#genuinely i love languages and dialects and accents so much

[mcmorare]

that w.wdits clip where colin is trying to drain joh.n sl.attery but it isn't working bc john keeps on being fascinated by colin's specific regional accent and going on tangents about accents and dialects. just like me fr

[she-wolf09231982]

*Disclosure for my future Gambit/Remy LaBeau fanfic posts*

👇🏼

I just want to disclose (to avoid conflict and unnecessary confrontations) I am not a comic expert. Gambit/Remy LeBeau is very new to me and I’m doing my best to stay genuine to what I’ve researched online or from what I’ve seen in the D&W movie.

I’m aware there was a HUGE controversy over his heavy accent/dialect and over his eye color in the movie, so I tried to incorporate both versions of each in my writing to satisfy everyone’s preferred Gambit/Remy style. (Personally, I loved Channing Tatum’s accent in the movie ☺️)

I’m also cognizant that Gambit and Rogue are an item in the comics, but for sanity sake, Rogue will be a pastime only mentioned in passing if absolutely necessary so I don’t have to study in depth another character I’m unfamiliar with. (I need some brain space for real life stuff, too 😅)

Also, because I’m currently learning Haitian Creole, that’s the language I’ve chosen to use for my stories, which yes, I know isn’t accurate to Gambit, but French Creole wasn’t available on Pimsleur, so don’t be a dick about it 😜

Anyway, I’m doing my maximum effort over here writing for Gambit/Remy, so when I do post my developing Gambit story, please, if you have comments or criticisms that don’t benefit anyone else’s appreciation of these fanfics, keep them to yourself and let the rest of us relish it.

*I support safe spaces for everyone to read and write freely, so just sit back and enjoy the ride, kids. Life’s too short*

Thanks so much 💜🩷

[docholligay]

When you hear an accent/dialect/we're not going to get into that debate here that sounds 'odd' to your ear, think about that! Not even in a "Wow, I hate that" way, or a "I need to examine my classism/racism/etc way I am a bad person way, but in a secret third way called, "curiosity and openness to experience"

I was EXTREMELY EXTREMELY FORTUNATE to have a required class in college called "History of the English Language" which was one of the 'weeder classes' for the English majors at my school. It was very very difficult, but the man who taught it had an INSANE passion for English. He LOVED IT, he would talk about it all goddamn day, and it taught me so much about how and why things get changed and said the way they do, and it made me so CURIOUS about why something is unusual or fun for my brain to listen to.

So now, anytime I hear someone pronounce something or verbalize something in a way I think of as "odd" I get so excited and curious*. What is it I haven't heard before? Sometimes my tongue will move around my mouth trying to figure out how they make that sound (I am REAL bad at this. Accents are in no no no way my forte, which is annoying because I'm very good at HEARING them and hearing the differences between them, I just can't DO it) because it is so interesting and cool all the different ways one fucking language has been DONE over so many years.

Anyway I so far off track I am no longer a train, but looking at dialects as you might look at an interesting bug instead of like a pop song on the radio or a sign font is a really good way to start opening your mind to language as something other than a value marker. And that doesn't HAVE to be another way of whipping yourself for being a piece of shit--I assume you have plenty of reasons--but a way of going, "Oh, something unexpected!"

*Also not to attempt to introduce nuance on the 'no nuance we die like men' website, but I think there is a big difference between loving teasing and mockery/cruelty. I don't actually mind if friends, especially ones with VASTLY different ways of speaking, imitate my accent I think it's fuckin funny as hell! Jetty has the WORST rural western accent on the planet, and I love to make fun of whatever the fuck she's got going on there, but it is FUN and there is a sense of LOVE that comes with it. And it's not even a "well yeah, Holligay, when you've known someone for a long time" No no, I once sat in a shitty pub on the east end, now closed (rip) and me and my mom ending up striking up a conversation with two old-school cockney guys, and as soon as he tried to say "Montana" the way I did, the race was ON, and it was FUNNY, and we all laughed and had a good time, it is about attitude.

And I know I'm gonna get something about "well how do you KNOW and that is why i turned off reblogs but come on y'all, 9 times out of 10 you can tell when something is done with deep affection or camaraderie or because even just something feels cool in your mouth it's fun to try. I can't do 87% of the linguistic features I think FUCK SEVERELY (intrusive R, the way a word that genuinely does not start with the letter h has a different sound than a word when the h is uptaken (this has a fucking word and I cannot find it it's making me nuts)) but I LOVE them.

Quick quiz to help though: Are you affecting this accent to in some way sound stupid/ridiculous? We can go back and forth about that a little: one of my buddies says "well shiiiiit" exactly the way I do, for funsies, but it just...feels neat. What I'm saying is you have to use some discernment here and I know we are all allergic to that but give it a shot/go/whatever the hell Australians say for this.

Post script: All of this reminds me also about how I studied the phonemes and linguistics of English with intense fervor in college, and got REAL COCKY, and then in the Orkneys had my very first ever, in life, "We are both speaking English but damn" moment. Normally I am The One for this. I am unruffled. My wife gets confused by the word takeaway (she is smart I swear) but I'm rock-solid. Until. Hubris.

This guy is rollin on up in his van, which is the 'bus system' on Rapness, and it's cute as hell as a system, but I ask him something stupid about the timetable, and he answers me in what I can only describe as a Nordic-flavored Scottish accent. It is actually really remarkable and I went on a weird deep dive of the Orkneys afterward because I had never heard anything like it but I digress. I DID NOT GET A FUCKING WORD. And so, because I panic, I do what I always do when I feel flustered or emotional or angry: I sound like Yosemite fucking Sam. So now he can't understand what I am asking him!

Good news is, we both give a little bit of a laugh, I go, 'Let's try that again" and I do manage to exchange that this van picks up outside of the Pierowall hotel in time for the ferry.

[yuurei20]

Hey, I love your blog!! Your posts are always so informative and interesting. I just saw the post you made about Epel's accent and it reminded me that I tried looking into this myself when I first got into the game because as someone from the southern US, I didn't dislike Vil but I did have… issues with his treatment of Epel's accent because of how it was localized lol. I read a lot at the time about how, as you said, he's not speaking politely and also doesn't always use honorifics when he should. But I also recall seeing someone say that apparently Epel speaks Tsugaru dialect in Japanese, which is so unique and genuinely difficult for other Japanese speakers to understand that they need subtitles and such for it on TV, so people who speak it often need to learn the standard dialect to use in professional settings and such? Is it true that this is part of the problem Vil has with it as well?

Oh oh thank ou so much, you are very much too kind ♡

Yes! I have been told that Epel's VA Tsuchiya Simba has said that Epel's dialect is a mix of several different dialects, but I have yet to be able to find the interview or video where he says this :<

What we know for a fact is that Epel says tange-me at one point, which is from the Tsugaru dialect!

As you have pointed out (and as Wikipedia explains), the Tsugaru dialect is famous for being so divergent from standard Japanese that even people from the same area can have trouble understanding it.

And I had the same thought that you did! :> It is possible that part of Vil's problem is that Epel speaking in his dialect at NRC is the equivalent to speaking in a secret language and just expecting everyone to understand him, which Vil might view as impolite.

Since that point has not been said outright in the game and I try my best to only post things that can be proven with a screenshot to this blog I removed it from my earlier post on Epel's dialect, but it seems possible! :> I am so glad I am not the only one who had the thought!

