#mostly with vowels

[captain-mozzarella]

I think it's funny that I can speak English with a norwegian accent, Norwegian with an English accent. But I cannot speak English with an Italian accent, instead I can speak Italian with an American accent.

[starry-bi-sky]

tales of the passerine - danny fenton being bruce wayne's first kid

okay okay. so this is like a continuation/elaboration of my oneshot/prompt i wrote about the idea that Danny was the first batkid. We have a lot of aus where he joins the family after the rest of the bats do, right? So hey! Lets shake things up a bit. Danny is the first to be adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Danny's parents and unfortunately Jazz die shortly after the events of TUE -- how so? I was gonna say an ecto-filter explosion, that would call back to the TUE explosion and trauma behind that. But lets do something new! Carbon-monoxide poisoning.

It's not too unexpected for something to break in the Fenton house, especially with the Fenton parents' questionable understanding of proper weapon handling and lab safety. The water heater broke from a stray shot by one of the weapons, and was promptly MacGyver'd incorrectly. Danny went to stay with Tucker for a guys' night, and came back to a dead silent house.

(Danny's neighbors got a very unfortunate shock when he ran to the next house over in hysterics.)

There was a lot of shuffling around with CPS, the police. People had to be called in to handle the equipment in the lab, and the GIW was rumoring to show up in aid to clearing the scene. When Danny heard of that, he immediately went and dismantled the ghost portal to the best of his abilities. He burned the physical blueprints of all his parents' inventions, their blueprints on the ghost portal, and their most dangerous weapons were destroyed beyond recognition. Anything to prevent the GIW from getting their hands on his parents' tech.

It opened up another investigation, but he was not under the list of suspects. He was placed in the care of Vlad Masters, where they then went back to the rebuilt castle mansion in Wisconsin. Danny, terrified of the future that has once passed and may do so again, shuts down in his grief. Inadvertently, he ends up somewhat repressing his ghost half. Something Vlad, who is grieving Madeline but relishing in Jack's demise and his custody of Daniel, is not very happy with.

Vlad's... gone into a bit of a mental health spiral. He's becoming increasingly possessive over Daniel, the final remnants of his friends and a liminal being like him. He doesn't like that Danny's repressing his ghost half -- both out of genuine concern as a ghost, but also because of his desire to control Danny and groom him into the perfect son. If you ever had a phase where you read Dark SBI found family fics, first off; me too bro, and second off; those are the vibes I'm thinking of.

Danny's mentally shut down from grief! And fear. He's dropped into a bad depressive state -- paralyzed with grief and the terror of the inevitable. Clockwork saved his parents because he believes in second chances, but what's the point of that when his family ended up dead anyways? Danny doesn't wanna believe that he's destined to become evil, and he's holding out onto that hope, but it's a thin line, and he feels utterly hopeless and trapped. He hasn't used his powers or ghost form since he trashed the lab, and Vlad has alarms set up to prevent him from trying to escape.

He's also unintentionally cut off Sam and Tucker -- both of whom are so scared and concerned for Danny too, and are trying their damndest to reach out to him. He keeps ignoring their texts. Danny basically haunts Vlad's manor. He goes out to eat if he has to, attends parties Vlad drags him to, and stays in his room all day if he can.

At parties, Vlad doesn't allow Danny to leave his side, or really talk to anyone -- not that Danny wants to. A product of Vlad's increasing possessiveness. Well, he almost doesn't let Danny leave his side. Danny has a habit of slipping off to hide somewhere for the parties whenever he can, and Vlad reluctantly allows it so long as he stays alone.

This becomes an advantage when eventually, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after missing for years, and holds a bright charity ball to celebrate the return. Vlad has been chomping at the bits to get his hands on Wayne Industries, and with the return of its owner there is no better opportunity to wipe out his rival. He goes, and he as normal, brings Daniel with him.

Vlad thinks Wayne will bleed his little heart out for Daniel's poor orphan sob story -- he's a fellow orphan himself, after all. He's not wrong; Wayne's little heart will bleed, just not in the way that benefits him.

Bruce sees Vlad and Danny approaching before they're even close enough to introduce themselves - and like with many of the children he will soon come to care for, it's like someone set a mirror into the past right in front of him.

Danny Fenton's suit is tailor-made for him, and despite the fact that it's his perfect size, the sag in his shoulders, the ducked down head, and the way he hunches into himself all pictures the image of a child in shoes too big for him. There's a far away, glazed over look in his eyes and grief marble-cut into the lines of his face. There's not enough makeup in the world that will hide the dark circles under his eyes.

