And My Heart Went Oops-

Subject File | LOKI LAUFEYSON

Going on a job interview:

Them: what is your biggest weakness?

Me: NOSE SCRUNCH

Ready to Comply: The Google Translate Soldier

Who here doesn’t like some good old Winter Soldier angst? Raise your hands. Now leave, this post is not for you.

Just kidding. Stay if you want. But be warned: it may get a teeny bit angsty.

Okay, so, we all know The Phrase. We’ve had this phrase destroy our souls again and again, in the canon, in fanfiction, in our unruly daydreams about the beauty and tragedy of a certain brainwashed supersoldier.

Oh god. The feels. But on we go.

I want desperately to use this phrase in my fics for obvious angst purposes, but here’s the thing: I’m a native Russian speaker and a professional translator, and the Russian version of the phrase from the movie is cutting my heart into tiny miserable pieces every time I think about it. (Which is, admittedly, A LOT.)

So, what is wrong with it?

In Captain America: Civil War, we hear Bucky say in an accent heavier than his metal arm, “я готов отвечать” [“ya gotov otvechat’”], after being put into the mindless killer machine mode by a bunch of horribly mangled Russian words and phrases. According to the subtitles, it means “ready to comply.”

Except that it doesn’t. The Russian verb “отвечать” [“otvechat’”] has a range of meanings, from “to reply” to “to account for” and so on. The only context in which it can correspond to the English verb “to comply” is when talking about a gas pipe complying with safety requirements or a rant post complying with Tumblr community guidelines.

So, “я готов отвечать” can mean something like “I’m ready to answer [your questions]” or “I’m ready to assume responsibility [for something],” turning the scene into some kind of an interrogation or an investigation, while we all know that it’s neither.

There’s another version, straight from our dear Google Translate.

(I love Google Translate so much. It always proves that the need for human translators will never cease.)

What’s wrong with this one? Well, “я готов подчиниться” [“ya gotov podchinit’sya”] is much better in terms of word choice. The Russian verb “подчиниться” [“podchinit’sya”] does, indeed, mean “to obey, to submit, to surrender” and so on. The problem is with the verb form.

Verbs in Russian have two aspects: the perfective aspect, which indicates a one-time action, and the imperfective aspect, which points to a more ongoing kind of thing. Unaware of the context, Google Translate uses the perfective aspect, which turns the phrase into “I’m ready to comply, but only just this once, don’t bother me after that.”

The proper form would be “подчиняться” [“podchinyat’sya”] instead of “подчиниться” [“podchinit’sya”] (yes, it’s a one letter difference, but see how huge it is?). The whole phrase would then be “я готов подчиняться” [“ya gotov podchinyat’sya”], which might even pass for an adequate translation.

But there’s one more thing.

The English phrase doesn’t have a first-person pronoun. In fact, it doesn’t have any pronoun at all. It doesn’t indicate the speaker in any way, because the one saying it isn’t supposed to be a person. The ‘who’ here isn’t important. What is important, is that whoever (or whatever) it is, is ready.

Here, have a tissue.

The Russian phrase, however, begins with “Я” [“Ya”], which means, unsurprisingly, “I” and is not syntactically mandatory in this case. Just like in English.

Moreover, it doesn’t figure much in standard military expressions. Why waste precious army time on such meaningless things as personal pronouns? Again, there are no persons here. Only soldiers.

My personal favorite for rendering “ready to comply” in Russian is “готов служить” [“gotov sluzhit’”], which means “ready to serve” as in “to serve one’s country.” Or one’s captors. Take your pick.

Oh wait, you’re not allowed to choose. Sorry.

The pros for this version are: it’s a standard phrase that indicates one’s willingness to obey and submit and is primarily used in the military context. Moreover, it’s a standard Russian phrase, and seeing Bucky utter it like some common Soviet private would be so much more heartbreaking. (Yes, even more.)

The cons are: it’s a standard phrase. As far as I understand, “ready to comply” isn’t standard military lingo, so maybe the Russian version should reflect that as well. Or maybe I’m overthinking it.

