#hey did you know I don't major in linguistics

[sweetiesicheng]

woozi - old friends

word count : 1,099

—

a simple gathering of college friends. all of you haven't seen each other in months, some of them you haven't seen since you graduated.

you've always kept to yourself in college, only being pulled into shenanigans by almost everyone else. till this day, you usually keep to yourself at work and everyday life. but being back with everyone makes you remember the fun times.

you hear a door open, "hello! we're here!" you hear seungkwan’s familiar voice announce.

"loud as ever," dokyeom comments while putting his drink down on the table.

"you're no better," one of the girls replies, causing everyone to laugh.

seungkwan walks in with two guys following behind him. "remember these two?" he asks as he walks into the living room.

"joshua, you flew in?" jeonghan asks.

joshua shrugs, "i'm making a trip out of this," he mentions with a smile and places two packs of beer onto the table. "nice to see you guys," he greets everyone.

"woozi's here? when was the last time he was with us?" one of the guys asks.

"seungkwan, how much did you bribe woozi to get him to leave his studio?" one of the girls asks.

"hey, he didn’t bribe me. i leave sometimes," woozi replies and notices you, "hi."

you smile, "hey."

everyone greets the newcomers and they settle into their places in the living room. more food is ordered and everyone has a great time reminiscing with each other.

—

"y/n!" one of your friends calls your name, "what happened to that guy you were talking to? you know, the one with the insane motorcycle?"

you shrug you shoulders, "it didn't go anywhere after awhile."

"aw, come on. y/n, you're literally so pretty. we need to get you a man!" another girl says as she stands up. "i'm grabbing drinks and snacks," she announces before walking into the kitchen.

"i'll come with you," you say and stand up, following your friend into the kitchen. your friend starts opening cabinets, looking for snacks to bring out to everyone. "did you guys really have to mention my love life?" you whisper while grabbing a beer from the fridge.

"don't worry so much. everyone's drinking, and if some of their habits are still the same, they won't remember by tomorrow," your friend replies. she opens another cabinet, "yes! okay, let's go," she says as she grabs two bags of snacks.

"i'll go back in a second," you say to her and take a sip of your beer.

your friend hums in response and leaves the kitchen. you start to clean the kitchen a little bit to help your friend who lives in the apartment. empty cans and bottles are covering the dinner table and counters. once you're done, you lean against a counter and drink some more beer.

"you okay?"

you see woozi walk into the kitchen with an empty soda can. he throws it away and opens the fridge to get a can of soda.

"yea, i'm good," you reply.

woozi nods and opens the soda can, taking a sip right after. "how have you been?" he asks you.

"normal, i guess," you reply with an awkward chuckle. "you?"

"the same. just working," he answers you.

out of everyone, you've known him the longest. you two met in a freshman seminar class, and it turned out he was in the wrong class. makes sense, what was a music major doing in a linguistics lecture? the two of you became friends and met the others along the way.

"still doing the music stuff, huh?" you ask.

he smiles, "yea. it's a lot of work, that's why i don't meet up with them often."

"seungkwan does mention how you're always in your little cave," you reply, both of you chuckling after.

"like i said earlier, i do leave...just not often," he says to you.

—

you eventually rejoin the group, where your friends are still reminiscing over a bunch of things. with more alcohol involved, some people start to get emotional. you had stopped drinking since you needed to make sure you could still drive later.

"y/n!" one of your friends latches onto you. "you're so lovely and pretty. i'm so glad people like you exist in this world," she says to you while reaching over to hug you.

"she's drunk," you say to everyone.

"oh lord. i should take her home," her boyfriend sighs before standing up from the floor.

"i'm not going home! i'm staying with y/n!" your friend whines while hugging you. you pat her back to soothe her.

her boyfriend sighs, "y/n, why does this always happen?" he questions. your friend has a tendency to not want to let go of people, resulting in whoever it is to have to go home with her and her boyfriend to get her to sleep.

"it's amazing. she won't attach to her own boyfriend," seungkwan observes.

"yea, at this point, i should be dating her," you say and stand up with your friend attached to you. "come on, time to go home."

"need help?" woozi asks. "i can drive your car over to their place," he offers to you.

"yea, that'd be great. i don't want to uber back," you reply.

—

"alright, time to get you to bed," you say as you help your friend into her apartment.

"y/n, i love you~"

"hey, what about me?" her boyfriend pouts while opening the door to the bedroom. "i got her," he says and brings her into the room. you watch him bring her to the bed.

"is she okay?" you turn around and see woozi standing by the front door.

"she'll be fine," you reply. "hey, we're gonna go. see you guys soon," you say to your friend.

"yea, see you guys. get home safe," he says to you.

—

after bringing your friend back, you drive woozi to his apartment.

"this is it, right?" you ask, parked in front of his apartment building.

woozi smiles, "yea." he opens the door and gets out, but he doesn't close the door right away. "y/n,” he calls your name.

"hm?"

"it was really nice to see you again," he admits to you. "i'm really happy."

you smile at him, "i'm glad i got to see you again too, woozi."

"text me," he says before closing the door. you watch him wave and walk into his apartment building, making sure he went in safely.

before driving off, you take your phone and send him a text with a simple smiley face. a few seconds later, you get one back.

[official-linguistics-post]

hey I just found your blog!! I'm starting undergrad as a linguistics major in the fall and I'm kind of nervous bc all I know about the subject comes from the Lingthusiasm podcast and a paper I wrote when I was 15. anyways, do you have any suggestions for resources I can use to get a better understanding of the subject as a whole and how it's studied at the university level?

you legitimately know more about linguistics than i did when starting as an undergrad! don't worry about it too much. the curriculum is designed to teach you the subject from scratch.

with that said, crash course linguistics is a good overview.

[jojotichakorn]

Hey! Can you please explain why it's wrong to use Caucasian to mean white? I tried to google it but all I found were explanations of how we started using it.

yeah, sure!

so the word "caucasian" comes from the caucasus, which is a mountainous region between the black and caspian seas bordering turkey and iran in the south. the territories situated in that region are: the countries of azerbaijan, georgia, armenia, and the territories which were colonized and are still occupied by russia to this day, which are adygea, dagestan, ingushetia, kabardino-balkaria, karachay-cherkessia, north ossetia - alania, and chechnya. the ethnic groups native to those regions are: azerbaijanis, georgians, armenians*, abkhazians, cherkess/circassians, avars, dargins/dargwa, kumyks, lezgins/leks, laks, nogais, rutuls, ingush, kabardians, balkars, karachays, ossetians/alans, and chechens.**

*azerbaijanis, georgians, and armenians have certain ethnic subgroups but i believe they have all historically been joint by their respective ethnic group for a long time and do not separate themselves from each other outside of having small differences in traditions - if someone knows differently, please do correct me

**sorry if i forgot someone and do let me know if i did

now, here are some examples of what people of some of those ethnic groups look like:

chechen activist tumso abdurakhmanov, ossetian comedian ariana lolaeva, half-georgian singer valery meladze

just looking at these people, you can probably already take a guess at why it is at the very least silly to point at blonde becky born in ohio and call her caucasian. but there is also a reason why i took the time to list every single ethnic group that lives in the caucasus region (apart from trying to generally educate you) - i listed them because these groups are objectively the only ones, who can be called caucasians. moreover, not only are actual caucasians in a weird spot in terms of whether they can even be called white or not (as i said, it is a relatively small mountainous region that borders iran, and i believe no one would call iranians white), but even if you do consider them white, there is an enormous variety of other ethnic groups under the white label AND the majority of white americans' ancestors are NOT caucasians.

apart from the fact that using caucasian as a synonym to white is kind of nonsensical, it is also just unnecessary. there is no context in which the usage of the word caucasian provides any additional information - you can always replace it with the word white and the meaning would remain the same. (btw, as a linguist, this is actually a little hint from the language itself that something isn't right with the way you are using the word - no two words can be fully synonymous in a language, there is always some subtle difference in meaning, but with the way americans use caucasian and white - there is none).

finally, and to my mind most importantly, by using caucasian in the way that americans use it, you are stripping actual caucasians of the ability to talk about their identity in english, THE international language of the world. this is already offensive enough, but considering the colonization of the caucasus by the russian empire throughout the 19th century, the horrors and genocides performed by russians in the region, and the continuous oppression of caucasians in russia today, you are effectively silencing a whole bunch of ethnic groups on their past and the things their ancestors suffered, and helping russia erase that part of history from the general knowledge of the public by co-opting the word you don't need that is so central to the identities of these ethnic groups.

