#mongolian tea

[walterkov]

Inner Mongolia milk tea (x) @giftober 2023 | Day 2: Coffee/Tea

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

im devastated. i got a microwaveable curry from costco and. its not good. Why

[incandescentia]

Random trivia of the day: Killian would actually love to drink suutei tsai and butter tea

[do-rey-me]

i am once again spending too much money branching out on little treats that turn out to be not very good 😞

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

”☕“

Making Your Muse a Drink!

Robin approached the table steadily with a tray in his hands, setting it down proudly in front of Noelle. “There we are.” He began to speak as he prepared the tea, pouring the hot water and mixing the ingredients in the cup, humming to himself. He finally set the teacup before her and nodded with a little bow,

“I’ve prepared for you a cup of Suutei Tsai, an Ionian milk tea flavored with rock salt. It is made from milk steeped with green tea and toasted millet with a deeply savory and tangy flavor. I do hope you’ll enjoy it, Miss Noelle.”

[azure-cherie]

☀︎︎𝑃𝐴𝐶 : 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 ☀︎︎

Pile 1. Pile 2. Pile 3.

Hey there guys , I hope y'all are having a lovely time so for this PAC

THE CONCEPT is in this pile i call upon one of your ancestors to narrate a story from their life so that you can learn something from it or just get the Ancestral tea ☕ .

Reblogs and feedback are highly appreciated !!!!

Want a personal reading: Paid readings , Paid readings 2

Masterlist

Choose using your intuition, you can choose multiple and take what resonates and leave the rest . Since this is a general reading take what resonates and leave the rest .

Pile 1 :

My dear pile 1 , i hope you're doing well

Some charms for confirmations and messages: Maple leaf , moon , bicycle , trumpet , tortoise, panther , yantra symbol , peacock , camel , flower wings , infinity symbol, clown , lantern. Some numbers : might be age , year or era ; 5,1,6,5,7 ; some initials : K , L , I , Q .

Who will I be channeling : The Empress card they could be a very nourishing female who was well regarded in their family , they were a queen , princess , authority , they married rich . They were really a successful and kind women

They want to tell you a story about : Strength , how they were courageous

Once upon a time in your ancestry , born in either Mongolian , Chinese , French or Italian roots , your ancestors were regarded as inventors of something creative , they liked romance a lot , they wanted to keep the fire in themselves alive , they could be cavemen and drew various types of architectural plans , for some buildings , could be of Moroccan descent , you had a very big family , the head of the family was a very nice man , your ancestor was the head of the family as well , as the wife of your male ancestor , she also was a very creative person , made antiques and stored them , was regarded as one of the bad bitches of that era, and everyone wanted to marry her , though she broke many hearts she married your male ancestor , they lived really happily until there was some , war in your place and some things were burned down in your place or in your home , the fire could be symbolic as well , they were left with no choice then to sacrifice themselves . Either they sacrificed themselves or something that belongs to them . I think some of your family history also burned along with the fire , could be representative of also fury of old powerful people lurking into your family wellbeing .

Through the course of wheel of fortune ,there was a change because of a smart person in your bloodline who really finally crafted a way to rise again , this could be your ancestor herself or some other person from your family I get the vibe of the sister in law , or an aunt . Because of that you were capable , your ancestors could be into herbal medicine or Ayurveda . Your ancestors helped the poor a lot and conducted lots of charity . They either had a rabbit or a furry animal by their side , the pet was one of the legacies and the pet really protected , could be a dog as well , if cat they protected from spiritual attacks .

Your ancestors later became the leader of some organization , and they were some sort of vigilante and served everyone with justice , were one of the most powerful . One of the next generation male member sore really high and was regarded , they gave everyone a head start at creative potential , they rose again from what hurt them , they later settled in some colder place probably .

There could be some curse due to which your family went into hiding , because the son of the empress was a vigilante they rose again and built up after moving places , they brought lands and could be the family was travelling , that could mean some hippie ancestors for some of you , and it could also be someone wanted to move places , lastly your ancestor went on a spiritual journey , the empress went on a quest to find herself and was looking into a peaceful life

She wanted to tell you about this lesson of strength , that no matter what happens you should go on , also they wanted to tell you that if you want something good in life you must also leave something , to understand the value of sacrifice , despite the hardships she went on a quest , her main aim to wait was to see her family well and after she was done she was ready to leave , this story might also be about detachment .she wants to tell you that though everything is nice , if you feel you're missing something , you must go after it , and that’s how your soul will feel happy

Pile 2 :

My dear pile 2 , hope you're doing well

Some charms for confirmations and messages: Fox , mermaid tail , shell, angel, coconut tree , crescent moon , sun , kangaroo, wine bottle . Some numbers : might be age , year or era ; 7,2,9,2 ; some initials : R,U,O.

Who will I be channeling : Ace of swords ,could be a warrior , they were really courageous , free thinker .

They want to tell you a story about : Page of coins , of abundance of a bright future

Once upon a time there was a break in your family because of lot of disagreements , everyone fought each other or just left their own ways , this could be about middle eastern , desert areas , ancient India , Mediterranean , there was lot of conquest , here comes about your grandmother or just a women in your family who was a psychic , she wanted everyone to be together , that lead to the family coming back together because she made everyone thinking she was sick , they later came to know she wasn’t ,

She realized there was someone was casting a spell for your family to break apart , your ancestor already had the vibe , and they worked hard to let it into their heads , might have conducted an uncrossing spell to get rid of the damage , the spell came from a family member who was obsessed with money and wanted to keep everything to themselves , your ancestor wanted to keep everyone safe and happy , and because of their good deeds things were right , there were minor issues but because your grandmother was so observant and a psychic , the family didn’t break and was happy . They kept lot of optimism.

They wanted to tell you this because you are having self-doubts about your abilities or judging people without knowing the whole story , listen more to your intuition , you're reaching conclusions without thinking and analyzing things properly and they wanted to let you know that . I picked another card , so they tell you to take rest and not think too much .

This is actually really cool because I was about to start pile 3 but I couldn't remember the image , haha they want to tell you one more story woah , this could either be for the same group or this story might not be for you , use your intuition

This is about a situation where they had both of their hands tied , they were people putting allegations onto them and they wanted to about sometimes to get forward you'll have to lose something , you have to work hard and put all in , you shouldn’t run , things may become severe but know that youre stronger , don’t run away , you must hope for the best because only then it comes to you , being emotionally connected is a blessing , never take your own emotions for granted

They served a king or a higher authority could've worked as warriors or oracles of their place , they were considered very courageous , this could also be someone from Salem witch trials , there's lot of fire as well as witch symbolism , so I feel this could be it , they revolted a lot against the men who were capturing them . There was someone who was so in love with your ancestors and tried to save her , she tried and got away though it was painful , they came together and lived happily ever after , this story could also go about some Brazilian , Hawaiian , ancestry .

They wanted to tell you this as a sign that hope can be found even after most gut wrenching times .

