So, I saw this post by u/Slurbette earlier, and because I'm unhinged and literally have nothing better to do atp, I just spent the entire afternoon researching the etymology and possible meanings behind EVERY NAME (I hope.....) in FoM and compiling this massive list, straight from my ADHD hyperfocus powered, caffeine fueled brain to yours!!!

NO AI WAS USED IN THE MAKING OF THIS! I just like fancy formatting, I love going on absolutely unnecessary deep dives even more, and I detest the suggestion that I should let a machine have all the fun instead 😌 Everything is directly sourced from Behind the Name and Wiktionary, with some of the extra tidbits/fun facts coming from Wikipedia (so take those with a grain of salt lol).

Buckle up bc this will be a LONG one!!

Bachelorettes

• Celine: Feminine form of the Latin name Caelinus, derived from Latin caelum meaning "heaven". It is also the name of two Catholic saints, however not much is recorded about them.
• Juniper: From the juniper tree, which has been used in traditional medicine, particularly for various types of potions tonics, and is also the primary flavoring in gin.
• Reina: From Spanish reina meaning "queen". Alternatively, a Japanese name derived from 怜 (rei) "wise".
• Valen: Likely from Valentine, derived from Latin valens meaning "strong, vigorous, healthy".
• Adeline: From Germanic adal meaning "noble".

Bachelors

• Balor: From Irish Mythology, but of uncertain meaning. According to mythology he was a giant king who "had an evil eye that could destroy opposing armies".
• March: From the name of the month, which is derived from Mars, the Roman god of war (analog to Ares in Greek mythology). Possibly also a reference to the planet, whose red appearance is caused by iron oxides.
• Hayden: Originally an English surname derived from place names meaning either "hay valley" or "hay hill", from Old English heg "hay" and denu "valley" or dun "hill".
• Ryis: Likely a variant of the Welsh name Rhys, from Old Welsh ris meaning "ardour, enthusiasm, glory".
• Eiland: Originally a German surname for someone who lived on an island, from Middle High German eilant "island". (Bet you never would have guessed.)

Villagers

• Dell: Originally an English surname for someone who lived in a valley or dell/dale.
• Elsie: Diminutive of Elizabeth, from the Hebrew name אֱלִישֶׁבַע (Elisheva) meaning "my God is an oath". Also the name of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who used her wealth to help the poor.
• Errol: Originally a Scottish surname derived from a village with this name. It could also be interpreted as referring to earl, the title of nobility; compare Old Norse jarl, which was a position that has been described as "in dignity next to the king".
• Hemlock: From the plant of the same name. Its poisonous properties have been known since ancient times, however, in some areas, hemlock leaves have been used when food was scarce after carefully cooking them to remove the poisonous compounds. (Don't try this at home, kids.)
• Holt: Originally a Germanic surname, from Old Norse holt meaning "forest".
• Josephine: Feminine form of Joseph, from the Hebrew name יוֹסֵף (Yosef) meaning "he will add".
• Landen: Variant of Landon, origially an English surname derived from place names meaning "long hill", from Old English lang "long" and dun "hill".
• Luc: Variant of Luke/Lucas, from Greek Λουκανός (Loukanos) meaning "from Lucania", a historical region in southern Italy, itself derived from Latin lux "light".
• Maple: From the tree of the same name, commonly used as a decorative plant (e.g. in Japanese bonsai) and of course cultivated for its syrup.
• Nora: Likely a short form of Eleanor, which has a long history dating back to the Middle Ages but no conclusive etymology. (My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined btw)
• Olric: Likely a variant of the Germanic name Ulrik/Ulrich, from the Old German name Odalric derived from uodil "heritage" and rih "ruler, king".
• Terithia: Possibly a variant of Theresia/Theresa derived from Greek θέρος (theros) "summer" or θερίζω (therizo) "to harvest". (Seems like a bit of a reach, though - maybe it's actually a traditional name from the Aldarian language? 👀)
• Dozy: He's dozy. No explanation needed!
• Henrietta: Feminine form of Henry, from the Germanic name Heinrich/Heimirich derived from heim "home" and rih "ruler".