[seelestia]

YEEE NPNP!! college was nervewracking ngl (still is), at least when i started last year august iirc? but yeah! do you know what major you want? alas i cannot chill as much as i used to smh

heheh fr tho >:3 i think the fontaine arc was really well written and went into more depth (get it? depth? waters? ok i'll stop now) and because of how much lore we were given since it seems to be more complex ngl. as for myself, i'm sticking albedo and lyney under the microscope so i can understand them both better

especially albedo. i'd very much like to pick his brain the same way i wanna pick my boyfriend's- coughs

HEJSJD THE WAY I STARTED SMILING AFTER READING THE HCS,,needed that ngl cuz i've been stressed a lot. but i think bedo would be the kind of person who'd do that and create an artificial flower and then name it after me hehehe

but hey, who's to say wanderer wouldn't leave you a flower someplace where you can find it? just a small and sweet gesture and will very most likely deny it (and fails) when you tease him for it mwehehhe i can be devious too ya know or maybe even ayato leaves you a little present like a bracelet or hair accessory after a long day of work

AND NOO ITS OK I LOVE LISTENING TO UR RAMBLES TOO /gen /pos

actually yea i do have some new vibedo trivia! we've officially become engaged and he was the one who proposed first <3 that and he has a tendency to call me "sweet violet" since its an actual flower as well hehe. and tysm!! i'm honestly just doing my best to stay happy since my irl bedo is like very complementary to my personality if that makes sense? like he tends to wear darker clothing, i tend to wear a lot of pastels kinda thing. and so far, we're doing rlly good! sure there are some challenges we're dealing with now but im doing my best to stay positive ^^

also me being 20 ew. somehow i'm still being referred as old sheesh

ok im done rambling now im passing the mic to u hehe /lh

ah, truly. the price of education = freedom to chill !!! 😔 but alas, life is a ongoing journey with hurdles (and i happen to not be an athlete /j). currently, i have my eyes on a social science major atm! so i can hopefully pursue psychology :3 but my second choice is english bcs i cannot stray from the path of linguistics and literature no matter how much i tried /pos. ALSOSOSO if you don't mind, can you tell me more abt what you do in your course? i did my research on google but i think it cannot compare to someone with the actual experience™ ++ i'm just a curious cat and want to enable your rambles hehe <3 /lh

THE PUN, HELP. i agree, the fontaine quest deffo made some waves when it ended. OH I SEE!!! at first glance, i thought i could find a similarity between albedo and lyney (finding vi's type: a reality show jkjk we all already know it's albedo /hj) but the longer i looked, the more i questioned myself 😭 i do think that both of them are deeper than what people credit them for tho! albedo with his knowledge of khemia.... and lyney with his burdens as the next 'father'..... ooOOooO. some emphasis for now on lyney bcs of the 4.6 trailer that just dropped! DID YOU SEE IT YET VI 👁️ (but dw, i understand if you had no time / busy with college!) { the comment abt picking your bf's brain LMAO would he let you?? oh, truly, love is blind 🤭 /lh }

always happy to provide you with hcs!!! my brain buzzes with possibilities all the time && one of the things i love most abt selfships is analyzing how different personalities come together to form habits / idiosyncrasies / love languages of their own. like how albedo conjures up an artificial flower bcs he is simply reminded of his sweet violet — that is special and unique to you in a way. it's vv beautiful, i think!!

AND HSHDHWHSH. THE HCS??? vi, i cannot convey how much i appreciate you. i haven't indulged in my selfships for some time since i didn't have time to be active - so this made me SOSOSO happy aaaaaa!!! but wanderer definitely has left some flowers for me before bcs who else? i suggested the possibility of another suitor and he knocked me on the head (softly) YOWCHHH but hey, at least he admitted it was him! :3c and 'yato.... aghhhhh this man. he leaves a hairpin out in the open but tells me “not to touch it until he gets home” just so he can put it on me himself. he derives joy from seeing me hold back from snatching that thing up myself. meanie /j

AWWW THAT'S SO CUTE!! you two are the apt presentation of “opposites attract”. and i'm glad! i only have average experience with relationships but i think everyone agrees that a relationship isn't sunshine and rainbows all the time. that's as natural as our having good days and bad days in a week. i think what matters is how you both deal with them - and i believe in you & your bf! you're a good egg and ik your bf is too, so do what you both know is best <3 (forgive me if i sound like a grandma here /j BUT hooray to vi and irl albedo! my new fav couple yesyesyes)

[pellaaearien]

Hey hey! Weird writer asks:

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I've been writing for as long as I can remember. At least since I was 8 or 9 years old. Initially I was creating a record of the make believe games I played with my friend at recess. I didn't start writing fanfic until I was about 12. I've been writing ever since, with a few fits and starts.

Right now, I'm trying to get a foothold in the games industry. I'm an extremely good narrative designer, it's just a question of getting a company to stick around long enough for me to prove it. Narrative design isn't writing, necessarily, but it's a similar discipline. One day I'd like to be the lead narrative designer for a really big IP game like Dragon Age or Assassin's Creed or something.

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

One of these days I'm going to find the perfect excuse to write a Japan AU and then it'll be over for you weebs xD

But seriously I'd love to write a love letter to the rural Japanese town I called home for three years. We had a really cool festival I'd like to immortalize.

As much as I majored in linguistics in university, I don't think I could write a linguists!AU. I only got very basic knowledge for my undergrad. Historical linguistics, maybe (which is why @landwriter owns my heart for The Death of Translation). Once upon a time, I read a gamer!AU in the Dragon Age fandom that I might like to pay homage to.

And, perhaps, one of these days I'll write a Hob musing on his faith piece that's just an excuse for me to muse on mine. One of these days...

[weird writer asks]

[prophecydungeon]

not quite to the date (yet) but ten years ago i posted a fic that is somehow still sitting on the front page of results by kudos and by bookmarks for the most popular ship in the most popular fandom on AO3 and i still don't know how that happened.

like... really genuinely truly i don't know what kind of WILD perfect-storm-level shit was going on to make this happen. the original post got eleven whole notes here on tungle (yeah i checked lmao). i am not, actually, a very Doing Numbers blogger or writer, nor had i ever been, nor will i ever be. as far as i know, there wasn't any wildass six degrees of separation thing that happened where someone very Doing Numbers made it Do Numbers. i didn't "advertise" it or anything (ppl who make fic graphics and have a posting/rbing/rting schedule.. i could never lmao), i didn't post it on every site known to man, i didn't tag it to hell, i didn't really do anything. it just fucking happened. and it's still happening!!! and i am just so fucking baffled. how did this happen. why are there people making tiktoks about this fic in the year of our lord 2022. how??????

i have a lot of very complicated feelings about this fic, with a lot of them boiling down to just, like, brain chemicals being very stupid, and i know that logically it's just brain chemicals gone bad! but it's still hard to shake ten (10!) years of feeling like my growth in writing is being constantly undercut by this thing that's created its own gravity well to keep sucking in kudos and comments when just about everything i've written since has been Better™ (which again, logically, i know is untrue -- i write for fandoms now that are relatively VERY small lol so of course nothing is ever going to Do Numbers again like this)

this fic was something i wrote after a very difficult-to-process series of events, so it was complete and utter wish fulfillment and it felt so good to write. the flip side of this, which in retrospect really soured the fic for me, is that i tried my damndest to live out the life i wrote in this fic. i went to grad school for linguistics two years later and TA'd, Just Like The Fic. it was supposed to be great! and those turned out to be the two most miserable years of my life. maybe not specifically because i was trying to live a daydream, but that disparity didn't help (though my friends certainly did). so in a way, aeiw is this image of a failed dream -- i'm not in linguistics as a field, not even remotely, and i likely never will be; i don't want to ever go back to academia, even though i will likely need to get another masters (derogatory) in my current field at some point.

BUT. i promised that this is not a negative post so i will pivot here to say very genuinely that i am so, so grateful to all the friendships and good times this fic has brought me. thank you to all the people i met because of this fic or while writing it. thank you to everyone who's gotten to know me for totally different reasons/fandoms/etc and then been like WAIT A SECOND. (it's so funny, every time.) thank you to everyone who's ever left kudos and said a kind word. (i still get kudos emails nearly every day just for this fic.)

and thank you to the incredibly beautiful personal anecdotes people have left on this fic, holy shit. i have a folder in my email for those specifically. here are some excerpts from comments that made me tear up:

Hey, so...you probably don't still read comments on this fic because it's so old and so wildly popular*, but I hope you see this. [...] I just started my first year of University as a Linguistics major, and I know for a fact that I wouldn't have figured out what I wanted to study had I never read this fic. I've always had trouble with school, and struggled to find subjects that weren't wildly difficult or insanely boring-until Linguistics. Now, I'm excited to learn and pursue my degree-maybe even a master's eventually. I just wanted to say thank you for this sweet story that stuck with me for all of these years, and helped me find what I want to do.

*i do. i read every single comment. every single one.

[...] Reading this, I don't understand how anyone could say that you, the writer, did this alone and will only ever be alone for this story.** I mean, we're separated by computer screens, but I feel that I was transported into your story in a way that transcends what is expected of the written word. Maybe this is my biased opinion as someone who has grown up in a secondary orality culture, but I just had to let you know that this story was more than the written word is often perceived to be. If that makes sense. I felt like I was there, getting the story and so caught up that I couldn't stop reading. And you might not be the narrator, but you're essentially god and you breathed life into these characters and I'm so in awe of you. You make it seem so easy! What's worse is I know it's not, so here I am, seeing something unfold with what looks like practiced ease when I know just how much work you've put into writing to get you to this point. I'm so proud of you! And it feels silly to say but I am, and I wanted you to know. [...]

**this is one of the most incredible things anyone has ever said to me.

[...] I first read this a long time ago (at least 6 years) when I was really Going Through It and this fic - specifically Dean - really resonated with me.*** It gave me an inkling (pun intended) of hope. And it was the first positive representation of tattoos that I'd seen. I started planning tattoos I wanted soon after reading this, using them the way Dean does in this to identify the important and best things in my life and figure out how to represent them and always have them with me. I just got my third done and I love all of them. So thank you for the impact that you've had on my life, and for writing such a wonderful story.

***i was really Going Through It as well. i'm doing great now and i hope you are too.

thank you to past me for writing this fic and finishing something "long" (lol..... lmao). thank you to past me for writing unabashed wish fulfillment, something i would lose the capability to do for a long time (dw, i got it back). thank you to this fic for irrevocably fucking up my AO3 statistics.

so anyways, ten years on i'm doing great. new career. new gender. new fursona. i live in a super cool area. i got like seven anime figures of this one horrendous guy. my sick tattoos have gotten even sicker. here's a portrait of the author for good measure:

and here are some fun facts about the fic that idr if i've ever shared before:

the scene at the very end where cas goes to get tattooed by dean? my beta wrote that for me. yes, the whole scene. thank you.

i don't remember who it was that carried a bike up some stairs but i always hefted my bike up onto my shoulder when walking it up my outside stairs so i pictured whoever that was doing it too (and i still have that bike! i refurb'd it last year!)

i think i own every vinyl i mentioned... i think

i definitely own led zeppelin's entire discography on vinyl

i finally bought a pair of rough-faced amethyst plugs for myself, something like two years ago? took me a while to get there

that sex scene was in there because i felt like i "had to" include one lmaoooo i had no idea what i was doing and i've written way better p*rn since then

when i turned 24 i did actually listen to 4 + 20 by csny first thing in the morning

soooo much of the tattoo and piercing stuff was so fucking pretentious of me.... but really, be thorough when looking for piercers and tattoo artists, stay safe, there are a lot of great resources out there

i actually pretty legitimately don't like showing my tattoos irl just because people can be really annoying/weird but i also just enjoy wearing long pants and long sleeves lol

...also yeah i do dress Like That. unironically.

some things i have written since then that i am very proud of:

P vs NP, RvB

the more i run (the farther away it seems), destiny

quema, bleach

in the details (not the devil), haikyuu!!

apsidial precession, destiny

and so in conclusion........ thank you. but i'm still baffled.

