#how do I tag something for non-English-speakers when I mostly only speak English

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

Non-English speaking Destiny fans, this is a general call for input: this season (Season of the Seraph), how is “warmind” being translated? I recall the translations for the Warmind DLC not being what I expected, and illuminating; for instance French rendered Rasputin’s title as “Esprit Tutélaire” or tutelary deity and German rendered him as “Kriegsgeist” or “War-[Spirit/Mind/Ghost].”

[notallthosewho-wanderarelost]

From @mayedays:

Curious about your tags. What about Demon in the Wood did you like so much? And why do you have a love-hate relationship with TGT?

First off, I have to ask- is your username an October Daye reference?!

Sorry this took me so long to get to! I’m going to answer the second part first so I can end on a positive note.

Fair warning, you’ve unlocked a thing I rant about a lot.

There are a lot of reasons I have a love-hate relationship with The Grisha Trilogy. I really love almost all of the characters, I love the concept for the world and how unique so much of it is, and the world-building is generally great. A lot of the things about the world that felt incomplete or off and didn’t make sense to me in TGT got explained in more depth in King of Scars, which really fixed most of the problems I had with the world-building! There are still places where it has holes that bug me, but it’s overall so interesting and unique. (And it’s not over, so those holes might still get filled in!) The whole cast of characters is just fantastic, I love them all very much. There are just so many interesting characters in this universe! I could easily sit here and list characters and why I love them, but we’d be here all day and this post is going to be long enough so I’m not going to do that, haha.

As for why I hate it, it mostly comes down to a couple of big things: the completely mangled Russian- that absolutely didn’t have to be mangled since Leigh Bardugo says outright on her website that she could have gotten a Russian translator but just refused to- and the way that the plot takes away all agency from Alina so that she spends almost all of the series reacting instead of acting. It makes her seem boring and plain in a Bella Swan-type of way, when she’s actually a great character who just gets bulldozed by the plot over and over. There’s a similar problem for Mal, except that for him it gets compounded by the fact that he has no other personality traits aside from “loves Alina” and “embodies all toxic YA love interest tropes,” so he winds up seeming like a complete non-entity as a character. The show improved on this so much though. I absolutely have to give them credit for that. They did a great job both in making Mal a three dimensional and likable character, and in giving both Alina and Mal agency and letting them make their own choices. It really went a long way in letting them be three dimensional characters instead of pieces who got moved by thee plot, which was such an improvement.

To go back to the Russian language thing, my mother immigrated to the US from the Soviet Union, so I grew up speaking both English and Russian as a kid. I think this is called being a heritage speaker? So I’m not a native speaker, but Russian also isn’t exactly a second language for me. But it’s still extremely jarring to see near-nonsensical Russian in this book when it would have taken only a tiny bit of effort to make it correct! For example, the Ravkan part of the epic “I am not ruined, I am ruination” quote isn’t grammatically correct at all, and it sends me out of the story every time I read it... but one time I decided to see if I could make it grammatically correct, and it took me maybe 10 minutes with the help of Google Translate. A native speaker would’ve been able to do it faster and without Google Translate. It also took me several weeks of thinking about it to figure out where the word “otkazats’ya” came from, and that’s because 1. It’s actually a verb, not a noun (and it’s written slightly differently than how it’s pronounced, which made it harder for me personally to figure out since as a non-native speaker I’m not used to the quirks of written Russian) 2. It doesn’t mean “abandoned” like the book says, it’s more along the lines of “to politely refuse.” But it also would’ve been so easy to turn into a noun! You just change the word ending to make it a noun: make it “otkazat’niye,” which would translate to something like “the refused.” Easy fix!

Another thing is the last names not being gendered correctly- I understand why Leigh Bardugo may not have wanted to use patronymics, which is fine, it is a fantasy world so it doesn’t need to be an exact replica of real-life Russia- but why on earth not make Alina’s last name Starkova instead of Starkov, and Aleksander’s Morozov instead of Morozova? Baghra’s last name is correct, Aleksander and Ilya’s aren’t because Morozova is the female form. It’s not that complicated.

The fact that there’s a minor character whose name literally just means “hello” (Privyet) is also stupefying to me. It’s not like she ran out of names to use! Especially since she treats names and nicknames/diminutives as basically separate names, when they’re not.

...while we’re on the subject of names, as far as I can tell Mal’s first name is gibberish and obviously just an excuse to call him “Mal.” I don’t even know how to start fixing that, but a native speaker probably would.

The Grisha orders only ever being used in plural is also pretty jarring but again would’ve been a quick fix- “Corporalki” for multiple Healers/Heartrenders, “Corporalnik” for one male, “Corporalka” for one female, and then it’s the exact same endings for the other orders.

Obviously writing a fantasy world gives some leeway with language, but quite a lot of Ravkan isn’t her using Russian words in different ways or changing them in a way that makes sense, it’s just straight-up grammatically incorrect, poorly-used Russian. The few language changes that I feel made sense are things like having everyone drink kvas instead of vodka to make things feel more fantasy-like (kvas is a real drink, though I think it’s not alcoholic? But it’s what people always drink in Russian fairy tales) and changing “kaftan” to “kefta” so as not to evoke the 70s for readers who are going to be primarily American. Those are in line with what you’d expect to see in a fantasy, whereas using a verb as a noun, having incorrectly gendered last names, using only plurals, and using gibberish Russian when she could’ve easily NOT done that is just the author mangling a real-life language for no reason, and extremely jarring to anyone who speaks Russian.

Now, as for why I like Demon in the Wood so much- that’s actually a bit of a hard question to answer! I think it’s partly for character reasons- the Darkling is a fascinating character, and it’s really cool to get a glimpse into his childhood and see why he started down the path he did. The story really makes you feel for him. He’s an outcast among outcasts, and all he wants is the chance to live a life that doesn’t consist of running and hiding. He’s a kid who goes through something horrible and has to do something horrible to survive, and you can really understand why he fights so hard for power and stability for Grisha in TGT, even though by then he’s lost sight of who he’s really fighting for. Basically, Demon in the Wood made me go “OH MY GOSH, the Darkling is Grisha Magneto!” which is a really awesome character concept/parallel.

You also get to see a younger Baghra in Demon in the Wood, and she’s an equally fascinating character. She gets much more dimension in this story, and it really made me appreciate her a lot.

I think the other reason Demon in the Wood resonated for me is that it shows you just how bad things were for Grisha before the Darkling founded the Second Army. A bit of a tangent here, but I’m Jewish, so when I was reading TGT a question I kept wondering about was “where is the Jewish analogue in Ravka?” Turns out, Leigh Bardugo herself is Jewish, and she once said in an interview that while there aren’t meant to be any direct analogues to real-life peoples in the Grishaverse, there are a lot of parallels, and the Grisha themselves are the “Jews” of the Grishaverse. Which makes a lot of sense when you think about how Grisha in TGT are both looked down and considered elite at the same time. (I’m not going to go into it here, but this is historically how people have looked at Jews. All those antisemitic conspiracy theories about how Jews secretly run the world, etc.) Anyway, the Grisha village in Demon in the Wood and what happens during the story, and the way non-Grisha people are described to feel about Grisha in the story reminds me very much of what I know about Jewish history and how people have historically treated Jews. My thought about the Darkling being Grisha Magneto occurred to me way before I read that Leigh Bardugo interview, but everything about this clicks into place so neatly- it’s really well-done. She says in the interview that she did a ton of historical research for TGT, in addition to some previous knowledge that she talks about, so I have a feeling all these parallels are on purpose. Demon in the Wood is just a really interesting read because it lets you see how things were like for Grisha prior to the Second Army, and it shows you why the Darkling went down the path that he did. It’s essentially the inciting incident for everything he goes on to do, and it’s fascinating to put in context with everything he does in TGT.

Here’s a link to an article that talks about Judaism in Shadow and Bone and has lots of excerpts from the interview of Leigh’s I mentioned. It also links to that interview if you want to read it in full.

[goosedawn]

linguistics pog????? :D :D :D i will admit I didn’t do as much thought into the aus/nz language changes as I really should’ve (mostly because my understanding of the regions is basic at best ^^’) and I am 👀👀👀 at your tags……….. if you have more thoughts I would be FASCINATED to hear what you say :D!!! -bio nerd anon

LINGUISTICS POG!!! YEAHHHH

my knowledge of linguistics is limited but its so cool and ur HELLA valid, australia and new zealand are pretty isolated so like. fair (relatedly, most of my thoughts are nz based, i cant really talk much abt australian linguistics) but basically i absolutely have more thoughts >:3c

also im assuming this is still in the context of how language could develop in @possiblyaperson03​‘s strangers on the internet au, so im just gonna clarify this is all purely speculation based on what we know abt the au and my own knowledge + lived experience :D

... i also just keep on going about language development in this au in general so i put it all under the cut :’>

tl;dr: australian and new zealand accents are likely to converge, but also might have a mix of different languages mixed into the way they speak, with pockets of non-english speakers. humans in australia and new zealand might not have as nuanced terms relating to giants, and may not have the same level of understanding regarding the giants language.

....... tl;dr TWO: wild humans might develop “alarm calls” that are shared with other human groups even if they cannot understand each other otherwise, and might even mimic giants. sign and written language could also become more prevalent in giant inhabited areas.

-

SO, in new zealand theres already quite a mix of cultures, although. yknow. colonialization ended up in a largely westernised culture/language, with english being the ‘main’ language, however nz sign language and Māori are also considered to be national languages.

nz accents specifically tend to be quicker and kinda. slur some words together, but that also depends on the location around new zealand. people who are surrounded by more Māori influences tend to draw out some vowels a bit longer, which ends up with a slightly different cadence.

im not really sure how to describe the aussie accent kshdfksjd but i think generally its a lot sharper than nz accents but also has more of a drawl, and some vowels are more drawn out/accentuated

i think it would be likely that australians and new zealanders would probably keep these aspects but depending on how much people cross between the two (in lieu of traversing elsewhere, and interacting with other countries) its more likely for the accents to converge.

however!! differing languages would also kind of. stick to how they sounded when they split, with the language spoken by immigrants not only sounding more accurate to the original due to shifts in language in their original location (due to simplification and dangerous situations) but also because of people wanting to preserve their culture.

in new zealand currently (especially in places with a lot of mixed cultures/immigration, in big cities compared to more rural areas) there is already a lot of mixing in terms of accent and language, and even more so with outside influences due to media and such

people do whats referred to as “accent matching“ which is basically changing the way you speak to match other people around you (psychologically, its kinda like mimicking other people so they are more likely to like you/become attached to you because you are similar to them) and so people mimic accents around them and thats part of how you pick up accents when you move to a new place.

so in an isolated space, with a variation of accents, how does that work? honestly i think it would be similar to how things are in big nz cities currently, and because its even more packed together with a whole variation of people who may not necessarily be english speaking is that something that may happen is a mix of language, with people dipping in and out of other languages based off of what specific cultural influences an individual is surrounded by.

this is something that can be seen in places like malaysia, where there is often a mashup of languages and cultures, resulting in a variance of dialects depending on geographical location, picking up some words from other languages depending on who your neighbours are (or at least. thats what i’ve been told by relatives from there, and have seen reflected in the way they speak- they tend to mix english with at least 3 different dialects of chinese as well as malay and indian words)

like i mentioned in my tags on the other post, nz already has quite a few pockets of areas where there are immigrants who either have trouble speaking english or rely on relatives/friends to interact with english speakers, and this is something that is likely to develop in this au as well i reckon. i cant comment on how this might work in australia though.

-

also, if isolated with little contact from giants, it would be unlikely for australians/new zealanders to develop terms relating to giants, or at least not terms similar to other countries. they might be more abstract or scientific, with less nuance due to less interaction.

its unlikely humans in australia and new zealand would pick up much accenting from giants and perhaps depending on how long it would be after The Event, may even not be able to say certain words/hear certain differences in giants accents as well!

However, it should be noted that young babies (like a few months old) are able to identify variance in human accents that children and adults cannot, because we learn what sounds to listen out for based on what languages and cultures we are exposed to, so technically we are biologically built to understand a variation of languages, but quickly learn specificity and thus lose that ability.

(RELATEDLY: if this was also true for giants, unless they were brought up around humans when they were very young it would be unlikely that they would be able to tell some subtle differences in human speech, FURTHER solidifying what you said about giants just. not being able to hear human intonation).

in terms of language in countries inhabited by giants, you mentioned that humans might have more simplified language and such, which could result in varying “alarm calls”, much like modern animals have now, which vary depending on where a threat is coming from (e.g. different calls for birds compared to land based predators) these might transcend other language like words, if there was a larger difference between geographical areas.

on top of that, some groups of animals also reciprocally respond to other groups of animals alarm calls due to both being pressured by biological and environmental threats, and i wouldnt be surprised if something similar developed between wild human colonies. humans are great at mimicking, so it could be possible that a series of animal-esque calls, or heck even calls mimicking giants could be something that is used.

furthermore, it might also be likely for some groups of humans to rely more on visual (signed or written) languages to symbolise things, especially if they dont get to interact with other groups, perhaps out of fear of being caught in large numbers. on top of this, having visual signals would be useful for not notifying giants of your presence if you need to be quiet.

warning signs and such would probably be developed pretty quickly, with certain groups maybe having defining features depending on what materials they have (maybe some groups burn warnings into things, vs others who carve the symbols in)

there might also be varying ways of referring to directions that are easier to identify quickly. OH in the alternate universe with wilbur having a guitar, maybe music could be used for communicating certain things also?? idk ive gone on long enough jkfhsdfjhsdf

- 

thanks for reading all the way to the end! if you got here i appreciate you!! 💛

[jockrightsnow]

omg I would love to hear you talk more about your tags on that last post—how you research syntax/speech patterns for non-native English speakers’ dialogue. this is something I struggle with a lot in writing fic (esp writing Russian players!) and I’d love some advice on how to get better at it.

god this got long! i just care about this! i will put under a cut for the 99% who will be like u little pedantic bitch.

so my answer is probably not AS helpful for Russian players because i have not written at any length with Russian characters and their language is SO different, so i find it is trickier! but the process is likely the same. i am not an expert at this by any means (only know/have taught spanish <--> english), but i do think it gives you more believable voices and also tends to help you understand the perspective. some people are better at english than others! some are less good! some have been in english classes for a while, some haven’t! there’s variation! you don’t have to do this to write well, but i think about it.

some things i think about:

1. sentence structure/syntax--more than vocabulary, sentence structure is the thing that gives most english language learners trouble and tends to give them away. in order to figure out common mistakes along these lines, it is helpful to look up how sentences are typically structured in someone’s native language. very often, people learning english will rely on those structures. this is actually why swedish is very easy to learn for english speakers--the sentence structure is most often subj, verb, object. but there are tricks: in complex declarative sentences, the verb will always be second, even if there is an adverb or object in the first position instead of the subject, in sentences with subordinate clauses, the independent clause inverts verb and subject. stuff like that does tend to give a sentence a different feel, and it absolutely very commonly almost-always sticks with someone. it’s foundational to how people construct their thoughts, it can be hard to change.

2. pronunciation--i don’t love to see heavy dialect written phonetically and i think many people don’t, but there are ways to consider it and certain ways to write it well. certain languages have different stresses or tone ranges or pitches, which can give off a certain Vibe if you’re used to english, which is on the more expressive end of the scale in tone and pitch (obviously i don’t think that’s better, but it is different and it does affect how people hear a speaker’s voice). certain sounds straight-up do not exist in other languages, certain letters are always pronounced a different way. it leads to predictable mispronunciation. for this, resources like this are very interesting.

3. actual cultural language differences! this is in part about what turns of phrase are common, what’s the cultural (or often, can be regional) “cat who got the cream”-type idioms, what is colloquial that you don’t realize is colloquial, etc, but it can also be about how you talk about concepts on a larger scale. 

the recent sidney crosby engaged fiasco is a good example of this--in russian, “girlfriend/boyfriend” has a very casual connotation, so for longer-term relationships, a russian person might say “fiancee” instead. there are certain languages where you talk about love using different words if a relationship is more casual. these are fun, i think, because i do think that kind of thing can be meaningful. 

there was some book or study i read about how maybe the way we learn language impacts how we think. i think parts of it were debunked (eg not having a word for something like ‘crush’ doesn’t mean you don’t feel it, that’s silly), but parts of it are certainly true, right? like, if you have a different way of talking about spatial awareness or time, your ability to translate those concepts will be affected because your thoughts are often structured along those lines. 

