#the english language itself does not have a word for someone who leaves when they do not wish to. when they do not want to

[lialuvsaven]

Pairing: Aventurine x reader

Tw: none, he's just skittish but that's understandable. Might have grammatical mistakes but English isn't my first language so whatever. The « » words are supposed to be the avgin dialect okok that's all

"Will you teach me how to speak the Avgin dialect?"

Aventurine nearly splutters out the sip of wine he was about to drink, and you observe as his whole body subtly jerks — trying to figure out if he misheard you or not.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

And yet, the only expression he sees on your face is a little smile, a hint of curiosity and optimism in those lovely eyes of yours. For some reason, he can't find it in him to appreciate that look this time.

"And why is that?" The tone of his voice is reserved, calculated, and for a millisecond, you are reminded of your job: meetings, negotiations and transaction. The air suddenly feels thicker, and although he maintains his usual smile, there's a subtle shift that suggests it may not be as genuine as it was moments ago.

"Because I….want to understand you?" You naively respond, unaware of the warnings you're triggering in his head, unaware of the amount of bells ringing in his ears. The red alarms flashing in front of his eyes are bright, and they blind him to everything else, drowning out your silhouette until he can't make out your face as a familiar one.

All he's seeing is red, red of a warning bell, red of sunset and endings, red of blood and—

"I'm not sure why you even thought that would be a good idea" a small chuckle leaves his mouth, and he shifts a little on the couch in an attempt to regain his belongings.

"After all, I don't even speak it anymore— a dead language is not something you'd benefit from learning."

"But I am a linguist" You counter, huffing a bit. "I wouldn't think a language is “less beneficial” just because it's dead. Besides, Sigonian isn't a dead language, and neither is the Avgin dialect. You are here, and you speak it."

Blink.

"What?" Aventurine grows defensive, and he shifts in his seat again; only a little. It's not okay to let others know of your discomfort, you cannot show your weaknesses. Luckily, you don't notice, and he continues carefully.

"I don't speak it— what are you saying? How could I possibly use that language?"

He picks his sentences with caution, leaving half of it up in the air for you to interpret. He can't bring himself to finish it— he can't use it when everyone else who spoke of it is presumably dead. That would only result in another restless night of futile attempts at subduing the void in his heart. Just because he knows it, doesn't mean he likes to think of it.

Aventurine does not like to remember the fact that he's the only one left of the Avgins, even though the cosmos is merciless in its reminders.

"You do speak it!!" You insist, and look into his eyes, and his eyes almost make you forget the rest of your sentence. "—You say things under your breath. When things go south, or when your catcakes do something super adorable and you can't hold a grin on your face. I've seen you multiple times, talking to yourself in an unfamiliar language. It is your mother tongue, is it not?"

Ah.

The words that escape your lips are curling into itself, flickering through the corners of his mind. I've seen you multiple times. Multiple times. Multiple times. Talking to yourself. To yourself. To yourself.

His mother tongue.

Oh, how he wishes he could talk to someone else, how he longs to talk to another Avgin in his mother tongue— in their mother tongue.

"Do I do that?" He inquires, and you affirm, still wearing a smile. Both of you have been smiling at each other, but only one of you is clawing through the walls of their mind trying their best not to leave the room right this moment. You're not an adversary, he reminds himself. You're not an enemy.

"I can't teach you that." He stares in an unusually cold tone, sending shivers down your spine. A tone Aventurine reserves for when a business deal has gone wry, for when he needs to put on his best performance and come back at the top. Unfortunately, this means there's no room for you to argue, no negotiations, no nothing.

You realize a bit too late that you've made him uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry" Apologies keep flowing from your mouth, but Aventurine can barely hear them. All he knows is the warning bells in his ears are growing fainter, and you are once more becoming recognizable, the blur in your face diminishing by the second.

"It's okay," he laughs softly, ruffling your hair to dispel the gloom on your face.

"I don't remember much anyway- I can't teach you anything meaningful, you know? I think Tanti or any of the likes would do much better for your next research material than my native language. We have a reputation across the cosmos anyway, that language can't be intriguing to people."

"Huh?" You tilt your head in confusion, "I'm not going to write a paper on it though???"

"Then what did you want to learn it for?"

"Did you not hear me? I said I wanted to get to know you better."

The feeling of discomfort is back with that, and Aventurine finds himself trying to figure out how to come up with a valid excuse to end the conversation. If he isn't careful, you'll catch on. And if you catch on, you'll keep insisting on trying to understand him, to mend your mistakes and to avoid something similar in future. Then, he'd simply have to cut you off before you go too far. And he'd rather not cut you off and keep you by his side. Yes please, thanks.

You speak once more, but this time you avert your gaze from his eyes and focus on the soft carpet beneath your feet. "If you're not comfortable teaching me, I won't insist. I apologize if I overstepped. I want you to know that my intentions were not malicious. I simply wanted to learn your language so that we could converse in it, and I'm open to sharing my own language with you if you're interested."

Ah. You've now started to speak with more formal and eloquent words than usual, a habit Aventurine has picked up on thanks to observing you for so many years. You always do that when nervous, along with averting eye contact- and you're now anxious.

"it's okay," he reassures you again. "I know what you mean. So no need to worry, hm?"

His words seem to have given you a confidence boost, because your next words catch him off guard again.

"Also, I found your language to be quite beautiful."

"....Beautiful?"

"Yes," you gesture with your hands as you continue, "it's very melodious, you know? I'm familiar with the Sigonian language, as it was one of the languages I studied during my major. However, the Avgin dialect sounds... different. Of course, you're a very quiet mumbler—obviously— and I couldn't understand much- but I've realized that the Avgin is not only is not only significantly different from standard Sigonian, but it also has a much sweeter sound. As a linguist, it's disheartening to think that this sweetness has gone unnoticed by the world."

The initial panic has completely dissipated for Aventurine, replaced by a sadness even he can't place what for. He has half a mind to laugh, and tell you that his people were sweet too, but no one cared for that either. He wants to say of course it sounded sweeter, the standard Sigonian had always been dry and lacking the warmth, any Avgin would agree with you. And yet, he dares not let the dam loose.

Instead of voicing his thoughts, he decides to observe you, as the ringing in his ears has now completely silenced. The you in front of his eyes is meek, likely because you've assumed you overstepped and made him upset. He hates seeing that expression on you: truly, especially when you shouldn't have to feel that guilt. He knows you well enough to know you're not lying, and for a split second— he entertains the idea of sharing the sweetness of his language with you, to have someone else who can understand his tongue.

He decides it's not an entirely uncomfortable thought.

It has been a few weeks since he agreed to teach you the Avgin dialect, and he still finds it surprising that he made that decision. Everything related to the Avgins and their culture is dear to him, including his people, his family, and of course, kakavasha; he protects them with all of his being. However, for some reason, he has chosen to share this delicate and intimate part of himself with you. After all, he is the last known surviving Avgin—this is more than personal; it's his mother tongue, for goodness' sake!

You've proven yourself to be a very very dedicated student, absorbing every piece of information he imparts like a sponge. Aventurine is unsure of how to teach you, as he himself is losing touch with his language thanks to not speaking it for years. Because of you, he now thinks more in Avgin and realizes how much he thought he had forgotten but still remembered, and how much he thought he remembered but had forgotten.

But it's nice, to be greeted in his language whenever you two come across each other. You're still cheerful and sparkling as before, but now you can greet him in his language. «Hello, how's your day going!!!» You ask him each time, with that accent and broken words that makes you sound childish more than anything. But Aventurine could care less about that; he's quick to greet you back each time, adding a new word so you learn something from each interaction.

You've told him that he's much much more expressive whenever speaking Avgin, but he tries not to think about it.

"Manro means bread," Aventurine informs you, observing quietly as you eagerly jot it down in your notepad. "I quite like the feel of pen and paper," you told him once, and he still can't comprehend why that's preferable to typing on a screen instead.

"Mañro?" you repeat, and he has to conceal an affectionate smile at your accent. It's unfamiliar and odd, but not disliked. Never disliked.

"Manro." He corrects, and you get it down this time.

"So….«manro» means bread and you said…«pani» meant water? So let's say I wanna talk about my lunch….«I water with bread eat?» Is that how you say it?"

Aventurine purses his lips, trying to appear serious. "No, it's «I ate bread with water.» But what's with that meal choice? That can't be good for you."

You only huff in response, "hey— I'm still learning okay!! How do you say wine?"

"Mol"

"Mol— how about wanting to drink or taste?"

Aventurine raises an eyebrow, "Zumavel"

"Okok. So…. «I want to taste wine really bad. Might die.»"

Aventurine snickers at that, turning his gaze away to avoid receiving another punch from you. Despite the fact that you've opted for this inefficient learning method—since he can't provide proper grammar lessons—the sentences you're coming up with are hilarious.

"Not quite. It's «I want to drink wine so bad that I might die»" he corrects you again, and you let out an embarrassed laugh to write the correct structure down. You've promised him you'll figure out the grammatical structure and everything to him after all. And he can't say he's not hoping you actually will.

"How do you say eye?"

"Just like how you say in standard Sigonian"

"Ohhh….I've noticed that body part names are usually unchanged in the Avgin dialect. How about warmth?"

"We call it tato" he smiles at you, and your cheeks tint the faintest hue of pink as you look away.

"«Your eyes—»" you purse your lips, thinking hard to form the structure "«-Are warm right now. Very warm.»"

Aventurine's eyes widen, and for a moment he's speechless; unable to comprehend how and why. But you're blushing, and playing with the hem of your shirt, which means at the very least you aren't lying.

«I'm afraid you've become my heart» He says under his breath, the words escaping his mouth before he can even stop them. It tastes sweet in his tongue, memories of a time long gone resurfacing. He didn't even remember that saying, up until now. And now, he has a little more understanding of how sweet his mother tongue really is.

"What does that mean?" You ask him, and he merely smiles at that.

"Nothing. I just said thank you."

A/N : gah I'm sorry for that word vomit I can't stop thinking about it....like one been thinking for months about his language and what it might mean for him now that he's (presumably) the only avgin left. My mother tongue has PLENTY of dialects, and there are certain ones that are totally different from the standard (I don't understand some of those) so I kind of projected....and other than that I hope it wasn't too bad omg

[fineghkst]

How Lucien acts around his mate

a/n: It’s been a while since I wrote anything so I’m posting this one before I give up. I will try to post more next week so feel free to send requests!

warnings: fluff; kinda suggestive; not proofread; english is not my first language so let me know if you find any mistakes

At the moment he finds out

Lucien felt the bond the first time he saw his mate. He was truly surprised, even shocked to be honest. Lucien didn’t expected to have a mate after what happened to Jesminda, he was actually afraid of having one and end up putting your life at risk by being connected to him. Lucien would be ecstatic and happy, but at the same time couldn’t help but fear.

How he acts?

He would be completely open about it and would probably just split it out as soon he has the opportunity. Lucien just wants to be with his mate and knows how important is to keep a clear and sincere dialogue. He really values honesty, especially when it comes about the bond.

Lucien is not the only one affected by it and even if you didn’t feel it yet, he doesn’t want to left you in the dark.

Will he tell anyone?

As I said before, Lucien doesn’t keep the bond as a secret. He won’t scream it to the whole world (since it’s not something that belongs only to him but also to his mate) but I think he would share it with his close friends (Jurian, Vassa and maybe Feyre) and also with Eris.