Pile 3 :

My dear pile 3 hope you're doing well

Some charms for confirmations and messages: fish , elephant, gun , cap , shell , infinity symbol, witch , cat . Some numbers : might be age , year or era ; 9,8,2 ; some initials : M, A . Please check pile 2 if you were drawn

Who will I be channeling: Knight of wands adventurous, enigmatic person

They want to tell you a story about : The Sun , of fame and dignity

Once upon a time there was someone who was a miser and wanted your ancestor to be wed off , just so they could get rid of your ancestor , they thought your ancestor was a crooked person , who wanted to be reckless all the time , they didn’t appreciate your ancestors free spirit at all , the guardian showed they were happy but they wanted to destroy the life of your ancestor , your ancestors might have been kept hostage or had an evil step parent for some of you .

Someone could have died or poisoned , the husband of your ancestor was very supportive , the guardian didn’t like it , someone might have told that to your guardian , or higher authority , only to cut the wings of your ancestor , she yet lived with happiness because she was actively practicing freedom and was loved and supported by her husband , I think she wanted to be in a higher position , in education or in the swordsmanship sector , this could go back to Europe , in the renaissance period , haha your reading is reminding me of the anime called " Arte " .

She was shown love because fate turned her life around This reminds me of " My happy marriage " (anime).

There could be a lot of jealousy shown to her by the men around, the neighbor's , but your ancestor was always rising higher , there could be someone who sabotaged her telling her that she's a bad person , she payed no mind to them , she became one of the greatest of her times , swordsman , merchant . This could also be in the education sector , they became highly educated , just saw 333 might be significant to you .

They were abundant and happy , they later became a teacher in their sector , kids loved them a lot , probably rose to nobility , were honored as a survivor and a riser .

They want to tell you this story to make you believe in the power of love , though its mostly about bravery her husband helped her get through a lot of it , she wants to show how if you take a chance in love , love can be good for you . Though her arranged marriage was scary things turned out for the better so will it turn out for you , keep the belief , I got one more card , they also wanted you to let go of your mentality that everything will go bad trust that good things will happen to you , if you hit the rock bottom you can only go higher do what you need to do

The back of the deck is Empress , how sweet is it that the pile 1 started with empress and you're finishing at it , you come from line of very powerful women who worked so much for their dreams they're always here for you just call upon them . I see 555 as I conclude can be significant for you.

Thank you so much for reading have a great day/night 🧡

[writingwithcolor]

Characters reconnecting with their ancestral cultures in an interplanetary setting

@pixiedustandpetrichor asked:

Hi! I am writing a novel with three main female characters in an interplanetary setting. They grow up as orphans in an Irish-coded country and as children are mostly exposed to solely that culture, but they leave after becoming adults. Character A is Tuareg-coded, B Mongolian-coded, and C is Germanic-coded. It isn’t central to the story, but I would like them to get in touch with/learn more about their ancestral cultures, especially in terms of religion. A does this by actually visiting the planet her parents came from, but B and C do not. What can I do to depict their relationships with said cultures and their journey to reconnect with them? Would it be realistic for each of them to have different mixed feelings about participating in these cultures and for them to retain some sense of belonging to the culture they grew up in as well? Thank you for your time.

Hello, asker! WWC doesn’t have Tuareg or Mongol mods at the moment, so we're not able to speak to the specifics of cultural and religious reconnection for these particular groups. Still, I want to take this opportunity to provide some general context and elements to consider when writing Tuareg-coded characters, or other characters from groups that have experienced colonization in the real world. My fellow mods will then share thoughts about cultural reconnection in general and with respect to Germanic heritage in particular.

Drawing inspiration from groups that have experienced colonization

As you’re probably aware, the Tuareg are an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. As with many indigenous groups, they have experienced colonization multiple times over the course of their history. Colonization often leads to the loss or erasure of certain aspects of culture as the colonized people are pressured to conform to the culture of the dominant group. In many cases, it’s near impossible to say what the ancestral culture of a colonized group was prior to colonization.

When coding a fictional culture based on a group that was colonized in the real world, it's important to ask questions about:

Which aspects of culture you're portraying

Where these aspects come from

Whether you're ready to tackle their implications for the world you're building

It’s not necessarily wrong to use elements of coding that draw from cultural aspects influenced by colonization. As I said, it can be very difficult, even impossible, to portray a “pure” culture as it would have been had colonization not occurred–because we simply can’t know what that alternate history would look like, and because so much has been lost or intentionally suppressed that the gaps in our knowledge are too wide to breach. But it’s important to be aware of where these cultural elements are coming from.

Where is your coding coming from and what are the implications?

For example, while the Tuareg today are majoritarily Muslim, this was not the case prior to the Arab conquest of North Africa. Some elements of Tuareg culture today, such as tea ceremonies, are derived from the influence of Arab and Muslim culture and likely did not exist prior to the 20th century. As you’re developing the culture of the Tuareg-coded group in your fictional setting, you have to decide whether to include these elements. There is no right answer–it will depend on what you’re trying to do and why.

Is your setting in our far future, in which case we can assume your Tuareg-coded group is distantly related to today’s Tuareg?

In that case, they will probably have kept many cultural aspects their ancestors acquired through their interactions with other cultures around them–including cultural groups that colonized them. They may–let’s build hopeful worlds!–have reclaimed aspects of their ancestral culture they’d been forced to abandon due to colonization. They may also have acquired new aspects of culture over time. This can be very fun to explore if you have the time and space to do so.

I would recommend speaking with Tuareg people to get a better grasp of how they see their culture evolving over the next however many centuries or millennia, what they wish to see and what seems realistic to them.

Alternatively, maybe your setting is a secondary world unrelated to ours and you only want to draw inspiration from the real-world Tuareg, not represent them exactly. In that case, you need to decide which period of history you’re drawing from, as Tuareg culture is different today from what it was 50 years ago, and different still from 200 years ago or 1000 years ago. You’ll need to research the historical period you’re choosing in order to figure out what was happening at that time and what the cultural influences were. If it’s pre-colonial, you’ll probably want to avoid including cultural elements influenced by colonization from groups that arrived later on.

Finally, if the time period you’re drawing from is post-colonial:

Are you planning to account for the effects of colonization on Tuareg culture?

Will you have an in-world equivalent for the colonization that occurred in real life?

For example, will the Tuareg-coded characters in your world be from a nomadic culture that was forced to become sedentary over the years and lost much of their traditions due to colonial pressure to conform?

Where did this pressure come from in your world–is it different from what happened in ours? If so, how different? And what are the consequences?

Writing about colonization can be quite the baggage to bring into a fictional setting. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it will certainly require sensitivity and care in portraying it.

In summary: think it through

I’m not saying all this to discourage you, but to point out some of the considerations at play when drawing inspiration from a real-life culture that has experienced colonization. Similar challenges arise for coding based on any other indigenous group in the world.

