonderland]

I like to think Alucard as being a massive bookworm. I been reading Bram Stocker's Dracula and the dude got a library filled with not only books but pamphlets, articles, newspaper, and just pretty anything that he can get his hands one(the library is a mess). He even learned English through books.

So I think Alucard would be a book nerd and maybe a bit of a movie nerd too.

Idk what do you think?

I don't know what I've done to deserve such sweet asks today! Thank you sooo much!!

I've read the book as well back in high school (fun fact: I used to read it during maths classes xD). I remember that part, it was in the beginning of the book, when Jonathan arrived at the castle if I'm not mistaken?

Yes, I remember how he learnt English through books and stuff and that he wanted to hold conversations with Jonathan because he wanted to master his accent (Jonathan noted how his accent and intonation sometimes was a bit off?).

Also don't forget that he was a prince! Royalty was known for being erudite (or at least having access to the best education of that time). It was crucial for his survival as a ruler to educate himself on a plethora of fields. Managing a kingdom is not only about impaling people! Having knowledge on finances, on psychology and on agriculture were some important factors I think.

It was only natural that he would end up a little bookworm.

I'm sure that sometimes, he spends his time in the manor's library, reading whatever books he likes, while drinking blood from a blood bag. Perhaps even integra says to walter to purchase more books for him to read? Whatever doesn't make him drown his sorrows in alcohol and cry into his coffin (Because she remembers her father's words, how Alucard is basically a sobbing child. She makes sure to provide him the few things that bring him serenity).

His favourite books would be historical books, obviously studying the history of the nations of the world, but also catching up with the history of his own country (since he can not visit it anymore). He doesn't strike me as a fiction lover, in a "books filled with magic and friendship" way. Perhaps he would enjoy the horror genre, like Poe and King, since he's accustomed to unbridled chaos and lunacy (perhaps he would even talk to himself about how he would have written the books to be extra scary? Or positively applause the writers for writing something "adequately" scary for mere humans?).

Or he would find science fiction interesting? I'm sorry but idk much about this genre. I remember hirano referenced "Dune" in Hellsing, so I suppose Alucard wouldn't mind it.

My little personal HC is that Alucard would love to read erotica books to Integra (Just imagine that deep masculine voice narrating some spicy activities into your ear 🤭). Integra of course would try to decline buuuut, who can resist a Romanian prince reading you erotica? Certainly not me! (And her xD). Or even if this didn't happen, he would spend his time imagining it (because everyone deserves to have fantasies xD).

The movie nerd is canon ya know, Alucard really loved action packed movies! One of his dreams had a character from those old action movies if I remember correctly (I read about this from some old hellsing posts around here). He loves his movies with guns and violence! (And perhaps some sex in there? xD).

[inkabelledesigns]

📚 for Auran, Loraine, Manny and any other character of your choosing from your nutcracker stuff, go ham my guy

📚 BOOKS — what level of education has your oc most recently completed/is currently in (GED, undergraduate, grad school, phd, etc)?

Okay, so this is a tough one. All three of these characters are dolls and wouldn't have had access to a formal general education like you and I do. Or at least, I haven't developed what that looks like in this world. Like, obviously all of them would need to learn math, they use math every day for stuff like sewing, counting beats, battle strategy, measuring out magic dust for combinations, calculating travel distances, etc. But where did they learn it? As young dolls, did they have school, were they required to go through some basic training to be well rounded? Or is that just magicked into them from the start? Can you even do that?

I think Captain Dieter would be really impatient with the guard and have them go through maybe an intense month of schooling that covers most things (probably skimps on anything regarding literary analysis, can't have too many thinkers to challenge him, which feels horrible when I say that out loud). The royal guard likely has up to a basic high school level education, but it's a touch incomplete. This is what Auran would start out with before transferring to the ballet.

Odette and Siegfried by contrast would be very thoughtful about schooling their dancers, there's probably a great deal of lessons in typical subjects besides what they need to learn for ballet. I can imagine there's an emphasis on history given that's really important to them, but there's also a lot on language arts. If any of the dolls of my world could speak a different language or have a vast understanding of English, it would be the ones at the ballet, given music has a myriad of terms that derive from French and Italian. I think they'd also encourage exploration into other subjects. Loraine takes an interest in studying magic and science, and it's ultimately what lands her in her position of studying magic dust to understand its intricate properties. Auran by contrast has more of a focus on ballet and music, but as a side hobby, he enjoys books on gardening and learns a lot from those for his small vegetable garden.

