#English & Spanish. Thank you Dora.

[mermain123]

i

Because i feel like i might be overestimating what the average is, i shall Conduct Research

This isn't about how many languages you speak, but how many youre able to count up to at least 10 in, since basic numbers are some of the first words you learn in a foreign language and sometimes you catch them without having studied the language at all

[attex]

I learned english from fucken dora the explorer and that show was supposed to teach me spanish

this is the funniest fucking thing ive read today thank you . HELP ME

[dear-indies]

Hello! I was wondering if you could suggest some Alts for Gage Golightly? I absolutely adore her and her look and her resources and her general unproblematicness, but she recently retired from acting and deactivated her IG, so I don't really feel comfortable using someone who isn't in the public eye anymore and doesn't seem to want to. Thank you!

Tamsin Egerton (1988)

Stefanie Martini (1990) - is bisexual - has spoken up for Palestine!

Carlson Young (1990)

Rosaline Elbay (1990) Egyptian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Dora Madison (1990)

Taylour Paige (1990) African-American.

Sarah Kameela Impey (1991) Indo-Guyanese / White - has spoken up for Palestine!

Jeanine Mason (1991) Cuban.

Seychelle Gabriel (1991) French, Mexican / White - has spoken up for Palestine and Sudan!

Tanaya Beatty (1991) Da’naxda’xw, Himalayan.

Sofia Black-D'Elia (1991) Ashkenazi Jewish / White.

Hari Nef (1992) Ashkenazi Jewish - is a trans woman - has spoken up for Palestine!

Cassandra Naud (1992)

Medalion Rahimi (1992) Iranian, Iranian Jewish - uses she/they - has spoken up for Palestine!

Humberly González (1992) Venezuelan.

Mina El Hammani (1993) Moroccan - has spoken up for Palestine!

Pınar Deniz (1993) Turkish [Lebanese] - has spoken up for Palestine!

Elizabeth Gillies (1993)

Jodie Comer (1993)

Lily Mae Harrington (1993)

Natasha Liu Bordizzo (1994) Chinese / White.

Aurora Perrineau (1994) African-American, Afro-Haitian / White.

Khadijha Red Thunder (1994) Cree, African-American, Spanish - is pansexual.

Rachel Sennott (1995)

Juliette Motamed (1995) Iranian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Lulu Antariksa (1995) Indonesian / White.

Lilli Kay (1996) - is apart of the LGBT+ community but unspecified!

Florence Pugh (1996) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Alyson Gorske (1996)

Emma Mackey (1996) - her vibe in Sex Education.

Tati Gabrielle (1996) African-American, 1/4 Korean.

Havana Rose Liu (1997) Chinese / White - is pansexual.

Kassius Nelson (1997) Black British - maybe her vibe in Dead Boy Detectives?

Zara Larsson (1997) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Sisi Stringer (1997) African Australian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Lizze Broadway (1998)

Benedetta Porcaroli (1998) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Reneé Rapp (2000) - is a lesbian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Odessa A'zion (2000) Ashkenazi Jewish, English, some Irish, Northern Irish, Welsh, German - has spoken up for Palestine!

Molly Rainford (2000) Afro Jamaican.

Meg Donnelly (2000)

Rachel Zegler (2001) White Colombian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Jessica Belkin (2002)

Andrea Chaparro (2002) Mexican.

Hey anon! I know she's been acting for a while so here's a range of suggestions but please don't use these to play Erica though as she's canonly a minor. If this has helped you in any way please consider donating to a Palestinian fund me and/or please consider reblogging content about Palestine if you haven’t already!

[asksurvivingcritters]

Well, here is some information and lore about Camy!

She is one of the many children who lived at Home Sweet Home and like the other children, she could be chosen for the experiments and that is what happened, she was chosen and named "Experiment 1190" that is, the last in the line of the Smilling critters before everything went wrong. Shortly after going through all the procedures, she woke up during the confusion of the Hour of Joy, so she had to hide, depending on her instincts and she doesn't even remember exactly how she managed to hide that day, she just remembers felt her body on fire (it was the first time she changed color) and held on to the roof with her fingers that stuck to the walls to see what she considered her friends killing the scientists. When the dust settled she ran out of there, avoiding contact with the toys that were upset, she had to spend all her rehabilitation time with what can be described as Sleepwalking, she doesn't remember many things from those first years, She only remembers being scared and then "blacking out" (her instincts took over for her to survive).

Some facts about her: her scar on her chest was due to an unfortunate encounter with Boxy Boo who tried to kill her for food, but she escaped by hitting him with an axe and runing, remaining weakened for a long time and unable to go after food.

She has a color palette of white and colorful inspired by Craftycorn (the original character in the cartoon was supposed to be one of her best friends along with Bobby)

She has autism, loud sounds and dangerous situations can cause crises, crises that can provoke her instincts and she goes into a savage mode with thorns and claws (she has no teeth, but the power of her jaw can crush almost anything)

She can speak Spanish, Italian and her main language is English, however, she finds it easy to learn new languages ​​and likes to sing and play musical instruments when she is alone (out of embarrassment) or with close friends.

The fact that she knows several languages ​​is due to the original idea of ​​her character being like a Dora the Explorer who would teach other children to speak other languages ​​and even sign language to communicate with deaf children or help autistic and selectively mute children to communicate with other children.

She is pretty shy (In case that you didn't noticed it-) and due to her autism, she HATES physical contact, the only contact she allows is if she initiates contact on her own or if the person who touches her is one of the people she allows and feels comfortable with, otherwise you will see her becoming extremely uncomfortable (she will suffer in silence trying to avoid confrontations)

Her horns can glow as her wish, but she lost her batery that used to stay on a storage on her tail and can't do this anymore (until she found a new batery)

She got Fennel scent (I like Fennel tea c:)

Her biological brother is Killy Willy (he prefers to be called just Willy) yes, judge me, I like the big black Wuggy That's it! Thank you for stop by and read!

