#literally throwing french and english words into my italian conversation

[22557711]

[llendrinall]

So you want to write a bilingual character

Because people found this post on Hispanism on OFMD useful for fic writing, I thought I could delve a bit into writing bilingualism. I want to keep this brief, lest I get too much into linguistics, so I’m doing it as a Q/A.

Do I need to speak the other language to write a bilingual character?

Certainly not. Google translate can do the job. But you need to understand how languages work so you can avoid stupid literal translations. To be safe, it’s better that you stick to single words, simple sentences and avoid figurative speech.

 Figurative speech. What’s that?

Any expression in which you are using an image. For example, when I say “I head to work” How will “head” be translated? Will I get a “going to” or will I get a literal floating head that I throw to the job?

If you are using popular languages (English, Spanish, probably French) automatic translators will detect figurative speech and correct as necessary. I recommend Google because it learns with time and use and it’s pretty accurate, but with less popular languages the translation is chunkier.

 Do I write their accent?

I would say no. You can, but it makes reading those lines harder. Especially if your readers are not native speakers. They will have to sound the words to figure out what they are supposed to mean.

Consider: “Bill is very busy at ze moment, working very 'ard, and I only work part-time at Gringotts for my Eenglish, so he brought me 'ere for a few days to get to know 'is family properly.”

Here, foreign readers have to add the missing –h and realize that ze=the. Not impossible, but it can be frustrating.

You can have an accent! but it’s not the only way to show someone is a foreign speaker. So, think if it’s worth the strain for your readers. If some of your readers will have to read that line twice, give them something for their trouble. Is there a word in particular the characters always get wrong? Is there any confusion between two words? Do other characters also find it difficult to understand?

 Fine, no accents. So can they spout some words in their language?

Eeeeeeh… it depends. Usually bilinguals are very adept at keeping languages apart, but not always. Say hello to our friend “code switching” which is what happens when we change from one language to another. The Wikipedia page tells a lot about it, but for now you only need to know there are four types:

 Outside the sentence: “Santa madre de Dios, dame paciencia,” said Jim. “Listen, guys, you all know me…”

Inside the sentence: “It’s all that bastardito’s fault”

In the tag: “If you don’t do as I say, I will throw you overboard, ¿Vale?”

In the word: This is harder to explain, but one word takes morphemes from the other language. Like taking Italian “ravioli” and adding and –s for plural, “raviolis” when the original was already in plural.

 The key is not so much which word they are saying in a different language, but where they are saying it. Outside or in the tag are more common, especially for emphasis. Inside the sentence when there is a slight difference in the translation (ie: frijol and bean are not the same thing) or it’s not something used everyday (like the pieces of a car engine).

 But what words will they not know?

The middle ones. No one is forgetting the common, easy, ones. (Yes, no, up, down, later, come, stop…) They may use them in their own language if they are part of the tag or in informal conversation, but no one is going to struggle for three sentences to remember how to say “yes”.

Also, not the rare ones either (susurrus, prosaic, erudite…) because those words tend to a) be similar across languages of the same family (and if we have a Romance speaker with English, they will be common words to them) b) be deliberately taught. It depends on when and how your character learned the second language, but it is not rare that second-language speakers use high words with low grammar.  

So it will be the middle ones, not super easy but not difficult. Words they know, but temporarily forget, or words they simply haven’t come across yet like a cooking implement, a machine, a very specific action, etc.

 I am not comfortable writing anything in that other language. What do?

Then your bilingual character will have to do some negotiation and circumlocution This happens when the speakers knows they lack the word, but rather than bringing one from their first language, they explain what they mean. For example:

 “He was a gentleman for sure, capt’n. He had nice hair and a white hanky showing out of his sleeves.”

“Oh? Did he have lace cuffs?”

 Can I see an example of everything?

Here, just because I like this exchange.

“Can’t you shield yourself with a potion of pearl and-? What’s the word, you put it in water, connard, comment dit-on? Savon. That’s sapon, sapot, sopon. Arrg, ça me soule!”

“Soap” said Draco.

Here we have Fleur 1) negotiating (you put it in water) 2) talking in French to herself, not to her audience, and 3) trying out different versions while immediately knowing those aren’t it. She knows the word! But she can get it. It happens.

 Anything else?

Yes. Interferences or language transfers. This is when we get some unexpected foreign language in our own! This requires at least some familiarity with the other language because transfers mimic one language while using the second one. For example, the expression in English “no can do” (what a weird way to express a negative, isn’t it?) is mimicking Chinese grammar with English words as blocks!

Transfers manifest with words in a funny order, unexpected prepositions and such. For example, speakers of Romance languages always try to coordinate nouns and adjectives in English.  “Blacks sails” rather than “black sails”.

I have more questions. Can I send you an ask?

I am not a linguistics professor, but sure.

[all-that-tmnt-jazz]

I'm on mobile and I can't find if requests are open or not so please ignore this if they aren't and I'm sorry! If they're open, how about the turtles with a foreign reader who's first language isn't English? Reader feels shy and worried that they're not easy to understand because of their accent and mispronounciations of some words. Also! Would they be interested in learning reader's native language? Thanks a lot if you write it!! I love your writing!!

Don’t worry- they’re open!

Warnings: Swearing.

Incarnation: Bayverse

Extra Info: The brothers all know English, Japanese, and Italian, and learned them in that order from Splinter. Leo also knows Spanish. Raph also knows Russian. Donnie also knows Russian, French, Swahili, Hindi, and Portuguese (but is learning Chinese and Spanish).

Leo:

When Leo first hears your accent, he immediately recognizes it

He really wishes he learned French as well as Spanish in his own time

He lets you lead every conversation, just so you could talk more

He loves the way the “r” rolls off your tongue, and how the “th” sounds more like a “z” when you say it

Also, when you two are on a phone or video call and you’re getting tired, your accent becomes even thicker

(Sometimes, you even start mumbling in French, which makes Leo’s heart flutter)

When you tell him you’re embarrassed about your accent, he literally almost starts crying

“I am just scared you will push me away because my English is not perfect.”

“I will never push you away, Love. you are too dear for me.”

Raph:

You actually started swearing a mile a minute in Russian when you two first meet

He had saved you from some muggers in Harlem, and when you first saw him was when the swears started

He started whispering to you in Russian, telling you to keep quiet

After a while, you started speaking in English, despite how hard it was for you

(The sounds in English were much different than in Russian…)

“You are monster?”

“No, I’m not. I just fucking saved you!”

You look closer at him and see his eyes

“You are a friend?”

“I am a friend. Yes- I… Yes.”

He can see how difficult it is for you to speak English, so he switches to Russian

You subconsciously follow his lead

He immediately notices how much smoother you talk when in your mother tongue

He immediately falls in love

Donnie:

When you start speaking to him, it’s with an accent that makes his heart flutter

You tell him you came from Stonehaven, Scotland for college

You were studying graphic design

And you apologize to him

That throws him off by a lot

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Mah accent is tough tae ken fur ye Americans.”

“Well, I can understand you just fine, Y/N.”

“Ye'r juist talking jobby.”

“I’m not! I’ve always loved Scottish accents.”

You had never been redder

He had never been more in love

Mikey:

One minute, you were nearly under the wheels of a line of Taxis

Next, you were on a rooftop three blocks away

“Sorry I took you so far- I panicked,” Mikey says to you.

“It is okay. Thank you.”

You bowed slightly to him.

He looked at you, curious

You became aware of yourself and became rather shy

“I love your accent! Where is it from? Rather, where did you get it from?”

“My parents and I moved here from Japan earlier this year.”

“You speak Japanese?” He asked you in your mother tongue.

You are shocked at his fluency

“Yes, I grew up speaking it, but I’ve been learning English since I was 10. I’m 16 now.”

“No way! I’m 17, and I grew up speaking English adn then learning Japanese!”

The two of you talk for a while in Japanese, becoming more and more connected to each other.

[brianandthemays]

A Ghost From the Past (Four/Billy x Reader)

HEY GUYS! I’m super pumped to be back and writing again! Please let me know if you enjoyed this! I’m writing future missions with these two!!!!! 

as always please send an ask, like and reblog so I know how you like it!!!

also a big ole shout out to @angiefangirlworld-2 for beta reading for me!!!

TW: A good amount of gore and blood. Some angst. please do not read if that makes you uncomfy

Word count: 3.4k

__________________________________

Everything was black. The last thing you remember was walking back to your apartment after walking to the store; you opened the door, and everything was black. The only other thing you remember is a sharp pain in the back of your head. Concussion for sure. You’d worked long enough as a make-shift medic to know.

A year ago, you were in your prime. You and your boyfriend worked with a small theft group. Stealing from the rich and giving some of it to the poor. Billy, your boyfriend, was kinda the leader. He was a parkour master and lead his team in stride. You served as the medic. Dealing with any injuries that may have arrived. And you were happy. You both were.

Then everything was ruined. He fell. Far. And you couldn’t get to him by the time you got to him, he was gone. Whether the police got him or something else, he was gone. And you never saw him again. And they dropped him. So, you left. You took yours and his cut of the money and moved to Florence. Then it was just trying to move on. Getting a nursing job, finding a small apartment, getting a cat. Moving on.

But now your head hurt like a motherfucker, your arms were tied tightly around their wrists, and in the dark. You could feel bruises on your face from where you fell, most likely and something sticky in your hair, which you assumed was blood. Now you were in the dark, both literally and figuratively. Then the bag was yanked off your head. In the room there was a man in a tan suit. You were sitting in his office; it was daylight out. You glanced around looking for something to help yourself with.

           “parli italiano?”  the man addressed you.

You knew what he said but you knew better to answer any questions in a hostage situation.

           “I see you do not…” he continued in English. “We are looking for someone you may have some connection to.”

