#not a lot. it's still quite doable at my current skill level

[silveryinkystar]

pros of embroidering a stained-glass type design: no ombre, nice contained little blocks of colour i can do in even bits

cons of doing this: so. many. tiny. spaces.

[therandomavenger]

The 5 Stages of an Author's Career

The other day my writing group was discussing a post by Dean Wesley Smith, about five levels in a writer’s life. It was focused on their skill level, and while I found it valid, it also didn’t speak much to me. I started thinking about the various levels there are to a writer’s actual career (and I use the term loosely). There are five distinct stages to this, with a couple of bonus stages on either side.

Stage One – you’re still figuring out your process and not finishing things regularly. This is a very frustrating stage, because you know how these things should be turning out, but you don’t have the ability to bring them in for a landing. It’s usually because you haven’t figured out what works for you yet. Maybe you’re trying to pants but you’re actually a plotter. Maybe you’re trying to plot but you’re actually a pantser. You may need to go up several skill levels through formal classes or informal training. Or maybe you just need more practice. They say you must write one million words of crap before you’re producing anything worthwhile, and I’m not sure about that exact number, I do know it’s exceedingly rare that the first several things you write will be even adequate, let alone professional quality. This is frustrating, but it is a feature not a bug. This stage is over when you consistently finish things, and are, in general, happy with them. I was in this stage until I was 46 years old.

Stage Two – you’re putting finished pieces out there and getting feedback. This might be sending work out to actual editors at publishing houses and magazines, or you just send it to a critique group, or find another type of professional willing to look at your work. I feel like the feedback needs to be from professional or professional-adjacent people, not your best friend, spouse, or great aunt Mabel. People who, through training or experience, know how to get your work to the next level.

Stage Three – You’re at stage three when you’ve either sold something to an editor, or you self-publish something, and people who don’t even know you buy it. You’re getting some sort of renumeration, even if the work is a long way off from paying for itself. You are starting to build an audience. I feel like this is the stage at which it’s reasonable to start calling yourself a professional writer, but that’s just my opinion. This stage can last a long time, and some people never get past it, and depending on their goals, that can be okay. This is the stage at which I currently find myself.

Stage Four – The work is paying for itself. If you sold a book, you’ve earned back your advance and are starting to get royalties. Publishers are willing to publish more from you. If you’re self-publishing, your royalties are covering your expenses. Your business might not be making much of a profit, but you are solidly in the black. You may not be able to quit your day job, but at least this is not costing you money. A lot of even immensely popular writers end up here. There’s no shame in it. I mean, I would kill to be in this stage.

Stage Five – You’ve made it! Your work is paying you enough that you can quit your day job. It’s providing a comfortable, or at least adequate, living that supports you and maybe even some dependents. You may be rich, you may not be, but you’re definitely not starving. This is the promised land, and a very small percentage of writers ever make it here. But it is doable, if you level up your skill enough and make smart moves with your career.

In addition to these five stages, there are two bonus stages at either end.

Stage Zero – you talk a lot about your characters, worlds, and ideas for stories, but you never actually write anything. The biggest leap in all these levels is the leap between level zero and level one. Just getting words on the page regularly is half the battle. I think if you’re at this stage, you probably shouldn’t be calling yourself an actual writer, but that’s just me.

And then there’s Stage 5+ ��� you’re popular and successful enough that normies know your name, and your work regularly appears on bestseller list. You might even have been on Oprah or won some prestigious awards. There’s a wide range here, but this is the level of success above everyone else. Think Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Colleen Hoover, Sarah J. Maas, Toni Morrison, John Scalzi. Everyone wants to be here, and it’s possible to achieve this, but it’s kind of hard to make it happen on your own. It generally happens when you write the right book for the right audience at the right time. You can’t really plan for that, but you can be constantly levelling up your skills and growing your audience, so that you can take advantage of it when it does happen.

So, that’s my take on the stages of a writer’s career. Maybe they resonated with you, maybe they didn’t, but it’s an interesting topic to think about.

[erythristicbones]

✍️ and 💪?

I'm gonna add commentary to this for funsies. Thank you for the ask!!

✍: Top 5 Hardest to Draw/Write OCs

1. The Grimm

While she isn't the hardest to write, oh my GOD is she hard for me to draw. I went through so many different concepts for her and even now, I'm not 100% happy with her current look. I've just accepted it's the closest I can get to what I imagine with my current skill level. And hoo boy did it take me ages to fuckin forever to draw her the 2 times I've done so so far 🤣

2. Novlayne

The opposite of the Grimm- Nova isn't supremely difficult to draw, but to write? I'm gonna have to do half of IOTA's chapters from her POV and it's already proving immensely difficult in the bare bones outline currently. How am I supposed to write from the POV of a serial killer trying very hard to convince everyone she's not a serial killer?? Trying to nail down her writing voice is decidedly Not Fun At All

3. Bronwyn

Bronnie is only mildly difficult to write, cause she's a lot more suave and confident than I am. Doable, but I second-guess her dialogue more than anything. Also, I will openly admit that I struggle heavily with drawing more feminine characters and especially so with chests/boobs. Bronnie is definitely a project in learning how to overcome those hang-ups- given her two designs are "very femme with visible cleavage" and "very masc, still with visible cleavage". Ma'am you're so attractive and I like your looks, but I cannot do you justice at this point in time

4. Astrid (and/or Ambrose)

Astrid has the above problems (more feminine appearance) paired with having a lot of little details to said outfit. Dresses are hard to draw 😔 While I adore the themes I've got going with her outfit, goddamn does any art with her have half a billion layers to make it all come together nicely. Also, I forget which brushes I use for certain features on top of that lmao

Ambrose has the same difficulty problems as his sister, but to a lesser extent cause I'm a pro at drawing pants. All of my ocs would wear pants if I stayed within my comfort zone

5. Declan

Now this asshole.....she's a very weird case. Cause, yeah, I created her as her own separate character once upon a time before her debut as TOTLR's villain. The problem is that TOTLR is very heavily based upon the abuse I went through as a child and Declan became...a LOT like my abusive mother to fit that narrative. I love Declan as a character, but sometimes writing her can send me spiraling down emotionally bc she triggers my PTSD still

💪: Top 5 Easiest to Draw/Write OCs

1. Kirsen

KIRS MY BELOVED <3 Kirsen is, quite literally, the easiest OC I've ever had to write for. She's a lot like both myself and the person I want to be. Writing her comes as naturally to me as breathing.

2. Cassandra

While Cass' personality isn't actually all that similar to mine, she does have the exact same trauma I do. That's my best guess as to why writing her just flows from me like water? Idk man, some of my favorite things I've ever written have been about Cass and she's very near and dear to me

3. Josephine

My most traumatized kiddo gets the gift of being both easy for me to draw AND write!! Very simple designs that I can usually manage w/o using any of her references at all. She's also so damn interesting to write for that I just can't seem to stop, despite her not even being the main villain of Momentum

4. Tyreen

No long explanation here, Ty just has a simple design. Only difficulty is that I keep forgetting her glasses 🤟😔

5. Natalie

Same as above, Nat's super easy to draw!

[original ask meme here]

[rigelmejo]

So while I’m not fond of Peppa Pig, I do find this discussion interesting. And it did make me go check if I could follow Peppa Pig (I can, easily, I know most of the words if not all - though I’m watching without subs so I might miss a little bit). 

*This is a show that WAS recommended to me, if you want to watch a simple show for kids that’s easy to comprehend - 大头儿子和小头爸爸 (and it is cute, it reminds me a little of Arthur and shows I watched when I was little)  : https://youtu.be/bpO2W9Xaigc

Ok back to Peppa Pig discussion, of all things lol.

So on reddit, someone was discussing how they’d been studying chinese 8 months and still could not understand Peppa Pig. I found the discussion between everyone very interesting. All I really think on my end is like? I also could not understand Peppa Pig (or any shows super well) that early on so it is partly a matter of “you just gotta study chinese for a while.” (The reddit discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/mk4665/fed_up_with_my_poor_chinese/ )

But also? I am a big believer in “it gets easier the more you practice.” So if you want to do something in a language, try to DO it. And try to keep doing it - because partly yes, you will likely realize you need to learn more words/grammar and the ‘doing’ may just be a catalyst to ‘make you study more’ so that next time you try to DO you know more and its easier. But also, doing it involves building the skills of getting USED to listening, used to recognizing words you studied in a different context, getting used to recognizing and understanding grammar in real time instead of on a delay (like in a textbook when you can slow down and really look at something and figure it out) etc. So partly, how ‘easy’ it is to read or listen has to just do with how often you’ve done it. Have you done it enough that the parts you HAVE studied you can grasp immediately? Or have you done it so little that even things you ‘studied’ don’t click right away - but they might on a rewatch or if you pause and read a subtitle slower, replay a line, etc. The part of the skills you pick up by DOING you really have to just... do to get better.