4. vocabulary--less important than you’d think, but still interesting to think about what words someone would have learned. i expect hockey players to know virtually every hockey-related word in english, and even in the KHL, there is some coaching done in english because plenty of non-russian players play there and never learn the language (it is very hard). pretty much everywhere, you’re going to know the english words for many hockey-related terms. but you might not know other complex words, because you might not ever have a reason to or a context where you would’ve learned it or been corrected on it.

i often have to examine or cross-examine spanish speakers, and you actually don’t want to correct every single thing they say--you only want to correct things which might lead to a misunderstanding, because you don’t want to seem pedantic to a judge or condescending to a witness. 

this is also true in a lot of social settings. so i do see some things which tend to go uncorrected because they don’t lead to any wrongness. for example, videoS plural in Swedish is video klipp. it’s the same, it’s really the same. but i notice sometimes that plural S is dropped by Swedish speakers or a word like “klipp” that’s so similar in meaning and context to the english word will come it. there’s one video where petey says ‘eller’ instead of ‘or’--it’s close, it’s a word that doesn’t matter, you wouldn’t correct it, it’s normal, you get the point. there are plenty of words that are so similar they might just have a different inflection, or which are entirely the same in different languages. these will not get corrected in daily conversation for the most part.

but there are also false cognates which you DO need to correct (eg in spanish embarazada = pregnant, i do need to correct it every single time because it has a huge impact on proceedings if someone’s pregnant) and being aware of those is also helpful! 

there are also some crutch words which differ from person to person (this is also true for native english speakers). when people use those and in what way can be important. there are certain things a specific person gets wrong only when nervous or not thinking or whatever (i personally find the “person realizes they’ve been speaking in a different language while having sex because it was so good” trope. exhausting, to say the least. but it is true that in higher-stress moments, someone might not have the capacity or desire to do internal translation, or might feel frustrated by it.)

i really do think all of this is Very interesting, and mostly my advice on doing it for languages you don’t know is:

1) be thoughtful about stuff, be believable. contrary to what it seems like from this whole dissertation, not every sentence needs to have errors in it, especially for people who are Growing/Learning/Actually Very Good at english. don’t be condescending about it. being at an intermediate stage in english learning might make someone choose a simpler sentence that’s still correct. it might lead to an actual relevant misunderstanding or tonal shift. it might not. it might enhance someone’s understanding of a situation! it’s not all about just fucking shit up--it’s a hard thing to learn another language. you gotta respect people who are doing it!

2) hear people talk, preferably the people in question if available but doesn’t have to be (for characters i care about less, i will often wholesale map a sentence and then copy the structure exactly. i did this for pasta because i didn’t care about actually figuring out so much about him emotionally--i just listened to his ep of sp*ttin ch*clets as i wrote and copied several sentence structures exactly with my own Content and then, as you may be able to tell, gave up on that venture to movie-montage the rest because i am Lazy.) 

it’s interesting to hear someone talk both in their native language and in english--you get a feel for the tone and pitch differences, and also i love to see native language interviews because i tend to think they’re more reflective of someone’s actual thought processes when they’re not trying to come up with words or modifying their sentences to be simpler. petey’s swedish interviews, for ex, are far more reflective and eloquent and funny. but again, he is getting better very quickly, in part because swedish and english are more similar than they appear. progress is often slower for russians, because there’s a lot more ground between the two languages and a whole diff alphabet and also strong cultural affinity to where a good number of russians living in america almost exclusively hang out with other russians living in america. (see ex alex ovechkin, nikita zadorov--both have very russian-heavy social circles if Instant Gram is to be believed)

3) actually look up stuff like “common english mistakes for [x group]”--there are plenty of good language learning resources which will show you the mistakes people tend to make, the pronunciation errors, things like that. these are invaluable.

4) google translate stuff if you’re going to have a touching language-teaching moment. once read something where someone was contemplating how to say something, which they wouldn’t have done in reality, because how you say it was Exactly the same in the person’s native language. i also think it’s fun to read google-translated articles and see which things jump out at me as Weirdly translated, because those are often things which are going to be different! but that’s not gospel, it’s something you can look into. sometimes google translate is just bad.

[pandirpus]

Tagged by @northernscruffycat!

Tagging anyone who wants to do this, since it’s kinda long! :D

How many works do you have on AO3?

73! Which is not all fic I’ve ever written by a long shot, but mostly everything I’ve written since 2013.

What’s your total AO3 word count?

172573 words - I mostly write oneshots...

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

20 fandoms! I usually only write 1-3 fics per fandom, but there are some outliers.

Shows / Animes: Yu-Gi-Oh! DM, Gravity Falls, Better Call Saul, Boku no Hero Academia,  Kuroshitsuji I + II Games: Dragon Age, Metal Gear Solid 3, Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice, Monkey Island, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Skyrim / Ties of Lapis Movies: The Amazing Spider-Man, Collateral, The Hobbit, Fantastic Beasts, Edge of Tomorrow, Thor, Deadpool, The Devil Wears Prada

Oh, and Homestuck.

 What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Going for the Kill (Bosselot, MGS, very smutty kinky PWP)

Weak Spots (Andy/Emily, The Devil Wears Prada, sweet & short fic)

In Tune (Klapollo, Ace Attorney, slightly shippy Gen fic about Klavier’s relationships)

In Literal Pieces, Not In The Melodramatic Sense (Wade/Francis, Deadpool, gory fun little trash fic that I still love)

Quicksand (Bosselot, MGS, another smutty PWP)

(it’s kinda cool and unexpected that these don’t have much in common - there’s fluff, gore, smut and gen! :D)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes! Comments always make my day, I love re-reading them when I don’t feel so confident about my writing and even though I’m terribly awkward, I always try to convey my joy to the commenters :D

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Swallow It Down (Lalo/Nacho, Non-Con/Rape), maybe, since there’s this terrible resignation to the abuse at the end and it’s probably one of the bleakest, whumpiest fics I’ve ever written.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, I guess I tag my stuff well and it’s definitely not popular enough to attract any kind of ire and unwanted attention.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yup, sometimes I do! I do love writing kinky and extremely horny fics that don’t feature any smut, but I’ve written a couple of explicit smutty fics and I tend to write more of those lately. It’s mostly slash, but some f/m, too.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Probably not.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, in Chinese and Russian! I’d love to be able to read and appreciate them, but either way, it’s amazing!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I’ve written a very fun Amnesia AU fic with @krokonoko - Tabula Rasa - and to this day, it’s the longest and most research-intensive fic I’ve ever written in English.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

My first OTP that I wrote tons of fics for as a teen was Yami/Seto from YGO DM, and I kept writing fics for them into my 20s, which probably already makes it my most-written ship. Then thee YGO movie in 2017 rekindled my love and I wrote another batch of fics! So I think there’s no competition here.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Too many.

What are your writing strengths?

Making not all that sexy things very sensual and horny. Writing self-destructive and very much not self-aware asshats. Writing aesthetically pleasing gore. And dialogue, I think.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I only feel comfortable writing in German and English, any other language I’d only include if a native speaker gave me feedback - and even then, I’m kind of nervous. I asked a friend for help with the Russian dirty talk in Going for a Kill, and I’m still anxious about it...

So personally, I prefer not to use languages I don’t speak myself. I do like it in fics if it’s fitting and properly proof-read! But there’s really nothing wrong with just writing it in English if you don’t know much about the language the character is speaking. It’s better than writing something utterly ridiculous and making all readers who speak that language cringe super hard...

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

YGO DM. Though I did try to write a Lord of the Rings fic way back when...

What’s your favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Oof, that’s a tough one because I’m fond of a lot of my fics for different reasons. I think for aesthetics and mood I like The Spaces in Between (Billford, Gravity Falls) and Not His Equal (Gozaburo&Seto, YGO) most.

[dreamylyfe-x]

Ok! I could swear someone other than just @howlinchickhowl tagged me in this but a) I have a number of tags I've been slow to get to and b) I can't find it? I went back to August. Let's hope I'm just wrong... but if I'm not -- 😬 sorry!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Six

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

186,361

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

It's gonna be all the ones that aren't Unsent, but let's go check...

Bound

Risk

Stages

Reward

Offspring

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes. Usually much better than I have recently, though I did a big push to catch up the other day and was a bit appalled with myself. I've just... always replied to comments. First of all, I like them, so I want to respond and let people know that... but also I often quite sincerely want to say something about what people said.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hmmm. Unsent, probably. (glances up at kudos count....🧐) But look, Unsent is a season eight fill-in fic. It is not my fault it's a bummer.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Tonally, they're all pretty similar... I think I'll go with Offspring here, though, because it suggests a few things might happen that didn't happen in canon and which I do think would add greatly to Mickey's happiness. Mostly within the realm of him tending to his mental health.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I have never once written a crossover. I'm not even sure I've read one.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not in this fandom!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Enough to know that I am an M and not an E.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Don't think so! But someone did alert me to the fact that one of my metas turned up on Reddit, which is weird because.... metas don't read like Reddit posts at all.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Sincerely? Probably this one. Which is to say, Gallavich.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Argh. It's in another fandom and it won't ever be finished, but. If you know, you know.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I have been told it's keeping the characters in character. I think I'm also pretty good with point-of-view.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Structure... trying to fit it all in, basically. I only JUST figured out something I could do with the next chapter of Bound to make reasonably smooth going and while that's very exciting it took a minute, didn't it?

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Well, I think it's messy and you really want a native speaker to clear it for you. In a prior fanfic writing life I had a story with a ton of travel in it, so it had a little Greek, a little Italian and a little Russian, but I stuck to establish phrases and the characters mostly didn't speak the language well. I feel like you can tell when the writer has a grasp, even if you don't speak the language. The only non-English language I have any sense of is French and somehow I've ever used that one.

(I do not have a good sense of French. I have the level of French you absorb by living in Canada.)

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Oh, God.

General Hospital. And you know what? There are similarities! But never will I get to make jokes about the time the Milkoviches tried to control the weather with the world's largest diamond. (I'm so out of the loop with that show now, but... It think it was a diamond? It was called the Ice Princess. I remember that much.)

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I write for the ones I have to write for and that's ... the only ones I want to write for, really. Like I enjoyed the heck out of all the ColdFlash fanfic I read in 2019 but I do not think there's a single idea in my head for those two.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Mmmm. Well. Shoutout to my finished 225 chapter General Hospital fanfic epic. Mostly because it's 225 chapters and it's finished.

It's maybe Bound. It tends to be whatever I'm currently working on.

[the-roadkill-cafe]

Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @phoenixyfriend

Tagging: @stormwind13 @elenathehun @hiruma-musouka @kendochick-moor

Remember to make a new post!

How many works do you have on AO3?

8

What’s your total AO3 word count?

75,290

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

One fandom - Naruto. In the past I’ve written for other fandoms, but not on this account.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Company of Trees, Throwing a Stone in a River, If The Bird Doesn’t Sing, Tree Branches, the devil and the deep blue sea

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to respond to everything, though it can be quite some time before I get around to replying. I like to respond to comments to say thank you and to interact with people. While I don’t think fic writers are owed reviews or comments, I do think mutual interaction helps make fandom go ‘round, and to that end, I want to interact with people who leave me comments.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Considering my fics are all pretty much WIPs, there aren’t really endings, per se. But the one with the angstiest planned ending is Throwing a Stone in a River.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

At the moment, no, I don’t really write crossovers or fusions.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not...really? I’ve had some rude comments, but none that I say really qualify as hate. I have really kind readers.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do write smut! I write all kinds of smut, from non-con to fully consensual. However, the vast majority of it is not published, mostly because I haven’t actually finished anything.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. About...three times now, someone has plagiarized The Company of Trees. I’ve always been told by someone else, and luckily, the issue has always been easily resolved.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

A long time ago, I had someone start translating one of my fics on another account, but the website shut down and I don’t know whatever happened.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A few times, but nothing that was ever published. I’ve written a lot with jaycrowind and @stormwind13.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Pretty hard to say. My favorite ship depends on my mood and what fandom I’m currently reading in. I will say that my first OTP was Sesshoumaru/Kagome in Inuyasha.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Sorry to say, but probably all of them, hahaha. The three posted on my AO3 accounts are behemoths and I write pretty slowly. I haven’t given up on them! I just don’t know if I’ll actually finish them.

What are your writing strengths?

I like to think that my writing strength is characterization.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. Sentence variation. Pacing.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Oh boy do I have thoughts about this. When it comes to anime, I’m actually a bit nitpicky, but then, I’m nitpicky about a lot of stuff in general, hahaha.

Presumably, in the vast majority of anime, everyone is speaking Japanese. There are exceptions, but I won’t get much into those. For things like suffixes (-san, -sama, etc), I prefer to leave those untranslated because they are very revealing of the speaker’s personality and the hierarchical nature of Japanese culture. They also don’t really have good translations in English. There are ways to translate them, but in my opinion, they don’t convey both speaker personality, social status, and also social+emotional distance the same way, because English speaking cultures (typically) just aren’t as stratified as Japanese culture.

I also leave familial terms of address untranslated (Okaasan, niisan) and certain titles and positions (In Naruto, Hokage, Shodai, Nidaime, etc.) untranslated because again, they’re difficult to translate. For familial titles, it feels incredibly awkward to type “Brother” in dialogue when directly addressing someone. Again, not only does it leave out the nuance of the relationship between the speaker and the addressee, but in English we just don’t directly address people like that, generally speaking. In Japanese, you do, because you try to avoid using someone’s name.

I don’t like to translate attack names because I just think they sound silly in English, that’s why.

For things that aren’t anime, I generally try to avoid outright writing whole sections of dialogue in another language. Instead I prefer to indicate a different language in the dialogue tags or something (The two men started speaking in Spanish blah blah blah) or italics. There are really only a few times where I would write dialogue in another language, usually to show that someone was previously not understood but through magic/a translating device/etc suddenly they are now understood.

Can I put a pet peeve here? I’m going to put a pet peeve here. In Naruto, Hashirama is not the Shodaime, he is the Shodai. Shodaime is grammatically incorrect and you can even check the wiki, he is literally not called the Shodaime. Basically, the -me suffix in Japanese makes a regular number (one, two, three) into the ordinal version (first, second, third). However, Hashirama’s title Shodai is written not with the kanji for “one” ( 一 ) but with the kanji for “beginning” ( 初 ) which means it can’t take the -me suffix because it isn’t a number. Essentially, Shodai translates as “starting generation” or “beginning generation”, therefore Shodai Hokage is “starting generation Hokage” (or Fire Shadow, if you prefer). But Tobirama is the Nidaime, because his title uses the number ( 二 ), so translated, he is the “second generation Hokage”.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Inuyasha, a long, long time ago.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Mmmm. Either The Company of Trees or Throwing a Stone in a River. However, although they’re my favorites, I’ve been finding my SI/OC (more OC than SI) fic very compelling.

[bourbon-ontherocks]

Tag game!

Non-Native English speaker asks because I’m curious as to how your brains work when it comes to writing or interacting with the fandom.

Tag other creators whose first language isn’t English!

How many languages do you speak?

What’s your native language?

Which language you’re most comfortable with?

Where or how did you learn English?

When outlining a fic, which language are you thinking in?

When planing a fic, which language are you thinking in?

Is the first draft in your native language, or is it in English?

What do you of your English?

Oh fun!! Thanks anon!! ❤️❤️

How many languages do you speak?

Um, four? I can speak French, English, Italian, Spanish, and I can say a few words/sentences in German and Mandarin

What’s your native language?

French

Which language you’re most comfortable with?

French, obviously, haha. Although I feel like it depends on what I want to convey? I’m so imbibed in English when it comes to media, internet, that sometimes I find it easier to switch to some English words.

Now if we put aside my first language, English is probably my non-first language I’m the most comfortable with now (I would have said Italian ten years ago)

Where or how did you learn English?

At school. It was my third language so I started studying it around the age of 13, but I wasn’t very good at it, I was far better at Latin languages. It changed when I started watching movies and shows in English, I was like 22 or 23.