My advice to you, then, is to first sit down and decide where and when in history your coding is coming from, and what you’re trying to achieve with it. This will help you figure out:

which elements of contemporary Tuareg culture are pertinent to include

How much your coding will be influenced by the Tuareg’s real-life history

To what extent that will inform the rest of the world you’re creating

This, in turn, may help in deciding how to portray your character’s reconnection journey.

Again, I am not Tuareg and this is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of considerations for writing Tuareg-coded characters, only a few places to start.

If any Tuareg or Amazigh readers would like to chime in with suggestions of their own, please do. As always, please make sure your comments adhere to the WWC code of conduct.

- Niki

Pulling from diaspora and TRA narratives of cultural reconnection

Marika here: This ask plotline could also pull directly from diaspora and TRA narratives of cultural reconnection. Many diaspora and TRA cultural reconnection stories are, in effect, about navigating the difficult process of resuscitating, or renewing ties to culture using limited resources in environments that often lack necessary cultural infrastructure or scaffolding.

See this question here to the Japanese team for suggestions of how to handle such a storyline in a similar sci-fi setting.

More reading: Japanese-coded girl from future

-Marika

Reconnecting with German heritage

Hi, it’s Shira. I’m not sure whether German-Jewish counts as Germanic for the purposes of your post but since German Jews were more assimilated than other Ashkies, Germanness does feel real and relevant to my life (especially because my father worked there for approximately the last decade of his life.) NOTE: when I see “Germanic” vs German I think of cultures from 1500 years ago, not 100-200 years ago, so I can’t help you there, but I’d be surprised as a reader if a character focused on that for reconnection to the exclusion of the 19th century etc.

People in the United States specifically, reconnecting with German heritage, often lean into Bayerischer/Bavarian kitsch, I’ve noticed. Personally, though, what I find most relevant is:

1. The food (although I’ve come to learn that what I grew up eating was closer to veal/chicken scallopini than actual schnitzel because it was drenched in lemon, but I do like the other foods like the potato salad and sweet and sour red cabbage etc.) Your character could try making one of these “ancestral” foods as a way to reconnect?

2. The classical music, because I’m a second generation professional musician – if character C plays an instrument, leaning into that might be meaningful (Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann and her husband Robert, etc.)

3. The nature, especially specifics that I enjoyed during my time there – personally, I loved the bright pink flowers all over the chestnut trees, but there are a lot of choices especially because of the Alps. If C is an artist maybe they can sketch something Germany-related from old photographs they found on the Space Internet?

I think it is VERY realistic for the characters to remain connected to the culture in which they were raised, by the way, whether or not they have positive feelings about it. Culture isn’t an inherited trait. Sure, if they want to completely walk away, they can, but I bet there are still ways it will creep back in without them realizing it simply because it’s really hard to have universal knowledge of the origins of all our quirks. Plus, not everyone feels alienated from their raised-culture just because they’re genetically something else.

P.S. There is also Oktoberfest, which I don’t really get into but is a thing, and beer, which is another point of German cultural pride.

German gentiles, weigh in – y’all have your own stuff, I know! OH YEAH so for German Christians, Christmas “markets” are a whole thing. That’s worth looking up. 

–S

What do you mean by Germanic?

Hello it’s Sci! I had to study German history for my historical fantasy novel set in the late 18th century Holy Roman Empire. I am not sure what is meant by Germanic as that can encompass a variety of things.

Germanic people: from the Classical Period of Roman Empire and early Middle Ages. Similar to Mod Shira, I unfortunately can’t help very much here.

The Germanosphere: regions that spoke German, which includes modern day Germany, Austria/Hungary, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Belgium, and Luxembourg. I generally define this as the regions captured in the Hapsburg Empire along with Switzerland usually encompassing “Central Europe.”

Modern German national identity (i.e. German): post Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna (> 1815) only including the territory of modern day Germany.*

I ask this because modern German national identity is surprisingly recent since Germany only popped up in 1871 under Otto von Bismarck. Previously, Germany was divided into smaller states and city states as a very decentralized region under the German Confederation and before that, the Holy Roman Empire. Depending on the era, you can see different conflicts and divides. During the early days of the Protestant Reformation started by Martin Luther, the northern and southern German territories generally split along Protestant-Catholic lines. The 18th century saw Austria and Prussia as the foci of global power who warred against each other even though both were part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Other states and city-states like Baden-Wurttemberg or Saxony sometimes had power but it was typically more localized compared to Austria. Post-WW2, you saw the split of Germany into West Germany run under capitalism and East Germany run under communism as a satellite Soviet state leading to more modern cultural divides. Due to heavy decentralization historically, each region had its own character with religious and cultural divides. 

Assuming that the Germanic character is not from the classical period or early Middle Ages but not from the 19th century either, you can include your character reconnecting to classical folklore like that of Krampus (if they’re Christian), German literature and music like the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or Mozart, or German philosophy like Immanuel Kant.

*A major wrinkle: German royals and nobility married into other states and nations frequently with Britain and Russia being notable examples. In Britain, the House of Hanover took over after the Stuart House died without clear direct heirs. When Queen Victoria married the German prince Albert, they celebrated Christmas with a tree and brought the German tradition of a Christmas tree to Britain and the British Empire. Only during World War I did the royal family’s house of Hanover name change from House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the more “English-sounding” Windsor. As a result, the German cultural influence may be even more widespread than we think.

However, without more specific descriptors of what Germanic means in the context of your story, it can be difficult to determine which aspects of German culture your character could reconnect to.

-Mod Sci

[jointhearumanati]

🌏 HETALIA RUSSIA HEADCANNONS 🌏

🇷🇺 Ivan got extensive therapy once Nations were required to go to therapy with therapists who specialize in Nation Psychology and has improved drastically he even went on an apology tour if he unnerves anyone now it's all in jest

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Ivan and Yao's relationship has improved drastically after therapy they are now best friends and just maybe something more

🇷🇺 Ivan is really into Chokers the scarf was too stuffy when there are meetings in hot climate countries and he needs something to cover his neck scars so when he found out Chokers existed with a variety of designs he was ecstatic he quickly bought as many as he could with designs he liked even gets gifted chokers for birthdays and Christmas his favorite is a sunflower pattern with a sunflower charm he plays with the charm during world meetings

🇷🇺 Ivan owns a large greenhouse in his backyard where he grows sunflowers and other flowers his hobby is to collect seeds from other countries he make sure they aren't going to damage his other plants first

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Yao introduced Ivan to baked Sunflower seeds and sunflower tea it's his favorite afternoon snack now a bowl of seeds and sunflower tea

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Ivan has had a crush on Yao since they first met during Mongolian rule he was the only person besides his sisters who was kind to him he thought he was an angel

🇷🇺 Ivan is a impressive Dancer in both ballet and traditional Russian dances

🇷🇺 Ivan is a impressive oil painter he always paints his sisters, other nations mostly Yao, and landscapes with sunflowers even the walls of his room are a sunflower field he has a painting studio in a room in his house his paintings are hung all over his house

🇷🇺 Ivan's favorite color is yellow like the Sun and warmth the walls in his house are either soft yellow or sky blue his furniture is either Green or brown though his ceiling is a pastel purple with cloud designs and has wooden floors

🇷🇺🇬🇧 Ivan likes to Knit it helps him with stress he's made sweaters for all the nations he knows he even bonded with Arthur with their mutual love for knitting and trade patterns and helpful tips his favorite place to knit is by the fire in his chair with a blanket in his lap

🇷🇺 Ivan has a Sunflower 🌻 tattoo over his heart with ink splashes of sky blue seemingly bleeding from the flower

🇷🇺 Ivan likes to collect different designs of Slippers and pajamas

[jomiddlemarch]

I loved and guessed at you, you construed me

It was not that he was waiting for her as much as that he was most often in the faculty sitting room at this hour and so was she and the staff knew to leave out a full tea service and also a magically chilled bottle of very dry amontillado, the color of her eyes. And then to tell anyone else that the room was occupied and that they were not to be disturbed.

