#using a writing system i can't read. of a language i don't speak.

[coquelicoq]

i slept nary a wink last night. literally zero minutes. i don't think that should be allowed to happen. i think bodies should have a force quit option.

[whorefordean]

mr. ghostface

wc: 1.6k

tw: language, unprotected sex, belly bulge, choking, slight degradation, slight dubcon perhaps, porn with barely any plot

a/n: this is pure filth, let me know if i missed anything!

p.s this is so ghostface!rafe coded however there is no name mentioned for gf. also @kaylablogsstuff i’m nervy

MDNI

you rolled your eyes as your phone rang for the third time. at this point, it's become a bigger burden to ignore it than to answer whoever the hell keeps disrupting your peaceful night.

you huff as you click answer and hold the phone up to your ear.

"hello?" you questioned impatiently, plopping down onto your bed.

"i'm a little offended, y/n. you write so fondly of me in this journal of yours, but you refuse to answer when i call," the distorted voice echoes throughout the receiver of your cellphone. embarrassment floods your system as you check your nightstand for your journal. shit.

"i don't know what you're talking about," you speak calmly as you try to slow your racing heart.

there's no way this is happening right now.

"so it wasn't you who wrote about how you would take ghostface's big cock like a good girl?" ghostface asked rhetorically. heat pooled low in your belly, causing you to clench your thighs together.

"tell me how much you enjoy this, princess" ghostface ordered, a teasing tone in his voice. unbeknownst to you, he was watching you struggle to gain some self control. you slowly drag your hand down your body, stopping to lightly trace random shapes against your skin once you reach your panties. you opt to put your phone on speaker and settle it beside your head.

"you look so pretty like that, princess. so desperate and needy."

you couldn't help the moan that tumbled out of your pouting lips. the tension in the silence is enough to send your hand into your panties.

"just couldn't wait, huh? such a whore that you couldn't wait any longer before rubbing your little cunt?" ghostface speaks. you shouldn’t be this turned on by the degradation you’re receiving from a killer, but everyone has their flaws. 

"you've read my journal. been wantin' you for so long, mr. ghostface," you answer honestly as you begin to tease your clit. you can hear shuffling on his end, and it's clear that he's touching himself too. his soft moans are echoing throughout your room.

"can you see me, mr. ghostface?" you ask breathlessly as you continue rubbing your slick. grunts echo through the phone, causing you to whimper in response.

"fuck. yea i can, princess," ghostface moans out before speaking again.

"i can see how wet your pretty little pussy is just from knowing i'm watching you," his voice is teasing, and you’re positive he can see the wet spot that’s forming in your panties.

"i wish you were here. i could take it," you can't stop the words from tumbling out of your lips, desperation dripping off your tongue.

"yea? would you let me use that sweet little pussy however i want? be my little plaything? gonna let me stuff you full with my cock, princess?" ghostface teases over the phone. his panting is getting louder, and you can hear how breathless he is. your fingers move faster on your clit as your moans and whimpers continue to escape.

you're too far gone to hear your front door click open. you don't hear his footsteps on the hardwood floor of your apartment. you don't even bat an eyelash as your bedroom door drifts open.

ghostface, unbeknownst to you, stalks over to your bed. he watches as your thighs shake with your approaching orgasm. he waits a moment, mesmerized by you. then, without warning, he yanks your hand out of your panties. you yelp in surprise as your eyes shoot open to see ghostface standing over you. 

“boo,” ghostface teases, causing you to jump slightly. you can’t stop yourself from scooting away from him just an inch. quickly, ghostface reaches out, wrapping his hand around your throat. he squeezes slightly before pulling you closer to him. 

“cat got your tongue, princess?” he speaks. your mouth is dry now, and you can feel your heart thumping out of your chest. you remain silent as you wait for his next move. as you stare up at his mask, you can’t stop your thighs from clenching together, desperate for any kind of friction.

ghostface grabs your thighs, roughly pulling them apart. you almost whine, but just as quickly, ghostface is shoving his hand into your panties. you inhale a shaky breath as he toys with your slit, purposely avoiding where you want him most. you shouldn’t be this desperate for him, but, god, you need him. 

ghostface withdraws his hand and releases your throat. you watch with bated breaths as he pulls his mask up just enough to expose his mouth. then, he slowly drags his other hand up to his lips, sucking your juices off each of his fingers. your jaw drops open as he smirks at you before pulling the mask back down. 

he leans in close and whispers into your ear. 

“you taste so fucking sweet, princess. maybe next time i’ll tie you up and spend all night in between those pretty thighs. see how much you can take until you’re begging me to stop,” his voice is hoarse, deeper now as he pulls away. 

you lift your hips as his hands slip into the sides of your panties, pulling them down your legs. the wet fabric is tossed precariously across the room. as you attempt to hide yourself from ghostface, he tuts and pulls your thighs open yet again. you blush as he stares down at your weeping cunt. 

“i’m gonna ruin you,” he mumbles as he tilts his head slightly. you bite your lip and drop your head onto the pillow. your actions cause him to snap up to look at you. 

“you’d like that. wouldn’t you?” the question is rhetorical, but you nod anyway. though you can’t see it, ghostface is smirking under his mask. 

you gasp as he pulls your shirt off, leaving you completely exposed to him. without hesitating, his heavy hands are on your hips, flipping you onto your stomach. he lifts your hips up until you feel his clothed bulge resting again your bare core. you gasp and grind your hips, trying to relieve the tension settling inside you. 

a quick slap is delivered to your plump ass. you’re too focused on the pain coursing through your backside to notice that ghostface has pulled his jeans down just enough to expose his cock.  

he grabs his thick shaft, giving himself a few pumps before teasing his head through your wetness. without warning, he pushes into you, not bothering to let you adjust. 

you moan breathlessly, dropping your entire torso onto the mattress. he’s stretching you out so nicely, though you can’t ignore the pain seeping in from how deep he’s reaching. 

“come on. you can take it,” ghostface spoke condescendingly. his heavy cock pounded into you from behind, knocking the breath out of your lungs.

"it's too much," you moaned out. tears were rushing down your flushed cheeks. your body thrust forward with every shift of his hips.

the pleasure was too much, but you wanted this. god, did you want this.

"but you talked such a big game on the phone. you're such a desperate whore that you practically begged me to fuck you," ghostface patronized. his hand gripped your throat, pulling you up until your back hit his chest. ghostface stopped his movements, burying himself deep in you. his hand traveled down the expanse of your body, stopping at your tits momentarily. he toyed with your nipples, smirking under his mask as you mewled.

"so pathetic," he murmured, before continuing to lower his hand down your body. his large hand stopped on your belly, reveling at the feeling. he looked over your shoulder into the mirror across from your bed.

"oh, fuck," he moaned at the sight, moving his hips slowly. there in the mirror, he watched as your stomach bulged with his cock each time he thrust into you. you whimpered as you watched him. placing your hand over his, you held his palm firmly against your belly.

“see, you’re taking me so well, princess,” ghostface smirked as he whispered into your ear. the hiss he lets out as you clench around his cock has you throwing your head back in a moan.

“feels so good,” you babble. with trembling thighs, you come around his cock, mumbling nonsense as you do. 

“i know it does, princess,” he mutters into your neck, breathing you in. 

your brain goes numb when you feel his hips stutter to a stop inside you. you bask in the feeling of him emptying himself into you. you whine when ghostface pulls out, leaving his hot cum to drip down your thighs. 

he situates you onto the bed, laying you on your back. with an ache in your belly, your eyes flutter closed as you try to catch your breath. the bed dips as ghostface stands. peeking your eyes open just slightly, you watch as he tucks himself back into his jeans. silently, he leaves the room, and you can’t deny the embarrassment you feel. of course this is how it would end. he’d fuck you then leave. 

you roll over and try to settle, but your ears perk up at the sound of running water. the water stops just as quickly as it started, and heavy footsteps can be heard throughout your apartment. a few moments later, ghostface walks back into your room with a wet washcloth in hand. 

he can see the relief on your face and the tension leaving your body as he positions himself in front of you to clean you up. he feels you relax into his touch. 

