#my greek is about the same level as my russian

[daweyt]

May I ask how many languages you speak?

This is a question I’m often asked and it is a difficult one to answer. While I could give you a number, it would feel dishonest, as I have varying degrees of knowledge of languages, and do not have the same level of proficiency in every one of them.

To be true to you, I’m going to go in a declining order of proficiency, starting with my native language — which is French.

Afterwards come the languages in which I am fluent, typically the languages that I can speak the best and the most confidently; languages I can speak, write or read in almost as well as in my native language — which are English, Italian, Spanish.

Then, the languages I can communicate with by 50% I'd say, mostly because of a lack of vocabulary — which are German and Russian. German I had started studying for my girlfriend at the time, but eventually never completed. Russian was being learnt around the same period but eventually, this too, I let go of.

Then, come the languages I can perfectly read and write in, and could probably speak if given the occasion, but unfortunately said occasion never comes — which is Latin.

Finally, the languages I know the basics of, and can make small talks with — Arabic (Egyptian Dialect).

Currently I am studying Polish, and I intend to resume learning German and Russian right after. Ideally, once these will be done, I'll move to Classical Greek — understand Attic, but perhaps Koiné too, if i am not dead by then —, and Slovak. And again, afterwards, Hebrew and Arabic — the latter of which I already know the basics of but would like to study more seriously. I would love to learn Farsi in a few years as well.

Funnily enough, besides my native French, English is the language I've known the longest and yet it is also the only language I still make mistakes in — generally because of inattention, such as texting too fast and not taking the time to actually think about it or selecting whatever tense sounds better in my mind instead of sticking to actual rules.

[none-ofthisnonsense]

rant/general anxiety following

So I need to apply to universities soon. Technically I need to apply next year (2024) BUT I need to take some tests and stuff and do trips for open days and things like that so the preparation starts in January. This is causing me a lot of stress but that’s not the issue

My dream university is Oxford. My second dream uni is Trinity College Dublin.

I’m really interested in languages (& linguistics) and acting, but I’m worried that I won’t find jobs if I do those studies and that I just won’t have assured for myself a good future. It’s well-known that most actors who aren’t famous really struggle and I just don’t see many opportunities in linguistics - as much as I want to do historical linguistic research, I do want stable income in the future, and I’m not sure either acting or linguistics can guarantee that (more than, say, a business degree).

Oxford is truly the university I want to go to, and setting aside the cost (It’d end up costing me about 50000 pounds per year with the overseas fees!) I just don’t know what to study. I’ve selected three courses that I’m interested in, namely:

English Language and Literature

English and Modern Languages

Modern Languages and Linguistics

I don’t know what to choose (that’s another thing to think about later on), but in two of those there’s Modern Languages, and that’s something I’m worried about - I currently take fluent English and French, and I’m learning German too (and Latin and Ancient Greek but they aren’t needed for these courses).

“For Linguistics and French, German, Modern Greek*, Italian*, Portuguese*, Russian and Spanish candidates would usually be expected to have the language to A-level, Advanced Higher, Higher Level in the IB or another academic equivalent.”

(Modern Greek, Italian, and Portuguese all have beginner options, but German doesn’t)

The only language between French and German that I have fluency level (A-level) in is French, but to be honest... I don’t really want to study stuff in French, especially when the resources will be available to me in the original language if ever I feel interested. That leaves German, and although this is my 4th year... I still have a lot of trouble with it, and I’m maybe A2 level. I used to be B1, but I missed a year so my level went down. That’s obviously not A-level, and not enough to register German as the main Modern Language I’m studying. But Modern Languages and Linguistics is the course I’m the most interested in from all three, and I really want to do it, so I don’t see a solution in this apart from studying German like mad next year, but I’m afraid that still won’t be enough. (If anyone has read this and has any input, please please please say anything about this it’s horrible stressing about it and anything would help)

I’m also scared of taking English Language & Literature because, well, while I love English, I’m not quite sure I want to spend an additional four years doing analysis, however much I like it (I love analysis, just not as much as linguistics). This does seem like the degree that brings about the most options for the future, though, and the most accessible one for me.

The last one in Oxford that I’m interested in (these aren’t actually ranked apart from ML&L, but I’m writing this as I think about it) is English and Modern Languages.

“For English and French, German, Russian and Spanish “Essential:  Candidates are expected to have English Literature, or English Language and Literature, to A-level, Advanced Higher, Higher Level in the IB or any other equivalent. Candidates would usually be expected to have the language or languages to A-level, Advanced Higher, Higher Level in the IB or another academic equivalent.”

Same problem as before: I don’t have that level in German. I definitely have it in French, but again: I don’t exactly want to study in French, especially since if I really wanted to I could study for (almost) free in Paris considering that I’m a French citizen. French is my fallback for the situation in which absolutely nothing can be done to make my German better, in which case I’ll apply to the courses in French.

All this to say that I don’t know what course to try to apply to at Oxford, and just how difficult it’ll be for me to apply considering my level. I just don’t know what to do about Oxford.

Now, onto Trinity College Dublin! (Which I’m going to call TCD because it’s a long name.)

TCD was presented to me in a meeting for Irish unis and it stood out to me, and now that I’m thinking about it seriously I think I’d like it there. But if the choice of courses at Oxford was high, TCD has SO MUCH STUFF. I have never seen so many possible courses. At least price isn’t the issue there - I’d be at around 10000 euros/year which is feasible much more than Oxford’s 50000 pounds.

The courses that interest me are:

Acting (unsure if I’m really interested in this one)

Diploma in Acting and Theatre (same question for all things theatre... is it worth it?)

Drama and Theatre Studies

English Studies (see Oxford point about analysis)

German (JH) (I have NO IDEA what JH means. None whatsoever. I’m just interested by the course description) I feel like this one could be feasible if I enrolled as a beginner (I’d know the basics before other students but I’m willing to live with that no problem)

Linguistics (JH) (The opportunity problem)

Modern Language (JH) (Here, I think I could take German, or at least as a New Minor in Second Year. That seems possible according to the website? It would be if I wanted to take something else like Theatre or English.)

And that concludes the list! There’s a really wide range available at TCD and honestly that’s what scares me - what to choose? What if I choose the wrong thing and I’ll live knowing that I’ll have applied to something wrong when the other option was right there??

The German/French problem is also slightly present for TCD but much less majorly (ha), since they offer beginner courses for most of those. I’m just confused about what to choose, and I guess scared at the idea of college full stop. I just don’t know what to take. (Opinion that’s unpopular with worldwide education systems: DON’T FORCE PEOPLE TO CHOOSE THEIR FUTURE AS TEENAGERS. IT’S VERY VERY SCARY.)

I think that concludes the rant. I wanted to say something else about TCD but I don’t remember what, so I’ll stop here before the swirling ball of anxiety in my stomach becomes even bigger. Also, class at 8.20 AM tomorrow morning!

I welcome ALL comments and ideas and thoughts and reactions. Even just an emoji would help apease my stress because I AM SO STRESSED IT’S HORRIBLE I’VE NEVER FELT THIS ANXIOUS.

(end of rant)

[amazing-spiderling]

would you rather: be friends with Peter Parker or Foggy?

make me choose: greek or italian food? and what would be your favorite meal of these (including dessert.)

ask me anything: top ships at the moment? three ships in previous fandoms? what is an art idea you've been pondering over but haven't attempted yet?

Peter Parker or Foggy Nelson:

AUugh. This is a tough one?! I think for either, we'd be able to bond over nerdy things, so as far as common ground goes, I think they're both on the same level. BUttttttttttttttttt, I can get pretty annoyed when people make a habit of flaking out on me. I know it's not Peter's fault, and like, I an be sympathetic, but if I was to imagine a scenario where I was friends with both, in the end, Foggy would be the one I'd hang out with more/call first. I bet he'd be keen to try weird new restaurants and good trucks with me.

Greek or Italian food:

Damn you really have to come for me like this??? On the one hand, I have been exploring more Mediterranean cuisine lately (and making things at home). I have been consuming frightening amounts of Labneh and recently learned how to make a pretty passable version of this dip from a restaurant in a town I used to live in, which makes for a great sharable dish. BUTttTTt I think I'd probably still have to go with Italian food. There are some dishes I rely on (risotto, braised shortribs, MEATBALLS) that I love too much. I've got to love my classic love over my hot new crush. XD

Top Ships?

I am a serial monoshipper. Not that I ever say goodbye to a ship- I'm always happy to see it crop up on my timeline, but it's hard for me to split my energy between two or more. So at the moment I have to say my brain is pretty much running on pure, unleaded Mattfoggy, but I do give a big smile to the Aziracrow and Spideypool that comes across my dash these days. And once in a while someone will share some Snake/Otacon and it's just too good and makes me feel feelings all over again.

Three Ships in Previous Fandoms:

I guess to make this a little more different, I dabbled in TF2 fandom for a hot minute- this falls squarely in the "love to see it on my dash" category. I did a little bit of art just for funsies and read a lot of fic, including struggling with auto translate on a never completed one originally written in Russian. I was happy to consume basically any combination of Spy, Scout and Sniper, especially after reading the iconic comic, "Cuanta Vida". I also had a soft spot for Tentaspy, particularly with Sniper. Kinda miss those days. That was a lovely fandom that seemed to be there for good times and good vibes.

Art Idea I haven't attempted yet:

I think I've low-key promised that I will one day write a Mattfoggy doujinshi but I'm going to have to develop about 700% more guts first, lol. I also really really want to do this Murderdock animatic to a JazzEmu short but who has the TIME?

[bopinion]

2022 / 50

Aperçu of the Week:

"Having to go to school should be considered child labor."

(My 14-year-old son)

Bad News of the Week:

In a European country that is also a NATO member, the judiciary has sentenced a citizen to two years and seven months in prison for insulting public officials. Sound harsh? It is. Especially when the convicted man merely spoke of "fools" and did not address anyone personally. Even harder, however, is that the person also got a so-called "political ban". Especially because he is a politician. Stupidly from the opposition. Stupidly in Turkey.

Ekrem Imamoglu is the mayor of Istanbul, by far the largest city in Turkey, a vibrant metropolis located on two continents. He is accused of publicly insulting officials: he is said to have called those who "canceled the (municipal) elections (on March 31, 2019)" idiots. The bottom line is that he has thus denied non-partisanship to the officials. And is right in doing so. Because after two decades of the richly authoritative AKP rule under President Recep Erdogan, Turkey's state agencies, like the judiciary, have degenerated into lackeys.

And just like other critics such as Deniz Yükel, Osman Kavala, Canan Kaftancioglu or even Jan Böhmermann, Ekrem Imamoglu is now suffering the same fate. Anyone who doubts the ruler gets into trouble. Especially if he is considered a promising challenger to Erdogan in the upcoming elections in June 2023. Who obviously thinks little of the rule of law. You can also ask any Kurd. Or, more recently, any Swede or Finn. He denies the former any right to exist. And at least NATO membership for the latter, because he disagrees with their treatment of the - surprise! - Kurds. After all, they are basically terrorists.