Manny....Manny is probably the one who got the shortest end of the stick, but he's probably more educated than both Auran and Loraine, who mind you, are fairly smart. Manny had no education beyond math and textiles, his employer simply didn't value it. So he went to great lengths to homeschool not only himself, but his fellow employees, using tools from Equinox 's rich library system. While his employer was almost quick to forbid it, Manny is incredibly smart and managed to convince them that this was really in their best interest so that their business would be run more competently, and it worked out. Manny manages to get himself through a high school level of education, but he's also got what's effectively a college level education of business, as he was secretly studying to get out of his bad situation. Though one may argue that he also has a strength in street smarts, he knows how to play the game of life. I can imagine he's also taken at least one acting class in his life.

That was a lot for all three and their respective peers. XD I suppose after Captain Dieter is no longer running the guard, there is probably an emphasis on better education and easing the guard into things ala Queen Clara. She would want her soldiers to have those tools after learning Dieter was being deliberately foolish. Especially in making sure they knew their history and had some extracurriculars outside of preparing for battle. This is probably how Minstrel achieves his dream of having a proper band for the guard rather than just playing a war drum.

[huxleyfamilyvalues]

i ought to write about this at length, but my awful high school never made us read any classical novels with any mind for analysis. I remember reading excerpts of a Merchant of Venice at 14, a modern translation of Hamlet at 17, Of Mice and Men at 16... Catcher in the Rye at 13 and the Outsiders at maybe 12? The other books we read were, in no particular order, the boy in the striped pajamas, the notoriously fabricated Go Ask Alice, Divergent, the Maze Runner, the Hunger Games, the Breadwinner (which they were teaching to a grade 8 class after I had already read it for school in SIXTH GRADE)... In each and every case, these books, especially the classics, were not given any historical context, to the point where I don't think that the English teachers were very sure what exactly was so special about something as simple as the Outsiders or Catcher in the Rye, leaving us high and dry, unable to make connections and just eating up YA slop.

All this to say, I honestly think that people who grew up being forced to read classical literature to not know how good they've had it, how much I wish I had grown up in an environment where someone had the nerve to ask "why are the curtains blue?" And yes, absolutely I could have picked up Brave New World or 1984 when I was 16 and enjoyed it, but I think discussing literature in guided groups is a net positive for someone's development, definitely more than.... writing chapter summaries of what Beatrice or Katniss did in whatever book on a Q-card. I remember my grade 11 teacher would come in and put on the divergent movie for 2 weeks straight. Obviously there is an onus on me to have done more for myself, and im making up for it in spades now, but it doesn't change the fact that I find myself jealous of the learning environments other people had access to, even if it was garbage. Fuck the callouts, I would have had winston smith kin drama if I read that book in high school.

It makes me feel extremely juvenile to love books like BNW and 1984 so much because kids are essentially already "over it" but so many times it feels like having these books prescribed to you as a young person is maybe not a privilege but such a stark difference from the complete ignorance i grew up in. No one encouraged you to read classic literature. no one encouraged you to read, period. i am envious of people who were permitted an environment with which they had some freedom to exercise their critical thinking skills in some capacity.

Has no one else ever gone to a shitty high school where they don't care about literature or history or like anything that makes life worth living? It's so dry and isolating and awful.

There's also the idea that maybe i wouldn't have understood the basics of these books to begin with if i had read them in high school bc i had no context and I was pretty stupid, or at least not confident in my takes. so i guess in that respect i should be glad i had the opportunity to read these books now that im older. But i remain, i'm jealous of the formative experiences lost. I'll just be on Aldous's dick as a 30 yr old.

[orangepunkwitch-blog]

I'm at my desk briefly because I had to make sure that I didn't fuck up some code when I changed the display pic (I got no idea how goofed this site has become when it comes to functionality anymore). I successfully did it without an issue.

The photo used for my display pic was taken by my muž yesterday. The significance of this as my display pic is that in Serbian folklore, it is believed that witches turned into butterflies. And I adored this photo that he took.

I use "witch" and "veštica" interchangeably from a US context, not from a Serbian one, where there's a difference between a "witch" and a magical practitioner. I don't know if "veštica" is used in a derogatory manner there like... I think "vedma" is (and I think that's the female version). I'm foggy on my memory and can't remember where to look that up.

