my reposts

my main blog - @marru7

[kosmogrl]

I will make a beautiful life for myself no matter how long it takes. I will I will I will

[lifeafterpsychiatry]

It's always "stop harming yourself or we'll have to lock you up!!!" and never "what do you need to change to want to harm yourself less and how can we help you make some of these changes?" and that's why we're not getting anywhere

[hayatheauthor]

15 Signs of Jealousy to Write Into Your Characters

Jealousy isn't just a rival-for-your-crush thing. It shows up over promotions, friendships, attention, talent, anything someone else has that a character quietly wants. Here's what it looks like across the board, no love triangle required.

1. Minimizing Someone Else's Achievement "That's not that big a deal" said about something that clearly is. The dismissal is doing a lot of work to make someone else's win feel smaller.

2. Picking Apart How They Got There "They only got it because of who they know" or "they got lucky." Explaining away someone's success is often easier than sitting with the fact that they earned it.

3. Backhanded Compliments "Good for you, I guess I just never had that kind of luck" lands the praise and the resentment in the same sentence.

4. Silent Comparison Measuring their own life, talent, or circumstances against someone else's, entirely in their own head. This one's great in internal narration, especially if the character hates that they're doing it.

5. Changing the Subject Fast The second someone brings up the other person's success, the topic shifts. Too quickly to be casual.

6. Lukewarm Congratulations Saying the right words without any of the actual warmth behind them. Readers pick up on the gap between what's said and how it's said faster than you'd think.

7. Sudden Competitiveness Over Something Small Turning an unrelated conversation into a contest nobody else realized was happening. It's rarely about the actual thing being competed over.

8. Overexplaining Their Own Worth Listing their own accomplishments unprompted, right after hearing about someone else's. It reads less like confidence and more like a character trying to convince themselves.

9. Physical Tension at the News A tight jaw, a forced smile that doesn't reach the eyes, shoulders that don't relax until the topic moves on.

10. Obsessively Tracking Someone's Progress Checking in on someone's success more than makes sense for how the character claims to feel about them, refreshing a page, asking around, keeping tabs.

11. Fishing for Reassurance Not asking directly, just steering the conversation toward "but I'm still good at this too, right?"

12. Avoiding the Person Entirely Some characters don't compete or comment, they just quietly disappear from someone's life right when that person starts succeeding.

13. A Flash of Relief at Someone Else's Failure Followed by guilt, usually. That gap between the reaction and the shame over having it says everything.

14. Bringing Them Up Unprompted, With an Edge If nobody asked and the character still finds a reason to mention someone, with a slight bite to it, that's not neutral small talk.

15. Redirecting Praise Away From Them Quickly changing the subject when someone else is being complimented in the room, or subtly steering credit back toward themselves.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

TikTok  | Instagram

[bananakeiky]

Round one of ship requests from Instagram!

[bananakeiky]

i kept thinking about this during the quest

[bananakeiky]

hey guys check out my headcanon

[bananakeiky]

dj ladie

[mynabirb]

Batch post for zhongchi week on Twitter/x

[luna-azzurra]

Something neuroscience-y that helps with prose: attention is selective. A character will not notice everything in a room. They will notice what matters to their goal, fear, desire, training, wound, or obsession. A jealous character notices hands. a hungry character notices food. A soldier notices exits. A lonely character notices pairs. Description becomes character when attention has a bias.

[wetheurban]

Sending love to anyone who is just… tired.

Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, socially, financially.

Life is asking a lot right now.

Pause when you can. Breathe when you remember.

Give yourself space. Give yourself grace.

[theaawalker]

Alternatives to "Heard"

ᚑ      ᚑ

When the sound is sudden or startling:

Flinched at Started at Jolted at Was met with Was struck by Was greeted by Recoiled at Winced at Was interrupted by Was jarred by

When they're listening carefully:

Listened to Focused on Hung on Attended to Tuned into Followed Tracked Strained to hear Zeroed in on Locked onto

When the sound is confusing or uncertain:

Thought they heard Could've sworn they heard Believed they heard Mistook Half-heard Barely caught Couldn't quite make out Failed to catch Wasn't sure they heard Wondered if they'd heard

When they're eavesdropping:

Overheard Caught Listened in on Eavesdropped on Picked up Managed to hear Listened through the wall Caught snippets of Made out Secretly listened to

