#definitely recommend a listen if you speak german

[rubyroses222]

I just found out that Tchouameninga don’t know how to tie their ties and the team manager has to come back there and do it for them - apparently the rest of the last row in the RMA team bus, which consists of Toni x2, Luka and Lucas Vazquez, doesn’t know either so team manager does their ties as well

I just know Jude is laughing at them every single time while proudly showing off his own

source: german podcast “Einfach mal Luppen” hosted weekly by Toni and his brother Felix Kroos, Episode “Traumjob: Pflichtverteidiger oder Rummelboxer” (3. April)

[cisthoughtcrime]

I’m interested in learning Latin, where would you suggest I start?

So exciting! I'll try to keep this short:

I recommend starting with this very short informal intro, especially if you don't have a strong grasp on technical terms about grammar (most textbooks take that for granted). Latin grammar follows a rigid organisational system and the earlier you understand how it works, the easier it will be to learn the rest of the language. The 18-page PDF in the link uses English examples and practice questions to go through basic Latin grammar concepts and tables. It doesn't go through less basic things like participles or conditional clauses, but it does explain everything you need to know in order to learn those more easily. It also includes a hyperlinked list of good online resources for self-taught Latin and Greek students.

If you want to work through a textbook, Wheelock's Latin is probably the most widely used and comes with a lot of accompanying resources and guides (even though the official website looks older than Rome). Ecce Romani may be a bit more approachable and there are plenty of unofficial online lessons and guides made to go along with it. Those are my top two personally; I know some people like Latin Via Ovid because the practice texts are adapted from an actual ancient text about different myths, but imho I don't think it's as good a starting point if you're teaching yourself from scratch. Keep in mind that they'll all follow different formats for conjugation/declension tables, which can make it a bit confusing to switch between them; the short intro in that first link is a good way to understand how these charts work well enough to use them no matter the format.

There are tons of free resources online, even including full recordings of lessons, live study groups to join, communities with forum posting, and written-out explanations. For any individual concept that's troubling you, there are almost definitely multiple youtube videos of someone in front of a whiteboard saying it differently from the textbooks. Again, there's a good list included in that first document.

For practice in reading and understanding without deliberately translating, it's fun to try reading Latin translations of books you already know well in English, like Harrius Potter, Hobbitus Ille, Winnie Ille Pu, Alicia In Terra Mirabili, and many, many more, most of which are free on Archive and/or can be bought as physical copies.

However, this will be much more rewarding once you've built up some vocabulary and grammar, and might be frustrating or discouraging if you try the long ones too early, especially since they sometimes use words irregularly to convey modern meanings.

There are also a handful of recently-written stories in Latin targeted at students who like this kind of practice more. The German Netflix series Barbarians has all the Roman characters speaking in real Latin, and listening to it with subtitles can help build your ear for what sounds right.

Those are my recs for where to start! If you're stuck on something and can't find a good explanation, you can also send me an ask about it and I'm always happy to lay out how I think about it (even if my response times are irregular).

Good luck and enjoy!

[subsystems]

hope sending ask is ok rn, i have hard time looking resource. looking for book how to co-exist with independent dissociative parts (have system but not feel safe in saying DID yet). cannot do therapist addressing parts yet but want to cope in daily life. hope can help. or others comment/reblog and give. thank you 🍀

This ask was sent a while ago, I hope you're doing okay now anon. You say you can't talk to a therapist yet but I hope you have someone else in your life who is supportive and you can talk to about these things! You shouldn't have to face this alone.

Even though you don't have therapeutic support, it's still possible to build up communication and cooperation with your parts. I reblog a lot of tips and resources to my coping tag if you want to check that out. Here are some other resources that you might find helpful:

DID/OSDD Self-help Masterlist There are so many resources here, categorized by different topics. You'll find stuff here for both survivors and loved ones, and you don't need to have DID/OSDD to use them!

Beauty After Bruises Blog You'll find so many articles here on coping with daily life as a dissociative survivor. I love how they're written, they feel very approachable and almost calming to read.

Dissociative Living Admittedly, I haven't read many of these articles but the few I've seen have been good. I think their writing is very approachable for people who are new to all of this.

DIS-SOS Lots of advice and informative articles on living with DID here -- in both English and German! I've found some really interesting and unique coping tips here, I definitely recommend it. It's actually because of this blog that I discovered one of my favorite methods of system communication.

CTAD Clinic Youtube Channel A channel run by the director of this clinic which specializes in dissociation and trauma. I've watched probably all of his videos -- they're very good! Lots of the videos provide tools and self-help tips on coping with dissociation & dissociative parts!

Carolyn Spring's Blog You'll find amazing articles here about trauma and dissociation, but do be aware that the author is both a professional and a survivor with DID herself. She isn't afraid to talk about her lived experience, shining a light on the reality of trauma and dissociation which can be confronting but oh-so empowering to read.

System Speak Podcast A podcast run by a DID system. She talks about her own healing journey as well as interviews professionals and dives into the psychology behind trauma and dissociation. Personally, I think the website is a bit hard to navigate but every podcast I've listened to has been extremely informative and relatable!

Self-help books can also be extremely useful if you don't have access to a therapist. You can find a bunch of free downloads here! I would recommend starting with "Got Parts? An Insider's Guide to Managing Life Successfully with Dissociative Identity Disorder" by ATW. Personally, I think this is the best book to start with. It's a bit old and there are some outdated ideas in it, but I think it's a very gentle entry into learning system communication and coping with DID if you have never worked with a therapist.

Some other resources that might be useful:

Strategies for coping with distressing voices

FREE 100 page e-book for trauma survivors

Talk/vent to listeners on this non-crisis support chat line

Apply for a grant to receive financial help or a therapy box -> (Also learn about the Therapy Box Project! If anyone is able to donate, please do!)

- Sunflower

[sauron-kraut]

Get to know your Mutuals

Thank you for tagging me @perlen-gold! 🖤

What's the origin of your blog's title? @lvsifer and I were talking about a certain Middle-Earth cookbook with some truly funky recipes, unfortunately there were none for Mairon so we were like... What would he eat? He would definitely be into eating raw meat. Mettbrötchen are a German specialty, basically a bread roll with butter and minced raw pork (yes, you heard that right), preferably with pepper and red onions. So Mairon's Mettbrötchen was born - doesn't it just fuck phonetically?

Favorite Fandoms: The Silm fandom 🖤 I have never been truly active in any other fandom.

OTP(s) + shipname: Angbang (Mairon/Melkor). Most other ships I love/like are fucked up in a way that makes OTP sound wrong to describe them (not that an OTP can't have a fucked up dynamic of course!).

Favorite color: red, black, gold, rusty colors, yellow

Favorite game: Not a a gamer person.

Song stuck in your head:

Weirdest habit/trait? Super randomly talking to myself when I'm alone at home? Could be pieces of dialogue I'm planning for a fic, could be imaginary discussion scenarios with friends or coworkers... you name it.

Hobbies: Writing.

If you work, what's your profession? I'm a linguist specializing in language change, particularly grammatical change. I don't currently work in that field though; I work at a technical university in event management and student recruiting.

If you could have any job you wish what would it be? I'd work as a linguist and teach at university again.

Something you're good at: Learning languages quickly, imitating native accents in languages (other than English, probably due to my idgaf attitude when it comes to that, so have a weird mix of different accents in English mixed with a very slight German and Dutch accent. lol), teaching, public speaking, being thoughtful with gifts, cooking

Something you're bad at: Remembering birthdays, sometimes texting back, sometimes cleaning, MATH (oh god)

Something you excel at: being anxious, overthinking, understanding how languages are structured and applying this to learning them

Something you love: reading, poetry, writing, my apartment, partying, various altered states of consciousness from time to time, dancing, 80s music, techno, prosecco, cooking, food, Berlin, fandom, my mom, my friends, traveling

Something you could talk about for hours without off the cuff: linguistics, language change, The Silm

Something you hate: coriander and water melon

Something you collect: Nothing really that comes to mind.

Something you forget: birthdays, appointments

What's your love language? The concept of love languages has its problems but if I just use this to describe how I do express my love: giving cute gifts, cooking for people, listening to them, open communication, spending quality time together

Favorite movie/show: LOTR and MANY more, show: DARK, Sense8, The Sinner

Favorite food: so many different soups, kebap, pizza, STEAK, schnitzel, peruvian food, birria tacos

Favorite animal: three-toed sloth

Are you musical? I know how to play the saxophone and I did so decently. But I wouldn't say I'm musical.

What were you like as a child? I have to quote @perlen-gold here: An insufferable know-it-all.

Favorite subject at school? German, English, philosophy, biology

Least favorite subject? MATHS. And PE.

What's your best character trait? I'm honest and good at communicating openly.

What's your worst character trait? Avoidant behavior, procrastinating literally everything

If you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? I would make the sun rise again so it doesn't feel like another of those depressing winter nights.

If you could travel in time who would you like to meet? I can't think of anyone I'd genuinely want to meet.

Recommend one of your favorite fanfics (spread the love!):

elektra by @lvsifer. What a masterpiece. Also please have a look at the fanfics I recommended here!

Last but not least, show your favorite fanart of your favorite character(s) (please remember to credit/add links!):

Mairon by @lvsifer

So many more art from talented and skilled artists that I love, but I had to make a decision here and this one will haunt me forever 🖤

✨Tagging @crackinthecup, @cilil, @elevenelvenswords, @admirably-abhorrent, @tauw-nu-fuin, @peasant-player, @blauerregen and @lvsifer

[birdofmay]

FAQ (updated 9 September 2024)

Medical content: 1. Can I use AAC if I'm not nonverbal? 2. Nuances of being nonverbal 3. Why your brain can't make sense of speech 4. What's CAS? 5. Apraxia vs. dyspraxia 6. Verbality level 7. Alternative terms for losing speech 8. Autism levels 9. Support needs 10. irl contact with me 11. Asking for my opinion

Personal content: 1. Frisian vs. German 2. The Frisian language 3. Metal recommendations 4. Why I have extensive knowledge on metal

Medical questions start here

"Can I use AAC if I'm not nonverbal/nonspeaking?"