“thought you left,” you mumble quietly. his masked face tilts as he glances up at you. 

“had to make sure my little plaything got taken care of, yea?” he answers.

[amanhashisneeds]

High Concept: Girl Script

alright, someone has to say it: there is a practical problem in making your fuckdoll completely unable to read or write.

don't get me wrong! the idea is VERY hot. i love the idea of stripping away language from a slut because language is just so human, and stripping away someone's ability to speak, read, or write, partially or fully, is in essence turning that person into an animal.

but this is the real world. and as much as i actually want to do that, it'll make doctor's visits, using the internet (for porn, of course), and, frankly, living in the modern world very difficult to navigate. and yet, it remains extremely important to control her information diet. you can't have your toy just being able to read or write anything. that would be chaos!

my solution: girl script. girl script is a hypothetical english writing system to be used only by bimbos. only pro-bimbo content is allowed to be written in it. any content which doesn't reinforce their submission or sexual objectification is kept in the regular latin alphabet -- which girls should ideally not be taught in the first place, but, if necessary, girls can be forced to unlearn it.

girl script should ideally be clunky and unwieldy. it should be difficult to write in in order to discourage intellectual activity. i propose a system of ideograms, somewhere in between emojis and sitelen pona, so that writing anything takes a lot of physical effort and pushes the limits her already tiny memory. additionally, using an ideogramic system means that every symbol has to be individually taught. therefore, your slut can't write down words she isn't allowed to know, and she can't easily create new words in order to try and get around this limitation. for example, you could entirely remove her ability to write non-degrading words; she doesn't know how to write the word for "vagina" or "boobs," but she does know how to write "cunt" and "tits."

it would still represent english words, so it should be very easy for a man to learn it and translate. however, for convenience, programs could be written which automatically translate from girl script to the latin alphabet and vice-versa. it could also be used as a sort of international bimbo auxiliary language, like how simplified chinese is used for multiple languages across china. though differing grammar may make this difficult, if the system is simple enough, that may not be a serious obstacle for comprehension.

i'm open to iterations on this blueprint or any other ideas on how to make a closed information ecosystem for bimbo girls. it's important to me that our dollies never come into contact with any thoughts we don't want them to have, so that they can't even think of anything other than pure obedience.

[handweavers]

Cab you elaborate a little on that post about artists of color not having a good understanding of materialism? Like, do you mean that they are unknowingly perpetuating capitalism by being materialistic or something else?????

( This is a genuine question because I misunderstand long posts easily, sorry if it sounds rude ).

when i say 'materialism' i'm referring to dialectical materialism, the marxist theory that political and historical events result from the conflict of social forces - people's access to material needs like shelter, food, healthcare, etc. and their relationship to the means of production. these events can be interpreted as a series of contradictions and their solutions. it is the scientific method for understanding politics/economics and history, and the basis of marxist analysis and of marxism leninism as a framework.

i'm saying that many artists of colour in the west speak a lot about capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, war, etc. from a vaguely 'leftist' but ultimately still liberal perspective, and thus they are not actually challenging anything with their work. they will talk about anything But class, and fall easily for bourgeois politics as long as it's concealed in social justice or "leftist" or antiracist sounding language

and it's because they won't engage directly with marxism leninism, they won't engage with learning materialist analysis, and having this understanding would prevent them from falling for these attempts and allow them to do work that actually has some kind of meaningful impact on these systems they claim to be against. so they are trying to talk and write and make art and organize about capitalism and colonialism without understanding how these things actually function in a literal, material sense...

simply existing as nonwhite people in the west doesn't inherently teach us these things, otherwise all people of colour in the west would be communists. we have to actually do the reading and be open to another framework of understanding the world, to having our worldviews shifted. but i think some people don't want to do that because of their relative class position. it makes them uncomfortable, or they don't want to admit that they benefit from imperialism in some ways. they can't - or won't - decouple an awareness of their class position from morality or their personal feelings.

without a marxist framework for understanding what capitalism is and how it functions, whatever work they claim to be trying to do to challenge capitalism or colonialism or whatever At Best doesn't do anything, and At Worst continues to serve bourgeois interests. the confusion between colonialism and imperialism in particular is easily exploited, so that with the language of anti racism and decolonization people end up agreeing with and promoting US/NATO foreign policy on imperialized nations - these buzzwords can sound pretty good if you don't know better. all this talk about decolonizing our minds and art practices and being anti capitalists but no one can actually explain what capitalism is or how colonialism works or the material role of racism under capitalism, nor do they want to talk about their own relationship to capital, so the talk is just empty lol. all these artists trying to figure out "alternative, embodied ways of thinking and being" and it's all just more liberalism

[creature-wizard]

Some things associated with New Age that aren't inherently bad

Since this blog can get kinda heavy sometimes, and because there's some people out there who think that anything remotely adjacent to New Age is evil and must be banished forever, I figured I'd write something on elements it includes that aren't necessarily bad.

Its general concept of God and divinity

New Age beliefs typically posit that God, or Source, effectively split itself into many different souls in order to have different kinds of experiences. There's nothing wrong with this model of divinity in itself, since it doesn't by itself imply anything hateful or suggest any kind of action that might lead to harm. Where it gets messed up is when people start claiming that if you're suffering, it's because you deliberately chose to have this kind of experience before you incarnated. That's just victim blaming, and it's wrong.

Energy healing

Energy healing on its own is a harmless practice, and many people do report feeling better for doing it. Dismissing energy healing as inherently bad in itself would be like dismissing prayer for recovery as inherently bad. It's really not. The problem is always when people start believing they should only rely on energy healing or prayer, or fall into the belief that pharmaceutical medicine is sinful or an evil conspiracy.

Listening to relaxing tones

No, those "healing frequencies" probably won't cure any serious ailments. But that doesn't mean they can't make you feel more relaxed or help you focus. You don't have to subscribe to any specific belief system to listen to these audios.

Glossolalia

The New Age practice of speaking in light languages is a form of glossolalia, which basically involves relaxing and speaking whatever sounds immediately come to you. Doing it can be cathartic and relaxing, and you don't need to subscribe to any specific belief system to do it.

Tarot reading

Reading tarot cards doesn't require subscribing to any specific spiritual belief system. Nor do you even need to be spiritual at all; you can read tarot cards with the perspective that what you're doing is prompting your own mind to consider things from new angles.

Meditation

Meditation is known to have beneficial effects, and doing it doesn't require subscribing to any particular belief system. Yes, it's a problem when somebody subscribes meditation as a cure-all, or use it as a form of spiritual bypassing, but that's a problem with the teacher, not the practice itself.

Eating more plant foods

Provided you don't have any allergies or intolerances, eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and the like usually isn't a bad idea. The problem with New Age is when it effectively moralizes food by decreeing certain foods "high vibrational" or "low vibrational," or when it's pushing conspiracy theories about modern processed food items being intentionally poisoned to block our psychic abilities or keep us dependent on the healthcare system. And obviously, it's appallingly ableist to tell someone that they could cure a chronic illness by switching to an all-natural vegan diet or something.

Belief in aliens

It's a big universe, and it's not unreasonable to think we're not alone in it, and that maybe there's beings who are observing us. The problem is when belief in aliens becomes part of a conspiratorial worldview that scapegoats certain groups of people for the world's problems, displaces real history, and misuses other people's traditions and beliefs.

Belief that things can and will get better

To paraphrase Terry Pratchett's words in The Hogfather, we sometimes need to believe in things that aren't true (such as justice and mercy) so they can become true. Believing that things can change makes people feel like their efforts are worth something. Meanwhile, when everyone's got a doomer attitude nothing will change for the better because nobody will even try.

One problem with New Age's optimism in specific is that they tend to believe that things getting better is contingent on converting a large number of people to New Age spirituality, which includes getting them to accept a large number of conspiratorial beliefs that target and harm vulnerable minorities, and/or distort and erase the actual spiritual beliefs of people from different cultures (many of whom are marginalized minorities and/or have been severely harmed by colonialism already).

