#langues neat

[meimeikyu]

Hi so ive been thinking (tragedy)

so i dont think dust would use petnames often but i do think hed have like korean nicknames for all of the gang (plus red bcs. yes) and i needed to write them down b4 i forget

general im not korean n dont speak it n this is based off google rabbit holes so may be incorrect yeah 👍

Dust - Tokki (토끼) - Bunny

Horror - Gomdoli (곰돌이) - Cute Bear

Killer - Gil-Nyangi (길냥이) - Street Cat / Stray Cat

Cross - Gangaji (강아지) - Puppy

Nightmare - Mun-eo (문어) - Octopus

Error - Neoguli (너구리) - Raccoon (technically i think its raccoon dog but can be either)

Red - Jindo-gae (진돗개) - Jindo dog (breed of dog!! i thought it was fitting lol)

[saintsenara]

Are you a Voldemort (“more”) or Voldemort (hard “t”) girl?

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

i'm a hard t girly without deviation, and i have two reasons as for why.

the first is that - as i've expanded on a little here - there's no way that a child from tom riddle's background would ever have formally encountered the french language and its phonetic conventions, and there's no way this would have been remedied at hogwarts, since the school doesn't [appear to] teach modern languages.

but riddle could have taught himself [some] french from books, meaning he'd be able to read the language, but not necessarily speak - and certainly not correctly pronounce - it. that is, he wouldn't realise the "t" in "mort" should be silent, and would pronounce his new name according to english phonetics.

this is a very neat distillation of who voldemort is. someone who would seek out the linguistic knowledge which many of his pureblood peers - who would very probably have been taught french as children by their governesses - had by virtue of their births to create the french-inspired moniker he uses to demonstrate his blood-supremacist importance, but who is restrained by his childhood and his class background from getting it completely right.

poor thing...

except the second reason - which is my preferred explanation - is that the hard t pronunciation is both deliberate and correct on voldemort's part, because we aren't supposed to think of "voldemort" as a french name at all.

there seems to be a fanon tendency to assume that many of the pureblood families we meet in canon have close, recent ties to france - that is, that they have french cousins or second cousins, own property in france, and speak french fluently as a native or heritage language.

and i do understand why this is, since many of the pureblood surnames we meet in canon - malfoy and lestrange being the most obvious examples - appear at first glance to be french.

but here we have something that i suspect gets lost in translation for readers outside of britain and ireland - which is why the fanon of purebloods having recent french heritage has developed - which is that these names are not [contemporary] french.

they are anglo-norman.

this is term which stems from the linguistic development which took place after england was invaded in 1066 by william the conqueror, a nobleman from normandy in northwestern france, who overthrew the reigning king - harold godwinson - and took the throne for himself.

harold and his people were speakers of old english - a germanic language, from the same language family from which dutch would emerge - while william spoke old norman - a romance language, from the same language family from which modern french and other langues d'oïl dialects would emerge.

the crashing together of two peoples, speaking languages from different linguistic families, resulted in the strange mongrel language anglo-norman, which gave way to middle english, and then to contemporary english - and it's the direct cause of why english has such a broad vocabulary, with subtle distinctions between words with ostensibly similar meanings like "deer" and "venison", "sheep" and "mutton", "kingly" and "royal", "ghost" and "spirit", "hopelessness" and "despair", "woods" and "forest", and "thoughtful" and "pensive", where other romance languages [french included] do not.

[a point which borges made far better than i do.]

to secure his position on the throne, william elevated his fellow norman conquerors to aristocratic status alongside - and often above - the existing anglo-saxon nobility.

these parvenu families had names which persist in britain today - baskerville, beaumont, clare, courtenay, d'arcy, de vere, devereux, gascoigne, harcout, lacey, latimer, lucy, mandeville, percy, purfoy, sinclair, vincent, and so on - including among families which continue to hold aristocratic titles, and among families who are not titled but who are nonetheless rich and socially prominent.

[the common joke that the royal family are, by the standards of the aristocracy, nouveau riche upstarts is because they have a germanic name - saxe-coburg-gotha - rather than an anglo-norman one.]

and within the world of harry potter, many of the pureblood [or recently pureblood] families we meet in canon have anglo-norman names which were historically aristocratic or gentry - avery, burke, crouch, fortescue, gaunt, lestrange, montague, sayre, travers, and so on. malfoy is a name jkr invented, but it conforms to the same principles - since, it should be noted, it's a play on an existing anglo-norman noble surname, purfoy [which means "pure faith" where malfoy means "bad faith"].

so names like malfoy are intended by the text to communicate that the people holding them are from old, posh, and very probably wealthy families - but from families which are nonetheless supposed to be understood as historically and culturally british.

[although not necessarily english - burke is a name widely found in ireland, for example, due to ireland's own anglo-norman colonisation.]

and one reason why these names are understood as british is linguistic - they're not pronounced in english the way they would be in french, not because they're being pronounced wrongly, but because they're part of languages which have evolved separately over the course of a millennium.

[the best examples? beauchamp - pronounced "bee-cham" - and mainwaring - pronounced "manner-ring".]

we say "malfoy", rather than "malfoi", and "lestrange" rather than "l'étrange" for this reason. and so we would - if we want to think of it as an anglo-norman, rather than a french, word - say "voldemort" rather than "voldemore".

the canonical voldemort is, without a doubt, a sincere blood- and magic-supremacist. he genuinely believes that the malfoys and lestranges are superior to those with muggle blood [even if he doesn't consider himself to fall under that category], and that this should give them social importance and power over the muggleborn and mixed-blood underclasses.

but what he isn't is someone who is deferential to the wizarding world's established class system, which assigns social importance and power on the basis of name, financial status, and adherence to social custom - since, of course, he is directly disadvantaged by this because he's born "tom riddle" and he grew up in an orphanage, no matter the antiquity of his maternal line and the immensity of his magical talent.

blood purity and magical power is certainly a significant part of this class system. but we can draw out of the text that its significance is clearly not expressed in the way voldemort thinks it should be.

we see throughout the latter half of the canon series that voldemort loathes the death eaters - such as anglo-norman legend lucius malfoy - who pretended not to have served him post-1981. and we also know that what he particularly dislikes is the idea that these death eaters disavowed him in order to continue enjoying the comfortable lives the established class system afforded them, rather than committing to his clearly more radical vision for how power relations should work in the wizarding world by refusing to disavow him:

"Lucius, my slippery friend," he whispered, halting before him. "I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius... Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay... but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?"

a huge amount of voldemort's relationship with the death eaters is based in his distaste for the esteem in which they hold the established class system. but, above and beyond this, it's based in the pleasure he gains from mocking them for this esteem.

he squats in their houses, refusing to follow the social conventions expected of guests by commandeering their domestic space as he sees fit. he insults his hosts when in company. he emasculates the male head of the families he has insinuated his way into by behaving like he's the person in charge of the household. he fucks at least one of their wives. he regards their children as his to do with as he wishes. he has no interest in manners or deportment or "correct" self-presentation and behaviour.

he makes them call him - a half-blood orphan who could never hope to outrank them in the system they revere - "my lord", and bow to him, and kiss the hems of his robes, and debase themselves for his favour.

we know that - as a teenager - voldemort spent a huge amount of time researching wizarding genealogy. without a doubt, the etymology of wizarding names would have been mentioned by the books and documents he used to do this.

and so it stands to reason that - in becoming lord voldemort - tom riddle deliberately assumed a name he intended to be understood as having the same anglo-norman flavour as those of his pureblood servants. whether he knew how voldemort would be pronounced in modern french or not is irrelevant - even if the hard t comes from a poor boy's ignorance of french phonetics, it doesn't diminish the actual purpose of the name in the slightest...

because what calling himself lord voldemort signifies is his contempt for - and his mockery of - the death eaters. it takes something they're so proud of - that their names indicate antiquity and nobility; that they are conferred social importance on the basis of their names alone - and shows that he considers both of these things singularly unimpressive.

why - it croons - would someone like lucius be so proud of bearing the malfoy name that he'd lie to the wizengamot and pretend he never prostrated himself at lord voldemort's feet just so the family reputation didn't have to take a hit?

why would he bother? when lord voldemort can invent a name which alludes to exactly the same linguistic principles whenever he likes and have it afforded infinitely more respect [so much respect that people literally fear to speak it!] than any of his servants' names ever have been or ever will be.

a diva!

[walnutcookie]

Canon details about langue that i think are neat:

- they match clothes with their family. all of them wear red clothes. they wear the same suit as their dad and their mom wears a more feminine version

- they have the exact same green glasses as their family

- they make this face a lot

- their name is french for cat's tongue, likely a reference to the phrase "cat got your tongue" (which is clever since theyre a lawyer)

i still see people who dont know this and it surprises me because i looked up the translation as soon as they were released HELP

- theyve cried when they thought about their parents or called them

- they are the DEFINITION of a workaholic (quite literally, they seem to have an addiction to work and they dont know how to stop)

- they dont eat sweets (mentioned in an event)

- their family packs their lunch

[feudalconnection]

The Nomination Period for the 3rd Term 2024 Inuyasha Fandom Awards is now CLOSED!!

Hey everyone!

Below the cut you'll find a complete list of all of the Fanfiction nominations received for this term! You can also find it on Google Docs.

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Got a question? Check out our FAQ or send us an ask. You can also message one of the mods directly!

Thank you to everyone who nominated for making this 3rd Term absolutely wonderful, and happy voting!

Best Action/Adventure

"Nowhere With You" by Langus (AO3)

"Dear Sesshoumaru" by @ladydanitar

"In the Blood" by @dawnrider

"Wild Rabbit Chase" by @justafewsmallsteps / HelikaAkileh (AO3)

Best Alternate Universe/Reality

"Palmistry" by @classysassy9791

"Sense and Sensibility, An Inuyasha Retelling" by @ruddcatha

"i beg of you" by @thegoldenappleofdiscord / feudalreesespieces (AO3)

"What Happens in Vegas" by @rainandyarn

"It takes a friend to open your eyes" by @ruddcatha

"The Merrier" by TheMondayChild (AO3)

Best Canon Universe

"Whatever It Takes" by Emmyyasha (AO3)

"Sesshomaru: A Feudal Fairy Tale" by @acb6293

"Love Language" by @shikonstar

"Wishful" by @rileyoe1

"what she doesn't want" by @ssukidesu

"Without Regret" by PrettyWoofEars (AO3)

Best Angst

"Sacrifices" by @elkonigin

"Legacy" by @fandomobsessions016

"Held Up in the Rain" by @mrfeenysmustache / AshMish111 (AO3)

"Still a Fan" by TheMondayChild (AO3)

"Don't Buy Me Flowers" by ShyGuyVi (AO3)

Best Dark

"Lest the Past Haunts Me" by mauigurl808 (FFN)

"Legacy" by @fandomobsessions016

"Panic Mode" by @mitsiepitsie-blog

"Still a Fan" by TheMondayChild (AO3)

"Gilded Cage" by WickedNonProfitWhoreganization (AO3)

"Broken" by @my-inukag-fanfiction / InuKaglover69 (AO3)

"vampire empire, baby doll" by @lutelyre

Best Drama

"We Can't Be Friends" by Red_Spiderliliy (AO3)

"Inevitable" by @justafewsmallsteps / HelikaAkileh (AO3)

"Many Glowing Moons" by Woodrosia (AO3)

"Smoke and Mirrors" by flamethemightydragon (AO3)

"Nowhere With You" by Langus (AO3)

Best Humor/Parody

"Hack" by @timetravellingpaperbag

"the yakuza boyfriend" by @thegoldenappleofdiscord / feudalreesespieces (AO3)

"Sesshomaru Mer-made a Mistake" by @flowingsakura

"Wishful Chaos" by @inuyashamybeloved / InuScarlett (AO3)

"Breaking the Ice" by @pipistrellee / Pipistrellus (AO3)

Best NSFW

"Here With You" by SomeKndOfNature (AO3)

"Many Glowing Moons" by Woodrosia (AO3)

"Daddy, Please" by @fawn-eyed-girl

"What Happens in Vegas" by @rainandyarn

"The Office Party" by @inuyashamybeloved / InuScarlett (AO3)

"Satisfied" by @sereia1313

"Hot for Teacher" by LianaDawn (AO3)