In short, he won’t try to hide it but in respect to his mate, he will kept it low until you’re comfortable enough to tell other people.

When his mate feels the bond

Lucien will definitely be insecure, he was opened about the subject since the beginning but once you feel the bond too he’s too scared you will reject him. I think he always would be around you, but if you rather not having his company he will give you all the space needed.

When his mate accepts the bond

Lucien got used to the feeling of rejection and somehow already waiting for it. Once his mate accepted the bond, agreeing to spend the rest of your life with him, Lucien was truly surprised and extremely happy, a type of happiness he thought he would never be able to feel.

That was the first time the light inherited from Helion reveled itself. He felt a joy that made the power overflow through his veins.

He won’t leave your side (and your bed).

Things he loves to do with his mate

Definitely traveling. Once the matebond was officialized Lucien just wanted to enjoy every second with you and above all, the freedom you both had. He didn’t want to be rooted in a court for a while and neither did you. So you both dedicate your free time on travels to other cuts and to the human lands, even those beyond the continent.

Lucien doesn’t actually enjoy having to wear a disguise to deceive humans, but there was nothing better in the world than knowing every piece of the world next to his favorite person.

Does he often gets jealous?

Is something rare to happen, but sometimes the matebond makes him a little possessive. When someone shamelessly hits on you, Lucien sassy personality would definitely show up (all I have to say is: poor guy who thought it would be a good idea to flirt with Lucien Vanserra’s mate.

Favorite body part

Your neck. Lucien loves to kiss your neck and to buy you jewels that enhance your skin. He also loves the way you react when he give small kisses or when he decided to use his hands as your necklace.

PDA

HE LOVES IT. Lucien loves to be feeling your skin against him so he doesn’t care if you are in public or not, he just wants to feel your skin against his.

How often he says “I love you?”

At the beginning it was harder for him to say the 3 little words, Lucien thought somehow he would scare you away once he said it, so he rather demonstrate with attitudes.

You were the first to say you loved him and once you did, Lucien realized how stupid he was being and started to say how much he loves you every day.

Protectiveness

Lucien been through a lot and because of that, he’s always scared something bad will happen to you. I don’t think he would be the overprotective type but would insist that you learn to defend yourself, supporting you to start training with the Valkyries (and also become one of them).

Random bonus

When it comes to you Lucien is always open to any kind of conversation, no matter how difficult it is. He told you everything that happened in his past without censorship (you were the first person he felt completely safe for that).

He loves to hear you talk and always encourages you to always tell him when someone bothers you, setting your boundaries. Lucien becomes your best friend, not only your mate.

He’s also very open to try anything new on bed. So if you’re curious about something, Lucien is definitely down for it.

[cheeeeseburger]

Dream girl Part 6

Next part

Sidney Crosby x Reader

Masterlist

A/N: A THIRD part in three days, and I'm already writing the next one? That's a first for me! This chapter was my favourite one to write so far, I literally didn't have to think, it bascially wrote itself!! All of this is because of yourkind words. Thank you guys so much for your kindness. Anyway, English is not my first language, apologies for the mistakes, enjoy!

It’s the middle of the night, and Sid’s phone is ringing. It’s not like he was asleep anyway. No, like most nights, his bed felt too empty, his sheets too cold and his arms longed for someone to hold onto. No, not someone. You.

He picked up the phone.

“Sidney, baby, it’s me!” Of course, he knows it’s you. Your name is flashing on the screen and his ringtone is that one song that you said you’d like to dance on top of the bar to. Even though your voice was expected, he still felt a thrill when he heard it.

“Hey, are you okay?” He’s immediately up, ready to put on a shirt and his shoes. You hadn’t contacted him since that night when you basically ran way, except to say thank you the next morning.

“I’m okay, for the most part. I mean, physically, I’m intact. I think I might be heartbroken, but not for the right reason.” Sidney can hear the sadness in your voice. He also hears loud noises in the background, and judging by your tone, he assumes you’re drunk and probably at a bar. He grabs his keys.

“What does that mean, not for the right reason? Did you end things with him?” By him, he means his teammates, but he can’t think of a single nice thing to say about him at the moment, so he prefers not to pronounce his name.

“No. I mean, I don’t want to think about it right now. I came to the bar to get fun drunk, but I ended up sad drunk, you know what I mean? All I want to do is drown in ice cream and sob on the couch at home, but I don’t even have a couch, nor a home, since he’s back in the condo. Why does he get to go back in the condo? He has so much more money than me. He could get a hotel room or something. And my friend, who I’ve been living with? Yeah, I think she’s sick of being my friend. I think a drink would make me feel better, but they are so freaking expensive so instead I’m calling you and I don’t even know why I’m calling you but you’re so nice to me and I like you too much and I think my crush on you is back but you’re just so hot and nice and perfect and maybe I should stop talking now!” Sidney hears you take a big breath after your monologue. His head is spinning and he’s not the one who’s had too much to drink. You gave him a lot of information in a few short minutes. He makes out two things out of it: one, you need a place to stay and two, you might be actually interested in him. He feels a rush of adrenaline, but he also knows you’re drunk, so he doesn’t want to get his hopes up. Still, a win is a win, right?

“Slow down, sweet. You’re calling me because you know I will always help you. I think we should talk about this in person. Text me where you are, and I’ll pick you up. You can stay in your old bedroom, or I can give you a new one, if you prefer.” Sidney’s already in his truck. You give him the address and he leaves immediately.

“Thank you so much, Sid. I know why you’re so nice to me, but I also believe to my core that you would be just as nice if that reason wasn’t there.” Your words feel like a puck to the stomach. He’s busted, but he doesn’t mind. It’s not like he was really discreet about his feelings anyway.

“Of course, sweet. I’m a few blocks away.” He looks at the streets filled with people half his age, including you. You're not hard to spot.

“I think I see you.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m going to hang up now.” Love you. The words almost slip away.

“Hey, Sid.”  He gets out of his car. You look away, too shy to meet his eyes. He finds it adorable, but he can also see the sadness you’re trying to cover up. He takes the time to notice your outfit too. You look too good to be true, clearly dressed for revenge, although you’re way too loyal to actually take any revenge, unfortunately.

“Hi, sweet. Are you ready to go? I got some water for you in the car and those granola bars you said you liked.” For some reason, your eyes got misty. That was the last reaction he expected.

Then you pulled him for a big hug. Okay, sorry. That was the last reaction he expected.

“Thank you so much, Sidney. I wish I was the one taking care of you for once.” The words sound distorted because you pronounced them to his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, my love. You take care of me in so many ways already. Why don’t we go home now?” Your home. It feels so natural. Carefully, he picked you up and opened the car door for you. He buckled both of your seatbelts, and he drove away into the night.

When you arrived home, he parked the car then shut it off. Nobody dared to move. You were the one to break the silence.

“I would like to have a room upstairs, if you don’t mind, please. I’m too scared to go in the basement alone.” There has to be another reason why. When you lived in it with the rookie and they had to leave for away games, you were alone for many days, sometimes a week, and you never said you were scared. He doesn’t pick up on it though, but he stores away the information for later.

“That’s not a problem, sweet. You can stay with me for as long as you want.” Stay with me forever, he wants to add but doesn’t.

Like this was not the middle of the night and this happens everyday, you followed him inside. He wished it was a date and he would bring you home for the first time. There would be a kiss on the porch and hickeys in the entryway. Shoes would be flying, your dress on the railway. Your bra would be somewhere in the alleyway leading to his bedroom.

Instead, he lead you to the living room.

“Why don’t you sit down? I think I have some ice cream in the freezer. Rocky road is your favourite, right?” You nodded and fell helplessly on the couch. It was clear you had sobered up.

“I don’t have anything to wear. Would it be too much if I asked you to borrow one of your shirts?” Such simple words that have such an effect on him. He came back with the container and a spoon and nearly drops both objects. Seeing you in his shirt would be a dream come true, a new image to think about when everything seems grey.

Somehow, he swallowed and managed to answer. “Yeah, no, of course. I’ll go get one.”

He looked through his drawers, furiously trying to find the softest shirt he owns. He wanted it to be comfortable, presentable, and selfishly, he wanted it to smell like him. He finally landed on an old Rimouski shirt that met all the standards.

Sidney went downstairs and was stopped in his tracks by the sight that was you licking your spoon. It was obscene and he will never be normal about it ever again.

“Thank you so much, Sid. I feel so much better already. You’re so kind to me, it’s crazy. You really are making your country proud. I think you’re the best person I’ve ever met. I’m so sorry for making you do all this. I don’t know how I got so lucky, and how you don’t hate me.” You got up and crossed your arms, trying to comfort yourself. He just wanted to pick you up like a doll and take care of you. He wished you knew the lengths he would go for you and how this is nothing compared to what he would do for you. You’re my dream girl, and I would do anything for you.

“Sweet girl, you don’t ever have to apologize to me for something like that. You’re not obliviously to my feelings for you, and I don’t get how you don’t hate me for how selfish I am.” There, he said it. His insecurities and his feelings were all on the table, just like playing cards. You were the Queen of Hearts, and he was your loyal subject. Sidney had never laid his feelings like that before.

“Sidney. My heart aches for you. You have been nothing but selfless ever since I’ve met you.” For once, he was the one avoiding your gaze. You took a step forward and took his hands in yours.

“Please, Sidney, I need you to understand this. I’m the one who’s being selfish by playing with your feelings like that. In fact, I’m going to be selfish again, because I don’t want you to get rid of them. I want to do something about them, but I just can’t act on it right now. So please, Sidney, will you hold on to them for a while longer?” He squeezed your hands and held them tightly. This was an incredibly vulnerable moment for the both of you.

“My love, I will always have feelings for you. You’ll always have my heart. I think it only started beating when I first saw you.” You got on your tiptoes, and he bent forward so your foreheads could touch.

“Then I promise you this, Sidney. You won’t have to wait forever.”

His dream girl was no longer slipping away.

[lets-play-pirates]

Ed and drowning imagery

(I’m sorry if this is awkwardly worded. I am not, as you might have guessed, a native speaker of English, and languages are definitely not my forte)

I'm fascinated by the drowning imagery associated with Ed. It's not omnipresent, they don't hit you on the head with it, but it's there nonetheless (or at least I think so).

It's also interesting that, as far as I can tell, this theme is pretty much unique to Ed.

People die in many different ways in OFMD: they get stabbed, they get skewered by their own sword, they burn alive, they get shot, they get a cannonball in the face, they get skinned alive on one memorable occasion (RIP French Captain, you will not be missed), and so on.

The only case I can think of of someone maybe drowning in a death that isn't caused (not directly) by Ed is Ned Low - Stede throws his own fiddle at him, hits him, he falls off the plank, and it's not really clear if it was the blow that killed Low or if he lost consciousness and drowned.

It's possible that some of the partygoers in S01E05 did, but because of the parallel with CJ's story about Ed torching a ship and how the people inside burned alive, I assume that they died in the fire.

Anyway. Ed.

We get the first reference to drowning in S01E04, when he tells Stede what being Blackbeard is like: “It's just fucking hard sometimes, you know? You ever feel trapped? Like you're just treading water? Waiting to drown?”

Then, the Kraken's awakening is heralded by Ed throwing Lucius overboard; Lucius falls into the ocean, and we can hear his terrorized screams and gasps as he tries desperately not to slip underwater.

