#they put a lot of effort into that one. fake bricking on the walls! english road signs and stuff. its cool

[simptasia]

i think jack, hurley and miles were all from california because its easy to disguise hawaii as california. what with the palm trees and all

[skopostheorie]

I've been wanting to get back into learning languages. I know one person's methods and advice won't exactly work for everyone, but do you have suggestions on how to study and practice?

Alright! I'll preface this by saying that I am by no means an expert in language learning, but rather just very passionate about it. Sometimes people assume I'm some genius or something; I'm really not, it's just that if you do something a lot (I'm talking at least 10h a day) because you love it that much, it will eventually start looking like you're quite good.

I also think that, while linguistic geniuses certainly exist, you don't need to be one to learn even a very "difficult" language. Along your Internet journeys and Discord servers and so on you've almost certainly met someone who has said that they learned English just from using the Internet a lot. They're usually underselling themselves by pretending they didn't need to put in any effort, but even then; they're doing perfectly well for themselves just from chatting online about video games or what have you. This is also to say nothing of refugees who learned the language of their new country, even to the point of thereby receiving citizenship, whether they are "gifted" or not! Everyone struggles a bit, but we all get it done. With maybe a few tears.

Those are some long disclaimers, but I feel they're necessary because even if none of these "tips" work for you, it is imperative you remember that LOTE, while with its challenges, is not some unique cool-kids club where only future Teslas can hang out. When you inevitably run into challenges or even a brick wall, don't think it's uniquely a you problem, or see it as evidence that LOTE is not for you.

The best way to practice is to make friends. Where our ancestors learned languages on the Silk Road or by studying the hot new subject at the fancy school on the other side of the world, it would seem humans have mostly become fluent by hanging out. Yes, that sounds terrifying. You might indeed accidentally meet people who are quite rude about your lack of fluency. But join fandoms for international things that have a LOTE-dominated base, or make a new account on (insert-language-here) twitter, and so on. Make mutuals, reply to their stories, etc etc. Just how you'd make friends on English Tumblr. Do not join gaming servers, gamer-racism is internationally true.

I'll emphasise Twitter again because it's really good for practice in small bites and, failing understanding a tweet, there's always a translate button. Of course, you might pick up some bad grammar, and even incorrect spelling, but in a way that's part of the fun and will teach you how to sound more natural with others in casual contexts.

Make sure your studying is connected to things you like, if the language itself is not inherently enjoyable for you. Write your practice sentences or fake conversations about things you like, or study vocabulary related to your interests. It is far more fun to write a paragraph about why you love a certain movie than How To Order Food. It'll stick in your mind better.

Your journey is very unlikely to be a nice, organised, linear affair, and that's fine. Even if you're, say, like me and prefer to learn grammar, common phrases etc BEFORE jumping into the deep end, you'll probably do a bit of learning-as-you-go, and vice versa if you prefer to just study things as they appear. See language learning as a craft, or a tree being nurtured in various ways according to the elements, rather than a set of tasks. Don't forget to keep the humanities part in this subset of the humanities! LOTE is writing notes at a desk, is vocab lists on Quizlet, is random example sentences, but it's also having to Google something real quick mid-conversation, and learning things just by assimilation rather than ever bothering to check it means what you think it does. Just like when you learned your first!

[narcoleptic-drag-queen]

Babe, since you've started with Scyvie, how about 50 and E?

I love scyvie and I love you, I hope you enjoy <3<3<3

50 - “Fuck, you scared the shit out of me.”

E - Secret Admirer

-

Scarlet finds a bouquet of roses just outside the door to her Economics lecture.

She stares at it for a long moment, trying to relate it somehow to her class being cancelled. She flips through insane scenarios, from the professor cancelling class to use the classroom for some sort of romantic escapade to a student coming over to woo their crush and throwing the bouquet upon rejection, but eventually, she decides the most likely case is that someone accidentally dropped it in their rush to class.

She takes two steps away when she finally registers the name written on the white card sticking out of the stems. To my Scarlet, with love, your secret admirer.

Scarlet blushes at the sight, happiness and excitement fluttering around in her chest like small birds. She’s been getting notes wedged in her dormitory door for a few months now, but this is new. 

And very, very exciting.

She bends down to pick up the flowers, unable to help the smile spreading across her face. She makes a show of smelling them once she’s up, eager to show off. She has a secret admirer. That shit only happens in movies. And to Scarlet, apparently.

It makes sense.

She turns the card over, admiring the silky red string it’s tied with, and finds another note written on the back in the curly, wild cursive she’s come to adore. 

Something is waiting at your favorite place to reside.

A small thrill runs through her - a scavenger hunt. And likely with a prize on the other end of it. Please, dear god, let the prize be a brand new girlfriend. 

She thinks over the clue for a few moments - it can’t be her dorm, because she’s barely in it. She spends most of her time in the library, which closed at five, or --

The Starbucks. She’s always been a basic white girl about her coffee and her studying habits, something that Yvie loves to tease her about, but she can’t quite bring herself to care. Yvie still comes with her and fake-gags at the amount of sugar in her drinks, and that’s really all Scarlet wants.