Real quick before I hop off here for about a week, I wanna point everyone here to some sources if you REALLY need info right now:

Radomir Ristic - He was an ethnographer who released 2 books that I have read, which were Balkan Traditional Witchcraft and Witchcraft and Sorcery of the Balkans. A third book of his is supposed to come out called Vešticja Bašta: A Witch's Garden which would cover the Balkan lore, occult, and other such properties surrounding herbs and plants. Unfortunately, despite having a release date that kept getting pushed back, all site that had it up for pre-order now say that it's temporarily out of stock. I'm certain that it may have something to do with his death, as he passed away in early 2020 from a respiratory illness (it wouldn't surprise me if it was covid back then before we knew what this virus was at that time). The first book, the translation is kinda choppy, so watch out for that. (It's also important to note that no matter what your path or practice is, try to find academic sources if you can! For anyone looking for Balkan (especially Serbian) sources, Radomir's is a good start!) I know Amazon is a shit company, but here's a link for at least the list of books by him in case you wanna search on other sites. There's also some kinda journal with several issues he has some work in but I don't know anything about them, and therefore cannot give you my opinion on them.

Vladimir Zlatic (my alt code thing won't let me get the correct letter here) - This guy was raised in rural Serbia, so he does his best to share in English what he has learned, both from what he was told growing up as well as what he has managed to research on his own. He self-published his work on Amazon, so he doesn't have an editor and doesn't have a translator, so be ready for some semi-clear English (I actually find it fun to read). He has books covering the following topics: gods, plants, objects, demons/spirits/monsters/beings, animal cults, places of power. I don't have the last 2 yet as of this writing. I must warn that this is a rather questionable source, as in the book about the gods, he does cite The Book of Veles, and I'm not sure what other sources could be problematic that he's mentioned. Take the one about the gods with a grain of salt, and never use one source as your basis for your path. (Also, the plant book only talks about some lore, not actual magickal practices. The same can be said for the magical objects one. I'd prefer it this way myself, as I'm technically making up my practice as I go along, adjusting to the times, the awareness of current issues in the world, and accessibility.) Unfortunately, like I said earlier, he self-publishes on Amazon, so unless you know where else to find his work maybe secondhand or something, it's the only place you'll find these books of his. But within this list are books of something else he writes about unrelated to Slavic/Serbian Mythology stuff, and because I know nothing of that topic, I therefore have no opinion about such subject matter.

Lug Velesa - This is a Serbian Rodnovery community where I've found some pretty valuable information (although to be honest, google translate has helped me a lot with their site). They have a tumblr, a website, and even a YouTube channel! If you do visit their YouTube channel and you don't speak Serbian, you can turn on the closed caption subtitles and they're in English (not sure about other languages, sorry!)

Ancestral Witch - Yaya Nganga Yasmina - I think she's Macedonian from what I remember, but she covers lots of Balkan traditional stuff regarding magick. However, be prepared to hear her say things like what paths are best for you, rather than getting to pick any path you want (I can't remember what video(s?) she said this in). This doesn't cancel out the fact that she still gives some valuable info, though. Unfortunately, she also passed away back in 2018 (from what I remember reading, it was a house fire, but I'm not sure if that's correct). You can find her YouTube channel here.

There was one other YouTuber who did specifically Serbian witchcraft; she lives in Canada and had some good tips and such (I hope to share in another post if I remember), but was essentially chased off the internet. I can't quite remember her name, but I THINK I still have the link to her website. I won't be linking here even though she has it locked still (I think) for her safety. I believe it was because of some of the practices she did such as sacrificing a wasp or a small fish. (It's not like she did it willy-nilly. And no, I don't agree with such things. Again: another post for another time.) So unfortunately, I cannot share such a source, and if you know who I'm talking about and came here to find said source, I'm sorry that you've come across a dead-end here.

I hope these sources help you on your path! I'll eventually share a few of the things that I do, but I do wanna share the importance of adjusting some practices with the times (an example in my case would be how important beekeeping is in some Slavic cultures, but I'm in the US and the European Honeybee is invasive, so I would instead turn my efforts towards helping native bees instead and supporting already-established beekepers and apiaries instead of adding to it) as well as how different witches of one tradition's practices differ on colonized land as opposed to the country of origin.

