#//picked up the speech pattern of repeating words//

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Speech Development

Several stages of development have been distinguished in the first year, when the child develops the skills necessary to produce a successful first word.

FIRST 2 MONTHS

Apart from the cry patterns associated with hunger, pain, and discomfort, the first 2 months of life display a wide range of primitive vocal sounds reflecting the baby’s biological state and activities – as in the ‘vegetative’ noises heard while eating and excreting.

Some of the most basic features of speech, such as the ability to control air flow and produce rhythmic utterance, are being established at this time.

BETWEEN 6 & 8 WEEKS

There emerge the sounds generally known as cooing, produced when the baby is in a settled state.

Cooing sounds do not grow out of crying; rather, they develop alongside it, gradually becoming more frequent and varied.

They are quieter, lowerpitched, and more musical, typically consisting of a short vowel-like sound, often nasal in quality, and usually preceded by a consonant-like sound made towards the back of the mouth.

Strings of cooing noises soon emerge, and the sounds become more varied, as the baby begins to develop a greater measure of control over the muscles of the vocal organs – especially over tongue and lip movements and associated vocal-fold vibration.

BETWEEN 3 & 4 MONTHS

Cooing sounds begin to die away, to be replaced by sounds which are much more definite and controlled, often repeated, and produced with wide pitch glides.

It is a period commonly called vocal play, because the baby seems to take great pleasure in producing these noises, especially those made with the lips.

But it is perhaps more accurate to call it a time of vocal practice or experimentation.

AROUND 6 MONTHS

Vocal play gives way to babbling – a period of syllable sequences and repetitions which can last most of the second half of the first year.

To begin with, the consonant-like sounds are very repetitive:

Example: "babababa"

But at around 9 months, the babbling moves away from these fixed patterns.

The consonants and vowels change from one syllable to the next, producing such forms as [adu] and [maba], and there is a wider range of sounds, anticipating the sounds of the accent of English to be learned.

The utterances do not have any meaning, though they often resemble adult words – and of course adults love to ‘hear’ such words (especially mummy and daddy) in the baby’s vocalizations.

But babbling does not gradually shade into speech; indeed, many children continue to babble for several months after they have begun to talk.

Babbling is perhaps best summarized as a final step in the period of preparation for speech.

The child, in effect, ‘gets its act together’; but it has yet to learn what the act is for – that sounds are there to enable meaning to be communicated in a controlled way.

With the production of the ‘first word’, this final step is taken.

NOTE

However, the first word is not the first feature of adult language to be acquired.

From as early as 6 months, there is evidence that the child is picking up features of the melody and rhythm of the adult language.

Certainly by 9 months, strings of syllables are often being pronounced in conversation-like ways which adults interpret as communicative:

‘He/ she’s trying to tell us something’ is a common reaction to a piece of ‘scribble-talk’, and such speech-act functions as questioning, commanding, and greeting are ascribed to babbled utterances.

The melody and rhythm of often-used phrases, such as "all gone", are also likely to be heard long before the vowels and consonants are clearly articulated.

It is these prosodic features which are the first signs of real language production in children.

Prosody - the linguistic use of pitch, loudness, tempo, and rhythm; the study of versification

Source ⚜ Notes & References More: Children ⚜ Children's Dialogue ⚜ Childhood Bilingualism

[thelingodingo]

BTS' Speech Styles

Like anybody, the members of BTS have their own speech patterns and language quirks that make their speaking unique to themselves. So I thought it would be interesting to make a post that goes deeper into the details of how each member speaks in Korean!

Jin: He talks in an old-fashioned manner (very exaggerated ahjusshi) and doesn’t use much slang. He also uses a lot of puns consistently, its quite impressive and cringy honestly. His vocabulary isn't as varied and wide as RM but his grammar is pretty spot on. Also very speedy at talking and hard to understand sometimes. On top that, he's great at getting his point across in serious situations without adding unnecessary emotion.

Suga: I think I once heard a fandom myth that he has a lisp (which he very much does not). But he does mumble a lot and stretches his ㅔ's, making it very difficult for even native Korean speakers to understand him properly. On top of that, Suga also speaks incredibly quickly, making it another thing that makes it very hard to understand him (no wonder he's a rapper). Sometimes, he speaks very swaggy. Sometimes, he speaks like an old uncle. Sometimes, he's like RM and gets very eloquent with his wording.

J-Hope: Because of his dialect, he sounds very warm and friendly. He also seems to enjoy using words such as 되게 (really) and 뭔가 (somewhat) veryveryvery often. His tone fluctuates alot and something about the way he pronounces words is very crisp and staccato-like. He can also be very serious and deadass as well.

RM: He speaks very intellectually and educated. Both his vocabulary and sentence structure is very high-level, sometimes choosing difficult and unconventional words. Every now and then he jokes around in the many different dialects he picked up from the rest of the members (he doesn't come from a place that speaks a different dialect like the others). His normal speaking is also very unique sometimes due to the influence he has from the different dialects of the members, over the years he basically created his very own dialect that's a mix of all the different dialects together. This makes his speech so nuanced and special and difficult to fully translate/convey.

Jimin: Has a very friendly and down to earth tone when talking to fans since he speaks informally. His speech pattern is very playful, sweet, and cheeky. During other occasions, he speaks formally to fans and has the most "feminine" sounding speech style. You can tell he selects words very carefully and delicately to be as nice as possible. In Korea, he has a nickname of Park DaJeong, meaning "Tender Park" due to his speech style. Sometimes, he slips into dialect which is when he sounds a bit "rougher".

Taehyung: Is a big fan of using and repeating adverbs such as 약간, 조금, 진짜, etc. In Korea, people call the way he speaks 태태어 (Tae's language) because of how interestingly different and lowkey peculiarly he speaks Korean. It doesn't have much to do with his dialect, he literally just speaks that way. (he can speak amazingly when needed, it's just that he has his own quirks when speaking in casual situations)

Jungkook: He speaks with hints of dialect quite often, making him sound very rough and most "masculine" sounding in Korean out of all the members. I think he has a very clear and smooth tone which makes it easy to listen to him, so if you're learning Korean he might be a good person to do listening practice. He's not as polished in vocabulary/grammar compared to RM and Jimin but he's still great at speaking.

Something I want to mention is that the younger members very commonly use honorifics/polite social conventions/formal speech towards the older members even with their closeness and family-like relationship. This is actually something about BTS that is highly praised among Korean society due to how professional and respectful it makes them seem.

There's probably more to analyze and delve into when it comes to the members' speaking styles and patterns but this post is just a general overview.

Please let me know if theres any inaccuracies or if you want more posts like this!

[yuurei20]

I've got a question if you wouldn't mind answering!

I saw that the voice actor for Grim commented that Grim always ends his phrases with the word "zo", I was wondering if it had any meaning? Or if maybe it's just something to make his character more unique? Similarly, I've noticed Ruggie tend to use a lot of "su" at the end of his phrases, and I was wondering the same thing, if it had any meaning at all or if it's just supposed to be a character quirk!

Ty for your hard work and don't feel pressured to answer this if you don't want to! 🫶🏻

Hello hello! Thank you very much, you are so kind! ^^

Yes yes, Grim's Sugiyama comments on how difficult Grim's "zo" was for him in his interview (published in vol. 1 of the fanbook).

"Zo" can have a meaning of its own (I liked this explanation on jlptsensei.com, for those who may be curious), but it is generally not used in the way that Grim is using it 🐱 He adds it just to everything!

And verbal ticks like this come up a lot in all kinds of Japanese-language media! Videos games, manga, anime, TV dramas, comedians, etc.

Ruggie's "su" is also kind of a verbal tic, and also has its own meaning:

Discussed in more detail in another post (ref: Idia's "degozaru"), the Japanese language has the word "desu," which has different forms depending on how polite you want to be!

Grim and Jade use the word in two of its more normal (least slang-like) ways, casual for Grim (da) and more polite for Jade (desu).

Ruggie is also using it in a casual way, dropping the "de" part and only using the "su," but it all means the same thing ^^

A verbal tic is even the catalyst of Spectral Soiree!

While not as often as Grim, Malleus is also known to end his sentences in "zo."

He keeps this speaking pattern even during Spectral Soiree, when he is pretending to be possessed by the ghost of an emperor.

But he then slips mid-conversation, saying "zo yo."

Leona noticing this inconsistency starts a domino effect that ultimately compromises Malleus' charade, leading to Malleus' confession (more here).

So verbal tics can be very important! ^^

Crowley's "since I am kind" might also be considered a verbal tic, as it is generally repeated in the exact same way throughout the original game (original-game-to-EN comparison here!).

I think I will add a deep dive into the various speech patterns there are to my TODO list because this post keeps getting longer ww But here are a few pick-ups for right now:

・Idia's use of "degozaru," "-shi," otaku-/net-slang and his stutter are unique to his character.

・Ace will often say "papatto," for getting something done quickly.

・Epel has many things going on with his various forms of speech, and his "kana" might count as a verbal tic?

・Vil will often say "choudai" (apologies for the twitter link)

・Lilia will often use the adjective "rippa," which is similar to admirable/splendid/impressive/respectable/etc. in English!

・Riddle will often end questions with "dai"

・A line that Riddle also says before battles, Riddle will often say "ii dokyo ga oari dane," which is something like "to have some nerve." Other characters will say variations on "ii dokyo" (usually Vil and Leona), but this full phrase is unique to Riddle.

・Riddle will also often say "owakari dane," usually to mean "You understand?," as in, "if you don't do as I say, you understand what is going to happen to you, yes?" (re: he is going to behead someone).

・Maybe my favorite, Rollo will often end his sentences with "kane."

In the way Rollo is using it, it is just another verbal tic, but then there is the Bell of Salvation from the event or 救いの鐘 in Japanese:

Sukui no Kane. "Kane" means bell!

Rollo is ending so many of his sentences with the word "bell" ^^ It is wordplay!

Language is personalized to each and every character in the game, to the point that most of the time (on JP) you can tell which character is speaking before they even enter the room based upon verbal tics and honorifics ^^ It is all very interesting, but unfortunately all very impossible to put across on EN!

[rayhalloffame]

I read a post somewhere that Art’s coach spoke in German to him and he understood, and then further speculation that he understood because Patrick is German and from a rich family and probably taught him German/ learned from Pat’s trainer (something like this I can’t remember). So I present to you: Patrick reinforces your German.

I absolutely used google translate for this, I unfortunately do not have a Patrick to teach me.

…………

Your legs are splayed in a wide V-shape on the bed, your laptop and notebooks occupying the space between your thighs. You’ve been studying German for your oral presentation tomorrow and you just can’t get the accent to sound authentic or the words to be more casual. Everything seems so robotic.

Frustrated, you lean back into Patrick who is leaning against your headboard. He has his legs spread so that you fit between them and can lay right up against him. His chest is firm against your back. You sigh, turn your head so your cheek rests against his collarbone and your forehead against his jaw.

You capture Patrick’s attention then, pulling his eyes from his phone. Your head is dislodged when he pulls back to look at you and he brings a big palm up to push your hair off your forehead. “All done?” he asks. He knows the answer by the way you furrow your brow at him in response. He calls you a grouch and kisses the top of your head, tells you he’ll give you something sweet if you get back to it.

“I sound so stupid,” you whine.

“In German,” Pat prompts, and you pretend not to notice the way his eye twitches when you comply, eyes flickering down to analyze the way your mouth moves. “Let me help,” he suggests.

You huff in annoyance, sitting up and hunching over your notes. “You’ve known German your whole life, Pat. It’s not the same and so much harder for me.” He doesn’t respond but rubs his warm hand down the expanse of your back. You feel him move behind you after you start your speech from the beginning for the third time and stop by the fifth sentence. He wraps a strong arm across your chest and pulls you back into him.

