#my polyglot projects

[polysprachig]

I hope you haven't answered that somewhere on your blog already (if you have I do apologize for the question), but how much time do you spend learning each of your target languages?

Thanks for the question, anon!

In pre-2019 days I tried to learn multiple languages at the same time, often in a way which was stressful and wasn't suitable to my timetable. I was in love with the idea of spending 2-3 hours per day studying and allocating certain days of the week as x-language days, or establishing months where I'd only plan to read/watch series or films/listen to music in one language.

Tip: don't stress yourself out with nonsensical study checklists. They quickly become uninspiring and lose all the fun.

In 2019 I decided to go about things in a different way entirely, both shifting my focus to solidifying specific skills in my main 5 languages (English, German, French, Irish, Greek) and going from rigid/timed practice to project-based learning. Basically, I made up some silly, yet important goal (with a methodology behind it, considering I teach and assess language levels and can do the same for myself).

Ex. In 2019, I set myself the silly goal of practising my Greek in secret so that I could surprise my family when I visited them in Greece that summer. The plan: keep quiet about it and only learn while at my American grandparents' house (I was staying there overnight at the time to help them back to bed in their old age) so that my direct family wouldn't notice. The methodology: meet 2x or 3x per week for 30 minutes with my teacher, rather than 1x per week for 1 hr, as frequency is better than duration when trying to build speaking confidence at lower levels (and, I would especially argue this is true for passive bilinguals).

Given the types of projects I've worked on in my top 5 languages (and also some others which needed to join the mix to support these 5 over the past few years), I might start out intending to spend 6-8 months one main language project, but have easy access to 2 less intensive (but more long-term projects) so that I can easily go between them based on where my interests have taken me.

[projectbatman193]

Damn it! My cover’s blown!!f

[johnnyreincarnated]

how funny would it be if i made my johnny have just a /slight/ british dialect

like not over the top but you can just about identify the accent

[lilacstro]

Moon in 8th house

Just like how moon shines the brightest in the darkest sky

Well, at the suggestions of @cyberstrangerballoon under my astro observation 6, I will be making this post :))

Moon in 8th house, is a very self contradictory position in my opinion. Most of the astrologers say, its an uncomfortable position for the moon, but I believe its just much more than that and people with placement have some kind of gift, if they realize it today or when they are 80.

People with this placement are often attracted to occult sciences and I can understand why, even if they are unaware, there is a desire to understand everything, especially the hidden and misunderstood because you yourself are quite these things. Its a self projection of some sorts, discovery of self.

I read a chart for someone a few weeks ago, and that guy was seemingly "logical" person and was coder-designer of sorts. When asking for career recommendations, I found something that indicated interest and attraction to occult and dark, I mentioned that to him, though he seemingly showed no signs of interests in such things and he was wooed, he said nobody really knows about this and was super surprised.

And the major reason, why I see people with this placement have some kind of psyche, not necessarily the occult but even esoteric sciences, and metaphysics is because moon here grants you the ability to "feel" through. yes, feel. and now it can often translate into having no logic for your emotions. feeling things INTENSELYY even the slightest things, and often seemingly being disconnected from your emotions because though you can feel a nudge, you just feel it, and have no understanding or logic at times or I must say, most of the times.

This actually grants you the power to see through other people, literally, see through. I would suggest a thing though I would recommend using your conscience ofc, but whatever is your first intutive nudge about something/1st strong feeling about something, believe it please. If not consider it strong and firm, because the first flare of feelings is right, more than you can think. A feeling that it wont end well with someone, A feeling that you should/shouldn't go here, avoiding someone, follow it even if it makes no sense. Please.

People with this placement are polyglots in understanding people. They can literally speak your language, the one you understand, and can have several flairs to them. This can often cause a lack of identity as in who i really am?

There is a desire to understand someone deeply but a desire to be understood as well, and most of the times, just by feels and not having to explain, because you do it for others, and want that once to yourself, but you have to understand everyone does not have this in them.

Pay attention to your dreams that feel different, and encrypted. You might dream a lot as well, so I would just say pay attention to the ones where you feel something after waking up.

There is a desire to be understood, but hide. Hiding in yourself, your conscience. A fear of betrayal, to be able to trust. People with this placement often come from hardships I have seen, closing them off to people most of the times. But, my suggestion is, let people you desire come in, let them hurt you if they choose to, they get what they have done for, but you will transform, and rise, like a phoenix always. ALWAYS, you will find yourself bouncing back, it would be a storm and madness but it would be the brightest sun afterwards.

Learn about this psyche of yours through people. Learn or you will still hurt/get hurt through the one person you trust after a lot of time. It is good to see who wants to understand you, and who is just enjoying being understood. People with this placement, YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO BALANCE THE INTENSITY AND YOUR EMOTIONS and that will only happen if you practice, through meeting people and letting your guards down when you feel nothing is wrong, Dont confuse overthinking and refusal to your intution.

Heard somewhere "anxiety screams, intuition whispers". Hopefully this will help you discrete between your feelings.

Journal. Journal everything down, because at the end of the day, the person who would get your nerves would only be you, someone can just get closest.

Also, I would suggest stop acting on being high on emotions. It isn't helpful in long run. Control this tendency, though your placement nudges you and it would feel hard and binding, but do it, its a suggestion.

Even if you don't reveal your past to people or reveal yourself to people, judge the ones who you can if you wanted to, its important.

This placement in fact can get mental health issues and issues of isolation if unchecked, though these kinds of people, again as a contradiction, are self aware of this. The problem lies in controlling, it feels binding but you need to control your thoughts and impulses.

remember that even if you feel alone inside frequently, it isnt like so. Your light shines bright and people feel it, even if they can't explain it. Just like how moon shines the brightest in the darkest sky. Don't feel otherwise <333 i love you

Thats it for this post :) I hope it resonated. paid readings are open <33 love you all

[maevstar]

| Introducing myself in my fame dr ᯓᡣ𐭩

ᝰ. My name is Maeve Amelie Solace, but people usually call me by “Mae”.

ᝰ. I’m 26yo and I’m an A-list american actress and singer. (I was born in 1997 but I didn’t turned 27 yet).

ᝰ. I started my way on acting when I was 16 when my older brother was doing a play on high school and begged me to participate. I did, and since then I’ve been in love with acting.

