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aeide-thea · 11 months

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if you didn't bother searching btw I'm pretty sure the author whose metaphors lydia davis is dragging is khaled hosseini lol

yes, specifically and the mountains echoed!

to be clear, i haven't actually read either author myself—though i do know davis is, like, a ~writer's writer~ whereas hosseini is bestselling, with everything that implies—and it's very possible that i'd prefer davis' work to hosseini's! i just was really struck by the level of doublethink davis was displaying there: absolutely wild, imo, to say “I don’t like to knock other writers as a matter of principle” as a preface to… doing exactly that?? not that many of us aren't hypocrites, of course, but one does sort of hope a writer would be more careful and honest in their observation of human foibles, even when the foibles in question are their own. (naive of me, i know.)

i think i'm also just a little startled that goodyear (the reporter) seems to take davis' self-assessment at more or less face value, and agree that "to be curmudgeonly was not the point"? i mean, goodyear does put the moment on the page, obviously, where it can speak for itself; but later on in the article she remarks, "as a person, davis is tactful if particular," and i just. i question this characterization, tbh! i don't think someone tactful ('considerate and discreet,' says american heritage) would have gone on record picking apart the work of a living author, in a way whose coyness actually makes the assessment seem more damning, imo—as if hosseini's writing were so shocking it could only be whispered about behind one's hand. which isn't to say it mightn't in fact be that shocking, don't get me wrong! but it's just such a passive-aggressive approach to criticism, and yet, somehow, doesn't seem to register that way with goodyear (possibly because it's at least less overt naming-and-shaming than is goodyear's own style, lol! but i digress).

that said, i do want to reiterate that i don't necessarily think davis has an obligation to be tactful? i can see arguments in favor of prioritizing kindness here and i can also see arguments in favor of prioritizing truth, as i said originally; i think it's easy to hate on women, in particular, for not behaving in ways that are sufficiently conciliatory, and i hope i'm not doing that here. but i guess i just also think—if one can't be both honest and kind, it's probably better to pick one and abide by it than to, in attempting to strike a balance, fall short of quite being either.

#not sure why i keep getting SO excessively verbose abt this‚ yikes #i'm not even particularly wound up about it!#but maybe that's why‚ really—it's easy to dissect and (for me) relatively low-stakes #but like. both interviewee and interviewer here have pretty clearly led lives of significant privilege—#both davis and goodyear attended expensive new england boarding schools and then ivies—#and like. that doesn't make their commitment to literature not valuable #but when your prescriptivism leads you to pillory a first-generation immigrant #who didn't even learn english until he was 15—#it does start to feel to me a little like. aren't there‚ perhaps‚ other wielders of mixed metaphor we could pick on #to illustrate our point about usage #like. mediocre stylists are not in short supply! you can take your pick!#anyway. open 2 further input from ppl but. i think it may be time for me to stop dragging hector around the field‚ lol #bookblogging

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theenglishnook · 6 days

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El Arte de Utilizar 'Say', 'Tell', 'Speak' y 'Talk' Correctamente

Los verbos de comunicación son fundamentales en cualquier idioma, ya que nos permiten expresar nuestras ideas, compartir información y establecer conexiones con los demás. En inglés, los verbos “say”, ��tell”, “speak” y “talk” son especialmente importantes, ya que cada uno tiene un significado y uso específicos que pueden influir en la claridad y precisión de nuestra comunicación. El verbo “say”…

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#Clear communication #Communication clarity #Effective Communication #English communication #English language usage #Language Learning #Language Mastery #Language nuances #Language Proficiency #Language skills #Language teaching #Mastering English verbs #Say vs. tell #Speak vs. talk #Verbs in English

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lynxgirlpaws · 3 months

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I've been watching some of your videos and your voice is like this close to sounding like a valley girl accent

okay how the FUCK do I fix this

#askavie #I AM FROM CONNECTICUT #I HAVE NOT EVEN TOUCHED CALIFORNIAN SOIL IN YEARS #I DO NOT THINK I HAVE EVEN SPOKEN FROM SOMEONE FROM THAT REGION #PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BE THE CASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE #I NEED TO COMICALLY INFLATE MY NEW ENGLISH ACCENT OR SOMETHING I #if i comically inflated the african american accent beyond normal usage that would feel wrong #so #guess who's gonna be sounding like a bostonite for the rest of her life #i #i need to learn either a new york or boston accent #i can't sound like i'm from fucking *cali*#i never thought my voice could pass wrong #lmfao #is htis an avie rant #i guess so #avierant

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drzephyr · 6 months

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People severely overestimate idols' ability to speak English. Just because they can form a couple sentences, sing some parts in English and sometimes get interviewed in it doesn't mean they're privy to things like slang, nuance and humour.