[squelchbug]

wtf verified my email finally after 2 yeaurs turns out i been missing out on a lot of Interaction . any ways . CND posting at 5 am here’s my guy his name is Cacophony

no way in hell i can concisely summarize all his shit rn … unless

the basics : he’s a Yuanti Tiefling Monk, 7ft tall& 32yrs old rn. he was raised in Partirisvarati and as a child amidst a war he got tossed into a prison where he then had his hands cut off &eyes gouged out by brutes as punishment for getting caught attempting to steal a handful of seeds for his family’s farm . but don’t worry. he got better

hes blind , uses Tremorsense . knows Common & Bolidian (Partirisvarati native language. +because it’s funny, as this dialect is translated into Common, it gives him a cockney british accent). got acid blood & is venomous, but he’s too polite to use it for evil, until he isn’t . he is a goofy goober(walking murderweapon) but alas, is a creature of joy and whimsy at heart . he suffers w PunchDrunk syndrome& frequent tremors/seizures . wizardry antics grew his hands back and gave him an extra arm, thanks Dee . (hi Simon)

he spent ages 10-20in prison, 20-23on parole+ after escaping parole he met Krishika, Krissie for short, a Githyanki halfOwlin Warlock. bsf4lyfe. actualy, wrong, these two are insane . imagine if you would a psychological torment comparable to that of a paranoid mother hellbent on building a dynamic so codependent slash parasitic BOTH sides end up Killing & Dying for eachother(multiple times) each against yet fully within their own wills (i love contradictory!). Krissie… has issues and problems. her soul had been permanently shattered into three components, and due to some species complications , left her In-Between multiple states of being at once . Blah blah blah… autism to save for another day..All she wants is some god damn control in her life . enter sir scapegoat Cacophony, who’s only aspiration since gaining real freedom for the First Time In His Life , is to provide an unconditional support to any new friend he makes !! 😁😬.. Cacophony lets & encourages Krissie to use him as a vessel for possession, as at the beginning it’d benefited both of them, but overtime, Krissies state had worsened and too late she’d realized she had been taking advantage of Cacophony. Krissie is fueled fully on adrenaline and fear, and the moment she knew she done fucked up was a pivotal point for them both- a point of absolutely No return, Krissie decided Cacophony would be much safer in her grasp and at her command. She strikes a deal with a man named Soren Trouvaille to soulbind herself to Cacophony, turning them both functionally immortal , unless one kills the other half . glances around

….as a result of multiple decades worth of various forms of mental abuse Cacophonys biggest flaw remains to be how forgiving he is 🫶 or yk, better put, how willingly he will allow second chances to those he considers worth it. he’s done an awful lot of healing these last four years. i blame his lovely husband (Soren, Tabaxi/Orc Artificer/Cleric) and their weird daughter (Siobhan, Jackal Artificer)

more of them soon, i love them very much . love heart xoxo . their family is so perfect icant wait to talk abt them . yes i mentioned a Soren Trouvaille earlier and yes this is him ooo drama

what more to share on Cacophony… i don’t know how to go in depth with personality and morals even tho i desperately want to lmfao . Cacophony is such a hypocrite, and he genuinely doesn’t mean to be . he will formulate an opinion on you based off of the Whys and How’s of the situation rather than the What. absolutely describe him as understanding as he tends to dig to the root of the cause for Anything and fully hear you out,but as a professional hypocrite he Will abandon this method of he doesn’t like you 💀. he’s an extreme optimist, or as i like to call it, Delusional ! people like to accuse him for putting up a front, but i swear he’s just insane . he would be dead in the fucking gutters if he wasn’t , truly . aint he a sweetheart , though . ok i’d love to add more . but i am dying. gootbye

[multifandomimagin3s]

Scottish! Reader - 141, Los Vaqueros + Konig

Requested by @nylas-teashop

AN: Saw this request and got really excited, I have quite a broad accent myself so, self-insert? Mayhaps.

Johnny "Soap" MacTavish

First and foremost - a massive smile breaks out on this guy's face when he finds out that you're Scottish, too.

Like genuinely, the first time he hears you speak, he's like >:D

Like his brain genuinely goes "aw yessss"

Mans probably gets a bit frustrated when he has to repeat what he says multiple times for other people - at least now that you're here he won't have to.

Since Neil Ellice is from the North of Scotland, I reckon Soap would be from around that area - although his accent does kind of give me Edinburgh vibes.

So if your accent is much broader and thicker than his, he's delighted and just loves listening to you talk.

Is also interested in hearing your local slang - since dialects vary in Scotland depending on where you're from, he's curious to hear if yours' is that much different to his own.

Definitely speaks Broad Scots more with you, and takes great delight when other people haven’t got a clue what you’re saying to each other.

It’s like a secret language for you two.

He definitely takes delight in Ghost's annoyed reaction when you're both talking, whether it be in person or over comms.

"Speak English, you two."

Soap probably asked you the number one question that every Scottish person gets asked at least once in their life -- "Do you support Rangers or Celtic?"

Probably wouldn't be arsed if you supported a different team from him, or didn't support any at all - but he'll still playfully wind you up about it on the regular.

If you happened to speak Gaelic, he'd try and get you to teach him a bit.

I can see him walking up with a big Saltire flag whenever there’s a match on between Scotland and England / anywhere else - encouraging you to take one corner and he takes the other, parading about the base.

Price has given you both in trouble for it more than a few times but after a while he kind of just gave up and elects to ignore it.

He did give Johnny a gutting out for blasting 'Flower of Scotland' at the early hours of the morning though.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

"Fuckin' 'ell, there's two of 'em."

Mans gets so annoyed when you and Johnny speak Scots - he doesn't know what any of the words you guys are using mean, so he's just >:(

“Speak English, for fuck sake…”

Secretly though, he actually likes your accent.

He'll never admit it though.

He's been around Johnny for long enough to get the gist of what he's saying, even though he pretends he doesn’t know what you’re saying just to wind you up.

Sometimes though, he genuinely has no idea what you're saying.

Like that time when the Team were setting up a make-shift base camp in an abandoned building that had definitely seen better days:

Y/N: Fuckin' hell, it's a bit foostie* in here.

Ghost: ...

Generally in those moments would either wait for either you or Soap to 'translate' or would just ignore it.

If you have a dry sense of humour, he’ll chuckle lightly under his mask - he’d never admit to it though.

[About Graves] Y/N: That cunt is wired to a Mars bar.*

Soap: *wheezing*

Ghost: *holding back a chuckle* Focus on the mission, (Y/L/N).

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick

I think he’d get the gist of what you’re saying but only if you’re speaking slowly.

He’s been hanging around with Soap long enough to pick up what most of the slang he says means, but when you and Soap get together and speak more broadly, he doesn’t always 100% know what you’re talking about.

Would probably wind you up a lot once he gets comfortable with you - and definitely imitates your accent a lot.

He’d get used to your accent after a while and would also act as a translator if Soap isn’t there to do so.

Captain John Price

Honestly he probably would understand the majority of what you were saying - he’s been around a lot of different people during his time in the military so he gets the gist.

Sometimes though, he genuinely hasn’t the foggiest.

(Y/N): It’s awfa dreich the day, isn’t it, Sir?

Price: … it’s what??