Another problem is when you get the whole 5D ascension thing going on. 5D ascension is basically the New Age version of the Rapture, and just like the Rapture, it's always said to be right around the corner, but it never materializes. (If you'd like examples, here are predictions for 2012 and 2015.) Very concerningly, New Agers often list a number of physical and mental health symptoms as "ascension symptoms." They were claiming this as far back as the 2010s, when December 31, 2012 was supposed to be the big day. (Here's an example.)

Basically, hope and belief that things can get better is important - but it's also important not to hang our hopes (and medical decisions) on supernatural predictions that have already failed multiple times.

Wanting to promote compassion and understanding between people

This is a great thing to want! The problem with New Age isn't that they want to spread peace and harmony, but rather the way they want to do it without really listening to the people they supposedly want to help. You can't, for example, genuinely fight colonialism if you're engaging in cultural appropriation and misrepresenting their spiritual traditions - you're an active part of the problem. Promoting compassion and understanding begins with you shutting up, listening, and learning without imposing your own preconceptions or reacting from your ego. You're not doing this if you're looking for mythology to project aliens onto, or dismissing anything you don't want to hear as a conspiracy.

And here's some critical thinking tips before you go

When you're evaluating any belief system or practice, it's always important to remember that belief and practice are not the same thing. Most of the time the practices are harmless in and of themselves; the actual danger comes from the conspiratorial and morally polarized worldviews many practitioners also subscribe to. Nobody's ever died from putting rose quartz in their room or getting a reiki session. They have died from refusing evidence-based medical care because someone convinced them that the health care industry is a scam and will also separate them from Source.

When it comes to beliefs themselves, ask yourself what kind of narratives they're upholding. If they basically promote the same kind of conspiratorial narratives used by Nazis, witch hunters, or far right Christians to justify their hatred and violence, that's a pretty strong sign that this belief is bullshit. But of course, there's a pretty stark difference between believing that aliens could be out there, and believing blood-drinking reptiles have invaded the Earth.

[wellsbering]

i've been going through prismatic-bell's blog to try to piece together exactly what happened to make xir think that reporting someone to the FBI for terrorism with zero evidence was a logical course of action, and i came across something i felt like i just had to pick apart here. i thought about responding to the post directly, but i don't want my notifications to get overrun by zionists (i mean, that'll probably happen anyways, but...fingers crossed)

if you don't wanna read this whole long thing where i explain why this specific gofundme is indeed trustworthy, at least share & donate to muhammad's campaign here

first, what kind of fucking racist brain worms do you have to have to see an arab man asking for help and think that it's "threatening"?

what, exactly, is threatening about this screenshot? saying the honest truth, that being unable to afford medical care for a serious injury could make an amputation necessary??? asking someone to share a link on other social media to increase reach??? using ALL CAPS, LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET DO FOR EMPHASIS?? please explain it to me.

and then, of course, we have Zionist of the Year prismatic-bell's response.

most of these grammatical inconsistencies that prismatic-bell seems to think of as damning proof (mixing up 1st & 3rd-person pronouns, mixing up "hand" and "arm") are probably not things that someone who doesn't speak english would catch. tell me, tumblr: which of these do you think are "he" and "his", and which do you think are "i" and "me"?

if you're unfamiliar with the arabic writing system, you have zero clues to go on, right?

some of the people sending these asks are copying & pasting english text they see other people using to ask for donations (this is what led to that other scam controversy with bassel). learning a new language is fucking hard. trying to proofread their own messages in not just a foreign language, but a foreign ALPHABET, is not a good use of their time when they're in a warzone and desperately trying to ask anyone they can for help. also to elaborate on the hand/arm thing, it's not that fucking hard to find his gofundme, which contains photos of his actual x-rays.

you can see the shrapnel in his arm. reverse image search only brings up 5 results, 4 of which are tumblr posts linking to this gofundme, and one of which is the gofundme itself.

the bullet is in his arm. as you may imagine, having a bullet strike and break your arm is going to impact your ability to use your fucking hand. muhammad has nerve damage as a result of this injury. so yes, surgery is necessary. you can't really fix nerve damage with a simple round of antibiotics.

"ALSO also also: has nobody in Gaza heard of antibiotics? Why are we going straight for surgery?" is so fucking patronizing. yes, everyone in gaza has heard of antibiotics. unfortunately, antibiotics don't randomly spawn in hospitals like a fucking video game, they need to be TRANSPORTED there, which impossible to do when israel is blocking nearly all humanitarian aid from entering the gaza strip. this is why there are so many amputations being performed in gaza right now. they are running out - or in some locations, have already completely run out - of basic medical supplies.

also, by reading the gofundme description, the "rebuild" vs "evacuate" bit becomes clear: his family needs to rebuild their home, and he has to leave gaza to get adequate medical care. in other words, he has to leave a dangerous place that is being bombed to get to somewhere safe where he can receive medical treatment. if only there was a word for that. perhaps one that starts in evac- and ends in -uate. if only!

regarding the emojis: personally, i don't use a ton of emojis in my writing. but again, considering the aforementioned language barrier, is it surprising to see a lot of emojis? those are at least something that make sense in every language. they also serve to break up a big wall of text that people might otherwise scroll by. i have adhd, so sometimes if a long post is broken up with an occasional ❗ then my eyes will be drawn to that, and i will actually read that sentence and get put back on track.

i don't think i need to get into the "outed as a scammer" bit, since that's been thoroughly debunked. even blogs dedicated to identifying scams on tumblr, like kyra45, consider el-shab-hussein and 90-ghost's vetting process to be reliable and share their lists of vetted fundraisers.

and finally: "People can be bought. Accounts can be hacked. Maybe they used to be honest. They’re not now." this wording seems to imply that all blogs dedicated to palestinian gofundmes are dishonest? it's just as ridiculous to say "every single ask you get is a scam" as it is to say "every single ask you receive is legitimate". a blanket statement like this only serves to continue to undermine the legitimacy of the many REAL GAZANS who are asking for help to rebuild their lives.

i hope this clears some things up if anyone was confused about the legitimacy of some of these asks. the long and short of it is, it's not that hard to just look up a person's blog and see if a trusted person, who actually knows what they're doing (unlike prismatic-bell), has verified the legitimacy of their campagin or not. to be honest, i think that automatically assuming every ask related to gaza is a scam says something about the way you view palestinians. and it's not pretty.

[undreaming-fanfiction]

This is an appreciation post for non-native English fanfiction writers. I respect you all so much.

I respect that you might be from a country that doesn't speak English at all. You might be picking up different phrases and spellings from US English, some from RP, some just a random international mix. Or you moved to an English speaking country late and even if you speak English fluently, your brain still operates in your primary language. Maybe English lessons in your country sucked (hi, my fellow post-Socialist states of central and east Europe!) and you just learned through trial and error.

I admire that you keep writing even if you get stuck on a phrase for 30 mins because you have a perfect saying, but it's in your first language and you can't just translate it, so you end up searching for an English equivalent that just doesn't fully cover what you want. You struggle to keep the spelling consistent because there's no international standard and so you randomly switch between "colour" and "flavor" and then have to correct it again and again.

Maybe your first language doesn't have the same sentence structure like English and when you read your finished fic, it just doesn't sound right. Maybe your parents or friends speak to you when you're writing and you switch to your first language and the sentences become even wonkier.

(special shoutout to my fellow suffering Slavs and others whose languages don't have articles. Even if we know the rules, we sometimes just toss all "the"s, "an"s and "a"s into the text and pray they land correctly)

You might struggle because those events in the US history or in the Anglophone world in general that shaped a whole generation mean nothing to you. How do you keep your characters realistic if you don't know? And don't get me started on measuring systems. "What the hell are inches," you may weep as you google all those conversions.

And punctuation? Commas in all the places that seem so wrong to you but they're apparently right?

And yet you decide to struggle with all of that to show love to your fandoms. You conquer your fear of sounding wrong and being ridiculed to share your thoughts with all the fans. Consuming media in another language is difficult enough, but creating something? That's so much more.

So to all of you who struggle with all or some of this like I do - I see you. And I want you to know you are awesome.

