#structured language

[afrologicinsect]

I really love writing these SQL scripts, feeling BaseDD - moving through Logic like Butter.

[news4nose]

Sanskrit language is both a guardian of ancient wisdom, and the profound healing traditions of Ayurveda. Do you know the enduring significance of Sanskrit, its impact on technology, and its contributions to English language?

Do you know which words in English have been taken from Sanskrit? More on  World Sanskrit Day

[natjennie]

hey language loving people, have you heard of the game chants of sennaar?? it's an atmospheric puzzle game based on translating between the different symbol languages of groups of peoples in a tower. it's beautiful and touching, tender and melancholic. you can map different elements of the languages to each other and identify patterns in the parts of speech, it's incredible. play it right now. look at how gorgeous it is.

[kingroan]

not to ramble about iwtv but i think a lot of people who balk at the unsavory parts of gothic fiction are people who have either 1) never truly had to face an onslaught of the macabre in their own life 2) have not actually sat with the discomfort of the darker parts of existence or simply not learned or had to learn how to process truly twisted emotions within themselves. and i bring this up in relation to iwtv because i see a lot of people pointing out 'problematic' parts of the book or bemoaning which ships are more or less toxic. and it's like it's a cow farm there's gonna be cows on the cow farm.

yeah anne rice wrote some weird shit and some of it is definitely unnecessary, most of those elements were corrected in the show. but a lot of it is just gothic fiction. you don't get to have sexy vampires, romanticism and tortured yearning without the inappropriate attachments, the true face of grief and the blurred lines between violence and eroticism which has evoked great interest in humans for centuries.

[theborzoiarebackintown]

SUSPICIOUS

[matteoberrettini]

hi, i translated the entire jannik interview with sky for anyone who's interested!! if someone already did it well :') i tried my best so i hope you still appreciate it <3 under the cut because it's long.

WARNING: zverev is mentioned. i cut out the part where jannik talks about him in an answer (it's not long) but he's mentioned by name by the interviewer.

Let's start with, welcome back to Sky Sport. First of all, how are you?

I'm really good. I’m well-rested. So… yeah, I’m happy.

You’re well-rested, but you’ve trained as well. You always take advantage of the time you’re given, and in this case you’ve had and still have a lot, to improve your tennis. What have you been focusing on the most?

Well, honestly I did a lot of different things. I’ve spent a lot of time with my family, especially with my dad. I’ve done a lot of different things with my best friends who are in Monte Carlo, we went karting, we’ve gone on a cycling outing. So, many new things. In the end, the people I have around me every day, that’s what makes me go on every day and I’m very happy. Obviously we’re working a lot in the gym so I can be even more ready for my comeback, but there’s still quite some time left, you know? They’re questions that will be answered in Rome. But everything is going well. [smiles]

What’s made you particularly happy of all the activities you’ve tried, maybe things you hadn’t done in a while, considering you hadn’t had this much free time in a while?

It’s also not living with the constant pressure… because you have to perform. This is for sure the thing I’ve enjoyed the most. Training is a bit different too because you aren’t thinking about having to play a match in a week, so you’re more relaxed. The days are long, but… yeah, and then again, my friends, because maybe you hang out with them in the evening, you feel good, you go out for dinner or maybe you play videogames for a bit or do other things together… so honestly I’m feeling good. Obviously if I could choose, I would choose to be playing tennis. But on the other hand I’m feeling really good and I’m not even thinking about tennis that much at the moment.

A little bit more lightness, [Jannik: Exactly.] that still leaves room for something else: your being a perfectionist. In your ad for Lavazza, you say: “Can we do another take?” [laughs] but always with a smile on your lips like the one you have now. Does this perfectionism represent you?

In part, yes, for sure, because otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am now. I think you can always improve, you know? For sure that Lavazza ad was trying to show that: the fact you can always try to do better, and I mean, that was an ad, but I am like that a little bit. When I play a good shot, I think there is always some little thing I can do better. And we’re trying to work on that in these two months and a half we have to train before coming back in Rome.

I’ll take you back in time a little, to two months ago when WADA proposed to you the deal that would lead to your suspension. I would like to understand how you felt during those days, how was it for you, on a human level?