Queue his confused expression when he finds out you were talking about the weather…

I think he’d learn quickly though - wouldn’t try and use the slang or anything, he knows he would probably butcher it.

Soap would have to translate sometimes for him, especially over comms - it would be like this part from Hot Fuzz

Generally would elect to ignore most of you and Soap's antics - watching you two bounce off each other like ping-pong balls all day would give him a migraine, so unless you break anything or make arses of yourselves, he'll let you off with it.

Tried Scottish Tablet for the first time after you made it - and had to lecture Soap who tried to eat the boiling sugary mixture out of the pot with a spoon...

Also was pleasantly surprised when you brought him some Scottish Whisky that he'd mentioned that he wanted to try.

Congratulations, you're now his favourite.

Alejandro Vargas

Oh, he loves it - has no clue what you're saying half the time but he's just happy listening to you and Soap talking away to each other.

I can see him imitating you a lot - half of the time it's to wind you up, but he genuinely thinks some Scots words are hilarious and loves to throw them into a sentence.

Even if the way he's using them sometimes just doesn't sound quite right.

Definitely gets confused when slang gets introduced into the mix.

Alejandro: So 'how' means 'why'? And 'ken' means you know something? Mi Amor, this is confusing...

If you have a strong personality and or a temper - he's smitten.

I think he likes fire in a partner *cough cough Valeria cough* so if you and Soap are tearing up the battlefield practically roaring through comms, he's definitely going to be asking you out once the mission's over.

Rudy Parra

Like Alejandro, he has no clue what you're saying more than half the time.

He's too polite to tell you outright though, so I can see him just doing the little awkward smile.

He'd learn quickly though, so while it might take him a bit to fully understand, he'll get the gist.

Konig

Poor guy has no clue what's going on.

He understands what Soap's saying about 70% of the time, and that's just from being around him long enough to pick up on his dialect.

But to hear a new accent with new slang on top of it, he's back to square one again.

If you're Glaswegian or from areas of Scotland where people tend to speak quite fast, he's just going to blink at you in confusion when you speak, trying to figure out what you said.

You'd probably have to teach him a fair bit of local slang and some Scots otherwise he'd literally never know what you were on about.

Learns quickly though.

Added a wee glossary for the Scots / slang used above ~

Foostie* - Decayed, dusty. Wired to a Mars bar* - I don’t know if this is said in other areas but where I’m from it basically means that someone is either an idiot or is insane, like they’re wired to a Mars bar (chocolate bar) instead of a battery. TLDR; They’re a headcase.

[kidflashimpulse]

Hi! So, as someone who loves the relationship between Bart and Edu, and Bart in general, I wanna ask; do you have any headcanons regarding Bart’s Spanish level? Like, does he only know a couple of words? Does he know enough to hold an easy conversation, even if slowly and with a strong accent? Does he unabashedly flirt in Spanish with Edu and call him “mi sol” (my sun) right in front of Dr. Dorado!? Like, I have so many ideas. Please and thank you

yes !! I actually do thank you for asking <33

Personally I feel like Bart would broadly be fluent in terms of understanding Spanish. Lesser so in speaking it because of lack of practice rather than lack of trying. It’s not intentional it’s just that I believe it’s what makes sense for the way he probably learned it i.e largely from exposure of his surrounding of what he hears from both Ed (and Jaimes especially in the early years) home surrounding and consuming spanish speaking media as well. He’s probably incredibly bored in spanish class (which HC yes he takes) which whilst it helps him improve his understanding of the syntax of the language, probably doesn’t do much in terms of his capabilities like vocabulary where he benefitted mainly from exposure (one of the best ways to learn a language). He hasn’t had much reason to consistently practice it to the point of being fluent verbally, because the spanish speakers mostly speak english most of the time he’s there.

i think he definitely knows enough to hold a simple conversation, and he tries his best with pronunciation (unless he’s purposefully trying to be annoying) and of course as with all things, his speed and perception of time probably helps him linguistically too.

and of course he’d like to impress edu so yes to the sweet names and all.

in terms of flirting, lmfao honestly i feel like any “public” flirting bart does with ed is more with humorous intentions and any genuinely bold flirting he does is more private between them. He’d be shy to do that publicly. I feel like Ed is more capable for bold flirting publicly (he can get embarrassed too ofc but it doesn’t stop him 😂). Honestly probably overanalysing things lol but with how Ed is in the show, generally very outspoken and bold, frequently talks to masses of people in the MHYC, very social etc, i just feel like he would be more bold that way too. Bart is bold, social and outspoken as well but he’s generally sneakier from what weve seen so that just makes me feel like he’s more inclined to be a little shyer with some things. Pet names i don’t consider too bold though so I’m sure Bart could sweetly refers to Edu as his Sun (so sweet omg) infront of his dad who probably finds it cute 😭.

i imagine though because of the differences in dialects Bart is probably exposed to there’s room for confusion too.

ALSO this post is the only other alternative answer /j

i’d be very interested to hear ur thoughts too! thank u for ur ask <33

[makethatelevenrings]

Do you have any list of endearments that are commonly used by brits? Cause I’m no British so sometimes I just assume those are common for them.

Not an attack I’m genuinely curious, I saw some who got too offended over something so small. It’s not cool.

Languages and dialects are a side quest interest of mine so haha I’d actually love to answer this. I’m not British either. I’m American. But Americans have dialectical endearments that are common in certain regions. If someone from the PNW or New England called me “sweetheart” or “darling” outside of romantic context, I’d be swinging. But if a Southern woman called me that? I’d beam.

Brits commonly use “love, hun, sweetheart, dearie” are used in platonic instances (like a waitress asking “what do you want, hun?” but sweetheart, love, or baby could be used in a romantic sense as well. pet is common for north England, but I just think Simon would have too much beef with the idea of “a pet” to comfortably use that word.

Scouse is different from Mancunian which is different from Brummie, Welsh, Cockney, Scots, Geordie, Yorkshire, Kentish, etc. etc.

Here’s the thing I want to expand on and (this is pretentious and I know but I think paid money for this degree lmao) I’m coming at this through the critical lens of less a fanfiction writer and more of a English literature focus:

1. Try and make endearment usage feel natural to the character. “Love” makes a lot more sense than “lovie” for Simon Riley. “Pet” makes more sense for Jamie Tartt. They’re both Mancunian, both same slang, but you have to consider their personalities. Simon doesn’t feel like he’d use endearments that much tbh. He’s more likely to slip up and call you soldier or cadet.

2. Cliches are okay (there’s a reason why they’re so commonly used) but there’s also a reason why people say to refrain from them. If every single fic in the tag uses the same exact endearment…it gets old. Give your story a more authentic and natural feel by building a lore behind a nickname. Literally act out dialogues to yourself to see if it feels normal.

3. Research! As someone who edits essays and stories, it is so obvious when you don’t fact check or you make generalizations when the resources are easily available to learn this info. I’m not saying you have to become an expert on a topic or a place, but doing research for writing strengthens the material and makes it more believable. It adds richness to the detail while simultaneously opening up your horizons within the world. I love dropping little fun facts and tidbits on people that I’ve acquired through the years.

4. Less trying to write out accents, more trying to use slang or patterns of speech. I’ve opened fics where the author tries to model accents in the speech and left it virtually unreadable. “Wot” has me DYING because it just…it’s unnecessary. Listen to videos or shows with people using the accent you want to emulate and try to model off their pattern of speech.