If you want, you can consider both the shot of Stede's things being dumped into the ocean at Ed's behest and Ed pushing the cake toppers off the ship as two other examples of drowning-related imagery.

The most obvious example of this theme is Ed's coma dream while he's in the gravy basket; he is thrown by his vision of his old captain - the one who, presumably, taught him how to be a pirate - off a cliff and into the ocean, with a rock tied around his waist.

Then, we have Ed trying to sink the Revenge and drown everyone on board, including himself (and I assume that the crew members who are missing after the storm did, indeed, drown).

He regains consciousness as he's sinking deeper and deeper; he tries to free himself but in vain, and he's about to run out of breath when Stede appears.

The rope unties itself, freeing him, but it's interesting that Ed doesn't swim toward the surface, nor does Stede pull him out of the water.

Instead, suddenly, as he realizes that he isn't alone - that he is loved, despite all he's done, that Stede came back for him, that he's begging him not to die, that he’s vowing never to leave him again, that there's still hope, still a future - he finds that he can breathe underwater.

The last example so far is from the beginning of S01E07 when, early in the morning after his first night with Stede, after Stede’s first real kill, Ed bundles up his leathers - Blackbeard’s, and the Kraken’s - in a net, weights them down with a cannonball and drops them into the ocean.

He consigns his old skin, his identity as a pirate, to a watery grave, and wears in their stead Buttons’s old clothes, the clothes of a man who changed himself into a bird in order to be able to properly love his “ocean deep,” because there is a limit to the love he can share with the sea in his current form, like Ed thinks he can’t properly love Stede until he’s gotten rid of this weight pulling him down, of the poison he carries within himself (the atmosphere was poisoned, the soup was poisoned, and it was his actions that brought Ned Low to the Revenge), until he’s found his true form.

How wise this decision is remains to be seen. I know from the screenshots and gifs posted online of the season finale trailer (they don’t air the show where I live, so I couldn't watch the preview) that he’ll soon fish out his leathers again, but how permanent that will be is unclear. We know that he doesn’t want to be a pirate anymore, not like that - he has been trying to find a way to escape this life since before he met Stede - so drowning this symbol of a life he doesn’t want anymore seems understandable, and healthy, at least until he’s found how to wear that skin in a way that won’t hurt him or those around him.

I really don’t know what the point of this all is. I don’t even know if there is a point to begin with - maybe I’m just fixating on nothing - but if there is, I think that the key image of this series of scenes is that of Ed in the gravy basket breathing underwater.

The weight pulling him down is gone and he’s free, and yet he doesn’t have to make his way above the waves. He’s already safe where he is. He is home.

There is no struggle, no desperate rush to reach the surface. The ocean that used to be a threat, that was going to swallow him and devour him as soon as he got too exhausted to tread water and he eventually, inevitably, let go and slip beneath the waves, is now surrounding him, supporting him as he floats peacefully, effortlessly in front of the man he loves.

More than a transformation that has already taken place, it’s a promise.

It’ll take time, more than the season finale will allow him (but, hopefully, he’ll have another season to work on himself).

It’ll take patience, too, and for him to keep examining his own failings, to keep growing, to keep looking at himself - he still has a lot of fishing to do, and the sea monster is still there, maybe a bit less dangerous now that he’s learned to sit with himself and listen, and maybe the kraken is exhausted too, but he’s still lurking in the depths, still a beast - but if he manages to find that strength within himself, he won’t drown.

He won't drown.

He can change his shape, turn himself into an impossible creature, a merman, like Stede in his vision.

(and isn't this season's logo the image of two merman skeletons circling each other?)

[sacred-stanning]

Chapter 11 Part 7: They don't want you to know...L'Arachel's true identity revealed...not clickbait

Last post, Tana was the only one left in enemy range, and, as predicted, the boss comes in and attacks her, but can't double her. She does pretty well since she manages to dodge again, and still gets her hit in.

I mentioned last post that the boss had only 1 res and only 7 attack speed. Well,

it's Luting time!

(She did well attacking, so we'll overlook the level up.)

Aside from the other gargoyle, we also have a couple of random eyeballs to take out.

I check out the range on the far one, and I see that Neimi can kill the close one and still be safe even if she gets hit on the counter. (My assumption is that I'll definitely take care of the gargoyle, but possibly not the far eyeball.)

*Sigh* Then Neimi misses one of her shots.

At any rate, Duessel takes care of the gargoyle, Cormag cleans up Neimi's mess, and Franz actually can easily reach the other eyeball, so things are looking good!

I move L'Arachel up to heal Moulder, who's been about half dead for a couple turns now.

Then I end turn and, before I know it, some random enemy suicides into one of my guys and the map ends!

Because it's a fog map with the rout enemy win condition, they don't actually show you how many enemies are left in the counter on screen, so it's not uncommon for this map to end like this.

Seth reports to Ephraim that the ship is cleared of enemies and that the ship itself appears to be undamaged.

L'Arachel is happy that we protected righteousness. :)

At this point, Ephraim finally finds out who this random woman is.

"I am called L'Arachel. I fight monsters for the sake of righteousness and order!"

She also reveals that she is actually the crown princess of Rausten, which is one of the other countries with a sacred stone.

And she mentions to Ephraim that she met a young woman who looked a lot like him. Ephraim realizes that she must have met his sister.

L'Arachel announces to Dozla that they are joining Ephraim's efforts to fight Grado. Dozla responds that, for Lady L'Arachel's sake, he will jump into a group of monsters, or into the sea...etc.

To which L'Arachel responds that "But of course my retainer would have such wonderful energy!"

I'm actually having a little trouble thinking of how to translate that sentence so that it sounds more like natural English.

She starts with the word "sasuga", which, like "yahari / yappari" which I mentioned before, is another cool word that does a lot of work all on its own.

It's often used when praising someone when you think the person has lived up to the expectations of them, and you want to express your appreciation of that. (Though it's not an inherently positive word, and it could be used to express that a negative result was as expected too.)

"Sasuga, Lute used her incredible magic proficiency to blast that gargoyle out of the sky in one shot!"

So it's a little like "Leave it to [name] to..." maybe. Or "Figures [name] would..."

It's generally written in hiragana, but it can be written 流石, "flowing rock" too.

Interestingly enough, the source of the "flowing rock" kanji probably has no direct relation to the meaning of this word.

The other word that feels awkward to translate is "kiai", which I made into "energy" above. But I feel like the word conveys a mix of energy and also attitude, especially when you are talking about someone who is working really hard, or putting a big effort into something.

Situations like this are where you really get to see the skills of translators, because translating very directly, and trying to capture every little nuance in the original might result in a very awkward-sounding sentence in the target language.

Sometimes the best way is to just totally reword things, but in a way that still captures the feel of the original.

But that's it for chapter 11!

Next up: Chapter 12, and more new friends!

[niuniente]

My native language is Finnish. It's completely gender neutral language. We have one gender pronoun, which has a formal and informal version.

Hän = formal version, which you see on newspapers. This is grammatically meant for humans only but pet owners refer to their pets as hän to underline that the pet is equal family member. Se = informal spoken version used daily, literally means It.

The origin for this is that ancient Finns didn't differ themselves from nature or animals but we were all one. Finns speak like this: "I met Maria. It was upset because its date was behaving badly. I told it it should leave it, because the date means only bad news. It's bad for it but Maria doesn't want to leave it because it worries it will harm itself."

In short, se used of people equals a person. Just a person. This is where I struggle with gendered languages - 30+ years with English and STILL I MESS UP WITH THIS THING - because in a gender language, the pronouns are somewhat this:

She = a female person He = a male person They = a non-gendered person/person who doesn't identify as a male or female Neopronouns = a person with varied point towards or away from a gender, or a certain gendered/genderfree/mixed existence

So, when a gendered language speaker is talked about a person "she", they will emotionally associate that with a woman and feminine things, and maybe have a vision in their head of the said person.

Whereas for me, due to my native language, these all are:

She = a person He = a person They = a person Neopronouns = a person

When in Finnish someone speaks about a person, we don't have an emotional connection or visuals of the person. If I say "My friend was sad because se lost se's pet", it is just a fellow human being. The fellow human being doesn't have a gender or clear visuals unless underlined with a certain gendered word or a name. Of course, from some names, you can't still tell a gender, because words aren't gendered either. I knew a person who's nickname was Gasoline. What gender is Gasoline?

When I was child and learning English, I found it weird that animals were referred as he/she. Because what why she/he means a person, right, but this is clearly an animal, what???

In Finnish, there isn't such a thing than a gendered person when we go to pronouns. There's only a person. If I have to describe my native Finnish gender pronoun it is "It that is female" but even that is false because such a thing than "a female gender it" doesn't exist. My gender existence can't be described in gendered languages. That's one reason why I'm a bit uncomfortable with this question English poses; what gender pronoun I should use of you? Because, it doesn't exist in English. You simply can't use a gender pronoun which exists and covers me the way Finnish se does. So, I have to take the 2nd best option and I typically go for she, because it's the easiest. I see they used of me quite regularly, too, and at this moment, I'm OK with it.

In Finnish and other gender free language, the single gender pronoun covers all genders; the ones existing, the ones forgotten and the ones to come.

I am not a trans and my gender in Finnish is se.

Next to me stands a trans-woman, who's gender in Finnish is se.

Next to a trans-woman is a trans-man, who is also se in Finnish.

We're accompanied by a person who wishes not to have any gender connected to them, and the gender pronoun for them is se.

Our neighbor is a person who is genderfluid and the pronoun is se.

This genderfluid's person's partner is a cis-man, who also goes by se.

They have a friend who goes in English by a neo-pronoun X, and that's also in Finnish se.

I'm always horrified that gendered language people will jump at my throat if and WHEN I make a mistake with a gender pronoun....Because the mistakes will happen, no matter how hard I try to remember these things right. If I call a trans person accidentally she instead of he, or he instead of she, or she instead of they etc. it's never malicious. Or intentional. I hope people understand this. Everyone around me will get occasionally wrong gender pronouns from my mouth; my brother turns she, my dad is hers, my mom is first she and then his etc.

Just these 2 cents from a person from a naturally gender free language, and why you should STILL DO YOUR FUCKING BEST TO RESPECT EVERYONE'S PRONOUNS. It doesn't need to make any sense to you - none of any gendered languages makes naturally any sense to me, what do you mean this item is female and this is male - but I still do my best to honor everyone's existence the way they wish to exist.

...you do know nobody is seriously going to use er/ihm/sein for you right? at this point you're just making a mockery of actual trans struggles.

er/ihm/sein is german for he/him/his dumbass

[magicinaframe-part2]

In An Earlier Era, A Movie Character Wants To Commit A Perfect Crime

Right at the beginning of UN TEMOIN DANS LA VILLE (Eng. title transl.: A Witness In The City - 1959), a tall, slender, well-dressed, handsome-looking man, maybe in his late 20s, pushes a shorter, attractive-looking young woman off of a speeding passenger train, as it approaches its destination in Paris, France.

This distinguished-looking character is arrested, brought to court, found ot guilty, and granted his freedom by the Court's Judge, in the Judge's chambers.

The character, named Pierre Verdier, subsequently heads home in his car, but in avoiding running over a dog, collides instead with another car. So, after making necessary arrangements with the other car's driver and getting his bearings, it takes Verdier a while to actually reach his home. And when he does so, he encounters someone who has already broken in and removed the house fuses.

