#and i didnt realize until i was writing my tags

[outfoxt]

Another Käärijä Research Project

aka: käärijä style-shifting project

as a preface, here are my (non) qualifications for this project and the circumstances under which it happened:

I am a linguistics student, and this past semester I took a course on sociolinguistics. the goal of this project was to become familiar with the concept of and analyze style-shifting (it's more commonly known as code-switching online but theres a difference and this is style-shifting), specifically by analyzing the speech of one person. We had the option to study oprah or to have someone else approved by my prof, so you know I had to ask my prof if I could study jere. This project is solely my intellectual property; even though I had a tutor help me a lot, everything written in this paper and on this post was my work alone.

now, on to the actual findings! the full paper and transcripts will be linked at the end :D

the actual variables (words or sounds) that I studied were the pronunciation of r, and use of the word "the".

to make things a lot easier from the get-go, i'm going to introduce you all to one of my favorite websites, ipachart.com (the international phonetic alphabet [ipa] chart is a big chart with an entry for every sound that exists in a language. this handy dandy website has an audio recording for each one of those sounds).

go to this website, and then scroll down to the table. go to the column labeled "post alveolar" and then click on ɾ and ɹ. those are the sounds i studied in this paper! ɾ is the finnish r and ɹ is the american r :)

so basically what i did to find instances of my variable was i just looked up a bunch of esc interviews and listened out for use of the different r sounds. i also transcribed the entire dinner date live because i love torture apparently :) the specific interviews and lives/stories are in the bibliography of the paper :p

after i transcribed all the interviews and lives/stories i went through and highlighted every instance of the r sound. then i calculated the ratios of ɾ to ɹ based on the context they were spoken in. the two contexts i looked for were formal contexts (sit-down interviews) and informal contexts (literally anything else).

i found that jere uses ɹ WAY more often in formal contexts than he does in informal contexts, and the same in reverse with ɾ.

i then went back to the transcripts and looked for all instances of the word "the". i also looked for instances where i thought it should be present, but was omitted. i calculated the ratio of present vs omitted "the"s in formal vs informal contexts and made some charts.

the graph with the smaller black section is "use of 'the' in formal settings" and the one with the smaller green section is "use of 'the' in informal settings" (the images are transparent, sorry)

i found that jere uses "the" WAY more often when in formal settings! there were also some instances where he added a "the" where it was unnecessary, which is studied at length in this wonderful paper by @alien-girl-21

something i also noticed that i elected not to study because this paper took enough energy on its own was that in formal contexts, whenever the "or" sound came in the middle or at the end of a word, jere wouldn't pronounce the r. it stuck out to me mostly because i heard words like "performance" turning into "perfomance", which i thought was an interesting quirk.

unfortunately i was somewhat limited by both my brainpower and capacity to do more work on this paper in the relatively short timeframe i was given (2 weeks) and the fact that i was given a 5 page MAX for this paper (not including a bibliography). i had a lot of fun doing this though and am definitely planning on studying jere for for academic credit again in the future if given the chance!

also i would like it to be known that i spent an hour searching for that 5 second clip of the urheilucast where jere said that he used to sell kitchens and understands english better than he can speak it.

link to a google drive folder with the actual paper i wrote and the transcripts of the interviews with notation:

please feel free to send me asks and dms with questions or comments about this paper! i absolutely love rambling about linguistics :3!!

[velaraffricate]

so I've been working on my latest conlang, irkan osla (or just osla for short), for a bit now and would like to showcase its writing system in this post! osla has a syllabic alphabet, not too dissimilar to korean hangul, where letters are stacked according to certain rules to make syllable blocks.

osla's syllable structure is (C)(C)V(V)(C), here's how the stacks work for each type of syllable:

all letters have small, wide, and tall forms depending on their position in the syllable. here are all the letters with their IPA value and romanization:

and here's an example text! i translated parts of the minecraft end poem into osla. maybe i'll make another post just focusing on the grammar when it's more developed. the poem says in english:

What did this player dream? This player dreamed of sunlight and trees. Of fire and water. It dreamed it created. And it dreamed it destroyed. It dreamed it hunted, and was hunted. It dreamed of shelter.

Does it know that we love it? That the universe is kind? Sometimes, through the noise of its thoughts, it hears the universe, yes.

this post is getting long, so under the cut you'll find a "sans-serif" version as well as the poem in osla and its gloss if you're also a linguistics nerd and wanna know what's going on under the hood (the roman numerals stand for the 3 noun classes)! thanks for reading!

The way regular people would write something quickly on a piece of paper with a regular pen is an aspect of creating neographies that I feel is often overlooked, so I developed this sans-serif version that people would probably be more likely to use when writing their shopping lists or diary entries:

And, finally, here's the poem translation:

pak oṇḍul phan wimbakis?

