#like it sounds close phonetically

[howlingwolf23]

My sister in law and nibblings are going on a trip, the youngest (8yr old) tried to look up the city.

Can you guess where they are going?

(hint: bugs bunny should have turned left here)

[canisalbus]

Different Italian anon, but the thing with Tuscan C is that it's pronounced like a very strong H sound, which is extra weird cuz the letter H makes no sound in Italian, normally. It sounds the way Spanish pronounce the J. We say it's "aspirato". So then people from there will say things like Hoha Hola (coca cola), and it's funny. It's also extremely contagious, I got family in Florence, you spend 3 days with them you start doing it too before you even realize.

.

[moonchild-in-blue]

Yeehaw territory is all of the USA, but mostly west of the Mississippi River (anything bought in the Louisiana Purchase that was considered the 'frontier') 🌿

@whataboutyouisamascot thank you for the history lesson! Unfortunately I have no idea where Mississipi is, and I'm way too sick to look that up, so I'm just nodding and smiling gratefully like an idiot 😃👍 <- not a thought behind those eyes

[outer-edges]

look doing spanish duolingo while drunk last night and being able to read cyrillic while high as absolute fuck right now MUST mean im fluent in these languages no?

[cinnamorollcrybaby]

girl i love your shut up mom and career day fic so much!!!!!! i was wondering if you can do something similar to bothh? no pressure if you dont wanna!

Baby's first words

Tags: fluff, crack, jjk men as dads x fem!reader, angst on Nanami's!!!

Synopsis: You and your husband have been trying to get your child to say their first words. Chaos ensues.

An: I hope this is close enough to what you were requesting!! I really couldn't think of much more. Also, I want to point out that I completely forgot that Todo's first name is Aoi. I want to clarify that it is completely unrelated to your baby's name with Satoru lol.

SATORU • SUGURU • TOJI • SUKUNA • NANAMI

SATORU

"Alright Aoi, say da-da, and I'll give you this yummy scoop of baby food." Your husband coaxes as he holds out a spoonful of baby food just out of your small baby's reach.

"Stop bribing our kid to say dada." You giggle as you walk up to your adorable baby sat in his high chair. You fluffed Satoru's hair affectionately with your hand. These were the moments that made life worth living.

"Hmph. I want dada to be his first word. Wouldn't that be so cool?" He asks with a small pout as he coaxes your baby's attention again with the spoon. "C'mon Aoi, da-da." He sounds out the word phonetically to try to teach Aoi.

However, your pretty blue-eyed baby looked up at you with the brightest smile. "Mama!" Aoi cried as he made grabby hands for you.

Yours and Satoru's mouths completely dropped. While you immediately started laughing and picking up Aoi out of the highchair to snuggle your baby, your husband just looked at you with a bittersweet pout. He wanted to be y'all's baby's first words, but it was worth it to see your reaction to Aoi saying mama.

"That's right, baby. Mama." You encourage, smooching him on his chubby little cheek.

"Alright, I get it kid. I'd say mama to get a kiss too." Satoru laughs as he holds out his cheek towards you with a playful grin.

Jokingly rolling your eyes, you press a kiss to Satoru's cheek too.

SUGURU

"Alright girls, can you say da-da?" You said to the two young twin girls in their highchairs. You pointed to Geto as he stood next to you.

"They're too young to be talking, darling." He muses as he looks at your twin girls.

"But they're not too young to learn. Don't act like you don't want to hear them say dada." You poke Geto in his side, causing for him to let out a hearty chuckle.

"I want to keep them as young for as long as possible. Watching them grow up is going to send me into an early retirement." He says as he lovingly rubs on your back.

A doorbell sounding throughout the house caused your husband to sigh deeply. He hated being pulled away from these moments with you and the girls.

"Were you expecting someone?" You curiously ask.

"No, it's probably just one of those filthy monkeys again." He gripes as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Dada!" Mimiko shouts with a giggle, garnering both your attentions.

"You really have to stop saying that in front of the girls." You chide as Geto picks up Mimiko from her highchair.

"My sweet girl." He grins at the baby in his hands and blows a raspberry on her cheek.

The doorbell rings again, and you sigh this time. "I guess I'll go get it." You say as you start to walk away.

"M-m... ma..ma.." Nanako quietly whimpered as your presence left the room.

"Oh, it's okay, little one. She'll be back." Geto soothes as he picks his other daughter up with his other arm. What's the purpose of having two arms if you couldn't snuggle both your twin daughters at the same time?

After scaring off a salesman, you return to the heartwarming sight.

"You missed it, darling. Nanako said mama." Geto informs you with a proud smile.

"I always miss the good parts!" You complain as you scoop Nanako up out of Geto's arms. "I hope they stay this little forever."

"Me too."

TOJI

"Okay Gumi, can you say ma-ma?" You say as you're staring with a bright smile at your flat expression baby. He honestly looks like he might be judging you for even insinuating that he'd say mama.

"Okay, tough crowd." You muse as you hand Megumi one of his toys for him to play with.

You have been trying to teach him how to say mama for the past month or so, but he hasn't really said much of anything. He'll babble sometimes, but it's rare.

You were concerned about his mental and social development, but his pediatrician assured you that there was nothing wrong with little Megumi.

"He just doesn't want to talk yet." The doctor informed you with a lighthearted laugh.

It was semi-funny, but you couldn't help and compare with other moms. You knew it was wrong and every baby developed at their own rate, but you really just wanted to hear your baby's sweet voice.

Toji walks in through the front door immediately kicking his shoes off. "No one touch me. I'm covered in blood." He grunts as he tries his best to maneuver and not spread the blood everywhere.

Given his job, you were already use to this. "It's not yours, right?" You ask as you look up at him.

"Course not, babe. What do you take me for? An amateur?" He asks with a cocky grin.

Megumi looks up from his highchair, and his eyes immediately go as big as saucers upon seeing his dad walk in through the door. "Papa!" He immediately cries out, making grabby hands towards Toji.

You stare at your son in disbelief. "You little traitor!" You whine, but you also feel the relief pool into you. Your baby really just didn't want to talk to you, but that's fine.