[goodluckclove]

Why Are You a Writer?

So the other day I did the second of my Writer's Refuge interview series, soon to be posted later this week. It went pretty well! It was with an artist on here I admire a lot and it was a really interesting conversation.

Perhaps even too interesting. We got onto the topic on why a person would tell stories, and their answer ended up being drastically different than mine. It ended up sending my on a little bit of a spiral (No fault of yours if you read this, Cass), but I didn't really talk about it with her at the time. You know, it's an interview. It's not about me.

My instinct when I'm feeling emotionally vulnerable is to sort of hide away most of the time, but it's a sleepy day in the Gardener household and I think it might help me to talk about it. So below the read more I'm going to get deeper into the question often asked to people in my trade: why are you a writer?

Spoiler alert: it's because I'm lonely.

No real gravitas or dramatics there, I don't think. Little actual literary merit. I've heard people say that they're writers because they're overtaken by stories, just a vessel to the act of creation that can't help but craft narratives. I think that's cool in theory, and it's something I relate to, but I also think it's a mind type that doesn't exist in a vacuum.

I grew up a child of addicts with about a five and eight-year age gap between me and the rest of my siblings. We were conditioned to be deeply loyal to each other and care in the way our parents couldn't care for us, but most of the time my siblings didn't want to play with me. My parents didn't want to play with me. I had a few friends at school, but not many of them were able to hang out with me outside of campus for one reason or another. Throughout my developmental years I spent a majority of my time on my own, just figuring out different ways to entertain myself.

And I felt a fundamental other-ing from the rest of the people around me. I was precocious, considered "mature for my age" (a poison adults have been feeding the youth for generations), but it went deeper than that. I would speak quickly to my peers, joking almost frantically without letting them get a word in edgewise. It felt like they all knew a common language I was never able to learn and never could. At one point in middle school I told myself I was better than them. i don't think that anymore. Now I'm just confused.

As an adult I'm often confused by other people, sometimes to the point of fear. I struggle to stay afloat in large social situations, to look charming and keep the other person placated and talking, making sure they don't realize the fundamental truth that I'm not supposed to be there. Sometimes it gets to the point where I'm so exhausted that I physically can't look at human faces for hours afterwards. They all look like fleshy slugs.

Does that make sense? I say that a lot in conversation with those around me, a constant plea for validation. Am I making sense?

So I write. I write a lot. With no other line of work at the moment I've been writing about 60k words every month for the better part of the last year. And I do it to tell a story I'm passionate about, sure. I do it to process emotional ghosts from my past. But if I'm being honest with myself I know I write to create a connection between myself and the audience. To create a story that someone can read or watch and say "I understand", even if their interpretation is different than my own.

I do it because I'm lonely. And I'm not really proud of that. But it's the truth.

Riley was surprised when I told them this. So are you saying that if you were happy you wouldn't be a writer? They asked. Well, I am happy. I'm also lonely. These two things can exist at once.

But if I had a different life. A more functional family system that would've likely resulted in me needing far less treatment than I currently do. If all that was the case then I might not see the need to be deeply embedded in my own head. The rest of the world might not come off as the threat it sometimes is. But then again, my life and my identity would be so drastically different that I don't really see the point in speculating.

Would I be a writer? Maybe. I don't know. I'd probably have other hobbies.

I don't usually like talking about myself like this. It feels indulgent. A little too skin-less for my tastes. But, as with anything else, maybe someone younger and in a similar state could read me talking in this way and feel an aspect of comfort. If one person does then that would be worth it. I'm glad I'm a writer and I think I'm a capable one. I'm also aware that being a capable writer doesn't necessarily mean you're also deeply neurotic, which is both a comfort and a small point of envy.

If you've read to this point - which, by the way, is an oddity of cosmic proportions to me, maybe reblog and speak a bit about how you became a writer. But maybe be a little honest with yourself. If it comes from a deep well of pain, that's meaningful. If you just want to create a powerful story that people can lose themselves in, that's also meaningful.

You don't need to suffer to be a good artist. That's absolutely not something I believe to any extent. I'm just one of the ones that did, and that's something I'm going to have to work out over the course of the next rest of my life.

I don't know. I'm rambling. Maybe it can be your turn to talk now.

[livvy-fallen]

More animalistic headcannons about the demon bros and demons behavior in general because my hunger (just like Beelzebub) can never be filled. I hope I feed you well my children.

Do I even have to say it is Segestive?

So last time I briefly talked about mating calles. And I stay firm on that. Not only that but I one up that. And that's by the fact I believe that there's demonic language which to humans just sound like hisses, growling and chrips. There is 9 versions of demonic tounges. Of course the 7 sins each is a different animal so it makes sense? And 2 is the general like one that everyone that is devil born can read and write in if taught. Then theres a version for royals. If your like Solomon you can only speak a few words before you throat starts to bleed. It's to harsh for human vocal cords. It rips them apart.

However that doesn't mean you can't copy the specific animals. Only a couple words without any chancees with your vocal cords being ripped apart. After all their just animal noises , humans can mimic that anyways. For example if you hear Levi hiss you can copy it without much issue.

Now lets talk about how demons are fucking SCARYYYY

Because they are still man-eating demons. They have environment changes to eat humans. No matter what that's still hardwired into their system and never will leave. So yes do no worry if you see a pair of bright purple eyes looking at you at nighttime. Ignore how you can't move, it's just the 7th born's demon powers causing sleep paralysis. To them it's just a future meal he can share with his family. Don't worry, he was only checking on the human. he would never eat your soul... Let's hope yes? Just ignore the scratching on the walls you're ears pick up when Lucifer has to lock him away... Again.Don't question why you feel their sins often. Their not doing it on purpose... Most times.

Ignore when you hear their voice and you go to the room and see their not their. Probably on the ceiling. They forget that human just can't decide that being on the floor is so boring and love the wall.

For demons they are very unaware that humans aren't used to seeing demons or don't have the same strength. It also goes through same way for humans. Demons don't have what we consider adrenaline.. Well they do but not exactly. They can push themselves harder when they are in panic but it doesn't wear off like ours. It also isn't as good as what humans ares. Demons are strong anyways they can use more power then needed so they don't really have any their bodies can take all of their power unlike how we restrain ours so their brain doesn't really go past it's limites when adrenaline is added. So imagine their shock when you were in the underground tomb and as your going to get murdered you can suddenly pick up Beelzebub and Luke and run like fuck to get them safe.

It probably also surprised belphegor when all the sudden the weak human had enough strength where you could fight back and run to get yourself hurt. Of course you didn't manage to escape in time. But you left him with a hard to heal nose and a scar. (will definitely be writing a fic where you do survive because of your adrenaline)

Another thing is that demons have a natural sense of hierarchy in their families. The oldest you are the higher you are in power. This is mostly because the oldest tend to be stronger than their younger siblings. So while belphegor definitely does get pampered by his older siblings so do you. You are the youngest and the weakest. Sorry just true most human if not all can be as strong as a demon let a alone a avatar of a sin. So yes, in the later game if you complain or show any sign of pain you better get ready to deal with 6 clingy demons. Lucifer will simply do that in private if not life threatening.

I also fully believe that in heat demons are very.. Unhinged. For an example you wake up to a very happy Satan and Beelzebub at the foot of your bed with body covering them as you have a demon or an poor animal that crossed their path. Their only trying to show they can provide! Cue confused demons as you scream and call for another demon to help. WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?! "Why are you screaming? Are you not in the mood for food? no no stop crying" "Not hungry but they haven't eaten in awhile!" WHAT THE FUCK?! I Suggest you sleep with your door locked. Not like it would stop them but it gives you warning to expect a dead body.

Do expect to randomly be pulled in a nest made by anyone during this. Fight all you want you are getting smothered in blankets and soft items AND YOU ARE GOING TO LIKE IT. The main nest makers in this household are going to be Mammon are belphi. A close one is Lucifer but he doesn't really do it in public. His room is under strong lock and key during this.