To end, here’s some fun Mancunian slang words I’ve found that everyone should look up!

Bobbins, buzzing, Chufty badge, dead/well, get done, leg it, let on, sorted, swear down, give your head a wobble, mingin’, snide.

OH, to add, shows with a good cast with accents that are more than just “British”: Peaky Blinders, Call the Midwife, Bake Off, QI, and really just look up accents on YouTube so you can hear the difference in cadence, slang, etc.

[nickfoo]

Part 1 of a 2 part character thoughts dump I’ve been letting my brain run with while I wait for the train this past week. Separated for two different characters from two different anime/manga. Still both on my favorites shelf. This one is for Bege and Chiffon. Shortened for your dash convenience. 

First, Bege and Chiffon. These two I adore them, they are so gosh darn good. And they're canon! Oda says hes no good at romance and then there's these two! If you know what I am by now, I love pairings where the couples are opposites to the point they look like people who you'd never even think would get together when you stand them next to each other. Bege is a gruff, middle-aged, stone-cold, calculating mafia boss. Sanji described him as such almost word for word when he and Luffy went to meet him in the Whole Cake Arc. He doesn't have any fronts - what you see is what you get. He dresses to the nines, shines his shoes and enjoys finer classy material things. But he's got the look of a street thug smoking his cigar with his dead-eyes and constant scowl. In the Japanese anime of One Piece, if you listen to the way he talks, he speaks in the Kansai-dialect which is known for the 'Yazkua dialect.' Makes sense as he’s a mafia boss. As a friend who's studied the language far more than I has told me, its a basic: 'tough-guy accent.' It’s rough sounding, he rolls his 'R's and while he speaks well, he uses the rude slang terms almost all the time. Then you have Chiffon. A daughter to an empress, shes royalty. She inherited her mother's pink hair and size- she's big at 7ft tall! She dresses modestly, bows in her hair and attire. She is patient and kind-hearted but we see shes made of steel. She has to be! Shes big mom's daughter! Living in Big Mom's family is a survival test when Big Mom herself is a force of destruction prone to mood swings that can involve her taking the life of her own kids. Bege's crew fears and respects Chiffon and she has as much authority in his crew as Bege himself. ( Possibly more lol )

So that these two would get set up in an arranged marriage and then genuinely fall in love with each other?? And its so vital the effect Chiffon has had on someone like Bege. Before that 2 yr skip, Bege was shown to be a man who cared only for himself and his own violent amusement. He maimed his own crew members for questioning him and they were little more than pawns on his chess board to do with as he saw fit. Later, Jinbei tells us how much of a bag guy Bege really was. As a young man he cut the heads off animals for his own amusement to watch their bodies squirm and die. When he got older and started really working for the mob, he had the same idea to do it to rival bosses. So Bege worked his way up to being a boss himself, gained trust of other families and previous bosses he worked for and then for no other reason than 'it was fun to watch', he went after these other families. He killed the boss and only the boss. He never took their territory or titles, only money and goods and left. Then he'd sit back and watch these other mafia families eat each other from the inside out in power struggles to replace their boss. Bege made his empire and name out of betrayal and blood. He went out to sea because he was bored of his dominance in the underworld of the West Blue. So that a man like that would be humanized by a woman like Chiffon after 2 years?? After that 2 year skip when we meet Bege again, he's changed. He's a father and husband now. He now cares for and greatly values his crew, to the point he declared he'd refuse to stand by and do nothing rather than let his 'precious subordinates' die. He was able to level with the StrawHats ( even if it was at his wife's request ) and didn't stab them in the back ( his forte ) even when it would have improved his own crew's chances of survival in the thick of things. Chiffon managed to teach this sociopath basic empathy. Bege tries to do better for his wife! There's points where he shadows his previous nature like when he has a dark chuckle about killing Luffy right there instead while he's got him pinned rather than letting Luffy become a problem later, or when out of malicious intent, he mauls over dragging the Strawhats to their deaths down with him when his plan fails. But he doesn't! Don't get me wrong, even after the 2 year skip, Bege is far from a saint. He still kills for fun and revels in blood and violence. He was clearly having a good time being a sadist as he torments Sanji, Nami, Brook, Chopper and Ceasar in his castle. He’s still a bad guy. But as good mafia credo instates - he takes care of his own. He clearly cares for his crew now and adores his wife and child. There's also the way he and Chiffon have rubbed off on each other. Chiffon speaks with the fairly standard polite dialect, using 'watashi' to refer to herself. But when I showed a scene to my friend who, as I mentioned before, studies Japanese, the first thing he pointed out was: "I really like how she calls him 'Anta.' In Japanese, a wife will usually call their husband 'Anata.' 'Anta' is the much more impolite and personal way of doing so. This not only shows how close they are, but Chiffon possibly trying to imitate Bege's rough-gangster way of talking. And I want to absolutely fucking yell about how Oda hid this all in plain sight with Bege's devil fruit!! He's a castle-man! He is the walls of the fortress - what good is an empty castle when it has no one to defend? Bege was always meant to be a protector.

I relate them both to Vimes and Sybil from Discworld sometimes. Yes, I'm currently reading the Night Watch series of Discworld, so I can pick out the comparisons in my mind easily. A gruff, short, older man who smokes cigars, adores his wife and would do anything for her, a total wife guy, and is trying to do better by his wife by containing his violent urges? A large woman who is from royalty, kind hearted and noble, adores her husband, but tough as nails and clearly wears the pants in the relationship? I mean...c'maaan. It's there. (Granted Vimes being a copper is very different from Bege's piracy, but they were both in a gang at one time and grew up on the streets. )

[entropii]

🍊 🧡 🌸 💖 for my beloved Yuzu<3 (you can skip any if you haven't settled on them yet!)

Oh, these are such excellent picks for Yuzu. Some of these are definitely going to change the more I play, the more I delve into lore, meet other characters, etc., but here's what I've got so far!!

🍊 What is your OC’s favourite meal? Snack? Dessert? Drink? Any reasons behind this besides liking how it tastes? What is your OC’s most hated food? Stuff they can’t stand to eat or drink?

The most obvious answer to me is. Yuzu loves lemons and oranges. He has (I have) spent almost an entire session just gathering oranges and lemons in La Noscea and didn't even use them for recipes. Just got them to get them and to snack on. His inventory is full of them.

The other answer is I'm not sure yet! I haven't thought a lot about the food in game yet. In general I think he likes snacking on fresh fruits, will eat berries picked straight from the wild. But I think most of his favorite foods (full meals, snacks, desserts, and drinks alike) are things he'd find at home, wherever home ends up being.

He doesn't have a lot of dislikes, he'll eat almost anything, but he does tend to avoid dishes that are all mushy in texture and drinks with like. Too Much Pulp or Surprise Chunks in them. He can still eat them, but it is not his favorite.

🧡 Who is your OC’s favourite person? Why is this person the top of their list and have they actually met them (an idol or rolemodel or celeb can be someone’s favourite after all!).

In terms of characters he's met in game so far, I don't think he'd classify any of them as his "favorite", but I do think he likes E-Sumi-Yan from the Conjurer's Guild, and Laxio from Little Solace. He was fully tricked into thinking that Laxio placed a curse of turn-you-into-moss on him, thought it was very funny afterwards, genuinely praised Laxio for pulling one over on him.

