#also the only ones I find are in a Cyrillic language

[fishthegenderwitch]

The light covers in our townhouse are boring ASF. Like, look at this nonsense.

They all look like this. All the same, sad round light covers.

That being said, I can't do much about them barring making another, snazzier light cover, so I've been searching for a good crochet lampshade pattern. (I'm looking at covering the one in my own bedroom right now.)

The main problem is that the best ones I'm finding are being shown in a 2 minute YouTube video that's like "CROCHET LAMPSHADE PATTERN!" and you find out they saved bad super pixel-corrupted jpegs to show as a slideshow and no actual pattern. -seethes-

Anyway, I've found a few patterns that I'm going to power my way through til I want to set them on fire (I hope it doesn't get to that point).

Just as an example, THESE are what I'm talking about, because I can't seem to find anything super pretty in a written pattern.

And this next image, like this is awesome, but finding the pattern? Lolno.

If I can find a sweet enough cuff or lacy border pattern, I can sew them together to make a longer piece to hang down from the light cover itself.

LIKE THIS! I know it's a skirt, but it looks awesome! Also unfortunately it's in a language I don't know. Two, actually.

One of those is "image crochet pattern". I do not know this language. Where do you start?? What's the code here?? I have the crochet legend for these, I just need to get into the nitty gritty of where to start, what direction to follow.

I think I'm going to try the first one, and also poke at cobbling together a round doily pattern with other shapes of decorative crochet. Stay tuned, but not too hard; I'm slow at stuff.

[mapsontheweb]

Percentage of letters that are vowels in each language's word for "egg".

by 99685-96-8

To preface: I am not a linguist, so there's a high probability there are some mistakes in this map. Please don't vilify me if I misrepresented your language in this map.

Edit: Friulian should be 50%, not 100%. Updated map.

Here's a version of the map with language labels.

Here's a version of the map with percentage labels.

This map mostly stemmed from a stupid thought in my head, when I realized the Dutch word (I am Dutch) for egg (ei) only consists of vowels. This sparked the question of how this property is distributed across European languages.

One search for a language map later (thanks Wikipedia!) and dozens of searches for translations and alphabets later (there are approximately 60 languages on this map) (thanks Wikipedia and also Wiktionary!) and now we know!

(As "vowel," I defined a letter that can have a vowel sound in the corresponding language. For many languages, it was hard to find pronunciation guides for the specific word while finding a translation was easier, so I decided to focus on letters instead of phonemes. Furthermore, for some languages in the base map, I could not find a trustworthy translation, hence the "no data" for some languages. Digraphs in some Cyrillic alphabets were counted as a single letter.)

Happy Easter!

Main sources:

Base map from Wikimedia Commons

Most translations from Wiktionary

Ladin translation from the Istituto Cultural Ladin

Sámi translations from the Oahpa portal of the University of Tromsø

Scots translation from scots-online.org

[agooddaytoscream]

LONG POST: About the situation in Inner Mongolia, Tuva, Kalmykia and Buryatia:

See this red piece of land here?

It’s almost as big as the actual country of Mongolia right?

…Wanna know why?

IT’S STOLEN LAND.

I am a Mongolian person from Outer Mongolia, it pains me to see my fellow siblings being subjected to a cultural genocide right now in China.

ALMOST NOBODY is talking about this.

Go ahead and search “Inner Mongolia” on any social media platform, see anything loosely related to it being stolen, or the eradication of the Mongolian language and culture in schools by the CCP?

Not much or close to none, right?

Unlike Tibet and Uyghurs, the other two biggest ethnic minorities in China, which have a number of campaigns/gofundmes/articles about the situation, there’s only a few articles about Inner Mongolia.

Do you want to know why you don’t hear about Inner Mongolia? Censorship and oppression.

Remember Tibet? And how China oppresses Tibetan Buddhism as a result, resulting in His Holiness, the Dalai Lama to leave his people’s homeland and reside in India? The biggest religion practiced in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism.

I currently cannot find ANY campaigns aiming for a free Inner Mongolia, much less any recognizing what’s going on.

The Mongolic people have been the victims of genocide multiple times.

I’ve heard numerous negative opinions from foreigners online and in real life about the Mongol Empire and how “Mongolians deserve to be oppressed, China is doing them a favor, Traditional Mongolian script is used in Inner Mongolia and has a higher GDP, Outer Mongolia only uses Cyrillic.”

( Mongolia was colonized by the Soviet Union, and subjected to communism, do you know what it feels like for your own family members, brainwashed by communist propaganda during childhood, even now swearing up and down that Russians are superior and everything they do is correct. And when asked whether the innocent Mongolian Buddhist monks deserved to die at the hands of Russians, they said it was deserved?! This is how insane propaganda can get, nobody is immune)

Do you realize how fucked up that is?? To hear so many say your people deserve this??

“Mongolian is our mother language! We are Mongolian until death!” shouted ethnic-Mongolian students in China’s Inner Mongolia, in opposition to a government policy, ending bilingual education. Critics of this policy see it as the latest move in a decades’ long campaign aimed at erasing the Mongolian culture.

- PLEASE READ THESE ARTICLES, they’re not the most recent, but they tell the truth.

Why critics are asking if Inner Mongolia is the next Tibet or Xinjiang This is from 2023.

Inner Mongolia in 'War-Like State' This article is from 2011, however the events that were reported are still happening.

Mongolians in China Face 'Cultural Genocide' as Language, Culture Swept Aside: Group

This article is from 2021. It’s recent enough.

This goes without saying, but xenophobia is also extremely prevalent in China against ethnic minorities.

I highly recommend reading this specific tumblr post. I am also apart of many fandoms surrounding chinese media. OP makes many valid points and I cannot support them enough.

From personal experiences, I have also read about my people and Central Asians being portrayed as brutal, savage, uncivilized barbarians in many Chinese-American novels. It’s heartbreaking.

I despise how the world turns a blind eye to my brothers and sisters suffering, just because the severity of what my people endured is less than other groups, doesn’t mean that we should only focus on helping one minority, support all groups under oppression and colonialism no matter the severity of their situations.

I just found this Youtube video detailing the situation in Inner Mongolia, it’s beautifully done. PLEASE PLEASE WATCH THE FULL VIDEO, Beginning to End.

Why China Doesn’t Want You To Know About This Place.

Not to mention, the countries of Tuva, Buryatia, and Kalmykia are stolen by Russia just like Inner Mongolia. Throughout its history, Russia has seized foreign lands, colonizing indigenous peoples and destroying their national identity.

Note: I am not talking about the Sakha (Yakutia) because I am personally not apart of their community and will not talk over Yakut voices regarding Yakutia such as: https://www.instagram.com/verona.petrova?igsh=MXkyMHY3NDVoZjZxMg==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2iRvYqvu1M/?igsh=MTFucHg5aDdjaDFocA==

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by VERONIKA PETROVA (@verona.petrova)

The Tuvans are a Turkic group with their own language however, they share many cultural aspects with Mongolians. Tuva is the most poverty stricken place in Russia with the lowest standards of living.

The Buryats are an ethnic minority of Siberia whose population of around half a million largely follow a blend of Buddhism and Shamanism.

They are closely related to the Mongols, and the two groups share similar histories, cultures, religious beliefs, and lifestyles.

The Buryat language is considered one of the world’s most endangered languages.

Soldiers from Tuva and Buryatia have the highest casualty rates per 100,000 for Russia in the Ukraine war.

“These are some of Russia’s poorest regions: places where many young men see the army as their only chance to earn a decent living. And it’s these places that are now paying a disproportionately high price as Russian war casualties continue to rise.”

Please see: Free Buryatia Foundation, Buryat Liberation Movement, Mass Deportation and Ethnic cleansing of Kalmykia, The Kalmyk Deportations of 1943. Ukraine war: Tuva and Buryatia pay the highest price, but latest BBC Russian casualty figures show poverty not ethnicity the key factor.

Free Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Kurdistan, Armenia, Haiti, Yemen, Tigray, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Arakan, Tamil, Eelam, Western Sahara, West Papua, Kashmir, Canary Islands, & everyone undergoing genocide / colonialism.

Spread awareness about the femicides in Kazakhstan:

The Rise of Non-Consensual Bride Kidnapping in Kazakhstan: Developing a Culturally-Informed and Gender-Sensitive Response

Kazakh Activists Urge Authorities To Toughen Punishment For Domestic Violence

Can An Ex-Minister's Arrest In His Wife's Brutal Killing Finally Bring Protections To Kazakh Women?

EurasiaChat: Gender-based violence rears its ugly head again

YOU DON'T NEED TO GO OUT AND PROTEST, SIMPLY REBLOGING, LIKING, SPREADING AWARENESS, AND REPLYING HELPS AS WELL!!!

[helleniclanguageboy]

Greek Transliteration of Slavic

The legacy of the Slavic languages being represented by the Greek alphabet go back very far. Traditionally Cyril and Methodius are given the attribution of inventing the Slavonic scripts to represent the languages instead of Greek which ill-represented the phonemes of Slavonic. Even so, there is a long history of Slavonic languages (mainly South Slavic) being represented by the Greek script. There are early examples of this (none that I have been able to find), but the more contemporary examples are well attested. Here, we will explore 3 scripts: the Konikovo Gospel, the Kulakiya Gospel, and the Pomak alphabet.