Do expect to get harassed when you try to wake up. You try to get up and your getting tackled by the all the 7 sins. You will be cuddled because your "scent" Lord kill me I'm so sorry is stronget at the morning. Your clothes? GONE. Your blankets? GONE. NOT SEEING THEM AGAIN your dignity? NON EXISTENT. You will be robbed of everything you own and will be found in one of the brothers nest. Which then you will be washing it so much because I mean... Do I have to explain? Especially Asmo douse anything you get back from the the embodiment of lust with the finest laundry detergent, Holly water either from Michael or God themselves and hand sanitizer.

Yes the demons are gonna be sore. If you have a period you know when everything and anything that can be sore is sore. That's that from them. If they are winged they will always have their wings out. 1 because achey. 2 presenting to either get or doing the dick downing. They are also going to preen/clean their wings every so often. 1 a day at max. Do be careful where you step please. You try to leave the nest by some miracle you do. Tails and wings are everywhere. One wrong step and your setting off every demon in the HOL.

This is shit. This is very crappy. Please make more creative/ animalistic hc.. I beg 🙏

once again asks and requests are open and I yearn to see one

[slipping-is-doing-things]

After days of writing, editing and rewriting here are my headcanons about Screwllum! You might remember seeing this post which I'll be both elaborating on while making it make more sense. Breaking the cut is heavily recommended due to the post length.

This post includes but isn't limited to my headcanons, speculation for backstory and more. I'm info dumping about my special interest without any shame

Word count: 1,567

Trigger warnings: war, weaponry, death.

Fandom: Honkai star rail

Terminology

I'm only including this to make sure anyone who reads this understands what I'm talking about

Emotional core - The codes and primary processors and similar equipment that allows Screwllumites to feel emotions.

Black box - I'm using Black Box in the terms of the metaphor here and a physical object that works similar to what's seen on air crafts.

Internals & codes

Screwllum’s code and presses are vastly different from Screwllumites. While all modern (primarily post Rubert I) were created with emotional cores based off Screwllum’s own, those before or during Rubert I era had a different version that is capable of such things but not naturally made to do those functions.

Due to how long Screwllum has been around it's vastly contributed as to why Screwllum and the Screwllumites are different internally. Screwllum himself runs on the older design even with having updated his outer appearance over the era’s. Fundamentally if you taken Screwllum apart and compared it to an modern day Screwllumite you would have two very different designs and codes even though outwardly the appearance is similar.

The emotional core is something even those who have claimed the ranks of Punklorde can't break, and hasn't been explained by Screwllum himself or any Screwllumite. It's believed to be an integrated aspect of their complex artificial intelligence or a specialty made part and/or device. While other inorganic life forms don't require this it's believed to be created in those that do become emotional (primarily for the cases of robots and artificial intelligence systems).

The black box and memory drive is something special to Screwllum himself. A gift of sorts from Nous which allows him to be alive for as long as he has while keeping his memories and similar things. The Monarch if his physical body is destroyed or worse his codes and AI are hacked into and taken over works as an failsafe to both keep data from before the attack. Due to this unlike the Screwllumites who can lose minor memory and if their important chips and whatnot are broken beyond repair can be classified as dead, Screwllum can be brought back indefinitely.

It does have its drawbacks, corrupted data that can cause issues in the long-term can be saved. To counteract this Screwllum currently has two black boxes, one that would bring him back in a state one wouldn't notice the missing data and the one he currently uses. The data added to the first black box is checked by Screwllum to make sure any data being added has no risk of corruption.

Primary headcanons

Screwllum can and does speak multiple languages as needed, all he needs is recorded information on whatever language then his AI model does the rest. On first use of new languages he hasn't used in the past can sound slightly wrong but it doesn't take him long to adjust the needed components to be able to both speak those languages fluently and without issue.

Screwllum isn't his original name, the data on the original was lost amber eras’s ago and isn't something he minds. He holds very little memory before Rubert I started the war on all organic lifeforms.

Technically, mechanical aristocrat Is an very old term due to it being Screwllum’s original model name. The term is still used on planet Screwllum which is rather amusing to him.

Screwllita more or less acts like Screwllum’s scheduler when she isn't in the hair salon. You best believe she can and does get away with joking around with Screwllum, maybe even making him try on different hats to spice things up. This isn't to say Screwllum doesn't do it himself, she just likes to remind him! The two are friends and you can pry that from my cold dead hands—

It's very rare to see Screwllum without gloves. While he isn't self conscious of his appearance, he knows organic lifeforms wouldn't enjoy how cold his hands are and how delicate the joints of his fingers are. He tends to get nervous when needing to shake hands with people who aren't accustomed or used to interacting with inorganic life forms like himself without his gloves on due to it.

Dancing, it's something Screwllum enjoys just as much as butterflies. Sadly he hasn't found any partners to dance with outside of Screwllita or a very believable hologram. When he does get to dance he's very content even if his partners aren't the most skilled.

Screwllum keeps a butterfly garden inside an enclosure on his planet. He adores all the butterflies he keeps and takes great pride in it, if stressed he tends to take breaks to visit it if he's home.

Love is a complicated emotion Screwllum doesn't fully understand even with how advanced his Emotional core is. He is more accustomed to platonic love, the Screwllumites are his family he loves them in that way but true romantic feelings for another lifeform is something to his knowledge he's never felt. He never can fully wrap his head around how other Screwllumites can start romantic relationships and start families while the base idea itself to him is something he fundamentally doesn't understand.

That isn't to say Screwllum is incapable, he certainly is but just doesn't know is all. He doesn't have much free time anymore to spend on developing his own emotional core like he used to. That isn't actively an issue even though it does leave him at times confused with overly complex feelings that he doesn't deal with frequently.

The mechanical sun is still something Screwllum is worried about failing. While the machine has worked for decades without fail and only requiring minimal maintenance still has the small chance of failing. To see his people suffer due to his own failure is a haunting feeling to him, even so he takes comfort in its calculations. Calculations one could say are the start and continuance of life for Screwllumite's.

Weaponry

While Screwllum doesn't enjoy fighting he is more than capable of defending himself! Screwllum primarily uses either a sword stick or Rapier. Most wouldn't know that the cane he can be seen with at times, primarily places fighting might break out is actually a weapon which is a functional cane. While holding the revolution against Rubert I Screwllum was frequently seen with a Rapier, a weapon he was very skilled with. While he much rather solves issues with words, sometimes force is the only way, be it a pesky line of code that just won't run or a fellow inorganic life form that wishes to kill what he stands to protect.

My ideas for his backstory

My ideas here are heavily just me thinking of what might have happened! Please don't take this or anything here as true to canon. I adore giving more depth to characters when they don't have much. One should also note this would be happening towards the middle of the second war, for Screwllum had been around unaffected before and during the first and star of the second Mechanical Emperor's war.

Screwllum’s original use was to be a diplomat on behalf of an royal family not from Planet Screwllum though Screwllum holds no memory of this. How he ended up on this random planet will always be unknown in my interpretation. The events beforehand are lost to time and damages to Screwllum’s physical form and internal hardware. The skills he had from it ran over into what he is today even if he doesn't remember.

The first true memory Screwllum holds is of him waking up in a forest on a planet that he doesn't remember. His systems had been offline for over 8760 system hours, his physical body had been damaged while moss had calmed its home on him. The second thing he saw were butterflies, many butterflies he came to notice had been resting on him until he moved. He only noticed the organic lifeform standing a few feet away once he started to take in wherever he was. While he couldn't recall what happened to cause the system shutdown for such a long period of time his Artificial intelligence started to, for the first time, read the codes for fascination and confusion.

The Robotic aristocrat spent three years with Farlan. An organic lifeform that had found him and powered his systems back on. With his previous data missing and codes running that his system originally seen as errors the two started a routine. Screwllum helped the older man while being taught about what he was feeling. To memory Farlan is his first friend, the first individual that wasn't frightened by him and rather interested in his natural curiosity. In this time he established what happiness felt like, confusion, excitement, desire and so much more. Butterflies were abundant there, at that small cabin in those thick woods.