But as I said, Turkey is a NATO member. For the U.S., therefore, it is a geopolitically indispensable partner. Because of its location on the southern Black Sea, which controls the access of Russian navy - not only Cuba fan Nikita Crushchov can sing a song about that. And for the EU also geopolitically an indispensable partner. Again, on the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. In this case as the bridge of countless not only Syrian or Afghan refugees to Europe. As long as Erdogan protects the democracies of others, he may nip this same democracy in the bud in his own country. That is probably also politics. Without any ban at all.

Good News of the Week:

Political Brussels has been rocked by a scandal for a week now: there are allegations of corruption against members of the EU Parliament. And these are so massive that the investigation has led to house searches and even arrests in four cases. At the center is a vice president of the Parliament, the Greek Eva Kaili. Bags full of cash would have been found on her. The accusations are serious. They range from bribery and money laundering to participation in a criminal organization.

Corruption always involves two parties: the bribed party and the bribing party. The latter is allegedly the Gulf state of Qatar. Which is apparently not only willing to buy international sports organizations, but also political goodwill with key partner countries. And it seems fitting, after all, Kaili in particular has recently been a vocal advocate of visa-free travel for Qataris. Her lawyer has so far denied any corruption, but that is his job: "She has nothing to do with money flows from Qatar, nothing at all," and he is not allowed to comment on details.

The reactions at the European level came promptly. Still on the weekend, Kaili was deprived of all powers of the office by the President of the Parliament, the Maltese Roberta Metsola. Then she was expelled from her Greek Pasok party and also from the Socialist group in the European Parliament. And finally, the formal impeachment by the Parliament itself. Already on the second working day of the week! And with only one dissenting vote!

Mind you, the presumption of innocence also applies in Belgium until a legal conviction. And at the moment it seems that Kaili's partner Giorgi is the mastermind. But political hygiene demands action in the case of such serious accusations. Quickly and clearly. That is what happened. The U.S. Republicans, for example, could take a leaf out of their book.

But what also makes this case so unique is just that - its uniqueness. For background: the EU Parliament has existed since 1952, has 705 members from 27 countries in this legislative period, and is the only directly elected supranational institution in the world. And yet this is the first time that a scandal of this magnitude has happened. For me, this means two things: Europe is not a banana republic. And if it is, it knows how to fight back.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Just now the fireplace crackles für the first time this winter. Which pleases me in several ways. The never-ending fascination of the flames. The adorable scent that fills the whole house. The almost therapeutic warmth, which is incomparable. And it was a simple wish I could fulfill for my wife on her birthday.

I couldn't care less...

...about the publicly celebrated royal family therapy of "Harry & Meghan" - now also available as a streaming service. There's really nothing more to say about it.

As I write this...

...I am once again very much in agreement with a position taken by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He had reacted "very disturbed" to the interim blocking of various journalists' accounts on Twitter by Elon Musk. The "arbitrary" move sets a "dangerous precedent" at a time when journalists around the world are facing "censorship, physical danger and even worse." Media should not be "silenced on a platform that declares itself a space for free speech." There is really nothing more to say about this either.

Post Scriptum

U.S. Republicans continue to work to lack respect for the rule of law. The latest highlight was delivered by Marjorie Taylor Greene at the New York Young Republican Club Gala, when she commented on the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as follows: "I got to tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would've been armed." There was applause. That can only be called a loss of reality. In comparison, the digital trading cards in the style of superheroes of her idol Donald Trump, who considers himself "better than Lincoln, better than Washington," are merely a bad joke. But they also show that the true function of elected politicians - namely to be public servants - has not yet got around in these circles.

[solardick]

My-Мой. Кто-who. You-Ты

To be russian cultural message is to let go if the moon. Which runs counter to conditioning.

Ain’t no letter pertaining to the russian alphabet but, seems connected to the defence ministry.

“For victory” V- “strength is in truth”.

Agaisnt an “empire of lies” leading to an internal degeneration of man. Knowing the russian language is based on the greek alphabet. Not the latin alphabet.

The Z flag, was apparently used for the russo-Japanese naval battle of Tsushima. A four colour flag made of triangles. In which the Russians lost monumentally. 110 to 1.

The z flag and “the” russian fortune cards.

The history of “tarot” in russian is identical the the alledged history of the tarot through the french, spanish, and english lands. Brought in rejected. Eventually accepted at a taboo level.

The Tzar deck is identical to tarot and runs off the same premises of the alphabet connection of 21 consonants.

The war on ukraine and covid happen coincidentally. While russia claims. Confidence with advanced weaponry. Russia invades ukraine and i get raped. At the same time?!

The letter Д : dah, D. Is the fifth letter of the standard russian Cyrillic dialect. Also called a script. In cultural media. The russian alphabet lore uses the Д symbol for the antagonist. The sum difference of card letter Z is 5.

Will not speculate further here. As association plays on the fool card centered in the emperor and Ф Symbol for F of the emperor. Calls for critical attention. But since language is the guiding principle here card 5 for tarot is the hierophant. Which speaks of “in good conscience”. And it’s micro sequence of four speaks of as inspiration and aspiration to something grandeur.

It is paired to destruction and a root cause of suffering. But at a generalized socio-political position, speaks to the negation of man. Or more specifically by depiction to the emperor. Other than by the implementation of laws. Concerning welfare. And the protection of assets. The official sit of power which makes decisions concerning conduct. Ot takes a pacifist role. At the expense of protecting the individual drive for attainment as it has been conditioned to be disruptive. By the constitution of the church. By which ever way meant. Or soemthign.

One simply can’t just google stuff and not find what is already set for one to see. As i worry for the future. Of controlled information.

As a result of the war effort the symbol Z. “World war Z.” Generation Z. As been limited. And criminalized by association. This speaks of the body driven by desires. And on another level, removed from graphic violence, to one of internal violence at the damage of the “life instinct”. Or procreative motivation of sustainment and multiplication.

The never failing curiosity of personal discourse to that of disseminated media.

The Д as number 5. And the association of the seat of governing power. The five having four corners and a fifth point at the center is reflective of the Z card for the world. It’s the emperors rod that completes the Cyrillic symbol for F. Though i never found any secure meaning for the world card. I cannot define it.

Crowley gave the number 5 association of the world to the pope card instead. Blending both together. Its enlightening. But fails at the numerological grouping of associations.

In other words all information is sketchy at best and drifts side to side in hypocrisies.

Thoughts that span separate subjects. Just go back and watch Putin’s declaration of war.

Came across one english guy who made a deck to his own image. Published it. Can be bought. Moved to austrailia. Had insecurities about his gender identity. The feminine oracle grabbed hold together with his childhood sob stories. In an effort to save face he literally changed the gender of the cards. Instead of 3 women in cups. Changed it to 3 men in cups. Changed a wands card to represent his traumatic formative memory of accepting defeat. And changed the world card with that of his own grown up magician self card. And it works great. But he’s a diviner. Leaving it up to reception. Instead of “inception”.

Curious how the 3 in russian is pronounced as Z.

5+3= justice. 21≠3 26-21=5 2+6=8

Man+the World. The rod of the E-fool(Marseille’s), the emperor and his throne. And the pope/or the acceptable Г card blending of japanesse culture, christianity and the russo dragon….. though thr Tzar deck borrows for the center piece of the russian emblem or seal. Of a horseman piking a demon.

26+21= 47. 4+7= 11 strength. 47\21=2.2…. 2x21=42-47=5 Д, pope. 47-26=21-26=5 E.

Uhm, anyway. Too tired. G’night

[annaviscom]

Intersections Project

I kept track of this on a presentation, so I am only writing this post right now with some additional notes.

At first, when I heard the brief, I was a bit confused and needed about 20 mins of pure thought to come up with some ideas. I presented three of them during a tutorial and chose the best one, which was about the intersections between languages.

I got really excited about the idea and decided to make a series of posters about what it's like to learn a language.

I looked into several typefaces that could work with the Russian and Greek alphabets as well. I landed on Coolvetica funny enough but it looked nice in all alphabets so I decided to keep it. But I also looked into these:

I did some extra mind mapping and plotted out the letters I could mix together to show the similarity between alphabets.

I curated a small mood board from images I found on Pinterest that gave off the visual vibe I wanted. I looked into several projects that I found on It's Nice That. I also looked into Paula Scher because I remember her campaign for the Public Theatre used lots of posters consisting of typography.

This is where I came to a standstill. Even after research and experimentation, my idea wasn't coming together visually, and I left it alone for a while.

Even though I showed the experiment to my second tutorial group, and they liked it, I didn't really feel right and couldn't bring myself together to work further on it. After some time and a tutorial with Rich I decided to give my other idea a shot, and if it didn't come together, I'd put it to rest and focus just on the posters. I also had this other idea of advertisement banners for a hospital where I could take apart difficult clinical terms' etymologies and use that as a metaphor to demonstrate how the hospital takes great care to look into your medical issues. But I said that aside because that would really change the visual I would need to create, and I was quite far into the project already. So I quickly wrote out the idea and actually, I really liked it.

So I quickly got to sketching to see what I could possibly do to visualize it. I straight away thought a small square-shaped book would be perfect. This is the plan I came up with:

Before proceeding, I decided to look further into linguistics and typeface development, so I watched a crash course on linguistics and a documentary about Helvetica. Even though opinions are polarised, I thought it would make a good addition to my current level of knowledge.

This research helped me finalise some of the ideas I had for the illustrations. And I just got to work. These were my final illustrations, some I struggled with but, nothing a but of thought can't solve. I left one page blank even though I planned on gluing a small book into it. During our last tutorial during the studio day, Briony mentioned that it was nice I left it blank. At first, I didn't really understand why and was still set on gluing in the book. However after giving it more thought I realised that I placed a single sentence on the whole page spread so it would be clever to have the illustrations on the spread connect to each other. So I made the empty page like my starting point where I didn't understand a lot, and once I did more reading and writing I saw patterns.

Next, I needed to make a book cover. First I thought I would make it white and simple to match the look of the pages and maybe add blurred circles of the same colors. But I tried it out and it didn't look great so I thought I'd made it a gradient. It goes along with the theme of the intersections as colours blend together and create a different colour.

Briony took a look at it and suggested to sleep the center theme going in the cover as well so I changed the positioning. She also said it would be fun to add a design to the inside of the cover and I thought it could help me enhance the concept. This was my final idea:

I made half of the inside black to represent the beginning of my journey, not understanding languages and only being able to use one, to the end where I could understand language's complexities and use several.

I made a test print on one of the VisCom printers the same day. The pages looked fine and Briony helped me out with centering the captions on the pages. I fixed them for the final printing on Thursday. Jordy showed me the paper stock and I picked the paper that i will use as well.

Printing day came, and I honestly thought I would be done in a bout an hour and a half but, I ended up spending 8 hours in the Mac Suite. The was an issue with exporting the cover because my gradients weren't rasterised so I quickly fixed that and gave the file to Jordy as only she could print it on the big printers (my paper was 300gr for the cover). Now when the pages printed on the Laser printers the blurred elements came out with an ugly outline. I couldn't make the book with something like that so I asked Jordy for help. She suggested rasterising them and increasing the opacity of the elements, but that did not help one bit. I thought it was the printer itself and asked if we could use a different one. Thankfully around 4 one of the graphics technicians came in as well and we ran a couple test prints on the Lasers again which didn't help so he suggested we print it on the Ink Jets on the graphics floor. The only thing was that it could not print double-sided automatically so I was waiting for the right moment to flip the pages and feed them back into the printer. This took 4 tries as each time an issue occurred but the pages were finally printed and I could not be happier.

