📚📚 Read every day challenge - Fall 2022 🍁🍂

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How is it December already? Like, no??? This also means it’s around time for me to reread the CSI: Miami novel Harm for the Holidays: Misgivings again.

On Tuesday, I read a short section of next4years.

And again I ramble on for about as long as the part I read was:

We learn that last year, when YuniChika were second-years, Seiin had gotten a second gym due to the team’s Nationals appearance the year before. No more trading off with the girls’ team as to who practices on the indoor and outdoor courts! Also, Aoki was the one who lobbied to get it, at the end of his third year. He definitely doesn’t care about volleyball and the team as little as he sometimes pretends. Only doing this for Oda, my foot. But, well, we been knew.

(I still haven’t figured out how to say that without making him sound like a tsundere though, because he’s not.)

But yeah, Yuni and Chika stop by Seiin first and go to the second gym—which of course Chika’s never seen before since it was constructed late fall of last year, while he was at Keisei—where Oda and Aoki are waiting for them, visiting from where they’re both attending college in Kansai to congratulate them both on making it to Nationals again and on their graduation. We learn that Keyakisha is in Kantō, and Aoki comments half-sarcastically/jokingly (and thus, half-seriously) to YuniChika, “Keyakisha in Kantō, is it? So you’re choosing Mimura over Oda, hm?” and Oda chides him, saying entirely seriously that his back isn’t one that anyone would want to chase after </3 That’s totally not true (also that’s kinda what Aoki did? He started and is continuing volleyball for him, though they’re attending different schools now), but Yuni and Chika have that promise to Subaru about playing on the same team as him that they have to keep.

Also I have no idea why I keep getting Kansai and Kantō mixed up. Yeah, they both start with the same character, but one’s “west” and has Kyōto and the other’s “east” and has Tōkyō, and I know this. Despite 関西 literally being a couple paragraphs up, I thought, “Oh, so everyone’s in Kantō now.” No.


Some vocab of note:

およそ [adv.] about; roughly; approximately
運動 (うんどう) [noun, する verb] appeal; campaign; drive; crusade; movement; lobbying
甘ったれる (あまったれる) [自一] to behave like a spoiled child. Has a more negative nuance than 甘える.
たしなめる [他一] to chide; to rebuke; to reprove


On Wednesday, I read 2 chapters of 不機嫌なモノノケ庵 vol 10.

lol I just said the other day that I’ve only come across 父上/母上 in fantasy, and today we meet a youkai who uses 父上. And then when the Mononokean is talking to Moja, she refers to the father as お父上, confirming my suspicions that it took the お because it was someone else’s father.

Also it’s cool that his father is named モロハク (諸, all; many) and he’s named カタハク (片, one (of a pair); few). I’m not sure how many other youkai have meaningful names like that.

Some vocab of note:

持久走 (じきゅうそう) [noun] marathon training in P.E. classes in Japanese schools. Literally “endurance running.”
飛脚 (ひきゃく) [noun] express messenger; postman; mailman; courier
酔狂 (すいきょう) [noun, な-adj.] whim; vagary; capriciousness; eccentricity
何卒 (なにとぞ) [謙譲語, adv.] please; kindly; I beg of you; if it pleases you
下見 (したみ) [noun, する verb (他)] preliminary inspection; having a look in advance. In the same vein as 下書き, “rough draft.”


Yesterday, I read another chapter of 不機嫌なモノノケ庵.

I think this chapter may be setting up a Hanae backstory arc

We learn a little bit about Hanae’s father: his name was 榮 (Sakae), he could somehow cure Hanae’s mother’s anemia (almost certainly brought on by possession of a youkai, and almost certainly he could see them and removed them from her person the way Hanae did the one possessing her in this chapter) when she was younger, and he had golden hair and eyes just like Abeno. Well, I use past tense, but I dunno if he’s dead or what; this chapter was the first mention of him.