"Ahh you little shit. You would do this when I can't pick you up. Your mama will kill me if I get blood on you." He grins as he carefully pats Megumi's hair with a clean hand.

"Damn right. Go shower." You instruct with a small grin.

"Yes mam." He retorts playfully as he shot you a little wink.

SUKUNA

"Okay Ryu, say ma-ma." You say to your little pink-haired baby as he's looking at you from his high chair.

"That's so amateur. He's the son of the king." Sukuna says as he pulls up a chair and sits backwards in it, facing y'all's baby. "Say dismantle." He grins wildly, and your sweet baby just giggles at him.

"You dare laugh in the face of a king, hm?" Sukuna asks as he playfully narrows his eyes. Despite how scary he was trying to seem, Ryu just kept smiling at him and giggling.

"Stop trying to get our baby to say cursed techniques." You chide your husband while shaking your head.

"Fine. Say Satoru Gojo's a bitch."

"Ryomen!"

"What!?" Sukuna shouts defensively. "I'll never forgive that white-haired bastard for teaching his kid to say 'kuna sucks'." You quietly laugh remembering that random video that was sent to you two.

In their older age, Sukuna and Satoru had settled on having a baby race. Constantly filming their baby's milestones and gloating to the other.

Sukuna had practically cheered whenever little Ryu was eating more solid foods than Gojo's kid was.

"D...d.." Ryu babbles and tries to get his syllables right.

"Woman. Get your phone machine out. He's going to cast his first domain." Sukuna says as he's immediately grabbing onto your arm.

"Sukuna, for the last time. It's just called a phone, and he's not going to cast a domain." You say as you start recording your little baby Ryu.

"Da..da... dada." Your son babbles out reaching up towards his dad.

Sukuna's face slightly drops, but it wasn't to one of sadness. No, he felt surprised. His son was reaching to him, calling for him. To most people, he was the King of Curses, but to little Ryu, he was simply dada.

Your husband scoops your son into his arms, hugging him lovingly. "I'll let you slide just this once. Next time you'll cast a domain." He says playfully while cradling his son in his arms.

Later, you would get a text from Gojo after sending him that video.

Gojo: Cute kid. Sukuna looks happy. Fucker is finally softening in his prehistoric age.

NANAMI

"Say da-da..." Your voice plays over Nanami's phone as he watches the video you just sent him of you teaching Hana how to say her first words.

"Dada!" Hana yells with a cheerful smile while clapping her little hands together.

Your husband smiles, missing you two dearly right now. It feels like his heart lives outside his chest. If he could afford it, he'd go home and snuggle with you two.

Yn: Stay safe out there, Ken. Please.

He promptly texts back, promising that he'll be back home before you know it. Though, something about the air in Shibuya tonight gave Nanami second guesses about that.

He could leave. He could leave right now and return home to you and his daughter, but his students and his peers need him.

Yn: The power's out here, Ken. Is everything alright?

Yn: Jesus I can hear the explosions from here...

Yn: Please tell me that you're safe...

Yn: Hana and I are evacuating. I love you. Please text me as soon as you can.

Yn: You fuckig promised... you liedd to me.

Yn: What do I tell Hana every time she says dada?

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Guide to Creating Your Own Language

When writer's set out to world-build, language has a huge role in creating new cultures and lending a sense of realism to your efforts. A world and people just feel more real when language is involved. As the old Irish proverb says "tír gan teanga, t��r gan anam”. A country without a language, is a country without a soul. So how can we create one?

Do Your Homework

First things off, you should start by studying languages. Nobody is asking you to get fluent but it's important to understand the basic mechanics of language. You will start to see certain tricks to language, how verbs are conjugated and how gender effects certain words. It will be easier to make up your own when you know these tricks. For example, in Irish one doesn't scold but "gives out to" - "a thabhairt amach". In German, numbers are arranged differently to the English with the smallest digit arranged before the tens for example 21 - Einsundzwanzig. By immersing yourself in an array of different languages (I recommend finding ones close to how you want your language to sound), you can gain the tools necessary for creating a believable language.

Keep it Simple

Nobody expects you to pull a Tolkien or channel the powers of David J. Peterson (hail bisa vala). You're not writing a dictionary of your con-lang. You will probably use only a handful of words in your story. Don't over complicate things. A reader will not be fluent in your con-lang and if they have to continually search for the meaning of words they will likely loose patience.

Start Small

When you're learning a language, you always start with the basics. You do the exact same when writing one. Start with introductions, the names of simple objects, simple verbs (to be, to do, to have for example) and most importantly your pronouns (you will use these more than any other word, which is why I always start with them). Simple everyday phrases should always be taken care of first. Build your foundation and work your way up, this is a marathon not a race.

Music to the Ears

If your creating a new language, you're more than likely doing it phonetically. Sound is important to language and especially a con-lang because you want to trick your reader into thinking of a real language when reading the words on the page. I suggest sitting down and actually speak your words aloud, get the feel of them on the tongue to work out the spelling. Spellings shouldn't be too complicated, as I said before the readers aren't fluent and you want to make it easier for them to try it out themselves.

Also when you're creating the con-lang, it's important to figure out how it sounds to an unsuspecting ear. If a character is walking down a street and hears a conversation in a strange language, they will likely describe to the reader what it sounds like. It might be guttural or soft, it might be bursque or flowery. It's always interesting to compare how different languages flow in the ear.

Writing in Your Language

Now that you've written your language and created some words, you will want to incoperate them into your story. The way most writers do this is by italicising them. As a reader, I generally prefer authors not to go too overboard with their con-lang. Swathes of con-lang words might intrigue a reader but it can leave them confused as well. It is better to feed con-lang to your readers bit by bit. In most published works writer's tend to use words here and there but there are few whole sentences. For example in A Game Of Thrones by George RR Martin, has actually only a handful of short sentences in Dothraki despite the language being prevalent throughout the book. Daenerys Targaryen pronounces that "Khalakka dothrae mr’anha!"/"A prince rides inside me!" and it's one of the only sentence we actually see in actual Dothraki.