Finally on Friday, I had a slot booked to use the bindery during open access. I came, and everything went very smoothly. Joesph was super helpful and kind of read my mind as well. The room is always super chill and relaxing and I even got to talk to some 2nd years who were working on their process books. I did a perfect binding induction but I still needed several reminders on how to do what.

The book was quite thin for perfect binding, but we made it work. I also found out that I should leave at least 1mm extra for the spine, I made it too short but had 3mm bleed, so I didn't have to reprint in the end.

And this is my final product. I am thrilled with it.

[romanovsonelastdance]

Postcards in the mail:

GD Konstantin Konstantinovich

Family of GD Konstantin Konstantinovich

Oath-taking of King Constantine I of the Hellenes

Young Nicholas II & Alexandra

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger

Family of GDss Xenia Alexandrovna

And also a Greek photo book about the Greek Royal Family--which includes several Romanovs, of course!

[pompadourpink]

hi maman! even though you’re a native french speaker, what’s something that frustrates you or was/is difficult to learn about french? do you speak any other languages other that french and english?

Hello dear,

I had a hard time getting my head around the nature of words (mostly objects and pronouns) and grammar rules because I started reading when I was very young, so I instinctively knew how to spell or conjugate - but I couldn't explain my reasoning to my teachers outside of "it's just the way it is".

I have been in and witnessed arguments over the spelling or gender of certain words, until someone googled it and realised the French Academy had meddled with the rules so both versions were now fine.

Culturally, the whole Tu/Vous thing and manners (i.e. how to phrase things to sound confident and assertive but not rude, how to talk to strangers depending on gender, age, and social class...) are essential but burdening.

In university, I had a few classist professors who were against language evolution. We were scolded for using words in the context of their new definition, or newly invented words, because it wasn't proper. For example, Sympathique used to mean compassionate but turned into friendly. I heard that one medieval specialist rage and point out the etymology at least a dozen times.

Since becoming fluent in English (if I can say that), conversations have been more taxing because many concepts exist in one language but not the other, thus are untranslatable. Coming up with a translation on the spot is hard.

Things I witnessed:

Not knowing when a verb is regular or not. I have a vivid memory of unleashing hell after hearing my grandmother say "Je buverais bien quelque chose" and correcting her because no one believed me. The subjunctive mood is also not a crowd's favourite as it can be irregular and sound wrong.

Not knowing the difference between homophones. Stuff like C'est/S'est/Ces/Ses. Children will pick one and hope for the best.

Not knowing how to conjugate. Many conjugations sound exactly the same.

Your region will determine the way you pronounce things. I discovered a few years ago that when I mention the colour pink, I sound southern. My family has been living in the same town in the North since at least the 1500s.

Things like Comme même/Quand même. I attribute this type of issue to routinely hearing the word without ever seeing it written AND having a family who makes the same mistake and doesn't encourage reading.

I'm semi-fluent in English, rusty in Spanish (high school level neglected since I graduated) and A2 in Italian. È ancora un po' difficile al momento, ma sono contenta dei miei progressi! Being French makes it easier, I'm mostly lacking vocabulary but I should be fluent by the end of the year. I also know a fair amount of Latin and Ancient Greek because of my degree, a bit of Russian, a crumb of Polish, can semi-decipher Portuguese, and I'll be learning German in 2023.

Hope this helps! x

[e-m-christina]

Serpent Of Sparta

Ivar The Boneless x Reader

PART ONE

Requested by @childishhoe

Summary: Ivar Lothbrok meets his match when he is introduced to Y/n Artròmitos, the daughter of a bloodthirsty Spartan king. She is sent to fight in Ivars army, after making an arrangement with Rollo, the Duke of Normandy. 

With matching rage and ambition, Y/n feeds into Ivars flame, igniting feelings that neither of them thought they were capable of. But fire can easily be burnt out.

Series Overall Rating: 17+

Word Count: 2k

Comment to be added to taglist. Requests are open. 

MASTERLIST

* * *

TWO MONTHS AGO                                                      

 Your incarnadine wrap dress fluttered in the wind, fastened only by the golden broach of nobility at your exposed shoulder. Rays of early morning sun glinted off the wine glass that was being twirled between your fingers, as you watched the city from the castle of Mistras. A new batch of children were being piled into carriages, waiting to be sent off as slaves, to the city of Athens. 

“You cannot keep running from this marriage. I know you already rule Athens, but after the death of your husband, you must marry again!” You clicked your tongue and rolled your eyes at your father’s remark.

“I have no time for love. I had to sacrifice love for respect. You know this much.” You took a seat opposite your father, who was running a hand over his grey beard. “On the contrary, the Athenians are weak. If I wanted to marry again, I would choose someone in a position of strength.” You said, rolling a grape between your pointer and thumb, making your father sigh.

“I know what you sacrificed, Y/n. What you had to do was terrible, but it was for the best. Both for you and your d-”

“Anyway,” You said, cutting your father off, “I am already Queen of Athens and the leader of the Spartan army. What use would a husband be?”

“Commander Y/n.” The doors of the hall burst open, revealing a puffed and red faced soldier. “The Duke Of Normandy has sent you this.” He passed you a piece of tinted brown parchment, bound by the wax stamp of Normandy. 

“Leave me.” You waved your hand, and the warrior promptly left the room. 

* * *

“Rollo is bringing a great ally, from a place named ‘Sparta.” Hvitserk said, standing beside his brother, Ivar, and King Harald. A fleet of blue Francia flags sailed towards them like great dragons on the dusky pewter ocean.

“I have heard little of this ally that Rollo is bringing.” Harald said, folding his arms across his chest. “But, what I have heard is that he is a great and fearsome warlord, and that his soldiers are blood-thirsty demons.”  

“She. The ally is a she.” Hvitserk corrected Harald, watching Ivars expression turn into one of curiosity. 

“What is her name then, dear brother?” Ivar asked, staring at the approaching ships with a new found excitement. 

“Y/n. But she is often referred to as the ‘Serpent of Sparta.’” Hvitserk said, feeling uneasy about the glint in Ivars blue eyes. “And if I were you, I would stay out of her way. Her people basically worship her. They believe that she is a descendant of one of their Gods of battle. Ares I believe God was called.”

Ivar smirked. Not only was she apparently a great warrior, but she was also apparently descended from the gods?

“Well, I do look forward to meeting this ‘Y/n’. I would hope that she lives up to her reputation, otherwise I will be disappointed.” Ivar took one last glance at the oncoming fleet, before making his way back down the salt washed wooden deck, ignoring the ‘of course you do,’ from Harald. 

* * *

Your nose wrinkled. The pungent smell of decaying fish grew stronger as you came to dock. After stopping in Francia to gather Rollo’s men, you and three hundred of your best Spartan warriors made for Norway. And after two weeks at sea, you were in a horrid mood. After an attempted assassination directed at you, you were pushed over the edge. Not only did you have to command your own men, Rollo had dropped out the day you were meant to leave, making you in charge of all his Francish soldiers. The problem other than the sheer amount of men to keep track of? There was  a massive language barrier. You spoke Russian because you often went to Kiev, on trade deals, and you also spoke the language of the northmen. Not french.

Your days often consisted of making ludacris hand gestures to command the french, only to be laughed at by your own warriors. Though you only shared the same ship as your best warriors, the only person you could confide in was Freydis, a Norwegian slave that you had bought from Kattegat five years prior. She had taught you the language of Norway and you taught her Greek. Freydis had grown to be your best, and only friend. You had made her a free woman, yet she chose to stay by your side, through everything. She told you everything about herself and she knew almost everything about you.

“Get ready to dock!” You yelled, throwing thick reams of hemp rope attached to an anchor into the dark water, before climbing over the edge of the ship, Freydis and your best fighters trailing behind you. You were greeted by a large wooden dock surrounded by what looked like disheveled old fishermen.

“I thought these people would be made from tougher stuff.” You said in your language, making your warriors laugh, as you fixed the golden clasp of your crimson cloak. With one flick of your hand, your Spartan warriors started to march down the dock in a wild wave of red and gold. You were at the head, with Freydis and Araios, your second in command, by your side. 

“Commander, I heard that this ‘Ivar the Boneless’ is a cripple. Talk about not being tough.” Araios chuckled. You did not not.

“So what? One of our gods, Hephaestus was crippled, yet he was a great warrior. I would not so lightly throw that statement around with malice.” You gave Araios a stern look, before continuing down the dock. 

* * *

“I have been anticipating your arrival, Lady Y/n.” You came to a stop in front of the throne that King Harald Finehair was situated on. “We all have.” He finished, before waving his hand at Hvitserk, a Northman you had met in France, and a dark haired Viking that you had not yet met.

“You will address me as Queen or Commander Y/n.” You corrected King Harald. “Take your pick.”  The dark haired Viking chuckled, before reaching out his hand. 

“Do you know who I am?” He said, shaking your hand. Since he was obviously not King Harald, or Hvitserk, it was a simple enough equation to solve. 

“You are Ivar The Boneless. Ragnar Lothbrok's youngest.” You said, making Ivar duck his head with a grin.

“And you have met my brother, I hear.” Ivar pointed to Hvitserk, who refused to make eye contact with you.

“Yes. I remember him. I had to put him in his place after he unsuccessfully tried to ‘woo’ me into bed.” You shot a look at Hvitserk, who was scratching the back of his head and glaring at his brother.

“Well, Queen Y/n, I am sure that we can thank the Gods that you and your men have arrived unharmed. Though, I must ask, where is Rollo?” King Harald said, moving from his throne to sit at a table with Ivar and Hvitserk, indicating for you to do the same.

“Yes, I give thanks to Poseidon for a good passage.” You said, taking a seat opposite the northmen. “As for Duke Rollo, he had urgent business along the Silk Road to attend to.”

“I am sure that you will fare well in his stead. But for now, make yourself comfortable. Tonight there will be a great feast to mark your arrival.”  

* * *

Mushroom soup, bitter greens with tomatoes the size of peas, rare roast beef slices as thin as paper, dried salmon and whale in a green sauce, cheese you brought from Francia that melts on your tongue served with sweet blue grapes. The feast was certainly large and exciting. But it was not the type of food you and your warriors were used to. Usually, you had lean chicken breast and a small bunch of grapes, greens, bread and the occasional fish. All  because a doctor in Athens had carried out research to conclude that those foods helped with building of muscle. The servants that the Northmen called ‘thralls’,  were all young women dressed in greys rags, moved wordlessly to and from the table, keeping the platters and glasses full.

“Why are your Spartan soldiers eating outside?” Ivar asked you, finding it odd that only the warriors from Francia and Norway were in the feasting hall.

