#Basically I can (or at least could at one point) understand French when it was presented to me
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boy my French has gotten awful
#Jeez#I mean it’s not surprising#It was never exceptional to begin with and I haven’t practiced at all in like a year and a half#But I could always a) read b) hold/follow a slow conversation#Note I did not say I could WRITE in French because man. I’ve always sucked at that.#Basically I can (or at least could at one point) understand French when it was presented to me#My french has uh. Degraded.#I read something and was like “oh I’ll respond.” Then stared at the screen for ten seconds before realizing I had no idea how to say any of#What I was getting at in French.#Oopsie there goes my already shaky skill lol
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I find it so interesting that during the Twisted Hearts OP, when the song goes "I feel you sins all the time", they showed Mycroft and Albert respectively. While Mycroft does not understand/know everything that's going on with the LOC and Moriarty & co., I do believe he understands how Albert feels, especially about taking the punishment on himself.
For example: This scene in MTP, post-Final problem
He understands because he knows Albert and, more importantly, he has been there, it's just the circumstances and the consequences of the decision is very different. The reason he dedicated his life to working for the government was because of his father's involvement in the French Revolution. He wanted to repent on behalf of him, so he decided to take on that punishment, protecting Sherlock in the process. Albert does something very similar, he takes on the atonement so Louis doesn't have to. He believes Louis deserves so much more than punishment; he deserves a fulfilling life, a happy one, or at least as happy as it can get, and above all, the one who should reap the crops William sown [I should REALLY make a separate post on Louis ye gods-].
Mycroft could've let the Moriarty brothers do what they saw fit, as long as he was spared from the brutality, but instead he threatens them. If they don't put the country's future and prosperity first, Mycroft will personally "annihilate" him [his words not mine].
This scene really goes to show that Mycroft is genuinely dedicated to the Empire, he is very intent to serve for the country's future, but it's not blind loyalty, it's him being bound to it, it's the least he could do to make up for his father's sins [sins of the father am I right?] and it's the same for Albert. He and Mycroft love their younger brothers, to the point of sacrificing themselves in order to protect them, to make sure they live as they please, free of guilt. The difference is that Mycroft changed over time, he started to loosen up. The first time we see him outside of his office for non-work related matters was with meeting everyone in the dinner party. And for Albert? Time stopped turning entirely. The moment he entered the tower was the moment he couldn't go back. It was him, his thoughts and the messages from Mycroft to distract him. The only person who could convince him to come out of his prison and start living was William; because William's actions, sins, guilt and will to die was the very reason why Albert chose his punishment.
In comparison, Mycroft's self enforced punishment was lighter to Albert's. While Mycroft has to deal with constant stress [this is not really canon, but considering that he's referred to as the government, yeaaaaa I think he's gonna be stressed af] and grief, Albert had to deal with a spiral towards insanity, grief, religious guilt for the Moriarty plan and his compulsive thoughts. And he's sure as hell isn't going to stand on his own for a while after that.
Another thing [this time it's actually related to my point :0] is exactly when the two show up. Mycroft shows up around the lyrics "I feel your sins" while albert shows up around "all the time", which further proves my point. Since Sherlock and William showing up around the point of "I can't feel your love but I can give you love" basically describes Sherlock's goal of saving William and their relationship in a nutshell.
"I don't know if you see me as a friend but I'll see you like that anyway, and save you, just like what I would do to another friend."
What's not to say the same can be true to Mycroft and Albert?
"I can never truly understand what you are going through, but I will always understand how you feel."
#You thought this was a scene analysis#BUT IT WAS A MYCROFT APPRECIATION POST ALL ALONG#Also I love that scene with Mycroft threatening the Moriarty bros#It was sooooo good loved it#Still eating it up as I type#Yuukoku no Moriarty#Moriarty the Patriot#YuuMori#William James Moriarty#Albert James Moriarty#Louis James Moriarty#Mycroft Holmes#Sherlock Holmes#mtp Sherlock#mtp William#mtp Mycroft#mtp Albert#mtp Louis#Illamda stop yapping no one cares
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AITA for "attacking" my neighbor's girlfriend? 🗣️🐶👻
Potentially relevant background: I (35F) live in a small apartment building with a very large shared back yard. My mom lives in the same building. We're both close with one of our neighbors and on pleasant terms with the other occupants, but we've also both had various problems with the guy who lives below my apartment ever since he arrived. Details aren't really relevant, he's just one of those people who have clearly never lived in an apartment building before. A couple months ago, his girlfriend moved in along with her young, very excitable, deaf collie. She has almost no control over this dog and can barely even walk him. In the past she used a regular collar for him, which meant she was pulling the dog back by the neck whenever she tried - not very successfully - to control him, but thankfully, she did recently start using a harness instead. (The other people in the building have commented on this as well, I swear I'm not nosy - or at least I'm not the only one who is.)
So anyway, a few weeks ago I was in the back room and when I looked out the window, I saw the girlfriend (FB, 30sF) in the yard with the dog (LG). He was being his usual hyperactive self, and she was as usual being pretty ineffective in handling him. I guess FB got tired of LG haring off away from her as she stood in one place, because she shortened the lead and started pulling him back to her side with a hard yank anytime he got more than a foot or so away from her. At some point, the people who live in the house next to our building must have let their dog out as well, because LG went absolutely nuts trying to get over to the fence and pulled FB a few steps forward with him. She hauled back on the lead with both hands, hard enough that LG yelped, which actually lifted him off his front paws with his back paws barely touching the ground, then shook him roughly and shouted angrily in his face (I could hear her even from inside, and while I couldn't understand her since she speaks in French to the dog, her tone was angry).
Without even thinking about it I immediately opened the door, took a single step onto the deck, and yelled "HEY, stop it!" at her. I wasn't yelling with aggression, I just had to raise my voice for her to hear me across the yard. FB dropped LG and looked up at me and she seemed confused, so I pointed at the dog and shook my head and said "Don't shake him like that, and don't yank him back like that, you're gonna hurt him!" She shook her head back at me and was like "What is 'yank', I don't know, I'm not hurting him." I mimed the way she'd pulled on his lead and said something like "Pulling on him like that and shaking him so hard could hurt him." She was like, "He is deaf, I have to pull him to make him understand." I said, "You don't need to pull him that hard!" FB goes, "Well, he pulls me?" I'm like, "Well, he's a dog? You're a human, you can do better?" Finally she just waved me off and walked back toward the front of the building, so I went back inside, annoyed. After a little bit, she stomped up the stairs, then knocked - as quiet as a mouse - on my door. I didn't bother answering because I didn't have anything else to say to her (or at least nothing polite).
Later that night, when my mom (64F) got home from work, FB's boyfriend (GD, 38M) was apparently waiting outside for her to report the incident. She came up to my place and asked me what happened, so I explained basically exactly as I did above. Mom tells me that GD told her I "attacked" his girlfriend and really upset her by implying she was hurting her dog. (Why he felt the need to like, tattle to my mother instead of talking to me personally, I do not know. It's fine, I totally love being treated like a wayward child.) I was like, "I didn't 'attack' her, I yelled one time and then spoke normally, from like 30 feet away. But I wasn't implying anything, I TOLD her that what she was doing could hurt the dog." Mom told me it wasn't my business to say anything to FB about how she treats her own dog. I said that if I see someone mistreating an animal I do consider it my business to step in. She told me I was rude and what I did was wrong, and then asked what I thought I was going to do if GD complained to the landlord and got me evicted. I was pretty irritated, but eventually - more to appease my mom than because I actually felt sorry - I wrote GD and FB an apology note "admitting" that I was "wrong" for letting my concern for an animal make me act without thinking and get involved in something that "wasn't my business".
Truth is, I still don't think I was wrong, and I would do it again. I think there must be better ways to discipline your deaf dog, and if you aren't willing to learn them then you shouldn't take in a deaf dog. (Also, if what she was doing was just out of trying to control him and not out of anger, why did she shout in his face like that? Girl he's deaf, he can't hear you???) But, after some reflection, I recognize that my already established dislike of these people may have colored my perspective somewhat. It's all over and done with now, but I just want a wider perspective.
Was I the asshole?
What are these acronyms?
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365 May 3-6
After a point Desmond just came to the understanding that his life was weird and he really didn't feel like arguing with it anymore. Coming back from the dead? Near death? Limbo? Whatever did that to a person. He was so beyond his life throwing arguably impossible shit at him.
"I'm home," he said looking at the living room of his apartment that absolutely should not fit as many people in it as it did. And yet.
The first week it'd happened he was sure he was having a new mental break down. But no. That'd have been a reasonable explanation for a bunch of murderers showing up at his door looking like people out of a ren fair. He didn't know why they were there. They didn't know why they were there. When Desmond asked they just grabbed his blackened hand or arm. They were drawn to it. Somehow? For some reason?
Seven languages all roughly saying, "Welcome back," came in a chorus. They could all understand him at least. Whatever fucked up magic or whatever had given him that at least so he didn't have to sift through seven different tongues in his head to pull out the one he wanted.
"I brought bread," he said which got everyone interested. He didn't anticipate people from previous centuries to be picky eaters but they absolutely were. And that didn't even cover Ezio's insanely high standards for olive oil, which he basically drank. But everyone ate bread. Thank god. He always had to go down a few blocks for an actual bakery because of course they wouldn't eat store bread. The bakery knew him on sight now since he'd been going there every other day for a month and bought the exact same arrangement of bread. When they saw him coming in they just packed up his order for him.
"Everyone get their shit done while I was gone?" he asked amid some talking. Some of them could communicate but it was a near thing. Some of them even spoke English, which was cool.
"It was boring, but yes," Ezio said.
"Good. Who wants to make dinner?" Desmond asked, going into the kitchen and taking the bread out.
"Everyone stop looking at me," Evie said. "Just because I'm a woman."
Desmond didn't engage while Jacob was defending his sister's honor, or whatever. After a bit of bickering he called out, "Fine then we're all going to be unhappy and Altair will cook." There was some groaning.
"Fools," Altair said and Desmond was the only one who understood. He got up from where he was sitting on the floor and entered the little kitchen with Desmond. "My cooking isn't that bad... now," he added. Altair, like the rest of them, were not how Desmond remembered them from the memories as mostly wild and blood thirsty twenty-somethings. They were all older. In their thirties or forties. It was still weird seeing Altair in a beard. At least he wore it better than Ezio.
"Yeah you don't burn my pans now," Desmond said. Desmond still helped him figure out what to do. They all knew how to use the appliances by now but other than Connor, Bayek, and Evie none of them had ever had to cook for themselves until they'd shown up in Desmond's life. But like good Assassins they all took to instruction quickly and Desmond just had to tell them what to do and they figured it out.
"How much longer are we staying here?" Arno had come around to the kitchen while Altair was cutting onions with freakish laser precision. Desmond wasn't sure Altair couldn't understand French but he always acted like he couldn't so he didn't push it.
"I dunno. Until you guys fucking leave?" Desmond said. Who knew when that would be. Who knew why that would be or how!
Arno gave him an annoyed look. "I know that. But this is unsustainable," he motioned to the living room which had all the furniture shoved into the corners to make enough room for everyone to sleep. Desmond's bedroom also had some sleeping space on the floor. "Even at our lowest this is too much."
"Well if I want to break my lease I need to pay a fee. And then I have to find a new place that I can afford. And if you guys all fucking vanish one day I'm going to be in a big place all by myself unable to pay. I don't mind having roommates from former head mates but actual normal people? I'd rather die."
"That can be arranged," Altair said behind him.
"Shut it, you," Desmond frowned at him but Altair wasn't even looking at him.
Arno was also frowning. "Well perhaps it would be more useful if we put our minds to figuring out what happened to bring us here instead of what you have us doing."