Yes. Absolutely. Unless it's a last cookie scenario (you're taking the last cookie even though someone else in the room would need it more), AAC isn't limited. If you benefit from AAC of any kind, use it. You even help to normalise it that way.

Just make sure not to dominate discussions about AAC users who can't speak at all.

"Why do you guys say that nonverbal means you can't speak at all? There's more nuance to that!"

True, but when we gave more nuance, suddenly verbal people thought that they "by definition" are nonverbal/nonspeaking too.

I never learned to speak, but I can sing and make sounds with my mouth and say single words (up to 3 on a good day). And I'm medically considered nonverbal because I can't voluntarily say these words etc.

In my experience it's better to give as little nuance as possible to people who don't know much about us (otherwise they're confused by too much information) and only talk about nuances once they understand the basics...

...which sometimes happens soon but sometimes never at all...

"Sometimes I listen to people and my brain can't make sense of what they say, what's that?" - Maybe....

an ADHD thing

a sensory overload thing

receptive language issues

auditory processing disorder

aphasia

...or check out how language processing and auditory processing works in general, autism can make these things hard without it being an additional disorder ☝🏼

"What's CAS?"

Childhood apraxia of speech (also known as Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia) is a condition where individuals struggle to "let their mouth do what their brain wants" - it's as if mouth and brain don't cooperate

It comes in mild and severe cases and is lifelong (but it's possible to make a lot of progress, depending on the symptoms)

Normally language comprehension isn't impaired, it's just speaking that doesn't work

Check this external Cleveland Clinic link that explains it very well

"Are apraxia and dyspraxia the same? Can regular dyspraxia affect the mouth?"

Apraxia and childhood apraxia of speech aren't the same; usually apraxia is due to brain damage of some kind, and CAS isn't. Dyspraxia often is used to refer to developmental conditions, which is why CAS is also called developmental verbal dyspraxia. Unfortunately, apraxia and dyspraxia are often used interchangeably, so it's necessary to always make it clear what we mean first.

There also is a second definition of dyspraxia and apraxia: dys- means something is impaired and a- means that it's impossible to do/absent. This, again, is why it's important to make it clear what we mean. Medical settings use all of these definitions - yep, that's kind of chaotic 😅

Normal dyspraxia can definitely affect the mouth and the whole face. My sources are people I know from disability programs and therapy, but I've seen papers about that too at some point.

Many people with CAS have normal dyspraxia too (as two different diagnoses), but not everyone.

Yes, CAS can affect fine- and gross motor skills, but that doesn't always make it regular dyspraxia too

"I don't know what my verbality level would be considered!"

Me neither! But check out my masterpost

and don't forget that "unreliably speaking" is for people with "full body apraxia" to describe the brain-body disconnect only.

"I've heard that we shouldn't say "going nonverbal", what other words can we say instead?"

Here, a nice little list!

"I don't know my autism level!"

Me neither, only the DSM-5 has autism levels, I don't have an autism level either.

I was diagnosed with severe autism because they made me take several additional "severity tests" after the normal diagnostic tests.

If your country uses the DSM-5, maybe you've been diagnosed when they still used the DSM-4. Or you simply weren't assigned a level, not every professional does that.

"I don't know what support needs I'd be considered!"

Me neither, but check out my support needs masterpost

A "general rule of thumb" is "Help with IADLs = low support needs, help with IADLs and some BADLs = medium support needs, help with IADLs and most or all BADLs = high support needs", but these categories aren't as strict as they seem.

Do you have care needs? No? Then you're not high support needs, you're most likely low or low-to-mid support needs.

My country re-assesses my support needs regularly; if you're medium or high support needs and weren't medically neglected your whole life, you'd normally know that you're medium or high support needs already, because that's tested (if you're not sure, check the documents). But testing is different from country to country.

Unless, of course, something happened recently that you now suddenly need a lot of help, definitely more than before. In this case there likely wasn't any testing yet. But in that case I can't help you either, because I don't test you.

Note because this still is a common misunderstanding: The DSM-5 says for example "Autism level 1: Requires support", but the support that's meant there has nothing to do with the support needs we're talking about in this and in the linked post. It's a little unfortunate that both say "support" because people always think it's the same when it really really isn't ☝🏼

"How should people who want to be friends with you in real life act, so that you're not overwhelmed?"

See, that's the main difference between my (severe) autism and most people on Tumblr. I'm not interested in real life friends. Chatting via messenger is the most relaxing kind of communication for me.

My parents, carers, accompanying people, etc. tell others exactly what to do or not to do so that I'm not overwhelmed. But you'd mostly speak to them instead of me anyway because direct contact is overwhelming.

"What's your opinion on this term/view/discourse/political topic/debate? Is [thing] offensive?"

I have a language disorder that makes it hard to understand the meaning of things and to connect the word to the meaning of the word. Unless it's a thing of my everyday life, I most likely won't understand this thing or I don't know anything about it.

I may sound quite articulate on here, but I have brain damage from birth; there are many things I don't understand, especially if it's in complex language.

I don't understand politics or money, and I don't understand laws on disability, unless they affect me personally and are those of my country.

------------------------

Personal questions start here

"Wait, you say you're Frisian, but I just saw a post where you said you're German. Are you both or what?"

I quote Wikipedia: "Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany."

My family on my dad's side is East Frisian & my family on my mum's side is North Frisian

By definition, North and East Frisia is in Germany

"Do you speak Frisian?"

Frisian isn't just one language. Google Translate may say "Frisian", but that's actually West Frisian of the Netherlands.

My dad's family speaks East Frisian Low German because the East Frisian language (except for Sater Frisian) is extinct

My mum's side lost their North Frisian language version because it was forbidden multiple times. It is actively revived, but my grandparents are too old to re-learn it successfully

I understand my dad's Low German, but I don't speak it myself

"I'm new to metal. Do you have recommendations?"

Here's a brief overview for beginners!

"How do you know so much about metal? 😮"

Both of my parents AND grandparents are metalheads; my "holiday long car rides" childhood nostalgia songs are mostly Thrash Metal and worse.

While my dad isn't autistic, he's definitely the one I got it from. He has hyperfixated on metal and metal bands since metal came into existence. And he loves to infodump.

Discovering new music is one of my interests. Music is my way to socialise and to understand the world, so when my family still was my only social contact, of course all of this research energy would flow into metal 😄

[freedtheriverushing]

my honest thoughts about tmagp 1-5 (written whilst listening)

tmagp 1 - first shift

i like alice !! she seems so cool so far.

THIS is what y’all meant by martin and jon are trapped in a computer??

i guess lena is like this universes elias? i guess alice is also this universes georgie?? and sam is jon??

i have forgotten half of the characters names already

im definitely gonna forget what the OIAR is called. also, redcanary? canary in a coal mine? tcw reference?

does this episode EVER END???? jesus fuck every single time i thought it’d end it kept going

i like the intro/outro music! its a lot more threatening than tmas.

tmagp 2 - making adjustments

dracula???

wow there are.. a LOT of categories

sam is so me

gwen’s lowk mean but i understand why

yeah i DEFINITELY understand gwen

therapy!!! wooo!!!

okay so she’s.. not delusional? in court-ordered therapy?

IS THIS A STATEMENT??? DO WE HAVE OUR FIRST STATEMENT??

instagram and hashtags mentioned im ill (in a bad way) (i HATE it when hashtags are used in ANY media.. at least it's not a book!)

is it bad that i thought ink5oul was a real brand??

okay get that tattoo daria (i forgot her name twice already)

…evil tattoo? by evil artist?

ofc they’re playing dubstep

symbols you don’t recognize.. probably evil symbols or something

okay yeah that tattoo did SOMETHING to you

ink5oul is gonna come up again aren’t they?

is the painting changing her face???

okay so basically evil tattoo makes you paint evil art that changes how you look

oiar crew returns!

banger advice alice

every gwen clip makes me understand her more

luke. probably gonna come up again soon

magnus institute mentioned !!

EPISODE FINISHED!!! FINALLY

tmagp 3 - putting down roots

i’m hungry (this has nothing to do with the episode)

colin!!

why IS alice here. is this apart of her job?? (i did NOT realize collin was fixing her computer. i thought it was just like. a regular computer)

i like colin. he is very

MARTINNN!!!

i thought the read alouds were rare,, do they like automatically record or smth??

i’m not paying attention AT ALL 🔥🔥

ooh drama with collin..

“you’ve made a powerful enemy tonight 😈”

i still, unashamedly understand gwen

tmagp 4 - taking notes

oohh restricted files..

magnus.. protocol.. i think i’ve heard that somewhere!

okay sam get AWAY from the magnus protocol (heh..)

starkwall??

GWEN!!!!

ELIAS!!!

stop being such a hater gwen :(

ugh shut up jonah

“to you i leave my violin!” 🤓

“this last fortnight!” 🤓

idc about your spooky violin i hope it eats you vase style

okay so spooky violin plays spooky music without being played and made your tutor kill himself??

burnt meat from english guy who speaks german?? i don’t even care if the meat is Scary Meat youre gonna get some sort of disease

Eviler Scarier Violin that Hurts You?

“i have cut my fingertip upon the string!” 🤓

Evil Scary violin that Makes You Play Bad?

i think this is a skill issue atp.

bye bye fingers!

why are you giving Finger Cutting Violin to your nephew

flesh violin that eats anyone’s fingers. okay.

so classical grifters bone, basically.

ALICEEE

me and my girlfriend??? what the hell are alice and gwen

“ta ta gwendoline darling! ciao!”

what the hell is right

tmagp 5 - personal screening

hi lena

is colin turning into s2 jon??

lena this is INSANITY wdym

“the problem will resolve itself” lena youre just as bad as elias

“that.. is paper! it’s made from trees!”

JONNNNN

“welcome to my twisted mind 😈”

h-h-h-h-HALLOWEEN 2????