Who is this character? Vedier knows who it is. It's the husband of the attracting-looking young woman who I watched Verdier push off of the speeding train. The character's name is Ancelin.

Ancelin has had one idea on his mind for quite some time -- to exact his personal justice, execute Verdier, and make it look like a suicide.

This all takes place in the space of something like the opening 6 or 7 minutes. The bulk of the plot of this 89-minute movie shows whether Ancelin's need for justice works out or not.

Many movie lovers, in the U.S., have hyperactive imaginations, so you -- you who are reading my words -- may have told yourself that, without watching the movie, you know whether Ancelin succeeds or not.

The logical question for me to ask any movie lover who says that they know whether Ancelin succeeds or not is "Then, do you want to find out if he does succeed?"

The movie has an English language title which I have indicated above. What about that word 'witness'?

Unless you do a search on-line, it's not likely that you would know that the word 'witness' in the title has a loose or subtle meaning. For instance, you could tell yourself "I saw Verdier push Ancelin's wife off of the train."

Did you witness the death of Ancelin's wife?

Were you in Court for Verdier's trial? There were no Courtroom scenes.

In chambers, the Judge says something to the effect that the Prosecution could not change the doubt that the Defense Attorney established. That sounded to me that Verdier was acquitted on technical grounds.

The word 'witness' in the title, in my humble opinion, actually refers to many characters -- and, by extension, everybody living in Paris who would likely pay attention to the news, day after day, as a matter of habit.

Most of the scenes in the movie were shot on location.

I am deliberately leaving out information that would easily give the plot of this fast-moving movie away.

I have to add that UN TEMOIN DANS LA VILLE's director, Edouard Molinaro, is an example of someone in France's movie industry who is not known to people in the U.S. who write about movies for a living. His directing career coincided with the likes of Truffaut, Chabrol, Godard, Varda, Resnais, Rivette et al. As with many of his director colleagues, he also collaborated on scripts.

In UN TEMOIN DANS LA VILLE, he was assisted by one of the French movie industry's respected cinematographers, Henri Decae, whose work, in itself, is one reason why the movie is a positive experience for me.

If any of this sounds interesting, UN TEMOIN DANS LA VILLE is available on DVD with English subtitles.

-- Drew Simels

[kimdokjas]

please tell me some cool random facts about lingustics!!!

Hi anon!!! Ahh thank you so much for allowing me to ramble about linguistics <3 this got super long I hope you don’t mind!! I’m just really passionate about this topic lol but here are some of my favorite random facts:

Languages see colors differently! Russian, for example, has two different words for light blue (голубой) and dark blue (синий), whereas in English we classify them both as “blue”. Weirdly, English does distinguish between dark red and light red (“pink”). But some languages even group colors like green and blue together! Vietnamese, for example, uses the same basic word for both (xanh) and then additional descriptors for whether it’s light blue (sky), dark blue (ocean), or green (leaves). There’s a lot of debate on how language affects the way we see colors because of this. This is called linguistic relativism and it’s honestly fascinating! (Sources: x, x, x)  

You know that meme with the trolley problem? You’d probably think you’d give the same answer no matter what, right? But some studies have found that our moral decisions are sometimes affected if we’re speaking a second language! The theory behind this is that:

The difficulty of speaking a foreign language makes people pause and give the question more thought. Interestingly, this usually relates to utilitarianism! So, in the trolley problem, people speaking a foreign language are more willing to sacrifice one person to save many, for example, and/or  

Listening/reading in a foreign language often produces a lower emotional response than your native language! So, if you picked up your native language from your family, friends, community, etc. it has a LOT more emotional connections than a foreign language you learned in a classroom, for example. And these emotions can affect the way you make decisions! This is actually fascinating because it shows that our responses to moral dilemmas are not just about our values. They can also be affected by the language we’re using! Now imagine all the forums like the United Nations etc. where people from all over the world are constantly deciding on moral issues. How many of those decisions have been affected because they’re being discussed in a foreign language? Makes you think, right? (Sources: x, x)

Blind people actually gesture when they speak. So even people who have never seen someone else gesture will do it themselves, with the same frequency and types of gestures as sighted people! Not only this BUT different languages will actually use different types of gestures! So for example, to gesture that someone ran into a house, English speakers typically use one gesture, whereas Turkish speakers tend to separate gestures for both motion (running) and path (into a house). And the research showed that both blind Turkish and English speakers gestured in the same way as their respective sighted speakers! This is honestly so cool because it means 1) there’s something inherent about languages that makes people gesture to convey meaning! And 2) there's also something about the type of language itself that makes people gesture differently across the world. (Sources: x, x)  

Weirdly, spoken filler words like uh or uhm usually appear before nouns! As opposed to verbs, for example. The reason is that nouns typically convey additional information, so we normally have to pause to search for the right word. And precisely because we usually pause before nouns, this likely affects the way grammar evolves over time! This makes it more difficult for nouns to evolve to complex forms. In German for example, it’s much more typical to add prefixes to verbs rather than to nouns (ent-kommen, ver-kommen, be-kommen, etc.) Also this is completely anecdotal BUT when I was attending a university in Germany, I was shocked that the professors barely seemed to pause or use filler sounds as opposed to my native language. I thought a lot about this and the way I could explain it was like the language in the movie Arrival, where writing a word means you have to know how it ends. Some sentence structures in German actually end with the verb, so you have to know how your sentence ends when you start speaking! And that leaves less room for pause. So, the use of those filler words before nouns could change depending on the sentence structure of the language! Again, this is entirely my own experience, but it sort of matches up with the study, with less pauses before verbs. (Source: x)  

Sort of related to the point above, but filler words also change a LOT depending on the language! Some languages use mostly meaningless sounds like e in Spanish or euh in French. But some others like German often use modal particles, which are words that actually modify the meaning! But they’re mostly used for emphasis rather than actual meaning. Such as schon (kind of / actually) or eigentlich (actually). Here's a Wikipedia link with a list of some of the most common ones, it’s honestly one of my favorite features of spoken language: (x)  

Finally, I covered mostly scientific studies, but I also love works of fiction that touch on linguistics! If you’re interested in this topic I’d recommend:

Manhunt on Netflix, a series that showcases forensic linguistics

Arrival, the movie I mentioned above, is overall a pretty cool sci-fi take on how language influences the way we think and relate to the world

Last but not least, one of my all-time favorite short stories is Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges. It’s about a fictional country where the language denies the existence of nouns. One hemisphere focuses on verbs and the other on adjectives. Which means there are no objects, only conditions, and therefore no object permanence. The original is in Spanish, but I found a link to an English version here. I honestly LOVE this one!

And if you're looking for even more educational content, I'd recommend you check out Tom Scott's videos on language. They're pretty well researched and he explains the topics in a very simple and clear way! (Link: x)

Again thank you for indulging me anon!! I could honestly go on even longer about linguistics but I have to stop at some point lol

Note: This is entirely a hobby of mine so if any linguists or native speakers out there see I’ve made any mistakes, please feel free to correct me!

[stonyoongi]

➙ REACTION: how they punish you and how they act after?

OT7 x female!reader | Yandere Au | REQUESTED

WARNINGS: seokjin is obsessed with reader's appearance, mention of assault, mention of bullying, threats, manipulation, stepfather x stepdaughter, psychological torture, stockholm syndrome, kidnapping, domestic violence, taehyung hits and spits on reader's face in a non-sexual way+ blood please, let me know if i forgotten something

English isn't my native language, so please excuse me if I make any grammatical errors and feel free to let me know.

This contains some spoilers of my next stories (Namjoon, Hoseok & Seokjin).

A/N: hey anon! thank you for request, i love writing it. please, tell what you think about it, your feedback is really important to me.

MASTERLIST

First, let me say that your appearance is very important to this man, so he never hits you when he needs to punish you. He would never risk ruining your pretty face with a scar, or any other part of your body. Never! When you're up to no good, he'd rather use your family or anyone in the least important against you. Jin isn't the type to get his hands dirty, so he'll hire someone to do the dirty work. Your mother will be mugged, your father will be strangely beaten on the way home, a stranger will bully your little brother at school, maybe your cat will be without food for a few days. It all depends on how angry you made him. When the punishment is over, he'll act like nothing happened and you'd better do the same. Kim Seokjin will not tolerate any complaining, crying or accusing.

Just like Seokjin, the punishments also do not consist of physical aggression, but for different reasons. Why would he hit you when every word that comes out of his lips hurts more than a punch? He's well aware of the effect any slightest action of his has on you, and will use it whenever necessary (or when he's bored and wants to hurt you for fun). Yoongi's favorite method of torture is showing up with other girls and treating them as good as he's never treated you before. And if you dare try to question him, he'll make awnings think you're the crazy, obsessed ex-girlfriend. After that, he'll degrade you, make you feel so bad about yourself that you wonder if there's something wrong with you and end up apologizing to him for not being good enough. He's a nice guy and he'll forgive you. I think that living with him is in itself a punishment.

From his point of view, you enjoy being punished, so who is he to deny that to his sweet stepdaughter? I mean, well, if you didn't like it, why would you be so up to no good? You definitely like it, and they're sure your tears are tears of joy. You love the feel of the impact of his heavy hand against your buttocks, you love his pounding until the area is all scarred and you can't sit down afterwards. You love it even more when he grounds you, forbidding you to leave the house for a long time. It's your perfect excuse to spend more time together, right? Smart girl... After spanking your ass, he will help you to bed, kiss your forehead and tell you that everything he does is for your own good. He doesn't expect you to say it, but he knows you're grateful.

He's your husband, so he has every right and duty to punish you when you don't do your duty as a housewife. Fuck, he spends his day working to support you and the daughter you have together, so the least you have to do is take care of the housework, look good, cook a nice dinner, and greet him with a kiss when he arrives tired. That's not that difficult, is it? He's sure not, so if you fail, in addition to giving you a good spanking, he'll use your daughter to threaten you, knowing how much the possibility of not seeing her never scares you again, so maybe he'll walk away with her and find someone who takes better care of them. When the psychological torture is over, you'd better kiss him and thank him for being such a devoted husband. You're going to take a shower together, maybe make love in the shower.

He just loves that you're so obedient all the time, so when for some reason your attitude changes, he'll freak out. Why don't you just obey him? Be the good girl you've always been and trust him, don't question, otherwise he won't hesitate to hurt you without even having to be physical. He'll pack his bags, say he's met someone better, someone who trusts him and doesn't make him feel bad for being protective. You'll panic, try to reason with him to stay, and clarify that you didn't mean to hurt him, but he won't stop until you're on your knees begging him to forgive you. After that, Jimin will hug you tight, kiss the top of your head, and tell you how much he loves you, even if you show you don't deserve it at times.

He will never think twice about punishing you when you misbehave. Never. A few slaps and spitting in the face is the starter, the belt beating that will leave you a few days without walking serves as the main course and, if you're really a bad girl, you also get dessert, which is nothing more than a few days without eating. Maybe then you'll rethink your actions better. Just like Seokjin, he will act like nothing happened when the punishment is over. He just wants to lay his head under your breasts, feel you stroke his hair and tell him how much you love him. It's asking too much?