"If you want to go ahead but I can't afford to feed someone who isn't helping," Desmond said, folding his arms. Because magic that they could all understand his spoken English they could also understand written English. Desmond had found all of them some reasonable paying translation gig work. Desmond knew they all hated it but also had no idea what to do in this century, let alone how to cross a street without almost being run over by a car.
Arno also folded his arms and mirroring Desmond. "I am not a stranger to hardship. But I'm tired of waking up with someone's feet in my face. Also Jacob snores; loudly," he put a pained look on his face.
Desmond grimaced. He could sympathize. Before he could keep going with Jacob Altair tugged his sleeve. He turned around. "Is this right?" and it was still so baffling hearing a hard ass like Altair ask him something so kindly.
Desmond looked over the chopped vegetables Altair had in the pan. He'd added raisins. Always with the fucking raisins with Altair. "Looks fine. Don't cook it too long or it'll turn to mush." He turned back to Jacob. "Look I'm not unsympathetic. I just don't know what to do myself," he said.
"Can we help you? Clearly we're supposed to be here? So we should help you."
Desmond sighed, "I would love that but none of you know how to use a computer."
"... A what?"
"Exactly."
"Is that the little glass tablet you carry around with you?" Arno asked.
"Yes."
Arno looked conflicted. "It seems... confusing but I'm willing to figure it out if it gets me into an actual bed."
"Fine," Desmond said and already knew it was going to give him a headache. "This weekend when I'm free."
Arno smiled. "Great," and he walked off.
Desmond sighed dramatically. "Punk," Altair grumbled, or about as close an approximation as Desmond could translate out.
"I knew you could speak French," and Desmond punched his arm.
"My wife is French, of course I can," Altair said with a grunt. "His accent is so snooty. I hate it."
"He's Parisian," Desmond said.
"No wonder he sounds like a prick," Altair grumbled and Desmond laughed.
--------
Having seven people crowding your space while trying to use your laptop was... something. It sure was something. Somehow they all managed to perch around him without getting in each other's way too and were all staring intently at the screen. Desmond had been talking to them, very slowly, for about three hours now explaining how a computer worked. He typically had all their translation work printed out and then on his days off typed it all into the programs or emails for the clients.
Surprisingly the one who seemed to understand it the best were the two old guys Altair and Bayek. Bayek was especially insane because he was from before the common era. Like the numbers ticked down on the grand time line of human civilization from where Bayek was from. Desmond wasn't particularly surprised by Altair who'd had his head in the future through the Apple for decades. That didn't mean either of them were good at it but they asked the least questions when he asked if they understood.
"I think that's about as much as I can just explain. You have to try it now. Who wants a go?" Desmond asked. He expected Arno to immediately volunteer. Hadn't he been the one excited to help him find a new apartment?
"I do," Bayek said.
"Weren't they still playing with sticks and rocks in your time?" Jacob asked, not knowing what Bayek was saying but getting the idea. Evie smacked his arm, hard, making him complain.
"Sit," Bayek sat. "It's light, hold onto the keyboard area so it doesn't fall off your lap," Desmond said and put the laptop on Bayek's crossed legs. There was a moment of confusion as Bayek figured out how to use the touch pad but then he got it. "I'm surprised you're at all good with this," Desmond said casually.
His answer absolutely floored Desmond. "This is nothing compared to the Isu ruins." Desmond hadn't personally lived through Bayek but he'd been told the story. Bayek was really good at telling stories. "That is actual confusing shit."
"What'd he say?" Ezio asked.
"He said it's nothing compared to Those Who Came Before," he said. "Didn't know Egypt had that sort of tech involvement with the Isu," he said thoughtfully.
"Ask him if it's as easy as it appeared when you did it," Arno said.
Desmond did and relayed it back while Bayek was clicking around on the computer and internet. "He said it's like reading a scroll where the words and pictures move with your thoughts."
"How poetic," Arno said.
"I also wanna try," Evie said.
"Yes, and I," Ezio said.
"Give him a few minutes," Desmond said.
"The keyboard is... confusing. I know what these letters mean but their arrangement is-- quite stupid," Bayek said.
"Yeah, basically," Desmond agreed.
"It also hurts my eyes."
"Yeap. It'll do that too," and he took the laptop back. Then Evie got to mess around with it while Bayek rubbed his eyes. He hadn't blinked the entire time. Then it was Ezio's turn once she'd had a go at it.
"Is there a way to see these mmm- webbed sites in Italian?" Ezio asked.
"Sort of? Just type into the text box in Italian. It should pull up Italian sites."
Watching Ezio pick and poke through what he wanted to ask Google was excruciating. "Ha! Italian," and he scrolled through the search results. Desmond leaned over to see what he was looking at.
"Hey!" Desmond snatched the laptop away. He switched into Italian himself to scold him and god he sounded a lot like Claudia by the way Ezio wilted. "Don't look up boobs on my fucking laptop. Of course I leave you alone for a minute and you're trying to see some tits. What are you? Seventeen again?"
He was going to have to put child locks or something on this thing so these Assassins didn't give his laptop a fucking virus looking up porn. "What can I say. I'm a man of simple pleasures?" Ezio said with a wry grin.
"Banned," Desmond pointed at him in annoyance.
He let everyone try out the laptop. No one was as taken with it as Bayek and Connor somehow almost broke it. Arno at least came away from the lesson and hands on part being slightly confidant in using it. Everyone also complained it hurt their eyes. Because none of them blinked while using the laptop. Blue light was hell of a thing.
They dispersed after that. Bayek, who still sat next to him, said, "Can you show me more things?"
"Sure? Like what?"
"I want to know what happened to Egypt," he said. "And the Romans. And the Greeks. Are they still around?"
"Well Ezio is what you could call Roman," Desmond said slowly. "He lived in Rome, the city, for a while."
"Is Rome no longer an empire?"
Desmond chuckled, "Buddy, they wish."
"... I would like to see what made Rome fall," he said, not in a sad way but rather he was very interested. "And what happened to Julius," his eyes narrowed.
"You're going to love what happened to Cesare," Desmond said and pulled up some wikipedia articles. He showed Bayek how to navigate the site, what the colors meant, what the little numbers next to words meant, and the sources at the bottom. After that Bayek was glued to it. "And make sure you blink," Desmond added. Bayek nodded.
Desmond got off the couch and wandered into his room, flopping down onto his bed. That had taken so long. He picked up his phone and looked at it. It was only mid afternoon. He had a few missed texts. It looked like they were from work. He ignored them. He wasn't paid enough to answer texts on his day off.
----
Desmond was used to being watched at this point even if he couldn't see them. Didn't bother him. This time when he looked across the Goodwill it was Jacob staring right at him looking like he was dying while Evie was trying to find some clothes. Seemed that even after a few hundred years brothers still would rather die than shop with their sisters. He chuckled to himself and went back to ignoring him.
Desmond was more concerned with convincing Bayek and Connor that no they couldn't just walk around shirtless or tank tops all the time.
"But it will get in the way of my movement," Bayek said about the long sleeved shirt Desmond was trying to get him in. It was summer so was pretty warm and Bayek had never existed in any sort of cold weather in his life. His logic was sound for Egypt.
"Yeah but you can't enter most stores without a shirt, dude," Desmond said. Connor was more accepting of full shirts having grown up around Westerners but Desmond remembered being in his head. He always felt too big for in his clothes. Especially Achilles' old uniform that he'd nearly ripped several times from just how thick his arms were.
"But it's hot out. We don't need sleeves until later in the year," Connor said.
"What'd he say?" Bayek asked and Desmond repeated it. Honestly a lot of the time he was just repeating what everyone said so any two of them could hold a conversation. "Why would the time of year matter?"
"Winter?"
"... What is that?"
Desmond pinched the bridge of his nose. "Think like the flood season but instead it gets cold."
"It would get cold in Egypt sometimes," Bayek said.
"No like water turns into ice," Desmond explained.
"But it's not like that now? And there's so much clothes here surely I won't want for them," Bayek said. Everyone had been pretty stunned when Desmond had brought them to Goodwill and it was just filled with more clothes than any of them had seen in one place.
"In winter cold weather clothes tend to go quick," Desmond said.
"Hmm-
"Desmond," he looked over at Evie's voice as she came through the aisle. Jacob was sulking a ways away.
"Sup."
"My brother is useless as ever. I need input on these modern clothes," she said.
"Sure."
Evie showed him two shirts. They looked pretty nice and were fairly subdued, which he expected. One was a feathery blouse, the other was a thin sweater. They complimented her skin color. Desmond didn't know a lot about fashion but he'd seen enough women come into a bar to know what was good. "Which one?"
"I like them both," Desmond said.
"That is not helpful," she said.
Desmond reached over and grabbed the tags. They were both five bucks each. "Do you like them?"
"Yes."
"Then you can get both-
"What?" she asked, confused. "But these are so fancy and high quality," she said. Desmond knew the Industrial Revolution had been going on during Evie's time but fast fashion was a hell of a thing.
"It's fine, they're just a few dollars-
"That's expensive! Are you sure?" she asked.
He chuckled. "Yeah. If you like them we can get them. Make sure you find some bottoms you like too to match."
"Are you really sure?" she asked.
"Yes. And tell your brother to stop looking like a creep and pick out some clothes too," Desmond said.
She rolled her eyes. "He knows no other way. But yes, thank you," she held the clothes to her and walked off.
"Those are expensive though, are you sure?" Connor asked. He understood modern money better than Bayek who was ignoring them and looking at clothes.
"It's about the equivalent of fifteen cents," Desmond said, knowing Connor would understand that.
"Oh! Really?"
"Yeah. Inflation is hell of a thing-- don't worry about it, it's economics," he told Connor who just looked so confused.
"I think I like this one," Bayek said and Desmond sighed when he pulled out the most Dad shirt he could have found. It was a tie die tank top. "Finally something brightly colored. This time is so drab," he scoffed. The worst part was Desmond knew he'd absolutely wear it.
"Okay," Desmond said, defeated. Then he groaned at the sound of some very angry Arabic a few rows over. "Now what?" he looked and saw Ezio harassing Altair about... something? "Excuse me. Before Altair kills his biggest fan boy," Desmond said. "Find a shirt that fits you, Connor," he told Connor and went over to where Altair very nearly had his hands on Ezio's neck.
Desmond easily slotted himself between the two of them. "What's this about?" he asked.
"Ezio says I dress like a woman," Altair pointed at Ezio furiously.
"... What? Also how do you know what he's saying?"
"He's just speaking a different version of Latin," Altair said. "That isn't the point!"
Desmond turned to Ezio. "Did you say he's dressing like a girl?"
"I said he'd look like a fancy lady with his dress," Ezio said and yeah Desmond got why Altair was about to kill him.
"Take like twenty steps back while I defuse this bomb you made," Desmond told Ezio.
"I resent that," Altair growled at him.
Ezio did step back and Desmond turned around to him. "So what did he get you about?" Altair raised a shapeless dress that was very much a dress but it was also shaped like a thobe which was traditionally exactly what an old guy like Altair would wear. "Looks like a thobe to me," Desmond said, realizing what Altair was going for.
"Yes. That's what I tried to tell him."
"But it's a dress too."
"So?"
"Look I don't care," Desmond raised his hands before Altair bit his head off. "You'll get looks if you wear that though and I know you hate being perceived." Altair grimaced at that. "If you want a thobe I'll order you one or find one at a Middle East bodega or something but you should just find some pants and a shirt." Altair huffed in annoyance. "Yeah I know, you hate rules. Get over it," Desmond rolled his eyes.
"I am more annoyed you know me better than myself at times," Altair grumbled, arms folded. "Same as the rest."
"Trust me I really wish I didn't. Either way, we can still get it if you want but I would suggest pants."
"Fine," Altair huffed.
"Connor, Connor," he heard Bayek calling from the end of the aisle. At the least that was something they could do. Desmond watched Connor join Bayek down the aisle and Bayek triumphantly held up an old sleeveless Laker's jersey. Desmond snickered imagining Connor's face of horror at the yellow and purple monstrosity. Connor for his part waved his hands like he didn't want it.