Other than NPCs, I’ve been imagining he has a childhood friend from the Xaela Au Ra. No name yet, uses she/her and he/him for herself, but like Yuzu does not care what pronouns other people refer to her with.

So far I've been imagining that Yuzu is from a group of Raen who settled in a more isolated, mountainous region of Othard generations ago, and only more recently (potentially during Yuzu's later childhood/early adolescence) assimilated into Doma and Hingashi culture (Yuzu has feelings about this, I am thinking about this). Yuzu would've met her before then, where she might have known him by another name, saw her every once in a while when she was in the area.

I think one year, when she was around, Yuzu got injured somehow, or just fell ill. Severe fever and weakness? Somehow partially cracked his horns off and had screwed up proprioception+spatial awareness for a while?? During that time, she helped him out a lot, brought him fresh fruits or fun snacks for him to eat. When he was well enough, he followed her around like a puppy until she left again and stuck to her like glue whenever she returned.

And we'll see who else he meets!

🌸 What does your OC’s voice sound like? Their laugh? Are they good at singing? Do they have an accent?

In terms of the character creator, I picked voice 5 for Yuzu, thought it had the best chuckle emote for him :^). It's got that same warmth and brightness to it, but I do think his voice is a bit deeper, a little more in the chest, a little more rumbling. If I'm understanding correctly that Au Ra horns are picking up vibrations in the air, I think it's fun if Yuzu's voice is that much more tangible to other Au Ra. Sort of a pleasant hum in the horns and skull.

His laugh has a similar warmth. Big, whole-body laughter from the chest. He can sing on key, nice to listen to, but Yuzu doesn't think he's particularly good. In terms of accent, I'm not sure of all the languages present in game, how particular languages might have spread throughout the various regions, etc., but if he has an accent, it's probably one based from a dialect spoken in Othard?

💖 Has your OC ever been in love, be it romantic or platonic or otherwise? Who with and did they ever express their feelings or keep it private? How long did these feelings persist / do they still feel this way?

Yuzu has definitely been in love and I don't know if he knows what kind of love, but it was almost certainly the childhood friend mentioned previously in 🧡. I don't think Yuzu ever felt the need to keep this private from her. Told her on one of the rare reunions they had after he moved away, over a shared meal and drink under the late afternoon sun. Still loves her some kinda way, but has probably been in love with another person or two since.

[irisbaggins]

So, I'm watching the new People Make Games documentary, and listening to the Estonian interviewees...it sounds so Nordic. Which, of course, made me look up Estonia and what language they speak, and what branch Estonian belonged to...and of course it was Finnish.

Because it belongs to the Finno-Ugric branch! And Sami belongs to that branch! That's why the speech pattern is so similar! Especially as a lot of more Northern Norwegians have the same pattern, as those regions have adapted to it! I just find it so fascinating, that even despite the gap in regions and area, we can still be so similar.

I just love language so much. Also, I genuinely love this dialect and accent.

[bbybloop]

An interview with Y/n Y/l/n:

The ‘Sparks’ series.

Word Count: 1.4k

Female reader

I did something like this on another account and this will be the start of a series. I just thought I’d give a glimpse of Y/n before we start, but I will be referring to her as ‘Cherry’-it’ll make sense later why.

DISCLAIMER: MENTIONS OF SEX, EATING DISORDERS

Embarrassing as it is to reveal, but I had waited most of my career for a moment like this. A moment to finally meet the Y/n Y/l/n face to face, after years of hearing gossip, rumours and tales about the woman that ruled our TV screens and walked her way through some of the biggest ‘it’ boy’s hearts.

From references in Harry Styles songs and debuts on Timothée Chalamet’s Instagram, this woman at the mere age of 18 seems to have done it all, now becoming one of the youngest actresses in Hollywood to have won two Academy Awards and be nominated for four.

A living legend, so you can imagine my awe as I sat before her on her green velvet couch that sat amongst the outskirts of the Hollywood Hills. She seems to have a healthy glow about her, despite spending the past year filming ‘LadyBird’ and ‘To the Bone’.

“I feel great, I think I’ve always thrived off of working more so than my personal life, which sounds really sad when I say it out loud but it’s the truth. I just fucking love acting!” She laughs, her smile instantly brings a radiance to the room that makes everything seem brighter. I finally start to realise what it is that draws everyone into her so much, a natural charm and charisma she seems to ooze through the screen and through the eyes of any observer.

Her skin is tan, I ask if she’s been on holiday, surely the Californian sun couldn’t create such an effect.

“No, no I actually just started filming for Killing Eve, but I’ve kind of been all over the place from Italy to Russia.” She smiled brightly and we converse about her excitement for the show. “It’s crazy actually, I haven’t ever had to learn so many languages at once and I’ve been working with so many different dialect coaches to try and improve my accents but it’s literally mad. One second I have to speak Italian and the next I’m Russian. But that’s all I can say about it really, until it’s released.”

We briefly mention her newfound skills and I ask her to teach me a few phrases varying from Russian to Italian, the latter she seems to have mastered quickly.

“I can’t take credit for my Italian, I had a friend help me after he’d been working on something. So that was easy to pick, when you have such a good teacher you’re more engaged.” I question if it’s anyone we know, perhaps a curly haired brunette French man? “Yeah it was Timothée, he’s very sweet and very cool.”

I ask of how she knows him, where they met and how they became such an easy match. She reacts quickly, her hand instinctively coming to twiddle with her index finger that adorns a pretty emerald ring. “I met him on the set of ‘LadyBird’ actually, the two of us met in auditioning, although there wasn’t much point in him auditioning because he was literally made for that role. It’s funny really because he’s not anything like his character, he’s really sweet and kind and funny. He has this natural comedic timing and he’s so pure. That’s how I would describe him…pure.” She doesn’t elaborate further but I can’t help but pry a little more. “I just think in this world, this world of Hollywood and fame, you have to have real friends and real people that can tell you when you’ve fucked up or you’re not being real and Tim, he’s so real and genuine and he loves so wholly. He stays grounded and himself and he allows everyone within his presence to do the exact same. When I needed help with anything but mainly with my Italian, he jumped at the chance, even though he’s so busy.”

We converse about work schedules and upcoming projects for a while, moving on to challenges. What is the hardest part of being a method actor? Was it the working schedule? The harsh conditions of stunt work?

“I would say so far, the hardest thing for me was the challenges I faced whilst filming ‘To the Bone’. I had faced a few of the topics discussed within the movie myself, from eating disorders to the depressive episodes and I think trying to get back into that mentality without actually get back into that mentality was hard. I worked with strict dieticians for months until I lost around 23 pounds for this role, which was a lot. It was all done in very professional environments and strategies but it was difficult, especially trying to highlight such an important message and the difficulty of not glamorising it. Yeah, that was hard.”

The talk continues before a lightness enters the room after such heavy topics, the advocate for mental health and well-being tries lightening the situation by some quick anecdotes of her time on screen.

“Whilst filming ‘LadyBird’ this year, I had to do a very intimate scene with Timmy and it was really weird because I had never filmed an intimate scene like the ones in the movie. This kind of scene was very aggressive, awkward teenager sex and we had a steamy make out sesh, but Timmy was all in and I don’t think I was fully aware of the situation until it happened and kind of caught me off guard and so he kissed me and I ended up bashing my head off of the wall but we carried on and then to make it worse I tripped over the carpet and ended up with Timmy literally on top of me. It was fine though, it was better for the scene, in fact I think it’s still in the film so, look out for that.” She giggled.

