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w1ngedv01d · 7 months ago

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i’d like to know more about the gods in ur wildlife AU….

no pressure ofc!! also i love the premise i think that it’s great and neat and ya

Hello! Thank You for the ask! Hi!

So, obviously, we don't have all of the wild cards revealed yet, but that's Okay! I have room in the pantheon for more as things develop ^-^ I'm not revealing the real names of each god juuust yet, but I will list what wildcard they're connected to, and some titles if I've decided on those.

(Also tldr on the plot for newbies: The Wild Life Plot, mostly, except it's a set of trials where each wild card is connected to a God from a pantheon running the trials. And the participants are champions chosen by said gods)

The Wild Card/The Summoner - Grian! Not a God yet. He's currently just a (mostly) human person. He's in charge of drawing from the deck and allowing the deity of the week to affect the realm they're stuck in. When he pulls the cards from his deck, he immediately knows Which god is affecting the realm that week, and what the effects will be.

Growing/Shrinking Wildcard - The Gemini Twins! They're a set of, well, twin siblings, who are connected to being giant and being small, respectively. The older twin is a man, and a Giant, while his androgynous younger sibling is the tiny one in charge of the smallfolk. In myth, they were the ones who created Giants and smallfolk like pixies and such, waaaay back in the day. It's even said that the older twin, the Giant, helped build the Nether Fortresses with his own hands. They are inseparable and also STICKLERS for theme and aesthetic. So naturally, they chose Gem as their champion based on name alone. XD

Hunger Wildcard - The Zombie. They were a Giant, once, in the Time Before, and resurrected as a god with an unending hunger that normal food wouldn't satisfy. Myth says that they refused to harm their friends and townfolk, so resorted to eating anything around them, just to stave off the hunger. Rocks, plants, trees, anything they could find. They influence the realm by afflicting the participants with their own curse. The first Champion they chose was, of course, Cleo.

The Immortal Snail - The Zookeeper. This God is very similar to Scar in a lot of ways, to the point that -while there are certainly differences- people who know both would find the similarities eerie. He has a deep love of living creature, from cows to snails to mushrooms, and -as a notorious prankster- uses his armies of beloved creatures to cause mischief and pranks to the people around him. He wants a friendly rivalry with Scar so bad, and doesn't process that him being A Whole God and Scar being Just A Guy means there really isn't a power equality to even warrant a rivalry. He's a fun loving, life-loving, guy who tries to make friends with pranks! He had a wife, who was known for her connection to fungi and fungal growth, but she has not been seen in many decades, and is not seen as a current part of the pantheon. He never speaks of her whereabouts, but it is clear that he still has fondness for her. He has a unique fondness for Grian, and of course Scar was chosen as one of his champions.

Time Dilation - The Observer. This God is one of the newer ones, and little is known about her. When she takes over the realm, time starts out very slow, but the call from Grian to "Do Something Cool!" is very important, because as soon as the time effects kick in, cameras appear to take pictures of each Champion. Cameras and screens manifest everywhere, Watching. Tracking. This God is silent, and reaches out little to mortals, or even the other Gods. No one knows what she is thinking, the connection between her theme and powers, or even which one/s of the participants were her chosen Champion/s... or Why. It is said she takes rigorous notes on how the time acceleration affects each participant, but no one has ever found such notes, nor do they know why she would be taking them.

Trivia Bots - The Engineer. This God has been working with Mumbo's family for many, many years, and is the reason why Mumbo knows about the Trials- and how Mumbo and Grian even met. He has gone by many names in the past, many faces, many identities, as it suits him. Always an engineer, always an entertainer. But whether he be man, woman, neither, both, or some other option, it changes based on the generation and mood that takes him. This era, he takes the form of an older, heavy-set man with a large brown mustache and beer belly, who works in an old Tech Superstore that is now far more out-of-date and behind-the-times than it was when it first opened. That doesn't bother him too much, though. He doesn't care about being the best, or the first, as long as he's doing what he loves. Because of his connection to Mumbo's family, and often manifesting in the human world in some way, this God is one of the few to take on human names from the culture in which he is inhabiting. He has done so in this form, just as he has done all the others. While he can do other redstone type things, this guy loves robots, and has been fascinated by mortal trivia shows, which has led to the beloved Trivia Bots from his time affecting the realm.

#the wild life gods au #i guess XD #ask #i have allowed myself... an indulgence. two little easter eggs. one much more hidden than the other #i allowed myself two little references to hermit lore in the lore of these gods #i wonder if you can spot them- one of them is very vague :3 #sorry this was sooo long #i have a lot to say XD

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alatismeni-theitsa · 4 years ago

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Do you have any sort of, words of encouragement, for a Greek-American who is struggling to learn Greek? My family is pretty connected to our heritage but I was never taught to speak Greek. I am an adult now, and I know I'm at an incredible disadvantage trying to learn a new language. The most discouraging thing is when I try to pronounce a word with a sound that isn't really in English (like γ) and I KNOW I am not saying it right, but no matter how hard I try I can't pronounce it correctly.