He just hates having to punish you because it means you were mean and if you were mean he is not giving you enough love. He's going to feel awful as fuck. Punishments usually come when you reject his affection or say something mean. He's going to lose his mind and, having no sense of his own strength, he's going to beat you until you're bleeding. When he realizes what he did, he will cry regretfully and beg you to forgive him. It's best if you just hug him and tell him it's okay, it was all your fault, or you risk being punished again.

[spanishskulduggery]

What's up with "se me cayó" ("I dropped it")?

Is there a name for what's happening here with this phrase?

It seems one step more complicated than something like "me gusta" and for some reason this scrambles my English-speaking brain a bit.

There is!

This is a superfluous dative expression - ethical dative - with the passive se construction. It's really two grammatical things together

These kinds of constructions usually involve an indirect object and/or the use of se

Bear with me because it's a LOT of grammar concepts here.

-

Basic explanation: caer by itself is "to fall"; caerse is a more passive construction here "it fell (by itself)" used to show lack of blame, sort of like "to fall down" or "to fall away" where it's implied "on its own"

Then you add a dative expression [the indirect objects] to show the effect of it... essentially caérsele together means "to slip out of one's hand" aka... "it fell (out of one's hand, accidentally) + it affects that person"

A more understandable version of this is done with olvidar or romper:

olvidar = to forget [not always used when said of oneself because it sounds purposeful]

olvidarse = to forget [accidentally]

olvidársele = to slip one's mind

In other words, when people forget something, they don't always say olvidé "I forgot"; you could but not always

You usually see me olvidé "I forgot" sort of like "I forgot about it"; this use of a reflexive pronoun is not a true reflexive linguistically. It can imply a deeper or more emotional meaning like "I totally forgot"

Then you add se which is a passive construction; this is a way to place the blame off of oneself. In other words it's not "I forgot" but comes out "it slipped my mind"... as if the thing "forgot itself (from me)"

And so se me olvidó el libro "I totally forgot about my book" or se me olvidaron las llaves "I totally forgot about my keys"

With romper "to break" it works similarly:

rompí el coche/carro/auto = I broke the car [purposeful] se rompió el coche/carro/auto = the car broke down [on its own] se me rompió el coche/carro/auto = "the car up and died on me" [it broke down by itself - se rompió - but it affects ME the most]

*Note: passive expressions treat the nouns as subjects; se me olvidó el libro is "the book forgot itself to me" where it's 3rd person singular olvidó because of libro. And se me olvidaron las llaves where it's 3rd person plural olvidaron because of llaves

Passive se constructions in any tense work that way - Object is Verbed by Subject; se come el pastel "the cake is eaten" and se comen las galletas "the cookies are eaten"

~

In passive superfluous constructions like these you'll see "buses leaving themselves (to people)" or "things depleting themselves (to people)", and "(body parts) falling asleep/going numb (on people)"

English does have expressions like this too but we phrase them differently: "the car died on me" is passive enough, but we can say "the car up and died on me" to make it sound sudden and passive... the "on me" is our "ethical dative" element

-

More on the actual grammar: this all falls under the use of "dative"

In languages with case systems like German, Russian, Latin, and older English, the words will change depending on the situation

English is much more constant now, but you see this most with our pronouns and object pronouns

Nominative case is the standard noun/pronoun, Accusative case is for direct objects [someone/something receiving an action], and Dative case is for indirect objects [to whom or for whom something is done]

As an example: the pronoun "I" is nominative, and accusative and dative are "me". It works that way with other pronouns:

Yo = I Me ves. = You see me [direct object] Me mandas... = You send (to) me [indirect object]

The same thing happens with "he" and "him", "she" and "her", and "we" and "us", and "who" and "whom"

~

But basically for our purposes we're talking about dative which is the use of an indirect object - to whom or for whom something is done

In Spanish the se + indirect object + verb constructions are typically "ethical dative" but may fall under the umbrella term of "superfluous dative"

Now, I have to apologize because I use these two terms almost interchangeably because I don't know all of the linguistics, but the umbrella term is called dativo superfluo "superfluous dative" - basically using a dative construction [an indirect object; sometimes with se involved but sometimes not]

There are technically many types of "dative" that have been classified by linguists such as directional dative and possessive dative

Possessive dative is most commonly with body parts; such as se me duermen las piernas "my legs are falling asleep (on me)"; the me here doesn't just mark "I am affected", it also says "they're my legs"

A less passive one is like me sale sangre la nariz "my nose is bleeding", literally something like "blood is coming out of me, the nose"

In general though people tend to use "ethical dative" as the broadest term

The term "ethical" here refers to a "profound or emotional weight attributed to a subject that affects them deeply, often emotionally or physically"

...In other words the "ethical" means it greatly affects you somehow. Think of acabarse el tiempo "for time to run out"; se nos acabó el tiempo "our time ran out" or "time ran out on us"... the result of time running out greatly affects US... thus it's an ethical dative construction

Same thing behind se me olvidó "it slipped my mind" or se me rompió el coche "the car up and died on me"

-

Ethical dative is also commonly used with comer in regards to food; this can be a bit regional though

Sometimes something like comen una pizza "they eat a pizza" is seen as more mechnical or indifferent.

But se comen una pizza is considered more like they enjoy it "to eat up" or "to wolf down"

Many of our "ethical dative" or superfluous dative expressions in English are done with verbs/prepositions to differentiate them

dormir = to sleep dormirse = to fall asleep, to go to sleep dormirse + body parts = "to fall asleep (on someone)"

acercarse (a algo/alguien) = to get closer / to approach

alejarse (de algo/alguien) = to get away from

morirse = to die (suddenly), to pass away

ir = to go irse = to go away, to leave

Some of these can be phrased very passively (ethically?) like no te alejes is "don't go / don't leave", but no te me alejes reads as "don't leave me" or "don't abandon me"

Other times you'll see superfluous dative constructions used almost possessively, but almost not: like se nos está creciendo (el/la bebé) "he/she's growing up" ...which reads like "our little baby's all grown up" or something like that; literally "he/she is growing up (on us)" where it's partially possessive like "our baby" is kinda implied, but also emotional or nostalgic

Also! With caérsele it could be ethical or possessive:

el vaso de agua = the glass of water Se me cayó el vaso de agua. = The glass of water slipped out of my hand. el diente = tooth Se me cayó el diente. = My tooth fell out. / I lost a tooth.

The reason why all the "superfluous datives" can blend together is that it depends on intention and the noun itself.

Dativos superfluos (hispanoteca.eu) - This talks about it in GREAT detail but it's all in Spanish

And if you want more information on the grammar of possessives and reflexives with some more examples I have the dativo ético tag with more info

[rcksmith]

Spring breeze — Spencer Reid

Sumarry: Spencer never thought about falling in love with someone, but he certainly didn't expect that he would fall in love with Gideon's daughter. — season 3 —

Part.2 Part.3 Part.4

A/N: I am marathoning Criminal Minds again and I can not express how much I loved the interaction of Gideon and Spencer!! So this idea came as an epiphany, and I love the conception of love at first sight. Maybe this becomes a serie...

English is not my first language, so I so sorry if have a mistake.

Requests are open. Love you ❤️

Couple:Spencer Reid/Gideon's daughter!reader.

Warnings: nothing, just very fluff.

— — — — —

Something was different. Maybe it was the way the sun's rays cascaded down in an atypical way, maybe it was the breeze that carried a more lyrical intonation on its back, or maybe it was just the Earth that was adorned by an ethereal veil. Spencer didn't know how to point out what was really different, but he felt in his soul that something in the hemisphere had changed.

At first, when he took the subway to work, Spencer thought it was just an ephemeral sensation, just like those seconds when you feel the breath of the breeze more cold. But it didn't. The sensation accompanied him to work, to the plane, to the case, it stuck to him like a tattoo and Reid found himself looking around for answers that did not exist physically.

He considered all the theories that were possible to explain that destabilization in his subtly balanced world. But he found none.

“Are you feeling anything different today?” That's what he asked Morgan.

Derek shrugged, finishing packing up at the police station so they could go back to Quantico.

“No.” Then he looked Reid whit his obsidian eyes “Is something bothering you? Is the Genie feeling any peturbation in the Force? ”

Spencer chuckled through his nose at the Star Wars joke, but just shook his head in a 'No'. And the conversation died there. How could he explain something that even he didn't understand?

Trying to ignore the way his heart was beating fast, for no reason, in anticipation of something Spencer himself was unaware of, he wondered how long he was going to have that sensation. The feeling of euphoria, the taste of something, there was something exciting in the air, almost angelic.

But how long was that going to accompany him? One day? One week? Whole life? For the first time, Spencer didn't have the answer. And that was disconcerting.

When BAU's glass doors opened for agents to settle on their desks and Hotch and Gideon go to their respective offeces, a wave of icy breeze from the DC air reverberated through the enclosure. Spencer can see that Morgan shrugged in the wind, Emily looke for a coat in the black suitcase, but his own body didn't seem to be hit by the same breeze. For Reid, it had been a caustic, lyrical, almost spring, wave that carried the promise of something extraordinary on back. Almost divine.

In that split second, in a time as short as a blink, the feeling that his life would never be the same made him losing his breath. Spencer does not know what attracted his gaze to the BAU door, nor what made his whole body turn in that direction, like a magnet, like a wanderer in the desert who finds his Oasis. But he had been attracted, and as soon as a female hand pushed through the glass door and her figure came into view, Spencer understood the extraordinary thing that him heart was beating for in anticipation.

You.

It was as if the universe had been preparing him all day for that moment. As if the body itself tried to prepare it. Because if Spencer hadn't fell those feelings of euphoria all day, he would have drowned in his own reactions to seeing you.

In a burst, like a violin string popping, Reid understood what was different about the hemisphere, because why the air was ethereal, because why the night felt like poetry, and why the moon whispered swears of love. In that moment, Spencer understood the mysteries of the world, unraveled the riddles of life, drank from the wisdom of The Oracle of ancient Greece. In an instant, watching you enter, Spencer understood the reason for his life.

In an instant.

The world shuddered in slow motion, capturing all your movements, all your graceful gait, all your glory. An elegant black dress with thin straps modeled your body in an arcane, almost divine way, your legs were supported on black high heels, making your walk seem like a glide of honey.

You were not beautiful. You are gorgeous. You shone. Sparkled.

And, like an atrocious wave that broke over Reid and pulled him into the sea, that whole feeling that stuck with him all day came to accompany the female figure. Following in your footsteps like the tail of a long dress.

Spencer was sure that his life would never be the same.

They hadn't even sat at their tables when you showed up. Like the muse that came out of an action movie. And when you got close enough to attract the attention of Emily and Morgan, whose Derek opened his mouth when he noticed the female figure that was the personification of Female Fatal, Spencer felt himself letting out the breath he didn't even know he was holding. He knew that anyone with eyes and a little common sense would notice how overwhelmingly beautiful you were, so when Morgan turned his body fully towards you, Reid was not surprised.

“Hi." Your voice, to Reid, had a floral intonation “Do you guys know where I can find Jason?”

When his eyes met yours, Spencer felt his breath being stolen from him once again. Usually, girls like you didn't look twice at guys like him, Spencer knew that. Girls like you liked men like Morgan. Athletes, strong, Alpha Male. And because of that, it was an explosion in Reid's system when you took a few seconds longer in that eye contact and a delightful smile appeared on yours lips. As if you appreciate what you were seeing.