Again, you did not answer, just glaring at the man. He sighed and nodding at someone standing behind you. A larger man approached you and swiftly slapped you across the face. You let out a shout, feeling your lip split at the force.

           “Fuck you,” you spat.

           “Ah, she speaks!” The man smiled at you. “Now you can answer questions.”

           “Look, I don’t know what you want but I don’t do this anymore,” you told him, rubbing your wrists to try and get some levity in your wrists.

He chuckled, standing and walking to a desk off to the left. You followed him as he grabbed a picture and walked back over to you. It was a picture of you and Billy, working a job you’d done a few months before Ukraine.

           “You know this man?” he asked, watching you carefully.

You stared at the picture, heart aching just looking at it.  You shook your head and looked at the man, trying to remain as neutral as possible.

           “I did…” you started. “he’s dead.”

The two men in the room looked at each other before laughing out loud. You furrowed your eyebrows feeling your blood start to boil Had they just brought you here to torture you. Make you open old wounds.

           “I’m sorry to inform you but he is not,” he told you, rubbing his chin. “He was seen in Sicily about 3 months ago.”

You just stared at him, shaking your head. It wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true. You watched him fall, you mourned him, you… no he wasn’t alive.

           “I think you’re mistaken,” you returned. “I watched him die.”

He tapped his fingers on his desk before standing up again and walking to the front side of the desk and leaning back against the desk.

           “Miss, you must understand that we are in a dire situation,” he explained. “The dictator of Turkistan is… in danger.” You snorted, knowing all about this dictator. The dictator who gassed his own citizens and couldn’t care less for his people. “We are determined to protect him…” He glanced between you and the man behind you. “At any costs.” The way he looked at you made you uncomfortable and you shifted in your seat. “So, if you have any information on this man, and we find out you are hiding it from us…” The man behind you pressed something against your head. Immediately you knew it was a gun and you stiffened.

The man opened his mouth again but there was a loud bang and he stood. He said something in Italian to the man who had hit you and suddenly your chair was being dragged backward. He placed you facing the door.

           “What the—” before you could finish, he slapped you across the face again.

           “Shut it,” the man growled.

He placed your chair in front of the door, gagged you, before running off in another direction. You felt the blood running down your cheek. And your breathing started to get heavy. Your head was still pounding from the blow to the back and there was so much going on. Then a man flew through the door, quickly followed by a woman. Both of them pointed their guns at you before lowering them when they saw who you were.

           “And who are you?” the man behind the desk spoke. The man in front of you turned to look at the man behind the desk, beginning a conversation you could not care less about and the woman stared at you, coming closer.

You grunted at her, trying to get her to let you go. The man she came in with seemed to be negotiating something you couldn’t understand but you just wanted to leave. The picture of Billy had really set you off and you wanted to leave. The woman finally removed your gag.

           “Do you speak English,” she asked. She had some kind of accent, a strong one… maybe French?

           “Yes, yes please let me go,” you pleaded. “I need to see a doctor.”

Just then the man behind the desk let out a scream and you looked over to see the man that the woman had walked in with gouging out his eye. You shrieked and reared back.

           “Bring her with us!” He shouted at the woman. “She may have some sort of information.”

The French woman looked at you apologetically before cutting your roped and grabbing you by the arm.

           “Wait, wait, wait, wait!” you screamed. “Please, no!”

But the woman didn’t answer, she just dragged you out of the door.

           “Don’t worry, dear…” she reassured you. “We have a great doctor.”

You groaned and let her drag you outside. Somewhere along the way, everything went to shit. You were thrown into a car, the French woman now pouring blood out of her pelvis area, and joining another woman in a green dress.

           “One! Who is she?” The driver asked the man who followed closely.

           “She was in there,” he explained. “She might have information on you know who… NOW GET US OUT OF HERE.”

The rest of the car ride was a blur. The car was moving fast and the throbbing in your head only increased as the car twisted and turned around the city.

           “I think I’m going to throw up…” you mumbled.

           “DON’T THROW UP!” The driver shouted.

You threw up all over the floor before leaning back in your seat and gagging again. The others in the car all cringed away from the substance and the woman in the green dress grabbed your face. She looked at your pupils before rolling her eyes.

           “One, she has a concussion, you idiot!” she shouted at him.

           “We’re almost there, can she make it to there?” he responded. She shook her head and smiled encouragingly at you.

Suddenly the car jerked and swerved and slammed into a forklift. The driver’s throat was impaled the end of the forklift inches from your own face.

           “Go, go, go, go!” One shouted. The woman in the green dress grabbed your arm pulling you out of the car. She dragged you towards a larger van and out jumped two men.

The younger one held up his gun and started speaking. “What happened to…”

Then his eyes met yours and everything froze. No. That wasn’t possible. He was dead. He had to be.

           “Y/N?” he murmured as you were dragged by him.

Then your eyes rolled into the back of your head and you were enveloped back into the black that had started your day. 

                          Breath in. Breathe out.

You’re back on top of the building in Ukraine, jumping from roof to roof.

                          Breath in, Breathe out.

He’s there, smiling back at you every now and then.

                     Breath in. Breathe out.

Then he’s climbing across and the string breaks.

                          Breath in. Breathe out.

He’s falling. And you run to catch him.

                          Breath in. Breathe out.

The last thing you see is his green eyes staring at you as he falls. His green eyes. His eyes.

                          Breath in. Breathe out.

Your eyes fly open and you sit up breathing heavily. Once again, your arms are tied down to a table and your legs are bound too. Your wrists are sore from the rope burns and the throbbing in your head, though now dulled, is still ever-present.

           “Hey, hey, hey calm down. You’re okay.” It’s him. All you see is his eyes as he stares at you. Your breathing picks back up and you struggle to believe what you’re seeing. He comes over to you and places his hand on your arm, trying to get you to calm down. “You need to breathe! You have a pretty bad concussion, love.”

           “You want me to breath?” you growl at him, suddenly becoming angry. “I’m in pain, I was kidnapped TWICE, and now my supposed dead boyfriend is suddenly still alive and well and you want me to breath?” He looks down sheepishly rubbing your arm gently. “Why am I tied down.”

           “Because we have some questions we would like to ask you.” The man from before, One, walks into the room. You glared at him.

           “And why should I answer you?” you shot back.

           “Oo, a feisty one, I get why you like her, Four.”

           “Who’s four?” you asked, glancing up at Billy. He bit his lip and moved away to stand behind One.

           “That’s me… now.” He replied.

You stared at him, still feeling so many emotions. You had to asses your situation. You didn’t have many options. You were hurt in and in an unknown territory.

           “If I answer your questions, you answer mine,” you finished on, looking back at One.

One glanced at Four before looked back at you. “Fine, but we go first.” You shrugged and sat back. “Who was that man?”

           “Honestly, I have no idea,” you admitted. “I was knocked out and ended up in his office this morning.”

One was silent for a moment, rubbing his chin. “And what did he want from you?”

You looked at Billy, or Four, or whatever his name was. “He wanted to know how I knew him and If I knew where he was.”

           “And what did you tell him?” One asked.

Your gaze with Billy never wavered. “That he was dead.”

 Billy broke eye contact, looking down. One glanced over at Four before turning back to you.

           “Anything else?”

           “Just something with a Turkistanian Dictator and some plot against him or something,” you explained.

One nodded turning to Four who turned with him. They murmured to each other for a while, leaving you sitting and feeling ignored. You needed to talk to him. You needed to see him.

           “Are you done?” you called, bringing their attention back to you. One nodded and came over to undo your binds. “These were a little unnecessary,” you grumbled pulling your sore wrists up and rubbing them. They were raw and scarring already. Once One was done, he patted Four on his shoulder.

           “I’m assuming you’d like to talk to him alone,” he asked. You just nodded. “Fine, you have 10 minutes.” And he left.

Four looked at you, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, hands crossed over his chest. You slide off the table and approached him.

           “I’m mad,” you told him simply. “I’m really mad.”

           “I know and I’m sorry, but you were never supposed to –”

           “Never supposed to be here?” You finished. “Nope I was just supposed to keep on living like you were dead and I had lost you.” He didn’t say anything, his eyes remaining on yours. “Where the fuck have you been?”

           “Dead,” He stated simply.

           “Fuck you.”

           “(Y/N), please.”

           “Fuck you, Billy.”

He shuddered at his name, his eyes finally revealing his feelings.

           “I fell.”

You scoffed. “I recall. The worst day of my life.”

Billy thinned his lips and continued. “I fell, and One found me. He offered me a job that paid a lot.”

           “And that was it…” you felt your heart break more than it did that day. You felt yourself backing away from him. “You found a better offer and left me behind like I was nothing.”

           “(Y/N), you don’t understand”

           “NO! You don’t understand!” you shouted at him, standing taller. “I went looking for you. To find something, a body, a jacket, anything! But you were gone! And I was alone!  The team left and I was alone.” You felt tears begin to well in your eyes and you struggled to continue. “You were dead, Billy! I mourned you for months. The best fucking thing to ever happen to me dead in an instant.” You let out a choked laugh. “And here you were, living it up because you found a better offer.”

He grabbed you and pulled you close to his chest. At first you resisted, trying to push yourself away from him. But you were so tired and weak, and you missed him. Even though you were mad, you missed him. So, you let yourself cry into his chest, reveling in his warmth.

           “I’m so sorry,” he mumbled into your hair. “I missed you so much.” You just let out another sob, grabbing onto his shirt. “I did this for us. I was going to get the money and come back to you. I promise.”

           “You can never understand how I felt.” Your voice was small now, but still angry. “I was depressed. I was angry with myself for not getting to you sooner. I wanted to see you more than anything. But you were gone.”