Best One-Shot

"Whatever it Takes" by Emmyyasha (AO3)

"i beg of you" by @thegoldenappleofdiscord / feudalreesespieces (AO3)

"Pray miko, beg..." by Catzchen (AO3)

"The Office Party" by @inuyashamybeloved / InuScarlett (AO3)

"you, I thought I knew you" by DrPearlGatsby (AO3)

Best Character Portrayal

"Sacrifices" (Inuyasha) by @elkonigin

"Dear Sesshoumaru" (Sesshomaru) by @ladydanitar

"Wishful Chaos" (Inuyasha) by @inuyashamybeloved / InuScarlett (AO3)

"A Memory of Red Flame" (Sota) by @artistefish

"A Fleeting Moment" (Kaede) by Simply_ivy (AO3)

Best InuKag Romance

"Inevitable" by @justafewsmallsteps / HelikaAkileh (AO3)

"Here With You" by SomeKndOfNature (AO3)

"In the Blood" by @dawnrider

"My Brother's Bestfriend" by @keichanz

Best MirSan Romance

"More Than Enough" by @serial-doubters-club / hakomorebi (AO3)

"Sense and Sensibility, An Inuyasha Retelling" by @ruddcatha

"An Auspicious Fortune" by @fawn-eyed-girl

"Scars" by @skyelara

Best Romance

"time will tell" by @savethelastdan / Shespitsfire (AO3)

"For the Dancing and the Dreaming" by @flowingsakura

"Our Special Love" by @jeremymarsh

"Red" by @sagemcmae

"This is Unnecessary" by @jewel-shard

Best Fluff

"Home" by @witchygirl99

"Riding my Professor" by ValentineHeart14 (AO3)

"Boyfriend's Hoodie" by @classysassy9791

"Love Language" by @shikonstar

"Peony For Your Thoughts" by @sereia1313

Best Serial

"Hanyou Holidays" by @dawnrider

"Firsts" by @soliska / Evilillusions (AO3)

"Beneath Goshinboku" by Ldesu (AO3)

"Spiritual" by @rileyoe1

"This Is How I Show You" by @minakok

"Your Place or Mine?" by LianaDawn (AO3)

Best Ficlet

"From the Brink" by @serial-doubters-club / hakomorebi (AO3)

"The Western Lord's Dilemma" by @theshipthatgotaway / SimpforSessKag (the_ship_that_got_away) (AO3)

"Boyfriend's Hoodie" by @classysassy9791

"Shippo's Wish" by @heynikkiyousofine

Best Friendship Portrayal

"Hachi the Raccoon-Dog" (Hachi & Inuyasha) by @jewel-shard

"The Inquizition" (Miroku & Inuyasha) by @kstewdeux

"Coterie" (Miroku & Inuyasha) by @elkonigin

"Prayer Hands wear Cursed Gloves" (Miroku & Kagome) by @mrfeenysmustache / AshMish111 (AO3)

Best Completed

"Hack" by @timetravellingpaperbag

"Held Up in the Rain" by @mrfeenysmustache / AshMish111 (AO3)

"Nuts About You" by @shikonstar

[quibbs126]

I've been trying to figure out a design for the child of langue de chat Cookie and one of my ocs, nonnette cookie. Could you try to draw one? ( if you want to)

This was an old oc x canon I forgot to post but was meaning to (but I did message it out at least), this is Parkin Cookie

So basically Parkin Cookie here works for the police force, specifically in the crime division (note that I don't actually know how police work). As I recall, Cappuccino is supposed to have been somewhat of a mentor to him, but I don't think Parkin is lawyer, just an officer. I mean I'm told prosecutors work with law enforcement, but still. Anyways, he's not that high ranking, and he mostly just works in the station, but he does still do stuff

He also has little tolerance for the cold (or what he considers cold), so usually outside the station you will see him in his big knit parka (well that's what it's supposed to be, I don't actually know how to draw them). Outside of that he's a relatively normal guy, and he doesn't take insane stuff happening around him very well, he needs things to make sense

So I remember having trouble with his name specifically because I wanted to use something darker than Langue de Chat's hair and something closer to Nonnette. But eventually I came across parkin, which is this ginger cake, similar to nonnettes in that way but instead it's British (not much of a connection to Langue de Chat)

Parkin:

I swear, I look at Parkin's colors and I feel like I've seen a character that looks similar and with similar colors somewhere, but I just don't know where

Anyways, so I was able to keep the dark hair, and I was able to give him a blonde streak, so it's like the opposite of Langue de Chat's hair

I'm also quite proud of how I did his eyes

So one thing I planned to do with Parkin is give him a parka, since the two sound similar, and that's what he's supposed to be wearing. But as stated above, I don't feel like I did a very good job. I couldn't get the knit pattern on it, which frankly I feel like is my own fault more than anything. It takes up most of his design too, so there's not much to say

Looking at him now though, I notice that Parkin kind of just looks like a guy. Like that's just a human in Cookie form, he doesn't look like a Cookie. I mean I guess it's not his fault, the lawyer update gave us designs that were kind of just people, but still. I feel like my previous fankid for Amy, Purple Plum was much better. Though Parkin's still fine, I like how his hair and eyes look, and I think he looks pretty neat in the sketch

But yeah, that's Parkin, I hope you like him more than I do

[chewyjellycable]

Siblings but they're Pokémon because I think they're neat (please ignore how scuffed Langue's tail is).

[coquelicoq]

started on the french dictionary and so far i've only read the front matter and three pages of the A's and i'm already having so much fun. highlights:

the irony of the preface, which basically says, "this is an abridged edition. isn't that neat?", being at least three times longer than necessary

the list of 16 different symbols and their uses in distinguishing senses and introducing distinct usages within the same definition. because that seems like a large number of symbols, i have given myself permission not to comprehend the differences between any of them and just vibe

from the list of abbreviations:

"abusivt: abusivement (emploi très critiquable, parfois faux sens ou solécisme)" 😒 @ french lexicographers: have you heard the good news (of linguistic descriptivism)?

