#it's the best I can come up with that is fluent in a flow

[kairukitsuneo]

College Sentinel tried some dangerous cool move in his academy years...

[777bae]

FLUENT IN YOU WILLIAM EKLUND

Summary :: William starts teaching you Swedish phrases

Warnings :: none

Word count :: 4.7k

It all started as a seemingly casual moment—a quiet afternoon, the two of you lounging together after a morning practice. William had been chatting with his teammates, speaking to them in Swedish, and you found yourself listening more intently than usual. You’d always had a soft spot for languages—how each one had its own rhythm, its own flow—but Swedish? It was different. You’d never really considered it before, but as the conversation continued, you couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to understand it. The way the words flowed from William’s lips, smooth and melodic, almost felt like music. You’d never really thought about how beautiful Swedish sounded before.

Your curiosity got the best of you. You’d been quiet, listening for a while, but you finally spoke up, breaking the spell that the conversation had cast. “Hey, I’ve got to ask—what exactly are you saying?” you asked, not sure what had prompted you to speak, but the fascination had taken hold. “It sounds so different… What does it mean?”

William glanced over at you, his grin widening slightly. It was that signature smile of his—playful and mischievous, as if he knew exactly what was coming next. He raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by your interest. “You want to know what we’re saying?” he asked, his voice teasing. “Well, I can tell you, but I have a better idea.”

You furrowed your brow, confused. “What do you mean?” you asked, raising an eyebrow in return.

Without missing a beat, William’s eyes sparkled with that characteristic mischievous glint. “Do you want me to teach you some Swedish?” he asked, the suggestion so sudden and effortless, it caught you off guard. “I promise, it’ll be fun. And I can teach you some useful phrases.”

You chuckled, still unsure of whether he was serious. “I don’t know if I’m ready for a whole new language,” you replied, shaking your head with a soft laugh. “Swedish sounds so complicated. I mean, I can barely handle English half the time.” You let out a small sigh, almost as if you were talking yourself out of it. The thought of trying to tackle a completely new language, especially one as intricate as Swedish, was intimidating.

William’s grin didn’t falter in the slightest. If anything, it widened, like he was savoring the challenge of convincing you. “It’s not complicated, I promise,” he said, his tone full of certainty, making it sound like the easiest thing in the world. “And I’ll make it easy for you. Don’t worry. I’m a good teacher. Think of it like learning a secret language, just for us.”

The words hung in the air for a moment, and despite your initial hesitations, there was something about his offer that intrigued you. It wasn’t just about learning Swedish—it was the way he said it, the twinkle in his eyes, the warmth in his voice. He made it sound like a game, something fun and lighthearted, a little adventure just for the two of you.

The idea of learning something new, especially with him by your side, felt appealing. Plus, the thought of sharing this private thing with him, something just between you and him, made it feel like an invitation to something deeper. You smiled, realizing you couldn’t resist the temptation.

“Alright,” you said, trying to sound more confident than you felt. “But don’t make fun of me when I mess up.”

William raised his hands in mock defense. “No promises there,” he teased, his grin turning even more mischievous. “But I’ll try to be nice.”

And that’s how you ended up here, sitting on his couch with a notebook in hand and a pen between your fingers, ready for your first lesson.

The afternoon sunlight poured through the window, casting a soft, golden glow over the room. The warmth of the light seemed to fill the space, adding to the quiet comfort of the moment. The living room felt peaceful, almost like a little bubble of calm in the midst of the day’s hustle. You sat on the couch, a notebook open on your lap, nervously clutching a pen, and tried to calm the fluttering in your chest.

Beside you, William seemed effortlessly at ease. His posture was relaxed, his legs stretched out, one arm resting casually along the back of the couch. The look on his face was one of someone who was completely comfortable in this setting, like a natural teacher with no hint of tension or hesitation. You, on the other hand, felt like a beginner in every sense of the word. The thought of speaking a new language, especially one you had never even considered before, made your nerves spike.

Still, you had agreed to this—you were here, ready to learn—and there was no one better than William to guide you through it. He had a way of making things feel effortless, even when you were still fumbling with the basics. You took a deep breath, reminding yourself that this was meant to be fun, that you were here with him and that you didn’t need to be perfect. You were ready to dive in.

“So,” William said, his voice pulling you from your thoughts, his tone light and warm. He reached for his phone, swiping through a few screens as he set it aside, clearly preparing for the lesson. “Let’s start with the basics. Something simple to begin with.”

You nodded, feeling a little more relaxed now that he was diving in, and you could focus on the task ahead instead of your racing thoughts. “Okay, I’m all ears,” you said, managing a small smile, trying to settle your nerves. “Hit me with it.”

He shifted slightly, facing you fully now, his eyes soft with amusement and that familiar playfulness that always made you feel at ease. “Alright, here’s where we start,” he said with a small smirk. “‘I love you.’”

You blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the unexpected phrase. The seriousness of it made your heart skip a beat. “Wait… what?” you asked, chuckling nervously, hoping to brush off the sudden rush of heat that rose to your cheeks. “We’re starting with ‘I love you’?”

William’s grin only grew wider, a playful gleam dancing in his eyes. It was the kind of grin that you knew all too well—one that promised both mischief and something deeper. “Why not?” he replied, his voice light but earnest. “It’s essential, don’t you think? And, I’ll teach you how to say it properly so you can tell me in my language.”

Your mouth parted in surprise, a laugh escaping you at how bold he was being. “You’re really starting with that, huh?” you said, trying to mask the blush creeping up your neck and into your cheeks, feeling both embarrassed and flattered by his words.

William didn’t miss a beat. He simply nodded, his expression softening slightly, though that mischievous smile never quite left. “Yep. You’ve got to know how to say it, especially if I’m going to teach you this secret language.” His tone became quieter, almost a little more serious. “You’ll want to know how to tell me.”

His words struck you in a way that you didn’t expect. Something about the way he said it, the warmth in his voice and the sincerity in his gaze, made the simple sentence carry far more weight than you’d anticipated. It wasn’t just a language lesson anymore—it was something personal, something shared. You felt a rush of warmth spread through you, and it wasn’t just from the sunlight streaming in through the window.

William cleared his throat and then spoke the phrase slowly, the words rolling off his tongue with ease. “Jag älskar dig,” he said gently, as if offering you a glimpse into something meaningful and intimate. He repeated it again, his voice soft but firm, emphasizing each syllable, letting the words linger between you. His eyes were fixed on you, watching your every reaction, as if he were both teaching and sharing something important at the same time.

You swallowed, focusing intently on his pronunciation, trying to absorb the foreign sounds and make them your own. “Yahg… ehl-skar deeg?” you said, stumbling slightly over the unfamiliar sounds, your voice a little unsure.

William didn’t laugh or make you feel embarrassed, though. Instead, his eyes softened with pride, and he offered a small nod of approval. “Close,” he said, his voice warm and patient. “You’ve got the right idea. Let’s try again, but slower this time.”

You took a deep breath, your heart still fluttering in your chest but feeling more determined now. You wanted to get it right, to do this properly, for him, for yourself. You repeated the words again, more slowly this time, focusing on the rhythm and the softness of the syllables. “Jag älskar dig.”

When you finished, you glanced up at William, your eyes meeting his. The pride in his expression made your heart swell. He was watching you so closely, his gaze soft yet filled with affection. “Perfect,” he exclaimed, his voice sincere, lighting up with warmth. “That’s it. You’re a natural.”

A laugh escaped you, the sound both relieved and a little awestruck. It wasn’t just that you’d gotten the pronunciation right—it was the way William had looked at you. His words weren’t just about the lesson. There was something in his eyes, a deeper meaning behind the praise, and it made the flutter in your chest return with a force that left you speechless. It was as if he was genuinely proud of you, not just for speaking a foreign language, but for being there with him, sharing this experience together. You couldn’t help but feel like you were learning more than just Swedish in that moment.

You gave him a small, shy smile. “I didn’t think I’d be saying ‘I love you’ so soon,” you teased, though the words felt strangely significant in your mouth, like they carried more weight than you expected.

William’s grin softened, his eyes locking with yours as he gave a small, almost intimate shrug. “I think you needed to learn it. You’ll use it one day, I’m sure of it,” he said, his tone quieter now, as if the moment was more than just about the words. There was something deeper there, a silent acknowledgment that this lesson was a bridge between the two of you—a connection built on shared words, shared meaning.

With the first phrase under your belt, William’s playful side began to surface. The atmosphere in the room shifted, and the lesson lightened. You no longer felt the pressure to be perfect with your pronunciation, and you both started to enjoy the learning process more. Each time you stumbled over a word, William would smile and encourage you, never making you feel self-conscious. Instead, his laughter would fill the room, and the entire lesson felt less like work and more like a fun game.

“Okay, now for something really important,” William said, a mischievous gleam lighting up his eyes as he leaned toward you, clearly about to spring something unexpected on you.

You raised an eyebrow, curious. “What’s that?”

William’s grin widened, if possible. “I’m going to teach you something every person should know.”

You chuckled, leaning back slightly, not sure if he was being serious. “What’s that?”

He gave you an exaggerated serious look before breaking into a grin. “It’s ‘My cat is wearing a crown.’”

You blinked, momentarily caught off guard. “Wait, what?” you asked, your voice filled with both confusion and amusement. “Are you serious?”

William’s grin only grew, and you could tell from the playful twinkle in his eyes that he was definitely messing with you. “Yes. This is a vital sentence,” he said, his voice dripping with mock seriousness. “You never know when you might need to tell someone your cat is wearing a crown.”

You stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he was truly serious or if this was just part of his playful charm. “You’re kidding, right?” you asked, laughing lightly at the absurdity of it all.

He shook his head with mock indignation, clearly delighted by your reaction. “Nope, not kidding. This is real knowledge. You have to be prepared for anything.” He raised an eyebrow in playful challenge. “Min katt har en krona.”

You stared at him, trying to process what he had just said. The phrase was entirely new to you, the sounds unfamiliar, and you didn’t immediately know how to translate it. William gave you a moment to digest the words, and when he saw your slightly confused expression, he added with a wink, “It means ‘My cat is wearing a crown.’”

