#just sachsen things

[soryualeksi]

At truck driving school and a guy has neonazi brands AND a tattoo with the name of a local neonazi group (that he, obviously, belongs to in this case).

It's driving me insane. I can't do anything and everyone is obviously just trying to ignore it OR doesn't realize (that would be a slim probability). But he keeps being noisy and "funny" laughing sarcastically or making "witty" comments about anything environment or laws or regulations and he just can't keep his nazi mouth shut.

And I'm super distracted because I'm busy trying to telepathically make a blood vessel burst in his nazi brain. ;_; Diiiiiiie, nazi scum, diiiiiiiie, fucking DIE.

(The teacher doesn't really engage his comments beyond a "huh" attitude or a shrug, which. I can't really fault him for. At least he's not engaging in Nazi Guy's repeated attempts to have his full attention for a kind of dialogue-style lesson of just his """witty""" comments.)

[moeblob]

So about that upcoming Steam Prison canon divergent (AU?) and sequel plot thing..............

Get fucking romanced by an idiot, Sachsen.

[rochenn]

hello!!! sorry if this is a personal ask, but i was wondering if you would be interested in talking about some of your region's language and dialect? its difficult to find information on specific demographics and how their dialects relate to the language overall, and im also in a lot of trouble with the german teacher crime syndicate and if i remain unable to roll an r they might get me - anon

Not personal at all! I'd love to talk about my dialect and I'm holding back from writing a whole essay about it rn :'D

If your German teachers make you roll your r they're either trying to make you sound Southern* or they're not even trying to teach you the uvular r. Neither one of these options is ethical. Standard German (TM) doesn't include rolled r sounds, the uvular r is way more common! I hear it's hard for Anglos to do, but just think of the k and g sounds - they get your tongue in the right position for that guttural non-rolled r :) (check this video, it explains pretty well)

I'm a Saxon speaker. This dialect has the same unfortunate connotations as deep Southern or Midwestern US accents; uneducated, bigoted, small-minded and all that, and it's considered unprofessional to speak it on the job (top 10 things that make me yearn for violence btw).

Anyway. Saxon my beloved!! It's very laid-back and fun. Whimsical, even. Your tongue kinda just stays at the back of your mouth, pronunciation is incredibly lazy, soften all the consonants. Since it's a Middle German dialect and not a High German one, some words are closer to English, too! Apfel becomes Appel, for example.

Saxon is also universally used when ppl satirize/mock East Germany or the entire region ig even though the dialects here are super diverse, too. And I'm not even from the state of Saxony but whoever drew the new state lines after the reunification had to have been WASTED cause wtf is Sachsen-Anhalt?? Whenever I open my mouth ppl just clock me as Saxon or maybe Thuringian but NEVER as Anhaltian.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask more! Good luck with your teachers 💥💥

[itsagrimm]

Hello! I have a question. Would there be a difference in pronouncing König's name considering the dialect difference in Austria and Germany?

well, i understand that you want an easy answer but I don't really think there is one.

Scroll to the bottom for a tl;dr short cut.

There is not one german language but rather several dialects, accents and languages in a trench coat pretending to be one thing for the rest of the world, while also bickering with each other who is the best.

The german languages are marked by lot's of local dialects, so the pronunciation will be different within parts of the ' deutscher Sprachraum', the geographical space in which the german language is spoken. That means that there is not one standard of pronunciation but rather a set of equally accepted versions German speakers will understand (and make fun of each other for. Sachsen. lol.). While most not-german speakers will fail to hear the differences or have difficulty pronounce German anyway.

Austria, while also speaking German and being part of the deutscher Sprachraum, has their own sets of dialects and depending on which part of Austria König hails from, that too would influence how he himself would pronounce his name.

The 'Duden', a generally known source for standardised high-german spelling, grammar and pronunciation from Berlin/Germany, argues König is pronounced [ˈkøːnɪç] (source with vocalised pronunciation) which is also the base for the google translate version. But that is a more northern variant since high-german is based on the northern-ish dialect of the Hannover region (the reason for that in short is, it was kind of in the middle of the deutsche Sprachraum which makes Hannoverisch as the high german base pretty random).

The word 'König' is also grammatically an odd word because in plural 'Könige' it is not pronounced with a soft -ç but [ˈkøːnɪɡə], so a -ɡ sound because the word likely was pronounced 'harsher' and hella metal in the past. A south-tirolian friend pronounced König as [Könik] which is closer to the austrian region and is another legit way of pronunciation. It also sounds very goth and like someone would recite a medieval text next.