There's also nothing stopping you from just saying a language has been spoken. If you're not comfortable writing out the words, then don't make yourself. A simple dialogue tag can do the trick just fine.

Know your Words

I do recommend keeping an actual record of your words. Make a dictionary if you want or a simple list of words you need. This is one of the most entertaining aspects of world building, have fun with it, go mad if you like. Also here's a short list of questions you can ask yourself about language in general which might help your juices flow.

[tragedykery]

welcome to another episode of “is this a common pronunciation or is it just my accent”

trying to develop a semi-phonetic vowel system for my dutch tengwar mode. this sucks ass <- is enjoying it but also it’s hard :(

[tarragonthedragon]

so I'm in the office when I hear it. the EIC, in the corner, my manager's manager, lights up the batsignal and voices a cry for aid:

"is anyone here who speaks Welsh?"

immediately, all heads turn to Charles' desk. Charles is Welsh. Charles takes several days to recover from the shock every time someone on a National Trust podcast mispronounces Llanidloes. surely Charles will answer the call.

Charles, the bloody nerve of him, is on Annual Leave to spend the Easter holidays with his son.

at this point I realise that several heads, including my manager's, are turning to me.

I do not speak Welsh.

I was brought up by a Welsh speaker, my grandmother, but given that we live in London and noone else in the family speaks Welsh, I only really picked up the most basic of family pleasantries. I can say cheers and goodnight, I can offer and order hot beverages, and I can answer the six questions people immediately ask when they find out you speak even a little bit of Welsh (the answer to all of these is as far as I can tell, yes but nobody says that. yes but it's baby talk. yes but it was a marketing scam. you know the ones)

I also have a master's degree in, amongst other things, medieval Welsh. as attention turns to me, I weigh up the possibility that the EIC needs someone to urgently translate Culhwch ac Olwen into modern English.

it seems unlikely. however, my CV says I have basic Welsh, and I need this job, so I head to the EICs desk with the thudding tread of someone bound for the gallows

further context-- 90% of my job is combing through business documents for aside phrases indicating business changes. this takes a lot of cross-referencing and close reading. I find this hard in my native language. I find it extremely hard in languages I'm fluent in. the idea of doing it in Welsh, a language where my conversation options are limited to "good morrow sir! the English advance on our left flank!" or "Mr fishy likes to swim", fills me with fathomless dread. in my head, I am writing my application to the next job.

the EIC turns a page around on the desk. "how do you pronounce this?"

I look at the word, relief beginning to sink in. Welsh is phonetic. even if I don't know this word, I can read it.

I do a double take. "Dai?"

"are you sure?" the EIC asks. "should I call Charles on his holidays just to check?"

"it's Dai," I repeat.

"it's not different if it's Welsh?"

I have absolutely no idea what she thinks the Welsh are doing to innocent vowel sounds that the English are not already doing. "it's Dai. like Dai Llewellyn."

"it's the same every time?"

"... yes"

"oh good." the EIC puts away her sheet and lets me go back to my desk.

as I sit down, the news editor at the next desk looks up. "so," he asks. "is it true that the Welsh for jellyfish is

[pygmi-says-hi]

Writing tips! pt. 1

Fluff advice

Use fluffy words. I mean like softy words, not a lot of hard endings or consonants. words that feel soft, you feel me? (I am autistic so maybe just me but lemme show you some examples and definitions)

snuffle

tuck

coo

murmur

mumble

smush/squish

bundle

soft (obv)

gentle

nuzzle

burrow

you feel me??? does it make sense?? as opposed to ‘cuddle, mutter, smash, wrap’ which mean essentially the same as above. If you use words that feel or sound phonetically like the vibe you’re trying to get across, it reads much better. Paragraph example of a generic fluff scene (G rated dw) using themed words and non-themed words.

Theme:

warm cotton sheets and syrupy midday sunlight draped gently over the entwined forms on their shared bed. a hazy, drowsy blanket of pleasure made their eyelids heavy. feeling too far away, (A) shuffled closer to (B), nudging their nose into the soft space of their cheek. B murmured sweetly, caressing A back to sleep. smushed a close as can be, the two lovers drifted into a cozy pocket of love

No Theme:

warm cotton sheets and bright midday sun shone through the window over the entwined forms. sleeping soundly, wrapped in their love for each other, the day crept forward. (A) yawned and rolled closer to (B), wedging their nose into (B’s) soft cheek. (B) chuckled, whispering their partner back to the safe world of sleep. together again, the two lovers drifted into dreamland.

Difference? or just me?

In other words, think of small children when you think of fluff. (NOT LIKE THAT) the tone, the softness you would approach a toddler with. toddler speech is kinda soft too, since they aren’t capable of hard sounds with their teeth (or lack thereof) so their words sound sweeter. (an’ instead of and, 'bubba’ instead of 'papa’, you get the idea). Adults also change words to fit a softer, gentler mood. “Lovey’ instead of love, 'Doggy,’ instead of 'dog’. this same vocabulary shift can add another layer of cuteness to ur fic.

Hope this helps! message w more questions xx

(extension of pygmi's blog btw)

[vidavalor]

Occult & Ethereal

In S1, Crowley and Aziraphale muse about powers of detection while strolling undetected through some human chaos. During this scene, the audience might also detect Crowley making a bit of an etymological joke about the ability of people in their world to detect something else that he believes has mostly been going undetected-- his and Aziraphale's relationship.

Crowley: "He [the antichrist] won't even know it but his powers will keep him hidden from prying occult forces."

Prying: Obsolete meaning: to wink. Occult: Originally, a verb meaning: to conceal; to keep secret and hidden from the view of others. The prying occult forces 😉 are a secret pair and who are the occult forces in question, per Crowley?

While technically accurate across its various meanings, we learn that occult is not a descriptive word for Crowley and Aziraphale that Aziraphale finds appealing.

Crowley likely chose it in the moment mainly just for it being a word that evolved to have a magical connotation from its original origins of being a word about keeping something hidden and undetected, since all of that made it an amusing choice to use as descriptive for him and his angel. I think Aziraphale's hesitation on it, though, also exists, in part, to help us notice that Crowley is using a word to describe both him and Aziraphale together that we might consider something of an odd choice so that we look at the word closely to see why he might.

