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borndalemouche · 10 days ago

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DeepL is pretty good as machine translation tools go and I have to agree that Google Translate sux omg pls don't use that TT

BUT please note:

DeepL works great on languages with a wide set of corpora available; not so much for rarer languages (that's in terms of number of texts available for treatment, not how many speakers are in the world);

It often works better with technical texts, like legal or scientific, than with everyday speech which will easily seem very stiff and... not human;

The longer, more complex the sentence, the worse the output will be.

Also, know that there's always the risk of an error, which might be nothing, or it could have unpleasant consequences. So always at least proofread/have it proofread by someone who knows what they're doing. Moreover, you know... big data and stuff... don't put any super secret contract or like a document full of personal information in there lol.

As for writers who want to translate into a language they don't speak

I would rather advise you use a tool like Reverso Context (DeepL has its own, called Linguee, but I've found it's not as good) which gives you a number of examples of your word/sentence in context with the and allows you to compare the way they are used and pick the best equivalent depending on the context of your sentence.

Here's an example:

First, you have the most common equivalents for the phrase in the little boxes at the top (you can also pick the word class when and verb, noun adverb, etc. have the same form).

Then the examples in context: you can see that a simple two-word phrase is not translated the same in different contexts.

You also have the ability to check the quotes' source in order to assess its quality. For example, that 'Kunal, s'il te plaît ne me fait pas ça' has a grammatical error.

Now, for example

If I wanted to tell you 'Please, don't use DeepL carelessly,' I would say, 'Je vous en supplie, n'utilisez pas DeepL n'importe comment.'

Now, DeepL would have said this, which, while it is grammatically correct, does not have the right connotation and is not exactly idiomatic (i.e. doesn't sound natural in the language).

And I'm not even mentioning the fact that it got lucky by picking 'vous' instead of 'tu' for the translation of 'you', cause it's so bad at that and will even often shift back and forth throughout the text. It's also terrible when it comes to gender... I can't tell you how many times women became men and vice versa in the middle of a text (they were definitely not genderfluid)

In conclusion

It requires a bit of searching up phrases and picking through the results, but if you want an accurate translation while not speaking the language, tools with in-context translation are probably your best bet.

Although I think my actual advice is to, if you can, just ask someone who's bilingual :D

psa: google translate sux, use DeepL

As someone who has to use translation software for work and has done comparison-testing between different options:

Use DeepL translations, not Google and definitely not Microsoft.

I work with someone bilingual and he helped me test which of the above works the best, and by far it's DeepL. It's so good he told me I don't need to run translations past him before sending them out, he trusts it.

So if you are writing fic and want to include something in another language (for instance, Paris speaking French or Ethan's multilingualism, etc) do not use google translate, use DeepL.

You can also click on specific parts of the DeepL translation to have it explain why it's using that translation and if it's not conveying the right meaning, you can select other options.

I would always recommend looking into language-specific phrases to adjust what you use to tailor them to the character, but that depends on how much effort you wanna put in.

#actually if you ever need someone to translate something from English to French just send an ask or DM my way #I'd be more than happy to help #i have way too much to say about translation in general #and translation in fanfics #maybe i went overboard #translation #writing #fanfic writing #advice #my thoughts

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felassan · 4 years ago

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Gamers For Groceries 2 event

A Twitch stream event from a few days ago. It can currently be re-watched here (it was fun & interesting, so I do recommend to check it out direct). This post contains some notes on things of particular interest & relevant timestamps, in case this is useful to anyone (for example bc of accessibility reasons).

First up is the All About Animating panel, a series of mini-interviews with game devs (animators) asking what they do, how they got there, and advice for anyone interested in getting into the industry. Some or all of the devs that were interviewed are currently working on DA4. They talked a bit about their day-to-day work and a lot about the craft of game dev animation in general. This segment runs from timestamp ~38 mins 40 secs to 1:07:50. Some notes:

[sounded like DA4] Right now the creature team are working on different creatures in a way which involves going through a lot of mocap data

At BioWare they have a pretty big technical animation team, to support their animators, so each tech animator has a different specialty. Tech anim involves animation support, character art support, and rigging the characters so that the animators can pose them

[not sure if re: DA4 work specifically, another project or a general comment on the craft] One of the featured animators’ area of specialty at the moment is faces and hair (building the control structure for face animations). First they had to decide how the face rig and its control structure would work. This involves a lot of performance capture of live actors for things like cinematics and gameplay animation, therefore the rigs for bodies and faces have to be able to accurately capture the full range of expressions and emotions that the actor is portraying. Right now the stage that this dev is working on most is setting up the heads that they’re getting through the pipeline from character art e.g. making adjustments based on feedback from the cinematics team. “Polish - just trying to get realism”

Hair tech has come quite a long way in the last few years [in the industry]

[not sure if re: DA4 work specifically, another project or a general comment on the craft] Hair is very complex to get right. “In the past most games have used card-based hair, which is basically like sheets of polygons with a texture on it that looks like hair, through layers of transparency. But real hair is strand-based, digital strands, so we’re starting to look into that kind of tech - try to get more realistic, more beautiful hair, but there’s always a performance cost to hair. Layers of transparent things are always an expense, they need to balance like, it looks good and moves well, but it doesn’t make your computer or console chug. [...] I guess we’re in the prototype stage but we’ve almost got a set pipeline. It’s always fun to experiment”

In Mass Effect 2 or 3, Miranda’s hair was as expensive as a whole character (!)

[on balancing hair costs/performance, general] It depends on things like character importance and how many characters are on-screen at the time. When you’re in gameplay fighting a bunch of monsters you’re not going to be giving full beautiful hair to all the characters and the monsters, as it will cost too much. (Having a helmet on is a convenient way to get rid of hair.) But if it’s a cinematic scene, with 2 characters talking to each other in a dramatic context, there’s a better budget for nice hair allocated

Some of the hair in Anthem was quite expensive in cinematics. They kept getting bugs from QA saying (for example) that a character’s hair was tripling the performance cost in the scene, so it would go back to character art so they could take away some of the hair cards. “Tough balance, quality versus cost”

“I wish all the characters could have beautiful strand hair”

For p-cap, a lot of the time they don’t want to be too prescriptive in terms of the direction that they’re giving the actors, as the actors know what they’re doing and have a lot of experience, so they give them vague instructions that they then riff off of

[sounded like DA4] They recently did a mocap shoot

[sounded like DA4] There’s a bit more productivity happening now in the pandemic situation; now that the animators are not all going to the capture lab in Vancouver in person for shoots, if it’s not their turn to direct a shot they can instead be working on something else on their computers (multi-tasking). ((Lead DA4 Producer Scylla Costa recently gave a talk at a games festival on the challenges of DA production during the pandemic. In part of this talk he talked about various benefits and drawbacks to the remote-working situation. He also talked about and showed some behind-the-scenes stuff for p-cap and mocap. Notes, images and link here))

[sounded like DA4] Special mocap suits were sent out that they can use with a laptop to go anywhere and shoot motion capture. It’s not as high fidelity as what comes out of the capture lab, but it’s really good for prototyping stuff. Before the pandemic they did some of this (going to a park and shooting some running around)

[sounded like DA4] In one of the shoots they had some actors who were really well-trained in dancing. They were trying to get them to do some combat stuff. This was a bit challenging in the pandemic situation as there’s only so much they can demonstrate/portray as an example to the actors from a distance on camera. “It’s hard to describe what a ‘dodge to attack’ is through the camera to somebody who has no idea what combat looks like in video games”

[not sure if re: DA4 work specifically, another project or a general comment on the craft] The pandemic has really affected performance capture for the face side of things badly, as in order to record, the actor gets dots painted on their face in specific locations by a makeup artist. They can’t do that right now because of social distancing/restrictions, so they haven’t been recording faces at the moment

The more detailed a face, the more joints it has, the more the cost to performance is

---

There was also the Writers’ Block panel, featuring DA writers Mary Kirby, Sheryl Chee and Patrick Weekes, and DA editor Karin Weekes. The timestamps for this segment are ~2:37:50 - 3:26:20. Some notes:

PW has never been weirder than when they were writing Cole on DAI

PW thinks that they accidentally wrote part of “Timber” by Kesha into Solas at one point and they were like “Well, okay, I have to stop listening to Kesha”

For Sheryl, after a while Blackwall’s VA always nailed doing his lines. She loved the quality of his voice and so after a while would always hear his voice while she was writing. This really worked out

^ Mary had this with Merrill. As soon as they cast Eve Myles she listened to several hours of her in Torchwood, and then just wrote to the way that she spoke as much as possible

^ PW had this with GDL as Solas and FPJ as Bull. As soon as they heard FPJ’s delivery, they were like “Oh, okay, I have to write some lines differently, because Bull is smarter than I realized”. With GDL they were like “Okay, he’s going to put poetry into anything I say, in the best way possible”. In early drafts of Solas lines there were parts where they [PW] wondered “Is this too melodramatic? Is this too tragically-angstful?” and then they would hear GDL and be like “Oh! [It’s fine] Game on!”

For localization, German words are often quite long so they often have to make sure that everything fits on the GUI

They think scenes like the romance scenes sound prettier in the Italian versions

Behind the curtain in creating the in-world languages: PW: “There are some awesome websites that have every elven word, like ‘Here are the translations and verb tenses and conjugations’ [etc], [...] and usually Mary and I get very sad slightly looking at those pages going like ‘Does that mean that we have to stick to that?’ [...] The rule is, if I’ve looked at the Wiki and the words, and I go ‘Here’s the correct grammatical way to do it’, and if that turns out to be too long or too many disconnected syllables and it just looks bad or sounds bad, then we shorten it to something simpler, because the key is we want to give the flavor of a foreign language, but we don’t have the world-building budget and capacity to make something that is going to be dictionary-real [in a way that] someone could go through and translate all the background things written on the old temple walls”. Part of the reason for this is the consideration for VAs, who already have to act while bearing lots of things in mind, like the cues in the script for each line

Mary: “For building a language, the first things that I started with for qunlat, elven and dwarven, was what words do we need to use the most? Greetings, farewells, words for friend and enemy, basic things that will come up easily in conversation. After that it’s ‘How difficult is this for other writers to use?’ Can they just pick it off the Wiki? Do they need just one word? Do they need to write whole sentences, and how does that work? Qunlat has almost no grammar to it because asking anyone to learn how to use Qunari grammar and conjugate verbs in a pretend language is impossible, and then once you’ve done that a human being has to be able to read it, while not knowing what any of it means”

PW: “One thing that I was really impressed with with Mary in particular doing, Mary was one of the big lore people across the entire DA series; I can look at a word and go like, ‘That has two A’s in a row, that’s definitely a Qunari word. That word is kind of long and maybe has some apostrophes and has a couple of flowy vowel sounds, that’s probably elven’, I think that’s what’s important. You want players to be able to look at a word, players want to feel smart, [like] ‘Oh I don’t know what that means but I totally know that’s a word from the Qunari people!’”. Mary: “Every language has its own set of phonemes, the sounds that they make, and the sort of word structure and spelling so that it gives a flavor to that language. Hopefully that is always chosen to be pronounceable, because again, very important that the words can be said by human beings :D”

Sheryl: “One of the fun things to do is to make up swear words in the fake languages [...] Recently Brianne wanted a word, I don’t know if she managed to find one”

The origin of bosh’tet in ME: it’s just saying “bastard” and slurring it

PW: “I feel like there are times when past writers kind of leave traps for future writers, where past writers will go ‘Okay, I’m going to write this detailed phrase in a codex entry but don’t worry, it doesn’t matter if it can never be said aloud, because it’ll never have to be voiced!’ and then, next game, guess what guys! Look what you have to make someone [a VA] say! And you’re like [facepalm], c’mon!”

Karin: “Now, four games in, we have pages and pages of all these examples, and I wanna say this, well that’s how we said something before, well that’s ridiculous, I don’t wanna say that, but now we’ve said it and it’s out there, so it’s like, how do we, y’know, how do we evolve, and sometimes we just go ‘Screw it! Languages are living languages! We’ll just say it like this now!’”