“We eat outside for the most part. You said, taking a sip of Mead. The drink of the northmen was certainly different to your usual wine, but it was a welcome difference. “They also sleep outside in trenches. My people believe that it makes them stronger. Little girls and boys born in Sparta, are placed in a number of trials. They have to fight and fend for themselves. If they can’t, they either are left on a hillside to die, or they are sent to the City of Athens as slaves.” 

“We do something similar. We leave the weak out to die. But we do not test our children like that. Is that not too harsh?” Ivar said, leaning forward, making you chuckle. 

“Ivar, if you want to be the best, you have to have the best warriors. And because I am sitting here right now, proves that you do not have the best warriors.” You said. Ivar narrowed his eyes as he tipped his cup of mead back and placed it on the table.

“We do have good warriors. We were just out numbered, because Bjorn had hired the help of the woodland fighters from Sweden.” Ivar crossed his arms, clearly annoyed that you would suggest his army was not sufficient. You had to laugh. Were these men being serious? 

“Forgive me, I forget that the warriors of your people are not on the same level as mine.” You smirked into your horn of mead, watching as offence flickered over Ivars face. 

“And why would you say that?” Hvitserk said, trying to defuse Ivars switch. 

“The Battle of Thermopylae. Three hundred of my Spartan warriors fought against a vast army of the Persians. There were thousands of them, yet, we still won. Yes, we did have the advantage of land, being that we were on the high ground, but non the less. And you tell me that with a huge heathen army, you could not win because the other side had a couple hundred more warriors?” You said, making Ivar scoff. 

“Well, then it was fated. The Gods were on your side, otherwise you would have lost.” Ivar said, making you frown.

“When my Spartan warriors fight, Ares grants us good will.” You narrowed your eyes and leaned forward. “But are you telling me that the Gods don’t favour you?” 

“Don’t be stupid, of course the Gods favour us, afterall, they have allowed us to pull together an even bigger army.” Ivar said as he re-filled his horn with gritted teeth. 

“In any case, it is up to fate now. Hmm?” Harald said, standing up. “Well, I must go now and see where Astrid has gotten to.” King Harald took on the last swig of Mead, before weaving his way through the crowd and through a door at the back of the room. 

“Well, it is getting late. I better go find Freydis.” You said and stood up. “Have a good night.” You ignored Ivars grunt and nodded your head at Hvitserks ‘farewell,’ before following the same path as Harald. 

“What do you think of her, brother?” Hvitserk asked cautiously, very aware of Ivars clenched jaw and his blue eyes baring into your back as you left. Ivars silence made Hvitserk bite his lip. He did not think he could bear his brother complaining about you for the next few weeks. 

“She is arrogant and rather patronizing.” Ivar said, a smirk slowly curling his lip. “I like her.”

* * *

“You fight like a child.” You spat out a mouthful of salty crimson, swinging your bruised fist. Crack! The large white-haired viking toppled into the mud - for the third time. He had challenged you to a fight after he overheard you talking the night prior. But unfortunately for him, he just proved your point. You being half his size and a woman, he thought he could win the fight with ease. But you had only sustained a punch to the jaw, whereas he was sporting a broken and nose and multiple lost teeth.

“Þú eru witchr!” The man growled, stumbling up from the mud.

“No I am not a witch.” You side-stepped out of his way, as he lunged towards you, only to miss completely and stagger back down into the mud with a thump. “I am just better than you.”

“When I asked you to come help fight, I did not mean fight my men.” You heard a voice call. Turning around, you saw Ivar, who was leaning against a blacksmiths doorway. He stretched out his hand and beckoned you toward him.

“What do you want?” You asked, annoyed that you were interrupted. 

“I was thinking about what you said last night.” Ivar said, tapping his crutch thoughtfully. 

“So was he.” You pointed your thumb at White-Hair, who was still on the ground a few yards away. Ivar rolled his eyes and leaned forward.

“Not like that. I want you to train my warriors.” Ivar said, watching your expresion flicker.

“And why would I do that?”

“Do you want to win this battle?” He asked.

“I could win this battle easier without your men.” You retorted, crossing your arms. Did you not have enough to worry about?

“Then why don’t you?”

--

Part 2 coming soon.

Requests open. Comment if you want added to the taglist.

VIKINGS TAGLIST:

@youbloodymadgenius @krissydclayton93 @peachyboneless @1950schick @therealcalicali @the-blue-dalek @xceafh @pieces-by-me @ietss @spring-edlothia @stillsoloststillsolonely @poisonedjoinery @prunelsg @pomegranates-and-blood @revolution-starter @profoundtyrantharmony @ibenkastberg @xvxcarolinexvx @springsoulofengland @lady-valkyrie-blog @ritual-unions-gotme @chaotic-kinky-hippie @cocovikings23 @moonie-flower101 @readsalot73 @saruuslovesmcfly @adhdnightmare @fandomfic-galore @heavenly1927 @apenas-mais-uma-pessoa  @dacreshoney @jadelynlace @chibisgotovalhalla @bravado07 @starjane312 @teishalicious @the-girl-in-the-box @ecarroll1978 @childishhoe @punkrocknpearls @jessimay89 @justaproudslytherpuff @dog-cats-fandoms @alexhandersen-marcoilsoe-fandom @bethcarling-blog-blog @yourdevilmaycare @littlebirdgot

[veliseraptor]

got tagged for two fic writer memes yesterday! the one from @ameliarating first:

How many works do you have on AO3?

509.

What’s your total AO3 word count?

3,432,24. dang! that’s a lot of words

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

I have written for...counting the MCU as one fandom, on AO3 I have written for 32 fandoms, including at least one work in:

MCU, The Sillmarillion, Caliban Leandros, both DC and Marvel Comics, the book Barebacked by Kit Whitfield, Doctrine of Labyrinths, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars, Black Jewels, Dragon Age, Lucifer, Dexter, Temeraire, Gentleman Bastard Sequence, Supernatural, A Song of Ice and Fire, Greek Mythology, Lymond Chronicles, Merlin BBC, Code Geass, Good Omens,  Death Note, and White Collar.

this is not a comprehensive list of every fandom I’ve ever written for, because it is not including ones that live only on FFN or Livejournal.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Life In Reverse tops the list (11066), aka my 200k Loki-centric post-Thor AU fic that I wrote between 2012 and 2018 and with which I have a decidedly complex relationship at this point. I love it but also I no longer think it’s my best work but also I credit it with teaching me a fuck of a lot about writing and writing longer projects in general.

With Absolute Splendor is rapidly catching up, to my astonishment (6559), despite having been posted for less than half as long. Aka the wedding planning fic that’s really just me mucking about in my Jiang Cheng and my Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian feelings, at length.

some good mistakes (4618) was my first foray into the Untamed version of “characters who hate each other going on resentful roadtrips together, feat. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng.” I have gone on to write others and will continue to write more.

Unraveling (3069) is a little bit of a surprise but also not - it was originally just sort of WWP stuff for my ‘what if people remembered that blunt force trauma is a really bad thing actually’ problem that pops up sometimes, re: Loki at the end of The Avengers, and then it kind of turned into a whole thing. I personally think it’s the weakest of the installments of the series it belongs to, but it is the first one and also the one that gets least into the broader family dysfunction and depression stuff that probably is less everyone’s thing (but is what came out this fic that mattered more to me, personally).

I am a little surprised to see Steve Rogers’ Halfway House for Notorious Supervillains (3068) here too! I was expecting one of the more...idk, mainstream concepts from the MCU to win out? But I also wasn’t expecting two Untamed fics to make it here, either. But I am stupid proud of this fic even if it is very extraordinarily unfinished. This is one of those unfinished fics that will nag at me unless and until I finish it, at least a little, because the concept - if I do say so myself - is so goddamn good and I think I was executing it pretty well, too.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Pretty much never. I was never very good at it and now I’d feel like I had to go back and reply to all of them and I just. I can’t do that. and when I do try to just start at the beginning I get overwhelmed very fast and start avoiding it.

Basically I decided that if it’s a decision between wrestling with myself to reply to comments versus actually doing more writing I’m going to end up landing on the latter as feeling both more doable and more productive.

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

probably it’s The Worlds Forgotten, the Words Forbidden for sheer level of “so then what was the point” of it all. but like. I’ve definitely written a few extraordinarily miserable fics, and by “a few” I kind of mean “a lot.” Other nominees I’d put down might be nor autumn falter (for currently personally making me suffer most), once there was a way to get back home (for I think having the ouchiest summary), and Waiting for the Summer Rain (which remains one of my personal favorite Supernatural fics I wrote).

but like. there are 43 fics I have marked with Major Character Death warnings and every single one of those, pretty much, has a downer ending.

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

I have written several though not in a long time! My craziest probably remains the Morgoth/Cthulhu short I wrote that actually got sporked because someone took it seriously (???) enough to do that. But the craziest that actually has any merit, (I’d argue) is probably the Maeglin/Viserys one.

not linking to either, if you want to go find them I don’t think it’ll be that hard.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah, a few times on a few different things. More if you count “people who seem to like the fic but love telling you how much they hate the female characters you’re writing about in it” as ‘hate’ which I would but isn’t, you know, quite as straightforward. If I had a nickel for every time someone bitched about Jane in Life in Reverse, though...lots of nickels.

Do you write smut? if so what kind?

Sure do! But what does ‘what kind’ mean, I don’t know how to answer that question. I feel tempted to just put in my “Mike’s Hard Kinks” image edit in this space.

I guess usually I tend to write smut that at least involves a little bit of a kink? I don’t think I’d feel comfortable writing entirely kinkless smut. I think I’d feel weird about it, the same way I do when I write really nice fic, generally.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think I did back when but I don’t remember anything about it. I feel like it was one of those mass data scraping things where my fic happened to be among those caught up in it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! several actually, mostly into Russian and Chinese. every time it happens I’m immensely flattered that someone wants to put in that kind of work on something I wrote.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I think I’d be very, very bad at it.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Depends on when you ask me! I could probably give you a top five but then I’d remember six that I forgot to mention five minutes later. I guess if I were to think about ships that feel like they hold very special particular places in my heart... Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen, Steve Rogers/Loki, and Min/Rand come to mind.

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

oh god do you want the whole list cause honestly I could just like. screencap the entirety of my “in progress” folder with a crying emoji watermarked over it. and that’s not getting into the fics that are like...half formed babies in my consciousness but not anywhere on paper.

and also I just hate to admit that I might not finish something.

you know what? the Lucifer/Good Omens crossover I started would’ve been a lot of fun. I’m probably never going to finish it, but it would’ve been great if I had. I know other people did it too but my contribution could’ve been amazing.

I can say this very boldly with the near certainty that I’m not going to finish the fic so no one will be able to disagree.

(...also the Last Herald-Mage fix it. that was going to be a good fic too, and also will probably languish unfinished forever.)

What are your writing strengths?

I’m pretty sure dialogue is my strongest point. Dialogue and emotions, which is why I always end up just wanting to write about characters talking and having feelings at each other.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing action sequences throws me into conniptions every time I have to do it and I will take drastic actions sometimes to avoid doing it at all, which probably weakens the work as a whole.