ᝰ. When I graduated from high school i moved out from my hometown — Austin, Texas — to LA and entered to UCLA School of Theater.

ᝰ. My first big project in Hollywood was “The Edge of Seventeen” when I was 19-20yo, before that I just worked with small projects, mostly from my uni.

ᝰ. That project gave me more visibility in the industry and I became more well known.

ᝰ. Some of my films: The Edge of Seventeen, The School for Good and Evil (adaptation of the books), Lady bird, Scream 4 (2018), Little Woman, Causeway, We Live in a Time, Challengers, Me Before You, Glass Onion 2, Duna, Anyone but You, Don’t look up, No hard feelings, Don’t worry darling, The outrun, and etc.

ᝰ. Some of my shows: Supernatural (Claire Novak), Looking for Alasca, YOU, outer banks (season 4).

ᝰ. I’ve been nominated for the Oscar 4 times as the best Actress in a Leading Role, but I’m just gonna win the award in the 4th time (2024). Futhermore, i’ve won a lot of awards and nominations like Emmy’s and Golden Globes. In 2022, I entered the list of The Most Influential People by Time Magazine.

Now, my singer career:

ᝰ. My mom is a country singer — not much known — in Texas, so I’ve grew up loving music, and I’ve been writing songs since I was 15, but these never turned into real songs, until 2019-2020, when I recorded my EP’s.

ᝰ. My first EP is called “Minor” and it has 7 songs. I released it in 2019 just for fun, was some songs that I’ve been writing during the years. In 2020 I released more 2 EPs, called “Bittersweet” and “Good Riddance”, with 7 and 10 songs respectively, again, just for fun.

ᝰ. Now, my new coming up project on music is my first Album, called “The Secret Of Us”, it has 13 songs (+ 7 from deluxe) and all of them will have a music video, cause my objective is making a visual album.

ᝰ. With my new album, I intend to go on my first tour.

Fun facts about me:

ᝰ. I know ballet and gymnastics cause when my sister was 8 years old she wanted to learn but was scared to do it alone, so I used to go to classes with her.

ᝰ. I have 3 siblings, Will, Kayla and Austin. Will is 2 years older than me, Kayla is younger than me 4 years and Austin is 8 years younger than me. (Another fun fact is that Austin is adopted).

ᝰ. My s/o is Drew Starkey, I met him in a party at Maddie Cline’s house (2021). Also, Madelyn is my best friend and I’m very close to the cast of the outer banks too.

ᝰ. I’m in fact brazilian. I was born there but my family moved to the US when I was 8 — my father is brazilian but my mom is from us, she was in a trip when met my dad in brazil and blablabla — so I have dual nationality. (latinas are better lol). But when I was 14, I moved again to Brazil and lived there for almost 2 years with my aunt before I came back to US.

ᝰ. When I was 16, I made a YouTube channel with my brother Will and we used to talk about the most random things ever (btw it was a flop lol, this channel just came up when we became famous). (another fun fact is that he is also a well known actor, but more on theater plays than on screen).

ᝰ. When I was in high school, I was planning on going to med school — mostly because of my dad, he’s a doctor (my obsession with greys anatomy might got me inclined to that too🤭) — but then I fell in love with acting (when I was 16, like i said) and never quit. Besides that, I’m still very interested with things related to science and human body, stuff like that; most of things that I know are bc of my dad tho.

ᝰ. I’m polyglot. I speak Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and a bit of French and Latin. I also know ASL.

ᝰ. I still don’t know how to ride bikes without training wheels cause no one ever taught me (😭).

ᝰ. I love the sea, beaches, everything related to that, it’s one of my favorite places in the world.

mood boards; mood boards details;

─────── ୨ৎ ───────

[spontaneousmilktea]

𓆩♡𓆪 bunny's 60-day glow up challenge 𓆩♡𓆪

hi again, i was searching for a challenge to motivate me till the end of the year and i think i found the perfect one by @dreambunnynotes. please go on her account if you are interested in the rules&template. thank you! ✧˖*°࿐

my chosen habits:

learn polish

study

selfcare

my goals and why’s:

habit one: i need to learn polish at minimum level B1 because i want to move in poland next year and there are not many universities that teach in english and are interesting. i also want to become a polyglot so this is perfect.

habit two: i have to study (besides polish) for my school and my exams because i kinda want that academic validation... i also want to have high scores so it will be easier to get in unis.

habit three: lately i've been neglecting myself and my well being and of course if i dont feel pretty and clean i will feel miserable for the day and wont be able to be focus on my tasks. i want to look pretty for myself. i want to achieve my best self.

my habit energy tiers:

habit one: polish

low energy: achieve all tasks on duolingo

medium energy: finish a section on duolingo; study vocab

high energy: study grammar rules; watch a tv show; read a children's book

habit two: study

low energy: read 10 pages from a book/ lecture; review lessons

medium energy: do hw; finish projects/drawings/paintings; study 2 hours

high energy: study 5 hours

habit three: selfcare

low energy: pilates for 10-15 min + basic shower routine

medium energy: pilates for 15-20 min + basic shower routine + morning and night routine

high energy: pilates for +20 min + everything shower routine + morning and night routine

(edit: i'll change my habits energy tiers so it alligns with my daily schedule) (edit 2: as a reward ill buy for myself some gym clothes)

[ko-garashi]

And here are the headcanons about Albert Whiskers Wesker, which I collected from bits and pieces of my consciousness (with Wednesday Wesker to you) 🕶️

- Albert was born in Germany. And although he doesn't remember anything before his abduction by Umbrella, he speaks German. He knows enough languages ​​that we can say that he is a polyglot.

- Like the rest of the "Project W" test subjects, Albert does not have a superior hand. Both of his arms are equally developed due to acquired skills, so we can say that Albert is ambidextrous.

- Albert doesn't remember anything about his life before he was kidnapped by Umbrella, as if he never had seven. Also, the employees of the shelter where he was staying told him that his parents simply abandoned him, although in fact this was not the case.

- As a child, he was especially close to Alex. But then, over time, this connection was broken and they became not as close as they had been before. But Albert doesn’t miss those times much.

- Albert prefers tea more than coffee. Classic black tea without additives is what he always needs.