You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing, your mind processing the absurdity of the phrase he was teaching you. “Wait… so that’s what we’re learning? Really?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Absolutely. It’s important to know. Imagine a situation where you need to tell someone that your cat is wearing a crown and you don’t know how. What then?”

You laughed again, shaking your head. “I’m not sure when this situation would ever come up, but okay. If you say so…”

“Try it,” he encouraged, clearly having far too much fun with this. “Say it, and you’ll be ready for anything.”

Still laughing, you focused on the phrase, trying to repeat it, though you were struggling to get the pronunciation right. You said, “Min katt har en… krona?”

It wasn’t perfect, but you gave it your best shot. The sounds felt strange on your tongue, and you could feel yourself stumbling over some of the unfamiliar words, but you didn’t mind. William’s face lit up when he heard it, and he burst into laughter, clearly delighted by your attempt.

“Perfect! That was great!” he said, clearly entertained by how seriously you’d tried to say it. “Now, you’re ready for anything.”

You laughed with him, shaking your head at the silliness of it all. “I’m glad I’m prepared to tell someone my cat is wearing a crown,” you said, still amused at how absurd the entire lesson was. “I feel so much more… equipped for life now.”

“Exactly!” William said, still chuckling. “You never know when it’ll come in handy, right?”

You both laughed together, the sound of it filling the room and making you feel more at ease than you had been when the lesson first started. The tension that had come with trying to master the new language had faded, replaced by a lightness, a sense of ease, as the lesson turned into a shared joke between the two of you. The whole thing felt so carefree—no pressure, no expectation, just the joy of being in this moment together, laughing and learning at the same time.

As the laughter settled down, you glanced up at William, your heart lighter than it had been all day. You realized that this wasn’t just about learning Swedish—it was about something deeper. The way he made the lesson feel personal, how he’d managed to turn an absurd sentence into a moment of connection, was more meaningful than you realized.

You smiled, looking at him with appreciation. “Thanks for the lesson. You definitely know how to make it fun,” you said, feeling genuinely happy with how things had gone.

William gave you a warm smile, his eyes softening with affection. “Anytime,” he said, his voice quieter now, filled with warmth. “I’ll always make sure you’re ready, no matter what.”

As the lesson went on, the initial nerves you had felt started to melt away completely. William’s presence beside you was steady and reassuring, his focus entirely on you. There was something incredibly calming about the way he interacted with you—no rush, no judgment, just the quiet encouragement of someone who genuinely wanted you to succeed. Each phrase you learned, each new word you mastered, felt like a small victory, and with every accomplishment, you felt more connected to the language and, surprisingly, to William himself.

The words were still unfamiliar on your tongue, the sounds sometimes difficult to wrap your mouth around, but every time you stumbled, William was there with a smile and a gentle correction. He never made you feel self-conscious about your mistakes. Instead, he made each misstep feel like a part of the learning process, something to laugh about together rather than a failure. His encouragement felt like a soft anchor in the sea of newness, and with every word you said, you felt more at home in his presence.

But then, just as you were beginning to settle into the rhythm of the lesson, something shifted. William’s tone, which had been light and playful, softened. His usual teasing smile faded into something more sincere, more intimate. His eyes, which had always been warm and inviting, became even more focused, and there was a quiet intensity behind his gaze that made you pause. You looked up at him, suddenly aware of how close you both were on the couch, the space between you feeling smaller than before.

“You’re doing great,” he said, his voice quieter now. There was a tenderness in his words that you hadn’t noticed before. His eyes locked with yours, and you felt a flutter in your chest, something deeper than the simple joy of learning. “Now, let me teach you something I really want you to know.”

Your heart skipped a beat at the seriousness in his tone. You couldn’t tell whether he was still talking about the lesson or if there was something more in the words he was about to say. It felt like this was no longer just about Swedish—there was something unspoken, something in the air between you that made everything feel different.

You looked up at him, your voice soft as you asked, “What is it?”

He paused, as if carefully considering his next words. When he spoke again, his voice was even more gentle, almost like he was sharing a secret with you, something that mattered deeply. “It’s Du gör mig lycklig,” he said, the words rolling off his tongue in a way that felt intimate, personal. His eyes softened, and the intensity in them grew, making your pulse quicken. “It means ‘You make me happy.’”

You repeated the phrase after him, your voice faltering slightly as you tried to absorb the new sounds. “Du gör mig lycklig.” The words felt heavy on your tongue, but they were beautiful in their simplicity. And as you said them, something about their meaning sank deeper into your chest—more than just the translation, more than the language itself. The weight of the phrase, the truth in it, settled in the quiet space between you.

William’s smile returned, but it was different this time. It wasn’t playful or teasing—it was something warmer, more tender, as if he was allowing you to see a side of him that was rarely exposed. He nodded at you in approval, his eyes full of affection. “Perfect,” he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. “You make me happy too, you know?”

Your breath caught in your throat as you met his gaze, the sincerity in his words hitting you harder than you expected. The phrase—Du gör mig lycklig—suddenly felt like more than just words. It felt like a declaration, a shared moment of truth between you two. It wasn’t just about learning Swedish; it was about the way William was making you feel. It was about the way his words reached you, deeper than you had expected, and how they seemed to confirm something you hadn’t fully realized until now: that he truly cared about you, not just as a student, but as something more.

You looked into his eyes, the words carrying more weight than just the language itself. It wasn’t just about learning Swedish—it was about the way he was making you feel.

The lesson continued, but it was clear that something had shifted in the air between you. The words you were learning, the phrases you were repeating, had begun to feel more significant, more personal. As William guided you through each new phrase, there was an unspoken understanding building between the two of you. It wasn’t just about the language anymore—it was about something deeper, something more intimate. With every word, you found yourself drawn closer to him, and each time he smiled at you, each encouraging glance, made your heart beat just a little faster.

The afternoon light cast a warm glow over the room, the soft golden beams drifting through the windows, wrapping around you both in a quiet embrace. The room felt still, the world outside fading away as you focused entirely on William and the lesson that had taken on a new depth. You felt his presence next to you more than ever—the way he was so attuned to you, how his every word seemed to draw you closer. The distance between you, both physically and emotionally, seemed to shrink with each passing minute.

William’s voice softened, no longer the lighthearted tone of a teacher, but something deeper, more meaningful. He moved just a little closer, his eyes locking with yours, and there was something in his gaze that made your heart skip a beat. You weren’t sure what it was, but you could feel the change, the moment that you both seemed to cross a line into something more.

“I think you’re ready for the final lesson,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper, as though the words were meant just for you. The air between you both seemed to thicken, the tension building in a way that had nothing to do with the language itself. “This one is very important.”

Your breath hitched at the softness in his tone, the warmth in his eyes making your chest tighten. You couldn’t help the way your heart began to race a little faster, the quiet anticipation settling in your veins. “What’s that?” you asked, your voice trembling slightly, though you tried to keep it steady.

William’s lips curled into a smile, one that seemed to carry all the warmth and affection he had for you. Slowly, he leaned in just a fraction closer, his voice lowering even more as he spoke the words. “It’s Jag är så glad att du är här med mig,” he said gently, his words lingering in the air, their meaning settling over you like a soft blanket. “It means, ‘I’m so happy you’re here with me.’”

You repeated the phrase after him, the words feeling both foreign and incredibly meaningful. “Jag är så glad att du är här med mig.” The words felt like a promise, like something more than just a translation. As you said them, you felt them resonate deeply within you, a quiet acknowledgment of how much this moment, this connection, meant to you.

William’s eyes softened as he listened to you, the smile on his face turning tender. He nodded slowly, his pride clear in the way he looked at you. “You’re really getting it now,” he said, his voice thick with meaning, as though the words carried more weight than they ever had before.

You could feel William’s gaze on you, and for a moment, everything else in the room seemed to vanish—there was nothing but him, his eyes locked onto yours with a softness that made your heart skip a beat. The world around you blurred, the faint hum of the room fading into nothingness as the space between you seemed to shrink. The warmth of the sunlight still filled the room, but it felt like it had settled around you both, enveloping you in a cocoon of quiet intimacy.

William’s eyes softened as he looked at you, a hint of something deeper in them that made your breath catch. He reached out slowly, as if the very act was deliberate, as if he was savoring the moment. His hand, warm and steady, gently cupped your cheek, the touch light but firm, grounding you in the present. His thumb brushed softly against your skin, and it was as though the whole world had stopped moving. Every other thought, every lingering doubt, disappeared in the wake of his touch. His hand on your cheek felt like an unspoken invitation, a promise without words—inviting you closer, drawing you into a space where the world beyond didn’t matter.

Your heart hammered in your chest, each beat thudding louder as you held his gaze, unable to tear your eyes away. It felt like an electric charge in the air, a current of something that you both couldn’t deny. The closeness between you seemed to grow with every breath, the space between you becoming smaller and smaller, and it was impossible to ignore the heat that flared between you. Every inch of your body seemed to lean into him, drawn in by the quiet force of his presence.

“Jag är så glad att du är här med mig,” William whispered, his voice lower now, soft like velvet, a careful, deliberate sweetness in the way the words left his lips. The phrase, one you had just learned, felt even more powerful in that moment as he repeated it, the quiet intensity in his voice carrying a depth that took you by surprise. You could feel the sincerity behind the words, the warmth of them, as they seemed to hang in the air between you.

Your breath caught in your throat, your pulse quickening. He leaned in closer, and everything inside you felt like it was suspended in time—your heart, your breath, the very air itself. You could feel his breath mingling with yours, soft and warm, each inhale and exhale blending together as the distance between you vanished entirely. It was as though your bodies were pulling toward one another, as if you were being drawn into a magnetic pull, an unspoken understanding that this was where you were meant to be.

And then, the moment stretched out, just a fraction longer before he closed the distance, his lips brushing gently against yours. The kiss was slow, soft—a tender exploration that felt more like a conversation than a gesture. His lips were warm, almost impossibly soft against yours, as though he was savoring the moment as much as you were. The kiss wasn’t rushed, there was no urgency—just the quiet, intimate connection between the two of you, full of meaning and unspoken words.