Even if Aziraphale is thinking in the moment enough to pick up on Crowley selecting it because of its original meanings relating to keeping something secret, Aziraphale doesn't love the more modern, darker connotations associated with the word when it comes to using it to describe he and Crowley. Occult also once meant something that was beyond the ability of the mind to comprehend... ironically, since that is what Aziraphale is having trouble fully doing when it comes to Crowley's use of occult in this scene, as he seems more focused on every other definition and connotation but the ones that caused Crowley to choose it on something of a whim.

While Crowley is using the word romantically-- to say that they're occult, in the sense of them having a magical, barely comprehendible in its depth, secret love affair-- Aziraphale might see bits of that but he appears to be objecting to inclusion of some of the true, but darker, aspects of the word-- the bits Crowley really didn't think through when he was just going for a flirty word joke around the moment's theme of detection.

Aziraphale likely most objects over the word cult involved in occult (which also phonetically sounds like "of cult"), even if Aziraphale likely wouldn't really deny that it is an accurate description of the Heaven from which they both come. Heaven/Hell and darkness are not connotations that Aziraphale approves of when it comes to a word being used to describe him and Crowley together, as they might be from those things but, when together, they are something else.

The word that Aziraphale does choose to use to describe angels-- and, his plural use, for he and Crowley-- is one that also very easily can be used to describe Crowley personally as well, which give an air of Aziraphale insisting that the dark of the occult is not presence of Crowley and in him and Crowley-- just the very real beauty of the ethereal.

Ethereal: From ether, originally: bright, pure air; the upper regions of space and the speculated origins of the universe, from the root aidh, meaning both to shine and to burn.

In ancient cosmology, ether was considered the fifth element of the universe that was believed to permeate all matter-- a purer form of air or fire that filled all of space and constituted the substance of the stars and the planets. It was previously thought to be the medium for electromagnetic waves-- for light. This was debunked by Einstein's Theory of Relativity, in which he showed that the speed of all electromagnetic waves, including light, are actually an universal constant.

Ethereal, when used as an adjective: very lovely in a delicate way; refined, elegant; that which is beautiful in a way that is of the human world but which also feels celestial or otherworldly in its perfection; something so breathtakingly exquisite that it seems too good for the world.

Well, Aziraphale! Way to find a path through quibbling over Crowley's flirty wordplay choices towards the most devastatingly romantic reply possible... 😲���

So, this scene in which they walk undetected while talking about detection, and in which detectable wordplay around their ability to remain undetected exists?

It is also meta related to our ability to detect what's happening in the story...

Because here we are, watching this scene about that which is unable to be detected by characters in the series but we are, by the show's design, able to detect plenty of information. We see everything in this scene and quite a lot in plenty of others. We see Crowley and Aziraphale where the humans around them do not; we understand why they cannot detect the antichrist and we know who that is better than they do at this point in the story; we see Crowley's romantic wordplay about his and Aziraphale's relationship and Aziraphale's equally lovely insistence on a different word to describe angels, Crowley, and the two of them.

On a meta level, Crowley bringing up the idea that he and Aziraphale are occult-- in its definition related to keeping something a secret-- is the scene bringing up one of the questions the audience has when watching the series-- the one about the nature of Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship. Crowley answers it in the middle of the detection scene by using a word in wordplay to Aziraphale that refers to the two of them having a hidden, secret relationship that is concealed from the people in their world. The wink here is that they might be concealed from everyone else but not from us, as we can see them-- quite literally, especially in this scene, but, also in every other one. There's meta in that while we can see the efforts by the show to keep it hidden, when we do see through those efforts, then we're rather like Aziraphale at the idea that these two are occult because, well...

...when Crowley says their relationship is secret, hidden magic that is barely comprehendible to the mind? On a meta level, Aziraphale's response of no, we're ethereal is like bitch, please, what show are you watching? We're not really that concealed and hidden away-- we're right in front of everyone. We are a real and true, bright, burning and pure, unbendable, unbreakable, universal constant that is literally woven through the matter of everything in this show. We're pretty easily detected. We're everywhere...

Bonus visual etymology-based metaphor in the bit of the scene below...

Beyond the humor of protective camouflage being discussed by Crowley while the paintball soldiers in camouflage are easily seen and getting rounded up around Crowley and Aziraphale, there is a joke in what else is also in the shot. Keep the brief bit of smoke in our line of vision in just this part of the scene-- just as camouflage is mentioned in the scene-- when you look at the history of the word below.

Camouflage: From camoufler, Parisian slang and purported thieves' cant for to disguise, derived from the Italian of the same meaning-- camuffare-- and from the French camouflet, meaning... smoke puffed into someone's face... less with the intent to be deceptive by briefly obscuring vision, even if that is often a result, and more with the intent to arouse.

Sounds an awful lot like what this story is doing, no? 😂 As it is, even with the bit of smoke in our faces? Both literally in the above scene and metaphorically in others?

We can still detect it all pretty clearly.

[niteshade925]

April 12, Xi'an, China, Qinglong Temple/青龙寺 (Part 3 - History):

A model of Qinglong Temple in Tang dynasty (618 - 907 AD):

There must have been something like thirty engravings of famous poems about the temple lining the walls of the corridors. Below are three examples of these engravings, from these poems one can get a feel for how Qinglong Temple used to look like. A note on the translations: they are rather unpolished as I just wanted to get the meaning across.

《題青龍寺詩》 [唐] 朱慶餘 寺好因崗勢，登臨值夕陽。 青山當佛閣，紅葉滿僧廊。 竹色連平地，蟲聲在上方。 最憐東面靜，為近楚城墻。

Translation (by me):

"In Commemoration of Qinglong Temple" By Zhu Qingyu (Tang dynasty) The beauty of this temple comes from the mountains, By the time I summited it was already dusk. Verdant peaks behind temple buildings, Scarlet leaves filling the corridors. Bamboo groves connecting flat areas, Chirping of insects above it all. Only the east side remains still, Since it's close to the city walls.