I found a few responses from people who are years into studying chinese and still find Peppa Pig difficult. And I think in that case, it might be the same situation as my japanese was (studied for 2 years and could still barely read a manga for bare gist). I think partly at that point, lack of understanding has to do with not practicing understanding by Doing. Someone who’s studied a couple years, likely knows a few thousands words+? If they practiced listening or reading regularly for a few months, they’d likely see a TON of improvement. Because they probably ‘learned’ a lot already they just need to develop stronger skills to comprehend what they studied when engaging with shows/audios/novels etc. And if they just ‘wait’ to engage with material until it feels ‘easy’ they may be unnecessarily holding themselves back. Because a major part of ‘why’ it might feel difficult is simply that they don’t practice the skills of USING what they learned. If they practice more, it will get easier. But if they wait to immerse until ‘easy stuff FEELS easy’ when they first try? Then they aren’t challenging themselves nearly as much as they can probably handle...

Like? I’m not that good. I still only kinda comprehend a LOT of things. But that doesn’t stop me from watching chinese dramas I wanna watch in chinese only. And I think a big reason I can comprehend ENOUGH now to follow the plots of shows I wanna watch? Is because when i was 8 months, 10 months, 12 months into learning - i would watch 12 minutes and look up lots of unknown words, or watch an episode and pause to read hard sentences, or make myself watch when i ‘just’ got the gist of an ‘easier’ show and hope that the more i did it the more i’d understand. And somehow, that did work out. (Also it motivated me to keep studying new words in other activities lol, hoping that would make watching easier). Now I’m at a point where i can turn on new shows I want to watch, and watch them, and follow the main gist and pick up some details. Its nice. Its nice and its getting a bit easier each time i do it. And if i had ‘waited’ until ‘easy stuff’ like Peppa Pig was easy? Or until stuff like “Granting You A Dreamlike Life” was easy? I probably would not comprehend this much right now. I tried to watch gyadl like 8 months in and it was pretty rough... even rougher because i only paused a handful of times an episode to make things go faster. But now? When i watch a show ‘about that hard’ that’s mostly slice of life? I can pick up a ton more easily than before. Doing the ‘hard’ thing eventually made it easier. 

So if there’s anything I think about all it, its just... don’t be afraid to challenge yourself sometimes. Sometimes doing hard things makes the ‘easier’ things finally Actually easier. And sometimes waiting until you can ‘understand’ the easy things means just never trying the easy things - when its trying and doing, that will eventually MAKE them doable for you. At least that’s advice to myself ToT I wasted a ton of time in japanese when I didn’t do this, and helped myself a lot in chinese by doing this. I also did it with french even though i wasn’t really aware what i was doing back then.

Some links:

Peppa Pig in mandarin (let me know how much YOU can follow an episode! - if you can... sit through one): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1dhSMSAXxI

Konglongmandarin - a site that teaches mandarin utilizing Peppa Pig episodes. Which, while I do not like that cartoon much, I really appreciate the concept behind this site and its lessons. And I think its a really cool way of making comprehensible input lessons (which I think are a quite easy and Direct way to teach things that click well with my learning style and probably some other peoples’). I am checking the site out currently: https://www.konglongmandarin.com/lessons/

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER IN MANDARIN - its on WeTV! I didn’t know that! It’s all just free to watch so like?!! I guess I’m doing a rewatch! The downside is these have no subs. The upside is I guess it makes good listening practice since you can’t rely on reading skills. Also, if you’ve watched atla before like me, then you likely have enough context already you should be able to follow what’s going on and pick up some new words: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/m0t0ud0mjg6td5t/v00225ojbpd.html

Again 大头儿子和小头爸爸 - its a show that was recommended to me by a language partner, and its good if you want a show for kids to practice comprehensible input with (I find it a lot more nice to watch then peppa pig but that’s just my preference): https://youtu.be/bpO2W9Xaigc

Two Souls in One - a cdrama I’m watching right now, its really good! Its only in chinese subs rn but I imagine youku plans to english sub it since its on youtube. Its magical premise mixed with mundane reality, a lot of fun identity and gender shenanigans. At my comprehension level its reasonably easy to follow - since most of its slice of life or actor-genre lingo. I think for most people who know 1k-2k common words this should be very doable to watch (just like Granting You A Dreamlike Life was doable to watch and follow the gist of). https://youtu.be/zaX2pdVpmUY

[ranissupercool]

Tenshi’s Pretty Nice - Ch. 1

Fandom: Touhou Characters: Hinanawi Tenshi, Kazami Yuuka Relationships: Platonic YuukaTenshi Rating: Teen and up Word Count: 2,506 Summary: Yuuka Kazami gets a visit from some delinquent celestial. Surprisingly enough, things don't go too horribly between them.

This is the first and currently only chapter, which will be added onto at my own leisure. Ships are currently undecided, but things will get gay in future chapters. Most likely.

Read on Ao3! (recommended; my current blog theme isn’t great for fic reading)

“You, with the watering can! You’re Kazami Yuuka, right?”

“...And who is asking, exactly?” The youkai who was indeed named Kazami Yuuka raised an eyebrow as she looked from her garden to… well, she wasn’t really sure what she was looking at here. A girl with a glowing sword standing on a giant floating rock? Kids sure were getting weird, nowadays…

“Oh, me? Hinanawi Tenshi, of course! I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

She seemed self-important, didn’t she. The name did ring a bell, though. “Yes, I believe I have. What was it they said about you? Right, a ‘useless celestial who only caused trouble’. Those were the Hakurei’s words, mind you.”

“E-- Eh? Wait, she said that about me?” The loud girl suddenly became quiet, giving a small yet pitiful frown that made even Yuuka somewhat uncomfortable. After the first impression she’d just been given, she didn’t expect that kind of reaction.

“...Anyways, why are you here? It seemed like you needed me for something.”

“O-Oh! Yeah! I wanted to challenge you, Kazami Yuuka, to a duel!” Apparently trying to pretend the previous bit of the conversation just didn’t happen, she flipped her hair behind her shoulder and grinned at Yuuka. “There’s so many lowly plebs here on the surface that it’s been so hard finding a decent challenge around here. I hear you’re not bad with danmaku, yeah? I wanna see if you’re close to my skill level.”

“Is that so.” Yuuka gave it some thought, eyeing the rock floating dangerously close to her garden. “Let me finish watering everything, and I suppose I could indulge you. As long as you behave.”

“I gotta wait? How annoying…”

Yuuka shrugged and continued with her watering. Of course, she had to keep an eye on Tenshi, but she didn’t seem in too much of a rush despite her complaint. “Patience is a virtue. As I’m sure you know already.”

“Yeah, yeah. You know, I could totally get everything here and in the field watered really fast. I can summon rain, you know? Although only as a thunderstorm.”

“Are we going to duel in the middle of a storm, then? That doesn’t sound very pleasant.”

“That’s… not what I was going for, but that sounds really fun, actually.”

“I’d rather not. Just wait, alright?”

Yuuka saw Tenshi shrug out of the corner of her eye, muttering “maybe another time” as the conversation trailed off. The rest of the plant-watering went smoothly, Tenshi simply sitting and watching. By the time she’d finished and exchanged the watering can for her usual parasol, Yuuka could tell that Tenshi was getting rather antsy.

“Right, then. If you’d come with me?” She led Tenshi off to a nearby open area where fighting would be much less likely to damage any flowers or the like, then turned and gave her a smile. “You were much more behaved than I expected, considering your apparent reputation. I’ve got plenty of time now, so I can play as much as you’d like… though I can’t promise I’ll be exactly what you’re expecting from me.”

“Pssh. I’m only a troublemaker when I want to cause trouble,” Tenshi stated smugly. Yuuka wasn’t so sure, but she wouldn’t argue the point. “Y’know, somehow, I get the feeling you’re looking at me like I’m just some kid that wants to play. That’s fine, though~ Just means this is an opportunity to teach you just how strong a noble celestial such as myself can be. Now then, come at me and don’t hold back!”