Each second of the kiss felt like it held everything—the lessons, the laughter, the connection you had been building over time. It was as though this kiss was the culmination of everything that had come before it, all of those little moments of vulnerability, those shared smiles and glances, now woven together into something undeniable. His lips were so gentle against yours, the sweetness of the kiss lingering even after he pulled away just slightly, his forehead resting gently against yours.

For a long, breathless moment, you stayed like that—close, your foreheads touching, your hearts still racing in time with one another. The softness of his breath brushed against your skin, and the space between you both was filled with a quiet intimacy that made everything else feel distant, unimportant. There was only him, only this moment, and it felt like everything in the world had led you to this.

When he finally pulled back just a fraction, his eyes fluttering open and meeting yours, you were both breathing softly, as if the world had slowed down to a gentle pace. You couldn’t find the words at first. Your chest felt tight, your heart still beating faster than normal, and everything in you was full of warmth—of something more than just the kiss, more than the lesson. It was something that lingered in the space between you, something that felt unspoken yet understood completely.

“I’m so glad you’re here with me, too,” you whispered, your voice thick with emotion, and it felt like the words had been there, waiting to be said. You realized then that it wasn’t just about the Swedish phrase anymore—it was about the truth you had found in each other, the connection that had deepened without either of you needing to say anything more.

William smiled, his eyes warm and full of affection as he met your gaze. He didn’t need to say anything more, but the way his fingers brushed against your cheek, the way he pulled you just a little closer, spoke volumes. “Always,” he said softly, his voice rich with meaning. “You’re always welcome here, älskling (darling). Always.”

[softliebgott]

– where there is despair...

asked for by @s-u-t 🤍 I swear I’ll make up for the angst

warnings: gn!reader, mentions of blood, a drop of gore, trauma, hurt/comfort, angst

note: it’s been great diving back into writing for BoB 🤍

1944 Bois Jacques

Silence, an odd predator, dared the men to make a sound. Dead branches beneath the snow made for traps, and the impulse to speak, a tightness in the throat, was hard to swallow down.

As for Eugene, he became fluent in quiet. No words crossed the river running through his mind, where images of the dead and wounded floated. He saw one man with a ravaged chest, the rib cage a gate rusted shut around a defeated heart. Another man had wrappings around his head, bloodied where it covered one eye while the other stared with the blankness of a taxidermied animal.

The blood of these men reached out in grasping rivulets, coloring the river of Eugene’s mind. He carried their hurt as much as he carried the need to heal them.

A cough behind him hauled him from his thoughts. He exhaled, his breath like a puff of cigar smoke in the chilly air. Blinking a few times to ease his dry eyes, he turned around in his foxhole and saw you.

You leisurely moved about, tracing the outline of your foxhole to keep your blood flowing. Arms folded against your chest, your chapped lips parted in exasperated breaths. The common cold gripped you, but at least the light fever was warm. A strange relief, but it was so goddamn freezing.

Eugene got up in his foxhole, and with rigid legs he left it to approach you, powdery snow crunching underfoot. “How’s the fever?” he asked.

“Eh,” you grunted, turning to him. Your nose tucked beneath your coat, your voice was muffled. “Feels like North Africa up there.”

Eugene pressed his lips together in a thin line, giving a nod of understanding. “I’m sorry I can’t do much for ya.”

“Don’t be sorry, Gene,” you said. You kicked up your heels every now and then, refusing to get trench foot. “Everyone’s doin’ their best.” Your gaze lingered on him as he quieted. He had been increasingly losing his words. You had wondered when he’d become afflicted with what you called, “the sight”. Neither a sickness or a wound, it was a festering reality.

“How about you?” you asked, a gentle pry. “How are you, Gene?”

He looked at you, and your heart palpitated. He had the tenderness of wounds in his eyes, the pallor of a corpse. He didn’t need his words to express his quiet anguish, just like none of the other men did.

You sighed and stepped toward him, intending to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“It’s hard,” he said, stopping you in your tracks. He didn’t look away this time, as if he knew he could safely drain the abscess of his mind in you. Understanding wasn’t hard to come by. It could be found in knowing eyes and in stretched silence. Talking about what was understood was the hardest. A lot of men were more comfortable muzzling themselves. Why, to each his own reason.

You stayed where you were, looking at Eugene and listening.

“I see us gettin’ hurt every day. Dyin’,” he said. He pressed his lips together, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He looked down, his hand girded with the chain of a cross that dangled. Some soldiers like Toye would rather a pair of brass knuckles, but others armed themselves with their faith. “I’m giving all that I can of myself to help.”

You glanced at the cross. Swallowing, you closed the distance and took his hand. You squeezed hard enough so that the cross’s ridges could be felt through both of your thin gloves. “You got a big heart, Gene,” you said, searching his eyes, noting the pop of a muscle at the edge of his jaw. “Hell, we all see it on that armband. We got you as much as you got us, doc.”

You let silence swell before you tapped into the prayer you heard him recite before. “Where there is despair…”

Eugene’s nostrils flared, his chest ballooning with an intake of determination. He squeezed your hand in return, the full shape of the cross felt on your palms. “Hope.”

[sun-stricken]

Do you think Gray, Natsu , Erza and Wendy have accents like all came from different places and I headcanon Florian wasn’t any of their first languages so whenever they get emotional their accents come out and Lucy’s just like “ guys please I can’t understand what your sayin” but they can understand each other just fine.

Like that get ambushed on a mission and they all start swearing except only Lucy’s swearing in Fiorian and they get so angry after the missions complete and thier all complaining about it Lucy’s just completely lost because their accents are popping so hard.

i do think so actually

i mostly just played around with what their accents would sound like rather than what you asked, so sorry🙏

Almost no one outside of who she grew up extremely close with can understand Erza when her accent pops out. Erzas accent is a mash up of a bunch of different ones, being raised in the tower with a bunch of people from various linguistic backgrounds does that, you could not pin point where shes from originally from speaking alone. When her accent pops her words can go anywhere from a clear-cut and concise, to a rolling drawl, to fast and choppy, it will give you whiplash

Natsu and Wendys accents are harsh and makes their words slur together heavily, sounds like theyre short-cutting their words as much as possible. Its meant for fast speaking.

Wendys accent is a different dialect of the average Fiorian one, the rhythm/structure of it flows similarly, but the pronunciation of letters are fairly different. When her accent comes out, her words probably the easiest to make out since (after Grandeeney) she was technically raised in Fioré, although that isnt saying much when compared to the other three.

Natsu, now Natsus accent is practically unintelligible at best, by the time you process what one word was, hes already moved on to another sentence, he could not slow down if he tried. Even if hes speaking a language youre fluent in, if his accent breaks through it sounds like a different language altogether.

Grays accent is sharp and sounds a little awkward, it can make him trip up on his words since Florian languages are faster and the sounds are shorter and an Isvani accent will put stress in unneeded places and is more drawn out. His accent is very, indecisive? the way he says words will change depending on where in the sentence they are or how he uses them. very inconvenient for anyone trying to understand him.

All of this very inconvenient for Lucy. Her first language is Florian, she knows a couple different languages fluently but holy shit, she should’ve brought her flash cards with her when she ran away. Although none of them wouldve prepared her for this

Wendys accent is heavy when shes upset for any reason, while Lucy is okay at understanding her (even if the pace makes her dizzy sometimes) she absolutely cant whenever she cries. Or when shes yelling, or if shes doing anything actually, Lucy has to pay very close attention to understand

Natsus pops at any given time, no real reason, but its like he purposely uses it when hes cursing someone out, he thrives on their utter confusion. If Lucy thought Wendys pace was dizzying, Natsus makes her feel like shes in a tornado.

*Natsu and Lucy arguing and his accent comes out*

Lucy, nearing a breakdown: IDK WHAT THE HELL YOURE SAYING

Natsu, knowing exactly what hes doing: FUCK YOU

Lucy: FOR THE LOVE OF—PLEASE

they have fun🤗

Both Grays and Erzas come out mostly when they’re tired, during intense moments/emotions, or when they talk for a long time.

Lucy has given up on trying to understanding Erza, just sitting there in horrified facination as she successfully captured a part of every countries accent while also trying to use context clues because for some reason the others can understand her perfectly fine (so unfair)

Gray also sometimes uses his accent to confuse people, although he usually dabbles in the actual language than the just the accent cause its funnier that way. Lucy at this point has given up any sense of peace she’ll get to have ever, itll never happen around any of these fools

So far, Lucy thinks Wendys is the easiest to understand (which means its her favorite), Grays is the nicest to listen to (even if the sharpness of it makes it feel like hes about to yell), Erzas is the most confusing (literally what the fuck is it??), and Natsus pisses her off (she knows that mf uses it on purpose to make her confused)

Once they all started talking with their natural accent and Lucy thought she had a brain injury before staring blankly and wonder what her life has come to

[shadowoffandoms]

-emerges bloodied and bruised-

hi gravity falls fans I spent three hours translating the code from the contract, I became literally almost fluent in cipher. This is from this btw!

heads up translation might not be totally accurate, especially in one section. I was up until 1 AM doing this lol. Translation below cut!