Konikovo Gospel (1852)

Ωἰτ Ιωάννα. Οὐτ πέρβȣ μπέσ̮ει ρὲτζ̮τα, ἡ ῥέτζ̮τα μπέσ̮ει σῶς Μπόγα, ἡ Μπὸγ μπέσ̮ε ῥέτζ̮τα· Βόα μπέσ̮ε ȣ̓τ πέρβȣ σῶς Μπόγα. Σῆτε ραμπώτη ζαρδὶ νεῖζ λακαρδίατα σὰ τζ̮εινήα, ἡ μπεῖζ νέγȣ νέ σα τζεινὴ νήκȣε ȣ̓τ κόλκȣ σὰ τζ̮εινία. (my transcription, I uploaded it onto wikipedia bc the previous version was not good) От Иоа́нна. Ут пе́рву бе́ши ре́чта, и ре́чта бе́ши со̂с Бо́га, и Бо́г бе́ше ре́чта. Во́а бе́ше утпе́рву со̂с Бо́га. Сѝте рабо́ти зарди́ нѝз лакарди́ата са́ чини́а, и бѝз не́гу не́ са чини́ ни́куе ут ко́лку са́ чини́а. (Source)

This document largely maintains how Greek is written, the main phonological difference is with /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ which are represented by a breve underneath the letter σ or ζ (σ̮ and .

Kulakiya Gospel (1863)

The transcription of this manuscript features a different type of transliteration, however. The author, Efstathios Kypriades, choses to represent sounds with different accents. Whereas the other manuscript uses μπ for /b/, Kypriades chose to represent it with π̈. Interestingly, the former represents /g/ and /d/ as γ and δ, but Kypriades makes a distinction between the Greek letters and the plosives of Slavonic (γ̈ and δ̈). The one similarity lies in the representation of /ʃ/ which uses the breve beneath. However, it is also used to represent palatalization (κ̮ for k'). The only other accent is a macron above the letter which represents the following /i/ sound becoming /i̥/.

Γ̈οσποδ̈νοβο ὶ σφετάγο Εὐαγγέλιο νὰ Π̈όγα νάσ̮αγο γ̈όλεμα Τσίκφα Χριστι̮άνοφ, ἰσκάρενο νὰ π̈ούγαρτσκο ἰζίκ̮, τουβάσ̮νο ζπόρ νὰ Βαρδ̈αρία, ζὰ οὐφ νεδ̈έλ̄ιτε σάτι, ζὰ γ̈ουδ̈ίνατα, ἰ ζὰ σάτι πραζν̄ίτσ̄ιτι γ̈ολέμιτε, ζὰ τσέλα γ̈οδ̈ίνα ζὰ λ̄ειτουργ̈ίατα. Σὰ πισάλο ὀυτ Ευστάθιο Κυπριάδη οὐφ σέλοτο Κολακία. Νὰ 30 Νοέμβριῳ μέσιτς 1863. Господново и сфетаго евангелио на бога нашаго голема црикфа христианоф, искарено на бугарцко изик тувашно збор на Вардариа за уф неделите сати за гудината и за сати празницити големите за цела година за литургиата. Са писало ут Евстатио Киприади уф селото Колакиа на 30 ноемврио месиц 1863.

Interesting side note, the use of σ̮ is interesting as σ̈ is a character used in Arvanite Albanian to represent /ʃ/ at the same time (source). I'm not sure if this was a conscious choice, but I wanted to make note of it nonetheless.

Pomak Language

For a modern example, the Pomak language used in Greece is sometimes attested with the Greek alphabet. There are different methodologies behind the representation of this, however. Some attestations use additional accents and others don't. For example, the word жаба /ʒaba/ could be written Ζζέμπα or Ζ̌έμπα. Other variations used are: /ʃ/ could be σσ or σ̌, /tʃ/ could be τσσ or τσ̌, /dʒ/ could be τζζ or τζ̌.

Ουτσίλνικετ μόϊ γιε γιάτσε χούμπαφ. Ίμα αλτΐ ουνταγιέ. Μόγιενα ουνταγιό γιε γκουλα̈́μα. Ίμα τσσέτρι γκουλια̈́μι πέντζζουρε. Ράχλενε μι σα γιάτσε τσίστι. Ι χότζζιντα μάτσα γιε γιάτσε τσίστα. Ι ιζουτσσίλνικ ίμα γιεντίν σσιρόκ χαρέμ. Φαφ χαρέμαν ίμα ντβα βρίσε ι ντβε γκόρμιγιε. Ουτσσίλνκαν μόϊ γιε γιάτσε χούμπαφ. Για ουτσσίλνικεν, χότζζενε ι αρκαντάσσενε γκι γιάτσε μίλβαμ. (Source)

[purrple-bat]

So @/tirkras (don't want to annoy them with a mention) has an AU called 'The perfect vessel' (go check it out) which I've seen bits and bobs around (haven't seen it fully + they write in Cyrillic so don't understand it-) and the parts I saw gave me inspirations for a basic start of an AU. (Idk how close it is to their AU, I just want some soft Uzi and Doll being siblings)

 - Dolls and Uzi has gone through a lot due to the Solver, and both their mothers were harsh/not the best of parent. They are cousins technically and both were maybe used to make an host for the Solver, and/or forced to train hard and pushed to their limits to use/control those powers.

- both had pretty absent fathers.

- both had pretty cold mothers.

- For reasons (idk yet), they both lost their parents and for the most part, growing up and living together like siblings. (Maybe they are the cause of their death, maybe it's murder drones, who knows)

- Both of them speaks Russian naturally (Nori and Yeva being sisters in this AU), but most drones in the colony doesn't understand the language, so they only speak it privately or when they don't want to be listened on.

Headcanons about this:

- Solver being an ass, they definitely both needs to drink Oil and helps one another, especially with the killings and scrubbing off evidences.

- Cannibalism!!! Yay!!!

- or is it? Let's just say, if you cut them, it's not Oil that they bleed :)

- I like to think Doll doesn't really clean after herself in general, but Uzi does keep their house/apartment clean begrudgingly.

- can see some siblings and fluff, like Doll bringing Lizzy over and Uzi teasing the loving shit out of her for bringing a 'girlfriend' over x3 (telling her stuff in Russian like 'Don't get too loud tonight~' and 'Don't forget to put a sock on your doorknob so I don't walk in on you two~')

- I think Uzi's bullying would be lighter, especially with Doll around. I mean, Doll would call Uzi a nerd/dork/freak but in a siblings way + Doll has less of an hard time making friends/manipulating people into leaving Uzi alone. Also, with an Uzi that is more fine with murder/cannibalism to get oil, I'm sure if one goes too far against her, they'll find their days numbered x3

- Uzi is pretty smart technology wise and definitely would use that to her advantage, hacking into the overall colony systems often, especially to scrub camera footages.

- their smarts combined, they could be up to some pretty big schemes. Like if they were robbing a bank, they would do it so cleanly x3

- I wonder how they would use robo-roaches, maybe more little spies and long distance communication ?

Can't think of anything else about this. Idk where to go with it or what to do ngl, it's just something fun right now. Don't have a twist or overarching plot, don't even know how to insert the Disassembler Drones crew at all.

I don't claim this AU because of how close I think it is to Tirkras 's, if you have other ideas, inspirations, headcanons or wanna do anything related to this, just do it, I don't fuckin mind.

[eksentrismi]

Really random question and this isn't like important or such, I'm just asking for some advice if anyone's got any (and this post will be full of rambling, sorry in advance <333)..... but does any of you here know any good methods or ways to learning languages in an actually fun way? I'm bilingual, but idk, I've always really liked other languages and languages in general. And I'd love to study and learn more of them, but oughhh....... I find it so difficult to study them and I haven't found an actually working method for it, like one that would actually help my impatient AuDHD ass to study, lmao

Like idk, I'd love to learn (well, more like "try learning again") Swedish, Russian and Polish. <333 "But what about French and Spanish?!!" you may ask and well, trust me, I would like to learn those too someday... sorry to tell you this, but lmao, I actually did try studying those when I was a lot younger. I studied French for like 6-7 years in school and Spanish for 2-3 years in school too...... And I learned absolutely nothing from them (due to undiagnosed autism + ADHD at the time), and I know nothing much of them anymore, lmao. I forgot everything. Like I don't even remember the basics anymore... I can tell my name though, like. Je m'appelle Roni. Me llamo Roni. Embarrassing as hell to admit this too, but I also studied Swedish in school (as it's an actual mandatory language to learn in school here usually when you're 13-16) and I don't remember much of that either. Jag heter Roni och jag är 23 år. Men jag är inte så god i talar på svenska, förlåt lol. Also about Russian: I actually tried studying that too ages ago but only for like few months, and I had to give up when I generally lost energy for studying in school anyways. I still remember very few Cyrillic letters though and uhhhh, also like.... one word (and only because I actually read it on a side of a train once while adventuring in Tampere's train station recently). Мурманск... which means Murmansk I think??? Lol, iirc it's one city in Russia-

[sunnyrealist]

Chapter 41: Follow Me Into the Next Life

The Sun, the Moon, and All Our Stars

Summary and Details…

Previous Chapter Recap/Context: Sebastian and Kate are on an adventurous camping trip in the Scottish Highlands. Their goal is to explore the mysterious Blackfold Castle. Protective wards, set by a queen who took her own life, have kept curious treasure-hunters away for centuries. When the couple first arrives, Sebastian attempts to break the wards with no success. However, Kate is able to stroll past the barrier with no issue and somehow is able to bring Sebastian with her. As they approach, Kate's emotions suddenly transform to ones of fear, grief, and deep sorrow. Soon, it seems that the castle itself is pulling them inside.

Pairing: 25-year-old, post-Azkaban Sebastian Sallow x Kate Mayflower (my OC)

Content warnings: In general, this is rated 18+ - minors should not read or interact with this story. This chapter really doesn't have content warnings, but there are some sad moments related to heartbreak.

Artwork: The illustrated pictures of Kate and Sebastian were commissioned from @giselsann-opencommissions.

