hey,want to see my cats?!

I'm around 1000-1100!

Check to see how you're doing ❤️

so i guess my question is, does anyone have like. work books? for art/anatomy practice? that have actual instructions and tasks and "homework" type things in them? videos or blogs? websites? any medium works tbh, my autistic brain just needs to be given clear instruction and tasks.

check the tags on fic

block people/tags that cause you distress

look up trigger warnings for shows/movies/books

if you cannot find warnings, or something hasn't been tagged, make a decision for yourself as to if you proceed or not

register when something is causing you distress, and stop consuming that thing

Setting: nursing home with a nurse and patient. Nurse claims that a specialist will be arriving shortly to help the patient.

The middle of September is the time for the Japanese tradition of moon viewing. It's said that the September moon is especially pretty and round in Japan and of course there are some delicious related foods for the occasion as well.

I've gathered some articles and blog posts about 月見（つきみ）that were written for learners of Japanese in simple language. Most of these stories have a reading level fitting for JLPT N5 and N4 readers. If you are interested in learning about the traditions in Japanese, have a look - all texts are freely available online!

The Japan Foundation Kansai

This text is 8 pages long, graded as A2 and is available as a direct PDF download through the link below.

https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/kansai/clip/images/page/yomyom/002_tsukimi.pdf

Hirogaru Nihongo

Hirogaru Nihongo's article is only a few sentences short, but they also include a video on Tsukimidango and there's a reading comprehension quiz at the end.

https://hirogaru-nihongo.jp/hoshi/article/tsukimi/

Meika Sensei's Blog

Meika Sensei's blog for beginner readers has short, simple sentences that each add a bit more information. There is also a version for intermediate readers.

https://meikasensei.com/beginners/night-of-the-full-moon-and-moon-viewing-2/

Nihongoschool Nihongoblog

The blog post by Kazue Ono has two parts, one aimed at beginners and one for intermediate readers. It's a good practice to start with the beginner text and then try and read the more difficult one as well.

https://www.nihongoschool.co.uk/post/%E3%81%8A%E6%9C%88%E8%A6%8B%EF%BC%88%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8D%E3%81%BF%EF%BC%89-the-moon-viewing

Matcha Magazine

Honorable mention for Matcha Magazine: Their article isn't only for Tsukimi, but all Japanese traditions and celebrations taking place from September to November. Their articles include some translations in the main text to help with following along.

I wouldn't use an adblocker if ads were just banners on the side funding a website I enjoy using and want to support. Ads pop up invasively and fill my whole screen, I misclick and get warped away to another page just for trying to read an article or get a recipe.

Every app shouldn't be like every other app. Instagram didn't need reels and a shop. TikTok doesn't need a store. Instagram doesn't need to be connected to Facebook. I don't want my apps to do everything, I want a hub for a specific thing, and I'll go to that place accordingly.

I love discord, but so much information gets lost to it. I don't want to join to view things. I want to lurk on forums. I want to be a user who can log in and join a conversation by replying to a thread, even if that conversation was two days ago. I know discord has threads, it's not the same. I don't want to have to verify my account with a phone number. I understand safety and digital concerns, but I'm concerned about information like that with leaks everywhere, even with password managers.

I shouldn't have to pay subscriptions to use services and get locked out of old versions. My old disk copy of photoshop should work. I should want to upgrade eventually because I like photoshop and supporting the business. Adobe is a whole other can of worms here.

Streaming is so splintered across everything. Shows release so fast. Things don't get physical releases. I can't stream a movie I own digitally to friends because the share-screen blocks it, even though I own two digital copies, even though I own a physical copy.

I have an iPod, and I had to install a third party OS to easily put my music on it without having to tangle with iTunes. Spotify bricked hardware I purchased because they were unwillingly to upkeep it. They don't pay their artists. iTunes isn't even iTunes anymore and Apple struggles to upkeep it.

My TV shows me ads on the home screen. My dad lost access to eBook he purchased because they were digital and got revoked by the company distributing them. Hitman 1-3 only runs online most of the time. Flash died and is staying alive because people love it and made efforts to keep it up.

I have to click "not now" and can't click "no". I don't just get emails, they want to text me to purchase things online too. My windows start search bar searches online, not just my computer. Everything is blindly called an app now. Everything wants me to upload to the cloud. These are good tools! But why am I forced to use them! Why am I not allowed to own or control them?

Do y'all know this popular souvenir from Tokyo?

It's a soft, fluffy cake filled with a sweet banana custard!

But today I wanted to talk about the name itself. In English, it's pretty straightforward, but in Japanese, there's a bit more to it.

Typically, banana would be written fully in katakana (バナナ) or maybe full hiragana (ばなな). But for the name of this snack, it's written in a mix of hiragana and kanji: ばな奈。

Today I learned that it is because they wanted it to sound not just like the fruit "banana" but to also make it sound like a girl's name. In Japanese, a lot of girls' names end in the kanji 奈（な）、like 杏奈（あんな）　and 玲奈（れいな）。

Reina-chan! Anna-chan! Banana-chan! Cute.