#allspeech

[[Based on my two earlier headcanons about Allspeech]]

Loki utterly despises texting.

Specifically, he hates texting slang and abbreviations, particularly the ones that have not really made it into the spoken lexicon. Things like BRB, LOL, and the like are alright, because people actually sometimes say these things aloud and he can pick up on the meanings that way, but things like l33t speak, which utterly mangle the symbols supposed to be associated with a word, or the less common abbreviations, simply drive him nuts because he can't understand them.

When forced to text, he would be one of those who use proper spelling and grammar at all times.

If he had someone to translate the more difficult abbreviations and slang, he would be in better shape and more tolerant of it, but he generally does not so it just looks and reads like gibberish.

[[I already have another headcanon regarding Allspeech here but I figured out another bit while I was in the shower this morning so here it is]]

It takes time and exposure to a spoken language for an Allspeaker to pick up the written form. This is because the telepathic component of Allspeech can't really pick up on meanings from simple written symbols divorced from a speaker and their mind, which is full of the words' meanings and connotations and ideas.

But exposure to a living speaker brings more than just the words' meanings- it slowly builds an association between the words and syllables and sounds and the symbols that make up the word in its written form. This takes time, because most people don't really think about the written form of a word when they speak it. The Allspeaker just has to slowly absorb bits and pieces.

Likewise, a recording or broadcast, similarly dissociated from a living speaker, would be likewise initially difficult for an Allspeaker to understand if they do not already have a grasp of the new language.

Also, when attempting to write in languages that aren't particularly phonetic (I'm looking at you, English) an Allspeaker would initially have a lot of trouble with spelling, unless like Loki they are an obsessive reader and learn the spellings through brute exposure. A language that has less complicated spelling patterns, such as Spanish, would be easier, because the written form more closely resembles the spoken version.

Loki, like everyone else raised on Asgard, speaks Allspeech (also called Allspeak). It's a very weird language with a strong telepathic component, allowing for instantaneous understanding of spoken speech, no matter what language the person is speaking in. Because of this automatic translation, it's impossible to learn Allspeech as anything but a mother tongue- and conversely, one who speaks Allspeech as their mother tongue cannot learn any other language. It takes some time listening to a foreign language in order to learn the written form, though- most Allspeakers pick up the written language after about a week or so of hearing the spoken form regularly, and can then read and write it freely with a little concentration. An Allspeaker can't really learn a language just from trying to read it, and translating dead languages is almost impossible as a result.

Allspeech also allows for the understanding of animals. Most animals, particularly livestock and prey species, generally do not speak very intelligently (An Allspeaker would hear singing birds as just repeating variations on 'My territory! My mate! Stay away! I'm here!' for example, or clucking chickens as saying 'Hey' over and over again with varying inflections). As a result, most Allspeakers learn to ignore animals when they're talking (and generally don't make a fuss about eating meat).