“bye !!!”

let me guess—Evil Tumblr User recommends Evil Lost Media Horror Movie that Probably Kills You

Evil Contest lets you into Evil q&a with Evil Guy

ENOUGH with the ko-fi page

livestreamm

finishing a whole bucket of popcorn before a movie starts is crazy (or maybe im just an american)..

okay so Evil Lost Media has Your Memories for Some Reason

okay damn that was a quick one

[schadenfreudich]

Hi!! I come to you since you're my dearest German mutual, and I've been learning German since 2020 and well, I can learn grammar and vocabulary but I wanna find more german (real german, not just textbook german yk) content to listen to and become more fluid!! I'm guessing you might know stuff like music and youtube channels and maybe podcasts and that sort of stuff-? It'd be very helpful! Thanks in advance :3

This is so much, especially music. We just listen to a lot of german music a wide variety. Sorry or you're welcome

Youtubers:

coldmirror: one of the longest existing youtubers, comedy

Spacefrogs: mostly political humor

Iblali: hasn't really been active on that channel but at least was funny

Hand of Blood: comedy and gaming, and weird costumes

Zeo: comedy, mostly speaks in understable german, mostly (Chill deine Basics has a character who speaks in a thick Bavarian accent)

der Heider: haven't actually watched him in a while, also thick Bavarian accent sometines

Klengan: talks about stuff happening on youtube, mostly, last video I remember was about Jeremy Fragrance

Tommy Toalingling: gay, as in he makes a lot of videos about queer topics, also he's gay (this could be helpful if you want to know more about queer terms in german)

Kegy: comedy and also I keep referencing him and no one gets it, also hasn't uploaded in 4 years

Malternativ: in case you want to listen to a german man scream about annoying things (he's funny, I promise)

MiiMii: really hard to describe, weird drawings

Rob Bubble: politic humor, Anti-Webvideopreis (for the worst video of the year)

Podcasts:

Brainpain (by Heider and Klengan)

einer von den Guten (having actually listened to that one, but Zeo is one of them. so it can't be bad)

nicht mehr ganz Twitter (also includes Zeo and the guy who did Iblali)

Lästerschwestern (by Rob Bubble)

I really don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but those exist and the people aren't awful in other media)

Not a podcast, but an audiobook:

Känguru-Chroniken: have you ever wanted to listen to a story about a communist kangaroo and an anarchist artist? Because this is that. It's really funny.

Music:

Comedian Harmonists: you should definitely listen to "mein kleiner grüner Kaktus" at least once. They're old and made what wikipedia calls "volkstümliche Musik"

Cro: rap/pop kinda music, I recommend "Einmal um die Welt" and "Bye Bye"

die Ärzte: punk band, have themes such as death, kink, random gay lines and anti-fascism. I recommend "Junge" and "M&F", just because they're like the most popular songs. But if you want to listen to a weirder song, I'd suggest "meine Ex(plodierte Freundin)", way too happy for the fact that he's talking about his girlfriend exploding.

Die Prinzen: A cappella, "alles nur geklaut" is very popular and the funniest song to get cover

Die toten Hosen: punk band, our syskids really like "Walkampf", maybe a little too much. "Tage wie diese" and "Altes Fieber" are quite popular. Also "zehn kleine Jägermeister", just be aware the source of "zehn kleine [word]" is racist, if you choose to look that up, not this song, just the original one.

EAV (Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung): they were an Austrian punk band, so if some words are confusing, that might just be because they're Austrian. Also "Ba-Ba Banküberfall", because it's really funny.

Falco: also Austrian, Neue Deutsche Welle, you should listen to "Rock me, Amadeus", "Egoist", "Dance Mephisto" and actually basically every song. We just really like Falco.

Glasperlenspiel: electro-pop, "geiles Leben" and "Echt" are really great, also "Traumtänzer" and "Legoschloss"

Haggefugg: medieval rock, "Daheim" and "Märchenwald"

Heldmaschine: industrial metal, sound similar to Rammstein (they have a song about that)

Herbert Grönemeyer: rock(?) singer, I recommend "Männer" and "Kinder an die Macht", also "etwas warmes" (that one's gay)

LaBrassBanda: So Bavarian they were Lederhosen in every picture, but they have an entire album they recorded in a cow barn, so I had to mention them

Mark Forster: pop, very popular, "Au Revoir" (and on that note, Sido, I guess) and "Chöre" are great

Max Giesinger: pop, "Wenn sie tanzt" is very nice

Megaherz: Neue Deutsche Härte, they have a cover of "Rock me Amadeus", and also "Schwarz = Religion" is great

Musica Immortalis: medieval music, I saw them in person, they only have 60 monthly listeners on spotify but they are so so good. Like, "Kraken" and "der Sturm", wonderful.

OOMPH!: one of the first bands under Neue Deutsche Härte, there is so much, so I'll recommend albums this time. "Des Wahnsinns Fette Beute", multiple queer songs, crossdressing, being scared of your own homosexuality and public gay sex with a sailor. Also one song about suicide. "Ritual", a lot of pain and suffering, also a song titled "TRRR - FCKN - HTLR", which does include the line "terror, ficken, Hitler" being shouted multiple times.

Reis Against The Spülmaschine: parodies, also only three songs but they're incredibly funny

Schattenmann: Neue Deutsche Härte, some quite explicitly sexual songs, but they're good. Like "Choleriker", which isn't about sex but is about violence and anger issues

Tanzwut: Neue Deutsche Härte but also medieval

The toten Crackhuren im Kofferraum: punk, all women, great, wonderful, I recommend "ich und mein Pony" and "Punkrock hat mir das Herz gebrochen"

Voxxclub: also very Bavarian, it's great 👍

Nena: Neue Deutsche Welle, especially "99 Luftballons" and "Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann"

And this is more so specific songs that were a very formative experience when we were 12-15:

"ne Leiche" by SDP, Sido (yes, it's about a corpse)

"Willst du" by Alligatoah (sounds like a love song, but it's about drugs)

"Über den Wolken" by Reinhard Mey (this one is just nice)

"Monsta" by Culcha Candela (we call it the german monsterfucker song, because that woman is a literal monster and he's like "even better!")

"Major Tom (... völlig losgelöst)" by Peter Schilling (this one's sad)

"Die Da!?" by die Fantastischen Vier

"Nur ein Wort" by Wir sind Helden (just a love song)

"Stadt" by Cassandra Steen, Adel Tawil

"Perfekte Welle" by Juli

"Vom selben Stern" by Ich + Ich

"Skandal im Sperrbezirk" by Spider Murphy Gang (be aware it's about prostitues and the language is a little outdated, but the song is good)

I don't think I have to tell you about Rammstein, but also "Mann gegen Mann" is gay

[nakediconoclast]

I love this Doctor

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable).. And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way.. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc. Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach. Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape! Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets. And remember: 'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO, What a Ride' AND...... For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies. 1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 4.. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. CONCLUSION Eat and drink what you like.

Speaking English is apparently what kills you

[milkywayan]

Hey! Do you have any favorite German youtubers or tiktokers? I'm learning the language and would like to listen/watch more people speaking it casually.

Hey! I don't use tiktok, and most of the german speaking people who make tiktok like content on instagram have heavy dialects, so idk how helpful that is (but e.g. buono memes, a guy from southern tyrol making funny videos about small town life, or austriankiwi who is a guy from new zealand that moved to austria -and who speaks better dialect than high german hehe)

Youtubers, I also don't watch many, one guy I like is called Geschichtsfenster who makes educational videos about the medieval times. He has a nice standard German. There is also MittelAlter who does the same. Then I watch Faser und Stoff, who is a textile historian. Idk if you are interested in that kind of stuff.

There is a very popular comedic youtuber called Coldmirror, who makes parody stuff, and she basically is the basis of the humor of many german speaking millenials

In general though I can recommend STRG-F, ARTEde, DER SPIEGEL, ZDF Magazin Royal, Gute Nacht Österreich, Y-kollectiv and similar things. They are produced by German)Austrian TV channels, and have interesting documentaries (strg-f and y-kollectiv are produced for youtube by younger journalists, and it more casual; magazin royal and gute nacht österreich is satire and political discussion in a late night show format). These can definitely help with understanding the language, but also the culture and what is going on at the moment.

I hope this helps! :)

I have a bunch of german speaking followers, maybe they can add something!

[dervampireprince]

Many apologies if my English is broken or simple. It’s not my mother tongue. I speak German natively.

A friend recommended me to listen to your new Astarion audio because I really like bg3. It was wonderful! I really enjoyed hearing it! Are you planning to create more content for Astarion?

Dein,

ein anonymer deutscher Mann 🇩🇪

please don't worry, you're english is perfect! i definitely want to voice astarion more, i really enjoyed voicing him, and i hope people want to hear more of him. i welcome requests for scenarios with him. danke!

[ravennell]

pt. II HERE SHE IS

chapter fifteen. austria & australia

female F1 Driver OC | Masterlist

Jolene races in Austria and Daniel celebrates his 34th birthday in Australia.

TW: Swearing.

a/n: this was gonna be quick but it became bigger than i thought it would. next chapter will be Silverstone and that’s gonna be a massive chapter i might have to split it in two.

4.6K Words | <- previous part

27th JUNE 2023

jwpond

Liked by danielricciardo and 457,439 others 

jwpond THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC!!!! ⛰️🎶🌷🌲🎼🌳💐⛰️

Had a beautiful time in Salzburg with my darling Piper and Aiko! Sadly did not meet my own Captain Von Trapp but also I do not have the time for 7 children so maybe it's for the best! I definitely recommend the Sound of Music tour, especially with friends!