But those differences in pronunciation all affect the final syllable of the word König. And most not-german-speakers fail pronouncing the ö in König correctly already. It's König, not konig you fools! I am sure the character König would appreciate any honest attempt of calling him the right way as long as the Ö is kind of there. We german speakers are used to others failing at ä, ö and ü. Also our germanic sounding names undergo anglicisation abroad a lot which sucks. So having someone actually and honestly try to pronounce his name in german is something König would very much appreciate.

TL;DR yes but don't worry. all pronunciations of König are valid. just try to pronounce any variant of it. good luck 😙

[daughterofhecata]

Thanks @alintheshitposter for tagging me 💕

Share your wallpaper: this picture, because Flint 🥰 (also the added benefit of Silver, Billy AND Joji being in the background)

Last song you listened to: Just put on ASP’s “Requiem” because it makes for surprisingly good studying music and that’s what I should actually be doing at the moment.

Currently reading: still Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, also James Oswald’s Natural Causes and on and off sneaking in a few pages of V for Vendetta

Last movie you watched: uuuuh I think it was The Best Days of Our Lives for class.

Craving: chili con carne. And also someone to just [redacted].

What are you wearing right now: blue jeans, black long sleeve, nothing interesting sadly

How tall are you: 1,72m? 1,73m? somewhere around there

Piercings: two in each ear, have been dying to get an industrial for literal years, might finally get around to it this year, because more hours at work=more money I can actually spend?

Tattoos: a simplified version of ASP’s black butterfly logo on my back

Glasses? Contacts? Glasses. Used to wear contacts almost exclusively for work a couple years back but too much hassle honestly

Last drink: coffee.

Last thing I ate: off-brand oreos

Last show: ...Tatort.

Favourite colour: black, but also dark green/blue/purple/red

Current obsession: Tatort Berlin (Karow specifically), unfortunately

Unrelated obsession: I think at this point DDF has stopped being an obsession and become a character trait

Any pets: nope.

Do you have a crush on anyone: do fictional characters count?

Favourite fictional characters: right now? Cotta and Karow, but Milo Sturgis, Sebastian Moran, Marcus Keane, and James Flint are also always somewhere at the top of the list

The last place you travelled: some Kuhkaff in Sachsen-Anhalt over easter because my mum decided we had to have a family vacation (it was... nice. but also very firmly just “nice”.)

i’m tagging @bistdueinbaum, @auxiliarydetective, @takealookintheback & @autumncalls (as always, only if you want!)

[shysurvivor]

Tl;dr 2024 Elections in Saxony saw voting fraud and apparently being upset about votes whose original vote was cleary identifiable being marked ineligible is just me being emotional

This post will be all over the place. But it is a political post! Because that's also what defines tumblr isn't it? Political posts, random spills of political opinions and rants. That's what makes tumblr so special. Because you can put your thoughts out there. You can do your part within the discourse. Like, I ain't got the time to write some freaking essay! At least not NOW. But the thing is too important to just let it slip away. Because that is what I am currently seeing happening. And yeah, I know that this website is not really that focused on Europe and even less on Germany, but still. This is IMHO a very dire situation and nobody is really talking about it. I feel a bit like a crazy person (not saying that I am not) but like the crazy person warning the village about the oncoming danger and being put off as the Crazy PersonTM.

But that's okay because that's why I am here (isn't that why we are all here? Genuine question). So here it is, my fellow readers (aka the void of internet bc I really don't think that this is gonna be read by more than me and maybe one other person lol).

Okay so some basic facts about old Germany: it is a republic that consists of 16 federal states. Each federal state has its own parliament that is elected by the people of each state. This is independent of the big national parliamant btw. Anyway, so this year in September some states held elections for their state parliaments. One of the states was Saxony. So as you might have heard, Germany has (once again) a problem with right-wing parties. No, right-wing is way too euphemistic. the AfD is a party whose leader repeatedly invoked Nazi paroles used by the SS, who is trying to deny the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime and more.

And they also try to copy narratives from global extremists, like Trump and others. Casting doubt on democratic institutions and such is like their bread and butter. Anyway, so when the polls were closing and the votes were counted it was soon discovered that some mail-in votes were tampered with. We vote on paper so a extremist far-right party (Freie Sachsen) created stickers to put over the ballot that the voter casted and re-did the cross for their own party. It was apparently very difficult to discern them as false. Anyway so police got involved and what not to look where someone had opened the votes and stuff.

And first it was unclear how big the impact would be.

But then it was clear that it was about 110 mail-in votes and that the total result of the election is not compromised.

But then, a few days later, the absolute BANGER was reported.

Even though they could CLEARLY identify the ORIGINAL VOTE, they still decided to mark them ineligible and discard them basically!

WTF?

And then the electoral manager of the state had the audacity to say that there are no legal grounds to make them count and that he knew that this was a highly EMOTIONAL issue.