That was a shock. Was it true or was he misinterpreting the signs? Was him mind playing tricks on him, like the flickering shadows of furniture under the darkness and the flame of a candle? Spencer would not be able to say a word without stuttering at that moment even that him life depended on it. In fact, he was already starting to feel cheeks heating up. So he thanked any deities that might exist when Morgan and Emily responded to you and broke the eye contact between the two of you.

“Jason Gideon?” Morgan frowned slightly.

“He's in the office but...” But Emily couldn't finish the sentence before Gideon's voice came out over everyone's:

“Y/n?” It was in a tone that no one there had ever heard in Gideon. A sweet, loving intonation... paternal.

None of the three agents present there had time to express their thoughts in facial expressions before you said:

“Dad!”

Then the whole world took a turn and seemed to be terrified, making them feel as if they had been thrown out of the tenth-floor window. This time, Reid's eyes widened at the two friends, who also had puzzled expressions. Everyone knew that Gideon had a past, probably with divorces and children, a life he had left behind, but no one expected...that.

Perhaps Gideon's vision of a family was something that was only in the imagination, never something tangible. Until that moment. Until the most beautiful girl Reid had ever seen was the daughter of one of the men he respected most. Until him heart soared at alarming levels for him boss's daughter. Spencer had been in trouble before when it came to matters of the heart, but the trouble gained a position in the top 3.

“What are you doing here?” A rare smile appeared on Gideon's face, his brow slightly furrowed.

“We were going to dinner today, remember? In that new Japanese restaurant.” Your tone of voice was not resentful or hurt by the situation that was explicit there.

The life of a BAU agent take many things, some with a more atrocious force than others, and one of them was the availability of hours. commitments that count on presence.

“I totally forgot, I'm sorry.” Gideon's voice was always calm and controlled, he managed to speak from the most tender emotions to the most heinous crimes with a peaceful intonation. But to perceive traces of parental love was new. “The case was very complicated, my cell phone died and...”

“It's okay, Dad.” You smiled, making a casual gesture with your hand “I thought this happened, but I thinking it best to come here to see if everything was okay instead of waiting until tomorrow.”

Your smile, despite being the simple one, was the brightest for Spencer.

Gideon still had a fatherly look and a chaste and grateful smile when he turned to the other agents who were still puzzled.

“Y/n, these are agents Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss and Dr. Spencer Reid.” Jason introduced them to you “Guys, this is my daughter, Y/n.”

“Is a pleasure.” You smiled genuinely at them.

“I had no idea that you had a daughter!” Emily gave a low, slightly bewildered laugh that also made you laugh.

“Everybody says that.” You looked at your father again, having fun.

“I'm just going to go over some reports with Hotcher before I leave.” Gideon kept a chaste smile. “Why don't you wait here and then let's go get something to eat?”

“Of course, no problem, Dad.” You agreed, adjusting the thin shoulder bag that was on your shoulder.

As Jason went up to Hotcher's office, you turned to the agents again, with a gentle smile on your face.

“My dad said great things about you.” Emily smiled at your statement.

"I'm still chocked ." She laughed, and Morgan added:

“ I really need to know...” he looked around, in a playful suspense “Is Gideon really that serious outside the FBI?”

You laughed “Oh no! Definitely not.”

So you reached for your phone in the litlle bag, hunting for a photo on it and showing it to the three agents. It was a recent photograph where you and Gideon had their faces painted in easy ink. You had a skeleton mouth made with white and black paint, and Jason had a pink glitter butterfly covering his left cheek. You two were laughing in the photo.

Morgan was the one who let out a loud, dripping laugh, with a few tears accumulating in the corners of his eyes.

“How is this possible?” Morgan was trying to catch the air.

“It was at the last Halloween, he and I bet that whoever lost in the snooker that day would have to paint a butterfly on their face.” You laughed.

“And did he lose?” Spencer found a voice for it, his mind failing to process the image of Gideon losing any game.

“I have my suspicions that he let me win” You joked “But I enjoyed the victory just the same.”

The conversation was light after that, Spencer refrained from much of the dialogue, a little fearful that you could hear him heart beating loudly whenever you smile in his direction. As the minutes passed, Derek and Emily had to go back to their duties and finish their reports, while you were sitting in one of the chairs at an empty table.

It was one of those moments when Reid tried to focus on the files in front of him to exorcise what was going on around him. Paperwork had always brought the lull needed to make Spencer meditate. It was almost like relaxation. But in moments like this, when something in the environment around him pulled his attention so much, he stayed on the same page for long minutes.

That must be why he didn't hear the wheels on your chair approach, and he didn't even notice that you were so close until you said:

“Are you really a doctor?” Your voice was low, soft, as if you didn't want to disturb the other agents who were working.

Spencer turned his head towards you, only to find the modern personification of what would be the Athena de Troia. You were close, not close enough to touch, but close enough that he could smell your perfume. You smelled like the night, the excitement of nights and the brightness of the stars. And if Spencer looked deeper into yours eyes, he would sure they contained shine moonlight.

He swallowed, the mania for blinking compulsively returning a little.

“A-ahm yes. Not really a doctor, but m-my 3 Phd’s make me a doctor.”

He might be mistaken, but the smile that spread across your face was not just friendly, it wasn't curious, it was… delighted. As if the roles were reversed and he was the most fascinating thing in that room, not you.

The glow that was adorned in yours eyes had something lyrical, ethereal, wonderful. As if the brightness of all the galaxies were inhabiting your irises, moving in your orbit. At that moment, Spencer was deeply grateful to have eidetic memory, because 10 years from now he could still remember how you looked like a muse over there. DC night came in through the big glass windows, and if Reid had to describe that moment with the five senses, he would say that the world had turned the light down to a rose tone, the smell was heaven and your smile promised to contain wonders of the world.

Holy Mother of God, you are so, so beautiful!

“My dad said there was a genius on the team.” You said, your attention on him is always tender, adoreble. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Your perfume invaded him sense of smell once again, and he felt his heart beat faster once more. Spencer would have told you all the secrets in the world if you asked. He would have told all own secrets.

“No way.” He sat back in his chair to look at you better, oblivious to the exchange of looks that Emily and Morgan gave.

You rested your arms on Spencer's table, the chair next to his.

“You never thought of being like... the wizard Doctor Strange?” You hoped that Spencer knew Marvel “Before he was a magician, of course. But why didn't you want to be a surgeon or something?” You laughed “There is a phrase him says: I have a photographic memory and this is what made me ..."

“ ‘Get my diploma and doctorate at the same time’ " Spencer completed you, laughing softly “I know the HQs. Did you know that the Doctor Strange character was created during the Silver Age of American comics to bring a different type of character and mystical themes to Marvel Comics? It him has an intellectual coefficient close to 177 points and I have… ”

The more he rambled, the more a stunning smile spread across your face. As if you were enchanted with him. And you were. Everyone was noticing the way Spencer seemed to have you curled up on his finger, your eyes sparkling and a silly smile twinkling on your face, paying attention to every word he said. It was an overwhelmingly lovely sight to behold.

But just as everything had a time, an hourglass, your time had reached the last grain of sand.

“All right, Y/n.” Gideon went down the stairs, cutting the end of Reid's sentence “Ready?”

You stood up, agreeing with your father and smoothing the dress. When you put your hands on the chair, ready to take it back to place, you turned to Spencer once again:

“I'm going to bring my dad to BAU tomorrow, do you think me and you can meting and you give me the answer to the question tomorrow?” Your smile was able to light up the whole of Washington.

“S-sure!” Spencer's voice went up more high notes than he would like to admit.

And, even when you left, even when Morgan and Emily jokes him about it, and even when he finally lay down on his own bed, you were still the only thing that occupied Spencer's mind.

[cephalopod-truther]

What I want to know is how this accounts for different languages. Take cats¹, for example: if the English speakers call it a cat, from the Latin cattus² and the Mandarin speakers call it a māo for the noise it makes then which is the deciding language?

Certainly, it could be that whichever language came first takes precedence³, but then cats would be considered heretical long before the language that damned them even encountered Christianity⁴.

Alternatively it could be determined geographically on a case by case basis. Cats that are from places where languages with predominant afroasiatic roots or influences are spoken are fine, cats from places with Sino Tibetan languages are heretics, and I figure any ancient Egyptian cats were probably already condemned on the basis of idolatry anyways.

My final proposal does not relate to etymology at all. Instead, I offer an alternative interpretation⁵ of the verse in question:

Now the Lord G-d had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Notice that there is no mention of species but rather an emphasis on individual creatures. Who is to say that the names were not given in the same way a name might be given to a pet or one's own child⁷? It is entirely possible that this was less of a heavenly mandate and instead Adam just calling them things.

It's not like there was a need for taxonomy that early on. I'm pretty sure G-d just made two of each and then told them to multiply. Maybe Adam named the first ever cat was called Malcom and it was up to some other guy to come up with species.

¹ obviously this all applies to animals that arent cats but I couldn't think of any other examples. I was originally going to do the English cow and the Sumerian gu but when I looked into it I found that cow derives from the Proto Indo European gwou which is probably also onomatopoeiac in origin so cows are just doomed I guess

² theorised to be adopted from an afroasiatic language, given the similarities to the Arabic qut/qittah and the Nubian kadis, among other languages

³ assuming that the use of māo in Mandarin and similar words in other Sino Tibetan is older than the root word that cattus stems from. Certainly, Egyptian, Sumerian and Akkadian are considered to be the oldest known languages (or at least the oldest languages with written records) so we could defer to them but, given the fact that the Egyptian word for cat is mau, it doesn't look good for these little guys.

⁴ it could also be said that the use of onomatopoeia based naming for cats predates Christianity itself rather than just its introduction to certain regions but given the basis of this whole debate hinges on Genesis being accurate and literal, I feel that is probably unhelpful.

⁵Now, i have a very limited understanding of both Hebrew and Aramaic, and what little i do know is in no way sufficient to read Genesis in its original languages so there may be some nuance lost and relying on a translation to interpret is always risky so take this with a pinch of salt⁶. Also, i was frequently asked to leave the classroom during RME lessons as a child due to asking too many questions so i missed a good chunk of genesis when we were supposed to have learnt about it.

⁶ Actually take this whole thing with a pinch of salt. I'm not an expert I'm just a nerd who thought the theological question of animals and pokemons naming themselves was funny and decide to take it way too seriously

⁷ or, in this case, someone else's many millions of children, none of whom that someone bothered to name himself. Instead he passed the job off onto another one of his children. Sure, he's the Heavenly Father but that doesn't mean he isn't also a kind of deadbeat

Back when Pokémon first came out, there were some Christians who were against it. They sometimes said it had "demonic influences" because of some trading cards for psychic/ghost Pokémon, but generally it was because "evolution" (which is weird, because Pokémon evolution is just called that. It's not the kind of evolution that young earth creationists hate!)

But I think the REAL reason Christians should be against Pokémon is Genesis 2:19.

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

You see? It's a key part of the Bible (and the Bob Dylan discography) that man gave names to all the animals.

How's Man gonna name the animals if you just walk up to an animal and it goes "Bulbasaur!"?

That's not naming! That's just writing down what the animal is named. The animal named itself.

Which is in violation of the doctrine that man gave names to all the animals. Thus, Pokémon is anti-christian. I'm a pope, I have to know these things.

[beauty-and-passion]

Silly fun challenge prompt: what languages do you associate with the Sides/what would be the 2nd language each Side learn?

