#apology languages

[etirabys]

I’ve found love languages to be a useful shorthand when finding out how my partners want affection, and it turns out probably-the-same-people made an apology language quiz as well. I think this is a great idea.

I didn’t “learn much” from my results, since all of these quizzes Preferences In Preferences Out, but as with love languages, I think these are wonderful shorthands. Going to get loved ones to tell me about theirs.

Accepting responsibility is high for me because I always like it when people own their shit (I’m unusually unfriendly_raised_eyebrows.jpeg when someone describes a gnarly interpersonal scenario where they were 100% the victim of the other party and the circumstances), and request forgiveness is low because I kind of share nostalgebraist’s intuitions on the matter

[embervoices]

Somewhere along the line we seem to have lost track of the idea that people don't all want the same things in an apology, people don't all sincerely apologize the same way, and many people need a chance to think things through before they can give a coherent apology in the form others want from them.

I've seen a lot of declarations in recent years that unless someone backpeddals and apologizes a specific way, immediately, they are insincere and toxic.

That is, I would argue, more toxic than the apologies they are rejecting.

Yes, apologies are ultimately to benefit the person who is hurt. But telepathy is not a relationship skill, and demanding it is itself harmful.

Sometimes the best thing is to give everyone involved time to cool off and compose themselves, before anyone has to find the best way to convey their thoughts and feelings without holding each other responsible for things outside their control.

idk when we decided that explaining yourself shouldn't be part of an apology but like. if someone was a dick to me and apologizes but I still don't understand why they did it I'm not gonna feel any better

[admiralatthebowofnails]

[typingbunny]

I‘m obsessed with this

Him pressing her to the ground

His body covering her entire body bc he's so tall and broad, the feeling of his weight on her

The handholding that functions as pinning her down

His red ears (might be from the cold though)

The hand on her cheeks + kinda holding her chin just bc he can since his hands are so big

This is only a guess but convince me that he's not parting her legs with his resting one leg dangerously close to the warmth he "needs"

On that note: the ice melting during the kiss

His outfit is not only pretty but I bet fun to take off as well-

Warning: this is just smut, pure filth.

If you’re not 18+ this is your cue to leave 🚪

Zayne is the type of boyfriend that makes you ride him while looking into his eyes until you can’t hold yourself up anymore because it’s so intense and he’s reaching so deep.

He loves this view. He may be under you but don’t let it fool you to think you’re in charge. If he wanted to he could just fuck into you from this angle by slightly working his hips towards you and make you see stars. However at this point, how hazy you are already that would be just cruel … wouldn’t it?

This angle allows him a prime view to just watch you as you chase your high by using him as not more than a means to get that release you’re craving.

He’s obsessed with you. He tries to hide how much he really adores you because he doesn’t want to scare you away with how much he actually wants you, needs you, but he is sure you can feel his heart pounding beneath your hands as you straddle him regardless of his attempts to mask it. The heart cannot lie.

He reaches up and cups your perky breasts in his big, surprisingly warm, hands. They are so warm they feel like fire on your skin so much it feels like they are trying to burn themselves onto Zayne’s favourite part of your body. After idly caressing your breasts, Zayne changes up the soothing manner and opts for increasing the roughness of his touch as he alternates between massaging them gently to squeezing them harshly from time to time, a feeling that goes straight to your core.

The look on your face, that cock-drunk expression: mouth slightly agape, eyes struggling to stay focused threatening to roll back and you tearing up because of how good he is making you feel. Zayne has jerked off to your face more times than he wants to admit.

He gently cups your face causing you to ground yourself a little and make eye contact with him. His thumb strokes over your cheek in an adoring manner until it travels down to your lips. They are pink and swollen and for a second he thinks about sinking his cock between them, but not now. Now he wants you to cum for him while he is buried deep inside of you. Deeper than any other man ever was nor would for that matter because that is out of question. No matter the circumstances or consequences, Zayne would hunt down whoever tried to replace him. He could easily make it look like an accident. Sometimes his love for you scares him but that’s a price he is willing to pay.

“Open.“

He doesn’t have to elaborate, you know exactly what he wants as you start sucking on his fingers like a shameless whore. His whore. Only his. Forever. The little velvet box bearing an engagement ring, that has been resting in his part of the closet for a while being a token for that.