《清明日青龍寺上方賦得多字》 [唐] 皇甫冉 上方偏可適，季月況堪過。 遠近水聲至，東西山色多。 夕陽留徑草，新葉變庭柯。 已度清明節，春秋如客何。

Translation (by me):

"Qingming Festival Above Qinglong Temple" By Huangfu Ran (Tang dynasty) It's comfortable up in the mountains, Watching the season pass by. Sounds of flowing water from near and far, Views of mountains from east and west. Setting sun upon the grassy path, Growing leaves cover the courtyard trees. Qingming Festival has come and gone, Just like the seasons and the temple visitors.

《青龍寺早夏》 [唐] 白居易 塵埃經小雨，地高倚長坡。 日西寺門外，景氣含清和。 閑有老僧立，靜無凡客過。 殘莺意思盡，新葉陰涼多。 春去來幾日，夏雲忽嵯峨。 朝朝感時節，年鬓闇蹉跎。 胡爲戀朝市，不去歸煙蘿。 青山寸步地，自問心如何。

Translation (by me):

"Early Summer at Qinglong Temple" By Bai Juyi (Tang dynasty) Light shower settled the dust, Temple grounds blending with the hills. Setting sun outside temple gates, The scene filled with an air of serenity. An old monk stands in idleness, There are no worldly passersby in the stillness. Remaining birds having sung their melodies, New leaves providing ample amounts of shade. End of spring was just days ago, Summer clouds are already towering above. Every day we feel the passing of seasons, Our hair graying in the meantime. Why obsess over bustling cities, When we can return to the lush countryside? These verdant mountains are but a corner of the world, Here I stand and reflect upon the state of my heart.

Huiguo and Kukai

In the first part I mentioned that Qinglong Temple was where Kukai/空海 studied Vajrayana Buddhism (the Chinese Esoteric tradition was also called "Tangmi"/唐密, since it was very popular in Tang dynasty) under Huiguo/惠果. Huiguo was a student of the famous Vajrayana Buddhist master and translator Amoghavajra (Chinese name Bukong/不空). Huiguo eventually became a master himself in the Chinese Esoteric tradition, and was an Acharya (Sanskrit term meaning teacher; translated phonetically as asheli/阿阇黎 in Chinese) who had many students from different places, including from surrounding countries. Kukai was one of his last notable students before he passed away. Kukai returned to Japan in 806 AD and founded the Shingon school of Buddhism/真言宗 (also sometimes called Eastern Esotericism/東密).

Kukai was also a calligrapher and a poet, below are two examples of his works (first is an ink rubbing of his calligraphy work titled "Buddha", second is his calligraphy work named Huushincho/風信帖; both were written in Chinese):

Closeup of Huushincho (from Wikipedia). The original is at Touji Temple in Kyoto, Japan.

Shōryō shu/Xinglingji/性靈集, a collection of kanshi by Kukai. Kanshi/漢詩 is a Japanese word for Chinese poetry. These books here are a gift from Japan.

Bunkyō hifu ron/Wenjingmifulun/文鏡秘府論 by Kukai which discusses Chinese poetry. These books are a gift from Japan.

There are also other gifts from Japan. Left is the top of a khakkhara staff (In Chinese and Japanese: xizhang/锡杖/錫杖, shakujō/錫杖). Right is a Vajra (in Chinese and Japanese: jingangchu/金刚杵/金剛杵, kongosho/金剛杵), this is a Vajrayana ritual object. This particular Vajra is commemorative and bears the names of Huiguo and Kukai:

And that's all for Qinglong Temple. Next up is another famous temple in Xi'an, Daci'en Temple/大慈恩寺.

[meddwlyngymraeg]

Vocabulary - to want

A few different ways (that I know) to express wishes and desires.

eisiau - to want. One of the standard ways of saying you want something, all across Wales. In truth, it’s not actually a verbnoun like many others, it’s really a noun. That’s why you don’t need the ‘yn’ before it ad you would for any other verbnoun: ‘yn mynd’, ‘Dwi’n mynd’. ‘Dyn ni’n aros.’ Etc.

‘Dwi eisiau cysgu.’ I want to sleep.

I believe the reason for this is an older construction that is used in literary Welsh, but that got shortened and dropped off over time in colloquial Welsh. ‘bod ... ar [rhywun]’ was the construction used, roughly meaning to have ‘a want upon you’ (very roughly).

Double checking this with Wiktionary (beloved), they do have a credible literary source demonstrating this: the Welsh bible (which thanks to a frenzied linguistics and orthography-fuelled spiral down Wikipedia, and oddly enough, the Welsh comedian and radio broadcaster Elis James (unrelatedly), I know was first translated in the 1500s and directly led to the loss of the letter ‘k’ from the Welsh alphabet).

‘Yr Arglwydd yw fy Mugail; ni bydd eisiau arnaf.’ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Close enough to colloquial Welsh to understand, that's using ‘eisiau arna (i)’. Over time, colloquial Welsh has dropped the ‘ar’. The example sentence above could've been 'Dwi eisiau cysgu [arna i]'.

A note. Some people have a misconception that eisiau should cause a soft mutation in the word following it, because it is an exceptional case of an action (of sorts) that doesn’t need an ‘yn’, and so must follow a pattern similar to a few other conjugations out there like ‘dylu’ (should).

‘Dylet ti ddweud rhywbeth’ (You should say something), ‘Galla i wneud rhywbeth amdano fe’ (I can do something about it), ‘Ga i rywbeth?’ (Can I have something?), the past tenses of gwneud, ‘wnaethon ni ddysgu Cymraeg’, ‘Mae rhaid iddyn nhw dduhino’n gynnar!’ (They must wake up early!)

And so on. This isn’t the case, as eisiau is not a conjugated verb. It’s just a noun for desire! (*not exactly. I’m trying to explain this as best I can)

There is a south Walian usage of ‘eisiau’ that makes this idea clearer.

In some southern dialects, the construction ‘mae eisiau i…’ is used to mean that someone needs something. E.g. ‘Mae eisiau i ti fwyta’ means ‘you need to eat’. What it literally means is ‘there is a need for you to eat’, and so you can see the noun eisiau (a need) in use.