How it was for me… if I’m being honest, I’ve felt very relaxed. The decision of taking the three months suspension was very quick, we accepted it in a short span of time, even if I didn’t really agree, there was a lot of back and forth with my lawyer and the people around me… but in the end you’ve got to choose the lesser evil, you know? And I think that’s what I’ve done. Even if sometimes it feels a bit unfair, what I’m going through. But, when you look at the way things standed, it could’ve gone a lot worse and with even more unfairness, so… that’s how things went. Afterwards, when we took this decision, it took me a while to find myself again. Some other things also happened that didn’t have to do with all this but that weren’t easy for me. But… I’m here. I’ve still got a bit of time to process all of this. I can’t wait to come back in Rome, it’s a special tournament for me, even if at the same time it’s a very difficult one because coming back, in a moment when there’s already lots of pressure, and in Rome even more so, isn’t easy. But I’m living every day in a relaxed way, and again, I’m trying new things, so I’m happy.

Have you learned something new about yourself in the last months, something you didn’t know, even from the way you’ve dealt with things, that maybe can help you during other moments?

I’ve learned a lot, but maybe… I already knew it, that tennis isn’t the most important thing, but I’ve understood it during these months too, that outside of tennis there are people who care a lot, that family comes and will always come first, that friends are essential, that we need to create strong bonds, especially during the rough times… and especially that you need to find people to have around that you can trust, with whom you can exchange ideas… and yeah, to have trust [in people around you]. This is what I’ve learned in the last few months, so I believe on a human level I’ve learned a lot.

Was there a moment when you felt really vulnerable, when, maybe even when you were alone, you felt like crying a little, and felt emotions that you’d never felt before, or had only felt them in certain moments?

I felt very vulnerable after what happened. After I took the suspension deal in Doha, for a month, until now more or less, I felt very vulnerable because some things that I didn’t expect happened, some reactions I had that I didn’t expect from myself… there were a few things going on. I would be lying [smiles] if I said I’m a person that has no feelings, that feels no emotions, nothing… but you learn things, during your life, and I think year after year I learn more and more about myself, about who I am as a person, and also my value as a person. So it wasn’t easy, it was really hard actually at times, but the people around me lifted me up, gave me the strength to work through what happened.

On the topic of your comeback in Rome, there’s two sides of it: the love of the people, and we’ll talk about that in a bit, but there’s also your colleagues that you’ll meet again on the tour. In another interview with Sky, some months ago, you said it worried you, during the time when it was all still unresolved and a “hot topic”, going back to Flushing Meadows and have to think of how some of your colleagues would look at you. [Jannik looks down.] How has this worry changed now, maybe considering instead how you will look at some of them, who have said some harsh things [about you]?

Well, you know… it’s a question I can’t answer because I don’t know what could happen. I know how things went, I know I’m innocent. And the people around me, not just my team but also outside of my team, my family, my friends, those are the ones I stay close to, and there’s not even a slight doubt about what the truth is, so… I’m very relaxed because at the end of the day what I want to do is play tennis and be at peace, so that’s the end of the story. I’m sure everything will go well even if at the beginning it’ll take me a little bit of time to get going again. But these are questions I don’t know the answer to. [smiles]

And have you watched some tennis, during this time? Among all the different activities you’ve dedicated yourself to, have you watched some matches?

I’ve watched very very little tennis. I’m not keeping up with anything, basically, except a few matches that I’m interested in, but beside that, nothing. Because it’s something I can’t control, the results and performances of other players. And I’m out for three months anyway, there is no point in checking what’s happening, the time I’ll compete again is so far away that… it’s a bit of a different moment in my career [smiles] but I’m not watching anything really.

Well, even if you haven’t looked at the rankings, I’ll tell you you still have a big margin as world number one. Did you expect that the margin, despite you not playing, would remain basically the same?

The answer’s the same as the previous one: I can’t control how the others play, especially when— even if I were to play the tournament I would not be able to control anything, so there’s no point. In the end they’re just points, we can agree that the rankings are important, coming back as number one, number two or number three [is important], but… it’s a bit of a different moment. There’s also the new generation coming in, the new new generation with even younger players, Nole who still reaches finals or wins tournaments, there’s a lot moving around right now in this sport, but I can’t control anything, so this is what it’s like.

But did you expect that Zverev and Alcaraz would struggle so much? I mean they had a big chance with you not playing, and yet it almost seemed like they felt pressure from you from the outside, in a way.

Well, no match is taken for granted, even if you play against the world number 100, number 150, they’re all hard-fought matches, and in the moment when you’re not at your best… and maybe they’re going through hard times outside of the court, we can’t know that. There are a lot of things that can affect you when you step on the court. Maybe the pressure, maybe the number 1 rank, issues with your family or others close to you, so I don’t know. For sure things can change very quickly and now there’s the surface change, it starts again with Monte Carlo, there’s clay where Carlos is the favorite. [there’s a bit about zverev playing well on clay too here that I don’t feel comfortable translating.] There’s a lot of things. Let’s see how it goes.

