#--or written Mandarin at this point

[incognito-lionbeast]

I’ve determined that for my Shen Mei AU, it’d be funniest--maybe not the most logical, but definitely funniest--if she unintentionally Horse Girl™’s her way into being the stallion Bingge’s girlfriend -- after having spent most of the earliest parts of SVSSS trying her damnedest not to potentially end up in Bingmei’s harem. That ultimately didn’t exist at all.

Like! Absolutely unintentional, but because Ning Yingying is like the second person Bingge properly meets after Shen Qingqiu... she can’t help being the one to notice her brother brought back the wrong Binghe.

She’s less averse to being called Yingying than the OG is in canon. So that’s not what tips her off (though it is odd), but like... 8′| Her brother’s boyfriend would never attempt to flirt with her. This is. Incorrect. How do backpedal from situation??? How do tactfully reject a Binghe that’s actually kind of scary?

Well, she’s may be kinda banking on the fact that he probably won’t hurt her? Probably. Maybe. And though she’s a bit frightened, she’s doing her best to stay Really Very Nice to him, because she knows what this guy’s been through--and, yes, what he’s capable of. Though, she’d also just sorta like to be nice to him in general, too? Perhaps try to gently explain that things are different here.

Um. Actually, it’d be really bad if her brother came back to this Binghe without his Binghe around, huh. So she resigns herself to maybe? Hanging out with Bingge? If he’d like that, and-- Oh! Hey, there’s someone she thinks he might like to see, because You never had the chance to meet your father, did you?

Do you want to?? He’s alive. She can’t promise how many pieces he’s in at the moment--it’s a long story--but he’s alive! Last she checked, Tianlang-Jun was still being kept at the monastery, so... it'll be fun! Because you aren’t going to get anywhere with the other girls, either. Trust her. Also, it’d be a real pain in the ass if Liu Qingge or any of the other Bai Zhan brats showed up.

Though! She assures Bingge that if anyone tries to give him trouble she’d handle it (and them, if she has to) -- not because he can’t, but because she insists. So, c’mon c’mon! Aren’t you at least a little bit curious? Besides, if stealing something from Bingmei sounds appealing... why not start with dad? She won’t mention that Binghe doesn’t really want anything to do with him, shh. That’s a secret~

....though, to be honest, Tianlang-Jun would probably love to hear about his, uh-- Exploits. Among other things.

Needless to say, Shen Qingqiu comes back & nearly has a heart attack

Binghe is gone.

Note from sister says she & Bingge are gonna go visit Tianlang-Jun???

The PS tells him not to worry, but how can he not worry?!

The Correct Binghe eventually returns to Cang Qiong mountain, which is good & bad (Binghe is upset)

This still leaves them with the problem of two Binghes

Oh Dear God Shen Yuan’s Sister Was Transmigrated Into One Of Bingge’s Wives.

TLDR visit with Fafther goes better than anticipated. It’s a little less Father-Son bonding than one might hope, but she wasn’t hoping for much per that regard, really. Just that they’d get along better than TLJ & Bingmei do -- which is thankfully a very low bar. It’s uh.. good for them? She thinks? Anyway, she likes Tianlang-Jun. They are acquainted. Y’know from the time Zhuzhi-Lang kidnapped her, but that’s an AU plot point to be discussed at a later date.

Having successfully navigated a normal(?)--for demons, probably?--conversation and leaving the monastery, Bingge and Shen Mei immediately have to contend with A Very Worried Elder Brother & Bingmei afterward. Oh no.

--anyway, this is all to say that Shen Mei was very serious when she said that if anyone gave Bingge trouble, then she’d handle it. She can’t hope to compete if things escalate, but she WILL stand between Bingge and Shen Qingqiu and chastise her brother for being Mean To Him. Which Bingge doesn’t. really. know what to do with.

He’s perfectly fine with starting a fight. Bingmei’s fine with a fight. Yet, there is a cute lil Ning Yingying yelling at her shizun for his sake??? Like, he has NO idea that they aren’t actually NYY & SQQ, so the impertinence on display is far more than he would have ever expected from the sweet, albeit air-headed Shimei he’d married. Everything is backwards.

It pisses him off. It hurts. It’s unfair.

Shen Mei only just barely prevents an altercation by throwing herself at Bingge and activating her rightful powers as a Little Sister™ (and like. an alternate version of one of his wives?) -- becoming a clingy, doe-eyed mess and begging really, really hard. Please don’t fight. I don’t want you to fight... I won’t let them bully you, okay? Q~Q

Which is simultaneously much more like the NYY Bingge knows & not. Frankly, Shen Qingqiu looks like he’s about to die, because that’s still his Actual Sister!!! Bingmei, on the other hand, is flummoxed and pretty offended. (NYY is gonna be on his shitlist for a hot minute, oops)

Ultimately, Bingge manages to reclaim his sword & fuCKING eSCAPES. Because he’s a loser and this is more Feeling than he can handle. He’ll be back, though. Eventually.

RIP to Shen Mei, who understands not what she’s done. Also, she prefers girls, so... trans!girl Bingge, let’s go.

[fazcinatingblog]

Okay I reached the bottom of Hinge

[youghvaudough]

I will forever appreciate a theme in my fictional stories, & that’s exactly what Wind Breaker (by Nii Satoru) has, so, I present:

Wind Breaker characters have a theme to their names.. a thread:

Bōfūrin / 防風鈴

so, even though our protag group’s name is written and visually represented as “wind chime”, Bōfūrin’s name is where this group’s theme of trees/plants start:

防風鈴 (“prevent/protect” “wind chime”) has the same reading as 防風林, a type of forest planted strategically to prevent wind erosion of soil — much like Fūrin’s mission of protecting and serving their town

all of Bōfūrin’s named members (and close associations) so far have some element of tree/plant/wood in their last name (if you look at the kanji of their last names, you’d see a lot of wood radicals/木字旁):

桜 遥 • Sakura Haruka: 桜 / cherry tree

(fun fact: his name 遥 / haruka means "far"; also it's commonly a feminine given name)

蘇枋 隼飛 • Suō Hayato: 枋 / sandalwood (?) or tree used as timber, general term for wooden beams in houses

(fun fact: his last name 苏枋 is the Chinese name of a traditional reddish brown color, named after a pigment made from 苏木!)

楡井 秋彦 • Nirei Akihiko: 楡 / Siberian elm

杉下 京太郎 • Sugishita Kyōtarō: 杉 / Japanese cedar (cryptomeria japonica)

柊 登馬 • Hiiragi Tōma: 柊 / holly osmanthus (osmanthus heterophyllus)

(fun fact: his name 登馬 means "to mount a horse"; no, not that kind of mount, the regular horseback riding kind)

梅宮 一 • Umemiya Hajime: 梅 / plum tree

(fun fact: his name 一 is just "one")

This association also extends to Kotoha, who is very closely associated with Bōfūrin:

橘 琴叶 • Tachibana Kotoha: 橘 / orange tree

now, Bōfūrin members yet to be featured in the show: (spoilers below the break)

(if you want to go to later parts: part 2 - shishitoren & part 3 - noroshi!)

梶 蓮 • Kaji Ren: 梶 / paper mulberry (broussonetia papyrifera)

(fun fact: his name 蓮 / Ren means "lotus")

椿野 佑 • Tsubakino Tasuku: 椿 / Japanese camellia

(fun fact: their name 佑 means "to help/protect" or "to bless"!)

桐生 三輝 • Kiryū Mitsuki: 桐 / empress tree (paulownia tomentosa)

柘浦 大河 • Tsugeura Taiga: 柘 / mandarin melon berry (maclura tricuspidata)

There's also 桃瀬 匠 (Momose Takumi, "peach tree") & 水木 聡久 (Mizuki Saku, "wood"), the two other Heavenly Kings

I hope I have rly driven the point home here,, /lh

[daily-dragon-drawing]

Hi! I absolutely adore your dragon art (and am quietly hoping for a book wyrm at some point, it’s my favourite nerd pun). Your calligraphy is super impressive too! I used to take Mandarin Chinese at school and was hoping to start learning it again. I think you mentioned you were learning too, and was hoping you might have some suggestions for good ways or apps/websites that are good for people just starting out? Thank you! And I’m looking forward to more wonderful noodles.

#32 - 書呆虯 (shū dāi qiú / bookwyrm) - Shh! They've snuck into the library to read all night! 📚🕯️✨

This is the resource I'm using to learn writing/stroke order, they have practice sets in both traditional and simplified Chinese:

I am already pretty fluent in spoken Mandarin and can recognize common written words, so I'm not sure how helpful this would be for a complete beginner, but it does include phonetics in pinyin and zhuyin as well as definitions. And it's free!

Here is a longer list of resources I found while looking for Chinese learning tools.

If anyone is also learning Chinese/Mandarin please feel free to reply with suggestions too :)

[jcollinswrites]

How the fudge are you writting so fast??? I sit down to write and end up with nothing or reworking plot instead of writing 😭Have any tips you want to share? Perhaps the ingredients to the dark ritual you perform to get the motivation and remain focused 👀👀👀

So, first of all, you'll need half a newborn, shaken, not stirred…

lol jk (don't shake babies)

Believe it or not I'm the same as you, so here are some stuff that helped me tremendously, especially with my squirrel ADHD brain:

NUMBER ONE that I needed 20 years to learn, is that… forget editing, man. You can't edit if there is nothing to edit, so first you have to sit ya ass down and just fuckin' do it. It doesn't matter if it's shit at first. It's called work in progress for a reason. Who cares if it's shit? You can edit it LATER when the whole thing is already done. What you're reading in my game is literally my first draft. Lots of scenes might change later. In fact, I'm already changing scenes in the background, I'm just not always telling you. It doesn't matter. If anyone gives you shit for it, tell them to kindly fuck right off.