For example I am a big fan of Hispanic (Spanish speaking) Creativitwins fanon. And c! Thomas too could've learnt Spanish in high school and the fact his love interest is hispanic too just makes perfect sense-

And in contrast to Hispanic twins I headcanon Janus as a francophone (French speaking) for two reasons: 1) it was still lingua franca around Victorian era, his aesthetic inspiration and 2) dividing American high school by Spanish class vs. French class is like causing Civil War (I was and still am a language nerd, so I learnt both languages, which was a mistake but the kind of mistake that was worth it when you think about it later)

German suites Logan since lots of famous philosophers are German. I associate Japanese or Korean with Virgil since those two are really dominant in the current subculture world (and maybe our emo could've been inspired and turn into E-boy - wow that sounds terrifying)

I don't have strong preference on Patton's but Italian sounds nice, since all those music and dessert and anything sweet are often from Italy. And maybe 'Orange' can be some language that sounds harsh like Russian, so he can murmur in that in sleep and scares everyone else

I know you're in Europe: 1) you use GMT and 2) Americans wouldn't care about Eurovision. So I wonder how you would think based on your European experience!

Oooh, I like this! As European Who Studied Languages, I definitely approve this and I'll gladly add my two cents about which languages the sides should learn.

_________

Roman: He canonically knows Spanish and that's perfect like that. Spanish is a romantic language, someone speaks Spanish and you can't help but swoon. It’s a great choice for the Side responsible for romance and passion.

_________

Remus: Remus isn't just intrusive thoughts, but there’s a very high chance he’s also responsible for Thomas' sexual urges. So, what is the language made for sex? You’re right, it’s French. French is sexy. You can say anything in French and bam, ✨sexy ✨.

"Je sors la poubelle." Sexy, isn't it? Well, I just said "I'm taking out the trash". See? Very sexy.

(French people, please confirm my words. We all know it’s true)

_________

Janus: Your points are incredibly valid and I love them. But if we should choose among all languages, I would love Janus to be one of the very few (extremely few) people in the world who can speak Latin.

I know Latin is a dead language, but it would be great - and not just because of the connection with his name.

Let’s consider that the other Romance languages, despite evolving from Latin, cannot entirely understand it, because they all changed a lot through the centuries after mixing with the Germanic ones. On the other hand, the Germanic languages (English, German, Swedish and so on) are part of a completely different group, only slightly influenced by Latin, so they cannot understand it.

In other words, Janus would speak a language that only sounds familiar - and maybe you can grasp a couple words here and there if you know a romance language, but the true meaning is hidden. What is he actually saying? Who knows. Is he actually cursing someone? Who knows. After all, do you understand Latin? Yeah, me neither.

If I have to pick a language that is still spoken today instead, I think I'll join you with French. Your points are valid and French is a very elegant language, fitting for Janus’ whole aesthetic. So yes, French could work.

_________

Logan: German is a great choice and you are absolutely right with your point about the philosophers. Also German is a language of harsh sounds and strict grammar rules - for example:

declensions that should be used accordingly for articles, adjectives and nouns

specific verbs for specific meanings

words made by putting together shorter words (like Haustürschlüssel.  Haustür means “front door”, Schlüssel means “key” -> this word means “front door’s key”)

sentences that should follow a specific construction, with parts of the compound verb after the noun and part at the end of the sentence. And secondary phrases also have a specific syntax and should always be introduced by a comma

In other words, it's a very organized language and I think it would fit Logan.

But also, considering that almost all words related to science and philosophy come from Greek, I think Logan should at least understand some Greek. As a treat.

(Also because Greek is another incredibly complicated language, so if someone has the patience to learn it, it’s definitely Logan.)

_________

Virgil: oh my gosh, I never thought about an eastern language for Virgil. In a way, it would be a very peculiar choice and I kinda like it. Japanese and Korean are extremely complicated languages, they have a very specific alphabet (I'm especially thinking about the Japanese one, that even asks for a specific direction to write words) and require a lot of work (and memory) to learn them.

But Virgil is also a poet and when I think of poets and sonnets my first connection is with the french ennui, le mal du vivre and especially Baudelaire and his works. Virgil would appreciate Baudelaire a lot. So French, again.

But hey, there’s too much French now. So I’ll pick the other european literature full of sadness: the russian one.

Russian is supposed to be a big scary language and its alphabet is weird and omg what if they're cursing us? But if you learn it a little bit, you’ll find out that Russian has a lot of soft/open sounds (due to a good use of vowels) and it's very poetic.

So the language itself is a bit like Virgil: he seems scary and evil at a first glance, but if you learn about him, he's actually kinder than he looks.

But never underestimate Russian, because just like Anxiety, fear is just behind the corner: you start learning it and wow, there is just one present tense, one past tense and one future tense? This is great, what a wonderful language!

And then, before you’ll realize it, you will find out that each verb has a “doppelganger” used for entirely different purposes AND there a gazillion verbs of motion and you will end up crying on the floor, because there are just too many verbs - and look, there are also one trillion particles you can put before these verbs and they give them EVEN MORE MEANINGS.

No, this isn't entirely based on my personal experience, what makes you think that.

_________

Patton: I have never thought about Patton learning another language, because English just fits him too well.

But when you proposed Italian... well, my heart just wiped out everything else. There is nothing here, only Patton speaking Italian.

So yes, Patton's second language should be Italian. No, it must be Italian. Because French is the language of sex, Spanish is the language of love, but if you want to declare your eternal love to someone, you use Italian. Do you want to marry someone? Italian. Do you want to tell your significant other how much you adore them? Italian. Italian has one million ways to express love and Patton should use them all with his kiddos.

And yes, Italian is also associated with warm people, warm places and good food, all things Patton deserves and should enjoy. So Italian is a big yes.

_________

Orange: since Orange is a mystery, I am a bit torn between these two languages:

1) Esperanto: This language is amazing, because it isn’t a natural language, born like all others, but it has been built by a man, who wanted to create an universal language in order to foster world peace and international understanding.

So this language has been created to be as simple as possible, with a very regular grammar (unlike all other natural languages) and its words all have references to other language groups (romance, germanic, slavic, indo-europeans, finno-ugric languages and so on).

And if you actually listen to it (especially if you know some latin languages) you will find it weirdly understandable. I found this video in particular and I was impressed by how strangely familiar esperanto sounds.

And... that’s it, I just think it would be kinda poetic that the last side knows a language that all others can use and understand.

2) A Greenlandic language. Why? Because they are insanely polysynthetic.

What does that mean? If in German you can make words by putting together other two/three words (like in the example I used before), in the Greenlandic languages you can build an entire sentence by putting together nouns, verbs, articles and everything else. All together in one single word, whose meaning can be translated with an entire sentence in another language.

Do you want an example? Here is an example from Wikipedia: tuntussuqatarniksaitengqiggtuq.

Yes, this is a word.

This word is from the Yupik language and means "He had not yet said again that he was going to hunt reindeer.". And this word is made of:

tuntu- (= reindeer)

ssur-  (= hunt)

qatar- (future tense)

ni- (= say)

ksaite- (negative)

ngqiggte- (= again)

uq  (3rd.sing.IND)

Is this insane? This is fucking insane. Do you want to be scared? This is real fear. What the heck. How. Why.

You know what? This is perfect for Orange, I’ll leave Esperanto to Thomas. Orange deserves to be this scary. I can already see the other sides quiver before him.

_________

And so, here are my guesses! If someone has other ideas, feel free to add yours and tell us why, so we can all have a nice discussion :D

[liketwoswansinbalance]

@discjude Thank you! I'm glad it could turn out to be helpful to you! If you keep track, I'd love to know how many you manage to use—that's a cool idea.

I'm thrilled the Japeth one got to you! (When I came up with his list, I specifically thought: "I wonder if Jude would have anything to say about it?")

Kei is kind of a hard one, to me. Off the top of my head, I'd assign him: turning point, in medias res, and third person limited pov, which is just another way of saying he's a little unknowable, and/or I don't know him well enough as a character aside from the role he played in forwarding the plot. And, I'm referencing his sudden appearance and relevance.

⸻

I should have assigned symbolism to someone, so that goes to Sophie, Guinevere, and the Storian.

Arthur (and the kingdom of Camelot itself) get magical realism/fabulism, and haunting the narrative. And a less modern way of defining Lancelot could've been "the vernacular." Also, Merlin gets puns.

And, I came up with overlap for Rhian I and Rhian II: oxymoron, paradox, and passive voice (especially when used to displace blame onto another, or to leave out a designated, clear subject performing the deed).

⸻

Latin is a roundabout way of saying: “Rafal is old.”

(In One True King, I'm pretty sure Sophie freaks out and derides him, calling him "Father Evil.")

The more elaborate explanation is that he does not and will never suffer from "belatedness." (Except, in the context of Soman drawing inspiration from elsewhere.)

Rafal is the “first,” in a sense, which lends to him the special, rare advantage of not feeling self-conscious of his work. He was likely the "innovator" of Evil, to an extent, we could speculate, and I doubt he was predated by too many exceptional villains, especially considering how he's held up by those at The Black Rabbit as some kind of exemplar, the Master of Evil, who gets a free pass in on some basis of his actual prodigiousness, something other than his just being a feared authority figure.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but: every other villain or antagonist, major or minor, in the entire series (not counting the Storian) exists after him in time, or exists because of him and the influence he exerts, the hostility he elicits, the violence he incites. He's the proverbial "giant," and others stand on his shoulders.

Here, I briefly trawled the internet:

"Quick Reference. In Harold Bloom's theory of literary history (see anxiety of influence), the predicament of the poet who feels that previous poets have already said all that there is to say, leaving no room for new creativity. From: belatedness in The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms » Subjects: Literature."

"Belatedness definition: The state or quality of being belated or of being too late."

In addition, while Latin is mostly a reference to Rafal’s age and his lack of suffering from belatedness, it's also the provenance of lots of words from the English language. (I know the Greeks as epic poets came first, but Latin works better for these comparative purposes.) That's why I tied the concept of the etymological roots of words into his list.

If Rafal were a modern scholar, I'm tempted to say he'd pursue the study of philology because it works well for him, as a symbol:

"A theory of language development which traces the ‘family tree’ of modern natural languages like English, French, and German back to their historical origins. The central point of interest of such research is to show the common ancestry of words dispersed across several languages."

Or the common ancestry of all Evil. Horrible, isn't it?

Plus, we might have a sliver of evidence for this so-called "great inheritance" in Fall. Whatever he said to the demimagus in its language or in the language of sorcery (or if we take into account the spells and incantations of SGE in general) they all seem to be derived from Latin, as is common practice among authors.

Thus, he's old—despite being part of an archetype greater than himself anyway. Because, actually, sorry to break it to you: he’s an “Archimago” figure!

(Well, by my interpretation, at least. And besides that, other literary characters I don't know probably predate Edmund Spenser's Archimago as well.)

Thusly, we have:

Lecherous, Bad "Catholic" Rafal -> Making Good Holy Knights Doubt Their True Love, Truth, and Faith & Posing As An Ancient Hermit Since 1590.

I promise I'm not insane. If anyone would like some reference:

SGE Characters as Literary Things

(Not all of these are actual literary or rhetorical devices; some are just writing techniques, forms, genres, mediums, etc.)

This is a bit abstract, so I’m curious about how subjective these might be. Does anyone agree or disagree? And feel free to make additions if you think I left anything out, or request another character that isn’t here.

