Today is Thursday which means tommorrow is Friday! ..technically it's Friday already!

[sub_divided]

Finished that Death Note fic -- Theoretically. Light VS L, old skool style. What I would most like to know is, are the parentheses too much? They were a temporary measure until I decided I liked them. Now I'm afraid they've taken over the fic.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes, courtesy of sesame_seed. Her summary is a thing of beauty, and also she is a

Comments

[quixotic_sense]

I should probably post a disclaimer to my answer to the poll. Most Malaysians my generation or younger speak at least two languages before the age of twelve: (formal) Malay and English, at the minimum, because they're both mandatory subjects in school. Unless you're one of those swanky expat kids who go to private schools where the language of instruction is English. Many Malaysians also speak a mother tongue other than Malay, e.g. Cantonese, Hokkien, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Kadazan, Iban, Bajau. And that's to say nothing of the various dialects of Malay, many of which are mutually unintelligible to each other. XD The peculiarities of the Malaysian education system accommodate "mother tongue schools" for the Chinese and Indian communities, where the language of instruction is either Mandarin or Tamil

[sub_divided]

Wow. Are you still as conversant now as you were in school? Or has some of the formal Malay slipped and been replaced with something else? Although that doesn't make sense, does it, since it's what you're probably using most often now.

Bits and pieces? Does that mean you can use standard phrases, or does that mean you can communicate with lots of hand gestures and some Malay/English words thrown in?

[quixotic_sense]

I can still read and understand Malay but I can't speak or write it very well anymore, which makes me sad. I used to love classical Malay poetry at school -- I was the only person who did, as I recall. XD

[pally_pally]

Will definitely read your Death Note fic when I am in the privacy of my own head am able to. Have work, can't read, clowns will eat me.

PS: For the multilingualism thing, rub it in that I'm fourth generation Japanese, yea? XD

PSS: Love your Nanjiroh line, by the way.

correction because "first" means "first in new country"

[sub_divided]

Haha, but I can't speak anything but English either. Unless you count my high school french qui est tres, tres terrible. First generation Macedonian! ...even though my father is monoligual as well, by this point. Only Grandpa remembers.

XD Thanks. It doesn't sound like something he'd say, but I think it would be funny if he did and that's all that matters!

[sesame_seed]

Ooh, so happy to hear that you're enjoying the series! I'll be putting up the next batch on the first of August, probably. Also, curious: do you lean towards Alliance or Empire? Because, um, from the reactions of the flist so far, may have to give people warning before they stumble across Certain Events by themselves. XD;;;

In the meantime, discussion(?) links for the first five eps:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/one_if_by_land/101586.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/tongari/219588.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/two_if_by_sea/85722.html

[sub_divided]

Ugh, they're both so terrible. It's impossible to choose -- I can't even go by my usual method of allying with the main character, because Reinhard has actually gotten more screentime.

Phrezzan is horrible too! Really, I'm completely undecided. I probably won't end up with the Empire, because I hate corrupt aristocracy more than I hate rhetoric or fanatic nationalism or toadying or grasping mercantilism. (Come to think of it, do I really...? Yeah, I do. Monarchism must die.)

Going purely by the largest number of tolerable characters, it's Alliance. Going by romantic characters, it's Empire. If I was being stubborn, Phrezzan. I suspect I'll be with the Alliance eventually (as the "main" said, haha), but for now I am witholding judgement.

*notes discussions, notes the time. dismay!*

[sesame_seed]

Ooohh, so you're not overly attached to any of the characters? That's -- not precisely good to hear XD, but means you won't need any hand-holding, at least!

(Empire/Alliance is balanced pretty equally when it comes to screentime; the series is wrapped around Reinhardt's rise while Yang better represents the viewpoint of the author, so it's anyone's call as to which side is the 'main' side, really.)

I think this is the first time I've heard anyone even SUGGEST sticking by Phezzan. O_O Thumbs up for originality? :D

[sub_divided]

Phezzan: is the side you pick when you are fed up with both sides, or are trying to be original. XD Probably people don't like it because the characters are old and ugly.

I really like Yang's friend, actually. And Julian, his ward. They're supportive but have their own personalities, unlike Seigfried who strikes me as very robotic. Seigfried is supposed to be this pure-hearted guy who can hang around Reinhard while remaining innocent, but I don't really believe in characters like that. You stay as the confidant to unsavory things, you become emeshed with them yourself. And then, in the fifth episode when one of his underlings him a good man? I was like, what as he donw that was good lately. Not ordering the slaughter of a defeated planet, when leniency was the correct tatical move, is common sense, not decency.

But anyway. I like the support with backbone.

*hops over to over discussions!*

[worldserpent]

Hmm, you know? Since both of his parents are Japanese nationals, and because they obviously intended to return someday, I'd say that it's pretty certain that Ryouma spoke Japanese at home. Possibly also had to attend cram school to get all the Japanese education stuff as well. (Of course, PoT has little realism, etc.)

[sub_divided]

Agreed. Actually if you were going to right about Ryoma's linguistical problems, I'd think you'd write about school in Japan. If, for example, Ryoma could speak fluently but had trouble reading Japanese? Stumbles over uncommon kanji? Who knows, maybe Ryoma is failing school. That would really amuse me.

[darkeyedwolf]

But which language did he learn first? That's my big question -- because maybe I'm just not giving my fellow man enough credit, but the thought of a bilingual five year old is hard to swallow. :))

[biggersandwich]

If you start learning young enough then it really does happen. I'd assume he learned Japanese first because most immigrant parents teach the original language to their kids first but he probably learned English only slightly later and, as by five he would have had a little more than a year of kindergarten (I think? I really have little idea of the school system in NY) where they speak English, so he would be bilingual although with the vocabulary of a five year old.

[darkeyedwolf]

Which makes my ficlet idea plausible!

*preens*

[sesame_seed]

Mmm, what biggersandwich said. I'd suggest lowering the age a bit -- was more fluent in English than Chinese by the time I hit five, and I'm not any sort of linguistical genius. XD

Nursery school?