PW's favorite is the sarcastic Mythal’enaste, “Because it’s the sarcastic Mythal's blessing that basically means you’re getting screwed over somehow. I love it because Mythal nasty! Whoever wrote that clearly never thought that someone would have to say this out loud”

Sheryl wrote Bull’s joke icicles line. She also wrote Isabela’s big boats line - Jennifer took it out but then DG was like “No it has to come back”

They have a pun test, they get a few of them and have to allot them wisely so as not to oversaturate on the puns. “Is this good/bad enough to be one of the times that we pull the trigger? We did have one of those recently, I obviously can’t talk about it, but it was pronounced Okay to go ahead”

The ‘baby-est’ writer is Brianne, who’s been there 8 years

It makes PW sad that the players never get to see the writers’ temp-text [placeholder text when portions are a WIP]. “People have the best temp-text". Mary: “The number of conversations that I’ve temped in like ‘WELL. I hope nothing BAD happens HERE’”

Q. If you could bring in anybody from outside of gamedev, who would you like to work with and do a writer’s session with? PW: “I will say romance novelist Nora Roberts, she is really smart and also she knows how to write inside a genre, and do wonders within it. Her structure is so good. If you pick up one of her books, you know here’s when this is gonna happen, here’s when they’re gonna meet, here’s when this first moment will happen. We’re all experienced and I feel pretty good about that but I really like all of the things she does that way, and also I am a sucker for romance so I would love to bring a romance novelist in and just have them look at our scenes and go ‘Okay here, no, they should pull the tie so that the article of clothing comes open, we need a sense of how warm the skin is here’ - something like that. I’d wanna see what they could do with that”

“Luke writes the best worst lines”

“I’m always impressed with Mary getting away with lines. There are lines that I look at like, wow, you buried that one. [...] The only players who get that line, I feel like they earned it if they went that far into it. [...] And then Varric or Merrill says a ridiculous line in a one-time throwaway”

Karin: “The group dynamic, you’ll see conversations or snippets of a lunch chat or a thing we’ve been joking about and you’ll see it get pulled in, and how all of you [the writers] are able to take a normal kind of thing - as normal as we get as a group anyway - and then turn it into a moment, and use it to further the plot or use it to further a character. It’s just the cleverest thing and it happens in so many different ways. [...] The little snippet of life, then how you crafted it into this very cool thing”

Quartermaster Threnn was written by PW in half a day. “When I was writing Threnn, ‘Okay, this is a good-hearted [person], I was doing a little bit of Steel Magnolias, southern, no-nonsense, but like, blue collar Steel Magnolias’. This is someone accustomed to the ways of the world so she’s going to call a spade a spade. If you come up to her and you’re an elf she doesn’t recognize you and says ‘Buckets are over there’ because she thinks you’re there to clean, [but] ‘Anyone calls you a knife-ear you come to me I’ll take care of it’. It’s problematic but she’s trying - the good-hearted person rooted for the wrong group on every occasion. She was a proud Loghain supporter, she gets really exited if he comes to Skyhold. That was a fun character for me to write because I had a viewpoint in my mind. I remember someone was like ‘Threnn is really important to me’. And you have to honor that, cause you’re like ‘Cool, it means so much to me that this connected with some part of you’”

---

Also of interest was the Mass Affection panel, in which BioWare devs looked back in over a decade of history to remaster a classic. It featured devs who worked on MELE. The timestamps for this segment are ~3:36:09 - 4:24:37. Some notes:

When the pandemic hit the MELE team were in a relatively awkward spot. They were really entering into what they consider full production and were on-boarding a bunch of teams, as well as training and on-boarding third-party external partner specialized teams worldwide. When the pandemic hit, BioWare and EA were super on top of it. They were tracking it weeks beforehand, getting everyone their computers ready, and getting everything encrypted. When the middle of March 2020 hit they were home rightaway. EA were nothing but supportive throughout the entire thing. They got money every quarter for stuff. It functionally ‘hit’ at 4-6 different times for them as the pandemic occurred in different places throughout the world at different times depending on each country’s response plan (and their external partners were in different countries). “So it was one of those things where it was just like, every day we’d come in like can we still work with this company anymore? Do we need to find someone else? Do we need to pull people in off the other projects at BioWare to fill gaps here and there?”

There was a bug on Virmire at the part when you’re coming into the STG camp. If the Mako had its new boosters on and you came hurtling in really fast, it cut to the cutscene, but the Mako hit a jump and when Ash was like “What do we do now?” the Mako ended up literally flying around in the background sideways and then crashing into the camp

Another bug: when they were re-tuning the guns, the physics force on some of the guns with Hammerhead rounds was so high that when you were fighting some of the Thorian Creepers, you could ragdoll them so hard that you could basically embed them in the roof. They’d be moving so fast that they’d penetrate all the walls with their legs dangling out. It was so easy to do and you could do it to everybody. You could launch a geth halfway across an Uncharted World

Another bug: with Shepard’s casual appearance in ME3, if you didn’t have it set up perfectly correctly it would default to Grunt for some reason. You’d be walking around as Grunt, going on dates as Grunt, and your face would be all scrunched up because it was all mapped to human bones still, so it was just, like, Nightmare Fuel of Grunt

Another bug: in ME2 on Illium when trying to recruit Samara, the Asari enemies just would not stop screaming - regardless of whether they were hit or not, it was endless screaming. Later one of the devs got an audio file of the scream, endless and looped, and now one of the devs has it on their phone and uses it for their morning alarm tone

“Shepard would come up to characters and they’d just be screaming”

---

There was also the Programming Variables panel, talking about what hurdles game programmers face. Some [or all?] of the devs that were part of this panel are currently working on DA4. They talked a bit about their day-to-day work and about the craft of game dev programming in general. The timestamps for this segment are ~ 4:24:46 - 5:06:02.

[source]

[insights/notes from Gamers For Groceries 1]

[☕ found this post or blog interesting or useful? my ko-fi is here if you feel inclined. thank you 🙏]

#dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #in case this is of interest to anyone #mass effect #anthem #covid mention #cole #spirit boy #solas #lul

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do-y0u-have-to-let-it-linger · 4 years ago

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hi!!! can i get an x-men shift please? i’m bi (but hetero leaning) and use she/her pronouns. i’m a sagittarius, INTP, and am super into pop culture, movies tv shows music stuff like that. i’m an introvert, pretty shy at first but once you get to know me i’m pretty funny and kinda an asshole. i’m 5’7”, plus size and curvy, with longish wavy brown hair, blue eyes, and wear black glasses. i dress pretty comfy, jeans and t-shirts, sweatshirts, but i also have a leather jacket when i want to look more put together. mostly wear vans and converse. i love taylor swift, star wars, and all the superhero movies out there. i honestly don’t know what my mutation would be, i’ve never found one that fits right i guess. can’t wait to see who i’m paired with! love your blog, and thank you :)

I ship you with Peter Maximoff!

Warning: ✨contains swear words, mentions of being high, and grammatical errors probably✨

Peter is the type of person who thinks of bold and outrageous plans, but is horrible at executing them.

This is especially apparent now that he is part of the X-Men, because of the high stakes that often come hand and hand with these plans.

Yet at this moment, standing in front of you, attempting to respond to your simple and reasonable question, he feels as though the stakes of this plan are higher than any other he has previously made.

You and Peter were very close, most of you X-Men were. Shared trauma bonded you all like a family. So you were very comfortable around each other, like the: "We literally laugh at each other's farts and say 'love ya!' When one of us leaves a room." comfortable, so it concerned you that he seemed so nervous. You repeated your, as previously stated, simple and reasonable question.

"Peter, what the fuck."

You were mid-way through Empire Strikes Back when he first appeared, standing in front of the TV. Generally, when someone is watching a movie alone with the volume level barely audible, at 2 AM in the morning, they do not expect to be interrupted, but there he was. Interrupting you.

So you had asked him if he wanted to watch the movie with you and he said no.

Then you asked him if something was wrong and he said no.

But after he had stood in front of the television long enough for you to have paused the movie, you had come to the conclusion that he was messing with you. Hence the two "what the fuck"s.

He finally responded, seemly returning to his body after his brain's small vacation to who knows where.

"I need to talk to you about something important, and I wanted it to go a certain way but that way never actually happens so I'm doing it another way." Well, that was even more incoherent than his usual sentences.

"Wait- are you high again?"

"No! No. Well, maybe a little- but that's not the point."

"Sure, now what's going on."

"We're like... technically co-workers because of us being X-Men and shit, right?"

"If Bat-Man and Robin are co-workers, then yes."

"Don't be self-deprecating, you're way cooler than a silly side-kick."

You raised your eyebrows at him, "I wasn't Robin in that analogy, but thank you."

"Wait, I'm Robin?"

"You are a grown man who just used the world silly un-ironically, and I feel like that's something Robin would do. Just to clarify I don't know shit about Bat-man."

"Hey I'm barely a grown man- I'm not 25 yet, that would entail being a grown man, and I've got time 'till then! Anyway, stop going off-topic."

"Then move on from being weirdly defensive about being an adult in the eyes of the state."

"Touché. So, we're co-workers."

"Correct. What's the point."

"That's a problem."

"Why?"

"Well, ok this needs to be prefaced so consider this me shushing you in a respectful and not sexist way. You have been shushed."

"...Ok?"

"Shh! Now I get to ramble. So you know movies?" He gestured towards the school's collection of movies that sat next to the tv, and you nodded confused. "So in these movies, things happen certain ways, but those certain ways seem just as scary as the opposite of those ways." Yeah, he was totally high. "So, wow I'm starting so many sentences with the word 'so'. Anyway- I want to tell you something but I don't want it to be like a movie but I don't want it to be like not in a movie either. So I just want to say it then leave. Like- I'm going to run after I say it. Is that okay? You are temporarily un-shushed."

"If you're dying it's not, but if it's basically anything else then yeah. Go for it, you speedy coward."

"Cool. I mean- the nickname hurt but cool. Cool." He looked at you for a second. "Can you like... turn around?"

"Turn around?"

He now acknowledged that that was an odd thing to ask. "...Yeah. Is that dumb?"

"No, no, I'll turn around." To lighten the awkward mood, you made a joke. "A reasonable price for your terrible secrets to be revealed to me." It was not a very funny joke, but you tried your best and earned a (pity) scoff from him.

You were now both sitting criscrossed on the couch, facing the same direction. You were staring at a wall you found very uninteresting, and he was staring at the back of the head belonging to a person he found very interesting.

"So- basically I think you're... pretty..." He said the word intending to add another adjective after it, like 'cool', but he decided against it because that would be stupid. "And I have this problem where when I figure out I want to, quote-unquote, date someone, which is a gross word, by the way, I'm always friends with them. That means it has to be this dramatic thing. But I don't want it to be! You know? I just want to tell you that I have a stupid crush on you like a normal person. And- that's why I suddenly started hating training, because who likes to see people they want to smooch almost fake die, huh? No one! That's who! And I want to explain why I like you, but whenever I talk to Wanda about you, I always end up describing you the way a first grader describes their crush! Like: she's pwetty and smawt or whatever but that's fuckin' dumb. I guess that makes sense because I don't have crushes on people ever, and I barely dated in school, so I have no idea how to do this and I just want to pass you one of those 'hey, do you like me?!' notes with the fuckin' checkmarks!! And I am an adult person who is kind of afraid of kissing! What?!? Also, I don't have abs like Scott! Or boobs, and I know you like people with or without boobs and boobs are great! Also, to backtrack, don't think that I think you would go for Scott, even though if you were to, I would be supportive of you, but also sad because I would prefer if you went for me! So I want to be normal. Normal like the people in movies who meet someone cute and ask them out and not like the movies with the big stupid confessions. Trust me, if I had noticed that I whatever you like a year ago, I would have asked you out! Well no I wouldn't of because I would be too afraid to talk to you. But anyway I made you this," He reached around you and handed you a folded-up note. "Don't open it until I run away, but just leave it here with your response. If you check no, I bet if we paid Jean enough money she would erase this interaction from our brains. I only have seven dollars but I'm betting on a 'friends and family' discount. But.. if you say yes, I can ask you out like a dick in a movie, knowing you'll say yes because I am a speedy coward. I want you to call me a speedy coward when I do cowardly shit speedily, then do this cute thing where you'd be like 'but you're my speedy coward''. Anyway, I'm going to leave now. Love ya, but in the way we always said it beforehand, not in a dramatic confession way. Sorry I delved into my childhood there. Bye." You felt him awkwardly pat your back.

