#what is a sentence structure

[sunshineboy-greer-collins]

memes by Phoenix, for Phoenix

[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?

[neroushalvaus]

Koko the gorilla didn't know ASL but, like, you could say that without invalidating the existence of speech-supporting signs

[gavramous]

i know ghost's actor said that ghost listens to fucking classical music of all genres (idk, maybe i'm just not cool enough to understand), but in my heart of hearts he's a grunge/metalhead who has a weird relationship with being a grunge/metalhead.

there's periods of time which can last for weeks (but usually last for months) where he doesn't listen to his music at all, because the sound remind him too much of who he was and what he went through. the thought of trying to find new music to listen to seems like an irritating task, though; a task that would only leave him frustrated with himself for letting this be an issue in the first place. of course, he does understand why it is an issue: it's association. he, on his bad days, has trouble disconnecting the music from his father. but it's also music that he likes, and on his good days enjoys listening to. these oscillating moods irritate him to no end, and he doesn't see a clear conclusion for them.

- - -

ghosts and gaz are in the kitchen, sharing each other's company and the last dregs of communal sugar in their tea, and they're talking about music. gaz is explaining what makes him so passionate. it turns out to be because of his father and his zeal for music of all genres. he explains how there was always music on in his house growing up; they always had a cd or a vinyl or a casette playing, and it was always something new, something unlike what they had listened to the week before.

ghost listens intently to gaz. he enjoys hearing about his normal childhood and his positive relationship with music. he enjoys hearing about his not perfect (in gaz's words), but loving family. he asks gaz what the weirdest album his father got obsessed with was, what genres his siblings enjoyed, gaz's favourite song, and gaz answers all his questions happily.

eventually, gaz asks ghost about his relationship with music, and it's ghost's turn to open up and sour the good conversation.

ghost explains that it can be a bit... tense sometimes. his father had a huge impact on his taste, and unfortunately that means some of the time he has trouble listening to his music without sordid feelings arising. ghost tells gaz how he's unwilling to try and find anything different, as it would just overwhelm him, so he makes do. he tacks it off with "it's just music. not the end of the world." that is, in his humble opinion, an acceptably casual (but also not too undermining) way of ending his answer.

apparently not to gaz. he looks at ghost seriously for a beat, then says, "i could always recommend you some music."

ghost thinks on this for a bit. where's the harm? gaz has good music taste. the worst that could happen is a deflated ego on gaz's part if ghost happens to not enjoy his recommendations. gaz might take that as a challenge, though, and spend a lot more effort trying to find something ghost enjoys. the thought of gaz putting in so much effort for him bothers ghost, but ghost also knows that gaz wouldn't offer to do something he doesn't want to do. gaz would probably also get a huge kick out of reccomending something to ghost that he'd end up liking.

"why not," ghost says.

gaz's face lights up, and he asks, "what type of music do you wan't to try out?"

ghost furrows his brow. he hadn't thought about it in that much depth. he just knows that sometimes he wants out. he guesses that something soft would suffice. something he can put on and not have to fight to listen to; something that carries him. but not something too light and airy. something that's grounded. he tells this to gaz, slightly embarrassed with his wording, but gaz tells him that's a perfect description, and he already has an album in mind for ghost to check out. gaz sends him a text with the album linked and says he will look for some other recommendations for him. ghost thanks him, and their conversation continues, and eventually moves onto something else.

- - -

it's a week later that ghost finally has time to sit down and do nothing for more than 5 minutes. he's relaxing in his room, and he remembers the link for the album gaz sent him. the message is still sitting unseen in his inbox, and he decides that there's no better time to give it a listen.

he grabs his shitty earphones from his desk and lays on his bed, opening up the album and starting it.

it starts off slow, but it's strong and sure of itself. it's flowy, and if he's honest, ghost can't really tell when one song ends and another starts. the lyrics are there in random intervals, and they're much softer than the sound of the music itself, but the voice that sings them is strong. it's obvious the focus is on the instrumental, and ghost apprciates that. it allows him to relax fully.

this is exactly what he has wanted.

he listens to the whole album and lays there after it finishes. he sends gaz a text, thanking him and letting him know it's a wonderful recommendation.

ghost still enjoys the music he's grown up with. but gaz has helped him more than he can know. he has helped give him options for the days he struggles with, and that means so much to ghost.