DET.I.SG.PROX play-AGN what dream-PST.3SG.I?

pak oṇḍul lümaṇiuṣerothi han buloni an wimbakis. kaṣkhaothi han nilothi an. wimbakis, run sëmamkis. wimbakis, run xokthakis, han bumxokthakis. zöga an wimbakis.

DET.I.SG.PROX play-AGN sunlight-II.SG.DAT and tree-II.PL.DAT of dream-PST.3SG.I. Fire-II.SG.DAT and water-II.SG.DAT of. dream-PST.3SG.I, that create-PST.3SG.I. dream-PST.3SG.I, that hunt-PST.3SG.I, and PASS-hunt-PST.3SG.I. shelter of dream-PST.3SG.I.

ṭauraka, run kaak samare? run glutsüna flia?

know-NP.3SG.I, that 3SG.I.ABS love-NP.1PL? that universe kind?

imba ethamo, khaṣiŋli an ka’am hu’aŋni pitë, glutsüna ṣaraka, ti.

some time-NOM.III.PL, noise-ACC.II.SG of 3SG.I.GEN thought-NOM.III.PL through, universe hear-NP.3SG.I, yes.

[bunnyboy-juice]

spent the first hour and change at work deleting some old files and am having a grand ol time laughing at myself for not realizing i was a lesbian sooner

[thefanciestflower]

lalala various doodles I've made irl of kirby characters from memory lol

[foccaccia]

does anyone have recommendations for fictional media that has like. actual lesbians in it. not like supergirl Two White Skinny Girls, One Blonde and One Brunette Kiss media, or "its implied lesbianism!!!" but just regular fucking lesbians

[domoz]

short senju sibs time travel thing i kept thinking about, cw: mentions of child abuse

Kawarama awakens to arms tight around his chest and a gasping wheeze of "Kawa."

Tobirama is squeezing him tight enough to hurt, has his face buried between his shoulder blades. He's shaking, but Tobi never --

Something's wrong.

"Hey." He tries, voice still rough with sleep, "Hey, Tobi, it was a nightmare alright? I'm okay."

Tobirama's breath wavers, like he's trying to speak but he can't because he's…  Oh he's too close to tears which is…

Kawarama knows he's the only one Tobi is willing to cry in front of, but he also knows that he still hates it.

Tobirama doesn't let go, and all Kawarama can think to do is grab at Tobirama's hands and keep his breathing steady and hope that he follows.

He's starting to get there when the door slides open and Hashirama steps in, eyes wide and Itama bundled up against his chest. He's crying too, which is not so unusual for him, except that he's being quiet about it. Wordlessly, he crosses the room, kneels down on the futon, and gathers them both into his arms too, much as he can.

This is just starting to get scary.

"Onii-san? Did something happen?"

Hashirama laughs, quiet and watery.

"No. Just had a bad dream, was all."

"Oh." Breathes Kawarama, easier now, because Tobirama seems to have relaxed a little now that they're all together, "You too?"

A hand pets through his hair, but Hashirama only answers with a hum.

--

Thing is, if that had been where the weirdness stopped, Kawarama wouldn't have questioned it. But with Tobi, he was at a loss. His brother seemed to alternate between being so much more clingy than he'd ever been before and then going all stoic and distant.

And -- sure. It was a nightmare. A really scary one, apparently. Kawarama got them too, sometimes, and got freaked out, and wouldn't be at his best, but he usually got better. He gave it a day, and then a few days but if anything Tobirama only got worse. Got crazy intense with his training, was reading all the time when he wasn't and pretty often Kawarama would catch him just… Staring into space.

Worst of all, Hashirama was doing it too.

His older brother was never very serious, but sometimes something would happen, or chichiue would say something and he'd get this look on his face. He started trying to act all responsible, started acting like Tobi already was, but that Kawarama wasn't.

Must have been some nightmare.

Or genjutsu. Or his brothers have been replaced by impostors or something. He doesn't get it! Tobi has had scary dreams before now, but it had never caused anything like this!

And they won't talk about it!

Which as far as Kawarama is concerned, has left him with only one good option.

Ever since Tobirama has started practicing his sensing, there's only been one person who's been able to sneak under his guard, and that's him. Even with his brother's new weird paranoia, he can still manage to trail him through the compound until he's alone with Hashirama.

He was always better at being sneaky, between the two of them.

They meet in one of the gardens, but one of the far away ones. The ones where Hashirama goes to practice with his weird plant-jutsu everyone likes so much. Using trees as cover doesn't work against Hashi, so Kawarama has to resort to henging into a lizard and pretending to sun on a rock. Forcing his chakra as small as he can, its hard to focus on the conversation they're having, especially when it's even weirder than he thought.

