the majority of Japanese I learned in highschool for 3 years and then self-studied after that. I honestly always found Japanese an absurdly easy language to get the hang of, it's the stuff that's attached to it that's difficult (i.e. kanji, social and cultural usages of the language, etc). Japanese as a language is ironically pretty simple and straightforward, since it literally grammatically categorizes itself in its own usage via the particles. However its simplicity means that what's unsaid or what's subtext is far more important, ergo the cultural research.

All that said the major tip I have is to focus on the writing system early, frequently and often. Crunch hiragana/katakana as fast as possible (my teacher spedrun us within 2 weeks) so that you can read/use it as often as possible, and get in the habit of learning 1-2 kanji a week at least. Luckily there's a lot of kanji workbooks that can help you out with that.

As you focus on that, verb forms, number labelers (or counters, like how to say 'one book' or 'three peaches) are next, and then particles and its usage in various sentence forms. You start shifting from simple sentences to the complex as you go along with that.

And immersion is always important. Start challenging yourself by reading Japanese without instantly looking at the translator (might need some furigana plugin to do so to be able to read kanji as you're learning, at least online) or by watching anime/dramas without subtitles and see how much you put together.

And: practice, practice, practice. Use it or lose it.

Being bipolar my workflow operates in feast/famine cycles. In the past my manic stages could accomplish some truly herculean tasks (like redrawing/recoloring 60 comic pages in 2 weeks or doing a fully completed 15 page colored comic from sketch to final in 8 days) while it ironically also comes out my best work. You'll never be able to guess which if my art I technically rushed through. For example - the Bull Rider illustrations (all 5 of them) were done in 10 days. I hurt myself a little with that one.

I've said before mania make your brain operate like its on a cocaine high naturally, and that's the case for me. while this limit break power was definitely appreciated for crunch deadlines, the pay off was always the worst of crash outs for weeks afterward. it was always something I wanted to move away from and work towards a more consistent but reliable workflow. Stability has always been my white whale.

Though I still have on weeks and off weeks, it is closer to being reasonable and more dependable. I don't hit my manic stages as often anymore and for the most part I do work every single day, and my off weeks are less frequent and don't last as long when they happen. My real struggle lately is being able to divert and multitask focus better so I can work a across multiple projects at the same time, but that I blame more on long covid since I used to do that really well.

I don't know if I have "mediocre" days since a good day is getting my quota hit and an off day I get nothing done, so it's either all or nothing lol.

This tends be why I clarify I am an absurdly fast drafter but a slow creator. When I work, I work speedy, but hard focus, reliable constancy, and a clear vision can be difficult to fixate on.

As for my social life, I don't really have one. My dog is my social life! He keeps me sane as my constant companion. I have a lunch date with friends like once every other month and I have, like, 2 friends I try to make a point of an afternoon hang once a week. I'm a heavy introvert by nature and I've become pretty burnt out on people in my current age, so I'm comfortable just caretaking my space and peace.

As for gaming or media binging, it's very easy to do when I'm in a depressive crash I assure you. I tend to binge through media when I'm on my off weeks because if I can't draw I find stimulation in other areas.

Thank you for your support and enthusiasm, GAZE is getting there!

To a certain degree it'd depend on the dog and its personality, but being a dog owner is closer to being a parent than an owner. Dogs bond fiercely with their caregivers and rely heavily on being guided and educated by them. If you can imagine caretaking for a 6yo it's about the same levels of consideration and responsibility and dependency.

And I have owned cats before yes! The biggest difference between being a cat and dog owner ime is that cats are far more secure being independent and looking out for themselves to a certain degree. Dogs are far more dependent on the owner for their time and attention. For example, a cat can go to the bathroom (as it were) on their own and clean up after themselves while with dogs you basically have to take them outside to do their business.

Basically: with cats I found myself living a parallel life alongside them, a bit like with a roommate, but I have to center my whole world around a dog and be an active participant in caring for them. I never once had to think of hiring a babysitter to do an afternoon errand for a cat but I go out of my way to make sure my dog has a playdate with someone if I'm out of the house because separation anxiety takes over and they can panic.

(Note -- you CAN train separation anxiety out of your dog so they're more comfortable being alone and trusting that you'll be back eventually, but if you're like me where you're home most of the time and that's what they're used to it's pretty much impossible)

Dogs also demand a lot more daily bonding activities than cats do. Daily walks, daily play, that kind of thing. Dogs are extremely social animals and they need to connect with the world around them and need a VERY solid routine to be emotionally healthy. It's kind of why you generally see extroverts being more attracted to owning dogs and introverts to owning cats, because dogs are by far built to force you to go outside and interact with others but you can more easily be a homebody with a cat.

pointing out people can cook badly like that defeats the analogy instead of strengthen it is confusing to me because toxic or irresponsible artists do in fact exist. I never said everyone is an amazing cook to specifically feed others, I just said you're responsible for how tasty your food is when you feed yourself, which is objectively true.

You're understanding the analogy just fine, but you're also equating skill and taste as synonymous (they're not) or that taste can be learned (it can't, you can train taste in the same way you can change your habits and that is a matter of personal interest and willpower). You're assuming people's personal tastes can be universally compatible, which obviously is impossible.