When they're emotionally affected by the sound:

Absorbed Took in Froze at Processed Balked at Recoiled from Welcomed Clung to Hung on every word of Sat with

When the sound is overwhelming:

Was bombarded by Was engulfed by Was surrounded by Was drowned in Endured Sat through Couldn't escape Was assaulted by Was consumed by Was overwhelmed by

ᚑ      ᚑ

Follow me if this was helpful :)

[tsunflowers]

reading a historical romance novel and reflecting on the way these stories often present woke nobility for the contemporary reader. a big thing is servants. you can’t not have servants in those times but many modern readers think “but I would never have servants. it would be so weird to have servants” and in order to make the protagonists of the story more relatable they are actually friends with the servants. but flip your perspective and think of it from the side of the servants. wouldn’t it be so awful if your boss was always trying to be friends with you. a really common thing you’ll see is the woke baronet having tea in the kitchen with the servants bc he’s not like other baronets. but what if your boss wanted to hang out and talk during your lunch break every day. not so charming when you think about it that way

[ariaste]

#okay but now what is the optimal way to be a good boss in this situation i genuinely wanna know#its easy to guess what makes a bad boss or a mid boss. but what is a good boss#specifically in such a highly structured hierarchal situation (via @rainbowroach)

HELLO you are asking questions that literature and poetry THROUGHOUT the middle ages has asked, and it is from this questioning that we derive things like the Codes of Chivalry (which is not "how to treat a noble lady really nice" but is actually "how to be an ethical person when you're rich and you own a horse" and includes such things as "don't run people over with your horse")

In fact I daresay you already know instinctively just from cultural osmosis what a good boss -- a good liege lord -- is and does based on the tropes that have survived to the current day and the kinds of things that get Hugely Praised in things like legends of King Arthur.

A good boss (liege lord) is:

Merciful. He is not having his peasants killed for things like poaching rabbits during a famine. In fact, he is working to mitigate famine. During times of individual hardship, he might negotiate with a peasant for a payment plan on their annual rent.

Patient. He is not impulsive, he does not lose his temper.

Prudent. He makes choices that are thoughtful, considered, conservative (in the sense of not needlessly risky--he's not investing his entire fortune in having everyone plant an unproven crop). He is making sure local infrastructure like roads and public buildings are maintained and kept in good nick.

Gentle. He doesn't haul off and slap a servant or a tenant for breaking a dish or making a mistake. He doesn't abuse animals, his wife or children, or his employees. He doesn't rape the servants.

Generous (both in money and in spirit). He is not extorting the peasants for an amount of rent that is beyond their means, he is not raising taxes every year to cover his own lavish lifestyle. He is paying his servants a living wage (or, if wages are low, he's giving them room/board/clothing to make up the difference). If someone in a tenant's family dies, the lord is sending a gift of condolence, or helping to pay for the funeral, or possibly even ATTENDING the funeral and speaking a few kind words about the deceased, ESPECIALLY if they were a really upstanding and important member of the community. If one of his tenants is gravely sick, the lord is sending a basket of food or paying for a doctor. He is giving charitably (generally this will be, like, a bequest to the church so that they can run a hospital or an orphanage or a school for the local village children).

Pious. This classically means "goes to church, submits with humility to God" but to me this quality is subtextually standing in for "maintaining an ongoing sense of Perspective that HE'S not god, that there are higher powers he is Accountable to, that he too can be Judged, etc, so that he doesn't end up going on a weird fucked up power trip"

Humble. One of the most admiring things you hear about a lord doing in literature and epic poetry is, "He ate off of wooden plates while his followers ate off of gold and silver." Humility isn't about being meek, it's just about not thinking so much of yourself that you turn your nose up and sneer at what "lesser" people do. In other words: Don't be a fucking diva. If your carriage gets stuck in the mud, climb out and help everybody else push, you're not gonna die from getting mud on your shoes.