"recomm.: recommandation (dans recomm. off. « recommandation officielle » ; terme conforme à la loi française de 1994 sur la langue)" okay actually @ all of france: get well soon

"abdomen [-ɛn]" do you mean to tell me this vowel isn't nasalized??? sick. twisted. rebellious. can't believe la loi française de 1994 sur la langue has nothing to say about this !

"aber [abɛʀ]" this dictionary tells me when to pronounce the r in words ending in -er. my holy grail. crying and kissing its feet in gratitude

every time the definition includes a word i don't know i can just look that word up elsewhere in the same book i am currently holding!!!!

"abortif, ive adj. Qui fait avorter." told you b and v were related

"abreuver v. tr. 1. Faire boire abondamment (un animal)." this makes it sound like you're force-feeding animals water...on the previous page abondance is defined as "Grande quantité (supérieure aux besoins)" so like i'm getting the sense that you're leading a horse to water and not only making it drink but not letting it leave until it's drunk every last drop in the trough lol

"abribus [-bys] n. m. (nom déposé) Arrêt d'autobus équipé d'un abri" ok cute.

the example it gives for abruti is "Espèce d'abruti !" folks it don't get any frencher than that.

[moinsbienquekaworu]

Salut ma bien-aimée! I have a question about French and learning French stuff for you!

In one of your previous answers to me, you had recommended a site for translations that was better than google translate. I've managed to misplace that answer, would you be able to either link me back to that or re-say it?

And do you know of a site that's like dictionary.com but in French? Like, one types in the word and out pops all the definitions and the pronounciation and etc etc etc?

You said you're happy to be a free resource, so I hope you don't mind my asking too much! Have a good afternoon and I love you very much!

Coucou mon amour <3

The website is Wordreference, french to english or english to french (it's also good for spanish, and maybe German but I've never used it for that). The definitions have context & nuances, and you can look up some phrases, but it's not a super long completely unreadable page. Teachers often recommend it instead of google translate, and they're right to, it IS better. The other site I recommended was the Bescherelle, for conjugation, french kids have a paper version to use in class in middle school but there's a web version too!

For a dictionary, you can use the Wiktionary in french, it also has slang and it's neat, or you can look at the modern dictionaries page of the CNRTL, which links to the 8th and 9th editions of the Académie Française's dictionary (which, fuck the Académie Française, but it should be a pretty complete dictionary), as well as the Trésor de la Langue Française informatisé, which was finished in 94 and is therefore not up to date and never will be again, but is supposed to be pretty complete. The CNRTL also has a section of old dictionaries, if for some reason you want to read old french. Those are best accessed on a computer, they're really not optimised for mobiles. Otherwise, the online version of the Larousse is there, it has audio files for the pronunciation, it's one of the classic paper dictionaries in France, and it's updated every year (you often hear about x slang word entering the Larousse/the Robert and people whining about it because they're cunts)

It's fine, it's my area of expertise in a way so it's good that I can be useful! Thank you and I hope you have a good day as well!! <3 <3 <3

[sleepingdeath-light]

im gonna blow up. langue de chat has taken over my brain at this point

-solar anon

Oh dear! At least he’s a neat character? 😅

[secretconstellations]

The Kind You Could Grab A Beer With (Platonic!Steve x Sam)

pairing: platonic!Steve x Sam

warnings: slight swearing, mention of alcohol (no alcohol misuse)

synopsis: steve hasn't felt normal in a long time. he just needs someone to be his friend, someone he could grab a beer with.

a/n: this is my second post!!! thank you so much for reading and i really hope you enjoy it :) again, feedback/constructive criticism would be great and requests are open!!! just use the ask feature on my page

Steve ran. It was all he could do. It was his constant, his saving grace. The feel of the morning breeze caressing his face brought him back down to earth. The feel of his feet hitting the worn pavement gave him a surge of adrenaline that made him feel ready for anything. The sunrise, a painting of colour splashed across the sky, gave him a sense of nostalgia, of belonging that he couldn't quite place. The beautiful, long shadows of the few passers-by placated the ever-growing numbness that had formed in the pit of his chest the moment he woke up from being iced for seventy odd years. It made him feel okay, even if only for a moment. So Steve ran.

"On your left!" He huffed out to a (rather attractive looking) man he passed running on the same path he was. He had seen him a few times before, sometimes out even earlier than he was. They must have followed the same route or something considering how often they passed one another.

"Uh huh, on my left, got it." Steve chuckled at the sarcasm lacing the man's voice as he sped past him, glad to have a way to show off his abilities that didn't include fighting and killing. He looked back at the man, his expression sour but playful as he shrunk to a mere iota in the Captain's peripheral. Oh, it's on.

Steve ran around his route with ease and came upon the man again. This time, the man sensed Steve's presence approaching him.

"Don't say it... Don't you say it!"

"On your left!"

"COME ON!" He whined.

Steve sped away once again, a smile decorating his deep set features. He decided he liked this guy. He seemed nice. Funny even. Someone you could grab a beer with. How Steve longed for a friend he could just grab a beer with without the baggage of war and aliens and New York 2012 and HYDRA looming over their heads the whole time. That sounded nice.

--

"Wanna grab a beer?" Steve asked Sam, his now longtime running companion and member of the Avengers. So much for friends outside the field.

"Eh, I've got a couple in the back, I don't feel much like going out." Sam sighed whilst getting up out of his chair. He appeared to sense Steve's disappointment. "I can get a card game out too, if you like. You play solitaire?"

"Not my favourite but I play."

Sam grabbed a stack of cards from a cabinet as he headed to the back to grab two beers. Steve leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes in a desperate attempt to have a moment of peace away from the terrors of battle and missions and all that crap. That was why he liked Sam's place so much. It felt homely, like a family could live there. It was so far removed from the waking nightmare that was being an Avenger. Don't get him wrong, Steve loved his job and he loved the 21st century. The food was better, no polio was nice, the internet was so useful and, of course, the Troubleman Soundtrack was a godsend! Honestly, it was the best music he had listened to since... ever. Thanks, Sam. And not to mention, fighting for justice had been his life purpose since he popped out of the womb. But sometimes he just wanted quiet. He just wanted some peace. A sense of normality. Why was God so dead set against giving it to him?

"I got us two Stellas." Sam's voice broke his train of thought.

"Neat." Steve took one out of Sam's hands as he placed the cards on the coffee table between them. "Ready to play?"