- He suffers from a recurring nightmare, where he again and again dreams of snippets of experiments that were carried out on him as a child, the screams of children and the endless corridors of the orphanage. He doesn’t fully understand the nature of this dream, but over time he even got used to it.

- Albert tried smoking before. And it even lasted a couple of years.

- He likes to get up early in the morning and do his hair very pedantically and for a long time. Albert finds special pleasure in this. Besides, he knows his worth. Because he's damn good.

- Albert wears his black glasses not because he is afraid of bright light. He wears them to avoid looking people in the eyes. So he believes that if the interlocutor does not see his gaze, then he will not read his true intentions. So if Albert takes off his glasses in front of you, it means he is at least a little more honest with you than with the others.

- Albert’s favorite sweet is chocolate. He usually eats dark chocolate with a high cocoa content. He himself cannot explain the reason for his love for chocolate.

- Albert plays chess very well and always neglects the words that “White starts and wins.” He proves every time that black wins. Of the worthy opponents, he came across only William and Alex.

- Albert, unlike Alex, does not like Kafka. One of his favorite works is "Vatek" by William Beckford, "Frankenstein", and he also shares part of Birkin's love for the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

[twsthc]

savanaclaw headcanons and projection 🦁

...this is what the poll from like last week was for. sorry heartslabyul and diasomnia fans teehee </3

⚠️ warnings: self harm, eating disorders

last updated: may 4, 2024

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR !! 🦁🥩

🇲🇱🇹🇿🇰🇪 UNLABLED + INTERSEX TRANSFEMNEU (she/him)

APPEARANCE HCS:

Leona is actually the twst character I've drawn the most

I hc all beastmen to have fur everywhere thats elastic and akin to mink skin

You know the texture of squishmallows? It's like that.

╰Doesn't include the thick hair in other places (head, facial, armpits, chest, pubes, etc)

Lots of scars in general + healed dermis self harm scars on thighs

Has a flat nose like a cat

RANDOM HCS:

Savanaclaw mom/big sister...

Overstimulating thunderstorm? Go whine to Leona. Diasomnia students bothering you? Get leona to deal with them. Your food is too hot? Cry to Leona.

During freshman year she was way more outgoing and extroverted but eventually She mellowed out (depression moment)

She used to change hairstyles a lot before settling on freeform dreads

Also got into way more fights back then (also how she became housewarden)

Now she is (kind of) calm. Tranquil. At peace. Has depressive episodes. Relaxed.

Mostly does her own thing, and if that "thing" isn't sleeping it's some other bullshit the underclassmen roped her into

SHE CAN SEW AND MAKE JEWLERY

╰While wandering the castle one day, Leona stumbled upon the servants quarters. They taught him life skills (mending clothes, cooking, etc :3)

Despite being a big sis figure if she doesn't want to do something she Will Not.

And if she does do it afterall it's because she gets something out of it.

NPD, GAD, PDD (persistent depressive disorder)

RUGGIE BUCCHI !! 🍩🌼

🇺🇸🇧🇷 UNLABLED + TRANS MAN (he/him)

APPEARANCE HCS:

Similarly to Leona he has a furry textured skin

Though his body hair is more coarse and longer due to him being a hyena

He has a lazy eye and tipped ear similar to Ed from The Lion King

Probably my second most drawn twst character :3

Healed epidermis self harm scars on inner wrists 🥶

RANDOM HCS:

He's like the cooler afrolatino Luke Blovad

He's either winning the idgaf wars or dying on the battlefield

Has an insane collection of weird shirts from thrift stores

And he makes it work every single time! his outfits go crazy!

More connected to his AADOS/Gullah side than his Brazilian side

Though he does speak Portugese!

In fact, he speaks multiple languages because polyglots are marketable

The type of person to take a half empty bottle of ketchup and rotting apple from an empty ass fridge and make dinner happen

Constantly going to Scarabia to snag their party leftovers

Used to be a scene kid!!!! This is canon and true!!!! Pls trust me

diabetes, GAD, MDD, undiagnosed ADHD

triggering content ahead !!

he has bulimia nervosa

╰fun fact! a lot of food insecure people have eating disorders

self harmed a lot from the ages from 10-12 before eventually stopping at 13

he stopped after his grandma found out and started checking his arms regularly (#projecting)

JACK HOWL !! 🐺🌵

🪶🇪🇬 PANROMANTIC ASEXUAL + GENDER CURIOUS (he/they)

APPEARANCE HCS:

WAY thicker fur than leona and ruggie

Trims his body hair a lot because he overheats in savanaclaw easily

RANDOM HCS:

The type of guy to be totally in love with the world and nature

They're just like. Wow. We were put on a spinning rock. With food to eat, and water drink, and air to breathe. I love being alive.

Had a little garden back at home and named every single plant

Remembers small things about people and brings them up in conversation

╰Hey dude I got you a Chipotle bowl. How did I remember your exact order? You told me. Yeah, I know it was a year ago, but--

Random but I think he dresses how Tupac did

Not even to be tough

But because he's a black suburban kid

(I'm a black city kid but this is probably how black suburban kids dress trust)

Loooves chewing on things. Has one of those chew necklaces

Autistic with botany and physical health special interest

[lambsouvlaki]

The Crime Lord - 2

Characters: Jason Todd x fem!oc

Rating and warnings: T, non-explicit smut.

Word Count: 1,560

Summary: Jason never stopped his crime lord ways, but he did find someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. They both have to live with what the things he's done.

Masterlist

At a little past six in the evening, she looked up from the organised chaos of her desk in her run down little office building and saw Jason sitting on the corner of her desk, watching her. 

She yelped, and jumped. 

He laughed. Despite her optimism back in the early days of their relationship, it never stopped startling her, and he never stopped enjoying it. 

“Oh, you asshat,” she said, putting a hand over her heart. “How long have you been there?”

“Just arrived.” He was in civilian clothes, with the stubble of several days at his chin. “You’re working hard, I wasn’t even trying this time.” 

She closed her eyes and rubbed them. She’d sent everyone else home an hour ago. Running a non-profit was so much harder than it looked. “This project, I swear. I’m going to pull my hair out.” 

“Don’t do that, you have beautiful hair.” 