[akindofmagictoo]

I saw your tags on that one poll about reading Andy Weir's books. Have you read Project Hail Mary? I know most people who are familiar with him have read The Martian, because that's his most famous, and while it's a great book, PHM is even better. It's personally one of my favorite books of all-time, specifically because of how the possibility of extra-terrestrial / "alien" life is handled. (I wrote a whole ramble about it on my blog at one point, but it boils down to it being more realistic and also less demeaning in a few ways (the idea of "otherness") than other common portrayals of newly found alien life.)

Anyways, how are you liking his books?

~Morri (@memento-morri-writes)

hey morri! yes i have - i read The Martian a number of years ago, and then bought Project Hail Mary and Artemis more recently. i did really like PHM. i'm a linguistics major (and a musician), so my sister got a bunch of my commentary on the language component lol

(mostly i thought the linguistics was good! except one time where rocky was described as "becom[ing] monotone", like the way you'd describe a human being deadpan, and i nearly yelled at the page HE SPEAKS IN PITCH, HE IS NOT SPEAKING IN A MONOTONE. sister got a series of grumpy text messages at 10pm)

mixed feelings about the ending. happier than it could have been, but kinda bittersweet since it was so far off the original goal. i did love how the reveal of information was done.

artemis was the one i didn't like. i found the first person past tense combo GRATING. i don't know if it was jazz's voice specifically, or the tense, but i hated it? it gave me strong like "ebony dark'ness dementia raven way" vibes, i think. i feel bad about this, i wanted to like her. i don't want to say this is just "woman written by man" either, but i found her voice really frustrating, and i thought it was interesting that it correlated with his tense use. PHM and TM are both present tense. (side note, i also found Artemis's plot less compelling somehow. much more like "this could all have been avoided", whereas PHM and TM are orchestrated by someone or something out of the POV character's control. Jazz is mostly the orchestrator of her own problems. this was disappointing because i love the name Artemis and wanted to enjoy that book.)

anyway, yes. Andy Weir is great! not sure if he's written anything else, but i love all his stuff that i've read. i also enjoy that as a non-scientist the science digressions are simultaneously really digestible and engaging, and easily skipped or skimmed.

[caffeinated-engineer]

Hello! I'm currently in college, but still don't know my major and it's stressing me out. I'm an Autistic ENFJ who at the bottom of my heart is inquisative and someone who craves creativity even though I'm not creative or artistic. I also like helping people (im in student government and a disability rights activist). Any ideas on what I should major in?

hey anon, firstly, try not to be stressed about this decision. Thinking calmly will help you navigate your options more efficiently. in my opinion, you should try and do some research about what kind of work you would want to do once you graduate. once you have a list of potential career options, you can try to look for majors which would give you the required knowledge/qualifications for whatever job you have in mind.

for example, i knew that i loved building stuff (from ideating, to designing and then finally coding), and i also loved science. so i went into engineering. in college, i realized that i loved reading, doing research and was curious about how the human mind works. so i did courses in literature, linguistics, psychology as well as cognitive science. currently, i am working in UX, as it seemed like a perfect balance for all my interests.

i hope this helped a little bit. if you think that you need help navigating the options you have, you can always message me :)

[mesimees]

Anyway here comes a rant on why I'm so happy I took Latin in secondary school. Mind you I wasn't good at it. I was so bad at it that my Latin teacher was super surprised when after graduation I sent him a message about wanting to help promote Latin during an open house day.

NB: I am in no way an expert on Latin, I just had it in secondary school for 6 years and this is from memory. I won't be talking about "it's a gateway to Romance languages!" or "it's so easy to understand medical terms!" Also won't talk about the actual content of Latin texts bc that's a whole different story and this rant is long enough.

Anyway *ahem* Languages amirite? I hated learning languages in school with a passion. The words never stuck, never mind the rules. I never felt like I could actually speak or understand people and none of it stuck after I graduated. (Except for English but I mostly learned that through immersion anyway.)

Learning Latin was different. You were never expected to be able to speak or write it. Translate some words both ways sure but once it got a little more complex I never wrote down a full Latin sentence unless I had to quote it.

Latin has a case system with not that many cases, I believe it's 7 but we were generally taught 5 (vocative and locative left out). This was a way better introduction to cases than say German and here's why. In German, the cases are mostly there for show in the sense that if you use the wrong one it sounds off but the sentence likely won't get an entirely different meaning. All this did was make learning cases frustrating. I never really saw their purpose. In Latin the declensions contain so much information that the word order in a sentence in comparison matters very little. This means that you really have to pay attention to the cases to be able to figure out what the sentence says. Complex patterns form and translating becomes a little puzzle.

It is such a different way of learning a language than the way other languages are taught. Obviously it should be because you have a different goal, you don't need to speak it. But it has taught me to look at languages differently. The way I look at languages now (after the initial wow i like this language let's learn how to say hello!!) is I look at the syntax and grammar first. How do words interact, how does sentence structure matter, why does this word suddenly go there? Why are all these words singular? How do you show possession? How do I glue two sentences together? That's vastly different from "let's learn the colors and some animals, no no let's leave composed sentences for 2 years from now. Now here's how to conjugate to be, learn this by heart without context." If that method works for you I'm really happy for you but it never did for me and it made me hate learning languages.

Having this other angle from which you can look at languages opened up a world for me. I now love languages! I study linguistics for fun! In and out of school. I'm currently actively learning *checks notes* 2 languages (one a little better than the other lol) that are completely different from your standard Romance or Germanic languages. Not because they're very useful but because they're cool and pretty and interesting. And I have gone on many many hyperfoci of cool language things. Did you know there's a language that is SO agglutinative that each sentence is just one word? Did you know there's a language that instead of saying left or right they say east or west so regardless of how they're standing or how you approach a junction they'll always give the same directions? Did you know some languages have a word form that indicates that the speaker caused someone else to do or undergo a certain thing? In one and the same word?? How cool is that!

All that said, I'm not saying that Latin is the only language that can open this door. But we need another approach to languages in school because language is so much more than cramming words you'll never use and I am so sure that if I hadn't taken Latin it would've taken me so much longer to see what languages actually have to offer. And for now Latin is the tiny door to that world and that's why as a person who hated languages I will still to this day advocate for taking and giving Latin classes.

Tl;dr: Latin gave young me a different perspective to language study and it's underappreciated in that regard.

[magalidragon]

Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it is the overwhelming anxiety and uncertainty I feel as an XX chromosome entity with a uterus in the United States. Maybe it’s just the pics of Keet and my wishy-washy feelings about the new show. Either way, here’s a drabble I wrote in 30 minutes and barely proofread. Enjoy! For @youwerenevermine ! 😎

The really hot guy with the ass that wouldn’t quit was fighting with his girlfriend. Again.

Dany sipped her beer, watching the dramatics, waiting for the next band to perform. She was looking forward to it; it was called Iron Bull and the lead singer was exceptionally cute. She obsessed over one of their songs "No One" when she was feeling extra moody and needed a pick-me-up. Seeing them at Dunstonbury was going to be a highlight of the three-day festival.

Except for the performance being put on beside her, with the really hot guy who had been in the same lawn block as her, who wore way too tight jeans and Henleys that appeared to be specifically designed for his no-doubt sculpted torso. She swore yesterday's white one was painted to his abs, each one visible under the thin fabric. It was enough to make her miss most of some of the bands yesterday, watching him dance, imagining the fabric must have also been made of some titanium strength cotton to keep from shredding with his moves.

And such adorable moves they were too. Rather poncy, she thought, the little shoulder dance thing he did, but she liked it.

She had noted that he was there with a group of people. A redheaded woman who came for short periods at a time and then left for longer periods, her wrist filled with VIP bands-- Dany thought her name was Sarah or something, perhaps Sansa?-- there was the tiny woman with a mullet-like cap of dark hair, boots with about four-inch platforms, and a very metal-like fashion aesthetic. There was the other hot guy and his hotter girlfriend, who disappeared for long periods of ftime as well. Robb and Margie, maybe?

And then there was this guy. And the other redhead.

Missandei poked her hard in the shoulder. "HEy, stalker. Got you another beer."

"Thanks, here, take it. It's too hoppy for me." Dany traded the beers, returning her attention to the couple fighting. Their voices were raising; they were Northern, but the chick's accent was way harsher. The Linguistics major in Dany told her it was definitely far North, perhaps even Beyond the Wall, while the guy's was almost certainly a bit farther south of the Wall. She nodded to the couple. "They're fighting again."

"It's like a soap opera."

"You know they haven't had any PDA, not like everyone else around here." At Dunstonbury there was a good chance you saw a bit of everything. So far, all she'd seen is them fighting and the guy was only smiling and laughing when the redhead was somewhere else. It was a three-day festival and they were almost done with day two. She narrowed her eyes. "It seems that Red there thinks Crow is a cheapskate and that he doesn't care about her as much as he should."

"Crow?"

"That's what she calls him." He kind of looked like a crow, she supposed, with his jet black curls that today were pulled into a messy man-bun. He had been wearing mostly black. Except after he'd changed earlier. Red had tossed a drink at him in anger. She pushed her fedora up a little higher on her head so she could get a better view at them while trying to not appear as though she were actually watching them. She chuckled. "I guess he didn't splurge for VIP tickets."

"She would not do well in the VIP area I don't think."