Hope suddenly spikes through her chest. What if--

She dashes down the walkways, speeding past students and even knocking into a few in her haste to get to the Starbucks attached to the little grocery mart at the very edge of campus. She gets there in record time, bursting in with little ceremony only to stand there, awkwardly, for a moment, unsure of what to do now that she’s here.

There’s no one in the shop, so she’s definitely not meeting anyone, and she’s about to start looking under the tables when the barista calls her name.

“Scarlet?”

“That’s me!” Scarlet says, perhaps a little too quickly. She steps over, raising her eyebrows at the warm coffee the barista passes over.

“Prepaid,” the barista tells her, bemused. “Obviously. There’s a note at the bottom for you.”

Excitement once again flutters in her chest as she grins, raising the cup up to find a note leading her to the quad, hinting at a ‘treat’. She thinks that her secret admirer has won her heart already, no matter who it is. (Except it does matter, because it has to be her, Scarlet needs it to be her, but she can’t get her hopes up for something that isn’t going to happen).

“Thank you,” she tells the barista, her excitement only a little diminished. “You don’t want to maybe tell me who prepaid, do you?”

The barista shakes his head with a wry smile, and Scarlet shrugs, so happy that she even waves him goodbye on her way out. Even if it isn’t Yvie, it’s still someone who clearly knows her well, and she thinks if they’re willing to put this much effort into her, then she can try to return the favor.

But god, what if it was Yvie?

She ends up going to two other places before the final hint comes in the shape of a paper bird, shittily folded but beautiful nonetheless, telling her to go to the ‘place you share with only one other’.

She knows immediately where to go, letting her feet take her there more than her mind, new hope beaming through her entire body as she practically runs towards the tiny alcove between the English and Law buildings, rose petals shedding behind her like red footprints. 

It’s a small garden tucked away from passersby, something that Scarlet had found her freshman year, when she’d wanted a place to cry alone over a ‘D’ on her first paper and her roommate had been in their dorm already. She’d only been willing to share it with one other person: her best friend, the girl who feels almost more familiar to her than herself. 

She rounds the corner, slipping between the brick walls of the entrance, her breath catching when she finds Yvie waiting for her within. Her back is to Scarlet as she messes with something on the base of the tree, clearly too focused to pay attention to the time or her surroundings. Scarlet lets her eyes wander away from the other girl to admire what she’d been working on, and she lets out a quiet gasp at the sight.

The whole place is lit up, now that the sun has set and campus is emptier than it was even at six o clock, with string lights threaded through the branches of the tree and electric candles settled between the bushes, twinkling cheerfully. It’s gorgeous - like something out of a movie.

Scarlet can’t believe her luck. She can’t quite let herself believe that this is her luck. Maybe the note had meant her dorm, and the one person her roommate. Maybe she’d gotten this all wrong - but why else would Yvie have made the tree glitter like that?

“Yves,” Scarlet breathes, too impatient to wait for Yvie to turn around, and Yvie jumps, whirling around to face Scarlet with wide eyes.

“Oh, Jesus,” she says, her voice almost too loud for the space she’s created around them. “Fuck, you scared the shit out of me, Scar.”

Scarlet shrugs, not quite able to hide the way she’s shaking with anticipation, with hope. “Should have been more prepared when you led me here, then,” she says, and it feels like she’s just stepped off a ledge. Either Yvie will confirm that it’s her, or she’ll look at her like she’s insane, and Scarlet will be crushed. 

Yvie’s lips curl into a shy smile, and she tucks a piece of her bangs behind her ear. They’re getting too long, but Scarlet kind of likes it. Kind of wants to tuck the hair behind Yvie’s ear for her. “Yeah,” Yvie says, her voice a lot quieter. “Maybe I should have.”

“So you are,” Scarlet says, and her voice is only a little shaky. “You are my secret admirer.”

Yvie just nods, taking a visible breath. “Is that okay?”

“Bitch,” Scarlet breathes out, laughing a little. She takes a step closer, so that she has to look just slightly up to meet Yvie’s eyes. “It’s more than okay.”

“Really?”

“I was hoping it was you,” Scarlet says, and she steps even closer, her confidence returning to her in bounds. She takes a piece of Yvie’s hair in her hand, twirling it around her fingers and grinning at the way Yvie’s breath catches. “I was wishing for it, actually.”

“Good,” Yvie says softly, and Scarlet gives her a softer smile.

“Good,” she repeats quietly, and Yvie pulls her into a kiss.

Scarlet sinks into it, humming, happiness swelling in her chest so dramatically that she feels like she might pop. Yvie is warm despite the autumn breeze, bright despite the darkness of the sky, and Scarlet loves her so, so much. She’s loved her for so long, and now--

Yvie deepens the kiss, and Scarlet’s brain completely short circuits. She presses closer, drops the bouquet and threads her fingers through Yvie’s hair, curling her fingers through it and gasping at the way Yvie moans. 

They pull away, both grinning brighter than Yvie’s fairy lights, chests heaving.

“That all you got?” Scarlet teases. She feels like she could jump a fifty foot hurdle.

Yvie just kisses her again.

send me a pairing, number, and letter!