Instead try…
Person A: You know… the thing
Person B: The “thing”?
Person A: Yeah, the thing with the little-! *mutters under their breath* Como es que se llama esa mierda… THE FISHING ROD
As someone with multiple bilingual friends where English is not the first language, may I present to you a list of actual incidents I have witnessed:
Forgot a word in Spanish, while speaking Spanish to me, but remembered it in English. Became weirdly quiet as they seemed to lose their entire sense of identity.
Used a literal translation of a Russian idiomatic expression while speaking English. He actually does this quite regularly, because he somehow genuinely forgets which idioms belong to which language. It usually takes a minute of everyone staring at him in confused silence before he says “….Ah….. that must be a Russian one then….”
Had to count backwards for something. Could not count backwards in English. Counted backwards in French under her breath until she got to the number she needed, and then translated it into English.
Meant to inform her (French) parents that bread in America is baked with a lot of preservatives. Her brain was still halfway in English Mode so she used the word “préservatifes.” Ended up shocking her parents with the knowledge that apparently, bread in America is full of condoms.
Defined a slang term for me……. with another slang term. In the same language. Which I do not speak.
Was talking to both me and his mother in English when his mother had to revert to Russian to ask him a question about a word. He said “I don’t know” and turned to me and asked “Is there an English equivalent for Нумизматический?” and it took him a solid minute to realize there was no way I would be able to answer that. Meanwhile his mom quietly chuckled behind his back.
Said an expression in English but with Spanish grammar, which turned “How stressful!” into “What stressing!”
Bilingual characters are great but if you’re going to use a linguistic blunder, you have to really understand what they actually blunder over. And it’s usually 10x funnier than “Ooops it’s hard to switch back.”
My sister lived in France for a few years, and she got so used to speaking French all the time that when she wrote letters to me in English, she would often use the French spelling of words that are similar in English but not spelled quite the same, and then go "Is it English?". She would also routinely forget random words in English and just write or say the French word in the middle of an English sentence instead. She would try not to, and I would keep telling her "you know I studied French all the way through highschool. I understand it even when it's mixed up, so it really doesn't matter lol"
I also love foreign languages and watch a lot of Korean dramas... Funny, but a lot of the first words I picked up from frequent exposure (I know a lot more now) were the swear words, so at one point I kind of enjoyed the ability to swear in Korean and generally know that most people around me would have no idea what I was saying (I do not generally use swear words in English at all) and could not be shocked or offended.
had an interaction with a cat at my mother's friend's house (we dropped by to feed her while my mom's friend was out of town) and my mother said "i was surprised how much that cat liked you, she doesn't usually let people pet her but she followed you around and let you pet her a lot"
and in explaining to her my interaction with the cat i put into words a thing i'd never put into words before, having always automatically understood what i was doing. But once i put it into words my mother said she'd never thought of that and it felt like something worth sharing here.
This cat did a typical cat thing where she sniffed my fingers i was holding out, and then acted like she wanted me to pet her, but then when i started to move to pet her, moved her head away slightly to prevent it.
I instinctively understand this interaction, and stopped trying to pet her and moved back to a neutral position and waited to see if she would re-initiate an interaction.
Because this is basically a consent test. This is how a cat can assess "how closely are you paying attention to what i'm telling you" and "how respectful of my boundaries are you".
If i am responsive to her yes/no game, moving to pet her when she indicates i can, stopping immediately when she seems to change her mind, then she knows she can trust me to understand her, and also to respect her choices. That's what i did, so then she knew she could trust me and relax around me and enjoy my company. She was actually a very friendly and social little cat, who clearly wanted to make friends with me.
But if i had insisted on trying to pet her when she seemed to change her mind instead of simply understanding that she didn't want to be pet in that moment, she would have known she couldn't trust me to understand or respect her, and she would have treated me like she has to treat 90% of the people who visit that house, evidently.
I work mostly with dogs these days, but i grew up with cats too, and am generally good with animals. Many shy animals will also do this same "sniff sniff okay touch me nope just kidding" routine, especially if they've had experiences with people that make establishing that kind of communication and trust important to them.