You are now twenty one grams lighter

This contract is legal and binding. We reserve the right to use your likeness, face. voice and smell town place in whatever nefarious manner is deemed necessary. sans soul, your soulmate will not recognize you and will walk right past you on a cold autumn day, never making eye contact not even processing that you have eyes at all. No amount of interaction will move them to a place where they can remember, in feeling, the thousands of lifetimes you have already spent together, each time choosing whatever form would keep you closest like otters holding hands in a tumultuous river. You were birds, you were trees with roots entangled, drinking in the sunlight together. Wherever we go next, wherever you choose, I will always be right there with you. Thats done, buddy. Congratulations . you have chosen Bill instead. McDonalds reserves the right to put a giant yellow m on your torso and forehead and send you walking through a crowded times square while you scream “the fries, the fries, they don’t degrade in nature!!! It’s an immortal food!!! They will be in the landfills long past our deaths!! Good god! The things we've seen”- me? Who am I? Oh I’m Bill’s previous lawyer. He put my soul into a quill pen so I can write dis legal documents until the sun snuffs out like a candle in this sick universe. I used to be so hot. I was so fine. Now I’m fine print. Speaking of which, Bill reserves the right to put your soul into an inanimate object, a strange creature, a concept, a sentence, a tasteful but rustic mason jar with wildflowers in it. If at any point you wish to have visitations rights with your soul, you will be swiftly denied. Unless you had a cool day planned for the both of you, Then Bill might want to come along. By signing this document you forfeit any rights to eating soul food. It will turn to ash in your mouth. A fitting punishment for a fool who squandered the only true gift life owes you. Bill reserves the right to dress your soul however he deems necessary. Especially if your soul was a nerd before acquisition. Soulmakeoverrr! Your soul may become fractured and placed into different objects. This has no purpose and will not resurrect you if you die. Signee cas forfeited all rights to any afterlife, including but not limited to, heaven, hell, purgatory, big corner, flow state, the dream house, the reincarnation processing center, axolotl’s tank and consequences hole. Signee can no longer board the soul train and is advised to discard all bellbuttons. Signee can no longer have a puppy as a best friend, they can sense what is gone, cats are indifferent. Signee may experience occasional demon possessions from Horculus the Red, Plabos the Merciless, Borbos son of Bortem, Plaga the Ooaing and other such common demons roaming Earth searching for weakened, empty vessels. Tips for ripping your soul out at home: watching youtube commentary channels, attending an extended family event with an open bar, using generative AI and asserting that you're the creative, turning a blind eye to human suffering, amassing more wealth than needed, purchasing a blue checkmark.

[slayerkitty]

Hey, I'm going to visit Thailand at the end of the year (chiefly the region around Phuket) and would like to start familiarising myself with the language.

Do you have any good tips on stuff to watch that would be both entertaining and simple enough to help me learn? I'm pretty good at obtaining international shows, but not super familiar with what's out there.

(any other advice also much appreciated!)

Hiiii! Well, I am downright tickled by this ask and super excited (and jealous, lol) that you're going to Thailand.

Having said that, I'm not sure if I'm exactly the best person to ask about learning Thai - most of the Thai I have picked up over the years has come from repeated phrases in various shows, a little bit of dabbling into Thai culture (learning about honorifics and use names, etc) and watching my faves in interviews without subs. Listening to the flow of speech helped me pick out words that are used a lot and also helped me understand a little bit of Thai sentence structure.

From talking to friends who are fairly fluent in Thai as a second language, they've said that university BLs tend to use more common everyday language and tend to be the easiest to understand (for them) without subs.

So, with that in mind, I'll rec a couple of my fave university BLs for you (you may or may not have seen them, not sure where you're at with watching shows because you said you weren't familiar with a lot of what's out there.)

In no particular order: Bad Buddy, Your Sky, Until We Meet Again (mind the trigger warnings on this one), We Are, and Star in my Mind (most of these are free on youtube or can be found on Viki).

I would also recommend scrolling youtube for beginners guides to Thai. I haven't done this, so I don't have any specific recs, but I know others who have found some useful.

Ooops, this got very long winded, and I hope I was able to help?!

(Anyone who wants to add recs or suggestions for OP, please do!)

[nientedal]

Hello, I binged a bunch of your Megamind fics last night (best mistake of my life 🥲). But since I'm not an old Megamind fan, or even an old fan of yours, I don't really know how did you come up with the bird-like singsong language headcanon and not sure where to look for answers either. Megamind with gills headcanon is pretty intuitive, but this? Tell me more, please ~

Thank you for your work. Megamind is a masterpiece, but even DreamWorks couldn't begin to explore all the implications of the story.

Omg I love this question, thank you for asking! And I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed my writing 💙👽💙 I hope you can nap today!

The short explanation is simply that the way I see it, if Megamind's species can live underwater, the language spoken in his culture of origin cannot work the same way our languages do. The primary mechanics of human languages, air flowing out through our mouths, will not work for an aquatic species unless their language is bubbles. So I needed something else, and...I like birds a lot. When I wrote Swansong (I think Swansong was my first fic in which Megamind speaks any Punktsyk), I honestly wasn't thinking about it very much, except "birds whistle and chirp, and so do dolphins and whales, so Megamind sounds like birds and dolphins and whales."

The long explanation of how I got to the fully-developed headcanon for his language as I currently write it is below:

The long explanation is that Megamind's specific combination of birdsong+whalesong was developed over a long period of time. I like birds a LOT, lol. I've also always loved the idea of a Megamind who looks more or less human-shaped, but is otherwise very very alien. So (years & years before I started writing him with gills) I wrote him as making some bird-like sounds very early on in my writing. 2012, 2013 or so, I think. I also wrote him mentioning a syrinx, which is a vocal structure some birds have. Just for fun, because at that time I was avoiding writing very much about his homeworld. And I wrote Swansong, which...as far as I know is the first appearance of Megamind with gills, so I didn't have much inspiration other than "I like birds" lmao. But I needed him to speak to Minion underwater, and I have no idea how Minion manages aquatic English, so I gave Megamind a different voice and leaned into those bird noises I had mentioned in passing before, in other stories.

Aaaand then I got depression and didn't publish anything for a couple years... and THEN I got on new meds and came roaring back to life with new inspiration, thinking, Fuck it! We've had no new information in years! I'm gonna do what I want! Gills! A new language! Let's go let's go let's go!

First, I needed a reason for Megamind to actually be fully fluent in his parents' language, so I gave Minion inherited memories. With the way I was writing Minion's biology, it made sense that his species might be able to do something like that. I thought, okay, Minion lives in an orb underwater, how long would it have taken him to learn any human languages? So Megamind is fully fluent in his parents' language because Minion could really ONLY speak that for a long time.

And THEN I sat down and started trying to actually figure out the language itself. I had already had the thought (several times, over the years) that if those bird noises I gave him are natural for him, there was no reason any of the languages on Megamind's homeworld would sound even remotely human. I was really sad about this, because I had hoped to write something Roxanne could eventually learn to speak, but...it just wouldn't work in my head. I was writing Dive and fully committing to Megamind as a fish-man, so his language needed to make equal sense in water and air, and for that, it needed to be something truly alien.

Like I said, I had written him singing already. This was just his language from Swansong, but more developed. I wanted a deeper song for him, too, like a whale, so I wrote long chambers along his spine, to run air back and forth and sing the emotion underlying the birdsong "words." I also gave him a kind of rolling "vocal loop" to keep air flowing through his syrinx without letting go of it through his nose or mouth, so he can sing underwater as well as in air. I think he probably also has structures he can work behind his nose, for clicking. He can make a LOT of noises, lol.

If I'm remembering correctly, I was still thinking maybe he had a different language out of the water while I was writing Dive. It wasn't until a couple months later when I wrote Wake Your Sleepy Soul that I decided it was a single language. I imagine it sounds a bit different underwater than in air, but the language itself is the same.

There is more I can tell you about Megamind's voice, but I think that's everything for why I wrote his language the way I do! and I must sleep. Thank you again!! If you (or anyone else reading this) have any other questions, please ask away, I LOVE talking about this stuff.

(Oh and go watch Megamind Rules if you haven't seen it yet! I think it is actually very cute and earnest. Wonderful show for kids, I really enjoyed it and hope they release the second half soon.)

[sofiaaaaaaaa03]

Moonknight Scribe of the God Headcannons (Layla, Marc, and Steven)

Request!: Okay ifk how to ask for head-canons? This is my first time so sorry if this is confuesing but!! Can we get some head-canons of layla marcs/steves relationship with y/n (of ur platonic series) omg im so sorry if this sounds weird?? Also make sure to take breaks! And dont rush! 🥰 

Hello! Here are the HCs as requested. I just worked on them as a way to get a feel for how my writing has been since I last wrote, so apologies if some things don't sound right. I hope you enjoy!

Layla headcanons!!

Layla was confused by y/n’s presence when they initially met outside of the windows of Steven’s apartment

But of all of the things that had happened to layla in her life she knew better than to question things and to go with the flow unless deemed a danger

Surely the kid was involved for a reason, right?

Layla definitely thought that out of everything that was happening, your young age was the craziest part about it all

She’d watched the news about a spiderboy over at the northern hemisphere climbing walls and fighting aliens at age 19

Rumors of a young girl , something marvel (?) in new jersey with superpowers

An associate of Layla had sent word that even Hawkeye had taken up an apprentice

For some time Layla had this underwhelming feeling that the next generation of superheroes were getting younger and younger and the fate of the world and public safety was in questionable hands

So yes, when layla followed marc to find the scarab and learned of the presence of the mystical gods and their pursuits, it didn’t preterb her

But when she saw the young avatar, summoning weapons and working for an ancient Egyptian god , all she could do was wonder if having the kid with them was a good thing or not. 

But she trusted her husband, despite his… actions

If Marc was taking the kid with him, despite his obvious grudges, then alright, the kid is coming with them

Layla had this mentality that y/n was simply a coworker

But eventually… she genuinely enjoyed their presence

It was because y/n had shown their soft spot whenever Layla spoke to them

Unlike the sharp, quick witted and snarky demeanor they displayed to Marc and sometimes steven, they had an entirely different personality anytime Layla asked anything of them

“Can you keep an eye on the fire, y/n?”