And then I got a second massive improvement when I started writing fics and chatting daily on an anglophone website lol!

When outlining a fic, which language are you thinking in?

Mostly English. If I’m in a rush to note an idea, I might write it in French cause it’s quicker but it doesn’t feel natural. Although I think this is mostly related to the specifics of GG being a show that I’ve only watched in English, so I basically have no reference to it in another language. It would just feel weird to translate it for me.

Also I think that this is something that sort of evolved? Like, I’m so used now to write in English that the words come out of my brain super easily for me to write them down so I don’t need to think too hard about it. When I wrote my first fic, it’s fairly possible that I outlined a bit of it in French, though.

When planing a fic, which language are you thinking in?

Not sure that I see the difference between planning and outlining, haha!

So, same answer.

Is the first draft in your native language, or is it in English?

English. I never write anything gg-related in French.

What do you of your English?

Okay, I’m not a native so I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that a verb is missing here... 😂😂

So I assume that you meant how good I self-evaluate my English?

Well. Frustratingly never as good as I wish it was, obviously. Especially when I compare it to other non-natives’.

But also. I’m aware that I grew up in a country where foreign languages teaching programs are shitty, as opposed to other European countries like Netherlands for instance (it’s changing now for younger generations, due to the mainstream use of internet and Netflix, but my generation could spend fifteen years without ever hearing authentic English).

This British lady I met in Thailand once told me: “Your English is amazing... for a French person!” which I think sums it up pretty well.

Also, I think that for me the hardest part is no longer in the language itself, rather than in the subtext. The cultural references. The humour. The connotations. Sometimes I can’t tell if someone is joking or not, or I discover that some words I regularly use have historical negative connotations for instance, which I didn’t know.

So I’m pretty sure that my English is good, but my meta-English is quite wobbly  tbh 😂😂

  I’ll tag @missmaxime @inyoursheets @juuuunaaaaoooo @bathroombreaks  @fondful and anyone else who wants to play (including native speakers! Please tell us which exotic languages you like to write your first draft in!!)

[qqueenofhades]

Hi there. I've been scrolling through your "school stuff" tag but thought I'd ask directly - how did you find the transition to actually moving outside of the U.S. for your PhD? I'm looking at something similar and I'm wondering about your experience with the logistics (finding somewhere to live, visa, etc!). Thanks in advance, and congrats on being a doctor!

Oh lord. Why would you do that to yourself? I feel like that tag is mostly just intense kvetching, bogglingly obscure nitpicking complaints, and existential despair, and/or yelling at various institutions and/or people who could not do their god damn jobs. If you have read that and still actually want my advice, I salute you. I’m presuming you’re asking in regard to the UK, since it’s the only experience I can speak on, so hopefully that’s applicable?

In my case, I studied in the UK for a year as an undergraduate, at Oxford, so I was already familiar with the process (at least somewhat) when it came time to do it again for the PhD. Upfront, we must acknowledge the ugly deformed rabid elephant in the room that is Brexit, and the idiotic reform of UK immigration policy currently ongoing. Long story short, they seem to think they can function without low-skilled migration, that the domestic UK workforce will just happily lark off to do the jobs that working-class EU migrants have been doing, that this won’t totally bomb-crater the NHS, that they can run a country by basically only allowing in PhDs in STEM making over £30,000 a year, etc… so yes, this is a complete joke of an immigration policy and it’s what happens when you elect floppy haired xenophobic douchewads and their nightmare party as prime minister! ANYWAY, they’re introducing a points-based system from 2021, which may not affect you for an application under Tier 4, but UK immigration policy is going to have a lot of very stupid reforms and you’ll want to keep on top of those. If you have an offer in hand from a UK university, it is made somewhat easier, but you’ll still need to budget for processing costs, an NHS subsidy paid in for every year you will be there (something like $300/year), and a trip to a UK visa office to have your fingerprints and biometric information taken. If you don’t live near one, that will be travel expenses and so forth. You then have a temporary visa issued for first entry into the country, and a Biometric Residence Permit which you pick up at your university.

That, at least, was the process the last time I applied for a student visa, and it may all have changed by the time you do it. As noted, there are a lot of upfront visa costs, so you’ll want to be aware of those. You need a number of supporting documents, including offer of study, proof of income or ability to financially support yourself (since most Tier 4 visas either don’t let you work or only work a limited number of hours), proof of English proficiency (as a native English speaker/person from an English-speaking country, you won’t need this), and so on. You can’t start the process before you have the offer, but you’ll want to start it as soon as possible afterward, because it can take several months, and obviously needs to be done before you can travel. You will also want to open a UK bank account as soon as you arrive, which can be done once you have your residential address and a certificate from the student services office at your university verifying that you are in fact a student there. It’s pretty difficult to pay out of non-UK accounts, at least for monthly/recurring transactions, and there are international fees. You will also want a UK phone. I still have my UK phone/phone number despite my current hiatus in America, since most carriers offer free or low-cost roaming in Europe (though subject to change with EU trade negotiations), which is nice. I pay only a little extra to have Global Roaming in North America, so I can still use my phone as if I’m in the UK. If you’re planning to be traveling, this is a nice perk to have.

As far as finding programs goes, I’m sure I don’t need to give you advice on what you’re interested in and where you’re looking. Obviously, universities in the UK are grouped as “Oxford and Cambridge” and “everyone else,” though there are also rankings within those. I have been at both of these; Oxford as an undergrad, and then I did my PhD at a large public university in the North that ranks within the top 10 in the UK. The North will be much lower, living-cost wise (actually, if you can swing it, just… don’t do it in London, the cost of living in London is out of control. Of course, if the program you really have your heart set on is in London, then go for it, but just be aware of what you’re getting into). It’s also a rule of thumb that you don’t go anywhere for a PhD unless they’re paying you. Don’t self-fund a PhD, it’s just too expensive, and any decent university will give you some kind of financial stipend. I had a scholarship that covered three years of full tuition at international rate, which was good, though I had to take out some living-cost loans. So if you’re trying to decide between two programs that have both accepted you, a situation I was also lucky enough to be in, it sounds crass, but: take the money. One university had already offered me the tuition/scholarship, while the other had accepted me but wasn’t sure about funding. So I took the one that paid the scholarship. You need every penny you can get. You will be comically, absurdly, unbelievably broke as a graduate student. I was looking back on it like “wow I really lived for four years on BUTTFUCK NOTHING.” It is not for the faint of heart; you will have financial stress along with academic pressure, and while I was lucky enough to have generous friends and family contributing to my living costs, I still barely scraped through. It is something you should be aware of.

I don’t know if you’ve studied in the UK system before (I’m assuming not), but the structure for a PhD is much less determined than in the American system. It will also vary from university to university, so it’s worth establishing contact with a potential faculty supervisor to ask questions and refine your project proposal. I made contact with my eventual supervisor at my PhD university before I actually applied there; I gave him my (much too broad and pretty unrefined) project proposal and what I was interested in, and he helped me tailor it into something that could be done in a feasible time frame and which would make use of his expertise and contribute to the field. Whatever you’re thinking about pitching as a thesis topic, you probably need to make it more specific. I don’t know what field you’re in; I’m a humanities/history person, obviously, so the rule always seems to be WRITE MORE, INFIDEL. But the point is, the UK system has much less structured time, and basically relies on you to have the self-motivation to go out and conduct the research and write it up, and if you’re someone more used to rigid requirements and classes and so forth, you might find it a little hands-off. If you’re like me and can just be set loose in your field of interest and do your own thing, you’ll like it. I feel like anyone who is serious enough about their subject to want to do a PhD has to be primarily self-motivating, but some people function better with clear guidelines, and those are not always forthcoming. I can’t count the number of times I wished my supervisors would just TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK TO DO, but they usually highlighted something and had me work to figure out how exactly to fix it. They weren’t negligent or uncaring or unsupportive, and the project became much better as a result, but yes, it’s on you to do, and it can again be frustrating.

As far as living, I didn’t try to rent a flat from afar, sight unseen, in my first year. I just registered for postgraduate campus housing, and lived with four predictably horribly messy roommates (why???!) before I managed to escape and rent a private flat for the next three years. You will need a guarantor with a UK address (i.e. not your parents in America) to sign on the lease agreement, especially if you fall below a certain income threshold, and go through the usual background checking and approval. If you want to have the place to yourself, it will be, as noted, much cheaper to find something you can afford in the North and not-London in general, though southern England and the London commuter belt will all be expensive. If you’re okay living with roommates, or you make friends during your program, it might work to room together and share costs, but I am a pathological introvert and don’t like people, so I lived by myself. 

Anyway. Right now, I am in the second round of applications for a Big Deal UK postdoctoral award, which would be for three years starting this fall if I got it, at another high-ranking large public university in the south of England. (So yes, everything that I just said about how much it costs to live in London/London suburbs is me playing myself). I would be applying for a Tier 2 visa (i.e. the permanent/settlement track/full-time work visa) if I got this, which would be another barrel of laughs and different requirements from a Tier 4. That is definitely unhatched chickens which we can’t count yet, as this is a highly competitive/prestigious award and there is absolutely no guarantee that I would get it, but it would mean that I would go through the international moving/visa application process for a third time, so I would once again become too unfortunately familiar with whatever bullshittery is happening now. Le sigh.

I don’t know if any of that is helpful; hopefully so. Let me know if you have more questions, and good luck.

[southeastasianists]

IMAGINE THAT THE LANGUAGE YOU speak with your friends, with your family, with people on the street, a language unique to your country and objectively very interesting and cool, is, officially, considered lesser and unworthy. This kind of thing has happened around the world throughout history: African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) speakers in the United States, for example, have also had their language marginalized and demeaned by the ruling power. Now, it’s happening in Singapore.

Singapore is an immigrant country with four official languages: English, Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin. Officially, English is the most commonly spoken language in Singaporean homes, having recently and just barely edged out Mandarin. Unofficially? That’s completely wrong. Because what’s likely the actual most common language spoken does not appear on the census. That language is called Singlish.

Singlish can broadly be categorized as a creole, which is a full language that arises suddenly, usually with one language as its base, but with unique grammatical features and many words from at least one other language. This kind of language comes about when people who don’t speak the same language are suddenly living in the same place. Many creoles came from the slave trade: one person speaks one language, another speaks a second language, and they’re both moved to a place where they have to work together and live together and communicate. The base language is usually the language of the ruling class or imperial power; it’s a language that those two slaves need to understand a little, but they bring elements of their own languages into it. At first, this kind of language is classified as a pidgin, which is sort of a shorthand that exists solely for necessary communication alongside other full languages. But in some cases, it evolves into a full language of its own, one that can handle all the tasks any other language handles, at which point it’s called a creole.

Singlish has its base in English, because Singapore was a British colony for most of its modern history. But the vast majority of the population came from countries where English was not the dominant language, mostly mainland China, Malaysia, and India. Thus Singlish was born.

“Singlish itself, in its full-blown version, can get quite hard to understand [for non-Singaporean English speakers],” says Jakob Leimgruber, a sociolinguist and assistant professor who wrote his thesis on Singlish. Singaporeans are rarely monolingual, and conversations can often include bits and pieces, or full sentences, in multiple languages, which can make trying to isolate Singlish a bit tricky. But, despite the fact that Singapore is made up of multiple ethnic groups who speak different languages, Singlish itself is “remarkably consistent,” says Leimgruber, across the entire populace.

At least, it’s consistent across all ethnic groups. Socioeconomically, it’s more likely that poorer and/or older Singaporeans would speak Singlish more often; younger and wealthier Singaporeans are more likely to be able to switch between Singlish and more widely understood varieties of English. But Leimgruber says that few, if any, Singaporeans would be completely unfamiliar with Singlish, largely due to the country’s compulsory military service, which places people from all economic backgrounds together.

The language includes lots of loanwords from the other major languages spoken in Singapore, especially Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. These are really, really common, to the point where sometimes it can sound as if the speaker has simply switched languages mid-thought. And there are some pronunciation things; words that end with a lot of consonants, for example, tend to get simplified, so a word like “texts” would be pronounced more like “tex.” But it gets much more interesting than that; it has a whole mess of totally distinct grammatical features that make it unusual.

An easy one to understand is the word “lah,” which is what’s known in linguistics as a tag. It’s attached, often but not exclusively, to the end of sentences. It’s roughly similar to the Canadian “eh,” and various other English words or phrases used around the world (“right,” “you know,” “innit”). It is ubiquitous in Singapore, as associated with Singlish as the Canadian “eh” is with Canada, although interestingly there is no pause between the end of the sentence and “lah,” as there is with “eh.” Imagine it as just…not having a comma. “So you’d just race into it lah”? Singlish has so, so many of these lightly modifying tags: leh, mah, lor, hor, har, ar. They all convey slightly different things about the relationship between the speaker and listener, or the way the speaker wants the listener to interpret what was just said.

Interestingly, the Singaporean government does not have a firm definition of what “standard English” means.

Singlish speakers use the present tense when referring to people who are alive, or probably still alive. In English, you might say, “I went to Thailand last year, and the guide spoke fluent Spanish.” In Singlish, it would be, “the guide speaks fluent Spanish.” The thinking is that the guide continues to speak Spanish; whether you are in Thailand does not affect the guide’s ability to speak Spanish.

Then there’s the word “kena,” which is pronounced something like “kih-NAH.” There are words like this in Asian languages such as Malay and Hokkien, but not really in English. It’s a grammatical word used to mark the passive and usually right before or even instead of a verb; it means something, some verb action, happened to the subject of the sentence. Interestingly, it’s only ever used for negative things; you could say “the teacher kena scolded him,” but not “the teacher kena praised him.” “Tio” is similar, though it can be used for positive actions as well, like “She tio money on the ground.”

The English word “then” has, in Singlish, been changed to “den,” and its meanings have been pretty radically changed. It can be used to describe an action that will happen in the future, as in ”I den talk to you.” It can be used in about a dozen other ways, meaning “therefore,” as a link to a previous sentence, or alone as a sarcastic sort of “oh yeah?” meaning. The pronunciation might subtly change as well, by lengthening or dragging out the final consonant, to indicate the way in which the word is being used.

“Den” is one of many examples of ways in which Singlish sort of sounds like English, but actually packs a whole other bunch of meanings into it. If you were to just translate “den” as “then,” you wouldn’t really be getting it; you can’t use “den” in some places you’d use “then,” and vice versa, and it sometimes means something other than what “then” would mean.

Singlish also uses a lot of reduplication, which is repeating the same word. English doesn’t do this much; it might have a phrase like “very, very big,” in which the repetition is used to amplify the word “very.” “Very, very big” is even bigger than “very big,” which is bigger than “big.” In Singlish, that’s not at all how reduplication works. Take a sentence like this: “Your son short short.”

For one thing, that’s not a typo; Singlish, like Hebrew and a few other languages, simply doesn’t use the verb “to be.” (Singlish also often omits articles like “the” and “a/an.”) But the reduplication thing: “short short” doesn’t mean “very short.” Instead the reduplication of the word is a dampener, taking the whole phrase to something more like “short-ish.” This kind of reduplication can be used with both adjectives and verbs; you can take a walk walk, which would be a very mild stroll.

Anyway, that’s just a brief survey, and it might even underplay exactly how different from English Singlish really is. Leimgruber says Singlish is mostly mutually comprehensible with English, but I’m not so sure. Take a look at the Singlish dub ofBeauty and the Beast.

Singlish is spoken across all ethnic groups in Singapore, even across economic strata. But the government hates it. Since the year 2000, the Singaporean government has been conducting a campaign called the “Speak Good English Movement,” which is specifically designed to discourage the use of Singlish and encourage the use of standard English.

Interestingly, the Singaporean government does not have a firm definition of what “standard English” means; they aren’t strictly teaching British Received Pronunciation or New England Prep School English or Australian English or anything else. By “standard,” they seem to simply mean “English that can be readily understood by English speakers outside Singapore.”

The campaign is not overtly violent or racist in the same way marginalization of Irish Gaelic or AAVE speakers was and is. The Singaporean government does outreach, posting signs around public transit telling people the “correct” way to pronounce words, hosting writing competitions for kids in school, that kind of thing. “These words are very similar and many often get them confused, but do you know when it’s more appropriate to use a particular word? Put your grammar skills to the test and see how you fare!” reads one quiz. Is it “The mother put her children to sleep at night” or “the mother put her children to bed at night”?