“Hmm.” She cracked an eye open. “What are you doing here?”

“Had the evening free, figured I’d save you the bus trip home.”

“You sweetheart.” She eyed her paperwork, then looked at him again. “How’s your Cantonese?”

“Worse than yours. My Filipino is pretty good.”

She perked up. “Is it? You know it’s dangerous to go telling me things like that. I’ll put you to work.” 

“Good. You’ll want to keep me around then,” said her partner of six years and the man who funded the entire organisation. 

She grinned. “You have your uses, I suppose.” 

“You ready to go?” 

“Yeah. I just need to lock up.” 

She never sat down and decided to become a cornerstone of Gotham’s charity scene, she just gently slid into it. While the Red Hood and his crew held the worst of Gotham by the throat, she looked around the supposedly regular parts of the city and was dissatisfied.

There were too many people in the poorer districts who didn’t speak much English and relied on their community, only to be left behind when disaster struck. She had always been something of a polyglot and after her literature degree wrapped up she did some work with charities in the Alley, a little here and a little there, and got to know the movers and shakers in various communities. 

She tentatively started her initiative because nobody else was doing it, and Jason encouraged her. She pushed for it much harder when emergency sirens in English warned a largely Vietnamese neighbourhood that fear gas had been seeded in their waterways and they shouldn’t use their taps for the next twelve hours. The fallout was catastrophic.

She put some people in contact with other people, who then asked her opinion on who they should speak to afterwards. She kept at it, and within a shockingly small time frame she was arranging cross community relief work across half of Gotham and was busy learning her sixth language. 

The whole thing was a money pit of course. Red Hood funded it through several shell companies, and it could be thought of as money laundering, in the style of a washing machine that always eats your socks. He went out at night and beat money out of Gotham’s organised crime, and in the morning she put it back into the city.

She was no great figurehead in the local community, but people trusted her, and that was all she needed to get on with it. Her little office wasn’t a destination but a crossroads, infrastructure that nobody stopped to look at but everyone relied on. 

Information from so many people crossed her desk, from officials in the judicial system, to the head of the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation, to handwritten letters from little old ladies who wanted to know just who she was to tell them not to eat produce grown in their own backyard, a little Gotham soil put meat on your bones.

When one of Red Hood’s lieutenant's planned to overthrow him, she knew about it before Jason did. 

He walked her out the back entrance, then opened the driver’s door of his car for her. 

That told her everything she needed to know.

She hopped in and didn’t even bother glancing at the backseat for the rifles that would definitely be within easy reach under a tarp. Automatically she checked the roof opposite her office, and there he was, one of Hood’s men, blending in among the air conditioning units. She had learned to be good at spotting them. She’d gotten good at all sorts of things in the last six years. 

“Where are we going?” she asked, turning the keys in the ignition.

Jason gave her an address, and she drove. 

It wasn’t their home address, or at least it hadn’t been yesterday. That was how this worked. One of the disadvantages of not being a billionaire who only dipped his toes into the Gotham crime scene: there was no retreat for them, just sidestepping.

Jason kept a hand on a gun just below the window the entire drive. He watched the roads carefully, while she planned and adjusted their route to make sure she wasn’t ever boxed in or at a standstill. 

Despite the caution, they arrived without incident. Jason tapped his ear, and said they were in the clear. 

Their home for the night was one of his old safe houses by the docks, a loft apartment she hadn’t seen in years. 

“This takes me back,” she said, as they went in. He slung an arm over her shoulder. “I had a front row seat to watch you throw Tim off of that roof over there.”

He grinned and kissed her hair. “Hopefully no such theatrics tonight. I missed you too many nights this week.”

They went up and settled in. He made her dinner and told her to put her feet up. It had been too many late nights for both of them. 

She lounged back on the couch and watched him cook for her. She smiled wistfully. 

These moments were still so precious. Jason’s relaxed side, his playful side, his sweet and needy side. They didn’t get to come out very often and she hoarded those moments greedily. They were never going to be the norm. She knew that. 

The Red Hood was not an newcomer upsetting the board anymore, and this wasn’t a holding pattern. It was the destination. 

These were not the people they were becoming, but the people they already were. 

Some days she felt the guilt of it all. He had her tacit approval, and she was complicit by every standard. 

Those among Hood's men trusted to know about her had nicknamed her Evita. She found it deeply irritating, and Jason thought it was hilarious. She would contest the comparison, she wasn’t glamorous, and they were hardly living it up. But she knew how this looked, what they were doing. 

“Al Capone was loved by his community too,” Nightwing had told her once, sourly. 

No matter how much good she did, her passion project was funded by drug money. On the days when Jason felt the weight of his chosen work too heavily, funding hers justified it to himself. Maybe it was all motivated by guilt in the end and they were kidding themselves.  

But she recalled the Gotham she grew up in. The terror, the helplessness, the filth. 

It wasn’t like that anymore. It had changed, and Jason could tally that in his soul's favour. 

Black mask had been overthrown by his own second in command a couple years ago, after getting his shit kicked in one too many times. That particular criminal empire had crumbled without strong leadership, and Red Hood swallowed and chewed up what survived. 

The Penguin had lost so much ground that in the end GCPD scooped him up and he couldn’t even blackmail his way back out. 

The Joker died in Arkham. Reports were inconclusive. Nobody was fooled.

Hell, things had changed so much that Red Hood had installed safe injection sites across the Narrows, decimating his own drug trade, and dealing the biggest blow to hospitalisation numbers in Gotham’s history, ever. 

City authorities widely condemned the move as explicit distribution, but Jason held such a grip over his own districts that there was nothing they could do to stop him. 

The two of them ate and relaxed together as evening stretched on. He pulled her onto his lap, languid and easy with years of familiarity. His body knew hers so well, as she did his.

Perhaps they were damned for what they did. 

She wasn’t a fool, Gotham’s newfound peace was bought and paid for in blood night after night. They cleaned up the city without the city’s consent. 

As she rocked in his lap, he gazed at her with such devotion. In her he saw absolution. The soothing rain after his scorching fire, the recovery only possible after the infection was burned away. 

She enabled him.

The hands of a murderer held her hips steady. They caressed her body, then cupped her jaw. The lips of a man so drenched in blood she imagined they were both slippery with it, drank from her mouth. There were no vows, no rings, but he was hers. And she was his.