Have a plan for the book (written down. Not just in your head). Don't even start writing until you have a plan for the entire book. It doesn't have to be detailed. Mine is just bulletpoints, but you should know which chapter will contain what, including plot points, character development, relationship progress etc, otherwise you'll get lost, especially in a big IF. And then as you get closer to the next chapter, you can work out more details in the plan to help the actual writing.

If you don't feel like writing a scene, then don't write it. Leave a placeholder word there (I use 'mandarin' because that word likely won't come up anywhere else in the text), and instantly move on to another scene that you have inspiration for. Later, you can just search for 'mandarin' and add the scene when you feel like it. If you accidentally come across any MANDARINs in my game, that's the reason lol.

If you are writing an IF, it helps to start simple. Write the story until a choice comes up, then write the title of the choices, and continue ONLY with the route you feel the most inspired for atm (use mandarin for the rest). Don't let your momentum die by getting bogged down in choices. That's why I have so many greyed out choices when I start a new origin or chapter. I just write write write until the end of the chapter, THEN I go back to whatever choice is the simplest to add, and put the variations in the already-existing text if needed. Repeat until all the choices are written and coded in. This way, the text might feel more organic too, because you already have a pre-written skeleton that you can just add variations in.

Keep notes. It helps to have them on paper, next to you, so f.ex. when you make 9 different deities to choose from, you don't have to go back to the beginning of the chapter every single time to look up which deities those were and what they mean, you can simply turn your head to the side lol.

Take regular breaks. Exercise, stretch. Keep a daily schedule. Eat and drink enough. Try to keep a good health. Your brain won't work if it's starved.

Know yourself and your habits, and be honest with yourself. I know of myself that once I start working on the big plot points, I won't have any motivation to come back to the beginning again. That's why I'm writing all the origin stories first, because I know that if I start going into chapter 2, I definitely won't feel like coming back to start yet another route from the very beginning. So if you don't feel like doing something, then just… don't do it. Or do it simpler. Do it smarter. Trick that asshole brain into cooperating.

Last but not least, guys, 90% of my motivation COMES FROM YOU! Your engagement, your messages, your feedback, every little interaction is what keeps me going! So write me! I will answer! (if you aren't a dick). Literally, about anything. Even if it's just "hey I really liked this small detail here", that will already make my day, seriously. I LOVE talking about my work, and I'm pretty sure every author is like that, so keep engaging with writers, because that's 90% of the reason when a novel gets finished! I'm writing for YOU! Your enjoyment, your fun, because I love telling stories, but those stories don't mean anything if no one is reading them.

[zaobitouguang]

What is Taiwanese?

As part of my return to posting on this blog, I want to start posting a bit more about Taiwanese! It's not really a language I've seen discussed much on langblr blogs, so I'm going to start with some basics.

Where is Taiwanese spoken?

Unsurprisingly, Taiwan! It's most commonly spoken in the central and southern parts of Taiwan, and less commonly spoken in the northern and eastern parts, but you can hear it spoken pretty much anywhere.

What else is Taiwanese called?

台語 tâi-gí and 台灣話 tâi-uân-uē "Taiwanese" are the most common names colloquially. Officially, (台灣)閩南語 (tâi-uân) bân-lâm-gí "Taiwanese Southern Min" is used as the name of the language. You'll also occasionally see terms like 福建 hok-kiàn or 福佬 hô-ló used. I've given the transcriptions of these terms in Taiwanese, but the same terms are used with their Mandarin pronunciations in Mandarin.

Where does Taiwanese come from?

Taiwanese is a member of the Southern Min branch of the Sinitic language family. During the late Ming and Qing dynasties, Han settlers came over from the Fujian province of China, especially the Zhangzhou and Quanzhou areas, and brought their own languages with them. For a while, there was conflict between Zhangzhou and Quanzhou speakers, but eventually the two varieties coalesced into one language, with dialectal differences causing some dialects to be closer to one or the other. This means that Taiwanese is mutually intelligible with Xiamen/Amoy and Zhangzhou Southern Min, and related to other varieties of Southern Min, also called Hokkien, spoken in China and Southeast Asia. Taiwanese also has loanwords from Japanese due to the island's having undergone 50 years of Japanese colonization, and younger people's Taiwanese has also been influenced by Mandarin.

Is Taiwanese a language or a dialect?

Though some people will refer to Taiwanese as a dialect, it's generally an argument based in a denigration of the language and not really defensible on linguistic or social grounds. I've come to believe that the distinction between language and dialect is mostly social, with some influence from factors such as mutual intelligibility. Taiwanese is treated as a language by the Taiwanese government and taught as a language in public schools. Taiwanese is also not mutually intelligible with Mandarin or other languages outside of the Southern Min family. Some people point to the mutual intelligibility of Chinese characters as evidence that all Sinitic languages are in fact dialects, but even that doesn't hold-- Taiwanese is frequently written in romanization, and even when it isn't, there are plenty of sentences that would be pretty much unintelligible to a Mandarin speaker. For example, the Mandarin sentences 那個女人很美 ("that woman is beautiful") could theoretically be read aloud with Taiwanese pronunciation, but the more natural way to translate and write that sentence is 彼个查某真媠, which is very hard to parse in Mandarin.

How many people speak Taiwanese?

This is a shockingly hard question to answer! Taiwanese is often considered endangered, though it is in a much more stable position than languages such as Hakka and Taiwanese indigenous languages. One common estimate is that 70% of people in Taiwan speak Taiwanese. The 2020 census listed Taiwanese as the primary language of 32% Taiwan's population and the secondary language of 54% of Taiwan's population. This would add up to over 80%, which may seem high, but many people are partial or non-fluent speakers of Taiwanese.

What are the dialects of Taiwanese?

The prestige dialect of Taiwanese is the variety spoken in Kaohsiung and Tainan, which has a mixture of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou features. The Taiwanese spoken in coastal Taiwan, Penghu and Taipei tends to have more Quanzhou features, while the Taiwanese spoken in inland central Taiwan and Yilan tends to have more Zhangzhou features. However, Taiwanese dialectology is complicated, and some people have argued for other forms of classification. The Southern and Taipei dialects are going to be most relevant and salient to most learners.

Why should I learn Taiwanese?

Taiwanese is definitely worth learning if you're planning to spend a significant amount of time in Taiwan, especially central/southern or rural Taiwan. In my experience, I almost never needed Taiwanese to get around in Taiwan, but studying even just a little helped me form relationships with the people around me. Taiwanese has impacted the way that people in Taiwan speak Mandarin, and is commonly seen in culture and politics. Taiwanese-language culture includes traditional art forms like 布袋戲 pòo-tē-hì puppet theater or 歌仔戲 kua-á-hì opera, and modern music, literature and entertainment.

What resources are available for learning Taiwanese?

At some point, I'll make a full post about resources for Taiwanese. But for now, I'll mention that Bite-Size Taiwanese makes some easily accessible resources. There are textbooks out there in both English and Mandarin, as well as books in/about Taiwanese that can be purchased from books.com.tw and shipped internationally. Most language learning apps don't have Taiwanese, but glossika does. Unfortunately, most of these materials assume some knowledge of (but not necessarily total fluency in) Mandarin. There are also podcasts, youtube videos, music, tv/movies, literature, and more materials made for native speakers of Taiwanese that can serve as learning materials.

[letteredlettered]

new fic

Hello, I have started posting a new fic. For once, I'm really really happy with something I've written AND it's a complete, very long story, a thing that hasn't happened since 2019!

I liked it so much I even wrote a real summary! If you know me at all means I was TRULY invested; I haven't felt so happy about a fic since Away Childish Things!!! Here's the stuff:

Title: Say More

Rating: Explicit

Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)

Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Mò Xuányǔ

Characters: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Warnings: AU – modern setting, pining, mutual pining, slow burn, wwx struggles with Mandarin and feeling connected to Chinese culture, this is not a large plot point but bears mention, non-graphic drug use, non-graphic withdrawal, drug addiction, one suicidal thought, negative thought, compulsory heterosexuality, wwx kisses a girl, questioning sexuality, gay realization, some gender confusion and questions without serious gender questioning, incorrect definition of omnisexuality, open relationship, masochistic fantasies, non-graphic sadomasochistic realities, humiliation fantasies, submissive fantasies, some D/s realities, one condomless blowjob, suggestions of some unhealthy co-dependence, possessiveness, slight consensual non-consent, frottage

Summary: Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were best friends in high school, until they weren’t.

When they meet again, over a decade later, Wei Ying knows exactly what’s going to happen. Until he doesn’t.

They’re normal people, navigating a normal friendship, except they’re not. Turns out, they never were.

The fic is here: Say More

[tokyosmega]

the atla universe if languages existed

hey there! ever wondered what avatar would be like if the nations actually spoke different languages? me too! here's my idea of how it would go:

(set during avatar: the last airbender, might add more during korra times another day)

quick disclaimer: i am an american who speaks american english and conversational france french. all of my language knowledge comes from youtube or school. this is just a silly little headcanon i needed to write down.