There was a gust of wind that ruffled your hair, and you knew he had run away.

You lifted the note up, mind empty, still processing everything he had rambled to you, and started carefully unfolding it.

It was one of his previously mentioned "Do you like me?" notes.

You willed yourself not to straight-up giggle like a 12-year-old at his note. It was messily written, and clearly on the back of a mission briefing.

Shit, you didn't have a pen. You looked under the couch cushions but there was no form of a writing utensil in sight! The audacity.

You knew Peter well enough to know that he was probably not too far away, waiting for the result of his question and trying not to spy.

"Hey... uh... Peter? I don't have a pen."

Peter hit his forehead with his hand, where the fuck was he going to get a pen? It's not like he owned pens that were actually in a designated spot! How ridiculous would that be, who did he look like, Charles? Charles! Charles has pens in designated pen places!

So Peter ran into the headmaster's office and found a pen. He wrote a small note stating that he borrowed a pen and that he would return it. Looking at the note Peter found it did not fully encapsulate the desperate need for the pen. The note ended up something like this:

Hey Charles! It's Peter! I took borrowed a pen because a very serious situation manner situation has arised. arisen. From, Peter. You can't get mad at me because if you could legally marry my dad you would be married and I would basically be your step son! Thanks half dad!

He thought the addition of the 'step' in stepson effectively hid the fact that Charles was a father figure of his. What was he doing here again? The serious manner!

In an instant of you telling Peter that you did not have a pen, one appeared.

"Thank you!"

You checked the yes box, but had a want to write something adorable. You couldn't think of anything so you just wrote "This was weird." under your checkmark. Well played.

You entertained the idea of resuming your movie but decided against it, you thought it would be more dramatic if you left the room.

The minute you made your exit Peter sprinted into the room. He opened your note, jumped, pumped his fist in the air, realized that was nerdy, and tried to make a cool pose to recover.

Now he just had to figure out how the fuck he was going to ask you out.

#me 🤝 juxtaposing fancy words with words like stupid and cool and nice because i think it's funny #the muse has been gone for a few days so i hope this is good #screw you muse i'm writing anyway!#peter maximoff x reader #ship request #the ending is weird and the pacing is off but ily so forgive me

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3liza · 9 months ago

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i want to tell everyone that quality of writing means absolutely nothing in publishing. what matters is (huge bold illuminated font) 1. Networking and then a very distant 2 like so far away you can barely see it, is technical familiarity with the basic format of the English language. if you can spell, use tenses and understand sentence structure on a technical level, have a strong vocabulary, understand correct idioms and metaphors and references, and can format your shit so it's publishable without a lot of work by an editor (which barely exist anymore anyway), you are a strong candidate for serious publishing. I got my first large venue writing jobs (few of which exist anymore so this advice doesn't apply to those particular jobs) with these two things. I got the introduction from networking, and then I clinched the job by being able to write formally without any grammatical, spelling, or idiomatic errors.

the editor at the site that hired me to write about video games said this to me directly: we hired you because you can actually string a sentence together, my god, do you have any idea how rare that is. those aren't his words verbatim but it was something like that.

this is why I'm so hard on you (the reader) about this stuff on this blog. it's for your own good. you might get away with it, many people do, but it's a safety measure: no one is ever going to shitcan you for being good at grammar and spelling. but many hiring decision-makers will absolutely pass you over for a different candidate if you can't write correctly and fluently, because the other guy often can.

Do you write? Where can I read something you wrote? :)

I'm really bad at updating my CV so I'm forgetting a lot of stuff but I wrote for most of the main "gaming news and journalism" websites during the 2000s and also worked on Unhallowed Metropolis the TTRPG in a bunch of roles, including a chapter in the soucebook. one of the more recent ones was Headcase which was an anthology by Oxford Press, which was an honor, i think it was about queer mental health? also my book Problem Glyphs has an essay in it, that's sold by Strix (publisher). I had some stuff in Thick As Thieves in Seattle that I was proud of but fuck that paper it was run by a psychopath. uhhhh I unfortunately started a short fiction series with Warren Ellis way before all the reports about him came out, called Deep Map Pilots, I think some of that is on this blog and searchable. Cafe Racer Anthology about Dune called Dune, I'm not sure if it's searchable or purchasable. I was in Lightspeed Magazine's special issue (or maybe it was another anthology) called Queers Destroy Science Fiction. Short story in Conclave Journal's 2010 or 2011 issue.

i'm a shit promoter of my writing honestly it's not really something I have been actively pursuing recently because it pays peanuts and I just haven't felt like writing as much as pursuing other stuff. i really only publish when someone asks me specifically or contacts my business manager lol. I've been thinking about trying to find a publisher for a poetry chapbook I've already completed and formatted but the poetry market is...well it's exactly what you would expect. borderline impossible to publish, much less sell, unless you have some sort of brand name going in, which I do not, at least in a way that would help sell poetry.

i started a short story I really liked based on the Clarksworld published list of "most common words used in titles of stories submitted to Clarksworld Magazine" more as a joke than anything but I've been thinking about cleaning it up and submitting it. it was kind of an exercise in "how do I take these extremely worn out title words and do something I think is fresh with them" and sort of as a little joke to submit to them. i think it's probably something they would maybe consider printing if the issue was right for it, I'm not sure though.

#asks #writing #blog #oops i think it's actually spelled Clarkesworld #ironically

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shoezuki · 4 years ago

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Do you have any advice for first time writers? I'm working on an SBI centered fic and getting their characterizations down is a lot harder than I was expecting, and also just writing in general ✌😔 I agree with Andy when they said you were a great writer - mind passing any of that along? (no pressure ahfjdjnd)

O;ISHFH;LF YEA SURE!!!!!

honestly characterization n like. feelin the characters r written Accurately is one of THE hardest things. like i still will sit here n question my characterization. i feel tho its not That big of a deal as writers will make it out to be in our heads like. as Writers we see the bare bones a the fic n we are more critical of it and will analyze each and every bit and piece of it. but most often i find if you Understand characters to some degree, their core goals, ideas, and personality traits. itll come across as Accurate.

BUT THAT ASIDE theres Tricks to it. like ‘out of character’ is a Concept to me technically speaking you can put characters into any situation and make them take certain actions that COULD be considered OOC but. as long as you Finesse it. here’s some things i keep in mind:

people dont speak in full complete sentences. we dont all say things that are grammatically correct. people have different vocabularies, speech patterns, and certain Quotes and things ppl say a lot. dialogue n speech patterns can be specific to each character and help to understand them AND make it easier to understand who is speaking during dialogue heavy scenes. for instance i try to make techno speak in more ‘grammatically correct’ ways, use terms like ‘perhaps’ and ‘alright’ since he says that a lot irl.

people naturally act differently depending on who theyre with depending on how much they trust them, how well they know em, etcetcetc. for instance in the fic Understanding techno i purposefully made it so that when speaking to ranboo techno’s sentences were short, he’d only say a few things at a time. but with phil he more easily will speak More

if youre questioning whether something youre writing is ‘in character’ try and imagine it in canon as best you can. but also sometimes it all depends on the circumstances around it and context, so if it feels ‘off’ maybe see if there needs to be more build up?

if you write from a person’s perspective, try taking the character you relate to the most/find the easiest to write as the perspective even just for a Bit. sometimes it takes some getting used to for characters

OKAY thats some things i can think up rn but also biggest thing? don’t worry about characterization too much. I stop thinking about it entirely when i First get into writin new characters. like sometimes its a matter of opinion if a character is ‘in character’ or not. and even if it feels ooc to you? that doesnt Always mean that is Absolutely Is. our perception as the author is warped since we seen it when it was just an Idea and Know all the parts we dont like entirely Too Well. it can take a bit of writing, a fic or two before getting Comfortable with characterization n stuff that feels Right n thats fine!

goodluck w ur fic anon! :D

#FIC RFIC IFC FIC FIC FIC #anon

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neopronouns-list · 4 years ago

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this is just me describing how i make neopronoun sets and the patterns that occur lol

read it all under the break \/

idk if anyone noticed this, but i am awfully uncreative. if you look at any of of my pronouns lists, youll see that theres a recurring pattern.

if im making a pronouns set based off of an existing word, lets use the word butterfly for an example. if i were making pronouns based of butterfly, i would make these sets:

Butterfly/Butterfly/Butterlys/Butterflys/Butterflyself

Butter/Fly/Butterfly/Butterflys/Butterflyself

Bu/Butter/Butterfly/Butterflys/Butterflyself

the first one is what i call an an it/its word pronouns set. or i believe those types of pronoun sets are often called 'nounself'. its the word im basing the pronoun set off of for the first two slots (i know thats not what theyre called, but in my mind, the places between the / are called slots), then its usually base word +s for 3 and 4 slots, then its word +self for the 5 one.

the second example i only do that when the word is long. idk what my mind considers long, but i believe its 7+ letters. basically for the first two slots i split the base word into two parts. 3 slot is just base word, 4 is base word +s, and 5 is base word +self

third example, i do that with the base word as often as i can. i call that a progression set. 1 is least amount of letters from the base word while still sounding good. 2 is either the whole base word if i cant find anything in between, or 1 but with a few more letters. 3 usually ends up being base word, 4 is base word +s, 5 is base word +self.

if you were to go back and look at any of the sets ive made, youll see this pattern recurring everywhere. i cannot seem to break this pattern. i tried in my last post a bit, and while making lists ive had quiet ideas about how to break the pattern but i usually reject the idea because 'it wont sound right'. but a lot of the pronouns i saw sent in EASILY broke this pattern that probably only exists for me. Wo/Orld/World/Worlds/Worldself for example. that got sent in, and you can see it quietly breaks this. E/Jour/Ney/Neys/Jourself is another one sent in, by the same person i think. you can easily tell theyre based off of the word journey, yet the set never actually says the word 'journey'. it seems so simple to do when making a set, but for some reason i cant do it. im probably gonna try making some 'out of the box' ones, but theyre probably gonna not be the best.

but this pattern doesnt just occur with pronouns based off of a word. if im making just some random ones, i always find myself in another pattern. for example, ill start with the random thing i just thought of, gi.

Gi/Giz/Giza/Gizas/Gizself

see the pattern there? i always end up just adding on one more letter every slot. actually, as im typing this, im realizing there are a lot of subconscious rules ive made. huh. anyways. yeah theres not much to say about this one.

ok, another thing i do. i actually care/know a lot about grammar/spelling and that stuff, im just too lazy to capitalize and add apostrophes. why am i pointing this out? because if youve ever looked at the neopronoun list, like the one this whole blog is based around, youll notice some things. take the pronouns i recently 'made'

Sky/Sky/Skys/Skys/Skyself

is there anything wrong with that pronouns set? honestly, no. but grammatically, yes. the plural of 'sky' is 'skies'. but i let the set be skys. because thats how pronouns, neopronouns work. i know neos technically have no words, but sky/skys is an it/its type set. sky/skys used the same way it/its pronouns are used in english. its base word for 1 and 2, then base word +s for 3 and 4, base word +self for 5. nounself pronouns. so by that concept, 3 and 4 have to be 'skys' not 'skies'. but on the list, i always add the gramatically correct version because i just cant not as well. Sky/Sky/Skies/Skies/Skyself is on the list, as are all the gramatically correct plural versions of any pronoun set that might not have had gramatically correct plurals. (this does not mean that the gramatically incorrect ones arent up there, they are) so the butterfly pronouns from earlier are on the list but with the gramatically correct plural versions are there too lol.

yeah, thats it for now lol. dont forget to submit any neos you think of! especially if they break any of these rules i laid out but hate lmao.

#neoprns #nepronouns #neopronouns list #pronouns #me explaining random things #2slgtqia #lgbtqia #grammar

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shinrasfirst · 5 years ago

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THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥

My muse is: canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO.

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK.

Are they underrated? YES / NO.

Were they relevant to the main story? YES / NO. (I mean? I’m not sure? I hope he will be more important, but as it is, he could have been cut out of Part 1 of the remake.)

Were they relevant to the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. (Except that he kinda saved him.. I can’t answer these questions, I am so biased.)