I apologize if all this info is limited, but with the surgery I've had back in 2021 due to endometriosis along with a buncha other stresses from last year and now my periods are irregular, I must go prop myself up in bed and watch monster movies and read books and such (and hope I'm able to focus!) until this period blows over and I can get on with life.

My apologies to anyone searching the tags and stumbled onto this post around the time when this was posted to my blog!

[a-study-in-dante]

Tag Game To Better Know You! Send this to people you’d like to know better!

Thank you @lithugraph for the tag, it sounds fun!

What book are you currently reading?

Hu, make it plural. I've been struggling to find time and motivation to read, so I've been blocked at page 75 of Babel by RF Kuang for over a month. Did it stop me from buying and starting Ondaatje's The English Patient yesterday? Not at all.

What’s your favorite movie you saw in theaters this year?

I think the only movie I saw in theater this year was... Top Gun: Maverick. It was pretty good but mostly for the Easter eggs of the first movie (I'm weirdly obsessed with it for some reasons).

What do you usually wear?

Jeans, usually in darker shades of blue, and whatever top is appropriate for the season (or not). With Vans sneakers and a trenchcoat.

How tall are you?

168 cm. Or 5'6'' as I recently found out!

What’s your Star Sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event? 

I'm an Aquarius. I know that my birthday is the end date of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1 (the weird thing you learn when writing Hetalia fanfics). It apparently also is Tommy Ramone's, Oprah Winfrey's and Adam Lambert's birthdays!

Do you go by your name or a nick-name?

Most of my friends call me by a nickname, to the point where it actually feels weird/deadly serious when they use my full name. My family also has a nickname for me, that I used to like but doesn't fit me anymore (because I grew up and when they use it it feels like they still see me as a child). Otherwise, I go by my full name.

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

Uh I don't even know.

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one?

Not in a relationship, and too many dormant crushes to count or pick one.

What’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at?

Not that good at picking a thing I'm good at and one thing I'm bad at, apparently

Dogs or cats?

cats!

If you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favorite picture/favorite line/favorite etc. from something you created this year?

Ah. From Patria I guess? (A Spamano - Hetalia fanfic I picked up recently but has been on and off updated since 2018 on ff.net)

"Revenir à la réalité ne veut pas dire qu’il faut abandonner tout moment de rêve. Je ne serais pas dans la Revolución si je ne croyais pas qu’il y a sa place." (Coming back to reality doesn't mean we need to give up on every piece of dream. I wouldn't have joined the Revolución if I didn't believe dream belonged in it.)

It's cheesy af I know and that tells you a lot about my writing year T-T

What’s something you would like to create content for?

If only I could finally bring myself to write those Bagginshield (The Hobbit- movies) and Stucky (MCU) fanfics T-T

What’s something you’re currently obsessed with? 

Since I assume my PhD doesn't count (I'm not that obsessed with it anyway) I guess you could say BBC Merlin (ten years too late I know but ah)

What’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

men *coughs* It's been a pretty good year actually! I've traveled more than ever before, although being on my own is great, it may not be the most fun way to travel (it definitely has its perks though and I loved it) but summer i.g. july and august did not disappoint in being their usual disappointing selves. Not much happening, mostly working, not doing exciting things as much as I'd have wanted to, etc.

What’s a hidden talent of yours?

Drinking lots of coffee with no physical effects whatsoever.

Are you religious?     

No. I was raised as a Christian (baptized and attended catholic school, though for very practical reason - more accessible from my home and better level of education) but by the time I was old enough to have my opinion on it religion was no longer part of my education. I know it's still deeply rooted in the cultures I'm evolving in though, and the history I 'claim' as my own. I admire churches as I do works of art. And I appreciate the religious diversity of the world, and freedom of religion is a value dear to my heart.

What’s something you wish to have at this moment?

A cute lumberjack shirt I saw a few weeks ago but didn't buy because it was expensive huhu and a reading routine!

Tagging (if you're keen!) @linguadesk

@frenchiepal

@marie-curie

@learnelle

@oeuryale-study

No pressure!