An hour or so later Desmond was finally in line for check out with the others. Evie had taken what he'd said to heart and found a bunch of stuff but everyone else was still too stunned by the variety to pick more than three or four pieces. The cashier was pleasant and had clearly seen weirder shit than a guy like Desmond shepherding a bunch of adults forward to have their clothes rung up and then put into individual bags. The total wasn't even that bad for buying clothes for seven people. The more modern Assassins still gasped or gagged at the price but Desmond didn't flinch at the hundred and seventy dollar price tag.
"That had to be wrong," Connor said once they were leaving.
"What was?" Desmond asked.
"The price-
"You said not to worry. That was a fortune!" Evie cried.
"It was like five dollars," Desmond said.
"That's not what the cash register said," Evie insisted.
"It's the equivalent of five dollars," Desmond rolled his eyes.
"Seriously?" Jacob asked.
"Yes. Seriously."
"That's still a lot of money," Arno said.
"For seven people buying clothes that is a steal. I've seen people buy a single shirt for five dollars," and he chuckled when Evie, Jacob, Arno, and Connor looked appropriately disgusted. Bayek, Ezio, and Altair just looked confused.
"Are these dollars worth a lot?" Ezio asked as they walked down the sidewalk.
"I do not have the brain power to convert to florins," Desmond groaned. "Or dinars or deben across like a thousand plus years okay?" he asked. "Like a shilling?"
"Ah," Ezio nodded.
"If you aren't worried about it neither am I," Bayek said.
"Sounds like a bunch of poor people to me," Altair said, specifically in Latin.
"I would agree," Ezio said absently. Desmond slapped his hand over his face.
"I wasn't poor. That's still a lot," Arno said in something recognizing Latin. Both Ezio and Altair laughed at him. "What?"
"Your accent," Desmond said.
"What of it?"
"Sounds like he's talking without moving his lips," Ezio chuckled. "Open your mouth when you speak," he said loudly. "Or speak with your hands. I can understand you better if you do," and he did indeed wave one hand while talking.
"Can we not do this?" Desmond groaned as they got to the parking lot. He'd rented an actual van for the day just to avoid public transport. He'd gotten them all on a bus or subway individually as they'd appeared but he didn't want to have to watch all of them at once on a subway. He knew somehow, someway, someone would get lost and he didn't want to hunt down an Assassin in a big city. Especially not these guys who could be... a bit stab happy if you bothered them too much. Well except Connor.
They all loaded into the van and Desmond reached into the center console to grab the single dose of pain killers he'd made sure to bring with him. Because he knew and had been right; by the end of this shopping trip he could feel the start of a headache. "Okay everyone buckled in?" Desmond turned around once he'd taken the pain killer. There was still some confusion about buckles for Bayek but Jacob had gotten it for him. They all gave him a thumbs up to cut down on the cacophony. "Great. Who wants lunch?" More thumbs up. "How about McDonalds?"
"What's that?" Jacob asked.
Desmond chuckled. "You'll see," he said and backed the car out of the parking spot and drove off from Goodwill.
-----------------
Desmond was looking over rental listings drinking his morning coffee in bed. Altair and Bayek were both on a blow up mattress on the floor. He'd bought a few over the past month but there was still only so much room. It was going to be so expensive to move. Thankfully now that everyone could operate the laptop or tablet now they could input their own gig work so could do more so long as they weren't blinded by boredom. A single bedroom apartment wasn't enough for eight full grown adults.
There wasn't much reasonable in the city itself but outside the city he could rent a full house. That was doable. And about as expensive as his current apartment actually. He scrolled listings on his phone but did consider just picking a neighborhood outside of the city and calling a realtor to find him a rental house. He didn't even care what it was.
He knew it was light out because Bayek woke up. He was punctual and even with the curtains over the windows Bayek always woke up at dawn. He sat up blearily. "Coffee?" it was the one English word he could say because the word didn't exist in any language he knew. It wouldn't have been invented for another sixteen hundred years for him. Didn't mean he hadn't immediately become addicted just like everyone else.
"Full pot in the kitchen," Desmond said, sipping his mug.
Bayek got off the inflatable gingerly and left the room. Desmond didn't have the heart to tell him no matter how careful he was about it Altair always woke up after he left. On the bed Altair huffed, awake now as well. "You could just go back to sleep," Desmond said.
"No," Altair said softly and that tracked. He sat up. "Do you ever worry?"
"I grew up in the twenty first century, my entire body is just made out of anxiety," Desmond said.
Altair grimaced. "I mean why we're here?"
"Nope."
"Really?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"After the shit I've seen this isn't even the worst of it," Desmond said, sipping his coffee, barely paying attention to Altair.
"How is that possible?"
Desmond looked at him now. "I died, you know," he said casually, like discussing the weather. The only indication that had actually happened was his left arm was fucked up beyond belief. "And coming back from death? Nothing really bothers you," he shrugged. "Certainly not some old head mates."
"Which you won't tell us what that means," Altair said.
Desmond shrugged. "Better that way."
"So you really don't care? Why we're here? Where we came from?"
"Not even a little," Desmond was done looking at rentals. He'd just call a realtor, get them to find him a three bed two and a half bath with a yard. He switched over to Twitter. Perfect turn your brain off activity.
They sat in the dark quiet of Desmond's room for a bit. "What's it like, being dead?" Altair asked after a few minutes. Desmond didn't answer him. "Desmond?" he looked over because Altair's voice was close. He had moved to be next to Desmond's bed.
"You should know what death is like, you've killed more people than me," Desmond said off handedly.
"I've sent people to the afterlife. I've never been to one. The others have grand Catholic ideas. Bayek said he fought gods in his afterlife. But you've died. What's that like?"
"Nothing," was all Desmond said.
"It was nothing?"
"Sure. We'll go with that."
Altair scowled at him. "You're being annoyingly obtuse, young man," he growled.
Desmond looked right at him. "Don't with me," he said in a serious way. It must have been plain on his face because Altair didn't press the subject.
Light spilled in from the living room when Bayek opened the door but it was Ezio behind him who spoke up, "Desmond, Jacob drank all the coffee and there's no more left."
"I made a pot. How'd he drink an entire pot?" Desmond groaned. "Also I know you idiots know how to use the coffee machine."
"No powder," Bayek said in his Dad tie dye tank top.
Desmond sighed. "Okay I'll go to the store," he got out of bed and rummaged around for some pants. Ezio and Bayek left the doorway. "Jacob," he yelled into the main room, "you're coming with me for drinking all the coffee."
"I didn't do shit!" Jacob yelled back.
"You better be dressed when I get out there or I'm dragging your ass to the corner store in your skivies!" and it was a real threat. Desmond changed his shirt and his dead beat dad would have been so proud of him tucking his long sleeved shirt in all the time now. He didn't like it rising up when he lifted his arm, you could see the death damage on his flank too, horrible thick black veins and old burst capillaries. He also always wore a glove now.
Jacob was fuming standing in the living room when Desmond came out of the bedroom but he was fully dressed. The inflatable mattresses had been put away already and the only person with coffee was Bayek since he'd woken up first. "I didn't even drink it all," Jacob complained. "Ezio just says whatever he wants and you believe it."
"Contrary to what he thinks its because the guy can't lie to save his life. Least of all to me," Desmond said. "Now stop complaining," he pulled on his shoes.
When he opened the door to walk out he almost bumped into someone. It was a woman. She was tall for a woman with ash brown hair and old eyes wearing an insanely sharp pant suit. "Veronica?" Jacob said next to him.
"Jacob?" she said with an accent Desmond couldn't place.
"Holy shit what are you doing here?" Jacob asked.
The woman, Veronica?, looked at Desmond, then at Jacob, "That's my question." She looked over Desmond's shoulder then back at Desmond, her eyes wide in an expression just from the way she held herself Desmond took as she wasn't surprised easily. "What are they doing here?"
"Uh... they're my friends?" Desmond said, confused by the line of questioning also who the fuck was this lady? For a moment he thought she was like the others but there was no befuddlement to her, no wide eyed bewilderment. They'd all appeared looking out of time and place. She was not. She was something else.
"Who's at the door?" Ezio came around. "Ah? Maria?" he asked.
"You also recognize her?" Desmond asked.
"That's Veronica," Jacob said. Now the others were coming around.
Desmond looked at the woman who was looking right back. "You also shouldn't be here," she said and it stuck him right in the chest.
"Well that's rude," Evie said. "Don't be mean to our friend, Veronica."
"Do you all recognize this lady?" Desmond asked the Assassins and stepped back into his apartment. He felt better being surrounded by them. Whoever or whatever she was wouldn't be able to fight off seven Master Assassins.
"Of course."
"She was our friend."
"She helped me."
"She knew my father."
"She helped me complete my mission."
They all said almost at once. What the actual fuck? He'd never seen this lady in any of the memories he had but apparently they all knew her. She was a friend. They all knew her by a different name though. "What are you doing here, Melite?" Altair was the only one asking a serious question.
The woman just sort of smiled apologetically. "My name is Kassandra actually," she said. Then she looked at Desmond. "I think we need to talk."
---------
And… that’s it lol Oops sorry If you want to see other scenes maybe suggest some? We should talk about it
#365#writeblr#writblr#fanfiction#fanfic#Assassin's Creed#Desmond Miles#altair#altair ibn la'ahad#ezio auditore#connor kenway#ratonhnhaké:ton#bayek of siwa#jacob frye#evie frye#arno dorian#sort of fix-it#post canon#Desmond's alive#he was dead#don't worry he's fine#He's Fine :)
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I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about this, but what last name do you think the boys+neil would have? Have a nice day<3
What are the boys' last names? :
Hi! How are you? I hope you are well! ^^
Here's the headcanons you requested! I hope you enjoy it! ^^
It was a bit complicated because family names didn't always exist. But I did what I could to try and remain consistent.
Take care of yourself and have a nice day! ^^
Vladimir :
I assume that Vladimir has an English last name and not one of the upper classes of the time, given that his mother is one of the new rich.
I think he didn't get his father's last name because I imagine that Vladimir's father's relationship with his family must really not have been good, by which I mean that his mother's family is not the only rich family in Europe at the time and yet that's who he chose for an arranged marriage, when it would have been much simpler to take a Hungarian family and not move so far away from the land he was supposed to inherit (I mean, it's shooting yourself in the foot to move so far away). Secondly, Vladimir doesn't seem to know exactly where his father's family lives, which seems a bit strange because : You don't travel much in those days, but you exchange letters with your family and friends and, above all, there are maps, boats and the train which is developing. What's more, Vladimir's mother's family is rich, so they can pay for the journey without any problems.
Vladimir is still very attached to his last name, which is a bit unusual for a vampire of his age. He continues to use it frequently, whether to sign letters or other documents, or even to introduce himself to other vampires.
Béliath :
I don't think there are any family names for incubi and succubi, there probably aren't very many of them and they are all easily recognisable by a particular feature, such as "Asmodeus the powerful", without doubt Beliath is known as Beliath son of Asmodeus.
He really doesn't understand the purpose of last names among humans, or how they're supposed to be passed on, let alone why some people are so attached to them - after all, he doesn't have one and he doesn't mind. He wouldn't mind taking his partner's last name if his partner wanted it.
He sometimes uses last name when he wants to pass himself off a bit more as a human, but they're always the most basic last names possible. He used to have fun using more original ones, but Aaron pointed out to him that it was stupidly dangerous to make himself stand out even more than he already was by his behaviour, so since then he's been much more careful.
Ivan :
I can imagine him having a compound last name, perhaps a French last name and a Slavic last name. My idea is that at least one of his parents comes from a Slavic country or has parents from a Slavic country (which would explain his first name other than the idea that his parents were fans of a film character called Ivan).