Tagged: pipermclean satoaiko

danielricciardo Did you enter any singing competitions? jwpond i don't have 7 harmonising children at my disposal  danielricciardo What a shame 

pipermclean i think you're my Captain Von Trapp....

jwpond you are SO right!! sit on a pinecone so i can be sure 

satoaiko had the best time with you!

jwpond ALWAYS DO WITH YOU satoaiko 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

redreddare beautiful ladies i am jealous 😍

jwpond MISS YOUUUUUUUUUUU

view more comments

-

pipermclean

Liked by redreddare and 53,847 others

pipermclean Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens, Brown paper packages tied up with string, These are few of my favourite things

beautiful beautiful time in Salzburg with some beautiful beautiful ladies 💖💖💖 

Tagged: jwpond satoaiko

jwpond HAD THE BEST TIME WITH YOU I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR COMING WITH ME!!!! 💖💖💖💖

pipermclean THANK YOU FOR TAKING ME I HAD THE BEST TIME TOO 💖💖💖💖

kbolts you're one of MY favourite things!

pipermclean wow snap! you're one of MY favourite things too - arguably number 1! kbolts 💕💕💕 pipermclean 💕💕💕

redreddare BEAUTIFUL 

pipermclean SAYS YOU

satoaiko LAY EE ODL LAY EE ODL LAY HEE HOO 🐐

pipermclean LAY EE ODL LAY EE ODL-OOH

view more comments

-

satoaiko

Liked by zozowarren and 92,393 others 

satoaiko I have confidence in sunshine!! 🌞 

i felt like a child again with Jolene and Piper walking around/enjoying Salzburg. the Austrian Grand Prix and my first one is next!

Tagged: jwpond pipermclean

jwpond had a wonderful time with you! we totally hit those notes correctly!

satoaiko we definitely had the right key!

zozowarren GORGEOUS!! am kinda jealous!

satoaiko not my fault you have a boyfriend  zozowarren i think it is your fault, jolene's too satoaiko that's a crazy accusation, isn't it @/jwpond?  jwpond nah this is one of my achievements, though why didn't you and the boy come? the boy who speaks German? zozowarren i was meeting the parents.... jwpond OH YEAH

pipermclean LAY EE ODL LAY EE ODL LAY HEE HOO 🐐

satoaiko LAY EE ODL LAY EE ODL-OOH

view more comment

-

29th JUNE 2023

AT THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX JOLENE SITS ON THE PRESS CONFERENCE SOFA. She sits next to Zhou at the end, the other people on the sofa are Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Logan Sergeant. Jolene spends most of the press conference fidgeting and hoping that her arrangements in Australia for Daniel's birthday are going well. It's his birthday on Saturday so Jolene can't be there so she has to make sure it's good the best she can.

Jolene half listens as they ask the others questions, they get to her and say, "Jolene, coming to you now. Aston Martin introduced a significant upgrade last time out in Montréal which worked very well. This is a very different kind of race track, so, in terms of performance, what are you expecting?"

"We don't fully know, really. I think we have to see tomorrow in the free practice how the car feels and how competitive it can be this weekend," Jolene starts, "I think we had different performance in Barcelona and Canada, different feeling with the cars, so yeah, hopefully we are closer to a Canada kind of performance and try to deploy a little bit more of the package. It is a sprint weekend so we will have less time to test, but hopefully we can test a few things on the car in FP1."

"Do you think you'll have as good a weekend for the team as Canada?"

Jolene shrugs, "We can hope. It would be nice but it's a different circuit and that was a specific plan/idea I had had and I had plenty of time working on. I have no such plan for this weekend but I'm sure we can do something good," 

"What about your battle with Ferrari and Mercedes? Aston Martin is 3rd with Ferrari and Mercedes between you and first. How do you see that playing out this weekend?"

"Well I think we're pretty strong, we are the only team to have both drivers win a race so far this year," Jolene says before continuing, "At this point it's still all to play for and we can definitely bring it to Ferrari and Mercedes and make them sweat a little. It's all just great and when we started the season in Bahrain we were definitely not expecting to be up there, and now we are just enjoying every weekend. It's good to be in this battle."

After the press conference ended she was on the phone in her motorhome, "Hi Grace, I'm going to be really overbearing about all this," Jolene said when Daniel's mum picked up.

"Hi Jolene, and do not worry," Grace says, understanding why Jolene's making sure her plans for Daniel's birthday are prepared, "I understand but everything is fine. I have your gifts for Daniel wrapped," Grace assured.

"Thank you, I am terrible at wrapping anyway," Jolene said, "That's why the Christmas gifts were in gift bags," she explains the gifts she gave at Christmas.

"You can always ask me for help with that," Grace assures.

"Thanks, I probably will have to learn," Jolene says, thinking of the future gift giving in the Ricciardo family, "Or make Daniel learn,"

"He'd definitely try if you asked," Grace laughed.

"Would be an odd request," Jolene laughs before changing the subject, "How are you guys?"

Jolene and Grace talk for a few minutes before the phone is passed to Daniel when he arrives in the room. Jolene knows he's smiling wide when he takes the phone.

"Hey Scrappy," Daniel says.

"Hey honey," Jolene responds happily, "How is it down under?"

"Oh you know how it is," he says, Jolene can hear him walking a bit away from his parents, "It's very good, would be even better if you were here,"

"Ah you charmer," Jolene pretends to wave off, "You'll just have to imagine me,"

"I can imagine a lot about you," Daniel says in a suggestive tone. 

"I am not having phone sex with you on your mum's phone," Jolene shuts that down.

Daniel lets out a booming laugh, "You assume the worst of me,"

"Sometimes it's funnier if I do," Jolene responds.

-

30th JUNE 2023

A NEW TATTOO WAS NESTLED AMONGST THE TATTOOS ON THE BACK OF JOLENE'S RIGHT ARM. It was a honey pot. It was Jolene's fifty-third tattoo. Next to the Ethel Cain lyric 'If it's meant to be then it will be' she got not long Sebastian told her he was retiring and she was going to get the seat. She may not believe in God but she does believe in herself, she has too. The honey pot was also next to the small Tardis on the back of her arm. The honey pot was for Daniel, it felt right. She had gone to a tattoo shop to get it done on Tuesday, making Mick translate for her. He had offered to hold her hand through the pain but Jolene didn't need it. He did chat with her throughout.

Piper was helping her reapply the clear plastic wrap after cleaning it; it was after the only practice session this weekend. It was another Sprint Weekend. At a race track Jolene had luckily raced on before, but she still likes the practice. They were preparing for the Squint qualifying.

"It'll be fine," Piper tells her, even though she doesn't know what she's thinking so hard about.

"What will be fine?" Jolene asks.

"What you're worrying about," Piper answers simply, "Daniel's birthday will go well, and you'll do well in the sprint,"

"I was worrying about the socioeconomic state of the World," Jolene answered instead. 

"Yeah I can't help you with that," Piper answers sadly.

"I think you could," Jolene says, Piper laughs.

"If only," Piper comments wistfully, "The wrapping is on. It's healing well," she comments on the tattoo she'd been rewrapping for her.

"Well we're old hands at this now," Jolene comments standing up to get ready for the Sprint qualifying. 

Piper laughs, "You're an old hand, miss fifty-three tattoos," she reminds her, "We may have two matching tattoos," they both have a ghost and a train for their summer and matching grief, "I don't have fifty-three,"

"Just ten," Jolene says, Piper laughs.

"Just ten," Piper confirms, "Though I do have another idea for a tattoo,"

Jolene turns, "Do tell," 

"I think we: me, you and Rachel..." Piper says, "... should get some True Blue lyrics?" 

Jolene smiles wide, "You are a genius," she tells her, "That is our song,"

"I know," Piper responds, before more can be said there's a knock at the door.

"You almost ready?" Tyrese's voice comes through the door, "Is your tattoo wrapped?"

"Yes, but you can come check, if you want?" Jolene responds, she hasn't put her fireproof top on yet but she obviously has no problem with Tyrese seeing her in a sports bra. She doesn't have a problem with most people seeing that to be honest, men can be fully shirtless all the time they can handle her in a sports bra.

Tyrese comes in, just about fitting in the drivers room. He reaches for her arm to check up on it, "Sorry, Piper, I know you know how to do it," he tells her, as he inspects Jolene's arm.

"I understand," Piper says, she understands that making sure Jolene is healthy is his number one priority.

Tyrese looks up from Jolene's arm, happy with what he sees, "It's not hurting you right?"

"It's fine," Jolene insists.

"Is that there's no pain or there's some pain but I'm stubborn so I think it's fine?" Tyrese checks.

"I can tell there was a needle in it four days ago," Jolene says, "But that's because I'm thinking about it,"

"Makes sense," Tyrese nods, "Tell me if it changes," he asks, checking up on the tattoo once more.

"I will," Jolene says, "Can I put my shirt on now?" 

"Yeah, sure," Tyrese says, "Piper don't distract her," he leaves with.

"She can get distracted on her own," Piper calls after him.

Jolene laughs before pulling on her shirt and getting ready the rest of the way.

Piper was right. Jolene was fine. She qualified on pole. She was going to start the sprint race tomorrow from the front.

-

1st JULY 2023

jwpond posted to their story!

jwpond posted to their close friends story!

-

-

DESPITE THE MIXED CONDITIONS JOLENE STILL STAYED IN FRONT. Twenty-Four laps around the Red Bull Ring still place Jolene on the top of the leaderboard. The rain and intermediate tires might have changed things across the field but Jolene stayed in front. Jolene pulls into her number one spot after the race. Pulling into P2 was Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen pulled into P3.

Just like after a race win she celebrated with the team, just with less exuberance than those Grand Prix wins. After the others got interviewed it was her turn. 

"You kept control of that sprint, another great performance Jolene," Naomi Schiff starts.

"Thanks, well in some ways with this length I have in fact done that race before," Jolene starts, "Admittedly very different cars but I won that too so a pretty good track record here,"

"A very good track record," Naomi agrees, "Did you think about changing off on the inters at all?"

"Well, as we knew there wasn't going to be more rain it might have worked but I felt confident enough I would be fine, even when the slicks picked up speed," Jolene explains, "And well clearly it worked"

"Congratulations Jolene," Naomi says as the interview finishes, "Eight more points for you in the standings,"

David Coulthard presents the Sprint plaques. They shake hands and Jolene poses in between the two world champions for a photo.

Jolene returns to the garage and after Piper hands her back her phone she looks down at her phone to a text from Daniel, 'Gift number 6?'