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO. (?)

How’s their reputation? GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. Depends on who you ask, I’d say!

How strictly do you follow canon?

There isn’t much canon to go on, first of all. I am taking what I can get and expand on it. There’s probably some stuff about him that I don’t know, because I am notoriously bad at researching things properly, and also I forget stuff. So.. he’s canon-based as much as possible, but then majorly fleshed out by my own ideas because otherwise he’d be a very two-dimensional character.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutual.

He’s wild and fun and crazy and could make for some interesting threads---

He is actually compatible with a lot of muses because he technically works for Shinra, but then doesn’t seem to give a lot of fucks about his employment status, meaning he can also work with the other side without me having to change his setting much.

He’s gorgeous. Look at him.

He is flirty and easy to smut with.

He has a completely unknown backstory that could be explored c;

Did you see that ass?

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).

He’s a bit nuts. If you’re looking for a predictable, soft, sweet romance or friendship, he is not your guy.

He'll probably die young. And there shall be angst and pain.

I’ve seen some people really reduce him to a maniac to lives on the road to attack random people. If that’s your idea of Roche then I am sure you wouldn’t be looking for threads with him~

He is tough to write love/romance with. Like proper romance.

He has a completely unknown backstory.. so my version might differ greatly from what you have in mind.

What inspired you to rp your muse?

I played the Remake and driving on those motorcycles was insane but kind of fun - and then shows up this guy who just drove right into my heart as soon as he popped up on the screen, laughing like a mediocre villain from YuGiOh. I thought that was all it was going to be, but I was thrilled to see that it wasn’t. I just love this character. I rewatched his fight scenes with Cloud a hundred times. He is so.. peculiar. I just couldn’t stop thinking about him, and then I saw a bit more of him on tumblr, fanarts and such, and I wanted to give it a shot :)

What keeps your inspiration going?

New headcanons about him that pop into my head. Finding other people who love him and talking to them & rping with them! Like with all muses, I tend to love them even more the longer I play them, compared to when I start out, because new stories around them develop, I get a clearer image of their character and backstory in my head, and new plans for their future :) On a more to-the-point level: quotes, poems, music, images, all those things give me inspiration. Also similar characters in other media, or stories that fit Roche and that I can recycle and reform into part of his.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice? YES / NO. According to whom? I am alright with the way I write him, or I’d be doing it differently. Would Square Enix think I am doing a good job? Idk. Do other Roche rpers think I am? Idk. Does it matter? As long as there are people who enjoy writing with my version of him, I am doing my job, I think :) There are Roche portrayals I find “better” than mine in some ways, more developed, but I don’t really compare myself in that way.

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO.

Do you sometimes write drabbles? YES / NO.

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO.

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO. Yes and now because while I stand to the way I write all my muses, Roche in particular is one I haven’t fully developed yet. There are things about his story I am still unsure about or have no clear ideas for yet. So, I’m not feeling insecure when I write him, but I am not overly confident in throwing him in any situation, because something might come up that’ll require me to think harder that I’d have to while playing.. e.g. Rufus.

Are you confident in your writing? YES / NO. I’m no Rowling, I’m no Tolkien, I know that. But I think my writing is alright. I try to put some internal thoughts in my replies, describe the scene abit, offer some dialogue if applicable, and move the action forward. I am not writing a book here, I am writing something interactive, so my partner is my main concern aside from telling the story. I do feel like I’m doing an okay job at that, so in that sense I am confident in my writing.

Are you a sensitive person? YES / NO. I’m not entirely sure what this is referring to, but generally I’d say no. I can deal with most topics, it’s pretty hard to offend me, I’m open to most things, and there are very few issues I feel like they can’t be solve with just talking about them.

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?

It depends? I almost never get constructive criticism. What I absolutely accept is things like.. someone correcting mistakes I’ve made in terms of timelines or canon facts, because I am lazy by default and tend to not research something well and just wing it. So it might be that I’ll put some fake news into my threads that I have no problem with if someone corrects - actually, please do, I’ll gladly fix it. (Especially if they’re relevant to your muse.)

If someone dislikes a headcanon of mine or something that is particular to my portrayal of Roche, that’s really not something I aspire to change. I have my ideas of him and everyone else has their own. If a friend came to me and told me a certain headcanon of mine makes no sense because of the canon storyline or whatever, and it sounded valid to me, I’d consider that. That wouldn’t offend me. If someone just told me they dislike an idea I had, that is the kind of criticism I don’t really accept. That’s not criticism to me, that is a personal opinion that we disagree on. It’s not my problem if someone dislikes my portrayal, they don’t have to interact with it. I take no offense in that, unless it’s reported to me in a rude manner.

With regard to my writing? I don’t ask for criticism and I don’t really want it either. I know what areas I have to work on in order to improve, I don’t need anyone to give me pointers there. I have enough of that in my academic papers at university ;) This is a hobby, so I’m trying to have a good time and good plays with others, I’m not trying to win any awards. However, if I post a reply my partners aren’t sure how to work with (e.g. they need more dialogue, or more action) I am absolutely willing to edit it, no problem. Also, not just on tumblr/in the RPC but in general, people are really really REALLY bad at giving constructive criticism. It never ceases to amaze me how much people suck at that. Like I said, I don’t get offended easily, but it makes me laugh sometimes (e.g. after presentations at uni) how horrible the feedback comes across sometimes. And then everyone gets butthurt and I once again marvel at the fact that no lecturer ever gives advice on how to give good feeback. (I guess because a lot of lecturers can’t do it either.)

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?

Absolutely! It helps a lot. Sometimes it’s a real challenge, but those are necessary and very welcome while developing a character. Other people often think of things I didn’t even consider, so I welcome it when they come into my askbox with these questions :)

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?

Maybe? If it was a friend or an rp partner, I’d hear them out for sure. If it was someone I don’t even write with.. maybe not. Like, what’s the point? Clearly I made up my mind about it, so why would you come to me to inform me that you see it differently? Go right ahead, neither one of us writes these games, so both our versions are equally right or wrong. If it’s about something that could lead to an interesting discussion, though? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?

I'd say some people like chocolate ice cream and some like vanilla. That’s okay. I’m not trying to please everyone on tumblr, I’m here to write what I want to write and if just one other person likes my portrayal, that can be enough for me :) If someone dislikes my portrayal, they’re free not to interact with me.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?

I’ve written more characters that were absolutely despised by a good chunk of the fandoms I was in, than characters who were loved, I think. I couldn’t care less. If someone hates Roche - or any of my muses - that’s their thing and has nothing to do with me. As long as they don’t feel the need to inform me about it or send me hate over it, what’s it to me? I don’t need people to like my favorite characters, it has no influence on how I feel.

But also.. why would you hate Roche? Look at him, he’s amazing :D

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?

Sure. English isn’t my first language, I’m sure I make mistakes all the time. I’m not embarrassed by that, everyone makes mistakes, even people whose first language is English. That being said, don’t go weeding through my posts looking for mistakes, because I won’t go back and fix them in most cases, so it’s really a waste of time~

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?

I think so. I’m pretty relaxed most of the time, and I try to be polite and kind in any situation that comes up. I don’t get offended unless you’re accusing me of something I didn’t do, twist my words, insult my friends, or act like a total brat. Before I start a war with someone, I’ll usually withdraw myself from the situation. I am pro-unfollowing/blocking if I dislike someone. I would never send anon hate or write a call out. I’m not here for that. I think we should all try to be kinder than we feel, we should all show respect for others and tolerate differences, and we should try to treat people the way we want to be treated. Live and let live.

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!

Tagged by: stole it. Tagging: anyone who’d like!

#( out of mako. )#( m: roche. )

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honeymoonjin · 6 years ago

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A/N: It’s here!!! Like I said before, this fic will be a lot lighter and more humor-based than DOPE, so that you have some variety! 3k words.

LOST IN TRANSLATION ↳What do you do when you have no qualifications but want to see the world? You help teach English in a Korean primary school, apparently. ↳Principal!Jin, math teacher!Yoongi, PE teacher!Hoseok, English teacher!Namjoon, school nurse!Jimin, art teacher!Taehyung, and science teacher!Jungkook.

CHAPTER ONE ↳You arrive in Seoul and begin to meet the teachers you’ll be spending your whole year with.

You hover awkwardly in the arrivals foyer, consulting your phone again, reading the email you had been sent a week ago. According to the information given, there should’ve been someone there for you already, waiting to drive you to the school.

But no matter how often you glanced around, up on your tiptoes as you tried to scan the massive area of Incheon International Airport, you couldn’t see any signs with your name on them.

Oh shit, you thought, what if they’ve written my name in Hangeul? You sigh and begin another dutiful look-over, deeply focused on the countless signs with Korean characters on them, trying to recognise ones that would make up your first or last name.

You just about jump out of your skin when someone taps you on the shoulder out of nowhere.

“Are you Y/n, here for teaching?” He’s younger than you were expecting for a schoolteacher, although you remember the email stating he was in charge of physical education and the rec sports teams, so maybe it was better to have someone still pretty fit. And he definitely was fit. Although he was in a grass-stained polo shirt and basketball shorts, he had a contagious smile and kind eyes, and his dark, wavy hair was endearingly a little bit messy.

Clearly you were looking over him for a little too long, because he smiles sheepishly and pats down his shirt. “Sorry about the messy clothes. I came straight from practice.”

You frown, hoping your Korean will be at least coherent if not entirely correct. “But it is 8am.”

He gives you a wide beam and laughs a little as you get through the sentence one syllable at a time. “Yes, soccer practice is from 6am to 7:30 on a Monday morning.”

“Oh. The kids still play soccer when it is very early?”

He shrugs, beginning to lead you towards the carpark area. “Actually, we have 6am sport every day of the week. Soccer on Monday, basketball on Tuesday, swimming on Wednesday. You get the idea.”

“And you teach all sport teams?”

“Your Korean is fantastic, you know?” He chimes the final part in a cutely accented English, and you blush at the praise, shaking your head modestly. “I teach almost all of the sport teams. Technically the mathematics competition team is classified as a sports team, but Teacher Min does that. You’ll meet him later.”

You nod slowly as he talks, a little overwhelmed by how fast he’s speaking. You had studied the language for five years, but all of the other teacher’s assistants you had spoken to had said a thousand times how when you were finally confronted by a native speaker in that country, your mind went blank and you forgot every single word.

It was what you had been obsessively worrying about on the whole red-eye flight over, and you were lucky that some last minute studying had made you feel a little more confident in your abilities.

He comes to a stop beside a shabby Nissan, unlocking it and gesturing for you to get into the passenger side. It smells like sweat in there, and you can see a random assortment of various balls and other equipment stashed into the backseat and boot. “Sorry about the mess in the back,” he apologises, starting the car up and pulling away towards the exits.

“You don’t need to apologise, I’m very thankful you drive me from airport to school.” The matter is forgotten completely as the car breaches the exit and your eyes are filled with light. Several skyscrapers dot the horizon line in the near distance, and everything looks so advanced and modern. There’s a large amount of people milling around outside, and the traffic just around the airport is rather congested, but the man navigates it with ease. You sit in a comfortable silence for a good half an hour before directing your gaze back inside the car with a sudden thought. “Sorry, I don’t know your name now.”

“Oh, you forgot?”

“Ah, yes, I forgot.”

He glances over at you intermittingly, hands relaxed on the wheel as he winds through the streets of Seoul. “My name’s Hoseok. Well, Teacher Jung.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Y/n.” You purse your lips in the awkward silence that falls, trying to work out something grammatically correct to say. “Uh, the school is good? You like it?”

He hums his affirmation, and with a surprised blink you realize the car is already pulling up to a relatively small primary school, heading towards the staff parking. “You’ll love it here. The kids are great, and the staff are more like family.” He slides into a park in one clean swoop and stops the car. “Alright, out we go.”

You can’t see much of the school before you’re taken straight to the reception building, but it looks like there are only five or six classroom blocks out back, all lined up around a slightly bumpy and overgrown sports field. When you had applied to three different schools in South Korean, they were all smaller schools. You had decided you’d feel more comfortable with a rural primary school rather than a large one in the city. But you hadn’t connected the dots that a school away from the hustle and bustle of the city meant that funding wasn’t so high.