EXCUSE YOUUUU?

This is not an issue of emotions! This is an issue of democratic legitimacy. This is a question about governmental legitimacy. This is an issue that touches so much more than just emotions! And even if it is only emotional - people feel emotional because their clear and easily identifiable vote is ignored and rendered ineligible and apparently our legal system is supporting this?

And instead of triggering a debate about I dunno, changing the legal system so it is better equipped to protect voters and their votes in cases like this, this topic is swiftly replaced by the usual media frenzy of whatever BS Donald Trump is once again saying.

Hello???

This makes me genuinely so angry! Nobody is picking this up. Because it is only some 100 or so people. No big deal. As if the infringement of voting rights is not questioning the whole legitimacy of the very system that the leading parties are supposedly so concerned about!

But I forget, this is just me being so emotional!

As if we're back in ancient Greece. Someone might have to call a doctor to put some onions in my nose so that my uterus will stop wandering around my body causing me to be so utterly emotional - one might say hysterical about this!

[undefeatednils]

Catch-Up Tag

I got tagged by @tessabennet and while I won't tag anyone bc I'm lowkey out of spoons, I still wanted to do this now.

Last song:

Relationship status: very single xD

Sweet/spicy/savory: yes on all three, though if I eat spicy you will see me sweat a lot

Favourite colour: varies on the day to day but I tend to prefer darker shades of green and blue

Last movie: IIRC the last movie I saw was actually Return of the King? I don't get around to watching movies rn

Last show: Delicious in Dungeon

Last thing I googled: "Landesteilung Königreich Sachsen Karten"

Current obsession: Reform proposals for German administrative divisions. It's just fascinating bc it really shows how easily local administrations could be different and the local influences your daily life and identity a lot here.

Anyway this was fun! If you, random person reading this, also wanna do this, feel free to tag me as your referral!

[lessapander]

Right, so. Just the grande finale/whatever the name of the final route is called to go, and I thought I might ramble a little to get my thoughts in order about Steam Prison (specifically on Switch, so Fin's route is included by default).

Mild spoilers under the "read more". Nothing plot-based, just my personal thoughts about world-building or personality stuff with the LI's/Cyrus.

tl;dr: I liked this game, but the plot and pacing really drags a lot, and I feel like it was trying really hard to not be an otome game, and getting dragged down by the fact that it is, indeed, an otome game.

World Building: Right off, this is my favourite part of the whole game. There was so much room for cool exploration of the differences between the Heights and the Depths that I feel got kind of pushed to one side. I suspect that this is because the otome-ness of the game interfered with really exploring that, but it still had a lot of (ahahaha) depth to it. The fact that the two cultures have deviated written languages was a very interesting point that I felt should've really been explained more, for example. Or why the people in the Depths revere Yune, though he only became a saint after leaving for the Heights. What's up with that? I kind of hope some things may get a bit clearer once I do the final route, but I'm not holding my breath.

Voice Acting: Always top notch. No complaints. Excellent casting choices. Especially impressed with Furukawa Makoto (Adage) and Shingaki Tarasuke (Fin) during their anguished scenes. Also deeply enjoyed Kameyama Yuji (Sachsen) in his very villainous role. I'm not in the camp of wanting a route for him, but I can definitely understand why. They really let him go wild in that role.

Eltcreed Route: I went in thinking he'd be my favourite LI and was wrong for once. He's just kind of weird and inconsistently written. They tried to hint that he's got an iron fist ruling his territory in his route, but it really doesn't come across well (it was better executed in Ulrik's with a few points, but ... still a bit meh). His route did provide me with some of the best one-liners of the game, however, and spawned an in-joke with my partner as a result of some of the dialogue options.

Ulrik Route: Probably the least logical among the LI's in terms of ending up with Cyrus. His plot was the highest stakes (in my opinion) but also kind of dithered out in a few of the endings. It felt like they chose one ending that would be "the ending" for each of the routes, but I really felt it with Ulrik's. Most of his endings (and the Elt ending hidden in his route) didn't really have the same ring of sincerity for me. I did like him as a character, but not as a love interest for Cyrus.

Adage Route: Similar to Ulrik, I felt like his route was a bit illogical but only really had one ending that was up to snuff. It was very satisfying finding more out about the overall plot in his route, and starting to solve the mysterious nature of Cyrus' parents' death, but I again felt like he just wasn't a very good fit for her romantically. A lot of the romance kind of got in the way of other plot and on occasion annoyed me. The pacing and timing of the route also was really bizarre and hard to track at times. However, the intertwining of Fin's story and Ines' behind the scenes work with the HOUNDS was expertly woven in on route-replay. Thumbs up to that. I actually was very pleased to see how that was handled. Similar to Eltcreed, some of the one-liners in this route have resulted in an in-joke with my partner about childbirth and where babies come from.