           “I know, I know,” he sighed, relinquishing you. “When I saw you, bloody and weak, with Five. I was shocked to say the least.” He brushed your hair. “And I held you the whole way here. You were so fragile and tired… but you were in my arms again.”

           “And now what?” you asked, looking down. “I go back to pretending you're dead, you're gonna wipe my memory or something.” You felt more tears roll down your cheeks at the thought of having him dead again. You’d just got him back and now you were going to lose him again.

He looked out where One was most likely standing. “I-I don’t know…”

You watched him carefully as he reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear. Letting his finger drag along your cheek.

           “I don’t want to lose you again,” you said, quietly, reaching up to grab his arm. He gave you a small smile and pulled you back into him, this time you came willingly. You wrapped your arms around him and took a deep breath.

You stayed like that for a while, only broken up with One walked in with Five again. Five smiled at you as you stepped back from Four.

           “I’m Five,” she introduced, holding out her hand. You gave her a small smile and shook. “I’ve got some time to help your wrists, change your other wraps and such.”

You glanced at your wrists and smiled at her. “Sure.” It was at least good to know that they weren’t going to kill you… yet. You looked over at Billy again who nodded at you and you followed her out. This left One and Four standing in the trailer, both watching the two women leave.

           “She can’t stay here,” One said simply.

           “She can help I, I promise,” Four insisted turning to face One. “She helped me before, and she’s a great medic.”  

One stared at him, shaking his head. “She’s a liability.”

           “She’s good,” Four finished. “And she’ll be a great Eight.”

One made a face, groaning loudly as he rubbed his hand over his face. He was quiet for a while, clearly thinking.

           “If she messes up once, she’s gone,” One stated. “But we could use another medic.”

Four couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. He pumped his arm and rushed out the door. One just shook his head before following more slowly.

            “So, how long have you known Four?” Five asked, rubbing some ointment on your wrists.

           “Since we were young. We worked together in a small crime ring,” you explained. “He and I… we’ve been through a lot.”

           “I can tell he cares about you,” she admitted. “You should’ve seen his face when he saw you. Pale as paper.” You let out a short laugh and she smiled at you. “It was a little bit of a shock to see him, yeah?”

           “That’s an understatement,” you grumbled. “You can’t even imagine.”

She didn’t say anything, just continued to wrap your wrists.

           “I’m sorry you got caught up in this,” she apologized. “Nasty business this is.”

           “I’ve dealt with worse,” you admitted. “Bi- I mean Four has a tendency to get hurt easily.”

She nodded. “Alright, you’re all done.”

You rubbed your wrappings, sighing softly at some of the relieved pain. She cleaned up her station and nodded towards the door.

           “You coming?” she offered.

           “I’ll be there in a minute… I just have to think,” you told her. She nodded and let you sit by yourself. This day had been a lot. From the pain and confusion to the absolute anger at seeing your long-lost boyfriend. But still, you were incredibly happy to see him, even if he left you alone for over a year. You were beyond happy to see him actually. But you had no clue what to make of all this. What was going to happen to you now that you knew about this secret underground… whatever. Just as you were wondering this, Four walked into the trailer.

           “Hey, love. How are you feeling?” he asked, strutting over to you. You raised an eyebrow and help up your wrists, now soundly wrapped.

           “They hurt less now, but my heads still beating like a fucking drum,” you told him. He picked up your wrists and put a kiss on both. Then he leaned in and kissed your forehead.

           “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, lips brushing against your forehead again. “I don’t want you to have to go through that again…”

You brushed him off, resting your hand on his arm. “I’ve had worse. They’ll heal.”

He held you again, for the third time in a year and you didn’t want him to let go. It felt like goodbye, and you didn’t want to say goodbye.

           “I talked to One,” he said, still not letting you go. You closed your eyes, ready for the inevitable. You had to have your memory erased, or they had to kill you, or you had to leave and never see Billy again. “He said you could stay… if you’d like.”

That you were not expecting. You pulled back enough to look up at him. A smile danced on his face as he gauged your reaction.

           “Become dead? Join your little team?” you clarified. He nodded, looping his arms around your back. You looked down, not quite sure how to respond. “I-I don’t know.”

           “C’mon! It’ll be just like old times!” he insisted. He pulled you closer and brought his lips right next to your ear. “We can finally be together again.”

You brushed your nose against his, closing your eyes as you rested your forehead against his. Was this really what you wanted? The team seemed close, more like a family than your last team had. And he was here. Everything you wanted was here. But at what cost? Your life, your friends, your family. Who were you kidding? You didn’t have any of those things.

           “Fuck…” you gigged. “I guess I’m in.”

He pulled back and smiled. That stupid goofy smile that you’d missed so much. Then he kissed you. He kissed you for the first time in over a year. And fuck it felt amazing. His lips were so perfect and everything about it was amazing. The fireworks in your head were exploding over and over again. You couldn’t help the smile that came over your face as you kissed him.

          “Welcome to the team, Eight,” he chuckled, kissing your jaw down to your lips again.

[sunsetovergatlon]

My first addition to #nobellweek! And also my first fan fiction ever so... give me some slack.

This is set in the Gallagher Girls Universe, which if you haven't read it it's basically just spy school. Enjoy, reblog, and lmk what you think!

Trouble

Word count: 2,042

Danna had her nose in a textbook on “The French & Arsen” when a knock came at the door. She did not even look up. It was going to be that new girl who was only here because of the family name and Danna did not care for outsiders. Not only did she not like them, she didn’t trust them and trust was the name of the game around here. She still didn’t trust the group of boys that had infiltrated their school… well most of them at least.

Narcissa put the latest disguise she had been perfecting down and looked wareily at the door, but Danna kept her book up. After a moment of awkward silence Ruby came running in from the bathroom with a towel on her head and her shirt on inside out and backwards.

“She’s Here! Guys why didn’t you get the door!” Ruby’s eyes flashed with excitement as she threw open the door.

“Hi No… oh,” Ruby’s cheeks flushed as she tossed the towel on her head off to the side, “Hi Adrian, hi Oscar,” the second ‘hi’ was barely a squeak and Danna could hear Narcissa snickering on the other side of the room.

“Hi Ruby, you look very, um, clean!” Oscar practically shouted in his haste to come up with something to say. For being in the top five percent of an elite spy school, those two were not very good at being subtle. 

Finally Danna put her book down to look at the two boys at the door. Oscar was just as red as Ruby and Adrian was flashing that signature smile of his.

“We came to invite you down for dinner with us! Anyone interested?” Adrian asked, sweeping his gaze around the room.

“I’d love to but,” Narcissa started before Danna cut her off quickly.

“Yes! Yes we would love to!”

Narcissa and Ruby both looked back at Danna with wide eyes but she silenced them both with a glare and in a matter of minutes they were out the door.

Meals at Gallagher Academy were always full of fruits, vegetables, and main courses from around the world. Plus there was a sign above the door that stated what language the table conversation was to be held in. Sundays, however, were a free for all. Language was in english, and the food generally consisted of chicken fingers pizza, and other american favorites. Just hearing Oscar whine and complain all week until sunday dinner was enough to drive any person up the wall, trained spy or not.

Just as they were about to go through the threshold of the cafeteria a loud, intimidating and beautifully feminen voice echoed in the hall around them, “I hope you are having a good time abandoning your new colleague Ms. Bell, Ms. Cronin, and Ms. Tucker.” 

Danna flinched and slowly turned around to face Headmaster Tamaya Rae. Her expression was cold as ice as she took the time to make eye contact with all five of them individually before cutting her eyes over to the girl behind her. 

“This is your new roommate Nova. I’m sure you did your research, so I will leave you to it. Please take her on a tour of the grounds before curfew,” Headmaster Rae said smoothly before turning back to Nova and whispering something inaudible to the rest of them. She nodded and watched as the headmaster walked away. Danna looker with wary eyes as the girl, Nova, finally fully turned to face them. To Danna’s surprise her first thought was not, ‘ew’ or ‘ugh I hate her’, but rather just ‘wow’. Her heart was beating faster than normal as she looked over Nova. She had tan skin and cropped black hair with bangs hanging across her forehead and these blue eyes that just sparkled in the light. She looked like she had been training in martial arts her entire life with a thin waist and toned legs. She was effortlessly beautiful and Danna was… blushing. 

Realizing that she was staring, Danna peeled her eyes away and focused them instead on the line of marble busts on the side of the hall.

Ruby was the first to break the silence running up to hug the short girl, "Nova! It's so nice to finally meet you!"

Danna could see Nova tense up when Ruby threw her arms around her and how her face almost imperceptibly flashed with killer instinct. It was like Nova had never experienced affection before. Finally Ruby peeled herself off of the poor girl and started introducing everyone else who gave a little wave in response, aside from Oscar who bowed.

"Well, I guess an introduction for me isn't really necessary at this point is it?" Nova said, giving a side grin that made Danna's heart do a flip inside her chest. The sensation, however, just made her more upset.

With a huff Danna turned and walked into the cafeteria leaving everyone else to follow. She could hear Adrian, Oscar, and Ruby asking Nova questions and making light conversation behind her and for some reason it made her blood boil. They didn't even know this outsider and all of a sudden she was the most interesting thing since Betty White?

A tap on her shoulder pulled Danna out of her anger filled trance and she whipped her head to the side finding Narcissa walking beside her.

"Are you okay?" She whispered, keeping pace with Danna's wide steps.

"I'm fine," Danna spat back through gritted teeth.

"I really don't think that you are, maybe Nova isn't all bad, you should at least give her a chance."

Danna stopped and turned to face Narcissa. Leaning down close to her ear she growled, "chances are earned, not given," before stalking off towards the salad bar.

