Jenna Moran's blog posts on learning Chinese are excellent, and who knows how long the Eos-sama website will be up after all the shenanigans. So, here's an archive.
Le or liăo (了) is a troublesome letter. A long time ago a crocodile bit off its head and now it has a hook there instead. This makes it act out by, e.g., being difficult for me to write. It looks really simple. It only has two strokes. But it’s so difficult! My comprehension is willing but my agility and certainty are weak!
What is le (了)?
It’s a completive particle, and it also means “to bring to an end” or “to settle.” The most important use, IMHO—which is actually, really seriously humble right now, because wtf it is Chinese—is that you stick le (了) on the end of a sentence when that sentence took place in the past. For instance, “giant dragonflies roam the Earth” (google suggests this is “巨型蜻蜓漫游地球,” or “Jùxíng qīngtíng mànyóu dìqiú”) would be a false and misleading statement. If I said that it would probably damage my reputation for absolute seriousness and veracity. On the other hand, “giant dragonflies roam the Earth le” or “巨型蜻蜓漫游地球了” would be a fair and accurate statement. Only a disreputable scholar could dispute it!
Let’s do another. “I’m going to eat this cake, OK?” might prompt the owner of the cake to make objections. That question is set in the present. But “I’m going to eat this cake, OK? le” would render such objections moot! At that point they’d just have to accept it, because in the absence of a pasta maker or some sort of pasta than light travel nobody can change the past.
That’s just impossible!
I am not really sure when it becomes liăo (了) instead of le (了). My English instincts assume that it’s two words written as one, but my tiny understanding of Chinese suggests that maybe it depends on what tone the next word is in. All I really know is that liăo (了) is a good thing to say when someone is acting catty, because if they snap back at you with “what was that?” you can explain that it is an alternate tone for le.
Like:
“OMG he totally stole my character build. What a powergaming munchkin!”
“Liăo.”
“What was that?”
“It’s a Chinese completive particle explored in depth in Jenna Moran’s ‘A Book of Divine Letters.’ It might also mean ‘to settle’ or ‘to bring to an end!'”
“Wow. That’s fascinating and delightful. I regret my earlier cattiness, but only to a point, because if I hadn’t been so dismissive, I would never have known about Dr. Jenna Moran’s wonderful product and/or service!”
Let’s see. More things to say about le. Obviously le is also a French particle. It’s not clear how a French particle got to China but I assume that the “40 immortals” of L’académie française made a boo-boo. Can you imagine how funny they must have looked running around China trying to reassemble the parts of speech before they just gave up and agreed to share?
That is a trick question! Immortals always look dignified and refined, particularly when they are French.
Le is a key character in Leeroy (了羅伊) Jenkins. Without it he would just be a King sadly skulking somewhere on his throne. There is a large section of the Romance of the Le Kingdoms that explains why he is not, but rather engaged in pulling large quantities of whelps instead.
That’s not all, though.
Le isn’t just about the past and fighting kingdoms. Le appears to be an intensifying particle as well. For instance, it’s possible that my dragonfly and cake statements, provided above, might not actually refer to the past, but instead to something more like this:
OMG GIANT DRAGONFLIES or
I’m going to eat this cake, OK? I mean, IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU
The past is an emphatic country, as La Pasta Accademia has shewn.
Deep contemplation of the letter “le (了)” and the expenditure of Treasure Miracle Points may yield instruction on the following miracles:
That’s in le Past (1 TMP)
You may make unassailable assertions that things you’ve done or are about to do are “in the past” and therefore no longer worth arguing about or discussing. If you correctly draw the character “le (了)” in the air as you do this, anyone attempting to offer further discussion or argument must overcome a level 4 Obstacle.
Once you develop this ability you retain it until the end of the story or until someone musters an effective (level 3, after the Obstacle) response. If that happens you must retreat to an appropriate fastness and contemplate “le (了)” while spending another 1 MP before you can use the ability again.