("My nephew, Daniel Fenton." Vlad's hands are possessive on Danny's shoulders. Bruce immediately notices the way the boy tenses under his touch. "His parents passed recently, and as his godfather I was designated his guardian.") ("I'm so sorry, the loss must've been terrible.") ("Yes, carbon-monoxide poisoning caused it. Daniel was out with friends, when he came home... they had already passed.") (Bruce immediately dislikes that Vlad shared the details of their death unprompted -- he likes it even less when Danny flinches at the reminder and hunches into himself.)

Danny runs off at some point earlier into the charity. At this point, parties are still being held at Wayne Manor (because iirc google search mentioned that was a thing at first before it was changed), so he disappears and hides in one of the empty rooms nearby. It just so happens to be the same room Bruce Wayne hides in when he needs a break from all of the socialization.

Thus begins a long, long process of trust. Bruce can't reveal his hand as being smarter than he looks, but he can be compassionate. Kindness needs no measure of intelligence. He keeps Danny company for as long as he can before he runs the risk of being found.

Rinse and repeat. Vlad insistently wants Wayne Industries, and he'll go to as many Wayne parties as he can to get his hooks into the man. The problem is that Bruce Wayne is never alone, and getting him alone is impossible. Finding him too. It's like the man never stops moving. Always talking to someone, always circling somewhere. He orbits around the room as if he isn't the sun of the Gotham Elite's solar system.

Danny's had such repetitive behavior that Vlad never thinks to believe that Bruce Wayne is disappearing to go talk to him. That "Vlad's" son is even interacting with him at all. Danny never gives him a reason to think so, and neither does Bruce.

Danny doesn't actually acknowledge Bruce until a handful of parties in, where he hands Bruce a small slip of paper he smuggled in that says; "don't trust Vlad". Danny's face stays carefully blank, but he's so tense that his hands are trembling, and he's purposely looking away from him. Bruce plasters a smile onto his face, slips the paper into his pocket, and tells him "okay".

(he's been busy with his own goals with the mafia, but he sets aside time to investigate Vlad Masters. He was holding off. Until now.)

Danny does eventually start speaking to Bruce, he's starting to really like the guy. He's starting to see a little hope, even as Vlad is starting to get more and more agitated with him the more he refuses to use his powers.

He reaches out to Sam and Tucker again, and starts trying to reconnect with them. Vlad has spyware on his phone, and he limits the amount of times he can talk to them. A weird parental control lock of some sort that leaves a time limit on how long he can talk to them for. 30 minutes. Danny doesn't tell them anything about Mr. Wayne.

Danny, slowly, wants out of here, and he's slowly gathering the motivation to do it. Vlad is genuinely scaring him -- and Danny wonders just how truthful the past-future Vlad was when he told him that Danny wanted his ghost half separate. He starts trying to come up with an escape plan.

Vlad has anti-ghost wards everywhere around the mansion, and while they're always on, they boost to full power at sunset. The doors and windows are always locked, all main exits have alarms set on them. The only reason it's not super extensive is because Danny hasn't tried leaving at all yet, so Vlad hasn't had to tighten anything.

At night, Vlad locks the door to his room and puts up an anti-ghost ward around the room. The mansion is on the outside westward side of Madison, more entrenched in rural Wisconsin. The closest town is a four-way stop sign with one house on three corners, and an open bar on the fourth. Not much to go.

He refuses to go to Sam and Tucker; Vlad would look there first. It's too dangerous. Vlad would sound alarm bells and have a manhunt looking for him, Danny can't risk going just anywhere. Too much risk of being found, sold out, or caught. There's really nowhere for him to hide.

Until there is. Bruce is telling Danny about the history of Wayne Manor, and says, as casually as saying the weather; "The manor has dozens of empty rooms, I'm sure Alfred wouldn't mind filling another one if he could." And quietly, hesitantly, Bruce places a careful hand on Danny's shoulder, unrestrictive and gentle; "He wouldn't mind getting one ready for you if you need one."

And there it is. There's his out.

Danny, just as quietly, replies; "I'll keep that in mind."

The ball starts rolling.

Now I've been trying to summarize this au as much as possible for length convenience, but Vlad has been steadily growing more and more controlling. More emotionally manipulative. More agitated at Danny for not using his powers.

He wants Wayne Industries under his thumb but he's been steadily growing more and more concerned with Danny. He's started grabbing him, yanking him around, shaking him; trying to goad him into using his powers. He gets angry when Danny doesn't react, or tells him he doesn't want to use his powers. He hasn't outright attacked him, but he's getting there. This has been happening over the time it takes for Bruce to indirectly offer Danny sanctuary at his home.

It all comes to a head when Vlad stops going to parties at all -- something Danny has to pretend he isn't upset about -- because Vlad doesn't want him around other people anymore. Vlad rarely goes now without him, and only leaves to go to a Wayne function or to handle something at VladCo.