There were so many emotions swirling around in Danna's head as she threw tomatoes and carrots onto the bed of lettuce she had hastily thrown into a bowl. How could one interaction with a person cause so much internal dissonance? The fighting emotions only served to stoke the fire in Danna as she slammed the ladle back into the Italian dressing.

She turned to find everyone else already sitting down with plates full of chicken tenders or pizza. Well, Oscar had three plates filled with literally every food in the cafeteria except salad. Begrudgingly Danna sat down directly across from Nova and stared down into her salad, glancing up from time to time to keep tabs on what was happening.

"So, do you have any specialties?" Adrian asked Nova who had just put a spoonful of mashed potatoes in her mouth. 

"Oh, sorry, bad timing," he said, blushing slightly and running his hand across the back of his head.

Nova smiled sheepishly at him and swallowed, "are we suppose to talk about that? Isn't that confidential?"

Ruby laughed, "not here! We all have to know each others strengths to work well as a team."

"And also know who to copy in class!" Oscar chimed in grinning. They all laughed, even Narcissa who had been staying generally neutral.

The light conversation with this outsider made Danna's stomach twist. She knew there was something up with Nova besides her ridiculously flawless skin. She knew it and she was going to find out what it was. 

Danna looked up to see Adrian's hand on Nova's shoulder and the two of them laughing and smiling. The sight caused something inside her to jump. It felt almost like… jealously? No. It couldn't have been. Maybe she was just mistaking her overprotectiveness of Adrian as something else. Either way it didn't matter.

Dinner came to a close and the team took Nova on a tour of the grounds as requested. Oscar and Ruby doing most of the guiding, Adrian adding cute little tidbits and finding every excuse to touch her arm or shoulder, Narcissa happily following along behind throwing out the history of different paintings they passed, and Danna shuffling along at the back scowling and rolling her eyes. Every touch, every smile, every… everything made the knot in her stomach tighten till Danna felt like she was going to explode. Plus Nova kept glance back at her with this look that sent shivers down Danna's spine.

Finally they finished the tour and the boys went off to their side of the dorm while the four girls continued to their room.

As soon as they were inside, Danna stomped off and locked herself in the bathroom. She couldn't take one more second of those piercing blue eyes cutting over to her, or that silky black hair tickling the bottom of Nova's sharp jaw, or watching Adrian place a hand on her toned arms to turn Nova's attention to something else. 

To get her mind off of it all, Danna turned the shower on to the coldest possible setting, tied up her golden deadlocked, and stepped inside. The freezing water on her bare skin made Danna gasp and instinctively wrap her arms around herself, but at least she felt something other than anger. Unfortunately the silence in her mind didn't last long.

Her thoughts were moving at a mile a minute replaying everything that had happened that night, from the moment she saw Nova to the second she had stepped into the bathroom. Danna searched for something, anything, that would give her a lead to what Nova was up to, but the girl just seemed so… average. Well as average as anyone in the Gallagher Academy was.

A sharp knock at the door cut into Danna's quickly spiraling train of thought and she yelled, "what! I'm taking a shower!"

A startlingly strong voice shot back, "I need to brush my teeth!"

"Can't you wait!?"

"No! I'm still on Italian time and I've been exhausted since I got here!"

Italian time? Danna thought and she prepared her next excuse.

"The door is locked and I'm not getting out of the shower for you!"

"The lock is not a problem, can I brush my teeth or do I have to go ask Adrian to use their sink!"

This made Danna's skin crawl. The thought of her going and batting her eyes at Adrian and slinking into their bathroom made her almost sick to her stomach. After a long pause Danna finally let out a sigh, "fine. But it better be quick."

In less that five seconds Danna heard the lock click and the door creak open. What the… that would have taken out top lock picker at least ten seconds, Danna thought as she heard the sink turn on. This was a spy school the locks were not armature. Maybe Nova wasn't just a legacy after all. The two stayed in silence until Nova turned off the water.

"I know you don't like me and I get that, but I hope that I can change your mind someday."

Without thinking, Danna stuck her head out of the curtain, catching Nova's blue eyes in the mirror. She was wearing black shorts and an oversized 'I ♥  Paris' shirt, but the way Nova was looking at her made Danna's words catch in her throat.

"I promise I'm not all bad, if you just give me a chance," Nova said softly as she turned to face Danna.

Finding her voice, Danna forced a scowl onto her face, "chances are earned."

"So, how do I earn one?" Nova asked, stepping closer.

Danna's mouth went dry as Nova advanced on her. The way that just a look from this girl melted Danna's resolve was dangerous. Still trying to find her words, Danna just stared at Nova who had taken another step closer and put her arm up on the wall next to the shower, leaning in close. 

"Well," Nova whispered leaning in closer to Danna and brushing their cheeks in the process, "if you think of anything let me know."

Danna didn't know if she wanted to slam Nova against the wall and kiss her or dislocate her shoulder, but it didn't matter because she was frozen in place. Unable to move, or think, or speak.

Finally, Nova pulled away with a smirk and sauntered out of the bathroom as Danna slammed shut the curtain and sank to the floor, cooling her face in the cold water. In a matter of hours Nova had managed to win over Ruby, Oscar, and Narcissa while also seducing both Adrian and herself.

Whoever this girl was… she was trouble, and yet all Danna could think about was the subtle pink of Nova's lips.

[latin-dr-robotnik]

You know, I've been wondering... how much can you understand Italian? I've always found the almost mutual intelligibility between most Romance languages (rip romanian) interesting, and Italian and Spanish are some of the closest :D (also yeah Albanian doesn't have hard sounds but the letters aren't always read like you would guess, for example q is more like ch and ll is a dark l like in English)

Well I should start by clarifying that Italian has always been one of those languages I’d love to learn someday. Blame it on the very heavy cultural influences here, the fact I’ve known so many tanos with their peculiar stories told through a weird mix of Spanish and Italian words (Itañol, anyone?)... oh and also teenager me loving Assassin’s Creed II to death (I still perfectly recall the first time I reached the Venice part of the game and read “Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia 1481″, that’s one hell of a way to introduce a 15-year-old to that time and place. That Carnevale sequence... and that music, oh my goodness.)

With that cleared out of the way, I must say I can understand most of what you post here and there. There are some words that may throw a wrench to my understanding (I believe there were some politics-related posts a while ago that left me literally scratching my head because I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on), but most of the time I find it fun to maybe focus on an italian post for 5 minutes or so and come off having a rough idea, if not completely understanding it, heh.

In fact, there was a post a few weeks ago during that whole Mega Man X OST back and forth that I was just ready to jump in and respond, but hesitated at the very last second. It was an Italian ask and I had something written in English following with the conversation like it was nothing, which is pretty crazy if I do say so myself :P

So, yeah, that’s the beauty of Romance languages. Another language that’s lots of fun and rather easy to understand is Portuguese - I love it! Playing with Brazilians and communicating with little to no trouble is super fun, even if said communication usually ends up as a curse-fest. I’m in love with French and I want to learn it too, but I feel like that’s the hardest of the gang (F for Romanian, again). I mean, I can pronunce French words relatively well, but figuring out paragraphs like I do with italian? Yeah, not a chance.

Fun little fact: I got so used to say “ti amo” to someone very dear to me as a diminutive, cute way of saying the normal Spanish “te amo”, that I actually forgot that’s the actual Italian way, lmao. Supongo que el día en que volveremos a hablar el mismo idioma no está tan lejos como creemos.

[mistressemmedi]

Meeting the drivers - Canadian GP

Ferrari

Charles - he came out first of all the drivers. There was a group of guys that had a massive Ferrari flag and a Monaco flag and you could tell he was super happy to see it. He always has this look of “I can’t believe these people are here for me omg” on his face. He’s 10 times more cute and adorable in real life. Bless

Sebastian - he came out with Lewis, which caused the crowd to go CRAZY. They were bantering with each other, which was fun to watch. He went through the crowd as quickly as he could because everyone was pushing and screaming. He still took the time with everyone, and was super nice to @lookitsbee when her phone got stuck trying to take a selfie. His legs are so skinny (also, he has a scar?), someone feed him!

Mercedes 

Lewis - ok he is so cute in real life? He was sooo happy to see team LH there, especially when everyone was chanting “VETTEL, VETTEL” in his face. He was very gracious and took his time with the two kids that had Merc gear at our corner. 

Valtteri - DAT ASS THO. Ok, he came out last and we were all like “???? Where he at???” and then realized that he probably had press conference duties. I think everyone fell in love a little bit with him after he talked to us. I’m surprised by the amount of people that were telling him “I hope you win this weekend”. I think he was surprised too. Very nice dude though, although his beard power is too powerful for even me. His PR guy is a riot, we talked shoelaces.

Red Bull 

Max - very business-like. Poor guy was probably not having the greatest time, he barely spoke a word. Although I managed to get him to smile and crack up a bit when I yelled “YO HAVE FUN THIS WEEKEND”. I even got a thank you. Mission accomplished.

Pierre - I still would like to throw myself into the sun after our interaction. FML. I was talking to his PR lady, her shoes were lit, and I don’t know how we ended up talking for a few seconds ABOUT SHOES. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. I barely got a picture, I think he thought I was hilarious. Or crazy. Or shoe obsessed. Excuse me while I jump in the canal.

Alfa Romeo

Kimi - he is every bit the guy you see on TV. No bullshit, no PR face. He still took his time with everyone, and he is very much loved still. Amazing. 10/10 would drink vodka with him

Antonio - MY LIL BABY. We chatted in Italian while he was signing for the people around me, told him to enjoy the race and that he’s making us Italians proud. Also, boy loves his skinny jeans (emo boy at heart lmao). He was absolutely adorable, and he was so pleased when the people next to me tried to wish him well in broken Italian. 