Jolene laughs to herself before responding, 'shouldn't you be celebrating?' as he's supposed to be at his party in Perth.

'Shouldn't YOU?' Daniel responds quickly.

'i have a race tomorrow' Jolene texts back as she enters her drivers room.

'LAME' Daniel responds, he's definitely been drinking.

Jolene rolls her eyes as she sits down. She uses the 'haha' reaction on his message. She types and sends 'yeah totally' and quickly follows it with 'driving a car at 100s of miles an hour is LAME' before ending with 'have some drinks on my behalf'.Daniel responds with 'Already well ahead of you baby' and a photo of him with a drink in his hand, smiling at the camera. Jolene smiled looking at the screen wishing she was there, even if she won today.

-

2nd JULY 2023

JOLENE PULLED HER IN FRONT OF THE MARKER FOR 3RD PLACE. She was finishing the weekend on the podium. It would have been nice to win but the Mercedes was better in the dryer conditions. Lewis was better today, they had a better strategy and for once Ferrari got the tyre strategy right, more than Aston Martin did. It was disappointing but Jolene was rolling with it. She had essentially won the team four races this season, if you counted Lance's win she got him, which arguably you should. 

"It's obviously disappointing not to win after yesterday but obviously Lewis and Charles had better luck and well were better today," Jolene says in the interview, her PR response there, "Obviously Lewis was the best, he is a seven-time World Champion after all, Charles and I are not even a one-time world champion. Hopefully that will change, especially for me," she adds before answering more questions about the race, and saying they'll find out why in the debrief.

Soon she's walking with Lewis to the cooldown room, Charles is not far behind. Lewis is giving Jolene advice as to where she went wrong, how he got past her near the beginning.

"I don't think she needs your advice," Charles says as they enter the cooldown room, "She knows how to beat us already,"

Lewis laughs, "I think you're forgetting how few races she's done," he tells Charles, sitting down in the number 1 position, "What number are you at?" he asks Jolene.

"Twelve," Jolene answers, after checking her mental maths, this was race twelve for Jolene.

"Practically a baby," Lewis says.

Charles laughs, "She still doesn't need your help,"

Lewis laughs, "Maybe not," he agrees, "But it's the nice thing to do,"

"Thanks," Jolene says, "I will say, I would have figured it out. I have been watching you race since two-thousand and seven, when I was ten, eleven,"

"You're making me feel old," Lewis says, jokingly.

"If I'm making you feel old you've got problems," Jolene tells him, "I'm twenty-six,"

Lewis laughs, "Yeah, I've definitely got problems," 

They all laugh before being called to the podium.

-

jwpond

Liked by mickschumacher and 647,931 others

jwpond A WEEK/WEEKEND IN AUSTRIA a Sprint win and a podium pretty gooddddddddddd

Aiko and Zoe were here (as well as Piper who I am my attached to) so EVEN better

oh and p.s I got another tattoo on Tuesday! because I can! number 53! (thanks for translating Mick)

Tagged: astonmartinf1 satoaiko pipermclean zozowarren

danielricciardo Nice tattoo... seems familiar

jwpond i am sending you bad vibes danielricciardo 😔

pipermclean I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUU

jwpond I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

satoaiko 💖💕💖💕💖💕

jwpond 💖💕💖💕💖💕

view more comments

-

3rd JULY 2023

THE CAR DRIVING JOLENE AND PIPER PULLS UP. They climb out the car outside Jolene's/their flat. Tyrese was dropped at home first and Aiko had taken a flight to Gatwick instead of Birmingham International because it was definitely much closer to Brighton. Jolene grabs both their suitcases out the back of the car before Piper can. It's usual, every time Piper tries to argue she can do it Jolene levels her with a look. Piper still tries every time though. She does concede only picking up her backpack and getting the door to the block of flats. 

"You know I can carry my own bag," Piper says as they step into the lift, pressing the button.

"You don't need to," Jolene responds, leaning against the lift wall. Piper does get to carry her bag. From the living room to her room. 

Jolene opens the door to her room and sees Daniel sleeping in her sheets. Jolene smiles. She knew he was here, she knew when his flight was getting in. She had also seen a pair of his shoes in the hallway when she and Piper had taken their shoes off by the door. His were in the shoe rack and not the just pairs that were there before she left for Austria.

Jolene does a few things in her room, unpacking small stuff like chargers, before deciding to climb into bed with Daniel. She had missed him, she didn't intend to go to sleep just cuddle him for a bit. Jolene just wanted to be close to him that's why she just takes her jacket and trousers off and slides into bed. He very quickly turns to her, even in his sleep he knows it's her. He wraps his arms around her, pulls her into his chest and she falls asleep listening to his heartbeat.

There's the vibration of Jolene's ringing phone, Jolene doesn't think it's ever been off silent, that wakes both Jolene and Daniel. She was very confused briefly after just waking up. Daniel doesn't want to let her go as she tries to reach for the phone. "Phone call," she tells him, he groans and lets her go.

"Hello?" Jolene says into the phone, she hadn't checked who was calling so she could answer the phone before it stopped ringing. Jolene's also still waking up.

"Hey Jolene," Sebastian's voice says over the phone.

Recognising his voice wakes Jolene up, "Seb! Happy Birthday!" Jolene says into the phone sitting up, Daniel's hand reaches out to hold her thigh but is partly asleep still; he had travelled further than her, "Sorry I fell asleep," she tells Seb.

"It's okay, I just wanted to thank you for the card and gifts," Seb says, it was his 36th birthday.

"No problem," Jolene says, "I'm glad you liked them. I probably annoyed Hanna by my check ins about it arriving,"

Seb laughs, "No she doesn't mind," he assures.

"They always say that, Grace said that about Daniel's gifts," Jolene says. Reaching down to stroke Daniel's hair because he can, "But I am assured they all made it to him. I can double check he is right here,"

"That's okay, maybe I'll talk to him after if you don't mind," Seb says.

"He's even more asleep than me," Jolene told him, "I'm sure he'd love to talk to you, Piper too,"

"Is she also asleep?" Seb asks.

"No clue, she's in her room," Jolene says. They chat about other things for a few minutes before Jolene is poking Daniel awake.

"Seb wants to talk to you," she tells him.

He sits up taking the phone from her after smiling and kissing her on the cheek, "Hey man," he says into the phone. 

They start chatting when Jolene starts to get up and once again Daniel doesn't like that, he gives her a confused face and Jolene just says, "Piper," before leaving the room.

She walks across the living room knocking on the door to Piper's room. "Hey beautiful," Jolene says after Piper called she could come in.

"Hey babe," Piper responds, lying in bed having paused her laptop.

"Seb is on the phone, Daniel's just talking to him now," Jolene explains, "And he would like to speak to you too,"

"Hell yeah," Piper says, climbing out of bed to follow Jolene across the living room back to her room.

"Hey Dan," Piper says, stepping into the room.

"Hey Piper," he responds, "Yeah, Piper's here," he says back into the phone, "Yeah I'll put her on," he says holding out the phone.

"Sebastian!" Piper greets into the phone, stepping out into the living room.

Daniel smiles at Jolene, reaching out a hand for her. When she accepts it he pulls her into bed with him, "Hey gorgeous," he says pulling her into a kiss they smile the whole way through.

Jolene's hand makes its way into the hair at the nape of his neck, fingers curling in the dark curls, "I missed you," she says, in a pause of the kissing.

"I missed you too," he says back, he goes to kiss her again before pausing as he remembers, "Something's changed since I saw you last," he says grabbing her arm and she helps him move it so he can see the honey pot on the back of it, laughing as she does so.

He looks awestruck as he lightly strokes the freshly healed skin. Daniel leans forward and kisses the tattoo making eye contact with Jolene as he does so. Jolene flushes slightly, the look similar to one he gives her at other times. 

"Piper's gonna be back with my phone in a minute," Jolene tells him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel plays dumb, leaning back and away from her.

Jolene rolls her eyes, "I'm gonna want dinner first anyway," she tells him.

Daniel laughs, "I can do dinner," he says, "I really did miss you,"

Jolene smiles, "Me too," she tells him, "I'm glad you enjoyed your birthday,"

"Hard not to when my wonderful girlfriend gets me such great gifts," Daniel says, pulling the golden chain and cowboy boot from underneath his t-shirt to show her it was around his neck.

Jolene smiles while pulling out the matching silver version (the one she got Daniel had a longer chain because when he wore it when he was there and she raced it was a bit tight). She wore the necklace he'd gotten her for her birthday everyday. He smiles seeing it, "I was pretty proud of that gift," he tells her, reaching out to rub his thumb over the cowboy boot.

"It was so good, I had to steal it," Jolene comments.

"Stop me stealing your necklace," Daniel says, "Speaking of gifts..." he says and Jolene groans like she knows where he's going with this, "...you have to give me a list," he says even though he does already have ideas, and has had a plan for awhile he has started.

"A list?" Jolene questions.

"Yeah, I know you have lists of books, DVDs and CDs," he tells her, "I'll give money to charity too,"

"Okay," Jolene relents, "I just feel bad, I can afford things, and I never liked to ask for much..."

"I know but I want to," Daniel says, "I like getting you things. You often tend to beat me to it. That's the only problem,"

Jolene laughs, "It's a long list of books," she tells him.

"Perfect," Daniel responds, "I do have ideas that you're not gonna beat me too though," he tells her.

"Then why'd you ask?" Jolene asked.

"It's like one idea, I've gotta get you five others," Daniel says.

Jolene groans playfully, "It's not a competition, I'm gonna spend my birthday with you," 

Daniel has an exaggerated thinking face, "I'll consider it,"

Jolene smiles at him, "Your tire test is next week right?" she changes the subject.

"Yeah," Daniel says, "Hey Piper," he says, Jolene's back is to her so doesn't see her in the door.

"Hey lovebirds," Piper says, placing Jolene's phone on the table, "Seb says bye, the girls wanted their dad,"

"Can't blame them," Jolene says, turning to sit against the headboard, "What food do we have for dinner?"