Even people like Key who are praised widely for their English always seem like they stiffen up when they're required to speak for long, and they always use huge amounts of catchphrases and safe pre-existing sentences.

It also applies to people who have only lived abroad for a year or two instead of having grown up in a majority English-speaking country.

#this was prompted by people not believing taemin doesn't understand that the rizzness is cringe #he would need to 1.know the meaning 2.know that it's aave 3.know it's butchered by odd word formation 4.know the appropriate usage context #I've learned English basics 7 years ago then actively studied it for a couple more years and used it constantly throughout another 5 #yet only recently I've began to navigate it with at least half of the confidence I have with my native language #like do YOU now know korean just because 80% of the content you consume daily is in it? well I thought so

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dear-ao3 · 4 months

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I just wanted to thank all the English fic writers and betas, you are what got me my 8.5 in IELTS and my 760 in SAT reading sections.(both best in my school)

You are literally the reason why I have such a great vocabulary and grammar usage. You are the reason why I can build an argument for an essay. You are also what made me so confident in my English that I did not fuck up my speaking section. You made me look up the funny words your characters said which in turn built my intuition for vocabulary questions in SAT. Your works are what made me read faster.

I am just. So genuinely grateful for everybody out there that makes the stories that are not only entertaining, and thoughtful, and incredibly funny. But can also help somebody learn a language.

yeah lets hear it for the fic writers

#not a tag #from saph

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meowhara · 6 months

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Mafia!Miguel O'Hara x Fem Bunny Hybrid!Reader

tw : abuse, mistreatment, usage of bad languages, death, kidnapping

synopsis : In a world where hybrids are becoming a common thing. Scientists sells their experiments for a very high price in auctions, making it possible for anyone with such kind of money to own a hybrid or even more

author's note : OMG! this will be my very first fanfic ever. I hope y'all enjoy this little fanfic I made in such a very short time. I'm so so sorry if there's anything wrong with my grammars or maybe you got confused by how I write things in general. English isn't my first language :)

𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓽𝔀𝓸, 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮

Experimenting with human beings are normal by now all around the world, making hybrids one of the most expensive and valuable assets. They're usually sold with a very high price in auctions, anyone who's able to lay a hand on those hybrids must be some very crazy rich and lucky people.

You're those kind of fine breed, sold for an unbelievably high price. But sadly luck wasn't on your side due to how irresponsible your new owner is. He never took care of you like how people should took care of hybrids. He abandoned you, feeding you poorly, using you only for your small and fragile body. Treating you like an animal and make you do his daily chores such as cooking, cleaning, and even doing his laundry. But you never complain, there's nothing you can do and nowhere to escape.

You don't even know how the hell he was able to purchase you from the auction since he doesn't even look like a wealthy man at all. Who's job is only to sell and purchase drugs from here and there then spend shit ton of money for women and other useless things. He woke up late at the day just to hurt you then leave and came back late at night. Sometimes he didn't even bother to come back home, leaving you hungry and lonely inside his small and packed house in the middle of nowhere.

For the past moths he has been stealing drugs from Mafia!Miguel. Miguel tried to track him down for months without any avail and lost him every single time. After learning your owner's pattern for months, he's finally able to caught him off guard.

But the bastard ran back home and hide just before Miguel catch him. Your owner ran back home and locked the doors, telling you to shut the fuck up if anyone come over to look for him and to not tell his whereabouts.

Miguel is one step ahead this time and he's able to track your owner's house. He then banged on the door which made you jumped in surprise. "Open the damn door, you bastard! I know you're inside." He shouted as he kept banging on the door with his men following and standing by behind him, guns in their hands.