In conclusion? Marvel couldn’t splurge on an actual Russian speaker to proofread a couple of sentences, and now I’m forever torn between wanting a phrase that sounds like idiomatic Russian instead of machine translation and wanting to make a recognizable fandom reference.

Fandom life is hard, people.

the feminine urge to annotate everything that i read and the perfectionist urge of not doing so in order not to ruin it

[id: screenshots of tiktok captions. the images say, “but the only reason we still love princess diana is because she did not have the time to disappoint us.”]

begging queer kids to read up on princess diana’s involvement with the community. yes, she was a rich, pretty monarch. yes, she died young.

but the reason why queer people love her is because she used her privilege during the aids crisis to advocate for sick queer men, when very few others would - much less someone of her status.

diana spent years advocating for the health and care of queer people with hiv/aids. in 1987, at the height of the epidemic, she opened the first specialist clinic dedicated to treating aids patients (the first clinic of it’s kind in the uk).

she also fought public hysteria by hugging and shaking bare hands with aids patients, at a time when aids was thought to be spread by skin to skin contact. not only that, she visited patients in the clinic regularly and even comforted them through their sickness.

and when queen elizabeth told her to try focusing on “something more pleasant”?

diana ignored her and kept fighting.

and this is only her work towards the aids crisis. she publicly called out the royal family, brought attention to numerous world issues, and was known as an advocate for empathy and kindness. she’s known and loved as the people’s princess for good reason

bucky barnes as your boyfriend

Bucky’s most favourite thing to do with you is basic domestic stuff that others take for granted — buying grocery, shopping furniture, baking cookies and such.

He loves the little banters you have over which sauce tastes better and which chair is more comfortable. He can’t get enough of the way your face scrunches up as you try to explain to him why your choice is better than his.

“Okay fine. Your choice is better than mine.” He grumbles despite knowing this is true. “I mean you did choose me.” His smirk is evident at his own little joke as you playfully slap him on his arm, shaking your head.

Bucky loves assisting you in mundane activities though you absolutely hate it. Because more often than not, he ends up messing stuff in the cutest way possible than actually helping you.

Like when you had decided to make chilli and Bucky clumsily touched his cheeks while cutting the peppers and you had to apply cream to his face. You both had laughed until your stomachs hurt as he nearly looked like a snowman.

Bucky lives for this stupidity though, and so do you. Bucky once lived a life of precision and discipline and he had hated every second of it. But now when he fools around with you, he cherishes those memories and keeps them close to his heart.

Bucky’s favourite dialogue probably is “I told you so.” Because in this relationship, he isn’t the only silly goof, you’re just as silly as him, if not more.

You love doing your stuff by yourself and when Bucky insists on helping, you outright refuse him. So Bucky waits until you finally give up and ask for help.

All the times that you insisted on shifting the furniture by yourself or carrying your own bags but then got tired and finally asked Bucky. He loves how independent you are, but a part of him preens when you ask for help from him.

If he hates something, it’s how you undermine and overwork yourself. Somedays you’re stubborn on completing your work despite being tired and you don’t listen to Bucky when it comes to work.

But what comes after is Bucky’s favourite part where he tries his best to relax you. He loves long soothing baths with you where he leisurely washed your hair and massages your back.

Seeing you relaxed and sated makes him happy too because Bucky loves nurturing. He spent a part of his life being a weapon, but he considers this a second chance, so he loves when he’s able to provide care.

Bucky definitely has a whole garden of little plants that he religiously looks after. The bonus point is, alpine loves to rest amidst the cool plants and you can’t stop taking cute photos to show Bucky.

Bucky may be one of the most feared assassin, but he’s a silly little fool when it comes to you. He doesn’t like showing you his injuries from missions, but one “let me take a look.” from you is enough for him to show you the wound.

Most of the conversation go like this, “I’ll bandage that up for you.” He shakes his head like an adamant child. “It’s nothing.” You sigh at his antiques. “You’re bleeding for godssake. Let me do my work!”

Thought he pretends to not like it, he secretly loves it when you gently clean his wounds and apply bandage. The way you take care of him not only makes him feel loved, but also nearly brings tears to his eyes.