“Good girl.“

He takes his wet fingers out of your mouth and swirls them around your nipple and a tiny moan erupts from you. Zayne chuckles and you send him a playful glare. That glare doesn’t hold up long though because drinking in how sinful your boyfriend looks under you, you’re quickly occupied with trying not to cum but rather ingrain that image into your memory so you’ll remember it for the rest of your life.

Black hair pushed back, slightly tousled; most likely a result of your doings earlier when his face was buried between your thighs. His cheeks and ears are red, a telltale sign that he is either embarrassed or aroused. Right now it’s the latter. His forehead is covered in beats of sweat and his eyes are filled with something that can be only described as pure lust.

You’re brought back to planet earth by a cold pinch of your sensitive nipples and another moan escapes you. That crazy motherfucker used his EVOL and it felt good. Make lemonade out of lemons or whatever they say.

This was the last straw to your somewhat composure. Now you are clutching onto his shoulders to hold yourself up as Zayne continues his assault on your nipples.

“Zayne-”

Hearing you moan his name always does it for him. He can feel something in him snap, most likely his self control and his blood practically starts to boil.

“Come here.”

And then, with a swift motion he just scoops you up into his arms pressing your chest against his as he rocks you up and down the whole length of cock like his personal fleshlight. If you weren’t moaning and screaming you’d be in awe of how strong he is as he rocks you up and down hitting deeper than you thought was ever possible, muscles flexing beneath his perfect skin. In an attempt to get even closer to him you bury your face into his neck and let yourself be consumed by Zayne’s smell, that certain smell you call home. God the things you’d do for this man.

Clutching your thighs, his fingertips leave little marks that knowing Zayne, he will profusely apologize for tomorrow. Meanwhile you’re holding onto his shoulders for dear life carelessly leaving little crescent moons on his back.

He once pointed out, how much he actually enjoys you “leaving a mark on him”. First you thought it was a typical Zayne move trying to comfort you so you don’t feel bad about hurting him. But one day when you where looking for pictures on his phone for a little gift you were preparing, a photoalbum for your anniversary, you found an interesting picture.

It was Zayne in front of your bedroom mirror trying to photograph said marks on his back. You contemplated to tease him with the evidence but the mental imagine of big mean Zayne (that’s at least what others who didn’t know him thought of him to be) standing in front of your bedroom mirror trying to get the perfect picture was too adorable. What you don’t know is that once he got it, he just stood there in the middle of the room looking at the picture, 6’1 of lovey-dovey mush with a loopy grin on his face.

So right now you are basically clawing at his back amping up the scratches the more he moans and curses under his breath.

Once he can’t take it anymore and the only thing on his mind is breeding you as he cums over and over again deep inside of you filling you up until you beg him to stop, he embraces you tightly and flips both of you so he is on top. Your legs are wrapped around his waist and he feels your wetness all over him. Immediately his hands find yours, interlacing your fingers. What looks like romantically holding hands is his gateway to restrain you, holding them tightly pinned over your head so your tits are completely exposed.

His lips find one sensitive nub and he starts devouring you while looking up at you through his lashes, and you swear if he keeps that up you’re going to reach your high from this alone.

“Zayne please-

M-Move!”

He detaches from his favourite toy, his personal little make her dumb button so to speak, to look at you, a twinkle in his eye. For a second he imagines what it would be like to make you suffer a little bit and make you beg for it. Because he knows you would beg for him. Just like you have many times.

You’re so fucked out and desperate for him it turns him on so much it almost hurts and though he swears couldn’t possibly be any harder he feels another wave of desire wash over him, threatening to drown him. Not only does he accept his fate, the thought weirdly enough makes him beyond happy and he struggles to hide the smirk creeping up on the corner of his by now swollen lips as he goes in for a kiss and you can’t help but surrender yourself to.

“ Whatever you want my love.”

He leans down whispering in your ear, voice laced with desire, and something slightly … sadistic?

“Just remember, you asked for it.”

From that point on, only the gods above can help you and the bed frame …

I don’t know why but I picture Zayne to be less of a butt guy and rather a boobie guy maybe because of cardio lmao … 💭

[plagalkey]

ENERGETIC ⚡️

you make me feel so high

[alienssstufff]

BLOODHOUNDS

ft Y.T and Tripwire

[their ‘duo name’ is Bloodhounds from now on btw… if you even care..]

alternative title ver- it would’ve taken away the effect of the *COUGH* easter egg

notes n what not coming soon

The sketch and the flowers used :3

The composition originally was going to be a lot different (had two in mind) where the Red King’s involvement would’ve been more prominent. Went with this one simply cuz it was just more fun to experiment, where the negative space is made front and centre focus :]

Whennnn picking out the plants ddint think for a second about symbolism- and going off of just ANY flower for flower language would have been too big of a selection pool… So in respects to SL environmental setting - native Australian plants it was.