The full chapter is available below the cut; it can also be found on AO3 (link is posted below). Please leave some feedback if possible, especially if you like what you read! 🥰

Chapter 41: Follow Me Into the Next Life

When the doors shut behind them, candles suddenly flicker to life, bringing the interior out of the darkness for the first time in over 500 years. Sebastian is surprised to find the air inside the castle fresh, as though someone had been here recently, though in his heart he knows that couldn’t be true. The castle has deemed them special enough to grant access, though he is not sure why.

“Are you alright?” Sebastian asks gently.

Kate’s inner turmoil has disappeared - no longer terrified and overwhelmed with melancholia, she feels a sense of relief. Nodding, she replies in amazement, “I’m… completely fine now.”

Sebastian leads the way, moving cautiously inside the huge hall. It’s oddly empty, with plenty of open space. Plaid tapestries line the walls. Stained glass windows allow colored light into the hall. A wooden table lies in the center of the room and, behind it, a huge pensieve. On the table are a piece of parchment, a quill, and a pot of ink. Ornate candlesticks burn brightly on each side of the set of writing tools.

The eerie silence is only broken by their footsteps as they make their way to the table, which is clean, though it would stand to reason it should be quite dusty and dirty after many centuries.

Sebastian and Kate lean over, examining the only words written on the parchment: Ma tha an dithis agaibh an seo, bha sinn soirbheachail.

Kate glances at her boyfriend, furrowing her brow. She shakes her head. “I don’t know what that means…”

Sebastian appears bewildered. “It’s Scottish Gaelic.” He reads the words aloud fluently, then murmurs its translation. “If you are both here… we were successful.”

“You know the language?” Kate asks, surprised.

“Yes,” he replies, still looking unsettled by the message. “My father taught me Latin, Greek, and Scottish Gaelic. And then I studied some more languages on my own - I can understand Ancient Runes, Phoenician, Cyrillic, and Aramaic.”

Kate looks at him in wonder. “That’s incredible. I had no idea.” 

“‘If you are both here, we were successful,’” Sebastian repeats, his eyebrows knitting together. “I don’t understand.”

She examines the parchment once more, then the items on the table. “Why leave writing utensils and only that one sentence?”

He takes the quill, dipping it into the pot of ink. “That’s exactly the question. I have a hunch. I’m going to try something.” He scribbles two words on the paper and says them aloud in English. Feasgar math. “Good afternoon.” 

Kate gasps as their first exchanged messages disappear, replaced by another. Sebastian narrates and translates. “Tha mi air feitheamh cho fada gus an ruig thu. I have waited so long for you to arrive.”

Who are you? Sebastian queries in Scottish Gaelic.

I am you, the parchment answers cryptically.

Kate and Sebastian glance confusedly at each other.

What is your name?

Eilionoir. And yours?

“Queen Eilionoir of Blackfold Castle,” Kate murmurs. “How…? How is she doing this? It’s impossible. She’s dead…”

“Should we give our names?” Sebastian asks.

“I don’t know,” she replies. “It could be the work of Dark magic… What do you think?”

Sebastian begins scribbling again. What shall you do with our names?

I shall do nothing. I am merely curious to know our names.

Our names?

Yes. Our names. Please. And pray tell, what is the year?

1899. Sebastian glances at Kate, who nods in approval. We are Sebastian Renatus Sallow and Kate Camellia Mayflower.

I see. Much time has passed. I wonder why it took so many centuries. I have never heard such names.

What do you mean by “it?”

You shall understand soon.

Sebastian grows bolder, tired of playing games. Why did you draw Kate into this place? Do you seek to harm us?

It has been so long. I did not wish to risk losing you both. I waited for you specifically. I promise that neither of you shall not be harmed. I want you to understand. Please take note. Should you heed my instructions, you shall be greatly rewarded. You shall leave this place with more knowledge and wealth than you can imagine.

Kate and Sebastian exchange glances, eyebrows raised.

We do not understand, but we await your directions.

If you are Neacal, you surely must know how to use a Pensieve, yes?

Sebastian shakes his head. Perhaps this charmed paper is not as effective or intelligent as he was beginning to believe. My name is Sebastian. I know how to use a Pensieve.

Marvelous. Sebastian, I have left memories for you and Kate to view. You likely enjoy exploring, yes?

Yes.

You shall explore this castle, where I once dwelled. In each room of the southern wing, I left bottled memories. Collect them. If you use them in order, you shall see the story of my life chronologically. Do not disturb any of the items in the rooms - only procure the memories. When your task is complete, I shall reveal more - and provide a reward.

Sebastian is not quite sure what to say, so he ends with: Thank you.

“I’ve never used a Pensieve…” Kate tells him hesitantly.

“It isn’t difficult,” Sebastian assures her.

Kate grasps his hand tightly. “Sebastian, how is any of this possible?”

Sebastian shakes his head. “I’m not entirely certain. It would take powerful magic to link one’s conscious memory to an object, like a piece of parchment. Queen Eilionoir must have had a very important reason to do it - that would take serious determination and skill. I just… I don’t understand why she writes that she has waited for us, specifically. How could she know us?”

“I don’t know, either. But… I do not think we are in danger. Do you?” Kate asks.

“No, I don’t,” he replies. “We should see this through. I’m intrigued by the promise of this reward.”

They set off into the south wing, ready to explore.

An hour later, Kate finishes arranging the memory vials in the order in which they discovered them. 

“I wonder how long each of the memories will last,” Kate muses. “There are so many of them… We will likely be here until the evening.”

Sebastian leans over the Pensieve and gazes into the wispy, swirling basin. “Let’s not wait any longer, then. I am ready when you are.”

Kate nods. “So, what do I do?”

“Stand next to the Pensieve. I will retrieve a memory, open the bottle, and empty its contents. Then, both of us shall place our faces into the Pensieve,” he explains, walking to the table and selecting the first memory. “It will feel strange at first. You will feel like you are truly there, and you’ll see what this person experienced. You will not be able to interact with anything in the memory, but you will be able to move about and see a little beyond what the queen could see herself.” He uncaps the glass top of the memory bottle. “Does that make sense? Are you ready?”

“I’m ready,” she affirms.

Sebastian lets the silvery memory trickle out of the bottle and into the Pensieve. He and Kate stare at each other, resolved. They place their faces into the basin, and their world fades away, replaced by Queen Eilionoir’s. 

At first, Kate feels as though she is falling, but she doesn’t even notice that she lands. 

They’re in a large, green field, bordered by a forest. In the distance is a tiny cottage with a pen for livestock.

A little girl runs by, chasing after a lamb. She has long, blonde, very curly hair, green eyes, and freckles - Kate notes that she almost looks like a cherub, despite her clothing - a dark brown dress with a tattered smock, along with a dark cloth wrapped around the top of her head. Her cheeks are tinted pink, and she’s panting, trying to keep up with the runaway animal. She cries out in a language Kate doesn’t understand. 

Sebastian, standing next to Kate, murmurs, “She’s telling the lamb to stop and wait. But it doesn’t look like it will. We’ll have to follow her.”

 He takes Kate’s hand, and they begin jogging towards the lamb and child. 

Up ahead, underneath a tree, there sits a small boy, about the same age, paging through a book. He has dark - almost black - hair and brown eyes, trained on a book. He appears to be talking to himself. His clothes are in much better shape. As the little girl approaches, the boy finally looks up. 

She continues shouting at the lamb as it furthers its lead. Finally, she trips somehow, falling down hard with an “Oomph!”

The young lad closes his book, stands, and pulls a wand out of his pocket, pointing it at the lamb. He murmurs something, moving the wand, and, as a result, the creature freezes in place. Then, he dashes over to the little girl, checking to see if she is alright. He helps her stand. 

“Merlin,” Sebastian marvels. “He couldn’t be much older than five. How could he do that at that age?”

The children converse with each other.

“She thanked him. Then, they exchanged names. Eilionoir Aitken and Neacal Brody. He has offered to help her to bring the lamb back to its pen,” Sebastian explains to Kate.

Little Neacal picks up the lamb with great effort, and the two begin walking back in the direction from which Eilionoir came.

The memory fades, and Kate and Sebastian find themselves back in their world as they remove their faces from the Pensieve.

Kate touches her face, surprised it isn’t wet. “Neacal… Isn’t that the name the parchment mentioned earlier?”

“Yes,” replies Sebastian. “Let’s view the next memory, if you’re ready.”

Eilionoir cannot be much more than a year older than in the previous memory. The scenery is a one-room home, a very rustic one. Eilionoir’s face is dirty; she is sitting up on a bed stuffed with three younger siblings, fast asleep. Her mother pulls a wooden chair close to the bed. Eilionoir clutches her stomach and appears to complain.

“She’s hungry,” Sebastian translates.

Eilionoir’s mother responds to her, taking a strand of blond curls in her hair.

Sebastian listens to the conversation, then tells Kate what transpired. He’s frowning. “Her mother told her that she should just go to sleep if she’s hungry, for there is no more food. She then taught Eilionoir that someday, she will save the family from poverty by marrying someone wealthy. She told her that it is a woman’s duty to marry and have children for her husband. It is the only thing women are made for, and she tells Eilionoir that she must be so pretty for a reason - that she is sure to attract someone of a higher status.”

Eilionoir smiles innocently, then asks another question. Then, the memory fades.

When Kate and Sebastian return to their world, he translates again. “Eilionoir asked if her husband will have food.”

Kate looks down, troubled by what they saw and heard. “Such poverty… and yet she ended up here, in Blackfold Castle.”

Many years pass throughout the memories inside the third bottle.

Most of the scenes take place after sunset, as it grows dark outside. Kate eventually deduces that they must only be able to meet at night, after the day’s work is complete.

Eilionoir meets Neacal at the same tree from the first memory. He holds his wand out, clearly utilizing Lumos. They laugh, running through a dark forest, side by side. They eventually come to a river, and Neacal finds a fallen tree that might lead them across, but it’s clearly not all that stable or safe. Eilionoir tries to hold him back, but Neacal climbs onto it without any hesitation. Stepping carefully and testing his weight, he makes it across the river. Then, he beckons for her to follow, and she does. The moment she is across, they run further and further into the woods.