Ines Route: So his endings were a bit more varied and made sense, but I really hate the final CG for his good ending. It's a personal nitpick, though. Overall, he was kind of my least favourite of the LI's because he was just so ... bland. He almost never committed to anything until the very end of his route, and his brushing off of Sachsen's rampages really kind of bothered me. His route does have some of the most twisted Fin interactions hidden in it, though (oh man, poor Fin).

Yune Route: I wondered how romance with an immortal god-like being would go and didn't expect the direction this route took. Turns out, he's a little bit of a sociopath. Go figure. Playing this route after Ines was a bit refreshing, because he has a similar attitude of apathy to Ines, but at a basically global scale. Most of his endings made sense, though I was very annoyed that his "good" ending puts the majority of the plot and story after the credits with no choices to be made. I get why it was done that way, but man. Annoying.

Fin Route: Poor. Fucking. Fin. I think his is probably the overall best otome route and the one I enjoyed the most, and it's probably due to the fact that he and Cyrus have so much history to build on. It felt more organic than the other romance routes, even though there was less plot and overall development. It really felt like the other routes were trying to be a regular VN and build a story around a really cool world with the romance shoehorned in as an afterthought, while Fin's was pure otome with a bit of the world surrounding them. So it was kind of a nice one to end with, honestly. I was starting to get a bit burnt out on the half-assed love affairs. That said, I do have some beef with Cyrus in this route (I have beef with Cyrus in every route, but especially this one lol).

Impressions of Cyrus: There's good and there's bad. She's sassy, has a strong sense of justice, and takes decisive actions. She's a bit of a feminist and very resilient. But because they wanted to her to also be naive to romance and sex, the writing sometimes goes way too far off track and is completely illogical. There are times where it's funny (watching her learn about childbirth was amusing and fine; watching her learn about affection and romance was heart-warming) and times where I rolled my eyes because it just ruined scenes (eg: she knows what rape is, she knows rape is bad and protects other women from sexual assault, but somehow doesn't know that consensual sex exists???). There are holes in her logic in this area in particular that drove me bonkers, because there was no pattern to what she did and didn't comprehend when it came to relationships other than "love, BAD". Her happy ending with Fin was actually soured somewhat for me because of these misunderstandings.

So would I recommend it? Yeah. I would. And I'm looking forward to the fandisc. But man, it wasn't an easy one to get through. I used the skip function a lot more often during replay than I normally do (I have 100+ hours in a lot of otome games from just re-reading the dialogue to get new endings or missing scenarios, to see how it looks with fresh eyes; I did not do that with this game).

I also followed a guide to get the non-happy endings so I didn't have to spend time floundering about (which I normally enjoy a lot in otome games and VNs).

[thegrayace]

I can shed some light on why your host family wasn't so thrilled to celebrate on the 3rd of October.

Basically, for East Germany, the reunification was a really bad deal, economically and financially. A lot of businesses had to close because they could not compete with businesses from West Germany, many were taken over by West German investors, and a lot of people lost their jobs. Generally, products from East Germany were seen as 'lesser' while things from West Germany were 'modern'. The East German Mark was worth a lot less than the West German Mark. East Germans were a lot poorer than their West German counterparts (something that is still true today), but the currency exchange made it worse.

So, in essence, the reunification sucked for a lot of people in the East, which bore resentment for anything coming from West Germany, hence the "Wessi Schrott" (western garbage).

First, thank you for the clarification! I genuinely very much appreciate this.

It's funny, even before I saw your ask (is it an ask if you're actually just giving me information??) I spent my work day reflecting on this. Unfortunately I was still early in my exchange trip and I missed so much that was happening around me because of the language barrier. This is right before German started to 'click'.

My actual mystery is why they held her bday party on the 3rd given their complicated (and understandable) feelings on reunification. Her birthday was not the third.

Because of this I don't know why the 3rd was chosen as bday party day. I suspect it was due to scheduling because everyone has the day off?? I just remember being confused about the mixed feelings lol and her friends cracking jokes I didn't understand too 😭

I so appreciate your explanation because it does make me feel like I wasn't completely stupid and missing out, because I did manage to pick up the basics of that. I'm honestly so so grateful that out of anywhere I got put in Sachsen because it really did show a different side to the reunification story.

Total aside. But my host dad literally called anything and everything he didn't like Wessi Schrot. It has become a integral part of my mental lexicon. Thank you for the spelling correction 😄

[wardrobeoftime]

Hi ! I think you were right - it was Queen / Princess Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland, because the partition of Ireland happened way after she died - on the 3rd of May 1921 to be exact.