[forensicated]

04x19 - Community Relations

TW: Racism in terms of the 80's when written

Pete and Ken visit a young mother who has agreed to let the police sit in her shed to observe the goings on at the garages behind them. She has her mother over who is NOT happy about the police being called. Having said that, she seems angry about everything. They're using her shed to gather evidence of stolen motorbikes going in and ringers coming out of one garage in particular before applying for a warrant. Pete moans about having to spend hours sitting in a shed with a Ken and a bible. He mocks Ken for his Christianity claiming 'he's waiting to be saved' and Pete's too busy reading his bible to do it. Ken suggests they go for a pint after work if he really wants to talk. "Oooh... have to book an audience do I?!" Pete smirks.

Derek drives to an important council meeting whilst listening to LBC. He's in place of Brownlow who is 'boozing his way around France'.

Alec relaxes in CAD with Viv and WPC Extra. Yorkie calls for help on the Jasmine Allen Estate for the arrest of a violent suspect.

Pete suggests the obbo is a waste of time, especially for him, and that it's CID or the TSG who should be doing it. He then suggests they should just raid the garage and the gaff of who they're watching. Ken points out they have no evidence but Pete says that's the whole point of searching - you find the evidence. "Stitch him up you mean." "Too right, why should villains get away with it just because the truth can't keep up with them?"

Yorkie brings in his suspect and tells Christine that it took 4 of them to pin him down and he was flying high on drugs. He collapses before he can be processed and an ambulance is called.

Pete is bored as nothing has happened. He suggests he might search the garage himself when it gets dark. He asks Ken if he'd grass him up. Ken says no but Pete scoffs and says he knows he would. "You have to tell the truth. You're a Christian, Melvin." Ken keeps calm. "I wouldn't grass you up, I'd just stop you." Pete continues to wind Ken up, snatching his bible from him and mocking his religion. "I'm not against minimal violence." Ken says, eying him off.

The tension is broken by the husband returning home. He tells them the suspect being late means that he's gotten big business.

At the council meeting, one of the youth workers explains that the information leaflets are not accessible enough to those who speak different languages. The old white male response is predictable. "They should learn English then." The council leader stops the rant and says Derek will look into producing multi-lingual leaflets. The old man mutters. "They'll be turning St Paul's into a mosque soon." Derek ignores him and tries to talk about Crimestoppers but they're interrupted by the refreshments being delivered. An elderly lady is asked 'to be mother' and the youth worker asks why a man can't do it for once. The meeting descends into chaos.

Christine and Yorkie perform CPR on the suspect whilst they wait for the ambulance but it is too late. The man's friends and family are in the front office and are kicking off to be allowed to see him but don't know that he has collapsed or died yet.

Ken offers Pete one of his sandwiches as Pete has left his bag of food and 'entertainment' at the station. Pete asks if they're sardine sandwiches, making a joke out of 'loaves and fishes'. He then says he doesn't know why Ken joined the police, surely he can't be a Christian and a copper. Ken says there's no difference between God's law and Man's law and he doesn't get how people can deal with their job and not be Christian. Pete tries to wind him up about Satan and Ken says he does believe in the power of evil. They are distracted by a loud crash and are showered in glass from the window. The children playing outside the garages have accidentally smashed the glass with their ball.

The meeting has moved to talk about drug dealing on the Jasmine Allen and how the police are pushing a massive operation to drive it from Sun Hill. It appears to be popular, especially amongst the residents and shopkeepers on the estate. It isn't amongst the youth leaders however who tell them their high-profile operation simply means the black residents are under constant suspicion of being dealers and they're being stopped and searched frequently. Derek tactfully suggests that they have evidence that the same argument is used by a small number of dealers to hide their criminal activity.

The angry mother/grandmother shouts that the boy who broke the shed window did it on purpose. Her son-in-law stops her from berating the children and says it was an accident and to leave the kids alone. She then starts asking him what the man who the police are watching have done to him. He says nothing, so she asks why he's letting 'Babylon' spy on him. He tells her he doesn't like thieves and suggests she go back inside for her dinner.

The doctor pronounces Yorkie's suspect dead. Yorkie explains to Christine that they arrested him after he was trying to break down the door of his ex. She was petrified and he was as high as a kite. He promises her he was arrested exactly by the book. The angry group of friends and family of the man is growing outside and they're trying to break into the yard. Christine asks for the man's father to be brought in to see her whilst she waits for Derek to return.

One of the older women suggests the police should be armed and that the youth workers use the meetings to further their anti-police agendas. The youth workers pack up and walk out, not wanting to listen to them anymore. The chairman berates the first woman for purposely winding others up and then she walks out too!