Condescending. This word has changed wildly in meaning/tone over the last couple centuries -- it's now a rude thing to do (because we've done away with legal social hierarchies, so someone acting like they're lowering themselves to your level IS insulting), but in older times, a high-ranking person "condescending" to a servant was worthy of praise and admiration: it means they were setting aside rank and privilege to speak to them with the easygoing, friendly respect and compassion they'd give a peer. This is things like... Treats those beneath him with courtesy and respect (ie: listens soberly and attentively when one of his servants or tenants comes to complain about a problem). Having a sense of humor and kindness about it when the lord and a servant both come around a corner at the same time and run into each other and the servant gets knocked to the ground and starts babbling apologies--the condescending (positive) lord helps them to their feet with his own hands and cracks a joke to show them that it's ok (as opposed to just walking off without a word or insulting/scolding them). This is also things like trusting a farmer, woodcutter, or artisan to speak with expertise about their own livelihood and taking their advice into consideration if they tell the lord that one of his ideas won't work.

Good boundaries. The ethical liege lord knows that it's normal for the staff to probably be softly bitching about him in private (even with a really good boss, we all grumble from time to time). He's not eavesdropping on them, he's not going into the staff areas where they should reasonably expect to have a degree of privacy, etc.

Righteous and protective of "the weak". The "weak" here doesn't necessarily mean physically weak, this is often used in the sense of someone politically or socially weak, aka The Marginalized -- the poor, the disabled, women, children, the elderly, etc. If a lord sees someone like this being mistreated or abused, he's supposed to step in and put a stop to that.

Committed to reciprocity. In a highly hierarchical system like feudalism, every person (from the lowest peasant all the way up to the crown prince) legally OWES their liege lord certain things (taxes, labor, service, loyalty, etc). A good liege remembers and takes very seriously the idea that this should be a balanced and reciprocal relationship -- in other words, he owes something BACK. Feudalism is modeled very strongly on the family system: If children owe their parents obedience and service, then parents owe their children care and protection. This still applies when the "child" is a farmer and the "parent" is a local baron. Or when the "child" is a duke and the "parent" is the king.

Basically, we get so caught up in the aesthetics of nobility that we forget that it literally is a managerial position that comes with responsibilities that were... very similar back in the day to the same ones we have now. Humans have not changed all that much. At the end of the day, a really good boss in the 1400s versus in one from the 2020s displays most of the same qualities of personality, even if the details of execution are different.

The next question is, of course, "well, but this theoretical liege lord is HIGHLY idealized -- how often did that actually HAPPEN? Wasn't it more likely that everyone was exploited all the time?" and to that I say: Well, maybe. But again, I don't think humans have changed all that much. Just like the bosses of today, there's a SPECTRUM: A really really good boss is rare and precious and one that you tell stories about for years after you've left that job, but a truly, genuinely, homicidally nightmarish boss is also pretty rare. Most bosses are sort of meh -- they have their good moments, they have their shitty moments, but they're tolerable and you can get along with them well enough to do your job, and then you roll your eyes at them behind their back. Generally, humans don't take outright exploitation lying down. Being a bad boss in the historical period is how you get peasant uprisings and revolts, and you know that to be true because your parents raised you with that knowledge, so unless you are very stupid or inbred or an egomaniac, there is literal personal incentive to at minimum be a Tolerable liege lord. And that means hitting at least SOME of the above bullet points.

TL;DR: In the words of Honore de Balzac, "Everything I have just told you can be summarized by an old word: noblesse oblige!"

(for more discussions of the ethics of fealty and what it means to be a good boss when you are an exquisitely beautiful twink of a prince with a hot beefy bodyguard.... [fingerguns] read A Taste of Gold and Iron)

[ainecdote-remade-deactivated202]

tired of cannibalism as a metaphor for love or sex. can we get into cannibalism as a metaphor for colonization.

[sloppity-bilepiper]

1. Europeans using Egyptian mummies as medicine

2. The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism Within US Slave Culture by Vincent Woodard

3. "Abolitionists turned the tables on Europeans by accusing them of being cannibals when they ate sugar tainted with the flesh and blood of slaves."

4. Zombies (which I would class as cannibals, since they were human and need to eat humans to live) have a root in Haitian folklore and represented enslavement.

[vintagedean]

adding that, if you can find it, cannibal culture by deborah root is about exactly this. the way the white western world is a hungry, destructive force that cannibalizes non-white cultures and creates wealth and status through the cannibal colonization of those cultures.

here's the intro

i almost think there's an essay in bell hooks' black looks about this too? yes! just checked, there's an essay called "eating the other"

[vampireapologist-archive-deacti]

ppl are so annoying “you can’t paint ur bedroom pink you’re an adult” i did not spend my entire life waiting to grow up and control my life to paint my bedroom beige

[hojolove]

I had a sales woman in furniture store try and tell me not to buy a hot bubblegum pink loveseat because she wanted me to “think about the future”

Bitch, I am thinking about the future. I already got a hot bubblegum pink couch at home and now I need a loveseat to go with it.