The government’s reasoning is that English is the international language of commerce, and that Singapore has an inherent advantage because, it being a former British colony, English is already widely spoken. But if instead it’s Singlish that people are speaking, this could make for a serious obstacle to international financial success.

Since the early 1980s, the idea that any one language can be “correct” or “good,” while others are “incorrect” or “bad,” has been widely panned by linguists. Bill Labov, pioneering linguist at the University of Pennsylvania, was among the first to study AAVE as a regular language, one with rules that can’t be broken and unique features and an evolution, rather than as some mangled form of standard English. Since then, the idea that all languages are just, you know, different, rather than good or bad, has been the norm. Singapore’s shunning of Singlish is, from that perspective, retrograde and maybe even offensive.

Singlish itself is pretty well-studied, though a lot of the publications—dictionaries, for example—are more jokey than serious academic works. And Singaporeans have not risen up to protest the marginalization of Singlish. “There’s much less of an advocacy for Singlish in Singapore,” says Leimgruber. There are some—again, jokey—organizations, like the Speak Good Singlish Movement Facebook page. (“Harlow, welcome to the Speak Good Singlish Movement. Our Gahmen has been damn siao on, trying to tell us to speak good engrish, good chinese. This is the Facebook Singlish Speaker’s Corner, let it all out my friends. Don’t be paiseh.”)

But Singaporeans seem fairly comfortable switching between Singlish and Singapore-inflected English, or Mandarin or Malay or any of the other languages spoken in Singapore. Leimgruber says that Singaporeans don’t disagree that some mutually comprehensible form of English is important to learn, and in many situations (speaking to foreigners, job interviews) will switch to English. The degree to which people are aware of the differences between Singlish and English varies; most Singlish speakers will probably not use the many Mandarin or Malay words when speaking a more standard English, but some of those grammatical differences would likely remain.

But, says Leimgruber, Singlish is not really in any danger of dying out, despite the government’s hopes. (He says that in cases where the government really feels the need to connect with the populace, like in elections, government officials will sometimes lapse into Singlish.) It’s as close to a unique national language as Singapore gets lah?

[peaches-of-1]

The College Crush ~ Chapter 2: Week of Welcome

Black!MC x E’Dawn

< Previous | Next >

“I’ll be fine, mom.” You said for the millionth time.

No one really supported you in going to Korea not being completely fluent in the language, but you knew enough to get by. Anyways, you knew that enough would know English to help you if you needed it. There were a lot of people from all over the world going to Korea now for a number of reasons. You were going for music. You knew what you wanted to do and were going to work for it.

You wanted your own life. You wanted to make your life as unique and exciting as possible. Even though you weren’t sure about the specifics, you were willing to take the chance.

It seemed to have worked out as you sat under the stars with Hyojong. You two had hung out a lot during this first week of school and were friends. Maybe it’d be something more, but all romantic notions were probably in your head.

“Hey, (Y/N)?” He asked, looking up at the stars.

[7 Days ago]

[11:30am, Monday: INTERNATIONAL LUNCH]

You held the flyer in your hand. The International Lunch was soon, and you were starving. The only thing you had eaten was a rice cake since the Run for Rice Cakes event passed by as you walked to class this morning. It was two people in club shirts who tossed rice cakes to all freshmen they passed by if they chased the golf cart they were in for at least a minute.

Being the slightly competitive person that you were, you decided to run. It was a new spin on the tradition of giving rice cakes to new neighbors. It was nice and thoughtful, but still. It wasn’t that filling. Your stomach growled as you stepped into the cafeteria lobby.

A familiar face waved towards you. It was that guy who helped you find your classroom in the library on Friday. Kim Hyojong. He smiled brightly at you and you waved back. Some girl in a blue skirt put a hand on his shoulder and asked him something.

“Is that the girl the boys keep talking about?” Hyuna asked E’Dawn.

“Yeah. Her name is (Y/N).”

She widened her eyes, “Wow, that’s a pretty name!”

Hyojong nodded, “Sure is.”

“Hi, Hyojong-oppa!” You exclaimed brightly, making him smile. Then you bowed before you asked, “Have you eaten today?”

“No, I woke up late and missed breakfast. At least we’re about to eat soon. How about you?”

You shook your hand, “Sort of. I got a rice cake this morning and ate that, but nothing else.”

He frowned, “You need to take better care of yourself.”

“I could say the same thing about you, oppa.”

The older boy couldn’t help but nod, knowing he had been bested. The girl with black hair nudged Hyojong with her elbow.

“Oh, this is my friend Hyuna-noona, head cheerleader for our football team among other amazing things. She’s older than me, but we’re still pretty close.”

You bowed low, “Hi. Nice to meet you! You’re really pretty.”

“Aww, thank you. I’m going to see if we’re ready to go in.” She said and turned to go talk to someone else, playfully spanking Hyojong before leaving.

He looked back and his hands flew to protect his bottom from another attack, and she laughed. He smiled at her and called her a mischievous big sister.

A question formed in your head, and you asked before you could stop it, “Do you have a crush on her?”

Hyojong blinked and looked at you, “What? No. Gosh, no.” He started to laugh. “We’ve known each other for years. She’s like a big sister.”

A warmth of embarrassment spread across your cheeks, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He said.

“So, you work with new students, huh? What made you want to do that...this?”

He opened his mouth to speak when Hyuna called his name and waved him over. “I need your help getting everyone in line.”

Two of the guys commanded that people line up by grade. As you lined up in front of a girl dressed in green, a guy wearing red plaid pants bumped into you. He swept his light brown hair out of his face and apologized the same time you did. You did it in English though.

“You speak like an American. The way you say ‘Sah-ree’ like that.”

“Cuz I am.” You replied simply.

“Oh, really?” He then continued to speak in English which threw you for a loop. “I was born in New York. Moved here when I was 5. I’m Vernon, by the way.” He held out his hand to shake.

You smiled and shook his hand, “(Y/N), and that’s amazing! I just got here recently. Umm, two weeks ago? I studied Korean for a year during school so that I could come here on scholarship.”

“You must be really smart then.”

“More like extremely lucky.”

He covered his mouth as he laughed. You two listened to Hyuna and another girl tell everyone where to sit. The cafeteria was wide and decorated in reds and blues since they were the school colors. Blue tables and red chairs. Columns had red and blue tiles stuck onto their curves.

“(Y/N), you wanna sit next to me?” Vernon asked after both of you had gotten your meals and moved towards the tables together.

“Uh, sure.” You replied.

You guys were sat at one of the many tables set up in the section labeled for the International lunch. There were a lot of people who came to this university, who had taken test after test and paid so much money just to be able to go to a college where they just barely knew the language.

Vernon pulled out a chair for you, and you thanked him. He even pushed you in after you sat. He sat to your left and his plate had a cheeseburger and fries on them and a small cup filled with ketchup. You had a salad piled high with all sorts of vegetables with dumplings on the side.

The conversation with Vernon was interesting, mostly learning about each other’s lives in America and experiences in Korea. You two talked about old TV shows that played when you were kids, only stopping for a speech by the head of the New Student committee. He welcomed you in several languages trying to make everyone feel more at home.

He made sure we knew that we could always talk to someone on the committee if they had any questions about anything. They had all sorts of people on hand, so one of them was bound to know something in everyone’s native language. If not, then they’d default to English or Korean to communicate. Then he told everyone to enjoy their meals.

Hyojong couldn’t help but notice that you were speaking with another freshman in English and laughing. Even during the speech, the boy tapped your shoulder to whisper something into your ear. You nodded and replied. When he laid his head on you shoulder, you just smiled and looked at him, not moving him from his spot.

When Minho stopped speaking, everyone clapped and the New Student committee got food of their own before sitting down and mingling with the new students.

“E’Dawnieee!” A girl voice called, “I need your help over here!”

“Coming!” He had to sit with the sophomores and with the very touchy Seulgi who had called him to help her explain some things.

He kept glancing at you and saw Yuto, Kino, and Wooseok approach and introduce themselves as E’Dawn’s friends.

You were confused, “E’Dawn? I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“He helped you find your class the other day? Blonde? A few freckles? Cute and a great smile?” Yuto explained.

“Oh, Hyojong-oppa.” You looked around for him and saw a beautiful girl with black hair holding on to his arm. “Yeah, I know him. Do you want to sit with us?”

They nodded and sat down in front of you. They introduced themselves to Vernon and you three began a conversation in English. You weren’t too confident in your Korean just yet, so you did your best to follow what was being said. You tried to understand why you disliked Hyojong being held by that girl so much. Her name tag said Seulgi.

That was probably his girlfriend then. Ever since meeting him, you knew that he had to be dating some lucky person. You were glad for him having found someone he liked but kind of sad it wasn’t you. It made sense, though. They were in the same colors and you were just some American freshman. Korean’s tended to like lighter girls, anyways.

“(Y/N)? Are you still with us?” A hand touched your shoulder.

Your face darted up and met with Wooseok’s face first and then turned to the source of the voice who was calling you, Vernon.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Are you coming to the English expo tomorrow?”

Yuto added, “It’s a great chance for you to get to know other people who can talk to you in your native language.”

“You can meet others who can probably help with your Korean if you want it.” Kino said before he shoved a few dumplings of his own down his gullet.

After thinking about it, you nodded, “Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll have to show up later though. I have a class until 3 and will probably grab something to eat before showing up.”

Vernon smiled, “Good. I’ll be there too. I wanna know if there’s anyone like me there to make friends with.”

“I can always practice my English.” Wooseok said.

Your phone vibrated and you saw your next class started in 15 minutes. Picking up your things, you told the guys goodbye. They offered to walk you, but you told them to finish your food.

[11am, Tuesday: ENGLISH EXPO]

Grabbing a large cinnamon roll from the on campus cafe, you booked it to the conference room where the English Expo was. It was for all students, and it would be nice to hear your language again. Also, there was a large part of your heart that wanted to help non-native speakers get better with pronunciation. That way, they’d be more sure. Maybe you’d even learn some other languages while there too.

You were just so excited about all the possible interactions that you accidentally bit your cheek. It wasn’t too hard, but you were quite tentative about chewing for a few minutes until you finished the sweet.

There were flags of several countries where English was the main language: the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and of course, America. After getting your card swiped, you went into the room and heard a plethora of accents speaking the language you grew up with.

You felt very at home and very happy. People stared at you, but that was only because you were the newest person to enter. There was a sort of game going on. If someone spoke anything other than English that wasn’t just trying to figure out the translation, then they got a circular sticker put on them.

You grabbed a sticker sheet and went deeper into the room. Quickly, three different people of various races came up to you and started asking you questions. You seemed so obviously American, so you helped them with pronunciation while getting to learn about them.

At some point, Hyojong came in. You waved at him, and he hugged you.

“(Y/N)-ssi, how are you?” he asked in English.

“I’m doing well. Oh, I found out something interesting about you yesterday.”

“Did you now?” He scratched his scalp, “What did you learn?”

You smiled, “Your friends call you E’Dawn. I sat with them at the International lunch. They said you were your friends, but I didn’t know because you introduced yourself as Hyojong.”

“Well, yeah. I’d rather you call me by my real name.”

“Is E’Dawn only a thing your friends can call you? I thought we were friends, sort of.” You playfully pouted and teased him.

The look of embarrassment on his face was so adorable, “You are my friend! How can you say you aren’t my friend? I let you call me oppa even though we just met.” Hyojong spoke the last sentence in Korean.

You stuck a blue sticker on his face, “English, oppa~”

A familiar face entered the room and he was looking around for someone. Brown hair and tan skin dressed in the school uniform.

“Vernon, over here!” You called out.

As you waved your hands, he smiled and made his way over after grabbing a sheet of stickers. Hyojong wasn’t too happy that you were calling for a new boy after scolding him, but he was really glad that you had made a friend already.

He hugged you, and you smiled while introducing him to the others you were near. Lisa was the only one you knew since she was one of your roommates wearing a green skirt and had her orange hair tied in a bow.  Kunpimook went by BamBam and wore red pants while his friend from home was in pink with the name Jackson. The oldest was a flat-chested girl named Amber who you really liked in blue pants.

You all talked in pretty fluent English. Some of them had lived in Korea for so long that they had forgotten some of the language this Expo was based on, but it was easy to converse when their memory kicked in. You all ended up exchanging numbers and creating a group chat for speaking English and just because you all clicked so well.

[6pm, Tuesday: HOME PLUS HANGOUT]

Since there were a lot of international people, the school figured there might have been some things they couldn’t have brought from home. Even some kids who just lived in Korea but weren’t going home anytime soon who forgot something they needed. School buses and personal cards went to the event at Home Plus for students to get whatever they needed for their dorms and other living quarters. They all got a school discount for participating which helped a lot.

You hadn’t had time to get toilet paper and wanted something that worked for your bottom. You held up two which were basically the same price and had similar advertising, but one was softer than the other. Did you need softer toilet paper or something firm?

“Well, your booty is firm enough, don’t you think?” E’Dawn popped up with a smile, making you laugh.

“So, you’ve been looking at my bottom?”

He blushed and grinned, “Maybe. Anyways, the soft one is still strong and is my brand of choice. Get that one”

“Awesome! Thanks for the advice.” You put the softer toilet paper into your basket and returned the other one to the shelf.

Hyojong reached out his hand, “Do you want me to hold that for you?”

“I can manage toilet paper and a couple of snacks, but thank you.”

“I still wanna hold something for you...how about this?” He grabbed your hand and beamed through a rising blush.

Your blush was hidden by melanin, but it was there, “Yeah, I guess that’s fine, but don’t you have to y’know do your committee stuff?”

He shrugged, “I can do that while hanging out with you.”

You smiled and felt a head on your shoulder. Turning to see who it was, a new smile appeared when you saw Vernon being the dork he was.

“How’s it going?” He had his own basket full of mostly food and a couple of ribbon ties.

“Goin’ good. Why so many ribbons?”

Vernon signed and lifted up his basket, “I lose them way too easily, so I thought it best to stash up on them.”

You laughed. Hyojong greeted Vernon and began to talk as you three continued to search for other things that you might’ve needed. Hyojong was called away by someone else, and you two finally let go of each other’s hands. It wasn’t until you guys were in the medicine aisle getting some stuff “just in case” that Vernon lowered his voice to ask you a question.

“So, are you and E’Dawn dating? You guys were holding hands, so I thought--”

“Oh, no. We’re just friends.”

He smiled, “Good, cuz I like you.”

“Aw thanks, I like you too.”

“No, (Y/N), I have a crush on you.” Vernon kissed your cheek. “We should get moving. They’re calling for buses, and we haven’t checked out yet.”

He held his hand out to you, and you grabbed it. You two went to checkout with your head reeling. Like, it just didn’t really make sense just yet. He liked you? Like, like liked you. Romantically. He kissed your cheek. You were holding his hand. Like, you had just been holding E’Dawn’s hand because you were friends.

It was something you did in the states with your closer guy friends, and they never read anything in to it. You knew that some people would have, but you never thought that this would be the outcome of it. You weren’t sure how you felt just yet.

“Vernon? Um, I’m not sure if--”

“It’s ok. Take your time. I will wait for an answer and respect whatever it is.” He hugged you and you two got onto the bus.

You fell asleep, and Vernon woke you up when you were back on campus.

[11am, Wednesday: CLUB SIGN-UPS]

You had class during the Monday sign-ups, so you made sure to come to one today. The only thing was that you weren’t sure what you wanted to do. Maybe the English club? Lisa approached you with a girl with dark red hair.

“Hey, (Y/N). this is my friend Rosé. She knows English, too.”

“Hi, Rosé, nice to meet you!” You said in English too. “Have you guys decided to sign up for anything?”

Lisa spoke up, “Actually, we wanted to know if you wanted to join the dance team with us. They were actually going to send someone to recruit you because they think all black people know how to dance, but I thought it better if I did it.”

“I mean. I can’t dance, per say, I have rhythm.”

“That’s all you need. So, how about it?”

You shrugged, “Sure. Why not? I think it’d be fun, especially if I’m doing it with you guys.”