[triglycercule]

idea. since askdusttale answered an ask about where dust got his determination from (because dust has SOME determination just so he can remember the timelines and keep going against the human) and said it was totally up to personal interpretation on how he got his determination. so so so like what if what if dusttale's player did something similar to something new's player and changed dust's code to give him determination??? so dust and killer COULD BOTH had their codes tampered with??? the parallels would be INSANE. they both started off as sans and got their codes tampered with by the player but dust and killer went on two opposite paths. dust out of his own voalition decided to go against the human but killer had to team up with the human no choice at all. the opposite parallels go CRAZY oh god im tweaking

killer doesn't know exactly (since i forgot whether or not he can see codes or something like that. i swear there was an image of him describing fell and swap's code and then his own) but he can SENSE that something's off. something's different about dust that he doesn't quite know about. maybe it gets him to ask a bunch of questions that dust is definitely not open to answering because jesus man mind your own damn business but the question that really sets killer off is the way dust answers when he asks "so if you have determination then how did you get it?" and dust just shrugs his shoulders and said that one day he suddenly remembered the resets and then that's when he got it (and then goes back to mumbling to phantom paps or wtvr) and killer's just like. zomg. a sudden change in behavior or mentality that seemingly has no apparent reason related to the human???? like like like when he suddenly had to agree with the player despite literally never wanting to????? killer is over thinking the implications behind this

meanwhile dust is just annoyed now because killer keeps on following him. he keeps asking him strange questions. wtf why is the guy asking to see his SOUL that's incredibly personal???? he just wants to be left alone man he has no idea what's going on

[branwinged]

not to gotpost but my god they hated catelyn. like it was quite obvious they were not comfortable adapting a mother character who was emotionally abusive to one of the children in the household, and they either didn't have the time or didn't care enough to talk about the systemic prejudice bastards suffer in westeros and how that intersects with the disenfranchised status of noblewomen and the fundamental inequality of marriage, which obviously doesn't excuse catelyn's behaviour towards jon but gives you context to understand why she is like that. instead they framed it as an exclusively interpersonal conflict wherein catelyn was sort of made to look like the only one in the blasted continent who took issue with bastards and then this was turned into half of her personality which is how we got that incredible monologue about everything bad that has ever happened to the starks is because she 'couldn't love a motherless child'. now the really insidious thing about this is i'm certain the writers thought they were doing her character a favour, making her more likeable by having her expound on her flaws, because to them nothing was more discomfiting than a woman who would go to her grave completely unrepentant about being an inadequate mother, and i think this is also why they made her out to be so passive, constantly wanting to leave robb so she can return home to her youngest, because isn't that what a good, devoted mother would do? having littlefinger trick her into releasing jaime instead of it being a conscious and risky gamble because god forbid she exhibited any agency, even the agency to make mistakes in a tragedy. they turned her into a poor helpless woman who exists largely in the background for some audience sympathy, which is arguably the genre expectation her character is intentionally set up to fly in the face of in the books. because the northern war effort in books 1-3 was never robb's story, it was catelyn's. and they didn't get it. they didn't get it.

[transgendercastiel]

s16 early season ep where dean and Sam are hunting but cas isn’t back yet and they run into the ghostfacers guys again on a hunt and they offhandedly mention that guy that was gay for Ed and then died. Dean is immediately super weird about this and keeps trying to kind of awkwardly apologise (no one cares it’s been like 13 years) and eventually dean tries to convince Jack to bring Corbett back so he and Ed can have “closure” *looks off to the middle distance with a weird look in his eyes*. And while this is happening the ghostfacers guys are just watching from the sidelines a bit concerned about how obsessive dean is acting. Eventually Ed manages to sit him down and explain he’s really not that upset about losing Corbett in the first place and that he wasn’t really in gay love with that poor dead intern so could dean just lay off please? Anyway cue dean realisation that he’s not reacting to cas being taken by the empty the way he would if they were really just friends and an emotional conversation with Sam about how he was projecting his issues onto other people because he can’t deal with cas being dead

