plastic_rainbow

As already mentioned by @cvltic I also recommend ejje.weblio. I found out about it not too long ago and it has helped extensively with my translating. I often use it to see different variations of translating a certain word, or expression. Have not used it for English to Japanese much though, but I just tried it and this thing is really awesome! You can pretty much type anything, even slang words, and it'll give you lists of ways to say it in Japanese. rikaichan (firefox) rikaikun (chrome) If you hate reading kanji or want a faster way to look them up while reading something online, these add-ons/extensions will help you read them in less than a second! Just hover your mouse over any Japanese text and it'll give you the reading (in hiragana/katakana), including the definition. This has made reading anything online so much easier and I recommend it for all learners. It's also built with a dictionary, but I don't use it very often. Here are some book resources I've read that I found very helpful for intermediate learners. I understand that they may not be available for everyone, but it wouldn't hurt to list them here as well. Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You, Jay Rubin I read this one a few years ago so it's not entirely fresh in my head, but it's basically what the title says. Lots of in-depth explanations of nuances and ambiguities of the Japanese language they don't tell you in textbooks or in class. I remember clearly that it talked about the difference between "wa" and "ga", which everyone always asks about. I still get confused about it myself sometimes, but I thought this book helped in making it clearer. Read Real Japanese, Michael Emmerich Read Real Japanese, Janet Ashby If you want to tackle reading Japanese, for example book novel level material, I think these two give a good start. Both books lay out several passages from well-known Japanese novels and include side notes that give literal translations of each sentence and further explanations. It helped me greatly with my reading comprehension and I especially like how the side notes give you an idea of what each sentence means. The first book listed has a dictionary in the back and a cd audio included so you can listen while you read. Also, if people have questions about forming basic sentences or using particles, etc, I'd be happy to help in whatever way I can. Just ask on here or through pm! ^^

time to bring out my deadman mood

i can definitely see how this is, which is part of the reason why i'm afraid of starting one. but i'm also more worried about hurting the other party than myself..... i've also been kind of friend-deprived lately and need somebody to be around with, doesn't necessarily have to be a love relationship, i guess. being alone for too long is unhealthy. but if i ever think seriously about starting a love relationship though i still think i should build some maturity and widen my knowledge anyway.

just finished translating 永遠の複製! scroll up to see on original post~ since it's their month i feel devoted in getting more translations done.

how long has this been on repeat now. ughhhh too good.

i always thought being single was awesome, but it really sucks now. :< yet, i'm too afraid to start a relationship....never had one before.

continued Supernatural last night, pretty much the only tv series that i'm watching, and started season 6. when i didn't know much about supernatural back then and randomly saw it on tv i always thought that balthazar was chef ramsey lol. apparently they're different people! (and the difference is so obvious now) also, all the good things being said about stranger things is making me really curious. i might pick up on it......

i wonder if they stuck with their darker sound this wouldn't have happened? xD i guess they did have trouble with establishing a particular sound, what with the switch and switching back and all. well i'm not too sad about this disbandment, but i'd like to see them form new bands.

i wish i didn't wake up from my dream today, had a nice one for once~

so only the second track is shoegazy? :/ damn, we've been tricked!!! but i'll still take this. i LOVE the regular edition~ <33

i'm crying at how beautiful this is. more thai shoegaze pls i support this so much.

man am i gonna miss old dezert...... T_T at least chiaki's screams are still killing it

they be looking fine~~ how many more mvs are they gonna make? the whole album? what about hallelujah?

they look like a full-fledged band now, niiiiiice~

I was gonna say where did that promo pic come from?? xD I thought Hallelujah was not a bad album. I quite like the nostalgic feel in it, but there were only a few tracks that I really enjoyed, namely Hallelujah, What Little Love, and Even Time Ages. They're the only tracks that I can play on repeat, while the rest are perhaps more forgettable for me. I mean, songs like 1000 Years, Black Rainbow, and I Want To Love You are also great, but it doesn't quite reach that wow factor where I can listen to it on repeat for pretty long. I can agree with this whole statement. Sure they still make great music, but I highly doubt they'll ever make anything better than my all time favorite album, that is To (melt into). In my ears, that album is too perfect and I love every single track from it. I think it has its own overall dark and gloomy tone with frequent psychedelic guitars that I feel they'll never bring back. I love it so much I don't even feel the need to rank their other albums, haha. It's actually just very hard for me to rank the others because they're kinda all over the place for me...A bit sad to see that Misstopia and picnic don't have much love though.

not bad!