[pathfinderswiftpen]

I'm watching my little cousin, who has a cold, so I have her on the couch watching Dora the Explorer (a kids show that in English-speaking countries teaches Spanish among other things and in Spain (and other Spanish-speaking countries?) teaches English (thank you, @girlmaturin ) )

And in the show they're singing, in Spanish

"Canta, canta, canta" ("sing, sing, sing")

And

It sounds like

In English

The c-word

🤣

[daisychainsandbowties]

To follow-up on the other characters with this WN Dragon/Temeraire AU (because we've been talking so much about Ava & Bea & Lilith):

What are your thoughts on Camila's dragon's name? Because now I am reminded of how the Spanish football team is called La Furia Roja, and what if Cam calls her excitable dragon Furia, because that would be such a funny dissonance.

Yasmine, I think, is definitely the kind of person to give her dragon a traditional name by English standards. (I am imagining she's English.) So something with Latin roots.

Also, also, when Dora gets introduced, maybe she can have the American dragon. (I am going to push this American dragon agenda because pretty.)

Regarding the African dragons, I can't remember them allowing to be beholden/bonded with humans in such a way that they would do things for humans? They've always been their own masters, and even rule tribes/kingdoms sometimes, so I can't imagine an African dragon joining the OCS. I think there was one in Temeraire joining Laurence's company, but iirc that was under special circumstances? Or was that an Australian dragon? I can't remember now.

And circling back to the idea of one of the OCS having a Fleur-de-Nuit: what if it's not the OCS who has one but Adriel? (I feel bad villainising this dragon again, but imagine the demon army having this advantage!)

I am fully on board with Camila calling her Flecha-del-Fuego literally just rage - she would think it extremely clever: 

Cam’: ask me what i’m getting up to today, lilith?’ 

Lilith, in a long-suffering tone: ‘pray tell, what are you getting up to today.’

Cam: ‘i was thinking of going into a flying rage.’

Lilith: ‘i despise you. i resent you. i hate you.’

Cam: ‘nononono wait.’ - she climbs onto Furia - ‘if i were french i’d be en-raged.’

Lilith: ‘if only you were in the belly of a dragon.’

Cam: oh, you love me.

Lilith: *blushes and busies herself with Makaria's harness*

YES absolutely for the sheer Camila of it all it has to be Furia. & Cam dragon’s dragon is such a poseur but also very prettily coloured - black with red highlights on legs & belly & the ends of his wings - and the perfect companion for Cam because they both enjoy doing crazy loop-de-loops at high altitudes and once almost cause an international incident playing ‘dragon soccer’ (someone’s tail knocks over a cottage. probably Makaria’s). 

Yas would absolutely choose a traditional name - I have her down as from Egypt (which is nominally part of the Ottoman Empire at the time, though really only nominally, & it’s unclear based on the lore if that would be an actual place, but that area is I think under the jurisdiction of the Ottomans) but she has been in England since she was three. her dragon i’m thinking is a girl? I think she might choose an Egyptian-sounding name for her dragon, because you know that Yas is very passionate about her homeland. I like the idea of something unexpectedly short like Senu or Shay. 

i think someone should for sure have an American dragon, though unfortunately there would be many commonalities between British dragon-breeds and American ones, thanks to the fact that colonisation definitely did occur. (the same reason that there is little distinction between Irish and British native-breeds). there is not much detail about dragons native to the American continent (a bit more in Golden Age where we see that there was some mingling of draconic bloodlines, so perhaps something along those lines?) i cannot remotely think of a name for that dragon now, but it will depend on what kind of dragon it is, really. 

no, i can’t imagine an African dragon joining the OCS, though they might be willing to let the ocs assist with possessed dragons & demons from time-to-time (with a preference to simply manage it themselves, as they always have, but the ability to save possessed dragons instead of having to kill them would likely appeal). i can’t remember if it was an African dragon who joined Tem’s crew. there was Kulingile but that was the offspring of two of the Turkish ferals. 

also, yes absolutely. the Fleurs are heavyweights and fire-breathers, so it would suit Adriel perfectly. i think in this case the dragon would be possessed, but lengthily, so that there is likely nothing remaining of the original dragon’s personality. 

[evermoredeluxe]

True, I'm from a Spanish speaking country, and Dora taught English looool. I wanted to chime in because is funny hehe

hahah thank you for confirming!

[tab-the-cabbit]

I'm tired of pretending that my grandpa was a saint. He was an absolutely horrible person.

I (26, NB) have taken quite a long time to get over my grandpa's passing away back in 2015. And as of last year, I have come to terms with it. As of this year, I have also come to terms that he was an abusive, controlling, narcissistic, manipulative piece of shit.

My grandpa used to spank me for every little thing that made him mad, even if I didn't know that what I was doing was wrong. The only reason he stopped spanking me was because I eventually grew stronger with time, and his strength faded with age.

My grandpa was severely homophobic. He would go into these fits of rage every time he saw any LGBTQIA+ person on TV, and rant about how they were ruining America. He even made fun of my grandma for watching "Ellen", because Ellen was a lesbian, which prompted my grandma to not watch the show anymore. It was also said that the last time he saw his youngest brother, my grandpa got into a big fight with his youngest brother, because he had come out as gay shortly after their father died. He also threatened to shoot me if I ever came out as LGBTQIA+ when I was 11. Because of this (and my grandma's being a bible thumper, since my grandpa was an atheist), I don't plan on coming out as bisexual until after my grandma dies.

My grandpa was also VERY racist. When I was 6, I had picked up some Spanish from watching "Dora the Explorer", and from playing with other kids my age, who grew up in Spanish-speaking households. When we went to this Mexican buffet, I told the waitress "Thank you" in Spanish, and she actually had a big smile on her face when I thanked her in Spanish. My grandpa was really red in the face. He bent down to my level and whispered aggressively, "Young lady, we do NOT speak Spanish here. This is America. And here in America, we speak ENGLISH. I don't want to hear another word of Spanish come out of your stupid little mouth again." Suffice to say, I've had a tougher time learning Spanish than I did with Japanese.