[madgastronomer]

when I first bought my house, I announced my decision to paint my bedroom purple. I had wanted a purple bedroom for thirty damn years, you fucking bet I was gonna have one now. My friends decided, for some reason, that I meant what one of them referred to as “14 year old girl purple” (through what’s wrong with the colors a 14 year old girl chooses, I don’t know, even if they’re not what I want as an adult). They didn’t believe me until they saw the color on the actual wall, even thought they helped me pick out paints. My mother, meanwhile, decided to get worried that if I painted my bedroom a “dark purple”, it would be “depressing”. As if, with an entire house to live in, I would spend all my time in the bedroom, which I wanted to be dark because I would be sleeping in there. In the damn dark.

I had like one, maybe two friends who were all like FUCK YEAH YOU PAINT IT WHATEVER COLOR YOU WANT, PURPLE BEDROOMS ARE AWESOME.

But when they actualy saw the finished bedroom, every single one of them was like, “Oh yeah, that’s really pretty.” (Well, the ones who supported me from the beginning were more like WOOHOO.)

And the moral of the story is: Fuck ‘em, please yourself. Either they’ll come around, or you can safely ignore every question of taste they opine about for the rest of time.

[themintycupcake]

This applies to other adulting activities, too. When I was a kid, I decided that I wanted to have a wedding cake made of doughnuts. When I got older, I figured that I would be “mature” about it and get a traditional cake, which the older adults approved of. Now that I’m 25 and facing the possibility of actual marriage in the near future, I’m just like “marriage is a social construct but it comes with tax & insurance benefits, so just give me that goddamn doughnut cake.” If they don’t like it then they don’t have to come to my wedding.

[aridotdash]

https://xkcd.com/150/

[undanewneon]

I would like you all to view my office. I’m thirty and my rainbow room is awesome, people can fight me

[spuffybot]

I’m thirty and my first big furniture purchase was a custom coffin shaped coffee table that opens up and is lined with purple crushed velvet. I would have loved it at 13 and I love it now. Growing up doesn’t mean you have to abandon what makes you happy.

[idareu2bme]

GROWING UP DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO ABANDON WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.

[the-haiku-bot]

GROWING UP DOESN’T

MEAN YOU HAVE TO ABANDON

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

[shadesofmauve]

I have told this story before, and I will tell it again, because I am An Old now and repeating stories forever is our prerogative:

When I bought my house, the kitchen was multiple shades of dingy white. It was dismal, but it was now mine! So went to the hardware store for paint (well, several trips, painted swatches on panel, etc — I’m very picky. But this was the final, ‘real’ trip). It was a busy day in the paint section. There were at least five people behind me in line.

Now, remember, latex paint is slightly lighter and brighter when wet than it is when dry. And I’d decided to paint my kitchen candy-apple red. The hardware store employee took my gallon off the Paint Jiggler and cracked it open to put a dab on the top, revealing the most incredibly deep pink, and behind me I hear the entire line of people say,

“Oh my god.”

…in perfect chorus.

I did not realize up until that moment that shocking a crowd of strangers with my paint color choices was a life goal, but at that moment I felt an absolutely overwhelming sense of achievement.

[marlynnofmany]

This is the door to my garage. It used to be white. Live your best life.

Mischief the cat says “Who goes there?”

Every visiting friend says “This is so cool.”

If you’re looking for an excuse to do some decorating that will make your soul sing, this entire thread is your sign to do it and don’t look back!

[the-haiku-bot]

This is the door to

my garage. It used to be

white. Live your best life.

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

[chennnington]

I’m 35. I have been told my place looks like maybe a LP fan lives there.

Not sure what they mean.

[dykepuffs]

When I first moved into my place, I painted the spare room, that eventually became my office, lime green, the kind of lime green that glows down the corridor when I open the door - The colour was only available as an “accent colour” in the section of paints intended for children’s playrooms, and in the shop I got a lot of “Oh your son will love this!” And from people I knew I got a lot of “Oh well, you’re 21 now, you’re basically a teenager, this is a terrible idea, you’ll hate it and need to pull out all the furniture to repaint it.” And I have to report that I am now in my forties and my office still looks like this, and it makes me smile every time I see it.