While you complain about needing to focus, you welcome the distraction. You’re tired and just want to let Patrick rub your head while you fall asleep. That’s until he’s right in your ear, warm breath fanning over the side of your face, asking you to let him help. His forearm is strong against your collarbone, seatbelting you to him. His other hand starts gliding across your belly, going lower, lower, lower, until he’s stroking over your pubic bone.

“Pat,” you say in warning, even though the goosebumps start to raise on your legs. You shudder when his thumb dips under the waistband of your cotton shorts.

“It’s motivation,” he explains. “The better you do, the better I’ll touch you.” He kisses the shell of your ear. You turn your head so you can kiss his mouth, sultry and slow. He pulls away and pats the inside of your thigh gently, says , “Go on.”

You pick up your notecards and bring them to your face. When you start reading, he slips his hand into your panties and just holds the flat of his palm against your warm cunt. You’re doing well, and he started dragging his middle and ring fingers through your folds. You stutter when the tips of his fingers put just the littlest bit of pressure on your clit, and he stops, tells you to try again.

Though you whine, you start the sentence over and are rewarded by the circular pattern he resumes with the pads of his fingers. He doesn’t like the way you pronounce a word and uses the hand close to your face to turn your cheek so you’re looking at him. He repeats the word for you, has you watch his mouth, then prompts you to try again. He can tell you’re too distracted so he takes a pause and waits for you to respond. He’s satisfied when you do.

You keep this back and forth pattern of reading, getting corrected, followed by the sweet reward of his fingers. You lose focus when Patrick plunges those two wet fingers into you, catching you off guard. You’re panting his name, pushing your hips down and squeezing around his fingers that have stilled. “Go on,” he probes.

You swallow thickly, keep reading. His pace quickens the further you go, scissoring his long fingers and gliding his palm harshly along your clit with each flick of his wrist. You drop the cards and bring your arm up to wrap your hand over the back of his skull, pulling his face to you. “Kiss me,” you pant against his mouth, “kiss me, Pat, please.”

Though your eyes are squeezed shut, reveling in the pleasure, you can feel his lips twist up in a smirk. “Bitte um mich, auf Deutsch,” he whispers. Beg for me, in German. What an asshole.

“Küss mich,” you beg anyway, “Küss mich, küss mich.” Patrick is licking into your waiting mouth a second later, sliding over your teeth and tongue. You keep a tight hold on the back of his neck, pressing him desperately closer. He keeps fucking you on his fingers, even after you’ve come, and you’re whining into his mouth, wrapping a hand around his wrist to persuade him to let up, which he does.

He brings his sticky fingers between your faces, says, “help me clean up,” which turns into making out over his fingers. You can feel his erection pushing painfully into your back and you offer to help him out. “Sure,” he says. Patrick has you ride him, teaches you to talk dirty in your learned language.

[da-shrimping-station]

Arrhythmia

- in which "Solomon" is having such an unusual heartbeat and Sitri is at a loss...

735 words | no major trigger warnings

[ gn!reader, anxiety attacks, Sitri being delulu and calling reader Solomon, mildly suggestive (?), 0 proofreading, bare minimum editing ]

as usual, MINORS DNI OR I WILL TAKE YOUR KIDNEYS 🧡

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

Sitri had followed them outside without even knowing. Had Solomon not turned around to address him, he wouldn't have noticed. Yet they agreed to let him tag along, wherever their destination may be. He didn't dare to ask, too preoccupied with something else.

Their heart, of course.

He'd noticed that over the past few days, it's been a bit…off? Sitri doesn't know how to describe it.

The pattern of their heartbeat had changed. It wasn't how it sounded when they were out of breath or needing essence. It wasn't even how it would usually be when they're in the midst of pleasure, with another person or otherwise.

No, no. This pattern was halting and stuttering. Skipping a beat to rise without reason. It was accompanied by shallow breathing and shaky exhales.

It made him worry. Curious. And aroused.

As much as he wants to take Solomon away to a quieter place to hear their heartbeat better, Sitri knows he shouldn't. Just because he's very intrigued by this, doesn’t mean he'll jump on them without regard for their personal reservations. He respects them after all.

They've made a full circuit around the block and Sitri was getting worried. Their heartbeat was becoming more erratic. He can see them slow down.

"Sol–?!"

Solomon tipped sideways, hand shooting out to grab hold of a wall to steady themself.

He was at their side in an instant, hands on their arms to help them upright.

"N-no. Let me…sit down…" They shook their head stubbornly, face pallid and brows furrowed.

It was only then did Sitri notice their ragged breathing. But he did as they requested, making sure to sit them down in a shaded area between two buildings.

They slumped gracelessly on the ground, head lolling forward.

"What's happening?!"

Solomon was still alive and breathing, unscathed and all. Yet…

“It's fine,” they gasped, failing to keep their voice steady. They leaned back against the pale brick wall. “I just–need a c-couple of…minutes-” As reassuring as they tried to be, their halting speech made Sitri frown.

Nothing looks okay. Nothing sounds okay. To Solomon's norm at least. For Sitri though…

He leaned closer, wanting to press his ear against their sternum. Maybe if he can hear their heart better, he'd know what to do next—

A palm struck his forehead and he stiffened. He had unknowingly leaned closer to Solomon, crowding their slumped body

“Back. Off.” Solomon's words were harsh, their face trying to keep a serious facade despite the obvious discomfort they're going through. “Don't touch.”

Sitri should touch! He definitely should, especially with how their heartbeat picked up so enticingly. He was, once again, entranced by the irregular rhythm. Even as Solomon curled up, putting their head between their knees and arms wrapped around their slightly trembling body…

His mouth felt dry. He knows his face was most likely a bright shade of red with how hot under the collar he felt. The tightness in his pants did help either…

No–! Solomon is clearly in distress, still curled up with their shoulders heaving and breaths audible in the empty alleyway. He can only hang back, on alert for any danger…

Thumpthumpthump—

Thump…

Thump thump—

Thump…

The heartbeat sounded like it was trying to right itself.

Sitri refocused on Solomon, finding them uncurled and leaning slightly to the right. They leaned their head back against the bricks once more, hand clutching their shirt right over their heart. He observes their breathing.

Inhale–

1…2…3…4…

Hold–

1…2…3…4…5…6…7…

Exhale—

1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…

Solomon repeated this over and over, their face easing as their heart rate slowly settled into a more normal pace. It still stuttered here and there, though not as unusual as before.

With one final loud exhale, Solomon looks back at him.

“Thanks for your help,” they deadpanned. They started to pick themself up from the ground.

“Apologies,” he replied sincerely. “This never happened before with you, Solomon. I wasn't sure how to assist.” Maybe it was time for a refresher course on practical first aid with the Paradise Lost doctors…

“Well, it wasn't an emergency but…” There was a look in their eyes that he couldn't quite place, paired with the furrowed brows and pressed lips. “Anyway, let's go back. Satan's blowing up my phone.”

Sitri trailed behind Solomon like a puppy, eyes and ears trained on them. He wonders when and how he can hear that kind of heartbeat again…

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

A/N:

guess who got a drink agaiiin lmaooo 🥴i honestly cannot post my writing unless my brain is mush enough not to overthink and be too conscious about my writing

anywayyy this drabble features the most delulu devil i know! SITRI

man legit gaslight gatekeep girlbosses himself neck deep in denial! wdym solomon is long gone and that's actually his descendant? you are objectively wrong!!!

on a more serious note, ik people w anxiety deal w the attacks in their own way and i drew inspiration from my own experience,,,,,,,in which i tough it out and pretend that i am a functional adult w 0 problems at all ha ha ha ha ha.....tho i do retreat to quiet spaces and do breathing exercises (if the situation allows it)

but yea Sitri is useless af (imo) when you're in a situation like that cuz man's sidetracked w your jank ass heartbeat to help properly

and i think it kinda turns him on so,,,,,

I hope you enjoyed my lil drabble! 🦐

[sunnybeewriting]

peachy keen. Part Four

Hi guys!! I’m sorry for the wait! The next few chapters will be MASSIVE if I don’t split them up! And the plot is about to pick up for sure. Thank you all so, so much for all your encouragement and likes and comments, they make me so, so happy. And trust me things will spice up I promise ����😈! 🥹 I love you guys, you are all the best!! Peachy Keen, Part Four 🍑��

WORDS: 5,921

WARNINGS: NONE

“Ni-hona.”

The word coming from Quaritch's mouth is jumbled and slow as he struggles to pronounce it. His eyebrows are furrowed in concentration, his hand waving in front of him in the correct gesture as he tries to speak.

“No, no, not ni-hona, nìhona.” You speak slowly, making sure to pronounce the syllables correctly. Your mouth twitches as you struggle not to smile. Really, it’s just ridiculous how charming this guy can be when he’s frustrated.

Quaritch’s scowl deepens as you correct him, but he begrudgingly repeats your speech pattern.

“Nìhona.”

You beam and clap your hands together twice in front of you, pride filling your chest. “Yes! It can be a little tricky to remember, but once you practice a little bit, you’ll be saying it in your sleep!”

Quaritch sits up straighter, and you definitely aren’t imagining the way his chest puffs out a little bit at your praise. His mouth quirks up slightly at the corners at your elated reaction.

“Honestly, I’m pretty surprised you got it so fast. I know it took me at least two weeks to learn what you learned in one week.” It isn't a lie. Quaritch had taken off with your lessons much faster than you could have ever expected, soaking up everything Na’vi related like an eager sponge. It was impressive, to say the least.

He snorts softly, crossing his massive arms over his chest. “What, you thought I wouldn’t be able to do it? This shit is easy as hell.”

This time you can’t help your giggle, and you aren’t imagining the way his golden eyes soften just a bit.

It’s a beautiful day as you sit across from one another in the courtyard, so close your knees almost brush together. The daylight is warm against your skin and dark hair, and it lights up Quaritch in front of you. It would be the perfect day if you could hear the sounds of insects and the breeze of trees around you, but the only thing you can hear is the constant cacophony of construction and hexbots at work in the distance. Even with that all that noise, there is almost nothing that could ruin your mood right now.

It's been two days since your conversation on the stairs, and you’d been so relieved when you’d met up the morning afterward and everything between you felt…surprisingly normal. You’d been worried that it would feel uncomfortable, or that something would have changed in how he interacted with you. To your relief, Quaritch had simply greeted you with his usual scowl before kicking your ass again.

You were just glad that your emotional moment with him hadn’t seemed to change anything.

You sit in comfortable silence for a few moments, simply soaking in his presence. Your lesson time for the morning ended about fifteen minutes ago, but you just don’t want to leave yet. It seems Quaritch feels the same way, as he makes no move to get up. In fact, this is probably the longest time you’ve spent with him in silence.

It was nice to just be with someone, with no expectations or small talk.

Eventually, Quaritch shifts to stand, long legs pulling out from his seat on the floor to push himself up. You look up from your place on the ground to watch him rise, not even bothering to look away as he catches your gaze.

When he offers you a hand up, you grasp it without hesitation. He pulls you to your feet much more gently than in the past, and your hands linger together for a brief moment before you simultaneously let go.

That’s the one thing you've noticed that seems to have changed since the stairs. He's more gentle with his words and with his hits, less mean almost. He grabs things for you, and when you walk together he hovers a hand above the small of your back. He's almost hesitant to meet your eyes sometimes. It's a stark contrast to how he acted to you in the beginning, but you couldn't say you minded at all. In fact, his behavior now never failed to make your face burn and butterflies explode in your stomach. 

 “Well, Peach, this has been fun, but I got a meeting with my team in thirty. Those assholes are probably already loosin’ their minds waitin’. Jackasses can’t do shit without me.” He sneers, rolling his eyes derisively. 

You snicker. Quaritch definitely has an ego, but from the way you’ve seen his team hang onto his every word and order, he probably isn’t too far off the mark with that statement.