And in fact, a lot of animals will do some version of this kind of consent test in a whole variety of situations. When well socialized dogs do that thing where they are rough housing and then they both stop suddenly for a moment until one of them play bows or makes a little pouncing motion and then they fly back into rough housing mode, that's what they are doing, they are doing a consent check-in, like "whoah this is getting wild, are you still in? are we still playing, is this still a good time for you?"
anyway, that's why this lovely little cat followed me around asking me to pet her the whole time we were visiting that house, because i showed her that i understood her signals and respected her boundaries, which is something i see a lot of both men and women not doing when interacting with cats and dogs.
oh yes of course! I had a similar moment with a client in my trickwork class just this weekend. See, the thing about teaching tricks is that everything is about getting the communication just right between dog and human. I'm using a mixture of luring and shaping because most of these dogs have not experienced shaping at all and take some time to adjust to the concept. A lot of dogs kind of freeze up at the concept, even when we're shaping something as simple as "perch."
So when a dog is having a hard time with a concept, I have a bunch of approaches in my toolbox. To move through class, I start with the one that is most generally useful, demo it with a client dog, and then I go around the room troubleshooting and helping people get at least an approximation closer to the behavior they'd like.
This particular dog was quiet and a little inhibited coming in, so when I needed to show her handler how to introduce a lure, I had to get up in her space to see if I could convince her to follow my cookie in the way I was trying to communicate. She was a little perturbed by this, so I backed out and away--and she immediately relaxed, and was then more interested in getting up in my space when I invited her to do that in exchange for cookies so I could show up close what I was doing.
Seriously, establishing handling consent and manners is huge with animals, just like it is with people. You ask an animal how it wants you to interact with it, and then you take its opinion into account (with allowances for health procedures etc). And you build positive associations and experiences into that trust bank, so that if you have to do something really bad you can make a withdrawal--but only if you've paid in enough. That's just how trust works.
I'm pretty sure this might be why I usually feel like I can trust cat people in particular. Because you really can't make friends with a cat if you don't at least intuitively understand the concept of space and freedom and consent and know how to show it in relating to someone else. Almost all the cat people I know (and I mean the people who are really good with cats, who cats instinctively like and want to follow around) are like this. That's not to say others aren't, but if someone specifically does NOT like cats (especially if their reasons for this show me they misunderstand or misinterpret cats' cues), that's often kind of a red flag to me.
Feast day of st Peter AND st Paul is honestly insane. Imagine you hate your coworker and he writes shit against you and you’re both trying to steer your company in completely different directions. And then in the future your company decides to celebrate both of your efforts in the exact same day when every other employee got a day to themselves. Funniest fucking outcome, the Church went off with that one I’m afraid
And I love how it’s not even just the feast day. There’s the medals & prayer cards & PETITIONS for them to work together on a cause. They had an argument ONCE and Jesus said “okay, into the ‘this is our get along shirt’ you go :)”
It’s weird to grow up in a family where you know you’re loved but you don’t feel loved. And then later in adulthood you understand how almost impossible it seems to cross that distance and let yourself experience closeness, how otherworldly love feels now and how love feels unbearable at times. You flinch when someone tries to wholeheartedly love you. And over and over you see so clearly how you cannot be loved unless it's from afar and love is mixed with that familiar sensation of distance and coldness.
when Florence Welsh said "What a thing to admit that when someone looks at me with real love I don't like it very much / Kinda makes me feel like I'm being crushed"
And here’s my unsolicited (and delayed) thoughts on the matter.
First, let’s talk about his robe. Not only was it utterly beautiful, down to the draping and the deep, rich shade of green (and I mean come on, would we expect anything less?), its style was incredibly symbolic.
If you look at previous Loki ensembles, especially the ones that include a horned helmet, there is an air of grandeur and finery about them. The exquisitely stitched, buttery leather; the shiny gold trimmings and metal armor accents; the dramatic, billowing capes and overcoats. Even the silhouette of these looks is broad and structured — one might even say severe. Everything about these past looks screams “Look at me; I’m important” and reinforces Tony’s own observation in The Avengers that Loki is a “full-tilt diva” — he longs for the respect and attention that he deserves (and has been denied almost all of his life) and that longing is reflected in his clothing. They are reminiscent of the royal palace in which he was raised. They allow him to be battle-ready, because he’s had to fight and claw for every scrap of love and attention he’s managed to get. They represent a broken prince. A warrior cloaked in royalty. A would-be-king.
Now, compare that to his robe in Loki S2E6. It isn’t flashy. It has a soft silhouette. The shade of green is deeper and richer than we’ve seen; more earthy. An earthy shade of green which, in my opinion, is a nod to Yggdrasil, the cosmic tree that he will weave the branches of the multiverse into. The gold trimming across the front is subtle and understated - I even missed it at first and didn’t realize there was any gold trimming on the robe at all until I got a closer look later. It is simple. The draping is reminiscent of the robes worn by Buddhist monks. His robe reflects a Loki that has more wisdom and humility, and who has realized that being a good king — a proper god — means he will spend his life in service to others. It is the robe of a man who is confident and self-assured and knows exactly what kind of god he needs to be.