Vendors

• Darcy: Originally a surname from French d'Arcy denoting someone from the town of Arcy in Normandy. I couldn't find anything more specific connecting the name/place to the character, but Normandy (like many other places in France) is the birthplace of some famous (variants of) pastries/confectionery like brioche or macaroons!
• Louis: Variant of the German name Ludwig, derived from the Germanic name Hludwig meaning "famous in battle", from hlut "famous, loud" and wig "war, battle". Likely in reference to Louis XIV who built the Palace of Versailles and was known for his extravagant fashion.
• Merri: Variant of Merry, either derived directly from the English word (it has been used as a surname for someone... well... merry!); or a diminutive of Mercy, derived from the English word and ultimately from Latin merces "wages, reward" or merx "goods, wares"; or possibly a diminutive of Meredith derived from the Welsh name Maredudd/Meredydd from Old Welsh mawredd "greatness, magnificence" and iudd "lord".
• Vera: Originally a Russian name meaning "faith"; or possibly derived from the Latin phrase vera icon "true image".

Spoiler Characters

• >!Caldarus: Possibly from English "caldera" or Latin calidus "warm, hot; fiery, fierce, vehement"?!<
• >!Seridia: This has got to be made up from the Aldarian language, because I got nothing lmao.!<
• >!Taliferro: Possibly derived from the Italian surname Tagliaferro, from tagliare "to cut" and ferro "iron". (...reference to Iron Chef? Maybe?)!<
• >!Wheedle: Possibly(...?) derived from the Latin name Vitalis meaning "of life, vital".!<
• >!Stillwell: Originally an English surname derived from a place, but I couldn't find out more.!<
• >!Zorel: Possibly from zora meaning "dawn" in various Slavic languages, or Spanish zorro "fox", or derived from "sorrel", a plant... Yeah I'm definitely reaching at this point lol. IT'S BEEN A COUPLE HOURS OK!!!!<

Places/Cultures

• Mistria: Beyond the obvious similarities to "mist" and possibly "myth" or "mystery", the mistral is also one of the winds of the Mediterranean, which Vincent van Gogh has mentioned as having an influence on his work, and doesn't Wheat Field with Cypresses (1889) kinda remind you of somewhere?
• Aldaria, Caldosia and Alda: I'm gonna venture away from etymology and into theorycrafting/headcanon for a second, however this may be inaccurate because I haven't played the game since before the final mines update and don't know how much it added in terms of backstory/worldbuilding. Anyway!! My personal theory:
  • Caldosia was likely the original ancient civilization/culture of the geographical area where Mistria is located, due to its obvious association with >!Caldarus!<; both in name (however I do wonder which came first?) and the dragon statues/statuettes appearing both as artifacts and around the map.
  • Alda is implied to be an ancient culture somewhere across the ocean, alluded to by some comments from the NPCs about the artifacts, and the artifacts themselves looking like they were weathered by the sea. In fact, alda means "wave" in Old Norse, which would also fit thematically with Mistria being loosely related to winds!
  • Aldaria, which we know is the kingdom/nation the game takes place in, shows an obvious resemblance to Alda, but may also be related to >!Caldarus!<. This leads me to think that it may have formed when Aldan peoples ventured out beyond the sea and came into contact with the native inhabitants of the lands they arrived in, leading to a new civilization emerging from the intermixing of these cultures (which could explain the variety of cultural influences we see in the characters' names) with knowledge of original Aldan history being forgotten over time, just as the ruins and artifacts seem to be the only remains of Caldosian history. There are a lot of references to wars/battles in relation to Aldarian artifacts though, which could imply a more unsavory sequence of events... but the fact that the name seems to be a synergy between the two aforementioned cultures, I'd like to think those battles were fought with some unrelated outside forces, rather than being wars of conquest. But who knows?
  • Please refer to this comment for the actual canon lore which I completely missed when playing lmao

And that's it!

What do you think? I deliberately tried not to go too deep into how the characters' names relate to them (although some of them are very obvious lmao) so I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas! Alternative suggestions and corrections are also very welcome!!

The most insane part of all this: I DIDN'T EVEN END UP ANSWERING THE ORIGINAL QUESTION FROM THE OTHER THREAD!!! But my brain is fried y'all (in a good way) so I'm taking a well deserved break now. Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!! 💖

Hello all,

I recently started working at a kindergarten as an inclusion aide and I'm looking for some pointers on how how to approach my case, as I have no professional background in education (beyond a personal interest in it). Note that I'm not in the US, so I'm looking for general advice rather than anything country- or program-specific.

My kid is 5, officially with developmental delays (particularly language)/possible intellectual disability, but also shows strong autistic traits (according to his teachers and my own observations). Still in diapers. He does speak, but only 1-3 word phrases (sometimes he will say longer sentences that are incomprehensible to me -- not sure if he's babbling or mixing things up due to being bilingual). He's in therapy one day of the week, but I don't know the details yet until my upcoming review/discussion meeting with staff.