Quaritch grins briefly at your laugh, sharp fangs peeking out slightly. Even though you have your own set of sharp teeth now, seeing his never fails to make your stomach jolt. 

“Sounds about right, sir. Same time tomorrow?”

Quaritch falters so briefly that you wonder if you're imagining it. He opens his mouth slightly, as if to speak, before something flashes over his face and he closes it. His eyes move between yours and his tail flicks unsteadily behind him.

“Yeah, sweetheart. And make sure your scrawny ass isn’t late this time, alright? I don’t have all day to wait on you. I am actually important around here, you know.”

Your lips twitch, but you manage not to smile. You contort your face into something semi-serious, but your eyes and voice are clearly amused.

“Yes, sir!”

Quaritch rolls his eyes, his own mouth twitching. His long arm reaches across the distance between your bodies and he presses his hand briefly against the bare skin of your upper arm. The training you’ve been doing together has put some faint callouses on his hands, and they rub tenderly against your skin as he strokes a quick path. He does it quickly, as though it’s an action he doesn’t even realize he’s doing.

You’ve been in close proximity for months, training and talking and almost kissing, but your heart still races in your chest every time you touch. It’s embarrassing, really, the effect he has on you.

You gaze at each other for another long moment before he releases you and turns around.

You blow out a quiet breath as you watch him walk away and out of the yard, appreciating the view as you always do. At least this time you don’t have anything sharp in your hands. Just thinking about it makes your hand sting, even though the cut has long since healed.

You wander back to the Avatar sleeping center, taking your time and enjoying the light of the day. You certainly don't have much of anything to do once you are linked back into your human body.

Soon enough, though, you make it to the center. After you link back, you simply lay in the pod for a moment, staring up at the warm yellow lighting. You just can’t seem to get your body to move. 

Eventually, you’re able to find the motivation to rise from your position and open the pod. You swing your legs over the side and sit there for another minute, blearily rubbing your fists against your eyes to clear them. Your mouth feels a little fuzzy and your head has begun to throb sharply at your temples, but all in all, you feel fairly energetic. It’s much better than you felt when you first began linking.

You stand on your feet, turning this way and that to stretch out your lethargic muscles. Your stomach begins to growl hungrily, so you drearily make your way to the doors of the center just as Miss Hall strides through.

Her red hair is in its usual severe bun, slicked back and not a hair out of place. Everything about her looks as it usually does, but it’s her quick pace and the pleased expression on her face that takes you off guard.

“Nice morning, isn’t it, Miss Hall? How’s it going with-” you pause when Miss Hall’s head jerks toward you and an uncharacteristically enthusiastic smile appears on her face. In the time you’ve known her, you’ve never seen such a happy look from her before. It’s enough to make you hesitate in the doorway, startled. When the smile doesn’t fade from her mouth, something clicks in your mind and realization floods your body.

Is it…?

Your heart leaps into your throat when she answers your unasked question by nodding her head.

Ohmygod it’s time!

You quickly cover the remaining distance from her in a few brief seconds so you can either clap her shoulder, pull her into a hug, or do a celebratory dance. You aren’t even sure. Just as you’re lifting your arms to apparently pull her into a hug, she coughs and shoves her arm in between your bodies for a handshake.

Oh, right. Woops.

You lower your arms and stay a few feet away, respecting her choice for less physical contact. That didn’t stop you from squeezing her hand and giving it ten pumps up and down though.

“They actually agreed to let us head out? All of us? How far do we-?”

“We are allowed a maximum distance of ten miles from the tree line of the Kill Zone-"

You squeal and clap your hands, interrupting her sentence, but you just can’t help it.

“But only ten miles, no more, do you understand?” She gives you a stern look as she speaks. 

You nod your head franticly. Ten miles past the Kill Zone was so much further than you ever expected the RDA to allow your little group of newbies to head out on their first trip into the wilderness of Pandora. But you certainly weren’t fucking complaining! It's a dream come true, being able to travel that far so soon, and you are not going to ruin it.

You had spent the past two months developing the muscular tone and reflexes of your Avatar so you would be ready for the large amount of physical activity wandering around Pandora would require. Learning to fight from Quaritch of all people had undoubtedly helped in that goal; your Avatar had much better strength and speed now. 

And you wonder if this is what Quaritch felt like all the time, fast and powerful, so much bigger and better than everyone around him. If so, it’s no wonder he’s kind of a bully; sometimes even you got a little cocky with your newfound physical prowess, and you aren’t even half the asshole Quaritch liked to be sometimes.  

“Okay, okay, when do we leave?”

Tomorrow, tomorrow, say tomorrow!

“We’ll head out tomorrow morning, all five members of the second division.”

I might literally shit my pants right now.

Your mind races, your heart furiously pumping to keep up with all the exhilaration now surging through your blood and into your brain. You’re going to have to shower, have to pack, have to prepare the equipment that’ll come along, have to tell the group-

You gasp, lurching up from the chair you hadn't even realized you had drifted into, too consumed with your wild thoughts.

“I’ll go tell the group!” you almost shout, already halfway out the door before Miss Hall can even respond.

They’re going to be so excited!

If you had been bored to tears these last few months, Emma, James, Margot, and even David were all absolutely crazed by monotony at this point. With no Quaritch to lighten up their day, they’ve fallen into the same old routine of grey walls and mindlessly studying things they already reviewed years ago.

You race down the hallways. You bump into a few people but don't slow down to apologize properly, instead shouting a haphazard, “Sorry!” back at them as you continue on your way.

You turn a corner a few hallways from the break room too fast, and you crash face-first into the side of someone’s hard leg.

You bounce right off them, face throbbing angrily. You would have landed on your ass if a giant hand hadn’t shot out and grabbed your shoulder before you could fully tilt backward.

“Jesus Peach, where the hell you runnin’ off to so fast?”

You gasp lightly, lifting your wide eyes up, up, up until you meet Quaritch questioning golden ones.

You beam up at him, too buzzed to feel embarrassed about running into him like an excited toddler. He raises his eyebrow as he takes in your thrilled face, clearly curious as to what was tickling you. You're about to deliver the news when your eyes trail down his chest and you freeze.

There, against his green tank top and resting by his silver dog tags, is your pendant.

You stare at it, stunned. All thoughts of Pandora dissolve in your brain like mist. You barely refrain from gasping again.

While he had accepted your gift and hadn’t laughed straight in your face like you thought he might, you never actually believed he would wear something you had made, something so clearly sentimental.

Quaritch follows your startled eye line to his chest, blinking when he sees you gaping at the pendant. He raises his eyebrow questioningly again, scoffing while crossing his arms over his chest.

“What, Peach? You thought I wasn’t gonna wear it?” He sneers, looking almost defensive.

You stutter, mind struggling to catch up with everything that's happening. “W-Well, you just weren’t wearing it the past two days, sir. I just figured…”

He rolls his eyes derisively. “I needed to find a chain to put it on. Took me a few days.” He smirks at you. “Just couldn’t wait to see me wearin’ it, huh?”

You color a bit, lips thinning, but you refuse to rise to his teasing bait. You lean back and cross your own arms over your chest to match his stance. “No, sir, I’m just glad to see you liked it, that’s all.”

“Well, you made it, so. Anyway, what the hell has you running around here like your ass is on fire?" 

Your eyes soften as your limbs practically melt into the floor at his words. He was wearing it just because you made it?

You clear your throat, attempting to move onto Pandora and not focus on his surprisingly tender words. Even as you do, the sweet feeling of affection for Quaritch doesn’t leave, instead nesting deep and gently into your heart and bones. “Uh, Amanda said our group is now cleared by the higher-ups for fieldwork. My group and I leave tomorrow morning.”  

You snatch up Quaritch’s right hand resting by his side, the excitement of the news once again making its way through your veins and rejuvenating you. It takes both your hands to hold one of his, and even then they still look teeny tiny by his own massive one. You squeeze it as tightly as you can, which probably feels like nothing to him.

“Isn’t it amazing? We’ve been waiting months for this, not to mention the years we’ve been training and prepping, and I-” Your voice had been getting higher and higher as your excitement explodes like fireworks in your blood, and you drop his hand just as quickly as you had grabbed it to start clapping your hands together. You’re just about to start jumping up and down when Quaritch places an enormous hand on your shoulder to keep you still and interrupts you.

“You mean to tell me they already cleared your little group of pussycats for Pandora? Jesus, you think your team is really ready for that?” Despite his harsh words, the grip on your shoulder is gentle. He doesn’t look angry per se, more disbelieving and annoyed than anything.

Your childish excitement falters, your smile dropping a bit when you realize he has a point. You’ve struggled with remembering that Pandora isn’t a joke or something you can just waltz into half-cocked and hoping for the best. You were always too focused on the beautiful scientific possibilities, and you often forget just what Pandora really is; an unknown, hostile environment that will kill you if you let down your guard. Like Quaritch had said when you had first met him, Pandora would eat you alive if you weren’t careful.

You breathe in deeply, squaring your shoulders as your heart rate begins to calm. You’re still beyond thrilled about this, but Quaritch is right. This is not the time for you to slip off into your head like you usually do when you start overthinking things.

If you weren’t alert, focused, and mature about this, something awful could happen to you or to your friends, just because you were off galivanting around the forest. If someone you cared about got hurt because you were too distracted by pretty flowers, you would never forgive yourself. And with that thought in your head, you feel a spark of fear tighten your gut.

You swallow. “I - I know. But I really think that we’re ready for this, and it won’t be for more than a few hours-”

“I know you, Peach, and whether it’s for a minute or an hour, you like to get lost in that pretty lil’ head of yours and not pay attention.”

You wince, conceding. “I know, I know, but I will focus when I’m out there and I’ll do my job. This is what I came here for, what I’ve studied for. We’ll be in and out, just like that.”

You reach out hesitantly and slowly grab onto his hand once again. Your gentle touch seems to calm him a little bit, and his eyes lock onto yours. Your sure to any passerbys that your height difference must look extremely comical as you stand across from one another, but you don’t break eye contact to see if anyone’s looking.

“I’ll be okay, Quaritch. I promise I’ll pay attention and listen to every order. I’ll be back before you know it.”

The tension that had suddenly gripped him seems to flee him as quickly as it appeared. You’re about to relinquish your grip on his hand just as he tightens his gently. He squeezes your hand, clearly making sure to be careful with your fragile limb.

Something flashes across his face, gone before you can determine what it is. Determination, perhaps? Resolution? Whatever it is, you’re just glad he had pulled your head from your ass and given you the facts straight. If there was one thing you could rely on Quaritch to do, it was to give no bullshit.

“I’ll you in two days, Quaritch. I’ll be back before you know it!” You grin, trying to sound convincing. You’re not sure if it’s for him or for you.

You slowly let go of his hand again, giving it one last soft squeeze. You peer up at him as best you can at your height. Eventually, Quaritch nods once, a distant expression on his face. He takes a step back, putting some distance between you as he speaks.

“Guess I’ll see you soon, Peach.”

Your mouth twitches upward. “See you soon, sir.”

Quaritch nods one last time before he swiftly moves around you and continues on his path. You turn to watch him go, brows furrowed at his seemingly sullen mood.

It really won’t be that long, you reason. We’ll be able to continue our lessons soon, he won’t miss that much time.

You wander back toward the break room where you know your team will be, thoughts of Quaritch soon replaced by nervous excitement as you imagine your group's reaction to the news. As you step through the doors, you hear the tail end of an irritated discussion.

“ -alright, and I’m just saying that if they wanted to, they would totally have us moving in that direction - oh hey, girl!” Margot breaks off her sentence once she notices you standing in the doorway. Her face brightens up, grin spreading across her face. You don’t blame her; two months spent with just David and the lovebirds for company has made you a little crazy, too.