WATER

Within the water tribe’s language system, there are two main languages: Northern Water and Southern Water. Northern Water is spoken by the Northern Water tribe and Southern Water is spoken by the Southern Water tribe. Despite having similar names, the two languages are very different. When the Water tribes lived as one on the water lionturtle, they all spoke the same language (which we will call Olde Water), but after separation, they evolved independently. Think of the relationships between the two water languages as the relationship between French and Spanish. Their words can be similar (sol/soleil, luna/lune) because they share roots from Latin (or in this case, Olde Water). Northern Water and Southern Water share roots to the point where a Southern speaker and a Northern speaker would not be able to understand each other but could probably pick out a few key words from their speech. Similar words are things that are native to their area, while less common things that did not exist/were unknown during Olde Water times have differing words (the word for “polarbear-dog” is probably similar in both languages, but the word for “badgermole” is probably different). If the tribes met often for peace/community reasons (perhaps annually), then both languages would contain loanwords from the other tribe. For example, if sea prunes are a Southern Water tribe staple, then the word for “sea prunes” in the North is probably the same as it is in the South. Neither language has any sort of written component- it is completely oral.

Another, more niche language also exists within the Water language family, and that is Foggy Swamp. This language also originates from Olde Water, but has a great amount of Earth influence, since the swamp itself is in the Earth Kingdom (influence specifically from Omashu). Someone who speaks Olde Water would understand Foggy Swamp to the extent that someone who speaks American English would understand Pidgin English (that is, they would have to focus intently and would be able to get the jist of their speech). A Northern Water or Southern Water speaker would not be able to understand them at all, since their languages have developed so drastically from Olde Water. However, one could trace roots of words in Foggy Swamp back to Northern or Southern Water. An Earth speaker would not understand them at all either, but would be able to trace back loanwords and modern terminology (the word for “swamp” or “cat-gator”, for example, would be a lot more similar to Earth than it would be to Northern Water or Southern Water). Foggy Swamp also does not have a writing system.

EARTH

Because it covers such a vast space, the people of the Earth kingdom used to be incredibly linguistically diverse, with almost every city speaking differently than the next. During Kyoshi’s reign, Chin the Conqueror took over most of the kingdom and standardized the writing system (similar to the Qin dynasty in China), and therefore heavily influenced spoken language in the Earth kingdom. As an after-effect, Common Earth, also known as simply Earth, is the most widely spoken language in the world, to a similar extent as English or Mandarin Chinese. It is taught as a second language in every nation and it is hard to find a city where there are no Earth speakers. Everyone in the Earth kingdom speaks or understands Earth. Omashu Earth is an accent that is spoken primarily in the city of Omashu, and has tonal differences from Earth, similar to the difference between New York English and standard American English. Aside from Omashu Earth, the other areas of the Earth kingdom that were taken over by Chin do not have distinct accents. There are some slight variances, especially in the Southern islands between the Air temples, but all speakers of Common Earth can understand each other perfectly. Common Earth has a stable writing system that does not vary.

Despite Chin’s attempt to standardize language within the Earth kingdom, the places he did not conquer held fast to their respective languages. Ba Sing Se Earth, which can also be called Upper Ba Sing Se Earth, is the language that differs the most from Common Earth due to Ba Sing Se’s impenetrable walls cutting them off from the rest of the kingdom. Since both languages are derived from Olde Earth, they share similar writing systems, but neither language can understand each other (similar to the relationship between Cantonese and Mandarin). The walls between the Upper and Lower ring also created Lower Ba Sing Se Earth, where grammar is more simplified, due to the hasty lifestyle of a lower-class worker. Both Upper and Lower Ba Sing Se Earth speakers can understand each other, but Upper Ba Sing Se speakers might not be able to understand Lower slang. Their writing system is exactly the same. Kyoshi Earth is spoken solely on Kyoshi island, and is very similar to the former language of the people of Yokoya. It is not understandable to any other Earth speakers and functions similarly to the relationship between Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, with a different yet similar alphabet to Common Earth. The Si Wong tribes, who inhabit the Si Wong desert, speak various independent languages, but are collectively known as Si Wong Earth. Their languages have many loanwords from Common Earth due to trade. Their written language is syllabic and simple, similar to Cuneiform. 

FIRE

Most of the Fire nation speaks the same language, but there are three main dialects within the Fire Nation language system. The most commonly spoken dialect is aptly named Fire, but is also known as Common Fire. This language is spoken within the Fire nation capital, Caldera, but is mainly used within the greater land mass of the Fire nation. It evolved from Olde Fire and is the most basic form of Fire nation speech. The most similar dialect is more of an accent with some different slang terms and is known as High Fire. It is spoken by the citizens of Caldera, especially the nobles. It is completely understandable to those who know Common Fire and vice versa. The relationship between the two languages is similar to the relationship between Canadian French and Quebecois. The main difference between High Fire and Common fire is pronunciation of words and tonal patterns within sentences and phrases. The last dialects all get looped into one group and are collectively known as Provincial Fire. Provincial Fire is spoken on the outskirts of the mainland and into the chain of islands off of the Fire nation. It varies greatly depending on what island or area of the mainland it is spoken in and has differences from Common Fire that are similar to Korean’s differences from its provincial dialects (speech pattern and tones, different slang terms). The further out one gets from Caldera, the stronger the dialect. Written language within the Fire nation is the same across all of the dialects and characters are similar to Mandarin Chinese as they are pictorial and syllabic (from canon). 

The Sun Warriors are the only ethnic group of the Fire nation that speaks anything other than Common Fire. The Sun Warriors speak Sun Fire, which originates from Olde Fire as well, but has changed greatly since it was spoken within such a small group of people. Someone who speaks Common Fire would not understand Sun Fire at all, but could probably pick out a few words that have similar roots to Common Fire. Sun Fire has two written languages- one is reserved for spiritual leaders and spiritual texts, while the other is used by all people. Visually, it is similar to the differences between Japanese’s Kanji and Kana writing systems, where one is more simplified and one is more traditional. Spiritual written Sun Fire is more similar to written Common Fire. 

AIR

The people of the Air nation only have one language: Air. Due to a high need of proper communication, as well as people constantly moving from temple to temple, or growing up at one and working at the other, Air nomads developed only a single language from Olde Air. Air nomads have a robust writing system to allow writing of incredibly complex ideas and air nomad journeys. Most nomads learn multiple other languages as they age, so they can succeed no matter where they find themselves in the world. Due to the destruction of the Air temples, Air is almost a completely lost language. Remaining speakers include Aang and his children, as well as a few Earth kingdom elders who learned the language from friends and passed it down to their children.

MISC.

Cities born out of the 100-year war, like Cranefish Town (Republic City), are another story. The Fire nation mandated that all colonies only speak Common Fire in hopes of destroying the culture of the city, but despite that, a hybrid language developed: Earthen Fire. To a non-speaker, Earthen Fire sounds like Common Fire, but the grammar structure is very Earth based (a Fire speaker can understand Earthen Fire in the way that a Dutch speaker can understand Afrikaans). It also incorporates many loanwords from Earth. The writing system involves the exact same characters as written Earth, so it almost sounds like Fire spoken with an Earth accent. 

[necromancy-enthusiast]

Traditional Chinese Translation of Homestuck Analysis-Beta Troll Typing Quirks

That's right, there's a full traditional Chinese translation of Homestuck. You can find it, along with links to other translations, here. If you want to jump to Hivebent when all the beta trolls are officially introduced so you can see this for yourself, here's a link to the first page.

But first, I'll give as succinct of a rundown of the elements of the Chinese language that are relevant as I can. The Chinese writing system doesn't have an alphabet, instead words all have unique characters. So a lot of the trolls' quirks just can't be 'transliterated', because they have something to do with spelling. Similarly, Chinese characters don't have upper or lower cases.

There are multiple ways to type Chinese on an electronic device, but the most common is using a Latin script keyboard. You type out the pinyin of a Chinese character (which is the system mostly commonly used to romanize Mandarin Chinese nowadays) and some suggestions for characters with pinyin romanizations spelled that way pop up in a little window, and then you pick the one that you want.

Chinese also has A LOT of homophones because instead of making a wider variety of noises like English, Chinese opted to differentiate words partially based on the tone they're spoken in. This is absolutely fantastic for puns and wordplay, English could never hope to be anywhere near Chinese's level in that regard. This comes into play with some of the trolls' typing quirks.

And just to clarify, sometimes I say 'Chinese' and sometimes I say 'Mandarin', that's because Mandarin is the official dialect in both mainland China and Taiwan and now the mostly widely spoken one in the world. It isn't mutually intelligible with most other Chinese dialects (this is part of why some people argue that Chinese isn't a single language but a language family). However, written Chinese can generally be understood regardless of the dialect you speak, even if people speaking in different dialects often have different ways of saying the same thing, like greetings and whatnot. When I say Chinese I mean things that broadly apply to written Chinese or the Chinese language/language family as a whole, when I say Mandarin I mean things specific to the Mandarin dialect. I think that about covers it. This post is already getting a bit long so I'll put everything else under a cut. Here's the breakdown:

Aradia: Replaces characters with the Arabic numeral for zero 0. I looked it up and apparently the Chinese character for zero also carry connotations of negation or mean things like 'nought' or 'no', which seems to fit with at least most of the instances she uses it in. Apparently this character can also have some link to death and dead spirits, which would fit given how she's a ghost at the beginning of the story.