My grandpa used to look at pretty girls on TV like a lecher. And then every time a gorilla walked on TV on the science channel, he'd point at it and be like, "Hey, look. It's your grandma."

When I was 6, I got into big trouble for bringing an imaginary friend to school. He ended up spanking me for it, and throwing away my favorite VCR tape as a punishment. And then when I was 8, I got spanked for singing "Pancakes, pancakes, eat 'em with a fork" on the school bus.

When I was 6, he yelled at me for telling a boy at Vacation Bible School that I had a big crush on that I wanted to marry him, and embarrassing the boy in the process. He told me off for being "stupid", and that if I did that again, I would be severely punished. This is why I only had 2 crushes during my teen years, and I can't bring up the courage to confess any feelings as an adult.

My grandpa wouldn't let me eat anything with a cartoon mascot when I was growing up, because "only spoiled brats eat those". (He was also diabetic due to the Agent Orange killing his pancreas, so I wasn't allowed to eat anything sugary or anything that appeared in a commercial during a Saturday morning cartoon.) Hence why I have wasted every dollar on any food with a cartoon mascot as an adult, and on Chuck E. Cheese's.

My grandpa often scolded me for getting any B's on my report card, claiming, "You could have gotten all A-pluses. You just don't try hard enough." And when I struggled with math, he'd get mad at me and be all, "This is what happens when you don't pay attention in school, and play stupid games on your stupid Game Boy all day." (I had a PS2 when I was a kid.)

At one point, when I was adamant about not helping him mix the concrete or starting a brush fire, proclaiming, "I'M NOT YOUR SLAVE!" He actually got super pissed, and yelled "GO GET FAT!" while kicking my butt to where I got knocked on the ground. That was the last time he laid his hands on me.

When my grandpa died, I was already living with my dad, who had taken full custody of me the year before. And living with my dad was just as hellish as living with my grandparents.

At first, I'd go into big bouts of depression, because I missed him greatly, and because my grandma was super miserable without him. But over time, and especially this year, I eventually came to my senses, and realized that my grandpa was an abusive prick, and that my grandma was just as bad for allowing him to abuse me like he did, just because it was "how he was raised".

Coming to those terms has brought me a lot of peace of mind, and has strengthened my resolve to move out as soon as possible.

As soon as I move out of my uncle and aunt's place, and get my cat from my grandma, I'm going limited contact with her, keeping in contact only through Facebook messenger, and only visiting twice a year, such as for Christmas and the Family Reunion held every second Sunday of July.

[champagneprobllems]

Dora managed to keep the pity from her expression. The debutantes of this town knew nothing. Was her mother the same? Surely some of them must have an idea of what is to come for them. She knew she was lucky to have the breadth of education afforded her, thanks to her father’s crew, but surely…

“I must warn you, not all of my literature is in English. The books you may find the most… enlightening are in Spanish, and supplementary literature is in French.” She gave Eloise a secretive little smile. “I had the freedom to do quite a bit of travelling when I was younger, and became close to some of the crew.” As if she wasn’t recognized as much a child of de Vlinder as Lucas—but that was neither here nor there. “I shall be sure to have it all at hand, and that we shall be left uninterrupted.” She released Eloise’s arm. “Teatime, tomorrow!” she reminds brightly, before disappearing with a wave.

It took some cajoling for her parents to agree to her plans for a private tea with Eloise, but by the time Thompson showed Miss Bridgerton in, the duchess and her companion had retreated to their own parlour for tea. Dora smiled, gesturing for Eloise to join her. Once Thompson left, she pulled her books closer. “I’ve bookmarked relevant sections for perusal. This one is a general anatomy book—the doctor aboard my- the ship we sailed on was kind enough to pass these to me on his retirement, but he is Spanish.” Her voice was full of affection for Fabian.

Eloise’s heart raced as Dorothea led her away. The promise of answers, the chance to finally uncover the secrets that had been shrouded in mystery for so long, filled her with a rare sense of hope. Her curiosity was almost overwhelming. “Thank you,” Eloise said, her voice earnest and full of gratitude. “No one is ever willing to discuss it openly.”

Eloise’s gaze was fixed on Dorothea with a fervent intensity. “I have no idea what the ‘marital act’ truly entails,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing slightly at her own ignorance. “I’ve only ever been given the impression that it's rather unpleasant and obligatory. I’ve heard nothing about it from a perspective of pleasure or choice.” Eloise could still vividly remember the terrified, pained cries from her mother when she was giving birth to Hyacinth — was the marital act itself really such an enjoyable experience that it would make up for that?

Her nerves were palpable but her determination unwavering. “I would like to know everything.” She looked up at Dorothea with a hopeful expression. “So, please, if you’re willing, I would be most grateful for any knowledge you share. Tomorrow” She gave a decisive nod, her eagerness barely contained.

[hemmohoran]

20 questions tag!

thank you @wastelandcth for tagging me 🥺

name: McKenzie

nicknames: Mac

zodiac: aquarius

height: 5’7”

languages: english (i took spanish for four years but i can only remember what dora taught me when i was five lol)

nationality: american

favorite season: it changes all the time but right now i like spring

favorite color: pink 💕

favorite animal: dogs or cats

favorite fictional character: alex karev from grey’s anatomy has my heart 🥺

tea, coffee, or hot chocolate: iced sweet tea always

average hours of sleep: i think 7-8

cats or dogs: i have one of each and i couldn’t possibly choose a favorite

blankets slept with: two plus the comforter

places ancestors are from: i know my last name is irish but idk anything other than that

dream trip: i would love to go to australia or one of the beautiful islands of the world like bora bora (i’m not a huge vacationer so as long as someone else plans it i’ll go lol)

blog established: i think september of 2020 but i could be wrong

number of followers: 53 it’s not a lot lol but i’ve met some great people made some amazing friendships that i’m very thankful for 💕

random fact about myself: i broke my arm when i was fourteen and my bones shifted in my cast. so now my arm isn’t perfectly straight and i will forever not be able to lean on my left forearm lol

i’m tagging (feel free to ignore me haha): @alltimesos @suchalonelysunflower @loveroflrh @bandsanitizer