Also, I don’t plan ahead and this means I write myself into corners kind of a lot. If I wasn’t writing long, dense fic it wouldn’t be a problem but here we are.

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

I tend to avoid it unless it’s in the context of, as in CQL/MDZS fic, leaving certain terminology untranslated. I’m pretty sure I almost never write full exchanges of dialogue in a different language than I’m using for the narration within a fic, and generally speaking my reaction to other people doing it is at least mildly negative.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter was technically the first fandom I wrote for, but it was a crack fic I wrote to make my friends laugh more than anything; I tend to count Wheel of Time as my first actual fandom for which I wrote my first actual fic.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

some days the answer is “all of them” and some day the answer is “I don’t like anything I’ve written in my entire life” and I never like giving this a definitive answer. yesterday I reread efforts in a common cause (the bound copy!! thanks @spockandawe) and you know what, that was a good fic and I’m proud of it, so I’m going with that one, for this meme, today.

tagging: @mostfacinorous, @jaggedcliffs, @silvysartfulness, @mikkeneko, @kasasagi-eye, @curiosity-killed, how many people am I supposed to tag for this one anyway

[lang-queen]

🎉1k+ Followers Language Resources Masterpost🎉

First of all, I want to thank you all for following this tiny blog! Without you, anything of what’ve done here wouldn’t have been possible. If I’ve ever been of help for any of you, I’m very much glad and I hope I can continue helping you for a long time more! 

[DISCLAIMER: My current main languages are Japanese and Portuguese right now, so I have more resources for those. I’ll try to maintain this post updated whenever I find more for other languages] 

Uploaded at: 24/December/2020

* sites in the language they’re listed in.  

JAPANESE

Nihongo Ichiban - List of all particles. The site offers lessons. 

Ehonavi* - Has interviews and articles. No kana on top of kanji. 

Matcha Easy* - Has articles, most of them from the Matcha brand of icecreams. It’s written in easy Japanese with kana on top of kanji.

Matcha* - Same as above, but written in advanced Japanese.  

Yahoo Kids* - Educational site for children that has articles, lessons and games. Written in easy Japanese, but not all kanji have kana. 

NHK Web Easy* - Japan official news in easy Japanese. Has kana on top of kanji and audio version for the article. 

Asagaku* - Online newspaper. No kana on top of kanji.

Japanese IO - One of the best sites for reading practice in Japanese. Has reading material for all levels and their interface allows to see the meaning of a word by clicking on it. You need an account and there’s a paid version, but the free one offers almost everything you may need. 

Locari* - Site for fashion, food and beauty articles. No kana on top of kanji. 

Watanoc* - Online magazine in easy Japanese. 

Renshuu - Site for practising and learning kanji. It tracks your learning as long as you use the site and has several ways to learn kanji, it also has some games. You need to create an account.

Jtest4you - Has tests for al JLPT levels, grammar and vocab lists for those levels and some resources. 

TV Japan Live - Watch Japanese TV live!

Traditional Japanese Children’s Stories - Site that offers a list of stories in easy Japanese, written in kana and with English translation.

JLPT Study Page - Recompilation of study material for JLPT levels from N5 to N2. IT’S NOT OFFICIAL. 

Ameba* - Site for popular articles and news. It’s in advanced Japanese and no kana on top of kanji. 

Rawdevart - Read raw manga in Japanese and Chinese. 

Love Heaven - More raw manga.

Wasabi - Paid lessons, but has some that are free.

Tofugu - Japanese learning site. Not only has grammar lessons, but also cultural articles and offers new resources every month or so.

Japanese with Anime - Lessons that are inspired in the Japanese and cultural marks we see in anime. 

Irodori - Free textbooks for beginners. 

Japanese Lesson - Lessons for beginners.  

JGram - Japanese grammar database.

Fontbear* -  Japanese fonts! As far as I can remember, some are free, some are not.

Coliss* - More fonts!

Nishinippon* - News and articles in easy Japanese. No kana on top of kanji. 

IGN Japan* - Videogame and pop culture articles. No kana on top of kanji.

Entabe* - Food articles. No kana on top of kanji. 

KanjiTomo - Software that recognises kanji in images. 

Wanikani - Site to learn kanji and vocabulary. You need and account and you need to pay to get access to all the content.

Try it* - Japanese Khan Academy. It offers lessons for subjects Japanese children have in school, like math, science or English!

NHK for School* - More school lessons. 

Book Share ZIP - Download raw magazines and light novels.

Kabegoe* - Travel articles. No kana on top of kanji. 

Travel Lovers* - More travel articles.

Marshall’s site - A very complete site that offers Japanese lessons and quizzes for all levels. You need an account.

Maggie Sensei - Great blog that gives grammar lessons with tons of examples.

Jmagazine scans archives - Download raw Japanese magazines. 

Hukumusume* - Site for children, it has stories for 1st to 6th grade.

Animelon - Watch anime with Japanese subtitles. The interesting part is that you can look up the meaning of an unknown word by clicking the subtitle.

Youtubers I Watch for Listening Practice - Check out my post! I still have to update it and do another ones for more languages. 

[PARA HISPANOHABLANTES]

Libros de texto gratis Este blog tiene un montón de libros de texto de japonés completamente descargables en formato PDF. 

Descarga libro de texto Tobira. 

Mexico Shimbun - Revista de noticias mexicanas en japonés. La página está caída, pero su sitio en FB sigue en pie, aunque no tan activa.

NHK en Español - Lecciones básicas.

Kira Teachings - Lecciones básicas y artículos.

Guía sobre la gramática japonesa - Sitio muy completo con explicaciones de gramática.

Japolatino - Más lecciones de gramática!

Portugués 

R7 VIRTZ* - Good news.

Easy Portuguese - Basic to intermediate lessons. 

Aulas de Português* -  Japanesse ortography lessons for fanfiction writers!

Público* - News. 

Learning Portuguese - Lessons site from basic to intermediate.

Maiores e Melhores* - Tops and tops.

Cultura Genial* - Pop culture articles, tops and other interesting trendy stuff. 

Revista Bula* - Online magazine, most articles are about pop culture.

Yahoo Notícias* - Brazilian news.

iG* - More Brazilian news.

IGN Portugal* - Videogame, movies, music and pop culture articles.

Máxima* - Online fashion and beauty magazine. 

Activa* - Fashion and beauty blog.

Ímpar Público* -Lifestyle articles.

Elle Portugal* - Online fashion and beauty magazine. 

Vogue Portugal* - Online fashion and beauty magazine. 

[PARA HISPANOHABLANTES]

Bab.la Diccionario - Ofrece distintas combinaciones de idiomas.

Bab.la Conjugador - Conjuga verbos, se tiene que escribir en portugués y aparecen todas sus conjugaciones en todos los tiempos.

Estudiemos.org - 18 lecciones con mucho vocabulario. 

Portuguesweb.com - Tiene bastantes lecciones. 

GERMAN

Wolkenkratzer - Online textbook. 

Essential German - Another textbook that is very complete.

FSI German Basic Course - Free textbook. It’s old, but very complete.

A Foundation Course in Reading German - Free online textbook by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Deutsch im Blick - It’s supposedly an online textbook, but seems more like an archive. Has exercises, videos, audios and lists.

Learn German Online (ielanguages.com) - Offers lessons separated by subject, i.e, weather, seasons, transportation, etc. 

German Language Guide - More lessons!

Sesamstrasse - Sesame Street in German!

German Lessons (DW) - Lessons offered by a popular German broadcaster. 

SWAHILI 

Learn Swahili (ilanguages.org) - Grammar and vocabulary for absolute beginners. 

Learn Swahili (mylanguages.org) - It’s really similar like the one above, but it’s more complete. 

Learn Swahili (Magical Kenya) - Basic phrases by a travelling agency at Kenya. 

The Kansas University Textbook - This completely free textbook has 65 lessons.

KIKO: Kiswahili kwa Komputa - Three years worth of material by the University of Georgia.

BBC Swahili - Read news in Swahili!

FSI Swahili - Free textbook from 1950 by the government of the USA. 

Swahili - English Dictionary - There aren’t that much dictionaries for African languages as far as I know. 

NAHUATL

[PARA HISPANOHABLANTES]

Nawatl - Es un curso muy completo.

Matinahuatlahtolzalocan - Libro de texto de parte del gobierno.

Lectura del Nahuatl - Libro de texto gratis. Tiene vocabulario linguístico avanzado, puede ser difícil de entender.

Ejercicios para el aprendizaje de la lengua nahuatl - Libro de texto de parte del gobierno. 

GREEK

Learn Greek Online - This site offers 105 lessons.

Learn to Read Greek - Free textbook by Yale.

From Zero to Greek: An Introduction to the Language for Everyone - Another free textbook, this one is smaller in volume.

New Testament Greek for Beginners - Free textbook that says for beginners, but seems pretty dense; however, it looks very complete.

[PARA HISPANOHABLANTES]

Cultura Clásica - Lecciones básicas.

Academia Latin - A diferencia de otros cursos que ofrece esta página, su curso de griego moderno es bastante básico.

Manual para Aprender Griego - Libro grátis con ejercicios.

Lengua Griega I - Libro grátis, es una guía de estudio. 

LATIN

Learn Latin (mylanguages.org) - Lessons and lessons. 

Learn Latin (Learn101.org) - It’s similar as the one above, but it’s not that complete.

[PARA HISPANOHABLANTES]

Academia Latin - Las lecciones son más completas que las de griego antiguo.

Linguim - Lecciones para principiantes.

RUSSIAN

Learn Russian - 100 lessons!

Master Rusian - Lessons, poadcasts and other resources.

Russian for Speakers of English - Tiny free basic guide.

Russian for Dummies - No explanation needed!

[PARA HISPANOHABLANTES]

Ruso Gratis - Es un sitio bastante simple que ofrece lecciones básicas, vocabulario y ejercicios.

ASL 

MasterpostnStuff masterpost for ASL

Sign School - Free online courses from beginner to advanced. You need an account. Has app version for both iOS and Android. 

Master ASL: Level One - Free book for the very beginners.

The Everything Sign Language - Free book that also teaches sign etiquette and other important factors to communicate with deaf people. 

Learning to See - Free book. Rather than a book to learn ASL, it’s an analysis of acquiring it as a second language, or foreign language. 

LSM (Lengua de señas mexicano)

[PARA HISPANOHABLANTES]

Manos con voz - Diccionario gratuito por Conapred.

Diccionario de Lengua de Señas Mexicana - Diccionario de parte del gobierno de CDMX.

ALL LANGUAGES

International Children’s Digital Library - Books for children in several languages.

Lingolia - Has lessons for English, Spanish, German, French and Esperanto.

Lexicity - Resources for ancient languages.

Tuna’s masterpost of resources for classic languages. 

Studens docere’s masterpost of resources for Latin and Ancient Greek. 

101 Languages - site that has lessons for TONS of languages.

Lovely Blue Panda’s guide to keep a journal in your target language.

Langcorrect - Write something and natives will correct it; you can also correct others in your native language.

If one of the links doesn’t work, DM me to either change it or remove it.