His head fell forwards, and she cradled him to her chest. She wondered if he saw the blood staining their hands just as vividly as she did.

He mouthed at her neck, and whispered her name. 

She didn’t regret a damn thing. 

Next>>

[fandsart]

As someone who projects onto Steve a lot, the idea of polyglot!Steve has occurred to me before, but it was always quickly dismissed because I didn’t have an explanation as to why it would have not come up in season 3, because Robin being a polyglot is what helps them translate. But now @amoris-no-smut-allowed has got me thinking about it again, and I realized I could easily solve this problem by simply projecting onto Steve even harder.

Not long after season 3, Steve says something in Italian, quoting his mother or something, and Robin is like “You know Italian?” He doesn’t usually speak his other languages, but since Robin has already revealed that she knows some of the languages that he knows, he knows she’ll understand, but then she’s way more surprised than he expects and it becomes a whole conversation he was hoping to skip past.

“Yes, I know Italian.”

“Oh, that’s great! Now we can gossip in front of people! This will be so much fun!”

“Oh, yeah! That’s cool.”

“Maybe I should teach you Spanish too, just in case we want to talk secrets in front of your mom, or other Italian speaking relatives. If you’re up for learning a new language that is.”

Steve sucks in air through his teeth. “Yeah, that’s gonna be a problem.”

“Don’t take to learning new languages all that well?”

“Kind of. English and Italian are my native languages, so that makes things easier, but I actually already learned Spanish. I do like learning languages.”

“That sounds like the opposite of a problem.”

“Right. Except there’s a reason you were so much more useful when translating Russian. Because you’re ears might be geniuses, but even though I’ve learned 7 languages that I didn’t already speak, I can’t understand any of it when spoken by someone else.”

“You know nine languages???”

[polysprachig]

28.09.2023 | Mediaeval narrators and fun reflections on quarantine writings

I don't know when the shift happened exactly, but sometime during the pandemic my learning objective of writing and correcting in order to practise this or that grammar rule morphed into writing and narrating in an attempt to both channel Chrétien de Troyes and act as a somewhat snarky rival (some 830 years too late) given the fact that the Romans de la table ronde, my plague escapist literature at the time, featured too many lengthy descriptions of who was sitting where at Arthur's table.

Still, while listing out my favourite lines and those which I found particularly tricky to write in my polyglot journal, I realised that the silly, opinionated narrator was one of the most enjoyable things to work on first in Irish, but then in the English translation—particularly when the project threatened to get too tedious.

[kellterntempest]

Chapter 13: "The Thorn in My Side" Summary:

Agent Stone meets Dr. Madhuri Rao, Robotnik's former rival.

author's note: writing a character who is a polyglot is hard when you're only fluent in 1 language :\ please feel free to correct me if I made a mistake.

[codeandcanvas]

An idea for a study project about studying after graduation: Uncredited Credits

I have been kicking around this idea during my graphic design study for a while, since I am nothing but ambitious (and I have a few fond memories of this working before, to my benefit): to actually put in the workload for each topic related to graphic design and applied arts.

Hi. I am Mario, and I have a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, which, to you, should mean that I passed every test. And, for the sake of this project, it is best to assume that I barely made the cut each time. It is also best to assume that this applies to everyone with a degree, since scoring high grades is not what makes you pass.

A passing grade does.

So, right now, I am at the point where I am ready to actually understand graphic design (and my second interest: applied arts), and I was looking for a system, a quantifiable system of work put in, translating into workload, per week, per topic.

And that system is called ECTS: the European Credit Transfer System

Each credit in this system translates to roughly 25 hours of workload put in. A topic or lecture is worth 3 credits? That means an investment of 75 hours. 5 credits translate to 125 hours.

You can use this for yourself, independent of whether or not you actually study a course someplace.

So, you can go ahead and look online for a course giving you information about its lectures, topics, ECTS credits, and workload, and create your own schedule, at your own pace:

45 minutes every other day will very quickly beat the eight‑hour long crunches once each week, since a good schedule is about allowing consistency to take hold. I am not an educator (yet, afaik), but from what I remember the issue with these crunch sessions is that the session which came before is already barely present, its learnings vague, my progress a memory.

So, let us say that you have found a course telling you about its lectures and classes, and how they are set up. Ideally, with information about recommended literature. If you are a polyglot (and who isn’t these days?) you can again enjoy having an edge, for obvious reasons I don’t need to get into. You have been shopping around colleges and universities around the EU, and you have found out that which interests you most, is figure drawing.

And, for the sake of this example, I’ll say that there are three figure drawing classes, called “figure drawing I”, “figure drawing II”, and “figure drawing III” respectively, valued at 5 each. To you, this means a workload of 375 hours for your absolute foundations in figure drawing (5 × 3 × 25).

Of course, to do this, you also need courses in anatomy (75 hours?), drawing (75 plus 75 hours maybe?), and painting (375 hours?) to have those foundations upon which you can build your figure drawing.

Provided you build smart (and frequent a good library in the largest city in your area), we are looking at a workload of around 975 hours.

These are study hours: learning, reading, doing.

What this translates to in terms of doing 45 minutes of work every other day, is that to get those (I assume solid) foundations in figure drawing, assuming you work 3 hours per week in total, will take you 375 weeks.

Or 6.25 years.

This seems slow. And it is. It should be. But the outcome will be the same: a passing grade in figure drawing. For only 45 minutes of work every other day (not counting your trips to the library each time you need a new book to study from).

Of course, we can look at that the other way as well: if that is the workload anyhow, why not get credits for it? They, at the very least, are proof of what you studied. And because, in our example, we just accumulated around 45 ECTS credits, you might as well have them validated and go study for real, feel me?

BTW, my graphic design study was 180 of those credits in total, so you just did a quarter of the points needed for completing a bachelor’s degree.

Huh. This was insightful. For both of us, I hope.

[doumadono]

Greetings, lovely Readers!