It wasn’t that he was waiting for her, but he did look up when she came into the room, letting the ancient, rare and precious book he held slip out of his hand, an instinctive, wandless spell keeping it from clattering onto the floor.

“You cut your hair,” Draco said. 

Any pretense to eloquence, savoir-faire, or intellectual rigor associated with achieving his Potions Mastery and Mwandamizi kemia had been decimated by the four words, uttered in a tone of complete shock, which given his Pureblood upbringing meant flat, with a hint of scorn. He had spent the past twelve years working to convince Hermione he wasn’t that man anymore, the one who would have meant the scorn, the fault-finding appraisal, cold and superior and not terribly clever underneath it all.

(The one he’d felt doomed to become before the chandelier fell in his family’s ballroom. Before she’d testified to keep him out of Azkaban. Before she’d returned his formal letter of apology with a brief addendum You were a child, Draco an absolution he didn’t deserve.)

Blaise always said he was his own worst enemy. Theo always nodded and offered a glass of single malt Scotch. Neville always shrugged and tried to reassure Draco, meandering through some nonsense about how they’d all had to grow up too soon, let down by the adults, forced to experience trauma that they’d been lucky to survive and a plate of buttered toast would soon set him to rights.

Luna changed the subject and talked about some possibly fictional chimerical creature to take his mind off his shortcomings. It never worked but he appreciated her effort and consistency.

“I suppose that’s better than ‘Bloody hell.’ And “Holy fucking Christ.’ Harry reverts to Muggle obscenity when he’s really surprised,” Hermione replied. “You only told me what I already know, as I didn’t accidentally fall into a Mongolian silver scissor-bush.”

“Is that a thing?” Draco asked. 

He had to keep talking but there was a lot to take in, the startlingly gorgeous line of her bare neck, the angle of her jaw, how her eyes looked enormous, luminous. How her chestnut hair was swept across her brow and came to a delicate little point on the nape of her neck, all these hidden aspects suddenly marvels revealed. Suddenly, astonishingly breath-taking and erotic and also heart-breaking, because he’d wanted so to run his fingers through her loose hair, to stand behind her and draw a brush through her curls. Watching her eyes get drowsy in the dressing-table’s looking-glass, resting a hand on her bare shoulder and feeling the tickling silk of her hair. He’d wanted to cast the spell that ended the charm securing her chignon, to pull out the jeweled pins she used to keep her braids in the coronet around her head. 

“No. It sounds like something Luna would mention though,” Hermione shrugged. It was as if he’d never seen the gesture before.

“It’s a lot to take in,” he said.

“It’s actually not. It’s both literally and figuratively not,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Snape being a double-agent in love with Harry’s mum was a lot to take in. Any Sunday lunch at Molly Weasley’s table is a lot to take in. War and Peace in the original Russian without a translation charm is a lot to take in. I took off a few inches—”

“A few inches?”

“Fine, I got the first professional, Muggle, haircut of my adult life because I was fed up with my hair and charms and Sleekeezy and glamours, so many glamours, and you would think I have announced I am Grindelwald’s secret lovechild,” she said in a tone of complete exasperation, pursing her lips in a matching moué he felt an impossible urge to kiss very thoroughly and until she was gasping his name. 

He was fairly certain that action would not be requited, not now, and potentially not ever.

But definitely not now.

She was now almost glaring at him, waiting for a response.

If this was ever to become something beyond hopeless pining, if he were ever to be allowed to call her sweetheart and coax her back to bed, he couldn’t get the next part wrong.

“Are you happy with it?” he said. It was a gamble, saying anything would have been a gamble, but there was a chance he’d gotten it right.

He’d surprised her, that he could tell instantly, though her face changed very subtly. It meant no one else who’d seen her had asked and considered she might be. No one else had thought about why she’d done it, only what they thought of it. Evidently, both Weasley and Potter had indicated a negative response, Weasley likely driven by his own unrealized Pureblood upbringing, where all witches wanted the long hair associated with power and Potter never wanted her to be anything other than she’d been in their youth, when her unruly hair was her most obvious signifier.

“Yes, I think I am,” she said. 

“That’s good. That’s what matters,” he said. He was supposed to reference the book he’d been reading or follow-up on their most recent conversation about geopolitics or whether Chopin was a Squib or at the very least offer her something to drink, the tea first and then, when she demurred, the sherry. But all of those would require him to look away from her and he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Not quite yet.

“I ought to have done it a long time ago,” she said. She spoke without her usual forthright confidence, but also without any of the regret the statement might have implied. She sounded hesitant, as if she wanted something from him she felt she shouldn’t. Or shouldn’t ask for.

It was tempting to make some sort of declaration, offer reassurance or an argument. But he’d gotten this far by asking her a question.

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. It would have been a way to move on. Grow up. Make my life easier, decide it for myself,” she said. She was watching him very closely as she spoke. She liked that he’d asked, though she wasn’t smiling. “It wouldn’t have been grief or some kind of, I don’t know, unhinged trauma response.”

It would very much have been a response to the colossal trauma she’d experienced if she’d hacked it all off after being tortured, and it wouldn’t have been unhinged when one considered the myriad extremely risky alternatives she might have chosen, but Draco wasn’t about to ruin everything. Even as his own worst enemy, he could keep from doing that.

“It could have been just something you do when you’re in your twenties, trying something out. Like, going to the Maldives or studying Norn. Learning earth magic from tribal elders in Namib.”

“Only you would saying learning earth magic in Namib is something you do in your twenties,” Draco said wryly. “Most people just go to the pub and fret a lot.”

“You didn’t,” she said.

“I think it’s well established I’m not most people,” he said.

“No. You’re not. You’re the only person who didn’t tell me cutting my hair was a terrible mistake,” she said. “As if it could even remotely compare to the other terrible mistakes I’ve made.”

“It’s not a terrible mistake,” he said. “And you’re the person I know best whose made the fewest terrible mistakes in her life and we can sit here drinking sherry talking about it because of it.”