Danny can't wait for Vlad to leave long enough to escape. So he leaves during the night of a big storm. Vlad's locked him in his room, but Danny doesn't bother trying to go for it; he goes to the alarmed window instead. Danny's been repressing his ghost half so long that he can't access his powers immediately anymore -- he can feel it, he knows its there, but he can't quite reach it.

He breaks the lock by hand.

Immediately the alarm goes off through the entire castle, filling the room with red, and he scrambles for the rope the Wisconsin Ghost left for him a few months back. Danny's already out and climbing down the side of the castle before Vlad even reaches his door -- the only good thing about the entire room being ghost-proof is that Vlad can't get in that way.

The rope ends before it reaches the bottom, and he's still twenty feet in the air. It won't kill him if he lands it right. Danny takes his chances, and drops. He breaks his ankle, but he survives.

And he fucking books it to the back garden. He hears Vlad shrieking over the thunder and rain.

I'll save the full experience for a future oneshot, but Danny makes it out into the nearby woods and forcibly experiences what it's like to be in a horror game, trying to hide from the thing that's hunting you. There's only one thing going through his mind; "i'm going to die"

I have this mental image for this scene. Very stereotypical horror imo. Where Danny is hiding behind a tree, with a hand over his mouth, and Vlad is a few feet away from him, glowing ominously red through the trees, trying to search for him.

Danny doesn't get away from this unscathed, but he does get away alive. That's all he could ask for. He gets away by getting his ghost half awakened long enough to transform into Phantom and fly to Gotham.

But he gets to Wayne Manor, he gets to Bruce. Or, at least, Alfred answers the door from his insistent pounding. Danny's just in tears and Alfred gets him in the living room, wrapped in a towel, with ice on his swollen leg before he has to step out and alert Bruce.

Bruce already breaks multiple traffic laws on a nightly basis. And that's just with the sheer existence of the batmobile itself, not including the speeding and military artillery attached. He breaks double the amount trying to speed back to the cave and get out of the suit.

Right off the bat: Bruce will know, at least before Dick enters the picture, about danny's powers. He'll figure out something considering the fact that Danny traveled from Wisconsin to New York in a single night. That'll be a bit of complicated affair, but I've already got something in mind.

Actually it'll probably be very soon after Danny joins the family, because Bruce tries to offer to fight for custody for Danny - the state Danny was in at arrival is clear enough evidence for a trial. But Danny immediately shuts it down, says it's not going to work and then Vlad will know Danny's with him and he won't be safe. He tells him that Vlad cannot know Danny was with Bruce.

Danny's biggest regret was not telling his parents he was a halfa, and while he doesn't want to tell mister wayne (yet), he does tell him about Vlad being one. He needs to know why Danny can't be seen with Bruce. So he tells him, and Danny's current plan is to just hide out from Vlad until he turns 18. That way, he has no more legal jurisdiction over him. After that? He's not sure.

And to wrap this up, since this has already gotten very long and I can make more posts about this au later; I've thought about it, and I'm going to say that Danny does become a vigilante before Dick enters the scene. He goes by, as you probably guessed; Nightingale. "Gale" for short.

[tragedykery]

english is so correct for the word “moon” that’s exactly the right word for it. double o for visualising the roundness (x2)! u/ʉ vowel similar to the sound of a wolf howling! & I can’t explain it but a word for moon simply Needs to have a nasal consonant in there, and the english one has not just one, but two of those thangs. my sincerest apologies to other languages but english really wins this one

[catamaris]

Really funny seeing the reactions to the screenshot edit i did as if the original didn’t have that homoerotic tension between them. Cabanela just made it gayer

I figured out his speech quirk/patterns but sometimes it’s hard to draw the line between what he would say vs. if it’s Too gay. i think he’s really just like that

[starlitangels]

Finally got the chance to listen to yesterday’s audio and my takeaway was Sam saying “intentions” with the Southern accent I’m more used to where the e sounds more like an i and it felt a lil more authentic

That’s all I took away from it lol

[greenconverses]

How do mid western people say bag ? (<- has no intention of making fun just is not usamerican)

It's more of a Minnesota-regional accent, but we say it like "bayg" instead of the usual -ag sound. This video has a good example of it.

It's real fun to move outside the bubble and have people constantly double take when they hear you say "bag." I've tried to cull it from my accent but I just can't get it right!

[sesamenom]

C&C vs PD: Tengwar Edition

[bmpmp3]

gives your vocal synth a chronic illness. metatextually.

[emersonfreepress]

Rain legit only goes by the anglicized name 'Rain' in Emerson; it's their actual name Yağmur everywhere else.

Is there a reason for it?🤔

Yes! Emerson's school teachers always wanted an "easier" name, so their family opted for the English translation as a nickname at school. It stuck and Rain has never cared enough about Emerson or its social scene to bother with going by their preferred name. American teachers really like anglicizing foreign names or asking for nicknames instead, I can say that from experience.