[lochrannn]

AU-gust: Escaping the Family

Read on AO3

No warnings

prompt no 6: Gaming

Characters: Lila Pitts, Diego Hargreeves, Five Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves

Relationship: Lila Pitts/Diego Hargreeves

-

This is by far the weirdest birthday Lila has ever had.

She’s in a new city in a foreign country, she’s in an escape room for the first time in her life, and she’s somehow ended up in a team with six bickering adult siblings and their teenage brother, who were apparently all born on the same day as her.

This, she finds completely unbelievable, though why they would lie, just to make use of the promotional free admission to people born on the first of October is entirely beyond her.

They’re all wearing stickers with Hello, my name is _______ and their handwritten name printed on them, though Lila feels it’s a little superfluous, as everyone except for her already knows each other, and she was also instantly annoyed when the little twerp in the pretentious school uniform wrote ‘Five’ on his name badge and his siblings are apparently indulging him.

Whatever, she’s not here to argue with a teenager. She’s really not too sure why she’s here at all.

Maybe she was feeling a little low and lonely when she passed the building and saw the ad for the birthday special, but now she's not too sure why she thought this was a good place to meet new people.

Currently she’s quickly losing her cool watching these complete strangers make an absolute pig’s ear of things.

The boy, Five, apparently, is sitting at an antique looking bureau trying to fiddle with something and swatting his brother Ben away, whenever he’s trying to help or interfere, she’s not entirely certain which.

The two siblings who look like models or influencers or something like that, Allison and Klaus are in another corner of the room and flicking small marbles up against the ceiling, though Lila is completely in the dark as to why, and going off their constant criticising of each other’s aim, they’re not doing a particularly good job.

The remaining three siblings Vanya, Luther, and Diego are huddled together in yet another corner, arguing over a scrap of paper and the presumed meaning of the words written on it, though it’s mostly devolved into hissed threats of bodily harm between the two bigger brothers and exasperated eye-rolling from Vanya.

Nobody has paid any attention to Lila in a solid fifteen minutes.

She’d take it personally if it weren’t for the fact that the only reason they seem to be interacting with each other is so they can make snide remarks about their lack of success with their respective tasks.

Lila decides that she’s had enough.

“Jesus Christ, you people are by far the most dysfunctional family I’ve ever come across and I should know, my parents were murdered in a botched robbery when I was four!”

By the end of her outburst she is shouting and now a pin could be heard if it were dropped.

The little wanker in the knee high socks is the first to break the silence, “Thought this was an escape room not a therapy session for traumatized orphans.”

“Hey, Five, don’t be mean to the nice crazy lady!” Diego, who she’s admittedly has had a bit of an eye on, jumps in, but right now the last thing Lila needs is some arsehole pretty boy white-knighting her, so she levels him with the deadliest glare she can manage and to her satisfaction he withers a little and doesn’t say anything else.

The rest of them just stare at her with differing levels of disbelief.

“Right!” Lila says with a determination that she’s mostly using to cover up the sudden awkwardness, “this might not have occurred to you, but can I suggest that we work together as a team and maybe try and solve the puzzles together?” She tries to keep the sarcasm in her voice to a minimum.

The siblings give each other slightly confused looks as if working together may be the furthest thing from their minds.

In the end Vanya is the first to break and says, “We’ve got a message here and I’m quite certain that it’s in Greek, though Diego says it’s Latin and Luther says it’s Russian. Does anyone have an idea what to do with this?”

Five gets up in a huff, storms over to unceremoniously take the note out of Vanya’s hand and then mumbles, “This is definitely ancient Greek, nice spot Vanya! Give me a minute, I think I can translate it.”

Ben, who has now finally got a chance to look at what Five was fiddling with at the bureau, calls out to the rest of them, “There’s two overlaying circle plaques here with the letters A to G in lower case and capital letters on them. There’s also some random small b’s and hashtags strewn in.”

“Let me see!” Vanya comes over to Ben excitedly, seemingly having had an idea. “Oh yeah, that’s a circle of fifths. Hold on we just have to turn it like this to get the right parallel modes together -”

There’s a click and one of the draws opens and Ben reaches in and presents a key to the rest of the group.

Lila is a bit surprised herself at how effective her little tantrum seems to have been.

“Ooh! Ooh! Do us next!” Klaus says with a little enthusiastic clap, looking expectantly at Lila, as if she’s done anything beyond merely pointing out that they should work together.

Allison, next to him, gives him a look that is mostly just an eyebrow lift, but Lila doesn’t need to have grown up with siblings to know that this is probably a very frequent expression between the two of them. Then Allison turns to the room at large and starts explaining, “There’s a small hole up there in the ceiling and we’re pretty certain there’s another switch inside it and there were these conveniently placed marbles that look like they just about fit through the hole, but we've missed everytime so far. I don’t know, maybe Five could get on Luther’s shoulders and see if he can reach it that way…” Allison trails off looking up at the ceiling.

“Show me?” Diego says slightly hesitantly, having kept quiet since Lila had put him in his place with a look.

He walks over to his brother and sister, takes one of the marbles from Allison, flicks it up at the ceiling without much hesitation, and hits the ceiling just next to the tiny hole in the wood panelling.

Without a word Klaus hands him another marble and Diego flicks this one up as well, manages to hit the hole and there’s another click from one of the draws in the bureau.

Ben reaches in and pulls out another key with a delighted, “Aha!”

-

In the end they get out using the two keys on the locks on the door and punching the code that Five deciphered from the Greek message into the additional keypad.

And then Lila suddenly finds herself out on the cold pavement, her quasi teammates a little way off, apparently arguing over where to go for food, though she’s trying strenuously not to eavesdrop, as now, after she was trying to get away from them as fast as possible, she feels a little forlorn.

She’s pulling the edges of her coat more tightly around herself while she’s wondering whether to try and catch a bus or splash out on a taxi for the occasion of her birthday, when Diego separates from his siblings and wanders over to her, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets.

“We’re… uh… we’re going for some food, d’you wanna come with?” he asks uncertainly, pulling a hand out to point a thumb over his shoulder towards his family.

Lila looks around him to where the five grown-ups and the teenager are apparently in the middle of a heated argument, and though a moment ago she felt oddly lonely, the thought of spending the rest of the evening with their constant bickering feels like a little much after all.

It seems Diego recognises the dilemma playing out on her face because he crosses his arms, looks down at his boot where he’s kicking at nothing on the pavement, and mumbles, “Or I could ditch them and you and I go out for a drink?”

Lila would have probably said yes anyway, but the shy smile on his face when he finally looks back up at her is stupidly irresistible.

“Won’t your siblings miss you for your birthday dinner?” Lila asks sincerely, though she hopes he’ll say they won’t.

“Eh, we meet up every first Sunday of the month, so I’ll see them at the weekend anyway,” he offers with a shrug.

“Well, do you know of anywhere where I can get a decent pint around here, then?” Lila asks with a bright smile on her face and a small flutter in her chest.

[ljf613]

Colonization & Imperialism in ATLA

One of the things I’ve noticed in fandom complaints about the ATLA comics-- namely, “The Promise”-- and subsequently, LOK’s worldbuilding, is the way the narrative handles colonization. 

I see a lot about how what the Earth Kingdom chose to do with the former colonies is “none of Zuko’s (or Aang’s) business.” (I also see people talking about how Katara would never support colonialism, in any shape or form, no matter the circumstances.) 

And I just.... don’t vibe with those ideas? At all? 

Like, I definitely have problems with the comics-- especially “The Promise,” where all the drama centers around Miscommunications of Epic Proportions and could have been resolved in Part One if all the characters just sat down and listened to each other (not to mention that Aang would never have agreed to make that promise, nor would Zuko have asked it of him (Sokka would be a more obvious choice, but that’s a different discussion))-- but I never had any issues with their worldbuilding. 

I love the idea of Yu Dao, and the fact that the narrative acknowledges that a new kind of world has new kinds of problems. It makes sense to me that we can’t always just “give back the land we took.” And I found the idea of the end solution being  “give the people who live there their own country” really cool and empowering. 

So I want to talk about why I feel this way. About what kind of real-world parallels can be made here. About some little-known bits of world-history that compare. 

(Please note that for this meta I am only going to be discussing the relationship between Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. As far as I am aware-- and I could be wrong-- there is no real-world genocide quite comparible to what Sozin did to the Air Nomads, and most of the people alive in ATLA were not actually around for or involved in that. And the relationship the Fire Nation has with the Water Tribes-- and that the North and South have with each other-- is worth a whole separate analysis, and doesn’t deserve to just be shoved into this one.)

(Disclaimer: While this is in response to some of the interpretations I’ve seen on this site, it is not meant to discount or invalidate those fans’ views-- I’m just trying to show my take on it. I am a firm believer in the power of active discourse, and the value of looking at the same scenes through different lenses, rather than just getting one opinion and accepting it as Absolute Truth.) 

The main thing I notice in general ATLA discourse-- and not just on this topic, but in any sort of meta about the Fire Nation, colonization, and global impact-- is that the fandom mostly compares the war and its after-affects to real-world Imperialism, the Age of Imperialism, New Imperialism, and Colonization. 

And I understand why that is. In the grand scheme of world history, that era is still fairly recent, and we are still dealing with the afteraffects from it. It has shaped the Western World’s worldview on every level. (Not to mention that the Euro-centric way we’re taught history means that this piece of world history is the one we’re most exposed to, and so have the most understanding of and room to analyze/criticize.) 

However, there are a few issues with sticking only to this perspective. 

First off, the Age of Imperialism was a direct response to the Age of Exploration. This was the period of time when white Europeans sailed around the world acting as though they were discovering new places and pretending that there weren’t already existing civilizations there. 

[ID: Two dots meme, edited so that Guy A says “i’ve discovered a NEW WORLD,” Guy B replies “you didn’t discover ****,” and Guy A insists “i’ve discovered it” / End ID.] 

Now, I’ve mentioned this in passing, but the world of ATLA doesn’t appear to have had an Age of Exploration. There’s no vast “undiscovered” land masses, the four nations have always known about each other, and they all have a shared language. 

The whole foundation for the Age of Imperialism was “oh, look, there are all these ‘unexplored’ lands with resources ripe for the picking (who cares about the indigenous people, they’re just simplistic savages who don’t know what’s best for them), let’s see which European country can grab the most land first.” 

This was a race. This was sudden. This was Europeans coming in and taking over while viewing the natives as bothersome pests. This was about multiple major world powers competing over resources. 

This was not 100 years of active warfare between a single conquering country and the very people they were trying to conquer. 

The parallels don’t hold up. 

Secondly, by focussing only on this one kind of historical narrative, we ignore any others. 

I will admit that I have used the word “imperialism” in reference to the Fire Nation a time or two. However, upon further reflection, I realize I didn’t really mean imperialism, which is actually a fairly modern concept. What I feel the Fire Nation is really an example of is centralism and expansionism-- two ideaologies that have been a way of life for conquering empires throughout history. 

(I am in no way qualified to explain the differences between these concepts-- I recommend doing your own research if you’re curious.) 