“My parents wouldn’t agree,” she said.

“Neither would mine. I wonder how people grow up when they don’t have to discover their parents were deeply, entirely wrong about something absolutely crucial to survival,” Draco said.

“We could ask Blaise Zabini,” Hermione said after very clearly Thinking About It, a little crease appearing between her eyebrows.

“Too risky,” Draco replied. “It’s only the husbands people talk about but people have a way of disappearing when they ask questions about his mother.”

“No one would comment on her haircut,” Hermione said wistfully. “What a bloody icon.”

Draco laughed, startled.

“You’re enchanting,” he blurted out. Stupid, gauche, impulsive—he could go on (and on) about how ill-considered it had been.

“Well, I am a witch,” she said. She did not seem put off. In fact, she smiled at him, a little shyly.  “Goes with the territory—”

“You enchant me. Bewitch me,” he said, throwing caution to the winds. “You don’t want anyone to comment on how you look, so I shouldn’t but you’re exquisite—”

He broke off, fearing he’d broken it all. She was still in the room and he still had all his bits and bobs, when he knew she was a dab hand at wandless curses. It was rather late to decide discretion was the better part of valor, but better late than never.

“I didn’t do it for you,” she said.

“No,” he replied.

“I didn’t do it only for you,” she clarified. “But I was curious to see how you’d react.”

“Did you have a hypothesis? You usually do,” he said.

“Yes. You’ve exceeded it slightly,” she said. There was a gleam in those sherry-brown eyes and when she tilted her head to the side, he understood the vampire’s insatiable lust. 

“I can do better than slightly,” he said, half-dazed with the realization that she was requiting far more than he’d ever imagined. And that she’d imagined his response to seeing her bare neck, had wanted his admiration. He got up from his chair and crossed the room to her, standing close enough to take her in his arms. “I can do a wide margin. Prodigious. Overwhelmingly—”

“I like prodigious,” she said and he leaned in and kissed her parted lips softly, then deeply, one hand at her waist, the other cupping her cheek. The urge to possess her was tremendous, held in check only by an immense and constant tenderness, the moon that could pull the devouring tide back from the shore.

“Can I see overwhelmingly?” she whispered. “For comparison—”

“Of course,” he answered and moved to kiss her neck. He tasted the pulse of her carotid, sucking gently where he wanted to nip her. He moved back up to the hollow behind her ear, grazing her lobe with his tongue, then murmured,

“You cut your hair. I love it.”

[tavina-writes]

I've watched Word of Honor, Who Rules The World, and Mysterious Lotus Casebook(I'm also not sure if the Untamed is wuxia or xianxia or something inbetween?) I don't think I mind longer shows but over...60 episodes is probably a harder sell. I like recognizing actors from project to project but I also don't know all that many so I'm happy to see fresh faces. I haven't seen any older cdramas so I can't say for sure, though I watch us shows from the 90s sometimes? I've paid for iQiyi in the past though I've let my subscription lapse. Does that help?

HELLOOOO sorry I got so busy and couldn't answer earlier Nonny!

I think based off of this, I would suggest you watch Legend of the Condor Heroes (2017) first. (It has Meng Ziyi in it!) This one can be found on iQIYI with good subtitles -- you'll need an account though sadly :( -- it's 52 episodes long (so on the longer side for a contemporary cdrama but pretty average sized for cdramas overall). And it was made for introducing a new generation to LOCH so it doesn't go at as fast a clip as LOCH 2024 (came out this year, beautifully done, goes really fast and does assume you know the general storyline even if you haven't seen it since you were 8). I do think 2017 assumes you know some genre trends also so having seen other wuxias is a good thing!

@autumnslantern also wrote a great writeup of our journey through the various LOCHes here.

Below find some general thoughts on all of the LOCHes I've seen, copy pasted from a discord ask I got a few days before your ask!

my childhood favorite LOCH is the 1983 TVB Jade version, which is very noncanonical to the book but So Much Fun <-- may not be your cup of tea if you don't enjoy that special 1980s charm :dogkek: It has, however, my absolute hands down favorite version of the Huangs (this IS the writer room where the Huangs were their special little meow meows and Kenneth Tsang personally created at least two generations of Huang Yaoshi apologists so) but yeah I love this version for how well it understands the characters, not how much it follows the plot.

I was not as fond of LOCH 1995 TVB reboot version (there were some interesting plot issues, but imo the biggest problem is that KangCi is played by 30 year olds and JingRong by 20 somethings, increasing the dynamics that in this universe KangCi are twice divorced 30 somethings trying to make this work again for the 3rd time as though they're stuck in a timeloop, the actors gave it their all and it was very good! just! perchance, suspension of disbelief interesting.) I would rate this one as a pretty solid adaptation overall though, my minor quibbles aside, just not my personal fave

I enjoyed LOCH 03, I think it has the best Mongolia 1 and 2 that I have ever seen adapted to screen, and really does a good job on this front. The Temujin Corruption Arc here has me by the THROAT. and this also has the best ever Tuolei. (Fun Fact! all the Mongolian Characters in this adaptation are played by Mongolian Actors, and it did pretty well on Mongolian traditional clothing also!) Unfortunately, it was also made for the whole 5 LOCH Mongolia Arch enjoyers in the world so the ratings are terrible. this one has interesting CGI choices, some pacing issues towards the end, and tbf in my personal opinion Li Yapeng did a better Linghu Chong than Guo Jing, but the Guo Jing characterization choices felt purposeful? JingRong is delightful together but Li Yapeng Guo Jing is a bit flat when he's by himself. Zhou Xun was Jin Yong's favorite Huang Rong, overall I enjoyed 03 but I can see why almost no one else did

LOCH 08: my personal nemesis, I would delete my memory of LOCH 08 if I could but then I might watch it and reintroduce myself

LOCH 2017: for a LOCH made with couch cushion money this is really a smashing adaptation. Minor quibbles on them making Huang Rong less problematic, kind of character assassinating Huazheng, giving Temujin the world's best skincare products known to man, and somehow taking a blowdryer to Huang Yaoshi for the sake of coolness, but I forgive them. There's lovely fight scenes in this version, and Chen Xingxu acted his socks off as Yang Kang

LOCH 2024: You can tell this one was made by people who idolized LOCH growing up. I love love love the production and color palette of this one, it reminds me of an updated late 90s early 00s Wuxia vibe with all the new tech that makes wuxia so cool in this decade. Hands down, Ci Sha quickly became my favorite Guo Jing of all time, and I think they really get what makes JingRong click. Some very interesting backstory connotations, I really hope they air the prequels so I can see this in the order they wanted it to be shown in. This loch also suffers from pacing issues, and will assume you already know the story esp bc at 30 episodes for the main story, it's the shortest of all the LOCH tv adaptations and that trims a lot of the extra side quests that make LOCH LOCH.