Now let’s talk about the slippers. I noticed that they got quite a bit of flack immediately after the finale aired. And I get it — they’re an odd choice, especially when we are so accustomed to the dramatic boots and finely-crafted and statement-making dress shoes he typically dons. For similar reasons as the robe, they are symbolic and fitting for Loki’s development into a wiser, more humble character. Don’t get me wrong, these loafers are still impeccably stylish, and no doubt they are of the finest craftsmanship, because this is still Loki we are talking about here. But they have a purpose, and that purpose is to get him to his final destination. These simple slippers barely even protect Loki’s feet, showing us a kind of vulnerability that we’re unaccustomed to seeing from Loki. He isn’t guarded in this moment; he’s open, connected to his purpose, and sure of himself. The shoes aren’t for battle; they aren’t meant to impress. They are meant to serve.
Now, about what is, quite possibly, my favorite feature of the costume. The horns. These iconic horns which we’ve associated with Loki from the very beginning take on an entirely reimagined look in the finale. First of all, they are bigger than any set we’ve seen resting upon Loki’s brow. So big, in fact, that they weren’t actually a physical part of the costume Tom Hiddleston wore. So big that they would likely hinder his performance if he actually had to bear their weight on his head.
In addition to their size, the horns are made of the same temporal-infused material from which both HWR’s talisman and the citadel at the end of time are constructed. Gone are the opulent golden horns that glisten and shine with the grandeur of royal finery. These horns are dark and heavy. They symbolize the unfathomable weight of the burden that Loki bears in his godly endeavor to save the multiverse. The golden temporal material that runs throughout the horns like veins is reminiscent, to me, of Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken things with gold. And in a way, Loki is a broken thing that has been healed and mended throughout his personal journey of self-acceptance and friendship, and is now more beautiful than he ever has been. More humble. More selfless. More godly.
In addition to the horns, the cape, too, is the largest we’ve seen Loki wear. And while at first, this dramatically oversized cape may seem to stand in opposition to the humility that the rest of the outfit encapsulates, it works. It works because, like the horns, it is symbolic of the burden Loki has chosen to bear. This cape would be unbearably heavy; it would make even the most basic movement difficult. And on top of its sheer size, his cape even becomes torn into strips that are woven into the timelines themselves, literally securing his burden — his service to the multiverse — around his neck.
Lastly, I want to talk about the way this outfit manifested. There’s been a common thread throughout this discussion about the humility and selflessness that this ensemble puts on display. And while that’s true, we’re talking about a relative level of humility and selflessness, when compared to Loki’s previous tendencies. This is still Loki we’re talking about here. He’s got a flair for the dramatic. He’s nothing if not intentional about the way he presents himself. And the way he marched down that gangway like it was his own personal runway, while his clothing fell away in shreds and tatters to reveal this completely fresh but familiar look, was completely on-brand for him. It was theatrical. It was glorious.
His outfit at the end featured accessories that were heavy and larger than life. Those parts were a burden.
It wasn’t short on the style and drama that we’re so accustomed to seeing from Loki. It was glorious.
And every part of it, down to his humble shoes, was fit for purpose.
One look at this finale costume and you know, without doubt, that Loki is burdened with glorious purpose.
A/N: If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my unsolicited thoughts on this beautiful piece of costume design! Also, apologies for the delay in posting. I know some of you have been told this post was coming since the night the finale aired, weeks ago. Thank you for your patience with me as I gathered my thoughts and found the time to organize them and type them out.
I’m surprised the structure was able to support the weight of every set of BRASS FUCKING BALLS on all of those construction workers. Pre-safety gear/OCEA was wilding man.
Many of these men were Mohawk Native Americans! The Mohawk had a reputation as ironworkers and worked on most of the big interwar-era construction projects in NYC, also including the Empire State Building and the George Washington Bridge.
I had no idea that chickens could?? float?? or swim??? I don’t know why I’ve never thought of chickens as buoyant. I never picture chickens anywhere near water. what else have I been missing
Something that I first applied to working with children, and have applied in a limited form to working with adults: you don't need to tell someone when they read your instructions wrong. Sometimes it's enough to point out what they did right and then whatever they didn't do? You ask them to do it in more precise words, and you make it sound like it's a new request. Remarkable how fast things get done this way.
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
