#did i spend an entire month forgetting to link to the march master post?

[ivorytowerblr]

NaNoWriMo 2017: May 1st

There we go, that’s more like it. Special thanks to @starcunning for looking this over before I started and generally being a cool catte. B)

Word Count: 2162 Weekly Word Count: 2162 (of 10000) Previous: November (Masterpost); December (Masterpost); January (Masterpost); February (Masterpost); March (Masterpost); April (Masterpost);

She had followed him to the city and then been forced to stay on the outskirts, though the city itself refused to be neatly contained in the mountains. As factories went up, residential buildings were torn down or relocated elsewhere, forcing many of the poorest people onto the fringes while the rich built up their homes.

She despised it. She sneered at these rich men, these killers. She disdained them their art and their music, ripped from the hard work of the poorest people and put on display for people to sneer at. She could hear their words, their apathy towards their fellow humans.

Polite society was anything but polite.

I’m here for Leon, not for them, she thought. I’m here to wait to see what he finds, and do my own searching, for all that I’ve found or not-found, as the case may be.

The scent she had done her best to follow since the attack had since dissipated, and her companions couldn’t pick up the scent no matter how hard they tried. It was frustrating -- infuriating -- to be so helpless at a time like this.

I can’t help Leon do his research. I can’t find this monster on my own. I can’t…

It hurt to think there was nothing else she could do other than wait. It hurt to see people whose lives she couldn’t touch and who would barely understand her if they met her. Misery rose up in her throat until she made the tiniest noise of overwhelming despair, unable to contain it. Immediaetly, her companions voiced their own concerns and she buried her fingers in their coats.

“It’s… it’s alright,” she whispered, barely. “I’m not angry.”

“Would it be such a bad thing if you were?” asked a voice, and she turned. She had not heard the man -- an old one, by her reckoning -- and that was unusual. Normally, she knew when people were near her. They were loud, creating disturbance in their wake. Only Leon was properly quiet, and being near him had come with other problems, though perhaps ones that wold be solved in the future.

If we live long enough to see it. The man before her was dressed in a long brown coat, neatly turned up against the cold of the mountain. He had a strong, proud nose and pale brown skin, and his hair was long and curling, and drawn back in a tail. “Who are you?”

“A friend, of a kind,” the man said, and offered his hand. “Why not sit with me for a time?”

She stared at the proferred hand for a moment, and took it. Like with Leon, there was a profound sense of peace as he touched her, a quietness as the world fell away, and she sighed with relief. There was sympathy on the man’s face, understanding as he guided her to a nearby tent.

In her own experience, such places tended to be sparsely occupied, meant for temporary residence but this man’s tent was thickly carpeted with rugs that smelled of spices and horses, though not so much as to be overwhelming in either case, which was a relief. There were chests lining one side of the tent, and a comfortable looking bedroll on the far side, while in the centre of the tent was a table and a pair of squat stools.

“Please, sit. Be welcome in my home.” The man gestured to one of the stools, and she sat, awkward. The man took a seat across from her and smiled. “What is your name, child?”

“I am--” she began. “Olwynne is the name men use to call for me. Olwynne Roma.”

“You don’t seem to think of it as your name, though,” the man said. “What do you call yourself?”

“Wolf-Sister,” she said. “That’s who raised me after I… was left behind.”

“Canis Sororita,” the man murmured. “I’ll have to make a note of it. I am Hershel Malcador, and either name will do to call me. Is it quiet in here?”

“Yes,” Canis whispered. “I don’t see how it can be. Only Leon is so quiet.”

“Only… hm, interesting. Another note I will make,” Malcador said, smiling. “I am a psychic. Do you know what that means?”

“...that you’re a witch?”

“Ah, what an old accusation for one such as I,” Malcador said. “I suppose that’s close enough. I am quiet because I can quiet my thoughts, and your senses, just by being nearby. Psychic power is rare amongst humans, but our numbers grow. There are a very great many humans across this vast empire and many have the potential to become psychics. More every year.”

“Do you think Leon could be psychic?” Canis asked. “Is that why he feels so quiet?”

“I think it’s possible, certainly,” Malcador said. “I think that it is likely that he has learned, consciously or otherwise, to make himself very quiet and you reach out for that.”

“The man who adopted him found him abandoned in the forests distant from here,” Canis said. “When I first met him, I knew that we were the same. We had both been forsaken by humanity and were better off with the animals, but… he grew to be civilized. I never have. Not really.”

“A sad tale, to hear of children so unloved.” Malcador drew a packet from his sleeve and set it down on the table. He opened it and Canis saw that it was a deck of long cards. “It isn’t something we have grown out of, is it?”

“Grown out of..?”

“There are many good parents,” Malcador said, his tone lecturing, and she found herself drawn in. “Kind fathers, gentle mothers. There also any number of bad parents. Cruel fathers, brutal mothers. Some would as soon as die as see their children harmed, while others would happily throw their children on the pyres. There are many who are neither good nor bad, either, just… overwhelmed. Confused, perhaps. A sad day when such a thing happens, very sad.”