"--We're too young for that!" Tobirama chides, "No one in the clan is going to be willing to listen right now, and if something happens to him now there's no way we can control the power vacuum that's going to come afterwards."

"I know, but I need to get him off of your backs! It's -- it's coming soon, Tobi."

There's a long silence, before Tobirama, sounding defeated, says, "I know." And then, frustrated, "I'm trying, but my chakra control isn't anywhere close, yet, and my stores are worse."

Hashirama groans and flops to the ground, the most like himself Kawarama has seen him be all week.

"…I need to do something to distract him from you guys. Give you more time. You always seemed to know him best, Tobi, what do you think I should do…?"

Tobi snorts, "Knew best how to keep him from beating me, more like." Which makes Hashirama make a wounded sound and Kawarma almost lose control of his chakra. Who the hell were they talking about that was trying to beat his brother? "And not right now, anyways. Things are… Different. Maybe I can volunteer --"

"No!" Hashirama cuts in "You already did enough of that for one lifetime. I'm your big brother, I can handle it. I just need to figure something out!"

More silence, just wind and Kawarma forcing himself not to boil over with anger.

"I'll do something to delay him getting to the mission." Hashirama declares, "He'll be forced to give it to someone older if there's less time."

"Maybe. And that's only a short term solution." Tobi mutters, cross, "You know he's just going to do it again."

Hashirama only crosses his arms, "And I can keep coming up with short term solutions until you figure out the long one, right?"

Tobirama rubs at his eyes, and in that moment he just looks so tired. But Kawarama knows he's been sleeping, so why…

"…Right."

[toastthewolfie]

tw: death (extras in the tags btw :3)

Astrid is constantly haunted by memories of Emily.

Memories of running on the beach, with the sun framing Emily, making her appear surreal with the light forming a angelic ring around her. Memories of getting dragged out of bed at 2am to go stargaze, making her appear like a child who’s wonder knows no bounds. Memories of sitting in a safehouse with their backs pressed together while one of them naps and the other keeps watch.

Memories of messing with the drill sergeants together and laugh-crying through the harsh consequences of their shenanigans. Memories of disassembling and reassembling weapons together. Memories of secretly treating small scrapes in their barracks.

The memory of that fucking expression right as she pushed Astrid out of the line of fire. That expression before the bullets hit. The memory of the way the life drained from her eyes. The horrid stench of iron as Astrid tried so desperately to keep Emily alive while mumbling reassuring nothings.

The memory of watching the small things that made Emily’s bed Emily’s disappear. The memory of secretly nabbing one of the small pins and one of her sweatshirts to just try and keep a piece of her best friend with her. To just try and keep a small piece of the ride or die friend she knew so well. It doesn’t matter to her that every single time she sees that pin or wears that sweatshirt, she has to fight the urge to crumple to the ground and cry because she would fight god if it meant getting her friend back, but she cant do that, so keeping small pieces of Emily with her is the next best thing.

[icewindandboringhorror]

Misc. photos from the past year or so ~

[definitelynotshouting]

Do you have any tips for starting a story? The middle and end is easy (lie) but the beginning SUCKS to write sometimes

oh gods no joke openers are one of the hardest part for me. Theres so many ways a story can start, and it makes me CRAZY because that right there is your hook, thats what convinces people to start reading!!!!! And there are so many unique ways one can start, so it ends up feeling a bit like that one reaction image of the girl being handed so so many pancakes

I think for me, what i try to ask myself when sitting down to write an opener is: "what kind of story is this?"

Because each story needs something different to accomplish its goals. A slower story might want to take its time with setting the scene, while an action-packed one might start in media res and with a bang!!! I guess if i had to give advice i would say, take the time to identify what your story is trying to say, and then look at what different openings can do for you to identify that goal.

For example; this is from my fic when the night cries, which is essentially a ghost story:

This was meant to be an introspective story, with a very gentle pace overall, so i took the time to really set the scene, build up the sense of what we're looking at before we get dropped into the fic proper. I remember my thought process for this was: how can i make this unique??? how can i make it FEEL like one of those old paintings with the beautiful yellows and summery oranges, while giving the reader a sense of whats to come?? Adding in the repetition of "it begins" was a way for me to sorta hammer that home: this is the start. This is where the story originates. And in a technical sense, it hooks your attention, with the question and immediate answer within the narration. The intention here is for the reader to want to know why this is important, and now it's answering that, but still leaving gaps for more questions.