The next memory finds Neacal seated at the tree, waiting for Eilionoir again. He reads a book using his illuminated wand. Eilionoir arrives and sits beside him. He recites the words to her. 

“A fairy tale?” Kate guesses.

Sebastian laughs, shaking his head. “Far from it.” He steps closer to the two of them, hovering close behind and examining the words on the page. “It’s a book that teaches about magical theory.” 

Kate furrows her brow. “They can’t be more than nine years old… Are you sure?”

He chuckles. “Yes, I’m certain. And look, they are both so interested…”

“At nine, I would have been reading tales of princesses and heroes,” Kate muses. “How strange.”

Sebastian smiles. “I would have, too, but I certainly would have read things like this, as well. My parents always encouraged studying serious texts along with enjoying fun stories.”

Kate gazes at Sebastian in amazement and admiration. 

The scene changes. Neacal leads Eilionoir to his home, where his parents provide her with a hot meal. Then, Neacal asks his father for something. He returns with three long boxes.

“Wands,” Kate guesses. “Perhaps his parents were wandmakers.”

Eilionoir tries out two of the wands with disastrous results, but the third produces a bright light the moment she touches it. She asks Neacal’s father if it costs money, and he shakes his head, gesturing that it belongs to her now. She beams.

Not much time passes, and Kate and Sebastian again see the two of them by “their” tree. 

Neacal takes Eilionoir’s left hand, and wraps a flower around her ring finger, whispering something in her ear. Eilionoir blushes intensely. He chastely kisses her cheek.

“He said he would marry her someday,” Sebastian murmurs with a smile, nudging Kate. “That he would take care of her.”

“All of this is so sweet.” Kate smiles.

More years go by. Most of the scenes are about Neacal reading to or teaching spells to Eilionoir, helping her to practice and hone her magic. They are thrilled with every success, hugging each other and dancing around.

Kate and Sebastian are sent back to their reality. 

“This is fascinating,” Kate says, “And I want to keep going, but perhaps we should take a break for luncheon.”

Sebastian chuckles. Without Kate, that never would have crossed his mind - he would normally have been too obsessed and enthralled to stop for even a moment, but now that she’s said it, his stomach growls. He agrees, and Kate quickly prepares a cheese and meat plate with fresh bread and grapes. It’s not much, but it will sustain them for a few more hours. 

When Sebastian tips the next silvery memory into the Pensieve, he and Kate dive right in, reinvigorated by their light lunch.

This memory isn’t happy at all.

Eilionoir’s mother lies dead in her bed, a midwife packing up tools. Her father is screaming at the midwife, as if she could have done something more. 

Eilionoir (likely twelve years old now) and her five younger siblings cower in bed, sobbing.

That night, Eilionoir sneaks out as soon as everyone is asleep. She dashes to Neacal’s house and taps at the small window she knows to be right above his bed. A few minutes later, he slips outside. The moment Eilionoir lays eyes on him, she bursts into tears. Neacal leads her to their tree, where she can actually let it all out. She sobs loudly, practically unable to breathe. Neacal holds her in an embrace, rubbing her back. 

This scene fades, and then one begins, with Eilionoir and her father. He is having a serious discussion with her. 

“He says that the family depends on Eilionoir more than ever, with her mother gone. She needs to look after her siblings and mind the house. He actually said to her, ‘Childhood is over,’” Sebastian explains. He listens to more of their conversation, then continues, “Her father is telling her that she is practically a woman now and that he will look for a match for her as soon as possible. Through marriage, Eilionoir could lift the family out of poverty.”

Kate scoffs. “A woman? She doesn’t even look like a teenager.”

Perhaps a year later, Eilionoir’s body has shifted closer to that of a young lady. At night, she and Neacal, who also looks older and more filled out, walk in the woods hand in hand, under the light of the moon. They reach the river where they once used to play as children. Neacal gestures for Eilinoir to sit on a fallen tree, and he settles in next to her, quite close. The stars are reflected in the water, and lacewing flies light up all around them. 

Neacal takes her face in his hands, leans in, and kisses Eilionoir softly. When they break apart, he begins to speak and continues for a long while. She smiles at him, and when he finishes, she presses her lips to his once more. Just like when they were children, Neacal wraps a flower around her left ring finger, whispering in her ear.

Sebastian clears his throat. “Neacal says he will marry her. He will provide for her and her family. He will properly speak to her father about a wedding as soon as he finishes his apprenticeship. He says they will always be happy, and he will always cherish her. They’ll be together every day and not have to sneak around at night anymore. He promises he will procure a real ring for her.”

Kate smiles, then frowns, realizing that she eventually becomes a queen - not Neacal’s wife. 

A couple more years pass. Eilionoir listens in as Neacal speaks to her father about a marriage. To her surprise, her father agrees but says that Neacal must prove that he can actually provide for Eilionoir and her family. Neacal shakes his hand, promising to do so. 

When Kate and Sebastian emerge from the Pensieve, Kate gestures for him to hurry up and pour in the contents of the next bottle.

A year has passed. Eilionoir is smiling, and her siblings are quite excited. There is to be a royal procession through the village. They beg Eilionoir to let them leave their chores for just an hour so that they may see it, and, after some hesitation, she agrees. 

They all stroll towards town, joining a large crowd lining the main road. They soon hear horns, signaling the arrival of the procession. 

There are musicians on horseback at the front of the procession. Then, there are knights and royal officials, riding on unicorns, no less. Eilionoir’s youngest sibling, no more than seven years old, jumps up and down excitedly, pointing at the rare creatures. Eilionoir grins at the joy this has brought them. Eventually, a carriage pulled by thestrals rolls past, slowly. There is a man, wearing a crown, inside, who waves at all of the villagers. His eyes meet Eilionoir’s and do not leave until the carriage has long passed. The procession continues on, and at the end, there is a performer who uses fire magic to entertain.

When it is over, Eilionoir pushes her siblings to return home. The younger ones skip and sing all the way back. 

When Eilionoir opens the door, there is an older man - someone who appears noble - speaking to her father. Eilionoir is taken aback and quickly pulls her siblings back around the house to their livestock pen to get back to their work.

Tiptoeing back around the house, she tries to not arouse suspicion, as she clearly plans to listen in to the conversation, but the nobleman exits, sees her, and slightly bows. Eilionoir appears confused but curtsies. She enters the house to find her father smiling and laughing. He asks her to sit down, unable to speak at first because he is practically cackling with happiness. Then, he begins sharing some news with her. Eilionoir, at first, grins but then turns pale.

Sebastian’s face falls as he listens in. “Her father says that their life of poverty is over. Eilionoir is to be married to the prince of Blackfold Castle, Luthais. He saw her, thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and immediately requested for someone to speak to her father to arrange a marriage agreement. He does not care that her family is poor.”

Eilinoir begins to tear up. She calmly asks a question.

“Eilionoir asks how her father could do this, when she has already been promised to Neacal.”

Her father shakes his head and answers her as though she is being ridiculous.

“He says that their engagement was never official and that Neacal could never offer her what the prince could. Neacal could not lift her family from poverty. Neacal could not give Eilionoir’s father a hefty annual allowance and a title,” Sebastian explains somberly.

Eilinoir argues with him, then begins screaming and crying, to no avail.

In the next scene, Eilionoir tells Neacal the news. They both cry and hold each other, realizing there may be no way out of this situation as they go through potential options. Neacal promises that, despite their dour circumstances, he will still try to find a solution.

Then, the season changes from spring to summer. Eilionoir sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night, meeting with Neacal at their tree. They immediately begin kissing desperately. Tears spill from Eilionoir’s eyes. She whispers to him.

“I do not wish to leave you. I cannot live without you, Neacal,” Sebastian translates. 

Neacal presses his lips to her forehead, tearing up. “I love you, Eilionoir. I love you. I have always loved you, and I always will.”

“Please tell me you have found a way for us to be together,” Eilionoir begs. 

Neacal looks down, his forehead touching hers. “I did everything I could. There is no solution. Not in this life.”

She is wracked with sobs. They hold each other close, moving to finally sit down. 

“Eilionoir, though I cannot make you my wife, I may have devised a way for us to be together. Not in this life, but the next. Do you trust me?” Neacal asks.

She nods, brushing away tears. “With all my heart. I trust you with my life.”

Neacal reaches into a pocket in his cloak. He gets on one knee and holds out a golden ring with a moonstone. “Will you follow me into the next life?”

Eilionoir appears confused. 

“I want you to have this ring to remember me by. However, it’s also an assurance we shall find each other someday. I have never studied so much or gone to such lengths in my life. I traveled to meet with an elder to ensure my work was not in vain. I have finally done it, Eilionoir. I have actually created a spell.” From his cloak pocket, he retrieves and unfolds a piece of parchment. “It’s… it’s a spell for reincarnation.” He gives her a serious, earnest look, searching her face for approval.

“Reincarnation? I never believed it possible,” Eilionoir replies, mystified, gazing at him. “But if you say it is possible, then I know it is possible.” 

“It will work. I know it will work.” His tone is determined, sure. 

Eilionoir kisses his hand, and then he slides the ring onto her finger - a perfect fit. 

“We’ll have another chance,” he murmurs, placing a green ring with a moonstone onto his left ring finger. Then, he shows her the parchment. “We must cast this together under the full moon while wearing the rings. Our souls will unite in the next life.”

Eilionoir scans the parchment, then gazes upon Neacal with genuine hope in her eyes.

The two, in unison, look up at the night sky, where a full moon watches over them. Neacal takes his lover’s hand and helps her to stand.

