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@jasmine

Ooh, that’s cool! The collab sounds awesome!

@this-is-not-an-alien

Man that makes it even more deep. And lol Liorah’s so snarky

Thank you! I had fun with it! (Don’t tell Liorah that.) I know right! I have no idea when she got so snarky, it wasn’t in my original plan for her. I do adore snark in characters, so it’s probably that coming through.

Do you know any other languages or bits of other languages and can you teach me?

You asked the right person! XD. I know three languages (four if you count Latin, and five if you count understanding but not speaking German) I speak Afrikaans, Dutch, and English. (English is my third language and my favorite.)

Tell me if you want to know any phrases in any of those languages, or if you want any pointers on writing multilingual characters. There are some things that authors get wrong consistently, (Switching from one language to the other is the easiest thing in the world.) so tell me if you want to know some tips! The first thing that comes to mind is that you constantly blank out on words, even in your mother tongue, and even if you actually know them. Example: I just completely blanked out on the word “sentence” while writing Liorah’s part below and literally just sat staring at the screen like “Vonnis. Come on, what’s English for vonnis? I know this!” I had to resort to looking it up. *Sigh*

“flies cannot enter a closed mouth” aka “shut up, idiota.”

LOL! That’s hilarious!! In Dutch, there are a couple of ways of saying ‘shut up’, all of which are hilarious. You can say: ‘Hou je kop (dicht)!’, the literal translation is “hold your head (shut)”. Or, my personal favorite: “Hou je waffel!” Which translates to “hold your waffle.” I have no idea where that comes from, but it never fails to be funny. Dutch has the weirdest sayings, and when you translate them literally, they become twice as funny!

“But I’ve found you have a greater capacity for goodness than I’ve discovered in any other person, that makes people much more ready to trust or help you than they would me. This and your vibrant imagination generally compensate for the rest. Your personality is distinctive and original and not to be measured along standards and perimeters normally set.”
“Oh…” He gave pause before saying anything else but he finally said it in a couple seconds. “Can you say that again…slowly?”

That is one of the most Rosario things Rosario has ever said!

@joelle-stone

Awesome! Can’t wait!

Liorah

My dream was still curled around my neck when I woke, slowly trying to strangle me. I press against the stone wall behind me, my leg still aching. The dream had been awful. Why hadn’t they seen me? And what had I done to be made tribeless? The disgrace of being rejected from a tribe was usually reserved for criminals. It was a life long sentence of disgrace and rejection.

Ehud is curled up against the other girl. They seemed to be talking, and I listened to distract myself.

“Rosy…do you think I’m, ya know…dumb?”

I frowned. Ehud was not dumb. Even though he had reckless, happy-go-lucky energy that didn’t seem to consider the consequences of anything, he wasn’t dumb.

The girl answered in a long, detailed speech I heard almost nothing of, and understood even less. Ehud seemed equally confused and asked her something.

I heard her answer clearly.

“You’re an idiot and I like you that way.”

Clearly, she meant it in an affectionate manner. I smiled, remembering how I called Gavril an idiot on a regular basis. Well, he called me a pest, so that was fair.

Ehud and the girl got in an argument of some sort, and the girl finally relented and closed her eyes. Ehud stayed awake, apparently keeping watch. Oh dear. I would stay awake too, I wouldn’t let him keep the watch alone. If something happened, if the castle attacked again, I wasn’t leaving him alone. I would protect him if it killed me.

“Ehud? You know, I found out something really interesting.” I said, gently.

“I’ve known many who claimed to be wise, many who prided themselves on their riches, or their power, or their might.” I paused, trying to organize my thoughts.

“But I’ve found that those, despite all they have, are often rude, cruel, poor, and foolish. And I’ve met those that have treasure greater than all of them, despite what the world might say. Those who are kind. You’re one of them, and I’m glad I’ve met you.”

I let out my breath. If anyone else had been awake, or if Ehud had been anyone else, I would never have said it. But this was Ehud, and it was true. He was one of the kindest people I knew. He reminded me of Acyn and Gavril that way, if in no other. I smiled. Acyn would like Ehud.

If the castle attacked again, I needed to be able to use my leg. I’d rested for several hours, and it ached less. Time to try it.

I pushed back against the stone wall and slowly got up, without using my wounded leg. Every muscle in my body ached, and I was so stiff I could barely force myself to move. I shouldn’t have sat still so long.

I teetered on one leg, still leaning against the wall. I carefully placed a little weight on my sore leg. I gritted my teeth as black spots danced in front of my eyes. But the pain was manageable. I caught my breath as I put more weight on it and tried to take a step. Fire burned up my leg, but I managed to take another step before my leg crumpled beneath me. I sat down with a sigh, trying not to wake anyone. I could probably walk by morning.

______________

Okay, that was very quick healing, but if she doesn’t get better fast, the characters will be stuck in one spot for really long. So, I’m erring on the side of slightly unrealistic here.

Me: You’re ridiculous and adorable.

Liorah: Adorable?! Me?! I am intimidating at best, and terrifying at worst. 

Me: Explain this then, Miss Toughness: “I would protect him if it killed me.” Really? Come on, you’ve known him for a few hours!

Liorah: That’s an exception!

Me: See, you’re cute.