Renault 

Nico - he is so soft. Him and Daniel get along so well, you can see by the way they interact. He was cracking jokes all around, high fiving all the kids on the way. Stopped for a selfie, great dude. Zeus is doing great btw. 

Daniel - y’all, someone got him to sign a shoe. I KID YOU NOT, everyone was cheering. This guy took off his shoe and was holding it up and the entire corner started chanting “sign the shoe!”. When he did it sounded like a bomb went off because everyone started cheering all at the same time. Good banter all around, he’s a great sport. 

Haas 

Kevin - soft viking boy. Fact, he’s a lot smaller than he appears on tv? He is such a soft boy tho. Smiles all around, especially for the kids. Second time meeting him and chatting with him, 10/10 he’s a soft dog dad

Romain - he LOVES kids. He’s such a dad and you can tell. He is so patient and graceful with the mob of people yelling at him. He singled out every kid, made sure to thank them for being there, high fives and pictures all around. The little boy on the corner was ecstatic. Him and Kevin were out there the longest because they wanted to make sure they got to everyone. 

Williams 

Robert - there was a polish squad out there for him, and you could tell he was happy about that. Otherwise he is a real quiet guy, he said even less words than Kimi 

George - I almost scream-laughed when he spoke because he sounds so british and so posh. Legit, think of the stereotypical British accent and that’s George. 20$ says he stops everything he does at 5 and has tea NO MATTER WHAT. Probably has a picture of the queen in his car #confirmed. Good sport though

McLaren 

Lando - fucking yeeted out of there because he forgot he had a press conference. Didn’t talk to him, I’m quite sad. Yes, he is quite short. 

Carlos - he is giving Fernando a run for his money re: luscious hair. He didn’t say much, but this have a bit of a conversation with the Mexican squad next to us. 

Force India Racing Point 

Checo - ok, so we had a bunch of Mexican fans right next to us. Hilarious people, they brought a selfie still and were here to partyyy. Some of them dressed up as Pink Panthers lol. I quickly got my autograph and stepped aside because I wanted these people to have their moment, you know? Checo was soooo fucking happy to see the Mexican flag. He took his time, had a few laughs with them, and was generally in a great mood. He’s very proud of who he is, and his country. It was lovely to see.

Lance - poor guy looked to dazed. I can just imagine the amount of PR he has to do at his home GP. He didn’t say much but he did make a point to sign for everyone around us. 

Toro Rosso 

Alex - he is such a happy kid omg. His face is literally the :3 emoji. He laughed when I told him to go for it and enjoy the track. He took a bit of extra time with us gals, great sport all around.

Dany - my boy. Honestly. First off, he is as much of an awkward dork as you would imagine. The support for him was amazing in our area, I think people are quite happy to see him back for real. I chatted with him in Italian, my brain short circuited and I could not English at that point. He was super nice about it haha. He saw the guys with the Mexican flag next to me and greeted them in spanish. Then talked to someone else in French. Then English again. Daamn Dany, showoff. 

Overall experience was a m a z i n g. I’m glad I got to chat with some of the drivers. And some of the staff too, it’s nice to see the PR teams let loose.

Looking forward to next year. 

[theticklishpear]

I am planning on writing a fantasy book and two of my races are elves and fairies. However, I am having trouble thinking of a way that seperates them into different races. One idea I have is that elves were once fairies, who are beings of pure magic, that traded a majority of their magic to become a static being on the physical plane. I'm not sure whether to keep this idea though. I was wondering if you may offer any ideas? I love your blog by the way, definitely one of my favorites. Thank you!

Hi writer! Thanks for sticking with me all this time, it means a lot!

For your dilemma, I think it depends a lot on what mileage you’re trying to get out of your races. The origins and exact natures of both elves and faeries have been muddled across time and cultural beliefs occurring in virtually every Western European country, so giving you the historical lowdown on what the exact differences between the two are (and there are several) wouldn’t be particularly helpful, in my opinion. If you were trying to be accurate to specific elfish and fae traditions, you’d want to nail it down to one country and research away on the differences between the two. The collective understanding of them can be anywhere from “faerie is a broad term that includes elves” to “elf is a broad term including faeries” to “faeries have wings and elves don’t” to “neither have wings” to “they serve similar purposes” to “one is mischievous and the other is more benevolent” to “elves and dwarves are similar.” Sifting through to find the truth is nigh on impossible anymore, particularly now that we have Tolkien mucking it all up.

What this means for you is that you can do anything you want, within respect and reason. (That said, below the cut are some entries from a book I have.)

Let’s think about this a bit… Are these two branches of an ancient ancestor or are they entirely separate entities that came about distinctly on their own? Are there physical differences between them? Wings? Feathers? Scales? Ear shape? Hair texture? Gills? Hollow bones? Translucent skin? Eye shape? You don’t have to know exactly how they came to exist in the cosmos, so don’t stress about nailing that down too much, but do think about how closely related the two are. That will help you begin to determine what parts of their physical nature you may want to modify to differentiate them.

Also remember that making them physically distinctive isn’t a requirement. Maybe it’s a regional difference of the same race. Culture, lifestyle, and ability are going to create just as many immediately identifiable differences as over-the-top and overt physicality differences. If you focus more on making each of them believable groups of people, readers will be more willing to forgive that their physical descriptions are pretty similar.

Think about: What do they tend to care about? What kinds of environments do they gravitate toward living in? Trees? Plains? Meadows? Sea? Mountains? High elevation? Low elevation? What sorts of fashions do they wear? What is unacceptable to their culture? What will upset them, and in turn what are they thrilled to see? What are relations between various cultures and races like? Do they tend to be more petty, malicious, rule-bound, upright, truth-speakers or liars, insightful, helpful, peaceful, war-faring?

Sounds like you have magic going on in your world, so consider the differences in their magic and how it sets them apart from each other. What do they use or not use it for? How integral is magic to their existence? Are they made of magic or just have control of it? What kinds of abilities do they have with their magic, how do those abilities differ between the two groups, and how would it impact either race to not have magic at all? How do they view each others’ magic type and use?

Your idea definitely sounds pretty neat; just remember not to over-develop what won’t be necessary on the page. Knowing the background of where they originated is great, but if you’re not going to need to explicitly state it on the page for the readers, focus instead on the aspects they will see: how they look, how they act, how they live. Use those details to communicate that these two races are different without overloading the narrative with extraneous worldbuilding that could be kept behind-the-scenes influences to the characters.

Good luck! -Pear

From Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes:

Elf:

Origin: Teutonic

Elves are mysterious Northern spirits, sometimes equated with Fairies. Like Fairies, Elves have not been cleaned up and made over to suit sanitized children’s fiction, often portrayed as miniature, whimsical busy bees: Santa’s little helpers. Originally Elves were human-sized, sometimes taller, and they were renowned archers, artisans, and healers; author J.R.R. Tolkien’s portrayal of the sacred but dangerous Elven folk in The Lord of the Rings trilogy of novels hews closer to mythic tradition.

Elves live in a realm that parallels humans. Norse myth divides the Elves into Light Elves and Dark Elves, otherwise known as Dwarves. Scholars disagree as to whether the Elves and the Vanir spirits are the same, but they are closely affiliated. The Vanir spirit Freyr is the Elven King.

Elves are beautiful, volatile spirits of wild nature. They were not trivial spirits; once upon a time, bulls were sacrificed to them. Their significance is recalled in human names like Alvin, Elvis, Elva, and Elvira. Elves feature prominently in Anglo-Saxon spells and charms, many intended to protect from the Elves themselves. A hostile relationship between Elves and people is often now presumed, but before Christianity, spiritual alliances existed between Elves and people. Once this alliance ended, embittered Elves, previously helpful, may have turned dangerous, or, conversely, people were taught to fear Elves specifically so that they would not continue Pagan devotions. In Scandinavia, however, relationships between people and Elves were generally positive.

Like Fairies, Djinn, and Bori spirits, Elves can be benevolent or hostile; some can even cause illness. Elves strike at people with the poison darts known as Elf-shot, which cause illness and malaise. They may cause paralysis or stroke, too. Elves sometimes target cattle and livestock, as well as people. Various spells, charms, and amulets serve to protect against them. Elves are sources of wisdom, fertility, and wealth (when they want to be). They love music and dancing.

Manifestation: Seductively, alluringly beautiful

Realm: Alfheim (”Elf Home”)

Plants: Elder trees, rosemary

Sacred time: Offerings are traditionally left out for Elves on Christmas Eve. Although this now appears to derive from the myth of Santa’s workshop, it may actually be related to Old Norse traditions. Yuletide was a traditional time for visitations from other realms.

Fairy:

Also known as: Faerie, Fae, Fay, Fee, Fada, Fata, Hada, Draga, Encantada, Damizelos.

The word Fairy has become a catch-all for all kinds of tenuously related spirits. In general, what they share in common are associations with wild nature and an interest in human life cycles, especially birth.

Fairy is also the standard word used to translate amorphous, volatile, sexy nature spirits from around the world, especially if they’re female. Thus Vila, Rusalka, Keshalyi, and Tunder are all referred to as Fairies although they are all distinct types of spirits.

The word Fairy is related to fate. Birth Fairies–those who arrive shortly after a birth to announce a baby’s future and fortune–may be the “true” Fairies. This is more obvious in Italian than in English: the word for Fairy in Italian is fata or fada. Fata Morgana is literally Fairy Morgana.

For many people, Fairy means the Sidhe of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. The word is commonly used in Ireland as the English translation for Sidhe. When people describe green as a Fairy color, for instance, they are referring to the preferences of the Sidhe. (Balkan and Slavic “Fairies” tend to prefer white.)

Shamanic healers and herbalists who work with Sidhe are known as Fairy doctors. The old shamanic tradition of venerating and working with Sidhe is the Fairy Faith.