“I think Tim apologised about six times to me afterwards, as well as the floor.”

Her ability to speak so highly of people makes me wonder, is there anyone in Hollywood this girl wouldn’t admire? Was there anyone she didn’t like or speak badly of? Had anyone hurt her?

“Not really. I don’t really dislike anyone, and that’s the Gods honest truth. I’ve had so many interactions with so many people, so many different kinds of people and they’ve all been the best. I’ve learnt so much from everyone I’ve encountered, even exes. When I love someone, I love them with my entire being and I put so much into people that even if they hurt me in the worst way possible, it truly wouldn’t matter because a piece of me would lie with them still. Forever.”

She truly was the Sweet Creature mentioned by Mr.Styles himself, wasn’t she?

Published: Time Magazine, interview by Sam Lansky. 2016

[cutelanguagestuff]

My Favourite Youtube Channels for Studying Languages 🌷

 - innerFrench -

innerFrench is a channel ran by Hugo Cotton, a French teacher situated in Poland. Hugo is a native French speaker and speaks only in this language on his channel - you will never hear a word of English! Even when he explains the meanings of more obscure French words, he still uses French to both convey the word’s meaning, and enable his viewers to continue practicing their comprehension skills. The French Hugo uses is slow, clear and easy to understand for intermediate speakers. Begginners will also find this channel useful as a way to immerse themselves in the language. Hugo focuses on explaining different aspects of French culture in his videos, with a foreign target audience in mind. Since he is both a French teacher, and has had to learn Polish, it’s fair to say that Hugo understands the struggles of learning a foreign language and so is able to help his viewers improve their French skills in a suitable way. This is by far my favourite channel for learning French and I truly believe it has helped me a lot over the years!

- The Purple Palace -

The Purple Palace is a channel ran by Shayna Klee, an artist from the US who moved to Paris for art school. She makes videos in both English and French, often combining the two. When she speaks in French, she always includes English subtitles so that beginners don’t feel lost. Most of Shayna’s videos are vlogs in which she talks about art (which is incredible btw), fashion, French lifestyle / culture and her own personal life. She is quite open about her personal life which definitely makes her viewers feel more close to her as a person. What makes Shayna’s channel so unique is her artwork. I have never seen anything like it before! Seeing her creations makes learning French so much more enjoyable. If you love art or French culture you must explore this channel!

- Easy German -

This is my favourite channel to use for learning German. The hosts of Easy German just seem so sweet and every video puts me in such a positive mood. The Easy Languages network make videos on a range of languages (German, Spanish, French, Italian, Catalan, Polish, Greek, English, Russian, Turkish and many more) and the main premise of their videos is to “learn from the streets”. Most of their videos consist of street interviews with native speakers on various topics. This, of course, is a great way of learning because you get to hear conversational phrases, different accents and see different parts of the world. What makes Easy German so special is definetely the hosts. The channel has several hosts but the two main ones seem to be Cari and Janusz who just seem so lovely. Idk why but it seems like everyone they interview is always so friendly and sweet. It definetly breaks the stereotype that Germans are cold and distant. Easy German also make videos about grammar, vocab and any other things about German which they feel are important to point out. Another thing about this channel is that they don’t just focus on Germany - they also have videos situated in Austria and videos that talk about Swiss German and Austrian German.

- Spanish After Hours -

This channel reminds me of innerFrench as the host (Laura) speaks only in Spanish. Like Hugo from innerFrench, Laura uses a clear, slow register that makes it very easy for intermediate speakers to comprehend. Laura is a native Spanish speaker from Spain and so, if you are looking to speak Castilian Spanish, her accent is perfect to take inspiration from. Her videos are usually shorter than those at innerFrench which might help viewers who find it hard to concentrate for long periods of time. Laura’s videos are very diverse. In some she reads Spanish children’s stories, in others she does ASMR and sometimes she focuses on vocabulary. Nevertheless, her videos are always enjoyable and have definetly helped me with my Spanish listening skills recently.

- Parpalhon Blau -

This channel focuses on the Occitan language which is definetly a language which has very few learning resources. Occitan is a minority language, referring to several dialects spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Northern Spain and Western Italy. It is a romance language which has very close ties to Catalan. On Parpalhon Blau (which means blue butterfly), Gabrièu teaches his viewers how to pronounce Occitan words and helps them to improve their listening skills, catering for both beginners and intermediate learners. Before finding this channel, I had never even heard of Occitan but after hearing how beautiful it sounds, I just had to subscribe. Often with smaller languages like Occitan, the learning resources are very limited and the ones that do exist aren’t really the best quality. Parpalhon Blau however, is a great channel and the perfect introduction to the language.

- Langfocus -

On Langfocus, Paul makes videos surrounding an incredible range of languages. He has videos on almost every language I can think of! the chances are, if you are studying a language, Paul will have made a video about it. I genuinely cannot understand how one person can know so much about so many languages. Most of his videos focus on individual languages or dialects, however, he also has some very interesting ones in where he compares two languages together, highlighting the differences and similarities between them, whilst also explaining the reasons behind this. In each video, Paul aims to give a good overview of the language, discussing it’s origins, pronounciation, alphabet and grammar. Sometimes these videos can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t know anything at all about the language so I mostly use his videos to learn more about languages I am already studying or as an introduction to a language I want to study in the future. 

- JuLingo -

This channel is quite similar to Langfocus in the way that Julie mostly focuses on a different language per video, offering a general overview of it. Julie tends to focus on smaller languages, like Ainu and Basque that people may not know a lot about rather than more popular languages like Spanish and French. Julie’s channel is a great way of exploring new languages that you may have never thought to learn before. Like Paul from Langfocus, she doesn’t just talk about grammar and sentence structure, she also includes information on the language’s origins, which I personally find fascinating. 

- Ecolinguist -

On Ecolinguist, Norbert challenges native speakers of different languages to try and understand a language foreign to them. Through these experiments, he reveals how similar and how different languages are to one another. Usually, he chooses speakers of the same language family as the language which they are listening to and, being a viewer, you are invited to test yourself too. As a native English speaker, I particularly enjoyed discovering how much Old English I could decipher but also since I speak intermediate French and Spanish, I was able to test myself against Latin, Italian, Romanian and Lombard too. Since Norbert is Polish, he also makes videos focused on learning Polish, mostly regarding speaking and listening. Another series Norbet has is his guess the language challenge, in which a guest is presented with audios of language from anywhere in the world and has to guess it. Although I am very bad at these theyre always fun to watch. Its incredible how skilled his guests are!

[princessdemo]

welcome to liverpool - trent alexander arnold !

hiiii <33333 TRENT DEBUT! hope you enjoy this, as much as my love for this man👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 lots of love, demo <3

From a little lad, Trent was always amazed by the city he lived in. Whether it was the football, the people or the fact it was the home town to the Beatles, he was always in a state of admiration of the place. Declaring he would never leave. Trent had been desperate to show you round his native land, for months he had been persuading and convincing you, as often as possible. Being from London, you sometimes feel a sense of loss being in the North. To your surprise, you didn't expect there to be such a divide from the north and south. The language barrier seemed to confuse you the most, despite Trent using the scouse Dialect daily. Many times, you found yourself questioning your other half on what this or that meant, invoking much frustration for yourself. So, you decided to give into your boyfriends wishes, and spend the day exploring the city of Liverpool, in the hope you would learn all one needs.

