#language shift

As Tom made his way out of the bedroom and towards the front door of his hotel room, the magically-gifted man couldn’t help but take a moment to check himself out of the mirror one last time. It had been over a month since his bar hookup, which had originally been meant to be his last hurrah as Chris Nelson before Tom moved onto a new body the next day. Unfortunately for Tom though, the man he had planned to possess had to cancel at the last minute, so he was left for the next few weeks trying his best to find a replacement body to take over. 

While there were certainly countless men in North America that Tom could have taken over, the time he had spent trying to find a replacement body had caused him to begin expanding his scope until it became an international endeavor. Although this only added more potential men for him to become to his list, Tom soon found himself quickly narrowing down his selection until there was only one man left: Max Biechl. 

Given the fact that there would be no reason behind their meeting since Max had a career as a German real estate agent, Tom found himself trying his best to formulate a plan that would allow them to meet. Despite Chris’ popularity as a content creator, the man wasn’t obscenely rich since Tom was still forced to continue Chris’ night job as a security guard at a bar. But after pulling a few strings and dipping into the man’s savings, Tom purchased a one-way flight to Germany and secured a meeting with Max under the guise of wanting a European home for him to visit whenever he was free. Obviously Tom had no intention of purchasing a house from the man, but Max was completely clueless as to the real reason behind their meeting. 

So as he exited his hotel room and made his way out to the busy streets of Cologne, Tom quickly hailed a taxi and gave the address to the location where he was going to meet Max. Given the fact that he wanted to keep his attempt at purchasing a house realistic, he opted to pick the cheapest residence that Max had for sale. Upon arriving at the residence and exiting the cab though, Tom could understand why the house was the cheapest place as the house was fairly rundown in terms of the exterior and looked incredibly small in comparison to the other houses that lined the block. 

But once Tom took note of the front door opening, the man continued his performance as an interested buyer while watching Max and a well-dressed female step out. Eager to meet such a hunky and well-dressed man, Tom quickly extended a hand towards Max and smiled as the man nodded and shook it back. “It’s a lovely house huh?” Tom said with a slight chuckle, awaiting for Max’s response but coming up empty-handed. 

Turning his attention towards the woman, she kindly informed Tom that Max isn’t well-versed in English and she was asked to tag along to be the translator between them. As such, she quickly dominated the conversation with Tom as she allowed Max to lead the way and translate what he said to Tom. Throughout the entire tour, Tom found himself less interested in the house and more focused on the deep Germanic tone coming out of his mouth. To the American, nothing seemed hotter than a hot stud speaking a foreign language, so he was understandably annoyed as the woman’s voice continued to overpower it while explaining what he was saying. Given his annoyance, he wanted nothing more for her to disappear so he could finally possess the hunky and oblivious realtor. 

Luckily, Tom found his wish coming to fruition sooner than he expected as the tour finished and the woman asked the man about whether she needed to get the purchasing paperwork from her car to finalize the deal. Realizing that this was the opening he was looking for, Tom enthusiastically replied  “I’ll take it!” before smiled at both individuals. 

“Excuse me for a moment then, I’ll be right back,” the woman said with her accented voice, turning on her heels and quickly pacing out of the residence. With a prime opportunity for possessing the man emerging with the woman now out of the way, Tom couldn’t resist smiling slyly as he slowly shifted orientation towards Max. Watching as the German man had his back turned towards him while doing something on his cell phone, Tom quietly slinked up closer like a predator preparing to pounce on their prey. With his grin widening to extreme levels, the man closed his eyes and dived straight into the man’s back. 

“Scheiße!” the man cried out, frantically tensing up and arching his back while trying to resist the intense pressure that was permeating through his back. But despite how frantically he flailed his arms behind him to try and stop whatever was happening, Tom’s skill at possession meant he was unstoppable against the German man’s feeble attempts. Given the fact that the woman would surely be coming back soon along with Max’s continued grunts and loud cursing, Tom found himself no longer delaying the inevitable and finally pushing the entirety of his bulkier body into the smaller German man before being consumed by total darkness. 

While inside Max’s body, there was an intense feeling of discomfort and extreme tightness that Tom picked up. Given their clear size difference and Chris’ own bulkier build, the possession of such a lankier man was the source of clear discomfort for Tom. But as time went on, this feeling slowly melted away as if his bulky frame was being stripped of its innate musculature for the time being to be a better fit for his new host. As that tightness finally faded from existence, a sudden sensation of tranquility and comfort pulsated through Tom as the process completed and he found himself in complete control of a brand new body. 

Opening up his eyes, Tom instinctively looked down and chuckled as he saw the man’s snazzy suit covering up his taut and buff body along with the pair of outstretched light white hands. Tom’s enjoyment of the racial change element was on full display, his eyes fully focused in on those hands as they traveled up his clothed torso to feel the muscle underneath. Not surprisingly, the factors of his possession and racial change were quick to elicit a physical response through the man’s new cock, which became rock hard in a blink of an eye and strained against the form-fitting dress pants that made no attempt to cover that bulge. 