[literatureatthebowofnails]

100 Followers + 34th Birthday Celebration

Hello my loves! I can't believe my fortune. I'm increadibly thankful to have 100 of you following my little writing blog.

There's nothing like The Mango to bring us all together! As a huge "Thank you!" to each and every one of you, and to celebrate my 34th birthday arriving in a month, I'm throwing my first party. My asks (as always) are open, so you can submit requests there, or here in the comments. Pick one of the 34 settings and/or one of the 100 prompts below, then send them to me in an ask! I'll be writing the first 134 requests (or however many I get) over the next month. That's my goal date. They will all get written, so long as they're submitted by 11:59 PM GMT-5 (US Central Standard Time) on November 22.

And now for the prompts

Settings

Bifrost

Streets of Asgard's Capital

Asgardian Wilderness

Inside the Palace (you may specify or not)

Palace Grounds (you may specify or not)

Jötunheimr Wilds

Ruins of Jötunheimr's Capital

Secret Passageway

Puente Antiguo

A Vehicle of Your Choosing

Upstate New York

Project PEGASUS Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility

Stuttgart, Germany

Quinjet

Helicarrier

"That big, ugly building in New York" (Stark Tower)

Sanctuary II (Thanos's ship)

Chitauri Cruiser

Avenger's Tower (not to be confused with its predecessor)

Svartálfheim

TVA

Mongolian Sand Dunes

Streets of New York

New York Sanctum

New Asgard

Sakaar

One of the Grand Master's Ships

Haunted Victorian Mansion

Church

Graveyard

Alter

Midgardian woods

Place of your choosing in MCU

Place of your choosing in our reality

Prompts

Peter's former babysitter meets the Avengers

"Where, pray tell, do you think you're going?"

"Stark? That man is nothing but a dick in a tin can."

"Unhand me, you rancid cumsack!"

"Oh, but for you...for you, darling, I'd do anything."

"What's that, darling? No one has removed these with a blade before? What a shame...we'll have to remedy that."

"Just to feel you pressed upon my need..."

Defying gratification

His forked tongue dancing against the sides of your clit

Bachelorette party

Tony: Doing time as a capsicle/Scott: Now I really want a capsicle...popsicle. I want a popsicle

"Fuck me, Father, for I have sinned..."/"Say seven 'Hail Marys' and suck my cock"

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Hiking

Downpour

Snowed In

First Snow

AU (doesn't need to fit one of the above locations)

Caramel apples

Rewrite a story (of your choice) from the Poetic Edda

Timeline branch (you choose where on the Sacred Timeline)

Excerpts from Odin's A+ Parenting Handbook

“You’d do well to pay. It’s in your best interest."

On Wednesdays kings wear chains

Loki on his knees

All tied up (you choose who)

Threesome (so long as I know the character, I'm willing to do crossovers from other fandoms as well)

That one time he had a thing with a horse...

Headcanon from one of my fics (completed or ongoing)

Why orphans are called Loki's children

"I don't negotiate with people who shouldn't exist."

Out of place and underdressed

Witch

Your ex

Crush

Reading

Opening Night

"Selvig is not coming to my wedding!"

"Is that a threat or a promise?"

Kittens and Handcuffs

Lady Loki

The other Lokis

Shadow play

Lost in a corn maze, you meet an overly-helpful stranger

"Come over here and make me"

Ravens

Lost dog

More Lokis than you know what to do with

Ignore the man behind the curtain

"Wait a minute. Are you jealous?"

Oktoberfest

Ballroom dancing

"I was drunk, ok?! I didn't know what I was doing. Can you just drop it already?"

Caught

Trespassing

"I almost lost you."

Tea

"Keep running your mouth like that and I'll have to put it to better use."

Punishment

"Daddy"

Carving pumpkins

Baking

"Don't you ever do that again!"

Kids

Babies

Pregnancy

You get some magic of your own

Spooky

Tired

Nap

Hayride

"Kiss Me"

Kidnapped

Wine

Catch me if you can

Jam

Stalker

Neighbor

"It could be worse"

Flying kites

Hospitalized

Runaway

Pride

Costume party

Trapped

Whispers

Loyalty

Bonfire

“Please wake up. I can’t do this without you.”

Ghosts

Innocent

Spiked

“I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice.”

Cozy

Sweater weather

Mole

Full moon

“Just once”

Many, many thanks to all of you, especially mutuals. This fandom always makes my day. Please keep reading, engaging, re-blogging, and creating!

Works completed for this event:

Excerpts from Odin's A+ Parenting Handbook

Tag List

Let me know if you'd like to be added or removed

@peaches1958 , @javagirl328 , @loopsisloops , @goblingirlsarah , @buttercupcookies-blog , @cakesandtom , @ladymischief11 , @km-ffluv , @coldnique , @glitterylokislut , @eleniblue , @lokiprompts , @lokisgoodgirl , @muddyorbsblr , @princess-ofthe-pages

[doberbutts]

HOWEVER I scrolled by an article the other day that was basically “adding POC to fantasy stories that don’t have POC is more racist than those fantasy stories not having POC whatsoever” and I have been chewing on this for a while because it Bothered Me.

The argument was that, by changing nothing about the story except the skin color of various characters, you make something more racist by forcing POC into “white cultures”. The examples used for this were, of course, Rings of Power and Netflix Witcher.

Except... There are black people in Europe. There are Asian people in Europe. There are African people in Europe. There are Arabic people in Europe. There are even Native American people and South American people and Caribbean people in Europe.

And... as said before Witcher is not happening in our world but in a different world which humans were unwillingly transported to during the Conjunction of the Spheres, and multiple races and cultures were transported considering there are actually POC that exist within the Witcher books, which have trade and slaves and war that stretches across multiple countries and continents. Tolkien’s universe also has POC that exist within the books- albeit they are almost entirely Bad Guys Only- and it has other evidence of non-European items existing within it such as tomatoes, tobacco, potatoes, tea, and various spices meaning trade would have to exist because these plants do not originate in Europe.

Before anyone gets on me about tea- Bilbo mentions tea in PJ’s Fellowship of the Ring and the dwarves, in Bilbo’s house, offers Gandalf a cup of chamomile in PJ’s An Unexpected Journey- with first recorded use in Egypt [yes I know chamomile also grows in Europe, however it was not used as tea that we’re aware of until after Egypt taught the Romans how to do it]. If we want to say that it could be really any type of tea, the first recorded use of tea in general was in China. Either way, that’s a non-European invention.

The argument is, in itself, a racist one. People of color exist in Europe and have existed in Europe for almost as long as Europe has been around. War and trade and slavery will do that. The Vikings did it. The Moors did it. The Romans did it. The Mongolians did it. And others throughout history have done it. Whether they succeeded in holding ground longterm or had to turn back quickly, whether it was a nobleman on some world tour to stroke his ego or a merchant travelling on the silk road or a ship blown off course seeking exotic spices and products, people have always shown up in unexpected places. There was a black samurai in Japan in the 1500s. There were Native Americans being imported en masse to England in the late 1400s to show off as trophy wives and zoo exhibits. We have always existed in these places. Us being people of color doesn’t mean we don’t belong there or that somehow it’s not “actually” the culture of those who live and were born and raised in these countries.