Welcome to my corner of the internet. You can call me Marcianna — she/her — hailing from the enchanting land of Poland. By profession, I'm a doctor, but beyond the hospital walls, I'm also a passionate writer and a dedicated mom. With ink-stained fingers and a heart full of stories, I'm thrilled to have you join me on this creative journey ♥

In addition to my freelance writing endeavors, I'm the leader of a language project known as "Romanian At Ease." If you're learning Romanian, this space was specifically designed with you in mind! You can find me on various social media platforms: Tumblr, Facebook & Instagram

My favorite fandoms: My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Therapy Game, James Cameron's Avatar & Bucchigiri?!

When I'm not crafting stories, you'll find me indulging my love for languages. As a polyglot with command over five languages (Polish, Romanian, German, English, Spanish), I'm currently adding Japanese to my linguistic arsenal. My love for languages extends to my travels, as I venture to far-flung places to broaden my horizons.

I'm a certified neurosurgeon, delving into the intricate workings of the human brain. Currently, I'm on the brink of completing my second doctor thesis, which is set to expand my expertise into the field of neuropsychiatry. My scientific interests encompass: central nervous system dysfunctions and damages, schizophrenia & bipolar affective disorder, diabetes and its impact on the brain, as well as the correlation between radioactive radiation and the central nervous system in relation to the occurrence of mental disorders.

So, my dear reader, join me on this odyssey of imagination and exploration. Let's dive into the realms of emotions, traverse the landscapes of fiction, and perhaps uncover a few secrets of the mind along the way. Your presence here is a cherished gift, and I'm thrilled to share this literary adventure with you ♥

Warmest wishes, Marcianna

P.S. You can also find me on the following platforms:

Instagram TikTok Last.fm Ao3 Spotify

P.S.2 I also want to let you know that there's an opportunity to support my work by buying me a coffee. Thank you in advance!

[arwainian]

Reading This Week 2024 #30

This week took me to the very final page of the notebook I have been keeping my reading journal in since last October! which is very convenient, but also now i have to dig around my book shelf to find what half used notebook i want to convert toward this purpose. As a heads up I skimmed some articles this week I wont be including, but there will be a subsection in started/ongoing on books from the library that I've tested (lots of holds coming in at once) and whether I'll pick them up again or not

quick question, this log jumps between different genres pretty wildly [academic work on sexual violence to cute romance manga back to academic work on sexual violence]... would anyone prefer if i also sorted by genre/type? or are we cool with me mostly sticking to the timeline that i actually finished reading stuff? because my life and reading experience really does flip back and forth between these things

Finished:

settle the tab by blacksatinpointeshoes on ao3 reaching a point where I can return to friends at the table fanfiction after the post-project break is such a godsends bc there is so much good fic to catch up on! this fic by bsps (if you remember, an author i really loved during the reading project) is about Grand Magnificent being miserable and drinking martinis, a drink for people who hate themselves

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang, audiobook read by Emily Woo Zeller this book was blurbed by Shelley Parker-Chan, author of She Who Became the Sun which I am obsessed with, so I picked The Water Outlaws up on a whim when I saw it at the library a few weeks ago. i ended up having an easier time starting the audiobook just because it fit well with my chores and errands after I returned from visiting family. if you like badass women and chinese-inspired historical and fantasy action, go check this out! I had a good time

"Toward Acknowledging the Ambiguities of Sex: Questioning Rape Culture and Consent-Based Approaches to Sexual Assault Prevention" by Tuulia Law, Ch.12 in Violence Interrupted: Confronting Sexual Violence on University Campuses a really loved reading this. it gives a good history of various feminist approaches to sexual violence, and says some things that have been on a mind in my research. love to have a place where i can justify and cite my opinions (btw, cause the title is ambiguous, its about acknowledging that Obtaining Consent(tm) does not always prevent sexual harm for various reasons, and consent-based approaches often individualize the broad social issues at play

A Sign of Affection, Vol. 1 by suu Morishita, translated by Christine Dashiell shojo romance between polyglot boy and Deaf girl. not really feeling the chemistry between the leads, but I finished the first volume for the lush art and how sign language is represented in static images. not sure if i'll continue with further volumes but i might check out the anime

"Thinking Woman-to-Woman Rape: A Critique of Marcus's "Theory and Politics of Rape Prevention"" by Kelly Anne Malinen a very incisive critique, a great and critical literature review on different feminist theories of rape (including radical feminist text with their gender essentialism). i will definitely be using this in my writing!

"The Font of Liberty" by Elizabeth Porter Birdsall, narrated by C.J. Lavigne on the Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast i kinda forgot what this is about.... newspapers in Les Miserables era France?

Go For It, Nakamura! and Go For It Again, Nakamura! by Syundei, translated by Amber Tamosaitis the art style for this is charming, the disaster gay is at absolute maximum disaster for comedic effect, and it really does get you shouting "just make a move! you have a good chance!" at this shy teenager's crush on his outgoing classmate/friend

"Sex Wars and the Contemporary French Moral Panic: the Productivity and Pitfalls of Feminist Conflicts" by Cornelia Möser provides a much needed outside perspective on the U.S. feminist "sex wars" between "pro-sex" and "anti-porn" camps, and reminds me of the need for a multiplicity of approaches: what feels empowering for some overlaps with what feels oppressive for others

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown, audiobook read by Yu-Li Alice Shen if you are not, like me, a graduate student familiar with writing on anti-black oppression and on asexuality, a lot of this stuff might be new to you. but me as I am a lot of this felt like fairly obvious comparisons/parallels/intersections, so reading it was a bit tedious. however those chapters were worth getting through for Chapters 10 and 11. Ch.11 gives a pretty thorough amateur history of different namings of asexual experiences in theories of asexuality prior to the internet age (its not new!), and Ch. 10 does a really beautiful and compassionate re-reading of the lives of Langston Hughes and particularly Octavia E. Butler through asexuality and aromanticism

Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps by Junji Ito, translated by Yuji Oniki the volume I read also included "the enigma of amigara" fault as a backup story! excited for the shelved by genre episode on it. made me go eugh.

You've Always Been There by kingofwickedskulls on ao3 if you really wanna leave, I'll never make you stay by hornyonside (birdlord5000) on ao3 first is pickman/collette hookup, second it jesset/brnine hookup, both are nice!