“Yes ma’am.” And that fire was watched 

“Kid, grab some more firewood.”

y/n would throw marc the finger and begrudgingly do it 

At the first sign of danger, Layla would make sure that you were in her vision at all times

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust y/n

It was just that unlike Marc, who had years worth of experience and age, y/n was still a baby in her eyes

We all know that is far from the truth, but still

After the events of moon knight, Layla made sure to keep tabs on y/n 

Her work took her to all ends of the earth 

She wasn’t able to visit y/n often but when she does she and y/n go out during the day to explore london and get some food from comfort restaurants

y/n, layla, and steven would get together to watch The Mummy 

It’s a tradition to have a movie night for them, Layla’s rule

Layla also likes to speak to you in arabic

She was shocked to find out that you were fluent

Obviously, she takes jabs at Marc for not being as fluent as y/n 

He glowers at the obvious look Layla throws at him whenever she and y/n speak together

y/n likes to learn new dishes to cook from Layla

She isn’t the best cook, but she makes cooking really fun

It was more of a company thing

When they make something, they always use marc as the guinea pig to taste test it

Layla is the kind of person to sneak a pile of salt under a layer of food and give it to y/n to give to marc

Just to cause a little trouble 

Layla is the kind of person that everyone is able to confide in, so y/n feels comfortable speaking to her about anything. Whether its about their day at work or if its about something they saw on tiktok

She also uses this to help quell disputes

“Hey, Marc told me that you were rude to him the other day. It really got to him-” she’ll mention one day over breakfast, trying to get you to go apologize to him

even though layla isn’t great in cooking, she loves to bake

You ask her to make baked good for you and steven as often as you can

You’ve tried countless times to get Layla to bring you to her missions to retrieve stolen artifacts

Initially she refused, claiming that you needed to focus on your studies and your job at the ennead 

But she let you in by asking you for insight about the locations she was heading to. Teaching her the history of the location or the artifact according to the texts in Djehuty’s library.

You were more than happy to help her, and did so everytime she asked until finally she let you go with her to one mission

On the condition that you didn’t wander off and that you would listen to her

You did so of course, because you knew that if you didn’t then she would never trust you to join her to a mission again

Layla is like an aunt to you, it isn’t necessarily her responsibility to take care of you but she is more than happy to be there for you and to enjoy your company

Marc

Marc wanted you close by after the events of Cairo

He was worried that you were carrying some trauma or mental exhaustion after the battle, and while he had full confidence that you were able to take care of yourself he still wanted you to know that he was there for you and make sure you were doing well

He had some experience in coping mechanisms for traumatic events

So for whatever reason you were trying to mask, he was still able to read you like a book

He would invite y/n over for dinner every night after you finished working at the library 

Some nights he didn’t feel like cooking, so you both would go out to eat

Marc is the kind of person to find one restaurant in London and only eat there

“Marc, we’ve eaten here for the last three times. Can we go try another place?”

“What’s wrong, it’s good isn’t it?”

It takes a lot of convincing on your part to get him to budge. When he finally does, you offer up a place that you really enjoy

He trusts your judgment and follows whatever you order.

Marc is the kind of person to nag you if you’re on your phone for too long at any point

He doesn’t want you to be talking to him the entire time, but if he feels like you’re on your phone for too long it will bother him at some point

He’s the kind of person to only listen to rock music

Maybe even old latin rock as well

Whenever its just the two of you hanging out he’ll randomly go “hey listen to this” and play it in the apartment

He’ll do it without asking for ur consent or if you say no

For the most part Marc is able to handle your attitude

But sometimes you can say something that just ticks him off

He’ll snap at you almost immediately 

But, when he bites, you bite back harder

He’ll get fed up with you and absolutely fume for the rest of the day, which doesn’t bother you in the slightest, so you both ignore each other’s presence

This can go on for a very long time, as both of you are too stubborn to reconcile.

Sometimes Marc will simply let Steven front so that he can cool off or simply just getaway

Sometimes Steven will refuse to front, insisting that this was marc’s mess and he had to fix it, not steven

When this happens and no one has made any moves yet, Marc will ultimately sigh deeply and eventually extend an olive branch

He’ll ask if you wanted to go get coffee or something outside of the apartment, to which you give him a look before ultimately agreeing and everything is right in the world

This is their relationship in a nutshell

When they are able to work and live together peacefully one moment

And tension and grudges the next

But its out of love, and respect for one another

Although you both are avatars, Marc will still consider himself to have seniority over you

Completely disregard the fact that you were technically an avatar for longer than him, he considers to have seniority over you because of his age and his experience in the field

Often time this means that he’ll unintentionally undermine your ability or your opinions, but you are very quick to put him in his place and tell him that you can handle the mission

When Marc gives up his position as the avatar for Khonshu, he tells you that he does not judge you for not continuing to work for the gods

He tells you that he admires you for the work and dedication you’ve put into their cause

“You’re the best of all of us,” he’d tell you one day as you sat on the roof of his apartment, late one night, “maybe the gods see what we humans are like through you.”

Steven:

Before the events of moonknight

In the early days steven only knew of y/n as a young librarian at the library close to his work

He didn’t think much of them originally

He knew no one in london and was often drawn away from reaching out to others

People were very rude or dismissive of him 

So he just wanted to make this visit short 

Just get the books and check out 

But they made a comment to a book that he was checking out and he absolutely spiraled

It was a book about farming practices from various civilizations back in the ancient days

He wanted to start gardening as a hobby

So why not learn from the best????

Lots of blabbering

Steven realized he was rambling, and apologized to y/n, hoping they finished checking out his books so that he could leave quickly due to embarrassment

But they were actually okay with his rambling ???

They even indulged into the conversation by recommending similar books in the library that he would have liked

“I can show you if you’d like”

They didn’t even wait for his approval before taking him 

Since that one interaction, steven found trust in y/n to be able to talk to them about anything

Steven would go to the library twice a week at the least

Mostly it was to replace the books he’d gotten the last visit 

He ran through books very quickly 

Late nights and all trying to make sure that the nightmares never came back

But honestly, with each visit he grew more excited to interact with y/n

This happened even after the events during and after the moon knight

When they were traveling to the location of Senfu’s tomb, Steven had a remarkable amount of respect for y/n

it ‘s just

They seemed like they were so sure of themselves when they spoke about navigating to the tomb 

Their confidence and knowledge of the egyptian mythology and folklores

Making connections between the significance of the tomb and to ammit’s demise 

During the drive to the tomb steven would ask y/n all sorts of questions 

He was just

Really really curious

He had to know yknow

At some point, he found out that he’d asked too many questions after y/n threatened to open the door and fall out of the car if he asked one more question

There was a moment of silence as he turned toward the road and shut his mouth

They sighed, and continued answering his questions after

Happy steven : D

Truly it had been a long time since Steven had found someone who was more knowledgeable than him in ancient egyptology

He truly admired y/n

And honestly hoped that he could live up to the expectations given to him by Marc, so that he could make the mission less burdensome not just for marc but for y/n as well

After the events of moonknight, steven was adamant to find a new job to make life feel more normal

He often went to the library to use their computers

y/n had to teach him how to use one properly, but eventually he got it figured out

Steven loved to go on walks after eating a meal

He liked to ask you to go with him, insisting that it was a good way to enjoy the outdoors

Together the two would wander the streets of london, trying new routes, sometimes you would walk into a shop that looked interesting to you, but always always you would visit the park that was adjacent to the apartment complex steven lived in

You had to travel often for the ennead, now that you were under their service

This line of work often meant that y/n was away from the moonknight system for a few days to several weeks, often with very little contact due to discretion

Whenever you were away, eventually a postcard would be sent to steven

He’d pick it up from the front desk of his apartment, shifting through letters until he finally got to the postcard

It sent a lot of relief to him, seeing postcards from Myanmar, Beijing, El Salvador, Egypt, the States

“Dear Steve, I’m having a great time here in New York. I think you’d be happy to know my internship is going well, I even made some new friends. Sending you lots of love, y/n.”

“Marc, remember how you said you always wanted to go here? I’m having a good time and can’t wait to go back to see you guys. Goodbye from Guatemala, y/n.”

“Steven, I’ve made my way to Belgium for some time for a weekend getaway. I’ll be home soon!”

Steven knew, despite these generic writings, that each post card sent to him was your way of telling him that you were safe and where you were at the time. 

When y/n came back, steven tries his best to be there to greet you when you arrive 

Sometimes he makes it on time, and sometimes he completely loses track of the time and misses your arrival

Whatever is the case, he doesn’t worry too much considering that you have a knack for finding him 

Anytime you come over to the apartment, whether you’re with Marc or there for Steven, there is always a cup of your preferred tea made for you at any point

Steven never misses a chance to make you smile, he knows that you have a lot on your plate as an avatar for djehuty and working for the ennead, so he tries his best to remind you that you’re still a kid and you’re allowed to have fun

Unlike Marc, steven is able to take your sassiness in a light hearted manner and even go back at you

Unlike marc again, you are able to take it well and you both just sass each other 

You introduced steven to fictional books and got him to fall in love with Rick Riordan’s works

Although Steven absolutely adored the Kane Chronicles, he fell in love with Percy Jackson

He’ll talk to you for hours on end about what he’s read about and how he wishes that a greek god had chosen him rather than khonshu

He’ll try to ask you if they were even real, which you frankly admitted you had no conception on if they were real 

Surely they were, but you had never once had an encounter with one of them or even a representative, and the gods seemed to dismiss the idea

Whenever the two of you are together, you either talk or simply enjoy each other’s company while doing your own thing

-------

@astrobuzzsstuff

@blustalker

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[insect0idfreakaz0id]

can u give us a fun facts about wandeer please.................

YES I WOULD LOVE TO

some are like "headcanons" in a way and subject to change so I'll mark those with a *

• wander likes to do arts and crafts. he has hand puppets of him & klaus and he does a lot of drawings and paintings (which he isn't that good at). he also likes to sing/dance but doesn't do it very often (partially a nod to his first design being a singing/performing robot and not a weaponized robot)

��� he has a lot of random collections (?) of things. he has a wall with several cat posters on it ("hang in there" posters mostly) drawers filled with stuff, he just likes to collect things.

• (continuation of previous) he also has a wall of crosses/crucifix, other religious symbols for protection, good luck charms, etc. wander is not religious but it's rather out of superstition and having delusions related to religion *

• he has pretty long hair, it stays pinned up under the box until he takes it off. despite not really needing to wear it anymore, he still feels like he does need to / that he needs his face to stay hidden, and also that it has become part of him now

• wanders boots are from his old job. his lab coat was from Klaus, back when he was alive, he gave one to wander while he was teaching them. wander modified it to fit more tightly around the body and flow outwards because he thought it otherwise looked a little too professional; though wander has an entire outfit taken from Klaus as well (after death) and uses that one to operate. the lab coat is not modified.