“What's on the list for today, Trentski?” You glance over to Trent who was buckling his seatbelt. After being granted with the opportunity for him to help you learn his routes, the man hadn’t stop researching and finding all the things a newcomer, would need to be aware of in Liverpool. Momentarily, it made you think to oneself, how lucky and special you are to be with Trent. Everyday you find yourself falling more and more in love with the scouser who never gives a shit about his hair, fancies Robbo more than you and slips the word “shocking” more than you can count. Though, you couldn’t be more thankful, and appreciative of the love that brought you together.

Trent begins the journey to the first location, he's mapped out the day for you both, deciding to adventure out and show his two favourite places to begin. Of course, there's much more to offer in Liverpool, though this is just the baseline of this experience.

“So, was thinking, I could show you round this park, I used to play at when I was younger? Then, I've got a little surprise.” He glances over to you, a smile peering onto his face from his enthusiasm. 

“Sounds good to me,” Focusing your sight on the road ahead, attempting to memorize the routes Trent drove down. “Though, this trip better help me with my knowledge of Liverpool, and your stupid little accent-” 

“Of course, Sound! boss.” He smirks, winding you up. You roll your eyes at his remarks, letting out a huff. “English? Please.”

Once arrival at your first destination, Trent leads you out the car. The sight in front of you claims, a large sized playing field, filled with numerous Scousers spending their day out in the open. To your left, a small deficient park swarmed with rusty looking swings, and a rather abandoned slide. To the right of you, a few football goals stand, accompanied by a group of youthful lads. 

“So, this is Queens Drive park.” Trent declares, taking a small stride along the park. “Used to come here with me brothers and mates, play footie.” He points over to the goals, defining where he practised ones skills. 

You both spend a small amount of time taking in the scenery, many emotions and nostalgic memories flooding back to Trent. He stops you both in front of some trees, pointing over into the distance. “If you look over here babe, you can see a small little brown house. Can you see?” As though Trent was attempting to show you his childhood home, you couldn't help but find yourself staring at him, more willingly than his point. His face seemed to shown a glow from being surrounded with what he called his home. His lips curled up in a vast fashion, genuine emotion plastered on his face. 

The soft gaze you had on your boyfriend, soon appeared back in the direction of his finger, circling in the direction of his house. “Mhm, little brown house,” you declare.

“That was me childhood house, loved it when I was younger, could come here everyday,” He exclaims, tugging his hand in yours. 

“Bet your mum loved that,” You smirk, eyes interlocking. “Didn’t have to put up with you all day.” Both of you laughing at your response.

“Me mum used to stand on a step, and whistle us when she wanted us home or it was dinner,” You smile at his words, often wondering if that phase could be implemented in the future, with your own children. As you both leisurely roam the park, Trent conveys some of the remembrances he has from this spot, expressing how him and his brothers used to play ��rock, paper, scissors’ over who would have to collect the stray football one of them had kicked over the neighbours fence. Although as often as not, the responsibility fell onto Trent, given he was the youngest, and tended to mistake some of the most skilled legendary footballers as his self, and tried to recreate some of the hardest tricks of the trade. 

“So, is this where the famous free kick came from?” You nudge the scouser in the direction of the football pitches, a nod shaking from the man beside you.

“Yeah!” He proclaims, “Spent many hard days and hours working on it, sweet.”

A playful hum passing your lips, “Could do with working on your composure.” you gasp. A laugh passing your lips.

“Y/N!”

Trent drove you both to his second destination of the afternoon, a secret he named to you. When he pulled up, you both jumped out the car, with Trent tugging you along the path. 

In any place you and Trent went, his hand would always be clasped in yours. From the day you both met, his slightly larger palm embraced your smaller one, as a courtesy of protectiveness. From then, the habit struck by you both, and just fell into place. No words had to be exchanged.

“You okay?” Trent questions, placing a soft kiss to your temple. When he pulled away, a gathering of wind swept past you both, causing Trent to worry. “Cold?” 

“I’m fine, all good.” You huff, the coldness aching on your skin, small goose bumps beginning to show. 

“Want me Jacket?” And before you can answer, he’s already sliding it over your shoulders, bending down like a parent doing up their child’s coat fashion to up-do the zip. “Need to get use to this sweet, The north is much colder than the south.” 

“Sound,” He chuckles at your response, seeing you had picked up on a small part of the Scouse Dialect. There was much more Trent needed to teach you.

“Right, the Surprise is just round the corner. Close your eyes for me?” Trent pleads, pulling his hand over your eyes, to ensure they were covered. Once you arrived, he gave you a small countdown of 3 seconds, before removing his hand and beckoning you to open your eyes. 

The view in front of you, simply made your jaw drop. From taking in the scenery, your bottom lip juts out in a state of awe manner. The man beside you, forever makes you the proudest person ever. You do hope in future years, he will take on the role of leading out the Liverpool team, in place of Hendo. And you hope you two, will have a beautiful set of children to follow in the steps of their Father. Nothing gives you the most fluttery belly from being with him, but seeing him having all his hard work paid off through clear victories and achievements, brung such joy.

“Wow,” Your jaw drops. Through your vision, displayed the Mural of Trent painted outside of Anfield. The words, “I’m just a normal lad from Liverpool, whose dream has just come true,” erupting a small smile to beam across your face.

“I’m so proud of you,” You start, turning your direction to press a kiss to his cheek. 

“Your the first girl I've had here, other than me mum.” 

You coo softy at his words, a slight heated blush rising onto your cheeks. “I’m very honoured, Trent.”

“Been waiting to show you this. Best attraction in Liverpool you can get, eh?” Your fixation on the detailing of the painting soon replaced back onto Trent’s face, an expression of happiness on both.

“Questionable, I mean, if your looking at the wall opposite yours, the answer is very clear.” You nod your head over into the direction of Jordan Henderson’s Mural, the painting of the player holding a trophy in the air. 

“Come on, you can’t say Hendo’s is better than mine?” Trent shakes his head in disbelief, an audacious smirk appearing on your face. Trent with an instant, picks you up and throws you over his shoulder. He tickles your sides, earning a heap of audible giggles to echo throughout the street. “You better take that back, Y/N.” 

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding, babe,” You justify your words, as he places you back down onto the pavement. Tenderly, your eyes both cast onto one another's. Pupils dilating in a signal of, ‘this is true love.” moment. Trent mindlessly tucks a fallen piece of hair behind your ear, a quick kiss to your nose, resulting in you turning up your nose in a lack of heat. 

Your thumb brushes over his, immensely soft cheek, rubbing back and forth. “You reckon we could get our own Alexander Arnold on a wall?” 

“I think we can make it happen,”

[lena-in-her-mind-palace]

You know, I don't think we talk enough about what it's like for a person of color to grow up in a community that's mostly white.

For this reason I shall be sharing my experience. Why? Because I have a lot to say and I need to get it off my chest :) So, uh feel free to read my rambles...

oh and if you relate to any part of this or want to share your own story, please tag me I'd love to hear about other people's experiences.