Just Sex? The Cultural Scaffolding of Rape, Second Edition by Nicola Gavey maybe the best book I've yet read on rape culture, and specifically on the gendered aspects of all kinds of sexual violence (pressure, coercion, etc) and let me be specific that the praise I am heaping on it is specifically for the 2nd edition, which in a completely new chapter contextualizes the way the arguments of the 1st edition were written and limited by its time of publication, as well as eloquently expanding on some of the arguments which had at first given me pause with reliable qualitative research. this makes me want to go out and write a gender based analysis of sexual violence against and among trans people, like Gavey calls for in her acknowledgement that a lot of her argument relies upon presuming she's talking exclusively about cisgender subjects

Started/Ongoing:

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle, audiobook read by Mara Wilson reading this for queer lit book club! currently on audiobook for the sake of doing chores and not reading everything with my tired tired eyes

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu reading for sff bookclub which i have been absent from for a bit! this is short and written in an experiemental style, so I'm excited to get deeper into it

Boys Run the Riot, Vol. 1 by Keito Gaku, translated by Leo McDonagh, Status: DNF This is a manga about a closeted trans boy, Ryo, starting a fashion branad with his cool slack off held-back-a-year classmate Jin. It was very cool to see a manga with a trans protagonist, but I'm not interested enough in the fashion stuff to stick it through all the volumes, and the art style didn't grab me enough to want to finish this one... Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid, Status: to be continued! the cover of this book was done by an artist i like so I'm checking it out, first chapter or so it promising fairytale inspired stuff Black Water Sister by Zen Cho, status: to be continued! looks popular, its queer modern fantasy i think? first chapter is intriguing

Reading Plans:

continue with book club reads more articles on sexual violence there's a book on feminism and foucault i need to read i have stone butch blues out from the library i am slowly crumbling to dust under a pile of books please help

[evenhisfacewasanalias]

Day 28: Free Day: Blindfold/Sex in a Church

For @myladyjanecentral Kinktober/Kimptober

Excerpt from my My Lady Jane Cupid and Psyche AU

Lady Jane Grey/Guildford Dudley

Rating: Adult

He let go of her hand, asking her to stay. She could hear the soft flicker and hiss of a candle being lit - first one, and then another, and then many more, until she could almost glimpse their soft glow through her blindfold.

And then she heard his voice echoing from somewhere behind her, “you may look now.”

She pulled the blindfold from her eyes to take in the room before her. More than a room, she realized - they had somehow entered into the castle’s chapel. Though small in appearance from the outside, inside, the stone walls and high windows lent it a more impressive air. Starlight dimly glowed through the stained glass arch at the front of the chapel - an ancient portrait of the Virgin with the Child cradled to her heart, both of them haloed with gold and light. All else was lit by the many flickering candles placed around the small sanctuary, most of them atop the large altar at its center. There sat a large collection of books, in fact there were an unnumbered many littered across windowsills and pews. As if someone had tried to turn this small chapel into something of a library. She clasped the first volume she sighted.

“Quam ut rememdium bestia ,” she took up another, “ Das Biest Beenden , Euripides, Diodorus Siculus - these are all books on beasts, and ancient myths.”

She looked back without quite meaning to, though her lover had hidden himself well enough behind the stone columns at her back. 

His voice echoed from the shadows of the narthex, his tone less certain. “To answer your earlier question, I don’t know what I am. I had hoped to find the answers in these books, though I have not yet found any such satisfactory account.”

Jane turned back to marvel at the collection. “How did you even find all of these? Many of them are said to have been lost.”

“My man Rupert travels the world to collect them for me, any time I get word of a new volume. He has always been loyal to a fault.”

“Most of these are in ancient Greek or Latin - though this one is in the Sicilian dialect, and this in Aramaic - can you read Aramaic as well?”

“I know some little Church Latin, and Rabbit knows some German, but we are none of us able to translate the preponderance of these. I had heard that you were the most learned woman in the kingdom, a polyglot of sorts.”

“SÌ - though I’ll confess I know the Florentine Tuscan better than the Sicilian.” 

She was already trying her hand at the Diodorus Siculus in front of her.

“Dante or Petrarch?” He guessed at the source of her knowledge.

“Boccaccio,” she argued. Though in Latin, his De Mulieribus Claris on the great women of Italian history had been as a bible to her.

“Jane, will you close your eyes again?” Came his voice from behind her.

Reluctant though she was to set down the ancient manuscript, she acceded, turning towards the columns to show him that she had done as he asked.

She felt both her hands taken into his. He was now directly before her. The temptation to open her eyes nearly overwhelmed her, even though now she knew precisely what she would see.

His voice was filled with solemnity. “Will you help me then? To discover the source of my curse and its cure?”

“Your curse?” It was the first she had heard the word, but as she said it she started to understand. 

The other beasts could take what shape they willed, could walk in the light as man or beast. None were so terrifying as her husband. But also, none could protect them half so well.

“You wish to cure yourself?” She altered her question. 

“You wish to be wed to a monster?”

“I had no wish to be married at all,” she reminded him. “But you are the source of safety for all these people.”

“And at what cost?” His voice grew bitter.

“Yes, I understand something of that cost,” Jane’s hands tightened in his. “But you have succeeded where I failed to protect them.” 

He pulled away.

“And for how long? How long will they stay safe with me? How long will you? I cannot stay trapped in this castle any more than you can. I have no control over this.”

Jane could understand this feeling, more than perhaps anyone else she knew. She had endangered everyone she loved in challenging the laws and tradition of her Kingdom. The nobility had turned on her swiftly, even as she held the support of the people, and they were all of them stripped of their former station. Still, she is not certain she would have acted differently, even knowing how it would all end. Her family had survived, whatever the personal cost to her own freedom.

Guildford sensed her hesitation, though he did not seem to understand its true source. “If you were to find a cure, we could both leave here. I promised you I would set you free when it was safe to do so - this is the only way I can honor that.”

Janed frowned at this. Apparently his earlier promise had been more conditional than she had hoped, and now he expected her to do the impossible. In all of her studies she had never read of such a condition, far less any possible cure.

“What do Archer and the others say of this?” Surely if anyone knew of a cure, it would be his fellow beasts.

“Archer insists there is no curse, that I must accept what I am to gain mastery of it. But it is curse enough to remember what the beast is capable of - controlling it would only compound my guilt.”

Jane’s breath halted at his words.