Hello! I'm very sorry for delaying this answer for some days, but as we see here, Zeus was fucked this week 😅

I will pin my answer so you can see it when you return, and the rest will be under the cut.

I believe there are MANY reasons for hope in this situation. Of course it feels very discouraging that you don't know the language already and you might feel left behind in this process. Plus, learning a new language is not an easy thing to learn. But worry not!

You are grown, and that means you can learn a language better and with more consistency and discipline. Have trust in your skills as an adult. What is more, you have grown up around Greek speakers and you will pick up certain things faster.

You are not alone in feeling this way. Most of the world has to learn a second language (and a third, as it's usual for many) and that would be the language most dominant in the wider area. Almost every person in the West who is not an English speaker has to learn English and learn it well, otherwise we feel embarrassed every time we try and form a sentence. For example, we apologize to each other about our accents in English German and French, even though we speak Greek.

Surely there are some differences between your situation and ours, but I mentioned this to show you that most people will be very understanding with accents because they have the same struggle. I mean, I'm not going to make fun of someone for having an accent in Greek when I sound like a demented chicken in German, despite taking years of lessons 😵 I have more confidence in my English but even now that I'm writing to you in this language I have to quadruple-check my sentences and phrasing. The amount of times I apologized in advance for my accent to English speakers is higher than my credit.

I relayed your situation to other Greek speakers and non-English speakers, and ALL agreed the accent is not anything they would pay attention to and told me to write you that you shouldn't feel bad about that. I did that because I knew they would have words of encouragement for you. And it turns out they believe exactly what I'm writing in this answer.

Accents are natural. You cannot expect not to have an accent when you have been speaking a different language all your life. Beating yourself up for having difficulty with the Greek pronunciation is like beating yourself up for something normal like walking or laughing when hearing something funny. You lack practice with the pronunciation due to circumstances beyond your control. You are doing what you can to change that, and every small win is worth celebrating!

I found this post the other day:

The notes? The likes?

And NO disagreements in the comments and reblogs for OP’s statement! Look how many thousands are supportive in this! (And that’s a small fraction of people who understand accents are natural.) And some of the responses:

Sure, some mention they have met native speakers who made it more difficult to feel comfortable with their accent and phrasing. But those people are assholes in general, and not the people you want to surround yourself with. If a relative expresses disgust about your accent remind them you didn’t have any control of how much and how well you were taught Greek when you were a kid, and then tell them that if they are a true friend and relative to you, they should support you in your journey. And even if you had some control and chose not to learn, you are learning now. So they should leave their resentment behind because, honestly, what do they have to lose from you learning the language better??

For the embarrassment you feel for yourself: you wouldn't make fun of a Greek for having trouble with the “r”, "s", “ch”, and possibly the "h" when speaking English, so extend that kindness to yourself when you speak Greek. Not to mention that with enough practice and time you can nail the accent!

Worst case scenario, if the accent never leaves, that's no problem whatsoever. Anyone who thinks badly of you for your accent is probably a PoS and they don't deserve your time. No matter where you are from, if they make you feel bad for having an accent in Greek, block them from your mind forever.

But chances are that (from experience) if anyone laughs with how you said something, I guarantee they are not laughing at you but because of how strange the sound or phrasing was. The person doesn't think badly of you because of this. Making mistakes of any kind when learning a language is very natural and it's something everyone must accept. If you are not willing to make mistakes and expose your language vulnerabilities to people who know the language better, might as well not try improving at all.

If anyone corrects you, they are not doing it out of pity. The majority of Greeks do it because they are very happy you speak the language and want you to be even more fluent. Like, they are doing it as an act of backing you up, they are feeling like they are giving you that extra XP to reach the next level! Others - like me - get that rush of happiness when they get to share their language with others 😁

I remember a guy on Tiktok who was learning Greek and ordered a coffee "without sugar" in a Greek cafe but instead of saying σκέτο ("without") he said σκατά ("shit"). I mean damn that was funny! I remember it weeks after I saw the video of him telling that story and it always cracks me up. Do I still appreciate him the same as before and follow him? Absolutely! He just had an unfortunate - and funny - incident, not something that lessened his integrity as a person.