Innocently, you walk over the door and open the door slightly ajar and peeked outside just to met his eyes. Miguel was shocked when his eyes met with your big vulnerable eyes and fluffy bunny ears, looking almost as if you're pleading with a small pout on your face. "Yes?" You said shyly with shaky voice. Miguel looks back at his men in confusion then look back at you. "Hello, little one. Is there anyone inside?" He asked, trying to be less intimidating and as friendly as possible in order not to scare you. You hesitated to answer but you shook your head anyway, since it's seems like the only safe answer to give. He examines your beautiful and small figure from head to toe just to find bruises everywhere then to your dirty clothes that you're wearing. You look up at him with tired eyes and flat expression, making you look like a broken doll.

Miguel is not buying your obvious lie. "Are you sure? You look... Tired. Are you okay?" He asked again. You just nod and rush to close the door but Miguel stopped you from doing so. He grabbed on the door and push it back open, making you stumbling back from the force. "Look, I don't want to hurt you. But I need to take a look inside, okay?" He gave signals to his men to search the house for your owner.

He didn't expect you to panic and starts shouting at him "No! Please! Master will get mad." You said as your eyes starts to well in tears, "He'll hit me and lock me up in the basement again..." You said while sobbing and pulling on his sleeve. Miguel can feel his heart breaking into pieces from how adorably you cried in front of him. As he wanted to hug you and calm you down, his men came back and drags your owner with them. He got a black eye on his right eye due to a hard blow given by Miguel's men right on his face when he tried to run away. They throw him on the floor to force him to get on his knees in front of Miguel.

When your eyes met his you ran towards your master in worry. "Master! Are you okay?" You got on your knees to check on him, even if he's a very cruel and irresponsible master you can't help but feel worried of him getting hurt. But instead of getting any answer back from him, he gave you a very hard and strong punch on the face. You stumbled back in shock and whimpers in pain as you cover your face with your palms from the fear and pain. "You useless bitch! I told you not to let them in!" As he's about to hit you again, Miguel stepped forward to protect you and kick that bastard's stomach with full force in anger. He still couldn't believe that a little angle like you would care so much about a devil like him.

He groans in pain from Miguel's kick and Miguel turned to look at you as you bleed from your nose and cry on the floor. Your owner look up at Miguel then at you "Oh I see what this is all about now. You like her don't you? Fine then, take her away as a compensation. She is a very fine and expensive hybrid." He said with a low chuckle as he gave you a dirty look. "Use her as a cock sleeve or just do anything you like at her, let all of your anger out at her as if she's a punching bag. You won't ever hear a peep out of her mouth, she's well trained for that." Miguel can feel himself boiling in anger but his eyes won't leave your figure, no matter how hard he tried. The idea of a pretty thing like you used and abused by someone like him are just too much for him to even imagine.

Yes, he is indeed a cruel mafia leader. He killed and will kill anyone who got in his way without any remorse or hesitation and punish those who got on his nerves. But seeing how a pure little thing like you getting such a horrible treatment without you deserving any of it, made him feel sick to the pit of his stomach. He got too deep into his thought as he pull a gun out from his pocket without realizing and thinking it through then shot your owner right at his face as you watch the scene in front of you in horror.

The bastard died instantly, his body made a loud thud noise when it hit the floor and blood starts to stain the carpet underneath. Your eyes widened as tears streams down your cheek. Miguel then turned and walks towards you slowly but you stood up and ran away as fast as you can towards your master's bedroom and lock yourself while crying. His men look at Miguel, waiting for his next order. "I'll talk to her." He said with a loud sigh.

He starts knocking at the door, "Little one, please open the door. I won't hurt you I promise." You starts to panic "No go away! Leave me alone! You just killed my master!" You shouted back. Deep down you know that you should be glad that Miguel had killed your master but that makes you feel powerless, knowing that Miguel is capable of hurting anyone let alone killing them.

"I have to okay? He got on my nerves and worse, he hurt you." He spoke again from the other side of the door. "You know nothing about me!" Tears starts to fall even faster from your eyes as the image of your master's dead body kept playing in your head. "Just open this door so I don't need to force it open myself." He said, starting to get frustrated by your behavior.

You ignores him and sat down in the corner of the room, hoping that he'll just go away and leave you alone. He kept knocking at the door but you refused to open it for him. "Fine you won't open this door? I'll have to force it open then." He said before he starts banging harder and harder on the door, cracking it with each of his forcefull movements against the door.