“I was just telling these three about how - ” Margot’s sentence cuts off as she takes a full look at your face. Her smile drops a bit, eyes flickering over your expression. You have no idea what you look like; probably nervous, delighted. It has to be a very strange look.

“What’s wrong, sugar? You look like you’re about to either pass out or dance, I can’t really tell. Why don’t you sit down-”

“We’ve been approved for Pandora.” Your words come out choked.

Everyone freezes, stunned. They gape at you from around the room. You’d all been expecting this, but it was one thing to wait for it and another thing entirely to have it happen. Just as you thought, your group is torn between the thrill of seeing Pandora in the flesh for the first time and the terror of being in a hostile environment.

The room sits in silence for a moment before Margot closes her mouth, swallows, and rasps, “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow, Miss Hall said.” You struggle to speak. Your mouth is dry from both excitement and dread.

They sit there for another moment, wrapping their minds around the news. Margot is the first to stand. She smiles, clearly enthusiastic, but her mouth is tight.

“Well. I guess we need to get packed, huh?”

------

When you make it back to your quarters that night, you spend at least two hours packing every single thing you think you might need in Pandora. You run around your room like a whirlwind, packing things into a bag and then unpacking them over and over again as you work yourself into a frenzy. Eventually, you send it off to be put in the center for when you link up. All the really important equipment is already in the Avatar center, but you still want to be prepared.

Your thoughts anxiously jump all over the place. Waiting for stressful situations has never been your strong suit.

You doze in and out of sleep restlessly, spending more time kicking off your covers and tossing and turning than you actually do resting. Blessedly, you’re able to grab a few hours of sleep once your mind stops running wild, but you know you’ll still be tired when your alarm clock goes off.

Once you wake up and the reality of the situation pumps energy through your veins, you get dressed and ready as fast as you can. Your fingers quiver slightly as you struggle to put on your tennis shoes.

You head down to the mess hall, squinting your eyes against the bright lights of the hallways. You snag a bagel and eat it as best you can, ignoring the way your stomach turns. By the time you eat it and make your way to the linking center, you’re practically sweating. Nerves are quickly making a complete mess of you.

Just as you enter through the doors, Margot leaps from her seat and hurtles her way toward you. You barely have time to open your arms before she’s crashing into you so hard that you take a step back, but you don’t hesitate even a second before wrapping your arms around her in turn.

You only hug her for less than five seconds, but by the time she releases her grip, you feel so, so much better. It feels like a sharp, heavy stone had been lifted off your chest and you can finally breathe. You hadn’t noticed how twisted your mood had turned, torn between excitement and fear.  

“Hey, girl.” Margot speaks in a rare, quiet voice. She looks how you feel; tired, thrilled, stressed. Her hair is slightly mussed and her face is a little pale, but you can’t imagine you look any better.

“Hey, Margot.” You give her as best of an encouraging smile as you can, even though it feels more like a grimace. She returns the look, and together you walk toward the table where the rest of the group is waiting.

Poor Emma looks like she’s a second away from puking, and James sits by her, rubbing a hand soothingly against her back. David is in the corner of the room, muttering to himself almost frantically as he obsessively wipes his glasses clean against his shirt.

You grimace at their state, but you feel a little glad that you aren’t the only one apprehensive about this trip. It’d be more worrisome if they weren’t acting like this, really. The last thing anyone needs is someone acting cocky and causing trouble on your first outing.

You take a seat just as Miss Hall comes through the doors, professionally put together as always. She scans the room in one quick glance, and once she realizes the whole team is here, she says,

“Alright, team. Let’s get started.”

You make sure to focus on the quick reminders, what the primary mission of your group is, and the process of the investigation. Your mind begs you to think about the future and everything that could go wrong, but you stubbornly keep your attention on the present.  

Three hours and many conversations later, it’s time to link up. You squeeze Margot’s hand one last time and share one last look before you shuffle over to the linking pod. It takes too many minutes to clear your frantic mind. Eventually, bright white and vibrant colors flash across your eyes, and then you’re waking up in the body of your Avatar.

You and the team get dressed in tense silence. Your clothes are different from the regular attire you wear around Bridgehead. Now you’re wearing dark green shorts and a beige crop top that is covered by a tan, long-sleeved open shirt made of thin fabric. Your long dark hair is pulled back and covered by a bandana. You wear shoes for once, sturdy boots and socks that will help you walk on the slick forest floor.

Most of the supplies for Pandora exploration stays in a separate part of the Avatar center, and for the first time since arriving on on this planet, you actually get to use it. Holotablets preloaded with specific data, vests, comm links, backpacks filled with equipment. Everything that could possibly be needed for exploration and data collection is here.

It’s a scientist’s wet dream.

You pack quickly, fussing and triple checking everything before it’s time to leave the center.

Your group makes its way across Bridgehead toward the utility aircraft section of the city. Your tail waves nervously behind you as you walk, and it almost hits a tiny passing military man as you wander too close into his personal space. He shouts at you, glaring, and you only spare him an apologetic glance and a squeaky shout of “Sorry!” before you keep walking. You don’t have time to do anything else.  

The loud noise of people and machines does nothing to calm your nerves, and your sensitive ears frantically flick with the amount of deafening pandemonium that assaults your senses.

It doesn’t get any better as you walk. When you reach the launching pads, the shrieking of the SA-2 Samson aircraft makes you want to cover your ears and cower. You’re grimacing fiercely as you walk closer to the pad, and you can see the rest of your group doing the same. When you see it waiting, the nerves return full force. Your stomach turns and a cold sweat breaks out across your skin.

Don’t puke, don’t puke, Jesus Christ.

“Get on!” Miss Hall shouts as best she can over the howling. The other members go first, stepping up and into the large carrier. The whirring of the blades causes your hair to whip wildly over your face, blocking your view, and you try not trip on your feet as you pull yourself onto the craft after James. He turns around after he finds his footing again and gives you a hand up. Once you stand inside, you quickly take off your backpack and find a seat.

Miss Hall is the last one to climb in, hands full of the light, protective vests that are now required by the RDA. She hands them out to everyone and you grip yours tightly as you take it from her, knuckles white. You hold it your hands uncertaintly; you’d watched training videos on how to put the thing on and how to properly buckle it up, but now that you’re here your mind is going blank.

You shake your head in an effort to reorganize your thoughts, but the shrieking and the wind make it an almost impossible task. You sit up from your seat a bit to put the vest on over your shoulders.

Miss Hall finishes her conversation with the pilot and makes her way steadily over to your seats.

“Everyone ready?!” She shouts. Her eyes are a bright yellow, hair finally ruffled. She has a wide, encouraging smile on her face, and you distantly realize that this is the most genuine you’ve ever seen her.

She opens her grinning mouth to shout again before something seems to catch her attention. She looks out the open side of the carrier, eyebrows furrowing after a second. You follow her gaze, curious to see what made such an expression.

For a brief moment, you aren’t really sure if what you’re seeing is real.

Holy fucking shit! Is that Quaritch?!

Indeed, striding toward your aircraft, flanked by Z-Dog and Lopez, is Quaritch.

It feels as though someone has shocked you with a taser. You lurch up in your seat, gasping, eyes wide and mouth open as you stare at Quaritch’s intimidating form. Your heart thunders in your chest from both surprise and excitement.

Is he coming with us!?

The thought fills you with giddiness and you eagerly watch as he gets closer to the aircraft. As he nears you can see his hard and serious expression, as well as his new getup. He’s wearing dark green army vest covered in pockets, the thick straps resting against his broad shoulders. A black comm link that matches your own is around his throat. He holds a massive gun strapped across his chest next to his usual breathing mask. He walks like he owns Bridgehead, sneer firmly in place as he towers over even his team members. From this angle you can see his blue skin glowing in the daylight and his tail flicking irritably behind him.

You don’t realize you’re gawking at him until your mouth begins to dry. You snap it closed, suddenly breathless.

Soon enough, a large blue hand wraps around the opening to the carrier and Quaritch’s massive body lifts itself through. Your seat is right next to the large opening, so when Quaritch enters his shoulder brushes against the bare skin of your knees as he pulls himself up.

You're out of your seat before you realize it, hand reaching out to grab onto Quaritch’s massive bicep. He jerks a little bit when he realizes he’s being touched, glower firmly on his face when he turns to see who’s doing the touching. His expression settles when he realizes it’s you, face brightening as his sneer turns into a mocking smirk at your shocked face.

“What the hell are you doing here!?” You shout over the engine and wind, leaning close until your face is right next to his shoulder. You almost have to press your body to his so he can hear you. He leans down over you, putting his face close to yours as he shouts back. His golden eyes lock onto yours.

“What, Peach, you think I was going to let your scrawny ass get yourself killed out there!? God knows you wouldn’t last a second in Pandora without me watching your dumbass! What would everyone think if someone I was training died on their first time out?”

You beam at him, too happy to care about his slightly insulting words. “You have no idea how glad I am that you’re here!” You shout as loudly as you can.

He seems briefly surprised by your joy before his smirk turns cocky. “I bet you are, Peach!”

You scoff and daringly wack him lightly on the arm just as Z-Dog and Lopez pull themselves into the carrier. Z-Dog raises an eyebrow at Quaritch’s close position to you, her smirk growing mocking as she pops her bright pink bubblegum. Her expression schools itself into something more neutral when Quaritch turns to shout instructions at her, but you can still see the amusement in her eyes. Lopez remains silent beside her, hands holding his gun close to his chest. He nods when you make eye contact with him.

They turn to take a seat near your group, eyeing your team members distastefully. It seems like Quaritch wasn’t the only Recom member who dislikes scientists.

You grip Quaritch’s forearm and lead him toward the empty seat next to yours. You push your backpack off to the side to make room for your feet and take a seat. Quaritch places himself next to you, close enough that your thigh presses tightly against his. It makes your body buzz.

The whirring of the engine begins to scream even louder as it prepares to take off and you wince. Your hands bring themselves up until they’re pressed tightly against your ears. It only muffles the sound slightly.

Quaritch scowls when he sees you wince, golden eyes tightening around the corners and mouth thinning. He leans in close again to say something, and you tilt your head closer to hear. Your hair brushes against the bare skin of his arm.

“The loud noises will get better!” He shouts, nodding when you look at him. You nod back, immensely relieved to hear it.

He snorts when he sees your open vest. He rolls his eyes as he stands up from his seat to kneel in front of you, uncaring of the way the carrier shakes aggressively as it leaves the ground. His broad fingers swiftly begin to put the buckles and snaps in place, tugging here and there. As he gets lower, his hand brushes against the gentle flare of your hip, and you can’t help but shudder. Luckily, it's covered by the shuddering of the aircraft. You really didn’t need Quaritch to look any smugger than he already does. 

You watch him tug your vest into place until everything sits perfectly, pretty mouth twisting as he works. He nods once he’s done, moving to sit back in his seat like he hadn’t just taken you completely by surprise. That does seem to be his thing, though.

You can’t seem to wrap your head around the fact that Quaritch was actually here and coming with you on your first trip. All your worries seem to fade away as you realize what this means. If there is anyone whose capabilities you trusted, it's Quaritch. You’ve seen this guy fight before, and even then he barely broke a sweat. You also trusted that he would put in an effort to keep you safe, even if just to ‘save his image’ as he said. You almost roll your eyes.

The important thing is that you feel safe with Quaritch. Maybe that's stupid, maybe you’d end up regretting it. But for now, it's the only way you can feel. And with that feeling, hope and elation fully blossoms as you think about what you are about to accomplish with Quaritch by your side.

And really, what’s the worst that could happen?

Tagging: I tried to get everyone!!