"Oh it's on-"

!MISSION ALERT!

"Aw, shit, dude. Duty calls."

"Language." Steve slipped out.

There was silence for a moment. A really long moment.

"You did not just say language, Rogers. You have got to be kidding me."

"I didn't mean... It just slipped out!"

"Uh huh, it slipped out." Sam was giggling like a little girl. "I am never letting you live that one down, Cap."

Steve rolled his eyes but he couldn't help but smile, too.

"I'm taking my beer."

"Yeah, goddamn right you are!" The sarcasm was evident in Sam's voice, but he was still holding his. "Ah, fuck it. Let's take 'em. Let's see how much we can drink without spilling on those HYDRA motherfuckers!"

Steve had no clue how Sam could stay so chipper, so loose, after all he'd been through. It was a miracle. Sam really was the kind of guy you could just go grab a beer with. He was the kind of guy to lose a race by a mile and still manage to take it on the chin (after he had made a few dirty quips directed at Steve first). He was the kind of guy to make pop culture references that he knew Steve wouldn't understand and then explain them right after so Steve could make that reference around other people. He was the kind of guy to taunt you jokingly but always knew where the line was (whether he crossed that line or not was another story). He was also the kind of guy Steve could always count on to have his back in a fight, no matter what. Steve thought he lost all that when he lost Bucky. Gosh, it felt like Steve was making a real best friend again. Maybe God was answering his prayers.

[bronzetomatoes]

sorry just reading ur other posts mais ça me tue toujours comment le franglais québécois et le franglais de france sont différents !! genre tu te dis ça devrait se ressembler mais nn on échange pas du tout les mêmes mots… im not a linguistics guy but i think its neat

Huh, c'est intéressant ! Je n'ai jamais pensé à ça. Aussi je suis anglophone + je suis dans un program d'immersion dans l'école depuis la septième année (12 ans), alors les anglicismes pour moi sont comme. Si vous apprenez un nouveau langue au même temps de 20-30 autres adolescents chaque jour pour 6 ans

[bokksu-vs-sakuraco]

Bokksu Box #4 Review: Hokkaido Wonderland

Theme: Hokkaido Wonderland

Arrived: November 16

# of Unique Snacks: 15 + 1 tea

Key takeaways: They have been using this theme every December box for the last three years and it shows, for better or worse.

The Shipping: Nov. 6: Shipping label created → Nov. 9: Made it the U.S. → Nov. 16: Made it to my house!

The Contents: 15 unique snacks (19 total individually packaged snacks) and one green tea pairing + the usual culture guide and postcard. I weighed the food myself this time, and for the curious, Bokksu's ingredient information applies to only single packages of the snacks. That means this box had 439 grams of food.

——❄️——

On the Theme...

Hokkaido Wonderland refers to Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture of Japan, known for high quality dairy products. They also have hot springs and snowy winters, thus making them a reasonable choice for a winter-themed box. Now, I knew these details just from talking to June about Japan, but this is what the culture guide told us about Hokkaido:

Pretty neat.

They also seemed to slip in a lot more specific regional facts into the food descriptions this time, including:

Hokkaido milk is considered the best in Japan.

Hokkaido produces the most milk in Japan.

Langue de chat cookies are one of Hokkaido's most popular souvenirs.

The Ainu are an indigenous people of Hokkaido.

The haskap berry, a native fruit of northern Japan, is named from the language of the Ainu.

Since this is the first Bokksu theme I've gotten that focuses on a specific region of Japan, I appreciate the diversity of details provided and that they committed to making 7/15 snacks from Hokkaido. It's not that much more expansive than their previous culture guides, but I still did learn something new.

As for flavors, this box stayed solidly within the typical bounds of a Bokksu box while meeting the theme i.e. it was mostly sweets (only three savory snacks) with an overall cohesive flavor profile. The flavors this time were cream, white chocolate, and tart berries. As you may know from my sweets basket review, I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate so that wasn't my ideal utilization of the Hokkaido milk flavor, but it had its benefits, as we'll discuss below.

——❄️——

Snack Review

What's interesting is this box had a number of repeat snacks from previous boxes, just with flavor variations. That has its pros and cons, but one thing's for sure is that it helps to tell you what you may or may not like. If you haven't read the previous reviews, you can check them out here. But to mix up the review structure this time, I wanted to make some direct comparisons between these familiar snacks with my updated thoughts.

New Flavors of Old Snacks

Repeat #1. Tsukisamu Anpan: Kabocha Pumpkin / Previous showing: Bokksu Box #1 Review: Seasons of Japan, Tsukisamu Anpan Chocolate

I wanted to have this one first because frankly the last anpan we had was so mid, I wanted to get this out of the way while we still had liquid to down it with.

Luckily, this Japanese-pumpkin-white-bean-paste filling anpan was a significant improvement over the first "brownie" anpan we had, if only because it wasn't absurdly dry and completely overwhelming in bean paste flavor. The pumpkin flavor still didn't really come through (probably because anything mixed with bean paste will turn into a bean paste flavor), but it did make for a simple pastry bun snack. My opinion of the anpan improved this time around.

Repeat #2. Ginza Rusk: White Chocolate / Previous showing: Bokksu Box #2 Review: Full Moon Rising, Ginza Rusk: Chocolate

The fancy cube wafers are back! Only this time, instead of Ghanian cacao beans, they're flavored in white chocolate made with Hokkaido milk. The quality of milk in white chocolate is quite critical, given that white chocolate literally is just milk, sugar, and cocoa butter. Done wrong, white chocolate tastes like boring creamy sugar with a funky aftertaste. Thank goodness Ginza Rusk delivered yet another high quality cookie snack. Fragrant milk essence infused every bite with light but rich flavors, and the Hokkaido milk did not disappoint in its quality. For a snack that had the potential to be very basic, these have now twice been elevated by the high quality of the simple flavors they deliver.

Repeat #3. Hokkaido Haskap Gummy / Previous showing: Bokksu Box #3 Review: Cha Cha Tea Time, Nanko Ume Plum Gummy

This one raised my eyebrows in that we literally had this same brand of gummies in the previous box—but they were also a top-ten-ranking snack overall, so I'm not actually complaining....