It probably worked out quite well for a school like this to get a teacher’s assistant. You had paid for your own flights, and they basically just provided you with a homestay for accommodation and a small weekly allowance for your work. Coming fresh out of a half-completed university degree, it was a nice break from student life for you, and a good opportunity for them to save a little money on staff.

One thing that immediately stuck out to you was the lack of receptionist in the reception office. Technically, it looked more like a waiting room with a few offices branching off. Hoseok bounced up to the door right across from the main entrance and rapped three times.

Principal Kim Seokjin, the plaque read, and the amount of time it took you to work that out by reading the characters, the door was falling inwards, and a warm voice called out, “Ah, Y/n, come in!”

You look up from the silver engraving and your mouth falls open. In the correspondence that had occurred between you and the principal, you had always imagined a grouchy but softhearted, slightly older gentleman. Okay, if you were honest with yourself, you just imagined Ji Seokjin from Running Man. If the shoe fits; but in this case it most certainly didn’t.

It felt like you had stumbled straight onto a cheesy k-drama set. He had honey blonde hair that swept over his much darker eyebrows, perfect bone structure and full, pouty lips that made you want to pass out just so he could perform mouth-to-mouth. “Uh…Yes, I’m Y/n. Nicetomeetyousir.”

He grins at your rushed introduction and invites you in to sit. His office is warmer than outside, and you automatically tune in to the principal’s brief conversation with Hoseok as you take off your coat and scarf.

“…those clothes. Didn’t you have time for a shower?”

“Why am I not hearing ‘Thank you, Hoseok, I’m so grateful, Hoseok’? I could’ve easily gotten Yoongi to go. She would’ve turned right back around and hopped on the next plane out of here.”

“Go back to class, Jung. Year 3 PE starts in eight minutes.”

“You’re most welcome for picking her up, sir. I appreciate the thanks.”

Principal Kim huffs and shuts the door gently behind him, making his way back to sit behind the large desk you were sitting across from. As your gaze follows him around the room, you notice a few frames nailed to the wall; a teaching certificate, a local management award, a photo of the school itself, and, larger than the rest, a professionally-shot picture of himself, with a white blouse and some round-framed glasses, lips slightly parted and staring dead-on into the camera.

You cough lightly as he turns to you with the exact same posture and expression. “How was your flight?”

“Good. I slept the flight.” Every time you say a sentence, you cringe internally when you know you’ve messed up, but he doesn’t really seem to react.

He breaks the gaze, reaches into a drawer and pulls out a stapled pile of pages, tossing it over to you to flick through. “There’s a map of the premises, though I imagine you’ll be able to find your way around soon enough, a copy of the official contract, and some general advice for living in Korea. Don’t worry too much about all that, since you’ll be living with a member of staff. He’ll take you to and from work each day and we’ve given him some extra funding for meals for you.”

You nod gratefully. “Thank you, sir. It is very helpful.”

A grin lights up his face as he leans back in his chair. “Now, that’s the boring stuff out of the way, are you ready for a tour?”

You blink, not understanding one of the words he used. “Tour?”

He gestures vaguely around himself. “I’ll show you the school, introduce you to our other teachers, that’s what tour means.”

“Oh, I see. Yes, let’s do it!”

One of the first things you learn about Kim Seokjin is that he walks pretty fast with those long legs of his, and you spent so much energy on half-jogging to keep up with him, that as he explained the history of the school, you couldn’t really focus on that too. You tried your best to make general sounds of surprise or agreement so that he thought you were listening, and hoped you weren’t missing anything too important.

It wasn’t until you finished following him around the school field that he comes to a halt outside the first classroom and you can finally zone in on what he’s saying. “…is the physical education classroom since it’s the closest to our equipment shed. Jung is teaching in there now, but you’ve already met him, so we won’t go in. You won’t really have to go over here much, but I thought I should mention that if you ever get here early, this is the only classroom that’s unlocked since it’s where the kids meet for early morning sport. There’s a bathroom in there too, so it’s a good place to stay warm until we officially open at 8am.”

You barely have to walk fifteen meters to be standing in front of the second building. Instead of staying outside on the concrete quad, he leads you up a short wooden ramp and into a small locker room. When he continues speaking, he’s dropped his voice to a stage whisper. “To the left, Class 2, that’s a basic room, we have most classes like Korean, English and Math in there.” He pops up to the small window on the door. “Ah, Min’s doing Year 5 math. Let’s go in.”

“Oh, we don’t have to…”

Your protests go unheard as he barges right in without knocking. “Can they do Pythagoras yet, Teacher Min?”

A low voice from inside the classroom calmly replies, “You can’t do Pythagoras yet, Seokjin.”

Principal Kim turns to you from half-in, half-out of the doorway, and tips his head over to get you to follow him inside.

The voice belongs to a man with dark hair and perfect skin. Like Principal Kim, he’s pretty young, and you’re beginning to regret not listening better to Kim’s speech, wondering if he had explained why all the teachers looked well under thirty so far. He’s lounging at the desk, one leg crossed leisurely over the other, eyebrows raised from behind his glossy bangs. His students, kids around 9 years old staring blankly at the three division questions written on the blackboard.

“You haven’t placed first in a regional beauty pageant, but you don’t see me complaining,” Kim bites back.

The teacher quirks his lips up a little in bemusement. “I wonder how long it’ll take you to realize that’s not a relevant achievement in the line of education.” His dark eyes flick over to you, and he raises his eyebrows further. “The new kid arrived?”

You bow to him. “Hello, my name is Y/n, nice to meet you.”

Principal Kim smiles benevolently and turns to the kids, who have long since given up on the math questions and are watching the interaction with wide eyes. “Children, Y/n will be helping you with your English. Take good care of her.” He leans over to you. “Say a little something about yourself.”

If there’s one thing worse than being put on the spot for an icebreaker, it’s being put on the spot for an icebreaker in a foreign language. Your mind whirs on double-time as you desperately try to find something interesting to say. “I have not been to Korea before, it is very kind here but more winter than my home country.”

An unreadable smile plays on Teacher Min’s lips. “What a relief that it’s English you’ll be teaching.”

You blush violently as Kim scolds the Teacher and quickly hustles you out of the classroom, shutting the door behind him with a little more vigor than usual. “Sorry about Min. He’s the only math teacher we could find. You’ll get used to him.”

“It’s fine,” you breath out with an awkward laugh, “I know my Korean is not good. I want to learn better here.”

He pats you on the shoulder, then points behind you. “That there is our art classroom, I’ll introduce you to Teacher Kim.” You frown. “Different Kim. Actually, there are three Kims at the school including me, so we call the other two Art Kim and English Kim. Anyway, let’s go in.”

You’ve always been a little biased towards the arts; you would’ve gone to university to study art history and painting were it not for your parents insistence that education was a much better field, and so it gave you a certain kind of wonder to see the people that had pursued their dreams in the field, and the kind of life they led where their job was their passion.

Your first impression of the classroom was how chaotic it was compared to the one across the hall. Instead of four lines of chairs and tables, students were bunched into small groups dotted around the room. The room itself was lined with benches; some had sinks where old streaks of paint led down the drain, some had boxes of charcoal sticks and pastels, others held cardboard sculptures and mock-ups. A fond smile played on your face at the scene you were met with. Principal Kim had chosen not to noisily announce his presence, and you could see the teacher looking like a giant on the extra small and short children’s chairs, talking quietly but passionately to a student attempting to draw an old green bottle that sat in the middle of the table.

His voice was surprisingly deep, and his hair was much longer than most men you had seen, flopping over in the front and reaching near his shirt collar in the back. Like every art teacher you had ever met, he had an endearingly quirky fashion sense, wearing a patchy pink woolen robe over a dress shirt and pants. The other students at the table bunched up as best they could, listening intensely and looking at him like he was explaining all the secrets of the universe. You remembered that feeling of awe well.

He glanced up when the principal called out his name, and let a boxy smile overtake his face. He quickly excused himself from the table and stood up to his full height, approaching you two as the kids called out in disappointment behind him.

You notice that when Principal Kim introduces the two of you, Art Kim never once takes his eyes off of you, staring at your face with some intent curiosity. You smile at him awkwardly and give a short bow. “Nice to meet you, Teacher Kim. Art is my favorite school subject.”

His lips drop open slightly. “Oh, really? Why do you like art?”

You weren’t prepared for the extremely open-ended and opinionated question, and it takes you a moment of stumbling over your words to get any coherent thought out. “Well, I see…no, I think art is, uh, beautiful, because it is…um, it is like a conversation from artist to person looking. I’m sorry, that doesn’t make sen-”

“It makes perfect sense,” he cuts you off quickly. His chestnut hair glows under the harsh lights in the room and his eyes stare deeply into yours. “You’re completely right. Art isn’t just a picture, it’s meant to be given and experienced. The artist is sending a message to the viewer, of course, but art is nothing if the viewer doesn’t see it and give something back, even if it’s just an emotion or an analysis.”

You don’t understand most of the words he just said. “Yes, exactly.”

He smiles at you again, shyly this time. “It is very nice to meet you, Y/n. I look forward to seeing you around.”

Principal Kim looks back and forth between the two of you, blinking like he’s just as lost in the conversation as you are. “Thank you for your time, Teacher Kim, we will be moving on with the tour now.”

Art Kim bows quickly and gives you a cute little wave, then goes back to his students, pulling up a chair at a different table and immediately entering into a conversation about whether the young boy should make the sky orange and the sun blue instead of doing it the normal way.

Once you’ve left the building and stand outside in front of classroom 4, Principal Kim turns to you and tuts. “Ah, this tour is so boring! Math and drawing pictures. But don’t worry, next is the science blo-”

He’s cut off by a loud bang coming from inside, which is paired with a flash of white and kids squealing in excitement and delight. A thin wisp of smoke trails out of one of the half-open windows.

Principal Kim lets out an exhausted sigh. “Dammit, Jeon Jungkook.”

TAGLIST Send me a message or an ask if you wish to be added, and you’ll be notified every time I post a new chapter of LiT.

#bts fic #bts x reader #bts au #bts imagine #bts scenarios #seokjin x reader #jimin x reader #hoseok x reader #taehyung x reader #jungkook x reader #namjoon x reader #yoongi x reader

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phynali · 2 years ago

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I struggle with this one a lot.

As someone with ADHD I write with short paragraphs and almost certainly overuse paragraph breaks. Not because I don't know where a break is more technically correct, but because it's more intuitive to me.

And as a reader I struggle with long block paragraphs quite a bit, and can end up skipping parts of them or skipping them entirely. Overly dense paragraphs can even make me drop a work because it feels like too much of a slog even if I'm enjoying the story; the longer paragraphs overtax my working memory capacity and I can't continue without a pen or highlighter.

(Oddly I find this different in full screen browsers like on AO3 vs reading in other formats? It's not near as much of a struggle when I'm reading a physical book or an e-reader, maybe because I can use my finger to keep my place? Although it's still a problem if the paragraphs are quite long or don't vary much in length. For my day job, I literally have to print and use a highlighter on the articles I need to read, and want to weep when they write with long ass paragraphs.)

That's not a grammar thing or a guide to good writing though, it's an ADHD issue. It's my problem and I don't expect writing to conform to my unique needs, but it definitely influences how I write and what I enjoy as a reader.

That being said, I don't find the example above with each sentence on its own line to necessarily be a more pleasing reading experience. An easier one, definitely, and not dissimilar to how I write sometimes. But each line here doesn't need to stand on its own. Making them each a separate paragraph implies they're separate ideas and actions and/or that each requires unique emphasis. That can be disruptive too.

To a fair extent, though, it comes down to style and preference, and down to what you want to convey with the breaks. Not to diminish that there are grammatical rules you can learn for this, but the intended audience, the genre, the medium, the writer's style and intended tone, etc, will all have their influence on paragraphs length, the same as they might influence any other aspect of the writing. Meaning it isn't and can't be one size fits all, either.

I'm possibly overly wedded to the flexibility and versatility of personal style, admittedly, and I'm sure it's an issue for some people who try to read my stuff. I break a lot of rules when I write, including with diction and spelling (made up words, shortened words or contractions and slang to create tone), with syntax or grammar (I replace a lot of adverbs with adjectives and it is grammatically incogent if intentional), with sentence structure (subject and preposition? never heard of her. also I will write a paragraph length breathless run-on and you can't stop me), and yeah, with paragraph length.