Rosé clapped, “Yay! Let’s go to their booth then! I’m excited! They say it’s sort of like training to be an idol, but a lot easier. Still, a few idols have been chosen from dance teams. Oooo, what if one of us get chosen?”

The three of you laughed, and Lisa shook her head, “I doubt that I’ll ever be good enough to be an idol. I’m struggling too much even learning Korean.”

“But you’re so pretty!” You said. “They’d be idiots not to ask you to be part of a group. Also, I heard you freestyling the other day by the cafeteria. You’ve got an amazing flow.”

“Awww, thanks. You’re too kind, (Y/N).”

The super chipper girl with her pastel hair in a low ponytail clapped when she saw you girls approaching, “So you decided to sign up after all! I’m so glad! I’m Jeon Jiwoo, and we’re always looking for ways to make out team more diverse. We usually dance at football games, but we also have a season for competition.”

She went into the whole spiel about what the dance team did, the prices, the skills you’d be learning. She said there were some things that you girls would need to buy from them like shorts and a club shirt. There were three different dance clubs, girls, boys, and co-ed.

All three of you decided to go for both the girls and co-ed groups. After writing down your emails, the girl said that you’d get an email with a video of the dances you needed to learn along with the proper music files.

“Also, if you’re serious about the co-ed team, find someone to practice your partner work with since you will be doing partner things in the co-ed team. It’s no good if you’ve got the moves but not the chemistry.”

All three of you nodded and thanked her before deciding to get something to eat together.

Vernon saw you leave and was curious. First year students could sign up for only two different clubs since the coursework would be quite rigorous and they didn’t want too much taking you away from studies. He approached the girl who was talking to a taller guy.

“Um, hi?”

“Hi, are you curious in signing up for dance team? We have a group for boys and a co-ed group if you’re interested. Taehyung here is in the co-ed with me.”

The black haired man smiled and bowed, “Call me J. Seph. All groups are limited to 20 members, so the more competition, the better!”

He bit his lip and thought about it, “Did that black girl just sign up?”

“Oh, yes, and we’re super glad. She signed up for co-ed too.” She said in a way that it was obvious she knew of his feelings for her. Why else would he have asked such a question?

“Yo, J. Seph!” Hyojong called, giving him a hug and smiling. “You guys get a lot of sign ups? Oh, hey, Vernon.”

“Hi. I guess I’ll sign up for co-ed too.”

“Awesome! Just write your name, phone number, and email here.”

Hyojong asked, “You signing up for dance team?”

“Yeah, (Y/N) was just here and signed up. I’m crazy for her, and it sounds like fun. So why not? I’ll see you around, hyung. I’ve gotta get to class.”

Vernon left and Somin approached with a box, “Here you go, E’Dawn. Yours was one of the first outfits we got. I’m so glad we decided to pre-order this year. Last time it was a mess.”

“Thanks.” E’Dawn smiled. “Do you know what themes we’re doing yet?”

Somin shook her head, “Not yet. We’ll get it sooner or later.”

[4pm, Thursday: SWING DANCING]

Leaving the International lunch today, E’Dawn called your name. He hadn’t been able to sit with you again today, but he really wanted to talk to you. You waited for him to catch up and greeted him.

“I was wondering if you were going to the Swing Dancing lessons today. I’m going with all my guy friends, so I thought it would be good to ask my girl friends. I mean, my friends who are girls. You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I get it. And umm, sure. I don’t think I’ve met all your friends, so it’d be great for all of us to get to know each other. You could have just put it in the group chat, and I would’ve seen it.”

He pouted slightly, “I know, but I wanted to ask you in person since we’re in the same place right now. I’m glad you said yes. It’s at 4 in the conference room right there, so don’t forget.”

You didn’t, but you were almost late because you couldn’t find your Mary Jane’s among all your things since you still had not fully unpacked. They were with your extra notebooks, and you would never know why. The swing dancing would take place outside since it was such good weather.

There was a brick wall and a school journalist asked if he could take pictures of you since you actually dressed up for the lessons. Many of the other girls and guys were just and their school uniforms or casual clothing. It kind of made you feel awkward, but you were comforted by Hyojong’s smile.

“You look beautiful, (Y/N). I’m glad I decided to keep my dress pants on instead of changing to jeans.” He said as everyone circled up in pairs while the two instructors were in the center.

Vernon came in late, rushing as it seemed he had just come from something. He waved at you and paired up with a lonesome female. When you were being told the position to get into, E’Dawn didn’t say anything, but his blush was obvious.

You smiled, “Don’t be nervous, oppa. It’s just me.”

He gave you a thankful smile and relaxed a bit. You two did some simple movements just trying to get used to how each other reacted before it was time to switch and repeat with the next partner. Vernon wasn’t too far away, and you couldn’t help feel comforted when his hands weren’t clammy like the last three guys.

“How are you today?” he asked.

“Doing great. I’m so glad your hands are dry.”

He gave you a confused look and you told him not to mind it. Instead, you two started doing the simple triple-step, triple-step, rock step that was the basis for swing dance. You were sort of amazing how easy it was...until he stepped on your foot.

“You’re supposed to go right first. Ow!” You said while limping a bit. “It’s fine.”

“Walk it off. You’ll be ok.” The female instructor said.

After recovering, you had just three seconds before moving on to the next person. All through the night, it was a fun little lesson. It helped you feel more confident in your body and you felt like you had gotten closer to your two guy friends. Lisa was there too, so she suggested you guys get something to eat afterwards.

You said you had to get some work done and decided that you would eat lunch with her tomorrow instead. Then you could eat off campus if time permitted it.

[7pm, Friday: PAINT PARTY]

You had only one class today, and it was cancelled since your teacher wanted to see their son who was working at one of the events today. It was the Puppy Love event where college kids got to meet adoptable dogs and play with them. So you decided to look around campus for a bit and meet up with your friends in the campus Game Room.

“Lisa!” You called and she hugged you.

Rosé was there too, and so you two hugged as well. You asked how they were going with learning the dances so far. Lisa said she wasn’t sure if she was even that good which made your other friend gasp in shock.

“You’re such a liar!”  Rosé said, “(Y/N), she learned the dance in an hour. All of it!”

“Yeah, but what’s the use of knowing the dance moves if you can’t even do them well?”

The rosy redhead looked at Lisa completely shocked and confused, “Are you kidding me? Dance, dance right now, and you’ll have everything down perfectly.”

Lisa was shocked, “What? Right now? Fine, fine, fine. Play the music.”

She stood up, and you looked away for a moment to watch Rosé go through her phone to find the music. Suddenly you felt a pull on your upper arm and Lisa was asking you to do the dance with her too since she was kind of embarrassed to do it by herself.

Being the good friend you were, you decided to stand next to her and do the moves as best you could. People watched as you two performed and soon enough even Rosé joined along with other people who were auditioning for the girls’ dance team.

The next thing you knew, you were dressed in all white and being checked into the paint party event. You, Lisa, Vernon, Amber, BamBam, and Rosé had gone as a group and put your stuff in Vernon’s car. Lisa was in a white long-sleeved crop top with the outline of paisley print in black, white ripped shorts, and black and white sneakers. Rosé was also in a crop top that had bands going around her waist with white boots and distressed jeans.

Vernon wore a regular plain white t that had fake buttons on the shoulders, white cargo shorts, and some old white tennis shoes. Amber had on a tank top and loose basketball shorts while BamBam had a t-shirt and white sweatpants on.

As for you, you had on a plain white shirt with the definition of aegyo on the front, white shorts, and a pair of flip flops that you’d take off before the party started. Your hair was in a protective style to make washing everything out easier. Everyone had towels, and Lisa had brought a pair of goggles. You wondered if you would see Hyojong here.

Hyuna looked amazing with her black hair contrasting the white oversized tank top she wore with white tennis shoes and white fishnets to match. It was one of the requirements on the flyer.

She handed out bags filled with neon paint to everyone else part of the University’s entertainment Society.

“Here’s your bag, E’Dawn. Do you know if (Y/N) is coming?”

“I’m not sure, but I hope she does.” He was in white shorts as well, and a tank top with the school logo on it. It was the same one Hyuna was wearing, but in the correct size.

His tattoos were on display, and he had no idea how you felt about tattoos. You two hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk one on one since this was one of the busiest weeks for him. Maybe if you made the co-ed dance team, he’d get to see you more. Hopefully, he’d get a chance to talk to you tonight.

Hyuna smiled, “Don’t worry. You’re both really awesome people, and you’ve gotten along great so far. Just talk to her some more, and I’m sure everything will turn out fine.”

E’Dawn smiled, “Thanks, noona.”

“Oh, there she is now. Go give her some paint.” She shoved her friend towards you until he moved on his own.

He was kind of sad to see Vernon there with you, but you guys were friends. So far, all of you were just friends. Maybe tonight would change that, hopefully tonight would change everything. Hyojong put on a huge smile and called out your name. You looked at him and waved, moving to hug him, but remembering you weren’t in America. Instead you stopped yourself and simply greeted him.

Hyojong’s heart was in his ears. Were you just about to hug him? If so, why did you stop? Either way, it took him a good ten seconds to recover and hold out the bag to you guys.

“Since you’re here early, you guys get some paint of your own to spay each other with! It’s non-toxic. Just don’t get more than two so that we have enough for everyone who wants some.”

Everyone grabbed some paint and tested it on each other to make sure it worked. Based on the huge pink spot dripping from Lisa’s shirt, it worked. You stayed and talked with Hyojong.

With a smile on your face, you asked, “So, you’ve been involved with everything this week, huh?”

“Yep. Well, as much as possible. Since I’m part of the co-ed and boys’ dance group, it’s best for me to get my hours now instead of later in the year.”

Your eyes lit up, “You’re in the dance team? I signed up for tryouts! Not sure if I’ll get in either of them, though.”

He scoffed, “I’m sure you’ll do great. Didn’t you see the comments on the video?”

“What video?”

Hyojong took out his phone to show video of you and your friends from earlier dancing. It was on the school’s own channel. From the amount of Korean that you could read, the comments said that “black noona” could dance really well. Some said that of course you could dance, you’re black. You chuckled.

“I had no idea they put it up. I thought it was just gonna be part of the weekly montage thing I saw on the school website. Oh my gosh.” You covered your mouth and called your friends over and say it already had 1k views.

After watching, more people had arrived and the sun was taking a header as it turned to night. This was going to be a good way to start off the weekend. While Hyojong was talking to you, he asked what you were into. You told him and asked him the same. As he spoke, you couldn’t stop looking at his eyes even as he turned his head to hand out paint to others.

“I’m sorry.” You said, interrupting him, “But your eyes are beautiful. Like, I’ve never seen eyes as dark as yours, and it takes my breath away.”

Your cheeks instantly got hot as you saw his shy reaction. He looked away and scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. That must’ve been the wrong thing to say, and you went into fixing mode.

“Oh jeez. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to let you know that they were really nice. It came out so cheesy though.”

Hyojong smiled, “No. Don’t apologize. I’m glad you like them, and I really like the way you said it. You’re such a sweet girl, (Y/N).”

Your heart was beating quickly when you felt a hand grab yours. Turning your head, you saw Rosé, “Vernon wants you, but he’s being a huge dork. People are starting to fill in, and we don’t wanna lose you.”

“Oh, ok. I’ll talk to you later, E’Dawn. If you can mingle, come find us! We’ll be near the front.”

[2 Hours later]

The music was amazing and you had gotten drenched in several colors of paint, mostly blue at this point and time. Thirty minutes ago, it was mostly yellow. Your bottles from earlier were completely empty and tossed into a nearby trash bin. Amber had BamBam on her shoulders while they danced to the music. Someone who went by the name of Ten had Lisa on his shoulders. They had bumped into each other and started speaking Thai to each other instead of Korean, so they just had to be friends.

Vernon had offered to lift you up, but you were too shy and didn’t want to be a perfect target for repurposed water squirters. They were submerged in huge buckets of paint and aimed at innocent college kids who would soon be drenched in some random color, pink, blue, or yellow. A lot had gotten in your ear earlier, and it wasn’t much fun. The next time you saw it being pointed your direction, you hid behind Vernon.

The blacklights were turned on and the audience glowed. Your bare feet felt the earth mixed with paint and becoming mud but didn’t mind the sensation too much.

“Ok, ok, ok! Listen up!” The DJ spoke into the microphone, “Quiet. Quiet! We have a few special guests from the co-ed dance team here to have a dance battle with a couple of you who are doing tryouts! Oooooo”

“Oooooo” the crowd replied in suspense.

Five girls in paint covered outfits along with five boys who were drenched as well. The girls had their hair pulled back and only three of each paired up. It was the girl who was at the booth whose name was Jiwoo with a guy you knew as J. Seph, a girl named Momo with a dude named Key, and a cutie named Minzy whose partner was Zelo. Somin and Hyuna stood on the sides next to Hui and Hyojong.

They did a two minute dance together that captivated you. Then some of them switched out to be only the guys. E’Dawn looked really confident up there. He even did a dance number with Hyuna and Hui. Vernon was pulled away by a girl with long black hair and curled bangs.

When it was only the girls performing, the same girl came and got you, Lisa, and Rosé to come up on stage after wiping your feet and shoes. Hyojong held your hand and asked how you were doing.

“What’s this?” You whispered.

“Surprise tryouts. Only the most promising are chosen to do it during events, and with your video going viral today, we had no choice.” 

“But Vernon wasn’t--”

“He’s your friend, so we put him at the same standard as you girls. You’ve practiced the co-ed dance with him, right?”

You nodded, “Yeah, but--”

He smiled, “Then don’t worry about it.” squeezing your hand to reassure you.

In groups of three, and one group of four, the impromptu tryouts happened with someone paired up with someone who was already a member of the dance team. Lisa, Vernon, and Rosé did amazing jobs, and then it was your turn in a group of four partnerships. You were nervous since you only really knew how Vernon’s body moved when dancing, but you just had to go with the flow.

The dance was over in a blur. You barely remembered much after doing your final pose, but looking at Hyojong, you did a great job. He gave you two thumbs up and you all bowed. Vernon hadn’t been in your group, but held your hand as they had all the ones trying out bowed together.

An hour later, the party was over and everyone dispersed. Vernon couldn’t stop talking about how amazing you had been up on stage as everyone got stuff from his car and dried off before sitting.

“Like, I didn’t know you could move like that! I saw the video, but your stage presence, oh my goodness! You should be in a girl group, dance line. I’m calling it now.”

Your cheeks were on fire as you replied, “Both of them were way better than me. And you were fantastic too!”

“To be honest,” He used his towel to wipe away some dripping paint. from behind his hair. “I only signed up because I saw that you had. It’s a lot harder than I thought it’d be, but I’m glad you’re helping me a lot.”

After biting your lip, you responded, “I-it’s not a big deal.”

The girls in front of you looked at each other and said that they’d get a ride home on a bus while Vernon drove you home. Your eyes went wide.

“What?”

“Sure, ok.”

You looked at him then back at your roommie and friend, “Are you sure? Are there even buses running at this time?”

Lisa looked at her phone, “There are two more before midnight, so we’ll be fine. College kids have a discount anyways.”

Rosé agreed, “Totally. You two have fun!”

And they ran off before you could protest. What the fuck?

“Are you ok with riding home with me alone?” He asked, something seductive having crept into his voice.

You couldn’t stop the pounding in your heart, but you weren’t sure if it was because you’d be riding home alone with a really cute and flirty boy or what.

Nodding, you answered, “Um, um, yeah. It’s ok. Hehe, I have to ask Hyojong something first.” You were about to go find him which a voice called out to you.

“(Y/N), you did great up there!” It was Hyuna. “You’ll get emailed the results tomorrow before midnight!”

That was your question.

“Oh, ok, thanks! Have a nice night!”

She paused and looked at you and Vernon, raising her eyebrows, “You too.”

Why did she have to say it like that? Oh goodness. So, you got in the car and Vernon closed the door for you. He had picked you and the other girls up from your apartment earlier, so he put it into the GPS. Then you two were off and listening to music.

You didn’t know that E’Dawn had seen you get into the car and drive off, not sure if he had missed his chance with you already. He had meant to ask you to go to the stargazing event tomorrow night with him since he already know you were going. He wanted it to be a date.