@kristennero @silverhowe @creativityleftthechat @nissilou

@x-maladaptive-daydreams-x @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed

@rdeville @anxiousraindrop5299 @floufli @rax-raxus

@nanamislut321 @perseny @gremlinfuck @e1d0lonk3k

@iwillnotexplainmyself @mxddymay @coffinbeananteiku @j-ang-0 @rowdy-00 @tmblrsexyw0man

@tohellwiththedevill @arsen-the-vamp @babyduk213

@owaowaowawa @desertrose244 @myxwallz @the-black-pines

@nahpu55yboy @goldmacaron @secretnerd00 @mxddymay @mckenzieriley69 @kristennero @kakimakiloh

@nina-murs @cannon3fodder @helpimhyperfixating @natalie12seal @daisybelldarling @b-dawwwg @r3dc4ndy @bitem4rked @simpforavillain @ilikeblueppl @curlymantis @novas-dreamworld

@wsup687 @poorpatheticdarling @spaghetti-in-my-pockets @skinmittensgoblin @darksxder @zilena9 @manymaria111 @ornnhub @roselleviennesstuff @dyingofcookies @dominespectabilis @mechformers @raezrr @missd3vil @biggestsimpever191919 @starfleetslut @ttreader @ @usvoldemort @kristennero @coffinbeananteiku @hellobittybabypotter @mrsquaritch @jane-arthur @luciddasher @redthefieryginger @nova-de-sketch

[genderfluid-strawberry-of-doom]

i reread hammer of thor and i decided to list out some stuff i feel has been overlooked by the fandom

and stuff that hasn't been overlooked (at all) but i HAVE to mention it anyway. because reasons

also it's not THAT long of a post but it's pretty long so i put a cut there

nobody ever mentions the 'thinking cup' like whyyy

alex fierro the cheetah and weasel :)

"the gender thing wasn't what surprised me. what surprised me was the way my impression of alex had slingshot and the emotions that had stirred up"

magnus mentioning that he had been stuck in one gender his whole life and that it didn't bother him except the way it was worded made it seem like he was unsure about it jsfjfisfidgkgd

i don't think it's overlooked but the scene in which magnus is watching alex eat and halfborn goes "there's no shame in being attracted magnus" and he CHOKES

(not overlooked at all but) HEARTH'S POSESSIVENESS OVER BLITZ <333

(DEFINITELY not overlooked but) "buddy" *proceeds to take hearth's hands in his own*, "what is wrong with my elf" 😭😭

inge being fucking abused by alderman?? she was beaten??? and the iron on the door locks is harmful and extremely painful to hulder??? THAT ASSHOLE ALDERMAN

(in context to inge explaining that alderman kept a patch of wilderness in his backyard bc hulder need wilderness to live and so that he can 'hire' more help) "she said hire. i heard catch" BITCH-

the fucking wergild. i have a lot of thoughts about that and all of them involve alderman dying

also hearth's mom doesn't really seem like much of a good person either? she didn't stop alderman from being abusive towards hearth or the house staff AND she literally just cared about her reputation. maybe she wasn't as bad as her husband but she was still pretty bad (parallels there between hearth and alex)

also parallels between hearth trying to stop alderman from taking andvari's ring and trying to "pull his dad out from a hole deeper than andvari's" and magnus trying to save randolph from falling into the hole in the ground that led to helheim-

hearth and samirah's dynamic?? they've already had a fight and patched up AND were stuck together during the utgard lanes chapters. soooo a lot

also hearth and alex's brief interactions lol

"just, you know, a little respect" "for the girl with the sharp wire? no problem" "there was nothing confusing abt the smile she gave me. it warmed up the office by about five degrees" I LOVE THEM A TOTALLY NORMAL AMOUNT

amir fadlan. AMIR FADLAN EVERYBODY <333

samirah being a girlboss. samirah handling all the stress. samirah trying to show her true self to amir. samirah braving everything put in her way with courage. just samirah <3 <3 (everybody in the whole universe should be in awe of her btw)

the scene in which they're sitting on stanley (the eight-legged horse) and magnus is nervous to hold on to alex but she just takes his hands and puts them around her waist <3

for some reason i had assumed alex had cut magnus's hair for the first time in the woods but no. it was blitz? hm

magnus's casual mention about utgard loki being attractive ajsfjfsi

taylor swift being dwarf music and prince being giant music?? (and that giant named tiny being obsessed with elvis)

an alex speech pattern which isn't much of a pattern but it repeated twice in the book: once she said (in response to hearth signing something she didn't understand. this was around the time when she and samirah revealed that alex would be taking samirah's place) "yes alex. thank you alex for being so brave and heroic." and then the other time (in the end when magnus is visiting her in her room and picks up one of her pottery projects) "no you can't touch it magnus. thanks for asking magnus" idk i just think it's cool

the trophy wife thing. sif deserves better tbh

"a girl who was rocking that wedding dress"

alex straightening magnus's tie or smth and magnus's inner monologue going "she still smells like wood smoke. why does she still smell like a campfire?"

samirah's wedding outfit?? (sounds gorgeous tbh. except for the hood which) also i have a related question. is the hood in place of hijab thing disrespectful? /gen

sif and alex dynamic <3

sif's gifts to hearth (pouch of rowan runes) and alex (golden garrote)

alex and most other shapeshifters make random animal noises and shapeshift to random animals when they're nervous

halfborn's "death and glory," mallory's "kill everyone," and tj's "charge" aksfkfiovdm. and the way magnus just becomes so much stronger when he sees his friends-

the scene at the end of the marriage battle thing when alex is all concerned because she thinks magnus doesn't believe that she was just pretending to be under loki's control and sHE'S TRYING TO CONVINCE HIM AND HE SQUEEZES HER HAND JDFJSFKFK THIS SCENE IS NOT TALKED ABOUT ENOUGH

alex canonically calling magnus "sunshiny" and RESPECTING AND ADMIRING HIM AND HIS HEALING POWERS. they make me weak

samirah and magnus's dynamic is not given enough love. they are figuratively SIBLINGS and that level of closeness is not recognized by the fandom enough

(also not really about the book but. the UK cover of 'hammer of thor' depicts samirah with half of her hair falling out of her hijab. which. who tf designed these covers?? like somebody needs to give them a good throttling)

there's probably more that i don't remember but okay here have this for now :)

[pastelraccoons]

SuleMio Week 2024 Day 3: Wedding

(If you'd rather read this on AO3, you can do so here!)

Suletta couldn't stop her worried hands. Her fingers gripped the armrests of her wheelchair enough to make them creak beneath the pressure. She stared down at her feet and looked over her pristine white dress.

She wore a bright red corsage on her wrist. The sweet scent of the flower drifted up and tickled her nose. She brushed her fingers over one of the soft petals in an attempt to pull herself together.

Come on, Suletta, she thought to herself. She took in a slow, deep breath. I know you're nervous. I know you want today to be perfect for Miorine. It will be.

She closed her eyes in an attempt to gather her thoughts. Without warning, the nearby piano kicked up into the Bridal Chorus, which immediately snapped her back to attention.

Suletta looked up the aisle, past all of their guests, and ignored their low mumbling. The large wooden doors at the end of it creaked open, and her breath got stolen all at once.

Miorine stood in the doorway. A long, opaque veil obscured her face. Her pure white dress had been broken up by intricate lace patterns of the same color. That same lace was made into gloves that covered her hands and forearms. She held a beautiful bouquet of flowers in her hands by her abdomen.

Even though Suletta couldn't see Miorine's face, butterflies fluttered wildly in her stomach. They kicked up into high gear once she started walking slowly down the aisle. She nervously twisted the skirt of her dress atop her lap. Her heartbeat picked up when Miorine finally stopped in front of her.

Suletta could barely make out her peaceful expression past the veil. Miorine kneeled in front of her and lowered her head slightly. Suletta took a deep breath and held it to steady herself before she reached out to grab the edges of the veil. Her hands shook a bit when she finally revealed Miorine's face.

Everything became still all at once. The butterflies finally settled down. Her heart calmed its frantic thudding in her chest. Everyone's hushed whispers fell silent. She could finally breathe easy again.

Suletta felt tears of happiness well up in the corners of her eyes. She gently cupped Miorine's cheek and brushed a thumb against it.

“You look beautiful,” she whispered.

A light pink blush dusted Miorine's face when she smiled. It took all of Suletta's willpower to not try and kiss her then and there. The officiant politely cleared their throat to signal them to get in place.

“Sorry,” Suletta whispered.

She pulled her hand from Miorine's cheek so she could stand opposite of Suletta. She gladly took hold of Miorine's hands instead as the officiant started their speech. She knew they were saying something important, but it didn't fully register in her ears. She was too focused on Miorine to care.

Suletta shared her vows, nearly crying again when Miorine repeated them to her. If she was being honest with herself, she was waiting for a single moment.

The officiant finally turned towards Suletta.

“Suletta Mercury, do you take Miorine Rembran as your wife; in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?”

Suletta took a deep breath before finally saying the words she wished to say for so long.

“I do.”

“And you, Miorine Rembran, do you take Suletta Mercury as your wife; in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?”

Miorine squeezed Suletta's fingers and stared straight into her eyes. An air of seriousness thinly masked the obvious joy hidden there.

“I do,” Miorine finally spoke.

A hush fell over everyone when the rings were presented. Simple gold bands sat atop a velvety pillow. Suletta carefully plucked one from it and held it like the most valuable treasure known to man. She took Miorine's hand and slid the ring onto her finger.

A slight tinge of embarrassment settled in her chest when Miorine took hers to slide the other ring on her hand. She was sure Miorine could feel the nervous sweat on her palms. If she could, she didn't show it.

The officiant soon smiled, closed the book in their hands, then bowed their head slightly.

“Then you may kiss the bride.”

Before Suletta could even register what was happening, Miorine knelt down in front of her. She felt one of her hands lace their fingers together and rest on one of the armrests of her wheelchair. She rested the other on her shoulder. Miorine then quickly closed what little distance was between them in a kiss.

Suletta didn't care about the congratulatory clapping surrounding them. All she saw in that moment was Miorine and the feeling of her soft lips pressed to hers.

Miorine's hand on Suletta's shoulder moved up to cup her jaw. Suletta placed her free hand on top of it just to keep her close. Everything felt so right in that moment.

Suletta begrudgingly broke off the kiss to press their foreheads together. Miorine's clear silver eyes stared back at her. Her heart swelled with sheer bliss. The tears finally spilled over when she finally realized that they were well and truly wed.

All she could do was smile and laugh. No words would come to mind. Though her true thoughts and feelings seemed to reach Miorine as she followed Suletta’s example.

Suletta brushed the tears from Miorine’s cheeks, and she sniffled herself. She opened her mouth to say something, but still nothing came out. Instead, she just pulled her into another kiss.

A kiss filled to the brim with an “I love you.”

[cinderspots]

Do you guys ever think of how beautiful it is that even when you come and go, you live on?

Specifically, I'm talking about word and speech patterns. For me and several other people I know, when I am close with someone, I intake the things they say and make them a part of my vocabulary. Isn't that nice to know? That there is a forever inside joke between people you once knew and the ones you know now?

When I was a sophomore in high school, I knew these two girls, one a senior and one a junior. Now I am friends with said senior post high school, but at the time, I and her did not talk. But i adored the junior, who was best friends with the senior. Not in any sort of weird crush way but more like the friend crush, they are so cool type of thing- but the junior had a habit of saying "so true" in response to very serious or silly things with no remorse or impulse control before backtracking when they realized it wasn't appropriate- they told me that they started doing it because of the senior. And then even now, years later, I myself saying "so true" like a parrot who's repeating the words of an owner no more, but remembers all the same.