Animals: Frogs, toads, dragonflies, butterflies, cattle, deer, and foxes are among the creatures most identified with Fairies.

Plants: Wildflowers in general, but also the following plants traditionally associated with Fairies–blackthorn (sloc), bluebells, brambles, briar roses and dog roses, crocuses (especially saffron), ferns, foxglove, hawthorn, heartsease, hollyhocks, lavender, morning glories, mushrooms (especially amanita muscaria), pansies, poppies, primrose (allegedly serving as keys to Fairy Land), ragweed (aka Fairy’s Horse), rosemary.

Time: Fairies favor nocturnal hours and threshold times, for instance, twilight and dawn.

Sacred dates: Fairies are particularly active from May Eve (Beltane, Walpurgis) until a last annual fling at Halloween.

Birth Fairy:

Also known as: Fates

In the famous story Sleeping Beauty, a king and queen, celebrating the birth of a long-awaited royal heir, throw a festive banquet for Fairies. Each Fairy brings a blessing as a baby gift. One Fairy fails to receive an invitation. Why the invitation was never received depends upon the version of the story, but the inevitable end result is that she bestows a curse, not a blessing.

This scenario is no mere fairy tale, but a description of rituals once common throughout Europe in French, Slavic, Celtic, and other regions, as well as among the Roma. Birth Fairies foretell (and may bestow) a baby’s fate. They are direct descendants of the Moirae, Parcae, and other Fate goddesses.

Following a baby’s birth, it was traditional to create an offering table for these Fairies. Ritual details depend on specific spirits to whom the ritual is devoted. There will be a set number of spirits and they will arrive on schedule. Most frequently, three are anticipated, but sometimes there is only one and occasionally as many as thirteen, as in the original version of Sleeping Beauty. Usually the spirits are female, but the Roma, for instance, have male and female birth spirits.

The offering table is the crucial element. A table is laid as if for a festive meal. Fairies, the honored, desired guests, are expected to come and dine: food and drink are offered. The table is set with individual place settings, napkins, glasses, the whole works. (Each tradition will specify how many Fairies are expected, although as in Sleeping Beauty, it’s usually best to be prepared for extra guests.)

Flower Fairy:

Also known as: Devas

Tiny little winged spirits, flitting from flower to flower, these are flower Fairies. Regular Fairies compare in size to humans, although many are skilled shape-shifters who can take any form. Flower Fairies are a separate, distinct species of spirit.

Theoretically, every flower may have its own Fairy. A field of wildflowers or a lush, flower-packed backyard contains a universe of spirits. Flower Fairies’ natures reflect the type of flowers with which they’re associated. Flower Fairies associated with the beautiful blossoms of poisonous plants, like belladonna or wolfsbane, have different personalities and interests than those associated with daisies and buttercups.

Flower Fairies suffer from habitat loss. Give them a home and they will come. Plant your favorite flowers and see what types of Fairies arrive with them. In general, Fairy gardens should not be overly manicured: allow a little wilderness to creep in so that the Fairies feel at home. Give them a little room for privacy, places to hide and observe where they won’t feel exposed. Add Fairy flowers, especially bramble bushes, wild roses, and hawthorn trees. Fairies enjoy the company of other species, too. Add butterfly gardens; bird and squirrel feeders; and/or bat houses. Incorporate a source of water: if a pond or stream is unavailable, a birdbath may suit them. They may be happy to share a hot tub with you, too. Ornaments such as crystals, statues, or witch balls are equivalent of interior decorating for Fairies. Flower Fairies tend to make themselves visible to children. (Alternatively, many children are very good at seeing them.)

Iconography: Modern perceptions of Flower Fairies are heavily influenced by the popular works of Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973), the author and illustrator of the “Flower Fairy” series of books.

Offerings: Creation and preservation of habitat is the ideal offering. Once at least a little habitat exists for them, invite Flower Fairies with offerings of honey, nuts, and thimblefuls of milk.

Sidhe; The Good People; The People Who Go Widdershins:

Pronounced and sometimes spelled: Shee

Origin: Ireland; Scottish Highlands

The Gaelic word Sidhe has three meanings: “barrow” or “tumulus”: ancient burial mounds often filled with treasure; “Fairy” or “Fairies” (the word is both singular and plural); “Fairy mound”: the sidhe are Fairies often living within the sidhe that are barrows.

When the Gaels successfully invaded Ireland, their predecessors, the divine Tuatha De Danaan were literally driven underground. They established their own parallel realms beneath the Earth. Fairy mounds are their portals. The Dagda, among the leaders of the Tuatha De Danaan assigned each member of the Tuatha De residence in a sidhe or mound. The Tuatha De Danaan became known as the Sidhe.

The key word regarding the Sidhe is beauty. They are magnificent, passionate, proud spirits who perceive themselves as worthy of veneration and intense respect: they accept (and perhaps expect!) small but consistent offerings such as dishes of milk placed out overnight on the windowsill or doorstep. There are male and female sidhe. They have an elaborately structured society that parallels that of humans.

The sidhe have an intense relationship with people, characterized by love and hostility. Once upon a time, they were the subject of passionate human veneration: hidden within fairy tales and legends are suggestions of Pagan devotion and voluntary channeling of spirits, similar to modern spiritual traditions such as African Diaspora faiths and Zar.

The Sidhe are master healers and may bestow this medical knowledge on those people they favor. So-called Fairy doctors combined herbal and shamanic healing and were trained directly by the Sidhe. On the other hand, the Sidhe also inflict illnesses like sudden tumors, stroke, and paralysis.

Sidhe stand accused of stealing humans, especially babies, children, midwives, and wet-nurses. The milk they expect as offerings may not always have been bovine; legends tell of Fairies accosting women and begging for a sip of human milk. They are generally not industrious spirits: their passions are dancing, music, poetry, and pleasure. They do raise cattle, which they sell or trade at fairs.

A ritual from the Scottish Highlands encourages bribing the Sidhe to save lives: 1. Sit on a three-legged stool at a three-way crossroads at midnight on Halloween; 2. Listen: voices will intone the names of those destined to die during the next twelve months; 3. This destiny may be avoided by returning to the spot with gifts for the Sidhe: one gift for each person whose destiny needs amending.

Color: Green

Time: Most Sidhe are active from dawn until noon and then from dusk until after midnight.

Days: The Sidhe are particularly active at Beltane (May Eve), Midsummer’s Eve, and Samhain (Halloween).

Sacred sites: Barrow mounds associated with individual sidhe are well-known. Fairy forts, also known as ring forts or stone forts, are circular earthen banks or stone walls. There were once as many as 60,000 of these circular earthworks in Ireland. Local names for them include cashel, forth, rath, or rusheen. Ring forts became known as Fairy forts because they are allegedly among the favorite haunts of Fairies. Ring forts can be physically or spiritually perilous, as many contain underground passages.

[thelandofmrsparkle]

A Glossary Of Terms

1-kyu:

First level. As in the top level of the Japanese Language Profiency Test!

A man:

Ten thousand. Sounds cool, don't it?

Anime:

Cartoon.

Apato:

Apartment.

Apato Biru:

Apartment building.

Apropos:

Appropriate (French).

Arubaito:

Part-time job, esp. one for students.

Asa-gohan:

Breakfast (lit. "morning rice").

Base brat:

Someone whose parent(s) was (were) military personnel, therefore necessitating living on military bases and multiple traumatic cross-country moves during childhood.

Bento:

Japanese boxed lunch.

Bit:

Slang for stole, copied, and/or plagerized..

Blocking:

A stage term that means where actors are supposed to stand on-stage.

BOE:

JET abbreviation for Board Of Education.

Boshi:

A hat or baseball cap.

Bosozoku:

Young Japanese gang members who ride around on real noisy, super-modified motorcycles (lit. "speed tribes").

Bougie:

Slang term for "bourgeois"

Bunkasai:

School "culture festival;" a bizarre mix of talent show, open house and carnival.

Bureki:

Brakes.

Can't Be Arsed:

See "couldn't be arsed."

Carte blanche:

The freedom to do whatever you please (French).

-Chan:

Attached to someone's name to infer affection for that person as a friend. Also used to indicate that the person being refered to is a child.

Chelsea Smile:

Inserting a knife into the mouth of a person one is assaulting and cutting at either end of the mouth, so as to extend the victim's smile in a grotesque fashion.

Chikan:

Pevert or molester. See also hentai

Chimpira:

A low-level yakuza.

Chi chi fou fou:

Fancy.

Cho:

Very. See also totemo.

Chotto:

A little.

Chugakko:

Junior high school.

Chugakkusei:

Junior high school student.

Conbini:

Convenience store (Montréalers: depanneur), which are ubiquotous in Japan.

Couldn't Be Arsed:

English slang, meaning "couldn't be bothered." Also works as "can't be arsed."

Crust:

A style of punk rock known for its death metal-esque vocals and overall severity. Crust punks are well known for their aversion to personal hygeine and love of mescaline.

Dafuya:

A ticket scalper.

Daibutsu:

Buddah. Or, more commonly, a giant-ass statue of the Buddah.

Daigakko:

University.

Daikyuu:

A day off in lieu of having worked on a regular day off (e.g. do-yobi).

Dame, dame:

Forbidden, as in "don't do that!"

(da)Saitama:

A nickname for Saitama City used by the more cosmopolitan Tokyoites. Dasai means "uncool."

Deets:

Slang term for "details."

Denki:

Electricity; or, electronics store.

Depato:

Department store.

Deshita:

Was. Kind of.

Dinkus:

Dink (Latin).

DIY:

"Do It Yourself." A punk rock manifesto/slogan (North America) or the way to describe homeowner-done home renovations (Merry Olde England).

Dodgu baru:

Dodge ball (formerly known as murder ball).

Dojo:

A school or building devoted to martial arts.