[here is a bit about lavazza and how he feels like he’s part of the family and they’re great, also not comfortable translating this considering some of the group’s words and actions re: palestine in the past; also It’s just sponsoring lavazza basically lmao]

Imagine, in exactly a month, you’re in Rome. Can you picture how many people will be there, wanting to support you, cheer for you and see you back on court. How do you picture it?

Well, it’ll be important to keep a balance. Between the attention I will receive and especially how I will react to it and a lot of other things, including external factors, so I don’t know. Surely I love playing in Italy, I’ve showed it in Turin, which is a place where I feel safe. Having the crowd on your side is an extra asset, the support from Italians is important, you feel it a lot on court, especially if you’re the opponent of an Italian player, so it’s an asset I can take advantage of. It’s going to be a [makes quote-unquote gesture] problem or a privilege in a month’s time, so there’s still a bit of time and during this time I will try to get ready as best as I can.

Is there a countdown in your head?

Yeah, that’s been a thing since day one honestly, because… I stopped doing what I’ve always dreamt of doing, I’m in the best position to play this sport, so yes, at the beginning I started counting down the days. But every day it gets closer, every day I feel better, physically and mentally, even if there’s still quite a bit to wait. And it’s also a good chance for me to improve in the areas of the game that I had more problems with and to make my comeback on a surface where usually I struggle. So let’s try to do differently [on this surface], and if we manage, that’s great, otherwise I hope we’ll have many more years to try. [smiles]

Yeah, let’s hope so, that there’ll be many of them! They always say when you wait for something you really want, as I imagine you are awaiting your comeback, you remember what you really desired as a kid. What would you compare your desire to come back on court to? To when as a kid you were waiting for which moment, which event?

It’s hard to say. I’d always wanted to become a [F1] pilot, when I was a kid. We didn’t have the money for that so I never even started, but I went karting now, and the night before I couldn’t wait to do it, it was an amazing feeling. It will probably be something similar to that. Then we went cycling a few days later, and with that too there was a desire to try it out, and I think it will be something kind of similar. Knowing, being aware that I’m a good tennis player though. On the go karts I’m maybe not that great [smiles] and I’m really bad at cycling, but anyway, it’s really important, coming back, finding that desire again. But in the moment I took the suspension deal I was very… I didn’t even think about tennis, I thought about how I would spend these months, with which people and that was it.

So, we’ll see you in Rome.

Yeah. See you guys in Rome! There’s not that much time left [smiles] so slowly, day after day, let’s hope to be ready and I’ll see you in Rome.

[fratercrucis]

I get a boner every time jared padalecki transitions from sam to gadreel to sam

[ilovedthestars]

for real tho guys can we stop using “he” as the default/generic pronoun for an unspecified Blorbo. can we stop doing that. we’ve moved on from he as default pronoun in every other context by now but we’ve apparently reinvented it in the specific context of fandom posts

[nattikay]

Vurur alu Ingyentsim Ayramä hasey sìmi! Just finished the Secrets of the Spires story!

[inchidentalmeowmeow]

游龙戏凤 and Lestappen

The phrase is basically talking about an emperor seeking his lover in reference to their delicate dancing around each other on track.

I think one aspect of this commentary people don’t get is that dragons are primarily more masculine in Chinese culture and phoenixes are usually more feminine.

So in this context here with two guys, the commentators are basically discussing who between the two of them will be willing to “bottom” and be the phoenix.

IM DYING 🤣🤣

[texanmarcusdavenport]

I really like the idea of Marcus being a "failed android". His programming isn't seamless; he has odd reactions to certain events, he gets confused easily, he's overemotional. His internal world/self-esteem is entirely based on others' direction and approval. He's messy and disorganized while also having a perfectionist, compulsive personality. He gets fixated on odd things. His hearing is sensitive but not good at picking out distinct sounds; his vision is 70/20 but he's incapable of seeing 'the bigger picture'. He can't recognize faces. He can't see or touch screens that well. He's not a programming whiz or math genius; he actually hates technology.

He may be a feat of engineering and a mechanical marvel, but for all intents and purposes he's a fairly average autistic dude with a personality disorder.

[melikes-reads]

To German speakers

Serious question: how do you think, before you talk?

I've been watching German tv series and reading German fics, so my reading and listening comprehension is improving.

But.

German syntax is puzzling. Extremely so.

I know the grammar rules, I do! But my mind automatically goes subject + verb + object + conjunction + subject + verb + object when I want to speak.

When I write, I have time to reflect about the correct order of each word (and pieces of a word!), but trying to speak and remember where every part of the speech goes, and the right declensions… Impossible.

So, any advice?

[startrekmemequeen]

Thinking about Noonien Soong again...