[cakemoney]

i'm still only a little bit into the ending fight (for neverafter for those watching me watch at home) but i am like. the rational part of me understands that attacking the princesses' philosophical justifications (especially in the heat of battle where rational thought would be pretty impaired) is simply not going to be as effective at changing people's minds as an offer of hope that it doesn't have to be this way. that is in fact true in real life as well. but like. somebody needs to point out that the princesses are fundamentally no different than the stepmother or the fairies. all you are doing is deciding what's best for other people without asking them. all you are doing is lashing out from your own rage and trauma and the people who suffer the consequences will be innocents, and you don't care. like take two seconds and tell me why little miss muffet and her lonely curds and whey deserve to be and should be and must be wiped from existence, with no one to remember her or her town full of adults who have strictly nonsexual sleepovers. tell me why if the itsy bitsy spider decides to keep climbing up after being washed down again and again its entire life, you should be the one to decide that they don't get to try one more time. look me in the eye man. all you care about is yourself, because you were raised as royalty, and you believe you deserve better, and you believe you are better than everyone else and the world revolves around you, and you believe that your feelings and your pain and your suffering are more important than those of normal people, farmers, peasants, families throughout the realms who, despite having no name and no power and no book and no destiny, despite eking out miserable existences in constant downpours or under threat of being crushed by giants or being forced to use old moldy shoes left by giants as houses, still choose to keep living. do people stop falling in love because the times are bad? do children stop being born, growing up, making friends, making art, scraping their knees when they trip but then getting up again, because the skies are dark? none of their memories and joys, none of their stories and bonds, no matter how brief, are worth preservation? all of their lives are worth nothing because you said so? you wanna run that one by me again buddy

[black-and-yellow]

I came across your Loudspeaker AU, specifically the one where Denki, Todoroki, and Mina get an email from him. And now all I can imagine is this purely one sided beef between the new English teacher and him.

Heartbreaking: teacher-turned-villain finds out that his replacement in the English department isn't making grammar funky, fresh and fun.

[absolutebl]

hello! i was wondering, what pronouns do you use? i was just thinking about your blog today and realized i didn't know how to refer to you!

mostly I answer to "yes... and?"

[neige-leblanche]

also y'all

does anybody have the original japanese of this line from book 5 ch 27???

bc rereading it i was like. O_O. is he. not talking about vil.

i was thinking like "the first read through you're definitely meant to think so, and vil did absolutely change rook's life, but with context from both book 6 and his halloween vignette, what he's describing here leans more towards the latter" which is like. masterful gaybait i can't even be mad. it's like that post saying "some gaybaiting is like a box propped up with a stick and a block of cheese underneath" except this has all the intricacy of a steampunk clock.

but my VERY shoddy japanese skills r telling me the line translates more to "beauty in your eyes and the darkness, lighting up your entire life for you—in a time in your existence when you'll be able to have [such an experience] (expanding on the prev line where he says they'll be able to understand his ideology in the future)"

^ and i probably mangled this so bad but the main point is i didn't hear him refer to a "someone" like he does in the english tl & i'm wondering if i missed it or if it was in fact added!!!

[evilkitten3]

the hardest part of reading naruto fanfic is frankly not sorting through all the stuff i don't care about or trying to ignore awful characterization. it's trying to survive the attempts at japanese. why couldn't my special interest have been in literally any other language.

he would not fucking say that. he would not fucking conjugate verbs like that. he would not use that honorific for that person. that one isn't even an honorific at all. you're killing me

[sydney-carton-of-sour-milk]

okay since J. A. Hammerton / Harry Furniss can substitute "tallest" for "idlest" as a descriptor for Carton, why can't we do our own?