He’d have to remember to text you after he helped clean up a bit. Then opportunity knocked, and it sounded like a text ringtone.

You were a bit too nervous for a simple car ride home, so you didn’t sing along at first. Vernon asked more about your home life. Did you have siblings? Favorite things and why? That sort of stuff. He told you the same things and showed you pics of his little sister who was super adorable.

When you two got into your parking garage, he told you to text him when you got to your room. You said you would and he opened your door for you. As you stepped out to meet him, he asked if you had fun tonight.

“I did. I wasn’t expecting tryouts to happen like that, but I’m glad that they did. There’s still some questions I have, but I can text Hyojong about them. You were really amazing up there, Vernon. Also thanks for driving me home.”

He grabbed your face and kissed it, “No problem. I really do like you, (Y/N), so I would do absolutely anything for you.”

“Um, thanks. Goodnight!” You quickly got into the elevator and pressed the button to take you to the right floor.

What the hell was that? Was he actually into you? You told the girls while you ate midnight ramen and they asked how you felt about it as well as telling him about wht happened earlier in the week. You didn’t hate it, but you just weren’t sure if you wanted Vernon to be more than a friend. They asked about E’Dawn, and you got a weird feeling. Not bad, but different.

“I don’t know, either.”

“Well, know! Figure it out!” Rosé said. “Do you want to date? Or do you want to focus on studying? No one can decide that except for you!”

Lisa nodded, “She’s right, you know.”

“Ok, ok. I’ll figure it out.” You said, much more on your plate than just noodles at the moment.

Were you really doing this? Were you really getting all dolled up to go stargazing with Hyojong? You didn’t try this hard yesterday when you were hanging out with Vernon, but he was also going stargazing. Wait, no. It was a group thing. You just said that you would share E’dawn’s blanket with him.

You weren’t even trying that hard. Not like you had spent an entire hour deciding if you were going to wear jeans, shorts, or a skirt and you only got it between shorts and jeans. You sighed.

So maybe you had a crush on Hyojong. You sighed and laid back on your bed.

“It hasn’t even been a whole month, and I have gotten myself into a Korean love triangle!” You said.

Vernon liked you, and you liked E’dawn, but you also sort of liked Vernon, and you also had no idea how E’dawn felt about you. You touched your lips and remembered how Vernon kissed your lips last night. He didn’t push too much and it was gentle. You shook your head and stood.

“Clothes.” The stargazing started at 8, but you could show up at any time.

Still, it was best to get there early to get the best spots and make sure there were spots still available. Even though it was an RSVP, there was no actual limit to how many people could come. You finally came up with an outfit that you were happy with. Cutout leggings, alien themed top plus suspenders, and black boots. Also a jacket if it got cold.

It was 6:33pm and Rosé wanted to do a roomie mukbang with you and Lisa for her viewers because they were surprised to see a new background in her last stream. That lead to them being curious about her new roommates. So, you set out your outfit and joined the others in the living room to eat a lot.

So, E’dawn jumped around his room in the morning when he realized that you saying yes to sharing a blanket with him was real. You actually said yes! It was a weekend, but he had some homework he wanted to finish before getting ready for tonight. However, when the time came to actually pick out his outfit, he had no idea what he wanted to wear to impress you in a casual way.

He would bring an extra jacket for you, no hoodie. Girls loved to wear guys’ hoodies. Ok, so he chose his pink hoodie with green alien outlines on it for you to wear just in case. For himself, though. He didn’t want to hide anything from you, so he picked out a mint green succulent shirt to wear with dark blue jeans and some black and white trainers.

The other guys in his apartment plus friends had signed up to go as well, so they all piled into three cars to save on gas.

It was a nice night, but the mountain was kind of chilly. There was a concession stand set up in case any of the college kids got hungry and didn’t want to have to wait for their order to get there. The two groups got there around the same time and checked in with the sponsor before finding a place to sit. Everyone sat with who they said they would in the group chat.

No alcoholic beverages were allowed, so the boys brought a lot of sodas and water in their cooler and the girls were assigned food. A bunch of boxed lunches and convenience store sandwhiches since they were told to eat before coming here. You still had a lot of feelings to work though. You wanted to ask how E’dawn felt about you, but you were way too shy and it was way too awkward at the current moment.

Vernon was sat on the blanket next to you with a friend of his named Minghao and asked if you could see the Big Dipper. Some time later, him and Minghao went to go find someplace to pee. The buddy system was required in this unfamiliar place made even more unknown by the darkness. You realized Vernon was gone for a while even after his friend returned, so you tapped E’Dawn’s hand.

“I’m going to go find Vernon and make sure he’s ok.”

“Ok. Hey, do you have feelings for him?” He asked before he could help himself.

You looked away and spoke honestly, “Maybe. I’m not sure right now. I’ll be right back.”

“I’m coming to look for you in 15 minutes.”

You two nodded to each other, and you checked near the bathrooms and called into them. No one was there except some couple in the nearby bushes who were fucking. You just ignored them and went to where the cars were parked down the hill.

“Vernon?” You called just loud enough to be heard a few cars away.

You looked at the plates to find his car and were not very happy to see what was going on the side of it. His face was smushed against the face of some other brown-haired girl completely unaware of their surprise viewer.

“Oh.” You said at a regular volume, making them jump apart. “I’m sorry. Vernon was just taking a while, so I just came to check. You’re doing fine. I’ll leave you to it.”

Tears threatened to spill, and you’d be damned if you let him see them. He ran after you and caught your wrist.

“Hey, I’m sorry.”

“You said you liked me! You kissed me last night, Vernon! It was the second time you told me that you like me.” You yelled.

He didn’t look the least bit regretful, “It was the second time, and you ran away! I wasn’t getting anything from you, (Y/N). You didn’t give me an answer about how you felt, so I moved on.”

“IT HASN’T EVEN BEEN ONE FUCKING WEEK, VERNON! Don’t I get to think about it?”

“I just don’t have time for that.” The fuck boy replied awkwardly shrugging off your feelings.

“Clearly!” You said, spitting venom. “You know what? It’s fine. Go finish making out with your plain ass Reverse Harem Protagonist! I don’t care!”

You walked away, no longer feeling the right to cry but wanting to anyways. You were just so pissed! Betrayed! How could he? No time for thinking? Forget that shit. Your mom called you before you were too far up the hill, so you talked to her a bit.

Hyojong looked nervously at his watch. It had been 13 minutes. Two more, and he’d go looking for you. Not even a second later, Vernon came back and said that he and his friend were leaving, some plain looking girl on his arm.

“Where’s (Y/N)?”

“I’m not her babysitter.”

Lisa spoke, “But you kissed her last night.”

Rosé asked, “Who’s she?”

“Monika.”

“It’s Leslie.”

“Leslie. Whatever. We’re going.”

And they were gone. E’Dawn wanted to punch his face so badly but decided to go look for you instead. He heard your voice near the bottom half of the hill sitting on a bench. You were wiping your face and pretending like you weren’t crying as you spoke on the phone.

“I’m fine, ma. It’s just the weather making me a bit stuffy. It won’t last long. I’ll call you tomorrow, ok? Love you.”

He saw you hang up and heard you curse under your voice. You looked at him and looked away before cursing again.

“I know enough English to know you’re lying. It’s not the weather is it?” Hyojong asked.

You shook your head. He knew it. Vernon must have done something to hurt you, or you would’ve been back already. He asked what the mean boy did to you, and got a small chuckle out of it. You told him what happened, and he had never wanted to punch a human so badly before.

“I liked him just enough, he strung me along just the right amount to where I feel so fucking betrayed. Not just by him, but by my heart. How could I be so stupid!”

Hyojong held your hands, “You’re not stupid! Stupid people don’t learn another language and move out of the country for college.”

“You sure?” You gave a bitter chuckle.

“And I know we just met like a week ago, but I know you’re a smart girl, (Y/N). Not just in language, but I saw your books. You’re very smart. Emotions are dumb and they blind you to obvious things, but that’s ok. You’ll bounce back because that’s what smart girls do.”

He used his hoodie sleeve to wipe your face and then gave it to you to put on since he noticed you shivering.

He looked out, “Whenever you’re ready to go back up, I’ll be ready.”

You nodded. After calming yourself down and being thankful for the darkness, you stood and said you were ready. The two of you walked back to the others in silence, using your dimmed phone lights to help find your way. They asked what happened, and you shook your head. E’dawn shook his head, letting them know that they’d be informed later.

You two sat down again and looked at the stars. His fingertips touched yours and you smiled, not thinking too much of it. E’Dawn asked why you came to Korea instead of some in state school.

“I wanted my own life, a life that’s as unique and exciting as possible.” You began. “I’m not even completely fluent in Korean, so no one really supported me. Still, I knew there’d be enough people here that knew English if I needed it. I knew what I wanted and I was gonna work for it.”

He was admiring you and your honesty. You were a genius to him, a bit of madness, but still very hard working. Dedicated. You were absolutely perfect. Why could Vernon not see that you were the stars themselves?

You continued. “A life that I defined, no one else. I wasn’t even sure about the specifics, but I was willing to take the chance.”

His hand was now completely on top of yours, “Has it worked out so far?”

Hyojong saw that you smiled in spite of the horrible past few minutes and noticed you looking at how your hands were together.

You nodded, “I think so.”

“Hey, (Y/N)?” He asked, looking up at the stars.

“Yeah.”

He kissed your hand, “I’m really glad I met you.”

A huge smile crossed your face, “Me too.”

Your phone buzzed. Lots of phones buzzed and pinged. It was your e-mail, from the dance team! It was 11:59pm. Someone liked suspense. You and your friends circled up and opened it at the same time. You guys read the list for the co-ed tearm first. Lisa was on there and Rosé was on there. Vernon was on there. Two girls who were part of last night’s surprise tryouts, Jennie and Jisoo, were on there too. They all cheered.

You weren’t on there.

E’Dawn grabbed your phone, “This can’t be right! I thought--” A grin came upon his face and handed you your phone back, “You didn’t read the whole email.”

With a confused face, you looked through the email again. There was a section for “Spotlight Dancers” Your name was on there next to Hyuna, E’dawn, Taemin, Momo, and Key. They were like the best dancers! That was just for the co-ed team.

Lisa’s name was in the “Spotlight Dancers” section for the girls’ dance team next to Momo’s and another girl’s. You were so happy! You made both teams! You asked E’Dawn what a Spotlight Dancer did and that meant you’d get more stage time and be more important during competition season.

You were so happy that you hugged him but quickly stopped once you realized what you were doing, but you were glad when he pulled you back in. Even when the ruckus of all the contenders getting their results died down, he put his arm around you as you looked up at the stars together.

Maybe Vernon didn’t work out the way you thought it would, but you were more sure about your own feelings for Hyojong. A bit more sure about his for you too, but you didn’t want to talk about it right now. Later was better for now.

[gaijinko]

LET’S DO A WEIRD HEADCANON THING.

REPOST DON’T REBLOG !

TAGGED BY: @deathbanchou​ TAGGING: if you wanna do it, go ahead!

1. WHAT THEY SMELL LIKE  /   high-quality perfume, scented soaps and creams -- the smell of these depend on what is in season. fruity? flowery? she is never behind the new products and trends to have the most lovely smell in school. she does not overdo it but a mere whiff can denote a faint scent of whatever new perfume came out. her favourite choices would be orange and peach, though. nothing too extreme, even when she adores being flashy. sometimes it’s fine to be subtle and it works wonders since everyone considers it to be just a natural part of her. 

if not wearing anything specific, she has a faint scent of hand cream.

lisa mentions vaguely how aromatherapy is good for constipation ( she isn’t constipated, though! ) so it denotes she actually focuses on its effects and benefits. so one can assume this is one of her resources. in a general basis she does not like strong smells like of cologne and overly strong perfumes, instead going for the most subtle scents. since she can be quite sensitive to those, she can gag and that is quite the unsightly show. 

2. HOW THEY SLEEP (SLEEPING POSITION, SCHEDULE, ETC) /  lisa does not have a decent sleep schedule at all. discipline and responsibility are expected from her so it’s a given she would run in the opposite end. she no longer does this but she used to arrive home at late hours of the night after returning from her activities. which came with the downside of sleeping almost nothing and having to be up for school in a few hours. she surprisingly did not skip class but arrived late at times. so in a sense, it showed she valued her 8hrs of sleep and understood the importance of sleeping properly. 

simply, she sometimes adjusted it to her own schedule which did not fit with her parents and teachers.

when it came to her sleeping comfort, it variated. she can sleep with her clothes on and not cover herself at all. others, she will actually wear pajamas and swim into her blankets. surrounded by pillows, plushies and her two cats. she has a regular bed though she owns a futon, which she refuses using. she considers them uncomfortable and ugly. she acquired her mattress after insisting how much she hated sleeping on the floor.

in position, she must be hugging something. a plushie, her pillow or even one of the cats. she will curl up to herself and hold onto anything within reach. it’s a little odd and nobody knows about this but it’s one of her little pleasures in life.

3. WHAT MUSIC THEY ENJOY  /   when it comes to lisa, it’s more about what she dislikes. she can admit disliking enka and pop music, so it shows she isn’t enjoying a lot of what is popular but will put with the latter for the sake of appearances.

she has no actual preference for music and she will agree on whatever is popular at the time. her knowledge is shallow at best but she does an effort to have an idea of whatever others are listening now. she will go to concerts, clubs, karaokes and sing along when others break into a song, etc. she simply has no real taste and formulated opinion on music. oh, that artist is so hot, isn’t he? or, have you heard of the scandal from X idol group?

she will enjoy cheesy love songs, regardless of the artist. but other than that? she cannot pinpoint her favourite artist, group or genre. she listens to what other people will approve of and does so successfully. in her personal time, though, she will listen to the soundtracks of her kung fu movies and obscure cantonese artists. 

4. HOW MUCH TIME THEY SPEND GETTING READY EVERY MORNING  /   she takes her sweet time. one hour to shower, one hour to get ready and eat breakfast. she is diligent in this process, since it depends on this how successful her day will be. which is why she would prefer arriving late to class than messing up her morning ritual. shower, drying hair, face mask and make up. she will do everything possible to show up refreshed, well-rested and ready for the day. nowadays she has more time to sleep and can follow this without going late to school, which has highly favoured her charming temper toward others. 

5. THEIR FAVORITE THING TO COLLECT  /  clothes! she loves fashion and while it can seem like one of her shallow interests, she does sincerely enjoy collecting pieces and bits of fashion lines. anything that her allowance can afford will go immediately into her closet, regardless of if she will use it or not since she loves having coordinated outfits for every season! her closet is a disaster but can dress out a whole classroom if she wanted to.

she is also not outside of having her very cherished haul of kung fu movies. still packaged and lovingly showcased on her shelf. as her cherished possessions, she won’t touch those and instead has one haul for watching and one for collection purpose alone. 

6. LEFT OR RIGHT HANDED / a hard one but i will go for right handed. fail attempt at ambidextrous. she leans on the fact that her hands are more for punching. she truly is a gallant lady...

7. RELIGION (IF ANY)  /  her parents were raised christian but converted to shinto-buddhism, so she was raised through those beliefs. they are very devoted as it is part of that wonderful japanese culture they love, so of course they must teach her daughter how important this is. in her rebellion, she has gone against every bit she was taught while growing up. she has no real religious affiliation to anything, but mostly as she has not really sat and thought about what she wants to believe in. she is a teenager, so prefers leaving that heavy stuff for those that actually care. 

8. FAVORITE TOURISTY THING TO DO WHEN TRAVELING  /   again, it all depends on what’s popular in the area she is visiting. though in this case, she can be picky for the sake of her sanity. tourist spots mean not only japanese tourists but also american tourists and she fervently avoids confronting english speakers. she will prefer restaurants and clubs, rather than monuments and museums. something more regular that will save her from seeing another americans, you know? she cannot avoid them forever but trying doesn’t hurt anyone.

9. FAVORITE KIND OF WEATHER  /   MILD WEATHER. spring has the perfect sort of weather. it reeks of romance with the cherry blossom trees and subtle breezes on morning, with that bright and comforting sun. of course, that is the ideal and you cannot have everything you ask for. but she really enjoys the calmness of a quiet spring breeze, be it at night or morning. 