Tavros: Uses the character 呃 a lot, which can be used like 'uh' or 'eh'. Uses 嗯 which can be used like 'hmm' or 'uh' as well, or like a general mumbling/light groaning sound, but with less frequency. Still, types haltingly, and uses commas, a lot, like in English, without any periods, Since Chinese doesn't have upper or lower cases, Tavros cANT DO THAT THING HE DOES IN ENGLISH, WHERE HE TYPES IN ALL CAPS OTHER THAN, THE FIRST LETTER OF SENTENCES, sO UNFORTUNATELY, there isn't a lot else to say here.

Sollux: Still refers to the others by their nicknames like KK and AA. He uses reduplication more often than most of the others, which is when you repeat part of a word or even a whole word for various reasons, often to stress your point. He also replaces characters that are pronounced as 'shi' in Mandarin with the Chinese character for 4, which is pronounced as 'si' and written as 四. I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be reminiscent of his lisp. EDIT: AS @autumntides reminded me, in at least Mandarin and Cantonese four is a homophone with death, and thus it carries the stigma of death and unluckiness. This fits in well with Sollux's mage of doom class and everything related to it, like Vriska mind controlling him to kill Aradia and him dying during the vast glub because he didn't make it into the game in time before Feferi revived him. I still think it's also the lisp, though.

Karkat: He doesn't type in a larger font size then the others so he doesn't really have any typing quirks, at least none I've been able to ascertain, but he's just as imaginative with his cursing. It can be pretty rough for me to parse and equally rough to translate into English in a way that doesn't sound really awkward, but one of my favorites is 'Rotten bloated corpse of God Almighty! Goddammit, what the fuck does your pockmarked think stem want?'

Nepeta: Uses onomatopoeias that equate to 'cat sounds' like meow and roar, as well as a good bit of reduplication. Still uses asterisk marks and speaks in the third person to indicate when she's role-playing.

Kanaya: Doesn't use punctuation. That's it, since she can't capitalize things like she does in English. I really wish I could say more but that's all I can see. She's still verbose, though.

Terezi: Replaces words that are homophones or near homophones with the numbers 1, 3, and 4 in Mandarin with their Arabic numerals, presumably to resemble how she types in leetspeak in English.

Vriska: Still types out characters 8 times occasionally, but rather than letters (since the Chinese writing system doesn't have an alphabet) it's the whole 'word' like 月月月月月月月月. Replaces words that are homophones (or almost homophones) with 'eight' in Mandarin with the Chinese character for 8 八. I'm pretty sure it's meant to signify that she's dragging the word out rather than repeating it, like when she does thiiiiiiiis in English.

Equius: Still uses % like X's, but he just types it and then types out the word. Again, I don't know exactly what kind of keyboard he's using, but if he's using a Latin script keyboard, he's just typing things like %xuan but when he's finished typing it looks like this %選.

Gamzee: Types out every other character in a slightly smaller font size then the default, he's the only one that changes his font size to resemble his English typing quirk. I'm guessing/hoping they have a set up where he can just as easily change font size as Latin script keyboards can change between lower and uppercase by hitting a certain button, but who knows. He uses ta ma de 他媽的 a lot, which is pretty much the Chinese equivalent of 'motherfucker/motherfucking', and cao 操, which is just 'fuck' but the verb.

Eridan: Still refers to the others by their nicknames like Fef and Kan. A lot of reduplication. A LOT of it, way more than Sollux or Nepeta even. I think this is supposed to be reminiscent of how he doubles his Vs and Ws in English rather then symbolizing true grammatical reduplication, though. It also seems to be that his specific flavor of reduplication is like Vriska's, it's meant to signify he's dragging the sound of a word out rather than repeating it. He also types ~ right after reduplication, seemingly to resemble the waves on the ocean and that he's sort of saying it in a 'wavy' manner, like how in English the comic remarks that he has a 'really weird kinda wavy sounding accent'. Honestly it's annoying to look at, and other Chinese speakers have told me the same thing when they saw how he types. Maybe that was intentional?...

Feferi: She does the same thing as Equius does with X but uses ) ( in front of words whose pinyin romanization starts with H. Uses 'gulu' in the place of 'glub' as transliteration. Replaces characters like those for 'is' 是 and 'have' 有 for characters that have that character in it but also have the character for fish 魚 like 鯷 and 鮪. Also occasionally uses ------ before characters, I think it's meant to symbolize that she's saying something excitedly.

And there you have it. This was rough and took a lot of time, but it was fun if at times deeply frustrating. I may do more of these posts comparing the Chinese translation to the original English, I'm particularly interested in the alpha trolls, but who knows. If you enjoyed this I'd greatly appreciate you sharing it :)

[culiehua]

Jem's ancestral origin

bc @jaimrennnn pointed it out again, here are my thoughts on Jem's maternal ancestry bc it only now occurs to me that the following are not just regular thoughts normal non chinese people have 😭:

Literary review: Jem speaks Mandarin and not Shanghainese, it's assumed he is from the north. But where? Why?

Now this is where it gets interesting:

一 The language(s)

Nothern Chinese dialects include quite a few different dialects; there are over 300 languages in China in total – and most are not mutually intelligible. At all.

(As someone who is also fluent in Mandarin and wouldn't understand a thing in ancient Shanghai... I feel his pain)

Mandarin is the official language in all of China TODAY, however, the Beijing dialect based Mandarin as we know it today did not undergo nationwide codification until the early 20th century.

And it was only in the 1800s that a shift to Beijing based Mandarin happened. Previously, and into the 1800s, Nanjing based Mandarin was the official Standard during the Ming (1368-1644) and part of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

While both would be plausible Mandarin varieties that he could have spoken given the time period, what we see Jem use though is the Beijing based version of Mandarin. While Nanjingese is semi-intellegible for speakers of Beijing Mandarin, it is notably different. So you are right: He does not use any other variety in the written text we see, therefore Mandarin being his only Chinese language means he or rather his family are likely not only from Northern China but speak a dialect that, at least in unintonated pinyin form, is exactly the same (note: we are assuming they don't have a notably different one bc dialect speakers are very particular about keeping their dialects alive as they do not really exist in written Chinese).

But there's more! The northern Mandarin dialects (not just Mandarin the official language) may belong to the same language family and some can be vaguely understood amongst each other (that's why it is also common to have instances where people speak with each another in different dialects, each understanding the other but unable to speak the other dialect) but 1) not all provinces above the Yangtze are Mandarin variety dominant: Zhejiang and south Jiangsu for example are predominantly Wu-dialect heavy (think Shanghainese) which are... not understandable as a Mandarin speaker lol while some dialects from Sichuan or Shandong for example may be easier to understand (remember there are many dialects, even from different language families, in each province).

and b) there's also the fact that even Mandarin varieties don't... necessarily understand each other. You can definitely hear the difference in speech even if they aren't different in grammar or vocabulary!

What do we know about Jem tho?

Jem speaks in a very... classic kind of way I suppose? There are no real regional colloquialisms, he sounds very Standard Mandarin (pronunciation not evaluable) but he does use some literary words that I'd never use in my life (separate post on that) which makes his Mandarin very textbook elegant. He doesn't have the classic /r/ marker at the end that many northeners have either. He doesn't have the Dongbei Mandarin accent either, the Xiajing dialect is something else, etc etc.

He does use the the Wade-Giles system of romanization (based on the Beijing dialect, was the anglophone system of transcription in the 20th century) when speaking English though (I Ching, Kwan Yin) which amuses (and...confuses) me bc he speaks Chinese in perfect Hanyu pinyin? So I'd say he englishifies Chinese terms when speaking English.

(There's also the problem that he was young when he lost contact to the language environment and that he had two L1s growing up resulting in crosslinguistic interference anyway. Mixed linguistic backgrounds do often result in the development of a "clearer" accent, or lack therof...)

二 The Ke family name

I've talked about it before, but Chinese family names have meaning. In the past last names were location bound, i.e. you'd have wider clan names for all the people from one region (which is what put Ke on the top 100 most common last names list in the first place. Yes that list exists). So you can look up where these names originate from or rather where they are common.

So far, I'd narrow the name origin down to these places: Shandong and Hubei (Wu dialectal regions excluded bc we assume he has no other background dialect; nomadic tribes also excluded bc traces unclear).

Why they would make sense:

Hubei the hometown of bronze and birthplace of Chinese modern industry for Steel works (haha... "they shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze". But that was after Jem). It's basically in the heart of China, a lot of cultural history, and the weather is very hot (they are called one of the three furnaces...) it's said that people there are louder and easier riled up bc of the weather. But the Hubei dialect does sound pretty different from the Standard. So there's that.

Shandong is famous for being a cultural and religious center for Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism (Hometown of Confucius!!) ... and also for having the tallest people in the country. The people here are also very bold and straightforward but also very hospitable with a generally good reputation, the common hero personality. It is also an agricultural center (ahem, Ke ≈ tree, remember). Character wise, it fits. There are a lot of Shandong people who moved to Beijing a long time ago since it's very close.

Given that neither Jem nor Wenyu seem like hot-headed people, but rather practical, calm, honest and are believers of buddhism and chinese philosophy (reincarnation wheel + with how often Jem refers to that thousands years old book you'd believe he has it printed behind his eyelids...), I'm rather inclined to guess their ancestors are from Shandong originally, i.e. the chill ones. (Yes you cannot generalize people but we have nothing on them 😭). However, I believe they have lived in Beijing for generations.