From tiktok again: An American girl wanted to pronounce γύρος correctly when ordering it, and she was mumbling to herself on camera: “yeero, yeero, yeero!!” When her time to order came she shouted “May I have a gairow? FUUUUCKK FUUCK FUCK I SAID IT WRONG” 🤣

Another example is Athena from the Bachelor 2! She has given some gems throughout the show because she doesn't know the language that well, but everyone still loves her because she spreads positivity and is so cute!! If we, as viewers, disliked her it would be because of her character, not because she doesn't know the language well. And if some of the other girls in the show don’t take her seriously is because she laughs too much and mentions feta too often, not due to her Greek level of literacy. Athena, even when she is hurting someone else’s feelings, is always so genuine and you just can’t be mad at her!

I really can’t stretch enough how people laugh at the mishap, not the person! Please don’t feel discouraged if you ever see a Greek laughing with the pronunciation of an English speaker when it comes to Greek words (which I have done as well) because we never laugh at the speakers. We don’t even know them! We might laugh at one mistake but then instantly want to become this individual’s friends because we think they are amazing (see the three examples I mentioned above, the sugar guy, the gyro girl and Athena). Because that’s the normal thing to do; laugh at fun stuff and not judge people for their small mishaps. (In a casual setting, and not to an uncomfortable degree ofc!)

There are so many things to a person other than their accent and the accent becomes old news really fast. What remains is how the presence of a person makes you feel and if they are a good individual. If an English speaking friend says yatakai instead of γατάκι that opens the way for sooo many jokes! Greeks will laugh, do some YATAKAAIIII screams - ninja style, and then continue being friends with that person!

Greeks makes these mistakes as well... A Greek once said "arrive arrive" (φτάνει φτάνει) instead of "enough" when an English speaker was filling his glass. A Lower English degree caught fire that day 🤣 I have many bad examples of Greeks’ mistakes in English but I can’t remember a lot. But I’ve seen many videos of Greeks mocking themselves for how they sound in English. You can take a look at Tsipras’ (our former prime minister) mistakes on youtube if you are feeling brave 😂 (Ο Τσίπρας μιλάει Αγγλικά)

So, own your possible mistakes, laugh at them and move on because everyone makes them and we better have some good while we are struggling!

(( For the record, we are not making fun of Tsipras because of his accent, but because 1) he doesn’t know γρι English and yet he rarely brought a translator with him in international meetings with world leaders, 2) he could absolutely not hold a conversation with negotiating or discussing 3) he didn’t take steps to improve or fix the situation (like bring a translator). 4) Instead, he chose to torment us all with mind-numbing hours of reading English texts and making other world leaders struggle to explain to him what they meant for the nth time and meetings move at a snail pace.))

Alright, now that I cringed with the memory of Tsipras speaking English, I’ll go though the recommendations for improving the Greek pronunciation.

1) Go to my resources for learning Greek (#learn greek) where I have many videos where you can hear the sounds individually or withing other words very clearly. Easy Greek on youtube has excellent videos about pronunciation!

2) Seek practice as much as possible. Some Greeks switch to English when they hear an English accent to make the conversation smoother for the other person. If Greek speakers insist on talking with you in English tell them that you would wish to speak in Greek. I've seen that people often mirror the accent of the native speaker when they speak to one, so this might work for you as well with hours of practice. If no Greek speakers are available to you now, you can find Greek Americans online – or go to their festivals – and start talking to them.

3) Listen to Greek podcasts, songs and shows. (In my blog you’ll find them at #greek youtuber #podcast #greek tv #greek movie #short film #greek music). You know when you hear a catchy foreign song and then it’s stuck in your head and you say all the words perfectly without even knowing what it means? Well, this helps with pronunciation!

4) If you had Spanish in school or have Spanish friends mimicking the Spanish accent might help you. (Our accents are extremely close! The Spanish are the best at Greek pronunciation, and vice versa!)

5) Find sounds in your native language that sound close to the sounds you want to say in Greek. In German lessons I had trouble with “ch” in certain words because I made it sound like χ and it was horrible. My Greek teacher told me to remember how χ sounds in χήνα (it sounds a bit flatter) and make that sound when I encountered “ch”. It worked actually!

To people who have English as their native language I often suggest they remember the sound of w for γ because, although not used the same in the word, at times they have the same intensity. Γ is pronounced more “to the front” of the mouth, so if you can bring that sound forward in your mouth you’ll be very close, if not accurate, to γ. (But don’t bring it too much forward, sometimes it can sound like a “y”, unless you are saying a word where γ sounds like “y”).

Greeks pronounce σ more closely to “sh” than to “s”, so you also might want to keep that in mind since σ often distinguishes the Greek accent in English for me :p

That’s all! If you have more questions or want to tell me anything else about your experience with learning Greek, feel free to send another ask or a DM!

#answered #learn greek #pronunciation #encouragement

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