Dany agreed silently; Red was definitely not someone who seemed like they could hobnob with the high and mighty of Westeros society and celebrity, who were often in the VIP areas where they didn't have to wear muddy wellies and ripped jeans. Or if they were, they didn't have a speck of dirt on them. She shrugged. "That other redhead with them has the VIP tickets."

"Maybe he got them for her."

Dany didn't think so; the other redhead seemed disgusted by everyone in the party. It was more likely she was a sibling, judging from her interactions. She nodded again at the fighting couple. "Watch, Red is going to say something about how he doesn't care about her anymore."

Sure enough, the woman raised her voice even higher, throwing her arms out. "At least pretend to give a shit Jon! You can at least hold my hand!"

Jon, so that was the hot guy's name. Dany hadn't heard it yet. It suited him. Simple. Jon turned away from Red, trying to play off her fighting. His pale cheeks, above a scruffy beard, were pink in embarrassment no doubt. "I'm not doing this with you again, we're not even together!"

That was new information.

Red stomped her feet, tears in her voice. "This was supposed to be us trying again!"

"Can't keep trying with you Ygritte, and no, it wasn't, you invited yourself!" He waved his hand. "Go find Val, you brought her with you, you can't seem to go anywhere without your cousin, I was dating you, not both of you!"

"I only bring her because you shut me out!"

"And how do I do that Ygritte? That would require me to actually care about what you have to say which right now I do not."

Oof, burn, Dany thought, sipping her beer and swishing it around a moment to savor the taste before swallowing. She narrowed her eyes, wondering what else was going on between them, and they continued to bicker, until she heard it, confirming her inner suspicions.

"We broke up, Ygritte, you're my ex-girlfriend, I'm not doing this again."

"I wasn't really your ex girlfriend when you called me a month ago after having too many drinks with Tormund and wanted me to come over!"

"My mistake, clearly!"

He looked pained, this poor hot guy. He was trying to be nice to the woman, who Dany would have smacked already given her nasty comments she'd heard the last couple of days, her constant whining, and seemingly never to have her wallet on her so the guy-- the ex-boyfriend-- was always payin gfor her stuff, while she was also compalining that he didn't get her VIP tickets so she was in the mud and could barely see and hear the bands. If she was from Beyond the Wall, Dany was shocked she didn't seem to enjoy the mud and being with the peasants.

Except maybe she had high tastes, but the designer shoes she woere were battered beyond belief and didn't match the rest of her outfit. Dany didn't judge the mismatched clothing choices-- she was wearing a fedora with an exposed dragon-scale bra and camisole with her cutoff shorts and her knee-high wellies. She was the queen of mismatched fashion. It was probably just this woman's clear hypocrisy.

She felt bad for the guy. Plus, she wanted to talk to him. They'd shared a few smiles here and there, catching each other's eye the last day or so. They'd even chuckled at each other when they'd almost bumped into each other in the bar tent earlier. She pursed her lips and made an executive decision.

"Hold my beer."

Missandei frowned. "Where are you going? The band is about to start!"

"Watch the fireworks."

Dany sauntered off, sliding between a few people in the short distance between where she and Missandei were camped and where the hot northerner and his ex were still bickering. She caught his eye and he frowned momentarily, before she plastered a wide smile on her face and threw her arms out. "Jon! Oh my Gods! I was looking for you, can you believe how packed this place is!?"

And she flung her arms around his neck, her nails digging into the back of his head, dragging his stunned face towards her and planted an open-mouthed sloppy kiss on his-- wow, incredibly soft-- lips.

He froze for a second and then melted towards her, his hands resting on her hips, just above the low rise of her shorts, his thumbs pressed to her hipbones. They burned hot and she forgot herself a second, wanting to savor this and even extend it, but then she remembered what she was doing. She let go and patted her palm against his cheek, knocking her hip into his. "Hi!" she exclaimed, offering her hand. "I"m Dany! You must be Ygritte, Jon told me you were with him. Nice to meet you!"

Ygritte's mouth dropped, her blue eyes wide, stunned. She snapped her mouth closed and swallowed hard, turning her head slowly to Jon. "Jon," she breathed. "Who is this?"

"She's uh...she's..."

"Dany," Dany repeated. She beamed. "We met just before the festival, I finally got here, was looking for him. I've been in the VIP area the last day. My brother is one of the organizers." That’s wasn’t even a lie either.

"What!?" the redhead sputtered. She grabbed a backpack from the rumpled blanket on the ground, beating the hot guy on the shoulder with it for a second. "You stupid son of a bitch! You fucking crow! This is it, we're done!” She hit him one more time for good measure and stormed off, screaming for someone named Val to come with her.

The packed crowds aroudn them screamed in excitement, the music starting up on the stage, as the band appeared. She looked up at the guy, shrugging. "I do apologize about that, I realize the double standard, if you had done that to me it would not have been as well received."

"Uh..." he stammered, his forehead wrinkling. "I do'nt..."

"I mean I just assaulted you. I kissed you without your consent." She smiled. "Although towards the end there I think one might argue there was consent but I won’t assume. I am sorry."

He laughed, raking his fingers over his hair. He had a few bracelets around his wrists and a bandana wrapped around another one, which he undid and went to tie back his hair again. "Aye, I...well...you surprised me."

"I really am Dany, by the way."

"And I'm really Jon, how'd you know?"

"I've heard you guys."

He turned bright red, shouting above the band that began. "Sorry about that! She's my ex, she kind of invited herself and wlel...I have trouble letting go sometimes."

"I gathered," she laughed. She gestured back towards her area. "I'm going to head back. I'm glad I didn't misread the entire thing." She went to step away, but he thrust his hand out to grab her wrist, preventing her. She cocked her head, quizzical.

Jon licked his lips and gestured up towards the stage. "The band? Iron Bull? The lead is my cousin's boyfriend. Gendry Waters, you want to come back to the VIP area? I think I owe you for saving my ass with my ex."

Her heart jumped up to her throat. "Oh, you don't have to..."

"No, I...I've been watching you." His eyes widened when she burst into laughter. "No, no! Not like that, that's...Fuck! I suck at this!"

She waved her hand. "No, it's fine, I've been watching you too. Thought that's why I'd come save you, she seems like a handful."

"IT's why she's an ex!"

"I get it!" She nodded, agreeing, and bit her bottom lip. "Sounds good, let me just tell my friend." She pushed back through the crowd to Missandei and grabbed her beer back, guzzling half of it and swallowing hard. "See you later girl, I'll call you."

Missandei looked over her shoulder at Jon, who was waiting, watching them. She howled laughing, smacking Dany's ass. "You go! Call me later, let me know you're safe."

"Later." She grabbed her jacket and jumped away, dodging a mud puddle and joining Jon, who reached into his back pocket and took out a VIP wristband. She hooted, delighted. "You had this all along and she wanted one and you didn't give it to her? You're cruel Jon."

He smiled sheepishly. "It's a long story, but...well...she just was so demanding about it!"

"Don't have to explain to me."

"What's Dany short for?" he shouted, pushing through dancing people to get to the edge of the lawn.

"Daenerys!"

"Daenerys? Well I'm Jon, like you got already. Jon Snow."

"Nice to finally meet you, I've just been calling you 'The Hot Guy' in my head!"

He pinked again, but said nothing, breaking free of the main crowd and working towards the side of the lawn towards the metal gates that separated out the VIP area from the peasants. He paused under an overhang, near one of the drink tents, and smiled again. "The Hot Guy, huh?"

"Sorry, I know that diminishes you to a sex object when I know there is more to you than that."

"Are you always this direct?"

"Are you always this shy?" she shot back, still grinning. She shrugged. "I don't believe in wasting time."

Jon laughed. "Well I should apologize for saying that I've been calling you the Dragon Queen in my head."

Dany's eyebrows arched. "Oh?""

He pointed to her wrist, with three dragons tattooed just under her palm, and then to her ribcage, visible when she moved forwards and her shirt gaped at the side. There was the outline of a dragon making its way along the pale skin there. "And your silver hair, like a queen."

"I appreciate that." It took a second, but she finally processed what the actual meaning of what he said meant. She giggled, poking his chest-- whoa, it was crazy taut, he had to be ripped-- saying, "So why didn't you say anything earlier? Could have saved you some pain with your ex."

He flushed again. "I didn't know how to talk to you....if I'd known you would just walk up and kiss me, I suppose I would have just said, hello, my name is Jon, do you want to get a drink?"

Dany's violet eyes glittered, meeting what she now recognized were his gray ones-- an odd gray, not black like she'd thought-- which fixed intensely on hers. She leaned closer to him, her arm reaching up around his neck, murmuring into his ear, feeling him shvier under her. "Why don't you ask me now?"

Jon brushed his lips over her ear, whispering, "Hello, my name is Jon, do you want to get a drink with me?"

She sealed the answer with another kiss, before tugging him away, saying something about needing to evaluate his dance moves before she could be completely certain. Truth be told, she really needed to see this "shoulder dance" up close and personal.

[purge-that-urge-rhackathon]

Hi, first, I've been reading your work since maybe like 2016-2017 and I absolutely love it. I was wondering if you have any advice for writers who are trying to start writing smutty pieces... In particular, for those of us who are squeamish about using certain words or phrasing... Did you experience that/how did you get over it?

This is long as FUCK so it's all under the read more :) major apologies in advance to how much this jumps all over the place. I might be a writer, but i don't go thru asks and give 'em the old cohesion-polishing like i do for fics, sooo.... bear with me, cuz this is how i actually write/talk and its AWFUL godspeed anon xD my ask box is always open HAHA

I’m gonna walk you through my own process/how i got to do what i do as best as I can. Be forewarned that I have adhd and my pattern recognition skills play a MAJOR part in this (but I also just love the written word; always been an avid reader and i LOVE linguistics, so my explanations might be lacking but i hope not D:) and this explanation of things is gonna be one hell of a thing to try to follow xD Bear with me :D

My first piece of advice would be to read what you want to write. Devour it, pay attention to the pacing and when/where the words show up and how it engaged you as a reader (basically, reverse-engineer the process). If the fic you’re reading has thrown you out of the story (broken your suspension of disbelief→ read the article on wikipedia; this comes second nature to me as part of my film/screenwriting education but i don’t believe its widely known) then it was done wrong/wasn’t done well. Sometimes when I’m reading a fic (or re-reading my old work, cuz i have DEFINITELY done this too), there’s like… idk how to describe it properly except in like art terms: there’s no smooth blending into the erotic term usage, like its clearly delineated from from the prior bits almost feeling like there should be another paragraph or something between to make it cohesive. Like if you had to, you’d be able to point out where there could have been better blending to give you a smoother read.