“We must use both of our wands at once, with both of our hands, and create a circle around us to bind us,” Neacal instructs. “Then, we shall recite the enchantment.”

Both of them take out their wands. Neacal places his in Eilionoir’s hand and then his hand joins hers. They turn in a circle, which somehow materializes around them in a wispy white. The moonstones on their rings light up. 

“I want to see this spell,” Sebastian insists, strolling right behind them and peeking over their shoulders. As it is a Pensieve memory, Eilionoir and Neacal have no reaction to his close hovering. He reads, “‘Geas a cheangal anaman gu bràth’ - ‘A spell to join souls forever.’” 

Eilionoir and Neacal begin to recite the spell - it sounds more like a prayer than anything, Kate thinks. “Gràdh mo bheatha, bheir sinn aghaidh air bàs gun eagal. Tha sinn gu bhith a’ coinneachadh a-rithist fon ghealach làn san ath bheatha. Chan urrainn ar n-anaman a bhith air an dealachadh gu bràth. Tha sinn gu h-iriosal a' guidhe air na diathan sinn a bhi air ar ceangal aon uair eile.”

Sebastian translates as quickly as he can, while they speak. “Love of my life, we shall face death without fear. We are destined to meet again under the full moon in the next life. Our souls can never be parted. We beg the gods humbly for us to be joined once more.”

The circle drawn with their wands lights up brightly, sparkling. It constricts around them until it disappears in a burst. Little stars, like glitter, fall all around them. 

“It worked,” Neacal whispers. He turns to face Eilionoir. “It truly did work…”

“I love you,” Eilionoir murmurs, pressing her lips to his. Their kiss quickly becomes desperate, passionate, hungry. 

The two fall to their knees, clinging to each other, their hands everywhere, as they kiss.

“Neacal,” Eilionoir pants out. “I will only ever love you. We are truly married now in my heart. Please…” She trails off, unable to finish the words.

“Eilionoir,” Neacal chokes out, his hands in her hair.

“I will not save my innocence for a man I do not love,” she finally breathes out, looking deeply into his eyes. “Please, Neacal… Make love to me… You are my true husband…”

Neacal gazes upon her for a long moment, and then they begin kissing again. Neacal gently lays Eilionoir down, maneuvering himself over her. 

The memory fades.

When Sebastian and Kate find themselves back in their reality, they are completely silent for a full minute, both of their minds spinning.

[kiragecko]

IPA and More Keyboard

When I first got into linguistics, I decided I needed a keyboard that could support IPA¹. But I was studying Sanskrit, and switching to a completely different keyboard every time I wanted to add a dot below a character (the common Sanskrit transcription convention) was really annoying! Also, I hate the IPA character for a palatal nasal (ɲ), so I wanted to be able to use 'ñ' instead. And ... a thousand other tiny things, all requiring different keyboard layouts. Why wasn't there a keyboard that just let me type EVERYTHING?

Eventually, I designed my own. And that was fun enough that I expanded it. Over the last 15 years, I've been adding characters and streamlining it's use.

The current iteration is a monster. For an idea of what it can do:

this keyboard can type over 50 diacritics (accent marks)

it can rotate and flip any character that has a rotated/flipped Unicode counterpart, as well as replace them with smallcaps, superscript, and subscript versions

it can type most medieval ligatures and characters (though my research hasn't always been good enough to provide the most natural ways to do so)

it covers the whole IPA, of course, as well as historical symbols, extIPA, and uppercase forms when available

it can type any modern or historical click character available in Unicode (still waiting for Doke orthography support >:( )

it allows you to type Greek and Cyrillic characters (though it prioritizes IPA variants and isn't really streamlined for writing the language)

it allows you to transliterate Sanskrit, Ancient Egyptian, Chinese dialects, etc. that use discipline-specific characters/diacritics

it lets you add bars, tildes, slashes and curls to any character that has a matching Unicode counterpart

it can type most proofing and punctuation marks, modifier characters, as well as

alchemical, astrological, and gender/orientation symbols

and much more

For more detailed documentation on what this keyboard supports, and how to use it, here's the guide (PDF or Word Doc).

Here's the keyboard: IPAKeyboard dot kmp

Because it's designed to work for a LOT of characters, this keyboard is rarely going to be the simplest way to type a specific one. There are definitely IPA-only keyboards that will be more efficient for typing just IPA. And this keyboard isn't a font. There will be characters that don't show up - I've yet to find one that supports the entire range of characters this keyboard allows. Doulos SIL is my suggested font, especially if you use a lot of diacritics, but you might want to look around to find the one that supports you best.

But it's a powerful tool if you want to be able to switch between multiple transliteration and transcription systems in the same document, explore characters to use for non-human sounds, discuss the history of transcribing language, or quickly type special characters without opening 'insert symbols' dialogue boxes.

-

This is a Keyman keyboard. You'll need to install Keyman before being able to use it. Keyman is a free program with some amazing keyboards, and a lot of supports for people designing them for underserved languages. I've been really happy with it for almost 20 years, now.

-

For ideas about what else I could add, or suggestions for better key combos for specific characters, please contact me here, or at kiragecko at gmail dot com.

Things I'd love ideas for:

medieval ligatures (need to match them to logical character strings (words), but these are frequently NOT what unicode suggests)

mathematical, geometric, and/or scientific symbols (huge numbers of symbols, need a logical way of organizing them without too many key strokes)

Teuthonista symbols (very little English documentation, so I don't know what all of them MEAN)

-

¹ The International Phonetic Alphabet, one of the main ways linguists indicate sounds.

[indigostudies]

@princetofbone asked me to do a review of the mango languages app/programme, so here's my thoughts on it so far, having used it for a bit!

i've been using the app for korean, kazakh, and shanghainese, and i've also used the chinese and vietnamese courses as well. i have a full access account through my local library, so i don't pay anything for it. the pricing for if you want to purchase a subscription yourself is 7.99USD/mo for a single language, and 17.99USD/mo for a full access account.

so far, i've really found it very useful! while the shanghainese course doesn't have a ton of lessons (only one chapter and fourteen lessons), other languages have significantly more—mandarin chinese has seven chapters and almost 600 lessons, and korean has one chapter but 75 lessons.

it's a spoken, auditory, and reading-based system, with the emphasis being on listening to and reading phrases and words to learn them, and it has a specific exercise type for speaking a phrase or word aloud and recording it, and then being given a recording of the same phrase/word which can be played back in time or independently of your own recording to compare the two.

the speaking exercises are honestly the most useful to me, because i someone who really focuses on the pronunciation of words—for example, a lot of times the romanisation of hangul isn't very helpful for me, but i can pronounce a word perfectly after listening to the audio recording and adjusting my own pronunciation. in this way, it's somewhat similar to what duolingo used to be, but it hasn't been pared down and simplified the way that duolingo has—and, i think, considering that it's an entirely paid service, this is probably unlikely to happen.

additionally, for tonal languages, it actually includes the tones in the romanisation, and, for people who don't have any experience with tones, it includes explanations and recordings of tones to help, which i think is really useful. it also has a lot of languages that are harder to find resources for! as i mentioned it has shanghainese as i mentioned, but it also has armenian, thai, uzbek, and irish. as far as i can tell, all languages that use non-latin alphabets are taught in the app using the native script (though what script it is can vary, if there's multiple—kazakh uses the cyrillic alphabet used in kazakhstan rather than the arabic script used in china), though if you tap the word/phrase, the romanisation will pop up above it, which can help a lot, in my opinion, if you're unfamiliar with a writing system.

the only drawbacks, in my opinion, is that there's no writing exercises—but this is something that can be easily remedied by taking your own notes. there's exercises where you're asked to translate an english phrase or word into the target language, and you can pause the exercise and write down what you think it is, and then tap to show the answer and compare it to what you wrote down, and correct your answer if necessary. i use the mango app on my phone and take notes by hand in onenote on my laptop, which i've found to be a very efficient system.

personally, i would give it a solid 8.75/10—i've found it to be very useful, as someone who really likes and benefits from audio, reading, and speaking as methods to learn languages, and i've found that i retain far more information than if i only used a textbook for self-study. points are deducted for the lack of in-app writing exercises, and the fact that there's no option for a free account unless you have access through a library/other institution, but otherwise, i'd really recommend it!

[mugenmcfugen]

In other news, few days ago I had a streak of finding ''lost media'' I've tried finding before but to no avail. I think my biggest mistake at that point was trying to rely on Google for searching, but it seems Google is straight up shit at this point for doing simple search. And I understand for the most part the result doesn't have to be on a first page but not only there isn't 1st page anymore but endlessly expanding page, but also it was clogged with links that really have nothing to do with what I've searched in a first place. Place I've had to rely on was Reddit, and specifically subreddit r/tipofmytongue.

All it took for me to dig up those was using terms of what I've remembered and being tiny bit patient in sifting trough pages, and surely enough I've dug them up. Ridiculously enough, since reddit in all of its bullshit IS haven of information. However, even me typing ''(my term) reddit'' in Google didn't gave me the result, EVEN THOUGH I've found both of them ON REDDIT. Yeah Google, thanks a lot(not).

What was the media you wonder? It's just old cartoons I used to watch on TV when I was kid. Now, this is period right after war, and it's not any cartoon channel (Cartoon Network came way later to us). I'm also pretty sure one of these was sort of prerecorded on VHS, but it doesn't matter. All of them were dubbed to our language and were obviously all in different style.

This all started because I randomly found the first one I was looking for, and it had to do with VA actress Eiko Masuyama passing away. She was mostly known as Fujiko from Lupin III, but she also voiced fairy creature Candy from ''Anderson Monogatari''. It was specifically this episode of ''The Little Match Girl''

I remember mostly the last part when everybody is crying. Ahhh, fun times of ''child memory retention''.