Screwllum would first feel anger, sadness and loss with Farlan. Hearing what Rubert I was trying to destroy angered him yet saddened him knowing so many have been hurt over a war that shouldn't be happening. He would see loss first hand with Farlan. Screwllum would return to find that Farlan died of natural causes; it was the first time Screwllum regretted following his own protocols. Taking the deceased’s hat then burying him he set for planet Screwllum or wherever he could get to first that hadn't been affected by Rubert I to start a rebellion.

[gamie99]

Skibidi Grammar: A Brief Amateur Study

Because I honestly have nothing better to do. We studying the Skibidi writing system up in this bitch 🔥🔥

(Spoilers for Episode 70 Part 2 below! Proceed with caution!)

In the latter half of Episode 70 Part 2, Plungerman picks up this document in what I'm calling 'the hardware artifact room', featuring what is very clearly the written form of the language used by the Skibidi Toilets. This honestly kind of shocked me (the toilets have a writing system??) but at the same time it doesn't - every intelligent civilization, no matter how absurd, has to have some way to keep records handy, especially one as advanced as the toilets.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that we obviously can't translate the Skibidi language, the exact nature or contents of this document are completely unclear. However, I'm going to analyze what we can see and understand anyway, because that's fun and I have horrific brainrot. LET'S BEGIN!!

But before we start analyzing the actual text itself, I'd like to quickly get the two photos on the document out of the way:

The first photo is of the Scientist Toilet, with some weird round thing behind him that kind of looks like an airplane engine. His photo is apparently captioned, written in red and in larger text than the rest of the text on the document. What is the caption? Is that his legal name?? Again, it's completely unclear.

The second photo depicts an Astro Toilet - his style of helmet makes it obvious. What isn't obvious, however, is who this Astro Toilet is. He isn't the one from Part 1, and he doesn't resemble the other two Astro Toilets we've seen before either - all of their helmets are different. If I'm not mistaken, this is the fourth Astro Toilet we've seen in the series, and looking at where we currently are at, he definitely won't be the last.

Why these two are featured on this document is, again, unknown. But we can deduce that the Astro Toilets and the Scientist Toilet are connected in a very important way.

Now, with that out of the way, time to actually analyze the written toilet language!!

The Skibidi language is written in all caps, and makes obvious use of some of the characters from the Greek alphabet - you might be familiar with a few if you've taken any kind of advanced math in school. This seems to be purely for aesthetic reasons, seeing as how the Greek letter Ψ is used in place of the Latin letter Y in 'YES' when Ψ makes the 'ps' sound. I ain't gonna complain though. I love doing shit for the sake of 'make it Fancy™'.

A couple of the words are underlined, which wouldn't be too strange by itself, if not for the fact that some of the words are also overlined (this can most clearly be seen in the first 'SKIBIDI' in the second paragraph). Some kind of punctuation or markings to denote proper nouns, maybe? I don't know.

Speaking of punctuation (kinda), we have some symbol usage in the form of {}! They're used to surround a set of words in the second paragraph ({DOB YES YES}).

< and > also make an appearance! In the second paragraph, they're used to separate two words (SKIBIDI<>DOM), and in the third paragraph, they're used to surround four words (>SKIBIDI SKIBIDI SKIB IDI<). Again, no idea what purpose these symbols have - maybe they have a similar function to the {} we see here?

And now, for some various other interesting things I've noticed!

The first four lines of the first paragraph is the classic unaltered Skibidi chant. Neato!

There's a lot of variety in the community when it comes to spelling the word "DOP". This document features three different spellings - 'DOP', 'DOM', and 'DOB' - which I suppose makes them all correct! There's also the word 'DIP' that's featured here too.

There's a random upside down A in one of the words in the second paragraph (it's a bit hard to read due to the faded text, but I can best Latinize it as 'YES∀SKIBIDI'). Interesting!

'BRRR' and 'BRRRRH' are words. Hahaha!

And that's about all I have to say about the Skibidi written language! Moral of the story: ...uh, man, my brainrot is horrible right now have a good day everyone LMFAOOOO

[nanonana39]

Language learning – Introductory tips for self taught beginners

Warning, this is a loooong read. Feel free to skip to the TL;DR at the end.

In this post, I will detail a few tips which have helped me (a self taught language hobbyist) with the beginning steps of learning languages such as English, Korean and Japanese. This is not a guide on how to achieve fluency quickly, it is meant to be an introduction to language learning. This is also based on my own experiences; feel free to disagree or correct me.

We will go over these points:

How do I start learning a language?

What should I use? Is an app better than online courses?

Do I learn grammar or vocabulary first?

How much should I study?

Should I practice immersion?

Where do I find resources/books?

I feel frustrated. / I am not learning anything. /This is too hard, maybe it's not for me.

How do I start learning a language?

This is the first thing you will ask yourself when you decide you want to start learning a language. Whether it is for work, for studying, traveling or just for fun, most people feel overwhelmed at the thought of how or where to start.

The truth is that there is no set path to start learning a language, but researching the language before studying can help relieve your worries over it and give you an idea of how to start. Keep in mind that languages which have different alphabets/writing systems (i.e. Japanese, Chinese, Arabic) take longer for a native Germanic/Romance language speaker (i.e. English, French) to learn and achieve fluency, and vice versa, so if you do not have a second language as of yet, consider choosing a Germanic/Romance language as a soft start. I'll detail a suggestion as to where to start in point 3.

What should I use? Is an app better than language courses?

The current language learning app ecosystem is a far cry from what it used to be (yes, I'm talking about Duolingo and Memrise), but they are still your main allies if you have a busy schedule and want to learn a language. However what I've found is that simply tapping away in an app and taking notes isn't enough – sometimes the apps don't explain certain grammar rules, or they're locked behind monthly paywalls. As such, you have to find the answers elsewhere.

Here are some things which will make your life and your studying much easier if you are self taught and on a budget: books on the language (for grammar, you can find PDFs online), language channels (for more thorough and practical explanations, YouTube is the main hub for it), and regular media in the language of your choosing (for vocabulary, it can range from music to series/movies). If you have a friend who speaks the language, or perhaps is learning it with you, that also works. In my opinion, learning is better when you have other people to share it with.

There are also websites such as japanesetest4you.com which compile words and their meanings, just like a dictionary. The one I've mentioned not only displays kanji and its meanings, but also shows its variants in Korean and Chinese. There are many others in this same vein for other languages.

Do I learn grammar or vocabulary first?

When learning a language, most courses and classes will focus on teaching you the grammar and the writing system, which while helpful, can sometimes feel like you are going nowhere, as you know how to build a sentence, but don't have words to form it with, or can't pronounce it correctly. This is a common problem among beginners (and sometimes even more experienced language learners), don't let it discourage you.

A personal example I like to use is: To say "the sky is blue", you have to first learn what the sky is, then learn the color blue, and then learn the structure to be able to say "the sky is blue". Vocabulary is just as important as learning the grammar rules in any language; don't limit yourself to only learning how to write. So the answer is: Build a small vocabulary, learn the grammar, and then apply it in practice. It doesn't have to be correct on the first try, we've all been there. Though people learn in different ways, so perhaps you might feel like the opposite works for you. That's also completely fine.

This is another point where engaging with the language's culture and media outside of classes comes to play. Even watching a TV program during your free time and writing down words is enough, since you're also practicing listening, which is also very important and looked over. Try incorporating pronunciation and listening into your studying routines.

How much should I study?

This is a point of much debate within language learning spaces because there is no answer for it. Some might learn a language in 3 months, others might learn it in 10 years, a few can learn it in 3 weeks. It depends on what language you've chosen and the time you are able to dedicate to the language.

The best tip I can give is: if you can dedicate even just 10-15 minutes of learning each day, you can achieve the results you desire. Of course, you should increase that amount if you're able to in the future, but it's already an effort.

Consider your schedule and refer back to the first point, as the time you'll take to achieve conversational/fluency levels can vary depending on the language you choose.

Should I practice immersion?

The common view of immersion is: "speak the language at every opportunity, only engage with media in that language, and write only in that language". This is what you'll see in some of those "I learned (language) in only 3 months" videos.