You know very well from how massive he looks that he'll break down the door easily if he wants to. You starts glancing around the room to look for something to protect yourself just incase if Miguel is trying to hurt you. You've been in this room a thousand time when your master forced you to sleep with him but you're never allowed to open his closet or drawers even when you're told to clean his room for him.

Opening the nearest drawer, you starts rummaging to find something sharp to protect yourself. To your surprise you can feel your hand brushing against a hard and cold metal. You never knew your master hid a small gun in his bedroom this whole time but now you're glad he did. Just as you get your hand on the gun the door bursts open and you yelped in surprise. You then points the gun at Miguel "Don't come any closer! Or I'll— I'll shoot you." You said hesitantly.

Miguel look at the gun in your hand with a expressionless face then walks towards you. "I— I said go away!" A step closer from Miguel means a step back from you. But he kept walking closer and ignoring the fact that you have a gun in your hands. Your back hit the wall, making it impossible for you to take another step back from him. He grabbed your hands and points the gun directly at his chest to challenge you. "Go on. Shoot me." He said menacingly. A shiver went down your spine as your hands clenches around the gun and hesitation floods your mind. You never hurt anyone before, how on earth are you going to shoot him?

Your eyes look up at him still with tears on display and your bunny ears tensed then pinned flat back behind you head in fear. Hands trembling badly as you pressed the gun deeper into his chest, not knowing what to do. "That's what I thought." He said before quickly ripped the gun from your hand easily then threw it away to the other side of the room.

You tried to run but he grabbed you wrist and threw you on the floor. "Stop making this harder on yourself." He said before crouching down to meet your eyes. "Please don't hurt me..." You begged while sobbing, hoping that he'll pity you. He just look at your face while caressing your cheek with his massive thumb. Making your face seems so much smaller compared to his hand. "To have such a pretty thing in front of me for free. How lucky of me." He continues to caress your face and admiring your beauty with the feeling of wanting to own you all to himself. Having you safe by his side in his mansion and to have you sleep by his side at night.

But his fantasy must be interrupted by his duty as a mafia leader. "Boss, it's Lyla." One of his men interrupted. "Tell her I'll be there in 10 minutes." He said with so much authority in his voice. "What about her?" His other man looked over at your vulnerable state. Your eyes are focused on Miguel, anticipating his next move. He cussed to himself and took out a syringe from his pocket. "W— what's that for?" You asked nervously. "This? Oh I bring these all the time incase if I need to take a pretty thing like you home." Miguel then cupped you face with one of his free hand and move your face to the side so he could inject your neck easier.

Your hand grabbed his hand, the one that's cupping your cheek. "I don't want this. Please just let me go." He ignores your plea and kissed your cheek softly. "Don't worry little thing, this will only hurt a little okay? Just obey and you'll be just fine." You shook your head but he injected you right away with the syringe. "Good girl." Your body starts to feel numb right away as tears continue to stream down your face. You rest your head against his chest for support. "Shhh that's it, just fall asleep for me like a good girl you are." He pulls you into a hug and starts caressing your hair this time. Your vision starts to blur as darkness starts to invade. Soon you're limp against his chest, breathing softly and peacefully.

He smiled and kissed your forehead before carrying you in his arms in a bridal style. "Let's get going, we don't want the cops to be here anytime soon." He said as he rushed towards his car with you in his arms and his men following behind him. He looked down at your unconscious form in his arms, "Sleep tight, little one."

#hybrid reader #yandere miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara #yandere mafia #mafia fanfic #miguel ohara #atsv miguel #miguel spiderverse #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara fanfiction #yandere #yandere miguel x reader

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dejwrld · 2 months

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⤷‧₊˚ No matter what part of speech of masquerade you use, both of them deal with putting on a false show or pretending. One evening Y/N L/N attends a masquerade ball in place of her best friend Shoko in hopes of just enjoying herself among a group of strangers with fancy masks. As the night prevails, Y/N learns that she’s the sharp thorn that stands out on a rose. She’s surrounded by the rich and elite of Japan when she’s only a teacher who teaches English. Just her luck, it’s Naoya Zenin who is pricked by her sharp thorn and grows even more intrigued by her existence. And everyone knows when Naoya takes interest in you, he just can’t let you go.