“Why?” Canis asked. “Why did I have the bad ones and not the good ones? Why did they..?”

“Without knowing them, I cannot say,” Malcador said. “There are many reasons. Some become parents without meaning to. Others should never have become them. Still others might find something strange about their child and be repulsed by it.”

“Did they know I wasn’t human, then? Is that why--”

“No,” Malcador said sharply. After a moment, he calmed. “No, it was not your fault. It is never a child’s fault for existing. You have ones who love you now, do you not?”

“Yes, and…” Canis looks away. “He wanted to marry me, to tame me. I said no, I couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to run free.”

“Is that something he would have asked of you, truly?” Malcador asked gently. “The one you love most?”

“If he asked it of me, I would have said yes,” Canis admitted. “Because he asked me to.”

“Oh, I see… I see…” Macador said, and reached out, touching her hand lightly. “You aren’t afraid of him as much as you are yourself.”

Canis looked at him sharply. “You know much, witch. How confident you are.”

Malcador chuckled. “You aren’t someone who likes to hear hard things, are you? That must be difficult with how sharp your hearing is. Never mind. Do you know what these are?”

“Cards?” Canis said, surprised by the change of topic. “I never had the patience for them.”

“You’re right, they are cards,” Malcador said. “Once, they were meant for playing games, and then people had the notion of reading fortunes in them. One type of playing cards between many, as countless as the people who liked to read them. Mine are old, but I’ve done my best to preserve them. I’m quite fond of them, personally.”

“You believe in fortune?”

“I believe in clarity of purpose,” Malcador said, his tone lecturing again. “While some have claimed to read the future, I have always believed that done properly, reading the tarot is about evaluating one’s own mind. Some claim that you should never read your own tarot, while others will not do it for any other than themselves.”

“What’s the point of reading your own tarot?” Canis asked. “Don’t you know all of the answers?”

“Do you know the answers to your present quadry, Wolf-Sister?” Malcador asked, and Canis turned her head away. “Of course you don’t. Clarity of purpose is remarkably hard to find. The road from the past to the present is a bumpy one, and the path one takes towards the future even more so. Tarot reading is not so much about predicting the future as it examining the past and the present so you can make decisions about your future.”

“So… I should read these cards?” Canis asked. “Then what?”

“You don’t know how, and some of the interpretations can be… finicky,” Malcador said. “We’ll go over them together. I will have you do the first one, it will be your card. Your symbol as you move through your life.”

Canis nodded, and put her hand over the card. If you’re me, then I should know the right thing to pick, so…

Canis flipped the card over and Malcador examined it, smiling to himself. “Ah, I see. A good card. Judgement.”

“So, what does it mean?”

“Why don’t you tell me what it means?” Malcador said, folding his fingers together. “What does it mean for you?”

“It means…” Canis frowned thoughtfully. “It means making a decision. It means… passing judgement, coming to a verdict. Not the law, but the person making the final decision. I suppose… not based on the law, in the end, not always.”

“Do you do that kind of thing?” Malcador asked. “Pass judgement on those based on law, or a lack of it?”

“Sometimes,” Canis admitted. “I don’t care much for human civilization. I tell… I always say it’s because I despise it, and it’s true, I do. I hate the way it makes me feel as though I’m not good enough, unwanted. An animal living on the fringes. A scavenger.”

“Ah, I see,” Malcador said. “You seek to judge others because you are ultimately judging yourself, is that correct?”

“I… suppose so,” Canis said. “I fear others judge me too and find me wanting.”

“Each card has a meaning facing the diviner and the reverse,” Malcador said. “In truth, since when two people are performing a reading it will always be reversed to someone, it has both meanings. We are both a postive and negative person, the sum of our strengths and failings. No one is perfect.”

“Not even God?” Canis asked. “I thought--”

“Especially not God,” Malcador said. “My people, long ago, were said to have ‘wrestled with God’. Querelous, we were. I myself went on a long journey to learn the truths, to argue with fellow scholars, to collect… stories of faith. I won’t bore you with the details, but I have learned that, whether or not there is a God, we human beings must wrestle with ourselves as well as the divine.”

“I think I understand,” Canis said. “I’m not certain as to what I should do with this, but I will… wrestle with it as long as I have to.”

“Good,” Malcador said. “Now, there is something I require of you. It is… well, a bother, but I’m supposed to be practicing. I suppose I’ll get used to it.”

“What do you need?” Canis asked. “Something from me?”

“Yes,” Malcador said. “I require blood. A friend of mine is doing an experiment and he’s looking for samples from some special people. It’s going to be a long task, I have told him we should split up, but… well, he insists.”

“...how much blood?” Canis asked. “What are you going to do with it?”

“A vial or two, no more,” Malcador said. “It will be analyzed, he says he can divine much from the sequence of DNA within humans. I don’t quite understand, my strengths run to history and anthropology, but I will indulge him if you’ll indulge me.”

“I… will,” Canis said. “So long as it isn’t too much.”