[marzipanandminutiae]

this is such a modern idea, too

not decorating trends; those have always existed. but the idea that color and decoration is inherently childish

this is the dining room at the Eustis Estate in Milton, Massachusetts, from 1878 (where I used to work, briefly). the walls are TEXTURED MICA SHIMMER on a green background. Adult Space For Adults!

A jewelry shop in Paris c. 1901. kids can’t buy jewelry!

who can forget the classic 1950s colorful bathroom? I’m not a huge fan, but still! adult space! bright colors; decorative designs!

meanwhile “you’re immature if you like Art Nouveau” is a hot take I’ve really, seriously seen on this webbed site (only once, thank the gods). I don’t know who started this, but I’m going to kill them

[taraljc]

I think a lot of it stems from the ubiquitous Waterhouse prints that were sold on college campuses for 20 years. like why would I get a free pass if it were Monet instead Western culture is stupid. The entire point of being an adult is breakfast for dinner and cake for breakfast and dying with the most toys.

[catgirlralsei]

instantly decided to reblog when i got to GROWING UP DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO ABANDON WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.

[beatrice-otter]

The examples of decorated homes above are both either modern or upper class, which makes it easy to dismiss because “sure the rich people have beautiful homes” and “sure, modern middle-class people have lots of color in their homes.”

So here’s two examples of traditional Norwegian farmhouse interiors. You know. The kinds of places peasants live in.

This type of painting is called “rosemaling” and today you usually find it on, like, carved wooden bowls and such that are only used for decoration. But back two centuries ago, it was very common to find the interiors of homes covered in it, in projects that were painted little by little over the decades. Because it’s beautiful to look at, paint is the cheapest way of decorating your house, and what else are you going to do on the long winter nights when it’s too dark and cold to work outdoors?

But mostly, they did it because it made them happy, and it was beautiful.

Those old peasants were on to something, I think.

[destinationtoast]

I painted rooms in my house these colors and some people had doubts:

I have been SO HAPPY.

[vaspider]

My wife painted the walls of my studio ORANGE. Glorious sunset orange.

I have always wanted a room that was an amazing color and this one is mine.

[awfulhorrid]

When we decided it was time to paint our home, we wanted something that very much marked it as ours. I think we accomplished that!

[minothtime]

Linguistic Games - A Non-Comprehensive List

Obsessed with games about languages? Played one and crave infinitely more? Fear not, for I am here with a small handful of recommendations that will perhaps tide you over for a little bit before you start going crazy again!

This is a humble list of some games about linguistics or languages (or anything adjacent) as a main feature that I, a translator by trade, have played or heard about. Hopefully this is useful for anyone that's looking for new linguistic experiences!

Games I've Played

These are games I've actively played to full or near-full completion. They've all been great too btw.

Heaven's Vault

Oh boy, where to even begin talking about this game. Heaven's Vault is a game in which every single choice you make matters... and there's no turning back! This game is made to be replayed, as tedious as it might be to do so, and the lack of savefiles does hurt it a bit if you're as impatient and curious as I am. However, the story is so gripping and the twists and turns are so captivating that you just wanna keep playing to know everything!!

The story is simple on the surface: you're an archaeologist traveling across space with a simple goal: find out both what's going on with your curious companion and what has the Nebula in such a tizzy.

The artstyle is amazing, the game feels good to play, characters will remember every decision you've made and react accordingly... You might even discover a route so far from what you originally set out to do, it may derail your entire ending!

The language mechanic itself is fun, and figuring out the symbols and how they build on each other is incredibly enrapturing! Sometimes a bad guess can send you hurtling down the wrong path, but that's just life!

All you really need to keep in mind about this game is that two routes will never be the same... but they might be heavily similar. Or not. As long as you are aware that this is a slow-paced game with plenty of replayabilty, you're in for a fun, mysterious experience of trying to fit the jagged edges of the puzzle pieces together. And the picture they form is absolutely worth it.

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation4, PC (Steam)

Price: €21,99 (Steam, PlayStation Store), €15,99 (Nintendo eShop)

NOW €8,79/$9,99 UNTIL JUNE 5TH ON STEAM!!

----------------

Chants of Sennaar

Yeah, it's me again, Chants of Sennaar's #1 megafan. What about it.