…

Yuuka kneeled down in front of the fallen celestial, Tenshi staring past her into the sky. Along with that, she had a satisfied smile on her face, seeming a lot more relaxed than she had been since approaching Yuuka in the first place. “So? Are you finished?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I can move anymore. My whole body hurts!”

“You say that with such a smile on your face. Are you some sort of masochist?”

“Mas what? What’s that?”

...Ah. Yuuka had been intending to tease Tenshi a little, but the genuine confusion in Tenshi’s voice caught her off-guard. “Don’t worry about it. I must compliment you, though; you lasted much longer than most I’ve dueled with.”

“Mm.” Tenshi took her eyes away from the clouds in the sky to meet Yuuka’s eyes. “Celestials have much stronger bodies than most mortals. I’d like to think I’m particularly tough among us, so my body can take lots of abuse!”

Frowning, Yuuka brought her hands down underneath Tenshi’s arms and lifted her up into a sitting position. “Don’t say that so proudly. Your fighting technique, while not unimpressive, is still very much lacking the finesse I would expect of a celestial, and you’re rather predictable, at that. Not to mention reckless.”

“Whadd’ya mean reckless?”

“What kind of spell card battle involves people hurling rocks around like that? Your nose is bleeding from when you accidentally hit yourself in the face with one.”

“O-Okay, fair point. Is it really?” Tenshi reached up and wipe a bit of blood from her face and onto her hand to see. “Oh. It is. Whoops…”

At that moment, a very unsubtle growling sound came from Tenshi’s stomach, loud enough for the both of them to hear.

“...Come on.” Yuuka giggled at the light blush tinting Tenshi’s cheeks, then took Tenshi’s non-bloodied hand and helped her up. “Let me take you inside and get you fixed up. If you’d like, you can stay for dinner as well.”

“Uh… S-- Sure? Yeah, that’d be nice…”

Yuuka brought a dazed Tenshi into her house, the walk not being long since they’d met just outside of it to begin with. She left Tenshi for a moment to grab some bandages and things, and she got to work patching Tenshi up as soon as she returned.

“...You know, you’re a lot different than I expected you to be,” Tenshi admitted as Yuuka treated one of the two whole knees that she’d skinned in the fight. “Most of the people I asked said you were dangerous and that I shouldn’t go looking for you. I expected someone more scary, I guess?”

“Are you disappointed?”

“N-- No, nothing like that. Just, uh… Geez, I dunno. I don’t know why I brought it up…”

“Well, it’s true that a lot of people think those things about me. I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re far off, exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

Yuuka smirked and leaned in, whispering into Tenshi’s ear, “How naive… I’ve gotten you defenseless and at my mercy, haven’t I? And you came into my house without questioning a thing.”

“E-- Eh?” She noticed Tenshi tense, and she pulled back away to look at her. Her face had reddened slightly, and it was rather clear that she was at a loss for words.

“Too easy,” Yuuka said simply, giving Tenshi a pat on the head. “Relax. I’m kidding.”

Tenshi still seemed unsure what to say, but she was at least relieved, letting out a small sigh. How cute… not to mention easy to read.

“...Or am I?” At the startled look on the other’s face, Yuuka chuckled.

“Wha-- H-Hey, not funny! Besides, you think I’d be scared of you? No way!”

“Let’s not forget just how beaten-up you are right now. And I came out completely unscathed.”

“Th-That’s not true…” Yuuka could see Tenshi desperately looking over her form for any injuries. She waited for Tenshi to do so until her wrist was unexpectedly grabbed. “Right, here! You’re bleeding, see?”

“What?” Yuuka, rather confused, looked down at her arm and didn’t at all see what Tenshi was trying to point out. “And where, exactly, might this blood be…?”

“Er, I guess it is kinda dried up by now, and it’d be hard to see…” Leaning over a bit, Tenshi reached to the back of her upper arm and pressed down on a specific spot-- not quite a cut, but likely a pretty bad scrape, causing sudden pain and a small grunt from Yuuka.

Of course, she wouldn’t just admit that it hurt, so she kept a straight face as she replied, “Oh. I didn’t notice.” She hadn’t, and it didn’t even hurt very much now, either. She’d just been startled.

“Seriously? I bet you’re just trying to act tough… Gimme that.” She took the bandage roll from Yuuka. “Now turn around and take your shirt off.”

“That’s… not really necessary… Do you even know what you’re doing with that?”

“Duh, it’s not that hard. Now c’mon. You did me, so lemme do you.”

Yuuka sighed, then turned away from Tenshi and removed her shirt. She did sort of want to see the damage done to the article of clothing, anyways, and how much of a pain it would be to fix up. Gah, bloodstains… With that, Tenshi began to wrap up her wound pretty much immediately.

...She really didn’t know what she was doing, huh. Well, whatever. It wasn’t very comfortable, but Yuuka would just let her do whatever, for now. Later, she’d have to show her how to properly treat wounds, though, if this girl was going to get into fights as frequently as it seemed.

Soon enough, she was shoddily bandaged up and Tenshi chuckled, patting Yuuka’s arm carelessly. She was lucky Yuuka was so tolerant to pain… “There we go, good as new!”

“Right… Do you have any preferences for dinner?”

“Uhh… I dunno, not really. Just no peaches! I’ve decided that I won’t be eating peaches while I’m on the surface.”

“...Hm?” Yuuka raised an eyebrow, turning back to Tenshi with a dubious expression. “Didn’t... you eat a peach during our duel? Not to mention another one seems to have grown in its place on your hat...”

“Ah, no, that’s different. That was a heaven peach, and it was a part of my spell card. It’s a body toughening-type thing. But all heaven really has is peaches, so I want to try a lot of different foods while I’m here. I’ve basically forgotten what most things taste like, since it’s all been drowned out by peaches and sake.”

“Well, alright, that’s doable. Just don’t expect anything incredibly exotic… I’ll get started on cooking now, alright? You can wait here. Walking around the house is fine, just don’t snoop or take anything...”

Tenshi hummed in acknowledgement, and Yuuka left to make dinner. What exactly to make, though…?

Well, no reason to do anything over-the-top. Something simple should be fine, since it didn’t seem like Tenshi had eaten many different sorts of foods to begin with. Would something like pork or chicken be fine?

...Was meat fine for celestials to eat? Maybe she should have asked earlier. Although- if sake was fine, meat probably was too.

Midway through the cooking, Tenshi wandered into the kitchen. She leaned over some counter space Yuuka wasn’t using and watched her for a moment before speaking up.

“I got bored waiting, so can I help?”

“Not really,” Yuuka replied without hesitation. Maybe a little hastily-- Tenshi frowned, looking rather offended at being shot down so quickly. “I’ve already done most of what I could be helped with, I mean. Besides, I doubt you have much experience with this sort of thing.”

“...Meh, can’t argue that, I guess.”

“If you really want something to do, you could set the table…” She gestured towards the dining table. “Make sure it’s clean, though. I don’t use it a lot, so it collects dust sometimes…”

“Got iiiiit,” Tenshi replied, sounding very unenthusiastic for someone who was asking to help out in the first place. With a few minor instructions on where things are and where things should be set, dinner was soon made and served, both Yuuka and Tenshi taking seats adjacent to each other.

“Whoah, this really smells nice. Is this some kind of meat?” Tenshi asked, poking at her food with her chopsticks.

“It’s pork, yes. Is that fine?”

Tenshi quickly nodded. “Yeah, for sure. I haven’t eaten meat in like, forever. I just uh, expected you to be some kind of vegetarian, I guess, somehow.” Yuuka shrugged. Was it just because of the green…? She was a youkai, after all, and vegetarian youkai weren’t exactly common. “Well anyways, thanks a bunch--” With that, she dug in. After confirming that Tenshi wasn’t going to get carried away and choke on anything, Yuuka began to eat as well.

It was a nice dinner. Small talk occasionally cropped up, most instances of such initiated by Tenshi, but it was probably the quietest she’d been since she suddenly appeared to Yuuka earlier. Of course, that was only because her mouth was busy getting stuffed with food…

Her food finished and Tenshi’s long gone, Yuuka stood and took the dishes off of the table and to the sink to wash them.

“Oh yeah, Yuuka?”

“Mm?”

“You never told me what a masochist was.”

“...I didn’t.”

