#5% Jean and Andrew

[jtl-fics]

You said you had something queued for the non-specific reality show AU?

WIP WEDNESDAY

"Welcome to Ugh." Andrew says while sitting in a perfectly white room on a simple black chair.

"We're your hosts, I can't believe I'm still alive to suffer through this, it's Jean Moreau." Jean says pouring half of a bottle of wine into a wine glass and handing the rest of the bottle to Andrew before taking a sip.

Andrew accepts the bottle, "And Contractually obligated by the Real House-spouses of Exy to say I'm happy to be here, Andrew Minyard." Andrew says.

"Today's segments include, 'No Kevin just because it has Exy in the title doesn't mean any of us want to hear about changes in player stats'" Jean says tiredly.

"And ,of course, 'Is it fashion or is Neil just hot enough to pull it off?' The answer may surprise you."

****

Thanks @ittyybittybaker for goofing around with me in messages about this yesterday lol

[sadboyjacinter]

everyone talks abt neil if he was "nathaniel" and a part of the perfect court but the REAL perfect court would have been:

riko moriyama (#1)

kevin day (#2)

nathaniel wesninski (#3)

jean moreau (#4)

andrew minyard. (#5)

LIKE !? the most insane lineup that uve ever seen. they would walk onto a court and be the scariest group uve ever witnessed omg?? and if they let neil and andrew play w the aggression the ravens were taught? they would be killing ppl on the court!

[aftgficrec]

can you do any fics where jean and neil are besties?

The friendship between Neil and Jean is a popular concept (especially in the wake of The Sunshine Court), although it’s not always the main focus. - S

This recent post will show you a greater number of recs, while below are a few of the newer ones: 

favourite Neil & Jean or Neil/Jean fics here

Drowning In Your Warmth by starsnsoul [Rated G, 2711 words, complete, 2024]

“Why are you here?” He asks as he stares at one of the looser threads on the multicoloured blanket. Neil finishes changing into clothes that are not clinging to his skin and sits on the edge of the bed, “I was in town.” He says. “Liar.” Jean says. I missed you too, he thinks. - Jean fears the sound of thunder, the smell of rain. Neil knows this and visits when the rainy season starts.

tw: panic attacks

Defining Friendship by yall_send_help [Rated T, 3954 words, complete, 2024]

4+1 someone said that jean and neil were friends + one time they realized it themselves

animal brisé, humain vivant by electric_typewriter [Rated T, 3109 words, complete, 2024, locked]

Part 3 of the healing and rebirth of nathaniel wesninski

Nathaniel and Jean begin the long and difficult road to playing together again. Perhaps, to get through it, they need each other more than they need anything else.

tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: dissociation, tw: panic attacks, tw: anxiety

To balance your conviction with certainty by The_stars_ship_us [Rated T, 1374 words, complete, 2024]

Alternate scene/added scene to The Sunshine Court. Neil cuts Jean’s hair.

tw: implied/referenced abused, tw: mentioned minor character death

the complications of asking your best friend to be your best man by defenselessgold [Rated T, 551 words, complete, 2024]

“Jean.” Jean could almost hear Neil’s lip curl in a sarcastic smile. “I need a favor.” Jean replied with a low hum, his nerves getting the better of his vocal cords. Neil let out a short but quiet spurt of laughter. “Could you be my best man?” or Neil calls Jean in the wee hours of the morning to ask him to be his best man.

Clipped Wings by rosebouquets [Rated M, 25504 words, incomplete, last updated August 2024]

They hadn't run away before he was adopted into the Ravens. He did though, he ran years later with a different body by his side and the past haunting him. It's not something to escape, he'll never be able to escape it fully. Without a second thought, he gave in to the offer for the Foxes, not for himself but because Jean couldn't run forever. He ran from the Ravens once before, this time he'll have to face them head-on. Neil and Jean escaped the Ravens at sixteen, they found themselves as the new Freshmen for the Palmetto State Foxes, and facing their pasts as the partners they were meant to be.

tw: violence, tw: panic attacks, tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: vomit, tw: implied/referenced disordered eating

Aftg Runaways AU by @sillysapphillean [tumblr, 2024]

use tag aftg runaways AU on author’s blog to see more

AU where Mary dies when they are in france and coincidentally around the same time is right before jean was about to get sold

Art

8D asmr sounds would finish these two off  by @doesephs

forever partners in another life by @wuzeio

[5a-alf]

Btw if anyone is wondering in my au the numbers on their cheeks are arabs numbers not roman numerals

Why?