Let's be realistic though, no one can start speaking German at all times when they live in the US, or Spanish when they live in France, and you'll only feel more frustrated if you force yourself to watch k-dramas without subtitles and nothing else, expecting to absorb it through osmosis. And also, you only now started learning how to say "the sky is blue".

Immersion comes in many forms, though. If you listen to a song in the language you want to learn and read the lyrics while listening, that counts as immersion. If you write a few phrases describing your day in that language as a dynamic exercise, it also counts as immersion. Immersion is what says on the tin – immersing yourself in the language – but it shouldn't bring you unnecessary stress. Also, contrary to what some might say, I do recommend you use translators, if it helps you associate words with their meanings. Don't just rely on them, though, since Google Translate can be unreliable with certain translations and meanings.

Where do I find resources/books?

This requires digging around, but I recommend you check sites like as WebArchive and YouTube. If you can, buy the books online, or borrow some from your local library. I recommend looking for actual textbooks, mainly because some of them include tidbits about the culture itself, like Genki. If you're on a budget, Reddit has a few threads which recommend apps/books, but be very careful with downloading things from random Google Drives or other file hosting websites.

Tumblr is also a very good place for learning new vocabulary. I see some blogs dedicated to sharing kanji and grammar rules, and it can be good to follow such blogs to build your vocabulary.

I feel frustrated. / I'm not learning anything! / This is too hard, maybe this is not for me.

Rome wasn't built in one day, and you definitely won't learn a language in a month or two if you are someone who is in school or has a job with long working hours. YouTube has made language learning easy, but it also has given the illusion that if you follow X method or study an N number of hours, you'll achieve fluency. That is not the case. It fails to take into account the nature of the language, its grammar rules, the writing systems, and everything else.

You don't realize this, but you definitely didn't learn how to speak in just 3 months when you were a child. Everyone learns differently, some faster than others, some slower, some have more time to study, others don't. Some people have difficulty concentrating and don't know how to make learning more fun. All I can say is: don't give up. As long as you put in some effort, even if it seems insignificant to you, you can achieve your results.

Don't feel obligated to continue learning a language if it is bothering you, though. Remember you can always take a break and come back to it another time. Who knows, maybe even during that break, you'll still be learning new words, and feel more motivated to go back.

TL;DR: Language learning is something which is more accessible now than ever, but you might find yourself confused on where or even how to begin learning a language. The key tip for learning any language is to do research, gather resources, know your own limits and how much dedication, time and energy you can invest into learning, and most important of all, to have fun with it.

I hope this can help some beginners in their journey into language learning. Thank you for reading this far!

[aifsaath]

Hey! What are your worldbuilding headcanons for First Men in your AU’s? You’re very good at building for Andals and Valyrians. I love the concept of rygos and the funeral rites for Valyrians and Andals. There appears to be a misconception due to Stark-wank that the First Men are incredibly progressive but from reading F&B it was the First Men that did the first night whilst it was unheard of south of the neck (apart from dragonstone) + that their 'progressive on women' whilst there hasn't been a ruling lady of winterfell in like 3 thousand years.

I think First Men were like any other human group: mostly neutral, had some great peeps and some absolute assholes. Now, i can't speak for GRRM, because I don't think his worldbuilding is showing realistic patterns when it comes to the populations, but I can run wild with what we got to work with.

We know that a) Westeros is the size of South America, ie - it covers vastly different biotopes from low UV tundra in the North to the scorching hot subtropics and dry tropics in Dorne. Mountainous regions with lower air pressure, regions ridden with disease-spreading mosquitos. You have the periodical extinction events. What i'm trying to say is that the moment they arrived, they became subject to various evolutionary pressures. I won't bore you all with my speculations about the Dornish Bottleneck event and the possible climatic conditions that allowed them to walk to Dorne (now that i think about it, the breaking of the Arm had to change the sea currents and the subsequent climate), but we know that they came 12k years ago, with horses and perhaps dogs and with some knowledge about bronze metallurgy (though my guess would be copper metallurgy at most instead of full bronze, we need to make the technological stasis at least somewhat plausible).

The First Men came from the southwestern region of Essos. We can extrapolate that they resembled the indigenous people of the same latitude - Dornish, Ghiscari. Only when they spread all over the continent and the natural selection started to be applied, we get the regional variations, like we got in real life.

We don't know if they were already agriculturalists or if they lived a more nomadic lifestyle. The fact that they arrived on foot indicates that they were quite mobile. We know little to nothing about their cultural practices, but some echoes are still there. We know they had their own pre-tree god pantheons (Elenei, Garth, Storm and Drowned god), we know that in the Reach there was a fertility-agricultural cult with Garth as the central figure. We know they had some deeply held taboos (guestright, kinslaying).

GRRM treats First Men as this one single unit, but that is simply not possible.The geographical scale alone renders it unrealistic. There is no way there was one Old Tongue - with the natural barriers preventing communities from easy communication, with the lack of widely used writing system and media. There had to be hundreds of languages at some point, hundreds of tribes, ethnic groups, each different from another.

Now, we all know the adage that only in North the First Men's blood runs strong. That's nice, but it's again, relatively unrealistic, since Andals were one ethnic group fleeing one kingdom and entering a whole ass continent that had been inhabited for quite a long time. While iron is advantageous on a large scale (easier to produce), the advantage wasn't THAT massive to completely override the whole continent. I can accept the Vale, the Riverlands and the eastern Stormlands and Dorne as having Andal majority, I can accept Andal nobility marrying First Men rullers, cementing their cultural impact, I can even accept proselytising holy wars happening later, bringing in the hegemony of the Faith in and Andal-based languages, but I draw the line of newcomers from a geographically restricted area completely suplanting the previous population, leaving only the North as the sole survivor. This is not Europeans vs Indigenous Americans situation, this is Yamnaya nomads vs Neolithic farmers analogy.

This obsessive tangent aside, when we want to know whether or not the First Men were more progressive, we need to look at both the few extant First Men groups , and the historical records.

If we consider the least Faith-based lands as the most culturally First Men, we end up with the a) Wildling, b)Northmen and..... the c) Ironborn. Even though the context is different, both wildlings and the Ironborn practice bridal kidnappings. Ygritte and Val can say what they want, but a dagger is not enough to make sure that you get to be tied to a man you really want. All that means is that a man will kidnap the woman he knows he can overpower and unfortunately, women are seldom blessed with Brienne's strength and even wildlings use ropes. In a society where might make right (wildlings, ironborn), women get the shorter end of the stick because the culture places the highest value on physical strength.

Now, Northerners are a bit of a special case. If it weren't for the trees, they wouldn't be that much different from their southern neighbours. And yet there is one significant key difference in the culture. Jonquil vs Danny Flint. One song speaks about chivalry, but the other one is a westerosi snuff poem. Mind you, the story isn't written by the supposed watch members (I'm very sceptical it ever happened), but it speaks about the northerners whose cultural imagination gave birth to the tale about a young girl wandering into a forbidden place full of men only to pay the highest price.

When it comes to the historical records, at least wildlings get their brownie points for having female leaderships. Northmen get just the Mormont pack and the rest is all a wiener fest and I can't recall any Ironborn lady, with the exception of Asha, who was treated with the same respect as the other men. And that's not even accounting their treatment of the lower class women.

[justalexisfine]

Call to the fog. . .

Hello there! Welcome to my forest. Are you a friend or foe?

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☆ This post will be updated as needed!

FREE PALESTINE! 🇵🇸

daily click(s)

I am Alex, the host of The Faded (median/parasian) system/plural! Here, you will read mostly about me, and you can read up on the rest of the members in our Pronouns.CC or plural sideblog in the link section below!

Names:

- Alex

- X

- Achlys

Titles:

She/He Who Wanders The Stars

The Creature in The Night

Content:

- Reblogs

- (Hopefully) relatable stuff

- Nonhuman/Alterhuman things

- (Rarely making it myself) Moodboards and artwork

- Activism and such

- Random things

it's pretty inconsistent, which makes it fun, I think!

I'd like to add that we are bodily a minor. We're not uncomfy with 18+ SFW interactions, however! But if you're weird about it (or an EXCLUSIVELY NSFW acc), then you will be blocked.