Le Morte (4 TMP)
You may interrupt an action by seizing its past particle and converting it into the terrible hooked scythe “Le (了) Morte.” This is bad French but really that’s the L’académie’s own fault.*
Treat invoking this effect as a level 6 “unleashing miracles” of Treasure. You must use your miraculous action to invoke and sustain this effect. You must interrupt another action when originally doing so. Finally, you must have, or acquire a wound to take, a Bond or wound-Affliction connecting you to the completive particle “le (了).”
While active, the scythe Le (了) Morte has the miraculous power to cut a few seconds forward or backwards in time; to make a cool “liăo (了)” sound when you swing it through the air; and to generally function as a functional and terrifying weapon.
This is a one-use miracle. You must retreat to an appropriate fastness and contemplate or practice “le” again while spending 4 more MP before you can summon Le (了) Morte again. Note that characters with Treasure 2+ might be better served by mastering a similar scythe on their own terms.
* Made you twitch, French immortals! Made you twitch!
Hook Shot (2 TMP)
After endless hours practicing the hook atop the character “le (了),” you master the perfect hook shot. You may throw any reasonably aerodynamic object (a basketball, discus, yappy dog, or whatever) in such a fashion that it will curve—suddenly and of its own apparent accord—backwards at some point in its flight, then stop, then descend gently to the ground. You are limited by your normal throwing skills in every other respect: in effect, the curved stroke atop the “le (了)” replaces a more normal straight shot or gentle arc. Once learned, this is not miraculous or even magical: it’s a natural outgrowth of having TMP and spending that much effort and energy repeatedly writing “le (了).”
Once you develop this ability you retain it for the remainder of the story.
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A Book of Divine Letters: Le
Deep contemplation of the letter “le (了)” and the expenditure of Treasure Miracle Points may yield instruction on the following miracles:
That’s in le Past (1 TMP)
You may make unassailable assertions that things you’ve done or are about to do are “in the past” and therefore no longer worth arguing about or discussing. If you correctly draw the character “le (了)” in the air as you do this, anyone attempting to offer further discussion or argument must overcome a level 4 Obstacle.
Once you develop this ability you retain it until the end of the story or until someone musters an effective (level 3, after the Obstacle) response. If that happens you must retreat to an appropriate fastness and contemplate “le (了)” while spending another 1 MP before you can use the ability again.
Le Morte (4 TMP)
You may interrupt an action by seizing its past particle and converting it into the terrible hooked scythe “Le (了) Morte.” This is bad French but really that’s the L’académie’s own fault.*
Treat invoking this effect as a level 6 “unleashing miracles” of Treasure. You must use your miraculous action to invoke and sustain this effect. You must interrupt another action when originally doing so. Finally, you must have, or acquire a wound to take, a Bond or wound-Affliction connecting you to the completive particle “le (了).”
While active, the scythe Le (了) Morte has the miraculous power to cut a few seconds forward or backwards in time; to make a cool “liăo (了)” sound when you swing it through the air; and to generally function as a functional and terrifying weapon.
This is a one-use miracle. You must retreat to an appropriate fastness and contemplate or practice “le” again while spending 4 more MP before you can summon Le (了) Morte again. Note that characters with Treasure 2+ might be better served by mastering a similar scythe on their own terms.
* Made you twitch, French immortals! Made you twitch!
Hook Shot (2 TMP)
After endless hours practicing the hook atop the character “le (了),” you master the perfect hook shot. You may throw any reasonably aerodynamic object (a basketball, discus, yappy dog, or whatever) in such a fashion that it will curve—suddenly and of its own apparent accord—backwards at some point in its flight, then stop, then descend gently to the ground. You are limited by your normal throwing skills in every other respect: in effect, the curved stroke atop the “le (了)” replaces a more normal straight shot or gentle arc. Once learned, this is not miraculous or even magical: it’s a natural outgrowth of having TMP and spending that much effort and energy repeatedly writing “le (了).”
Once you develop this ability you retain it for the remainder of the story.