CoS is perhaps my favorite game out of this whole bunch. You're basically dropped in a strange, unfamiliar place... and everyone speaks a language you don't understand! Through logic and experience, you'll uncover the meaning of all the words you've been hearing though the sunny lower floor of the tower... because of course, this is a tower!

Tongue-in-cheek Babel reference aside, you go through different societies, each with their own language reflecting it, in your efforts to reach the very top of the tower. The story is plural yet simple, with a central one revolving around your character and lots of small side stories that keen-eyed players will find a delight to uncover.

On the language side of things, well... Language is Sennaar is both a device to advance the story and a collectable of sorts. It is possible to finish the game with incomplete knowledge of all the languages, but filling your notebook with every single word is just so much FUN! Apart from that, many languages have certain patterns one might recognize - verbs or nouns or some words may be written in a specific way, which makes it easier to understand the meaning of some things.

I want to spoil this game as little as possible. This is a game that should really be experienced if possible, so this little overview probably feels somewhat lackluster... oh well! One thing that stressed me out BAD in this game -spoiler alert, I guess?- were the stealth sections (there's not that many, just two stressful ones near the beginning and at the very very end), but in retrospect they were not bad at all. Trial and error makes it all work, and to be fair this game is incredibly lenient when you get caught.

Also the ending's nuts and i've been rotating the main character in my head ever since i first played this. artsyle is so cool too. insane game please give it a chance.

Platforms: PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam), Xbox One

Price: €19,99

NOW €12,99/$12,99 UNTIL JUNE 5TH ON STEAM!

----------------

Sethian

Alright this one is for the true linguistic nerds out there. This is NOT a puzzle game. The other two games so far had puzzle and adventure elements, but this one? You only get two fucking things: a diary that updates as you go... and a weird screen with even weirder symbols.

You wanted a language to decipher? Well here you go! Learn this language. Use it to ask questions. Get answers. So on and so forth.

Sethian's language is impossibly interesting. This language doesn't take its grammar, syntax or stuff like that from English. Oh no. As the creator stated, it "borrows elements from Chinese, American Sign Language, and other real world languages, in addition to some features which have no real world counterpart."

Also, just as a heads up, you're not gonna get the meaning of every single symbol or word. Sorry. But let's be real - that's just true to learning any new language. Some things are better left as a mystery!

Sethian is not very long, but if you're into this language stuff it's honestly an incredible experience. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Platform: PC (Steam)

Price: €4,99

----------------

Cypher

This game is relatively similar to Sethian language-wise, even if it's not nearly as complex. Premise is as follows: you're helping a stranded space traveler make their way out of the planet they crashed onto... by acting as a translator between them and his local companion!

It's very fun and the way the language works is quite interesting, but don't expect much length or depth. Honestly, this is an amazing free game you can play if you want to scratch the itch a bit! ...Even if it might leave you itching for more. Oh, well!

In case you're seeing this on PC, here's a link to the game's itch.io page. Have fun!

Platform: PC (itch.io)

Price: Whatever you want it to be!

----------------

The Gostak

This is the one exception: I still haven't finished playing this game. In fact, at the time of writing, I just started. But this 2001 text adventure is an absolute masterpiece. Difficult as fuck, but a masterpiece nonetheless.

This game does not have convenient graphics or a handy way to keep track of what you've learned. What I'm doing is taking out my notebook and my multicolored pen and getting to WORK. You have to discover, parse or even guess the meaning or function of words based solely on their relations to OTHER unknown words that you uncover... by using the same words you know nothing about! You are the gostak. The gostak distims the doshes. From there, it's all on YOU to not only understand what's going on, but also complete this adventure... because it IS an adventure!

Your goal is unclear at the beginning, but as you unravel the language and begin to understand your surroundings, you'll see more and more of this world. As mentioned before, this is a text-only game, which can be a turnoff for some people. I, however, would say that the joy of figuring out words and the relationships between them without even knowing what they mean is simply amazing.

Here's the link to the game's website, so you can whip out your trusty word processor (or, if you're old school like me, your handy pen and paper) and go to town! May the gitches frike and the duscats glake!

Platform: PC (website)

Price: Free!

----------------

Games I Have Not Played

Homicipher

Well. From what I know about this game, it's a threefold game: horror, language, and adventure all rolled into one!