Second one was one where I started actively digging for other two I've remembered. I also remembered last scene the most, something about it was eerie but impactful in my mind. It was ''Enchanted Boy'', old soviet animation from 1955, and it's adaptation of ''The Wonderful Adventures of Nils''

I had hunch it was something from USSR, probably because of text cards in there being in Cyrillic.

And last but not the least, was funnily enough a Christmas Cartoon. You'd think it would pop up somewhere while googling for it, but to no avail, and I wouldn't say it was that unknown, at least in Western interwebz, but I was wrong it seems. It was never mentioned in many Christmas cartoons articles that were all over the place. But this one, when I watched it again, I remembered the whole episode, and it's still charming today, even 30 years later. It was ''Santa's First Christmas'' , which had it's own spinoff in 1996 ''Romuald the Reindeer'' .

I first found the 1996, but noticed it look somehow way too new from what I remember, surely enough there was one more from 1992.

Anyways, this post turned out way bigger than I anticipated, but here they are. I hope I helped someone too trying to remember these. It also serves as a place where I know I have all these in one spot.

So yeah, have fun watching and remember, fuck Google for what it became. :))

[meggannn]

Three Houses/Hopes x Taskmaster

AKA here's how I think the kids would do in a school-wide Taskmaster competition.

notes/explanations/ramblings under the cut

GARREG MACH STAFF

My thinking is that this is a lighthearted team-building game across houses, like a school sports day, so that’s why it’s students-only. If the staff participated, here's how I'd categorize them:

Rhea: I do not see a universe in which she participates lol. like I try to envision it and it does not compute

Seteth: just does the task

I included Cyril above just cause of his age and his likelihood to become a Garreg Mach student post-canon. He's only in “asks for help” because he needs someone to read the tasks out. After he hears it he’d be “just does the task.” But I wanted to put someone else in the bottom category with Hilda lol

Hanneman: would fall under the “distinguished older gentleman who completely loses his marbles over something small” category if there was one. Otherwise, loophole user or overly competitive

Manuela: I didn’t make an “older woman who makes every task as horny as possible” category, but if she was involved I’d make one just for her

Gilbert: gets distracted by something small, like categorizing all the rubber ducks by color or cleaning up after himself, and forgets to do the task. In this tier, “doesn’t give a fuck”

Catherine: overly competitive

Shamir: just does the task

Alois: does his best with mixed results

Jeralt: doesn’t give a fuck

PLACEMENT NOTES

Alois as Taskmaster was something I came around to after the subreddit recommended it. He'd award a bonus point randomly to whoever genuinely laughs at his puns.

I considered Seteth as Little Alex Horne, because he does have a sense of humor, but I think he's too genuine of a “straight man” to join in the spirit of the game. I do think he'd do well in the studio portion, reciting the stats and calling out mistakes/quipping back when the conversation gets rowdy.

But I like the thought of Byleth as the assistant for the recorded on-site tasks as someone who: 1. would get their hands dirty, and 2. doesn't mind the students making fun of them. Either way, I think a hard-working assistant (Seteth/Byleth) carefully planning all of these tasks only for the results to be judged by Alois who decides winners on his whims would be a funny inverse of the Davies/Horne dynamic, and very on brand with the show.

I thought about putting Ingrid in the “just does it” category but I think she’d get competitive if it were a game of BL vs other houses. If it’s just her house, she’d just want to have a good time. If it’s vs the other houses, she wants to represent her country well.

Annette is in the competitive category because she reads the task and immediately gets to work once the timer starts. Too concerned with Doing a Good Job and doesn’t read over the task and think it over, much less check under the table or look for any hints.

Claude also could have been in “overly competitive” but I think he’d have too much fun trying to find loopholes that he wouldn’t care about winning, he’d just try to have a good time bending the rules as much as possible or getting a rise out of the TM+assistant. Like Rhod Gilbert but with less antagonism.

Petra is in the loophole-user category because she is smart, and I think her second-language skills would help her here. She’d read instructions and interpret them as the Rules as Written, not Rules as Intended, which comes in handy in this game.

I haven't played Scarlet Blaze yet, so admittedly I had to make an educated guess on Monica based on content I've seen at a glance and fandom reactions to her.

Lysithea is ambitious in schoolwork and stuff that matters, but I think for something this nonsensical, she’d just do the task to get it over with. That is assuming she shows up at all.

I was torn with Sylvain because he is the type to show off, but since this is something that ultimately does not matter, he doesn’t want to try hard, fail, and look like an idiot doing something stupid like Felix or His Highness, so I think he’d just be in it for a good time. He occasionally wins without even trying, which absolutely infuriates Felix, who says he does not care (he does care).

For Felix himself I swung between “overly competitive,” “just does the task,” and “doesn't give a fuck.” But I think he's competitive only in certain things (he wouldn't get bent out of shape if he can't draw a horse with his feet), and I think he is too passionate a person to put in no effort at all. For most tasks I think he'd fall somewhere in the middle in terms of effort, thinking this is all stupid but still privately kind of wanting to do well.

SUBCATEGORIES

Subcategory 1: “Does the tasks while wearing a unique/weird Taskmaster outfit” includes Sylvain, Caspar, Hilda, Flayn (Seteth helped her make it), and all the house leaders. Dimitri and Edelgard got convinced into wearing one by their class. Claude was down to wear one immediately.

Subcategory 2: “Does good on the art tasks and nothing else” includes Ignatz, Flayn, and Bernadetta

PRIZE TASK IDEAS

I see Claude making a running gag out of his prize tasks, like something that embarrasses Edelgard or Dimitri every single round but it's always a tossup who it'll be. Like for "bring in the thing someone will miss the most," he'd bring in all of Dimitri's left shoes. Claude would also bring in the Sword of the Creator for "most high-octane item" and it's unclear whether he stole it or Byleth lent it to him because she thought it'd be funny.

Caspar would get a tattoo of the Taskmaster.

Raphael brings in the grilled cheese/cheese toastie box for "best subscription."

Hilda would be a big-time bullshitter like Judi Love trying to talk up all of her prize tasks.

Petra would bring in a reindeer skull for "most unusual item."

Hubert would find some way to bring in human blood in every task.

In a shocking turn of events, Ashe would steal the Spear of Assal for his "best stolen item."

Leonie is responsible for the "And I haggled for it" running joke, but it's unintentional.

Someone like Edelgard, Dedue, or maybe Ignatz would bring in the puzzle box, I'm not entirely sure who, but what I DO know is that Sylvain is responsible for "Just open the box, you p***y" and Byleth calmly stands, motions him over, and pulls him outside to chastise him while the entire class watches in disbelief/horror.

Ingrid brings in the laminator. It's by far her proudest moment in the competition.

MISC NOTES

Edelgard would be like Victoria Coren Mitchell: She'd keep trying to apply reason to the tasks, with mixed results, but on certain things (that may or may not even help her in the competition) I think she'd shine. Like when Victoria calculated everyone's scores in her head before Alex and Greg did, or when she taught herself how to ride a bike on camera just to complete the task.

Dimitri would just try to have a good time, but the assistant would need so many extra props because he'd end up breaking a lot of the materials. He would do excellent on all the food tasks though. In "Eat this egg the fastest" he'd just break it on the counter and swallow it raw.

Claude would get caught out by the two-part tasks every time because he'd try to be so clever working on Part 1 that it'd end up fucking him over. He'd make the obscenely tall chocolate sandwich for "make the most exotic sandwich" only for the second task to say he now has to eat all of it as fast as possible.

Felix mockingly saying "All the information is on the task" becomes a meme. Most of his tasks are crumpled from all the times he's clenched his fist in anger.

Leonie + Hilda on a team = Ed Gamble + David Baddiel. "Can I just check, have I been put on a team with Hilda Valentine Goneril?"

Solo tasks: The TM would probably want to give all the house leaders unique tasks, e.g. making Edelgard count all the beans in a can or Dimitri send him 500 cheeky texts. But I think Felix, Ferdinand, Hilda, Sylvain, or Lorenz getting extra tasks would be best for entertainment value. I think Felix is the only one who might be a sore loser about it, but god it'd be funny (even Lorenz might laugh it off if he sees it ~endears him to the public~ or something).

[reketrebn]

I know this is like shouting into the void and I'm quite new in the fandom but maybe that's why I'm actually quite shocked everyone is considering Milkoviches to be Ukrainian? So like... no one understood the thing Svetlana said to Mickey was an insult? Bc Russians look down on Ukrainians (as I'm sure everyone has noticed this year) and consider them lesser which is why she insulted him that way. Also, she probably doesn't know where they're even from.

Later Frank says they came from Poland which yes, is next to Ukraine but we should also consider the fact that the name itself comes from the Serbian/Croatian or Slovak surname Milkovič.

Not to mention before his wedding the Polish lady in that bar talks to Mickey in Polish and he's like "I don't actually speak that" bc yea he's many generations after any of the family spoke it or any other language other than English.

Clearly, this is the creators' fault because they don't find European nations different and it's all the same to them which is probably why they keep messing with it all. Anyway, it's strange the rest of the family doesn't have Serbian names and only Micky does.

By the way, a simple google search will tell you that Mikhailo isn't Ukrainian but Serbian. And most of the family does have dark hair and blue eyes coloring like Serbians.

"Mihajlo (Serbian Cyrillic: Михајло) is the Serbian variant of the name Michael, predominantly borne by ethnic Serbs."

That's it, that's my piece and what's been bugging me while I tried to read some Gallavich lately.

PS. if anyone knows any good fic recs hit me up!

[survivingpierce]

tell us more about the languages katherine learned! why did she decide to learn those languages specifically? did she have any trouble with any of them? which ones did she find easy and which ones did she find harder to learn? did she have any help when she was learning them? how did she deal with shedding her accent?