But the same applies to you too. He takes utmost care of you, refusing to even leave your side whenever you’re sick. You insist that you’re fine and take care of yourself, but he knows better.

He often prepares a special soup whenever you’re down, whose recipe he doesn’t share with you and instead tells you it’s his ancestral recipe, but you know it’s from a YouTube channel but he won’t tell you which one.

Bucky’s a sucker for physical touch. May it be holding hands while walking down the street, or keeping a hand on your waist as you eat, or dancing to cute songs playing on your phone, or laying your head on his chest as you sleep, he craves it all.

For Bucky, the most precious thing in the house (of course after you) is a ring which is kept safely in the drawer next to his bed. You both share a closet, and so it was no use keeping there, but he knows you feel like the small drawer is a sacred thing for him and rarely touch it.

He still remembers the time he realised he loved you. A cheesy movie was playing on the TV which you were supposed to watch, but as you fell asleep on his chest, wearing his hoodie, a sudden life changing realisation struck him. He was in love with you.

And ever since then, he right away knew that if he was ever going to marry someone, it was you. He had planned everything about how he was going to propose you, date, time, place, everything was set and he just knew it was going to be magical when it happened. And he knew it was going to be soon, real soon.

For Bucky, the four walls you live within isn’t his home. For him, home is where you lovingly hug him when he comes back from his missions. Home is where the delicious aroma of his favourite cookies wafts through the house as you prepare them for him. For Bucky, you are his home.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

this is utterly self indulgent and written in like one night? also it’s my first time writing like this, so pls be kind.

If you liked this, pls comment and reblog as it motivates me!! hope you have a good day!

Shout out to Steve Harrington for apparently being the only genre-aware person in the Hawkins group, grabbing something to defend the group as soon as they hear a weird noise, poking stuff around with an oar, not letting the cursed girl spend too long on her own… and when Dustin mocks him, he snaps back, “considering the people in this room have nearly died about half a dozen times, I don’t find it funny”. He’s so right and he should say it. Steve KNOWS he’s in a horror film and he’s built to be the final girl.

P.1 Common Herbs A-Z

This is A-C of some common herbs and their uses

Acorn

Good luck

Protection

Wisdom

Personal power

A dried acorn is an excellent natural amulet for keeping a youthful appearance.

Allspice

Money

Luck

Healing

Obtaining treasure

Provides added determination and energy to any spells and charms. Burn crushed allspice to attract luck and money. Use in herbal baths for healing.

Almond

Wisdom

Money

Fruitfulness

Prosperity

Invokes the healing energy of the deities. Provides magickal help for overcoming dependencies & addiction. Associated with Candlemas and Beltane. Carry, wear, or use as incense to attract abundance.

Aloe

Protection

Luck

Place on the grave of a loved one to promote peaceful energy. Thought to relieve loneliness and assist with success. Hang in the home to attract luck and protection for those who live there. Grow in the home to provide protection from household accidents. Burn on the night of a full moon to bring a new lover by the new moon.

Apple

Love

Garden Magick

Immortality

Friendship

Healing

Place seven apple seeds in a bag with Orris Root to attract sexual love. Use in rituals to give honor to gods and goddesses of fertility. Considered the food of the dead, which is why Samhain is called the 'Feast of Apples'. Symbolizes the soul and is burned at Samhain in honor of those who will be reborn in the spring. When doing a house blessing, cut an apple in half -- eat half and put the other half outside of the home as an offering.

Apricot

Love

Add leaves and flowers to love sachets or carry apricot pits to attract love.

Banana

Fertility

Potency

Prosperity

Basil

Love

Exorcism

Wealth

Sympathy

Protection

Dispels confusion, fears & weakness. Drives off hostile spirits. Associated with Candlemas. Carry to move forward in a positive manner despite perilous danger. Strewn on floors to provide protection from evil. Sprinkle an infusion of basil outside of the building where you hope to be employed for luck in a job interview or in your business to attract money and success. Wear or carry to aid in attracting money and prosperity.