What is also interesting is that the average victorian Englishman stood at 167cm. As of now, the English average height is 175±6(m) and 162(w). In Shandong, the average height now is 175(m) and 169(w). But in the Qing dynasty the average northern man was this tall already. So I'd go on the taller spectrum for the nephilim and say Wenyu, as a northerner, is atleast 170. Jem is considered tall, somewhere between 178 and 180cm. Calculating this into the height, Jonah is max. 178cm. Since the Carstairs weren't tiny either, this fits. (Shandong people are the tallest people in China, followed by Beijing people. Tall girl Wenyu supremacy!!). I think Shadowhunters are taller bc of exercise that's why you have Will at the same height but Jem could definitely not do as much physically, having to rely more on efficiency and genes so I believe he has tall!genes but he definitely did not get that primarily from the victorians.

三 Wenyu's pre-Shanghai residence

From what we also know, the Ke family ran the Beijing Institute as well (Jia, née Ke, and her hubby). It wouldn't be far fetched to say that they've been running it since way back. After all, the Ke's are also still in charge of Shanghai and the Herondale's ran London well into the 1990s.

What we also know is that Jem's mom, Wenyu, was sent as an ambassador of the nephilim to the emperor for a meeting at the Yuanming Yuan, burned down around a decade and a half prior to Jem mentioning it, so the visit occured before Jem could ever remember it.

Historically, from mundane history, we know this: Emperor Xianfeng ruled from 1850-61, the Garden was burned down by Europeans in 1860 during the 2nd Opium War.

Wenyu was born in 1839, so she probably went there as a late teenager. She had Jem at 21 and also moved to Shanghai with Jonah years later. Now why would China's nephilim send some random teenage girl to Beijing to talk to the ruler? Why would they send her from perhaps angel knows where thousand miles away? Unless... she was sent from the Beijing Institute? Who knows. Chaos breeds demons. (It's also odd that Cassie changed the timeline to this happening when Jem was 2 or 3. Was this supposed to mean that he might have witnessed it? Idk).

Beijing was the capital, and if the nephilim, as a race, would send an ambassador, it would make the most sense to send one from the local institute. Jem did not grow up learning another local differing variety either, leading me to believe both Wenyu and Jem were born in Beijing and learned court Mandarin.

四 Conclusion

I believe that Jem's maternal family originates from the Shandong/Beijing area but lived in Beijing for centuries before taking over Shanghai too, since they are not shown to know or speak any other distinctive dialect and the Shandong dialect, due to it's close similarity to the Standard variety, could have lost it's accent over time there with the surrounding Beijing dialect, the court dialect and their complete mutual intelligibility. Clan origin, height and personality also hint at this, as well as Wenyu's travel log. Jem's Chinese is very standard and does not deviate; he seems sophisticated and has a clear pronunciation. Beijing born and raised!

[antimony-medusa]

MCYT on Ao3 - March '24

The state of MCYT on Ao3, just for fun. Yes I do this every month, I like numbers.

There were some very significant changes in the MCYT space with certain people being outed as abusive or predatory, with some people describing the wave of people coming forward as "mcyt's #metoo moment", so I would expect to see that reflected in the statistics. Let's go for it!

Incidentally, I reached the limit for bullet points on Tumblr, so it's time to switch this over to a spreadsheet! Which means I get to do colour coding, fun.

Some Notes:

I didn't see any new fandoms this month, but ocassionally I've missed something. Feel free to let me know if I've missed a fandom!

Fics are still primarily in english, but we have three exceptions with significant spanish fics. Karmaland (751 of 860 are in spanish, from 750 last month), Tortillaland (109 of 115 are in spanish, the same as last month), and QSMP (845 of 8,475 are in spanish, from 827 last month.)

QSMP also shows 47 fics in French, up from 43 last month, and 454 in Brasilian Portugese, up from 452 last month. While I did not check every language this month, I checked on the languages I knew had a fic in QSMP and we see 1 fic in Bahasa Malaysia, 1 fic in Dansk (Danish), 2 fic in Deutsch (German) up from 1 last month, 1 fic in Esperanto, 1 fic in Filipino, 5 works in European Portugese, 2 fics in Polski (Polish), 7 fics in Русский (Russian), 1 fic in Suomi (Finnish), 1 fic in Svenska (Swedish), 1 fic in Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), and 4 fics in 中文-普通话 國語 (Mandarin Chinese, I believe) up from 3 last month. While several 한국어 (Korean) speakers were recently added to the QSMP, there are currently no fics in 한글 (written Korean). The one fic in ASL has been either re-filed or deleted.

In the small and micro-sized fandoms, HBG's atypical increase of 16 fics last month was followed by a decrease of 7 this month. So not sure what happened there but something happened there. The fandom with the greatest increase is New Life, with an increase of 11, followed by My Inner Demons, with an increase of 9.

In the middle sized fandoms, another Aphmau fandom took the flag, with MyStreet showing an increase of 42 fics. That is followed by Minecraft Diaries and Evolution SMP, at 26 and 25 respectively.

In the post-canon big fandoms, 3rd Life was our standout, with an increase of 398 fics (less than last month's 558 or the previous month's record 831. Origins was noteworthy for posting an actual decrease of 30 fics, in contrast to the previous month's increase of 19. Dream SMP was probably the fandom hardest hit by the outing of abusers mentioned at the start, and far from last month's increase of 591, they showed an actual decrease of 801 fics. So a difference in expected fics posted of approximately 1,400 fics.

Dream SMP was actually not the fandom that posted the greatest decrease, as that belongs to Minecraft (Video Game), which saw a decrease of 1,555 fics, a difference in expected fics posted of approximately 1,800 fics. So many fics were deleted that Video Blogging RPF, which showed an increase of 3,513 last month and this time last year had 3,343 fics posted, only showed an increase of 51 fics.

In the currently airing big fandoms, Hermitcraft's increase of 628 did not reach the previous month's 716 or the month before that's 784, but does beat December's 574. QSMP was also, presumably, hit by the deletion wave, as this month's 391 did not reach the previous month's 729. This marks the fifth month of decline for QSMP.

[thegildedbee]

Fire/Night: May 20 & 21 Prompts from @calaisreno

[This current chapter and the previous ones are on Ao3.]

............................................................................................... As he begins to step off the train, Sherlock uncurls his fingers to let his mobile slide from his hand into the open space between the train carriage and the pavement's edge — although he’s removed the sim card, best not to have anything to hand that has an identification number since he's unsure as to what dangers lie ahead. He’s now untethered from communications, and about to step out onto a naked stage to begin a scene for which he does not have a script, although others surely do. He looks about with a keen eye, seeking to identify his contact – ah, there he is, it seems, a man perhaps a decade younger than himself, dressed neatly but inconspicuously, in black jeans and a heavy navy wool jacket, the asymmetrical opening buttoned closed at the shoulder. Sherlock inclines his head, as does the other man in response.

When Sherlock nears the path leading to the car park, the man toward whom he’s heading begins unfastening the coat, causing Sherlock to slow his stride and shift his weight, looking stealthily toward his left to identify any obstacles should he suddenly need to begin an evasive maneuver.

The man shakes his head slightly, and places his hand, fingers spread and pressed flat against his heart, for a brief moment, and then holds up his index finger. Looking closely, Sherlock sees that he is wearing a vibrant blue shirt, patterned with silver-outlined cranes. He calms, and awards points to his contact; nice touch, that. Although he subtracts points for needlessly tripping the threat alarm of a person on approach.

“Dr. Scott?” the stranger inquires, clearly expecting the nod of confirmation that Sherlock gives; he seems to have been at least minimally briefed. Sherlock hopes that this means they’re not flying blind.

“Greetings, sir. I am Ceba Trungpa, education section head of The Council for the Preservation of Sacred Cranes, at your service – I am here to help you complete your itinerary for the day,” he says pleasantly, speaking in Mandarin. With two hands, he holds out his business card and bows slightly; Sherlock accepts the card in the same manner, including responding with a careful bow. The front, written in English, is straightforward: name, title, organization. These words also appear on the back, although this time in Mandarin, and in a smaller font, to make room for some additional lines, which look to be numbers related to addresses and mobile contact details. Shorn of the letters, however, Sherlock decodes the numerals as indicating map coordinates; it’s not likely to be a coincidence, for the result works out to be roughly five miles from where they now stand, in a slightly northeasterly direction. He scrutinizes the card further, but concludes that he’s extracted all the information to be had, which leaves him only marginally less in the dark.

“I am grateful for your assistance, Mr. Trungpa,” Sherlock replies, also in Mandarin. “As you have been informed, I have come from Shigatse, where, out in the field, I was honored to have seen four pairs of the noble black-necked crane nesting safely. A rare privilege.”

Trungpa does up his coat, and nods his head. “Indeed, you are quite fortunate to have been absent from Lhasa in such safe surroundings, and to have been able to view such a high-priority scene -- a very fine outcome,” he says blandly, with an affable smile. “Black-necked cranes are remarkable creatures, as you know. Beautiful and fascinating in themselves, but also a flagship species for assessing the environmental status of the Tibetan plateau. Your photographs and field observations are most welcome, and it is certain that they will be of significant interest to many.” He gestures toward the car park. “If you are ready to join me, please come this way; my vehicle is at the far end from where we are – the jeep near the entrance. Do you see?”