“Well, I still wanna know. Tell me.”

Yuuka rolled her eyes. What weird timing, as well… “Ask one of your other friends. I’m sure they would explain it better than myself,” she replied, not wanting to deal with this. Besides, it would be pretty funny if she actually did do that…

“Yeah? Well, alright… It wasn’t some kinda insult, right?”

“Are you worried about that?”

“W-Well--” Tenshi let out a huff, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. “Not worried. Just wondering.”

“Hmhm. It’s not an insult.”

Tenshi had a skeptical look as she peered over at Yuuka. “...If you say so. But if I hear it is, I’m gonna come back here and kick your ass.”

“Mhm, mhm. I’m sure you will.”

“...” Tenshi went quiet after that for quite some time, and just when Yuuka had finished up the dishes and was wondering when Tenshi was going to be leaving, she stood from her seat. “Well, I can probably go home now… Or rather, should, I guess. It’s getting pretty late.”

“Indeed.” Yuuka found herself wondering exactly whether it was fine for someone like Tenshi to just be hanging around on Earth with no supervision, but she figured it wasn’t worth questioning. Besides, despite her “delinquent” reputation, she was well-behaved at Yuuka’s home, and that’s all she really cared about. “You’ll be fine getting home by yourself, I presume?”

“Yep. See ya.” She strolled on over to the door with a lazy wave, and just like that, Tenshi left. Yuuka was alone again, and though Tenshi’s company was surprisingly pleasant, she still let out a small sigh of relief. She could relax now, hopefully...

Well, only for a minute or so, after which the door was hastily re-opened, Tenshi poking her head in. “I forgot, but I’m totally coming back for a rematch later, okay? You’d better be ready!”

Before Yuuka could respond, the door was shut again. She stood where she was for a good couple of minutes just to make sure Tenshi wasn’t going to abruptly pop in again, before cracking a small smile and chuckling.

What a weirdo.

[tbogost]

REVIEW: The Technomancer

Published June 28, 2016, on ICXM.net

When I first started playing The Technomancer, I was struck by how it reminded me of other literature, movies and games that I had already experienced before. Weaving in and out of the fast-paced combat like I did with Geralt in The Witcher 3, navigating through menus and searching for loot similar to BioWare gems Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect, and exploring the sands of Mars in a complex world evocative of Frank Herbert’s Dune all brought back good memories. The Technomancer manages to echo each of these masterpieces while also creating its own unique atmosphere and setting. Although plenty of quirks and a few pacing issues make it less than perfect, The Technomancer is a great old-school role-playing game that any fan of the genre will enjoy immensely.

You play as Zachariah Mancer, a young man who at the start of the game is undergoing the final steps of a rite of passage which will allow him to become a true brother of the Technomancers, pious and wise warriors with cybernetic implants that grant them electrical powers. Your final test sees you learning the secret origin story of the Technomancers along with their aspiration for the future, which will set in motion an adventure throughout all of Mars itself.

The story begins quite complex as you’re almost instantly thrown into a world full of tense situations between two governments fighting over water, the scarcest resource on the planet, rogue gangs searching for power by means of intimidation and coercion, mutants terribly altered by the effects of the sun and hated by ordinary humans, plenty of alien creatures, and of course, the Technomancers. The lack of in-depth exposition at the beginning of the campaign makes it hard to follow along with everyone’s motives at first, especially when the game claims that a karma system is constantly affecting your relations with each of these groups, but things become more clear, even fascinating, after a few hours playing. I enjoyed the story almost the entire time, and felt that it only truly faltered towards the middle of the game when I was forced to spend several hours running errands for an uninteresting ruler of a foreign city for no particular reason or purpose.

Although the cutscenes suffer from some lighting errors and dreadful lip syncing, they occur rarely, and are not that important to a game like The Technomancer anyway. I never observed any performance issues outside of the cutscenes, and the writing, voice acting, and environments are great throughout.

The game is not technically open-world, but rather takes place in several different hub areas across Mars. You gain access to more regions as you progress in the story and are eventually able to fast travel between some of them, but still need to trek across massive amounts of space often. One of my favorite games, Knights of the Old Republic, takes you from location to location in a linear pattern; after completing the missions on one planet it was likely that you would never return there. In The Technomancer however, it is essential to backtrack to locations that you’ve already visited over and over again in order to complete side missions and main missions, especially during the middle portion of the game. This takes away from a lot of the fun and is far more tedious errand-work than I’ve experienced in other role-playing titles. Furthermore, enemies constantly respawn in these places and cannot be avoided, so you may find yourself anxiously dreading combat encounters while already spending unnecessary amounts of time running through the multiple hubs just to reach an objective marker at a final destination. After that, guess what? You’ve got to fight your way out all over again.

Yet this isn’t at all to say that I didn’t enjoy exploration in The Technomancer. Although travelling is monotonous, observation is engaging. Every hub area is distinct. The underground city Opis is dank and ominous, with tension between soldiers and gangs always present and a steady, electric soundtrack keeping things suspenseful. Other regions are extremely colorful, with beautiful lighting and contrasting styles of electronic music creating an entirely new sense of wonder. I enjoyed taking in each of these atmospheres and going out hunting for crates of gear or side missions the first three or four times through, just not when I was forced to return more times than is reasonable. It’s silly that you cannot set custom waypoints, but holding the right trigger brings up a slightly opaque thumbnail of the map, which I found handy as I traversed the environment.

Combat may seem unfair at the start of the game, (I had to play the first few hours on easy difficulty before ramping up to normal) but once you get used to the controls and learn the techniques required for success, it becomes enjoyable. By holding the right bumper and pressing X, Y or B while fighting, you switch between three stances: warrior, rogue, and guardian. Warrior wields a staff and is focused on strong area attacks, rogue uses a gun and dagger and is based on agility and critical hit damage, and guardian has you flourishing a mace and shield and is centered on health and defense.

Most games would force you to pick a single playstyle at the start of the game, but Technomancer encourages you to switch between all three styles mid-fight, although it does take some practice remembering which keys bind to which stances and what situations are best-suited to each. In addition to physical fighting you can also employ your Technomancer powers at any time, shooting enemies with beams of electricity or stunning them with high-powered punches packed with voltage, just to name a couple options.

All four methods of combat have their own intricate skill trees, and while it takes ages to max out multiple trees, it is doable. Every three levels you get access to additional traits as well which affect your physical and intellectual capabilities. These grant you passive bonuses such as the ability to craft more complex upgrades for your weapons or to convince computer-controlled companions to follow your commands.

Combat itself is most unique because of the disruption mechanic. Weapons and skills have various stats associated with them: increase damage, critical hit chance, chance to poison and more, one of which includes the chance to disrupt enemy attacks. Since there isn’t a symbol to point out that an enemy is about to strike and should be avoided like in, say, the Batman: Arkham games, it’s up to you to watch each of your enemies’ movements and to time your attacks proficiently. If you manage to disrupt an enemy, knocking them off balance or stunning them, you’ll have a major advantage and will be able to inflict loads of damage in the short seconds before they comes back to their senses.

Sometimes the game will go into slow-motion for a split-second as you or an enemy begins to carry out an attack. During this short time period you have the option to either continue with your current plan or to execute a different tactic entirely. Not only does this feature allow for last-minute changes to your battle strategy, but it also looks neat visually, and the animation is so brief that it never slows down the pace of the brawl.

You come across plenty of different companions during your adventure in The Technomancer, each of whom assists in battle and offers insight and advice about the world, including judging the morality of your actions. You share equipment with companions, so it’s important to manage your inventory rationally in order to make sure everyone has optimal gear. I enjoyed the company of my allies and the ability to switch between any two of them for slightly varied fights and passive boosts.

Unfortunately, I ran into several issues that should not be present in any game. For example, I once asked a character if he had ever been to a location called [i]“The Underworks”[/i] before as we stood directly inside of it. He replied in past tense, describing in great detail the time when he had been to The Underworks long ago and what it looked like. It was an odd conversation that clearly wasn’t thought out very well and that I didn’t expect to come across in an otherwise cohesively written game. While experiences similar to this one are not common throughout the game, they are present in several places.