Sorry im trying to explain as best i can but i know i do it weirdly and i don't fully comprehend my self ahahah

You’ve probably read stories where the word change/use is jaring, and other stories where flawless integration never makes you take particular notice or take you out of the story narrative to notice inside your head ‘oh hey wow okay then there it is then’. My guess is you’re having issues with the words cock/cunt (which is like the major hurdle in the english language when you really start doin that explicit writing UNF! :D haha). I suggest reading the crap out of a wide choice of explicit material, because it’s gonna first of all give you so much exposure to those words in general that it might help getting over the taboo feeling of writing it yourself (it also helped me that no one i knew irl read my work so i just went nuts with it and all the kinks cuz idgaf, and now that im old™, i don’t give a flying fuck what others think about me so i can get as explicitly filthy as i want, which has only made me a better writer cuz of fucking aroud and finding out haha).

Kind of think of it akin to how studying works: repetition until you know it. If you read enough of the stuff you like, you might inherently start noticing the pattern for the ‘recipe’ for a story/the instructions of ‘when’ to start using those words, so to speak (i hope this isn’t just my adhd/childhood trauma talking ahahha im good at pattern recognition for not all good reasons xD). When you go to actually write a thing yourself, you’re gonna naturally know where you want to put the stuff and when to use specific words, cuz like there’s only so many ways to write people fucking, and you’ve read it enough to be able to copy the formula without copying the work, you know? :D Kind of like the equivalent of ‘oh man i LOVE this enemies to friends to lovers trope!’; there’s a general pattern you’re expecting to see as the reader, and the writer knows the general progression of that trope to be 'enemies become friends and then become lovers', and they're the one interpreting it into a story, adding their own spice along the way :) Does that make sense?

There’s also different -subsets- of smut, which we do -not- label or differentiate, and i dont think there are words in english to actually categorize how i mean. But again using art terms, think of like… all the different colors and brightness of the color blue that exists. Neon, azure, cobalt, navy, teal, indigo, like they are and are not all ‘blue’. Smut is the same thing. Smut, ‘romance’, erotica, porn, ‘explicit’ writings are like, umbrella terms for generally the same-ish thing/expectation, but then you get into the nuance/intention behind it and how it's woven into a story, but they'll all be called 'blue' in this allegory. I really don’t know how to explain it if you haven’t devoured a fuckton of books to really understand genres, but like in ‘romance’ novels, you’ll very rarely see the word ‘cock’ (well, i haven’t read a new book in ages so maybe its different nowadays idk but you wouldn’t really encounter that word in a victorian romance novel anyways cuz it doesn’t fit the aesthetic-- and your character's voices/personalities definitely have influence on how/when to use things) and definitely never see the word ‘cunt’ unless the book you’re reading is meant to be jerk-off material for lack of a better word. Idk honestly i haven’t read too much material with ‘cunt’ in it and i have mixed feelings about reading it cuz i feel it hasn’t been done super well in material i have read, and also the fact it’s like the SUPER pejorative for demeaning women and i’ve got a LOT of anger where that comes in….sooo i won’t be the best resource for that in particular, but the same thing stands in just devouring the type of content you want to write/getting used to it :) I personally haven't read enough erotica where 'cunt' is used successfully, so i can't speak to that as easy as i can 'cock haha

OF COURSE this will also be different depending where you are in the world xD When i lived in australia, i had no problem calling my mates ‘cunts’ on the daily, but back in the states its like HOOO NOPE. So… yeah its kind of hard for me to generalize while being specific, but in terms of how -I- manage it….. Yeah xD Maybe if i was still in australia, then i wouldn't care about using 'cunt' in erotica, but- for lack of a better term- when i read 'cunt' it cunt-punts me right out of the story and breaks the fourth wall for me HAHAHA

Hell, sometimes in explicit erotica you won’t even see the word ‘cock’ used at all (not like the writer is particularly avoiding it in favor of like… idfk, ‘shaft’ or some nonsense) but a piece of writing can be -plenty- explicit without ever using it. I’m not sure how other people’s brains work, but if you can imagine the story while reading, and simultaneously being conscious of -how- they’re writing, it’ll help. In my head when I do this, it’s like there are two brains- the one imagining the story as i’m taking the words in, and the one that is analyzing the writing style/figuring out where the story might be going while i read it… i think this is an adhd thing tho cuz sometimes i watch two movies at once and im fully following both because its too boring/slow for me to sit still thru otherwise and i can’t pay attention :/ Similar skill to needing to listen to music while doing work.

I think maybe I can illustrate the 'learn while you read' best in terms of, sometimes I’ll be reading and find errors in others’ fics where it’s not a spelling error, so spellcheck doesn’t catch it, but you’ll see an extraneous word not needed in the sentence, and you know that ‘OH they were gonna write this sentence this way but changed it before they published it'. Like, it helps you get inside other people’s heads/how they write. For example in omegaverse fics, i’ll see “the omega he sat down” or some shit, where there’s a line break so it wasn’t caught by the writer, and they went in and chose the pronoun instead of using the noun cuz maybe they wrote ‘omega’ so many damn times that it became repetitive so they went and fixed it but forgot to delete the noun. Same with just descriptors like, “He The taller man stood up” ← you don’t need both ‘he’ and ‘the taller man’, and thanks to it being something the writer missed, you can learn -how- they were writing/possibly infer what their reasoning might’ve been, since its very rare to read fic rough drafts before they go thru the polishing stage and we as readers don’t get to compare the before and after :) …fuck i hope this is making sense on some level or any of these examples are getting through xD

There are also different word frequency uses for the different subsets of smut. Like, 'dirty' and 'filthy'; the connotations are different and hold different judgment/weight. There's plenty of erotica that doesn't use anything explicit, but every time i read "spread your legs" im like HOOO YEAH GET IT xD Does that make sense?

I tend to write Jack saying 'dick' if he's speaking, but as the narrator of the story, -I- will use 'cock' to describe what's going on if needed. Being true to your characterizations also helps add that depth and blending to the fic.

(also, i was gonna try to find more examples inside my own work to just like, point out to you, but i realized while im working that i can just tell you what i was doing, and you can go through certain works of mine that you like/you're familiar with in order to tear it apart to understand the pieces better; Go choose whichever E-rated fic of mine or whoever's that does the smut the way you want to try to do it/the 'recipe' you want to try, find the first instance of using the word 'cock' in the fic- which will be more prevalent in my later work than earlier- and read the bits leading up to that usage, noting any other particular words that fed into the scenario i.e. any words that, in public, the average person would probably lower their voice to say.... it's a good indicator haha)

In Breaking and Entering, they're talking about sex in the beginning, which has set the bar where it is in terms of what words i can start using writing. Nothing particularly dirty there just yet, even tho we know the topic is fucking (also, using the word 'fucking' helps get those C-words in!! xD). Then we get down to "Nisha devoured his mouth" which paints a certain picture instead of like, "kissed him deeply" or something. Use those $20 words! This is shortly followed by “How’d you like a blowjob, baby?”, which like, you'd never see in a 'romance' novel, but is right at home in Smutsville. If those subsets of smut were on a venn diagram, the word 'blowjob' would belong to the 'cock/cunt' circle, paving the way by nuance to drop a "cock" in there after that when I please :) We're already in that 'realm' of words, so no problem, and it's not jarring to the reader. 'devoured' 'blowjob' 'fucking' subtlety lets the reader know where we stand in terms of getting rather explicit. Going Off Script is pretty horny right from the get-go, and i could drop the cock-bomb in there any time I pleased vs. like maybe one of my longer fics like All Sales Final where I don't even use the word 'cock' until chapter 6. There's definitely differences in writing craft with one-shots and longer fics too, but just to give some examples :)

If you think of writing smut kind of like a set of stairs, and certain words belong to certain steps, then it makes it easier if you climb those steps consecutively instead of skipping from the first step (idk... 'romance words' for example) to the last step (the 'cock' step HAHA). It will be less jarring for the reader, giving a smoother reading experience while keeping them immersed, thus boosting your confidence, and taking less issue with using those taboo words at all :) I have gotten a LOT of comments from people who never liked omegaverse/rhack/etc before reading my work but then they did, and im crediting that to the fact that it was done in this tiered sort of method. It was a super squick for them, major turnoff (hell, i used to be in that category, and those kinds of thoughts were only reinforced by reading material that did it poorly or pacing was just super awkward/unrealistic, making me enjoy the genre even less) but because of the way i handled it, they like it now :) It might help to be coming from that other side, because you're very aware of what you don't like about the subject matter, and that awareness helps you choose which words to use/which words fits best for what you're trying to convey. You can also use a beta to check your stuff if you want :) Someone you trust and who has time/interest to do it can be a great help on your way to gaining confidence (i have rejection sensitive dysphoria and hyper-independence thanks to the adhd/childhood neglect, so i absolutely do not use betas and the suggestion also makes me angry... but this isn't my therapy hour rn HAHAHA but i found that kind of thing very helpful in college english classes during a time before automatic spell-check existed, and while i was still a relatively new writer. i've been writing for decades now tho xD)