Christine takes the prisoner's father to see his son's body. She explains there will be a coroner's report but his son died of heart failure that was brought on by his use of drugs. She promises him he has not been ill-treated at any point during or after his arrest. The man remains silent and Christine stresses that there is a worrying situation developing outside the station by people who will use his son's death as an excuse for violence and upset even if they don't know him. The man turns, finally speaking with an obviously broken heart, telling Christine that his son had been taking drugs since he was 10 years old. He then leaves the room.

The woman continues moaning at her son-in-law for letting the police use his shed as Pete lets himself in the back of the house. She insists it's wrong because they're black and so is the suspect. She shouts that he isn't fit to be the baby's father and she'll find the kids painted white one day. The man storms upstairs and throws down the toys that the boy's grandma has purchased whilst Pete makes a call and ensures that his date is still okay for half 10 that night. He then tries to stop the father and calm him down and ends up landing flat on his arse. Ken laughs and then helps him to his feet.

Pete and Ken return the kid's toys to where they were as the husband comforts his wife. The station calls through to Ken and he explains that they were sorting out a domestic when they'd been being called earlier and that they haven't seen anything of the suspected bike thief yet - just as he looks outside and sees the garage door close but no idea of what's behind it.

[Side note: Apparently the CAD WPC Extra is called Monica]

[usefulfictions]

Does digital creativity aid us in language learning? [Week 11/Digital Language Learning]

Writing from:

November 2023

A Presentation on Digital Language Learning from a classmate, with emphasis on creative ways of learning language in digital space

A course forum on which this post was originally made. No changes were made as even with the context of the presentation, much of my thoughts here remained just as relevant and reflective of my thoughts on digital language learning.

When discussing my own identity, I typically refer to myself as 'monolingual', but that said I spent almost all of my elementary and secondary education taking some form of French courses. I've also done (online) beginner courses for German quite a few times but never to an extent that I would call truly successful for my aims.

At the end of high school I would say I was probably as close to bilingual as I've yet achieved, I've never been great at speaking French, but I could write in prose in French and could read things like children's books, menus, directions, or transcripts fairly well, I could also understand what was being said to me most of the time even if I couldn't respond very well. It's been around five years since then and I can still usually understand French in both spoken and written forms, but my ability to respond even in writing is not as strong anymore. In the five years that my French has gone relatively unpracticed, I've had months/years where I've tried to keep it refreshed using tools like Duolingo and other free access learning tools, but I've found that the things that Duolingo successfully 'teaches' are the same things that don't fade as easily. The benefit of learning French in school was that I had teachers whose entire classroom was covered in posters/instructions/signs that were also in French, everyone was required to speak in French - even if it was wrong or ill-pronounced - and any tools like laptops/ipads/textbooks were set up so that they were also in French (so, for an iPad or laptop, the system settings would be changed to French so even things like app names were immersive). This made it much easier to try and actually work out solutions like how I wanted to say things by actually thinking in French, rather than just doing translations in my head. But things like Duolingo seem to be much more proficient at teaching translation than they are actually teaching a language - which isn't a detriment, translation is a helpful skill to have in numerous contexts.

In attempts with German, or even attempts at refreshing with French, I've tried to mix some of these 'immersive' things that previous teachers of mine used with my daily life since while I live a life that is very much English immersive, finding small things that made me encounter German or French more frequently were a little beneficial. However, without a setting where I could actually practice either language as the language and not as a different way to say English phrases, I typically found myself getting left at a very basic skill level that I wouldn't even call understanding as much as I would call it recognition.

[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics: 2 & 4 are the same cover - one that gives a closer look at the cool & misty cemetery.

1 is a different cover of the same story. But, I wouldn't say that any book which contains it, is in the top 100...

3 is a great Halloween gag! I want one.

5 is a modern 'green' grave, very chic...

6 is, to me, some great grave humor.

1901: Output.

"Mystery of the Grave-Yard" aka "Dead Man's Revenge."

(Some commentators say that "Secret of the Grave" might be another title for this story.)

Started when HPL was 8 years old, this 12 chapter tale is considered his 3rd short story produced. But, as Juvenilia, it's a little hard to follow & offers some weird items:

1. There's 3 characters named John - A. King John, a "famous Western detective." B. John Bell, the kidnapper. C. John Spratt, a mystified witness.