┊ •° ੈ ⋆° ┊ warning readers discretion is advised — non-curse/sorcerer au, opposite attracts trope, profanity usage, drug usage, alcohol usage, luxury au, businessman!naoya, teacher!reader, mentions of infidelity, naoya is such a billionaire jerk that simps for reader, gojo and naoya lowkey be roasting each other in this, reader compliments naoya’s eyes and he freezes like a windows tab, naoya is a warning with his crazytail self, please slight ooc!naoya, smut warnings consist of oral (both m & f receiving), office sex, orgasm denial, choking kink, spit kink, praise kink, usage of handcuffs, breeding kink, more smut warnings will be added as chapters come out. reblogs, comments, and interactions are greatly appreciated.

chapter links are under the cut.

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄.

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎.

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬.

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑.

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄.

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗.

#naoya zenin x reader #naoya zenin smut #naoya zenin fanfic #jjk x reader #jjk smut #female reader #black reader #jjk x black reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #jujutsu kaisen smut #⊹˳⁺ ♡ 𝒻𝒶𝓃𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈

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circeyoru · 1 month

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I was looking trough some of the canon facts about Alastor (cuz I was bored lol) and reading that I rembered that he can speak a bit of french (tough, not necesarely fluently), so I tough...what if (in the Unwanted soul story, sience I love it so much yxgdjshjdhd) he would ocasionaly speak french to the reader, and they would get annoyed that they couldn't understand (amd Alastor would refuse to translate for them)

Now, imagine if reader got fed up one day and out of spite, started to learn a bit of french (sience you mentioned we have amazeing memorie). So, when Alastor would speak french, we would surprise him by replying back hdhehshbwusgsusb

(I'm sorry if I miss-spelled some stuff, english isn't my first language gxhsvsh. I just really like your work and the way you tell stories)

Go to MASTERLIST for the works. This ask is for {Unwanted Souls}.

Hehe~ Language huh~ Hehehehee.

You know how some anime is not translated to English or some TV shows or dramas can't subbed in time? Yeah, Reader/you learn other language for that purpose.

If Alastor wants to play coy and act all posh, two can play at that game. Alastor would only win the battle; speaking French phases to you in the beginning when you have yet to learn that language; and you would win the war; after starting to learn French.

Not only does it not take you long (to use a new language fluently, you need 2-3 years, dedication) to learn to speak and understand French fluently—it took you a bit over a month to master it—but you also corrected Alastor's French usage.

You'd definitely rub it in Alastor's face that you're better in French than he is now. He regrets teasing you like that since he's not all that fluent in French, just knowing a few phrases. He asked you to teach him though, cause French is the language of love, so he really doesn't want to be left out when you know how to communicate in that.

I feel like when one dies and go to Hell, by default, they'll understand English without issue and another languages are like an extra for them to use and communicate with. So like if one was Japanese and didn't know English, after arriving in Hell, they'll speak and understand English without learning while being able to use Japanese. Same goes for Heaven, so no language barrier.

Apart from learning French, which Alastor provoked, you definitely learn and master Japanese, too, for anime. You can decide on any other language. But for now, you know English, Japanese, and French.

#Circe's Nighty Writings #alastor imagine #alastor x reader #alastor x y/n #alastor x you #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor headcanons #hazbin hotel fanfiction #alastor #hazbin hotel oneshots #yandere alastor #yandere alastor x reader #yandere hazbin hotel #alastor fanfiction #hazbin hotel imagines #Unwanted Soul

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zibiscusloon · 9 months

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Updated my Cassie design since she has an actual clear model now! Also some headcanons for her have changed, you can read below 👇

-She’s still an Emily! And she’s still Sammy and Samantha’s daughter, however, she and Gregory aren’t siblings anymore, Gregory isn’t a member of the Emily family.

-Gregory and Cassie were friends in school. More so really each other’s only real friend. Cassie was the star student while Gregory was rather ostracized amongst his peers. They found comfort in each other as Cassie was disliked for being seen as arrogant for her intelligence and Gregory for his lack of interest in essentially anything.

-Full name is Cassiopeia Valentina Franz-Emily. She prefers Cassie since no one at school ever seemed to pronounce her name right.

-She has a love for sweets, carrot cake being her favorite.

-Sammy isn’t her biological father. Samantha became pregnant via a donor as she was already set on wanting kids before she and Sammy started dating. She was about a year old when her mother and Sammy’s relationship started. Sammy eventually adopted Cassie! She’s extremely close to her father.