I kinda hope them having the same golden hair and eyes doesn’t mean Abeno and Sakae (and thus Hanae) are related… I wonder if it has something to do with them being humans who can see youkai—or possibly not being fully human at all? Yeah, Hanae can see youkai too, but he couldn’t until Moja, and he was only able to see other youkai after Moja possessed him. It may also have to do with how, though Hanae has the same power or “influence” that Abeno can use over youkai, he can’t use it consciously/at will, unlike Abeno.

It's only manifested twice so far, and both times he was experiencing strong emotion that went beyond that and into a sort of calm, and he wasn't really aware of the power or what he was doing at the time.

The first was the first time he went to the Kakuriyo, when that capybara-looking youkai hurt (maybe killed, Hanae’d thought) Mojamoja; he got distracted and came back to himself and so never actually used the power. The second time, that little b*tch Yahiko thought it would be fun to torment Hanae in his sleep and took on the true form of the Executive, who had recently tried to kill Hanae and whose presence in his true form was so great that Hanae couldn’t breathe and still thought he was gonna die even though the Executive hadn’t actively been trying to at that point (and Abeno rarely uses his influence, especially not against the Big 3, but he did so here to force the Executive back into his human form). Yeah. So you can imagine that when Hanae woke up and saw whom he thought was the Executive here in the Utsushiyo come to finish the job, he was terrified, though this time it surpassed that into a sort of calm, and his influenced manifested, and he did actually use it this time against Yahiko. Abeno could sense something was off though and rushed to the room, startling Hanae back to himself, and he hadn’t actually been aware of what he was doing at all. Yahiko only got what he deserved though. I hate him so much, especially after this. How could he think that was okay?

So Abeno and Sakae might have golden hair and eyes because they’re strongly gifted, and Hanae’s less-strongly gifted, so he’s got regular ol’ dark hair and eyes? Well, we’ll see.

Hanae’s mother compares Abeno to a sunflower, and even though it’s because of his hair and eye color, it’s funny because he’s rather sullen. The title should really be 不機嫌なモノノケ庵主 lol, the Mononokean is the cheery one while Abeno is the ill-humored one.

On the last page, we also encounter whom I assume is Hanae’s elder sister, who also appears to be blond, unlike Hanae and their mother who have black hair.


Some vocab of note:

出来心 (できごころ) [noun] sudden impulse; passing fancy
葬り去る (ほうむりさる) [他ラ五] to consign to oblivion
脱力感 (だつりょくかん) [noun] ennui; languishing; feeling of exhaustion; lassitude; lethargy


Going by the calendar (at least in the northern hemisphere), the majority of December is in autumn! The winter solstice isn’t until the 21st, give or take a day depending on the year, so only about a week and a half or so is technically winter. Weather-wise, it sure feels like winter though lmao

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December 2nd

:snowflake: :christmas_tree:Home post:christmas_tree::snowflake:

Card Captor Sakura volume 1 or Aria: the masterpiece volume 2 – progress report

Yesterday: Read up to page 176 in Card Captor Sakura.
Today: Finished chapter 5, and with that volume 1 of Card Captor Sakura :tada:.

I’m very tired and I admittedly pushed myself during today’s reading session to finish the last 15 pages of volume 1. Though, I really shouldn’t be doing this and will try to take care of myself a little more. :sweat:

Replies

@saidahgilbert

I was always under the impression that the grandmother and grandfather didn’t exist because we never get to see them in any form or capacity (if I remember correctly). I like your take on it, though, as it would make everything make sense (and less odd).


@Scylie

I can only second @natarin response above – I enjoyed reading about your 999-impressions so far and am kind of reliving my playthrough(s) thanks to you sharing your thoughts and reactions too! :slightly_smiling_face:


Word or expression of the day:

気絶 - (きぜつ) (+する) - faint, swoon

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:books: 12月02日
うたわれるもの


What a better time to resume the challenge than right after it has finished? :joy: About as good as any time, I say. I’ve been so disorganised with Japanese this month, at least with reading, but I’ve been listening quite a bit so it’s alright, still daily study just different focus for a bit. I’ve needed a bit of leeway what with all the schedule adjusting I’ve been doing this week, but I’m happy to announce that it’s been going great. I’ve been going to bed early, waking up early and going for a walk daily since Monday (which has given me the opportunity to do more Japanese listening with podcasts), and I want to start going for an easy run here and there from next week’s Monday onwards to start preparing for regular exercise again. A part of me is still resisting and missing staying up late at night sooo much, but I know that if I give in I’m definitely at risk of going to bed super late again feeling tired most of the day and honestly… I very much prefer the energy I have now, which is not a whole lot but it’s still noticeable. It’s still early and I still prefer the night, but… :sweat: perhaps that’ll change with time, waking up early definitely has its perks too.

Anyways I started the VN うたわれるもの which I bought on sale a couple weeks ago. So far so good, not a whole lot has happened yet but it seems fine so far in all aspects. I was interested in it before I got it, so we’ll see how it goes.

I’m happy to be back to reading regularly again and posting (/・ω・)/ .

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Home post :bookmark:

:maple_leaf::fallen_leaf: Dec 2 :snowman_with_snow::christmas_tree:

・本好きの下剋上 14 (30% → 37%)

Things are getting dramatic :eyes: :sweat_drops:


Reply~

Hehe, so you were ready from the start. I’m not quite as far north as you now while I’m studying at uni, but I feel like October-November has been a series of mini-summer, frost, then raining like the skies had opened and then there was sudden snowy winter :snowman_with_snow: Mini-seasons quickly change.

No worries, it’s all cool xD I really like springtime too. After a long winter filled with mornings in darkness, it’s super refreshing when the sun is rising early again. Also, can hear the chirp of tiny birbs, I love it.

oh! btw, I saw three of these tiny red ones today, I rarely ever see one so that was a rare visit in our garden. So cute~ :durtle_love:


(Not my photo)

This my photo tho, took it last week :3 First red little one of the season.

…I’m the one digressing this time, whoops xD

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December 2nd!

Today I read chapter 33 of Happiness. This volume is definitely more action packed than the previous one!
I thought about reading a chapter of something else too, but then decided not to so that I’ll have some time to play Pokemon this evening since I didn’t get a chance yesterday.

(Home Post)

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After 3 weeks of trying I have finally managed to change my wakeup time to 530 am, so I now have time to relax, drink coffee, and get some reading done in the AM before work and add more sunlight into my day. I’ve found my stamina is like something out of those social sim/farming games, where every actions depletes one bar, and I’m finding getting stuff done before work is 1000% more enjoyable.

I’ve also made it to WK45 AND done all my remaining vocab, so by the end of next week my daily review count will start to decline. And the 1 month spikes will happen while I’m on winter vacation so timing is fantastic for once. With reviews down, that translates to more AM reading time.

Still plodding thru satori, but I caved and got the second manga arc for 本好き since it’s on sale so I’ll prioritize 本好き once vacation starts in two weeks.

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2022-12-03T01:27:00Z

Can anyone tell me how to read the circled bubble? I just need to know the reading, not the meaning.

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It says かのじょ and then I think the furigana says ほんめい.

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December 2 :maple_leaf: Home Post

Today was much more successful reading-wise, got a few more chapters of ブルーロック in and it felt only a bit more taxing than usual, yay! :tada: To be fair I am also at a part where there are just a lot of characters saying weird things so that’s probably not helping :joy: I still have some major questions that haven’t been answered, ie. what did they do to 國神!! He looks so exhausted, like… he’s clearly been through some stuff, what happened :disappointed_relieved: at least 蜂楽’s having the time of his life, and 潔 is… experiencing :laughing: but yeah as always I want to keep reading, but alas I must sleep.

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I took it in parts, but I finished this week’s reading for ユージニア. So good :popcorn: I think this is my favorite chapter so far, I really enjoyed the way it was written and the extra flavor it gave to the story.