Ivan, like the vast majority of young vampires, finds it hard to shake off his family name. He uses it often, much too often in the eyes of Aaron, who finds it dangerous, after all, the town is small and there shouldn't be any namesakes. Ivan tries hard to break the habit, but he can't help it, he's still too attached to his last name to forget it.
Sometimes he tries to use a different one, but they're often last names taken from films or characters he really likes. It's no more discreet than his real last name, but Aaron thinks it's better than nothing.
Aaron :
It's more complicated for Aaron because I have no idea how last name evolved in Spain during the century in which he was born. But I suppose if he has a last name it's probably his mother's, as he was born out of wedlock and his mother doesn't seem to have lived with his father. Perhaps something to do with sewing, as his mother was a seamstress for the village, so he would probably have been known as the seamstress's son.
Aaron has almost forgotten his last name anyway. He never uses it and isn't even sure how it's supposed to be spelt. It doesn't really matter to him though, it's just a last name and he doesn't feel particularly attached to it, preferring to be known as his mother's son as he was brought up entirely by her.
Most of the time, when he has to use a last name, he uses very common last name depending on the country he lives in: Smith when he lives in England, for example, or Martin when he lives in France. Its aim is to go as unnoticed as possible.
Raphaël :
There's not much difference in age between Raphael and Aaron, and I don't know how the family name evolved in Italy at that time either. But, I suppose it would be an Italian last name, probably related to art or painting, especially if his family had been painters for several generations. If his father was famous, there's a good chance that he would also have called himself Raphael, son of "his father's name". On the other hand, if it was his family in general that was famous, he would probably have defined himself by a last name.
He likes his last name, even though he doesn't use it any more, it's still part of his life in one way or another. He wouldn't introduce himself with it though.
Raphaël doesn't care about discretion, if he has to use a last name he'll always choose something nice to the ear, even if it's completely out of tune with the time or place he lives in. This really annoys Aaron, because yes, Raphaël will use the last name Rossignol without hesitation, a nightingale is pretty, so why shouldn't he use it, and yes, he'll also use the last name Citron, he likes lemons and yellow is a very pretty colour, so why shouldn't he be called Raphaël Citron?
Ethan :
A Finnish last name, I imagine a fairly common one. There's a good chance it's his father's last name.
He remains quite attached to it, even though he hasn't used his last name for years. After all, it's the last thing he has left of his parents that still ties him to his family. However, nobody at the manor knows him, he really prefers to keep it to himself like a secret; he doesn't think he'd like to hear one of his housemates call him by his last name.
Like Raphaël, he uses last names that he likes rather than discreet ones, and he uses a lot of last names from films or video games that he likes, so he's already introduced himself as Skywalker or Wayne, much to Aaron's dismay.
Neil :
There isn't really a last name at the time, I think the way he defines himself changes between before he takes hostages and after, before I'd see him introducing himself more as Neil son of "his father's name" (and even then given that the relationship with his father was pretty bad I doubt he really wanted to define himself that way) then if you follow the canon of the game and the history he'd introduce himself as Neil Noígíallach after taking the 9 hostages. But as with many people at the time, it's more a name to show off his exploits than a real last name.
I don't think he uses his last name much. He uses it to impress people and to remind them that he's old and powerful. But he doesn't attach too much importance to it.
He is one of the only vampires who can present himself under his family name. So he doesn't try to invent one when he wants to introduce himself. Vampires who know a bit about Irish history immediately understand who he is, and apart from humans who know a bit about Irish history, most don't really react.
Léandra :
As with Beliath, Leandra is better known as Leandra daughter of Asmodeus. She has not yet achieved anything significant enough to be known for it, but she's trying to achieve something big enough among the succubi to be known for it.
She doesn't understand at all the attraction humans have for family names, or why they always seem to be passed down through the father. As far as she's concerned, if they were to be passed down at all, it would only be through the most powerful parent or the one who has achieved the greatest feat.
When she has to introduce herself under a last name among humans, she always looks for something amusing and sensual. Yes, she has no problem calling herself Léandra Blackwidow, she even finds it very amusing. In fact, she makes a lot of puns with her first name.
Farah :
She's older than Aaron and I have the same problem as him. What's more, given that she left her family with her brother after a row with their father, I'd imagine there's little chance of her introducing herself as Farah, daughter of "her father's name". Perhaps she'd introduce herself as Farah, Ernesto's sister for a while and then probably as Farah, "the pack leader's name".
She understands the usefulness of last name but has never actually used one. It's not something that's really common among werewolves, as most of them define themselves by the pack to which they belong. In most cases, a last name is completely useless.
If she really has to use a last name, she'll look for something common to the time and country she's in, to try and go as unnoticed as possible.
#moonlight lovers#moonlight lovers vladimir#moonlight lovers béliath#moonlight lovers ivan#moonlight lovers aaron#moonlight lovers raphael#moonlight lovers ethan#moonlight lovers neil#moonlight lovers léandra#moonlight lovers farah
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Hello Zoey,
How are you??? We miss your stories so much!!!!!!
You write a lot about the Batch and I imagine that you must have watched both seasons and that the personality of the characters is no longer a secret to you. I am French and on a French forum that I read, a person thinks that Crosshair is a psychopath in view of his behavior in the series. I don't agree at all but he made a lot of arguments. What do you think about it? If you had to define Crosshair's personality what would you say?
Thank you so much !!!!!!
Aloha!
SPOILER!!! For those who haven't seen both BAD BATCH seasons. And a little warning, I might have used some expletives
Uh, I'm probably making enemies with this one. I'll say right up front, just to be clear, this is just my guess, my perception. So the things I write next are not automatically facts and I don't automatically assume that they are, I'm just filling in some gaps with my HCs. To be honest, I had a few moments in the first season where I wasn't sure about Crosshair. I went back and forth between blaming his behavior on the chip or labeling him as "evil". Because we get a lot of we get a lot of information throughout the first season, that more or less cancels each other out and doesn't make sense as a whole. The chip might have had some influence at some point, but I honestly think, by far not as much as some may want to believe. So wich one ist it now? Chip or evil?
Basically though, I think it's neither one nor the other. Assuming the people behind TBB really thought that far, I think it's a lot more complicated than that. Well, there's a pinch of "asshole" with a huge load of "stubborn dickhead" on the side in Crosshair either way. At least in my opinion. But! I think his decisions stem more from the fact that everything around him has suddenly changed.
Being a soldier has always given him a purpose, a place in life, a task, something in which he saw function and meaning. His brothers suddenly want to leave it behind, and rightly so, but Crosshair is unsettled. If he were to join them, he would give up everything that has defined him so far, at least that's how he feels.
Try to imagine that something is happening around you and suddenly your whole life is about to be completely turned upside down and complicated. That would scare me, it would make me feel more than just uncomfortable. Because everyone is different, everyone reacts differently. Crosshair tries for a while to convince his brothers that it's right to continue to follow orders, because anything else could result in them being disbanded or separated.
The fact that Hunter wants to steer the group in a different direction scares him, because then he might soon be alone. I think that's one reason why in the course of the first season, before the batch is separated, he also goes on a confrontational course with his Sergeant.
Numerous decisions he has made, things he has done, are more than borderline, definitely reprehensible. But you have to remember, that's all he knows. Effectively following orders, that's what his whole life consisted of. There was no real childhood, no family life. Like all other clones, Crosshair was born into the life of a soldier. Crosshair is the kind of person who goes into emotional freefall when people try to take away what he feels is his destiny. So he does everything he can to prevent this from happening, he doesn't want to lose this place, this position, what he is used to.
The path he is taking is wrong, and I understand why some people assume that he is evil. However, I didn't think he was a psychopath at first, but a sociopath. Unfortunately, you get this impression in one or two scenes that I simply don't know how to explain or justify.
...where was I...
In the meantime, he wavers between anger and disappointment at his brothers, partly because they have let him down from his point of view, partly because their behavior could backfire on him and partly out of pure frustration. Someone who is already a rather difficult person, thrown into a situation like this, a man who has been conditioned to simply function as a soldier, I imagine that's much more complex than to just label him psycho and/or evil. None of this justifies some of his actions, murders I would call it, albeit on orders. I'm pretty sure he'll have to deal with that for quite a while, if he lives long enough, it's the kind of thing that haunts you to sleep. (In season 2, we have a moment after talking to Cody about soldiers, machines and decisions, where you get a little glimpse that Crosshair can have sleepless nights too, and I think that was the beginning of his self-reflection FINALLY!) We see at the end of the first season that he's not a complete ass, he saves Omega and also AZ, he acts like it's reluctant, but he knows it's the right thing to do, no one is forcing him to do it. Since Omega saved him before, he later mentions that they're even now, so you could read into that now, that he's using that as an excuse because he doesn't want to admit that he would have saved them either way. I'm just putting that assumption out there.
Now, in the second season, we see more and more clearly that his loyalty as a soldier is being trampled on by the Empire. In one specific episode in particular, in which Mayday unfortunately dies, we see very clearly how he realizes what status he has in the Empire, namely none at all. He's a clone, a special one, but just like the other clones, he's worth practically nothing. Cheap labor, cannon fodder, nothing more. Just looking at the gear of Mayday and his crew already screams it out loud, the empire doesn't give a damn about them. But then Mayday, the brother he tries to save, dies because of an Officer's neglect/ignorance/assholery (is that a word?) The realization is terrible, because he realizes that he basically always knew or should have known this. He now acts in extreme contrast to his previous attitude and kills a superior. The fact that he contacts his brothers and tries to warn them shows that he is trying to do the right thing. That he's still a Batcher at heart, that he cares, and that he doesn't care what happens to him as long as he can send out this warning. He must have realized that escape from Tantiss is highly unlikely, he doesn't even really try, his priority is to send this last message to his brothers. All in all, I don't think he's a psychopath. However, I do think he is emotionally/mentally broken.
My honest guess or thought is that there is/could be so much potential in this man, in a good way, if someone had ever taken the time to really nurture it.
Long Story short, he is actually sensitive and scared. Being the cold-hearted soldier is his way of dealing with it. Scared people do the worst shit sometimes. Fear leads to desperation, and the latter leads to fatal decisions. Like staying with the empire and killing people. 🤷🏻♀️
I feel like I just made a lot of excuses for that toothpick chewing problem child. I don't know how much of this is making sense, my head hurts 😅
And I admit I'm so afraid for each and every one of them in season 3.
#star wars#tbb#the bad batch#clone force 99#sw tbb#crosshair#bad batch crosshair#clone trooper crosshair#commander crosshair#crosshair bad batch#crosshair tbb#crosshair the bad batch#tbb crosshair#the bad batch crosshair#my two cents#my head explodes why is the fever coming back
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quil, any thoughts on the debate over manipulative fitz and his narcissistic tendencies in his relationship with sophie? (in the notes of the post from @/sophitz from 5 days ago)
Hi, Nonsie. I'll share a few thoughts, but I have absolutely zero desire to get wrapped into active discourse/arguments about this. This is non-exhaustive since I can't address every possible point/consideration in one post, but it covers more the heart of it I think.
I may or may not answer any follow-ups/reblogs about this, unsure yet. I really hope my answering this does not put it on a pedestal from which it catches fire, so everyone be cool please
I think it's ridiculous, unfounded, and frustrating. The original term used and debated was "narcissistic pervert." From what I can tell, that term originated with Paul-Claude Racamier in the 1980s-90s, and the only academic source I could find/access on the topic was his "On narcissistic perversion", which was a synthesis published in 2017 of a 1985 and 1991 paper + lecture. I can't link this because I could only access it through my uni, and I can't find basically any trustworthy sources (or any more recent sources) talking about it outside of him--at least in English. There may be other papers/professionals in untranslated French
From that, I'm highly skeptical of any use of the term colloquially, especially since it involves narcissism, which has an extremely misunderstood, negatively biased rep currently. Practically the only things you find when looking into perverted narcissism are informal blogs perpetuating stigma (e.g.: "If you’ve been in contact with a narcissistic pervert, remember that if he’s chosen you, it’s because you represent to him what he’ll never be able to be: a whole person!" <- real quote)
When reading Racamier's paper, I kept Fitz in mind--and specifically Fitz with Sophie, as that was a distinction made in the argument. That Fitz has perverted narcissist tendencies when it comes to Sophie specifically. I don't find that, based on my reading, to be true.