I guess your ask came in while I edited my post because I decided to look into it a bit more and came back confused. Yeah, that sounds more in line with what few things I have been able to pick up of Irish history in relation to the British.

It also doesn't help that nearly every language refers to her differently. Some use a translated and/or shortened version of her House of Sachsen-Coburg & Gotha, others use United Kingdom or just Great Britain and then there are also others who refer to her by her highest but very short-lived title of German Empress. History is fun and confusing.

[xxwingsfly]

I must be honest, i can understand why some people in Saxony vote for the AfD and say the things they say.

Ranting about the media, not trusting big news channels etc. That's understandable. Not much good news was broadcasted about Saxony since 2014. First it was the racism towards immigrants, then covid hit and it was all about how Saxons have the lowest vaccinations/are anti vax.

My state doesn't have a good reputation, which is partially deserved. HOWEVER we're much more then right wing, angry, anti vax people. People seem to forget that.

[caspia-writes]

Wöbelsburg

Synopsis: Otto tries to reassure his houseguest about his accent by revealing an unexpected history of his own...

Word Count: 850

Content Warnings: Gratuitous German

Tagging: @sleepy-night-child (no rush!), @thelaughingstag (and if anyone wants to be added, just let me know!)

Other: Thanks to @love-me-a-good-prompt for the prompt!

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

Otto had tried to be patient. He really had.

But it’d been two weeks now. Two weeks since he agreed to let Schneider stay with him and his family, at his expense, and lavished him with all the luxuries a man could want. Two weeks of hospitality beyond the average man’s wildest dreams, and yet he’d be damned if Schneider seemed to be appreciating it at all. Two weeks later, and Schneider was still as taciturn as ever, still communicating through nothing more than monosyllabic yelps and wary glances.

Something had to be done. Something to help Schneider say something, anything, instead of being a piece of moving furniture. And the something needed to happen soon, before Otto lost what little patience he still had for his guest.

How convenient, then, that Schneider was already right where Otto needed him.

As usual, the little doctor had curled himself in one of the study chairs, a book in one hand and the other on a mug of coffee as he worked his way through whatever title had caught his eye tonight. Tonight’s selection was so engrossing, or Otto so uninteresting, that Ernst didn’t look up as Otto plodded his way across the study. But whatever book it was, it wasn’t the one Otto wanted to show him. Otto was sure of it. Mostly because the one he wanted Schneider to see was the one he’d brought with him.

“It’s a shame I have to interrupt your reading, Herr Doktor,” Otto said, pausing to let his chair squeak as he lowered himself into it, “but there’s something I have to ask you. It’s nothing I imagine a man such as yourself having any degree of difficulty with, but humor me: where in Großsachsen do you think I come from?”

It took him a moment, but Schneider looked up from his book and towards Otto. Not properly at Otto, of course not. Schneider didn’t seem to be on friendly enough terms with Otto to look him in the face, much less the eye. But at least Schneider looked towards Otto, staring holes into his tie as he began trying to fold in on himself and push himself between the cushions on the chair.

“Come now, Herr Doktor, it wasn’t a difficult question.” Otto forced himself to smile. Smiled, even though it was the last thing he felt like doing. “It’s hardly important whether you answer correctly or not! Tell me—where in Großsachsen do you think I’m from?”

Schneider glanced around the library, then took to staring at the wall behind Otto. “...Sachsen?”

Sachsen. Good. That was the answer Otto had been counting on. Otto’s smile turned sincere, and he stifled a chuckle as he shook his head and gently flipped his scrapbook open. It opened just where Otto had wanted, revealing a yellowed, worn boat ticket. The very ticket that had brought him to Altenstadt all those years ago.

“Most people would answer exactly as you did, Herr Doktor,” Otto said. “Naturally, they would! No one would expect the voice of Großsachsen to have come from anywhere other than the Sächsisch heartland. To suggest anything else sounds absurd!”

“Mh.” The same answer Schneider gave to most things anyone said to him. It would have to do, even if Otto never wanted to hear the sound again.

“Yet, Herr Doktor, I’ll be so bold as to ask you this.” Otto tapped the ticket with his finger, just below the word he needed Schneider to read. “Where is this ticket from?”

Schneider adjusted his glasses and stared at the ticket. His mouth drifted open, then closed, then open again. He frowned. “Mh, says Wöbels...”

He wouldn’t say burg, Otto could guess that much. Saying burg would make him reveal his accent. That anyone who looked at Schneider’s face for all of five seconds would know he would have such an accent didn’t matter to him; Schneider had decided he wouldn’t say anything with an r in it.

“Wöbelsburg.” There. Otto had said it for him. “And note that it says Wöbelsburg, Thüringen, Herr Doktor. Not Wöbelsburg, Sachsen.”