And, in complete honesty- while I would, obviously, like to see more POC-originating stories being adapted into multi-million dollar franchise... the fact of the matter is that the few times it does happen no one goes to see it except for the race that it pertains to, no one talks about it, no one advertises it, no one supports it. POC authors and directors and producers and writers fight tooth and nail to show their work and then are told by the industry that their stuff is garbage that no one wants to see because people are too busy touching themselves to Famous White Guy’s Books.

[fictionalband-bracket]

ROUND 1 BRACKET!

let's get this show on the road!

round 1 is currently underway! feel free to ask for any corrections or adjustments although i can't edit polls after posting!!! may the best band win!

band list under the cut

SIDE A

Lady Parts (We Are Lady Parts) vs School of Rock (School of Rock)

Dumpty Humpty (Danny Phantom) vs Gorillaz

Chicken Choice Judy (Infinity Train) vs Morfonica (BanG Dream!)

Rock Band Club (Ensemble Girls!!) vs Pentakill (League of Legends)

Girls Dead Monster (Angel Beats!) vs Dethklok (Metalocalypse)

Studio Killers vs Kitty Section (Miraculous Ladybug)

Grojband (Grojband) vs Afterglow (BanG Dream!)

Lemonade Mouth (Lemonade Mouth) vs Polly and the Pockets (Polly Pocket)

Sadie Killer and the Suspects (Steven Universe) vs Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad (Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad)

The Mary Janes (Spider-Gwen) vs The Rainbooms (MLP: Equestria Girls)

RAISE A SUILEN (BanG Dream!) vs Sasha and the Sharps (Amphibia)

Barbie and the Rockers (Barbie) vs Charmz (The Barbie Diaries)

Sonic Underground (Sonic Underground) vs Carole & Tuesday (Carole & Tuesday)

Pink Slip (Freaky Friday) vs Given (Given)

Poppin’Party (BanG Dream!) vs Crimson Dawn (South Park)

The Hex Girls (Scooby-Doo!) vs DCMC (Mother 3)

SIDE B

The Black Stones (Nana) vs Julie and the Phantoms (Julie and the Phantoms)

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (The Muppet Show) vs Ho-Kago Tea Time (K-ON!)

Los Animatrónicos (Five Nights at Freddy’s: High School) vs Jem and the Holograms (Jem)

Love Händel (Phineas and Ferb) vs The Clash at Demonhead (Scott Pilgrim)

ShinganCrimsonZ (Show by Rock!!) vs Kessoku band (Bocchi the Rock!)

The Runaway Five (EarthBound) vs Sex Bob-omb (Scott Pilgrim)

Bunk Bed Junction (No Straight Roads) vs LoliRock (LoliRock)

The Chirpy Chips (Splatoon) vs Steven and the Stevens (Steven Universe)

Mordecai and the Rigbys (Regular Show) vs Josie and the Pussycats (Josie and the Pussycats/Archie)

Plasmagica - (Show by Rock!!) vs Pastel*Palettes (BanG Dream!)

The Mechanisms vs The Penguin Band (Club Penguin)

Choujuu Gigaku (Touhou Project) vs The Gavinners (Ace Attorney)

Hello, Happy World! (BanG Dream!) vs The Dazzlings (MLP: Equestria Girls)

Roselia (BanG Dream!) vs Wild Azur (Pretty Cure)

Leo/need (Project SEKAI) vs MilkCan (Um Jammer Lammy/PaRappa the Rapper)

Bottom Feeders (Splatoon 2) vs Löded Diper (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

[garyholt]

You made a post about folk metal this morning, didn’t you? It sounds interesting. What bands do you recommend?

Yeah, I did!! It's superrrr interesting.

Korpiklaani and Finntroll are probably my favorites at the moment, I can't recommend them enough. They're both Finnish bands, and if you like extreme metal, you'd probably like Finntroll a lot.

I also got into Bloodywood recently! They're an Indian folk metal band that makes nu metal/metalcore. That kinda stuff usually isn't my cup of tea, but I had a lot of fun listening to their debut album, Rakshak.

Some other bands I like are Arkona (Russian, you'd probably like them if you like black metal), The Hu (Mongolian), and Ensiferum (Also Finnish!)

[teafiend]

Reviews (summaries) of a few of the drama adaptations for [Legend of the Condor Heroes]/ 「射鵰英雄傳」 from the last three decades:

*Drama posters are from oldest to latest (from left to right, top to bottom)

1983 version (starring Barbara Yung and Felix Wong):

Too young to remember and never rewatched. A feted classic from Hong Kong TVB’s heyday. The only thing I will unequivocally say I love about this version is the iconic theme songs, which are the only musical tracks I can easily recall and identify when it comes to the numerous adaptations.

1994 version (starring Athena Chu and Julian Cheung):

First love. Good performances. Beautiful and ultra-cute JingRong. Favourite balance of visuals for JingRong. Solid production (HK TVB). Newish classic. Faithful to the main storylines. The version which made me fall for Guo Jing and the saga. Sometimes, however, first love only goes so far.

2003 version (starring Zhou Xun and Li Ya Peng):

Gritty. Jiang Hu. Sweeping epic. Mature vibes. Tragic and heartbreak-tinged. Faithful to the main storylines. Brilliant JingRong. Elegantly cultured Huang Rong. Earnestly chivalrous Guo Jing. Love both the portrayals of Guo Jing and Huang Rong (despite the many criticisms received). Loved the veteran gravitas of many of the supporting casts. Performances were fabulous. My only gripe is with Yang Kang (and his actor, Zhou Jie, whose performance I was not especially partial to, but he did okay though). The best Mongolian segment(s) out of all adaptations. Favourite drama adaptation (to date). The main and ending theme songs are fantastic, and the opening track has quite an epic saga feel.

(Some audience disliked ZX’s portrayal, and criticisms abound about her using her own voice during the show - which is a bit husky - but I had absolutely no issues with it. I thought the criticisms weirdly petty, actually. As someone who does not find dubs at all nice, I appreciated her using her own voice/dub for the series. LYP also received his fair share of criticisms for his portrayal. Personally, I enjoyed both tremendously).

2008 version (starring Ariel Lin and Hu Ge):

An adaptation I skipped as neither mains appealed to me, and Liu Shi Shi as Mu Nian Ci was not enough of a draw to make me trudge through an adaption I read was not particularly faithful to the novels. Visuals and vibes wise, I just could not see Hu Ge as Guo Jing - which is simply a personal preference - but I do not doubt that his performance/portrayal would have been fine. That goes for the rest of the cast and their performances.