2. King John, the detective, does no real investigating! He just appears, guns drawn, in the nick of time...

3. Rector Dobson, the abductee, is kept in a secret (& luxurious!) under ground room - accessed only thru a graveyard tomb!!

4. Every white person has an English name - but the lone black hackman isn't given any name at all...

(A Hackman is basically a cabby or taxi driver. He has a public carriage that's pulled by a hackney, a horse with a high stepping trot.)

5. The settings also have British names (Kent) & someone shouts out, "Queen's name!"

6. The Kehdive of Africa serves as the getaway ship! (No!! Not Speed 2!)

7. Francis Burns waited until Joseph, his brother, was dead to get revenge. Why was revenge so long in being taken? To build that secret room? And, what's the brothers' beef with the rector? There's some background needed here...

8. The rector escapes just in time to attend the kidnapper's court hearing.

9. The rector's daughter, having been rescued from Bell by King John, marries the detective...

Plot: A rector disappears in a tomb - during the burial of his enemy. His daughter is soon visited by the main kidnapper (unmasked!) - to demand a ransom!

The police quickly assign King to the case. Another John sees 3 men disappear while in the tomb - but, is mystified as to how...

There's only an X on the floor of the tomb, but no 1 knows why...

The rector saves himself & helps to provide testimony to put all of the kidnappers away! Who's the real hero here?

Only the dead brother 'escapes' from being prosecuted - or did he? It's likely he's in the "bad place"...

Quote: "Once, (John) Bell left his key behind..."

(How casual a mistake. The rector has wax to make an impression of the misplaced key & some material to file into a duplicate key! This place is not only palatial, but it comes fully stocked...)

Criticism: Sean McBride reveals that the plot is standard pulp fare - all action & over the top characters!

The chapters almost have their own little stories, with little left over for a single narrative flow. A common error for beginning writers.

Lovecraft's better stories will later set a better tone, with dark atmospheres & fine details used to 'paint' his word rich scenes...

But, what could have happened, if HPL became a regular pulp story writer?!! Would he still have become so well known?

PS: Sadly, the other 2 stories that HPL finished in 1901 seem to be lost forever. These tales were titled:

1. "The Haunted House" - Which might have been expanded & repurposed into "The Shunned House."

2. "John the Detective" - Which might have been later used in the Louisiana chapter in "The Call of Cthulhu."

Or, of course, they might have been destroyed along with the other tales that Lovecraft didn't like...

3. One of HPL's other works, this is the year he wrote out his "Railroad Review." This is another scientific interest to add to Lovecraft's many pursuits.

HPL once wrote that the reason he couldn't commit suicide, was because there were so many things to learn.

And, he was interested in doing so. In fact, 1 of his sayings is about how he wanted to always learn more...

[forest-posts-and-reblogs]

When I was nine years old, my friend and I tore some A4 sheets into quarters, stapled it all together, and in it, we wrote a story called 'The Ghost Who Felt Lonely'. It was a story about a girl called Maria whose mother hated her so much that she put a bomb in Maria's room and set it to explode while she was asleep. When Maria woke up the next morning, she discovered that her father couldn't hear her or see her. As a matter of fact, no one could hear her or see her from that point forward except for:

a) a group of boys who threw rocks at her and bullied her for being a ghost

b) her baby brother who happened to be a spy in a secret agency. He was one year old at the time

c) and her mother.

Then somehow, her one-year-old brother somehow gained the ability to talk, explained to her that he suspected her mother of killing her, and together they confronted her about it. Then, the mother made a run for it, and that was pretty much the end of the first book. We never wrote the sequel, though, because my friend moved away and changed schools, and back then neither of us had phones or anything. To be honest, I haven't thought about that story in years at this point. However, looking back on it, I can recall several discrepancies, which I will be listing below:

a) her mother, a normal person despite having a secret agent for a son and a hatred for her daughter, got access to a bomb

b) said bomb did not destroy anything. In fact, the reason Maria died was due to smoke inhalation. Nothing was destroyed or set on fire, despite the fact that if there was smoke, there would at least be fire

c) a one-year-old boy was a secret agent for a spy company

d) the spy company existed for no reason whatsoever besides the fact that we needed someone to tell Maria that she was dead and her mother had killed her, and the brother fit the bill

e) the only person who couldn't see or hear Maria was her father.