(sent in probably in addition to this headcanon)

first of all, i want to thank you for your questions (your interest means a lot). i also want to apologize for the late response. ♥

i portray my katherine as someone who is descended from a wealthy and noble family (see headcanon here) which means she already had received an appropriate education. by 1490, she could already read and write bulgarian (and they have the cyrillic alphabet). since noble children usually learn more than one language, she was capable of speaking bits of other languages as well (probably english / french / russian?). the show tells us that she quickly became 'english' once she was banished & lived in england which is why i think she already knew a few basics of this language but perfected it during her stay. i think perfecting an entirely new language (and alphabet) in less than two years is a peak output, especially considering her (emotional) stressful situation. when she talked to the mikaelsons, there was no audible accent and she was capable of communicating with them in perfect english.

there’s also a cut scene in 3x15 of the originals in which katherine sent a letter to elijah asking him if he allowed her to read him the poem 'farai chansoneta nueva' which is in french. which means that katherine spoke and was able to read at least three languages by 1492.

katherine is incredibly smart but she's not really a patient learner. she could never visit a language school or use a vocabulary book. i think she picks up a lot by listening to others whereby she will memorize the usual phrases beforehand to not stand out if she visits a new country with a new language. i can also imagine her having a compelled 'teacher' (or more like a tutor) that helps her translate and learn things.

katherine speaks bulgarian, english, french, german, russian, spanish, italian, and a little bit of czech & latin. while i think she already had (at least) a basic education in bulgarian, english, french, and russian while growing up, she learned the other languages during her flight as soon as it was necessary for her to learn them (mostly whenever she traveled to a new country). she had long stays in france, italy, russia, spain, switzerland, and germany/austria and during this time she either completely learned these languages or perfected her existing knowledge. to her (and her safety) it is necessary to learn the language of the country you hide in. and simply learning is not good enough, one needs to master it, otherwise, you'll stand out and won't be able to blend in. she didn't learn swedish or finnish, for example, because she's not interested in staying in these countries (as they are too cold for her liking).

of all the languages she learned completely new, german was the hardest and this language is still an issue if she has to use it again after a longer time has passed because german has a tricky grammar. the easiest foreign language was russian because it's similar to bulgarian.

she understands bits of czech but didn't bother to master it because she doesn't really like the language (and it also has tricky grammar). she knows a few bits because of her traveler heritage (and traveler spells are in czech which is also the reason why she doesn't like the language). she also only knows a bit of latin because she wants to understand spells in case she requires one (because she doesn't want to be tricked by witches). she doesn't bother to master latin because it's difficult for her to learn as it is a 'dead' language (and therefore she cannot pick it up by listening to others), it's also not really useful to her (apart from understanding certain spells).

shedding her accent is an interesting topic because she had a bulgarian accent in the beginning. but the longer she stayed in countries with another language (and the more she mastered different languages), the unrecognizable became her accent simply because she has so many 'base'-languages. if she would learn swedish now, for example, she wouldn't have a bulgarian accent. i think she definitely would have some kind of accent but i don't think one could pin it down to a certain region. nonetheless, she does recognize if she has an accent (and she will ask her teacher/tutor) and she will train the pronunciation as long as it's gone. again, she is a perfectionist and it's also not safe (as she would stand out and not blend in) if she's on the run and hides in an area where one would easily detect that she is foreign.

another thing that is interesting when it comes to languages is that while katherine might be able to speak the language perfectly, she isn't necessarily capable of also writing it perfectly (reading is usually no problem). for example, she cannot perfectly write in spanish but she can perfectly write in french because there was a time in which a lot of correspondences were in french (especially because she spent a lot of time among the aristocrats).

thank you so much for the interesting questions and i hope i have answered them all ♥

[killing-time-w-kaz]

Sometimes I look back at my language learning attempts and wonder why I keep doing this to myself. I picked a field where knowing at least two dead languages and three modern ones is normal. I don’t do well with learning new languages beyond the elementary level.

And now I’m finding myself listing the languages I need to work on or learn to stay afloat in archaeology. And it’s stupidly long. Not stupid in the sense that languages are stupid, but stupid in the sense that I am a Fool for thinking I actually have the time or energy to learn them.

But because I am most confident in English, Spanish and Russian, I find German, Portuguese, French and Italian to be readable. I am not fluent, but I can stumble my way through museum signs, menus and the abstracts of academic papers. And I’m dreading learning Ancient Greek and Latin. Those are hard. I’d rather tackle modern Greek, which shares similarities with the Russian Alphabet (Cyrillic is derived from Greek letters). I also might as well learn Hebrew and Aramaic/Akkadian at some point, because I’m tired of hunting for translations of documents. And im tired of not being able to access academic work that is written in Hebrew, German, French and Greek. Like those papers have all the good information, and the papers I can find in English only have summaries of the data. Ugh.

And every time I travel or study a new region, I end up learning that language too. Badly might I add. I wish I had my linguistics friend’s brain for languages. It would make my job so much easier.

[orthodoxadventure]

I don’t wanna be spicy but do you ever feel deterred or uncomfortable with the kinds of epithets or magnanimity ascribed to the Blessed Mother? In Orthodoxy especially, I mean. I’m 110% on for Mariam devotion, really and truly. But I was just reading prose from the Akathist hymn and it calls Mary the world’s salvation? I know it can be like.. the *reason* for the cause of salvation, and so be fitting language, but.. like.. isn’t it just technically a bit extreme, linguistically? *Also* in the Akathist, it ascribes “invincible power” to her. Only God is omnipotent—even if it’s a flattering-by-excessive-praise type euphemism, it strikes me as inappropriate… what do you think, personally? Thank you :)

If you spend time reading any Catholic Marian devotions, you will see extremely similar language used. If you read Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort for example, you will also find him using language describing the Blessed Virgin Mary as:

"It is by Mary that the salvation of the world has begun, and it is by Mary that it must be consummated."

"We must conclude that, the most holy Virgin being necessary to God by a necessity which we call hypothetical, in consequence of His Will, she is far more necessary to men, in order for them to arrive at their Last End. We must not confound devotions to our Blessed Lady with devotions to the other Saints, as if devotions to her were not far more necessary than devotion to them, or as if devotion to her were a matter of supererogation."

'The learned and pious Suarez the Jesuit, the erudite and devout Justus Lipsius doctor of Louvain, and many others, have proved invincibly, in consequence of the sentiments of the Fathers (and, among others, of St. Augustine, St. Ephrem deacon of Edessa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus of Constantinople, St. John Damascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Thomas, and St. Bonaventure), that devotion to our Blessed Lady is necessary to salvation, and that, even in the opinion of CEclompadius and some other heretics, it is an infallible mark of reprobation to have no esteem and love for the holy Virgin; while on the other hand it is an infallible mark of predestination to be entirely and truly devoted to her."

"If devotion to the most holy Virgin Mary is necessary to all men, simply for working out their salvation, it is still more so for those who are called to any particular perfection; and I do not think any one can acquire an intimate union with our Lord, and a perfect fidelity to the Holy Ghost, without a very great union with the most holy Virgin, and a great dependence on her succour".

[These are all quotes from 'True Devotion to Mary']

If you familiarise yourself with different dedications to the Blessed Virgin Mary, such as praying the Rosary daily, you will see similar promises that those that do so will end up in Heaven as the Blessed Virgin Mary will intercede for them upon their death. Looking into Marian appearances, you will again see that there are promises of salvation for those that are piously dedicated to her. There are prayers calling her the Mediatrix of Salvation.

Let us look at an abbreviated story of the Miraculous Medal for example

Four months later, in November of 1830, Mary again appeared to St. Catherine at the Rue de Bac Chapel. This time, our Blessed Mother was standing on a globe, with dazzling rays of light streaming from her outstretched hands. Framing the apparition was an inscription: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” When Mary spoke to St. Catherine, she said “Have a medal struck upon this model. Those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck. Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be, in a special manner, under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.”

---

I use these examples to show that Orthodox Christianity is not unique in the titles and the language that it ascribes to the Theotokos. If you have an issue with the dedication that Orthodox Christians have towards the Theotokos, then you will also encounter these difficulties in Catholicism. Eastern Catholicism also use Akathists towards the Blessed Virgin Mary, in fact, the exact same ones that Orthodox Christians use. In which case, I would ask, is it inappropriate for Catholics to venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary in the language they use?

I would, in this situation, recommend both contacting your Priest to talk about the Catholic dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary and would also suggest contacting a local Orthodox Priest to ask him questions about the Orthodox veneration. Because it seems like both would be extremely beneficial to you both in terms of grappling with the Catholic understanding of their veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Orthodox understanding of their veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In the womb of Mary, God and man were joined. She was the One Who served as it were as the ladder for the Son of God, Who descended from heaven. - Saint John Maximovitch, The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God

Orthodox veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary is bound up in the Incarnation and her unique role in mankind's salvation through Jesus. Invincible power is often ascribed to her in Catholicism as well, because Catholics too understand how her will conformed to the Will of God in a very unique way, and as such her intercession is ascribed as particularly powerful before God.

When I was undergoing RCIA, the prose and the titles and the language ascribed to Mary was particularly a challenge for me for precisely the reasons you ascribe "Isn't it a bit much to call her these things?". Even though, I too was perfectly fine with the idea of devotion to Mary. But one can be perfectly fine with the theory of, "yeah we can pray to Mary, isn't she great? :)" and not quite understand what the Saints are talking about when they actually talk about that veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary - or at least that was the case for me.