The Persian Empire. The Greek Empire. The Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire. The Mongolian Empire. The Russian Empire. The First French Empire. 

You could take any of these (or numerous others) and make an interesting analysis between the similarities and differences between their behaviors and that of the Fire Nation. And maybe I’ll do that someday. 

However, I started this to talk about Yu Dao and all of the other so-called colonies (I really feel like territories would be a better word, but, again, that’s a whole ’nother discussion), and I’d like to focus on that. 

FYI, here’s a basic history refresher: If two countries are at war, and then they decide to end the war, neither country is required to return captured territories. They can make a treaty and agree to do so, but there is no obligation to. The Fire Nation didn’t just march in and say, “this is our land now”-- they fought for it. They captured that land. Just because the war is over doesn’t mean they need to just give it back. 

Like it or not, that is the way the world operated for thousands of years, and so that is the interpretation I’m working with here. 

In any case, “The Promise” actually presents this as a three-way conversation. There’s Zuko (and, by default, the Fire Nation), Kuei (and, by default, Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom), and the people of Yu Dao themselves. 

(My understanding of the Earth Kingdom’s style of government is that it’s made up of a large collection of different ethno-cultural regions who all answer to Ba Sing Se.) 

I’ll let Sokka explain it: 

[ID: Comic panel from Part Three of “The Promise.” Sokka and Katara are talking, both in obvious states of agitation, while Suki and Toph are looking at something in the background. Sokka is saying, “Let me see if I got this. The protestors and the Earth Kingdom Army want the colonials to go, the Fire Nation Army wants the colonials to stay, and the Yu Dao Resistance just want their city to be left alone?” Katara responds, “Yes!” / End ID.] 

The people of Yu Dao don’t care about the war. They don’t even really care who’s in charge. They just want to be left alone. 

This speaks to me on a very personal level, so I’m going to make another real-world comparison here: 

My ancestors first came to America to escape from the poverty and opression they were experiencing in a place known as “White Russia”-- that is, Belarus. To be clear, I am not talking about the country “Belarus,” but the region, which includes the modern-day countries of Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Moldova, as well as parts of Poland and Russia. 

I looked up White Russia, trying to find out how much information someone who didn’t grow up hearing stories about what it was like (that is, most of the people reading this,) might have. I didn’t find much. Most of what I found talked about political ideologies and such-- things that your average poor peasant, struggling just eke out a living, didn’t have much energy to care about. So let me paint a(n oversimplified) picture for you. 

Imagine you’re a poor shoemaker in a small town on the Russian border. You spend your days hard at work, trying to earn a living to support your wife and nine children. You’ve never left the town you were born in. One day you get the news: Russia and Poland are fighting again. Your two oldest sons (ages 15 and 17) are forcibly drafted off to fight in the Russian army; you never see them again and have no way of knowing if they’re dead or alive (they’re probably dead). Poland wins-- this time. Congratulations, your town is now part of Poland. 

Does suddenly being Polish make a difference to your life? Not in the slightest. Two or three years down the line, you’ll go back to being part of Russia again. This is the third or fourth time you’ve seen your town switch hands, and you can’t say you prefer one government over the other. It doesn’t really matter who’s in charge-- you’re still faced with crippling taxes, forced drafts, and various other forms of oppression. (It doesn’t help that you happen to be part of a persecuted minority.) 

(This is why I have many ancestors who may never have left the town they were born in, and yet records show that they were born in one country, got married in another, and died in a third.) 

This is the kind of worldview through which I am looking at Yu Dao. (Obviously, it’s not an exact parallel, but neither is the standard “colonizers vs oppressed natives” lens.) 

My ancestors eventually got fed up with the treatment they were receiving from their respective governments, and left to build a new life, in a new place. But the citizens of Yu Dao don’t have anywhere to go. The only two real world powers in this story are the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, neither of which has ever before expressed any true interest or concern in the actual people of Yu Dao. 

The Earth Kingdom didn’t really care about the city before the war-- they were just another poor, struggling town, whose citizens were barely able to make ends meet. And while the Fire Nation may have helped the place grow into a bustling town, they also established a hierarchy that did not serve in the citizens’ best interests. 

And so, in “The Promise,” these citizens’ frustrations come to a head. “Enough,” they say, “we don’t want to be used as a pawn in your games anymore.” 

And Zuko and Kuei (and Aang) actually listen. They say “we need to start thinking about these people as people, not as symbols of one side or the other. It’s time to give them a say in their future.” 

And a new country-- a new way of life-- is born. 

(Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But it is constantly evolving and changing, trying to do better, be better. And that’s more than you can say about most of the other countries in this world.)

[solardick]

Not used to such clean positivity. Someone was waiting for me this morning. Wanted to approach me. Here keep it. I dont care. Wanted to see if i’m still smoking. Am not here to be your friend.

Good kid, i think, but, he doesn’t get it. Young optimism. Still a step closer than anyone else I’ve dealt with.

The image is this.

Й-judgement

Fun, when taking waite’s strength card nineteen when it’s labeled by a capital i. Its reverse image is ! . And as its the 9th letter of the alphabet. Being a Zero card for it doesn’t belong to traditional grad school level tarot. The I descends next to 9 and we have I9. Thats an i by the way. The first card by tarot is the magician. Waving a wand. The first letter of the alphabet is A. Placed for the fool of your choosing. Bearing a zero. Means it has a power of its own trumping even the trumps. It’s the stuff of creation and innocence unburdened. The Я of russian. Is the affirmation of self. If its reflection is something of joyest?

And well for my own creation, it’s the greek letter gamma. Which coincidentally is the G of Russian.

Not so curious anymore about why theres so much bordered russian influence.

Judgement. Is variable. Be of ones own making or that of the world.

Though we need to do something about that horses face. Not to be advancing against a harsh and cold current.

Its counter influence is this;

The image of two angels cantering carnage. Good job Jamey…. Life is odd.

Justice sits as a K. And is the 11th letter of the alphabet. 8 n 11. The strength card connects to both justice and temperance. 8-11 and 14 -18. Strength card is 11-14. The sum difference of the cards is 10. The I ascends. Descends to temperance. The i is the point of balance. Add I to 8 is I8. And thats an i by the way.

Strength is found lifting. But add in a devil card pointing down. And strength is encumbered.

The mirrored image of Г is 7 by closest relative. To touch here is the chariot. A vessel of the roman empire. War. And is a mars symbol. Though mars is bind’d to Neptune here. Here there should stand as the mirrored image of infinity. A dragon/serpent and a crow. Infact 7 is a Г, it’s just a little crooked is all. It’s not straight.

The turns of phrases one picks up over the years. Seems more like a recipe.

And the infinity card is an essential layering of the pope card. Its at the fourth power. The fool, the father, the pope, the dragon. The dragons interchangeability with the hierophant. The G’s close relation to Q n O, shows its own sequence. To that of death. A darker side of closure. And thats a fight. Strength is a fight. Against the eventual setting of the sun. With the dragon, and the emperor. Theres room to roam. The dragon has four whiskers. One for each, for they are all the same. Youth to the afterlife. 1234. CGOQ

Solved it. 😘

[iam93percentstardust]

hey! i hope you’re having an amazing day. this is just me popping in your inbox to say that’s youre one of my favourite writers and you got me really interested in winteriron (honestly one of the cutest ships) are there any fics/authors ii could reccomend?

Hi there! Thank you so much! I love this ship so much, they’ve got such potential for both fluff and angst. They really are one of my favorite ships to write and I’m glad I was able to write so much for them this year. I certainly do have plenty of recs for you, starting with my favorite authors:

@riotwritesthings: started writing last year, I highly recommend just about everything Riot writes but especially Road Hazards, Melt into Me (Your Words are My Own), and When is a bed not a bed? (When you’re not in it)

@hddnone: so many stories and all so good! Has nearly 100 Winteriron works on ao3 and you will not regret reading any of them, though fair warning that some of them are Team Cap Critical. Especially recommend Honey Pot, You’ve Got Mail, and A Bit(e) of Danger

@monobuu: mostly an artist but sometimes writes stories as well. i recommend Ravioli, Invincible Summer, and Meet the Fam

@tisfan and @27dragons: can’t make a Winteriron rec list without including the both of them. They work together a lot but you should definitely take a look at their own stuff as well. I recommend Safe and (the) Sound, Kiss Me Thru the Phone, and Stark, Naked

@ad1thi: currently taking a bit of a hiatus and working on non-Marvel works but I love everything Adi writes, particularly her entire Bollywood but Make it Gay series, which isn’t always Winteriron but wonderful nonetheless. I recommend the Greek Gods AU, 1000 Lives (For You), and we’re connected

@the-winter-writer: lots of smut and all absolutely fantastic! I like Precious Treasure, Winter Wings, and Instinct

@rayshippouuchiha: definitely an iconic writer for this fandom. Really great if you’re looking for genderbends. Writes a lot of absolutely incredible fics and not just for Winteriron but my personal favorites are The (Not So) Great Pretender, Fearful Symmetry, and The Mistletoe Kiss Polka

Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar): once again very iconic. you’ve probably read at least one of their works even if didn’t know. I recommend Shameless, Today’s Forecast, and Practice Makes Perfect

@lovelyirony: mostly writes ficlets here on tumblr and a multishipper (I don’t know why I’m saying that like it’s a bad thing, I’m a multishipper), also a fan of Sharon Carter and that’s the thing that made me follow her so you know

@amethystinawrites: I only recently started working their works but I’m loving everything I’ve come across so far. I recommend Tech Support and I Won’t Hold My Breath

AvocadoLove: also writes a lot of Stony and Stuckony, which I love a lot, but for their Winteriron works, I recommend Amalgam and Dead Man’s Switch

Dracusfyre: another one I’m new to. I literally just started reading their works today so I don’t have any recs for them yet but one of my friends loves them so I’m going to go with you should definitely take a look at their works

Eirlyssa: has some anti-Team Cap works so keep an eye out for that if that’s not your thing but writes very good Winteriron. I recommend Guide Me Home (Guide My Heart) and Always (I’ll Be There)

@imposter-human: one of the first MCU blogs I ever followed! I recommend childhood memories, speak my language, and lost in translation

As for specific works I like:

Four Strings and Second Chances by Vashoth

It was reluctance to let one of his finest inventions ever out of his grasp that made him take a couple days over a week to send the arm to Pepper’s office. But all things considered, Tony figured that sending finest prosthetic that had ever come into existence--literally grasping an olive branch--was one of the classiest gifts he’d ever given. He’d included a note and everything. ‘Barnes,

Can help with installation. Or not. Up to you. --Stark'

Who is the Mechanic? by @akira-of-the-twilight

The Asset watched as his handlers brought in a stranger—a man with a metal object stuck to his chest that was hooked to a car battery.

The handlers shoved the man onto the stool where many who had operated on the Asset’s arm in the past had sat before.

“Asset,” one handler said, “meet the Mechanic. He will be responsible for the upkeep of your arm. Should anything malfunction, kill him.”

The Asset eyed the Mechanic. The Mechanic was glassy-eyed and unresponsive.

He’d probably be dead in a week.