For a moment, nothing happened. His words hung as stale, cold memories in the air, the crackling of the fireplace in the corner eating away at them every second. Time ticked on, and Otto felt his mouth go dry. He’d been so certain this was why Schneider wouldn’t speak to him!

Then, slowly, Schneider nodded and mouthed the word. His brow furrowed as he frowned and mouthed the word a second time. Rolled it across his tongue, as though he couldn’t believe it until he’d learned the taste of each syllable. He squinted at the ticket, adjusted his glasses again, and sampled it a third, fourth time. Wöbelsburg. Such a simple word, and yet...

“Do you understand?” Otto kept his voice low as he cupped Schneider’s shoulder in his hand. Schneider didn’t flinch away, the way he had every other time Otto had tried to touch him. Instead, he nodded again and finally met Otto’s eyes.

“Wöbelsburg.” The r's trilled in the expected Nordpreußisch fashion, but Schneider didn't flinch. “Wöbelsburg, Thüringen.”

[dl4draws]

hiii delfi! good morning! your past abt the US and its shitty geography were the first thing i read today and uhh i'm not very informed on US geography so that was a lesson and a half lmao

anywayy u said u wanted to hear more country shenanigans so let me provide u with some bullshit that germany has to offer!

as far as shitty geography goes, we don't have too much going on because we're not that big. we have 16 states ("Bundesländer") in total, 3 of which are "Stadtstaaten" (=city-states) which basically means that they are both a state and the state's capital at once (those three are Hamburg, Bremen, and Berlin - yes, Berlin as in the capital of Germany). One thing that is kind of similar to the US and their north/south/west/whatever states is that we have three states that are called Sachsen (Saxony), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), and Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt). I can't tell you why they're all called Sachsen, they just are. We also have a state called Saarland which is (jokingly) the Alabama of Germany. No idea where that joke came from but everybody likes to make fun of Saarland.

One thing that I personally find hilarious is that we have cities with the same names, too. My favourite example is Frankfurt. There's one Frankfurt that is a huge city, incredibly important, I believe the headquarters of the European Central Bank as well as a lot of other banks are situated in Frankfurt. But officially we call this gigantic important city "Frankfurt am Main" (Main is a river that Frankfurt is next to, "Frankfurt next to the Main") as to not offend some town with 10 times less inhabitants that also happens to be called Frankfurt (Frankfurt an der Oder, another river). We don't add the name of the state to specify the town like the US does, we take the nearest river or sometimes the administrative districts it's in (Haag in Oberbayern, for example, which is "Haag in Upper Bavaria").

Okay useless geography lesson over, now for the funnier bits! (idk why i even put all the geography here ooof sorry)

The most well known fuckery is probably the "Bielefeldverschwörung" (Bielefeld conspiracy). Basically, all of Germany has collectively decided that the city Bielefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia does not exist. Anything that might prove us wrong is simply the work of aliens. It's basically a meme that the entire country accepted as fact. Bielefeld does not exist. (The origin is that some college students in the 90's had a running gag about Bielefeld not being real and it caught on on the internet. The plan was to prove the conspiracy theories, no matter how outlandish they are, can and will be defended even if they are blatantly wrong. It's hilarious imo)

Another thing is the Sprachbarriere (language barrier? is that a thing?). Every state has a different dialect and even the districts have different dialects sometimes. Some of the dialects aren't that unintelligible but then there are others where you think you suddenly entered a different country because you simply don't understand anything. Yes technically, we all speak German. But the only actual universal language is hochdeutsch (=high german, which really doesn't mean anything other than "normal german").

There are so many dialects!

Personally, I'm from the south of Germany. Rural Upper Bavaria (Oberbayern) to be exact. Here, people speak oberbayrisch and it's sometimes impossible to understand - even for me, someone who has lived here all their life but doesn't speak it (because my parents aren't from here and don't speak it either).

There are other notorious dialects, like the Berliner Schnauze (can't think of a literal translation other than "Berlin snout" rn, it's basically just the dialect in Berlin), which might seem pretty rude and harsh to non-Berlin folks, but it's not meant to be rude.

Another example is Plattdeutsch ("flat german"?) which is spoken in the north. I don't know much about it but it sounds funny.

Then there is sächsisch. My favourite dialect of them all because i can imitate it and it's so funny. It's spoken in Saxony.

Another one that I like a lot is schwäbisch (=swabian). It's spoken in Baden Württemberg, particularly in central and southern Württemberg. It's pretty nuanced with several versions and it's almost impossible to understand tbh. Most of my family is from the Swabian Alb, so technically i should be able to understand it but oh boy do i have difficulties!

