Yeah, it’s kind of weird that WaniKani teaches that it can be intransitive but doesn’t teach the intransitive usage.
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How indiscriminately can you use 的 on the end of words, and how is the connotation different from の様に and other words? Does it just sound really technical and formal?
I think its pretty flexible. 的 is one that has a handful of very convenient meanings so japanese people kinda use it whenever its easy. I know using things like 私的 at work and stuff can be considered bad practice at places of work by some people, but in conversation with friends I wouldn’t worry about it. I do feel like its used more freely at the end of words for the “in terms of” meaning though like 内容的. If I had to say, that usage feels more like something I would hear in a normal conversation while using it as a のよう feels more formal perhaps.
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Can one use 町民 as a singular (townsperson?)
Yes. Wikipedia also defines it as
住民 （じゅうみん）とは、特定の土地に住む人、もしくは人の集団のことである。
Depending on the context it might be written 「町民一人」to emphasize the fact it is only one person, but it’s not ultimately necessary.
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So, does anyone recognize this kanji? The context is that two people are carrying a tv and it’s unbalanced because one is much taller than the other and the shorter one is complaining.
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悪くないか easy 
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Thanks 
looked more like 山 down in the corner there to me.
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Yeah that is a pretty skewed 心 but combined with the top part it’s still easily readable compared with some Kanji you’ll find out there.
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@Beyond_Sleepy Just for future reference, it seems that some Japanese people – and I think I’ve seen this in some Chinese scripts – write 心 like this (on the left) within more complex kanji:
The two dots on the right sit on top of the lower stroke, basically. What we’re used to from standard fonts is what’s you see on the right, but that’s not the only way people write it.
EDIT: Oh yeah, found it. That was how it was written in 隷書（れいしょ）=clerical script, actually:
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Is the context that you’re reading Yotsuba? 
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Yes 
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So this line came up in the VN I’m reading:
“不意にイナリが明後日の方向を見て、一声鳴いた。”
For context, イナリ is a little fox-like creature? And from the surrounding lines, he is absolutely looking in a literal direction and making his animal sound. That’s all fine but… the word is 明後日 (あさって), which means the day after tomorrow. Is there any way to non-literally use that? Or am I somehow getting this wrong? Could it even be a typo? I pasted it from a text hooker (and also double checked with the game) so I’m totally confident that’s what they wrote.
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Do you have the surrounding lines? I think a summary of what else is happening at this point would help. I did find this though:
明後日の方を向・く
見当違いの方向を向く。
i.e. to face the wrong direction
Maybe the inari was facing an unexpected direction? (Why does this feel like something from some anime involving an inari goddess I watched a while back…?)
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And it even uses the exact same kanji as alternative readings 
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Yeah, that fits, but it’s definitely “unexpected” moreso than “wrong.”
They’ve actually been saying this same kind of thing a lot in slightly different words; here’s a line from a while back:
“今度はイナリがあらぬ方を見て鳴き声を上げた.”
Thank you both!
We’ve got it sorted with that, but since you ask, the previous lines are pretty unrelated since it’s meant to be sudden while attention is being directed elsewhere, but the following line is “イナリが見ている方角から、１匹の七影蝶がフワフワと飛んできた。”
Which is fitting, cause they’re out looking for these fictional 七影蝶 with イナリ as a guide.
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I tried looking it up, and sites that try to explain the expression say that there is no clear record of the origin of this expression, but it seems that a possible explanation is that what happens the day after tomorrow is something that’s really quite hard to predict, so there’s effectively no way one can face that way, meaning that it’s necessarily the ‘wrong’ way to face.
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You know by the way, now I feel silly cause I just realized 明後日 says wrong direction right on jisho. This is what I get for relying on my slightly different version within Yomichan. Even checked the two Japanese dictionaries I have on Yomichan right now but they only list the literal meaning too. Probably should’ve searched more beyond that. Thanks for the help anyway!
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My Yomichan 新明解国語辞典 has it listed for 明後日 maybe you can add that one too as a second source:
運用： 「あさっての方」の形で、予測した、また、意図した方角とは全く見当違いの方であることを表わす。例、「何を思い違いしたのかあさっての方を見ている」
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