2017 version (starring Li Yi Tong and Yang Xu Wen):

Pretty. Vibrant aesthetics. Wuxia vibes. Relatively youthful. Commendable production. Sweet, lovey-dovey and affectionate JingRong. Cutie - and handsome - Guo Jing. Excellent Huang Rong. Faithful to the main storylines. Highly enjoyable. Main instrumental track a clever nolstagic callback to the classic Hong Kong songs/themes. Good production. Superb performances overall.

(I found this version’s GJ a bit too prettily handsome, which is lovely but also felt a bit not-GJ. Still enjoyed his portrayal a lot though).

2024 version (starring Bao Shang En and Ci Sha):

Strong Wuxia vibes. Solid aesthetics and production. Youthful. Squee-worthy JingRong. Adorably devious Huang Rong. Favourite Guo Jing and JingRong (to date). Wonderful performances all around. Faithful to the main storylines. Some distinct emotional beats.

Especially noteworthy was the beautifully shot and conveyed scenes from near the end during GJ’s mental and spiritual struggles with his grief and martial abilities. Superbly done and went to the heart of the novel’s themes.

Flaws included pacing and issues with storylines length. Uneven focus. Lack of epic-ness.

(Ci Sha is not really my cup-of-tea visuals wise but he looked and felt like what Guo Jing *should* be and his performance was compelling and layered. His portrayal embodied the 靖 of 郭靖, and I think that meant something significant. He truly came into his own by the last third when the confidence and composure GJ cultivated throughout the series made his nuanced portrayal fangirl-scream worthy. *fainting away* Love his steady, gentle and devoted GJ to bits. The focus and complexity they afforded Yang Kang in this version made him a much more complex and conflicted antagonist, which was fascinating. This Wanyan Hong Lie inspired major feelings for a character I already found especially interesting and tragi-complex since the 2003 adaptation. The soft-spot I have for him is too real).

[allthingslinguistic]

All Things Linguistic - 2022 Highlights

2022 was a year of opening up again and laying foundations for future projects. I spent the final 3 months of it on an extended trip to Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, which is a delightful reason to have a delay in writing this year in review post. 

Interesting new projects this year included my first piece in The Atlantic, why we have so much confusion on writing the short form of "usual" and 103 languages reading project: inspired by a paper by Evan Kidd and Rowena Garcia. 

Continuations of existing projects: 

Return of LingComm Grants

A survey for those using Because Internet for teaching

10 year Blogiversary of All Things Linguistic: highlights from the past year and highlights from the past decade

6 years of Lingthusiasm

Conferences/Talks

LSA 2022 and judging Five Minute Linguist

I was on panels about swearing in SFF and the Steerswoman books at a local literary speculative fiction con, Scintillation

I was on panels at WorldCon (ChiCon 8) in Chicago: Ask A Scientist, That's Not How That Works!, and Using SFF for Science Communication

I was a contestant for the second time in Webster's War of the Words, a virtual game show fundraiser for the Noah Webster House.

I attended the Australian Linguistics Society annual meeting in Melbourne and the New Zealand Linguistics Society annual meeting in Dunedin, where I gave a talk co-authored with Lauren Gawne called Using lingcomm to design meaningful stories about linguistics

Lingthusiasm

In our sixth year of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics which I make with Lauren Gawne and our production team, we did a redesign of how the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols are layed out in a chart, in order to correspond more closely with the principle that the location of a symbol is a key to how it's articulated. This involved much digging into the history of IPA layouts and back-and-forths with our artist, Lucy Maddox, and we were very pleased to make our aesthetic IPA design available on a special one-time edition of lens cloths for patrons as well as our general range of posters, tote bags, notebooks, and other all-time merch. 

We also did our first Lingthusiasm audience survey and Spotify for some reason gave us end-of-year stats only in French, which I guess is on brand, but we were pleased to see notebooks, and Lingthusiasm is one of Spotify's top 50 Science podcastsF/href.li/?https:/www.redbubble.com%2Fi%2Fmouse-pad%2FAesthetic-IPA-Chart-Square-by-Lingthusiasm%2F129215087.G1FH6&t=OTkxYjYxYjNmMzA1M2VhNGViOGIxZWIxOGI0NDRjYjE2YTIzYTE2NCw2YTgzNDQyZTM3MzY0YjRkNjc3NGJkNzhhYzJhMzk3ZjA2Y2NkYzIz&ts=1684794278">other all-time merch!

Main episodes from this year

Making speech visible with spectrograms

Knowledge is power, copulas are fun.

Word order, we love 

What it means for a language to be official

Tea and skyscrapers - When words get borrowed across languages

What we can, must, and should say about modals

Language in the brain - Interview with Ev Fedorenko

Various vocal fold vibes

What If Linguistics

The linguistic map is not the linguistic territory

Who questions the questions?

Love and fury at the linguistics of emotions

Bonus Episodes

We interview each other! Seasons, word games, Unicode, and more

Emoji, Mongolian, and Multiocular O ꙮ - Dispatches from the Unicode Conference

Behind the scenes on how linguists come up with research topics

Approaching word games like a linguist - Interview with Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer of Spectacular Vernacular

What makes a swear word feel sweary? A &⩐#⦫&

There’s like, so much to like about “like”

Language inside an MRI machine - Interview with Saima Malik-Moraleda

Using a rabbit to get kids chatting for science

Behind the scenes on making an aesthetic IPA chart - Interview with Lucy Maddox

Linguistics and science communication - Interview with Liz McCullough

103 ways for kids to learn languages

Speakest Thou Ye Olde English?

Selected Tweets

Linguistics Fun

aunt and niece languages

Swedish chef captions

IPA wordle

wordle vs kiki

creative use of emoji and space

resume glottal stop

dialects in a trenchcoat

which of these starter Pokemon is bouba and which is kiki

(for no author would use, because of the known rendolence of onions, onions)

acoustic bike

An extremely charming study by Bill Labov featuring a rabbit named Vincent

Rabbit Meme

Cheering on linguistics effects (Stroup and Kiki/Bouba) in a vote on the cutest scientific effect name

Old English Hrickroll

The word you get assigned with your linguistics degree

Sanskrit two-dimensional alphabet

Cognate Objects

Linguist Meetup in Linguaglossa?

baɪ ði eɪdʒ ʌv θɚti

j- prefixing

"But clerk, I am Bill Labov" (pagliacci meme)

Usual winner

Because Internet Tumblr vernacular

Linguist "Human" Costume

Cursed kiki/bouba

dot ellipsis vs comma ellipsis

intersection of signed languages and synesthesia?

Antipodean linguistic milestone

Selected Blog Posts:

Linguistic Jobs

Online Linguistics Teacher

Impact Lead

Customer Success Manager

Hawaiian and Tahitian language Instructor, Translator & Radio Host

Language Engineer

Data Manager & Digital Archivist

Linguistics fun

xkcd: neoteny recapitulated phylogeny

Eeyore Linguistic Facts

Lingthusiasm HQ: Frown Thing!

xkcd is making a vowel hypertrapezoid

Title: Ships and Ice Picks: An Ethnographic Excavation of alt.goncharov

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