When I was even younger, a baby freshman, I was (to my undying embarassment) not only a wattpad enjoyer but a wattpad role player. If you don't know what that is- close your eyes and let yourself remain innocent young one. There was this one person I roleplayed with in particular @imsososolesbian that had a fixation on the oxford comma- that's right I wasn't born with the comma affliction- and after talking to them (with the // of real conversation before we immediately decided we'd rather just talk to each other than play pretend) I noticed that I had developed this habit of using the comma far far too much (the disease unfortunately is uncurable and set for life) because the speech pattern worked on me through text rather than talk. Me and that person don't talk anymore and that's really sad sometimes, but I like to think that maybe I gave them something back, like my tendency to leave auto cap on so all my texts start with a capital unless I'm on my computer. We pass each other like ships, and I try to check in, and they do the same, but we aren't quite as close as before. That's okay.

Also in Freshman year I became friends with a group of kids on my bus (it ends in tragedy and the familiar ridiculous high school drama) and this one girl in the group who was my age and shared chemistry with would spell out LOL with her hands and say the letters individually- to be ironic it occurs to me now, but back then I just thought it was funny. At first, when I adapted it into my vocabulary, I did it the same, but I found that my brain did not like moving my hand along with it, and so I just spelled it. LOL and LMAO were and still are my big offenders because I was not doing it to be ironic. That girl literally altered my brain chemistry, and I can not think of it another way. Because the things we take from others are changed in our care, but that doesn't make it any less shared.

Hearing Mariah Carey, who i actually did not care about before we had this tiff about her last Halloween, makes me think of @bee-nutauthor . Because it doesn't always spread the way i expect, the song, the name, the words themselves make me think of my friend. I don't look at art anymore and just think in legible thoughts, I eat art, I eat your praise, I bark at things I like a lot, I use abomination words that do not exist, I am extremely familiar with pompompurin because @dead-finch-420 a fixation, in fact Finch is my fixation spreader because theyre always dragging me into it. Isn't that nice too? To be thought of when someone enjoys media, to be remembered we long as that media exists and if not there in memory of it? Because the closer I am to someone, the worse it is. In all the other examples, I would describe the people I picked things up from as an acquaintance friend. Not particularly close, but close enough. When I see bugs, I first scream (loudly), and then I think, "Would Lemni like this?"When I watch horror or see the sky during the night, or view the snow as it falls, I think,"Would MJ like this?" I think and think and think and it's all because of these things, these words, the visions, and I see everyone I've ever known in everything there is to see.

In my Junior year I started to use the word "girl" and "girlie" because of a coworker that I grew very close to used it very very often on me, she also inflicted me with the "like" curse for its second round on my brain- it hasn't gone away since. We still talk because I can remember you when you're still here, which can be sad sometimes, but also comforting in a way. If I can remember you while you're here, I can remember you when you're gone.

@split-milk-7 Someone who I view to be my best friend has inflicted many vocabulary additions. We met on a re8 Miranda discord because Miranda lovers are so very rare, and we decided that of course we should be friends married and we are technically wife and spouse. But they had a particular fixation on using "bestie" to refer to me every other sentence. I am physically incapable of not using the word "bestie" in a sentence while talking aloud to people. I could not resist it. My brain decided it liked that word above all, and so here I am.

@h-doodles I was never someone who bit before I joined the meower server, filled with people who I consider to be my closest friends in the world - and I've never met a single one of them. I find that I like biting. I will think of them eternally as the meowers, for all our jokes will live in my head for years until I can no longer remember why I say these things, but I say them all the same. Because it's inevitable that you forget, but do they need to remember you for your words to live on? People will continue to say the things you said, and they may not know you gave that to them, but it will continue to spread the same way slang spreads eternally. It lives. @zeleneagle, I am not awake, I am an awaker. For some reason, I use :3 now. I bite because I love, and sometimes because angy, boi, floof, birb, borb, whatevah, music, movies, pictures, life, and death, it's everywhere.

To me, you are everywhere.

And I think that's beautiful in a way that I myself can not always appreciate, on the days when the world seems so dull and empty and unwelcoming and so not made for me. I think I should try and think of this when it gets like that, when my bed feels like the only place I can be safe. That the world is full of you and friends and love alongside the enemies and hate and sadness. And if the world is full of you, then doesn't that also mean it's full of me? That I might live on in others the same way you live on in me? That I made an impact on someone, however minor, that I mattered? That you mattered?

I wonder what I've given off to someone else to live on and be remembered for. I hope it wasn't something stupid like me saying people's names in a British accent and pronouncing it really wrong on purpose.

They might resent me a little for that

[toomanygoldfish]

Haikyuu characters as stuff I've done with my friends / significant other.

Kageyama

Him having no clue how your extracurriculars work, but him coming to each and every showcase/game/performance. He knows how he feels about his volleyball, and assumes you feel the same about yours. He feels so happy when you come to his games, so he wants to come cheer you on, to make you feel the same way you make him feel.

Daichi

Sitting next to each other in class with a strict teacher. You pull out a piece of paper and write a message to him on it. You slide the paper across the desk to him, putting a pencil on top of it. He glances down and writes back. You keep passing the paper back and forth the entire class period. You have to stifle your laughter at the jokes he writes.

Akaashi

Staying over at his place while hanging out with friends. The both of you had a long day of goofing off with your friends. Your friends boot up the gaming console in the background while the two of you watch from the sides. Eventually you are sprawled out on the couch dozing off each other, while Bokuto takes blackmail pictures.

Lev

Picking up on each other's speech patterns and mannerisms. Sometimes you use a certain wording or pronunciation often and he subconsciously repeats it. He taps out a melody on the desk so often that you have started to tap out the same patterns. It's just being around someone, and caring about them enough to mimic their patterns.

Sakusa

Showing him your art/writing. Showing him something so vulnerable about yourself, and him realizing how important it is to you, so it becomes important to him. Him asking about a piece you're working on, and giving suggestions for when you're stuck.

Tsukishima

Going to a dinosaur museum for fun. While you might not particularly enjoy it. It's fun to see him have the biggest eyes even though you've been here before. it means the world to him that you went you didn't complain when he spent longer than necessary examining a particular exhibit.

Bokuto

Standing up from your table in class and waiting for you to grab your stuff. When you finally do. He holds his hand out for you. He will stay standing even if you continue on if you don't grab his hand. Hw walks you to class and gives your hand a squeeze before running off to his next class across the school.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Dialogue

Rick Riordan's Writing Tips

Rick Riordan:

Dialogue is arguably the hardest thing to do well in narrative writing. Below are some points to consider:

RICK RIORDAN'S TOP 5 TIPS ON DIALOGUE

No two characters should sound the same.

You should be able to open to any page, read a piece of dialogue, and know which character is speaking, simply from the voice.

Give each character his or her own style by using dialect (but keep it light), favorite colloquialisms, or speech patterns.

Avoid authorial intrusion.

Leave your characters alone and let them talk.

Avoid descriptors or padding when possible.

Only insert tags when:

you need to delineate the speakers, in which case do it as simply as possible, i.e. John said.;

you want to deliberately slow down the pace to give a sense of scene, or convey unspoken information;

you have a first person narrator who is filtering the dialog through his or her thoughts.

Compress dialogue.

Dialogue often sounds more realistic if the sentences are compressed and abridged.

Pick only the critical parts of the sentences and clip the rest.

Try to cut anything that might be a throw-away line. Instead of:

"Okay. That's a good point. But there's something I've been thinking. Do you think Bobby really went home last night? I don't know,"

it might be enough to say, "You think Bobby really went home?"

This gets to the point without drowning in unneeded words.

Show only the dialogue that needs to be shown.

Realistic dialogue is important, but don't make it mundane.

Zoom to the part of the conversation you want the readers to hear.

Do not repeat information the reader already knows.

When Character A must retell part of the story for the benefit of Character B, simply say, I caught him up on what had happened since yesterday.

Fast-forward to the part that is the most interesting.

Use dialogue to display conflict, not impart information to the reader.

Too often, dialogue is used as a way to let the readers get information the author thinks they need.

The speakers end up having a conversation with the audience rather than each other.

This is called a "false triangle" problem, because the speakers are making the reader a third party to their conversation.

In every dialogue, the speakers should have opposing agendas.

They do not want the same thing out of the conversation.

Their words should reveal their character, not just backstory.

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References

[thecurioustale]

I got Google's new AI toy to generate an entire podcast discussing a scene from my book.

I read with much enjoyment and pleasure of nostalebraist's recent experiences with Google's experimental new NotebookLM, which will take a piece of writing that you give it and generate an entire conversation where a pair of AI-generated hosts get into a "deep dive" discussion about it, in the style of a discussion podcast.

I listened to the "The Northern Caves" and "sufficiently advanced" podcasts and was similarly impressed at how far the mimicry of human speech patterns has come.

While it is in the experimental stage, NotebookLM is free to use. All you need is a Google account. That's a pretty low barrier to entry—and I have just enough vanity and masochism synergy to try this out for myself with my own work!

Let's do a deep dive, shall we?! =D

I had Google whip up a "deep dive" of a piece of my own writing that I shared earlier this year for the ATH 25th anniversary, a scene from The Great Galavar, set many years before ATH where a much younger Silence, new to Sele, asks Galavar for a desk and they go to Javelin's furniture shop to see about getting one. (I only fed Google this scene; not the attached scene where Javelin visits Galavar later that night.)

Here it is:

I'll start off with a complaint that spans the entirety of the podcast: I was put off by the disingenuous way that both podcast hosts acted as if they hadn't read the work under discussion and expected the other to explain it to them, because they keep switching these two hats back and forth (proving very conspicuously that they both know the work very closely), and it comes across as patronizing. I noticed, however, that I found this more off-putting with the podcasts nostalgebraist shared than with my own.

And a couple more quick complaints:

First off, there's no recognition of Silence's left-handedness, so frankly I think we can throw these toasters onto the scrap heap for another 20 years of development. 😏

(Actually, stick a pin in that; I'll come back to it later.)

Second off, I forgive these AI hosts for their horrible butchery of the pronunciation of custom names like "Terlais" and "Sele." 😭😭😭 That's understandable and not off-putting (though it does jar).

But mainly:

I am very impressed by the the AI's ability to synthesize an understanding of the material with such high fidelity and general accuracy! I think it's super cool!

While obviously this represents a major stride for AI technology, I think this is first and foremost to my own credit for writing such a coherent scene in the first place (more on that later). With my own work being analyzed, it was a lot easier for me to notice (as opposed to with nostalgebraist's podcasts) just how the AI was essentially digesting and repeating my own text back at me, occasionally literally but more often through a very basic layer of interpretation and recapitulation. For example, at the beginning they talk about how Silence has this sharp intellect and "sees right through you"; this is true and I would even call it insightful, but it's also explicitly there in the text, conveyed in different words but unmistakably the same idea. So really the AI picking up on it is just a validation that I wrote it in the first place. (More on that in a moment.) This makes the AI synthesis somewhat less impressive than it otherwise would've been, i.e. a very elaborate form of mimicry, but the absolute reading on my impress-o-meter is still very high. This is, all things considered, a fantastic level of comprehension, mistakes notwithstanding (more on those in a bit).

It was a very awkward, disorienting experience for me to hear these convincing simulacra of people earnestly discussing my work, especially with the work being a scene about Silence, which is always quite personal for me. I think, echoing nostalgebraist's thoughts, that it hits on a level that would not have been as intense / visceral for me if the exact same conversation were purely in text. But even if it were text, I definitely feel seen (in a rather uncomfortable way, like with a light that's too bright) that the AI easily picked up on the fact that this scene is all about Silence even though she's not the point-of-view character and Galavar actually has a much larger presence in the scene than the AI deep dive would have you think. The AI saw right through that.

The main complaint I gathered from nostalgebraist's reaction to the AI podcasts about his works was that the AI analysis was anodyne, superficial. I partially agree, which I'll get to. But with this criticism in mind, I thought to be on the lookout, when listening to my own AI podcast, for insights about how a more lay audience might engage with and understand my work. Are any hypothetical lay readers picking up on the main themes? Do they understand the basics of what's happening? How does my work come across to the sorts of people who listen to the kinds of podcasts that NotebookLM is simulating? That kind of thing.