Yesterday I reached the 読者への挑戦 in 異世界の名探偵. I’ll probably keep reading it tonight. I have some guesses as to who did it and how, but I’m not satisfied with any of them. I’m not deeply invested either, I guess. Some stories I care a lot about who did it, other times not at all :joy:

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Home

不機嫌なモノノケ庵 6.5 奉公人(アルバイト)指南書(マニュアル) and 18.5 (いわい)(しょ) got here today! 6.5 even came with an adorable little bookmark.

I finished 不機嫌なモノノケ庵 vol 10!

Yup, that woman is Hanae’s sister, and she seems to have a bit of a brocon. And she dyes her hair blond; she naturally has dark hair and eyes like Hanae and their mother, and she can’t see youkai either. Hanae has a single memory of their father (one which suggests that Sakae was never around even before he disappeared for good), while his sister does remember him but doesn’t care to, because Sakae cast them aside/abandoned them. She does tell him though that she doesn’t remember anything about Sakae being able to see youkai, and in fact she doesn’t believe they exist (as most people don’t), but she recounts memories of him acting suspiciously, which confirms Hanae’s feelings that their father could see youkai too.

Look how cute baby Hanae was though! (excuse my finger)

(Sakae kinda gives me bad vibes though? Like, that smile? Definitely one of a suspicious person.)

Abeno overheard Hanae’s mother say the name “Sakae” at the hospital (he followed ostensibly to pick up Moja, who’d gone with Hanae, but I’m pretty sure he was worried too) and remembered that Aoi, the previous モノノケ庵主, had once mentioned the name Ashiya Sakae—as someone who’d died 100 years ago. He’s certain though that the two are the same person and Aoi could have gotten the time wrong, as youkai don’t necessarily have a good grasp of time; Yahiko had thought it had been 30 years since he’d last seen Abeno, but it had only been 8.

I’m wondering if I’m misremembering that Aoi was human too. Although if the info about Sakae dying 100 years ago had come from a youkai, that could still track.

Abeno agrees to take on the job (yes, he’s charging Hanae for it, increasing Hanae’s debt and the amount of time he’ll be working for him to pay it off… and he only puts a paltry amount toward paying off the debt with each job that Hanae helps with… he claims he doesn’t want Hanae around, but…?) of searching for any leads on Sakae in the Legislator’s records warehouse. When the Legislator later goes investigating after reports of a shrill noise coming from there, he finds Abeno passed out in the stacks with his phone (犯人) sitting atop a stack of books beside him. It makes sense that he wouldn’t know what a cell phone is, but it’s still hilarious to hear him call it an 現世の板 lmao (at least it’s an iPhone and not a flip phone).

ワクワクする立法さん:おや? 押すと文字が浮かぶのか。現世の文字……〝アラーム〟とはなんだろう?

He’s kind of adorable.

That day is the Halloween-themed 文化祭 at their school, and Hanae and Abeno are dressed as a witch and shinigami respectively (Abeno quite unwillingly lmao) and set to advertising the café their class is doing, but Abeno isn’t very jazzed about it, so it devolves into a sword—er, broom-and-scythe—fight lmao. Anyway, Yahiko shows up and causes trouble as usual, and while Abeno’s scolding him, a small childish figure and a tall black-hooded figure facing each other, Hanae remembers the single memory of his father that he has. Back then, he’d thought Sakae was Santa Claus, but now he thinks he seemed more like a shinigami…

And of course, when asked, Yahiko thinks he knows of someone who fits Abeno’s description of Sakae, but he refuses to be helpful until Abeno plays with him until he’s satisfied. And he’s never satisfied. He’s incredibly わがままだ. This doesn’t exactly bode well for the next volume.