A few features of narcissistic perversion Racamier notes are (verbatim): it is vital to them not to owe anything to anyone, the inability to apologize and the rejection of remorse, the inability to express thanks, subjects impose a heavy burden on anyone who comes close to and concerns himself or herself with them, expresses his (narcissistic) perversion by his enjoyment of asserting himself at the expense of others, etc.
I don't find any of these traits to be true to Fitz, with Sophie or otherwise. Not wanting to be in others' debt is normal, and I can't think of an instance he reacted to the idea disproportionately (I suppose directly after Alden broke could count, but one instance does not a narcissist make), he's demonstrated a clear ability to apologize/be remorseful sincerely (including with Sophie specifically), to express genuine gratitude, doesn't consciously or intentionally impose on those close to him (it isn't his fault if others don't communicate any burden they experience so he can alter his actions, e.g. the stress of matching), and doesn't enjoy tearing others down around him to lift himself up (unless in a joke environment).
The paper goes on to talk about predation on a specific object (in this case Sophie). This object is "bearable only if it is dominated, ill‐treated, and sadistically attacked – and above all mastered." I find none of these words to be accurate to Fitz and Sophie's relationship--he does not dominate or master her, nor does he want to. He does struggle with being so rapidly unseated as the best, and wants to be someone others look to and trust, someone capable. But an instance of understandable jealousy that he doesn't want to feel/give in to (evidenced during the Inquisition as he fought the feeling) does not make him a narcissist. He simultaneously enthusiastically supports and compliments Sophie's prowess.
I know I referenced this one specific paper near entirely, but it appears to be the only thing to reference. And I am not a professional in any regard. This is my understanding of the term based on Racamier's explanation, which I've referenced against Fitz. The behaviors and mindset associated with narcissistic perversion (summarized as "the predominant need to assert, and the pleasure of asserting, oneself at someone else's expense") do not widely align with Fitz's (as a whole or just with Sophie)--and the instances in which they do aren't demonstrative of a pattern on which a claim like this can hold ground. I wish I could find the exact quote from another source I was looking at, but it's essentially: there are traits/tendencies of disorders in everyone, what makes them disordered is when they're abnormally extreme.
This is longer than I intended it to be so I'll try to wrap this up. This is in direct response to the idea of Fitz as a narcissistic pervert, which is what the discourse in the post you referenced discussed/started from. This doesn't talk about NPD or every point referenced by the individuals discoursing, as this isn't intending to respond to them. I am not an expert.
Based on my understanding and limited research, I think it inaccurate and callous. I think it misrepresents Fitz's actions and motivations, and while I am biased, I think this holds outside of my bias.
#kotlc discourse#quil's queries#nonsie#i'd avoided this because i find it insensitive (not you). but for you nonsie. i read the entire thread in lindsay's notes#do not recommend#goes in circles and gets a little heated at the end#<- not calling them out for that. just like. it's not fun to read#if people are cool about it (as in not bad faith in my face arguing). then I'm tentatively open to further discussion and thoughts#or if people have further resources or personal experience (e.g. with n.p.d. <- typed like that to avoid maintagging)#that they'd like to bring up. that's fine#i'm just like. really cautiously don't want to get sucked into exhausting fitz discourse#but if you want to have a conversation. that's more cool
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"You are no longer french, because I love you!"
It was an odd experience for the Spy, The Soldier has found out about his drag pass time, Spy thought he was one of the greatest queens to ever exist as far as he was concerned, and he thought Soldier would not approve to say the least.
However it was quite the opposite they wanted to join him and that was an "order" which led Spy to attempt to make them into a proper queen.
"What would you like your name to be?" Spy sprung out of the blue while he was setting up the makeup for Soldier's drag persona.
"I already have one, I'm Jane doe." They pointed to themselves.
"No, it cannot just be just "Jane" your name must stand out, grab the audience's attention."
"Audience?" At this point Jane was confused, they had just wanted to figure out how to put on makeup and now Spy was using the common french weapon of "metaphors", something only used to confuse American soldiers such as themself.
Spy paused for a moment "..You do understand that the point of drag is to perform in front of an audience, correct?"
"I don't Wanna be gawked at everyday frenchy, can't you just put the makeup on me?"
'Everyday' that was that word that made Spy stop, "Would you want to be a woman all of the time?" Spy asked.
Jane was quiet for a moment, which was rare for them, but they finally answered "Yes, more than anything."
"Then I must acquire new clothes, these were made for drag shows, not base wear.
After Spy returned he started with the clothes she wore.
"This one!" Jane said as she gestured to her outfit, it was similar to her old uniform, only more form fitting, and tighter around her waist
"That is the first and only thing you have put on."
Jane was too focused on how she looked to respond, Spy noticed she looked, simply put, wonderful not just her body, but this was the happiest he had ever seen her.
Makeup was next, Jane had lifted her helmet just enough so her eyes were visible, Spy didn't have to do much just the basics, It wasn't likely that Jane would go out to the battlefield with a full face of it, however the joy on her face made it more than worth it.
Jane's hair was last, however Jane was hesitant to take off her helmet.
"Now, you must not tell a single soul about what you'll see under this helmet!, do you understand me?"
"Yes, yes." Spy said somewhat annoyed, however his face quickly softened "Whatever hair you have cannot be as awful as you are describing it, I'm sure you are quite nice looking."
"Really?" Jane said slowly taking off her helmet fully.
"But of course.", this was one of the few times Jane was All right with people touching her.
When Jane's hair was done, she looked at her self, she dared to say she looked at her self for the first time ever, she had the same euphoria she did the first time she grew out her hair, but without the thought of her teammates telling her to join a disgusting hippie commune racing through her head.
"Spy, tonight I will give you the greatest honor I can give to a man, you are now american."
"I still reside in France." Spy was no longer confused with the strange ways Jane would compliment people, however that did not stop it from being quite ...interesting
"You live in new Mexico for the time being, and what happened tonight could only come from an american, how did you know how to do this anyway?"
"Well, you and I are in a similar position, I am not a woman, but everyone thought I was, after I transitioned into being a man I was much happier, I only hope you feel that joy as well."
Hearing Spy say those words could only make Jane say the greatest compliment she could give "You're too valuable for the French to have."
Spy would take this as Jane being grateful for now.
#tf2#tf2 soldier#tf2 spy#tf2 freedom fries#transfem soldier#transmasc spy#t4f freedom fries#words about mercs#I know spy is a walking cisgender fail but he's not in my heart. okay?
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Snippet from an original m/m fic I'm currently writing
Plot : Hugo & Alexander were childhood best friends. At the end of teenage years their relation was more confused and when Hugo leaves NY to make his studies on the West Coast, they didn't talk/seen to each other in four years. They met again in the French Alps and the feEliNgs & of course sneezing is +++
in short : a sneezy m/m story based on "childhood best friends to ennemies to lovers" 🫣
Hugo snz basically bc of everything, stifling a lot if he can / Alexander have the kink
My characters are 21+. Minors DNI. Reblog on snz fet blogs only please.
Sorry for the mistakes English is not my mothertongue
“I d-uh-uhUUUSH’gnnnnsh’mm !” sneezed surprised Hugo in his sleeve.
“Hmm-when I think of all the times we crossed paths and you literally moved across sidewalks like I was the plague.” Alexander grumbled, unable to believe Hugo's attitude. Was he blaming everything on him ?
“You waited the last moment to show me your feelings towards me. I had to go. You could have done things differently“ Hugo tried to say more calmly, but his voice was shaking because of his need to sneeze.
“You could have done things differently too“ replied Alexander, trying to calming himself too, as he hard troubles to focus driving at this point. Now it wasn’t the time.
“Yes, I knuh…Uh…Hhh-hhh-hhh-hhhHHHK-shiiiiew ! Ugh, s-shit” Hugo mumbled, sniffing softly, as he didn’t succeed in stifling this one properly.
"Ugh...T-there's tissue in the backseat." eventually said Alexander in a tense tone.
“Huh...Huh...Ishhgnnishhhhm’ !” sneezed again Hugo as it was the only answer he could give to this point.
“Ugh” Alexander said half-heartedly, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel.
Hugo pinched his nose slightly and sneezed one last time, stifling it hard.
“Gnissh-SHUh”
Well, almost succeed stifling it, almost as he had to let go. He shivered slightly and turned to grab the box of tissues. But his nose wasn't done apparently and he sneezed tree times very quickly, covering himself with his hands, dropping the box at his feet in the process.
“Kkkkshhhh’shuh-Issgnsssht-t’Sssshhhuh !”
"S-shut up" said Alexander, fighting a terrible feeling he hadn't felt since a long time.
Hugo bent down to pick up the box of tissues. He took one out and sneezed one last time, a big high pitched and kinda dramatic sneeze into it "IIiii-kssshUH!"
"Ugh, shut up" mocked Alexander in a weird tone, as if he didn't really mean it.
Hugo rolled his eyes. He gently blew his nose and looked out the window. For long minutes there was nothing but silence. And the icy landscape in which the car was sliding. Hugo started to sniffle. It was very discreet yet Alexander couldn't help but hear it. The cold had had an effect on his sensitive nose and Hugo hated the idea of showing that the harsh climate had an effect on him whoever he was. Yet the irrepressible urge to sneeze took precedence over the rest so he sneezed, stifling these three little sneezes you could hear still.
"Huh-gnshhh' ! Hhh-kshxx ! K'ssshuh !"
Alexander didn't say a word, trying to clear the mess of his thoughts. Yet he ran a hand over the buttons near the radio, pressing everywhere. Hugo didn't say anything - the sneezing was embarrassing enough to him but he rather didn't say anything than excusing himself - and he didn't understand what Alexander was doing before seeing him gently slide his fingers over a button. A musty smell and burnt dust could be felt before a slight warmth began to take over the car. Even if Alexander was hitting his nerves, this gesture was attentive and Hugo felt like he had to thank him but the smell of dust tickled his nostrils even more so I pinched his nose very hard. But breathing through his mouth was far from pleasant and as soon as he slightly released his nostrils the urge to sneeze took over.
"Gni-shhhhih ! Kkkksssshuh ! Huh-gnnnxxshhuh !"
Gosh that was hard to do. But at least the tickle seemed to be off for a while now.
“Getting cold huh ?” Alexander asked, half teasing, half concerned.
#snz kink#snzblr#snz fet#sneeze kink#snz blog#snz#snzfucker#snzfic#m/m fiction#m/m romance#childhood best friends to lovers#enemies to lovers#stifled sneezes#dust sneezing#cold sneezes
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And there was... two beds, but, unfortunately, you're stuck with me.
So I've mentioned before, and many folks may have discovered through some of my chat posts that I am, in fact, lactose intolerant.
A travesty considering I am both French and Swiss (this is true but it's also so I can make a swiss cheese joke even though, yeah, I don't think swiss cheese comes from Switzerland, get off my dick-), and come from a "cheese goes on pretty much everything" family.
However, my inability to consume dairy has lead to some funny -if not a touch unfortunate- occurrences... at least they've funny to me.
Introduction out of the way, I bring to you, the tale of the worst thing I did while sharing a bed in a hotel room with a friend.
So this was years ago now, but I remember this particular bit quite clearly.
I was visiting a friend of mine (we'll call them Kazoo -a joke that if they see this they will understand- for the sake of brevity) in another city where they were attending university along with our mutual friend (We'll call them Son -another joke they'll understand-) and their mom, because we obviously all couldn't stay in their dorm room, Son's mom rented a hotel room for us all to stay in.