[moceit]

hi! I didn't send anything yesterday (sorry about that) but I really hope your day went well and that you took proper care of yourself. so, how's bubbles? and you? i'll be leaving a cute little moceit oneshot I don't think you've read yet to try to make your day better, but in a new ask because it doesn't fit here lol. anyway, have a nice day! -postivity anon ♡ (fun fact: in Spanish speaking countries, Dora the explorer teaches English. I was actually surprised to learn she teaches Spanish--)

Hey! There’s no need to apologise! Yesterday was nice. The boys are out so my mom and I are currently home alone and we spent the day relaxing. Last night we even curled up on a couch, watched one of our favorite movies, and ate some popcorn. As for Bubbles is doing good. She got to come out of my bedroom for a few minutes and have some supervised fun in the living room!

Thank you. I can’t wait to read the oneshot!

Oh? I never knew what they did with Dora in Spanish speaking countries. I wonder if they have Dora elsewhere and what she teaches to kids who speak other languages other than Spanish or English

[the-party-dude]

[I use Google translate too! 😭]

[The only language I know is English.]

[I know a small amount of Spanish. And I mean a small amount.]

[For Spanish, I know: Red, yellow, blue, green, one through ten, (not in order tho.) the, water, boy, girl, friend, please, thank you, your welcome, bye, and hello.]

[I was leaning some Spanish on doulingo, but I haven't had the motivation to get back on. I really need too tho. Also, my daycare would put on Dora a lot when I was litte, so that's where most of my Spanish comes from...]

[Did you guys know that Doulingo will "threaten" you if you don't use it enough... It tells you to use it, or it will get very angry... Someone disabled it's notifications, but it sent the angry message though Siri... 😳😱😰]

[I use android, not apple. The Doulingo going through Siri, I had saw on an Emkay video. The angry threats I've had first hand tho...]

[Ooc: sprichst du auch deutsch? sauber!]

Ah, no. The German anon sent me two asks, and in the first one I explained I was using a translator.

(( OOC: I'm learning Russian w/ Duolingo, though! ))

[carmichealroyals]

12, 17 and 18 for the ask :)

-cracks knuckles-

12. A country you have no interest in visiting?

Romania! Never really been interested, don’t know much about it, it’s just better if I didn’t go and save myself the trouble.

17. The best name to give a lizard?

Tungsten. Like the metal. But also because.... tongue. Lizards. -ba dum tiss-

18. How many languages can you count to ten in?

Three! English, French and Spanish (thank you Dora). I used to be able to get like halfway there in German but I stopped practicing so I need to pick it up again. 

[thenixart]

Chapter 5: Book 23--The Rescue

                 Hork-bajir centric rewrite book Animorphs book 23

Toby Hamee is a ‘seer’, literally: the one who sees far into what is and what may be. One thing she likes about the language of her people is the ability to say a lot using very little breath. Something that she reasoned was an adaption to her ancestors living in high-density groups and the necessity to communicate ideas efficiently as they needed to use the rest of the oxygen in their lungs to power their muscles to flee from the monsters from the deep. Quirks of the language that don’t translate well and actively fight with the standards of grammar in Galard and English.

This was why the humans and the yeerks looked down their beaks at her people. They took it as a sign that they were unintelligent and of less worth. Such strange things aliens placed value on as intelligent. Yet how many languages did the average human speak? The average yeerk? She knew almost as many languages as fingers she possessed: Tree of course and then Galard from her parents and tribemates. The basics of English from them as well polished to fluency from watching television. Conversational Tax and claw-sign from teacher Sssirin. Enough Spanish from Dora la exploradora and Telemundo that she was confident enough to use. Naharan dialect skikar and desbadeen balong from teacher Grath Sha. Were there humans that knew as many different languages? Maybe, but they were likely rare meanwhile pretty much every hork-bajir in the tribe knew just as many even if they skipped the redundant grammar rules.

It understandably made her very angry along with many other things.

Unfortunately, that same anger is what made the council uncertain of her ability to lead.

Which was why after the excitement of her first trial run of leadership had worn off, she was secretly listening to their meeting. Not spying, listening.

The meeting was being held in the big community lodge, a large circular platform built around the upper third of four huge pines. Support beams of living oak formed a loose cage connecting to a ring of eight trees outside of the first circle supported the weight of the platform. The whole thing was roofed and camouflaged from above by a woven mat of more living branches and vines. According to her father, Jara Hamee, this was the kind of structure that new tribes built when they settled into a valley. Over time (and with due diligence) as the trees grow, they would merge together into a proper Tribe tree with the expanded hall as the main community center. Toby had no idea if they could grow these alien trees into such a structure or even if they would have that much time on this world. But her father insisted that they should practice their cultural skills if only to keep them fresh in the mind. And besides, getting everyone to work on a project together was good for building bonds especially when they were effectively the tribal equivalent of a chop-toss salad.

And because she’d been involved in the building process (even if all she did was pass things to her dad as she clung to his back) she knew the best place to eavesdrop that wasn’t in the latrine. Been there, done that, learned from it. Or the eaves either for that matter.

Toby was thankful that she hadn’t yet hit her next growth spurt when she nestled into the nice little crook in the support cage next to the gap in the floorboards under the south room. As it was she could just barely fit in the cavity formed by the moss and wood. Her tail had to dangle out and she had to sit with her legs crossed to avoid jabbing her belly with her knee blades. If she stayed very still the only other people who’d notice her would also be eavesdroppers and they couldn’t snitch without snitching on themselves as well.

“...needs only a z-space transponder.”

“Jara Hamee know part. Cannon have?”

“This one knows not. A likely eventuality.”