-The golden wattle trees by its abundance and have benefited Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders for thousands of years to create various markers and tools. The plant survives harsh droughts, and its seeds have a coating strong enough that can be salvageable beyond bushfires.

-as a signifier of Spring and new beginnings hence rebirth, the golden wattle to me was also very thematically fitting for a season like Secret Life :]

-I never looked into what Illawarra flame trees (the flowers of the coat my SL!Bdubs design is wearing) before until today.. and I quote “Regains confidence and self-approval, able to make commitments with the strength of self-reliance. Clarity in life and ability to adapt to all situations. Secure enough to express and communicate true feelings. To be beautiful and strong ” [SOURCE: Australian Bushflowers] which…. Ok damn. There’s also alcohol in it.

-Eucalyptus trees in Indigenous Australian culture represent the division between the underworld, the Earth and heaven.

The selection of plants while don’t represent Bloodhounds together - but more of what Martyn and Bdubs are individually, they’re interesting in the things they have in common what they represent. And the differences they go about this loyalty throughout the seasons and why they devote - especially in LimL and SL.. Fascinating stuff.

[eizneckam]

I'm so tired of the "English is a dumb bad language because it has no rules" take. It actually has quite a lot of rules, all of which make sense. You're just so lazy that you think the fact that not every function is uniform means that you shouldn't bother. It could be worse, you know. You could be dealing with agglutination. How does a three-line sentence that's only a single word sound to you? What about having to remember seven different words for "the"? We don't even have grammatical gender (which has nothing to do with human sex, like at all. Go check Irish's list of feminine and masculine words and prepare to be very confused). No declensions, barely any grammatical cases, no tones, no formal registers, and you're out here complaining that English is too hard because you keep forgetting that the past tense of "break" isn't "breaked". Sorry for that, but that's on you, not the language.

[boojangs]

How she looks at her when she isn't looking:

How she looks at her:

How she looks at her when she isn't looking:

How she looks at her:

Building Trust:

Coming Home:

[hypazia]

This is my (very late) gift to @aikuinen (thank you very much for the fun prompt and the patience) for the @palestaticexchange.

[draakart]

Stand in Solidarity!

As the ongoing genocide rages in Palestine, us Australians must not forget what this country was built upon.

Just as Israel is built on the stolen land and graves of the Palestinians, so too is Australia built on the stolen land and graves of the First Nations.

There is nothing to celebrate for in genocide.

Here is a list of Invasion Day Rallies. Please march in solidarity with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Peoples this Friday.

More resources below.

Always Was, Always Will Be.

Donate:

Pay The Rent

Awesome Black Box's non-comprehensive list of ways to Pay the Rent.

Learn More:

A Conspiracy of Silence, Qld's frontier killing times - Timothy Bottoms

Massacre Recollections :: Elder Stories of the Frontier Wars in FNQ

The Stolen Generation

Frontier wars

Colonial Front Massacre Map

If you have any additional resources or funds that aren't listed, let me know and I will endeavor to add them on.

[linda-with-an-i]

Now that it's been some time since the end of season 2 of the rings of power and we've had some time to digest the good and the bad stuff, I wanted to spend my two cents on what has been hands down the highlight of the show, which is the Annatar/Celebrimbor storyline, but especially Celebrimbor's. The two Charlies have been consistently acting their hearts out, but Charles Edwards performance in particular took me by surprise and totally blew me away (give the man all the awards goddamnit!).

Celebrimbor has always been one of my favourite characters from the books, and one I thought had a lot of potential given how little we know about him, so I was really curious to see what they wanted to do with the finer details of his story and character, and I think that they delivered on every front and then some. Some people say he should have been a warrior (totally valid interpretation) but his characterization was done flawlessly and went even beyond my expectations, and in my humble opinion Charles Edwards casting was perfect for the story they told.