Basically the plan was that we'd all stay in the hotel room the first night, and then on the second night we (Son, Kazoo, and I) would go to Kazoo's dorm and stay there while Son's mom got the hotel room to herself.
Well, the hotel we were staying in this particular time featured a good sized bed and then a sleeper sofa, so the sleeping arrangements worked out as follows: Son and their mom were on the sleeper sofa -since their mom would get the bed the next night all to herself- and Kazoo and I wound up on the bed.
Now, I couldn't tell you exactly what I had for dinner that night, but I can tell you it was pizza adjacent and there was definitely cheese on it, and probably some other milk based desserts involved at some point in the evening.
Point is, my stomach was deeply, deeply unhappy.
However, whilst out and about, you don't really *hear* just how much noise your stomach is making unless it gets really quiet, and it was pretty loud in the city, so aside from a few gurglies, I was fiiiine.
Or so I thought.
We get back to the hotel room, and we're all ready for bed, yeah?
We had to get up at an at least somewhat reasonable time so we could go explore the city the next day, so we all climb into bed late-ish at night, and that first little lapse into complete silence happens.
This is when I feel something brewing.
Something heinous.
I try to will the feeling away, because there is no noise to cover up whatever sound my body was about to make, but it slips out anyway.
The tiniest "frrt" sound in the midst of dead silence.
We all laugh.
It's funny, it's all good.
However.
Laughing makes my stomach contract.
I unleash another squeaky sound from my body, and the problem is, if you know me at all as a person, the funniest goddamn thing to me is total silence followed by a random, brief, sound.
All this to say I trapped myself in an endless loop of laughter, and Kazoo, who was in the bed next to me, absolutely wanted to murder me.
Not because I kept giggling, not even because of the farting itself, no.
No, I found out years later that the main reason they were so steamed about it was because they had gotten up to fart in the hotel's bathroom because they didn't want to gas me out, and had they known I was going to just let it rip like that, they would have just stayed comfortable in bed.
Anyway, I thought about this because I was thinking about what cheese substitutes are good vs bad, 'cause one straight up makes me sick and another one kind of tastes like butter?
Yeah.
The places my mind went.
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Thess vs Political Media Spin
Thinking about the French election (CONGRATULATIONS, FRANCE) and realising that it's probably finally time to discuss a thing about the UK elections that nobody in the media wants to talk about. Because they mostly want to talk about Reform's 4.1m votes and 5 Parliament seats. Which is ... okay, not entirely fair, but understandable given that an awful lot of news media is written for "engagement" and is thus generally ragebait. However, there are two things that those of us in the UK really, really need to keep in mind:
We had an atrociously low voter turn-out this year, probably because so many of us were depressed and beaten over how the two main parties are behaving right now.
The Greens came in second for votes in forty constituencies. One of them was mine. (That latter shouldn't surprise me because this whole borough has been a very safe Labour seat for awhile and isn't it funny how this place started leaning towards the Greens when that Tory-with-a-red-tie Starmer was leading the party? Almost as if all those "safe Labour votes" are just very lefty votes looking for a place to break out?)
Now, point 2 couldn't work in the US. You guys have a two-party system, just because of how your voting works. While you guys get Electoral College votes for That One Guy, we get actual seats - actual voices - in the House of Commons. And honestly, Labour would have still had its landslide even without the forty seats the Greens could have won if a few more people had actually come out. But even the Americans can take a message away from this, and the message is: "refusal to vote is very liable to cripple any chance things have of getting better".
For the US - if you don't vote Democrat, and Trump gets in again, he's going to destroy your country. The question becomes who you'd rather have stacking the Supreme Court, and who you'd like to hand the loaded gun that is the current Supreme Court's decision to give Presidents immunity from prosecution in the course of "official acts", particularly when the full and detailed definition of "official acts" has yet to be determined. Do not assume he'll never win - my mother assumed that in 2016, because apparently she has not as yet plumbed the depths of human stupidity the way only those of us whose brains are trash and who live on the internet can. Do not assume that Biden will get enough votes without you protest-voting for a third party. If you want some examples of how that thinking works out, consider Brexit, and how many people who actually voted for it and then said, "Well, I mean, I didn't think we'd actually leave; I just wanted to protest it a little!" immediately afterwards.
For those of us in the UK, though? I know a lot of people didn't come out and vote and I understand why. But look what could have happened if you had. Imagine forty-four seats for the Greens, instead of just four, and those forty-four voices speaking and voting for us in the Commons. Imagine if the Greens had got the kind of votes Reform did. The media could not have ignored that the way they ignore the Greens' four seats.
Media spin basically crushed those of us who want better into not voting at all. I don't know if this country will get better under Labour, but I doubt it, and I mourn the chance we had. I am so thrilled that France has at least shown that left-wing politics aren't entirely dead. I can't save my own country beyond my one vote (the Greens this year, and I'm happy to have contributed to an actual left-wing party getting the second-most votes in my constituency, thanks), but I can give warnings. To the UK ... I know Starmer's a dickweed, but we can get a louder voice in Commons if we don't just give up on the entire electoral process. To the US ... I get that Biden is ... honestly, he is better than Starmer; it's just that "slow and steady wins the race" policies don't make headlines anymore. Just ... do you want God-Emperor Trump? Not voting in the US is how you get God-Emperor Trump.
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Tour of Old Language Learning Textbooks
So I find old books fascinating, and I've collected a fair number of old language learning textbooks (from 1800s to 1980s, along with some modern ones).
The Nature Method textbooks teach language in my absolute favorite way of studying, and I wish there were more modern textbooks still teaching in this way (Lingua Latina for Latin is one nature method style textbook still used by some). There are also textbooks in this style found on archive.org and sometimes on youtube for: English, French, Italian, German (incomplete copy found), Latin (as mentioned, multiple volumes, newer versions available for purchase), Greek, and Spanish (Poco a Poco and All Spanish Method part 1 and part 2 are both not written as in-depth in this 'nature method' lesson style, but if you either know a similar language with some cognates like English or French, or have a teacher then they can still be used like the other nature method books), and supposedly there was a Russian version (I've found similarly-made lessons on youtube) but I have not found the old textbook yet. I used the French one to learn most of my basic vocabulary and grammar, and go from reading graded readers to regular novels in French. A warning that some grammar and vocabulary is out of date, and there could be racist undertones in some of the texts, due to the time they were written. I've seen some questionable vocabulary in a couple of them, so just be aware if you use these as a resource of the possibility of those issues.
There is someone who's recently been trying to design a similar 'nature method' learning material for japanese (their first 60ish lessons are edited by a japanese speaker, the later lessons are still being worked on), and I think this person did a fairly good job using emojis for the pictures. A basic understanding of japanese hiragana and katakana is necessary beforehand, along with knowing the language is subject object verb. Unfortunately I think the person has only taught 200-500 words so far, and a material for japanese would probably want to teach 2000-5000 words to get the learner to the point they could try to read other things (which was the official Nature Method's goal - to get learners to B1-B2, at least B1 in speaking and some intermediate level high enough to pick up novels and read to acquire further language).
There's a textbook called Chinese Self-Taught by the Nature Method (NOT actually in the nature method lessons style though) and Chinese Grammar Self Taught by John Darroch, and even though they're from 1930s, the Grammar Self Taught by Darroch is one of my favorite chinese learning books. The book explains radicals and hanzi in a way I found very easy to grasp, and although the grammar and vocabulary has aged (some of it is out of date now) the explanations FOR grammar in the book are very clear and easy to grasp. I've read modern online grammar explanations and like some, understood mostly, but this book's explanations just click well. The book also teaches over 2000 hanzi (I think it might even be 3000 or more - it's in a box right now or I'd check), has a hanzi dictionary in the back (and you can practice searching by strokes), and teaches a bit more vocabulary than that. It's shining point is the grammar explanations, but the clear presentation of hanzi used in those explanations is also nice. Pronunciations for the hanzi are an old system, not the current pinyin system, so if you ever learn from this book then I would recommend knowing common hanzi pinyin already, or at least not trying to learn pronunciations from this book. The hanzi are also traditional, and the biggest initial grammar differences I have seen in the book are le often being written as pronounced 'liao' even when it would be 'le' in most modern sentences, and ni being pronounced as 'nin' far more than it is in modern speech. I purchased a copy of this book years ago on ebay. This book can be found in OpenLibrary, Princeton link: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101067640563&seq=5
Another chinese textbook that's always seemed useful have been the DeFrancis Chinese books, in particular the Beginner Chinese Reader (2 volumes), Intermediate Reader (2 volumes), and Advanced Reader (1 volume). I haven't checked in a while, but recent searches say anecdotally that the Beginner Reader covers 400 hanzi in 1200 combinations (words), Intermediate covers 400, and Advanced covers 400, leaving the learner with 1200 hanzi learned (and 3600 2-hanzi words known, as the books attempt teach a TON of compound words). However some people are saying each book volume contains 400 hanzi taught and 1200 combinations, which would mean 2400 hanzi total taught and 7200 words total. As these books are dense (and I've got them), I'd say they teach closer to the higher amount estimated. I've not completed them, but they are VERY information dense. These books are out of print so buying a physical copy had to be done on abebooks or thriftbooks or ebay, and they often expensive. But there are free pdf copies floating around online if you want to get the digital copy free and browse them. The audio files for the book are also online, from the organization with the rights, so just search 'DeFrancis Beginner Chinese Reader audio files' and you should find them on itunes and the official site for free. These books are extremely dry reading (as some old textbooks are) akin to FSI courses, and they're very repetitive, but they do work and they do suit learners who prefer to learn by reading and reading a LOT to solidify knowledge. You WILL get tons of graded reading practice from the book, pick up tons of words in an organized and structured way, and get reading-review practice built into future chapters so you can simply read a chapter then progress to the next one (instead of constantly needing to review). These books do have some out of date vocabulary, and use traditional characters with only shorter simplified character reading sections at the end. However: if you've learned 1000 characters by now (or intend to) then you know how many simplified and traditional characters overlap, or are the same except for 1 radical being simplified or traditional, and you may be aware that the common hanzi which ARE significantly different in traditional may be worth learning to you if you plan to eventually read both simplified and traditional materials. I buy books from China and Taiwan so learning both is useful to me. (And a fun fact if you're a nerd who explores parallel-text reading options like me: mtlnovels.com is a site to read machine translated webnovels, with the option to display original chinese IN traditional as the only option, and I spent a lot of my first couple years learning chinese using that site to compare Modu by Priest chinese with the MTL and learn new words, since mtl often made mistakes I needed to see the chinese to look up words and get a bit closer to the actual sentences meaning... and the wonderful E Danglars translation of Silent Reading did not exist yet, so I was desperate to read and understand as much of the novel as I could. My point with this anecodote is: you may not realize how useful getting used to both traditional and simplified characters can be - from browsing online sites and not needing to worry, or buying books, or picking shows to watch, texting with people, etc).
For the learners out there who cannot suffer through DeFrancis's dry writing: fair enough, I struggled to as well which is why I never completed the textbooks. The modern Mandarin Companion graded readers are an adequate place for a beginner learner (knowing 50-300 hanzi) to start learning by reading, then you can move on to Sinolingua graded readers (or just get Pleco app and browse graded readers sold through them by unique word count, as Pleco's Reading tools will help you look up words and listen), and then around when you know HSK 4 level vocabulary and grammar (so 1000-1500 hanzi you know, and around that many words) go to Heavenly Path's notion site and browse their beginner recommendations. Around HSK 4 you should be able to start reading easier texts for native speakers, like the 1000-1500 unique words novel recommendations on Heavenly Path's site.