"A take-out menu," Piper says, Jolene and Daniel laugh.

"You'll have to defend me to Tyrese," Jolene tells her.

"Will do," Piper says, before disappearing off so they can all order some dinner.

"I'll help you work it off," Daniel says.

Jolene laughs, "You better pay then,"

"It was just my birthday!" Daniel protests, even though he was already planning on paying for it anyway.

-

4th JULY 2023

JOLENE PARKS HER CAR OUTSIDE HER FLAT. She had just returned from a day at the Aston Martin factory to prepare for the British Grand Prix this weekend.  Jolene obviously wanted to do well there, this was her home race. So it was even more important that she spent time in the simulator than normal. She felt confident but she wanted to be even more confident going into it. Especially as she is only going in for a half day tomorrow as she has agreed to go to London for an awards Gala for her friend AJ in the evening. She's presenting him his award.

Jolene walks up the stairs and into her flat where she finds Aiko and Piper. Aiko has garment bags hanging off the door frambe between the kitchen and living room. "There she is!" Aiko cries.

There's not much time before Jolene is being corralled into trying the clothes on. Admittedly she'd asked Aiko for help with them but she barely got to say hello before she was pulling on the painted jeans.

Aiko had painted lots of different things about being British, the best parts. Such as a red phone box, fish and chips, a Yorkshire pudding, the NHS and the great British plug. There's lots of other things like a Tardis, Jane Austen references, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. There were also some patches such as a Sex Pistols God Save the Queen one. There's many.

Aiko is pointing at them all for Jolene and Piper's benefit, "Here's an Aston Martin race car," she says pointing to it before pointing to, "Here's the Wolverhampton Wanderers logo," she said pointing to the black Wolf on golden orange background.

Jolene laughed, "That's Britain to you?"

"For all the time I lived in Wolverhampton I had you," Aiko explains, "So I have a pretty good opinion of it,"

"Even though they're terrible at football?" Jolene asked.

Aiko laughs, "It's charming," she defends.

Jolene shakes her head fondly, "If you say so,"

"Anyway, you're Wolfie," Aiko tells her, "You've gotta lean in,"

Aiko steps away for a second looking her work over before saying, "Okay, dress now? That's for tomorrow and more important," she says, reaching for the other garment bag.

It's a simple strapless black mid-length dress with a full skirt. Jolene's bear is thrown on the sofa as she tries it on in the living room. It gets great reviews from everyone in the room and when Daniel walks in her starts with, "This is a sight for sore eyes,"

Jolene smiles as he walks over and kisses her in greeting with an added, "Hi honey," before he greets everyone else.

"Do you like the dress?" Aiko asks after he's treated everyone.

"Obviously," Daniel says, "But I think Jolene's answer is more important,"

"It has pockets," Jolene shows him.

"Can you do no wrong Aiko?" Daniel asks rhetorically.

"She can't," Jolene answers for her, "Now if you'd be so kind to unzip me I'm gonna put some other clothes on and start dinner," she doesn't bother to go back to her room to take the dress off and bring it back, no need in this company, before disappearing to put on a t-shirt and shorts to make dinner.

-

—————

[not-so-bored]

5 September 2023, Tuesday 2/50 days of productivity 

Today, I am grateful for my friends.

Things I have done today:

🏫 Classes 

🏢 Library 

🖨 Printing 

🗒 Maths Revision 

🦉 Duolingo: German

🇬🇧 CAE: Speaking (5 minutes)

🇬🇧 CAE: Listening (20 minutes)

💡 Essay Competition: Research 

📧 Educational Project Application 

📚 The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

Tranquil's Studyblr Challenge

Daily Question: What was the last book you finished?

I finished Stories of Your Life and Others yesterday. It’s a collection of eight short stories by Ted Chiang. They are science fiction and fantasy. The main themes I noticed were knowledge and power. I definitely recommend them all, especially The Story of Your Life.

[perperam]

Do you have any Harlivy fic recommendations? Preferably something that is already completed?

OH I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE

okay okay so quick little tangent fact !! I actually just finished my undergrad degree in "english literature analysis & writing" and reading fics is so fun bc I get to analyze them and break them down and if it's particularly well written the stars align and it's just UGH so good. 

ratings are: E (explicit) M (mature) T (teens and up) and G (everyone) anyways here is a HUGE list of my favorite fics to date, their stats/details/plots, reasonings as to why they're on the list to begin with, and a short analysis:

SHORT STORIES (less than 30k words)

for your convenience they’re in order of length bc I’m focusing on this super hard rn

KISS YOUR BEST FRIEND CHALLENGE (T)  STATS — 340 words, shenanigans, fluff PLOT — Harley, TikTok and general Social Media queen, decides to do the trending challenge to kiss your best friend. The best friend? Her roommate and the woman she’s been crushing on for fucking ever: Poison Ivy.

AM I TOO CLOSE? (CAUSE YOU FOLD INTO ME LIKE A HEART WITH A BEAT) (G) STATS — 839 words, fluff, shenanigans PLOT — Harley genuinely wasn’t looking for trouble, but it’s hard to just have a day out when you’re one of Gotham’s most wanted. Running into Ivy, she takes drastic measures (and her hoodie into the mix) to distract the police from looking in their direction.

I’M HOME (G) STATS — 892 words, domestic fluff PLOT — After a long and rough day at work, Ivy comes home to Harley. Relaying the details of her day, she basks in the comfort of her girlfriend, who provides gentle questions and is a phenomenal listener. General cuteness.

CONFLICT DIAMONDS (G) STATS — 990 words, wedding shenanigans, banter, humor PLOT — Batman and Renee Montoya respond to a break-in at a jewelry store, except even though the owner is duct-taped to the wall, it isn’t really a break-in; Harley’s just trying to shop for a ring for Ivy, and that’s difficult to do when the owner is screaming in the corner. Batman and Renee both pitch in to help pick something nice for Harley’s girl, resulting in hilarious banter.

OF COURSE (T) STATS — 1.1k words, hurt/comfort (kinda), harley quinn animated tv show centric PLOT — In the aftermath of Ivy’s death, rebirth, and the fall of Joker Tower, Harley collapses onto the ground. Since she never mentioned that her parents are the reason for most of her injuries, Ivy isn’t sure why she’s so out of it.

PERFECT MORNINGS (T) STATS — 1.1k words, domestic fluff/bliss PLOT — Ivy, who usually wakes up early and before Harley, takes a moment to look at the countless muscles, ridges, scars, and tattoos on Harley’s body as she sleeps. General cuteness.

I’D LOVE TO CHECK YOU OUT (T) STATS — 1.7k words, university au, fluff PLOT — Harley visits the library virtually every day, and it’s definitely not because she needs to work on her university courses and homework. She finally works up the courage to speak to the alluring redhead she sees there every day while absentmindedly looking at a book on sharks. 

I’LL LOVE YOU IN THE MORNING (NOON, NIGHT) (T) STATS — 2.1k words, angst, hurt/comfort PLOT — A snapshot look into Ivy and how she comes to know, care, and love all the sides of Harley—from psychiatrist to criminal to girlfriend. She loves her throughout it all. 

DAY-DREAMING (T) STATS — 2.2k words, shenanigans, psychiatrist Harleen PLOT — Ivy’s falling for her psychiatrist—her humorous, intelligent, caring, and downright gorgeous psychiatrist. It’s difficult, to say the least.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THEMYSCIRA (DOESN’T) STAY IN THEMYSCIRA (T) STATS — 2.3k words, humor, wedding shenanigans, angst with a happy ending PLOT — In a surprise twist of events, Harley and Ivy were drunkenly married at Themyscira. When asked at the wedding if anybody had objections to the union of Ivy and Chuck, Wonder Woman and the Queen of Themyscira herself come to object. Ivy, for lack of a better word, wants to die a little.

NOT A ROCKER CHICK (T) STATS — 3.1k words, rock band au, fluff PLOT — The last thing Ivy wants to do is go to a rock band concert with her best friend, Selina. Despite her best efforts, she can’t help but completely fall into the rhythm of the band and their music, so different than her own norm. And okay, maybe the singer (who Selina was friends with and called “Harley”) was also kinda hot...

A TENDER HEART AMONG THE GREEN (T) STATS — 3.2k words, gotham city sirens raise Lucy au, domestic bliss PLOT — Harley and Selina come back home to the apartment to find Ivy passed out asleep with Lucy cuddling into the crook of her neck and Selina’s cats cuddling her legs. Knowing that Ivy would rather be caught dead than in such a compromising situation (after all, she is the Poison Ivy, who “hates humans”) the two take a photo, since it lasts longer. Shenanigans and cuteness ensue.

BUILDING YOUR GIRL’S SECOND STORY (M) STATS — 3.3k words, university/grad school au, angst with a happy ending PLOT — Snapshots of Harley’s battle with her violent and abusive boyfriend, Jack, and the way in which Bruce, his boyfriend Clark, and her best friend (and potentially lover) Pamela all love Harley and will do anything, anything, to make sure she gets the help, care, and love she needs.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF NORMAL (T) STATS — 3.6k words, coronavirus pandemic/quarantine au, family au PLOT — Ivy is requested by the Justice League to help create and manufacture a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. As she works on the vaccine, she video calls Harley and their daughter Lucy, both of whom miss her very much. 

RABBIT IN THE GARDEN (T) STATS — 4.4k words, implied suicide attempt, hard angst PLOT — Winters are difficult to Ivy. When Harley comes home one day to see her submerged fully in water in the bathtub, the only thing Harley can do is cry and take her out. Ultimately Ivy is alright—but it doesn’t make it any easier.

WE WILL BE (EVERYTHING THAT WE’D EVER NEED) (T) STATS — 5.8k words, high school au, angst, hurt/comfort PLOT — Harley and Ivy are best friends from high school, living in the middle of Arizona. Ivy is absolutely head over heels for Harley, but the latter is in a growing and increasingly abusive relationship with the older “bad-boy” (literally) Jack. Eventually, the two grow together in more ways than one.  

WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS (EXCEPT NO DOGS DIE) (M) STATS — 9.7k words, domestic bliss, no powers just botanist & psychiatrist au PLOT — After her abusive ex-boyfriend tries to maniacally tear down the front door of her apartment with an ax as her best friend, Selina, pushes the table against the splintering wood, Bruce recommends that Harley gets a dog. She gets two German Shepard brothers—Bud and Lou—who lead her one day on their walk to the most beautiful flower shop owner Harley’s ever seen. The story of Harley and Ivy, told with Bud and Lou present to witness every moment.

THE MOMENT I AWAKEN GHOSTS (T) STATS — 11.7k words, falling in love, feelings & realizations PLOT — A deep look into Ivy’s feelings and how they evolve from general hatred against Harleen the psychiatrist at Arkham to a blooming, kind and gentle love towards Harley Quinn, the crown jester of crime. 

HARLEQUIN’S ISLE (T) STATS — 17.5k words, hurt/comfort, happy ending, shenanigans, humor PLOT — Harley and Ivy decide to go on a vacation on Bruce Wayne’s new eco-friendly plane, but in a surprise twist of events, things go terribly wrong, Ivy falls out of the plane, and the two (as well as all the other rich and wealthy big-name CEOS on the plane) get stranded on an island with someone actively trying to rob the investors. Harley and Ivy will fight them, god damn it, because they deserve this vacation and they will have it.

LONGER STORIES (30k words to 100k words)

YOUR LOVE (DÉJÀ VU) (G) STATS — 33k words, slow burn, mild angst, canon divergence PLOT — A what-if-Harley-found-Ivy-first fic, YOUR LOVE wonderfully illustrates Dr. Harleen Quinzel treating Ivy in a wonderfully humane and kind way, including learning floriography, the language of flowers, in order to better relate to her. Ivy is taken aback by her doctor's genuine care and begins to develop feelings, all the while Harleen falls hard and fast which wholly confuses and frightens her. The one caveat is that while this is happening, Harleen is also treating the Joker as well, who tries (keyword: tries) to manipulate her. Ivy and Harley dance a timid tango around one another as they try to navigate this new playing field of romantic feelings for one another, and things come to a breaking point when Harleen realizes that, perhaps, all of her patients have a point and that the real villains are not the ones inside the asylum, but rather the ones running it. FAVORITE DETAILS — I just love the way this is written. It provides a wonderful and almost skinny-love like romance (except this takes place in an insane asylum) as Harleen and Ivy both try to understand their strong feelings for one another. The way in which the rogues and other inmates/patients all look out for one another was very heartwarming, and Waylon and Eddie's thinly veiled camaraderie with Ivy—and her thinly veiled appreciation for it—were both lovely and created a really warm environment. It really underlined why Harley loved them because you love them too in the process, and see how she reaches her breaking point.  CHARACTER DEPICTIONS — Harley, as she is in all of my favorite fics, is depicted as an incredibly intelligent and talented psychiatrist. Her caring nature is wonderfully outlined in this fic as she helps Waylon, Eddie, Ivy, and everybody else in the asylum be treated with genuine respect and care, going as far as to get them personalized gifts. Her psyche fracturing slowly never once makes her seem unintelligent to the reader, even as she actively places a ditz persona in order to fool the rest of the asylum staff (and the Joker). Ivy, on the other hand, is illustrated in a way that perfectly shows how all she genuinely needed was someone to listen. She's sometimes harsh and crass but you can see how she begins to soften as Harley helps her and treats her with: you guessed it, genuine respect. FINAL VERDICT — I would get this tattooed on my ass if I could

NOVEL LENGTH WORKS (100k+ words)

ACROSS THE WAY (M) STATS — 128.7k words, slow-burn, tattoo artist & flower shop owner au  PLOT — Botanist and flower shop owner Pamela Isley moves to Gotham from Seattle in search of a new life. Her shop is located directly next to a tattoo shop—one that is incredibly loud and bothersome. Upon walking in to give the shop a piece of her mind, she meets one of the resident artsits, Harley Quinzel, and cannot get her out of her mind. The two become best friends, and feelings slowly start to develop. On a night when Harley is most vulnerable and in need of a place to escape, Pam offers her apartment as a refuge, and from that point on things are never the same again (in the best way possible).  FAVORITE DETAILS — The SIT sessions were a wonderful touch and I loved seeing the recovery of both Ivy and Harley, because it was so real. I also loved how once Harley got out, she did everything in her power to protect both herself and Ivy from Jack, and we got to see her and Ivy grow into their wonderful, healthy romance. CHARACTER DEPICTIONS — I love how all of the characters are illustrated; Selina, who is the caring best friend and genuinely does her best to help others around her all the while being her cocky, usual self. Pam, who escaped Seattle and started anew in Gotham and is the crass botanist and also the insanely kind and caring lover. Barbara is the adorable coffee shop owner, Floyd is the caring figure for Harley that she never had, and everyone is just wonderful.  FINAL VERDICT — literally go read this rn, what are you even doing

MAD LOVE: THE BEGINNING & MAD LOVE: THE FINAL CHAPTER (M) STATS — nearly 400k words total, angst, canon divergence, domestic fluff, slice of life PLOT — imagine YOUR LOVE except this is much longer, much more heart-wrenching, a whole lot more angsty, and Harleen's break with Harley is a lot more prevalent. Another what-if scenario of Dr. Harleen Quinzel meeting and treating the illusive Poison Ivy instead of the Joker, MAD LOVE shows an interesting depiction of the way they manipulate, hurt, care, and love one another. The entire story is riddled with well placed metaphors, recurring themes, and both Ivy and Harley's characters are illustrated in the most complex and interesting way. All throughout both the initial and the sequel, Ivy and Harleen play a metaphorical chess game in manipulation as a means to gain the upper-hand on the other, which creates a dangerous foundation for their following love story. In the sequel, "The Final Chapter," the story starts with Harley and Ivy—already married near the end of "A New Beginning"—having two kids and the entire piece spans over Harley's lifetime until she's on her deathbed, with Ivy still stuck at 33 years old beside her. I personally stopped reading the story after Harley died (I was too emotionally vulnerable to continue on) but if you continue reading on, you get to see Ivy move on and appreciate Harley's impact on her life as she finds love and happiness again after the loss of her wife. FAVORITE DETAILS — We get insight into both Ivy and Harleen's trauma, and how not everything can be fixed with love. Neither Harleen nor Ivy (or their actions for that matter) are characterized as perfect in any way, and the story never excuses any of their more-than-questionable actions; in fact they make MANY mistakes and manipulate one another throughout the story, and both have power over the other (Harleen is her psychiatrist, but Ivy could easily kill her, so emotional power over someone with immense physical power). CHARACTER DEPICTIONS — Harleen is depicted as an incredibly intelligent and capable psychiatrist, and the story somehow wonderfully mixes Harley's desire for violent chaos with Harleen's desire to help others. v Ivy is illustrated as the epitome of "I hate you and will not be nice unless you're literally either my wife or kids." She is seldom kind to others, is often crass, but an entire softy when it comes to Harleen and their children. She's a hard worker and is heavily involved in her research. Harleen, on the other hand, is equally cunning but more lighthearted, extremely athletic and active, the "fun" mom, and less into power trips (unless it's about Ivy). FINAL VERDICT — definitely the most interesting fics I've ever read in my entire fucking life, it's so complex and wonderful and a literal minefield of analysis worthy literature, I'd also get this tattooed on my ass if I could

[asgardian--angels]

what are some of your favorite rammstein songs? what album would you choose to recommend to others? if you're able to choose (i know it can be difficult to do with favorite bands, lol) i grew up only hearing one of their songs and your reblogs make me curious to branch out!

Hi there!! I'm always happy to talk about bands I love haha right now since I've yet to really become a part of the fandom and I only know one or two people irl that like the same music as me I feel like I've been shouting into the void lately so like, I am gratified to know someone's listening XD

I'm by no means a Rammstein expert as I'm fairly new to the fandom and the band overall (been listening for about a year), that's my disclaimer. But I've furiously been trying to catch up with their 30-odd years of history!

I'm guessing the song you know is probably Du Hast? That is the song that I grew up knowing as well and for a very long time was the only song I heard from them. It's a very... mainstream? song, I suppose, for their standards; catchy, simple lyrics that non-German speaking audiences can sing along to, pounding repetitive militaristic beat, great to introduce international audiences to this Neue Deutsche Härte genre that was quite distinct from American metal at the time (I moved over to European metal genres about five years ago after exhausting my interest in American metal, there really just seems to be a lot more creativity going on there). While it's a good song it's by no means my favorite nor representative of their level of technical skill nor lyrical poetry. Plus it was a fairly early song in their discography, and their sound has evolved multiple times since then, as all bands do.

It's definitely hard to choose favorites as I really love all of their albums and all of the various sounds the band has gone through. They continually reinvent themselves and remain relevant and fresh, and that sustained passion always comes through in their art. There's also like, songs-that-are-my-favorite and songs-I'd-recommend-to-new-listeners which aren't always the same. I have bolded my recommendations here so you don't need to sift through all this haha.

In my opinion, their overall best album is Liebe Ist Für Alle Da (2009). It is incredibly solid as a total package; their musically heaviest era I'd say, high production quality, long tracklist and they're all jams. Rammstein doesn't half-ass anything, but LIFAD is like a self-contained universe and the concerts that go along with that era had some of the coolest stage productions & costumes. 'Rammlied' and 'Ich Tu Dir Weh' are two iconic, classic songs from this album that I couldn't recommend enough. The latter is imo one of the best songs they've ever done and the music video is killer, and is an excellent representation of the sort of enchanting darkness mixed with beauty that characterizes so much of their appeal. It was the first song of theirs I learned all the words to, and the song that made me want to listen to more Rammstein. If anything, listen to that song first out of all of these recommendations! I hope it can do that for you too. It remains an absolutely mesmerizing song for me to this day. Rammlied is one of a number of songs they have about the relationship between band and fans, great for live performances but also just a fun heavy metal song to headbang to. The chant in the beginning is so good, I’ve got it on a t-shirt haha.