Both overly joyous and turned on by his new form, Tom couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer and thus decided to verbalize his own enjoyment. But as he tried his best to talk about how hot this experience was and how eager he was to become Max Biechl, his eyes widened as foreign words escaped his lips. “Verdammt, das ist so heiß! Daran könnte ich mich sicherlich gewöhnen,” the man said instead, causing his eyes to widen and mouth to go agape at the revelation of his new primary language. While it was certainly understandable looking back why he would have gained the man’s natural desire to speak in German, there was a slight moment of panic at the man due to the disconnect between his mind and mouth. His mind allowed him to properly think in English, but no matter how hard he tried to verbalize it, German was the only thing that could come out. Hell, Tom even struggled to say his real name, hearing his now-accented voice falter over the simple first and last name! 

As the sudden noise of heels clacking against the wooden floors of the residence, the new Max Biechl shifted his attention towards the source. With the assistant returning with a bunch of papers and manila folders in hand, she wasted no time cutting right to the point. “Where did the American go?” she asked, Tom smirking to himself as he grew relieved by the fact that he could comprehend the woman’s German speaking with his mind immediately translating them to English for him. 

Upon fixing one of his lower buttons and adjusting the suit jacket he was now wearing, Tom took a moment to formulate a quick plan to explain the sudden disappearance of Chris Nelson. “Oh, he had to go back to his hotel. Some sort of emergency, I guess,” Tom offered up, trying his best to still hide his awkwardness about being a native German speaker for the time being. It was still quite an erotic aspect of the possession, but Tom couldn’t help but wish that he’d adapt to the language shift as soon as possible! 

After her trip to go get all of the paperwork, the assistant was understandably furious about the man leaving before she could have returned to secure the deal. In fact, as the two of them made their way out of the property, locked it up, and returned to Max’s car, the woman was still going on her rant about “ignorant Americans” and talking about how she warned him about taking the meeting with “Chris”. But as he entered the car and prepared to drive off, Tom found himself instantly transfixed by his own reflection in the rear view mirror to the point where her words faded away into nothingness. As such, the man was quick to pull out the cell phone tucked into the pocket of his dress pants and take a few celebratory selfies to upload to his social media later before driving off and returning to the real estate office. 

Upon making his way back to his new workplace, Tom’s hopes of getting an easy day were quickly dashed as Max’s secretary gave him a slew of notes from people that needed to be handled as soon as possible. So as he made his way to Max’s desk, Tom found himself tapping into the man’s memories and personality sooner than expected as he began to handle the overeager or frustrated clients. Throughout the next few hours, Tom easily slipped into the role of Max Biechl and began to understand why he was one of the top realtors in the country; he had a natural confidence that meshed well with a cool and collected personality to make him instantly desirable by anyone. 

Seamlessly juggling phone calls between clients and inspection agencies or renovators, Tom was growing quite turned on despite the rather mundane work. So when the time for his lunch break arrived, Tom found himself eager to handle his sexual appetite rather than the hunger in his stomach. Using his desk chair to roll away from his desk, Tom made his way out of the room and towards his restroom with an obvious swagger in his step. Given how many people said hello to him and complimented his designer suit, Tom found himself having more and more reason behind this natural cockiness. 

Once he reached the men’s restroom, Tom quickly pulled open the door and closed it before twisting the lock to provide no interruptions. Making his way towards the long mirror that ran along the wall of sinks, the man licked his lips and smirked to himself as he began to give himself his own private show. Slowly undoing each button of his suit jacket, the man’s cock began to throb as he pulled off his suit jacket to reveal the physique that filled out his dress shirt quite nicely. Using his hands to traverse across the luxury fabric, pre-cum began to leak into the man’s underwear as he gripped and squeezed the man’s firm biceps and cupped his modest pecs. 

With his hands continuing to move down his torso, the man shivered in pure pleasure as he felt the ridges of his washboard abs until he reached the waistband of his pants. Unable to resist, he untucked his dress shirt and quickly undid his belt before tossing it aside. Gripping onto the top button of the pants, he once again put on a show by teasing himself and slowly undoing it before pulling down the zipper. As he tugged the pants down after getting stuck around his rather perky ass, Tom audibly gasped as he took in the rock-hard bulge jutting out against his tight athletic underwear. In all honesty, he had expected Max to be on the smaller side given his smaller size, but based on what he was seeing, he was even bigger than Chris in the manhood department! 

Now with a clear sight of his throbbing manhood, Tom’s striptease began to hasten as he grew eager to get to the main event. So upon quickly unbuttoning and pulling off the black dress shirt, Tom only momentarily took in the sight of his tattooed physique before pulling down his underwear and getting to work. Taking a moment to quickly spit into his hand, Tom lubed up his cock and began to passionately stroke it while staring into the mirror. Turning to his side while continued to jerk himself off, Tom reveled in the sight of his new buff white body. 