Another problem is embedded in the karma system, which affects how your companions and other characters respond to your actions throughout the world. Although I appreciate the changes in dialogue proportional to your endeavors both good and bad, I never felt like my actions had a major impact on the world as a whole, and if they did, the game didn’t do a good job of illustrating that. I found myself questioning the purpose of the karma system often and wondering whether it was a necessary addition. Sometimes it isn’t even logical. At one point I lied to a character, telling him that I had successfully completed a task he had previously assigned me. My lie seemed to go off unnoticed; I was applauded for a job well done. Nevertheless, a notification warned me that my relationship with said character had declined a significant amount. So which was it? Did he actually appreciate what I had done? Did he know that I abandoned his orders yet pretended otherwise? Occasions like this aren’t immersive, but plain frustrating. I want to know why my decisions matter and what incidents they lead to. The karma system doesn’t appear to be central to The Technomancer, but it’s hinted at enough that I think it could have been improved upon much more.

Summary

The Technomancer is a very solid game that seems to be almost a mixture of an old-school role-playing title and a modern third-person action game. It features classic customization options through skill trees that affect how you play, companions with genuine personalities, and a good main plot overall. However, it also remembers to implement complex and rewarding combat mechanics that encourage multiple different playstyles of fast-paced fighting. Although peculiar nuisances like the faulty karma system are irritating and bigger issues like the suddenly-sluggish experience halfway through the game make it less than perfect, there’s plenty of satisfaction in this title. While the “cause and effect” mechanics may not be as fleshed out as in modern titles like The Witcher 3, The Technomancer blends enough new qualities with vintage attributes in order to create an authentic world and a whole bunch of electric fun.

[2traveldads-blog]

Do you ever know that there’s a place you want to visit but you’re not sure where to begin or what’s attainable in one trip?  Well, that’s a problem we face a lot. We expect that we can experience the majority of a place but then don’t understand the actual layout of the area and all of the distractions we’ll face.  Enter Puerto Rico. A fantastic way to visit Puerto Rico is to pick just one portion of the island and roll from there.

Northeastern Puerto Rico is an ideal area to experience everything from tropical waters to towering rainforests, totally chill resorts to expansive stars at night.  Since this trip was a first for me and I wasn’t sure just how accessible or safe some of the big ticket experiences would be, the fam stayed home while I scouted it out… and now I know just what we’ll all love together next time we visit Puerto Rico.

Need-to-knows to visit Puerto Rico

When it comes to Caribbean travel, Puerto Rico has a hand up on other islands.  Being a territory of the United States (OMG, it should be a state. Whatever…) US Citizens can visit without a passport, or international visitors can get to Puerto Rico with the same visa requirements as taking a trip across the continental USA.

And since it’s part of the USA, Puerto Rico runs off the US Dollar.  There is no pondering exchange rates.  There’s no weird pricing structure and there’s also no wheeling and dealing on goods.  A lot of people love the bargaining process, but just like you wouldn’t necessarily do that in a shop in Southern California, you wouldn’t do that in Puerto Rico.

Note:  a funny question that came up prior to this trip was if any shots or health precautions are needed. The answer is basically no, but just like with any Caribbean destination, including Florida, you’ll want to be wary of mosquitoes due to the potential of Zika Virus.

Language in Puerto Rico

Remember, Puerto Rico is an extension of the USA which makes it more simple and less stressful for some than visiting Mexico or the Domenican Republic.  While Spanish is the primary language we had zero experiences, either on the east coast or in the San Juan area, where we needed to use it as nearly everybody we encountered everywhere spoke fluent English.  Yes, we went off the beaten path; yes, we went into the mountains; yes, we traveled beyond our hotels, but no: no moment of panicked tourist unable to communicate.

Tip:  still be prepared to communicate in Spanish both in the event you must and as a courtesy to the residents you will no doubt interact with.

Note:  the Puerto Rican Spanish accent is quite different from Mexican Spanish.  There are also words and phrases I’d never heard… and my Spanish accent was odd to some people I talked with.  Just saying.

How to plan a visit to Puerto Rico

Travel planning is so important, especially when you consider the cost of travel experiences these days. Sure you can deplane in a new land and let the wind take you, but that just isn’t the smartest plan.  When you visit Puerto Rico you’ll want to determine your goals:  adventure or relaxation… or both.  If you’re traveling with kids, you’ll want to consider their level of engagement and physical skill.

So here’s what you do (or just go with our itinerary):  

Google “activities in Puerto Rico” and review the top suggestions

Consider who’s traveling and what they CAN do

Pick one solid activity per day that everyone CAN do

Pick one optional activity per day that some may WANT to do

Plot the locations on a map

Pair up nearby activities, leaving room in the plans to be able to do the second activity if time allows

Tip:  if you visit Puerto Rico with a larger group or have travelers with a broad age/physical skill set, be okay with splitting up for the day. Having a spa day may be perfect for some while jumping into waterfalls may be a dream for others.

Top Activities in Eastern Puerto Rico

Like we always remind with our articles WE DIDN’T DO EVERYTHING that you can experience in the area, but did do our research in advance and had an unforgettable time both being adventurous and relaxing, and that’s why we say that the following are the top activities when you visit Puerto Rico’s east coast.

Exploring El Yunque National Forest

Ever since seeing tropical rainforests in movies and cartoons as a kid, it’s been a bucket list item to go hiking through the jungle surrounded by dripping vines while clouds moved through the trees.  El Yunque National Forest is just that.  It’s full of waterfalls, the most epic vines and rooty trees, and more creature sounds than you can imagine.  There is a great Visitors Center at El Portal that is the perfect stop to get your bearings and learn a bit about the vegetation and animals you’re about to see.

Tip:  take time to talk with a ranger about any road condition issues or warning before you head off into the mountains.  Flash floods DO HAPPEN in the rainforest and El Yunque National Forest’s roads are windy and suceptable to damage.

Easy sights within El Yunque Naitonal Forest

El Portal Visitors Center and canopy walk

Yokahu Tower – view point and photo opp

La Coca Falls – viewing and short trails

La Mina Falls – hiking through the rainforest, waterfalls and swimming in tropical splash pools

Doable with kids:  yes! There are lots of sights that are easily accessible from the roads and there are kid-friendly hikes as well.

Kayaking in Bio-luminescent waters

We love kayaking and do it all the time.  From the marsh lakes of Wisconsin to ecotours in Florida, it’s our favorite way to gently get into nature.  Kayaking with the chance to experience the bioluminescent waters of Puerto Rico is a must-do.  If you’re unfamiliar, bioluminescense is a visible light reaction that you can see when certain organisms, such as plankton, are disturbed. In the Fajardo area on Puerto Rico’s east there is a brackish lagoon called Bio Bay. It’s part of the Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve and it’s a pristine slice of nature.

Going with a licensed guide, you can kayak through the most epic mangrove tunnel outside of the Everglades until you reach Bio Bay.  There are no lights anywhere and you’re paddling in near pitch black conditions. As you get closer to the lagoon, the water starts to light up with every stroke. Wiggling your fingers or feet in the warm water below creates even more bioluminescent activity and then with the stars above you… It’s unforgettable.

Tip: if you’re going to be on the island of Vieques when you visit Puerto Rico, Mosquito Bay is also reserve where you can experience bio-luminescence via kayaking.

Note:  this is an experience you can only remember.  Photographing the bioluminescense is impossible without a highly specialized camera, so adjust your expectations now.

Other bio-luminescent kayaking spots in Puerto Rico

Bio Bay – Fajardo, east coast

Mosquito Bay – Vieques, east coast detached island

La Parguera – Boqueron / Ponce, south western coast

Doable with kids:  no, if the kids are scared easily or struggle to control themselves. This is a very calm and special experience for all that participate, so be wise about bringing small kids. Yes, if you’re visiting Puerto Rico with older kids (6+). Kayaking in the dark is really cool but also really creepy.  To keep everyone’s eyes adjusted for viewing the bioluminescense there are no flashlights or spotlights except used by guides in emergency situations.

from KayakingPuertoRico.com

Snorkeling Puerto Rico’s tropical waters

Oh snorkeling! What travel experience to a tropical destination is complete without snorkeling? We do a lot of snorkeling in Mexico, from Playa del Carmen to Cabo San Lucas, and the underwater life in eastern Puerto Rico is just as rich and totally different.  

The brain and fan corals of Eastern Puerto Rico make for some fascinating reefs to explore.  There are all kinds of reefs and trenches along the coast, so whether you’re a surface snorkeler or somebody who pretends to be a diver without tanks (like me) you’ll see some incredible wildlife.