I will add a caveat to everything by saying that i edit HEAVILY. Like i spend a LOT of time making sure things are perfect. I edit so damn heavily that I have a shitton of fics back here that i am NOT uploading yet because i'm aware of how much still needs to be written, but also how long the task of 'blending' the smoothness is gonna take to make a smooth reading experience. I might have a lot of fic out thanks to hyperfocus, but the editing and rewrites and deliberation on what words to use/phrases/deleting sentences/putting them back UGH It's like juggling, or maybe better, plate-spinning xD Keep the story interesting, move the plot forward, make it relatable, don't break the reader's suspension of disbelief, write some delicious fucking, keep track of the positions they're in, keep it sexy and believeable, etc XD HAHAHA

Also: WRITE WHAT YOU LIKE. If you find it sexy/write it in a way that pleases you, then it will resonate with your readers as well :) You're not writing for EVERYONE. It's impossible to please everyone, but humans aren't so different from one another to not have the same kinks/turn-ons/likes. You'll be okay :) And if you're nervous of attaching your name to it, make a throwaway account, or publish anonymously, or sideblog, or whatever :) That's what this account was for me when i first got into the Smuttening™, and seven years later, i could truly give less of a fuck. There are always weirder more extreme kinks than anything you'll be into, so go wild and be brave :D It took me over a million words to get where i am now, and it doesn't happen all at once, so don't fear, and don't judge yourself against others if its not happening as fast as you want it to or it's just not there yet. There's plenty of my own fics that can be jarring with the sudden 'cock' in your face (LOL) without using words from that circle. I couldn't tell you which ones off the top of my head since i have over 186 fics up, but i have DEFINITELY done it, but since i can recognize it, i've been able to learn from it :)

okay ive rambled enough jfc i hope this made some sense on some level x_x May one of my insane examples hit home HAHA and if not, or you want elaboration, i think i could probably do that xD my ask box is always open :3

...cockity cocks and a big ol' cunt-punt! :D XD

[awed-frog]

Hey! I just finished high school and I'm about to go and study linguistics at university. I keep fluctuating between excitement and anxiety about basically everything in the future--do you have any advice for that stage of life in general? (If that's too general or you're busy or whatever, don't bother, I just felt like you might have some wisdom)

Hello and congrats on your A-levels or Maturité or whatever the name is in your country! It must be a great feeling to be done with all that stuff! And don’t worry - it’s completely normal to be all over the place right now, this is a big moment in your life! 

I’m not sure my opinion will be useful to you, but here are a few thoughts.

1) The world out there is probably not as you imagined it, so be patient and flexible. Like - the subject you chose to study might not be what you’re actually interested in; if you’re moving to go to uni, the new city might be different from what you were expecting (and if you’re staying home, the relationship with your parents might not develop or change the way you wanted it to); and, most of all, life on campus is probably not going to match what you’ve been seeing over and over in movies and shows. All of that is okay. ‘Different’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘worse’. Take your time, be patient, switch your major if you have to, and above all don’t be afraid to reach out for help - talk to your tutors, professors, to other students, to the librarians, to the mental health service if you feel like you need them. Everything is new, but you’re not alone in this. Even the most famous and respected professor was once a nervous 19-yo, so they know what you’re going through and will help you out if you give them the chance to.

2) This brings me to the second thing: in uni, stuff gets messy very quickly. If you were a good student in high school, you probably got into the habit of improvising, doing assignments at the last minute, pulling all-nighters and the like. In uni, that won’t work. Go to your classes, take good notes, do the assigned reading and try to keep everything on schedule as much as possible. Never underestimate how long something will take, and if it looks like you won’t be able to complete something on time, speak with your advisor or tutor at once and work out a solution with them. In my experience, there is a lot of tolerance but professors also get annoyed by last-minute excuses.

3) Reaching out and asking for help is also a good way to stay safe, which was my third point. Not to go all mom on you, but change is always stressful, so be mindful of that. For instance, I know it’s sometimes tempting to become a whole new person when you go to uni, but if possible, don’t give up your old life all at once and/or 100%. Find a way to keep practicing your favourite sport or craft, keep in touch with high school friends, remember your parents will probably be happy to hear from you more than once a month. Holding on to what you liked of your ‘child’ self will help you a lot in managing the stress of building the adult self you’re now becoming.

4) On a related note: uni is often a time for experimenting, which is great - but while some mistakes are unavoidable, try to limit the damage. Always practice safe sex, tell your friends where you’re going to be if you go to someone’s house, keep the age difference with your sexual and romantic partners down to a reasonable number, drink in moderation (and be aware of the risks: never ever drink lots of strong alcohol in a short period of time!), do your research when it comes to drugs (my advice would be, avoid them completely - but if you don’t, please be smart about it), ask yourself if you’ll really want a quirky tattoo on your nose when you’re forty and if you moved to a new city, do some research about safety, risky areas, crime or whatever else. I know you feel all grown-up and society is pushing you to be adult and efficient and pay taxes and all that stuff, but your brain won’t be done developing until you’re 25 or so. That means your risk/reward centre is still a bit wonky, so be aware of that!

5) Finally: be curious. You have the amazing opportunity to discover a lot of new things - take advantage of it! Do your assigned reading, follow up on footnotes about other articles, pick up interesting books, go to random lectures in your free time, wander into that weird Kieślowski retrospective, try new sports or activities, take the time to meet new people. There’ll be time to binge on Netflix when you’re old; now there’s better stuff to do. Plus, you never know where the connections you make and the knowledge you gather will lead you. My entire life basically happened the way it did because I had a sudden crush on a professor and started taking his classes, and I don’t regret it for a second. One of my friends is now doing a PhD on a subject he never meant to study - he just walked into the wrong classroom during his first week, was too shy to leave and got hooked. Another one is now a theatre director - he started drama classes because he fell in love with some girl, the relationship didn’t last but still changed everything for him. I know people who switched from economics to musicology and from Latin to obstetrics, people who left for a semester abroad and never came back, people who took road trips with strangers they would later marry, and all of them are very happy about where they ended up. So while it’s good to have a plan of sorts, keep your eyes open and allow fate and serendipity to work their magic.

[And if things don’t work out: everything can be fixed. Please remember that. I know some stuff can feel like the end of the world, but as grim as it sounds, death is the only real end of the world. Everything else - everything, no matter how dramatic and traumatic and unexpected - can be fixed. And I’m sorry if this is a bit dark, but I saw many people freak out about exam results, or panic about deadlines, or feel like their lives are over because of some other reason - please stay safe and keep others safe as much as you can.

Seriously: everything can be fixed.]

Anyway - good luck and my very best wishes! Linguistics is awesome, I hope you’ll have tons of fun with it!

[paolaofthewatertribe]

woosung - i don’t know you

«i don’t know you, but you make me

wonder who you are»

Everybody on campus knew him. The one and only Kim Woosung. Majoring in music and arts, vocalist and guitarist in his own band The Rose and every girls' heartthrob.

[y/n] wouldn't admit it though. She hated the fact that she developed a crush on him so quickly. But who wouldn't? Just a look at him would help you understand why every girl on campus had a crush on him.

5'10'', nice built and a smile that could heal all the diseases in the world. Only thing [y/n] didn't like what his personality.

He was known for being a player. If he liked someone, she would be going home with him by the end of the day. He was also very cocky and flirty. Not that that behavior annoyed [y/n], she found it very attractive, but not coming from him.

Everybody talked about him, it's just as if the whole world turned around him. And he definitely acted that way to her.

She just hated him. And liked him at the same time. But she would rather fail all her classes than admit it.

– Are you fantasizing again? – her friend Sangyu asked –. About a certain someone, maybe?

– What the heck Yu, of course not. You know I don't need no man – her friend laughed –. I was just thinking about what I'll eat for lunch later.

– If that's what you say. Well, here's me. See you later at lunch! – they said their goodbyes while each of them went to their different classes.

[y/n] was studying linguistics. She loved languages and was very good at it too.

She entered the classroom and sat down. The room was still kind of empty since class didn't start for another 15 minutes, so she decided to kill time by playing with her phone.

– Hey, is this seat taken? – she turned around when she heard a voice. She directly smiled.

– Of course it is Hajoon, was saving it just for you – she winked, making him blush, to what she laughed.

Lee Hajoon. He was studying music and also linguistics. That's how they met. They just sat together at one of their first classes and hit it off.

There was one bad thing about him though. What, you may ask? He was friends with Woosung.

– Are you free tonight? – he asked.

"Of course I'm free", she thought. It was kind of sad though. To be a student who had nothing to do on a Friday night.

– Why are you asking?

– We are playing some songs tonight at The Red Cat and I would really appreciate it if you would come – she sighed.

She saw it coming. It wasn't the first time he asked her to come to one of their concerts. But she always had an excuse. She just couldn't go and have to look at Woosung the whole night. She would probably fall deeper for him if she did.

– And don't say you can't. I know you don't have anything to do.

– You're right, like always – they laughed –. Okay fine, I'll be there. But with one condition.

– I knew it. You just couldn't go to make me happy – he faked a tear.

– Shut up! I'm bringing Sangyu with me, and I want you to finally try and talk to her.

Hajoon had the hugest crush on Sangyu, and so did she. So [y/n] thought it would be a great idea to finally set them up.

Bad idea. During the first half, it was fun. They danced to their songs, and to [y/n]'s luck, Woosung's voice was that of an angel, making it difficult for her to stop looking at him.

They decided to take a break, and Hajoon luckily kept his promise and talked to Sangyu. Sadly [y/n] didn't really think it through, since she was now alone in the middle of the bar.

She sighed and decided to get herself something to drink.

– What can I get you miss?

– I would like a Sex On The Beach please – she answered politely.

– I could give you that for free.

She froze. They never talked but she would recognize that voice anywhere. Kim Woosung was flirting with her.

She was fangirling inside, but she wouldn't show it. That would only increase his ego and she wouldn't give him that.

– Not interested, sorry – she smiled at the bartender while paying for her drink.

– You sure?

– Oh hell yes I am – she stood up and walked towards a free seat in the back of the bar.

She sighed with relief when she didn't see him coming to her. She could breath normally again.

– It's me again – someone whispered in her ear.