While I think that's the *best* album, my personal favorite is Mutter (2001). A solid collection of impactful songs that flow in tone very well. It just has a special place in my heart! 'Sonne' is a must-listen, also I think one of the most iconic songs they've ever done. You'll never be able to get it out of your head, and pretty easy to memorize lyrics too - it was the second full song I learned. 'Mein Herz Brennt' is a dark, intense, heavy-hitting ballad with a spine-tingling music video, a great example of one of their 'dark fairytale' type songs that are common in their work. Till Lindemann specializes in these sort of speak-singing melodies that weave a twisted children's bedtime story (others like this are Wiener Blut, Spieluhr, and Puppe, I highly recommend the latter). My personal favorite from that album besides Sonne is Adios.

Literally tho all their albums are great, and I don't know your personal preferences for rock genres so you may like their earlier or later work better;

Their 90s work is more raw, less polished, as I think I could say for most bands that began in the 90s when these genres were fresh and members were young with a lot of angst and energy! Those albums, Herzeleid (1995) and Sehnsucht (1997), are absolutely worth listening to. I would recommend the songs 'Engel', 'Sehnsucht', and 'Du Riechst So Gut', to get a sense for how that era sounded. (Hardcore fans don't get on me here, I love all the songs from then, 'Laichzeit' and 'Eifersucht' are among my personal favs).

Then there are the two mid-2000s albums Reise, Reise (2004) and Rosenrot (2005), which again are just, high quality, solid pieces of work. You notice I say solid a lot here, and that's because everything that Rammstein produces is of high quality; they're true professionals who strive to perfection and I think they really put out their best in everything they do. Three classic songs from these albums are 'Mein Teil' (dark and intense, about a real life cannibalism case, music video does not mess around lmao), 'Rosenrot', and for funsies, 'Benzin' (one of their classic blow-shit-up songs you can't help but love). I think some of their deepest, most poetic songs are from these two albums. personal favs include Dalai Lama, Hilf Mir, and Ein Lied (the latter is probably my favorite song they've ever done, but it's by no means a hit or anything, just one of those quiet little 'when you're lonely we're here for you' melodies)

Their two new albums, Untitled (2019) and Zeit (2022) definitely move into a new musical era for them, and again demonstrate their dedication to consistent high production quality. I cannot recommend the song and video 'Deutschland' high enough - you absolutely must watch the video, preferably as your first listen of the song. It's more of a short film, and I think it changed me on a genetic level lmao. Deals with the conflicted feelings and politics of national pride in a country with blood on its hands, and the video is one of the most aesthetically stunning things I've ever seen. 'Zeit' is of a similar vein in terms of being the powerful ballad on the latest album, also with a great video, a very moving, sad song about the inevitability of loss and the passage of time. (again, I love everything on these albums too, I already mentioned Puppe, which is A++. Schwarz and Lügen have risen to the top on Zeit tbh, but that's between you and me).

I'm going to stop myself there, as I could just keep telling you to listen to everything they've ever done, but hopefully you will take that upon yourself at some point ;D Till has an incredible baritone voice with a fantastic range of styles that he knows how to use to full effect to weave moving tales that will stick with you. It got me off my ass to learn how to pronounce German! I hope you enjoy the recommendations, they're very much classic singles but still decent examples of their various eras.

[onigiriico]

hi! i saw your milgram pv translation thread and i wanted to ask a few unrelated questions about japanese if that’s okay!! i was just curious how long you’ve known japanese for. did you learn it? if so how long did it take to reach fluency? or was it your native language? i was curious because i want to start learning japanese and use it to fulfill my foreign language requirements when i go to uni. do you have any tips for a beginner who wants to learn japanese?

Ohh this is gonna be a long one, I hope you don't mind 😂

I started to dabble in it back in 2014/15, but I only got more serious about learning it around 2019 I think? I taught myself the basic grammar and the hiragana/katakana from a textbook at first and then used Duolingo later on. The majority of my vocabulary is actually stuff I've picked up while consuming JP media, though - a lot of it from different kinds of anime/manga, drama CDs, interviews, some variety shows etc. That's mainly a personal studying preference though - I have the easiest time learning languages while I'm actively doing things with them, whereas a lot of people seem to prefer going by textbooks from what I've heard. Different methods work for different people!

(The textbook I used is a German publication so I doubt it'll be much use to you, but it's this one if you're interested 🙇‍♂️)

I do have to admit that I'm not actually really fluent in the language - I understand a decent amount (especially when listening, since that's where I've got the most practice) and I can make basic conversation, but I'm far from native speaker level 😂

I've never studied Japanese as anything more than a hobby so I can't really speak on using it to fulfill requirements for uni, but I do believe that it's a relatively easy language to learn (in comparison to other languages I've studied)? In terms of grammar at least. We don't talk about kanji lmao

As for tips,, the most important things are to keep at it and have fun! Finding a studying method that works for you + maybe even finding a way to connect studying the language to your other interests can really help keep your motivation up in my experience. (Also don't feel discouraged when progress is slow, it is a completely different language from English after all!)

I'm wishing you all the best on your Japanese learning journey, anon! Good luck!

(I'm putting a list of some of my favorite Fun Ways™ of learning new vocabulary and stuff under the cut in case you want some input / ideas btw 👉👈 I'm not sure how useful these are when you're a complete beginner but maybe it'll be useful)

slice of life / highschool anime are a really nice way of picking up new words in passing since they tend to not dive into complicated / very specific vocabulary (e.g. there's no talks about law / medicine / etc etc) and the characters usually don't speak in specific dialects - I'm especially thinking of Miira no Kaikata and Gakuen Babysitters here, but I'm sure there's more

(the same goes for anime specifically geared towards children, but I don't have any recommendations there 🙇‍♂️)

once you know hiragana, renshuu's J-crosswords app is a fun way of practicing them and expanding your vocabulary!

when it comes to kanji, I've found it helpful to just jump right into it and try to read manga in Japanese. a lot of manga include furigana (i.e. the pronunciation of the kanji written next to them in hiragana), so if you know hiragana, you'll eventually start picking up recurring kanji as well 👌 you'll definitely be best off with digital publications for this though, especially if you don't have excellent eyesight. the furigana in manga volumes are small fdjhsgdjfd

listening to native speakers (especially in actual conversation & not acted like in anime) is always very helpful as well! I'm personally pretty interested in the seiyuu industry so I tend to go for anime-related radios or shows like Seiyuu Yoasobi for this, but it works just as well with Japanese (or bilingual!) Youtubers etc - this is also a matter of finding things that with your interests honestly

and, last but not least, following some native speakers on social media! you probably won't understand much initially without the good ol' translate button but I personally still always feel a little sense of achievement whenever I can actually read a tweet on my own 😂

[discopig]

Butterfly in flight (William Killick)

After months of ruthless combat, William had long become just another ruined soldier, but when he meets a woman whos only dream is to fly. Could he find hope again?

A/N: Finally something new! I was crying to As The World Caves In by Matt Maltese (highly recommend you listen, even while reading this), and felt inspired to write this story. It’s set in the universe of The Edge of Love, while William is at war. I didn’t make this x reader as I didn’t feel it suited the theme of the story, and I had quite a specific image in mind of the character I wrote, but if you feel your appearance matches hers it could most definitely have a similar reading experience. Also idk shit about military equipment so don’t sue me thanks. Hope you enjoy :)

All characters in this are fictional.

This is pure angst. Literally no one is happy 

Warnings: description of war

Word Count: 561

129. 129 days William had been at war. Or was it 139? He didn’t know, he didn’t know if he was even keeping track of the days and nights anymore. It had to be 129. 

The sounds of screaming men, gunshots and explosions, the ringing sound in his ears - a bomb missing him by mere centimeters - that seemed to accompany him even in his sleep, these were William’s companions, they followed him around like his shadow. 

William had lost all sense of himself, all sense of who he had been before he became just another soldier. Just another man thrown into the thorny embrace of survival. He had lost hope for anything at all, that is until he met her.

There were 4 of them. 3 women, and one boy. Pilots. Assigned to special fighter jets. They were small jets, most pilots being too heavy and bulky to fly them without weighing them down. Amy, a 12 year old boy named Patrick, Lorene and her.

She was like a breath of fresh air. Her brown curls cut into a bob and pinned to the side with a gold pin, a butterfly adorning it. Her mother had given it to her when she turned 16. Told her she would fly, just like the butterfly and just like her father did. Her father passed away from tuberculosis when she was only 10. Her faded memories of him and his flight journal, being the only thing she had left of him.

They were inseparable. When William would return from combat, shaken up and in a daze, she would hold him, without a word. He didn’t want to speak, trying his best to forget everything that had happened only a few hours ago. Trying to forget the horror of looking into his friend’s eyes - that only the previous evening were glistening with hope for a better future, laughing over the campfire in a rare moment of peace - now dead and empty. Their bodies nothing but shells of the men they had been.

The ringing had stopped. When it would start again he would think of her. Her soft brown eyes that seemed to shimmer in the sun like a warm pot of honey. Her laughter, that never seemed to be anything but loud and clear despite the not very humorous life they were living. She made the ringing stop.

The 4 pilots were to be sent off today. Their first mission on the jets. She gave him the pin as she couldn’t wear it under her helmet. She placed it in his palm with a firm grip of his hand, and stared into his cold, shaken eyes. Pulling him into a hug, she whispered “I’m going to fly today William”, he could hear the soft smile on her lips. She pulled away with a soft kiss to his cheek.

All 4 of them were gone. Their mission was to fly into a German camp, jets lined with explosives, ready to detonate on impact. She gave him the pin because she knew she wasn’t coming back. 

Amy Carrington

Patrick Bright

Lorene Ridley

and her.

All awarded Air Crew Europe star medals, their medals in frames accompanied by their photos, jet numbers written on the back. She was smiling in her photo.

“I’m going to fly today William”

She flew. Flew to her death

 I cried writing this just letting you know