Species to look for while snorkeling

Parrot fish

Angel fish

Grunt fish

Green sea turtle (rare)

Black tip reef shark (saw one!!)

Sting rays (shuffle when you walk into the water)

Sea urchins, stars, and more.

Snorkeling beaches in Eastern Puerto Rico

Islas Palimino (private) and Paliminito (tour)

Playa Escondido – Farjado area

Culebra – detatched eastern island

Sombe, Vieques – large island, southeastern

Doable with kids:  yes, but not every beach is recommended with new swimmers.  Eastern Puerto Rico is where the open Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean meet, so the winds and currents are VERY strong and could prove dangerous for the novice snorkeler or weak swimmer.

Relaxation on rainy days

Just know that when you visit Puerto Rico you’ll most likely get a day or two of rain. The rain may be breif or completely epic. There are some great options for making the most of rainy days in Puerto Rico, including spa visits, dining, hiking in the rainforest (hello, it’s called the rainforest for a reason), seeking out art, shopping, and enjoying everything rum-based.

While staying at the El Conquistador Resort in Farjado a rainy day getting a massage and just relaxing in the niwa totally ate up spare time while the lightning was going crazy outside.  True, you may not be staying at the Waldorf Astoria when you visit Puerto Rico, but all of these suggestions are great fillers wherever you may be.

Note: it’s also tons of fun to go swimming in the rain, but when there’s lightning, you need to be wary and stay out of the water.  Nobody wants to fry their brains on vacation.

Ideas with kids:  we always travel with a few coloring books for the rare moment we need them. Also, with our oldest starting home-schooling, we will be bringing his laptop and lessons when traveling, so homework is perfect for waiting out the random Puerto Rican storm.

Where to stay when you visit Puerto Rico: El Conquistador Resort

With so many options for travelers, from AirBNB to resorts, there’s a lot to consider when choosing accommodations.  Things we look for as a family are proximity to sites we want to visit as well as immediate access to the outdoors, both in terms of pools and nature.

El Conquistador Resort was homebase for this Puerto Rico visit and it was perfect for our itinerary and needs.  There was a variety of indoor activities including a family arcade, shopping, and countless restaurants; we actually could’ve stayed there the whole time and been content (but we love to explore!). And the food was delish, particularly Chops Steakhouse.

Tip:  if you’re planning on the fly and aren’t sure what your full itinerary will be when you visit Puerto Rico, El Conquistador Resort has an Enterprise Rental Car location on property.  We used it to get to El Yunque National Forest.

The rooms are very nice with plenty of bright space and outdoor access (large balconies).  There are several pools around the property, including a lap pool and a swim-up bar.  Also a part of the resort is Coqui Waterpark. It is an additional fee to enter and enjoy the waterslides, lazy river and pools, but if you are up for it and want to enjoy both the park and amazing Caribbean view, spend an afternoon.

A huge bonus to staying with El Conquistador Resort was access to their private island, Isla Palomino. Perfect beaches, a coral reef, lounge chairs and palapas, watersports rentals (kayaks/SUP/skis), dining: it’s basically everything you think of when you’re looking for a luxury resort or family vacay.  Oh, and to access the ferry to Isla Palomino or to get to Coqui Waterpark there is a funicular (cable car) that carts guests up and down the steep hill from resort to marina level.

Tip:  when choosing your accommodations, take into account the additional value a property provides beyond the room you’ll sleep in.  Sometimes paying more for a hotel room saves you money in the long run when you consider the dining and tours you might be planning separately that are worked into the full resort experience.

Good option with kids:  yes!  The El Conquistador has everything from a game room to scavenger hunts around the property. There is family friendly dining as well as upscale dinner options. And don’t forget that there is a funicular and waterpark.

So yes, I’m completely ready to visit Puerto Rico again ASAP, particularly with the kids.  The options for being out in nature abound and the fun that can be had on Puerto Rico’s east coast is endless.  Overall, eastern Puerto Rico was on par or less expensive than vaction options on either the Atlantic or Gulf Coasts of Florida with the same amazing weather.  The food was great and we felt safe everywhere we went.

There is much more to Puerto Rico so watch for more detailed artcles to come, including some amazing ideas for exploring San Juan as well.

Want to pin this for when you start to make your plan to visit Puerto Rico?  Go for it!

Visit Puerto Rico: exploring the east coast of the Island of Enchantment Do you ever know that there’s a place you want to visit but you’re not sure where to begin or what’s attainable in one trip?  

[rigelmejo]

My dudes wasabi Japanese is so cool this site is so cool literally my dream site ToT (thank u @yue-muffin for all those free reading links <3 which is what included wasabi Japanese)

I know what I’m doing after I finish reading Japanese in 30 Hours! (I might keep reading Reading Japanese for fun too just cause... I might as well we will See).

So like curse me if, when I say I will, it makes me not lol. I hope I DO actually do this. Because it sounds so much more clicks-with-me right now than my alternate study plan (which was Nukemarine memrise - which I WILL eventually do ToT I plan it ok, and tae Kim’s grammar guide - which I’m happy to replace with any grammar guide I’ll finish fucking reading tbh).

1. Remembered bilingualmanga exists and I am making no commitments to read anything (tho I have 4 mangas open and an urge to read them for the first time in years since I read yotsuba earlier and followed it). But I will say it’s quite cool I could um read and look words up (ditto for just regular iOS word lookup and Japanese scripts... I’d say ditto for Animelon too and I DO recommend it but I’m just not really an anime watcher).

2. Wasabi Japanese has a: a grammar guide. So my ass is gonna try reading it (in my defense it has audio which I find marginally nicer than the other sources I’ve been looking at... like I literally read Japanese in 30 Hours aloud audio helps me... also why I suspect in part Nukemarine’s decks help they make me listen a lot). https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/wasabis-online-japanese-grammar-reference/

3. Even better (to me) wasabi Japanese has b. A grammar drills lesson course that has you shadow and practice SENTENCE PATTERNS AND GRAMMAR. I was literally considering buying a Japanese shadowing textbook for just this purpose (but that textbook was random phrases whereas this is targeted sentence patterns). Also I learn best by just fucking seeing sentence patterns so I kind of suspect an activity like this would click with my brain better than actual grammar guide reading (tho grammar guide reading gives me a useful overview of what to start noticing). Like I literally own the book Japanese Sentence Patterns just cause it was the only thing that clicked... Bonuses about this lesson course wasabi Japanese has: it’s me Doing stuff, I learn best just Doing tbh (it’s why just brute force reading clicks well with me lol). And better, Doing stuff in a streamlined way so I can not bumble as long lol and I have reference if I’m confused (Also why I like graded readers). Info: https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/how-to-proceed-with-the-instantaneous-composition-method/ The lessons: https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/materials-for-japanese-lessons-intensive-reading/

4. Wasabi Japanese has lessons through stories, listening reading and shadowing. Phenomenal. Both the perfect chance to test if Listening Reading works some more (which I’m currently into), and to actually DO some things I wanna do like read and practice listening (versus Nukemarines memrise courses which are just flashcards, or playing Japanese video games which is... doable but too draining to be enjoyable or efficient yet). I’m excited. How to use: https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/japanese-lessons-how-to-proceed-with-read-aloud-method/ Actual lessons:. https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/fairy-tales-and-short-stories-with-easy-japanese/

5. Assuming you’re better at Japanese than me - wonderfully wasabi Japanese has a course I could use, right after finishing that last one, at a slightly more difficult level, with manga: https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/materials-for-japanese-lessons-intensive-reading/

6. Alternatively, want a different N3 course that’s radio program based? Here it is: https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/materials-for-japanese-lessons-read-aloud-method/ so yeah, wasabi Japanese looks like a quite nice alternative to flashcards or a textbook if a babe just wants to learn from stories with audio for a while ToT