The only reason I haven't played this game is because I despise horror games with all my heart. They make me extremely anxious and I just don't have a good time at all. Everything else about this game is screaming out to me - a developed language-learning/guessing system? A crazy point-and-click adventure with multiple endings and interesting character interactions?

I'd say that if you don't mind the whole horror side of things, you should absolutely give this a try. I'm afraid I can't say much else about this game!

Platform: PC (Steam)

Price: €13,79

----------------

7 Days to End with You

All I know about this game is that you're given basically nothing to work with from the very beginning and that your interpretation of the language affects the story itself. Interesting concept!

A few reviews seem to imply this game is a bit divisive, but it's still on my to-play list. Maybe you, too, should give it a chance!

(If you're interested, maybe try and find a spoilerless review or a better summary... I'm sure there's much to be said about this game, but none of it will be found on this post!)

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam), Android (Play Store)

Price: €11,79 (eShop), €7,79/$7,99 (Steam), €5,49/$4,49 (Play Store)

----------------

Honorable mentions

Tunic

This is just a soulslike! Maybe I'm just so bad at videogames I struggle to get past the beginning, but as far as I know I don't think the language is the main focus of the game. It is still a translatable, learnable language, tho!

Outer Wilds

Keeps the same feeling of "knowledge drives you forward" that Heaven's Vault and Chants of Sennar have, but as far as I know there's no language translation central to the game. I mean, there is, it's just automatic and you don't get to play with a new language. Amazing experience nonetheless! (I'm still yet to finish it...!)

Tork (Can you torque the talk?)

2004 flash game, but it is now sadly unplayable. It employed a language-learning system similar to Chants of Sennaar.

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Honorable honorable mentions

Rapid-fire list of non-language games that just scratched the same itch somehow.

Return to the Obra Dinn

Incredible notebook detective game about finding out what happened to the crew of a ship. Deductive reasoning takes the wheel here.

The Roottrees Are Dead

Another notebook detective game! This time, you're a private investigator in charge of filling out an extense family tree... and perhaps some surprises along the way!

Type Help

Rounding up the notebook detective genre, this one has you following the mysterious events that unfolded at a house party using only audio transcripts. Honestly, once it clicks, it clicks. Here's the itch.io link!

Sable

Low-stakes exploration with simple yet atmospheric graphics and a very interesting story to uncover!

Tales of the Neon Sea

An eclectic mix of noir, cyberpunk and pixel art that results in an unforgettable detective experience. Well-written characters, an amazing story, fun worldbuilding... I only wish it was longer!

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Well, that's all! If you play any of these games (or have already played them), please don't hesitate to let me know!!! I just adore these little linguistic gems :D Also, if you know any other games not mentioned in here, PLEASE tell me I'm getting desperate

Hope you enjoy these games! Much love <3

[prokopetz]

Flavours of unreliable narrator:

Lying to the reader

Lying to themselves

Simply misinformed

Not paying attention

Has weird priorities

Assumed you knew

Hates you personally

Bad at communicating

Easily sidetracked

Will believe anything

Has weird prejudices

Just kind of dumb

[hayatheauthor]

50 Words to Use Instead of "Walked"

For the writers stuck describing every single scene transition as someone "walking" somewhere. Some words are repeated across categories since they fit more than one, but those are counted once, so it adds up to 50 new words.

1. Neutral Tags

Walked, Strolled, Paced, Wandered, Roamed, Moved, Ambled.

2. Slow / Leisurely Tags

Sauntered, Meandered, Dawdled, Loitered, Moseyed, Ambled, Wandered.

3. Fast / Urgent Tags

Hurried, Rushed, Hastened, Scurried, Dashed, Bolted, Scampered.

4. Confident / Purposeful Tags

Strode, Marched, Swaggered, Stalked, Strutted, Paced.

5. Quiet / Sneaky Tags

Crept, Tiptoed, Slunk, Slipped, Padded, Prowled, Sidled.

6. Tired / Struggling Tags

Shuffled, Staggered, Stumbled, Hobbled, Limped, Trudged, Plodded, Dragged, Wobbled.

7. Angry / Aggressive Tags

Stormed, Stomped, Barged, Charged, Thundered, Stamped, Marched.

8. Nervous / Hesitant Tags

Inched, Edged, Sidled, Tottered, Faltered, Crept.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

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