North Walian Welsh uses the same structure, but with the noun angen instead. ‘Mae angen i ti fwyta.’ ‘Mae angen iddyn nhw sosban’, literally, ‘they are in need of a saucepan’.

Speaking of dialect differences, especially in north Wales Welsh, you might come across spelling variants of eisiau: ‘isio’, ‘isia’, (N) ‘isie’ (S), ‘isho’, etc. Perks of a phonetic language are that nothing’s a misspelling really if it sounds alright when said out loud. I did raise an eyebrow at the last one a little, ‘sh’ isn’t the English ‘sh’ in Welsh, is it? (Is that Wenglish?)

Other forms!

moyn - to want. Used pretty much only in the south and valleys, but this one is a regular verbnoun. ‘Dwi’n moyn cwpla fy ngwaith gytre’n fuan’ (I want to finish my homework soon)

(Just realised there are a Lot of dialect words in that sentence! Cwpla -> gorffen, gytre -> cartef)

It seems simpler than the exceptional eisiau construction, why isn’t it more widely accepted?, you ask. (Most people I’ve said it to say it immediately places you geographically to them because they never hear anyone else say it.) It derives from an older verb, ymofyn, which itself comes from the word gofyn (to ask), ‘ym’ + ‘gofyn’ = ‘ymofyn’, which sort of goes away from the original idea of wanting, and into one of asking. Still, language evolves, and so you will still hear moyn in South Wales. In fact, the Say Something In Welsh course teaches it (which is how I know it. Probably worth giving a disclaimer that I’m simply mad about linguistics and Welsh alternative bands, before anyone starts to think I live in Wales just because I occasionally write long grammar posts!)

Awydd - a desire. Used similarly to eisiau, no ‘yn’ precedes it. The whole point of making this post was that I just came across this sentence: ‘Ti awydd mynd i Gastell Caerfili?’ Meaning, do you want to go to Caerphilly Castle?

And those are the ones I know!

[yuk-tepat]

2024 Lexember #8: Khûl

RE: previous Lexember post Mup (2024, #1) - Recall that Qathûq had gathered his sorcerers in pursuit of various magical projects.

Today’s word khûl [kʰɯl] means ‘nerve’ or ‘nervous tissue.’

Spelling: The semantic radical (“meaning” component) on the left side is a body. On the right side is the phonetic radical (“sound”) - which is the previous Lexember word xûl ‘finger joint’ - indicating that this word [kʰɯl] sounds close to [xɯl]. An alternate version of the glyph has the semantic THREAD on the left, because nerves are thread-like.

Now to discuss what we might call Tepatic “brainworms.”

They may be called wet i-khûl ‘worms of the nerve’ or nel-khûl ‘nerve crawlers’ or other other terms. Recall that previous Lexember word nel means ‘crawl’ or ‘slither’ - but also ‘lead astray.’

Above: wet i-khûl and nel-khûl

But my preferred word is khûy khûl [kʰɯj kʰɯl].

Above: khûy-khûl

Khûy means ‘little i’ and refers to a little mark representing the sound i, which means ‘of’ or ‘that,’ and is written above and next to larger characters in some texts as an abbreviation of sorts.

It is also a colloquial term for small worms, because the tiny half-loop looks like a tiny worm.

Returning back to Qom: Previously said among other things, he sought to create enchanted worms that would crawl under people’s skin and control their minds. This was developed from a disease. There was a legend that a sorcerer long ago had created animate worms from clay, which could move according to his instruction. But the worms escaped into the wild, infesting animals and people. Now free and without any guiding creator, they did not manipulate people in any purposeful way, but still wandered and burrowed, causing shifting sensations and consciousnesses of all sorts. These are the “brainworms,” a rare but feared disease.

Brainworms are difficult to treat, but still easier than sarcopetrosis, which is hopeless. But it is difficult, and often painful. The worms have to be located, and they can move. If they are still crawling under the skin, the skin can be cut open. If they move into organs such as the spinal cord or brain, they can become impossible to remove. They can be suppressed by the use of antimagical drugs such as phasmoctone, but these can also suppress the patient’s own vitality as well. If not used with great care, the patient can die from the treatment as well. On the other hand, the disease is difficult to spread.

Previously Qathûq had expressed interest to his prime minister, Silhen i-Tsyam, in the latter’s teacher Xhalkil, a biologist who pioneered operant conditioning, and wondered about its social uses. He conveyed that to his magicians, who found a diseased patient from whom they could get worms, and develop them into tools - the goal being for magical worms to burrow into people and manipulate internal energy flow, altering it to cause pleasure or pain to control behavior.

[brofightiscancelled]

yapping about how i approached translating karamatsu's brand new world. just discussing the localization liberties i took and other things i think are interesting. i just love yapping sorry

part 1/4 because i forgot about tumblr post image limits lol

establishing my ethos: im still learning japanese but have been translating (chinese -> english) for over 7 years, so my translation skill is higher than my japanese skill. if there's anything i get wrong here pls point it out!!! i usually translate mostly songs, anime (donghua), and manga

The Title

japanese has multiple alphabets: 2 phonetic ones and 1 derived from chinese characters (kanji) that dont tell you anything about how they're pronounced

kanji characters have multiple pronunciations. for example, 心 can be pronounced "kokoro" or "shin" depending on the context it's used in.

"how do you know which kanji pronunciation to use" you guess. alternatively, media geared towards children (who have lower language skills) will sometimes spell out the right pronunciation above the kanji in little letters

sometimes people will just make up their own pronunciations for kanji for Style Points, in which case they will also spell out the intended pronunciation above the kanji

so this title actually reads "matsuno karamatsu's brand new morning". however the Style Points pronunciation guidelines indicated that this is pronounced "Brand New World". i deliberated over this for a while and ended up going with "brand new world" because the phonetic pronunciation is in english so i assume this would be the preferred title for an english localization. unfortunately this did lose the interesting double reading of "morning" and "world" but sometimes it just be like that.