There are some Japanese textbooks made to learn by reading a lot, and by now you may realize I love and prefer to learn by reading. A Japanese Reader: Graded Lessons for Mastering the Written Language (Tuttle Language Library) by Roy Andrew Miller is a beast of an option. Reviews include people mentioning that this book got them to the level of being able to read the news. I am not sure this book has the most extensive vocabulary (compared to what it could have), but it is: intensely informational and condensed to be informational nearly constantly, full of useful information and reading practice, and it does help you improve a LOT. It's not the steady stream of tons of easy material slowly teaching you more words from context that I wish existed more in japanese learning materials (check out the free Tadouku books for that - someone on reddit made 1000 page compilation of many of them in gradually increasing difficulty and it was very useful and enjoyable to read personally, and this site I found recently https://jgrpg-sakura.com/ which has a bit more advanced material and recorded audio and is just a lovely site). But it is a book that prepares you for real reading. I have a personal pet peeve about how some japanese language textbooks teach very little vocabulary or things until you get to intermediate level (I wish each genki volume taught 1000+ words each, instead of the 1700 words total of both volumes... and there's other beginner textbooks that likewise sort of 'slow down' the pace of learning with less material). And so I've found this particular Japanese Reader refreshing for presenting the basics (although you won't have a good time if you start this book as a beginner, it becomes STEEPLY difficult), and also working through all the way to 'functional reading skill of normal japanese texts.' Some people are like me, and have goals of reading as soon as they can, and it's nice when a book that says they'll teach you enough to start reading... actually does.
(I have similar pet peeves with some Chinese books - the college course ones appear to be great and teach 2000 or more words to beginners, but I've seen MANY self-teach chinese books that include only 200-500 words for a beginner... when they are going to need at bare minimum, with much strain and difficulty, 1000 words to even begin to start watching shows and reading very simple webnovels and manhua... or even having simple survival conversations, that's why HSK 4 expects 1200 words known! I think some language teaching companies just think english speakers will give up at the difference in languages, the increase in vocabulary that isn't cognates, and so instead of giving learners all they need to know - and the same amount of information they'd give say a english speaker learning spanish - they instead just design materials that teach less so it doesn't 'feel' like more work. Then the students feel screwed when they finished material labelled 'beginner' just like the spanish learner, only to realize they can do MUCH less and understand much less than the spanish learner who supposedly studied the same level of material - but actually got to study more vocabulary and grammar points. Ignore me... I could go on about my issues with some of the self-learner materials I've found for ages.)
There is also a simpler Japanese Reader textbook, 400 pages each and 2 volumes, that is fairly similar to the DeFrancis chinese reader books in terms of teaching style. I have the pdfs on an old computer, and the hard copy books in a box. I'll need to go look up the author another time (the book title was something very generic like Beginning Japanese and it's 20-30 years old, so newer books show up in searches instead of the books I have). It teaches only 500 kanji per volume, and the first volume mainly goes over how to read hiragana and katakana (and many loan words) with EXTENSIVE practice and repetition. It's designed to make you VERY COMFORTABLE reading japanese and parsing sentences and words, with lots and lots of practice. I'll find what box it's in and post more information on it if anyone is particularly curious for extensive reading practice as a beginner. The print copies sold for 20 dollars a piece when I bought them, and free pdfs can be found online if you search. However: I think if you already have hiragana and katakana grasped at least to a basic degree, the Tadouku free books may be more appealing to you. The Tadouku books are: free, written to be somewhat interesting, use pictures to help you read extensively and look up less, get you used to japanese grammar and sentences, and introduce kanji at a reasonable pace that is easy to get used to.
Finally, Japanese in 30 Hours. Free on archive.org, I also have a print copy. A slim textbook, and an incredibly useful one. Someone also posted the lessons with their own audio recording read through on youtube. What these lessons are: a true basic grammar summary of japanese. This book has some of the usual flaws of japanese lessons made for english speakers: they're entirely in romaji, they include watakushi Wa or X wa as the intro to MOST sentences even though in natural japanese those would often be omitted, the -masu polite form is in most lessons and casual verb forms are only covered in the later lessons, and the distinction between wa and ga seems to not be understood by the author. This book also has some flaws usual of much older textbooks: the grammar is somewhat out of date (arimasen in modern japanese is not used NEARLY as much as this textbook, yoi "good" is now "ii" in modern japanese much more often), and the author has this somewhat racist somewhat touristic somewhat english-centered peculiar way of framing things. I am not sure if at the time it was how an author was supposed to 'make the student entertained' during the lesson, to sell the 'mystique' of learning another language or to try and make another language seem more like english to placate an egotistical learner or what. From a historical standpoint it's interesting to see how differently things were discussed, but from a modern learner perspective it gets in the way and can be frustrating. (I would suspect some other old Japanese textbooks I've found from the late 1800s and 1900-1920s would display similar qualities depending on the authors). The reason this book is useful, despite the romaji only aspect and it's extremely dated way of framing some topics: it truly does tackle covering summarizing basic grammar of VERBS quite well. This books explanation for te-imasu, strings of connected verbs, compound verbs turning into new verb meanings, rareru, sareru, and -shou verb situations, and is still probably the explanation I understand the most when trying to read and understand sentences.
I suspect the modern Tae Kim's Grammar Guide also has good explanations for these, but the explanations are NOT in the beginner section (despite these verb types being SO common in everyday japanese you'll read or hear), and while I like Tae Kim's guide I find the written explanations a bit hard to personally 'get' and usually just rely on the example sentences/translations and compare until I *think* I understand. Like I love that Tae Kim's guide DOES explain difference between wa and ga... and yet I didn't understand his explanation enough to decide when to use wa myself, only that now I grasped the difference between wa 'a topic' (As for students - students in general - I am one) and ga "the thing THAT IS" (THE student - you're looking for specifically - is me). But I still don't know when one would pick to use wa, and why. As for Japanese in Thirty Hours: the rareru and te-imasu explanation really helped me grasp a lot of reading materials where those forms are frequently found. If you do struggle with understanding some verb form explanations, this free book may help you look at the forms in a way you may grasp better. (Or not, everyone is different). The book also has a vocabulary of over 1000 words in the back, and was designed for students to do speaking drills in different sentence patterns, to learn to speak quickly (although in a learner-type way similar to Genki sentences and the 'watashi wa' start). I never learned the vocabulary in the back, and I suspect some of it is out of date while other parts may be useful. Regardless, as it's only romaji, you would likely benefit more from using a hiragana/katakana/kanji resource for vocabulary study.
#japanese resources#chinese resources#langblr#language learning books#the nature method#the natural method#old books
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get to know me ask game
considering i was tagged by 4 different people (@lurkingteapot, @recentadultburnout, @telomeke, @nongnaos -- thank you guys <3) in the last two-ish weeks i think it's about time i finally get to this. sorry i'm late dfkgkldfgkldf
RULES: bold the ones that are true and tag some people to do it.
APPEARANCE
Blonde hair // I prefer loose clothing to tight clothing [it's just so much more comfy lbr] // I have one or more piercings // I have at least one tattoo // I have dyed or highlighted my hair [i had red highlights as a child and i've gone blonde twice] // I have gotten plastic surgery // I have or had braces // I sunburn easily // I have freckles // I paint my nails [sort of -- i used to for quite a while bc it's the only thing stopping me from my horrible nail biting habit but unfortunately i got lazy during lockdowns and now i hardly paint them anymore] // I typically wear makeup // I don’t often smile // I am pleased with how I look // I prefer Nike to Adidas // I wear baseball hats backwards
HOBBIES AND TALENTS
I play a sport // I can play an instrument [i've played the violin on and off since i was 5 years old (currently at 3 years of lessons since my last break), i also played the piano from age 7 to 19 and the recorder from age 6 to 15 (that is soprano recorder, alto recorder, tenor recorder and even bass recorder for a semester or so)] // I am artistic [i'd say so... i mean i'm not the most talented person but i HAVE worked as a professional graphic designer for a year and a half and i sometimes make gifs (if you want to see them then search for the tag meine grafiken on my blog)] // I know more than one language [lmao i mean... i'm not a monolingual english speaker so... ok but in all seriousness: my native language is german/austrian dialect and obviously i know english. part of my family is italian so i know conversational italian as well (plus it's one of my working languages at uni). i can understand conversational norwegian and i'm slowly starting to understand more and more conversational thai (i'm at a point where i can watch a lot of shows without subtitles and understand the main plot, even if i miss some details) i had french in school and remember some basics (like how to introduce myself and some specific vocabulary like colours or numbers) and i've also looked into korean so i can read it and i know some basic grammar and a few words here and there] // I have won a trophy in some sort of competition // I can cook or bake without a recipe // I know how to swim [perks of being part italian means that unlike most austrians i actually learned how to swim in the mediterranean sea hehehe] // I enjoy writing [kinda?? i enjoyed writing stories in school but i never really write in my free time although sometimes i think i'd like to. but then when i sit down to do it i just never have any ideas and so i give up] // I can do origami // I prefer movies to tv shows // I can execute a perfect somersault // I enjoy singing [i went to an elementary school with a music focus which is why i played 3 instruments and my class was also a choir. i also took group singing lessons at the local music school in my teens. if i had the time and the money i'd get some solo singing lessons. i've considered looking into it for the coming winter semester] // I could survive in the wild on my own // I have read a new book series this year // I enjoy spending time with friends [i love them so much 🥺🥺🥺] // I travel during work or school breaks [i love traveling internationally when i can afford it. i also travel within austria sometimes, especially since they introduced the klimaticket which is a ticket that lets you use a whole bunch of public transports from trains to trams to busses all around austria. every few months i go visit my friend who studies in southern austria] // I can do a handstand
RELATIONSHIP
I am in a relationship // I have been single for over a year [i don't really care much for dating and relationships tbh] // I have a crush // I have a best friend who I’ve known for ten years [we met at summer camp 12 years ago and we're celebrating our 10 year anniversary of being best friends this winter -- hi @magsimags ily] // my parents are together [i don't understand how but somehow they've made it work for lthe past 30ish years idk] // I have dated my best friend // I am adopted // My crush has confessed to me // I have a long distance relationship // I am an only child // I give advice to my friends [i mean if it comes up or if they actively ask for it then sure] // I have made an online friend [a few actually, i've made quite a few online fandom friends and then i also have a few online language tandem friends] // I met up with someone I have met online [i've met up with a bunch of language tandem partners irl that i found online first. as for my tumblr mutuals, there are 4 in total that i've seen irl -- you know who you are <333]
AESTHETICS
I have heard the ocean in a conch shell // I have watched the sun rise [let me be clear, it was bc i pulled an all-nighter or was suffering from insomnia. NOT bc i'd voluntarily get up at an insane hour in the morning to watch the sun rise. plus in the winter it's a lot easier to watch the sun rise without meaning to bc if you happen to have class or work early in the morning you might actually get to see it rise while you're on your way there] // I enjoy rainy days // I have slept under the stars [one time during summer camp we spent the night on a field underneath the stars, it was very lovely] // I meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me [i like spring!! i like summer!! i like warmth!! chirping means it's spring or summer and warm!!!!] // I enjoy the smell of the beach [i spent a significant amount of time at the mediterranean sea when i was a child and i miss the sea so fucking much. unfortunately austria is a landlocked country] // I know what snow tastes like [it snows in the winter in austria, you can bet your ass i've eaten snow as a child] // I listen to music to fall asleep // I enjoy thunderstorms [only in the summer tho and when i'm safe and sound inside and it's not keeping me up in the middle of the night when i'm trying to sleep] // I enjoy cloud watching [kinda!! i mean the sky is so pretty like!!!!] // I have attended a bonfire [not big ones but we regularly had fires at summer camp] // I pay close attention to colors // I find mystery in the ocean [idk if i'd say i find mystery in the ocean but i sure find it fascinating] // I enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favorite season
MISCELLANEOUS
I can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // I am the mom friend [around certain people i absolutely turn into the mom friend, but not around everyone so i won't make this red] // I live by a certain quote [yeah "wenn's passt, dann passt's". it's tricky to translate, something like "if it's a good fit, it'll work out". the literal meaning is "if it fits, it fits" or "if it works out, it works out"] // I like the smell of sharpies // I am involved in extracurricular activities // I enjoy Mexican food // I can drive a stick shift // I believe in true love // I make up scenarios to fall asleep [sometimes?????] // I sing in the shower // I wish I lived in a video game // I have a canopy above my bed // I am multiracial // I am a redhead // I own at least 3 dogs
since i'm late to the party i have absolutely no idea who's gotten tagged already so if you've done this already or don't want to do it at all feel free to ignore!!