Now compare that to, say.... lost in the dark's opening:

The overall pace of hunger au is slow, but this opener isn't-- partially because it's a rough draft, but also because what i wanted out of this scene was a sense of deep, deep urgency. We're in the middle of action; Grian is physically running while he thinks, and i wanted the reader to feel hunted and uncertain with him. Dropping everyone in with Grian at one of his most frightened, shaken points was the best way i felt i could establish that scene, and throughout it i drop hints as to what's actually going on. He's scared. He thinks he's going to hurt people. He's been on the move for a very, very long time. These are all things that are meant to pique interest and get answered later, when the reader is already invested. And i guess in that regard, its really all about timing.

But yeah!! Rambling aside, i'd say try out a few different ways of opening your fic and see what works. Think of em as thumbnails; write maybe 200 or so words at most and see if something works better than something else. I think theres this secret culture of shame among writers for not putting the perfect start down on the page the very first time you open the doc, but it's super normal to have to workshop things around to your liking!!! There's absolutely nothing wrong with writing a few different openers to see what works best for you and your story, and in fact is something i genuinely recommend. Its good practice, and essentially functions as a warm-up!!! You also get the benefit of exploring new angles in a scene, which can sometimes unlock really cool stuff for your writing

Sorry for how long this is, anon!! Hopefully you find my rambling helpful :D thank you for sending in this ask!!!

[lastoneout]

Ophelia doesn't look at him--not at his face, anyway--but Eugene can still see how upset she is, it's obvious in how pale her shaking hands are as they carefully clean his wound, the way each breath she takes is rough and labored even though it's been an hour now since either of them were in enough danger to warrant it. 

As if to prove it she fumbles with the rag she's been using, nearly dropping it before catching it with a muttered swear. 

"You know you don't have to do this, Ophelia," Eugene says as gently as he can. "I'm immortal, remember? I can't get an infection, and the wound will be gone by tomorrow anyway-" 

"Just shut up and let me take care of you," she snaps, her voice just as shaky as her hands. It's all she says, but she tightens her grip on him ever so slightly, and he sees how she tenses up, hears the soft hitch in the breath she takes when she's done talking. 

It hurts in its own way, a pain in his chest that reminds him of the way the soap and disinfectant sting as she scrubs them over the gashes in his arm. It makes him desperate to bridge the gap between them, to find a way to comfort her, ease her worries.

And...and maybe to ease his own discomfort, stubbornly lingering under the pain, the strangeness of being not the one offering kindness and care, but the one receiving it. It's unfamiliar, not unwelcome, perhaps, though not something he can find peace with so quickly.

In fact, neither is really possible, not right now, tucked away in the bathroom of Ophelia's tiny apartment, surrounded by a scattered mess of first aid supplies, knowing they're both lucky to be alive. So Eugene sighs instead, and lets it all roll off his shoulders. This may be the easy, cowardly way out, but they've been brave enough today, and besides, Ophelia did risk her life to save him, the least he can do in return is let her tend to his injuries.

"Okay," he replies quietly, glancing away from his arm cradled in Ophelia's trembling hands, if only to pretend--for her sake and his--that he can't see the teardrops staining the stark white bandage she wraps around his wound. "Okay." 

(Today the homemade blorbos won all my attention and creativity again o7)

[smoreal]

sorry for loving the mario movie. do you still think I’m sexy?

[kabira]

.

[triforce-of-mischief]

A French link that noclips through every shrine (bc apparently botw in French has better times for speed runs?) I love ur tags on that one post kgodkfnekf

French: "What do you mean you don't know how to noclip?"

Bread: "I just don't?"

French: "But you speak French!"

Bread: "Only because it's faster than English."

French: "How can you use some speedrun strats but not the most important ones?"

Bread: "My quest wasn't that big of a deal anyway."

French: "What was your quest again?"

Bread: "To cook bread as fast as possible."

French:

Bread: "I ruined everything by the way. I don't recommend speaking French if you can't understand it."

French:

French: "What the-"

[my-chemical-aromance]

my front door is like a portal. the second i step through it all the work my friends put in to make me feel better disappears. the feelings invoked by the trees, the music, the games, the creatures, replaced with dread. a pit in my stomach and a feeling of hopelessness. there’s something in my house that lake water in my hair, a new action figure and wonderful memories can’t chase away: fear. 17 years worth of pain stagnant in the air. there’s a demon in my house that makes me want nothing more than to sink into the walls and floor.

[asteraceaye]

Why is it so fucking hard to get evaluated for dyslexia

[meejijis]

If I had a nickle for every time I got into a severely niche canon ships that has the trope gentle girl x brooding boys with spiky hair all while being the most lonely diehard shipper ever for both of these ships, I'd have two nickels

Which isn't alot but it's weird that it happened twice