I don’t actually think that them both having golden hair and eyes points to Abeno and Sakae being related, that’s just something I remember seeing some people wondering around when that chapter came out (or maybe that was in the anime? I don’t really remember, but I don’t think so); my first thought was that it was related to their ability to see youkai, since Abeno was probably born with it while Hanae only gained it after being possessed and Zenko after being bitten by Yahiko. But if it does, then even shipping aside—because I do, unsurprisingly, ship abeshiya—I’m not sure how I feel about the idea of Hanae and Abeno possibly being half-brothers, especially since Sakae was clearly married to Hanae’s mother if his surname’s Ashiya too. Yeah his being absent from Hanae’s life but for that one day when he was 3 and then disappearing without a word again is shitty, but he could have had his reasons, likely related to youkai, and he wouldn’t necessarily be a dick. (He definitely still could be, though; we know nothing of him or his motivations yet.) But if he’s Abeno’s father too? Yeah, he definitely would be. There’d almost certainly be some mixed feelings finding out that your (best?) friend is your brother through your father cheating on your mother who clearly loved him a lot.

I also picked up 君に届け again, reading episode 4. I forgot how difficult Shiina-sensei’s handwriting is for me to read. I’m afraid I mostly didn’t try to today.

Some vocab of note:

鵜吞みにする (うのみにする) [expression, する verb] to accept without questioning. From the literal meaning of “to swallow without chewing; to swallow whole.”
いたたましい [い-adj.] piercing; shrill; noisy; loud; clamorous
出で立ち (いでたち) [noun] outfit

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Home Post

Day 23:
お隣の天使様 三冊 - 67.46% → 74.53%

Desperately typing up something quick as I try to fix my sleep schedule a little.

Word of the Day: したく - to be astonished or amazed. Very likely a coincidence but it’s always amusing to see an expression that’s pretty much one-for-one with English with almost the same meaning.

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December 3rd

:snowflake: :christmas_tree:Home post:christmas_tree::snowflake:

Card Captor Sakura volume 2 or Aria: the masterpiece volume 2 – progress report

Yesterday: Finished chapter 5, and with that volume 1 of Card Captor Sakura
Today: Resumed reading from page 68 in Aria :the masterpiece volume 2, finished chapter 12 and read up to page 93.

Felt pretty bad right before going to bed yesterday but a night’s worth of sleep helped. Despite me still feeling a bit under the weather today, I managed to read one chapter.
I hope I’ll be able to make a bit more more progress tomorrow such as reading one and a half chapter(s) because I’d like to finish this volume’s last chapter (chapter 19) by the end of this month. – 7 chapters to go. :face_with_spiral_eyes:


Word or expression of the day:

踏み出す - (ふみだす) - to step forward, to advance

Honourable mention(s):
肉球 - (にくきゅう) - sole of the paw, pad

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:tiger2: :books: The Tanuki Autumn Onsen :hotsprings: :raccoon:

20221203 - 吾輩は狸である progress: 88.32% :thought_balloon:

Had the time to read more, but these past two chapters have been full of constant bickering between the characters that it doesn’t really feel like it goes anywhere, it’s a bit tedious.
(not to say that there hasn’t been interesting bits, but whereas the previous chapters split these parts up with other happening this is just non-stop)

:fallen_leaf: Japanese found under the leaves :fallen_leaf:

Meowords

経験譚「けいけんたん」ー Story recounting one’s personal experience
麻裏草履「あさうらぞうり」ー Hemp-soled sandals

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Dec 3, Sat of Week 10 of Fall 2022 :maple_leaf:

  • Death Note Vol.5 Ch.41

Anticipating Light’s recovery, faster the L. (Nothing is Faster Than Light.)

  • Happiness Vol.7 Ch.32-35 (end volume)

Suspense, and got cut up before things may happen or may not.

  • はたらく細胞 Vol.2 Ch.5

Ascendance of ツインテ(ール). Onee-san as background as ever.

  • Chainsaw Man Vol.1 Ch.3-4

I don’t feel like the jokes here, but I might just want to finish the volume.