• wanders box has been with him for a while. he took it with him when he left Klaus to cover his face and has kept it since then.

• he is superstitious

• he's placed bells around most of the doors in his lab/house to alert him when someone enters

• wander isn't a "dumb" character, he was built knowing most things. it's more than his mind is constantly elsewhere, he has little opportunity to do anything with that knowledge, and he is (in current state) almost always frazzled or paranoid to some extent

• he knows most languages and is fluent in a few (english, Spanish, ASL). english was his first, as that's what Klaus speaks

• wander's physical damage is all on one side because Klaus repeatedly hit wander on that side while fighting him. he did not hit the other one

• he is ambidextrous

• wanders story currently has 3-4 potential canon endings - one where he continues to live as he did in the 15 years past klaus' death, one where he stops trying to carry on in life and lays without moving until he rots/degrades (like death but he's still aware and conscious), one where he gets worse, and one where he gets better. (there are also some noncanon joke endings I've considered) *

• I've purposely not labeled wanders mental state (not only because I'm afraid people will think I'm trying to make those with mental disorders look evil, but he's a robot, so it's kind of difficult) but it would be closest to schizoaffective [bipolar type 1], and potentially autism & hypersexuality — those two weren't intentional but something I've considered *

• more of one I regularly mention, but wander has a lot of human organs that he surgically transplanted into himself. none of them are arranged correctly, most of them are upside down, as in his heart is around the stomach area and his kidneys are in his chest. he does his own surgeries and stitches up himself

• wander is strictly against harming kids. I've had a lot of people think wander doesn't like kids / that he hates them, but he does like them and will refuse to hurt them in any way & tries his best not to do so unintentionally because his childhood wasn't good, and he doesn't wish that harm on any other children. if any did decide to come to his lab, he would try to take care of them as best as he could

• wander is not evil and does not enjoy killing. he killed Klaus, but still felt bad about it. he would not kill someone purposely without a lot of reason behind it. he is afraid of people (as in humans) but still wishes for friends and company, and wouldn't hurt/kill anyone without a reason (like them threatening him first)

• it is difficult to work out wanders age because of him being a robot, but after the 15 years of sitting alone, he is 42 years old. he was 27 when he killed Klaus. (I still need to work on how to word age for robots because it's not the same as a human or living animal of course)

• wander has been through multiple divorces (3 at least)

• he is genderfluid, pansexual, and aromantic (questioned him being something like cupioromantic before but it's not final). he uses all/any pronouns (though I mostly use "he" to talk about wander because mixing them can be confusing and only recently I've changed wanders pronouns from being she/her for several years to being all/any)

• he has a favorite tool/weapon that he brings with him everywhere, and it is a saw with a red handle. (I've questioned wander being objectum before but not finalized it; though he is affectionate and caring towards this weapon in specific rather than others, I've not decided on whether it's because it's his favorite or if it's because of something else)

• his neck and arms are attached by strong magnets. they're detachable, but not by human strength *

Ummm yeah thatis kind of a bunch but he's been around about 7 years now I think about him a lot and he's the most developed so 👍👍 I hope that is awesome THANK YOU

[fishylife]

I watched this documentary series on the making of Creation of the Gods. These are just my reactions to it and not a synopsis.

Episode 1

It's cool seeing just how many people were involved in the making of this movie(s)

The writer Ran Jia'nan was saying that they had to cut out stuff from the story that might not have made sense (to a wider audience) or perhaps was not so relevant to the main plot, and the example she used was that when Ji Chang threw up the bits of Bo Yikao that he had eaten, those pieces became rabbits. After a long time of mulling it over they decided to cut that from the story.

The actors had to learn to ride horses, combat, archery.

Training montage!!!!!

Most of those chosen had not performed professionally so they needed to train in acting and performing too.

Their first lesson was in drums. Not sure how to put it into words, but basically the teacher said that drums are an instrument that can match our pulse, and that in battle, the rhythm at which we fight is the rhythm of our pulse. That's kind of hype, they look cool.

Second lesson was combat but they also had to work out a lot too.

Third lesson was horseback riding.

Rad that one of their trainers is like, a cowboy lol.

Not only did they train in horse riding, but horse riding while fighting.

Fourth lesson was culture/history class, including a classical Chinese education. Probably to give them a deeper appreciation and understanding of the characters and story.

Wuershan was more focused on whether the actors could relate to their characters.

Ji Fa's clothes look so good.

The scenes when Ji Fa was riding back home in the end of the first movie were filmed in Xinjiang. Those scenes were sooo good.

I appreciate that Wuershan wanted a very foxlike Daji and had Naran study fox behaviour. She watched fox videos but also went to the zoo to watch foxes :3

Speaking of Naran, I think she trained to be fluent in Mandarin for this movie which is so amazing :3

Daji's appearance right after she is possessed by the demon is so...wow. The long hair, the flowing robes. She didn't die in those clothes, but as the fox it's like, a little primitive. She's wearing very basic robes. She is not the original Daji, that's for sure.

The guys pumping in preparation for the dance scene :P

The dance performance was shot in one go! :3

They're literally rewatching and admiring their muscles here lol

Episode 2

The concept art is so cool. Wuershan emphasized the good vs evil battle so the one with the very clear yin-yang outline probably emphasized that the best.

The process by which they decided on the aesthetic for this movie series was interesting. Investiture of the Gods is based on a very ancient time, but the novel itself was written in the Ming Dynasty. Add to that the mythical elements that should in theory transcend time. What do you get? In the end, they went for a 70% 水陸畫 style (which is an artistic style and not a time period) and 30% 殷商 (which refers to the Yin and Shang dynasties), plus a bit of Song Dynasty 山水 art style (which I guess is referring to that style of landscape/nature art).

Wuershan really liked a mural that was in Yongle Gong and wanted the aesthetics of the movie to emulate that style.

Concept art for the outfits. According to Wuershan, in the Shang Dynasty, white was considered a regal colour.

Empress Jiang and her family were from the east, by the ocean, so that was why they wore blue.

The duke from the south was thought to have come from a hot place, so that was why he wore red robes.

The northerners wore gray, as their lands were thought to be kind of...vast and gray.

Then lastly the folks from the west, including Ji Chang, wore yellow, though here of course it looks more like a muted yellow, a brown. Anything too bright and it would remind people too much of an emperor.

So the team put effort into fleshing out the world, even though we only saw a bit of it (at least in the first movie). But it kind of shows how ambitious Wuershan is about making this an "epic" movie series, not in the sense that it's super great, but in the sense that this is a big world with a lot going on. Even though this movie wasn't even that long, I did feel that sense of magnitude, that there were a lot of things going on even if we were just focused on the top.

Bo Yikao <3

Hell yeah Yang Jian in front of the blue screen

It's interesting that Wuershan is so involved in every aspect of the movie. He was discussing clothing materials with Tim Yip. He is the director, but I think he's just really passionate about the world he's building and he wants it to be as immersive as possible.

Naran's interpretations of her outfits was interesting. When she was still the real Su Daji, she was dressed in furs, and it gave a feeling of being protected and loved by her family. When she was possess by the fox demon, she wore a very thin purple outfit. She wore it while in the dead of winter, and it would give people a feeling that something was off. Then she wore a bright red outfit when she was dancing and it represented ambition. In the last scene of the first movie when Daji revived Yin Shou, Daji wore another very thin dress, this time in pink. Naran felt that at that time, Daji sincerely cared for Yin Shou (whether it was "love" or not is another question), so she would have been sad at seeing him dead. And so Naran associated pink with sadness.

Kris Phillips was raving about Tim Yip's outfits for Yin Shou in this part :P

Oh this is cool I think they are sculpting Lei Zhenzi here.

And other monsters.

The concept artist Siji said that he appreciated that the concept artists were given enough time to develop and create the concept art.

I didn't even realize the fox demon had different forms. Siji was explaining that initially, the fox demon was more ghost-like, and only began to develop a form after eating enough people.

Hell yeah more monsters

So we move on to the set and Wuershan puts just as much detail into building the set, which is very understandable. If your set is lame then it doesn't matter how beautiful your costumes are tbh. They went so far as to discuss the patterns of the beams, and what kinds of visual motifs would be on them.

Tim Yip was explaining how some of the structures they came up with would never have existed in history. But they did it for the aesthetics lol.

For some of the fight scenes, they did the storyboard by animating it in 3d because it would be easier to work with. In the example shown, the camera was constantly rotating around the character so I imagine that it would have been difficult to explain the constant motion of the camera with a normal drawn storyboard.

We got to the animation of Lei Zhenzi. The animator did a 360 view of what he would look like, and then another view where he would be carrying Ji Chang on his back, which he pointed out probably would not work if the wings were also on his back.

It looks like the entire movie was created in that Previz 3d animation system. Which makes sense. There's a lot that goes into filming and you might as well get a feel for the scenes, so that you can see if they actually deliver the intended impact.

Wu Yibei who I think is a special effects producer was talking about Lei Zhenzi. Basically it was really important for them to get all of the details of Lei Zhenzi right because he was going to be an important character in the second and third movies, and would interact with actors, would have feelings, etc.

This is super cool, this seems to be concept art for how Lei Zhenzi would have grown, how his wings would have developed as he grew up from a baby to an adult.

I saw this from another video that interviewed a special effects advisor for the movie. Douglas Smith had mentioned that Wuershan didn't really want Lei Zhenzi to be like a bird or a bat, and in the end, they settled for more of a fish feeling to Lei Zhenzi. Wuershan says this too in this documentary series.

Other than the physics of Lei Zhenzi's flight, I thought it was neat that Wuershan and the animators were discussing how his lightning powers would look like.

Wuershan had called up Han Pengyi and asked him if he'd wanted to be China's Andy Serkis lol. Han Pengyi served as the motion capture actor for Lei Zhenzi.

Oh wow Wuershan and Han Pengyi actually met Serkis and got to ask him about motion capture acting :o

So apparently when they animated Lei Zhenzi they hadn't really animated him blinking so Douglas Smith and team were figuring out how they could make use of other skin around Lei Zhenzi's eyes to express certain emotions.