“Ket Halpak say let yeerk work more. Get radio part. Get hork-bajir. Make big boom.”

“Aad Wanlo agree with Ket Halpak.”

“Aad Wanlo, Ket Halpak, want know how Toby Hamee do?”

“Aad Wanlo think--”

<Toby Hamee is spying!>

The sudden shout combined with the knowledge that she was doing something that she shouldn’t activated Toby Hamee’s flight reflex and she’d lept twenty feet away from her perch before her mind clamped down on her instincts. Looking around she spotted her spooker, Bek, hanging by his tail and snickering at her. Frowning she stuck out her tongue at him and shouted SHORT in her head, knowing that he was listening.

Bek, in turn, projected an image of her own bugged out fear face back at her with a smirk.

Then she noticed her dad, her mom, and about half of the other people at the meeting sticking their heads out of the door of the south room. Looking directly at her. Toby could feel her head blades flush dark. Quickly she pretended to be interested in picking pine cones. One by one the adults went back to their meeting, Jara being the last and still most suspicious of her.

She did not need to move her head to see Bek thump against the tree a tail length above her. He climbed down to her level face first, his bloodshot black eyes gleaming with mirth. < Toby Hamee is blushing. >

When he opened his beak to laugh she shoved a pinecone in his mouth. This did not phase Bek who thoughtfully crunched and swallowed the treat. Toby dropped down the length of the tree to the ground and headed for the river. This kept Bek too busy trying to keep up with her to send his thoughts, his short legs meant he had to hop twice as much to match her pace.

By the lake was one of the new recruits and one of Toby’s few new friends, Fal Tagut, experimenting with his bows. Fal’s mother-mother lived in a very steep valley practically on the other side of the world from Toby’s own ancestors. In that narrow valley, a seer spent her life inventing what humans would call archery. Not as a weapon or hunting tool, this was back before Dak shared the discovery of violence, but as a way to get ripe gooba fruit from the trees that were too close to the deep to forage under. These bows and arrows that Fal was making now would be weapons to use against the yeerks because the tribe needed long-distance weapons that didn’t need to be charged with nuclear power like their stolen dracon beams.

Fal Tagut did not stop his carving of arrows from leftover building planks as Toby and Bek approached. He did turn so as to see them with his good eye. The other eye having been put out by her namesake, a human named Tobias who happened to have the body of a bird and was also fighting in the battle against the yeerk slavers.

“Hello, Fal Tagut. How is?”

“Why Toby Hamee dark?”

< Toby Hamee get caught spying. >

She snorted at Bek and flicked his stubby horns that would grow properly if he stopped picking at them. “Bek got Toby Hamee caught!”

To Toby’s annoyance, Fal started laughing at her too. He said smiling, “Toby Hamee need play more hiding/seeking.”

She huffed and gestured at the entirety of Bek’s currently three-foot-tall being, “Bek hears thoughts! How Toby Hamee hide from?!”

Fal and Bek glanced at each other no doubt sharing some joke between them and then turned back to her.

“Easy.” Fal Tagut said.

< Hide thoughts. > Bek finished.

Toby Hamee rolled her eyes at them in the human expression of exasperation that was quickly picking up among both free and enslaved hork-bajir on Father Earth.  

Some days she really hated the concept of friendship. Other days she was glad that there were people in the valley who treated her as a peer worthy of ridicule and not just as a kid or as a seer with a great responsibility. And after a while, her embarrassment cooled off as she and Bek helped Fal craft and test different designs of bows and arrows. It was near sundown when her mother found her and both chided her for spying on their meeting and congratulated her on passing Aad Wanlo’s assessment. She would be allowed to lead solo in the next mission.

Toby Hamee celebrated this with a maple syrup mead toast to all of her teachers and her friends and everyone else she learned from.

////

Fal Tagut was the first to notice that Bek is missing.

He’d woken in the middle of the night with the screams from the Yeerk Pool cavern in his head. Brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and cousins all terror and anger. Sadness and calls for vengeance ringing for a forever in his ears. He could still feel something slithering into his ear. His body would not respond. It scared him. His heart pounded in his chest and slowly he was able to make his body be awake as well.

Still, Fal Tagut was scared.

His mother was not here. His father not here. No mother-brothers. No mother-sisters. No father-brothers. No father-sisters. No cousins. None of the people he’d shared the cages with. Fal Tagut cried from loneliness.

After a bit, he leaped from his perch and sought out his friends.

Bek was not in his favorite tree. Curiosity beat out loneliness in Fal’s head. He was somewhat aware that Bek did not tend to sleep at night. When Bek did sleep he liked to sleep in the mornings far away from everyone in this hollow in this exact big oak.

What did Bek do at night? Fal Tagut had no answer.

Toby Hamee slept closer to where Fal Tagut did than Bek’s tree. But it was easier to go from start to far away to back to near than start to near to far. At least it was as far as Fal was concerned. Toby and her parents had a house in the second-best place in the Ellimist valley (the best place is where the community hall is). There were several houses in the valley, most clustered together in the same area. Jara’s house was the biggest of these and the door faced east to catch sunlight in the morning.

If Bek was here, Bek would whisper to Toby to let her know they were there. So Fal hesitated at the door with indecision. He did not want to wake Toby’s parents.

“Hear you. Smell you. Who is?” Jara Hamee’s voice was quiet. Fal’s horns flushed dark in embarrassment at his lack of stealth.

“Am Fal Tagut.” Fal Tagut answered in a matching whisper.

“Is time for sleep, Fal tagut.”

“Yes.”

A silence stretched out long enough that Fal’s crop started to feel slippery.

“Jara Hamee?”

“Yes, Fal Tagut?”

“Bek is not in tree.”

“Bek wanders when should be sleeping. Will look for when is bright.”

“Ok.”

In the darkness, Fal heard someone shifting on a bed. And then one person’s claws on floorboards. The sound of swallowing.

“Jara Hamee?”

“Yes, Fal Tagut?”