No seriously, these are the superior gummies. Whatever they got going on with the texture, gumdrops makers across the world need to adopt ASAP. The flavor this time was haskap berry, "a native fruit of Northern Japan... known for its distinct aroma and sourness." I'm not usually one for sour stuff but hell yeah, I could eat a bag of these!

(I didn't though, my mom ate them all first, like I blinked and they were gone 😐)

Not An Exact Repeat: Hokkaido Haskap Langue de Chat (upper left)

3/4 of the boxes have had Japanese langue de chat cookies in them, and I got even more langue de chats in the sweets box earlier this year. So yeah, I've had a lot of langue de chats. They're probably among my favorite snacks to receive though because:

They're reliably good in their simplicity

Their variations standout from each other

The beauty of the langue de chat is that you can make many variations where a different center filling or cookie flavor still really pops, and yet you can still fall back on the reliable crisp double cookie with white chocolate base filling for an above average biscuit. These haskap berry flavored cookies used the tartness of the filling to contrast nicely against the buttery cookies.

——❄️——

Return of the Hokkaido Favorites?

Like I said before, Bokksu has done a Hokkaido Wonderland theme every year for their December box since at least 2020. Sakuraco did something different in 2022 but otherwise, has also been using Hokkaido for winter boxes, including their upcoming end of 2023 box. (Expect another comparison blog next month.) But focusing on Bokksu for now, I think this is the only theme where they don't mix it up with different angles on a similar theme (ex. Otsukini vs. Autumn Harvest), and thus we get some exact snack repeats. Here's the repeat snack types+makers we have from previous years:

Hokkaido Shimaenaga Milk Bouchée / 2022: exact same as 2023

Hokkaido White Raspberry / 2022: Snow Mimosa Cookie / 2020: exact same as 2023

Sekkasei Cookie: Rich Strawberry / 2022: Sekkasei Cookie (this brand is from Hokkaido)

Hokkaido Umami Cheese Potato Chips / 2022 & 2020: Potato Chips: Hokkaido Rich Butter

Just to be clear, I'm not knocking this repetition by pointing it out. There's something to be said for tradition, especially during the end of year, when traditions are a major part of food and celebration. But for people who may be thinking of renewing subscriptions for multiple years or maybe buying the December box as a gift, it's something to know, since they seem to generally avoid such explicit repeat themes during other months.

Now for a rapid review of the apparent Hokkaido favorites!

Hokkaido Shimaenaga Milk Bouchée: A dry twinkie. Would not have again. Cute packaging tho.

Hokkaido White Raspberry: The white chocolate and dried raspberry coating was not nearly as generous as pictured, but the puffy rye cookie was sweet & salty between the airy layers, and unexpectedly good! Would try again.

Left: 2023 cookie / Right: 2022 cookie. The description bragged that "Cosine Universe utilizes four kinds of Hokkaido milk products to produce a snack that will disappear on your tongue in twenty seconds!"

Sekkasei Cookie: Rich Strawberry: They were not kidding about the "melt in your mouth" texture. It's like if you bit into a super soft and dense shortbread cookie, but then half the thing dissolved into air on your tongue before you could get to chewing it. A little confusing but tasty once you get used to that. The real problem was the artificial strawberry flavoring that tasted like what they put in dental toothpaste. Would try the white chocolate flavor.

Hokkaido Umami Cheese Potato Chips: They smelled extremely cheesy, like a strong gouda, but the taste itself did not have that distinct cheese or milk flavor — that is, until you finished chewing and were left with a sweet yet somewhat buttery aftertaste. As the only cheese item in the Hokkaido box, I wish it went heavier on the cheese, but it's still a good snack. Also, the bag is huge but only comes like half full, probably to keep the extremely thin-cut chips from turning into dust before opening. Would have again.

——❄️——

The Remaining Snacks!

Left: Soft Sakura Mochi: I've always wondered what sakura flavor is supposed to be, and uh, I guess it is just the floral scent paired with sugar, huh? That said, we are still not mochi people.

Right: Sapporo Coffeekan Cafe Latte Chocolate: Mmm, like eating warm coffee ice cream with coffee nib sprinkles. If only it were more than a one-inch square.

(Anyone in the US interested in a similar, slightly darker chocolate should try the Kyoto Style Cold Brew Chocolate of the Chocolates of the World brand. I only say this because I happened to get a bar the next day and they're similar enough that it fills my desire to have a whole bar of these.)

Left: Koganeimo Golden Sweet Potato Cake: At some point, you have to ask why you're not eating an actual sweet potato instead of this oily imitation.

Right: Hokkaido Azuki Dorayaki: This "sweet red bean paste sandwiched between two pancakes" tastes exactly how it sounds, except slightly drier than you'd want.

Left: Curry Cashew Nuts: There were six fucking nuts in that bag. For a featured snack, I have to say: seriously? At least they didn't taste too special, just cashews coated in good curry powder, but god, you're not allowed to show a whole cup in the pictures and then provide six fucking cashews.

Right: Black Thunder: Shifuku no Butter: Good chocolate, good cookie, great "cultured butter from Hokkaido and France" which helped the whole thing melt into your tongue as you chewed. I would love a box of these!

——❄️——

And finally, one of the most memorable snacks of the night: Onigiri Senbei: Ginshari

"Oh but Glissando," you might be thinking, "I thought you weren't a 'senbei' person. You keep comparing them to Quakers' boring ass rice cakes but crunchier."

And I stand by that! For the previous senbei at least.

But these senbei, well, they were actually really good. A solid 8/10 from both me and my friend. Not only were the two senbei per package presented in an appealing triangle shape, they had depth to their outer saltiness that benefitted from the plain center, and the ratio of plain to seasoning was balanced enough to make you want to keep chewing and reach that perfect blend of warm rice taste.

Finally, I see the appeal of the senbei!

But you know what the most memorable part of this snack was i.e. the part that will ingrain it into my brain forever?

THIS FUCKING SPOT-THE-DIFFERENCE GAME ON THE SNACK PACKAGING.

Can you spot the three differences between the two images??? Because after staring at this triple-layered polypropylene under shitty cafe lighting for 15 minutes, my friend and I only came up with two differences and after checking the answers on the back of the bag, I am still pissed we did not get that last one on our own.