“Yes, I do. Thank you. If I may, what is our itinerary?”

“Of course. You are to finish your day by visiting Drak Yerpa, a Buddhist pilgrimage site, located in a valley on the northern bank of the Kyichu. It will take us perhaps an hour to arrive there. It consists of a monastery and a number of ancient meditation caves, carved into the steep limestone cliffs. As you may have read, it was created in the seventh century, and at one time housed several hundred monks. Nearly all was destroyed when the Chinese came; but the caves remain, and there has been rebuilding. In our own time, ten monks have permission from the authorities to be in residence. I can assure you that it is a remarkable introduction to the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.”

Sherlock takes this in, wondering what advantage will be gained by this turn of events. “This sounds most intriguing. I thank you for this opportunity for enlightenment.”

Trungpa halts briefly, looking closely at Sherlock with an air of gravity as he also comes to a stop. "It was thought this would be an excellent place for you to begin your departure from Lhasa. In addition to exploring the site, there are many interesting bird species in the area – pheasants, finches, sparrows, larks, partridges, geese, vultures.”

“I see,” Sherlock says slowly, not sure that he does. If the man is an operative of some sort, he is giving almost nothing away; he is doing a commendable job of seeming to be nothing more than what his putative business card says he is.

“Am I correct that I will be required to trek beyond the monastery site itself in quest of these sights?”

“Yes, you are indeed correct. In particular, if you proceed some distance away, after dusk you will encounter a Blackhawk.”

And there it is, Sherlock thinks to himself, the sum and substance of this foray. He tries to convey by the slight nod of his head that he understands the import of that last statement.

"And will you be joining me for that later portion of the schedule?” he says mildly, mentally inching his way toward a determination of what the mechanics will be that bring his visit to Tibet to its end. He is very nearly sure that these developments are being overseen by his brother, but he remains wary of assuming too much, too soon, lest he make a ruinous error.

Trungpa begins moving forward, and bids Sherlock continue with him. "I regret to say that will not be possible. I will be leaving near 17.30, when Drak Yerpa closes for visitation. Prior to this I will convey information regarding which direction it would be most profitable for you to proceed in order to have maximum success.”

When they reach the vehicle, Trungpa indicates that Sherlock should seat himself in the back, while he takes the wheel. Once they are both settled, he adds, “I should note that the elevation will increase another one thousand metres as compared to our current altitude. You will need to pace yourself accordingly. For now, please, just sit back and rest.”

The barest of outlines seems to be coming into view, Sherlock muses; he will need to hike a mile or so beyond the caves, using his compass to find the exact placement. If he has not been deceived – either deliberately, or through his own miscalculation – a Blackhawk helicopter will arrive to extract him soon after nightfall.

“That is excellent advice. I have indeed found the altitude to be challenging.” Contemplating the rendezvous to come, he asks, casually, “Are there 'bears' in the vicinity? Would one need to have some sort of weapon to hand?” He carries several, not least an intimidating knife concealed in his right boot. Best to know if trouble is expected.

“According to my current information, it is highly unlikely, and you need not concern yourself with such a scenario,” Trungpa answers, making eye contact with Sherlock in the mirror. He turns slightly to look at him person, his eyes taking on a teasing glint. “Nor do you need fear encountering a Yeti.”

“Good to know,” Sherlock says with a chuckle. He settles back into the seat, and pulls a banknote from a trouser pocket, and in self-soothing gestures, folds it, then unfolds it, smooths it out, and then folds it again to occupy his hands. He closes his eyes, and internally surveys the disordered pathway to the Asian museum exhibit space in his mind palace.

On the passing of the half-hour, he opens his eyes, and scans the passing landscape of grazing yaks and small farms amidst the winding roadway. He wishes he knew more specifically the cause of the instruction that he steer clear of his hotel, and to continue on as Dr. William Scott, rather than re-inhabiting Gabriel Vernet's persona. He has been careful to try and keep under the radar of Moriarty's network by engaging only lower and middle level confederates to date, and by spreading his efforts widely, dispersed across great distances. He has been keen to avoid establishing data points that might make a pattern of effort evident, attracting attention from the leadership, and prompting reconsiderations of his status as deceased. He is anxious to learn what he may have done wrong, and whether it will affect what comes next.

Upon their arrival, Trungpa suggests they stop at the teahouse situated below the cave complex. Although his stomach is reluctant to receive food, Sherlock knows that eating at least a small meal will help fortify him for whatever complications may lie ahead, and so he chooses some meat and cheese dumplings and sweet tea. As he watches Trungpa pay up front for their orders, he catches a glimpse of a piece of paper being passed to him, and reminds himself to stay alert.

During their long climb to the caves, and then as they tread along the extensive trail that connects them, they cross paths with very few people. As a guide, Trungpa is quite knowledgeable, explaining the meanings behind various statues and wall paintings, as well as stories that have been handed down from past centuries that assign specific caves to having been inhabited by particular holy men for years in meditative retreat.

It is said that one of these very monks from the ninth century spent years in solitary meditation in one of the caves, until mounting a horse and riding to the emperor's palace, where he shot an arrow through the heart of the man who would be the last ruler of the Tibetan empire, assassinated for his hostility to Buddhism, his death ushering in what came to be known as the Era of Fragmentation. Trungpa relates that he then returned to spend further years in meditation, having eluded capture by escaping to the riverbank, whereupon he reversed his black robe so that the white lining was now visible, and in wading his horse through the river, the charcoal he had used to color the animal black was washed away. There is another tale, which gives the horse's name as Silver Blaze, in honor of the speed with which his hooves pounded across the plateau, as swift as a flashing sword. Sherlock senses that his companion is particularly invested in this story, and he wonders if it resonates as more than sacred history, but also as an image that symbolizes a vein of resistance to the Chinese occupation of what their leaders style as the Autonomous Region of Tibet.

As they approach one of the furthest caves, Trungpa indicates that they should move behind a crag a short distance beyond, which will shield them from view. It is a location that opens out onto rocky terrain, which Sherlock grasps is where he will begin his trek. His guide verifies that the business card reveals map coordinates, and gives Sherlock a basic orientation to the topography that lies before him. He shakes Sherlock’s hand, and passes on the paper that he had received below. He has been told that the message contains no information of immediate necessity, and suggests that Sherlock make haste to move toward the meeting point, and only then, when safely arrived, read the message. He then speaks several sentences in Tibetan, places the palms of his hands together and bows, and lastly uses English to ask that the next phase of Sherlock's journey be auspicious, safe, and marked by good fortune.

Sherlock draws out a leather wallet and places the paper inside, and then draws a paper object of his own from his jacket pocket. He presents Trungpa with the banknote that he had been toying with inside the jeep, which he had fashioned into an origami crane. He, too, bids his companion safe travels and good fortune, and bows, and then swiftly sets to make his way without looking back. The sun is beginning to dip below the horizon, casting long bruise-colored shadows from the slopes of the mountains, while at the same time coloring the snow-covered peaks as if they are on fire.

He hopes that his camouflaged field jacket will aid him in making his way to the site without being noticed, until the night's sweeping robe of darkness hides him from view, as he waits to meet whatever fate has in store for him.

........................................................

@calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @friday411 @peanitbear @original-welovethebeekeeper

@helloliriels @a-victorian-girl @keirgreeneyes @starrla89 @naefelldaurk

@topsyturvy-turtely @lisbeth-kk @raina-at @jobooksncoffee @meetinginsamarra

@solarmama-plantsareneat @bluebellofbakerstreet @dragonnan @safedistancefrombeingsmart @jolieblack

@msladysmith @ninasnakie @riversong912 @dapetty

.............................................................................

[ovobawrites]

𝐵𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽: 𝐸𝓅𝒾𝓈𝑜𝒹𝑒 𝒮𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 ♡ 𝐹𝒷𝑜𝓎𝓈 𝒜𝓃𝑜𝓃𝓎𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓈

disclaimer: this has already been posted on ao3 and quotev, i'm just reposting this beach episode special as a promo for the fic. after this is all my previous author notes.

this is a fem!reader and also a half chinese!reader insert.

previous ♡ next

"Another day, another slay." You muttered to yourself, quoting Cater as you got ready for the day. You didn't exactly understand why slaughter was such a good thing, but you were sure it was another one of those turns of phrases from the internet.

The birds had just started to sing as you left your room, softly closing the door behind you before racing down the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. There was no way you were going to eat Lilia's cooking, not for your first meal of the day. Hopefully Malleus somehow restrained Lilia before he could get out of their shared room. Though, knowing Malleus, he may very well revel in the chaos Lilia would cause.

...You could hear the clanging of pots and pans from the kitchen. You stood frozen, debating the merits of running away or trying to mitigate the damage until footsteps echoed through the doorway. Probably Trey, Ruggie or Jamil then. Lilia would never walk when cooking (maybe that's part of why it's so bad?). 

You sighed to yourself in relief and walked into the room. "Ah, good morning Trey!" You chirped, feeling better already.

"Hm?" Trey turned over to you, cherry red apron tied to his waist and a smudge of flour on his cheek. "Oh, good morning to you too (Y/N)." He smiled.