But while I think writing can be for fun and you don't need to take the rules too seriously or strictly -- especially if they're getting in the way of you writing or enjoying the process of writing -- I do think it's often worth learning the rules of your craft. Not only can it help you develop your skill, but it affords you insight into what effect it'll have when you break those rules. Getting lost or paralyzed by the rules isn't good, you should have space to experiment and have fun and not worry too much about finding the one right way to do things. But learning can help you find new ways of doing things too, which can make writing even more enjoyable if you let it.

And if and when you do want to improve, like Z said above, one of the most essential things to do is to read. Read widely. Fic, yes, but necessarily original fiction, as in published books, ones in different genres, short stories and longer novels and other things besides. No matter what level of writing you're at, you will always benefit from reading others' writing and gaining new perspectives. Even if you don't or haven't learned rules in a classroom setting and don't want to get hemmed in by rigid structures, reading allows you to see how others do things. You can learn from or be inspired (or dissatisfied) by their approach. This is especially true if you stop and consider the things you enjoy reading and examine what they do to get that reaction out of you.

Anyway, bringing this back to paragraph breaks. For me, if I'm ever unsure, step one is asking myself why I'm putting that particular break in that particular spot? What is it accomplishing?

Thinking of it as a camera angle is one approach but you don't want a jittery camera lens either, and written fiction isn't the same as film or TV, so is that what you're going for? Another thing to consider is whether you're emphasizing what you want to draw the reader's attention to. Is it buried in the middle of a paragraph or does it stand out, at the beginning or end or on its own? If every paragraph is just a sentence or two then none of them stand out. If every paragraph is long and dense then the story has an even flow but you may be missing opportunities to build tension or humour or irony.

Mostly, are you carrying the reader through the story in the manner you intend? And if not, what can change to improve that?

Whole-heartedly BEGGING writers to unlearn everything schools taught you about how long a paragraph is. If theres a new subject, INCLUDING ACTIONS, theres a new paragraph. A paragraph can be a single word too btw stop making things unreadable

#I'll be honest i genuinely am incapable of reading long paragraphs #especially if they're mostly descriptive #but I'll also Nope out of a story on ao3 if every sentence is a new paragraph #because I'm not physically capable of reading that either #paragraph length #writing #I've discovered that writing advice is never one size fits all #this OP writing advice feels like its a guide for how to write for an audience with adhd #but like... that isn't necessarily the best approach either #anyway I'm really overly conscious of paragraph breaks and have been playing around with this in the last year #trying to trust my reader and use fewer breaks #like this post itself has fewer than i'd normally put in #it also has split infinitives and phrases instead of sentences and at least one fully made up word #but like... i like it that way i'm okay with it #which i feel is at least half the battle #anyway #adhd #phyn rambles

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corishadowfang · 6 years ago

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Some Types of Writing (and Editing) Careers

So, a lot of people here on writeblr have the goal of becoming full time authors. Which is great! But I think a lot of times people forget that being an author isn’t the only type of writing career, and that you may have to wait a bit before you’re able to do that full time. So! Here’s a short, absolutely-non-comprehensive list of a couple other writing careers:

Copywriter: OH LOOK IT’S ME. A copywriter is, basically, someone who writes stuff like advertisements, website content, and other things for marketing purposes. Because of the marketing nature of the job, there’s a lot of sales-y language and use of SEO (search engine optimization). You might write for only one company, or (like me) you might be employed by a marketing firm to write for multiple.

Editorial Assistant: Basically, the entry-level position for a lot of editors and also what I was gunning for before I got the copywriter position. Most publishing companies will have this position available, and honestly it’s a pretty good way to get your foot in the door. The job is, basically, exactly what the title says: assisting editors with the day-to-day tasks.

Social Media Manager: So, social media marketing is HUGE. Lots of companies want to reach customers through social media, but also don’t necessarily have the time to do so. Which means that they’re looking for people to do it for them—and writers are usually the top pick for the job (though obviously being experienced with different types of social media is a plus). Like the copywriting position, you might work for a single company, or a firm might employ you to manage multiple accounts.

Journalist: I know, shocking, right? Journalism, a writing career? I kid, but I think most of you have a pretty good idea of what a journalist does: they’re basically writing news stories, whether that be for newspapers, websites, TV, or other types of media.

Proofreader: You would be surprised how many people are looking for individuals who can do this. A proofreader worries less about heavy edits and more about general spelling and grammatical concerns: Is there a typo anywhere? Does this sentence make sense? Is the punctuation correct? Etc.

Ghost Writer: There are also a lot of people looking to spread their story or ideas who just…can’t write it themselves. (Which, for the record, can be for a number of reasons.) A ghost writer is basically paid to write the content for them. Unfortunately, ghost writers often don’t get recognition for the work itself, but there is a much greater likelihood you’ll get to flex your creative muscles.

Freelance Writer: HEY. IT’S THAT THING YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW OF IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A WRITING CAREER. Seriously, though, when people aren’t looking to be novelists, they’re often looking to be a freelance writer. You may be a jack of all trades, happily writing anything, or you may have a couple of specialties that let you carve out a niche. Freelance writing can be difficult to make a living on at first, but if you gain some traction, you’ve got a job where you can essentially work from home and set your own hours while doing something that you love.

…Aaaand a whole ton more that I didn’t really touch on. (Seriously, you’ve got technical writers, bloggers, resume writers…) Anyway, the point here is that if you’re looking to jump into a writing career, there are actually a lot of options available! So, keep writing and find something that interests you. (Did I choose that corny outro because I couldn’t think of a way to end this? Yes. Yes, I did.)

#writing things #writing careers #do i know what possessed me to write this?#the answer is no. no i don't

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sarareynolds · 6 years ago

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Random Questions Part 1

1. What is your middle name?

Rose

2. Do you have any nicknames that aren’t derived from your actual name?

My dad calls me bug. Pretty much everyone else calls me Sara. Nik sometimes calls me dove. :)

3. Do you have any allergies?

Nope.

4. What is the longest your hair has ever been?

I don't even know I measured it in high school once and it was 22 inches… it's longer now.

5. How well can you write in cursive?

Not very? My handwriting is the bastard child of standard and. Cursive.

6. Name one item on your bucket list.

I don't have a specific bucket list laid out in my head, I just know I want to soak up what the world has to offer like a greedy little sponge. So I guess travel?

7. Have you ever been on a blind date?

I have not.

8. What is the oldest piece of clothing you still wear and how old is it?

I have a black sweatshirt from when I was like 13. It's got holes from bad laundry cycles and just being old af but it's still comfy so I keep it.

9. How often do you eat out at a fancy restaurant?

Not often, actually.

10. How grammatically correct are you when you text?

More than most but it's still terrible grammar.

11. Can you drive stick?

Yes?

12. What foreign country would you most like to visit and why?

Probably, Japan. It just looks like a friggin good time. Pokemon is a legit weakness I have and I would love to play real life Mario Kart. Outside of the Nintendo stuff the food looks amazing and the sites look beautiful. It's so different from everything I know it just seems like it's be an epic trip to have.

13. Nutella or peanut butter?

Both? You cannot have Nutella on everything it's way too sweet but peanut butter is also not really a go-to for me.

14. At what age did you have your first kiss?

12 or 13?

15. DC or Marvel?

Unaligned?

16. Have you ever hosted a wild party?

Yes. For better or worse, I have.

17. Name/author of the last book you read cover to cover. Do you recommend it?

Um… I honestly don't know. I am the queen of starting a book, getting a quarter to half way in and never picking it up again because I moved onto another book.

18. How many of your Facebook friends do you actually hang with?

I actually dislike Facebook like a lot. Do not use it.

19. Have you ever donated blood?

I have. Once.

20. From 1-10, how much do you like decorating for holidays?

What holidays? Because generally it's a 1, I don't care, but if we're talking Halloween if I'm given half the chance I will go ham. Christmas gets second place because it's Christmas and it requires decor.

21. Coffee or tea?

Again: unaligned. I tend to have coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon as a detox/pickup moment.

22. What is your go-to Starbucks drink?

Venti Cold brew lite ice. Nitro cold brew has been finding its way in more than usual lately. Or a Venti iced tea/refresher. Simple and on ice is the go to for the most part.

23. Last show you binge watched?

Nailed it…. Stranger Things 3 is next.

24. Dogs or cats?

Neutral? I love dogs, they're so lovable but I have no issue with cats, I've found that if you don't care about them, they're pretty much going to leave you alone. If you love them: they don't like you, and if you hate them: they are all up on you. Cat 101

25. Favorite animated Disney character?

Ariel.

26. Have you ever cooked a big family meal by yourself?

Hahaha no. Omg that'd be terrible. I'd have to formally apologize to everyone who ate the food.

27. Favorite winter activity?

Sitting inside by the fireplace curled up in a sweater just watching the flames with a tea.

If we have to go outdoors, sledding is super fun.

28. Have you ever butt dialed anyone?

In general, as a woman, I don't have butt pockets large enough to facilitate that problem. I have, however, boob dialed people. Which is worse, I think.

29. Can you blow a bubble gum bubble?

I can but in general I try to stay away from gum.

30. How early in the year do you start celebrating Christmas?

I do not do anything until the first of December. I do not like that Halloween goes away and Christmas is everywhere, but more accurately I probably don't really start until the second week of December.

31. What emoji best describes your life right now?

😍🥰🤯🌎🎶♥️

32. Are you fluent in more than one language?

No, I am not.

33. What is the longest you’ve ever kept a New Year’s resolution?

Last year I went ⅔ of the year before I gave up.

34. Have you ever successfully been on a diet?

Did you gain any of the weight back?

I am constantly in flux when it comes to weight, but in general I keep to my diet pretty well. I don't really keep to one thing and I'm not afraid to have cake if I want to, but trying to keep things balanced is always a goal.

35. Are any of your grandparents still alive?

Yes, my grandparents on my dad's side are still in Seattle but I never really get to see them.

36. How good are you at communicating through facial expressions?

I give everything away with my facial expressions. EVERYTHING. Literally, no poker face on me.

37. Have you ever gotten a commercial jingle stuck in your head?

All the time. As a kid I would sing the jingles like they were the songs on the radio. Now I just do that in my head. Well, mostly.

38. Have you ever left a movie theater before the movie was over?

No, I haven't.

39. Do you consider rapping singing?

No, rapping is rapping. It's still music but it's not singing. That's not to say a rapper can't sing, because most can and do, it's just different.

40. Does your home have a fireplace?

It does.

41. Favorite non-chocolate candy?

Skittles

42. If you could have only one superpower, what would you want and why?

I don't know. :/ Most super power things I can find some way to accomplish with magic. So I guess I technically already have a super power. But if I didn't, maybe fly?

43. Have you ever locked your keys in your car?

No, I have not as I do not own a car.

44. Do you listen to any religious music?

Not really. I can appreciate a good gospel song, though, I just don't seek it out.

45. Do you drink soda? If so, which one is your favorite?

Not really but my go too is Dr. Pepper if I do indulge.

46. What was your ACT score?

I never took that test.

47. Rice or quinoa?

Rice.

48. From 1-10, how good of a driver do you consider yourself?

7? I don't drive often but I'm not going to kill anyone doing it.

49. Do you like horror movies?

I do.

50. How easily do you cry?

Not easily. It takes a bit to make me cry.

#random questions #50 of 200 #oh yes theres more #bored #asks

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emziley · 7 years ago

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All of the even numbers!