THE END

——❄️——

jk I still have the tea.

We didn't have the tea with the snacks this time because, ya know, one bag of tea served at 160ml, as per the Bokksu instructions, is not enough for two people to eat 15 snacks with. But I did end up having the Hon no Kimochi Green Tea on my own later and it was perfectly nice if you like green tea. It had that classic bitterness with a refreshing aftertaste that turned just slightly sweet by the end. It pairs nicely with sweets.

In my opinion though, this was definitely enough tea leaves to make a whole pot of tea. Steeping it in only one cup, as per Bokksu's instructions, made for an extremely strong flavor.

——❄️——

Final Notes

The stuff I usually put here, I already spread out through the rest of the review, so. Um. That's all, I guess.

See you next time 👋

—Glissando

[walnutcookie]

thinking about how drastically different langue de chat and cappuccino are like .

langues office is neat and tidy and bright, cappuccinos is a total mess and dimly lit. langue enjoys coffee casually while cappuccino is a coffee addict. langue combs their hair neatly while cappuccino messily ties his hair back and doesnt shave. langue is a complete beginner while cappuccino is a veteran prosecutor. langue has a hard time relaxing while cappuccino wants nothing but to take another break. not to mention langue is a defense attorney and cappuccino is a prosecutor

thats only a small list and only covers whats canon girl

[reallunargift]

some months ago i was reading about the knights hospitaller, which led me to the langue of castille, león and portugal, which in turn led me to the aurberge de castille where their knights were housed together, which is now where the maltese PM works, which still has their coats of arms

and i just think that's neat :)

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Saturday 10 August 1839

8 20/..

11 50/..

very fine morning sun and F71 ½° at 9 ¼ am breakfast at 9 ½ in ½ hour – before and after till now 10 ¼ inking over pencil memoranda and S- came immediately –

for Roman history they (the students) read Niebuhr one the origins of Romans 3vols.

pour la culture Rotteck  3vols. 8vo. (in German Stuttgard)

pour les guerres et la politique Lassen Norwegian 3vols.

1 for the [ ?], 1 for the moyen age, and 1 for the modern history but not yet finished – in Norwegian

on the Literature 1 vol. in German by Ficker

on the antiquities une collection des Leçons d’un de nos professeurs laquell collection est imprimée (af Bukker) now directeur de l’école métropolitaine

Pour l’histoire des Grecs les mêmes auteurs

Bekkers’ universal history 17 or 18 vols. in German

Beckmanns’ technology is translated into Danish (that is, Norwegian) printed, S- supposes, at Copenhagen –

the grand ouvrage de Kraft in several volumes new edition on Norway in Norsk

Anchovies Anschovis pronounced Anshooser or Anshoovĭs

had S- till now 1 ½ (i.e. from 10 ¼ to 1 ½ = 3 ¼ hours) at the pronunciation of the Norsk alphabet and his written notice lè dessus, and reading p. 1 (work itself) of our little Norsk history bought yesterday– and talking over the map of the country etc .

Divided into 5 stifts  bishoprics

17 amter

44 Fogderie

Xtiania stift called Agershuns stift

from the old castle here mentioned in papers of the 11th or 12th century

the present Xtiania founded by Xtian iv. about 1642.

then till 3 ½ studying over what we had read – S- went to the Landlord to make sundry inquiries, and A- and I read on – I wrote while A- translated and read aloud till now 5 35/.. and then went out – sauntered along the streets past Kappellen’s and Dahls’ booksellers shops – and then to Jaegers –

SH:7/ML/TR/12/0023

August Saturday 10 – could not get the work on mineralogy for me to look at – had seen in Dahls’ window a cookery book S- knows nothing of this – all this left to the femmes – dames, all, the countess Vedel [Wedel] de Jarlsberg herself, who is the head arranges the table – fait la cuisine – Do the ladies dine at table – can they cook and preside? – yes! all is arranged before dinner time and the servants do the rest – we passed a nice looking lady – she acknowledged S- he coloured I inquired if she was de la plus haute société – yes! she was in the same house with him last winter – chez le Storthingman célèbre............ captain of artillery, whose picture we had seen in Dahls’ window – one of the 1st men here – the lady an actrice at the theatre! but very respectable – not publically known but it is said she is fiancée to the Captains’ son – he 24 she 22 – the captain objects but not because she is an actrice but because she does not understand cooking! But is it not easy to learn – oh! no! can she not learn in 6 months? oh! no! il faut cinq ans – comment? est il donc plus difficile d’apprendre faire la cuisine que d’apprendre une langue étrangère? on peut apprendre une langue dans 6 mois – mais oui mais si il faut parler bien etc. etc. il faut......... toute la vie (sad I) – yes! true – for the gents here are très difficile pour la cuisine! – poor S- afterwards explained that it was not only cooking but the whole science of le ménage – the husband provides the meat (earns the living) and the wife prepares it and if she cannot manage well, nothing no income can suffice – he spoke of his mother as très savante i.e.

August Saturday dans la science de faire la cuisine – and his fiancée is also I suppose savant after the same sort – came in at 6 ¾ and dinner immediately – anchovies 1st time very good – highly seasoned and spiced – 4 marks or more per barrel containing 200 to 300 fish – Dans la société, a little side table with anchovies, herrings, etc. with which one begins the dinner – says our Swiss garçon – had just written so far at 8 ½

neat, good, farmstead stand book says looks flourishing looks as if well doing – pretty little picturesque hamlets each generally on its little [looky] [?] and [?] orchards and wood – everywhere the wooden buildings with a charpente [?] in squares which are filled up with brick or plaster – cattle and houses and a few sheep – Rye the chief corn – [?] in sight at 3 25/.. and its pretty fjord – alight the Stadt Copenhagen at 4 40/..

then walked about the room with A- and finished inking over writing out at the other end of this book Saturday 13 July the pencil from my account book –reading over Norsk again till 10 40/.. – fine day – F67 ¼° at 11 20/.. pm

[mudskip-muses]

dont mind me, just expounding on what it would entail if gundham actually had real magic