Episode 3

Wow the craftspeople are carving the parts of the set by hand.

Look at this!!! Even just the concept art is amazing.

Wuershan did a lot of studying on the Lord of the Rings and consulted people who worked on that which is cool.

There was a discussion where Wuershan was discussing how the Lord of the Rings used more practical effects (in this case having a bunch of extras actually fighting in a battle) whereas by the time the Hobbit came around, they didn't consider this option anymore.

They spent a lot of time explaining how they came to film Shen Gong Bao's scene in which his head came apart from his body.

This was super blurry so I'm not going to screencap it but Ji Chang's actor Li Xuejian said "兒子演得不錯" and Wuershan patted Yu Shi's head in a 'did you hear that?' kind of way Yu Shi was all like humble like "noooo i'm not" hehe.

Apparently it was Father's day so Yu Shi wished Wuershan and Wang Yu a Happy Father's day lol.

They were trying to shoot a shot of five of the warriors on horseback jumping over a hurdle, while the horses were blindfolded. I'm not sure why the horses were blindfolded tbh but it was difficult because of that and the fact that they wanted the horses to jump together. Looked awesome though. And they got fistbump from one of the trainers for getting it done in two takes.

Taking care of the horses after a hard day's work.

Yu Shi explained that when they first started learning to ride horses, they were paired with any horse. After they got the hang of it, they were paired with a specific horse so that they could build a good relationship, and the actors would have to care for that horse too.

Ji Fa's character especially had a special relationship with his horse because he was a gift from his family and a symbol of home. And we saw them filming the scene near the end of the first movie where his horse was trying to get him to wake up so that they could go home.

Archery was something that challenged Yu Shi a lot so he practised it a lot and watched videos of archers.

Check out this diagram lol. I think they were trying to explain the setting to Gordy Haab who worked on the music.

We saw Gordy checking out Chinese artifacts and listening to Chinese music. Yu Fei who was a music producer said that he had a good deal of interest in the culture.

It looks like they're having some musicians play outside at one of the sites? I'm not sure if they were actually playing though.

The male bass singers were very cool. Are they throat singing?

Looks like they're playing scenes from the movie on the screen

Me, an ex-oboist, doing the Dicaprio pointing meme to these oboists

Wuershan is a fan of Penderecki. I don't know this composer so I had to look him up.

Wuershan delivering flowers to the various cast members :3

What a fun series!!!! I have some other behind the scenes videos to watch relating to this movie so I am excited :3

[oonajaeadira]

Hi Adira!

For this round of daily askgasms I’m asking the Inside the Actors Studio questionnaire! Imagine me doing my best James Lipton impression…

* What is your favorite word?

* What is your least favorite word?

* What turns you on?

* What turns you off?

* What is your favorite curse word?

* What sound or noise do you love?

* What sound or noise do you hate?

* What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

* What profession would you not like to do?

* If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Looking forward to hearing your answers!

Oh Kat, you beauty. Thank you for coming into my inbox and leaving me pressies!!!! Your year of asks is a lot of fun!

My favorite word is clandestine. I actually have a show that leans heavily on it and it never fails to catch the ear.

My least favorite word? Monsieur. I am not fluent in French but I can get by and have not-terrible pronunciation, but I fail at that word every fkn time and it's COMMON.

I'm turned on by a sharp mind and a kind heart. And a hairy chest. Or smooth collarbones. Big hands. Strong arms. A good laugh.

I am not a fan of copycats--dude, just be yourself, not me! And hovering--those folks that stand to the side and wait for you to notice them? Dude, just sit down! Join the convo! You're being more rude by forcing us to acknowledge you and break the flow just to invite you in! And bad hygiene. All I'm asking is that you don't have crust in your ears or in your nails and that you wash your butt. Boys especially need to wash their butt and underballs or I walk.

My favorite curse word is balls. I know it's not really an FCC no-no, but it's what I use most of the time. That and Jesus ass and fkn hell.

I love silence. A nice quiet fall evening? Bliss. But I also love the sound of thunderstorms and crickets in the summer. And a really good meditation chime or a minor-tone windchime. And bagpipes. Bagpipes have good vibrations and induce a drooling trance state.

I'm...a mouth noises person. Mouth noises are the devil. I tolerate it because human bodies have a lot of moisture and it's asking too much not to smack and pop and slurp and swish, but it won't go unnoticed. And I put it in perspective because nothing was as horrid as the thick lapping sound of my last dog licking herself for hours on end. Hence why I started sleeping with earplugs in. Secondly, we have a glass cutting board and the SO is a generous chopper of things and nothing will set off my tinnitus faster than the harsh, repetitive clap of steel on glass.

If I had to swap professions...I'd love to go into art curation. Or theologian. I kind of wish I'd become a librarian. Or just straight up read tarot for a living. I started college as a biology major with a path toward becoming a vet. I'm glad I didn't do that, but if I had, I would have liked being a death doula for pets. I find that honorable and compassionate. I've been thinking about volunteering in hospice for a while now, so maybe someday I'll do that.

There are a million jobs I would never enjoy and they all have to do with money, finances, sports, food processing, cleaning, and the beauty industry.

Heaven has always sounded like a giant bore to me. But an afterlife where all the cool gods hang out? Yes. The thing I'd want most is a look of approval from Anubis. If I die and Anubis is there weighing my heart, all I need is to see that look in his eye that says, "Good job. I'm so proud of you. Welcome home."

Thank you for such interesting asks, friend!!!! <3

[zolarwho]

5/9/2024

My life is gradually changing and expanding not just internally but externally. I took a sudden trip to Guanajuato, Mexico with my beloved Grandma of course. She’s been asking for awhile to go visit with her and this time I took the trip. I was more than ready to, all the cards allowed me to go. I already had gotten my passport, online school, seasonal job ect. Everything fell into place beautifully and that’s the BEAUTY when going with life’s flow when already with positive mindset/righteousness/discipline. It was like I was rewarded by life given this opportunity which has been delayed for awhile for me. I’ve always wanted to travel and see the world 🗺️✈️

I consider myself to be very spiritual and someone who is very focused on self growth + improvement. It motivates me and helps me see how FAR i’ve come as an individual.

As of now I really see myself winning in life. Before I did with just my mindset. I knew I was at peace and contentment with my current life. It was hard and it’s a journey but it’s worth it because I truly am winning and now people can see it. 3D—>4D wise

It’s my 2nd night here and already love it. I’m currently living on a ranch and we travel to get to places which I don’t mind. I love the sun (which I barely got in America) and I love moving my body. This is great because forced movement like exercise can be boring but going places makes me not even realize how much I’ve really walked.

Even though I’m a “no sabo” kid, I learn fast and am already a little fluent in Spanish, thanks to my Grandma who is the only one I can speak Spanish with. I plan to dedicate my journey here to more personal, emotional, physical and most of all, spiritual growth. I’m learning lots of new things everyday while living another perspective. As well as learning more Spanish everyday, that I can guarantee.

I’ve also had some caldo de res at a restaurant and got to experience a different way of life. I mean since i’ve been here, that’s been constant but even down to restaurant or food court. I got to sat down while they were making everything fresh right next to a large table where anyone can sit at different stands. I sat with my Grandma in front of 2 ladies and ate and chat with them.

SEE this is different, normally in America, everyone is usually closed off from each other. I am too a person who doesn’t really make an effort to socialize with people. I know Mexico 🇲🇽 is helping me open up to others more easily while learning and trying to vocalize my thoughts and feelings not just in general anymore but in a different language so another can just simply understand.

Life is free over here. More free and fun. Maybe it’s just how I view things as a person. Everyone has different life’s and perspectives so someone else can see Mexico as a shackle while I see it as a free, fun, social and limitless experience.

Today I also went grocery shopping with my Grandma and we bought lots of fruit. I’m very particular with my food and have noticed that I am kind of a clean “freak” so she thought it was best for us to buy fruit. I also got excited when I saw the abundant amount of honeycomb. This is NOT that common in America. People overcharge and it’s a uncommon delicacy. So it’s the little things that make me happy :3

Love life, life loves me. Life is great ect. All the positive things 💫

[king-hunty]

The Struggles of Being an A1-A2 Learner

I am sure anyone who has learned a language in-depth knows what language levels are. But, for those that don't:

Each language is assigned a specific level for each grade of fluency based on written and spoken frequency. It goes from A1-C2 typically, however some languages have their own grading scales of fluency, such as Japanese.

Obviously these are extremely important to us linguists, as they are what allows us to learn these languages in a organized manner. But don't want to get off topic now.

What I really am addressing with this post is the difficulty of being an A1 learner for any language. This is when the language is BRAND new to us. We are learning the absolute basics at this point.

For me, the frustration comes from not wanting to slow down and trying to rush the journey. I want to be fluent now and I want to speak comfortably now. I think in my mind I view A1 and A2 as embarrassing levels to be at because it's the level that children speak at, and I am not a child.

It's quite funny how much it bothers me honestly. It's something I am trying to fix though, as late at night I always get caught up searching for other resources to see if they're better and can help me learn faster, and often spend money and regret it after :,< But, tbh... if I don't slow down I won't learn anything at all.

It's important at this stage to take your time because understanding fully the most basic elements of any language make the advanced stages so much easier. That's why right now I am really focusing on italki classes for speaking and substituting Glossika SV (I know some people hate Glossika, I personally really enjoy it so haters gonna hate). Trying to get that intuitive understanding of when to use one word over the other and what grammar structure is appropriate is so important now because it is such a hard habit to build.

Everyone always talks about the "intermediate plateau" but, I think the elementary level is the hardest to overcome, and is often where most of us give up and drop a language. I personally have never reached above high A2 and have dropped two languages after reaching that point in those respective areas. This time I'm simply trying to get to B1 because once I get there, everything will flow a lot more smoothly.

Anyways, thank you guys for reading! I wish you all the best on your respective journeys!

Hẹn gặp lại!