Bay leaf

Protection

Good fortune

Success

Purification

Strength

Healing

Psychic powers

Write wishes on the leaves and then burn the leaves to make the wishes come true. Place under the pillow (or use in dream pillow) to induce prophetic dreams. Place in the corner of each room in the house to protect all that dwell there. Carry bay leaf to protect yourself against black magick.

Black pepper

Banishing negativity

Exorcism

Protection from evil

Blackberry

Healing

Protection

Money

Sacred to Brighid. Leaves and berries said to attract wealth and healing.

Bluebell

Luck

Truth

Friendship

Incorporate into rituals of death & dying to comfort those left behind and ease their sorrow.

Blueberry

Protection

Though not recommended, blueberry is said to cause confusion & strife when tossed in the doorway or path of an enemy.

Burdock

Used for cleansing magick when feeling highly negative about oneself or others. Use in protection incenses and spells. Rinse with a decoction of burdock to remove negative feelings about yourself or others.

Cabbage

Fertility

Profit

Good luck

Lunar magick

Money magick

Cactus

Chastity

Banishing

Protection.

Bury with other banishing symbols for protection. Grow in the home or garden to prevent unwanted intrusions. Place in all directions of the home (north, south, east, and west) for full protection.

Cardamom

Lust

Love

Fidelity

Carrot

Lust

Fidelity

Cashew

Money

Celery

Mental powers

Psychic powers

Lust

Fertility

Male potency

Chamomile

Love

Healing

Reducing stress.

Add to a sachet or spell to increase the chances of its success. Sprinkle an infusion of chamomile around the house to remove hexes, curses and spells. Burn or add to prosperity bags to increase money. Burn as incense for de-stressing, meditation, and restful sleep. Wash hands in an infusion of chamomile for luck before gambling or playing cards. Use in bath magick to attract love. Keep a packet of the herb with lottery tickets for luck.

Cherry

Love

Divination

Gaiety

Happiness

Chestnut

Love

Chilli Pepper

Fidelity

Love

Hex breaking

Scatter powder around the house to break hexes and spells against you. Use in love charms & spells.

Chives

Protection

Weight loss *weight loss spells can be dangerous*

Cinnamon

Spirituality

Success

Healing

Protection

Power

Love

Luck

Strength

Prosperity

Burn as an incense or use in a sachet to raise spiritual and protective vibrations, draw money, and stimulate psychic powers. A popular herb for use in charms to draw money & prosperity. Wear in an amulet to bring passion.

Citronella 

Draws friends to the home, customers to the business. Promotes eloquence, persuasiveness, and prosperity. Protects and cleanses the aura. Encourages self-expression and creativity (great for writers & actors!) and brings clarity to the mind. Repels insects and deodorizes

Clove

Exorcism

Love

Money

Protection

Coconut 

Chastity

Protection

Purification

Coffee

Helps to dispel nightmares and negative thoughts and to overcome internal blockages. Provides peace of mind and grounding.

Coriander

Love

Health

Immortality

Protection.

Tie fresh coriander with a ribbon and hang in the home to bring peace & protection. Add to love charms and spells to bring romance or use in ritual work to ease the pain of a broken love affair. Promotes peace among those who are unable to get along. Throw the seeds in lieu of rice during Handfastings and other rituals of union. Use the seeds in love sachets and spells. Add powdered seeds to wine for an effective lust potion. Wear or carry the seeds to ward off disease and migraines.

Cucumber

Chastity

Fertility

Healing

Cumin

Fidelity

Protection

Exorcism.

The seed is said to prevent the theft of any object which contains it. Burn with frankincense for protection. Scatter on the floor alone or with salt to drive out evil. Use in love spells to promote fidelity. Steep in wine to make love potions.

Curry

Protection

Burn curry powder to keep evil forces away.

And as always, merry meet <3

Atti

#me whenever yall start using new slang that I have to look up on urban dictionary

maddie’s 1k follower celebration: requested by @buckysbarnes 🤍 🍓 AN ACTOR/ACTRESS FROM ANY MOVIE/TV SHOW ✨

SEBASTIAN STAN as BUCKY BARNES CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016) dir. anthony & joe russo