I like the first one! Do you have white ink that you use? And aww, buster-kun~ <3 I finished the challenge but didn't have time to post it until now. See here~ Good luck to @Hakoniwa if you decide to still continue it! ^^/

Successfully finished the Inktober challenge!! Inktober Day 23: "Shattered Tears" Inktober Day 24: "Droop" Inktober Day 25: "Zephyr" Inktober Day 26: "Falling Apart" Inktober Day 27: "Curse" Inktober Day 28: "Trap" Inktober Day 29: "Relief" Inktober Day 30: "Creature" Inktober Day 31: "Farewell" Phewww, that took a toll on me. I'm gonna need a little break before the next time I draw. There were days when I'd rather not draw, but knowing that I couldn't skip a day, and me not wanting to either, helped me in picking up the pens and brushes more easily. Tbqh though I want to trash some of these lol. But on a positive outlook, it taught me how to not be such a perfectionist with my drawings, like I always am. And I think that's one very important aspect of these daily challenges with a limited time. It was a great experience, but I'm not sure if I'd do it again next year. Maybe I'll do something else~

not good evidence, but every time i ask a japanese person their favorite japanese band they usually say bump of chicken.

@midi:nette do you specifically know what marco cosplayed as? just curious. they all look great, and actually i might even think they look more awesome this way as a band, haha.

Looks like death wins this round, haha. Thanks to everyone who voted for me! ^^ It'd be great if we get more submissions next year if we do it again~

Was thinking about making this thread sooner or later~ Seen any cool Halloween costumes from visual kei bands this year? Or any costumes from previous years? Since October is already almost over, let's not limit this thread to Halloween only. Any jrockers cosplaying in general is also welcome! So please share all your favorites! ^0^ I'll start of with a few of my favorites: Plastic Tree, from left to right: Akira as Jack Skellington, Kenken as Cat Woman, Ryutaro as Edward Scissorhands, Tadashi as Emily from Corpse Bride Kenken without the mask, now that's hawt Ryutaro's side band Neji as jiangshi vampires. Vivalet, Mary as Cloud Strife Scapegoat, Haru as jiangshi vampire. Scapegoat, Sayula as Alice, Layha as Mad Hatter. BLESSCODE, Ryo as Chucky from Child's Play. Now post away! I'm sure there are many more out there~

Updating some movies that I saw. I watched Insidious: Chapter 3 with my sisters and it seemed like a total waste of a sequel. I felt that it led more questions than answering them. Also, it's supposed to take place before the first film, but the connection felt so weak and pointless I kept getting confused. @Bear I think I know what funny scene you were talking about. It came out so randomly my sisters and I laughed, ahaha. xD I couldn't take the movie seriously and it was just a bad sequel imo. I hope they don't make another one. Watched Pet Sematary and thought it was simply okay. It's kind of old and corny with some bad acting, especially the male lead. But damn, I have to say that the wife's sister is quite freaky. I don't think I felt that creeped out by something in a while. It's not just one scene or the face that scared me, but her overall character and creepy behavior/movements. If I watched this movie as I kid I might have had nightmares. There's also some good ol' gore in there. Not intense, but still disturbing. Last night I watched a Korean horror called Wishing Stairs with my sisters. It's the third installment for the Whispering Corridors series, which I have not seen any before, but they don't all necessarily connect with each other. We decided to watch it because we haven't seen an Asian horror in a while, but after watching it I think I understand why. I feel that most of these Asian revengeful ghost stories just aren't for me anymore (or maybe i'm not looking at the right ones?). The first half was really slow and lacked any creepy atmosphere. There were also some plot holes and low story backgrounds, and it was not very interesting in general.

nice! but why not make this thread a vk halloween/jrockers cosplaying thread? i was thinking about making one myself, and that way other people can share some of their favorites. ^^

Hmm, no I didn't feel like Jacob's Ladder had a plot twist. It's more of a psychological horror. Also, knowing that you're familiar with Silent Hill, it might be worth noting that this film gave inspiration for the games. The atmosphere and demons in both are very similar I'd say. I have been curious about Rosemary's Baby recently too and may think about watching it soon.