With one hand still furiously stroking himself, the man made his non-dominant hand move towards his rear end and grip onto those perky ass cheeks reflected back at him. Curious about why the man had such a perky ass, a quick search through Max’s own memories provided the information that the man had experimented between men off and on for a few years. With this revelation, it left Tom eager to revive that aspect of Max’s personality while he was in control. Clearly based on how well-built he was in both the cock and ass department, he had amazing potential as a versatile gay man. With these thoughts continuing to run through his head, this was the final trigger that caused Tom to reach climax and coat both the sink and mirror with several thick streams of cum. 

After quickly cleaning up his mess and beginning to put his clothes back on, Tom took a moment to pull his underwear and pants back on. Staring down at his torso, he couldn’t resist pulling out his phone and once again documenting the moment with a sea of selfies. While he was certainly unsure of how long he’d want to remain a hardworking (yet hunky) realtor, Tom was relieved to know that the plane ticket and other various expenses had been worth it. Although there were certainly potential issues he would experience in terms of adapting to living in Germany, Tom was relieved that he at least had Max’s memories and personality that he could pull from. So after pulling his clothes back on and adjusting his suit jacket once more, Tom gave a wink to the mirror before heading back out to his office to finish his shift.

Shattering the Language of “Appeasement”

(Adapted from Dafina-Lazarus Stewart “Colleges Need a Language Shift, But Not the One You Think” Inside Higher Ed March 20, 2017.)

Diversity asks, “Who’s in the room?”

Equity responds: “Who is trying to get in the room but can’t? Whose presence in the room is under constant threat of erasure?”

Inclusion asks, “Has everyone’s ideas been heard?”

this is a complicated question for me. i use the spanish pronunciation of /au-ˈɾe-lja/ when i introduce myself, even when asked to repeat it. i still feel a bit guilty that i don't correct people when they use the anglicised pronunciation of /ə-'ɹ̠eɪ-li-ə/, but i just can't find it in my heart to do it, especially due to the way that spanish names have transformed in my family. like many other families in the southwest with mexican heritage, we have experienced something called language shift, and we all now exclusively use english to communicate. but, of course, there was a bit of an in-between period with my grandfather's generation, and this interesting thing happened where certain relatives might have two different spellings and pronunciations of their own name, depending on what language they were using in a certain context. i think it is mainly for this reason that i can't bring myself to correct people who call me /ə-'ɹ̠eɪ-li-ə/ and reply, "yes, that's right!" when they say it that way after expressing doubt about pronouncing it correctly.

but it does make me happy when people call me /au-ˈɾe-lja/, because it shows me that they want to make an extra effort to respect my cultural identity. for people who have difficulty pronouncing the alveolar tap (aka rolling your Rs), there are ways that you can practise! did you know that this sound actually occurs in english? yes, it's true! take the words "ladder" or "better", for example. in american english, we don't really pronounce these words with a full D or T sound in regular speech. there's a bit of a different sound there, and it's also an alveolar tap, just like in spanish. keep this in mind and try saying these words to yourself if you want to pracise this sound. it is possible and you are capable, i promise! ❤️

but also, ain't nobody got time to give everyone they meet a linguistics lesson, and who wants to hear people complain about how their name is "impossible" to pronounce all the time? so, /ə-'ɹ̠eɪ-li-ə/ is fine too, and due to said language shift, most people in my family call me that anyway. if my own family uses that pronunciation, how can i correct others?

When did ‘need [verb in past tense]’ become the standard instead of ‘need [verb in gerund form]’? It’s recent - just in the past few months, I’d say, but jarring to me.

Ex: ‘I have clothes that need laundered.’ or ‘This table needs fixed.’ Even six months ago, that would have been ‘I have clothes that need laundering.’ or ‘This table needs fixing.’ Or, I guess, ‘needs to be fixed’. 

I’ve seen it from a wide range of people, none of whom know each other or are geographically close to each other. 

In the 1590's, some dude named Edmund Spenser decided to write a flowery epic poem, basically a transparent allegory praising Queen Elizabeth. Fair enough. He was like, "I want this work to be remembered forever, so I don't wanna use, like, MODERN SLANG or the CASUAL DISREGARD FOR GRAMMAR or FOREIGN INFLUENCE that THESE YOUNG UPSTARTS keep using. Nobody will read or understand their stuff in the future. I know, I'll write in the style of Chaucer, because Chaucer is a 'well of English undefiled.' Now my piece will be a classic of pure and untainted English. 👌👌👌"

So he wrote this semi-incomprehensible fake-Chaucer poem. But FUNNNN FACT, guess who else was writing poetry in the 1590's? Some young upstart using modern slang and casual disregard for grammar and foreign influence named William Shakespeare. And his stuff was good enough that a huge chunk of literary education is devoted to understanding his use of language... meanwhile, who's ever heard of a Spenser Theatre Troupe, a Spenser Studies degree, or Spenser in the Park?

A. Prudery and puritanism the like of which even I in my ridiculously squeaky-clean Christian upbringing didn't foresee is on the rise, and yet simultaneously,

B. The sexual or drug-related meaning of every single word or term that has one is genuinely and sincerely believed to be its primary meaning,