“Nothing you cannot afford to give, I promise you,” Malcador reassured her. Reaching into his other sleeve he drew out a wooden box and within was a needle and a vial. Canis started at it wordlessly. “If you like, I can guide you through the rest of the reading once we’re done. Your cooperation will more than cover the rest of the reading, and then you can join me for dinner.”

“Leon will be looking for me,” Canis said, and held out her arm. Malcador chuckled politely.

“Leon will be busy for some time yet, I think,” Malcador said. “But you are welcome in my home as long as you need to be here.”

That sounds… ominous, Canis thought, but nodded. “I will stay.”

~ * ~

[eurolinguiste]

This month, there is something happening that I’m so excited about. It’s… Women in Language. 

I’m over the moon about it because: 

It’s the first time I’ve ever organized a language event and the experience has been amazing.

I’ve been able to chat and plan with two of my language besties (Lindsay Williams and Kerstin Cable) the last few months.

It showcases more than 25 talented and inspiring female speakers.

I get to spend an entire four days in March nerding out over language with some amazing people.

And… you’re invited to join us.

If you haven’t already picked up a ticket, you can check it out here. Plus, 10% of all proceeds go to Kiva, so you’ll support entrepreneurs across the globe!

And there was one more item for me this month…

My new course with Fluent in 3 Months, The Courage to Speak, opened. I’m excited to work with a new group of students!

On to #clearthelist

If you’re new around these parts, #clearthelist is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and Lindsay of Lindsay Does Languages.

We’d absolutely love for you to a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on Instagram

  A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Jan 30, 2018 at 8:59am PST

Last Month’s Blog Highlights

Travel

14 Things to Do at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore // While in Singapore, I stayed at the Marina Bay Sands to experience as much as the hotel had to offer. And boy there was a lot. Here are just 14 of the things you can do.

Gardens by the Bay // A beautiful area to explore in Singapore with two enclosed gardens and a skywalk.

  Language Learning

The Ultimate Guide to Japanese Writing Systems // What I’ve learned about hiragana, katakana and kanji + a free worksheet to help you master the Japanese writing systems.

Doing More in Your Studies with Less // Ways that I’ve minimized my language learning routines to get better results.

Last Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // Yes! I learned the words for almost every vehicle I could possibly think of because it’s a hot item on Little Linguist’s list. Now I need to work on sea creatures.

Read the next Language Reading Challenge book on my list. // Yes, February book read with review coming soon!

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I had another month where I added more than I watched, but it’s still a yes because I did watch a few videos.

Read something in Chinese, French, and/or Spanish and Russian. // Yeah, no. But I did do some Japanese reading on LingQ, so does that count?

Finish distilling my Japanese notes. // I used my plane flights to and from Texas to get this done!

Add1Challenge Month 2 // January was my first month of the Add1Challenge with Japanese. I still have a long way to go to get to a 15-minute conversation, so I want to focus on this more in the coming month.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // A permanent item on my monthly list.

Read the next Language Reading Challenge book on my list. // In March, we’re reading a translation (something translated into your target language). I’m still not anywhere near being able to read in Japanese, so I’ll probably choose something in Chinese.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I still have way too many amazing videos on my list. Like… 800.

Meet my daily goal on LingQ for Japanese. // I’ll get back to reading in my other languages after this Add1Challenge is over. Speaking of which…

Add1Challenge Month 3 // I’m starting to get into challenging territory with Japanese and if I weren’t doing an intensive language project, I’d probably take a brief break to come back to it with fresh eyes. But, with the Add1Challenge this isn’t an option, so it will be interesting to see how pushing through works for me.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap on the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese

LingQ – my favourite tool

iTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessons

Memrise – I do 18,000 points minimum per day 

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQ

Immersion (we speak franglais at home)

Reading books written by French authors

Listening to French radio/podcasts

Lingoci

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

LingQ

Perfectionnement Russe

iTalki Lessons

Memrise

Pimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Korean:

I am on a break from Korean

What I am Using to Learn Spanish:

LingQ

Coffee Break Spanish

Schaum’s Spanish Grammar

News in Slow Spanish

Baselang

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Lingualift

Memrise

iTalki Lessons

Pimsleur

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Pooh Bear and Baby Bear

Little Pim

Finding Dory, Cars and other films/tv shows

Day-to-day interaction

Resources That Aren’t Language Specific

Women in Language!

The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

Resistance can be a positive thing. As I get farther into my Japanese studies, I’m experiencing some resistance and as an exercise, I’m reacting to it differently than I normally would. I haven’t gotten to the other end of it, so I can’t say what my results will be. But already, I feel myself overcoming some of the hurdles I experienced at this same stage with Korean. And because of this, I feel I might be ready to go back to Korean in the near future.

You never stop learning about yourself.

Don’t forget that I would love to hear all about your goals for this month! Please join us by adding your post to the linkup below! 

Clear The List Linkup Rules:

1. Share your goal post whether it includes your aspirations for the month or year. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted.

2. Link back to this post. You can use our button if you wish.

3. Follow the hosts: Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste.

4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! By hosting this linkup, we’re hoping to create a positive community where we can all share our goals. If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.

5. Share on social media using #ClearTheList

An InLinkz Link-up

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