After writing this first story, my friend and I immediately showed it to our English teacher, who did not, as far as I can recall, point out any of these issues or bring us down in any way. Instead, she supported us and encouraged us to write this further. And I think that had a lot of impact on the kind of writer that I am now. Had she pointed out even some of the grammatical and spelling errors that had definitely existed, I think I would have been pretty upset about it, because I was (and still am) a perfectionist when it comes to writing. I probably wouldn't have written anything for a long time after that, and I would likely never have considered it as a career choice. But she didn't, and now, even when I write something that I later end up scrapping because it's not good enough or doesn't quite make sense, I never beat myself up about it, because I don't perceive it as a failure like I do a lot of other things. It's only when someone criticises me on something that I'm doing that I feel bad about it. For example, it took me years to learn how to tie a ponytail properly. The reason? My mother, when I was ten, told me that I needed to learn how to tie my hair because she wouldn't always be there to tie it for me. I immediately panicked, and as a result my ponytail came out a mess, causing me to think that I was bad at tying my hair and avoided doing my hair on my own for years after.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should go batshit crazy with your ideas and surround yourself with people who will support you, or at the very least will be kind enough to not point out the mistakes. That's how most writers start writing.

i’m so glad i started writing when i was young enough not to care that i was bad otherwise i absolutely would not have persevered long enough to become a good writer

[grad604-kannonhen]

mid sem objects:

Guitars:

Learning guitar was one of the most significant evolutions of my life. It has led me to my interest in music as well as Japanese culture. Before then I didn't have access to much music or didn't learn about new music. Learning guitar made me want to learn more chords which led me to go look at trending Japanese music that I hadn't known before. This is where I met some of my favourite musicians like Kenshi Yonezu. In the long run, guitar is probably the trigger to digging through YouTube and the internet for music as well as me getting interested in Japanese internet culture. If it wasn't for guitar I probably wouldn't have looked into the various artistic worlds of music or its promotions (like CD covers, MVs, lyrics and its literature/poetry, etc.)

Classical:

A Stag guitar I first got after about a week or two of starting guitar. I remember I was hesitant to say I wanted to learn guitar because I was concerned about its costs, we were never really stable. In my second year of intermediate, I was roaming around the guitar tuition teacher at an expo within the school as I was interested but wasn't sure if I was allowed to when he handed me the form to sign up. I didn't know what to do with the paper so I had it hidden away in my bag for a few days until I gathered up the courage to hand it to my mother. I'm glad I did. I started off with joint sessions with another student as it was cheaper, but my guitar teacher recommended me to do one-on-one lessons as he was surprised by my learning speed. He also recommended me to get a guitar of my own instead of the broken-down school guitars. This classical guitar sounds cheap, and it is cheap, but it's incredibly special to me. It got even more special for me after listening to Ohzora Kimishima, a Japanese guitarist I mentioned a few times through this course, as he also treasures and masters his cheap classical guitar from his childhood.

Acoustic:

An electric acoustic guitar from the British guitar brand Tanglewood. I moved to Japan for a year during year 9, and before I did so I decided to gather up all my bits and scraps of pocket money and get a steel string guitar as an upgrade. It was only less than a year of learning guitar but I was enjoying it so much I was learning like Fleetwood Mac and some advanced songs. My mother helped me with the fund as well and it was the biggest purchase of my life at the time. It's a beautiful guitar and it was the only one left at the store, it felt a bit like when Harry met his wand for the first time. I have a Studio Ghibli solo guitar scorebook and I used to play the whole book with this guitar every day.

Electric:

I only got the electric guitar after about 4 years of playing guitar, again, it is painfully expensive (at least for my broken wallet and heart) so I was hesitant to get one. Compared to acoustic fingerstyle, I'm really bad at electric guitar but starting here I started learning a bit more about rock music and some older bands. It reminded me of how my father was super into Western or English bands from his time.

Kenshi Yonezu albums and CDs:

Discovering Japanese music through guitar and the internet was a major step for me to find Yonezu and Japanese internet culture or its music. If I start listing how many things he has led me to it would be endless. Other Vocaloid producers, Japanese bands, solo musicians, Japanese literature such as Kenji Miyazawa, singers disguising their faces(also strongly from Japanese internet culture), animation studios such as Studio 4C, manga artists, video producers, these are just to name a few categories.