He continued. “Surely you don’t think a mere glance at me was enough to scare away the Kingsland guard - even though it clearly set you running.” 

“It merely took me by surprise,” Jane insisted, not wanting him to think her still afraid of him. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

But Jane had heard their screams, and she had seen the blood on his teeth - no matter that Susannah had assured her it was no more than false conjuring. If this was indeed a curse, there must still be some source. How many stories were there of those driven to such an illusion by their guilt?

Jane couldn’t find it in herself to condemn his actions however. Though she had been unwilling herself to demand the execution of her opponents, they had never held a sword to the throats of her friends. She imagined someone threatening one of her sisters, or Susannah, or even the man in front of her in such a manner. Jane knew already she would make the same choice to defend them, by whatever means she could.

“Then will you help me?” His hands took hold of hers once again.

“I will try,” she hesitated to promise.

“Please, that is all that I ask. It is the only way I will be able to set us both free.”

Still, she had her doubts.

“But Guildford, what if it doesn’t work?”

His lips pressed to hers, taking her by surprise.

“What was that for?”

“That’s the first time you’ve ever called me by my name.”

She blushed to hear the delight in his voice at so small a gesture.

“This is the first time I feel as though I actually know something of you. But Guildford,” another kiss, “I still have so many questions.”

“I expected you might,” he teased.

“To start - how does this work? Can no one look at you? Or is it just me?”

“No one.” His hands tightened around hers.

Jane breathed out a small sign of relief. At least she was not bound up in this curse as well.

“Can you look at yourself then?”

“No. If I were to see myself in a mirror I would transform just the same.” 

Jane realized there were no mirrors in her room, no reflective surfaces at all.

“So then you don’t know what you look like as a man?”

“Jane, I have not always been what I am now,” he chuckled.

And of course, she knew that. He had been a part of the Court once, and she recalled hearing of his name as his father’s son. But first one and then all three Dudleys had been exiled from the Court before her ascendancy to the throne.

“Wait, let me turn around - I don’t wish to be blindfolded again but it is difficult not to look at you.”

She turned from him, but he lingered near, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his face into her curls. This way, she could not so easily glance around to see him.

“Why didn’t you tell me at our first meeting?” This question is foremost in her thoughts.

“I had thought you might run at the sight of me, and, as it turns out, I was quite correct.” His words were harsh but his tone was teasing. He did not fault her for this, at least.

“I might not have, had I had some warning.”

“I did warn you not to be so curious.”

“You might as well ask a bird not to fly, you knew what might happen.”

He laughed. “I had hoped I might have a little longer to convince you to stay.”

Jane thought  back to their nights together - every time she had asked him any real questions about his nature, he had drawn her back into their marriage bed. Had it all been an attempt to convince her to stay with him?

“And that was how you thought you might win me over?”

“I believe the seduction was mutual.” A soft kiss was pressed to the side of her neck, and she shivered at the touch. Jane couldn’t deny that she had drawn him in just as readily. “But how does one win over a Queen? Surely you wouldn’t be impressed by jewels or fine dresses.”

“If I were, then Rabbit might better have won me over,” she teased. “I think I’d rather have books than any other gift you could buy.”

“I thought offering you any from my own collection might give away my secret too soon.”

“Then perhaps the way to win over a Queen is with honest conversation,” came her retort.

The low rumble of his laugh tickled her ear. “I gave you poetry.”

“I prefer non-fiction.”

Another laugh. “I presented you with a challenge, which I know you like best of all.”

This she could not argue, though she greatly desired to do so. Instead, she reached for the blindfold still atop the altar.

“I thought you didn’t wish to be blindfolded?” He asked, even as he helped her to tie it once more around her eyes.

“Can’t I change my mind?”

“Yes - I often expect you to do so.”

There were many ways she could interpret his words, though she hoped to persuade him that she would not go back on her promises to him at least. She would aid him, as he had asked her to, and would stay with him until she was assured of both their safety, and that of her friends - whether she cured him or not. She would not be afraid of him again. 

Jane could think of no better means of communicating this than to turn and take his lips with her own. Her fingers slid into the soft familiarity of his hair, and his lips opened easily to the tender press of her tongue. His arms stayed wrapped around her, hands flexing against her spine as she drew a pleased noise from her reavowed lover. 

She pressed him back toward the altar rail, and he went willingly at her tough. But in her blind state she could not accurately judge the direction of her aim, and Guildford instead stumbled over the raised dais. He fell back to seated just beside the altar itself, laughing as he went. He reached up to pull her down with him, until she was settled astride his lap, the stacks of books just over their heads. She pushed at his shirt, realizing that he must have dressed himself after she had caught her all too brief glimpse of his naked form, and she could imagine no greater shame. Her hands traced over the muscles of his chest and stomach, melding the tangible sensation with her memories of their appearance. She wished she could see him again, feeling greedy for the sight of her lover - and jealous that he could so easily see her. All of her but her eyes, at least - despite it all, their eyes had never once met. This thought suddenly overtook her.

“My eyes are hazel,” she breathed out, thinking to even this score between them. 

His lips met hers again with fervor, and she knew he had understood what she was trying to share. He pulled away but for a moment. “If you can cure me, perhaps I will one day see them for myself.”

“I will do my best to see that happen,” she promised, and Guildford’s lips surged towards her once more.

But Jane was now placed above him, and it was so easy to slide her hand along his jaw and into his hair, catching at the thick tufts of it tightly enough that she could take control of their kiss. She felt his groan of pleasure against their lips.

It was the work of only a few moments as they tugged off his trousers, and rucked up her chemise so that the heat of her was pressed against his waiting skin. Jane pushed him to lay back as she positioned herself above him, breathing out his name as she took him back inside herself. Her own name was on his lips as their bodies met, both trembling at the feel of what they had almost lost. 

When Jane attempted to shift her hips upward, Guildford’s hands pulled her back down again, and together they built a rhythm between them. Their sounds of passion echoed through the church but no one was around to hear them. 

She spared a thought for her cousin, the Queen Mary, and how she might view this as proof that Jane truly was a heathen. And perhaps she was, though there was nothing unholy about this union with her husband. Even if the bonds between them weren’t til death, he was hers to have for as long as she stayed here. And in this moment Jane saw no reason to leave.