-She’s fluent in English, Spanish, and is studying French.

-Her favorite animatronics are Roxy and Bonnie. She loves Roxy since she was comforted by the wolf during her birthday that her “friends” didn’t bother to show up to (except Gregory), she tended to frequent Roxy Raceway after that. She loves Bonnie as he’s Sammy’s favorite animatronic and gave plenty of hand-me-down Fazbear mech to Cassie featuring Bonnie that she treasures.

-She can come off as rather cold and matter of fact to those who don’t like her, she’s like this however strictly to those who pick on her. She’s actually more insecure than her peers think, and rather sweet to those who show her kindness (ex: Roxy), she’s also rather curious by nature, always eager to learn.

-She painted her nails green to match Roxy!

-She knows very little of her family’s history, as Samantha and Sammy intended to protect her from the trauma’s of their childhood. Sammy and Henry were on no-contact for years, and she knows that Sammy had a sibling he gets upset when he talks about. And she knows her mama had a sister who died young. She does however spend time with her Granny Cynthia (Mrs. Emily) and her Abuela Patricia! (Samantha’s mom)

-William targeted her in hopes to gain a new follower by testing her survival abilities and usage of the V.A.N.N.I mask. To put it bluntly she passed with flying colors. (Will get a (real) job! Stay away from her!!!)

-Roxy rescued her after the elevator crash because I fucking said so.

-After Gregory’s supposed betrayal she sets off to find a way to get both herself and Roxy out, she’s now hurt, angry, and she still swears every time she puts her mask on she can hear some old British guy whispering ideas of revenge to her. Best to ignore that. I’m sure it’s nothing.

#my art #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf au #fnaf security breach #security breach #fnaf ruin #security breach ruin #fnaf spoilers #security breach spoilers #fnaf ruin spoilers #fnaf cassie #cassie emily #sammy emily #fnaf samantha #roxanne wolf #william afton #fnaf the mimic #fnaf gregory

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theyuniversity · 1 year

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Not sure when to use “affect” and when to use “effect”? 🤷🏻‍♂️

👉 HERE’S A FUN AND SIMPLE EXPLANATION.

#grammar #usage #writing #English #English class #learning English #affect #effect

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lets-try-some-writing · 4 months

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How good would the bots handwriting be?

In English? In Cybertronian? Why not both?

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙

On Cybertron, writing anything by hand was not exactly common. Technology trimmed the process down a great deal and writing by hand was seen as something reserved for the higher castes. A written series of glyphs was a material promise, something important and made only to be used in serious events. Otherwise most everything was done digitally to save time and improve efficiency. Autocorrect most certainly helped many a struggling writer back on Cybertron.

With this in mind, as resources cut short and Earth lacked the needed materials to make a surplus of datapads, handwriting skills became very clear. More so than ever once the children decided to try and teach the bots to write for possible cover reasons. One could never be sure when one would need a bot to sign them out of school early.

Arcee has the worst handwriting by far, a surprising twist considering her dainty digits and relatively small size. One would think writing would come easy to her, but she hates doing anything like that by hand. She can type quickly, but writing out anything on a datapad, much less paper of all things? No she would much prefer being on Shockwave's operating table over having to possibly write her report manually. The glyphs of the various dialects on Cybertron are too much for her and the hatred of writing transferred over to English even though it is FAR easier to write in. The team won't say it to her face, but her writing looks like chicken scratch in both languages. The children don't know she is garbage at writing in Cybertronian too, and the team are content to leave them with the thought that she is just bad at learning English.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack share one braincell on a good day, and their writing shows this. They write exclusively in the wartime Wrecker dialect that formed over the millions of years of conflict. No one but Autobots can even begin to read their writing as its all a strange deviation from Autobot encryption. Sure they can write in mainstream Cybertronian dialects, but it looks awful and honestly the team prefer having to put on reading glasses and stare at their encrypted writing over having to get out a dictionary to even begin to parse out their other writings. In light of this, they do not write in English when asked to use an Earth language. Instead, they like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other such languages due to the ease of which they find encrypting the writing to be. They are hated by Bot and human alike for their habit of making things more complicated than it needs to be.