7. Also I am again contemplating the benefit of just playing audio in the background more. Will I do it? I don’t know. I’d love to play SpoonFed Chinese audio, Japaneseaudiolessons, and Japanese core 2k audio on in the background. As it’s all comprehensible input I know I’d mostly pickup if I just heard it enough to Review it (whereas rn I just hear each audio file once ever on a walk then never again cause I have little time for focused audio only listening). But I feel bad when I play them in the bg and don’t fully listen ;-;. Ah the dilemma. Truly though they’d help so much if I played them in the background I know it... as of this month as an experiment since reading The Word Brain, I’ve been listening to SOME Chinese audio more. Specifically Guardians audiobook, a random Chinese hp audiobook, Alice in wonderland audiobook, silent reading audiobook. You would not believe how much it’s been noticeably helping. Usually it’s avenuex’s Guardian audiobook and every time I catch a bit of it casually in the bg while working, I’m blown away I understand clearly what I didn’t the time before. In particular I’m probably having the most improvements in this novels comprehension, since I’m Listen Reading Method with it too. But like... the first time I focused listened to it during L R? I caught everything with difficulty during the only-chinese audio but English text step 3. And then listening alone only caught the main story beats/scenes (which was already a major improvement for me). Now when working I can actually catch the paragraphs about Guo Changcheng’s family, his uncle, going to McDonald’s - these are details I very specifically remember being the ones I could NOT catch doing listening only the first time post L R. So after idk 3-6 listening of this chapter, just listening again in the background (since L R takes too much time I’m lazy I only do L R once), I’ve made this much progress. I only saw the full definition of everything ONCE one time during L R step 3 once. But just listening more I catch more and more. And of course, as I catch more the unclear parts become easier and easier to maybe figure out. All I know is I severely underestimated the benefit of repeated listening - at least when (at one point once) you comprehended the material. So considering this... I think now with hindsight, yes listening to condensed audio of a show or just a show, that you’ve seen before with English subs/dual subs/in target language and looked unknown words up, in the background probably could help. If at one point you comprehended it before. (So for me Guardian cdrama is hella on this list lol). With hindsight yeah, repeated audio of an audiobook chapter or audio drama you followed the target language subs for before, or that you could read but not hear alone, would probably help listening skills. Definitely my audio flashcard files where they’re literally Built to be comprehensible since it’s English then target language each line. So... yeah in hindsight more audio, even background audio, can help. Guarantee when I’m not L R with the guardian audiobook I’m barely even listening. And still I find myself catching parts of it.

8. My roommate got too excited about Final Fantasy 14 and informed me it’s free to play now.. which I didn’t know. So of course I foolishly looked up if I could play it in Japanese on a PlayStation and looks like answer is probably yes and I am sorely tempted...

9. It’s gonna be wild for me looking back on may progress at the end of the month because: I did almost nothing I planned, I got demotivated then intensely motivated, I’ve done a ton ToT, I also did a ton of Japanese immersion which?? I’m not even counting?? I don’t track my Japanese immersion yet because like... it’s not my priority right now. I read a ton of manhua the other day and just forgot to log it. I watched some of the woh concert and just did not count it, I read a surprising amount of Japanese this month for someone “not studying it much” yet (aka maybe more than I read last time I studied Japanese??). I did a lot of L R method I didn’t even track, I did a ton of background listening and I’m not tracking just hoping for the best. Did I finish 小王子 this month or last month? Whatever month that was I read like 4 Chinese books. I just remembered I read like 3 Japanese graded readers but didn’t count them cause they felt too simple to count (only 28 pages each). I watched 10 Cure Dolly Japanese grammar vids tho not sure how much help it is long term. Whatever time I did the Japanese video games had to count for something even tho it was draining af. Anyway my point is just... count on me to not do what I planned but be more productive when I do that. All that said: I’m more productive when I set plans even if they aren’t always followed, so I’ll keep making them lol. I think I just needed to hit that turning point of “do anything you want, just continue to do something” instead of “complete this first!” (Although I’m still aiming to complete things - or at least go for progressively challenging things). I dunno... I want to say I want to consider just trying to finish things imperfectly just finish them (to motivate me to finish my Hanzi books, Japanese books, courses I find). But knowing me.. I have no idea what will get me to keep going. Just need to remember it’s ok to do it imperfectly. Just need to remember to place what I will care about and actually do, as priority over what it is I think “must be fully done.”

[rigelmejo]

Unrelated completely, regarding listening reading method:

I am genuinely so excited to test the listening reading method out wholeheartedly. When I looked up the method, few people were trying it with Chinese, and of the people I saw a lot were beginners with less vocabulary than I have which I think both made the task harder for them and made their progress look different than I imagine mine will.

For example, in my first attempts using listening reading method, I noticed I picked up a TON of words I could already read, and a TON of phrases I could already read but didn’t properly “chunk” until I heard them aloud. Whereas the beginners tended to document picking up entirely new words, and not understanding much of any paragraph for the first several chapters. Whereas again, because I had more vocabulary, my first chapters I listening reading method did I heard a TON of individual words/followed the main gist, and it took several chapters for me to start finally understanding full phrase chunks and sentence chunks together. I 100% think the listening reading method can work with mandarin, I just think since few people have tried it and shared the experience, I’m going to find out how much it can improve someone’s mandarin myself...

I saw people who did listening reading method with german, and Dutch, who like the creator of the method ended up going from 0 to B1-B2 listening and sometimes-reading* skill in 3-5 months (reading skill tended to depend on how much they focused on the actual text during target language audio/target language text portion). The people with the most success usually already had a foundation of several hundred or a couple thousand common words, and had seen some grammar summarized beforehand (both of which I have already done with mandarin). I’m extremely curious how far the listening reading method can take my reading skills specifically - since the method mainly improves listening, and reading is simply affected a bit as a consequence of picking up new words/reading target language text along with the audio during one of the steps. With Chinese I suspect I’ll have to do more Hanzi learning, and reading-only work like intensive reading, to supplement my reading skills. However I already do a lot of intensive reading, so maybe that will keep the skills relatively even.

I do know that only couple dozen hours of listening reading method already boosted my listening skills a TON. So listening reading method definitely improves listening skills, as it is intended to. The actual method suggests learners listen read through an entire novel in a week or two, then do another novel etc, at least 3 novels though potentially more - and redoing some novels again from the start if desired. For my kind of novels - like Guardian by Priest, that means 106+ chapters, 800+ pages, 30 minutes audio a chapter (53 hours for the English text-chinese audio portion, another 53 hours for the Chinese text-chinese audio portion, and lets say half as many hours to read it in English 26.5 hours). So that is 132.5+ hours to listen read to Guardian. The listening reading method assumes you do a few books, so let’s say around 3 books, 396 hours (roughly 400 hours). Well... no wonder people saw such improvements! 400 hours of listening to comprehensible input in a European language will get an English speaker quite far into learning. Most European languages according to FSI take around 600-750 hours for an English native speaker to learn. Listening reading method would fill a huge chunk of those hours, and if you focus on the reading portion too, then that should definitely at least be a solid foundation into B1 I can imagine.

Listening reading methods creator also tends to do these in 6-12 hour reading bursts per day - which I absolutely never do because I’m lazy and unable to focus on things for too long usually without switching things up. But like I’ve mentioned, even me just doing maybe 12 hours of listening reading method so far, in small 30 minute to 2 hour chunks, has been enough to make noticeable improvement in my listening comprehension. If someone is already intermediate and just wants to improve their listening skill, I think they’d see fast results like I have regarding their listening skill dragging up closer to their reading skill level.

When I read the listening reading method creators website, they sounded like 10 hours was about how long it took (for beginners in a language) to start parsing individual words and recognizing them, 30 hours to start hearing word chunks and phrases they could understand, and 60-100 hours to start comprehending a majority of the words.

I am therefore very curious what my rate of improvement will be. I do feel chinese study using the listening reading method at least for listening skills will see similar levels of improvement. I’m wondering if my listening skills will improve a bit faster, since I’m already past the “progress at 30 hours” mark expectations wise - I can hear many individual words, can hear many sentence chunks/phrases, and just struggle to follow some full sentences and catch brand new words until I’ve heard them several times. I do very much want to completely go through Guardian with this method - for many reasons lol. 1. Because I’ve been wanting to read it in english and I’ll have a chance to use that for study which is cool, 2. Because I’ve been wanting to read it in chinese and this makes it doable/more comprehensible for my current skill level (aka following along to the audiobook I will read at a less slow pace/comprehend more since the English will be fresh in my mind, compared to if I just read it extensively on its own), 3. Avenuex made a beautiful audiobook I adore and I’ll have an excuse to listen to it while actually comprehending everything since I’ll have the English and Chinese novel to look at while o read! So... once I’m through Guardian, I’ll be able to answer for myself what over 100 hours of progress doing the listening reading method produce, how well it works when using a book with a more complicated/high vocab style - which is sort of priest, reading challenge wise, and the kind of novel the listening reading method creator recommends using. Also, I’ll have read Guardian! ovo)/ and I will have read a full priest novel, so I’ll have picked up words by my favorite author that will hopefully make other priest novels easier to read (the same reason Tian Ya Ke may be helpful).