People give him a lot of shit for "being a bad father" but i don't think they realize how hard it actually is to have an android kid.

It's fucking hard to be a parent. That's just a fact of life. Ask anyone who has kids. But imagine if your child also has enough physical strength to stop a moving car with one hand and can think about 10 000 things faster than you blink. But they still have trouble regulating their emotions. They still new to life, everything is new to them. You have to explain things to them, you have to teach them everything. But their brain is something so complicated and difficult, how can you even know that conventional methods will work on them? Do you have to go back and make adjusments to their programming or is it a matter of finding the right words to explain a very complicated subject in a way they would understand? Is their brain capable of comprehending this particular thing? It's your job to find out!

You live in a colony so you're a part of a community and so is your child. If a one year old human child has a tantrum and hits someone, that's totally normal. But what if an android does that? Everyone in your community would be terrified cause they'd think you built that "evil robot" from horror movies and they would want to burn your android (and probably you) on a stake. In fact, even if your child just says something weird or misinterprets a social que, people might become wary of them. So you have to make sure that no accidents happen. It's tricky to keep an eye on a little human all the time, but your child is faster and stronger than any human adult.

There's no parenting book about all of that, cause you made an entirely new type of creature. Problems so unique that no one ever even thought of them become a part of your daily life. And you have to deal with it, you have to figure it out because you CHOSE this fate. You couldn't possibly imagine how this will turn out, because no one has ever done that before. But you still made that choice. You chose to bring a new kind of life to this world. Of course, you could've just built the android, taken all the credit and called it a day. You could've secured a future and a good reputation for yourself. You could've made integrating them into human society and helping them develop someone else's problem. But you didn't. You chose to be there every step of the way. You could've stayed just a scientist. You chose to become a parent. Now you have a child and you're responsible for them. If anything bad happens, it will be your fault. Good luck.

[zilritsch]

How would Dream and Phil interact on a daily basis?

(And maybe Techno too)

A little story, I hope you like it!

A moment of late regression, Dream is about 9-10 years old.

- How are you, mate? - Phil comes over, shuffling his slippers on the floor. Dream is sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket with the hounds by his side, his forehead buried in a book. Phil catches a glimpse of the cover, squinting, trying to figure out what kind of copy it is. Two figures, one against the backdrop of a dragon, the other with a holy sword.

Dream blinks sleepily, trying to comprehend the present.

- What are you reading? I haven't seen a book like that in the library. - Phil taps his claw on the book, trying to focus the boy's attention on the question.

- Found it at Techno's. Said I could take whatever I wanted. - the boy frowns sweetly.

- Oh, sure.

- Mhm, something about admins and a hero who saved the server. - Philza's eye twitches. Maybe he should tell Techno not to let Dream near his collection of books that haven't passed the Council's censorship. Otherwise Phil will go gray.

- Nice mate, and how many have you read? Do you mind if I take it? - gently taking the book from the child's hands.

- Nooo, - Dream stretches his hands forward, trying to take the book. He pouts at Phil. - Give it back, I'm at the most interesting part.

- You were lying on a book, kid. It's time for you to sleep. - Phil chuckles, he stands between his outstretched arms, not surprised when Dream wraps his arms around his waist. The book disappears into the inventory. Dream himself buries his forehead in Phil, and whines.

- Come on, it's time to sleep, - Phil easily picks up Dream in his arms, - I'll even read you a bedtime story.

- Mmmm, - Dream hums, laying her head on his shoulder and humming her nursery rhyme.

Phil feels completely satisfied. His baby is safe in his arms and really cute. Dream could talk any nonsense and Phil would be pleased. He climbs the stairs while Dream meows in his ear.

Phil gently lays him down in the nest, adjusting the pillows on his sides. He goes to the bookshelf, choosing something from the children's books. He runs his fingers along the spines until he hits the last one. A shiny cover with a white horse. Hmm, maybe Dream will like this, considering how much he's been eyeing Carl. A grin spreads across Phil's lips as he realizes this is no ordinary horse.

Oh, his boy will be thrilled.

- Guess what I found, Dreamie.

- Raccoo in a bag?

- What? No! - Phil chuckles at the absurd answer. - I found a really good book. Look, - a claw taps the head of a painted horse.

Dream's eyes widen and he squeals.

- It's a unicorn! It's so cool! - Phil chuckles, sitting down in the nest, hugging Dream with his wing when he snuggles into his side. The boy looks at the cover in awe, even running his fingertips, tracing the outline of the horn.

Phil opens the book. Dream falls asleep halfway through.

[lewyn-martell]

FAVORITE LINES FROM EVERY SONG I LIKE

Alexander Hamilton (Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin Manuel-Miranda)