Ultra Magnus writes in the most computer generated manner known to any of the bots. How he does it is a mystery. Yet somehow he got so used to manually writing out his signature that now his every written glyph comes out as if it were typed. He doesn't seem to notice or care for the team's gawking, and he absolutely refuses to write in English simply because he had no interest in relearning writing. The team don't know, but the real reason he doesn't want to write in any other dialect is because he purposefully trained his motor functions to only write in his very specific manner. To try and learn a brand new written language would mess that up and ruin his clean and crisp glyphs.

Ratchet is an odd ball in his writing. When in a hurry, his writing in both Cybertronian and English looks like the Doctor's scrawl that those outside of the medical field have no hope of figuring out. However when he's not in a rush, he has a very distinct method of writing his glyphs and letters. In Cybertronian dialects of any kind, he adds extra emphasis in places where there has been no need for further glyph usage since the age of Wrath. In English, he adds interesting swirls and excess E's absolutely everywhere as if it is an additional glyph meant to add meaning to the word. Rafael tried to correct him once. That didn't end well.

Smokescreen has never written anything in his life. He can type like lightening, but he was never schooled in traditional manual writing simply due to how time consuming it was and how unneeded the ability happened to be at his post. He can't do any writing to save his life, but he has managed to convincingly fake the ability to write when in a tight spot. He can scribble and make it look like REALLY bad Tarnian dialect. And since that particular script hasn't been used since the city was destroyed, most don't judge him for it. But Optimus knows, and when he has time, he does what he can to school the rookie. Rafael has also taken it upon himself to try and teach Smokescreen some English with limited success.

Bumblebee grew up under Optimus, and Optimus in turn grew up under Alpha Trion. The two have startlingly similar handwriting more often than not. They both know many languages and dialects and are fluent in them, they both share glyph usage preferences, and both are known for their regular language swaps in writing. The only way to really tell them apart is to look REALLY closely at either the curvature of a specific glyph in Ancient Cybertronian or to stare really hard at the way their write their O's and B's. Both write like they walked straight out of ancient eras of old on a good day and write like living dictionaries for pretty much any other dialect. The team and the children gave up trying to figure out who wrote what a long time ago. If they can't pick it up from the context of the writing, they can just assume its important regardless.

#transformers #maccadam #transformers prime #ratchet #optimus prime #bumblebee #team prime #bulkhead #wheeljack #arcee #smokescreen #ultra magnus #tfp kids #yup #they write funky and its chill #when you are a very technological society its not wonder only the rich learn to write

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transmutationisms · 4 months

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hi! was wondering if you have any recs for some good critiques of Foucault’s historical method (or lack thereof)?

I enjoy reading his theory but I know his methodology can be lacking and would love to learn specifically how. ty <3

i don't have a text off the top of my head that is solely dedicated to making this critique of foucault (usually it's scattered into various historical literature) but i can just tell you:

foucault the historian has the consistent problem of relying on too few primary sources, almost all of which are french or english, meaning his claims are often only applicable to limited local cases (even the differences between the highly centralised, bureaucratised french state and the british situation tend to get flattened). his sources also tend to be authority figures like doctors and government officials, and he frequently makes the assumption that the powers they claim to have (or claim they SHOULD have) are powers they actually do have, which leads to a 'top-down' history that presents authorities and institutions as almost infallible in their efforts to repression, with virtually no attention paid to how people actually received any such mandates, and whether they were actionable, or subverted, or both. he also has a real problem conceiving of liberty in any terms but individual; politics for him is frequently characterised by a group vs individual struggle, which is a problem if what you are trying to understand is, say, the history of class struggle.

as a philosopher foucault articulated some general methodological guiding principles that remain useful in history: genealogical and archaeological methods, the call to historicise (meaning, to problematise; to contextualise) institutions and ideas presented as timeless or transcendent. there are also concepts in his historical narratives that other people have since fleshed out further, nuanced, and grounded in better evidence and 'bottom-up' histories, like biopolitics. so it's not unusual to see his name pop up in historical footnotes, especially in an introduction or conclusion where he may form part of a conceptual framework the author is using to interpret their evidence and turn it into a viable argument. but even these usages are certainly subject to critique (eg, the emphasis on individual liberty that suffuses his conceptual work; the extent to which his arguments can apply beyond the specific early modern metropolitan french contexts about which he was writing) and he should pretty much never be cited as a historian because his methodology in that respect was at best lacking.

#foucault

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