– What the hell dude? – she said while getting away from his face –. What part about "I'm not interested" did you not understand?

– Come on, every girl wants a piece of this.

– Yeah well, not this one. So please, just leave me alone.

To her surprise, he smiled apologetically and left. She was expecting him to be more stubborn, so that was a nice surprise.

Great. Now she would spend the whole night thinking about that gesture, and wondering, was he really a player or was it just rumors?

Sangyu came back after a while and they enjoyed the rest of the night. But [y/n] kept thinking about Woosung. And so did he.

– Don't you think that's weird? – [y/n] turned around when she heard her friend Jinsoo. She was lost in her thoughts. And yes, they were about a specific someone.

– What is?

– Haven't you been listening? – Jinsoo made an annoyed gesture but started to explain again –. Woosung hasn't been seen with a girl since last week. And that's really weird coming from him.

[y/n] shrugged, implying she didn't care. But well, we all know she cared. In her mind there was every possible scenario about him.

– Maybe he fell in love? – suggested Sangyu, to what Jinsoo laughed –. I'm being serious. I've been hanging with Hajoon and the band these days and I can tell you Woosung is a really nice guy. All the stuff about him being a player is a lie. But believe what you want.

She stood up and left Jinsoo shocked and [y/n] surprised. [y/n] then said goodbye and ran to her bus who had just arrived.

Luckily there were some seats available, so she sat down since she had a long way to go. Her apartment was 20 minutes away from campus, but she enjoyed the bus rides.

She put her earphones and listened to her favorite song. But when she looked up, her eyes met with another ones. Woosung was sitting in front of her. She quickly looked away, so she couldn't see how he smiled sweetly at her.

Woosung had been infatuated with her since that night. He kept thinking about her. He liked her loose jeans and her casual hair, he liked how her eyes disappeared when she laughed heartily, he liked how kind she was to people.

He was dying to know her, but he supposed she wasn't interested after their conversation at the bar. And that made his heart ache a little bit.

[y/n] did her best in not looking at him for the first half of the ride, but it was hard. Really hard.

A couple of stops later, two elderly women came into the bus. Woosung and [y/n]'s reaction was to instantly stand up and offer them their seats.

It was a sweet gesture, and that made both of them fall even more in love with the other. And to top it off, they were now standing next to each other.

Finally, it was [y/n]'s stop. She was battling inside about if she should smile at him or not. His small gesture made her think maybe Sangyu was right, and he was indeed a nice guy.

The bus came to a stop. Woosung saw that it was her stop, which made him a little bit disappointed since he still had a couple of stops before him.

She sighed. And quickly looked at him, smiled and exited the bus, leaving a surprised Woosung behind.

Friday night and Sangyu dragged [y/n] along to a bar. The guys would be having a special performance there, and since Hajoon had asked Yu to be his girlfriend, she needed to go. And of course, that meant [y/n] had to go too.

– Just promise you won't leave me alone afterwards to make out with your boyfriend – Sangyu smirked.

– I won't, relax – they both laughed.

The boys entered the stage. Everything went quiet. They took their respective places and Woosung took the microphone.

– Hello everybody, we are The Rose! – a lot of girl screams could be heard from the back of the bar, which made [y/n] cringe a little –. First of all, thank you all for coming, it means a lot to us – his eyes were searching something in the crowd –. Hope you enjoy it!

They started playing their set and the mood changed. Their songs were so upbeat and fun, [y/n] couldn't help but move her head along to the music. Her eyes met Woosung's a couple times, making her blush.

After a couple of songs, it was time for the last one.

– Well, now it's time for our last song – some whining sounds were heard –. I know you want to hear more, but I guess that means you'll have to keep coming to our concerts – everybody laughed, including [y/n] –. Now this last song is a new one, what means we haven't played it before. Honestly, I just finished it yesterday – his eyes met [y/n]'s –. It's dedicated to a special girl out there, so let's hope she likes it.

It was the prettiest song [y/n] had heard in her entire life. And to make it even more beautiful, Woosung kept staring at her the whole time.

She listened to the whole song, which made her heart want to explode and her feelings want to come out. That's why she left the bar after they were done.

She just needed some fresh air to try and sort her feelings out. She couldn't be falling for him.

Woosung saw her ran out and without a thought, went straight after her. He found her staring at the starry sky just in front of the bar. He walked up to her.

They stood next to each other for a couple minutes, without saying anything. And they both liked the silence. It wasn't awkward. On the contrary, it felt nice.

– Are you okay? I saw you ran out and I wanted to make sure everything was fine – [y/n]'s heart jumped –. Was it the song? If it was, just know that I didn't mean to hurt you or anything like that. I just wanted to express my feelings. And it would be totally fine with me if you didn't feel the same.

– Why do you have to be so goddamn nice? – her question surprised him. But she wasn't done yet –. You're supposed to be a player! You're not supposed to act like this and make my heart flutter at every word you say! I'm trying to forget you, goddamn it. I can't fall in love with you, I just can't!

He took her hand in his and looked right into her eyes.

– Why can't you? – she looked away, but he took her chin in his other hand to make her look at him –. All that stuff about me being a player, is a lie. I haven't taken a girl home since last year. I don't play with their hearts, I'm just straight to them. It's been a while since I liked someone. But you just make it seem easy, and right. I know we don't really know each other, but I'd love to. So, let me travel you.

[lesbeet]

hey so im that anon who asked about writing like a day or two ago and i just wanted to say that you saying "please don't quit" really made me feel better like. even if I still haven't quite hit the writing groove im Getting There and i just wanted to thank you

i'm so glad!

honestly ime, most of the time, the more blatant confidence someone has in their writing abilities, the worse they probably are.

it's sad, and obviously there are exceptions, but the majority of good writers i know think they're much worse than they are, and the majority of bad writers i know never realize how bad their writing actually is

and i think it's because the best way to be a good writer is to be a good critic--not in the sense of criticism, but of scrutiny. good writers understand subtleties about language and about storytelling because they've figured them out, by studying the works that already exist, including their own.

even if it's hardly more than a vague gut feeling, a writer of any level who genuinely wants to improve can usually identify their own writing strengths and weaknesses. and the reason so many good writers have voices unique to them, distinct and signature, and/or styles of storytelling, is because those are the elements those writers paid attention to most while analyzing any other writing they'd seen before.

based on the amount of time you've been working at it, i'd have to guess that you have at least a cursory notion of what you'd like to improve. (if not shoot me an IM and we can chat about it!). if so, that tells me that at the very least you have the eye of a discerning reader, which is crucial to any sort of deliberate honing of the craft of writing.

from there, read! read your own stuff, taking note of what you think works and what you think doesn't. read anything and everything you can get your hands on. advertisements, weirdly enough are a wonderful source of verbal and linguistic data, as well as information on storytelling: they select each and every word, image, song, etc with the explicit purpose of selling you on something. you don't have to make it a formal thing, but refrain from skipping the commercials every so often and pay attention to what you're seeing and hearing. what did they want to make you feel, and which strategies did they use to accomplish that (if they accomplished it?) take a few seconds to think about an ad you see in a magazine, or even on a billboard. if you work at it, you'll find yourself with boundless, totally free information about what it takes to make someone buy a product, which is exactly the job of a writer: to sell your story. to make it real and believable. to make people care.

but also: movies and tv shows! personally i think i've learned a lot more about storytelling from film and tv than from reading, if only because it's a more passive medium which leaves your mind more room to wander, and because it's much easier to remember details about a 90-min film than a book it took you a week to read, yknow?

my point is that if you have even an inkling of what you want to look for, the world is bursting with information, with examples, with explicit analyses (which should never be taken absolute fact!). once you can identify and make distinctions between different strategies, you'll be able to start practicing them in your own writing. you'll find what you excel at and what you need to work on further, as well as what you personally like and dislike, as least as far as within your own style.

and from there it's just endless editing and tweaking and honing until you die dndjdkakzldksskdjdk

but yes, PLEASE DON'T STOP WRITING, whatever you do. it sounds like you have something things that you need to say, and you should give the world an opportunity to hear them!

this answer has waaaaay gotten away from me lmfao, but i hope that advice was helpful in some way.

[hardhuilen]

11 questions tag

Got tagged by @zoueriemandzijnopmars, thank you!

Rules: Answer the 11 questions you’ve been asked, nominate 11 other bloggers, ask your nominees 11 questions, let them know you’ve nominated them!

1) What is your favourite letter (like a, b, c, etc.)?

Oooh this is such an interesting question and I've actually thought about it quite a lot over the years, but I'm really not sure. Mostly because the letters that appeal to me visually don't necessarily have the most pleasant sound. The one thing I know for sure is that it's a consonant.

I think if I take both visual and auditory characteristics into account, I should go with G. Specifically the Dutch soft G (it’s such a huge part of my identity lololol).

2) Is there a musical you desperately want to see? So yes, which one?

Not really, I'm not especially into musicals. I would like to see one in person someday, but not a specific one or anything.

3) What is your favourite dish? (Feel free to share the recipe)

Ooooooh I always love pasta and (homemade) pizza. I guess lately my favourite is tuna pasta.

It's super easy and quick to make: for 2 people, you just need a can of tuna, an onion, a can of tomato paste, some crème fraiche and obviously pasta. The kind of pasta doesn't really matter, I usually make it with spaghetti or fusilli.

First you slice the onion, make the pieces as big or as small as you like them. Then you take a small saucepan and you pour in a little olive oil – I always get tuna canned in olive oil and use the oil from that. You put in the onion pieces and let them fry for a bit. When you think they look fine, you add the tuna and the tomato paste and mix it all together. Then you add the crème fraiche and mix again. It should look a pinkish orange now. When it's all mixed properly it's basically done, just make sure it's hot enough. You also have to boil the pasta, of course. I usually have it boiling while I’m making the sauce, because it’s just that quick. Enjoy!!!

4) Is there a subject from primary or secondary school of which you are sad that you haven’t persued it further?

The benefit of switching majors for me is that I don't have this problem so much. I pursued art first, and I still love it, but I'm sure now that it isn't how I want to make money.