There are a lot more that i'm not talking about here tho because i don't know them!

With all those regional differences in language there are also some differences in what we call certain things and we WILL fight over those.

An example are bread rolls. You see, in Bavaria we call them "Semmel", in Baden-Württemberg we call them "Weckle" (i think that's how it's spelled but i'm not sure), in Thuringia we call them "Brötchen" (that's what i call them too), and in Berlin they're "Schrippen". I know I probably didn't mention all the versions but these are the ones i know. We fight about that. Daily. My family is a fun mix of Baden-Württemberg, Thuringia, and Bavaria, so everyday we argue about whether it's Brötchen, Semmeln, or Weckle. Nobody wins. (Brötchen are superior tho. Fight Me.)

The same thing happens for pancakes (Eierkuchen or Pfannkuchen) and another baked thing that I don't know the proper English name of. We call them Berliner, Krapfen, Pfannkuchen, Kreppel, Puffel, and probably so many other things lmao. Nobody ever wins but it's bound to start a fight.

Same thing goes for Nutella. German has three articles, a masculine one (der), a feminine one (die), and a neutral one (das). People will argue about the grammatical gender of Nutella. Personally I believe it's "das Nutella" and everything else is an atrocity.

Okay wow, I spent over an hour typing this up and it's probably so boring ahshasga i'm sorry delfi i didn't mean to dump all that on you!

omg yes thank you so much for taking the time to write all of this (an hour omfg), it was extremely interesting to read!!!!!!

okay so first things first, berlin is literally the best and i went only once but i honestly would love to move there, my only problem is: i have no clue how to speak/read german and from reading this it’s gonna be difficult even trying to learn (with all the different dialects) 

skdhaksdhs so many sachsens oh my god, also does literally every country have an alabama???????? ours is santiago del estero lol

the Frankfurt case is nice tho, bc yes it is the same name, but they did the thing i like which is “virginia but to the left”, but with rivers gkfhgfsdfghj

i am SO sorry germans but Bielefeldverschwörung looks like a keysmash ashgdhasgdhsjgdkjasd I'm so sorry, also Bielefeldverschwörung??? i know no Bielefeldverschwörung (am i doing this right?) 

having so many dialects is insane omg?? we have different accents here, not dialects. at least i’m not aware of argentina having different dialects, that’s mostly for argentina and other spanish speaking countries. for example in spain in they use coger in the to grab something meaning (i have been scrolling on my camera roll for about 15 minutes looking for the meme) (FOUND IT)

german is so nice to listen to, i actually listen to asmr zeitgeist’s german videos a lot because not understanding anything with the soft whispers make my brain go zzzzzzz 

thank you so much for sharing all of these amazing facts!!! had a blast reading everything!!!

[cryotome]

Steam Prison: final thoughts

Finished Steam Prison last night! Just some extra materials left if I can still bring myself to read them.

Spoilers for Fin's route and Grand Ending, so putting it under the cut:

Fin's route was so short and we never got to see his dark side? On the one hand, I'm glad he didn't suffer, on the other, i guess i wanted Fin from all the other routes to be saved. Not that he was very consistently written in any of them - he'd go from a mindless killing machine to a yandere, and then there's that good Ines ending where he's just...fine?? Like all the horrible trauma Sachs inflicted on him never happened?

Anyway, they clearly rushed it because Eltcreed just kinda showed up and fixed everything with money. He invested even more into Cyrus and Fin than he did in Cyrus in his own route where he had something to gain, which struck me as odd. I really wanted them to face some more challenges in the depths, but clearly writers were out of juice there and just wanted to give fans what they want. OH WELL. Thanks Eltcreed, I guess.

The grand ending was..good? Lots of fun banter, very light and satisfying, definitely needed that after all that happened. The only weird thing was them (Ines in particular) trying to redeem Sachsen.

Don't get me wrong, I love Sachsen's design more than that of any LI and part of me wants a Spicy and Dark route with him (which i don't think SP writers could've handled well), but as things stand, he literally tortured and murdered people over the course of the game and after what happened in Fin's route jumping straight into him being treated as That Grumpy Dude From The HOUNDS LOL! was so jarring. I mean, all other evil got its punishment, soooo why not him?