Chapter 1

every time choro says something about the chopsticks in this first part, he's repeating the same thing each time: "Stop [pointing with your] chopsticks". but this 1. doesn't sound very natural in english, and 2. is too long to fit into these speech bubbles.

translations often have to take liberties due to the medium. in anime subtitles, they need to consider how fast a watcher can read the subtitles. in manga, it's often about how many words they can fit in a vertical text bubble.

the underlying impression is that choro is annoyed he even has to tell oso to stop pointing with his chopsticks (this is common sense, you're a grown ass man, why don't you know table manners, etc), so i tried to write it in a way like he's saying it short and snippy like an annoyed mom who has already reminded you 5000 times about this exact thing: Chopsticks.

oso calls totty "あざとい" here after hearing that he's trying out pancakes at a new cafe. as far as i can tell, this roughly translates to "cunning" or "sly" and is used to describe women kinda derogatorily, like a girl at the office who speaks harshly to the women but sweettalks to men (like tsunoda from aggretsuko).

i couldnt really think of a natural-sounding equivalent to this implication in english, so i settled on the kind of close "coquettish" to get across that oso is calling totty girly in a strange and insulting way. oso's dialogue here literally goes something like "sly.... you really are sly...", but since "coquettish" is kind of a weird word to use in english, i ended up localizing this around to suit my weird word choice to make it sound like oso was thinking for a second about the right word to call totty, which i also think comes off as a little more natural-sounding

japanese (and chinese) have a plural second-person pronoun, but english doesn't (besides y'all, which i did use in oso's dialogue earlier lol) which is a real headache and almost always needs some creative thinking to get sounding Normal. this was a relatively straightforward case: "how would a father address his sons as a collective?" -> "Boys"

CHAPTER 2

the dreaded jp onomatopoeia without an english equivalent. im lucky that these boys' whole gimmick is being from an old cartoon so i could get away with the very cartoony "honk" sound effect for "blowing one's nose".

the source material always translates イタい as "painful" so i do it too but i wish osmt had come out like just a few years later when "cringe" was in the common vernacular because it's a way better localization. in my opinion.

also a minor note: in the first bubble totty is actually repeating kara's words back at him "someone's? watching? me?", which is made clera by him using kara's self-pronoun (オレ) and not his own self-pronoun (ボク) (if you don't know about self-pronouns i will talk about them more in a future note). however this nuance is lost in english and could be misconstrued so i just went and made it so he's repeating back what kara said but not using the exact words

"頭おかし" does literally translate to "strange in the head" but colloquially just means "insane" or "crazy". but ichi is being really harsh to kara here, and kara does start questioning his mental sanity later in the chapter, so i went with a more harsh translation here that specifically references the head. also "YOU'RE INSANE" does unintentionally have a different meaning to most of us here on tumblr dot com, doesnt it lol

i dont know what the consensus is on giving iyami a french accent when localizing him. it's probably overkill to do both this AND keep the zansus. however i cant convey a mid-atlantic accent in writing so this is my next best way to convey that iyami talks very strangely. also it's funny

this panel was really hard to redraw. please clap

anyways same use of "strange" here as before with the head thing ("crazy") but it can also have the vibe of "abnormal". i thought "is something wrong with me?" helped convey both these meanings. come to think of it later in chapter 6 i translate okashi very literally as "strange". maybe i shouldve said "is something wrong with me" there, too....

CHAPTER 3

jyushi literally says "why do we do the olympics?" here. i localized it this way because it means essentially the same thing and is funnier. dats the art of translation babyyyyy

japanese personal pronouns quick rundown: in english we tell others to refer to us as different pronouns- him, her, they, etc., but we only have one pronoun to refer to ourselves with (I). japanese has many self-pronouns, and which one you use to describe yourself with is usually based around context and personality (some pronouns are more polite to use than others, some give off the connotation of being stuck-up or of being a country bumpkin, etc). this is helpful for characterization and also being able to tell who is talking through written dialogue

we aren't meant to know who this figure is at first, but we're also meant to have the clues to figure it out (if you were to investigate, you would find that f6 oso is the only one with full black gloves and knee high boots).

oso usually uses the masculine self-pronoun 俺, which is a rude and casual pronoun very fitting of the slacker eldest. however, f6 oso, a reliable and polite dreamboat, uses 僕, a polite and proper masculine pronoun (normal choro uses this pronoun). so this pronoun use masks the identity of this mysterious figure- but if you looked into it, you'd be able to see that this does link up to f6 oso. it's also possible the artist didnt know this and just went with 僕 to fit the fairytale prince vibe here though lol

i have no way to convey this in english so all of this is just lost nuance in translation. womp womp.

for the record these are the boys' personal pronouns:

oso: 俺 (ore can convey that he's rude, kanji alphabet can convey .... he's old-fashioned, possibly? shrugs?)

kara: オレ(ore can convey that he's full of himself, katakana alphabet can convey that he's [trying to be] stylish or loud)

choro:　僕 (boku can convey that he's polite, kanji can convey that he's proper)

ichi:　おれ (ore can convey a kinda casual-lazy vibe, hiragana alphabet can convey that he's soft-spoken kinda?)

jyushi:　ぼく (boku can convey that he's Just A Little Guy, hiragana alphabet can convey that he's childish)

totty:　ボク (boku can convey that he's Just A Little Guy, katakana alphabet can convey that he's [trying to be] stylish and modern)

CHAPTER 4

demonstration of localization for the medium: totty's dialogue here translates most literally to "What are you talking about?", but "talking" and "about" are pretty long words that are hard to fit into that skinny dialogue bubble. "the hell are you on about?" conveys the same thing, has shorter words that are nicer to fit into a bubble, and also shows a bit more personality (and i think is a little funnier).

this part ends here becaues i forogt about the tumblr post limit. i will continue in future posts

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4

[wannaeatramyeon]

Ryuhei Kuroda x Reader: Japanese 101

G/N. Ryuhei teaches you some japanese.

You cup your mouth with both hands, take a deep breath and shout, "Kutabare!" (Fuck you!)

A few coworkers turn to you in shock, including the one whose attention you were aiming for.

Ryuhei spins around, eyes lighting up and copies your motion. "Shinee!" (Die!)