-------

I was born in India. The state where I'm from mostly spoke a language called Telugu. But I don't usually tell people that because I don't want to spend ten minutes helping them pronounce it correctly. Sure, I could just ignore it when they say it wrong but then that would feel like I'm disrespecting my own culture. So normally I just avoid saying it to begin with.

Because of this barely anyone knows how literate I am in my mother tongue. And honestly it's kind of sad that it's an accomplishment. there are so many people that I know that genuinely can't pronounce some of the simplest words and it's honestly painful. I can speak, read, and write in Telugu. But no one knows this because I don't tell them. Why would I when it's more effort to have to explain that "No, Indian is not a language. Hindu isn't one either that's a religion".

India has 22 official languages, many more tribal languages, and thousands of unique regional dialects. I can guess roughly what region of India someone is from with the accent they have in English.

And don't get me started on my name. I'm not doxxing myself obviously, but my name happens to sound very similar to a particular English word. And boy, do I know it. It's not like I'm told every single time I introduced myself to someone. As a kid I thought it was cool. But I'm 18 now and knowing that some people assume what my name means because it sounds like a different word is beyond infuriating. While again, I'm not revealing the actual definition, my name is pretty common in telugu and Tamil songs because it's meaning is really poetic. it's a beautiful name and I love it, and to know that 80% of the people I meet won't respect that because of silly ignorance is just so frustrating.

Friendships are weird too. Like 2% of my school was brown. and of that only like .1% of my school is from the same area of India as me. See that's significant, because the culture in different regions of India varies greatly so if I were to meet a Punjabi, the most we'd probably relate to is maybe a Bollywood movie we both like (yes this is anectdotal).

And that isn't to say I don't have Indian friends. I have desi friends but it sometimes feels like the only reason we're friends is because we have the same skin tone. We barely relate beyond that. And even then it's barely even that. So many people of color, for one reason or another lose touch with their culture. Somehow I'm in the group that hasn't fallen victim to this, but it's so hard. You never feel american enough, or Indian enough. (or whatever culture you're from).

I try super hard to stay connected to my culture and heritage. because it's such big part of who I am. Whether it's pairing jhumkis with a really cute sundress and a Lengha blouse with ripped jeans, or practicing reading and writing in Telugu so that I stay fluent and don't forget. And most importantly, I've dedicated a significant portion of my life to learning Indian classical dance. through that I've learnt so much about our history, customs, religion, mythos. I've been learning since I was 3 years old (and I'm doing my arangetram in September which is exciting!!)

Sometimes when I'm out and about and I see an Indian person, and bonus if overhear them speaking Telugu, I'll just start humming a popular song or pretend I got a call from my mom and talk really loudly in Telugu, and they always look at me and smile and there's this random sense of kinship with strangers.

But then I'll be with my friends, who while aren't all white, they are all much more.... American (?) than me? and I just won't bring up anything culture related.

It's like my identity is split in two. American me at school, and Indian me for family friends. And I'm sure a lot of bipoc can relate to this particular identity crisis lol. At times I feel like I fit into the stereotype too much and by doing so I'm perpetuating it. Ahead in school, teacher's pet, know it all, etc. But at the same time it feels like I don't fit the stereotype enough and that no one will take me seriously as an Indian because of. I have shit grades, horrible work ethic, didn't get into any fancy colleges and whatever.

I will say though the one positive is that I have, by some stroke of luck, never faced racism growing up. I've heard the horror stories but I have been so fortunate as to growing up in an mostly open-minded, welcoming, and friendly community. Although it is dominantly white, most people are respectful enough to say anything thats outright cruel or harmful.

There is a catch, however. While no one intends harm doesn't mean harm is done. I can't even fault people for it because I know it comes from a place of ignorance and genuine curiosity. 90% of people wouldn't say those things if they realized how rude or whatever it can come across.

A little example: When a friend of mine was in 8th grade this white kid leans over to her and asks "Are all Indian babies born with a dot on their forehead?" She wasn't even wearing a bindi that day! At the time it happened both of us were doubled over laughing with literal tears in our eyes. But looking back, that question really was incredibly ludicrous. But the boy genuinely thought it.

And of course almost every brown person has been asked "do you speak Indian, or Hindu." Which again, comes from a place of ignorance and frankly stupidity.

I thank every person in my life for how kind and welcoming they are. But for the love of god, think critically about what you're about to say before you say stuff like that, it would prevent a lot unintentional harm. If you leave this rant with anything, let it be that.

And if you're not sure, just ask if it's okay to say it. Be conscious of it. It's okay to make mistakes, but be open to be educated on what is or isn't okay. We're the experts. We're not going to get mad when we know you don't mean any harm.

The same goes for any minority group. LGBTQIA+ and its infinite sub-sects, bipoc, the various neurodivergent communities.

I did not talk about religion because I'm still figuring out my stance on that. But it's worth mentioning that I don't eat beef out of respect .

phew

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk :D

And if you relate to any part of this or want to share your own story, please tag me I'd really love to hear about other people's experiences.

[marryat92]

I want to write about Captain Marryat and his talent with foreign languages, because there was a time when I genuinely wondered if he was some kind of multilingual genius.

There is a trend of his characters learning to speak a second language conversationally in a matter of months (e.g. Willy Seymour learning French in The King's Own, and Jack Easy learning Spanish in Mr. Midshipman Easy). Marryat himself was known for confidently touring Europe, speaking multiple languages to the locals. His biographer Tom Pocock wrote, "he was a linguist, speaking French, Italian and Spanish", and he taught his daughters Italian (Captain Marryat: Seaman, Writer, and Adventurer).

Florence Marryat does not speak on the quality of her father's language lessons in his Life and Letters; but the anonymous friend of the Captain who published "Captain Marryat at Langham" in The Cornhill Magazine doesn't hold back:

There was hardly a modern language of which he had not some knowledge; grammatical knowledge, I mean. So far as speaking them went, although he would rattle off unhesitatingly French or German, or Italian, or whatever was called for at the moment, his thoroughly British tongue imbued them all with so much of the same accent, that it was difficult to know what the language was meant for: indeed, he used to tell a story of how an Italian, after listening to one of his long speeches in his purest Tuscan, apologized to him and said he did not understand English.

— "Captain Marryat at Langham," The Cornhill Magazine, August 1867 (full text on Google Books)

This really sounds like biggest self-own, but one of Marryat's better qualities was his ability to poke fun of himself. And there's the answer: Marryat wasn't exceptionally gifted at acquiring new languages, but he was supremely confident at using his limited skills. The complete opposite of most second language speakers, who feel ashamed for having a slight accent or lacking total mastery of their second language. To all of you language learners: may you have a fraction of Captain Marryat's self-confidence!

The reference to Marryat having a terrible accent in his non-native languages also fits with his writing style. He loved to spell out the accents of lower-class or foreign characters (the better to make fun of them), but other than his insider knowledge of a lower-class London accent he never seems to do a very convincing job. Whether the character is British, American, Caribbean, whatever, it's always Talk Like A Pirate Day and they're going to say "sar" instead of "sir." The sarvice, sarve her out, old-country sarpents. And a few words of Irish or West Indian dialect for localisation if he's being thorough.

Marryat could probably make himself understood in French since he spent so much time in France and francophone Belgium. Amusingly enough, an 1826 letter from Marryat in the collection of the New York Public Library is described as being written "in poor French."