Domo arigato gozaimashita:

"Thank you very much."

Dorama:

Katakanasized English for "drama," meaning "soap opera."

Dosh:

Money. Sorry, I've been renting to many "there's gangsters in London"-type movies lately!

Do-yobi:

Would be Saturday, wouldn't it now?

Echo Parque:

Echo Park. A neighbourhood in Los Angeles (Spanish).

Eigo:

English.

Eikawa:

English conversation school.

El Jefe:

The boss (Spanish).

Enkai:

The legendary "office party" of Japan, where you colleagues try to get you as drunk as possible. Notorious for being the social occassion where the reserved and meek Japanese people you work with go off and get nuts.

Ethiopia no ryoori:

Ethiopian food. Look, just put any country before no ryoori and you are talking about the food of that country. It's just that easy!

FA:

Fuck All

Fameru, the:

The other, more centrally-located but crappier, apartment building wherein almost all the other AET's working for the Saitama-shi are housed.

Flossing:

Wearing clothing or jewelry in a flashy, homologic manner.

Flush:

In the wacky world of poker, five cards of the same suit. A good hand.

Furikomi:

Transferring money from your bank account to someone else's.

Fushigi:

Weird, as in spooky or mysterious weird. Like an Astro-boy action figure spookily and mysteriously "floating" in a Denny's toy. Hello? Go back and read the sentence again!

Gaijin:

Foreigner. Non-Japanese.

Gaijin cado:

The "Alien Registration Card" that every foreigner living here is required to carry at all times.

Gaikokku:

Foreign country or countries. Any country or countries that is not Japan.

Gakusei:

Student. Or students. Depending.

Game senta:

Arcade ("game centre" - get it?).

Ganbaranai!:

"Don't try!" "Why bother?" "Do a half-assed job, if even that much." The opposite of ganbatte.

Ganbatte yo!:

"Fight!" "Try hard!" "Do your best!" J-folk never tire of uttering these words of encouragement at every opportunity.

Genkan:

That part of a J-house right after the front door where you take off your shoes. Considered part of "outside," so if you don't leave your door locked here, don't be surprised when delivery guys, Jehovah's Witnesses, the cops and the NHK guy just open your front door and stand in the genkan, calling for you!

Genki:

Healthy, happy, in good spirits, socialable, frisky. Pick one or a combination thereof.

Genkikunai:

Unhealthy, unhappy, in poor spirits, unsocialable, not frisky. Pick one or a combination thereof.

Geri:

Either diarrhea or having sex with your girlfriend. Can't remember which one, but either way, geri is a top-notch excuse to give your supervisor when you want the day off. Though I'd recommend seiri-tsuu for the ladies.

Getsu-yobi:

Monday. You didn't read the week one entry very closely, did you?

Gi:

Martial arts uniform. Costume? Get-up? No, uniform!

Giving us the hi-hat:

1920's gangster slang for being snubbed or disrespected, see?

Glasgow Kiss:

A head butt.

Gobsmacked:

Flabbergasted; astounded; shocked (English slang).

Gomen nasai:

"I'm sorry."

Haafu:

Katakanized English for "half," which is how mixed-"race" offspring of one Japanese parent & one gaijin are actually refered to here!

Hanabi:

Fireworks.

Hanamizu:

Snot (lit. "nose water").

Hanko:

A stamp or personal seal, used in lieu of a signature on most legal documents, bank forms, etc.

Hansomu:

Jinglish for "handsome."

Harajuku:

A popular district of central Tokyo, known for attracting throngs of young people dressed to nines in all manner of garb. Particulary on Sundays!

Hawdkoah:

The New York City pronounciation of "hardcore", a style of punk music.

Hella:

San Francisco slang for "very" (lit. "hell of").

Hentai:

Pervert. See also chikan.

Hiragana:

One of the Japanese syllabic alphabets.

Hisashiburi ne!:

"Long time, no see!"

Ichi-nensei:

First-year students (Canadian translation: 7th grade).

Inaka:

The country. A rural area.

Isofuckingashii:

Bufuckingsy.

Itabashi-sensei:

My supervisor at the Saitama Board of Education.

Itai:

"That hurts!" lit."ouch!"

Italian run-through:

When an actor, in rehearsal, goes through their lines as quickly as possible. Used to assist with line memorization

Itari no ryoori:

Italian food.

Izakaya:

Japanese-style drinking/eating bars designed to accomodate larger groups of drunks.

Janken:

Rock, Paper, Scissors.

JET:

The Japan Exchange Teaching program - how I managed to fanagle my way into this country.

Jet Coaster:

Roller coaster.

Jido hanbaiki:

Vending machine.

Jiko shokai:

A self-introduction - a prepared speech used to introduce yourself to others.

Jitensha:

A bicycle.

Joie de vivre:

"Joy of life." (French)

Jozu:

Skilled, talented, impressive.

Jofuckingzu:

Skilfuckingled, talenfuckingted, imfuckingpressive.

JTE:

JET program jargon for a Japanese Teacher of English.

Judo:

A Japanese martial art involving the throwing of people. Derived from ju jitsu, another Japanese martial art.

Juku:

Lit. "cram school." Private tutoring-style schools most kids go to after regular school, to give them that edge on the all-important, life-determining exams they face at the end of junior and senior high school.

Ju-ni-nichi matsuri:

Some sort of weird festival in Urawa that appears to celebrate December 12th. Literally translates to "The Festival of the 12th."

Kafucho:

Hay fever. But really, pollen allergy, esp. cedar pollen allergy. Which is bad news given that 60% of Japan's forests were clearcut to make way for cedar plantations.

Kai-yobi:

Tuesday. You didn't read the week one entry very closely, did you?

Kame:

Turtle.

Kana:

The Japanese written language, composed of the hiragana, katakana and kanji alphabets.

Kanji:

The Japanese characters that are actually Chinese characters and usually have two or three totally unrelated pronunciations and meanings. Oh, and there are thousands upon thousands of them, too.

Kanpai:

Cheers/Skoal/Here's Mud In Yer Eye.

Kare rice:

As near as I can figure out the Japanese pronounciation for "curry rice," a popular Japanized curry dish.

Kasa:

Umbrella.

Katakana:

The Japanese syllabic alphabet reserved for non-Japanese words.

Katana:

Those cool samurai swords. Also, an iconic "rice rocket" made by Kawasaki.

Kawaii:

Cute.

Keitai:

A cellular telephone. Which you would have ascertained, had you continued reading the sentence.

Kendo:

A Japanese martial art involving wooden swords and the hitting of people with them.

Kenkyujo:

The proper pronounciation of the Japanese word for Research centre. Specifically, the Saitama City BOE research centre.(see also kinkyujo).

Kimpura:

Um, marinated shredded vegetables? Not entirely sure, but I eat it!

Kin Jeh:

Vegetarian. Though I cain't recall if it means "vegetarian food" or "vegetarian person." Ask Thi. She'll know. (Thai).

Kinkyujo:

Research centre. Specifically, the Saitama City BOE research centre.

Kin-yobi:

Come on. If moku-yobi was Thursday and this followed Thursday, what the hell day do you think it is?

Kissaten:

Café/coffee shop.

Koban:

Police box - a little, mini-office where at least one cop is always present. Thousands of thems all over Japanese neighbourhoods, which is sometimes credited as a reason for Japan's low crime rate.

Kocho-sensei:

Principal (lit. "head teacher").

Koguro:

aka "ko-gals." Lit. translating to "high school girls," this refers to a Japanese female youth subculture where teenage girls bleach their hair, tan themselves as dark as possible, wear a lot of white makeup and dress as cute as possible. Think Britany Spears as done by David Lynch and you are getting close to what it's like.

Kokkoi:

Cool.

Konnichiwa:

Hello/Good day.

Konshu:

This week.

Kowe:

Scary (refering to males).

Kowaii:

Scary.

Kuro:

Black.

Kyoto-sensei:

Vice-Principal.

Kyudo:

Japanese archery.

Kyuryobi:

Payday.

Lactards:

The lactose intolerant; usually those whose bodies do not produce the enzyme required to digest the protein lactose, found in milk and diary products.

La Comida Mexicana:

Mexican food (Spanish).

Live House:

A bar where bands play. The tweaked thing is that, unless the band is huuuge, they probably have to rent out the venue, PA & staff and produce the show themselves. Cost? 300,000 - 400,000 yen! Yipes!

Maddog:

To glare at someone in as threatening a manner as possible.

Maka:

The accepted abbreviation of Makadonorado.

Makadonorado:

McDonald's - an American fast-food restaurant chain, popular in Japan. See also Maka.

Mamachari:

A "shopping bike" - a rickety old-style bike with a basket on the front and sometimes the back. The kind you'd expect to see grandmas trucking around on. Which they do. Along with everyone else.

Man:

10,000.

Manga:

A Japanese comic book, which are read by children and adults alike and cover every possible topic and story, including golf, tennis and, of course, pornography.

Mansion:

Hilariously enough, what they call really big multimulti unit apartment buildings!

Matsuri:

Festival.

Megane:

Eyeglasses.

Meishi:

Business card (lit. "name card").

Melonpan:

A melon-flavoured bun. Also, a character on the popular children's television series Ampanman. Whose title character is a flying superhero with a sweet bean-paste-filled bun for a head.

Merde:

"Shit," in French.

Mi Vida Loca:

"My Crazy Life." In this case, a pretty good gang film. Not the Ricky Martin song (Spanish).

Moku-yobi:

Come now, you deduced that this was Thursday all by yourself, didn't you?

Moleto:

Wallet (Spanish). Possibly the only spanish word I remember from that summer class I took four years ago.

Mugly:

Weather so hot and humid ("muggy") that it is downright ugly ("ugly"). Just because I made a word up does not mean that it should not be in everyone's lexicon.