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

Other thing from my priv (idk i need to sleep soon but im preoccupied)

(Slightly in reference to this post I made a while ago)

[sanjerina]

The thing I love about fannish creativity is how all of the stories kind of curl up next to the original version and pad it out, but in this variegated way where the padding around the original* story can create so many different answers to things like: what happened next? — what happened in the other character’s point of view? — why are there bees in the trees in the autumn? — what if the bees were surveillance cameras?

(This is, by the way, the collaborative storytelling we have been designed to do for, like, a couple-few hundred thousand years? * Yeah.)

Anyway. The example I have today (though I have others!) is from Victoria Goddard’s Greenwing and Dart series, which focuses on two young men named, as might imagine, Mr. Greenwing and Mr. Dart.

There were so many many stories where the buddy-sleuth (they’re not cops, Jemis Greenwing says ACAB) vibe they have going, their emotional intensity, their various in-jokes… I would have read as homoerotic subtext, like we’ve all been doing since Holmes and Watson.

And fanfic has always been such a reliable place for this. Like. Please and thank God for that. I keep talking about the Good Boys because I want them to experience every possibility of love and support and sarcasm they can possibly attain. And bring their friends. In wild permutation.

But for various reasons, halfway through its run I don’t think the text is “going there” (in terms of a G+D sexual relationship) — there’s plenty of gayness within the text, so it’s not Goddard pretending to ignore something (as if she would).

But it’s also not a sexually charged relationship**, and I’ll be astounded if that is how it actually ends for them. G+D hits beat by beat of a traditional romance in so many ways, but instead of “falling short” of true love like a 70s buddy comedy, it falls otherwise. Mr. Greenwing and Mr. Dart are each the most important person in the others’ lives. That will not change. Their mutual loyalty is so precious to me that I fear to mention it lest I endanger it.

So — though I will read alllllllll of the Greenwing/Dart fanfic y’all want to write! — I would sort of be let down if they did get together sexually “for real” (i.e., in canon). The beauty and vulnerability of their friendship is gorgeous just as it is, and my demi/gray-ace heart finds that so fulfilling. I trust the storyteller here and have no doubt she can get me “there” if that’s where she’s going, but I love their dynamic and the way it shows another model of love. And since that’s often a theme in Goddard’s writing, I think she’s doing it on purpose.

So if she did “go there”, great, nothing I like better of an evening than reading a satisfying romance about two people (who are fictional and nothing at all like me) finding true love and also orgasms. But if she sticks the queerplatonic landing as I am currently expecting, I will be deeply satisfied.

Either way, fanfic will fill in and give us the story that’s not there. And that’s what I love about stories that accumulate other storytellers.*

Anyway, to my POINT, which is that I love fanfic for its profusion of color, AND I also love the original* canon everyone more or less agrees on and either (1) elaborates within that framework or (2) turns it on its head.

And please go read these books. The love, the loyalty, the yearning… the FANFIC just trust me. I want 500K of G+D fic on my desk next Monday and I’m hardly going to do it all myself 😂

- notes -

* I think in the end every story is one story, but also that that’s why every retelling of that story is singular and cannot be duplicated. Along with also having a theory about social storytelling and music being the ways we managed our mental health long enough to develop agriculture (and then fuck that cultural system up.)

But anyway. I’m also a tiny bit high right now, so this may not be as deep as I think it is. :)

** Look, in canon, which is from Jemis’s perspective, you know I’m right. And yes, it’s equally well established that Jemis is an otherwise very smart young man who is utterly oblivious about his own sex appeal. So it’s like a Schrödinger’s cat of they will kiss/they will not kiss, and I eat that up with a spoon.

[funishment-time]

i am currently compiling the Kodaka BlueSky Q&As, and they will be machine-translated with as many corrections from my manager (native Japanese) as possible.

she's forgotten some of her Japanese over time during her Lifelong Rantaro-like travels, which means, as hard as we'll try to bring you something close to the Correct Info, there will obviously be mistakes and no one should take them as Gospel or The Ultimate Source...

...but it sure would be nice if most online translators didn't run on shitty ChatGPT these days and trip balls every 3 goddamn sentences