Internally flipping through your tiny repertoire of Japanese, it takes you a moment before understanding dawns and you cackle.

It leaves you both with a smile for the rest of the day.

.

.

You repeat the word after him, testing it out for the first time, "Chinchin." (Dick) and then put your own spin on it:

"I hate Eugene, he's a chinchin."

It doesn't really work but it makes Ryuhei laugh anyway.

.

.

Pointing to a stray cat, you exclaim, "Kawaii!" (Cute!)

Ryuhei huffs at your childishness. You're pretty cute too.

.

.

"Hey," you whisper to the blonde seated next to you, "teach me something new."

Face hidden behind his mask, he tilts his head at you as if to say not now.

"Please, before my brain falls asleep."

Ryuhei turns back to Eugene droning on. Something about quarterly growth and being on target, then leans close and mutters, "Kuso kurae."

You jot it down phonetically at the top of your notepad, "Meaning?"

"Eat shit."

You muffle your giggles just in time.

.

.

"Kuso kurae!" you repeat at Ryuhei the next day.

Grinning hard, he gives you a nod and fist pump, "Ganbatte!" (Do your best!)

.

.

In the huskiest, most sensual voice you can muster up, you breathe into his ear, "Iku~" (I'm coming~)

Shit.

Ryuhei's head swims.

Maybe he shouldn't have taught you that one.

.

.

Smiling wide, and holding up the phone to his face, "Baka!" (Idiot!)

Steadying your hand with his, Ryuhei takes a small step back to focus on what you're showing him. Ah, it's a candid photo of him taken this morning, right after you called his name and thrusted the lens in his face.

He looks very handsome, even if he says so himself.

The expression that you captured though, he's not sure what to make of it. Is that what his face is like when he looks at you? He looks vulnerable, exposed. More than he has been in a long time.

"Baka!" you repeat again, like a kid learning a new word - and he supposes, that it is new and novel for you.

"Baka," he agrees, because he does feel like one where you're concerned.

.

.

"Daisuki da." Ryuhei whispers into your ear. Quiet, but not quiet enough as Kenta, sitting on his other side, startles at his words.

You scribble the sounds on your notepad, along with another message 'What does that mean?' then give him a gentle prod with your pen.

Ryuhei's eyes flicker to the paper but he doesn't respond.

"What does it mean?" You say aloud this time, risking drawing the ire of Eugene. Ryuhei gives you a shrug and you click your tongue.

"Fine, I'll just look it up later myself," you hiss, petulant and pouting. "Bakayaro," (Bastard) you add for good measure.

He doesn't react, on the surface. Instead, below the boardroom table, he aims his hand towards you then it springs forward, quick as a dart, peevish fingers pinching at your waist and you squeal.

The entire room turns towards you.

"Sorry," you mutter, face burning red.

.

.

You look it up later that night and feel a different warmth on your face. Growing to the tips of your ears, all the way down to your toes.

Daisuki da.

(I really like you.)

[marigold-hills]

Dunes & Waters, part 35

PART 1 • PREVIOUS PART • NEXT PART

It feels illicit going into the library at night, although they have written authorisation from the muggle admin and their wizarding counterpart. Even more like something forbidden because Remus holds Sirius’ hand the whole way through, not just to get them into the wards. He would be ashamed about how happy it makes him, if it wasn’t making him so happy.

Remus has his incantations written out, four spells to deities looking after the dead and the changing. Sirius stands next to him, close but far enough to be able to observe keenly, wand at the ready, protective spells tingling the air.

They put the Box on the floor, move the desks away. Spell the bookshelves and the walls with enough shielding spells that they shimmer.

It’s just gone midnight, when Remus decides he’s ready.

“I’ll start with Ur.Idim first. It’s the one we’re least sure of. Wepwawet last, since that already worked.”

“How pragmatic,” Sirius says in that low teasing voice he always takes when praising Remus, “very efficient.”

He’s got it all written out phonetically to avoid mistakes. Four pieces of paper with ancient words rendered in blue ballpoint pen. He wonders how long has it been since the prayers have last been spoken aloud, how many generations since the words he’s about to say have last been used.

“Oh, you Sycamore of the sky,” he begins and it works. The crystals in Lupus constellation shine ever so softly, barely noticeable, but he can feel the way the Box resonates back to him. Two heartbeats. Two minds. “May there be given to me the air which is in it. I have guarded this egg off the Viper. If it grows, I grow; if it lives, I live; if it breathes air, I breathe air.”

The Box makes a sound like an echo of thunder. A crack appears in between the top side of the Lupus panel and the rest of the Box, golden light spilling out of it. Sirius has his wand hand stretched out, the other towards Remus like he’s holding him back or holding him safe.

Remus puts down the first paper, the room so quiet like it, too, is worried to misshapen the spell they’re creating. He reads: “Open, oh Khonsu, the great door. I will swim by means of you, I will pass Therein as Thoth, I will fill my mouth with the braided lock of gold.”

The other constellation lights up, one tiny red star amongst the blue. Another crack, another slither of light shining in from within. Next page.

“Hail beautiful of face,” he speaks and Anubis’ eye lights up, “lord of sight, bound by Ptah-Sokar. Your right eye is the Evening Boat, your left eye the Morning Boat.”

The light from within the box shines through Anubis’ profile. Each of the Box’s edges become openings.

Remus knows it’s the last part, already knows this one works because it had before. The last piece of paper shakes in his hands.

“It is your lip that makes for you, it is the knowledge of your mouth,” he says, the words different in context of his day with Sirius, alive through speaking them into warm skin. “I have brought you your enemy, for him to be offered beneath you. I have balanced your mouth and bones for you.”

The moment he speaks the last words, the Box opens up like an origami bird. Unfolds at the edges, slowly falls flat. The light from inside shines a blinding sheen, then dies away. The inside is black, onyx-like, with hieroglyphs carved into the stone. A gilded cage floats above it, electric currents running through the prongs. Inside of it a flower suspended in the cradle of magic and a vial with pearl-sheen, whispy, mist-like liquid.

“Holy fuck, Remus, you did it.”

NEXT PART

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