Well you see,, these guys are losers.

The roman numerals version fucks too much and 9 years old who grew on the court aren't going to think about numerals (well, actually, maybe kevin would because he is a history nerd. But he's not making the decisions) they are going to think of jerseys . So.

Unfortunately that's how it goes.

[thepriceofsurvival]

WIP of Andrew/Jean because for some reason I really think they would vibe in the most fucked up way

[dayurno]

christmas dinner at palmetto

jean and wymack are "not arguing" by keeping their voices as low as possible while exchanging the rudest passive aggressive insults known to man

abby is shaking her head and sipping from the expensive wine that kevin brought

and kevin is ignoring the homicide to be while obsessive double checking that all the gifts were brought in and are ready under the tree and "kevin darling you don't have to keep checking, the elf on the shelf isn't going to steal them and sprint out the door like neil-"

DYING TO BE IN THE JEAN-WYMACK TABLE RIGHT NOW........ i need to see them being passive aggressive to each other........... they're both releasing arsenic into the air and kevin's like my family~ :) the foxes have an expert tabling system that allows for no arguments to be brought up in their christmas dinner but they rarely allocate for jean so he always gets sat with wymack and they never let each other have a good christmas. it's tradition at this point. you can see how hard wedding tables planning will be now that kevin married this man

my friend and i have a kevjean au where kevin and thea get divorced a little bit after having their daughter and thea goes out to travel for a period after realizing much of her life has been only about the nest and what the ravens wanted of her even years post-college, and kevin ends up being a stay at home dad of sort post-retirement. this is important because i am going to tell you this: when jean becomes a stepfather he takes it SERIOUSLY. a mix of booze and whimsy forces him to dress as santa claus for amalia one christmas and now he does it every year with no exception. i need you to imagine jean moreau dressed up as santa for kevin's little daughter. ok. i need you to visualize that with me

[thelastofthebookworms]

European paintings here. Other art polls in my 'art' tags.

The paintings are right below :

[leedee013]

WIP Wednesday

I'll be participating in @/kedreeva 's game again this week!

PLEASE SEND IN THINGS. THIS IS LITERALLY THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEK.

Anyway, rules:

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it works:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. I’ll be searching the reblogs to find people to send asks to!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

Here is what I have to offer:

1. Silly Little Jean Moreau Fic 2. Etienne 3. Baby Jean 4. Needle AU (CW: Needle AU will occasionally feature depictions of self harm scars and injuries. The primary focus of the AU is on healing and growth, however. 5. 101 Ways Not to Say I Do

MASTERPOST OF PREVIOUS WRITINGS

Small snippet from Silly Little Jean Moreau Fic below:

Soon enough, scenes of the high seas and pirates and cursed gold played out on the screen, all accompanied by a captivating score. Jean was compelled to point out any and all historical inaccuracies that he could spot while they watched the movie, but he didn’t know enough about the time period to truly get upset. He was surprised to find that he enjoyed it regardless, and by the time the end credits started rolling, he discovered that Jeremy had nodded off a while ago.

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 45

PREV

Renee Walker stands next to two of her best friends in the entire world holding up a hand drawn sign. There's an, admittedly crudely drawn, Fox on the sign that Allison had made up.

Renee had seen it and smiled from across the airport as she made her way over to where Dan and Allison were standing waiting for everyone to come. The team had managed to coordinate their flights to land all within about two hours of one another and Allison had exactly zero desire to go back and forth from the airport so her driver was waiting out at a nearby cellphone lot to come and get them once everyone was there.

"Is it nice having a driver again?" Dan asks Allison.

"I sometimes miss driving around in my car but it's a lot easier to do my makeup with him driving." she says with a shrug as they continue to catch up. Renee is holding up the sign since Allison had complained that she had lost so much of the muscle she had previously had.

"Yeah, New York City seems like a major pain in the ass to drive in too." Dan agrees as her phone buzzes. She pulls out her phone and looks at it before a huge smile fills her face, one that means she's talking to Matt, "Oh! They just landed!" Dan says confirming Renee's suspicions.