“Fal Tagut has sleep demons. Fal Tagut is alone.”

“Jara Hamee has big house and big bed. Fal Tagut is not alone.”

/////

Bek is lost.

Bek is not surprised by that. He almost never left the Ellimist valley alone. His sense of direction is bad, the rock in his head that should know where North is doesn’t work at all. It was too dark to see clearly and if not for the round moon he would see nothing at all. Bek did not sleep good around other people, especially sleeping ones. Their dreams were loud and kept him awake. Usually, he ended up falling asleep around sunup when everyone else was waking.

When Bek couldn’t sleep he went jumping.

Unfortunately, there were yeerks tied up to die at his favorite place to jump. He did not want to listen to their screaming and feel their fear and hate or the suffering of the yeerks’ prisoners. So he went west to one of the smaller valleys. Except, he miss counted a leap and lost track of Ket Halpak’s directions.  

Jara Hamee tells everyone, if not know where is make mark as go. If find mark, then has been before. So Bek made nicks in the bark of the trees as he passed by them. When Bek ran into his marks again, he made new ones and went in a different direction.

When the earth bit him in the foot, causing him to trip and scream, Bek decided that he was going to follow Ket Halpak’s advice. The lost should stay put . As he didn’t know why the ground was biting him, he decided to stay put. Maybe it would get tired of biting and let go? It didn’t seem to be trying to eat him like that bear did.

By morning his wounds were dry and didn’t hurt. He could see what was holding him better, some metal mouth on a chain nailed into the ground. It would be pretty easy to free himself if not for the humans rolling up in their car-thing.

Very loud humans.

Only humans, no yeerks. Bek was good at hearing thoughts and people held hostage by yeerks were very easy for him to tell. The yeerks felt one way and the captives always another. But just because they were not controlled by yeerks did not mean they weren’t scary. Especially not with those weapons pointed at him. Bek was very careful. He’d seen the kinds of wounds guns made, he did not want to be shot.

So he complied when they brought out the cage.

////

Toby would be much much more excited about her first real solo leadership job if the mission wasn’t searching for her missing friend. As it was she put on a brave face and got together a search party. Out of a tribe of twenty-three hork-bajir, nine taxxons, and four humans she had nine of her people, a third of the taxxons, and half of the humans to work with. That meant making about three teams with one taxxon each to track Bek’s scent. The one team without humans could cover a lot more ground especially if she assigned them the smallest of the taxxons. Every team member got a talkie and one map and at least one map reader to a team.

She felt confident about the mission.

That confidence shrunk by the end of that day.  It shrank some more at the end of the second day. It withered entirely on the morning of the third day when the taxxon of team two called in.

[“Find blood of the one who is Bek,”] Ssskartaa’s voice clicked calmly over the walkie talkie. [“Days old. Not enough for hork-bajir death. No panic in the dirt, one who is Bek was not scared. In dirt is human shoe prints, smell of gasoline, car prints. Car was heavier leaving than coming.”]

“Did the humans take the one who is Bek?”

[“It is strongly possible.”]

Toby radioed everyone to call off the search and regroup back in the Ellimist valley. She was very very tired and it was up to her to come up with the plan moving forward.

How exactly would they go about it? This wasn’t a mall raid, the humans couldn’t just drive them in the vans to a building in the middle of the night. They had no leads whatsoever about where to start looking. Frankly, Bek could be on the other side of the continent by now. They needed cloaking tech! They needed morphing tech! They needed a miracle!

Toby felt a heavy hand land on her shoulder. Her father bumped his horns against hers.

“Breathe deep.” Jara said calmly.

She did. Inhaling to the bottom of her lungs and after a few seconds, letting that air back out.

“Is good?”

“Is good.” She replied. “Toby Hamee got this.”

And then the “Goooaaahahahah” of the suspicious bird alarm call rang out over the valley. The taxxons vanished into the earth and the humans put on their masks and moved under tree cover. All of the hork-bajir aside from the lookouts filled out into the clearing to greet their visitor.

The timing of it niggled under Toby’s scales, what was the last time any of the morphers visited? Had to be almost a year ago when she’d just started hopping around on her own. The timing was suspiciously good for the current crisis, still she put on a pleasant face for Tobias as he circled on raggedy brown wings.

“Hello, friend Tobias!” Her father shouted at the human trapped in the shape of a bird.

“Good seeing you!” Her mother said as Tobias perched on an overhanging tree branch not more than a ska from where human Darnell was hiding. Ket was practically puffing with pride at how well her hiding lessons were working.

“Your timing couldn’t be better Tobias.” Toby said formally. The entire mood of clearing shifted. Yes, there was still work that needed to be done. Tobias himself seemed to deflate as well.

<What am I in time for?>

“One of our young males, Bek, went missing a few days ago. We have reason to believe that he was captured by humans while wandering outside of the valley.” Toby said. “We could use some help in finding him.”

<How do you know that? You’ve left the valley looking for him?> Tobias’ thought voice was surprisingly demanding.

“Yes?” Confusion at the odd question was evident on her father’s face. “Search? Look and look and look.”

“Cry, ‘Bek! Bek!’” Grath Sha added sarcastically. Toby remembered that the teenage hork-bajir once told her to never trust a human that asked very obvious questions. Grath has said something along the lines of, either they think you’re dumb or they’re terrible listeners .

“Find footprint. Find carprint. Find smell.” Her mother, Ket, continued.

“Bek is not in the valley,” Toby repeated incase the human was still confused. “We looked for him. We found his trail. We know that he was captured and taken elsewhere by humans.”

Tobias then said several words that could be nothing else but curses. Several they knew from the cages (or taught by those who’d been in the cages to those who’d not) or from the television movies that only came on late at night. There were a few new ones in there that caught their curiosity but Tobias didn’t want to explain them.

<How long has he been gone?>

“About three days,” Toby replied.