tagging: @solo-silenzio @magsimags @newyearknwwme @killiru @gaym3bo1 @elnotwoods @swabianhotpocket @cornflowershade @gillianthecat
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Also, continuing on from this post, which I wanted to add to that one but didn't have time since I was running out the door:
It might help if you think in terms of translation. Obviously, in almost all historical fiction/fantasy-inspired historical fiction/anything that's not set in the modern day, your characters aren't actually speaking modern English. They're speaking Middle English, Latin, Chinese, French, Sindarin, etc. If you're not going to be JRR Tolkien and create an entire conlang and translate everything on a molecular level, then of course there is some automatic level of translation and contextualization going on. Your characters are speaking modern English (at least in terms of grammar, spelling, style conventions) because that's the audience that you're writing for. Only a total lunatic would demand that you first learn the language They Are Supposed To Be Speaking and then translate it on a granular level. Your readers know that some concepts probably don't translate over perfectly, but they don't care, since they are engaging with you to create and experience a story in a medium/language they are already familiar with. Which, obviously, is the basic art of writing and making different concepts exciting and relatable, without getting hung up on tiny pedantic nuances that only interest, again, the absolutely insane. You should not be writing to please these kind of people. Trust me.
So if you're struggling with "exact" historical accuracy or worried about whether this tiny little detail is right: you don't need to! And I say that as a Super Actual Real Life Historian Person. I am not going to come after you with a baseball bat if your one-sentence description of something is not sufficiently Correct. If you want to do that research and include it, by all means do so. It's always delightful to see people going down rabbit holes of real-life research and voluntarily learning a lot about wildly obscure details, just for the sake of accuracy in their horny AO3 fanfiction. But also, this isn't and should not be some kind of holier-than-thou litmus test about the dubious concept of Accuracy (though yes, yes, I know, fandom spends all their time on holier-than-thou litmus tests). If you just want to throw in something that SOUNDS right and is reasonably plausible for the setting: go for it. Nobody except you will notice, you won't get your Fanfic Card taken away, and it works just as well. As I said, any remotely generous and/or basically sensible person will understand that you're employing concept translation, you're pointing at what it's meant to be, and trusting them to go "yeah okay, I get that."
For example: I myself will use the word "fuck" in just about any setting. I do not care when it technically started being used in that shape or form; it's an old word and as you might imagine, there are countless claimed etymologies for it. I am not going to invent some PG-rated nonsense word (looking at you, Star Wars and "kriffing") to substitute "fuck" when I want to use "fuck." The audience knows what I mean by it. It has a particular semantical, sexual, comic, vulgar, emphatic, etc collection of meanings that has been created from common usage. Technically, yes, the characters are saying some other strict phonic order of syllables that could be represented differently. But what they're saying is "fuck," that's what I want the reader to understand, and that's what I am going to write down.
Anyway, what I am saying here is: It's helpful to apply the concept of translation to history as well as language to fic, especially since as noted, this is fun writing you do for free and it can be as much or as little related to the brass-tacks details as you want. Nobody is coming in expecting to read a PhD thesis, and if you WANT to do that level of research, great! But you don't have to, a lot of what people think is "accurate" is really not, and should not actually impact on your or anyone's enjoyment of your work anyway.
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rebs!! within europe, which country would you say have many polyglots?
i personally think it's italy bc i think people there understand 2/3 other languages beyond intermediate level? do you think italy provides solid language-learning system in schools (compared to your european counterparts)?
This is longer than I expected, I had many complaints to do lmao
Honestly, I have no idea... I think Italy sucks when it comes to teaching languages. I learned English by myself because in elementary school the English teacher was never the same and every year we basically did the same things over and over again. In middle school I had better teachers but I didn't have a base so I struggled a lot and one direction and tv series saved my ass. In high school we do grammar for the first two years and then the other three are just literature, so if you're fluent, you're fine, but if you're not, it's going to be hell. (Probably it depends on the professor too, mine was pretty strict and I found her funny and iconic only because I was good, but some of my friends that weren't fluent hated her a lot, and they were right)
We only do another language in middle school (either French or Spanish). I learned French but yeah... The professors were terrible, I only had a good one in the second year but it wasn't enough. I mean, I was better at French than English back then, but I hated it so much I almost completely lost all my knowledge after.
After middle school, if you want to study languages there's the "linguistic high school" but from what I know it's not like it's much better, especially for languages like German or Chinese.
In Italy there are some regions that have other official languages like French, German, and Albanian (don't know if it's official, but a lot of small countries in the east-south speak it).
I just think Italians are slick and most of the time speak with their bodies, and when it comes to understanding others we are not like French (sorry not sorry) and even if the pronunciation is not perfect we just think about getting to the point. Also, quoting that tweet that was popular saying "Portuguese, Spanish and Italian speakers understanding each other without speaking the same language" it's true. We have the same roots so for survival needs I think we can communicate pretty well, and at least understand what we're saying. Still, I don't think many of us are fluent in more than another language. But probably I'm thinking too much about the older generation, idk the younger ones seem to be more interested in languages, I think the Universities that involve languages are the most popular rn, so this could change in the next few years? But we are also a very old country (many old people and no newborns) so I don't think I'm wrong for now.
I would say Switzerland is the most polyglot because they speak Italian, French and German but it's based on the cantons, so I'm not sure they speak more languages in a single one. The other one is probably Germany. They seem like the most open-minded and also very global, but I don't know much about the school system.
In conclusion, I think that the Italian school system is just really hard and puts students under a lot of stress without making them accomplish a lot, and that involves languages too. I wish I was the only one, but if you ask young people where they learned English, 80% of them will answer like I did, on their own, with music, movies, and fanfictions... that tells you everything about how the system teaches languages. Also, I think that the ones speaking more languages are the mixed couples children (I'm one, but for reasons, my Spanish is hanging on a thin line) and the second generations' children that speak Italian, their parent's language, and one or two that they learn later on. But white Italians? Either they're passionate about it or they don't care. This is also why I talked about being open-minded, unfortunately, Italy is going through a very bad fascist turn of events again and foreign languages are seen as threats, the prime minister wants to fine people for using English words when they speak, and that's all from 1925. Not saying that if you don't speak other languages you're fascist, but that's another factor to consider when you analyze the way people act when it comes to the topic, you simply might not be good at that (just like some people are not good at math, or art and so on) but that doesn't give you the right to push foreign languages down or mock them, or treat people that spend time learning a new one as if they're stupid.
So what I'm thinking is, in the new generation there's a lot of us speaking more than 2/3 languages but I think at least 70% is because those are already the mother tongues (so Italian because they were born and raised here and then the one they speak with the family) the rest is taught at school but only if you want to learn them. Considering the oldest generation makes up most of this country, I still think we're losing compared to other places in Europe.
This turned into a rant, and you just learned to never ask me anything ever again I'M SO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME
Also, can you explain why you think we're almost fluent in 2/3 languages? I'm curious to know why it looks like this on the outside.
#answered#everloving-avenue#never make me speak on anything ever again#wrote a fucking drabble on languages somebody lock me up#me: i have no idea#also me: writes the bible
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from the oc ask game:
7. favorite animal? why? 13. what languages do they speak? how fluently? 29. are they associated with any particular element (air, earth, fire, water)? 34. how would your character describe themselves? it doesn't have to line up with how they really are.
for Vincent of course 😊
Thanks so much for asking!! :D a lot of these are already answered, but I'll copy paste them here anyway :D
7. Favorite animal? why?
Nibbles of course! No but in reality I think... this wouldn't have been something Vince ever put a lot of thought into actually. He has favorite cars, favorite tech brands, favorite films and games and all that, but he's not necessarily a very outdoors-y, nature-loving guy. I think the topic of "I want a pet" would've come up at some point when he was younger, but his parents didn't see this as a wish worthy of pursuit. Even though his family was well-off when he was a kid, a cat or dog as status symbol wasn't really a priority either, and so that remained unfulfilled. I think Vince would've always liked cats though due to their resilience (given the convo with Takemura on that topic during Gimme Danger), their sneakiness, elegance, their free will and attitude. All that applies to Nibbles in a way, too, she has been fending for herself on the street pretty well despite not really having a steady home, and I think in that aspect Vince can see some of his own struggles as a young adult reflected. So yeah, Nibbles XD And overall probably cats, cause they're the only animals really present in his world as he grew up.
13. what languages do they speak? how fluently?
He grew up bilingual with English and Japanese, although in the age of auto-translators his Japanese is getting a bit more rusty as time goes on. In the case of a complete and utter failure of his tech though he'd still be able to hold a normal conversation and understand his conversation parter(s). Since his parents had a corporate career in mind for him, he went to pretty prestigious schools and over the course of his school education learned a few other languages, but those were never super interesting to him (cause, y'know... auto-translators). He's retained some basic knowledge in French, Mandarin, and Russian, and with how multicultural of a city Night City is he also picked up a few phrases here and there that he understands without translator, but none of that is fluent speaking material.
29. are they associated with any particular element (air, earth, fire, water)?
The element I could see for him the most is fire. He's a bit of a hothead, even though he can hide it well if he needs to. He's a very passionate person, in general, as well as about the people and things he cares for. Someone who can light up a room and make all heads turn, who burns bright and inspires, but who you should also be very careful about playing with. In his own ways he can be quite ruthless and merciless, he'd have no qualms about utterly destroying and ruining the life of someone who wronged him or his loved ones. He's a force to be reckoned with.
34. How would your character describe themselves? it doesn't have to line up with how they really are.
Tying this in a bit with my previous points on Vince's lying habits... this highly depends on who he's describing himself to. Potential new client? "I'm the best Night City has to offer, a professional with references, here's my list of amazing skills. Oh, all these problems you mention? They're no problems at all. Trust me. I will come up with a waterproof plan, I have the means, the connections, the equipment. You won't regrets this." (while internally he is cursing about how stupid of an idea this person's gig is, he knows he'll have to do this alone because no one else would be dumb enough, but on the other hand, the client could have [important piece of information or other thing] he despereately needs so, fuck it... he'll figure something out, he's good at that at least).
I think in general to people he doesn't know or wants something off of he would be over-confident and a little boastful, describe himself as competent etc etc even if not all of it is the case. What matter is that he gets what he wants in the end in these scenarios - money, a boost of reputation and streetcred, information, sex, drugs, whatever.
If he had to describe himself to someone he cares about or trusts... He'd focus more on what interest him, what he likes and dislikes, all still somewhat superficial though. He's confident and unashamed of his past and wishes, but yeah... Things like "I'm really scared of dying alone and being forgotten" wouldn't make it into a description of himself, he'd just omit all his insecurities and polish what he considers strengths. He'd probably describe himself as someone you can trust (but only if he trusts you or needs you, but he'd omit that), pretty down to earth (he's not, and Judy would call him out on it at every opportunity), level-headed (when in fact he can just hide and control his panic in tense moments very well) and yeah... something like that xD He'd be fine with being described as an opportunist, an optimistic realist, cause those two apply. He's sarcastic and creative, and not someone who can easily sit still, always needs something to do, a bit of a workaholic for sure.
#cyberpunk 2077#cyberpunk v#vincent ezaki#thanks so much for asking!! :D#answered asks#morganlefaye79
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