@prophetrick i figured you may be interested in this uwu

gundham can ‘shadow walk’. basically hes not completely invisible, just makes himself less noticeable, but if you know he can do this, or know what to look for in terms of detection, you can pretty much make this moot. super sense of smell, sight, hearing and aura detection will help but other than that you either wont know hes there unless he makes himself known or if your character is astute, empathetic etc they may have the feeling of being watched

when he steps out of the shadows, so to speak, they fall off him like smoke. no real reason for this, i just think its neat. if hes getting angry or is trying to be intimidating he’ll ‘twist’ the shadows about him with the same effect

he can talk to animals, but only ones he has a connection with, and how effective this is can vary. his devas are a part of him in a way, he can understand them as if they were himself and vice versa. animals that are more trusting, ie. some dogs, cats, friendly animals in general, will have a ‘minor connection’. he can communicate ideas to them and they can do the same in turn, but its not a complete connection and will have its limitations. its more of a suggestion if he issues some sort of a command. animals that have a mistrust of people are less receptive if not completely out of tune with this, but it is very very rare the later happens. less receptive animals are anything wild, he can convey his intent and its up in the air if they’ll truly listen to him or not depending on what he is asking of them. any animal that has been severely abused will be unable to be swayed unless calmed or its proven they can trust him

animals ‘speak’ in the language they were raised with, and he can only understand those that speak Japanese or English. anything else is based on sensing and sharing their emotions instead of direct thoughts. there are some exceptions to this, ie. if the animals or gundham happens to know a singular word or phrase is a different langue for whatever reason

some of the animals he care for are magical in nature, though are hidden either though illusion magic of their own power or of his creation. the later is often held in a near indestructible collar or other such band, like that on a birds leg or a temporary ear/fin tag only able to be removed by him. if your character is also magic, there is a chance to see through this, or at the very least feel as if something is different about the animal. any sort of magic the animal posses is unable to be used or is severely negated form the collar to avoid detection

because the devas are a part of him in a spiritual sort of connection, they have a higher intelligence, close to that of a young child. they can carry out basic tasks and ‘speak’ to gundham, but they are still hamsters and thus have limitations. they also dont always realize not everyone can understand them, and can get frustrated if theyre trying to convey an idea and it goes unheard. they will have a general idea of where gundham is at all times because of this connection. they also have a longer life span, connected to gundham. as long as he persists, so do they

gundham has ‘ice touch’, basically his body temperature runs a bit colder than an average human, and if hes angry or upset, there will be a chill in the air or frost creeping out into his immediate surroundings. this is not a powerful thing and doesnt have much practical use beyond chilling a drink or dropping another persons body temperature a few degrees. because of this, heat is not something he favors in high amounts. his body temp may run cold, hence the constant scarf and coat, but if he gets too hot it becomes to much for him to combat and it will weaken him, making all his magic harder to cast and him more susceptible to adverse effects

his ‘poison touch’ just makes people uncomfortable when they touch him since its not something he often enjoys and wishes for it to happen as little as possible. this is an at will ability and if he is unconscious you will not be affected, and he may grant you an ‘immunity’ to it or take your ‘immunity’ away depending on how he feels about you in the moment

he uses many runes, some of his own making, combined from various sources and lore for whatever he needs them for, a sort of ‘mix and match’ spell. the one he uses the most is a ward against curses that raises his mental fortitude and makes it harder to read his mind or control him. this ward is contained in his hounds earring

his bandaged arm does indeed cover all his scars from his breeder profession, those are really nothing special, the bandages themselves however, are capable to unraveling themselves for other uses, such as an extent of his own fingers if his hands are bound. they act like snakes when he casts them at someone, but they are just simple enchanted gauze and are easily destroyed, especially if the red ball charm holding the magic together is severed, or if fire magic is used

his scarf also holds this power in a similar fashion, though is less effective because of the size of them garment. the enchantment is held together by the stitched pattern, if that part is cut in any way, it becomes just a normal scarf

his coat offers some protection against all elements, though is considered ‘light armor’ and under enough power its ability is weakened considerably. the enchantment is again held in the stitched pattern

his boots hold an enchantment that quiets his footsteps, only super hearing will be able to detect them 

the ‘scar’ is a sort of magical tattoo, it gives that eye minor enchanted sight that allows him to see magic trails/residue/auras. it and his left eye glow ever so slightly when this ability is being used

there is some truth in him being the product of an angel and a demon, the proof held in the color of his eyes. your muse may or may not pick up on this based on their arcane knowledge or abilities

he has a sort of ‘karma trigger’ the brings misfortune to those around him on occasion. he doesnt need to know that something has happened for this to take effect, its activated by sensing an ‘emotional trigger’ from anyone who needs it. every so often it will affect a stranger if hes in the area, but is more potent if he has an emotional connection with the victim. say youre a stranger and you get tripped by a bully and he happens to be in the room, if your emotional trigger is enough, that bully in turn will trip and fall within the next minute or so and any injuries they sustain are connected to the power of that unseen emotional state. if your a friend or loved one, the consequences of that fall will be more severe, more likely to result in a broken bone than a simple trip. this is proximity effective and it could be days before anything happens if he hasn’t been close to the victim in a while, and it has to opportunity to dissipate as time goes on. most refer to it as karma, but is a part of his ‘demonic’ half that he has no control over. the emotional trigger is a side effect of it being at ‘war’ with his angelic half, it not allowing anything truly heinous to happen, it must be justified and it must always be some sort of ‘benefit’ to half of the affected party

his demonic half also gives him an ‘intimidation aura’, though he is unable to control it. it is activated when he is angry

in turn, his ‘angelic’ half aids in his comforting aura, activated when it senses distress in him or someone he cares for 

this aura also acts as a pain reducer, though it is the equivalent of over the counter pain killers. this is exclusive only to him since it is at ‘war’ with his demonic half

he can see ghost, but only of animals and people with some sort of a connection to him, ie. ancestors or deceased friends. the animals often come to him for aid if they have an inability to cross over, either seeking revenge or some sort of blessing for their previous owners or outside party from when they were alive. he helps them whenever he can and can often be found wandering through graveyards in search of those who need him

ghosts cannot posses him unless they held powerful magic when they were alive, or if they are angelic or demonic in nature. his own duel nature prevents the possession of ‘average’ ghosts