Another Dean With Cas’ Grace For The Books. 

#TBT NEW/OLD s1 Dom and Kat via @shadowhunterstv

By: Vincent Bal Instagram: @artwoonz

Why Japanese is EASY

A lot of people want to study Japanese but think it’s too hard and that they will never succeed. That is really a myth, though. Here is why Japanese is actually easy.

1. All verbs are regular, there are only 2 exceptions 

If you know French, this must sound like a dream to you. In other languages [like French] there seem to be more irregular verbs than regular ones. Not in Japanese, though. There are 3 groups of verbs, the first 2 being regular and very easy to conjugate. The third group consists of only 2 irregular verbs!

2. Easy pronunciation 

Japanese doesn’t have any exceptionally hard to pronounce letters. Unlike Arabic, German or Finnish, Japanese should be quite easy to pronounce for English speakers. Also, Japanese isn’t a tonal language like Thai or Chinese. 

3. No genders, plural or articles

Anyone who studies a romance language [and many other languages that have that] knows how frustrating it can be when you use the wrong article or verb ending. In Japanese, it doesn’t even exist, so nothing to worry!

4. Grammar is easy!

That’s true. It’s just completely different from English, but that doesn’t make it hard. After a while, it will feel completely normal. The best part about the grammar is that you can build a whole sentence with just one word. For example, if you wanted to ask somebody in English if they did their homework, you’d say ‘did you do your homework?’ Kind of long, isn’t it? In Japanese, you can ask by using only the verb ‘to do, can, be able to’ - like this: ‘done?’ Also, spoken, you can drop many words if you don’t really need them, especially particles! So if you’re not sure what particle to use, chances are you can just easily leave it altogether without the sentence losing its meaning. It’s easy to build sentences that seem to end in ‘…’, but that’s completely normal in Japanese and everyone will understand.

5. Tons of resources

Sadly, there are some languages people don’t really care about or not a lot of people want to study/ are interested in. Japanese is not one of those languages. There are hundreds of books about Kanji alone! And so many courses for every level. Also, it doesn’t matter what you’re interested in - anime, manga, books, movies, game show, video games, dramas, music - it’s all out there and super easy to find, so you definitely will find something you can listen to or read to practice your skills.

6. Kanji/the writing systems are hard?

No. They aren’t. It’s just a huge workload, it takes time and effort, but they are not hard.

At first, having to learn 3 writing systems will seem exhausting. But believe me, later, when you start reading, you will be so glad! You can detect if a text has a lot of foreign words at one glance if it has a lot of Katakana, for example, and you could say a lot more on twitter because of the syllabaries!

So actually, the 3 systems put together makes everything easier to read!

So please, just start studying and go at your own pace, and have fun studying every day ⭐︎

Do you or any of your lovely followers happen to know of any Cinderella-eqsue fics? I know of 'Soon As I Held You' by Morrezela on AO3, but that's all I've been able to find. I'm a complete sucker for fairytale AUs! TY in advance <3

Fairytales are the best! I’m literally stunned there are not many listed (featuring bottom Bucky anyway).  

Here’s a couple of Cinderella au’s:

The Perfect Fit -  by Heartzkittens

(Cinderella Bucky, Prince Steve, Fairy godfather Thor, Cinderella au)

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Please, Not Another Cinderella Story -  by Brixildleon

(WIP since 09.17)

Modern au, High school/College, Cinderella themes, Cinderella Bucky, Musician Bucky, Prince Charming Steve, Actor Steve,

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And some fairy tale fic recs:

The Apple Kerfuffle  - by keire_ke

Summary:

Steve always takes a bite of Bucky’s apples. It’s a source of much puzzlement and many questions among the denizens of the Avenger’s Tower, but of course asking why that is the case would violate Sam Wilson’s patented manual, whose main points were detailed in the infamous Super Soldier Therapy for Dummies PowerPoint presentation. When it becomes apparent the habit dates back to the times only Steve’s memory can recall with any measure of reliability, the race to cajole the truth out is on.

Whether the story will be believed, is another matter entirely.

(Flashback story, Snow White theme, 40s stucky, Howling Commandos era, Pre slash, Steve/Bucky, implied feelings, Bucky is the damsel in distress, a poisoned apple, a glass coffin, a castle, and Howlies to the rescue. Also ART! Link in the fic)

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Beast -  by ladyshadowdrake

Summary:

A kingdom is in uproar searching for the missing Prince Thor and his team. Heading the search, Captain Steve Rogers is more invested in finding his best friend, Bucky, but when he stumbles onto an abandoned castle in a snowy meadow, he finds a lot more than he bargained for.

(Historical au, Beauty and the Beast themes, castles and magic, Bucky is the beast, Nat and Clint and others are the household furniture/items, Steve is in their castle, magical visuals, curses, pre slash, happy ending)

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A couple of really enchanting Greek myth recs:

Listen to your heart (but don’t say goodbye to me) - by cinnamoncake

Summary:

There is a Hades, and there is a Persephone.

They’re just not the ones you’d expect.

(Greek myth au, and some modern setting, Hades Bucky, Persephone Steve, bottom Bucky implied, switching, happy ending)

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Soul Under Wing  -  by Togina

Summary:

Bucky’s mother orders him to, for god’s sake (hers, specifically), do something about all the people in love with Steve.

Did I mention Bucky’s mother is Aphrodite?

(Greek myth au, Cupid Bucky, Psyche Steve, implied bottom Bucky, implied switching, happy ending)

Scarlett Johansson and Sandra Bullock kissing is an iconic moment in our history

My version of Emma Carstairs with her lovely blade.

Rocca Scaligera di Sirmione in Italy. A unique 13th-century castle surrounded by water, with steep climbs leading to scenic lake views. (Source)

T__________________T

A Madagascar sunset moth. It is considered one of the most impressive and appealing-looking lepidopterans.