You examined the kitchen with an ever-critical eye, seeing both sweet and savory ingredients set on the counter. "Whatever is all this for?" A teasing tone. "A feast? For us?" A batting of your eyelashes as you prepared a speech of epic proportions in response to the inevitable betrayal Trey would bring.

"It actually is." Trey chuckled. "I'd rather cook for all of us then have to manage Lilia here again."

"I wouldn't worry about that." You murmured to yourself, but elaborated upon Trey's questioning look sent your way. "Malleus or Silver either locked him up or distracted him last night to the point where Lilia won't wake until noon."

"...That doesn't sound much like Malleus. But it would be rather nice of Silver to do that." Trey turned back to the mix of batter, and with a flourish, whisked it into a perfect consistency.

An obligatory round of applause from yourself and a mock bow from Trey. The smudge on his cheeks was really starting to annoy you... but his hands were dirty so it's not like he could get rid of it himself. You leant against a counter and watched Trey work, whizzing throughout the kitchen with practiced movements. Skill and subtle strength in how he handled every ingredient before him, a spark of flame and a sizzle of butter. The click of the knife against the cutting board as fruit was turned into slivers at the speed of light.

"I'm making pancakes for us, if you're wondering." Trey spoke aloud, vulnerable back to you. Ease and trust written all over his frame. It made your heart pang for just a moment. "It's the perfect breakfast food. Well, that and waffles I suppose. And crêpes... Anyways, you can pair them with meaty foods like bacon or with more sweet confectioneries."

"Is that so?" You mused. "We only have cōngyóubǐng, a scallion fried pancake, and there's mandarin pancakes[1]... oh! And shredded fried pancakes... though at that point they're quite different from western ones..."

"So savory pancakes?" Trey surmised.

"Pretty much!" You grinned, and decided you might as well get rid of that smudge on his cheek before the white stains it forever. "Stay still for a moment, you have something on your cheek." Trey hummed and tilted his head towards you obligingly. A quick rub of your thumb got the flour off, and with a small cheer, you licked the residue from your finger. 

Trey went still, a small widening of his eyes and a quick intake of breath from him. You glanced at him with clear concern. "Something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing." And with a quick shake of his head, Trey went back to work.

The kitchen was silent but for the sounds of cooking, yet you were ever so comfortable around Trey that you barely noticed. Simply being with him was enough. Pinks and reds. A glowing warmth as you watched him continue to make breakfast for everyone. An unbidden smile came to your lips. 

(And if Trey recognised it for the real smile it was, a crack in the jade mask, he said nary a word, content to bask in the happiness you brought him.)

"Thank you for cooking, Trey!" Ruggie grinned as he dug into his sky-high pile of pancakes. "Ifw's dewishous!" 

"I'm glad you like it." Trey accepted the praise with a smile, eating his own, much smaller, pile of pancakes with far better grace.

Lilia pouted. "How come you didn't wake me up? I would have been ever so delighted to have made breakfast with you!" At that, everyone looked away, sweating or tugging at their collars.

Turns out, Malleus had 'accidentally' broken the alarm clock in his and Lilia's room, rendering Lilia unable to know when, exactly, he needed to wake up for breakfast prep. And thank the gods for that! 

"There'll always be a next time, Lilia..." Silver patted him on the back with a twitching smile. 

"...You're right! I can always cook tomorrow!" Lilia beamed as the rest of you scrambled to find a way to stop him.

But then, just in the nick of time, your saving grace arrived: 

"There'll be no need for that, Vanrouge." Crewel said as he entered the dining room, no interest in the foods in front of him. "Ortho and Jade will be cooking tonight and for tomorrow's breakfast."

Lilia fake sobbed into Silver's chest, slighted by this rejection from his professor. Meanwhile, the rest of you looked so thankful, Silver about to collapse from the relief Crewel just gave him. Seems Lilia had a few tricks up his sleeve last night, though he failed in the end.

"For lunch, you will have the opportunity to prepare sandwiches from the ingredients I left in the cupboard." Crewel continued on, unfazed. "Now, if you excuse me pups, I'm going to go relax on my own. Don't interrupt me unless it's an emergency. If I find you disturbed my vacation for foolish reasons, you'll be the test subject for my next batch of cursed foods."

And on that slightly threatening note, Crewel staggered out of the house, sunglasses on as he left. 

"Was... Professor Crewel... drunk?" Ruggie asked, ears pushed back. 

Leona just sighed in reply. "If you had to teach at NRC for a year, wouldn't you get wasted too?"

Ruggie thought about it for a moment, tilting his head as his face went from grief to depression to anger to bargaining to acceptance within a second. He shrugged and went back to devouring everything on his plate.

You finished your smaller portion much quicker than the boys, and went to wash your dishes and prepare your lunch before the inevitable fight for ingredients. Jamil and Jade likely thought the same, judging from how they picked up the pace. Then, on the other side of the spectrum landed Riddle, Kalim and Azul, currently embroiled in some engrossing matter (something about studying?) with an interjection or two from Floyd just to get Riddle riled up. Cater bugging Idia and Malleus about some matter or the other, likely his magicam, while Trey juggled calming Riddle down, getting Cater to stop scaring Idia so much, and chasing Lilia's invitations to cook together off. 

You smiled to yourself as you left the room to make a small meal for yourself, butter and sandwich meats combined with some crunchy lettuce. Nothing too fancy, especially since you might have to puke it up later. You were not completely immune to the effects of poisons, after all. Only immune to the death part... 

Ruggie joined your side and prepped food for Leona and himself soon after you finished packing your lunch in a bag. A flick of your wrist to get your water bottle out of your sleeve, and you were set to get ready to swim at the beach. 

"Wait, how many ingredients did Crewel give us for lunch?"

"Oh, where did Ruggie go?"

"Oh shit-"

You sighed, completely at peace as you lay in the sun. Thankfully, there was enough wind to keep you pleasantly cool despite the burning rays. Leona lay to your right in the shade of the trees, joined by Ruggie curling up next to him within an hour, the hyena exhausted from... something about hunting for expensive seashells? Meanwhile, Vil was having an impromptu photoshoot with the help of Rook and Cater. A thirst trap to gain more magicam followers, judging from the amount of water bottles he's used to add 'perfectly placed' droplets of 'sweat'. Cater was most certainly starstruck, taking notes at such a rapid speed that his fingers didn't even move as he followed Vil's directions to a T. 

Trey had been lying next to you too, at least until his attention was called away by Riddle being tugged under the surf by a certain eel, his brother watching with a laugh. Azul was stuck in the shade as well, unwilling to join in whatever shenanigans Floyd and Jade were pulling this time (especially since he just knew he would be teased). He, Idia and Ortho were working on an extravagant example of architecture.

"No, you need to place a tower here!"

"Azul, I'm the one who designs mechanics, shouldn't you follow my directions?!"

"If you had an eye for aesthetics, maybe I would!"

"Wait big bro- careful! The castle-"

A shriek. A crash. A muttered argument after Leona growled. Oh dear.

The silence after that led to you drifting off to sleep, curling up on your side while the hours ticked by. Thank god Kalim had taken Malleus off on some 'exciting trip!' followed by their worried retainers, you don't think you could handle his level of noise right now.

A loud crash to your left made you jolt awake after who knows how long. You blinked a couple of times, utterly disoriented by the sudden awakening. 

"Careful, Malleus! We can't drop that-" A pause. "Um. Oh well! It's not that big of a deal!"

"Oi, Lizard, what're you doing with such a big rock." Leona groaned.

Malleus and Kalim had appeared to bring over a huge grey rock from the shore, still shiny from the waves. The two seemed endlessly fascinated by it, for... whatever reason.

"This will work so well! Thank you Malleus!"

"Of course, it was no trouble, Kalim."

Then, another crash from behind them. It was a harried Jamil, followed by Lilia with Silver in his arms, asleep. "Kalim. Just why. Did you bring over a huge rock to the shore?!"

Kalim laughed sheepishly. "Well-"

"You know what?" Jamil pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't want to hear it. Just clean up the mess when you're done, got it?"

"Okay, Jamil!"

"Wait so you brought the rock over for a reason?" Ruggie ogled at it. "Is it cuz it's full of gems or something valuable? Can I have some of it?" Puppy dog eyes already in place, he was prepared to beg until...

"Oh, there's nothing special about it! I just wanted to see if Malleus' magic was so strong that it could lift a big rock!" Kalim chirped.

Leona's eye twitched. Vil looked on the verge of conniption while Cater laughed nervously from behind him. You could just hear Jamil getting ready to rip Kalim a new one.

You broke the tension with a giggle and a clap of your hands. "Well then, your magic must be very strong, Malleus! To be able to lift a boulder like that..." You trailed off.

Malleus puffed his chest out, ever so proud of himself. "Thank you for the compliments dearest (Y/N), rest assured this feat was nothing to me."

"What!" Kalim interjected, stars in his eyes. "So you can lift something even heavier? I wanna see!"

You paused to let Malleus interject demurely, but to your shock and horror, he was actually considering it. "Maybe... not now Kalim? I don't think there's anything bigger than a boulder here that can risk being damaged." You sighed.

"Nah, I wanna see lizard boy lift the villa."

"Hm? Why not."

"Wait- Malleus- I wouldn't-"

"Aw man, Crewel's gonna kill us..."

[1] Mandarin pancakes are what is used to wrap up like... those peking duck and sauce and vegetable wraps you make yourself at those chinese restaurants. It's made of like water and flour, and they're thinner, usually smaller (from my experience) and smoother than tortillas. 