Interesting vocabularies
  • 走破(そうは) running throughout the course / the whole distance
  • 引換券(ひきかえけん) coupon. From the verb ()()える.
  • おいてけぼり leaving someone behind. The first part is indeed ()いて, but the rest? – I think of ()る + ()る.
  • かたまる can also mean aggregating of human (a crowd). Kanji form is (かた)まる.
  • うようよ insect swarming
  • しれつ fierce (competition). That latter half is easily guessed as (れつ), but the first half? Doing (() / する)? Kanji form is 熾烈(しれつ).
  • (かい)パン comes from 海水(かいすい)パンツ.
  • 肺活量(はいかつりょう) lung - lively (?) - capacity. Appears to be lung capacity.
  • ようかいえき melting solution. Last part is indeed (えき), but the rest? Appears to be 溶解(ようかい).
  • 身元(みもと) background, like upbringing. Perhaps like 出身(しゅっしん).
  • 入館(にゅうかん) entering a building ((かん)).
  • 物色(ぶっしょく) looking for a person or something. Thinking of making a color a thing; that is, picking that thing out.
  • (すく)なからず not becoming of (すく)ない.
  • 手柄(てがら) achievement
  • よこす to send forward. Kanji form is 寄越(よこ)す.
  • 暴挙(ぼうきょ) simply an outrage, not a fist of what (?).
  • 胃壁(いへき) last Kanji, (へき) is also a wall. Think pre-forming of a habit ((へき)).
  • 応援(おうえん) not just cheering up, but also reinforcement.
  • 塩酸(えんさん) salt (塩, Chloride, Cl) + acid ((さん)).
  • 表皮(ひょうひ) epidermis
  • 干上(ひあ)がる to dry up. Uses () reading.
  • (きじ) a turkey ((ふるとり)) got shot? It’s actually a pheasant. The reading is similar to 生地(きじ) and 記事(きじ), but with a different pitch pattern. (I think Yomichan is loaded with audio by default, so try by ears.)
  • 魚介(ぎょかい) jamming fishes into a market? Or perhaps (かい)?
  • 祭祀(さいし) religious service. Weird last Kanji, but has roughly similar meaning as the first.
  • 酷悪(こくあく) evil
  • 教祖(きょうそ) grand ancestor (()) of a teaching ((おし)え).
  • ぷっつん like ぷつ, but more harsh. Get snapped.

Phrases

  • 疑心暗鬼(ぎしんあんぎ) doubtful mind raises hidden demons.
  • 一件落着(いっけんらくちゃく) an issue (一件(いっけん)) got settled (落着(らくちゃく))

Forgotten ones

  • うず whirlpool, like 渦巻(うずま)き (Naruto).
  • (おとしい)れる make fall in a difficult situation (()とし). Of course came from ()とす + ()れる.

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:snowflake: :christmas_tree: December 3rd :christmas_tree: :snowflake: (Home Post Link)

Read:

Brain not work this morning, will do ホリミヤ later

Good Words

ハピネス
どっか ー somewhere
抜ける「ぬける」ー to escape
酔っ払う「よっぱらう」ー to get drunk
吸う「すう」ー to suck, to slurp
成り立つ「なりたつ」ー to be concluded
貯水槽「ちょすいそう」ー water tank

NHK
代表「だいひょう」ー representative, exemplification
活躍「かつやく」ー activity (energetic or successful)
表す「あらわす」ー to stand for, to represent
元「げん」ー ex, former (prefix)
総理大臣「そうりだいじん」ー prime minister
葬儀「そうぎ」ー funeral
連帯「れんたい」ー solidarity

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Read a chapter of Shield Hero. Didn’t get to 青ブタ, played Persona 5. So pretty productive day if I say so.

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December 3rd!

Today I started reading volume 5 of Orange. When I started reading volume 1 I found it really hard and didn’t think I was going to be able to keep up with the club. Now its still not an easy read for me, but I can really feel the difference in my ability since then.

I also played Pokemon Violet today, but mostly running around battling with trainers and catching pokemon, so plenty of reading but no intensive story stuff.

(Home Post)

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:books: 12月03日
うたわれるもの


Bit more of this today. Nothing has happened but I got to know a few more characters and read the glossary thingy for a bit. Story should move forward tomorrow.

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Home post :bookmark:

:maple_leaf::fallen_leaf: Dec 3 :snowman_with_snow::christmas_tree:

・本好きの下剋上 14 (37% → 51%)

Today was… quite a day.

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