Since I started working with him 4 weeks ago we've built a good bond. He's happy to see me in the morning, decently communicative and responsive. He'll approach me when he needs something and doesn't mind physical touch (holding my hand or being hugged/held). Plays alone or only with me by default, but sometimes is receptive to playing with other kids when I facilitate it. He understands basic play rules like taking turns, but either doesn't understand or isn't interested in more complex rules (e.g. "winning" a game or generally aiming for an abstract goal, except when stacking/sorting things).

My first concern is striking the balance between pushing him to engage with the group and try new things vs giving him space to regulate in a challenging environment. His go-to is the toy train set -- he will actively leave the play group and ask me to take him there when he (ostensibly) gets overwhelmed, we'll spend some time setting up the tracks together, but then he'll just push the train back and forth for up to an hour at a time while vocally stimming and generally being pretty unresponsive. I think it's great he's able to emotionally regulate like this on his own (I'm on the spectrum myself so I'm well aware of the importance of this) but I'm worried about over-reliance on this comfort impeding his development, as he will sometimes spend half of his day or more there. This became apparent to me on the last day before summer break -- they had already closed up the train room, and while he did ask me a couple times throughout the day, he understood and accepted with no pushback when I explained why we can't go there today, and ended up having a much better day regardless than I expected. So now I'm wondering if I should try encouraging him more to do other things instead of defaulting to his usual comfort mechanisms, and how to go about it -- while still making him feel safe and in control of his own time and emotions?

Another issue is that he likes to test his limits with me in different situations. For example, he will frequently take off his glasses when he's with me and protest strongly when I try to get them back on him (or even just ask him to) -- yelling, running away, knocking things over, throwing toys, shoving me. Originally, I suspected this might be an expression of sensory overload (for example, he will try to get me to do other things for him like fetching toys or pouring drinks, but eventually does it himself after a little vocal protest) -- but he doesn't react this way with his teachers. According to them, this has never been an issue until he got his previous aide, who apparently was extremely lenient and laissez-faire (bordering on neglecting) with him. What are ways I can re-establish adherence without jeopardizing his trust and feeling of safety with me? I'm thinking about printing some illustrated "rules cards" with do's and dont's for these specific situations (they already use them for gym and playground rules, so he's familiar with the concept) and reasserting that I'm not Ms. Previous-Aide and we do things differently, do you think this could work?

Lastly, while he's usually pretty easy-going and engages with me most of the day, he often starts getting restless sometime after lunch. He'll start asking for his mom 1-2 hours before she comes to pick him up, and initially accepts and repeats back when I tell him she's at work and will come later, but keeps asking and becoming more frustrated each time he does. This is when he starts screaming, running away or kicking and shoving me, and completely refuses me being near him, which is not an option of course (especially since he tends to climb on/jump off of things when he's agitated like this and might hurt himself). I recently found out I can sometimes defuse this by catching him when he tries to kickjump me and spinning him around (which he really enjoys and then makes a game out of doing it over and over) but this obviously gets exhausting for me after a while lol, and I wonder if there are ways I can help him regulate before it even gets to that point?

I'd appreciate any tips or advice, pointers to educational resources or book/article recommendations are also very welcome! Thank you for reading!! :-)

The storm coming from the west was supposed to pass over us (Mannheim area) this afternoon and bring a couple of hours of rain around 4-7pm. But according to current weather maps, it looks like the clouds are dissipating right before they reach us. We'll maybe get a little bit of rain after 8pm if we're lucky, and just gotta hope the later storms in the night and the next days are still happening, I guess.

Predicted temperatures for next week have also gone up again by 2-3°C or more. Not a lot of course, and I know forecasts that far out can be inaccurate, but it's still crushing to see temps that were below a 30°C maximum every day climb beyond that again.

It's excruciating. I can't sleep, I can't eat, and the apartment just keeps heating up more and more every day despite our efforts to keep the heat out. I spent the whole afternoon yesterday at a mall packed with people even though I get overwhelmed in crowds, because escaping the heat was more important, but obviously that's not an option today. The weather shifting like this after looking forward to relief all week feels like psychological torture on top of the physical exhaustion, like there's just no end in sight. How do you cope?

UPDATE: Never been happier to wake up to a grey sky. Currently enjoying the breeze and the sounds of rain on my balcony <3 Hope everyone else gets to cool down too, wherever you are! 🙏

Ich suche derzeit nach Lösungen für eingewachsene Haare/Rötungen an den Beinen und bin über diesen Post auf das Produkt gestoßen, leider scheint es bei uns nicht verfügbar zu sein (nur auf Amazon, aber das will ich nicht benutzen). Kennt jemand eine Alternative dafür?