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Another thing people who have tried the listening reading method suggest doing first (particularly if studying a language much different than your native language, but for any language tbh). The creator of the method suggested: knowing a few hundred to a few thousand common words, and having looked at a grammar guide or overview prior. That’s something anyone who’s already a bit of a beginner, to low intermediate, probably has done or is doing. In addition, some people who have done this method suggested using something like sentence audio flashcards (in English and target language audio) and listening to them a few times, repeating them, until one felt comfortable with them. Generally common word/grammar ones, and you could do “listening reading” with those sentences too (reading them while listening to the audio). This would serve as a primer to learn the basics comfortably before going into listening reading novels. They suggested doing yjis would make the method work better - they got to B2 in Dutch in a handful of months of intensive listening reading by doing this beforehand and they think it helped a lot. While I think it’s not necessary, I do think of listening reading is hard, then getting a basis beforehand as a beginner and/or covering a easier basics common language material first will help. I use the Chinese SpoonFed Audio files which basically amounts to the same thing but no reading (if I used the flashcards still, it would include reading). So I do have some sentences/phrases/words I have a good listening foundation for already. Also, as mentioned, I do read, so for many common words and Hanzi I already can read them. I do think this advice is very good for beginners though, if they want to see noticable results sooner (versus 30-50 hours into listening reading before they start learning significant amounts - basically it just means they’d do 30-50 hours prestudy instead of basic common words/grammar, to make the listening reading initially less difficult). A total beginner could dive right into listening reading (just like my chaotic self first started to try to read Chinese knowing 500 words and brute forcing mdzs and guardian a few paragraphs at a time), it just means it’ll feel more difficult at first for a while, and they’ll be mostly learning basics for a while first before they build enough of a basis to comprehend more. Which is fine. It all just comes down to how much incompréhensibilty can you personally tolerate without giving up. The creator of the method? Can tolerate a TON. Me? I can tolerate a brutally large amount, surprisingly, but usually I need to comprehend had least the main idea and that’s a minimum of like 40-60% depending on which parts I’m comprehending. Most people will feel it’s unbearable until they can comprehend at least 80-90% (and I certainly PREFER material I comprehend that much of). And most people ideally are comfortable once they understand 95-98% (think reading a book in your native language with some unknown words you can figure out easily from context, or graded readers made to feel this easy with around this many unknown words for you to figure out in context, or maybe manhua/manga/comics once you’re a pretty decent intemediate level in a language etc).

[rigelmejo]

Reading Chinese is a bit of an odd up down roller coaster experience sometimes and I Know it’s because as a learner like. The process is like this: you don’t know things and are confused and feel completely drowning, you notice some things you didn’t understand and it feels like a slog but you have an idea of what to do, you are less confused and excited and it feels easier

Then it repeats. You realize there’s still stuff you don’t understand (now that the euphoria of recognizing the previous stuff has been worn down by this New Draining Confusion). You try to figure out what some of the things you don’t understand are - it feels like a slog as you realize HOW MUCH you didn’t know and need to figure out. You manage to figure some of it out - reading feels bizarrely easy again and a breeze compared to what you just went through now. The things you didn’t recognize/recognized/figured out are now almost intuitely easy to follow.

Then it happens AGAIN lol.

—

Obviously each new cycle of it is a good thing. Since it means you’ve learned new things. And even when you do hit the “draining confusion” it means at least you’re now understanding enough stuff “below that level” that you can even notice and focus on this new level of stuff being confusing to you. And the slog of learning after, is you able to work on learning stuff you couldn’t learn previously because you weren’t even noticing it before, etc. So it’s all a good thing.

But wow does it feel confusing from a learners perspective lol. You feel like you’ve reached some nice level of comprehension that feels good - then because you still have more to learn, you hit the next “never mind this is CONFUSING” stage and it feels like you’ve made NO gains. Even though you have.

—

Yes this is about 那些风化雪月 lol. So I started that novel, as you know, at the start of November. For whatever reason, each page was a slog and I struggled to get through the half I did finish - and I definitely only followed the gist and Some details fuzzily. Even though I was using a dictionary, it was still SO confusing and draining to me.

So. I stopped that novel for now. And I went back to 寒舍 the other day. Now, last time I read 寒舍 last month it was a slog but an enjoyable one because it was interesting. If I say 那些风化雪月 was an 8/10 (easy vocabulary but a decent amount to lookup, hard writing style for me to follow, hard for me to care about plot) for hard for me to push through, then 寒舍 is a 7/10 (harder vocabulary when I started and Tons of new words, but more interesting and easier writing style for me to read once I got used to its long sentences).

Which, as a comparison, Priest novels would be an 8-9/10 (enjoyable plot, writing style I can follow, but so drowning in vocab I cannot read unless I know a rough context of the plot already). And a Priest novel I have never read in a bit-modern setting would probably be a 9-10/10.

My point is, 寒舍 was quite hard for me to read last month. I just really enjoyed the plot, so I was able to stay motivated as I pushed through each chapter. As another comparison - when I started 寒舍， the novel 他们的故事 would be a 5/10 in difficulty (some unknown words, but with a dictionary completely readable quickly, engaging plot, easy writing style to follow). If I’d already read the chapter, then a 2/10 difficulty (just slightly harder than a graded reader).

Well I went back to 寒舍 the other day. It is now a 5/10 difficulty wise. Which I am blown away by. There are still new words, but at a pace now where theoretically I could guess from context and follow the plot without a dictionary (like 他们的故事). Previous chapters I’ve already read are now around a 4/10 difficulty (a lot of unknown words I’ve looked up before I still haven’t quite learned yet, but I picked up enough the chapters are now much easier to skim and follow for main plot without a dictionary). So 寒舍 is MUCH easier than the last time I read it! I am blown away frankly because now the chapters are taking probably 20 minutes now (they took 30-45 minutes to read before). I’m able to read a lot more without needing the dictionary.

So I suppose my point is... while I felt I was slogging unpleasantly through 那些风化雪月 and struggling to just follow the plot, maybe somehow it did help my reading skills improve still. Because going back to 寒舍 it is clear I’ve made some reading comprehension progress. This story is way easier than it was last time, noticeably. And not just because it “feels” easier in comparison to the slog I just went through. Even in comparison to last time I was reading 寒舍, I can now read through a few paragraphs at a time without looking up a word - whereas before it WAS at least one word a sentence if not more.

I went back to 他们的故事 last night just to see where that is at too - and it’s difficulty is now easily a 3-4/10 in difficulty. I see a few unknown words, but it’s only a bit harder then a graded reader, and I could likely follow most details and the full general plot without a dictionary. So like... I guess thank you 那些风化雪月??? I suffered through you but like?? Clearly me pushing through the confusion must’ve helped me pick up some kind of words or sentence parsing skills I needed...

Also, as a test, I tried to read the first chapter of a novel I was looking at reading eventually: 魔尊要抱抱. I figured this would be good because 1 I think it looks cool and 2 it has a manhua so if it’s too hard to read (like 破云 is) then I can go to the manhua to read and have more pictures for context.

Well I started chapter 1 of 魔尊要抱抱and knew almost every word. Around the level of a graded reader to 他们的故事 as far as how easy it was to read. I literally only looked up one word every several paragraphs, and I don’t think I saw any Hanzi I couldn’t at Least guess the pinyin correctly for. I was sort of floored it was that approachable as reading material. But I suppose... not too surprised? It gives me the feel of both svsss (which is a bit challenging for me to read vocab wise but doable) and ttwtadsl (which is pretty good level for me to read with a dictionary comfortably). So the fact it falls somewhere on the more comprehensible end for me isn’t too surprising. Anyway I am. Quite excited!! I didn’t expect it to be this managable to read!

I am currently in the “everything feels easier to read stage” of learning and wow is it a joy and refreshing and so comforting feeling. ToT also I am happy that. I guess whatever random stuff I’ve been doing these past months, I am noticeably managing to expand my vocab and Hanzi recognition. So I’m glad the random reading has been accomplishing that progress. (And I think the listening reading method variations I’ve done has been helping with upping my listening comprehension steadily, although slower). So wooh! For now I will just keep coasting by on reading stuff, and listening-reading, and see how far it gets me in a couple months.