Mini Theatre Malleus: Why is Lilia tied up in the closet? Silver: So he doesn't cook breakfast tomorrow. Malleus: I see. (closes closet door) 

Kalim: Hey Malleus, wanna check out that totally dangerous thing over there? Malleus: Hm, it does seem rather interesting... Jamil, Silver and Lilia, running over at full speed: my kalim/malleus is doing something deadly sense is tingling!

and here is the seventh part of the beach ep. if you'd like to read the rest of the fic, you can read it on ao3 here, and on quotev here.

[ctimenefic]

Trick or treat!

Oh, it's a Freddo bar! For that, you get a fic concept that belongs very firmly in the "write in 2025" list because dear god I need to clear some wips.

It is a nightmare of a concept to me because the outline - THE BULLET POINT OUTLINE - is 2,000 words long. That is a thousand words longer than the outline for Triple Crown, which is still unfinished but looking like a 40k-ish fic. I hope. God help me.

I don't do longfic. The longest thing I've ever finished is like, 20k. But. Still. This one yearns to be written.

It's a Galex The Nanny AU but George is both the nanny and the repressed uptight one. And here's the first quarter (lol) of the outline:

The divorce had been “amicable”, which as far as Alex could tell meant that he and Lily walked around with open chest wounds only the other could see, and everyone told him he was doing well, “considering”. They never told him what they were considering.  

It’s 2028 or thereabouts. Alex Albon, Red Bull’s perennial second driver, finally has a shot at being the team’s priority now Max has retired. The car is decent(ish), the chance is there. But retirement is also looming on the horizon – if he can’t pull it off now, he never will.

It’s not his priority, though. That would be the kids. How many kids? Hard to say, they seem to multiply every time he looks away. 

Lily has just cracked the top 100 in the rankings and gets a sudden last minute invite to a Major tournament (golf fans don’t tell me if this is bollocks I need it for plot reasons) ((do actually tell me though but help me fix it please)). Trouble is it clashes with one of Alex’s races and none of their relatives can take the kids. 

Alex’s manager gets him the number of an ultra posh nannying agency that can handle emergencies. Four hours later, George Russell shows up at his door. All he’s got with him is a leather weekend bag. The strap is worn, slightly frayed; the leather looks butter soft, but the kind of softness that comes from age and wear, not expense. “Is that it for your stuff?” Alex asks. George pinkens. “They said I’d need to get a helicopter from Nice. I didn’t know how much luggage you could get in one of them.”

Alex has minor misgivings which he pretends are totally not about George being young, hot and male because he’s an enlightened man. George formally rattles off his CV - former paediatric nurse, more formal qualifications than seem strictly feasible - and, well, that’s in order.

Then George starts sending his nightly reports while Alex is at the race and oh god this guy is a psychopath. He’s recording screen time, milestones, mood levels, meal times, bed times, EVERYTHING. Alex is certain he’s going to come back to four robots who’ve had their souls sucked out by the relentless pursuit of quantitative data.

Instead he gets back early and George opens the door with play-doh in his hair and the youngest on his hip as the kids sing off-key Mandarin nursery rhymes and play the "set the table" game and Alex thinks: oh. You can stay.

[arien-elensar]

To the Root: Jounouchi/Kaiba

Inspired by the @fluffbruary : Extended Edition/Infinifluff 2024 Prompt List for November 14 : cuddle | happy | spell. A silly little thing written in less than 30 minutes. I had the quote "To heal you have to get to the root of the wound and kiss it all the way up" by Rupi Kaur in mind.

“Nice to me-eet yo-u,” Jounouchi sounded out the phrase from the guidebook resting on his lap. He paused, struggling with the next sentence.

“Spell it out,” Kaiba suggested from his seat beside him on the couch. Jounouchi did as instructed.

“Near-est - where is the nearest bank?” He stumbled over the word but managed to coherently read the sentence. It was enough to earn an approving nod from Kaiba who leaned forward to point to the next sentence he wanted Jounouchi to attempt.

“What other languages do you know?” Jounouchi asked looking up at him.

“Fluently? Three. German, Spanish, and Mandarin,” he answered. “I’m working on Hindi.”

Jounouchi whistled, impressed.

“Gozaburo made sure I could communicate with all of his business partners,” he explained. “Mandarin was the most difficult to master.”

“No kidding, you were just a child,” Jounouchi mused.

“Children are capable of extraordinary things when pushed,” he said, gaze growing distant.

“Yeah, you’re exhibit A,” the blonde quipped. “Something tells me your adoptive father’s idea of pushing was not an encouraging smile.”

Kaiba chuckled drily, nodding. “That’s when I definitely knew I’d done something wrong.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Jounouchi began, scooting closer to his lover. “How about I help you with your Hindi?” Then his expression turned mischievous. “And for every attempt you get a kiss, anywhere I desire?”

“Sounds like you just want to get me in bed?” Kaiba remarked.

“Who said we can’t do both?” he asked. “I���d love to encourage you along,” he added stroking Kaiba’s chest as they cuddled.

“So long as the same applies for your English,” he prefaced, before pulling the other in for a warm kiss.

“Agreed,” the blonde replied with a happy grin as he reached for the Japanese to Hindi workbook.

“Repositioning himself in Kaiba’s arms, he opened it up to the earmarked page. “How do you ask for the nearest restaurant?”

Kaiba answered, stumbling only once.

With an eager smile, Jounouchi put the book aside and leaned forward to place a kiss on the CEO’s jawline.

“We’ll hardly make progress this way,” Kaiba protested weakly.

“There’s always tomorrow,” Jounouchi replied, retrieving the book. “You need this just as much.”

With a small smile, Kaiba conceded as Jounouchi read out the next instructions.

[kitkatkey]

HarryKim AU fic recs? I gotcha. Heed each fic tags and double check for smut if you'd rather avoid that.

1) "in the car outside" by paisleycowboys, gym teacher Harry/rcm Kim au fic. They're neighbors, Kim's new in town, and Harry can't help but observe Kim observe him who's observing Kim. They don't get along at first but when feelings catch!!! Oh boy. Oh brother. They're so good for each other.

2) "at this point it was years before..." by RaccoonScientist, originally written in Mandarin translated into English, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND SO MUCH FUN!! Harry and Kim met as children, grow up together as best friends, alternate universe where they do not become cops. I read and reread this fic bc I couldn't get it outta my head.

3) "Static over voice" by sosioban, SO SO SO SO FUCKING GOOD I REREAD THIS RECENTLY (March '24) OOOOOO FUCK!! Harry and Kim meet by chance online playing video game. It is silly. There is pining. They do figure it out.

4) "Du bois coffee" by harvestar, modern au where they work at Harry's coffee shop. Of course they fall in love. Of course they inevitably kiss. Cute fluff. Cuno is mentioned, wish there was more of him in this one.

5) "My Dear Elf with the Clipboard" by Sosioban, more fluff!! Set modern day during Christmas. Kim is a pining mess. He wants Hot Santa so badly it's stupid. Hot Santa is ofc Harry.

6) "Your Turn with the Frog" by sosioban, OH GOD ANOYHER ONE BY SOSIOBAN??? YES!!! love this, read it in one day instead of doing schoolwork. Rushed all that work. Don't regret it. So silly and filled to the brim with smut. Alice, Soona, and Ruby are Kim's friends, Kim is gay, Harry is trans, they're fuck buddies who are both teachers, what can wrong? Kim definitely won't catch feelings. Definitely... WILL BE REREADING THIS ONE

7) "All In Due Time" fic series by Oxycontin. Love love love- so sad sad sad. Kim ages in reverse. His days are numbered. He slowly relearns how to live and how to love and what comes next for everyone else has already happened for him. As time goes on he forgets things. He grows younger. Aging in reverse like Merlin. Some good ol Pale fuckery ya know? I love this series. Extremely well written. Tears my heart up. Read it. I promise it does not disappoint with the angst.

8) "Pale Moon" by greatdistractions, is a werewolf Harry fic set post game. Harry doesn't remember being a werewolf, Kim goes to find him when he doesn't go to work and doesn't answer any calls, and finds a wolf in his apartment instead. They go back to Martinaise. Some cute shit happens. Quick, simple, cute read.

And these last two are set post-game and serve more as continuations than AUs but they're still So Fuckin Good:

9) "birds of a feather flock together" fic series by Thegrimreaperisanerd. OH OH OHOHOHIHHHHHH!!!! I love this series, the second fic is currently in progress and is getting so so so so good!! Taking place post canon, the first fic (Imprinting) is a casefic with Harry and Jean and Harry is so desperate for his new bestie (Kim) he buys a pink phone second hand and does some very illegal very questionable things. DUCKLINGS THAT DROWN is the sequel exploring more of their (Harry and Kim) relationship and their relationships with the 41st. The author is incredibly sweet, highly recommend yall to read and leave em a kudos/comment trust me they'll notice.

10) "Birdcage-verse" fic series by Sarielle, phenomenal writing, excellent execution of a case fic- ADOPTED CUNO ALERT!!! SEAMLESS ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!!! There is so much world building that has gone into this series. I cannot recommend this series in particular enough. Really it has it all.

Wow, genuinely thank you anon, I wasn't expecting such a detailed response! I've read some of these already (incredible tho so i should reread) but I will absolutely check out the others!