I found the answer promising: Like I implied above with the AI's recapitulation of Silence's power to comprehend people's thinking and nature, if this podcast is any indication, I think my work is more readable than I have given it credit for. I don't consider this scene to be a particularly "easy" one to parse (nor particularly "hard"), but the AI did a pretty good job of it, so maybe I was underestimating a hypothetical human lay audience's ability to absorb and enjoy it as well.

I do have a complaint of my own: I was wryly amused at how the AI replicates the common practice of the male podcast host leading the discussion and doing most of the talking, with the female host providing a lot of affirmations and occasionally offering original insights with less egotistical framing. It's very subtle, and I can't rule out that it's just me being oversensitive and construing data out of noise, plus I don't listen to a ton of podcasts (especially the type of podcast that this experiment is most directly imitating), so there's that caveat too...but I still perceive it strongly enough to wonder what it's doing in there, as it's not something I would expect Google to: A) do deliberately; B) fail to notice.

Anyhow, as to the analysis being anodyne or not: Yeah...yeah, I do see it. But I'd probably look at it as an exercise in realistic expectations. What do we realistically want from an AI podcast host? To be challenged both deliberately and serendipitously with insightful perspectives and non-obvious ideas? To what extent?

To approach those questions, consider this: I mentioned earlier that you should stick a pin in the fact that the AI didn't pick up on Silence's left-handedness. That was a joke, obviously, but it touches on a point of interest for me in this experiment: All of today's big-splashy AIs work by virtue of having lots of examples of human-generated data to draw from and emulate (plus the information contained in your prompt). What happens, then, when you invite them to venture into spaces that humans rarely talk about, such as, oh, for instance, a stylish and objectively correct obsession in sinistrality?? Well, the answer seems to be that they just don't pick up on the opportunity. I'd probably have to be more pointed about Silence's handedness in the text, thereby raising left-handedness to the level of "an idea in itself," for the AI to notice it as relevant to the meaning of the text. In essence, I would conclude that uncommon ideas are nearly invisible to the AI when they are present only in the background. (Silence's left-handedness is explicitly mentioned only once, and is alluded to twice more.) This has implications about this kind of AI's ability to compose original philosophy; namely, that the AI is constrained for the most part only to repeating what we already know and connecting different things that we have already said. And I don't know if this is something fixable, because asking someone to interpret something that they don't already have good information on is an exercise in a form of intelligence that I don't know is well-suited to how these AIs work (and would thus be more likely to produce gobbledegook answers and continually infer meaning where none is intended).

So, in this one respect, I am not impressed by this AI performance, but neither am I thus surprised. I would have been shocked if they had picked up on the subject matter that is much more niche or even virtually exclusive to me.

I think perhaps the next big frontier for getting these AI "deep dives" to have more valuable (the first frontier having been developing the ability for the deep dives to be seriously attempted at all) is for AI to begin doing what humans do, plugging in life experience to connect seemingly unrelated ideas together. By my understanding this is emulable (and thus "fixable") under the current paradigm of AI, at least to some extent. I always enjoy it when some character is talking about some straightforward problem, and their mentor / advisor / parental figure / etc. starts telling this seemingly unrelated story that ends up either recapitulating the same idea in a different way (sound familiar?) or else shedding new light on the original idea through context or testimonials. I think this is something the current crop of AI could be taught to do.

This brings me to a comical moment at the end of the podcast where one of the hosts mentions that she gets "chills down [her] spine every time [she] reads it" (lol) when she gets to this point in the scene:

“Fat, eh? Not many of those around here. It’s not really an Ieikili fashion.” “Give it time!” Silence merrily exclaimed. “I will teach this whole society how to grow fat.”

CHILLS !! LOL

And the hosts go on to elaborate that it's "chilling" because with Silence there must be a double meaning to it, i.e. ambition, influence, etc. This is a very interesting take, and it's also the first of several mistakes I'm going to discuss.

The mistake is twofold. First of all, the female host calls Silence's line about teaching society how to get fat the last line of the excerpt. It's not; it's closer to the middle. I find this error fascinating because it implies the absence or failure of some kind of logical error-checking that I would have thought is trivial but which perhaps isn't. Second of all, there's no deeper meaning to Silence's vow. She just likes fat people. If there is a deeper meaning that must be forced out of it, it is an insight into Silence's multifaceted nature, as elsewhere in the scene there is so much focus on her restoring her health and vitality and mobility after a long convalescence from her prior injuries. She's all up for fitness and mobility, but she's also up for curtailing that on her own terms (as opposed to involuntarily), or having a lover do the same, when the context is right. I think this error provides insight into the kinds of calculated risks that the AI takes in order to compose its analyses. The AI is obviously not well-exposed enough to fat liberation speech in its training data to have picked up on this fat-affirming message as such; instead it drew on the imagery of growing fat as a metaphor for growing in power and influence, which is much more common in our culture—enough that the AI assumed that's what I was talking about.

So, this gets back to what I was just saying about the potential dangers of trying to force the AI to draw conclusions on ideas that it isn't well-exposed to: It'll do it wrong, both in assuming meaning where none is intended and in characterizing what that meaning is.

A second mistake that I'd like to mention is that, early in the podcast, the hosts characterize Silence as someone of "very few words," which isn't supported in the text (and if anything Silence tends to be verbose). What I think what the AI was picking up on is that Silence wasn't sharing her full thoughts with others, which is actually a really clever (and correct) reading, and somehow got from there—perhaps by way of Silence's deliberateness and her initial "passivity" in Sele during her convalescence—to the idea that she doesn't physically talk much. This is a fascinating conflation to make! I assume that what's going on here is that the AI has fitted Silence's personality type into a box, and this box potentially includes the character trait of not talking much, and the AI decided that there is enough supporting language in the scene to establish that Silence indeed doesn't talk much. No such language exists, but I see how an AI (and perhaps a human reader not familiar with Silence) might infer that it does. I'd be curious to round up some humans, make them read this scene, and ask them questions so as to implicitly invite them to say that Silence is a mate of few words without explicitly prompting them to do so. I bet you some would, even though in this very scene Silence is literally quite talky! Because it's easy to compartmentalize those things, I think: Silence's actual talkativeness, and her personality traits which might imply that she is not talkative.

A third mistake, which is, again, wrong in an interesting way is that there is a very clear up-front statement by the male host that Silence "is a woman," with emphatic tone on those words. This isn't the end of the sentence. He pauses, and there is some reaction from the female host, and then he finishes his thought: "...of few words." So, this is mistake not only because of the "of few words" part but also because of the "is a woman" part. I go out of my way to characterize Silence as near to genderless as possible, and while this doesn't apply to physical sex (she is female-bodied) there also isn't any discussion of that in the scene; so the AIs are drawing this purely from her pronouns, the discussion of conation (mindwashing / "mental merging" as the AI aptly puts it), and the clarification that Silence and Galavar are not bonking.

I wouldn't necessarily bother to call it out (I don't expect AI to use my paradigm of sex and gender), except that the way the host delivers his distance really emphasis the "is a woman" words, and I think that's deliberate; I think it's a very clever thing the AI is doing, piggybacking on a separate idea (about Silence not talking much) to insinuate without immediately mentioning it that there are sexual tensions in the scene. Now, it's wrong; there is no sexual tension—not between Silence and Galavar anyway. (And the AI elsewhere allows that the source material is vague on this point; I would say, from reading this scene in isolation, that that's fair.) But in fact this is the scene that woke me up to the fact that there can't be sexual tension between Silence and Galavar, at least not in the past, because she's still practically a goddamn kid when she kids to Sele, and Galavar is early middle-aged. I had never wrapped my head around that until I was laying out this scene in my thirties and realized that it'd be gross. So I wrote this scene with no sexual tension between them at all; the fact that Javelin originally mistakes Silence as a lover of Galavar before actually meeting her in person is part of the verismilitude of Javelin. But I can see how an AI without knowledge of any of these characters' histories outside this one scene might take the mistaken perception by Javelin as a positive indicator of a relationship between Silence and Galavar. So, again, I think we are seeing some of the limitations on this type of AI. In the grand scheme of things, many human storytellers would have sexual tension in a situation like this. And I think the AI failed to see that there wasn't any, or at least wasn't able to make up its mind.

I actually like this failsafe. The podcast hosts mentioned several times that the source material is unclear or vague, which makes it a lot safer for them to speculate. That, in my opinion, is a really solid implementation by Google of a way to lampshade the AI's risky assumptions to the end user. This way, if the podcast hosts go barking up the wrong tree at least they will appear to be doing it honestly, based on the text's own ambiguity. And I think all the instances where the hosts invoked this failure are justifiable instances, even if they aren't necessarily correct that the text is in fact ambiguous.

Another mistake, and one that's a lot more disappointing for technology which is otherwise getting so impressive, is that the hosts misgender Javelin later in the podcast after originally getting it right. (Editor's note: Actually I am not sure that they gender her correctly in the first place. I've listened to this thing so many times in the course of writing this that I'm not up for going through it again, so take the following with an asterisk.) I suppose this too is a reflection of how the AI actually weaves its stories: To them, the "Javelin" mentioned at any one moment in their podcast isn't necessarily the Javelin mentioned at any other moment. The AI''s persistent understanding of, for instance, the City of Sele as the setting for this scene does not imply a comprehension of what "the City of Sele" is but rather that it would be appropriate to mention a thing which is probably called the City of Sele in various instances where our human minds would in fact agree that it is appropriate.

A very understandable mistake is that the hosts infer that Silence's choice of the word "secretary" has some special meaning that goes beyond the actual meaning. (She chooses the word, having only recently become proficient in the Selish language, because of its relationship with "secrets.") The AI hosts are wrong in their speculation but they're right to be sniffing something there. (It is, after all, the title of the excerpt.) And you kind of need to have the other scene, with Galavar and Javelin that evening, to better understand why it's the title, and so I don't hold it against the AI for falling short here. I do like that they tried to mention it at all; I think they would have been remiss not to.

A final mistake that I'll mention is that, when talking about Silence's new immersion in Sele after having lived in Junction City, the hosts did indeed take an incredibly anodyne route of characterizing this discontinuity. I found that line of discourse to be very underwhelming. And it rises to the level of a mistake because it is not correct. Silence's adjustment to Sele is not complicated all that much by her past life in Junction City. That's just plausible-sounding tripe; it's not analytical at all.

There are plenty more mistakes, of course, but, moving on from mistakes to talk about specific praises, I really like how the AI hosts were able to pick up on the fact that Silence's behavior in this scene is all about her trying to prove herself. It is specifically stated in the text (albeit in a narrower sense, referring only to Silence's newly restored ability to walk partway across the city), so I'm not surprised that the AI picked up on it, but I'm glad that it did. That smacks of good design to me. It's a very important detail. And, assuming Google put its "top men" on the case for making these deep dives as compelling as the technology (and the company's contortions to avoid getting sued) presently allow, I would be inclined to consider the successful identification of this point as important to be a high-quality indicator that their efforts were constructive.

But, of course, this is the same tech that I found so underwhelming in the previous paragraph, so...you know. You win some; you lose some.

Another praise is that I appreciate the hosts for being gentle with me in describing "Silence's almost superhuman level of perception." It was equally within Google's power to invent an AI podcast host duo that will just absolutely trash you and roast you and make fun of you instead of acting like your work is the most interesting composition they've seen all year. Silence's capabilities are definitely possible, and I would even argue plausible, but I fully grant she is performing way above your average schlub. A character like her may not defy belief, but she strains likelihood. So I think it's fair and probably even authentic for the hosts to point out that she's "almost superhuman." I think not mentioning it at all would be a mistake. Silence is not just making power plays; she's an extremely competent person making power plays.