I hope I don't come across as rude with any of this by the way, I realise I can be a bit blunt or cold when answering questions. I'm just extremely autistic, in the actual diagnosable condition way. But if I may be so bold anyways, I would say that your issue with Orthodox veneration of Mary stems in the similar misunderstandings that I had about Marian devotion and that you feel safe to call this veneration of her inappropriate because it's ascribed to Orthodoxy and that sooner or later, you will encounter more of this language being used to describe her in Catholicism. When I was undergoing RCIA, I did look into Akathists and too felt weirded out by the language used, which is why I feel comfortable saying these things - because it feels very much like a similar position. It is infinitely better then, to do what I should have done, and speak with a Priest. Because a Priest is going to be infinitely more valuable and helpful than anything I have to say about it. I am not perfectly or even well) versed in Orthodox theology or arguments. All I can really draw upon is my Catholic background and how much time I spent reading Marian devotionals and about Marian prayers etc lol.

Perhaps something you might find helpful is reading Saint John Maximovitch's Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God. It's actually not that long, and should be pretty accessible for you.

This is particularly aimed more at Protestants that are interested in Orthodox Christianity, but you might find that some of what they have to say here is also helpful in some capacity:

[fox-buried-in-maple-leaves]

this !!! ask game for ajax. questions 1-10. observes

Ask Game!

ough. This got SO long.. UTC

How does your OC make ends meet? What do they do for a living? How is their occupation viewed in the social context they’re in? Does it come with social prestige or financial comfort, and are these two things aligned in the society you’re writing, or are they separate metrics?

Many know the Nikolaev name, the scourge of Sieveronia, the terror of Europe. Ajax is not unknown, especially not to those with darker ties. Many fear him, as such, he can simply intimidate others for money if he so wishes. Most nobles won't say no to the man known for his blood curse. That being said, Ajax often takes jobs he finds Interesting. Mercenary work, bodyguarding, fetch quests. If you interest him with your request, he may just do it!

His previous duty however, brought more than just prestige, more than just financial comfort. It was more an identity than his own. In the world of Amant, social prestige is not something one should seek, however. To be known, is to be in constant danger. He misses the money though.

How does your OC communicate? Are they monolingual or multilingual? What is the linguistic environment they’re in? If they’re monolingual, is there a social penalty for only speaking one language, or is it the norm? If they’re multilingual, which of their languages or sociolects has the most/least prestige? Is there a separation between written and oral forms of the language? Can your OC blend in or does their language mark them in some way? What are their levels of fluency, and how do they feel about them?

Ajax is multilingual! He speaks Russian, English, some Japanese, and some French. The first two he's fully fluent at C2 level. And the last two he'd be A1-A2 in. He really wanted to learn German, but he's kinda shit at it. He only knows German swears. He also lies and says he can understand Latin. He cannot.

Whilst the language of Amant is mostly the same as today with older linguistic quirks, there is no real linguistic prestige in any way that differs from what we see today. As in, if he's in France, for instance. Where Amant mainly takes place, some may scoff slightly at his broken French while others will at least appreciate the effort.

His accent is incredibly thick however, and is easily notable as belonging to a Cyrillic language of some kind at the Very Least, if not called out immediately for being Russian. As such, even speaking in his second fluent language, his accent marks him as a foreign speaker of it. That being said he likes to shock native English speakers by using "big fancy words" with his silly little accent.

What is your OC’s concept of social debt? What constitutes a sense of social obligation for your character? Is it based on individual feelings or collective principles? What do they do when they feel like they owe someone? Are they likely to default on a social obligation, or repay it? What are the costs of either approach in the society you’re writing?

He has no concept of social debt. It isn't that he doesn't know what it is. It's that Ajax is more self interested. So, Ajax will repay a social debt, but only if it benefits him later on or in some way. If somebody helps him, he won't instantly feel obligated to repay them, unless he can see a way to use that for himself later.

However. As I mentioned before.. He will do things that interest him. If Ajax can tell that doing this will lead to something interesting? Well. He's all over those obligations! Let him help you~

For the average person, there's a cost to being so selfish. Of course there is. Selfishness won't get you far. However, because of his social prestige, most people won't help Ajax ANYWAYS. People cross the road to avoid him, kinda deal. But yk, there's outliers.

What does it take for your OC to consider someone a friend? What constitutes friendship in the society you’re writing, what expectations does it come with, and how does your OC fit into that structure of expectations? Do they make friends easily or do they struggle? How intimate is a friendship for them, and what does it include?

Growing up Ajax was really friendly, he made friends easily at the Academy. And while he didn't easily grasp the material he was studying, his penchant for making friends meant he always had somebody to tutor him before any major test or help him with any homework. His meaning of friendship was loose, because everyone was his friend!

When he became afflicted by his curse, however, he learned how fickle friendship could be.

Now that he travels alone, he does his best to be charismatic, anybody who doesn't know him is treated with kindness first, unless they warrant otherwise. But ultimately, friendships come at a cost. And Ajax can't afford to really pay that right now. So yeah he makes "friends" easily.

What does it take for your OC to consider someone kin? What constitutes kinship in the society you’re writing, and how does your OC relate to that set of cultural expectations? Is kinship defined only by blood, or through other forms of social intimacy? Are there symbolic gestures that might establish a kin-like relation? What is family for your OC?

Family is family typically. Every dynamic is different, it depends on the family. Ajax is someone who very much values family, though. It's why he left Her Majesty's army when his disappeared. He fought for them, he cared for them, everything was for them. Now he searches for any clues to what happened to them. Any answers at all.

Family is defined by the expectation to always aid one another in his small village where he grew up. "It takes a village" and all that. The bigger world at large doesn't operate on that philosophy. But he doesn't pay much attention to that.

Back home, one could go to the neighbour and ask if they had sugar in exchange for some eggs. That was kinship, that was family. This outlook has slightly been soured, of course. He doesn't view anybody as family anymore, not really. Even if he wants to, it leaves a bad taste in his mouth, a guilt in his gut.

What are your OC’s religious beliefs? Are they aligned with the beliefs of the society you’re writing, or are they orthogonal? Does your OC question their convictions, or do they feel a degree of certainty? Does your OC feel a personal connection to a sense of divinity, or is religion empty social ritual for them?

Ajax believes in a higher power because he needs to believe in something. He's not religious in any way, he isn't even sure WHAT exactly he believes in. But he simply believes there is more out there because there HAS to be.

Russia in general has a thing with religion, and being from Russia and growing up in that, his family was Orthodox. He's separated from this specific belief and would be considered to more believe in mysticism. Ultimately, something is there. He's not really sure what anymore. Only that it is uncaring.

As such, empty social ritual best describes Ajax's involvement in religion. I'm covering several countries and thus several societies views on the world. It's hard to say if he fits into one society or another, as its so dependent. Ultimately, nobody would bat an eyelash at his beliefs.

What does your OC consider unspeakable and/or repugnant? What are the topics or issues your OC finds viscerally difficult or impossible to talk about? Are these topic socially unacceptable, or is it personal? What do they react to with revulsion ahead of any intellectualized response?

I read this question out loud and immediately went "Nothing." to which Etienne responded "Nothing is off limits." That is our combined answer to this one.

HOWEVER. If Ajax sees you harm a child, you will be ripped limb from limb and have your sinew strewn upon the street. Anyways, that's it.

How does your OC approach the line between public and private? What sorts of things does your OC not share with anyone, what might they share with the people closest to them, and what do they happily share with anyone who might ask? What is their definition of property if they have one? In turn, does your OC think they belong to something as well? (A state, a collective, a cause, a person, etc)

See because of his previous position, private didn't really exist. This ties back into what I was saying about being known is a very dangerous thing in this world. Because so many people talk. Ajax would like to keep some things private, but its hard when most things about him are known.

Ajax won't ever truthfully answer what happened to his eye though. He'll tell a different story every time, each one more entertaining than the last. The truth hurts. So he keeps it close to his chest and makes a joke instead. So he'll tell anybody who asks! But not the truth.

He wouldn't really consider himself as belonging to anything any more, and that leaves him a little lost at times.

What would it take for your OC to change their opinion? Does your OC change their worldview often or are they set in their ways? What does it take for them to change their mind? Do they admit they were wrong, and if so, under what circumstances? How do they handle it? What do they do when their beliefs are threatened?

Ajax's worldview has changed twice majorly. First when he became afflicted by his blood curse, and the second time when he lost his family. Ultimately, he's very stubborn about his opinions though. He tries not to change his mind, even if his heart stirs.

He SUCKS at admitting he's wrong though oh my godddddddd. He'll just avoid it!! He's out here gardening for you instead of saying "I got that wrong, soz" like kay. okay.

He will kill if his views are threatened in a certain way though. Like, he'll go that far if necessary. What a guy.

What social persona does your OC perform most frequently, and when do they show other aspects of themselves (and to whom)? Is your OC code-switching between social persona depending on context, or do they stay consistent? Is social adaptation something they feel is necessary or are they uneasy about it? Do they believe that one has to be honest in their self-presentation, and is that aligned with the society you’re writing or is one expected to have multiple social “faces”? Under what circumstances does your OC show a different facet/angle of themselves?

This is a really hard question. So I'll start with multiple social "faces" is almost a requirement for survival. This goes for anybody, but especially anybody with any magic or special ability or species. Anyone who isn't by the normal citizen's standard of "normal" MUST perform for survival.

Ajax is very charming and upbeat, for those who do not know him and thus do not have time to fear him, he's a great guy to be around. This is one of many personas he has to uphold to survive.

Other times however, he has to lean into the intimidation to get out of a situation that would otherwise SURELY see his death.

He tends to switch it up depending the circumstance and who he's talking to. However, Ajax often slips up. It isn't that he's bad at lying or pretending, it's that he finds the whole show and dance so boring sometimes..

Ajax once believed however, you should always be honest in your presentation. Funny how things change, I guess. He tries not to be too honest about himself, but he doesn't want to stretch the truth too far either. Ie, he's not as bad as say Ohm or Decord in terms of lying. Or as bad as Katsumi in terms of telling the truth.