His performance as celebrimbor moved me as few others managed to do, his portrayal deeply resonated with me. I became so attached to this character that I knew I would have grieved his character death when the moment came (which in fact I did), but something else happened that I didn't expect: to watch someone as broken and tortured as he was slowly but surely reclaim his strength and freedom of spirit, to watch him fully take responsibility and embrace his mistakes even in the face of certain death, because the point was to choose light instead of power/strength, and finally to watch him challenge and rise above his abuser was nothing short of inspiring and one on the most powerful, beautiful and tolkenian moments I've seen. Thank you Mr. Edwards for all the work and passion you put in every scene, your performance will go down as one of the best of 2024, and arguably one of the best of Tolkien's world. Namárië.

[neeeeeoposts]

eene dump 😕

(other than the redraws, these r my personal headcanons pls dont hate me😭😭😭)

[too-fond-to-be-fearful]

Been thinking recently about the goings-on with Duolingo & AI, and I do want to throw my two cents in, actually.

There are ways in which computers can help us with languages, certainly. They absolutely should not be the be-all and end-all, and particularly for any sort of professional work I am wholly in favour of actually employing qualified translators & interpreters, because there's a lot of important nuances to language and translation (e.g. context, ambiguity, implied meaning, authorial intent, target audience, etc.) that a computer generally does not handle well. But translation software has made casual communication across language barriers accessible to the average person, and that's something that is incredibly valuable to have, I think.

Duolingo, however, is not translation software. Duolingo's purpose is to teach languages. And I do not think you can be effectively taught a language by something that does not understand it itself; or rather, that does not go about comprehending and producing language in the way that a person would.

Whilst a language model might be able to use probability & statistics to put together an output that is grammatically correct and contextually appropriate, it lacks an understanding of why, beyond "statistically speaking, this element is likely to come next". There is no communicative intent behind the output it produces; its only goal is mimicking the input it has been trained on. And whilst that can produce some very natural-seeming output, it does not capture the reality of language use in the real world.

Because language is not just a set of probabilities - there are an infinite array of other factors at play. And we do not set out only to mimic what we have seen or heard; we intend to communicate with the wider world, using the tools we have available, and that might require deviating from the realm of the expected.

Often, the most probable output is not actually what you're likely to encounter in practice. Ungrammatical or contextually inappropriate utterances can be used for dramatic or humorous effect, for example; or nonstandard linguistic styles may be used to indicate one's relationship to the community those styles are associated with. Social and cultural context might be needed to understand a reference, or a linguistic feature might seem extraneous or confusing when removed from its original environment.

To put it briefly, even without knowing exactly how the human brain processes and produces language (which we certainly don't), it's readily apparent that boiling it down to a statistical model is entirely misrepresentative of the reality of language.

And thus a statistical model is unlikely to be able to comprehend and assist with many of the difficulties of learning a language.

A statistical model might identify that a learner misuses some vocabulary more often than others; what it may not notice is that the vocabulary in question are similar in form, or in their meaning in translation. It might register that you consistently struggle with a particular grammar form; but not identify that the root cause of the struggle is that a comparable grammatical structure in your native language is either radically different or nonexistent. It might note that you have trouble recalling a common saying, but not that you lack the cultural background needed to understand why it has that meaning. And so it can identify points of weakness; but it is incapable of addressing them effectively, because it does not understand how people think.

This is all without considering the consequences of only having a singular source of very formal, very rigid input to learn from, unable to account for linguistic variation due to social factors. Without considering the errors still apparent in the output of most language models, and the biases they are prone to reproducing. Without considering the source of their data, and the ethical considerations regarding where and how such a substantial sample was collected.

I understand that Duolingo wants to introduce more interactivity and adaptability to their courses (and, I suspect, to improve their bottom line). But I genuinely think that going about it in this way is more likely to hinder than to help, and wrongfully prioritises the convenience of AI over the quality and expertise that their existing translators and course designers bring.

[a-sea-with-no-shores]

you may be familiar with the first strip of "Pirates" (I always think it's called "Nemesis") by the inimitable Kate Beaton

well

I shamelessly ripped it off

[skcirthinq]

So. The Neon Void by @sugarpasteltmnt has officially ended.

And I. Definitely didn't get so excited that I filled like 5 sketch pages.

Spoilers for the last few chapters ahead!

So like. The whole story has been so much fun, so well written; there's been fun call-backs both to the show itself and to earlier in the fic, amazingly balanced action, comedy, emotions.

Honestly, thanks so much to Sugarpastel for writing this, it's been an amazing ride!