Hopefully this makes (intuitive?) sense. As always, I'm willing to explain my thought process behind any of the things I've listed.

Also, anyone can treat this like a “Tag Yourself” meme, if you want. Whose list do you most relate to, use, or encounter?

⸻

LANCELOT (I know—how odd that I’m starting with a minor character and not Rafal, but wait. There’s a method to my madness. Also, watch out for overlap!):

Metonymy, synecdoche (no, literally, to me, these are him.)

Zeugma

Analogy

Figures of speech

Slang, argot

Colloquialisms

Idioms

TEDROS:

Simile

Metaphor

Rhyming couplets

Rhyme schemes

Sonnets

Commercial fiction

Coming-of-age genre

Line enjambment

Overuse of commas

Cadence, prose speech

Waxing poetic, verse (not prose)

Alliteration

Kinesthetic imagery

Phallic imagery/sword sexual innuendos (sorry)

The chivalric romance genre

AGATHA:

Anaphora, repetition

Semicolon, periods

Line breaks

Terse, dry prose

Semantics (not syntax)

Elegy

Resonance

Consonance, alliteration

Pseudonym

Narrative parallels

Realism

Satire

SOPHIE:

Sophistry (yes, there is a word for it!)

Imagery

Italics, emphasis

Em dash

Aphrodisiac imagery

Unreliable narrator, bias

Rashomon effect

Syntax (not semantics)

Diction

Chiasmus (think: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”)

Rhetorical purpose

Provocation, calls to action

Voice, writing style

Rhetorical modes: pathos, logos, ethos

Metaphor

Hyperbole, exaggeration

Sensationalism, journalism

Surrealism

Verisimilitude

Egocentrism

Callbacks (but not foreshadowing or call-forwards)

Narrative parallels

Paralepsis, occultatio, apophasis, denial

Hypothetical dialogue

Monologue

JAPETH:

Sibilance

Lacuna

Villanelle (an obsessive, repetitive form of poetry)

Soliloquy

ARIC:

Sentence fragments

RHIAN (TCY):

Unreliable narrator

Setup, payoff

Chekhov’s gun

Epistolary novel

RHIAN (prequels):

Multiple povs

Perspective

Dramatic irony

Situational irony

Chiaroscuro (in imagery)

Endpapers

Frontispiece

Deckled edges

Narrative parallels

Foreshadowing

Call-forwards

Foil

Death of the author

RAFAL:

Omniscient narrator

Perspective

Surrealism

Etymology

Word families or 'linguistic ecosystems'

Latin

Verbal irony

Gallows humor

Narrative parallels

Call-forwards

Circular endings

Parallel sentences or balanced sentence structure

Narrative parallels

Foil

Juxtaposition

Authorial intent (“return of the author”)

HESTER:

Protagonist

Allusions

Gothic imagery

ANADIL:

Defamiliarization

Deuteragonist (second most important character in relation to the protagonist)

Psychic distance

Sterile prose

Forewords, prologues

Works cited pages

DOT:

Tone

Gustatory imagery

Tritagonist (third most important character in relation to the protagonist)

KIKO:

Sidekick

Falling action

Dedications, author's notes, epigraph, acknowledgements

Epitaph (Tristan)

BEATRIX:

Pacing

Rising Action

Climax

HORT:

Unrequited love

Falling resolution

Anticlimax

Malapropism

Innuendo

Asides

Brackets, parentheses

Cliché

EVELYN SADER:

Synesthetic imagery

Villanelle

Foreshadowing

AUGUST SADER:

Stream of consciousness style

Imagery

Foreshadowing

Coming-of-age genre

Elegy

Omniscience

Rhetorical questions

Time skips, non-linear narratives

Epilogues

MARIALENA:

Diabolus ex machina

Malapropism

Malaphors, mixed metaphors

Slant rhyme

Caveat

Parentheses

Footnotes

MERLIN:

Deus ex machina

Iambic pentameter

Filler words

BETTINA:

Screenwriting

Shock value

[magicinaframe-part2]

An Imagined Story Idea Meeting

How's this for a story idea?...

A beautiful looking woman in her 30s lives with her teenage daughter in Paris, France. She unexpectedly finds out that a man with whom she had a terrible relationship some years previously also lives in Paris (The man mistreated her and left her, with no communication in advance). The woman manages to move with her daughter into an apartment in the same building as the man and hopes that he will notice her. When the man does notice her and shows up at her apartment, the daughter welcomes him, invites him in to speak with her mother, then leaves to run some errands. The mother, in the course of a get-reacquainted-conversation, drugs the man, moves him to her bed, and securely ties his hands to the bedpost. She, then, over a period of three days, humiliates the man, psychologically and physically.

How does that story sound?

This is an incomplete story idea that I'm sharing, here, at Tumblr, for two reasons. I'm asking you who are reading my words to think about the creative process, as I know that there are many people, here, who love movies and love to write. In addition, I'm asking whether anyone, here, would care to track down a movie whose script is based on a story idea that is similar to the above paragraph. Said movie's cast included three internationally known movie actors. According to the Internet Movie Database, the movie did not play in theaters, here, in the U.S.A.

The movie in question is known by three titles -- LA GABBIA, THE TRAP, and COLLECTOR'S ITEM -- and it debuted in theaters in Italy in 1985.

My title to this piece is my way of saying that the making of this movie is more interesting than the movie itself, more interesting than the movie as an experience.

Now, if someone with whom I was acquainted spoke the words that I wrote in the above paragraph to me and asked me to respond, I would think a moment and say "How are you going to develop the mother character and the man character, and will the daughter character know what the mother character has done?"

How the three characters are developed determines whether the story's plot -- the entire plot -- is believable or not beleivable.

I'm wondering about this, based on what I found in Wikipedia's article in English about the movie LA GABBIA.

The script for the movie was based on a story by Francesco Barilli, but Mr. Barilli did not think highly of the movie. So...many changes must have been made in the script for the movie.

If any of this is intriguing to movie lovers and writers, here, at Tumblr, then COLLECTOR'S ITEM is available on DVD. There are two versions of the movie. One is the version that played in theaters in Italy, starting on September 11, 1985 (I've never been to Italy, by the way). In that version, most of the characters speak in Italian. The second version, evidently shot at the same time, is an English language version; i.e., all of the characters speak in English.

The man character is named Michael Parker and is played by Tony Musante. The mother character is named Marie Colbert and is played by Laura Antonelli. The daughter character is named Jacqueline and is played by a young actress, Blanca Marsillach, who I have never seen before.

In addition, Michael Parker is in a relationship with a character named Helene Marco, played by Florinda Balkan.

And, perhaps, somewhere, Mr. Barilli's story is available to read?

Anyone interested in this?

-- Drew Simels

[the-fallen-blue]

Thinking about a conversation I had with @01d55 like ten fucking years ago about Legion and geth communication, and it occurred to me that Hanar politeness is actually, accidentally, a really good piece of world-building.

So, the gist of the original conversation was that Legion says geth communicate in binary because it's "faster" and that's fucking stupid, because sending one bit that says "7" is infinitely goddamn faster than sending three bits that say "111".

And what our dear jigglypuff pointed out that was really fascinating is that language is, essentially, a compression algorithim. We take an incredibly broad, complicated group of a thousand subtly different but connected things, and group them up into a single word, like "tree" or "anger" or "drink", and that allows us to convey an enormous amount of important information in, actually, a very small amount of raw data. And this is pretty important because despite the absolutely incredible range of the human vocal apparatus, augmented by the incredible flexibility and dexterity of our bodies, there are still a quintillion more concepts that we might need to be able to talk about or convey to each other than we have the ability to create a specific combination of noise and gesture for.

Now, like all compression algorithms, language is lossy. This works because we don't actually care about the information we lose. 90% of the time when I'm talking about a tree, it doesn't matter if it's a maple or a poplar or an ash. Where specificity is necessary, we can reduce compression in order to preserve more data; instead of just leaving it at the short and sweet "I'm angry," I can elaborate with the longer, more evocative "I'm so angry my eyeballs hurt" in order to distinguish within the category of anger against "I'm angry enough to complain about this once and then never think about it again." Misunderstanding due to lossiness is of course absolutely possible - particularly with metadata, like "how does the speaker feel about this topic" (in English, largely conveyed by imprecise information like tone and body language) or "what social categories are involved in this conversation" (the gender of a speaker or subject, whether an object is inanimate, whether the speaker is of higher or lower social class than the listener, can all be conveyed or obscured depending on a language's use of formal or gendered conjugation) - but  humans are actually really good at minor deescalation within our social groups, so these kinds of data transfer failures are an acceptable trade-off for the efficiency of our compression.

But of course, all of this is entirely cultural. Every language makes sacrifices, but which ones and how many depends entirely on what the people who use that language value, and what tools they use to convey metadata that the language doesn't. If you are a giant fucking language nerd, like, say, THE giant fucking language nerd, Tolkien, you might even conceive of a culture with linguistic priorities unlike any other on earth. For example, if you have a group of living trees, who are big goddamn trees and therefore don't have to do anything in a timely manner ever, they might develop a language that is barely lossy at all. You can take six days to say one very precise sentence if you don't need to move in the next six decades.

So what does this mean for Mass Effect? Well, the first thought is that the geth should actually be the opposite of Legion's claim; they should value not efficiency, but precision. Efficiency is important for humans, because speech is slow. Words take time to form and push through the voicebox. Sound takes time to travel. Words take time to decode (or for our purposes, decompress) in the brain once heard. Sign language and writing are not exempt; vision is faster than sound, sure, but the processing time doesn’t change. Geth don't have that problem; assuming they communicate by EM radiation, because why in God's name would they do anything else, they can speak as quickly as their instrumentation can perceive, and here in the real world we've had machines that could produce and detect light faster than any organic creature can distinguish for generations already. And they don't have any good way to send metadata outside of a communication burst itself; their body language is so limited as to be nonexistent, and EM modulation doesn’t have tone. All information would have to be in the language itself, and it would be able to be extremely precise, because they can send a huge amount of it very quickly and sacrifice almost no time to gain that precision. Plus they're robots; one imagines they were given, originally, very limited interpersonal capability (why would they need it?), and in human experience, AI generalizes and categorizes very poorly, so specificity would be extremely important. Geth language is probably actually like Ent language at 10000x speed.

But the second thought is, the hanar don't speak. Their language is entirely visual, comprised of patterns of light and color autonomically projected across their bodies. We don't know what their visual speed is, but we can watch them "talk" and we can see it's quite fast; we also know most of it is toward the UV end of the spectrum, invisible to humans. Since it's patterns, they're not limited to one phoneme at a time, and they could conceivably dump essentially a whole phrase in a single, one-second light cycle. By all indications, this language is very fast. Which means that, like the geth or the Ents, it can afford to be very precise. Much like the Elcor with their scent, there's probably an enormous amount of metadata in every conversation that's just totally invisible to the verbal species like humans and asari.

So what do you do when you're talking to someone and you're used to every single thing you say making it completely clear that your attitude toward them and the conversation is appropriate, and then suddenly that's not available at all and you have no way whatsoever to know how they're going to take things? Well, on the internet, we all created a whole new grammar by using case and punctuation differently in order to convey tone. The elcor decided to start prefacing every single thing with a word indicating their attitude. And whoever wrote the translation software for the hanar just rigorously overused the few limited lexical indicators that verbal languages have for politeness.