GROOVY SWIRLS OF COLOR™

Tick(s) — Second(s)

Dobosh(es) — Minutes

Varga(s) — Hour(s)

Quintant(s) — Day(s)

no one who speaks 2+ languages ever “randomly” switches in the middle of a sentence. like that just…….. doesn’t happen? 

the only times people will get confused and mix them up is when:

a) they’re in an environment where they have to alternate between speaking two languages often/quickly, and the brain can’t keep up and messes up.

b) they’ve been in an environment where they have to speak/hear one language for a long time, and when they change settings it takes them a moment to not instinctively go for the other language.

c) they’re hearing one language (music, radio, background chatter) and trying to speak another 

interrupting themselves in the middle of a conversation because they can only remember the word they wanna say in another language

having the perfect idiom/expression for a situation but it doesn’t translate as well

having the perfect word for a situation but it doesn’t even fucking exist in that language

if ur character is out in public with their family, i can guarantee u that they’ll talk shit about people around them in their native tongue

calling their significant others pet names is a conscious choice. it doesn’t just “slip up”. it may come naturally with time, but saying a word in another language is something you like… immediately notice

swearing is complicated and i’m not getting into it rn 

anyone who has ever picked up another language has been pissed at specific vowels and pronunciations and this is the gospel truth

[forgets a word] [attempts to explicitely describe the thing they’re trying to say] [forgets a word while trying to explain themselves] “oh jesus christ nevermind”

will know how to speak a language but not know any of the mathematical/scientific/biological terms because they went to school in a different language and no one learns, like, algebra in a second language unless they studied in multiple languages.

[knows a word but they’ve only ever read it and they have no idea how it’s pronounced]

Disclaimer: I’m projecting a lot from my personal east coast Korean-American experience. oh, and NO K-POP/IDOL HCS. BECAUSE KOREANS ARE REAL PEOPLE WITH VARYING DIASPORIC AND ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS. WE ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN UWU PALE ASIAN AESTHETICS kthnx :) :) :) These aren’t in any particular order btw. If you don’t necessarily hc Keith as Korean, that’s cool too! I shared some of these with @hakpng (who also has AWESOME Korean Keith hcs!!) so they might be familiar to folks.

surnames! 안키스 (Keith Ahn) or 설키스 (Keith Seol). I also love @hakpng ‘s hc of Keith’s Korean name being 박김수/ Park Kim Soo. so imagine: 안김수 / Ahn Kim Soo or  설김수 / Seol Kim Soo. beautiful. (also lol projection bc those are my parents’ surnames).

Keith isn’t as strongly connected to his roots (2nd gen immigrant kid ftw!) but he still wants to learn more about his history and culture.

always desperate to learn more about Korean history (wtf with that single paragraph in the thick U.S. History textbook about the Korean War) and even mythology. but there aren’t as many resources in English so he’s frustrated and often stuck scouring the web for hours.

he once stumbled upon traditional music and discovered that he LOVES IT SO MUCH! listening to 사물놀이 and 판소리 helps him calm down. the constantly switching rhythms, the raw power and energy of the music, the tales that are woven into performances; it’s all v comforting for him.

English is actually his first language. At home, his parents talk to him in Korean/Konglish and he always responds in English. it’s p natural for him to do so. 

He understands Korean and can read most of it (minus business/political jargon). He’s not as confident with writing and speaking it tho… he’s actually SUPER self-conscious about speaking. when he was growing up, he’d get made fun of by other Korean kids/extended family for not being “fluent enough” bc he never really spoke the language. all the teasing and shaming added to his insecurities about speaking.

BUT Keith loves the Korean language! he loves the warm, familiar feeling that sprouts in his chest when he hears it!

his parents once sent him to Korean language school at church but it was so overwhelming and Keith felt so anxious and inferior he ended up teaching himself the language (gradually, over the years, and immersion in the culture at home helped a lot).

“Excuse me? I do not need your permission.”

give me lance who’s terrified that he’s going to forget spanish so he talks to himself in spanish all the time god knows if i was stuck in space with two aliens and a bunch of gringos i’d be scared of it too

give me lance who sings in spanish to himself all the time, when he’s falling asleep, when he’s piloting, when he’s wandering around the castle, when he’s serving himself some food goo, whether it’s mainstream pop or childhood lullabies

lance who curses loudly in spanish when he stubs his toe

lance who, yes, occasionally gets tired of the Gringos™

lance putting on mini versions of his holidays in the castle of lions and talking everyone through the celebration

lance who draws his country’s flag, writes down his country’s national anthem because he doesn’t want to forget them

lance who sees flowers that remind him of home and picks them and tries to keep them alive as long as possible

lance who craves food from his homeland but no one knows how to make it