10. A WEIRD / OBSCURE FEAR THEY HAVE  /  it is not obscure or weird, not in her opinion. lisa is afraid of everyone’s expectations toward her and not having an identity of her own. 

for example, she hates and wants to avoid american tourists through and through. she cannot speak english and is very self-conscious about it, since it’s an expectation of others to see the obviously american kid from stupidly american parents speak english. it should be a given and yet, she does not know a lick of it. maybe vague words at best. her grammar leaves plenty to desire and even more so her pronunciation. if anything, she struggles with the subject and is a very poor speaker as opposed to her great grades in japanese ( surprise ) and literature. the notion of how she should know and others firmly believe she must know is a constant struggle. everyone assumes without asking and of course, she does not deny it. 

and that is the cherry on the cake of her life problems. 

so here she is, the american kid being a complete mockery of her own stereotype but letting everyone think she is what they think. she can’t be japanese ( she doesn’t look like one but she was born here so she is japanese ) but she neither can be american ( despite her blood, roots and name ) so she stands in a strange middle ground as the daughter of naturalised parents. her identity is almost non-existent and everyone thinks of lisa whatever they want and whatever suits them best. in one side, her parents seek for her to be the perfect japanese daughter. in the other hand, she is the exotic and wild american in the eyes of her classmates. both are wrong so she fights plenty to find something of her own, something that can separate her entirely from whatever idealised image people have of who is lisa silverman. 

she has done everything in her might to break the expectations placed on her. from compensated dating, drugs to her current hobbies: kung-fu and cantonese. so that is a big step and little by little, she has managed to speak up about her struggles...

11. THE CARNIVAL / ARCADE GAME THEY ALWAYS WIN WITHOUT FAIL  /  as she is a big fan of dancing, one can picture her being a strong contender in DDR and games of a similar feature. she is surprisingly good at memorising steps and having great scores and she sincerely enjoys playing and boasting her success. though her friends are not that into it, she will gladly spare time of her day to play by herself.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

HERE'S WHAT I JUST REALIZED ABOUT CHEMICALS

Freaks and nerds were allies, and there was a great deal of play in these numbers. But Cybercash was so bad and most stores' order volumes were so low that it was better if merchants processed orders like phone orders. And when you propagate that constraint, the result is that each person gets freedom of action in inverse proportion to the size of the tree, you're going to face resistance when you do something new. I vowed that I would never be tactful; they were never going to shut me up.1 And in my experience, the harder the ideas you're talking about, you can try importing startups on a larger scale.2 But if someone posts a stupid comment on a thread, that sets the tone for the rest.3 If you start the company. It's like trying to convince someone by shouting at them. At the extreme end of the spectrum, we'd be the first time that happened. We all had dinner together once a week, cooked for the first time that happened.4 For example, in my house in Cambridge, which was built in 1876, the bedrooms don't have closets.

In an artificial world, only extremists live naturally. That may seem a frivolous reason to choose one language over another. And all the work we did was pointless, or seemed so at the time I never tried to separate my wants and weigh them against one another. So an artist working on a painting and trying to decide whether to change some part of it—the things to remember if you want to excel in it. I like the opposite approach: give the programmer as much control as you can; rewrite it over and over; cut DEL: out: DEL everything unnecessary; write in a different language than they'd use if they were a rooted in your town and/or b so successful that VCs would fund them even if they never actually got the money. And perhaps others that would appeal to most humans, and you observe how much humans have in common. Why is the real world where gaming the system stops working. And yet that's what Apple is trying to be as unhappy in eighth grade as you were? You generally shouldn't pass up a definite funding offer to move. Work with people you like and respect.

Which means for a group of people are never able to act as an intermediary between developer and user. Just. Or rather, I don't feel like I have to walk a mile to get there, and sitting in a cafe feels different from working. We had no such confidence. Bad comments are like kudzu: they take over rapidly. Which means for a group of such size. The cause of this problem is the emptiness of school life, the cruelty and the boredom, both have the same answer: 1/1-n to see if it makes sense.

During the Bubble, a lot of things I grew up, it felt as if there was nowhere to go, and nothing they could do amazing things with just a touch of hubris on your well-cut sleeve—is an unexpected development in a time of business disgrace. Informal language is the athletic clothing of ideas. Bad as things look now, there is precious little between schoolwork and the work they'll do as adults. Why do teenage kids do it? So even though they'll all still spend the money on the stadium, at least de facto, expected to prepare them for their careers. There are tricks in startups, as there are in the real world is that it's part of the popularity landscape. Remember, the original motivation for HN was to test a new programming language, and moreover one that's focused on experimenting with language design, I think, is the root of the problem. The fact that this seems worthy of comment shows how rarely people manage to write in spoken language. Suddenly a culture that had been more or less our life.5

What would make the painting more interesting to people. So far so good.6 He has ridden them both to downtown Mountain View to get coffee. The group of kids from higher in the hierarchy, your entire group. The Detroit News. Since high school, with all the same petty intrigues. In this case we get three: the NPD Group, the creative director of GQ. But because he's sitting astride it, he seems to be wired into us. Bring us your startups early, said Google's speaker at the Startup School. Trend articles like this are almost always the work of PR firms really does get deliberately misleading is in the generation of buzz. But enough depends on where you are, but what you could grow into, and who can do that? If they're really ambitious, they want to have as little to do with how abstract the language is.

She says being too modest is a common problem for women. I think the important thing about the real world where gaming the system stops working when you start a startup. The reason kids are so unhappy, adults tell themselves, is that monstrous new chemicals, hormones, are now coursing through their bloodstream and messing up everything. Are we heading for a world in which returns will be pinched by increasingly high valuations?7 As we later learned, it probably cost us little to reject people whose characters we had doubts about, because how good founders are and how well they do are not orthogonal. Another wrote: I believe that they think their approval process helps users by ensuring quality. But the total volume of worry never decreases; if anything it increases. If they shake your hand on a promise, they'll keep it. We really did have the biggest share of the stock in, and control of, their companies. I once calculated how much Frederick's was costing us in bandwidth, and it turned out. We were all just side projects.8

Opinions are divided about how early to focus on that. Not just because of its prestige, but because it throws off the Social Radar, and this remark convinced me that Sarbanes-Oxley must have. It's harder to escape the influence of your own users, and all you'll be able to try out software online. As food got cheaper or we got richer; they're indistinguishable, eating too much started to be driven mostly by people's identities. So there is a strong correlation between comment quality and length; if you say anything mistaken, fix it immediately; ask friends which sentence you'll regret most; go back and tone down harsh remarks; publish stuff online, because an audience makes you write more, and thus generate more ideas; print out drafts instead of just looking at them on the screen than the woman with the hammer. Even one sentence of this would raise eyebrows in conversation. There's no single solution to that.9 They'll listen to PR firms, but briefly and skeptically.10 Trevor Blackwell, David Hornik, Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, and Fred Wilson for reading drafts of this essay, but really the thesis is an optimistic one—that several problems we take for granted are in fact not insoluble after all.

Notes

While environmental costs should be taken into account, they have because they are within any given person might have infected ten percent of them.

Nor do we push founders to try your site. And especially about what other people in the belief that they'll only invest contingently on other sites. The same goes for companies that have bad ideas is to do that? Maybe it would work better, but rather that if VCs are only doing angel deals to generate series A round VCs put two partners on your board, there are some controversial ideas here, I mean no more willing to endure hardships, but this sort of work is in itself be evidence of a lumbar disc herniations, but not the distinction between them so founders can get programmers who wanted to have fun in college.

Throw in the median tag is just the location of the infrastructure that this was hard to game the system? Something similar has been decreasing globally.

Where Do College English 28 1966-67, pp.

Which explains the astonished stories one always hears about VC inattentiveness. It will seem as if they'd like, and Cooley Godward.

001 negative effect on the entire West Coast that still requires jackets: The variation in wealth over time, because it is to take action, go talk to a partner from someone they respect. Odds are people in Bolivia don't want to see. I meant.

On the next one will be maximally profitable when each employee is paid in proportion to the point where things start with their companies took off? How many parents would still want their kids in a time.

The most important subject. But filtering out 95% of the USSR offers a vivid illustration of that, isn't it? To a kid most apples were a property of the things Julian gave us. The best kind of people we need to go all the more powerful version written in Lisp.

Few non-corrupt country or organization will be near-spams that have hard deadlines, like the bizarre stuff. More generally, it may be whether what you learn about books or clothes or dating: what ideas did European culture with Chinese: what bad taste you had to write every component yourself, but I couldn't convince Fred Wilson to fund them. At the time. Certainly a lot about how closely the remarks attributed to them more professional.

Loosely speaking. Like early medieval architecture, impromptu talks are made of spolia.

[salutonriano]

Language Journey Tag

Vielen Dank an @deutsian fürs Verlinken!

1. What languages are you/have you studied?

Umm that depends on what you mean by study. I’ve paid thousands of dollars to take classes in French and German. I've done free courses and read books in Esperanto, as well as gone to the 100th World Esperanto Congress and attended dozens of local meetings. Dutch is probably my next best language. I completed maybe half of the Duolingo tree, maybe more, and spent 10 days in the Netherlands. I have one Dutch friend but tbh we mostly speak in German. Woops!

I also have books for Turkish, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Klingon (a gift from my sci-fi-loving teacher), Arabic, Yiddish and Swahili, but I’ve never really done much with them.

2. How long have you been studying?

French - 7 years

Esperanto - 7 years

German - 2.5 years

3. Did you learn through class or self-study (or both)?

French - 5h / week for 4 years of high school, and now I major it in at university.

German - It’s kinda complicated. When I was young, I did three years of “German School” i.e. 3h each Saturday mostly with German expats’ kids but gave it up. Then I picked it up again in university, taught myself using loads of online resources, then I signed up for an intensive class at university, then I did

4. Why did you decide to learn this language?

French - My best friend in grade school’s dad was from France, it kinda wasn’t really a choice.

German - My grandfather was born in Germany, I‘ve always felt a connection to Germany and its language.

Esperanto - My French teacher was an Esperantist, I loved how international the language was, and how quickly I saw results.

5. What was a major highlight/milestone in studying this language?

French - Last semester, 4/5 of my classes were 100% in French with native French speakers (I study in a bilingual francophone-anglophone city). One of these classes was Histoire de la langue française, in which I was the only non-native speaker. I wrote a 20 page academic paper on the linguistic development of Alsace since the Second World War and then presented it as well. I got an A+.

German - Hmm.. I dunno! A few times where I haven’t said really long sentences, Germanophones have thought that I was German. Other than that.. I guess reading my first novel in German and no longer needing subtitles for German movies (which I LOVE now because it’s so hard to find subtitles).

Esperanto - To be honest, I don’t take Esperanto as seriously as I used to, so there aren’t as many milestones. I guess I remember after one year of Esperanto that I could read basic books meanwhile I only knew the French présent.

6. What was the hardest thing about studying this language?

French - I find French slang extremely frustrating. I get the basics of verlan, but I hate having to prononuce everyword backwards in my head to figure out what it is.

German - The regional variations, I guess. I find it very difficult to understand people who don’t speak Hochdeutsch. At the same time, I find it super interesting.

Esperanto - Esperanto doesn’t have enough native speakers to have a reference to look at when using expressions that are forumlated different in each language, like idioms and slang. For example, how could you say “to play someone”? While an English speaker might understand ludi iun, a Mandarin speaker may not. Another example is how to say “you don’t have to”. I’d say “vi ne devas” because in English that’s how it’s constructed, but a German or French person might understand that as “you musn’t,” because that’s what it would literally mean in their language.

7. What resources did you find most useful for studying this language?

French - The program Antidote is my life. It has the most comprehensive dictionary I have ever seen. It knows regionalisms, what register it’s used in, and usage examples.

German - Deutsche Welle, Goethe Institut, Deutsch.info, Mediathek.. there are SO many good resources for German. I don’t wanna list them all here cause I wanna make a post about them later. ;)

Esperanto - Lernu.net is THE site for Esperanto courses. I used that long before Duolingo was out, and now they redid the site and added new courses and functions. They have courses with exercises, forum to chat with other members, a dictionary and even jokes and poems in Esperanto!

8. Any top tips for studying this language?

Start speaking as early as possible! I honestly find that when I make mistakes in front of native speakers, I remember them a lot better.

9. What’s your next major language goal?

Hmm.. I’d like to read another novel in German, watch a French TV show and well I’d like to finish the Dutch tree on Duolingo at some point haha

10. Anything we can do in the tumblr community to get you there?

Any French-language TV shows anyone can recommend? I’m currently watching How to Get Away with Murder in French but I’d like to watch something original.

--

I tag @historyandlanguages @francaise-de-coeur and @jaevla-underbart :)

[yingqilin]

Where Do I Even Begin?

Well, first of all, I’ve LOVED LOVED LOVED Qilin ALMOST as much as I loved Unicorns, and Dragon. I say ALMOST because I first saw a unicorn on TV when I was 4 years old in the EARLY 1980s! But, I’d never even heard of a so-called “Chinese Unicorn” since about the mid-late 1980s when I saw a children’s magazine called “Cricket” which had a WHOLE SPREAD about UNICORNS, including the Chinese & Japanese versions.

(I don’t believe this was the actual cover. I can’t remember what year the Cricket Magazine issue was, just that it was in the 1980s. This issue was cited in many books written about Unicorns as well, following its syndication. It had a full on spread including many kinds of unicorns from many cultures... if I recall correctly, there might even have been an French Unicorn story as well.)

When I was a little kid, I actually didn’t like to read (which was an issue by the late 1900s, and even the government would talk about it, the trouble was they’d demonized comic books in the 1960s-1970s, which resulted in that problem, because even tho’ “correlation doesn’t equal causation” they didn’t know that and thought that the act of reading comics made you into a criminal. My experience was the exact opposite, because I read super hero comics a lot and was more interested in THAT than things like doing hard drugs, vandalism, and shoplifting which was rampant in NJ where I grew up.) So, by the late 1980s-early 1990s children were encouraged to read, read, read. Well, I liked pictures, and I LOVED: unicorns, dragons, and dinosaurs, ANYTHING FANTASY, but also Sci-Fi. (I also loved Marvel Comics/X-MEN, and Disney Adventures Magazine, and nearly all the Jeffrey Katzenberg hit Disney Films)

So, whenever it was something of interest to me, I would read a lot, and I had stacks of books, which I also used to practice learning art, and I was self taught. (I have A.D.D.)

I graduated in May 2001 from the Art Institute of Philadelphia (Majored in Computer Animation AKA CAM). And, by the GW Bush Era, I had already been active online since 1994, and had been blogging, and using many various art websites.

By late 2001, and most of the early 2000s (2001-2007) I spent months and even years sketching and drawing Qilin, interacting in the Furry/Anthro Fandom, and published a lot of my works to GeoCites/Yahoo, and had even created my own message boards, and so on. I even had one called “Qilin Savanna” Altho’ much of these sites are gone, my original works still remain on DeviantArt in my gallery HERE. (I also LIVED IN CHINA many times in the GWB Era often.)

Since that time I’d also written a lot of things, multiple times over, about my research into Qilin (which are not all unicorns, just some).

If you were to type in “qilin cartoon” into Google you can actually see the many many photo images that come up since the time I’d first started publishing my work ONLINE, FOR FREE, you can actually see how my works have influenced people. Back then, there was a MAJOR mix-up with the term, because MOST information available in ENGLISH regarding CHINESE EVERYTHING was often inaccurate, used the dead Wade-Giles Chinese language, or were often confused with JAPANESE. Another issue was that I actually could speak standard Mandarin Chinese, but many people wrote the Cantonese names, or FREQUENTLY confused them with Japanese name for the exact same character (AKA kanji, AKA Hanzi), which is “kirin” in Japanese. Also, the majority of NON-Chinese speaking persons don’t know how to pronounce Mandarin pinyin. (Example: Can you pronounce?: chi, qi, shi, xi, zhi, zi, qu, chu, er, ri, ren, si, ran, yu, you, bo, po, zhou, zhu, cao, zui - Most Non-Chinese speakers CANNOT pronounce these correctly at all. “Chi” sounds like “Tcher” and “Qi” sounds like “Tchee”, “Shi” sounds like “scher” and “xi” sounds like “schee”. There are also variations on pronunciation.)