<Oh, man. I have to get back to the others. We'll start a search. But I don't think our chances are very good.> Then the bird-shaped human stopped still, <Do you think Bek could lead people back here? Would he be able to find his way back? The Ellimist has laid some kind of weird spell on this place.>

“Bek is not good with directions. He’d return to the woods if he were able and if he did we would be able to find him,” Toby said. “But he would have very little reason to lead others here.”

<I mean if he got made into a Controller, could he be used to find the valley?>

“I highly doubt that the yeerks could get one of their inside him, let alone control him.”

<What?>

“Bek is different. In head.” Jara said sagely. “Not seer, but strange.”

<Sure,> Tobias sighed as he took off. <I’ll tell Jake and the others. To think I came here to get away from my problems...>

The tribe waved goodbye as he flew away.

/////

Bek did not like this place. The wood of the building was clearly rotting. There was dirt and grime building up in the corners and crevices. Terrible smells. All around many animals. And all around was the feeling of sadness. Scribbling thoughts of creatures so bored they were rotting inside. Dripping feelings of lasting pains. Except for the humans that came and went, excited and frightened and happy.

He did not like this cage. There were no perches and the humans hit his fingers and toes when he tried to hang from the top. The dirty dry grass on the floor was too thin to be a good bed. Standing on it long made his joints hurt. The metal bowl of water he had to drink from was slimy. Gross. Looking around the animals in the other cages were in the same situation.

Bek was angry.

He was not big enough or strong enough to cut the metal bars of the cages. And he did not know what to do with the animals but he could tell Toby and their humans who would know more. And he could listen to the lock on his cage, there were lots of small parts he could not see. The humans opened and closed the door after sticking in a small metal twig. The twig made the little parts move. He could make the little parts move by thinking about it. But it was not easy, a puzzle! He needed to move them in the right order!

Days passed.

The humans figured out that he did not eat meat. Bek ate their bad bread crumbles because he was hungry. Bread made of grass and seed, yuck! Bek ate to stay strong. He ate, he slept, he tinkered with tiny metal things, and he watched.

A lesson from the Storyteller, Hruthin, yeerk, human. Similar. All think people who do not speak same or look same is stupid. Very silly. Tell secrets. Pay no attention. Is useful, no?

Bek paid very close attention to the yeerk talking to the human who owned the building. Something was wrong with the yeerk’s host. There was no human thought in the human body.

Strange.

The yeerk was thinking, yes tonight we will take this hork-bajir and make him bait for the tribe . The human was thinking, this strange one with bring me many materials . And further away, out of sight but not range of his thoughts or hearing were people spying.

////

The Tribe’s humans had gone out looking for Bek and came back with pulp leaves dyed with bad-smelling colors. Fal Tagut was told that the scribbles on the ‘paper’ said where to find his friend Bek. Fal believe them.

His other friend Toby decided that they would not wait for the Animorph humans to find Bek. She and he and humans Darnell and Jade would go rescue Bek themselves. With them, they took a few dracon beams and left in the van-type car. The others wished them luck and safety and they gave wishes in return, Ket Halpak and Jara Hamee were leading an attack on the hidden yeerk cannon at nightfall.

Fal Tagut did not like riding in the van. When the van was moving it felt like he was trapped at the top of a leap with the earth below pulling on his insides. Except instead of below the earth pulled him forward, back, side to side. He spent most of the trip trying not to vomit up the good bread that Loro Lok had made for them.

It took some time to get to the place where Bek was. The sun went from four hands until dark to settled under the earth by the time they arrived. There were already sounds of fighting and big animals in one of the buildings.

Toby Hamee said, “Darnell, your our driver. Keep the motor running. Fal Tagut! Jade! Give me cover fire. I’m going to get Bek.”

Toby burst from the back of the van like a seed from an exploding pod. Windows down, he and Jade used stunning dracon shots to clear her path as she flowed like water across the battlefield. Darnell kept pace with her, maneuvering the van around other cars and downed bodies.

Toby leaped onto the building and rounded to the other side. They rounded through the car lot to see Bek! And some strange many-legged creature and a wounded Ket Halpak. Fal Tagut was confused for a bit until he remembered that some of the Animorphs humans had shapes of Ket Halpak and Jara Hamee from when they helped them flee from the yeerks. From the booming voice in his head, Fal guessed that the strange monster was Visser Three.

None of this stumbled Toby as she dropped from the roof, cutting off the Visser’s muzzle in the process. She turned on the spot and cut across the monster’s throat with an elbow blade and chopped the legs from one side of the Visser’s body causing it the flop to the ground. From there she lept for Bek and Fal shot the yeerk-in-human that tried to take aim at her back.

With a mighty triumphant honk, Toby bounded for the van with Bek clinging to her back. The van swung around open back to the fight as the two tumbled in. Using his feet he helped Toby close the van doors.

The ride back was three times as long to avoid leading anyone back to the valley and twice as bouncy with a shot out tire from the fight.

////

Toby Hamee did not relax until she set foot back into the Ellimist valley.

Her plans worked. Her friends were safe. She faced Visser Three in morph in battle and lived to tell of it.

And tell she did.  In the light of the bonfire surrounded by her friends and family and tribe. Everyone that had gone out that day taking turns to tell their personal stories about their missions. She spoke of Visser Three’s fear and surprise when she cut into their host’s morphed flesh. Bek talked about his captivity and the minds of the humans and yeerks he encountered. Her mother pantomimed the size and beauty of the yeerk cannon and base exploding. And her father outdid them all with a funny story about how he got the parts for his deep-space radio that involved weaponizing a bunch of bananas of all things.

Eventually, the fire died down and exhaustion snaked into everyone and the party ended. Folks said their goodnights and left for their homes to rest and recover. Bek, of course, stayed the night at her house. And so did Fal Tagut.

The peace of the next morning’s breakfast was broken by the ‘many odd birds’ alarm call.