Languages weren't actually my favourite subjects in secondary school (neither was art actually lol), especially Dutch. I really disliked it as a school subject, which is why I didn't even consider it for a single second when first choosing majors. When I quit art school though, it was long ago enough for me to just think 'hey, I do have a real interest in language' and just check out the majors Dutch and English – and choose Dutch in the end.

My favourite subject in secondary school was actually math, and though pursuing that was never an option to me (I'm way too alpha), I did regret that I'd never like make math assignments again. But now that I'm doing linguistics, I kind of am making math assignments again. Especially semantics is just basically math without numbers and I love it so much. I passed that course with a freaking 9.6.

So yeah, in that sense, I got the best of ALL worlds. It's a shame that it cost me so much, but oh well. I'm certain that I'm on the right path now.

5) Do/Did you have a comforting item/stuffed pet? What does/did it look like?

When I was born I got this small stuffed rabbit named Snuffie. Back then, he was light blue, but for as long as I can remember he's been grey, hahaha. I still have him. I always had him with me as a kid, and I lost him countless times, but my parents ALWAYS did everything they could to find him again – and fortunately always did.

6) What is your favourite Disney movie?

Tangled!!!!!! I should watch it again, I haven't seen it in a while.

7) Which other planet would you like to visit?

I mean, I know our moon is a moon and not a planet, but I would love to go there. I just think the view of Earth from there would be amazing (and also terrifying). But if I have to pick an actual planet, I'm going to be very boring and go with Mars.

8) What is your favourite children’s tv series?

I loooove Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. I wasn't actually that into ATLA as a kid (and TLOK of course didn't exist until I was an adult), but when I sat down one time and actually watched the entire series in the correct order, I loved it.

When I was still a child, my favourite was probably Pingu.

9) How many and what languages do you speak? Do you want to learn others?

I speak two: Dutch and English. And a little bit of German and an even littler bit of French.

I wish my German was better, but I don't really know how to improve it. And I want to learn NGT (Dutch sign language) and maybe Danish. My order of preference would be NGT > German > Danish. I think I might actually try it after uni.

10) What is your favourite book?

I never really know the answer to this question and usually just go with Harry Potter, because I keep coming back to it. Another book I keep coming back to is Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, and it's a pretty cliché YA romance but damn I love it so much.

I'm currently reading Sara Burgerhart for uni, an early modern Dutch classic. It’s not that easy to read because of the outdated language, but I like it. (I'm also currently reading at least five other books and have been for like four years, but I'm just not going to talk about that.)

11) What is your opinion on mathematics? ;)

As I already mentioned, I love it! But it's better without numbers.

I’m going to be a huge buzzkill right now, but I don’t currently have the inspiration to think of 11 questions, and I wouldn’t really know who to tag anyway. I can think of four people max. So I’m skipping that part, sorry!

[kingofthewilderwest]

I have a slight issue with the definition of language, and only humans having language. While I don't doubt that humans are the only creature to have language, humans are also the only creature actually defining what is/isn't a language, so I sometimes feel like humans intentionally defined it so that no other species could have language. Not that this is a bad thing, but I think it can then do a disservice to classify everything else as "Just Communication." 1/2

Like I feel like there should be more than just “Language” and “Not Language,” because animal communication can get very complex, and there’s a huge difference between dogs barking and crows passing on information, but there’s nothing to define these differences other than “not a language.” 2/2

Likely from this.

I understand what you mean about wanting to be more specific about different communication systems based upon level of complexity and other features.

Now the definition of language is what it is and is reinforced by scholastic standards as best can be done. The manner in which language’s defining design features were established, yes, from a human standpoint because we observed the features of our own language, but the intention of it wasn’t meant to necessarily be anthrocentric. It wasn’t intentionally designed to seal humans off in some special superior bubble. Far from it. Scholars studied all the human languages in the world - the only data points which we could verify concretely without doubt are language - and sought to create a common list of features which all these languages demonstrate. The defining features of language are meant to specify that which occurs in all known-proven languages rather than define what makes human communication special.

Now it is true that because the research looks only at human data, it’s going to fit humanity. That is a questionable consequence, because, by looking only at human data, that means we still described what exists specifically in human communication. In that sense, it still results in a human spin. I recognize that. But I suppose I personally don’t have a huge problem with the research parameters, even though I can see the notable weakness in the methodology. It’s what best could be done with the information we could verify - we can’t create a list of features of language off of data that cannot be verified. The only data we could verify comes from humans. So that’s all we can use.

It is also to note the design features of language are created to specifically establish what minimum defining characteristics occur in all human language as opposed to other forms of human communication. The design features took a species, saw the different forms of communication that one species can do, and separated out one form of communication from another. The design features of language are meant to distinguish something like human gesture from human language. Without one of those design features of language, then we cannot sufficiently distinguish human language from other forms of human communication… and thus run into problems. The design features aren’t a large, exclusive list, but a minimal list meant to distinguish communication systems as we’ve observed them. I think what we’ve done is the best we can get from the data we can receive and the methodology we can implement, even if I know there are areas in which it can create imperfections.

I have no problem with the word “language” being used in a scholastic sense to refer to the features of language which we observe in humanity. The fact that this word does not apply to other species is established through objective parameters - it doesn’t mean to exclude other species, but by its objective features, it just happens to do so. That’s fine. That’s the term. So I’m not going to call something that isn’t a language a “language” in the same way I won’t call a disease that isn’t a virus a “virus”. If there is something new we find that isn’t a virus but needs to be discussed and categorized, get a new term, don’t tamper with the old. The word “language” is what it is, it’s been established this way, and it should stay this way unless we have a major breakthrough in the research of what we’ve seen of proven-known language.

Now it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have more terms to distinguish other forms of communication. We probably should have more terms to get at these tiers of complexity that make you leery about how “language” is defined. I do agree that there is a terminological gap in how we discuss other forms of communication - I would prefer there to be terms to designate, for instance, some differences in complex forms of communication versus simple forms. But we could be tapping into some of my own ignorance over what terminology exists out there - I’m a linguist, not a professional in semiotics or animal science, and as is such, animal communication is outside my scholastic expertise and field. I can apply the principles of my knowledge to do research on animal communication, yes, and interdisciplinary research is extraordinarily important - but it still remains the fact that animal communication is a related field and not my field of linguistics. So maybe the professionals have already gotten to it and designated proper categories (at least as much as “categories” are legitimate in a continuum) and I just don’t know because it’s not my field.

I am aware of discussions of different modes of various species communication systems - chemical, auditory, and the like. But hey, all that does is distinguish different modes of communication. Humans have different modes of communication - auditory in spoken languages, gestural in signed languages. So we don’t get anything solved with the problem you’ve highlighted. Those terms I know of don’t designate levels of complexity, nor what types of information can be conveyed, nor a host of other features that could be interesting and useful to examine and compare. Terminology which floats through tiers of complexity in communication systems could be beneficial, though I suppose I am also……. curious….. as to how well that could be established or objectively defined. Communication systems are so unique, so various, so different, and often complex in such different ways… that I wonder how we could create an objective measurement of similarity between so many creature communication systems. How would we create terms separating off various forms of communication when things are so beautifully diverse? How could we create categories within such diversity along so many continua? It’s an interesting problem.

We could do more creation of terms like “language” which contain a list of required communication features - that would probably be our best bet. In that manner, we could maybe do some “better” comparisons of communication systems, like dolphin versus chimpanzee versus jellyfish versus amoeba versus human. (And we’d have to be clear that one species can do multiple forms of communication - the difference between a human talking and a human gesturing, for instance). These lists wouldn’t necessarily establish a “superior” form of complexity, but it would help us categorize different types of communication systems that share common features. This sort of terminology could at least help us secure the type of communication it is to which we are referring - there is, as you point out, a huge difference between something like complex dolphin communication versus something like simple human gesture or a dog wagging its tail. There’s a huge difference in terms of complexity, form, function, and more.

The best we can get right now that I know of is akin to what I did when teaching the design features of language to students. You go through different animal communication systems and discuss which features of language they exhibit and which they don’t. You go through and check things off the list. You can go through and point out that a dolphin has a lot of linguistic features marked, and in that manner, we get a decent measurement of complexity in the dolphin’s communication system. That does help us establish a nuance that is far more detailed than “language” or “not language.” That sort of analysis helps us establish that this form of communication - even if we don’t have a fancy word for it - is very complex, and thus helps us distinguish something like a hand wave from the complex clicks dolphins use to transmit information. And frankly, I do find it a useful measurement tool and a means of making things far more nuanced than “language” or “not language.” I think communication analysis could potentially be improved by adding some other features that aren’t in language but are still signs of complex communication system. After all, checking a list of things that are the design features of language isn’t entirely relevant when we’re looking at complexity features of all sorts of species communication. There’s more to add and to be said about these other features that need to be marked, observed, and analyzed. I like the idea of checking off features because it gets at more nuance than category terms. But if you don’t like checklist systems, I mean yeah, I get that, there’s some weakness in discussion capabilities with that sort of system, too.

So I do think we have ways of looking at complexity of communication without saying something is just “language” or is “not language”. I mean, something either is or isn’t language, yes, but there are methods out there by which we can compare different communication systems and see to what degree they relate to human language and share some features. And there are methods of looking at the complexity of that communication system we’re analyzing. So there are methods which to discuss the level of complexity of communication… even if I personally don’t know any terminology for different forms of communication based upon their degree of complexity. 

Regardless, though, whether or not those terms exist for various communication systems… it’s technically not my problem. I’m a linguist. That’s my field. I’m a phonetician specifically and I just look at how sound is acoustically relayed through the vocal tract. Looking at other terms of communication is not my field. It’s related research, yes, but haha, technically not my problem. ^^ Animal communication specialists or semioticians could tackle this with an interdisciplinary collaboration with a linguist, though. But in the field of linguistics alone? We’ve defined language objectively with good scientific observation, that definition is what it is, and there’s no reason to change it.