Anyway, to sum up, here's my final rating of LIs

1. Ines (best chemistry with Cyrus, maybe not the most dramatic plot-wise)

2. Ulrik (He's great, again, not very romantic but...that's just SP)

3.Adage (I actually really enjoyed his route until the end which was horribly unromantic but i guess that's just what this game is like huh?? also the whole him locking MC up was totally unnesessary in the end but clearly the writers just wanted drama :')

4. Fin (he's cute and i liked Fin Not Suffering for once, but the route was pretty short and felt like an after thought, which i suppose it was)

5. Yune (I liked the lore, the ending was rushed af, things just Kinda Happened. This is also the one LI i was glad I didn;t get to get romantic with cause the very thought of it weirds me out)

6. Eltcreed (more like Eltcreep amirite? I usually like flirts but his advances ignored Cyrus' discomfort and it was just so painful to watch him force his feelings on her despite neither of them getting what they want. To an extent he annoyed me in Ulrik's route with that too, I definitely wanted to see LESS of him after his route, not more. Thankfully his appearances in other routes were a lot less annoying.)

[wirkindervombahnhofzoo-txt]

since I am Swedish, I do not know much about what it was like in the DDR or in West Germany before the reunification. but I KNOW that the times were traumatic for large sections of the population: they had relatives they could not meet, they were worried that the country would never unite again, they generally lived under great pressure. if I, as a Swede, know this, it feels like the series could have shown more of it. I suspect they did not want to focus on the aspects of East vs. West because the series is meant to appeal to a wide, international audience. at the same time, I think there are many with me who would have liked to see it: society creates the conditions for young people, and it becomes even clearer when it comes to addicts.

one of my best friends comes from Sachsen, and his mother grew up in the DDR. since he told me that his mother was asked to cut her hair by a Stasi man, I feel even stronger about Axel's hairstyle: in addition to the Samson symbolism that @bybdolan has already written about, it symbolizes his freedom. but does the audience understand these aspects? I think most Swedes do not. I would probably not have understood it if I didn’t happen to have a close friend who grew up in East Germany. we as an audience deserve to understand things like this, and I’m going to read more about the differences between East and West in the 70s and 80s because I think there is a very important context there.

EDIT: ok I have to add the fact that I was at the DDR museum about ten years ago and I was very moved by it. so maybe that’s why I feel so strongly about this topic, idk. I'm just one of those people who really love contemporary history and who think it’s important to see the big picture if you really want to understand the characters.

[awordwasthebeginning]

the midwife's secret - sorta liveblogging pt. V

22:12: less goooo. Randolf and two of his knights have disguised themselves and are apparently about to attack. Randolf gives a dramatic hand sign even though there are only three of them right next to each other? idk, it's really foggy.

22:14: a nuntius approaches Christian and tells him that "Heinrich (the Lion)'s men attacked a village and Otto demands your fealty". Seems Hedwig's plan worked just fine. Hildebrand tells everyone that they'll be without Christian's protection during the upcoming war.

22:17: Chris packs. He asks Marthe for something for Drago's injured leg (that's the horse). Marthe starts whining about how he shouldn't leave the new village before the first winter. Was she this whiny in the book...?

22:22: Chris gives her a...pendant...which belonged to his father. "In times of need take this to the chamberlain in Meißen, blabla". They hug and kiss before Marthe runs away. Christian and Lukas leave later that day.

22:26: gods they REALLY loved those shots of people riding/walking/driving through that river. The Elbe. Whatever.

22:28: Why the fuck is Arnulf the armourer standing amongst the knights? Anyway, Otto plans to meet Albrecht's (Hedwig's father's) men at Magdeburg. That's a solid 190km away. Huh.

22:30: Otto needs a commander. Randolf steps forward and half the men start shouting his name. That would be impressive if it didn't sound like half-drunk men cheering and welcoming their mate after a round of football on a Friday afternoon. (Just imagine them yelling his name in Swabian. I can picture it so well. "Randolf! Kischdeee!")

22:33: Surprisingly, Otto starts beef at the Vereinsjahreshauptversammlung war meeting by suggesting Christian instead. He even praises him. That used to be Hedwig's job. Huh. Well, it escalates, Randolf says Chris' father was a farmer, and because Chris' supporters shout his name louder, he is now the commander. (No, they didn't vote by show of hands. That would've been too easy.)

22:40: Christian looks supremely unhappy. Randolf barges into Hedwig's chambers and threatens her (bc of course it was her idea to give Christian command). He's gonna tell Otto what she's playing at, so there! Hedwig is like, "bitch please, like he'll believe the spurned knight that his faithful wife (a woman) is capable of political intrigue?" And fuck man, I still ship them, I'm sorry 🙈 maybe it's because they're the best actors in this whole thing and have actual chemistry on screen?

22:46: Randolf insults and attacks Christian in the middle of the courtyard like a fucking idiot. Otto stops them and is like "THIS IS TREASON AND SHALL BE PUNISHED BY DEATH! ...eh, Randy, you always served me well, I'll let you live. BUT YOU'LL STAY HERE. and no stories before bedtime." Oh, perfect. So everyone's gonna fuck off to Sachsen-Anhalt and Randolf is the only armed guy left in Meißen?