No one actually dropped what they were doing per se, yesterday had been a long day and people wanted to eat their breakfasts. Her father, in particular, was busy tinkering with the radio at the table. The metaphorical cat was already out of the bag about their human tribemates, who only put on their masks as they continued eating their cooked eggs and soft bread. And the taxxons had discussed it the other night that they might as well reveal themselves before some accident happened and the Animorphs attacked them as enemies. Besides, if she left her oak and maple porridge at the table Bek would absolutely steal it.

Tobias arrived first fluttering around overhead before landing in a nearby tree. The hruthin following soon after on swift legs. And then came the humans with the taller ones easily outpacing the shorter ones.

“Ok, so that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” Rachel said with excitement. She brushed her long yellow mane out of her face and her eyes seemed to be sparkling.

“Where did you guys get a car!” Marco puffed breathlessly. Then his eyes wandered warily to the taxxons who waved greetings with a few of their forelimbs.

“You do know there’s cars everywhere in the city right?” Darnell responded.

Cassie gave him a very long and strange look that Toby did not yet know how to decipher, “You didn’t… steal that van did you?”

“Of course not,” Darnell lied through his teeth with notes of sarcasm, “My uncle Reese let me borrow it.”

“Didn’t know you guys had so many other friends,” Jake said. His mouth a stern frown. “Seems like you didn’t need our help at all.”

“By luck, our own investigation turned up the location of Bek’s imprisonment. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a way to contact you to alert you of recent developments.”

That seemed to placate the Animorphs. And frankly there was no way that Toby was going to tell them about the walkie talkies and the radio project, her parents hadn’t and the humans didn’t ask. The andalite noticed that Jara was building something but didn’t seem fit to ask what. They left soon after anyway, to some other mission and the tribe wished them luck.

The rest of the day went as planned.

Cooks cooked. The doctor made his rounds and taught his students. Parents cared for their children. Workers put their blades to use on building new houses. Everyone keeping busy while waiting for the main show.

Her father finished the deep space radio not one hand from sundown and she and a decent chunk of the adults and taxxons went to another valley (specifically chosen for the caves and signal strength with the regular radios) to use it try to contact other rebel groups out in space. It was a funny sight, chitin and scales effectively crammed together as everyone crowded to watch Jara Hamee hunched over a tiny desk. Everyone waiting with bated breath while he switched stations as he played -here-happy-whole- dozens of times on a small wooden hand drum.

-here-happy-whole-

-here-happy-whole-

-here-happy-whole-

-here-happy-whole-

-here-happy-whole-

-here-hap- [-heard-received-welcome-freedom-comrades-]

[aangarchy]

Tagged by @sukigaang thanks sol!

Rules: Answer 20 questions plus 5 more, then tag who ever you want.

Name: Dorien

Nickname: Dori, Dora, Dina, Dorieto, Dodo, Doortje

Zodiac: cancer sun, capricorn moon, libra rising

Height: 1m63 I think? It’s around the 60 but under 65

Languages: Dutch (native language), English, French, German (but only basics) and a bit of Spanish

Nationality: Belgian

Favorite season: late summer early autumn, y’know like September, when in the morning it’s cold but in the afternoon you can still walk around without a jacket

Favorite animal: Grizzly bears

Favorite fictional character: in no particular order: Jaskier (the witcher), Will Turner (pirates of the caribbean), Legolas (the lord of the rings), Ellie (the last of us), Aang (avatar the last airbender), Percy Jackson (percy jackson and the olympians), Maxon Schraeve (the selection), Peeta Mellark (the hunger games), Boggs (the hunger games), Alphonse Elric (fullmetal alchemist brotherhood)

Coffee, tea or hot chocolate: hot chocolate lol

Average sleep: 8 hours, sometimes more

Dog or cat person: Cat person. I like dogs don’t get me wrong, but I enjoy being around cats more bc it’s more relaxing

Number of blankets: one

Dream trip: New York City is definitely on my bucket list, but also a safari in South Africa, a trip to Mexico, or New Zealand

Blog established: I think it was around december of 2015, so december 2020 will be the 5th year anniversary

Number of followers: 10.697

Random fact about me: I draw in my spare time (on paper not digitally) and I’m obsessed with makeup

Plus 5 questions

Introvert or extrovert: introvert

Place to relax: my bed or somewhere in nature where it’s calm, where there are no cars etc

Favorite snack: maltesers or those oreos covered in white chocolate

Recent shows: The Witcher, Izombie, Planet Earth

Favorite video game: The Last of Us

Tagging: @arieskorra, @zukostrans, @cardboardseagulls, @sokkable,

[tetralea]

Thank you @starksparker for inviting me! :) I love these but I never really get invited! 

1. Name: Dora

2. Nickname: Dori

3. Zodiac sign: Gemini

4. Height: 162 cm (5′2)

5. Languages: Hungarian, English, Spanish and a bit of French

6. Nationality: Hungarian

7. Favorite season: Spring

8. Favorite flowers: Tulipes

9. Favorite scent: My bf. lol. 

10. Favorite color: Light green

11. Favorite animal: Cats

12. Favorite fictional character: Tony Stark and Wonder Woman but I love sooo many more

13. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate: Hot chocolate

14. Average sleep hours: 8-7 hours, 12 on the weekends. 

15. Dog or cat person: Cats, definitely cats haha

16. Number of blankets you sleep with: 0 or 2, depending on the season

17. Dream trip: Australia or Mexico

18. Blog established: I really don’t remember... it could be like 4 years ago... or 5...

19. Followers: 690. not that much tho...

20. random fact: I truly hate wearing clothes and brushing my teeth. I do both nonetheless, but I hate them. The first thing I do when I get home is to strip myself naked. Even if I wear clothes at home I never wear underwear or bra. Socks are the worst. 

now tag 20 others!

I definitely can’t tag 20 others, because I am shy and never interact with anyone. 

But I can tag @ruinerofcheese, @angryschnauzer, @learisa, @tomhollandspideys, @hellomissmabel, @chewythecatus, @highladyofasgard, @tomhollandqt, @lostinthoughtsandfeelings, @itspenisparker, @the-lovesof-my-life