Anyway! Let me go back to something I said earlier that I said I would get back to:

I think this is first and foremost to my own credit for writing such a coherent scene in the first place

It occurred to me, even before generating this deep dive podcast, that I would like to feed the AI a scene that is much more difficult to parse, and see what that "deep dive" looks like.

So join me later when I do that. But for now, I think this is a good place to end it.

[wsdalt]

Hello! Quick question about Felps characterization if you don't mind!

Mainly, do you have any tips on speech patterns? Like, repeated phrases/how they're repeated, and general voice things like that? (Genuinely the one thing I struggle with most ._. )

okay… unfortunately voice is also one of the things I struggle with—at least to put it down into words as an explanation? I’m not fluent in Portuguese which means a lot of dialogue quirks I’d otherwise pick up in English I probably miss. also this is off the top of my head so… maybe I’m just missing stuff due to bad memory in general oops

that being said: I will give it my best attempt \o/

(if anyone who is fluent in Portuguese would like to add on or correct anything I’m saying please do!)

firstly I would like to direct you to @/echotune’s mcyt character voice cheatsheet because I’ve written up bits for his character to go there before. It’s not exactly specific phrases, but I think knowing how he’ll react in certain situations can help make up for not knowing his exact phrasing? or for speech patterns being lost in translation

tone:

Felps’ voice goes high pitched a lot. This is kind of hard to write sometimes—or at least to continuously write in a scene because he kind of just throws his pitch around whenever—but you can add it there. It’s usually when he gets heated about something or… feels strongly about something in general? /if he’s defensive about something? But not really if he’s sad I think. and it’s not all the time so don’t worry about trying to incorporate it every time one of those situations hits

…on the opposite side of that he’s also very… deadpan I suppose? he can deliver absurd lines very casually and deadpan/serious, or absurd lines casually with a smile, or just really really commit to the bit. maybe I mean dry. he can say things very drily

aka 2 part 2: maybe obvious but just to clarify: committing to the bit means incorporating whatever emotion he needs to to commit to the bit. so he’ll fake being upset for example

laughs a lot while speaking, but can also stop himself from laughing fairly easily—specifically regarding the above two points

bursts into tears… fairly easily? but specifically surrounding Richas + he cried at Cellbit and Roier’s wedding. it’s usually only briefly and he kind of tries to suppress it a bit

there’s a specific warning tone he’ll use if someone says an innuendo… to him? I suppose? where he kind of just says the person’s name with that tone (I use “warning” or “chastising” to describe it—depends on what vibe you want in the scene) sometimes repeating their name. It’s always lighthearted though

specific phrases:

(disclaimer: see above note about me not being fluent in Portuguese. I’m trying to grab from when he speaks Portuguese rather than I when he speaks English because I often write him as “speaking” in Portuguese—just translated to English for fic purposes)

“pelo amor de deus” / “meu deus do céu” aka “for the love of god” / “my god in heaven”

I actually don’t think he repeats much? compared to other streamers?* the cc says “valeu valeu” (“thank you thank you”) when thanking subs from memory, but other than that I can’t think of much…? If he does repeat himself it would probably be moreso adding onto his previous sentence and rewording it a bit (*a lot of streamers end up repeating themselves because they’re talking to chat and sometimes this bleeds into how they talk in general). I think you mean more like… phrases that come up a lot, but this is still a good point

I think he throws around “man” and “bro” (the Portuguese equivalents: “velho”, “mano”) a lot, but not necessarily during serious moments (which is why this has faded out of how I write him, but I’m trying to bring it back for less serious moments)

“Sabe?” “Entendeu?” “Né?” “tá ligado?” To be honest I use “you know?” in English for all of these except Né which I write as “right?”. Né is kind of an “innit?” if that helps, but I’m not going to make him sound British so I use “right?” instead. The actual (google translated, sorry) English versions: “sabe?”—“you know?”, “entendeu?”—“understood?”/“understand?”/“got it?”, “tá ligado?”—“are you aware?”/“is it connected?” (which I’m kind of taking as “is it connecting?”) i feel like in Portuguese those last two are a bit more casual…? than what their English counterparts are, which is why I stick with “you know?” as a cover-all. but I could be wrong!

he adds “inho” (etc) to a lot of words. the best English translation is putting “little” before a word

I think your best bet is to watch some Portuguese streams of his—preferably with another character so you can listen to how he speaks with other people not just chat. this can include Richas! But I hope this helps a bit \o/!!

and again—if anyone who knows Portuguese better than me has anything to add or correct please feel free \o/!!

[paranormaljones]

I think I accidentally deleted the previous one. :( If not just ignore it in favor of this one.

3. traveling by train or by plane?

4. have a scenario: you have to break someone out of prison, and you are allowed a squad of four people. they can be real or fictional. who are you picking?

13. word(s) you overuse the most? (in conversation, writing, etc.)

19. sparkling water. yes or no?

25. recommend an instrumental track. (any piece of music without lyrics, not specifically an instrumental version of a song.)

Yippee!! I only see this one, so it's very possible that my ask box ate the first one 😅

3 - You know, I don't think I've ever truly traveled by train before. And I've only flown once. I think I'd have to say train, just because I want to experience it.

4 - John Casey from Chuck and to be honest I could stop there because he could figure it out no problem 😂 But since I'm allowed four people I'll include Cooper Howard (he and Casey would get along famously) and Lucy MacLean (can you tell I'm in a Fallout mood) and . . . Arthur Morgan. He has relevant experience and I think Lucy would LOVE him.

13 - Oh man . . . most recently, in online conversations, probably "AUGH" or "OUGH" or any variation thereof. I just really like the emotions conveyed there. In real life . . . I honestly don't know. I don't pay a lot of attention to my own speech patterns. Probably a plethora of nonsensical internet references that are only funny to me 😂

19 - NOOOOOOOOOO ABSOLUTELY NOT

25 - LOVE this question, instrumental music is my JAM. This is one of my current favorites, I listened to it on repeat for so long during the road trip I was just on.

Instrumental/ambient music like this is so good for thinking to. It shuts up all the noises in my adhd brain and makes it easier to hear my own thoughts.

[madsmilfelsen]

mads would you ever consider writing something about rust and sophia? that paragraph about the has made me emotional and its not even 10am here hehe also i love love love the way you add details to the characters/writing in general (another question lol what are your writing inspirations? like writers whose style inspire you )

the combination of these asks is about the out me as the biggest weirdo lmao

on more than one occasion I have daydreamed about Rust and Sophia, young bright eyed man with his whole world in his arms?? bringing her home from the hospital??? telling Claire to go back to sleep because he’ll take care of the baby???? crying over a vhs recording of her first steps when he was at work??? giving Sophia a first birthday party (no Travis does not believe in them) with Claire’s family (who I decided is from Georgia btw) and laughing when Sophia doesn’t know what to do with her cake and throws it immediately off her tray????? Taking her fishing and insisting she has to wear a life jacket just on the dock???? taking her hunting and letting her sleep slumped against his chest in the blind???????????? Not reprimanding Sophia when she learns how to climb out of her crib and just holding his girls through the night?????????????????????

Inspiration typically strikes me in really vivid pieces of dialogue (I have a primarily auditory memory but sometimes descriptions crop up or a picture of what I’ll never be able to get on paper in words), I have no control over when it happens, it’s not as dramatic as prophetic visions but it’s up there and has made me double over to catch my breath once or seventeen times.

Lately all I’ve been able to read are @barbie-nightmare-house recommendations— who should make a reading list— I just started Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh yesterday. I really love authors who can build a strong sense of place ie To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, and The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon (and everything Stephen Graham Jones has written, Mongrels being my all time favorite)— but I also read a lot of non ficiton too (usually broader themes in history but more recently biographies) or dig through university archives to read interviews of people who live in a specific time or place so I can eek out speech patterns/phrases/slang/city layouts etc. The book I’m writing right now is set in Washington, USA 1954 so I bought books published that year— The Teahouse of the August Moon by Sneider and The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner (I have not finished either lol)— and pick up old cloth bound books at antique stores, I opened Wolf Song published in 1927 i think and began with a group of men leading a troop of mules which felt super kismet because that’s how my book starts (sort of, with a lone woman and her mules). I love poetry, indy lit mags, and reading modern plays too, I’d love to try to write one myself because the constraint of a stage seems like such a fantastic challenge, but I’ll read really anything that can show me what language is capable of or new ways to play with it, because at the end of the day that’s all this is for me— playing.

I can’t read when I write and I can’t write when I read, it’s annoying so I shift gears when I hit a block, read for a bit until something smacks me over the head hard enough to open a word doc again. Probably the weirdest writing trick that helps me focus is listening to songs or sitcoms on repeat, something in the background with a good beat that i’m familiar enough with that I don’t have to focus on, that helps me break down my sense of time or attention surplus/deficiency so I don’t feel like I’m rushing or going super slow— but soundscapes with birdsong, especially evening choruses with frogs or peepers is really nice :)

here’s an ask requesting horror recs for someone new to writing the genre + another ask for my favorite books

[dark-commart]

Iterator: Gazing Upon the Stars

Post Mass Ascension rough timeline:

Gazing Upon the Stars, as well as workgroup-[STARCHASERS], conclude work on The Great Problem, considering it pointless and/or completed as evident by the Ascension of their creators, reverting to original purpose as a group. Individually however own tasks and objectives were set

Starts a project of observation and analyze of local wildlife, especially in comparison to more standardized Iterator and their respectful Facility Grounds

Develops a new "quirk" - collection and preservation of information of any and all kinds

Speech-pattern errors worsen and displayed as repeating sentences or words, be in audio or text format

Working on different projects individually or as a group

"Quirk" develops further - develops a need to transfer the information, regarding just storing is insufficient and wasteful.

Discovery of Scavengers. Initially disregarded, but monitored and cataloged

Large group moved to his facility grounds, observed "scavenging" behavior, facilities go into a lockdown in order to prevent damaging to sensitive equipment

Upon continued observation and limited experimentation were discovered three attribute which picked Stars interest: Possession of karma (as evident by their ability to open Karma-5-set gates), ability to solve rudimental logical puzzles, observed behavior very similar to teaching, performed by the older members of the group, specifically the creation of the "lantern". The later one was especially important for him, for another specific displays ability to learn and teach, which is exactly that his view of "Just stored and not transferred information is useless". With some hesitation and minor protests of taboos implanted in his very being, he lifted lockdowns from majority of accessed, allowing the small tribe continue their climb on top of his Superstructure, but still blocking access to more sensitive part, such as direct surface access to Experimental Wing, some of the Internal laboratories and data-centers of Core Labs, the shaft of Communication mast and the observatories themselves. Upon making sure the lock-downs are proper executed, Gazing Upon the Stars starts his biggest and greatest of projects: Speed-up evolution and development of Scavenger species, transfer of knowledge and teachings of his creators to the the successors of this world. But for this he would require a life-time of simulations, observations, deciphering of their means of communication, search of information related to society development and creating proper image to present as and, most importantly, a link between him and them

In time Scavenger made aware of on that they are settled on, rumors of "Gods" living within metal mountains coming from other tribes with travelers and traders, observation of cycles of rain and popping there and there Overseers, which were initially meet with fear, but more and more with matching curiosity. Many tried to venture inside the metal mountain, but not many returned and who did spoke of weird world. World in which your body felt light like a feather, world populated by weird glowing creatures, some of which move like flock of fish through the air and some who's very keen on keeping outsiders away, world of sounds and buzzing noises, which have weird rhythm to them.

Not many venture in anymore of fear of dangers, but some still try their lack in hundred of Sun and Moon cycles, but all without much lack until one very lucky (or unlucky) made their way all the way to the heart of the structure and meet God face to face, and the name of the Scavenger is Scholar, the future Herald of Gazing Upon the Stars

Note: art does not represent their first meeting and also include old designs of both Iterator and Scavenger