[firsttarotreader]

As a Spanish speaker I have noticed that sometimes Pedro has trouble speaking Spanish and struggling with certain words, and I have just read an interview in which Almodóvar confirms that Pedro's Spanish is not that good/

I wanted to ask how he feels about this. I mean: Spanish is the main language of his father (his mother) his younger siblings, and also his older sister, even though she grew up in the usa like him, she's married to an Argentinean so she speaks the language more. The language of family, of childhood, of affection.

(please do a tarot reading on him and his relationship with Spanish, as a bilingual myself it's a subject that is very interesting to me)

Hello! I asked the cards your question, about what his relationship with the Spanish language could be like, and the first pull was the King of Flowers, Page of Teacups and Transformation.

This is curious because the King of Flowers is a visionary leader, he’s pure fire energy and he carries the torch, he’s gonna manifest a vision and others will gravitate towards him because of how charismatic and determined he is. He could feel like, in the world he lives in, he “represents” the Spanish speaking people in a way, as if he carries the responsibility to show it to the world and be a voice that speaks in Spanish. The Page of Teacups points to how loving and caring he feels towards his mother language, but also very loyal, he never forgets his origins and he carries this language with care. Transformation, however, might mean he could feel kind of different somehow. He changed his entire life at some point and he is someone that doesn’t deal with the language the same way, he had to change. We could be talking about the way he had to move to the US and learn to be like them, and become someone totally different, which has caused an effect in him and the way he sees the Spanish language. He’s not the same, so the language is not the same either.

The next pull was Temperance, The World and The Chariot. Temperance represents balance and harmony between the past and the future, so he might have found a common ground, a comfortable point in this relationship with the Spanish language where he understands what he can do with it. The World reinforces the peaceful moment he might have with it now, he got what he’s always wished for, he feels complete and in a good place, maybe even because of how well he’s done in his career as a Spanish speaking person. The Chariot points to him possibly thinking of constantly progressing with his Spanish, he still has more to learn and he feels like he is in a place where he is in control of his life and destiny and he knows where he’s going. Who knows if maybe one day he’ll do a Spanish speaking movie, as in fully spoken in Spanish??

The last pull was King of Teacups, 5 of Hedgehogs and 2 of Teacups. Well, King of Teacups is that passionate man, the one who wants to do his best for the others and help as much as he can. I can see Pedro feeling like he would do what he could to represent Spanish speaking people well, and he wanted to. 5 of Hedgehogs, however, points to him feeling somehow like an “outsider”, as if he lost something along the way and doesn’t have much to offer. Maybe because he feels like his Spanish isn’t so great? But the 2 of Teacups ends the reading positively, with him once again being able to let the feelings flow and be in harmony with his mother language even if he isn’t the most fluent in it.

So there you go, he definitely remembers who he is and where he comes from and he’s proud of his language and his roots, but there’s some conflicting feelings of loss and inadequacy too.

[dimemasazucar]

First Dance: The art of Improvisation

It is always interesting to me when I get asked about my interpretation of a genre of music. A deeply personal overview and even critique of a medium that can bring out deep emotional responses from people while also holding incredible cultural weight and wanting to respect the art and the interpretation equally. It's a bit difficult to do with a genre like Salsa because of my deeply-rooted personal ties with the genre.

Having been raised by practitioners since its inception, both dancers and musicians alike taught me how to use my inherited love of the rhythm to become fluent not only as a dancer but as an expression of myself through dance. Salsa, much like the people it comes from, blends together the best aspects of Afro-Latin culture and stylized the image in a way that differentiated itself from its contemporaries at the time as its own entity.

In Volume II of Salsa Revolution, Willi Colon jokes about playing with the image of the 'gangster' at the time (heavily influenced by the mafia culture within the immigrant communities of New York) and incorporating that confidence alongside bombastic instrumentation and an incredible ear for rhythm. Interestingly this idea can find itself repeated in later generations of Hip-Hop and Jazz music, truly lending credence to the influence our cultures shared with one another during pivotal times of community and expression. These pictures, the hypnotizing clave (bap-bap-bap. BapBAP), the emotion behind it- it was me growing up. When you hear stories of families coming from different parts of any Antiguan Island to New York during a time of strife and evolution, finding their way amongst Italian, Turkish, African and Jewish peers experiencing the same thing you can feel the sense of family amongst conversations between old New Yorkers. The Viejos and Viejas of the world sharing stories of the suits, the dancing. Izzy Zanabria hit it on the head. "Salsa is Latin soul, and started in the heart of Africa. " Eventually flowing through every part of Latin America, receiving many different interpretations and cultural depictions. At its heart is a blending of Jazz, Bambo, African drums (of SEVERAL different cultures), with a sprinkle of the Taino influence. The heart of Salsa is in every Latin person because its in our DNA. The ability to create, to combine, to express. And Salsa is nothing if not a language of expression and improvisation meeting together in perfect harmony. Through its origins, becoming a language and soul of the Latin culture also came with broader representation in the world. While Salsa can find itself eventually as the foundation of reggeton, the evolution is not without its unsung heroes. Within Volume II is also the mention of Chef Feliciano, who is an undisputed legend in the art. Without him, music would not be what it is today. While not a similar scale of impact, I would also give more recognition to Eddie Santiago who created what I think to be one of the best Salsa songs of all time and a clear representation of the genre while it was at a fever pitch. They capture the emotionality, the percussion, the emotion of the genre incredibly well. With that being said, I have been focusing on a lot of what the men have had to say about the genre and not the ultimate representation of the genre at its finest.

Celia Cruz is without a doubt the definition of "often emulated and never duplicated." Many of us have memories (better or worse) of Quimbara being the spring cleaning anthem and also one of the songs that made everybody start dancing at get togethers. Her power as a vocalist was transcendent, her spirit as an artist irreplaceable. I wouldn't change the mixture of fear and joy I feel hearing Cruz on an early Sunday morning for anything. While through these videos I am sure you have seen the power of dance within the genre. Our bodies move, twist, and bend in ways that would have Yuri on Ice jealous in its animation if it ever came (and it should). We explode more than our Spanish Flamenco peers, we have more freestyles than 'traditional' dance forms of more westernized identities, and oftentimes the equal parts confident and provocative nature of our dancing represents our African influences with tight turns, incredible footwork, and group synchronization that will continue to stand the test of time. And, regardless of gender identity we do it in shoes with heels, baby. Equal opportunity flexing. As a cool aside, some of my favorite dancers from France, Les-Twins, have oftentimes referenced and directly have danced various interpretations of salsa during some of their World of Dance and global competitions. The art of improvisation is in the heart of Latin music and Salsa as well as its evolution (and family ties) are reminiscent of how artistry and community can create something spectacular.

[globaljobalert-blog]

UI/UX Designer - Remote, Spokane (Austin - SLC)

Company: Two Barrels Overview: Two Barrels is hiring an experienced UI/UX Designer for $100,000/year. You will be a traditional company employee. This is a full time M-F position with company benefits. This is a remote position. Our main office is in Spokane WA, and we have satellite offices in Austin TX and Salt Lake City UT. We are looking for someone who has previous experience empathizing and understanding what the end-user wants by researching and learning how the software is used and coming up with solutions that meet those needs. This person needs to be Figma and Javascript savvy. Someone who can excel at turning mocks into a polished functional website and help bridge the gap from UI/UX to our full-stack developers who will implement your designs. The primary responsibilities will include creating and translating UI/UX design wireframes into HTML and CSS. You may also be taking existing software pages and refreshing these with a new modern look. If you like to go the extra mile to help make software more appealing to the eye — you will fit right in. Our projects range in size from completely re-vamping an entire application, to refreshing small pieces of a bigger product. Location: Remote | Spokane – Austin – SLC | Duration: Full Time Wage: $100,000/year Responsibilities: - Collaborate with our full-stack teams to develop common UI components and design patterns that can be adopted and extended across product suites - Work daily with design language and UI consistency - Create wire frames, storyboards, user flows and site maps to effectively communicate interaction and design ideas - Be the connection between our full-stack and design team by being fluent in HTML/CSS - Develop innovative user interfaces and interactive models that leverage next generation web technologies to improve user productivity and operational efficiency - Researching and deeply understanding problems so you can get to the root of what’s really important Minimum Qualifications: - 3+ years experience in a UI/UX position - Strong understanding of Figma and Javascript - Understanding of HTML, and CSS - Knowledge of design and development best practice - Working knowledge of industry tools, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Sketch, Zeplin, Adobe xD, Invision etc - Excellent ability to manage timelines and be self-directed Why you might like this job: If you’ve been searching for a place where you can come and make amazing software design and have a huge impact on people who use it, then this is your place! We don’t have preconceived notions about what software should be. It just has to be designed for the user. So, really, your imagination is the only limit on what you can do here.  Our company is known for staying on the forefront of our industry’s trends, and we set the bar others try to leap over. That means you get to play, experiment, and do whatever you need to make our software not only look good, but pack high-end functionality. If you’re tired of doing things the stuffy corporate way, come join us.  #BI-Remote Benefits: - Great Wage - WFH comfort package - 22 days paid time off (29 days after 3 years. Flexible time off after 5 years!)+ 4 paid holidays - 4% retirement matching through Fidelity - 100% employer-paid medical, dental and vision for employees - Maternity and Paternity Leave - Flexible hours - Coffee shop next door - Crappy parking? Oh, I mean a cool downtown location for easy public transportation options… APPLY ON THE COMPANY WEBSITE To get free remote job alerts, please join our telegram channel “Global Job Alerts” or follow us on Twitter for latest job updates. Disclaimer:  - This job opening is available on the respective company website as of 3rdJuly 2023. The job openings may get expired by the time you check the post. - Candidates are requested to study and verify all the job details before applying and contact the respective company representative in case they have any queries. - The owner of this site has provided all the available information regarding the location of the job i.e. work from anywhere, work from home, fully remote, remote, etc. However, if you would like to have any clarification regarding the location of the job or have any further queries or doubts; please contact the respective company representative. Viewers are advised to do full requisite enquiries regarding job location before applying for each job.   - Authentic companies never ask for payments for any job-related processes. Please carry out financial transactions (if any) at your own risk. - All the information and logos are taken from the respective company website. Read the full article