The Fix by SleepsWithCoyotes

Right, because Tony...Tony fixes things. He remembers thinking that, not for the first time.

Paths are Made by Walking by @potrix-the-queerschlaeger

The road to recovery is long, winding and a different one for every person walking it. Bucky chooses to help himself the only way he knows how; by doing what he does best.

Or, alternatively; the one in which Tony is a mess and accidentally kick-starts Bucky’s protective mother hen instincts.

The Evidence by StrivingArtist

Didn’t notice. Right. Sure. Two brilliant minds, two super spies, and a god didn’t notice when the chattiest man they knew stopped making sound. They just seemed happier than before. Brighter and more cheerful than before. They just seemed like they were more comfortable with him around when he was stone silent.

Fuck it.

He knew they noticed.

And he knew they liked him better this way.

Shadowed Hearts and Winter Souls by NotEvenCloseToStraight

The mid-1800s and Antonio Carbonell Stark is caught in a scandal with his lover. Desperate for a chance to escape the trouble and his own broken heart, Tony accepts a proposal from a mysterious Russian heiress and flees the country.

Natalia Romanova is in trouble of her own and has enough secrets to make Tony's head spin but somehow they settle into a fake marriage and calm day-to-day together, and everything works... until her half brother comes home and their life is disrupted again.

James is somber and silent, brutal and nearly broken and scarred, a soldier of the resistance. His heart is cold and gaze like ice, but his hands are hot and lips are warm and Tony finds himself ignoring the blood on James's palms and the shadows in his soldier’s eyes, and falling in love.

When danger lands at their doorstep, Natalia and Tony have to pack up and leave, running away in the middle of the night and leaving their men behind.

The distance between Tony and James gets longer every day, and Natalia has been keeping a secret for that can’t be hidden much longer. With no place to call home and a thousand miles between them and the men they love, what are Tony and Natalia supposed to do?

Puppy Love by Reioka

Bucky is learning to become a person again. When some guy starts crying all over Natasha's dog, he decides he's doing better than he originally thought.

Describe Your Perfect Date by ali_aliska

After getting turned down by Bucky, Tony decides it’s time to move on from his massive crush. He tries online dating—Pepper’s idea, not his—but the only thing worse than getting rejected is getting rejected and finding out your soulmate-level match is Clint Barton, all in the same day.

Clint, of course, does not let opportunities like this go to waste, but he’s driving Tony nuts for a good cause, he swears.

Bucky’s just trying to do the right thing and fails spectacularly, but it all works out in the end.

Rocket Science by marsmaywonder and orbingarrow

Sleep-deprived and under-caffeinated, grad student Tony falls asleep in a conveniently empty classroom and wakes up in the middle of Bruce’s Physics 101 course. After seeing a groggy Tony fumble a simple question, actual-student Bucky offers to tutor him. In a moment of “oh no; he’s cute” panic, Tony takes him up on it. Now, in addition to his already complicated life, Tony has to figure out the answer to the incredibly messy question: “How do you look like you’re failing the class, when you literally wrote the book?”

What’s Good for the Goose by Taste_is_Sweet

For this nonny prompt at the Imagine Tony and Bucky comm on Tumblr:

"A soulmate AU where an immortal goose shows up one day to lead you to your soulmate, the challenge is surviving the goose." (Full prompt in notes.)

We all have soulmates, and every soulmate pair shares an animal guide. The Guide is there to lead you to your One True Love, and they represent the aspects of the psyche that you both share. They appear when you're about to meet your soulmate, and often materialize in moments of great personal crisis, offering hope and support. There are stories upon stories about how someone's Guide appeared to lead them to their One True, or how the barest glimpse of their Guide eased their hearts and gave them hope in the midst of despair. The newly-rescued almost always attribute their Guide with giving them the strength and courage to hang on.

Animal Guides are ephemeral, ethereal, and elusive. They are, most often, no more than a warm presence or flicker out of the corner of one's eye. They are incarnate symbols of perseverance, optimism and hope. Foretellers of happiness, and the grand destiny of love.

Except for geese. Geese are assholes.

and so, we unfold by TheKitteh

Senbazuru. Thousand Cranes.

An ancient Japanese legend that promises anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. Some stories believe you are granted happiness and eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury.

Bucky’s not big on believing in any legends, not after all that has happened. He just wants to create something for a change, not destroy.

He needs to prove himself that he can be trusted to handle something delicate. He doesn’t need a promise of a wish come true. He just,- needs to do this for himself.

He doesn’t need noticing how sad, tired Stark looks. Doesn’t need to want to do something for the man, when he can barely do anything for himself. --- Tony simply goes through days and motions. He deals with the Avengers, with R&;D, with the rewritten Accords. All of it, it’s nothing new really. He just wants to get things done.

What’s new is seeing Barnes hunched over the coffee table, one step away from ripping a glossy magazine apart in the middle of the night.

And why the hell Barnes keeps looking at him during the days after like he’s a puzzle to be solved?

Welcome to the Winteriron fandom! We’ve got a lot of incredible authors and artists both and this is just the tip of the iceberg!

[jeannereames]

Hi Dr Reames, I hope you're well! I think I might have asked this before, so sorry if I'm being obnoxious, but do you think there is very much studying left to be done in regards to Alexander/Macedonia? Looking at the field from the outside, it seems a little bit like all that can be said, has been. Would you recommend studying Alexander specifically as a prospective academic path, or would you advocate pursuing other areas of classics?

The problem with studying ANYthing in the ancient world is always a problem of the sources. Unless there’s new material, then we’re all just doing ring-around-the-rosie with what we have. That doesn’t mean new things can’t be said. I’d point to my own work on Hephaistion, or for that matter, Alexander’s bereavement. I wasn’t looking at anything new, just looking differently at what we already had. As someone who’d done bereavement counseling, Alexander’s mourning of Hephaistion didn’t strike me as particular unusual, except in the amount of money he had and power to have his desires put into practice.

Also, scholarship tends to go through “fads,” like anything else. That is, someone makes a splash with a new approach, one that can be applied more broadly, and suddenly, a lot of people jump on board. That’s not necessarily bad, but it can result in oversaturation. Right now, one of the big fads is “reception studies.” So the rise of new directions in the study of old fields can offer alternative approaches to familiar material.

Another thing that can happen is for old fields to give birth to new ones. E.g, Charles Edson, Harry Dell, and then Nick Hammond all started asking questions about the country that produced Philip and Alexander, instead of writing just about them. Edson’s 1939 dissertation at Harvard, “Five Studies in Macedonian History” widened the lens but things really began to churn in the 60s and 70s. In 1972, Nick Hammond published the first volume in that massive A History of Macedonia, after having done Epiros earlier. He got Griffith to work with him on vol. 2, Griffith writing much of the material on Philip (which is still, btw, a pretty damn good summary of Philip’s reign, if you allow for material discovered since), then Walbank, already well-known as a scholar of Philip V, worked with Hammond on Vol. 3, which is the Hellenistic period.

Macedonian Studies was born, and by 1990, 3 different histories had appeared: a short version by Hammond on Macedonian Institutions called The Macedonian State, Gene Borza’s (still) excellent In the Shadow of Olympus, that goes up to Philip II, and Malcolm Errington’s A History of Macedonia that included ATG and the Hellenistic period. What followed (and was in between) involved numerous articles, then companions and conference proceedings. Alexander (and Philip) were still hot property, but many articles had nothing to do with them. New direction had been found.

Yet notice most of those early scholars were English-speakers. Partly, that owed to where it got started: Edson and Dell were Americans. They trained students who were also Americans. So Bill Greenwalt (Dell’s student) would go into Argead Macedonia with an interest in Illyria (and Thrace) because Dell had the same. There were some Greek scholars, such as Miltiades Hatzopoulos and Argyro Tataki doing a lot with epigraphy, and Manolis Andronikos himself, but the field was dominated by English-speakers for a while.

One of the bigger shifts in the last 20-25 years has been an expansion into other languages, plus the Greeks dominating the archaeology. When you take up high-level scholarship, there’s an assumption that you will read material in languages besides your own. When I got my PhD, aside from the ancient languages, common wisdom dictated I learn German and French.

BUT my NUMBER ONE piece of advice to anybody who wants to do ancient Macedonia today is LEARN MODERN GREEK.

Why? Because, as I said, the Greeks have taken back their own archaeology and most of their reports are in Greek. They’re talking to each other, and most (non-Greek) scholars don’t read modern Greek [that well]. That’s not entirely accidental, and some payback for the colonial dominance of the late 1800s and 1900s. (Elgin Marbles anybody?) The best way to keep out “interference” is to write mostly in a language few other scholars read well. That keeps Macedonian history in Greek hands. I would now advise young scholars that modern Greek is more important than French. Just as, if you really want to do Thracian history, learning Bulgarian and/or Russian might be a good idea.

It’s getting increasingly hard, as scholarship expands, to keep up with all the languages one needs. Current work is being done on Macedonia, as well as Alexander and the Hellenistic world in English, Spanish, Italian, German, modern Greek, and even Russian, and that doesn’t look at the wider world outside Europe (and colonial states). We’ve got a ton of talented young scholars on the continent, while jobs are lacking in many English-speaking countries, meaning students just aren’t going into it. English still remains a major language, largely because Americans and Canadians suck at learning other languages while the Europeans might speak 4-5. But English is becoming less relevant. As a grad student, I couldn’t have guessed I’d need Spanish and Italian more than French.

But LEARN MODERN GREEK, as that’s where the NEW stuff is. I doubt we’ll get much (if anything) new in textual evidence. By contrast, archaeology is rewriting what we thought we knew about north Greece. E.g., Methone now vies with Pithokousai for the earliest Greek script. Think about that a minute. Euboian Greeks and Phoenicians weren’t just hanging around off the coast of Cumai in the late 8th century, they were poking about the Thermaic Gulf, too, interacting with whoever the hell was at Pella before the Macedonians moved in (Bottaians, Paionians, somebody else…?). Who [what people] were buried at Archontiko between 650-450 BCE?? What was happening tradewise between Aiani in Elimeia and Corinth? That, to my mind, is where scholarship is going: or it should be. The Early Iron and Archaic Ages…periods before Macedonia even shows up in the written record with Herodotos.

Sure, I love Alexander, and I write about him a lot here, or Hephaistion, but I’m really an Argead specialist. I’m just as curious about how Alexander I used Persian power, then Persian absence to consolidate his own power and create Macedonia as we know it. When I first got to UNO, the Hellenistic Era was the “happenin’” place, but there are now a number of Macedoniasts doing that. Pat Wheatley (Brian Bosworth’s student) and Charlotte Dunn just (2020) published a new (probably definitive) book on Demetrios Poliorketes for instance (I’ve been waiting to see that for years). And there will always be Yet Another book on Alexander or Philip, but the place that is WIDE OPEN for research is the archaeology of Archaic and Early Iron Age Macedonia. That shit is interesting.

Go to Macedonia. Drive around and visit the museums (not just the big ones in Athens and Thessaloniki, or even Vergina). Go to Veroia, go to Pella, go to Aiani, go to Ioannina, go to Florina. See what’s up there. It’s COOL.