P.s I hope this spaced out like I want it too because if not its going to be one hell of a read and I am sorry...2, Nicknames that didnt come from my actual name: Alma (because the woman in sister act who can’t hear 😂) er thers probably others I can’t think of right now…4, Longest my hair has ever been:Down to my butt. Never again.6,What is one (1) Item on bucket list: To meet all my long-distance frienfs in person8, Oldest pice of clothing I still wear:Umm I probably have socks from when I was a kid I still wear XD idk10, How grammatically correct are you when you text?:I typically text how I would actually talk out loud so not very…12, what foreign country would you like to visit and why? :Probably Ireland is first on my list because of how beautiful it is and how much of my family came from there 14, how old where you when you had your first kiss? 17 or 18 I think? I was a senior in highschool 16, have you ever hosted a wild party? Wild? No. 18, How many of your facebook friends to you actually hang out with?Like… 7 max not including family? 20, on a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy decorating for hollidays Uhh probably like an 8? I enjoy how they look but the effort of putting them up and taking them down I could do without lol 22, what is your go to starbucks drink?I have never had starbucks :/24, Dogs or Cats?Why choose?26, have you ever cooked a big family meal by yourself?Not really? I mean, If I make pasta it could feed a large family…. 28, Have you ever butt dialed anyone?Probably.30, How early do you start celebrating christmas?Right after thanks giving XD32, Are you fluent in more than one language? I wish I was tbh….maybe some day…34, Have you ever been on a successful diet?I feel like “successful” and “diet” arent words that can really be used together in a positive way.36, how good are you at communicating through facial expressions?Better than with words…38, Have you ever left a movie theater before the movie was over? Not that I can remember…40, Does your home have a fire place?We have a fernace and then a fake electric one in the living room42, If you could have one (1) super power what would it be and why?The power to manipulate probablility because you can have anything you want? Like whats the probably of me getting pizza tonight? Probablg like 40% but I could turn that 40% into 100% and definatly get pizza tonight.44, do you listen to religious music? Not typically, no.46, what is your ACT score?🙃48, On a scale of 1-10 how good of a driver would you consider yourself? Idk like a 5? I dont have my licents because im scared to drive but the times I did go out and drive I wasnt bad.50, How easily do you cry?VERY. You could look at me wrong and there will be tears. Or a puppy could do something cute and water works are on the way lol52, when you hang out with your closest friend what do you usually do? My closest friend is my partner so we’re usually cuddling or playing games or watching something on YouTube or Netflix54, Can you play any musical instraments? If so which ones?Yes! I can play the guitar, steel drums, and piano (albeit not well) , I can sing and honestly, would like to learn more instraments soon!56, What was the last CD you bought?Either X or ÷ by Ed Sheeran for my sister for christmas I think58, What day is your laundry day?Right now, Monday-Saturday, I dont typically have a specific day just as long as its not sunday, thats dads laundry day!60, How long have you known your best friend?4 or 5 years now?62, do you have any stickers on your laptop?Currently I don’t have my own laptop, but I use my moms and she has a message from my aunt tapped on it kind of like a sticker? It says “Teddy grams 3 points” from when they where doing weight watchers XD64, what is your favorite flavor ice cream?Mint chocolate chip!66, Star Treck or Star WarsI haven’t seen either tbh but I want to! 68, Have you ever acted in a play or musical?Yes! Anything goes, A mid-summer nights dream, 9 to 5, Mrs. McThing, and Tarzan! I still have A mid-summer nights dream on DVD lol I wish I could again…70, What is the shortest your hair has been?I think chin length? 72, Do you like to go fishing?My dad told me a horror story once about when he went fishing with his brother… I’ll spare you the details but I’m afraid to go…but I have before and I dont have the patients tbh I do love fish though!74, what was your favorite holoween costume and how old where you?I was the I think red M&M? Idk how old I was but probably between 4 and 876, How many pillows do you sleep with?Between 1 and 4. Depends if Im sharing.78, How many friends of the oposite gender do you have?I….Really dont know? I think half of them don’t even know their own gender tbh80, How long have you been at your current jobI currently dont have a job :/82, How flexible are you?Psyically not very, but im working on that!84, what is a phrase you say the most?“Why are you like this” is probably my favorite XD 86, Do you own any home made clothing?Some of my cosplays are home made, along with a prom dress! 88, Have you every given anyone CPR No, I know how to but I think in the situation I would panic and freeze and not even be able to…90, Discribe your sense of humor?Odd and all over the place. 92, What is your favorite cereal?Probably honey smacks! 94, Have you ever had a TV show theme song stuck in your head?I get a few stuck in my head from time to time, like Steven Universe or Gravity Falls and stuff 96, Do you believe in life on other planets?Yeah…. I mean bacteria and stuff is tecnically life? But there’s gotta be something outside our solar system too…98, what is your biggest fear?Dying alone or being abandoned….100, are you still friends with anyone from highschool?Yes.102, How patient are you?With other people? Very. With myself? Not really. With waiting for something to happen? Not at all. 104, Do you eat meat? Yeah, im picky about it though…106, Have you ever bought anything from the flea market? I don’t think so?108, Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head that you dont like?Unfortunatly.110, Have you ever warn glasses?Yes! I did when I was young, went a few years without needing them and now wear them again.112, Are your birth parents still together?Yes.114, what is your favorite type of cookie?Peanut butter blossoms. The peanut butter ones with the Hershey kiss in the middle 😍116, How often do you smile when getting your picture taken? I usually smile I think? If im taking selfies I sometimes do a pouty face but…?118, what is your oldest memory?I have a very distinct memory of sitting in my crib with my legs hanging out the side. I don’t know why I remember THAT but I do120, How often do you snort when you laugh?I dont know? Not too often… but if you get me really laughing I will and it makes me laugh more. Right now I’ve just been laughing and coughing so~122, What is your favorite Disney song? Probably “How far I’ll go” from moana? Or like anything from mulan XD124, What is your Mayers-Briggs personality type? INFP-T 126, one (1) thing yoy wish people would stop posting on social media: Pictures and shit of animal abuse. I get the posts like “hey this is a shit thing to do” but do we really need photos or videos of it?…. and when reported to facebook you’re told it “doesn’t violate community guidelines” like bull fucking shit it doesnt. 128, do you prefer Credit Cards or cash?Cash, its easier for me to keep track of, and money gives me anxiety. 130, What is your astrological sign?I fall on a cusp birthday so I am technically both a Scorpio and Sagitarius. 132, Do you have any hidden talents?I don’t even have any visable talents…134, What gives yoy motivstion to do well in life?I dont know but whatever it is isn’t working.136, on a scale od 1-10 how much are you like your father?Looks: like 3, personality: 8ish 138, A moment when you where pleasently suprised?Probably when Tom actually said yes to dating me after 3 days of waiting. At that point I gave up hope at the words “I’ll have to think about it” so when they said yes it was just~ 😶140, what type of shoes do you wear the most?My penguin sneakers! Or my boots… either one lol142, Favorite song to sing in the shower?I have a whole playlist of songs just to sing… and my top 5 from that in no particular order is 1. Red flavor by red velvet 2. Evil by shinee, 3. Good bye by Taemin, 4, cotton candy by astro and 5, Nightmare by shinee. They’re all kpop so its kinda hard 😂144, Have you ever lived on a farm? I mean where my house is used to be a farm? We have barns and stuff. We also grow some fruits and vegetables and at one point had ducks? but I wouldn’t really say I lived on a farm… 146, what tv show or movie do you quote or make referances to the most? Probably steven universe? Idk148, Have you ever gotten stiches?No, and I probably wouldn’t be able yo handle if if I had to. 150, What is your favorite youtube channel?As embarrassing as it is to say to you~ it probably will always be artfulImpersonator 😶😶😶 152, on a scale of 1-10 how well do you work with others?Im going to say 5 because it REALLY depends who im working with. 154, Apple or PC?….uh they both have good qualities, I guess it depends what Im using it for, but I guess PC for casual use156, Have you ever seen a broadway play or musical? I seen Newsies and almost fell asleep…. not because it was a bad show or anything but because it was a school trip and I was just exhausted. 158, Have you ever uttered a spoke hashtag? #yes. Usually as jokes but uhhh sometimes I get carried away. 160, What is the longest you went without sleep? Probably 24 hours? Maybe less? 162, Disney or Nickelodeon? As I kid I was a Disney kid, but Now probably Nick?164, On a scale from 1-10 how much are you like your mom?Looks: 8 personality: maybe a 6?166, Ear bud or Ear muff style headphones?Ear muff style! Ear buds hurt my ears :(168, any peircings besides earlobe? Nah,170, Showers or baths?I like them both. For actually cleaning showers but for relaxing baths. Something about the warm water :)172, do you prefer bottled or tap water?Depends where I am? At my house Tap but most places bottled.174, Do you have any guilty pleasures you’d be comfortable talking about?Guilty pleasures? Pleanty. Comfortable talking about on a public forum such as tumblr? Not really XD…. I mean I guess liking one direction still is a guilty pleasure? Or some of the anime’s I watch? I’ll mention those ones176, Ever had a new years kiss exactly at midnight? No…. I found im usually grumpy on new years? I wonder why? 🤔178, Have you ever gave money to a homeless person? I dont think so :( I dont usually have that much on me… 180, What is your least favorite food? Anything slimey. Im a very texture based eater… 182, Do you like wearing hats? When im not wearing cat ears, yes!184, SAT score?🙃🙃186, anyone in your family currently serve in your countries military? I think my cousin, Yeah?…or he wants to or something im not sure…188, what celebrity would you like to play you in a movie about your life? Can I just play myself? 190, Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, and it needs to be dyed again! Idk what color I want to do next though :/192, whats the first site you visit after opining a web browser? Depends what I went in the computer for but I guess generally Tumblr or Facebook 194, where you involved in any academic clubs in school? Unfortunatly, no. 196, are you comfortable watching R rated movies? Yeah, im fine with them.... unless im with my parents 😨198, what's the first thing you do when you wake up? Check my phone.200, tell us something most people don't know about youThat I have a collection of stuffed giraffes in my closet from when I was a kid. I no longer collect them but alot of them are still sitting in a bag in my closet because I've grown attached...

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surveysonfleek · 7 years ago

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686.

1. Do you pronounce the ‘l’ in salmon?: no.

2. When was the last time you went to a bookstore?: forever ago... probably within the last three months. i haven’t read any book sin forever.

3. Have you ever prank called a restaurant?: nope.

4. How did you meet most of your friends?: schoo, uni, work and mutual friends.

5. Do you find ancient mythology interesting?: i do find it interesting yet i nothing next to nothing about it.

6. What snacks do you usually buy when you go to the movies?: i only ever really buy popcorn then bring my own snacks.

7. Do you prefer British spelling or American?: british because that’s what was taught to us in school.

8. Have you ever gone sailing?: i’ve been on a ton of boats, ferries, yachts but i’ve never gone sailing...

9. Have you ever gotten heat exhaustion?: nothing serious but i’ve definitely been fatigued because of the heat.

10. Do you still live in your childhood home?: i moved here when i was 8 so yeah.

11. How much is too much to pay for a concert ticket?: i wouldn’t pay more than $200. i think $100 is generally acceptable and i’d only ever pay $150+ if i really liked the artist and the seats were good.

12. What was the greatest prank you’ve ever pulled?: scaring my boyfriend while he was showering and filming it at the same time. too good haha.

13. Do you pride yourself on being intelligent?: yes.

14. Is that pride justified?: i mean i hope so. everyone is intelligent in different ways. i feel as though i’m a pretty quick learner and tend to soak up information pretty easily so there’s that. i know there are a ton of more intelligent people out there than me but i’ll appreciate my skills i guess.

15. If you controlled pop culture, what trend would you change (or introduce)?: i guess having a more non judgemental society.

16. Have you ever taken a survey twice by accident?: most likely.

17. What was the last movie you went to see? fantastic beasts... so long ago.

18. Have you ever gotten stuck on an amusement park ride?: nope, one of my fears for sure, especially those that go upside down.

19. Do you have a weak stomach?: yes, for as long as i can remember. this year i’m gna work on eating a lot cleaner.

20. Do you get annoyed when you don’t receive any comments on your Facebook for a while?: not at all. i hardly use fb anymore.

21. How often do you floss?: probably weekly.

22. What was the worst trouble you’ve ever gotten into?: nothing too bad. i guess i’ve gotten a speeding fine before lol.

23. Would you ever consider becoming a cop?: nope. i’m not fit or brave enough for that role.

24. If stupidity were a fatal disease, who do you think would be the first to die?: lmao.

25. Are you and your friends loud and obnoxious in public areas?: when we were younger, definitely. everyone’s a lot tamer these days unless alcohol is involved lol.

26. How often do you take and fill out surveys from this community?: honestly i’m sorta getting over it but i’ll do it every couple of days.