But, I still stuck to the facts. my father-in-law in China,The late Wang Zimin, actually had special access to a restricted library, and wrote letters to me about Qilin, and the 4 major Chinese magical deities: Qilin, Long/Dragon, Fenghuang/Phoenix, Bixi/Dragon-Heard Tortoise.

Back then, mostly you needed to search “kirin” especially because M. Peña called her artwork “Kirin” but still also called them “Chinese Unicorns”. Her gorgeous sculpture works were sold everywhere for years, nation wide, from the boardwalk to Spencer Gifts, to Flea Markets, and Christmas season mall kiosks.

But, as you scroll through all the works produced since that time, not only the ones titled or tagged as "kirin” but over time “Qilin” starts to replace this as more and more people growing up actually start to study Chinese, especially artists and customers, and many of these young artists are either my fans or students, but fans or students of my students... after a while, people forgot who I was... but my work BECAME PART OF THE CULTURE.

You can SEE that many people emulated my poses, my styles of doing hair, and many other details. Over the years, a number of my fans, and friends would send me private messages FREAKING OUT that either someone stole my work, stile my style, or ripped me off...

That’s actually NOT TRUE. No one ripped me off. THOSE ARE MY STUDENTS.

You guys ASKED ME things like: How do you draw _____? so I made countless cheat-sheet style tutorials (because paid classes don’t ACTUALLY TEACH). Also, if someone wants to learn, (like myself) they try to draw from WHAT THEY LOVE. That means ME. MY ARTWORK. How else will they learn if they don’t copy, ask questions, etc.?

I have many many open source materials in my DeviantART gallery (which are STILL MY MOST POPULAR WORKS OF ALL TIME despite the hours of work I’ve produced artistically.) I have also licensed much of my line art works FOR FREE for people to practice coloring with wither digitally, or to print them out and color with real media like markers, color pencils, pastels, or whatever because people kept asking me.

Actually, I would like to credit a number of artists whom are my biggest influences as well:

Susan Dawe

Glen Keane

Alan Davis

Those are my biggest ones, but I also loved artworks by Burne Hogarth,  Auguste Rodin,  Edward Degas (I especially love his ROUGH sketch work), Frank Frazzetta, Boris Vallejo & Julie Belle, Fred Moore, Vladimir “Bill” Tytla,   AND the film The Last Unicorn was especially the #1 thing that got me actually DRAWING when I was 4 years old.

SO much of my work, especially ANYTHING with unicorns, has been tattooed onto people bodies. Many people personally asked my permission, but I honestly DO NOT MIND. I have found over the years more examples of my artwork tattooed onto people than I can count. It’s LOVE.

However, I’ve also many many times been the victim of theft FOR REAL. Many people have tried to rob my sketchbooks, and many companies have illegally robbed my artwork online. It was the cause of MUCH online fights, wars, and battles. There’s also impersonators: People pretending to be ME, or claiming THEY did my work: also the cause of much much online fights and flame wars.

-Then, of course, there’s LOTS & LOTS of kids online that “rob” my work for RPGs, and fan pages... Honestly, I’m NOT going after children, or fans, for harmless things like that... I’m NOT Metallica.

So, where am I going with THIS?

Well, for one, there’s both ART and PHILOSOPHY which are BOTH a MAJOR part of my life.

I had a number of setbacks, delays, and many other strings of very unfortunate events in my life. Needless to say, I was very depressed. However, I did find myself back in college, first for Philosophy, and then for Art, especially Video... which somehow saw me thrust forward into Animation HEAD-FIRST. Suffice it to say, I’ve worked through, blew threw, and past, all of my blocks, and have been doing animation again. (lots more long stories, but not writing them here)

Many many times, you can’t always reach, yet, what you want. Other times, other persons, or groups want to change you, or make you something else.... and not you. But, it kills you inside...

At some point, you need STOP listening to everyone, and everything else, ESPECIALLY if that’s not FLOWING in the direction are are INSIDE.

I’d already WANTED to produce at least 2 series/films of my own. (”Eyewitness” and “Zenith Beyond The Dragon’s Rue”) Well, THIS is a branch off that tree. This stems from my concepts for “Eyewitness” but sort-of... I had ALWAYS wanted to produce my own small animated shorts, especially with music, like the old 20th Century animated works such as “Silly Symphonies”, “Merry Melodies”, and even Disney's “Fantasia”, but also a number of influences from Far East Asia including PR China, and Japan.

I’ve been multiple times inspired by Socrates, Plato, Laozi, Bruce Lee (Li Xiaolong), and many fusion artists/dancers on the American West Coat including my teachers: Zoe Jakes, and Alyssum Pole, as well as Rachel Brice, Carolena Nericcio, Jamlila & Suhaila Salimpour, but also Matahari, and Kerli Kõiv. People that think differently, question things, or create their own ideas, or even fusion artists.

Well, this project has been on my mind since at least 2001.

In fact, my actual name (Ming Zi) in Chinese is: 任思麒 (Ren SiQi)

It literally means: Duty/Task [to] Think/Contemplate/Dream of Qi[lin]!

Also, as an artist, there are a number of things I believe in, whereas other things I’ve shed like a snake molting its skin. I’m a fusion artist, an eclectic artist, but I still firmly believe in art fundamentals like life drawing, practicing one’s skills, and I use bot digital and real media. I LOVE TO DRAW. I firmly believe in Quality OVER Quantity, yet, in some instances I also think too much detail is overdo, and somethings look better less refined. I like realism, stylization, cartoons, and beautiful things.

I want to create content that is LESS about “being a big success” or ego driven ideas of “stardom”, and lavish money making, but more about THE LOVE OF IT.

I do NOT want to be part of any establishment groups, crowds, clubs, or institutions, and DON’T want to be mainstream, NOR corporate. I have found all of those things to be negative and destructive to my life and therefore regret pursuing those avenues. I’m NOT interested in walking those paths, nor dunking helplessly into those turbulent or stagnant flows, but RATHER Flow my own way, because I have my OWN PATHS. I don’t need to buy their metaphorical light bulbs, because I have my own light that I can shine inside of me.

And, if I am being completely frank & honest, another MAJOR influence on me WAY BEFORE HE WAS EVEN POPULAR was Bernie Sanders. I am a Berner. Sanders actually GAVE OF HIS HEART & HIS TIME FOR FREE. He crowd funded for what he believed in with SMALL MONEY because he was against BIG MONEY.

I have no care for being in exclusive film festivals or galleries. People whom already LOVE my work find their way to it. People HAVE found value in my efforts and work.

Therefore, I wish to begin producing this animated short. It is not cheap tho’. But, I will gladly share my process, my concept work, my practice work, and everything FOR FREE. Free to ALL ARTISTS, and people whom just live beautiful things, art, and QILIN.

I wish to pursue an independent direction in my art. But, I would very much like to include people, if not the world or those in it that care about these things, to interact with me. A long time ago I’d created my “Qilin Savanna” site to interact with people whom also loved Qilin, Unicorns, Dragons, and other things, but also a love for art, or learning art.

This year (2017) while interacting with MANY MANY young people, and young artists, I often found that people WANTED to learn to DRAW, to improve their techniques and practice them, but despite having paid money to attend art classed (including “drawing classes”) they did not actually get what they paid for, did not actually get instruction for what they wanted to learn, but either had to fend for themselves, try independently, or got resources online for free... so, why then were they paying for it?

I have many many times, spent just a short moment with frustrated peers, students, classmates, friends, and fellow artists whom couldn’t draw what they wanted to, and teased me for being some kind of special person... when in fact, whatever I do, others can too. I sat with them, explained, and demonstrated (AKA Using The Feynman Technique) and after that moment of AHA THEY COULD DO IT. And, they didn’t need to come back. 

I did THAT FOR FREE.

I did THAT FOR LOVE.

And, NO, I DON’T HAVE A MASTER’S DEGREE. Honestly, at this point, I don’t feel I actually want one. I DON’T want to be a part of that club, nor establishment either. In this way, I’m somewhat like Socrates, Diogenes, or Bruce Lee... only NOT. I’m ME. 

I have a lot more to say, but I think I will leave it here for now.

[airadam]

Episode 122 : Drop It Heavy

"Scripture tell me no one excluded when rain drippin'..."

- Tobe Nwigwe

This month has been a rough one, but here we are once again with a brand new selection for your headphones and speakers! We remember the great KMG, and then sprinkle the selection with some strong UK tracks, overlook gems, rapid genre jumping, and one absolutely amazing remix. While individually there aren't many obscurities in the mix, I'll be impressed if anyone already knows every track on here...

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Above The Law : V.S.O.P (Remix)

Been waiting a long time to play this one - it was quite a few years of looking to find a decent 12" copy (thanks Discogs!), and then it was one I was determined to save for an anniversary of KMG's passing. The original from the excellent "Black Mafia Life" is proto-G-Funk, but this version puts a just a touch of extra chaos (and bass) into the mix, courtesy of Cold 187um on both occasions. An ode to late-night partying and cognac, but still bringing the battle edge to the second verse, this has KMG handling the hook solo but going back and forth with Cold 187um on the mic. A much underrated tag team from the west!

Jigmastas : Too Ill (Instrumental)

I love the fact that the "Resurgence" album came with a complete set of instrumentals, just so you can get that DJ Spinna flavour undiluted - here's just a taste!

Tobe Nwigwe ft. FAT : PEEP GAME

Another #GetTwistedSundays killer! I'm bringing this Texan back for a second appearance in the last four months, with a track I think a lot of you will really enjoy. The producer Nell brings a fresh style, with some great change-ups in the beat - and the other half of the bargain is held up with skills galore. Tobe absolutely crams meaning (and syllables) into his devastating monotone flow, and his wife FAT provides a great spoken-word-like breakdown in an efficient eight-bar appearance. This is a trio of brilliant artists (along with their video crew) doing amazing things.

BADBADNOTGOOD ft. Kaytranada & Snoop Dogg: Lavender (Nightfall Remix)

Canada's BBNG first released the original version of this track on their "IV" album, but Snoop Dogg heard it and somehow knew it could benefit from his own unique enhancement! This version ended up as an inclusion on his 2017 "Neva Left" album; his added verse addressing police brutality, in addition to the controversial video, thrust it into the consciousness of a much larger audience. 

DRS : All Time High

I was reminded of this track from the new "From The Deep" LP when DRS performed it live at a Manchester International Festival event recently. He's one of the most important artists the Manchester scene has ever had, with his influence spreading far and wide - whether fully acknowledged or not. While he's now mostly known for his drum & bass work, he was of course one-third of Broke 'n' English (alongside Strategy and Konny Kon) and this album has him displaying his Hip-Hop skills over the production of Pitch 92. 

Lowkey : Hand On Your Gun

If you like politics in your Hip-Hop, then Lowkey is someone you should definitely be checking for - a British MC of Iraqi descent, he brings his worldview to the mic with strength every time. His second album, "Soundtrack To The Struggle" gives us this stinging condemnation of some of the big players in the global arms trade, with ShowNProve providing the Wild West-themed track.

Kaytranada ft. Karriem Riggins and River Tiber : Bus Ride

A nice instrumental from the "99.9%" album. The guest star Karriem Riggins gets busy on the drums in a subtle way through most of the track before showing out right at the end with a little double-time flair!

Children of Zeus : Respect Mine

"Travel Light" is now a year old and it's still getting just as much play as it did on release! Juga-Naut on production, Mr.Thing on the sharp cuts, and Tyler and Konny Kon putting it down on the mic make up a major league quartet.

Robert Glasper Experiment ft. Norah Jones : Let It Ride

As strong as this track is, it's not even one of my top three from "Black Radio 2", which speaks to just how good that album is! Mark Colenburg earns his money on the double-time drumming that you'd think had to be a programmed drum machine, setting a furious pace that the rest of the groove languidly follows. The bass and piano are low-key and do their thing without upstaging Norah Jones on the vocal of this classy cut.

Janelle Monáe : Cold War

This is an absolutely furious cut. The video is definitely worth a watch - similar to the one for Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U", it stays focused on her face for the entire running length and is packed with emotion, as are the lyrics. Clearly one of the standouts on "The ArchAndroid", with the themes of isolation and struggle articulated by one of the best artists of this era.

OutKast : B.O.B

I've been wanting to do the blend from "Cold War" to this for ages! One of my favourite tracks from this duo, this pretty much made my brain explode when I first heard it back in 2000. I was surprised to find out recently that this wasn't a big hit even on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts, but they were actively trying to go against the grain and a lot of the audience probably just wasn't ready. To me, this is Andre and Big Boi at the peak of their lyrical games, keeping up with a track that really would fit the name "organised noize" - but was actually produced by the group themselves alongside Mr.DJ. That's a real gospel choir you're hearing on the hook and the outro, a really serious guitarist letting loose all over the track, and a real MPC being beaten into submission for those drums. Stone classic from the "Stankonia" LP. Oh, and "got a son on the way by the name of Bamboo"? Well, time flies...

[The Alchemist] Cam'ron : Wet Wipes (Instrumental)

This fit the bill here as something electronic-sounding that was also half the speed of the frenetic OutKast track, allowing us to come back down to earth a bit. The Alchemist cooked up a thudding, menacing beat for what was a typically disrespectful Cam'ron track from 2006's "Killa Season". This was actually Alchemist's first MPC beat (he was a devotee of the ASR-10 up to this point) and has the chopping and aggression that is very reminiscent of a track he did years later, Raekwon's "Surgical Gloves".

The Lady of Rage : Raw Deal

I finally sat down to listen to the "Necessary Roughness" album from front to back for the first time recently, and I can confirm that it was indeed slept-on. This was probably a consequence of it being pushed further and further back by Death Row, until it finally got a very quiet release in 1997. If you'd forgotten about the skills that made her a people's favourite, here's a reminder over a Daz Dillinger and Tyrone Wrice beat, laid-back enough to give her the space to get busy. 

Glenn Lewis : Don't You Forget It (Curtis Lynch Remix)

FIRE 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥! The original Glenn Lewis cut from "World Outside My Window") has always been a favourite of mine, and it's one you don't want to mess up with a clumsy remix - for example, the Desert Storm attempt with the most "missing the point" guest rap verse in music history. I can't remember how I found this one, but it stunned me - the re-interpretation is perfect. Lewis is from Trinidadian and Jamaican roots, and the move to connect with someone like London's Curtis Lynch for this remix was a natural but also an inspired move. It sounds like this one has been re-voiced rather than just swapping instrumentals, and it's a rootsy dancehall masterpiece with the drums, bass, and every single accent on point. Turn this one all the way up!

London Grammar : Non Believer

I'm not even sure what genre you'd count this as - Wikipedia claims "indie pop", but even that doesn't quite hit the mark. For me there are definite vibes of what they used to call "trip-hop" - I can imagine previous eras of Portishead or Massive Attack doing a tune like this. This track from "Truth Is A Beautiful Thing" is itself a melancholic beautiful thing, with Hannah Reid's crystal-clear vocals soaring over the moody beat.

Sean Price & Illa Ghee : 2Pac by the Locker

If you know "Juice", you know what this title is all about! I'd describe the track as "short and sweet", if there was anything remotely street about it. Sean P and Illa Ghee come through like a pair of brass knuckles as they do on every other cut on the "Metal Detectors" EP - just beasting.

Jake One : Gangsta Boy (Instrumental)

Coming through slamming like a new take on Dre's "Lyrical Gangbang", this is a monster of a beat from Jake One's "White Van Music Instrumentals". It had to be, since the MCs on the vocal version are the rugged neva smoove M.O.P.

Raekwon : Canal Street

Raekwon is one of the greatest picture painters in Hip-Hop history and this is an absolute art masterclass. From the first lines "All of our fathers is bank robbers, holding TECs/Eights of hero'n, shooting in the steps" he grabs your mind's eye and never lets it go until the track ends. Flawless street imagery all the way from "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt.II" to such an extent that the video actually takes away from it! Icewater Productions bring a fairly well-used sample in that brings the crime-flick menace the lyrical content demands. One nice touch on the production side - the sudden turn up of the volume in a matter of a beat or two in the transition from the intro to the first verse - definitely makes it hit you in the chest.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

  Check out this episode!