If we breach your DNI, then please tell us.

pronouns page! (OUTDATED)

Boundaries!

Nicknames/Casual Names!

flag hoard!

Pronouns.CC!

System Sideblog! (or just the-faded-plural)

Music taste(s):

- Mother Mother

- Rare Americans

- Dirt Poor Robins

- Ghost and Pals

- The Crane Wives

- liana flores

- 6arelyhuman

- Yaelokre

- Panic! At The Disco

- Vocaloid

- Folk/Indie/Alt

- Rock/indie rock

etc, etc

Currently learning:

- German

- Spanish

- American sign language (ASL)

Alterhuman labels:

Wolf/monster ~ Quoiian

Cat ~ Otherhearted

Crow ~ Otherlink

Alterhuman/Nonhuman

Kinsidering:

Werewolf ~ Otherkin/Otherhearted

Dragon ~ Otherhearted

TV static ~ Otherkin/Conceptkin/Otherhearted (concepthearted?)

Stars ~ Otherkin/Otherhearted

Wolf/Monster ~ Silhouetten

We use we/us/our/ourself to reference us collectively and I/me/my/myself to reference individual members.

Queer labels:

- Queer

- Genderblank

- Librafeminine

- Greygender

- Omnisexual (fem + masc pref)

Questioning queer labels:

- Xenogender

- Aro/Ace spec

- Demisexual/Demiromantic

- Cupioromantic

- Some form of genderneutral

- Some form of genderfluid

- Uniromantic

- Separoace

- Neogender

anon list!

- yaint anon

- ♧ anon

- ☀️ anon

- 🌹 anon

please note that due to our current circumstances, we can not first-handedly donate. we try to help by reblogging and making posts about the cause, but we can't actually donate. any asks for a donation/asking for donations that we get will be deleted and/or ignored.

we are white/caucasian passing

we have mixed feelings with artistic nudity and body positive art! but we do not like NSFW

We use tone tags and (sometimes) shortened versions of words.

we sometimes swear, but usually avoid it. you have been warned!

We don't have a specific DNI/block board, but we follow closely to the basic DNI criteria. I do know that we'll block and/or not interact with any blogs that make us uncomfy and/or bad for our mental, NSFW blogs, and if it's for boundaries!

also note that we are pro-recovery

We will try to tag triggering things accordingly! Please say something if we didn't tag something right/you need a trigger warning for something!

I'm gonna make a few tags to filter my stuff out, so here ya go! sometimes, we forget to tag things, so just be warned of that!

# al speaks - General stuffs!

# gems n feathers - hoarding/crow posts!

# claws can draw - drawing posts!

# claws can write - writing posts!

# glitch techs‼️ - Glitchy/techy/Bright colored posts; chaotic mayhem ♡

# al has claws - alterhumanity posts!

# vines n music - music recommendations!

VAGUE interests:

- Magic !!

- Anything Shiny !!

- Vulture Culture !!

- The stars !!

- Alterhumanity/Nonhumanity !!

- Queer identities !!

- Rocks/Gems !!

- Video Games !!

- Learning !!

- Nature/Animals !!

- Aesthetics !!

- Reading !!

- Drawing !!

- Eyes n Wings !!

- Music !!

- Writing !!

- Vocaloid !!

SPECIFIC interests:

- FNAF !!

- COTL !!

- TADC !!

- ITSV + ATSV !!

- DHMIS !!

- Welcome Home! !!

- Murder Drones !!

- Nimona !!

- Mune: Guardian of the Moon !!

- Analog and Body Horror !!

- Learning about other LGBTQIA++ and Nonhuman/Alterhuman labels !!

- TDA (The Daycare Attendants from FNAF SB) !!

- Poppy Playtime! !!

- Stardew Valley !!

- Undertale n Deltarune !!

- Arcane: League of Legends !!

- Pressure (Roblox) !!

(known) userbox credits: @/ill-either-live-or-die-alone, @/mx-werebat, @/plural-userboxes, @/xxx-ang3l-w1th-a-sh0tgun-xxx

(they're cut weirdly, ik)

moodboard by @/youokaymilo

**NOTE: WE DO NOT CLAIM THESE IMAGES AS OURS. FULL CREDIT GOES TO THE ORIGINAL CREATORS

[aria-languages]

hello!! i'm aria from slovenia, and i'm very interested in learning languages :) this is my language learning blog (langblr), but i'm not sure if i'll post much as i'm very new to tumblr and a tad shy hahah. however, i would love to participate in language exchange, please message me if you're interested!!

these are the languages i'm learning:

german - i've been learning german since 9 years old at school but i'm very bad at it :/ i can understand a lot, but i can't speak very well, as is with most languages haha. i should be at level b1, but i don't think i am really. it's one of my priority languages as i am learning it at school.

spanish - my parents spoke spanish around me when i was young, so i have a certain feeling for it, but again, i can't speak it very well although i understand a lot. i love spanish as a language and would love to improve it!

dutch - i think i speak dutch quite well, i can speak without many pauses and even think in the language, but it's been a while since i've practiced so i'm not sure how good i am now?

french - i used to be able to speak french quite fluidly - far from fluently, i just could speak without many pauses - but that was 5 years ago and now i've forgotten pretty much everything, but i've been trying to learn it again.

japanese - i've been learning japanese for over a year now but i'm veeery bad at it :( i barely know the writing systems and i can't communicate at all. so i wouldn't benefit from a language partner yet, but i would like a study buddy. any help would be greatly appreciated!

swedish - i've also been learning swedish for a while, i'm better at it than japanese, but still not good enough. i can say some basic sentences but couldn't hold a conversation, so the same as with japanese!

serbian - as i'm slovene i understand almost everything in serbian, but i can't speak it at all, i mix everything up with slovene. there's also very few resources, so i haven't been really motivated despite having a lot of serbian friends.

thank you for visiting and taking the time to read this! i hope we study together or do some language exchange :)

[donnerpartyofone]

My most pointless complaint of the day is the very old news that man, Duolingo sucks. I feel trapped with it not just because of my 1000+ day streak--a feeling they're surely counting on--but because I'm not really sure how to estimate my proficiency level and transfer it over to another platform. I tried using Mango but I don't really like the way it's set up, and I also don't have the patience to figure out whether and how to skip forward to lessons that feel new. Also my proficiency is in a pretty weird state, like I recently read a whole novel without TOO much help but my writing is bad and my conversation is non-existent. I have a couple other systems to try out, but in the meantime I'm slavishly slogging along with Duo and it's like. There are so many bad things about it. If it started out like this, I never would have used it in the first place. I miss the discussion tab, I miss just being able to find out WHY something is structured a certain way, like what's the rule. The examples are even more abstract and unnatural than ever, the section tests include examples I've never seen before, and it blows that I don't get to skip forward when I'm consistently acing something. The latter thing especially sucks because I have almost no sense of progress anymore; I can't totally prove it but I'm pretty sure I'm now spending WAY more time than ever before on the same things, even compared with when I was not skipping ahead in the past. I started to feel like I was hallucinating, like am I really checking in on this thing every day for months to keep telling it over and over again that I know how to say "I do not want to go to a bar because I am not thirsty" (an excuse that has never occurred to me in my life)? Every day for weeks and weeks and weeks Duo has made me say "I always go to Switzerland in the summer"; finally I progressed to a new section and I thought YES, AT LAST, SOME NEW SENTENCES! ...and the new section is about vacations, and now I still have to say "I always go to Switzerland in the summer" every single day. Like if their confidence is really that low, about whether I can learn that one phrase after months of repetition, then they should just shut down the whole app because what's the point?

I mean, yes, I know, I don't HAVE to do this. I'm agreeing to this torture. I just have this feeling that to stay in practice, or maintain some kind of continuity, I need to keep it up until I firmly decide on a new platform. Or at least a new method. I could always stick to only reading foreign language books for fun and just decide that it doesn't bother me that my writing and speaking will always suck. I didn't really have a goal in mind anyway so maybe it doesn't matter.