Muzukashii:

Difficult.

Nasi goreng:

Thee scrumptious, rice-based national dish of Indonesia.

Natsukashii:

Kind of when something caused you to reminisce in a happy, sentimental, "ah, the memories!" way.

Ne?:

"Isn't it so?/Don't you think?" Liberally inserted at the end of practically any sentence. Similar to the Canadian "Eh?" Or the Parisian "quoi?" Or the Québecois "la." Etc.

Neko:

Cat.

Nenkyu:

Paid vacation time. Which, in theory and according to your JET contract, you can book off with your supervisor without much problem. In theory.

Nihon-go:

Japanese language.

Nihon-go no sensei:

Japanese language teacher.

Nihon-jin:

A Japanese person.

Nihon ryoori:

Japanese food.

Niku nashi onegai dekimasu ka:

Could you pretty please make that without putting dead animal parts on it?

Ni-nensei:

Second-year students (Canadian translation: 8th grade.

Nissei:

Second-generation Japanese living somewhere other than Japan.

Nomihodai:

A special and popular deal at Japanese bars, where you and your friends may drink all you possibly can in a set period of time, for a set price.

Nova usagi-chan:

The annoying animated rabbit mascot of the largest chain of private English schools in Japan, whose theme song is permanently ingraved on my memory thanks to heavy airplay of their TV commericals. "Ippai kikite, ippai shaberuru NOVANOVA!".

Off-book:

A stage term meaning that an actor has memorized their part and can or will rehearse without having to look at the script.

Ohayo gozaimasu:

Good morning.

Ogenki desu ka?:

How are you? (honorific form).

Oishii:

Delicious.

Ojiisan:

Grandfather. But let's not start singing about his stupid fucking clock, ok?

OLs:

"Office Ladies." Women working low-level secretarial/receptionist/clerk positions in Japanese offices, until they get married and stop all this silly nonsense about having a career. Which means pretty much any woman working in an office in Japan, since, of course, only men should be promoted or hold positions of importance or responsibility.

Omiyage:

Little individually-wrapped snacks you bring back from a trip to anywhere for all your co-workers. A major Japanese tradition.

Onigirii:

Popular J-snack of a triangle of rice wrapped in seaweed, usually with a fishy or seaweedy centre.

Onsen:

Hot spring. J-folk loooove love love to visit the innumerable hot springs dotted around Japan on their vacations.

Onis:

Demons.

Otaku:

Nerds. But especially obsessive-compulsive collecting nerds.

Pachinko:

This wildly-popular but weird gambling game involving a sort of vertically-mounted pinball machine, hundreds of steel balls, prizes and a lot of noise and flashiness.

Pit justice:

A straight-edge slang term for physically attacking someone in the dance area of a punk rock concert.

Player:

One who maintains a high level of romantic popularity and multiple romantic relationships.

Poutine:

French I mean Freedom Fries smothered in a special gravy and then covered with melting cheese curds. Québec's national dish, right above chien chaud steamée.

Purikura:

Special arcades specializing in those cute photo sticker booths where you take pictures with your friends and then customize them like mad.

Quelle Surprise:

"What a surprise!" (French).

Queue:

A line of people. (British).

Queuing:

Lining up (British).

Restos:

A Montréal abbreviation for "restaurants" (probably French).

Reverse:

Puke (verb).

Roku-nensei:

6th graders.

Romanji:

What they call the Roman (read: English-language) alphabet o'er here.

Ryokan:

A traditional-style Japanese inn.

SaiSta:

Slang for former World Cup venue Saitama Stadium.

Saisho RU! Janken PON!:

What J-people say instead of "1,2, 3!" when playing Janken. (see Janken).

Saitama BOE:

The Saitama City Board of Education.

Saitama-ken:

The prefecture of Saitama. A prefecture is like a province or state. 47 of 'em in Japan!

Salary(wo)man:

Business(wo)man. But pretty much always men. Women who work in offices are OLs.

San-nensei:

Third-year students (Canadian translation: 9th grade.

Seiri-tsuu:

Menstrual cramps.

Sempai:

The more senior, and therefore, superior person in a given work/school situation.

Sensei:

The honorific term for teacher.

Senta Gyaru:

Katakaniz'd English for "Centre Girl," which refers to a mostly-female subculture of high school girls who hang around Shibuya's Centre Street dresses in animal costumes with their hair dyed as unnaturally fluorescent as possible, with fake jewels glued on their faces. See also koguro.

Senta Guy:

The male version of a senta gyaru.

Seppuku:

Japanese ritual suicide.

Servo:

Brain (French).

Shag:

Fuck (British slang).

Shanked:

To be stabbed with a homemade or improvised knife.

Shibuya:

A popular district in central Tokyo for shopping, food, or dates. I like to pronounce it "shi- BOO-YA!" but somehow I don't think that's very original of me. Satisfying, though!

Shinjuku:

A popular district in central Tokyo, known for its nightlife.

Shinkansen:

Tha bullet train! Pow! Zip!

Shippu:

Stinky ointment-laced gauze. Did you not read the sentence or something?

Shizzy:

Slang term for shiznit, which is, in itself, a slang term.

Shiznit:

The stuff, the deal, etc.

Shogakko:

Elementary school.

Shogakkusei:

Elementary school students. I mean, in only follows, right?

Shogunai:

"It can't be helped." The J-way of saying, "sorry, you're fucked!"

Shogunakatta:

Past tense of shogunai.

Shojin ryoori:

Lit. "temple food." Special Japanese vegetarian you'll find at Buddhist temples, emphasizing elements of Buddhism in food form.

Shoppingu:

Shopping.

Shoppu:

Shop. See, it's not so hard, hey?

Shouganai:

It can't be helped/there's nothing to be done about the situation.

SIKE!:

1980's slang for "I tricked you!", yelled at the tricked in a mocking tone.

Skint:

British slang for flat-ass broke.

Slowplayed:

To have played a strong hand weakly, by checking instead of betting or by calling instead of raising. Usually done to win extra bets by keeping more players around for future rounds of betting. Thank you U of A type Jonathan Schaeffer for the definition!

Somen:

A type of Japanese noodle, usually served in a tasty soup.

Souji:

Cleaning/cleaning time.

-Sugoi:

Great.

Sui-yobi:

Wednesday. You should be getting the hang of the yobis now, right?

Sumimasen:

Excuse me/pardon me/sorry 'bout that. One of the handiest and most oft-used expressions in The Japan. Learn it, live it, love it.

Sumo:

You know, those really big fat Japanese guys that wrestle each other? Like in that Weezer video!

Support:

What English people call the opening act.

Tabernac:

The short version of tabernacle, which is essentially the French equivalent of "fuck."

Tacoyaki:

A super-popular Japanese streetfood, consisting of chopped octopus cooked in little balls of batter, served with tons of mayo and dried fish flakes. Taco=octopus, which can be a bit of a surprise if you are trying to order la comida Mexicana.

Taiko:

Japanese drums/drumming.

Taikukan:

Gym.

Takyuubin:

Delivery/courier company.

Tarento:

"Talent" - minor celebrities and personalities that populate the game/talk shows that comprise 90% of Japanese television.

Tatami:

Rice-straw mats that serve as flooring in traditional Japanese rooms. Most houses have at least one tatami room and rooms in Japan are measured according to how many tatami mats they fit or would fit.

Terebi:

Television.

Terebi dorama

TV drama.

'The Bash:

Our nickname for Itabashi-sensei.

The filth:

English slang for police.

The Old Bill:

Slightly-more polite English slang for police.

The River:

The last card dealt in a hand of poker. What Mile End Poker Society members would term "fifth street."

Tomodachi:

Friend.

Tori:

Chicken.

Totemo:

Very. See also cho.

Toyu:

Kerosene.

Tweaker:

Amerian west coast slang for person addicted to methamphetamine, aka speed.

Udon:

A broad noodle.

Unko:

Shit.

Urusai:

Shut up (lit. "[too] noisy/loud!").

Usagi:

Rabbit.

Utage:

I honestly have no fucking idea what "utage" means. Can anyone help me out here? Good fucking alcohol, though. Real tasty, that there utagehol.

Vick:

Victimize.

Vignette:

A short scene (French).

Wa, The:

Harmony. Balance.

Wakarimasen:

"I don't understand." See also wakarinai.

Wakarimashita:

To understand, past tense, formal.

Wakarinai:

The less polite, informal version of "I don't understand." See also wakarimasen.

Wakaru:

The unconjugated form of "to understand."

Wakatta:

The shortened, informal, past tense form of "to understand."

White Day:

A special, Japanese-only holiday invented so that Japanese men could buy Japanese women white gifts and/or chocolate, partially to reciprocate them for having received gifts and/or chocolate on Valentine's Day. Which, in Japan, is when only men receive gifts from women, never vice versa.

WTF:

What The Fuck.

Yakisoba:

Fried noodles, usually with pork or beef and some other stuff.

Yakitori:

Grilled pieces of chicken on a skewer.

Yak:

See yakuza.

Yakuza:

Every country has their own version of the mafia. The Yakuza are Japan's.

Yamasigawa-sensei:

My supervisor's assistant at the Saitama Board of Education.

Yorushiko onegaishimasu:

Sort of a catch-all polite phrase to use when asking someone to do something for you.

Yubinkyoku:

Post office.

Yukatta:

Traditional Japanese summer garment, similiar to a kimono but made of lighter cotton instead of silk. Still just as difficult to put on, though. Or so I'm told.

Yuki:

Snow.

Yuki Matsuri:

Thee Hokkaido Snow Festival. One of the biggest and most famous festivals in Japan. Kind of like the Québec Winter Carnival, but with more snow sculptures and less Bon Homme.