[snailmailmp3]

in the event that there's ever some massive english orthography reform (the odds of this happening in my lifetime are astronomically small) i think we need to bite the bullet and just add new vowels to the alphabet. probably some new consonants too but the vowels are a must. having 5 letters to represent 15+ sounds depending on dialect is simply absurd

[coquelicoq]

first off, if you want to spend more time way overthinking r sounds, there's a GREAT doctoral thesis about r variation in standard dutch. "The Sociophonetics and Phonology of Dutch r" by Koen Sebregts. i still haven't read all of it, but spent most of a dinner talking at my mother and sister about it until they were like "please we are begging you to discuss this with literally anyone else". secondly, /ɥ/ :)

[shipping myself with french phonemes ask game]

you always know exactly what to recommend to me. if i were at that dinner you could talk to me about the sociophonetics and phonology of dutch r by koen sebregts as long as you wanted. rip to your mom and sister and any other bystanders but at least we would be happy!!

i was hoping someone would ask about /ɥ/...this sound has been shrouded in mystery for as long as i can remember. we're talking as early as when i learned to count to dix (because of huit). it was one of the sounds i could hear but could not for the life of me figure out how people were making. it's like we grew up across the street from each other, and she was a little older than me and so smart and pretty and carefree and i grew up just yearning. from afar. knowing that /ɥ/ didn't even know i existed.

so you'd think, what, unrequited pining? WRONG. this is ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP. didn't see that coming did you!!!! that's right, i can now pronounce the /ɥ/ sound. i can say it with my own mouth. and i do! i am saying this sound all over the place! we have ridden off into the sunset! we are on our honeymoon! it is happily ever after all up in here!!!

it's kind of interesting how this came about. i couldn't figure out how to make this sound until i learned how to identify and pronounce the /y/ sound, which makes sense given /ɥ/ is the semivocalic equivalent of /y/, but also makes no sense because then why could i identify /ɥ/ even before i could identify /y/? you'd think i would be able to hear both or neither, but not just one. and yet that is what happened. also, there was about a year between getting comfortable with /y/ and sealing the deal with /ɥ/. not sure what that was about either...like if you can make /y/ you can make /ɥ/, they're the same sound, they just occur in different environments...what would this trope be...ummm this is like if she were a superhero and i were dating her alter ego while also pining after the superhero. like babe i have good news for you! but also it's a little embarrassing after a year of dating to not be able to recognize someone when they take their glasses off.

in any case this is a very recent development, probably within the last year ish? it took me over two decades but i got there in the end. slow burn, happy ending. now if only i could figure out why word-final high vowels sound super aspirated sometimes, which is odd because aspiration is a consonant thing. (current theory is devoicing.) my beautiful wife /ɥ/ gives me the courage to be curious. if i can learn to make /ɥ/, i can learn to make anything. dreams do come true!!

[zeebreezin]

trademark of losing your mind at zee 3 times a day--no fr it's Incredibly Fun character writing & concepts, linguisticsposting & 10/10 body horror writing thank you for being my brother in body horror arms 🤝 wait oh my god also the new sequence just, in general. obviously

YBEOSJSO thank you!! Im glad the people stand behind me on fun concepts & also Sequence Posting. The bond between us body horror brothers… iron clad 🤝

[weirdfishy]

i was thinking abt this bc my cousins and i went out to eat and when we placed our order my cousin used "lee" -- i hadn't thought abt it before even though ik she's been using it for awhile, but recently i've been getting coffee and i've been using "sam". i asked her brother while we were waiting, and he uses "v".

all of our names are Hawaiian, and i personally mostly only really use Sam when i'm on the continent, though if i'm in honolulu/waikiki i do have a tendency to use it

[bunny-banana]

me, BCS speaker, listening to Joker Out songs

[simiansmoke]

[url + songs] - song for each letter of URL

S - Self-Destructive - Mothica I - I Need My Girl - The National M - Malibu Nights - LANY I - I Forgot That You Existed - Taylor Swift A - Autopilot - Quinn XCII N - Naked - James Arthur S - Starboy (cover) - Matt Kali M - Monster (feat Avelino) - Jacob Banks O - Oxycontin - Mikey Ferrari K - Karma - Trevor Daniel E - Ease Lontalius Remix- Troye Sivan

tagging: @koopzilla , @geniusdonkey , @pvachypessa, @xxlordalexanderxx , @hannah-the-small , @dandelicn , @thebananwithaplan , @wolfpacksins , @timid-plumber, @softbanax0 , @everyoneeeeeeee who wants to suffer :U the vowels,

[eldenphil]

... how would you pronounce "psychopomp" other than 3 syllables? genuinely fascinated by alternative pronunciations

haha i probably wouldn’t! english just isn’t my first language so the way it handles syllables is so weird/interesting 2 me