27. Are you a big New York Yankees fan? no.

28. Do you own a thesaurus?: just the ones built into my laptop and my phone.

29. When was the last time you visited relatives?: technically today if you count my boyfriend’s relatives. otherwise at christmas.

30. When was the last time you ate meat?: tonight.

31. What magazines do you read, if any?: none anymore. magazines ruled my life when i was a teen though.

32. What’s one thing you get uptight about?: people who are still against gays and gay marriage. like wtf it’s 2018 ffs...

33. What sport are you best at?: basketball if i had to choose one. i’m not even that good at it.

34. Ever eaten one of those Warheads candies?: yes lol i hate them.

35. Do you prefer Tootsie Pops or Blow Pops?: chupachups.

36. Do you ever correct grammatical and typographical errors on survey questions?: yeah especially that 5000 question survey. the grammar is just terrible.

37. How did you get your most recent injury?: running to see the fireworks for new years i grazed my shin on this wooden bollard. blood literally dripped down my leg while we rang in the new year.

38. What’s the most awkward question you’ve ever been asked?: not sure tbh.

39. Do you own anything from IKEA?: yes. plenty of things.

40. What was the stupidest horror movie you’ve ever seen?: sorry to say but most of the horror movies i watch are stupid i’m just not into them.

41. What about the stupidest comedy?: stuff like date movie etc. all those parody movies that came after scary movie are so stupid.

42. Have you ever snuck into a movie?: nope.

43. True or false- There’s no place like home: true.

44. The creepiest place you can think of: abandoned buildings lol.

45. Have you ever seen an albino animal?: not sure if i have in real life tbh.

46. Do you think they have chatspeak in Chinese?: no idea what that even is.

47. What color is your front door?: white.

48. Were you afraid of old people as a child?: no.

49. Have you ever been visited by a Jehovah’s Witness?: back at my old house.

50. Have you ever tried summoning Bloody Mary?: never haha that shit scares me.

#survey #surveys #quiz #bored #questions

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gamerfcapuno-blog · 8 years ago

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The Adventures in Fansubbing: Localization and the Song of La Béfana (FR Miraculous Ladybug S2)

At this point, I just have a feeling I need to write this (mainly since I think people might find this interesting). If people are ever curious about the process of making subtitles/captions and what goes on, I’ll share some of that right now.

Now, releasing subtitles to a show isn't super abnormal these days. But there are some challenges that do come with making them.

Most people these days aren't too fussed with getting a direct translation from a fan subber, but when trying to create a quality project that keeps with the spirit of the original work is much more difficult to execute well. If you want to know more, keep going. You’ve got a lot of reading under the cut.

Professional captioners have some standards to keep to which can drastically alter what you read. These can include:

Ensuring the lines only show up in a certain number of lines and within a certain percentage of the screen. (The standard is a max of two lines, with few exceptions being three.)

Making the captions easy to understand and read in a timely manner.

Format captions to flow easily and smoothly to a viewer.

Making the idiosyncrasies, jokes and cultural references of one country understandable to other cultures. Otherwise, using an appropriate cultural reference in their place. (AKA Localization)

It's a lot of work trying to stick to that list and can often result in many things being lost to translation. A lot does hit the cutting room floor and things are altered to get an idea across in a shorter form. It's the kind of stuff that people might criticize on forums or such, but it's sometimes a necessary evil that has to be done.

With that, I want to talk about the last tick on the list (localization) in relation to S02E04 La Béfana in Miraculous Ladybug. Of course we’re talking about captioning the French language version.

I’ll start with a disclaimer: I am not a translator. I am not even fluent in a second language. I don’t even claim to be a professional captioner. I only do this for my own personal fun and education. Most of what you’ll read now is merely anecdotal and based on experiences doing this as a hobby.

It’s a pain in the butt trying to write subtitles for a language you aren't at all fluent in. What's worse, is when you run in to something that only works within the context of the original language or culture. It happens too many times to count.

I'm only going to detail a small sampling of what happens.

In this case, we have two very time consuming issues in La Béfana: the song that Béfana sings while flying around, and subsequently Chat Noir and Ladybug's responses to the song. These two are exactly the kind of localization problems that slow down jobs when you're not working on a team of multiple people. Let that be known if people are thinking of picking this up.

I won’t detail people on Miraculous Ladybug, one can easily Google the show on their own. But to set the stage for us here, La Béfana is actually based on the myth of Befana from Italy. She's a very popular figure who gives gifts to children on a flying broom, kind of like Santa. She gives candy and presents to good children in their stockings and coal or dark candies to bad children. The way Béfana in Miraculous Ladybug is portrayed is in line with this myth. Naturally, the show also has her sing a traditional Italian song while she's flying around. I wasn't able to find the original song this was based on (which may have made this easier to understand). Allegedly, it's a song that's found in a Befana opera, according to a friend of mine but I could be wrong. Knowing this background information can be helpful in understanding how to handle what we’re tackling. (Google is your best friend!)

The song in the show looks sort of like this:

La Béfana arrive sur son valle volant aus enfent j'en tiens don de bonbons aus enfent benial chet du charbons

*NOTE: I'm aware this is most likely not correct at all

This is not obvious to someone that doesn’t understand French, but this song isn't entirely in French. It's some sort of mixture of French with some thick Italian undertone and word selection. It's non-standard. The best I could do was sound it out and look through dictionaries and grammar books to figure out what Le Béfana is singing. This problem is exacerbated by the fact I know neither French or Italian and have no basis on their grammatical structure or phonetic language.

This language mixing also makes it hell for a normal translator to pick through since while it sounds like one language it doesn't line up with it (in this case it's French). It caused a lot of confusion when I asked a French translator to assist me. I spent hours trying to figure this out but I can't be spending more trying to figure this out if I'm on a timetable.

Needless to say, how do we handle this scenario for captioning?

There's two ways this can go. One is to try to bring over the spliced languages. I've actually done it before when working on No Game No Life. Of which I have and example here:

The alternative is to just play it straight and not even bother with bringing the song's language mixing over. That would look like this:

The Befana is here On her flying bike All good children get candies All the naughty ones get coal

In this case, I threw out trying to chop in multiple languages in the English caption and not bring over the idea of Béfana singing in not-Italian. Why? Because it would slow processing it when it's read.

This is just a song that La Béfana sings that (specifically) American-English speakers won't understand the significance of. Additionally, it might not even be intentionally mushed together! Trying to write the mangled-ness might even be insulting. I'm pretty sure the people who wrote the French script didn't actually intend for it to be interpreted as really terrible joke-Itali-French. And unless you live in that area of the world, the meaning of it is lost regardless of what I do and I don’t want to disrespect it.

This is a case of a functional change. I can't salvage this even if I wanted to. It felt best to not try and overstate the mixed sentences as a thing. However, I did leave the not-real spliced not-French-not-Italian caption above the English caption in case someone cares for it. (This technically is my file I make for fun. I can do whatever I want with it.)

At that point, it was just choosing between a direct translation and a more artsy lyrical one. Long story short, in this case, we (my translator buddy and I) just picked a lyrical one because we liked it more. It's not 100% what Béfana sings, but we wanted it to read as chipper as the tune. In the end, we end up with something that looks like this:

Doing alright so far! Next!

Our second issue was Chat Noir and Ladybug singing in response to Béfana in the second half of the episode. It goes a little something like this.

CHAT NOIR (singing) Chat Noir vient lui aussi Descret comme mort la nuit

CHAT NOIR (speaking; questioning tone) ...What also rhymes with "-it" [I]?

LADYBUG (singing) Il défend Paris Avec sa Lady

In this case, Chat Noir is wondering what will rhyme with "aussi" and "nuit" which end on the same phonetic sound of "-I". Ladybug jumps in and supplies "Paris" and "Lady" (which also end on the same sound in French). Oh man. This is a gag that specifically works because of how French is pronounced.

This is also entirely a children's show joke. There's plenty of words in French that rhyme with "aussi" and "nuit". It's silly, and perfectly in line with the normal comedy line of this show. The problem was trying to get that idea and feeling across to read in English captions. If you translated this more directly, it would look something like this:

CHAT NOIR (singing) Chat Noir arrives as well Discretely like the night

CHAT NOIR (speaking; questioning tone) ...What rhymes with “night”?

LADYBUG (singing) He protects Paris with his Lady

It's serviceable. It's functional. The gag is completely lost though and it makes no sense to read.

Well. Let's try an alternative version! It might go something like this:

CHAT NOIR (singing) Chat Noir is here as well Discrete as the dead of night

CHAT NOIR (speaking; questioning tone) ...What rhymes with "-ell"?

LADYBUG (singing) Defending from the tower, Eiffel Helping his Lady fight

Hmm. This at least rhymes now in English, but it's clumsy to read. I really don't like it. We don’t want it to look like some strange archaic poetry you need a masters in English to interpret.

As a related aside, sometimes you do have to completely rewrite a cultural joke or a gag to work when bringing a work to a different culture. This happens all the time (especially in dubs) and it's definitely based on how much people would know about at the current period.

A super famous example of localizing a cultural item was turning rice balls in to donuts. One has to understand, that at the time this sort of change was made (early 90s), people didn't know much about Japanese foods. The standard was people knowing about ramen and sushi. Rice balls look similar to sushi (specifically maki roll type sushi). They might have even been interpreted as sushi. But rice balls are 100% not sushi. (joking) What a mistake one can make! (/joke) On top of that, having rice balls be retained in the context of the show had a chance of not being accessible, thus a change was made to keep the flow of the show intact.

Another one that people might not be familiar with is changing ramen in the Phoenix Wright games to hamburgers. (If you want to see an insane piece of localization work, look up articles on the localization of Phoenix Wright. It's fantastic. The amount of alterations in that game series is astonishing.)

In our case in Béfana, this is just a phonetic gag. This gag may only make sense right now in French because of the way French is spoken, but it’s still only a phonetic gag. I don't have to look up anything like French expressions or idioms or cultural lore or even specific items. I could make a completely serviceable alternative that shouldn't look as weird or insert an equivalent American-English gag.

Unlike in the case above where we couldn’t retain La Béfana’s not-Italian song, we can do something here. Our goal here now is to capture the spirit of the joke or the joking nature of the lines. If we have to toss out the direct meaning of the words to do it, we’ll have to do it.

Spend a couple of more hours with a pen and some scratch paper and end up at this:

CHAT NOIR (singing) Chat Noir is now here, you see Coming like the night on the scene

CHAT NOIR (speaking; questioning tone) ...What rhymes with "-ee"?

LADYBUG (singing) And he defends Paris Alongside his Lady

Surprise! We got super lucky here! I didn’t have to rewrite an entire section of episode dialogue!

It isn’t exact, but it’s not a full replacement of the original French lines. The same questioning of the rhyme still exists. It's working on the fact that it's pretty much all half-rhymes, but if you actually read it out loud (of course pronouncing Paris as "Par-ee" and not "Pah-ris") it sounds pretty good! The line where Chat Noir is referring to the night can also be connected to the environment transitioning to night time so that tracks as well. On top of that, there’s plenty of words that rhyme with “ee” in English. (Get it together Chat Noir!) As a bonus, this version is singable to the tune they sing to in the show. It works just fine for my purposes. We saved the joke! That’s all that matters!

Job done! Looks nice! Time to ship it out!

Now, If you survived this long reading this and you're thinking "Oh god. Is it over?" while I did just write an essay, you probably only read this in a fraction of the time it took to solve this issue. I’m heavily generalizing this process. In reality, these two sections alone took maybe seven hours to settle on. Surprised?

You don't want to imagine listening to these dialogue exchanges for that long trying to interpret what's being said and workshopping captions till you find a set you like. This is just a small snippet of what goes in to these sorts of things. It's work. It takes (a lot of) time. It's exhausting. But in the end people that do this do it out of enjoyment of the same piece of media you enjoy and to help other people enjoy it as well.

That's about all I have to say for now. I hope this was informative. I may see you all again some time in the future.

Thanks to aprilblossoms for being my translator buddy for this one! And thanks to all my friends for putting up with me while I was giving myself a lobotomy trying to hammer this out! (Special note to C-Note for helping me come up with the final captions for Chat Noir and Ladybug's song response.)

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