Allison looks at her watch, "Wow, 20 minutes early. They must have gotten through boarding quickly." she comments.

"Or some good tailwind." Renee offers.

"When are Neil and Andrew due up?" Dan asks looking at Renee who smiles back at her friend.

"Andrew said they're going to take a break halfway here so they'll be here tomorrow morning." Renee says.

"Get it Neil." Allison nods and it had been a wonderful thing last year to watch Andrew and Allison make peace with one another. Their mutual desire to dress Neil up a bridge towards....maybe not friendship but camaraderie.

It warms Renee's heart to see her friends get along.

"The plane got tailwind, Neil's getting tail." Dan jokes.

"I'm looking forward to meeting the new kid that I've heard about." Renee says gently moving the topic on from their friends getting together. It didn't bother her at all, but she knew that Andrew would prefer no one talk about what he and Neil got up to.

"Oh! Yeah, uh..." Dan visibly buffers.

"Dan, you're the only one of us that's met the kid. His name's Smith." Allison says with eyebrows raised in judgement.

"Look, when Coach and I went to recruit the kid my brain was like 90% on the fact that I needed to go to my interview." Dan defends herself.

"So he wasn't that memorable for you?" Allison asks.

"Yeah, I'm surprised that he's getting along so well with the guys." Dan says. "Getting stabbed over Thanksgiving feels more like a Neil move than the quiet kid Coach and I met." she adds.

That had been an interesting phone call from Andrew. Renee hadn't even realized that she had become Natalie describing the best way to get rid of the body until Andrew had clarified that it'd been an accident and Smith was alive. Renee had been a little ashamed.

She was excited to meet the kid who Andrew had spoken to her about. Glad that their strange found family was growing just a little bit bigger.

They wait around continuing to talk about plans for the break together. Allison wants to go shopping and she wants to do it once Neil and Andrew are back. Dan wants to skate at the Rockefeller center. Renee would love it if they could do Christmas Eve Mass.

They're sure that Kevin is going to want to check out an Exy game. They're mostly sure that Matt will want to check out the LEGO store in downtown manhattan and that Aaron will be as excited for that as Matt is but pretending not to be. Nicky wants to catch a drag show and has made it clear that he will be going regardless of what anyone else wants to do. Andrew and Neil will probably just want to be alone when they have the chance though Neil had expressed some prior interest in the EXITES superstore and Andrew will more than likely enjoy the day Allison has planned to go shopping since she wants to update Neil's wardrobe.

The new kid, Smith, will be a mystery, but they're more than willing to be flexible.

Eventually they hear the tell-tale sign of most of the boy's arrival. "Babe!" comes from across the airport and Dan's head shoots up and spots the sight of Matt Boyd approaching his arms out wide almost clotheslining four different families on his way to Dan.

Dan is not much better as she rushes to him arms as wide.

They embrace like they always do whenever they have to spend time apart from one another and Renee knows that part of the reason that Dan took her job as assistant coach where she did is that the Washington State Congress Team had been looking at Matt the year prior to scout him.

She looks beyond the passionate reunion and sees Kevin, Aaron, and Nicky. She frowns brows furrowing...

Weren't they going to bring-

Nicky throws his arm out and it wraps around a kid she hadn't even realized was there. She blinks startled by his sudden appearance and blank expression as Nicky was pointing them out. He points to her and he can see her name on his lips she gives a wave and a smile.

Smith nods back in greeting.

He seems quite nice.

***

Renee is at the end of her proverbial rope.

This kid is a threat and she doesn't understand how she's the only person who can see it.

Being a threat isn't really an issue when you're a Fox. It's almost a given that there's some part of you that can be dangerous when backed into a corner but no one seems to be treating him like a threat.

She watches as Nicky and Matt throw their arms around him. As Kevin pushes smoothie after smoothie into his hands as he blankly sips. As Andrew and Neil sit with him quietly. As Dan pinches his cheeks. As Aaron ribs him for being bad at MarioKart.

She can't feel anything from him, no joy, no anger, nothing.

She can't even track him.

Renee has always prided herself on her ability to keep track of those around her. Spacial awareness was incredibly important when you're in a fight and it had always been one of her strongest points. She always knew where she was in relation to everyone else.

Except Smith.

The kid had given her no shortage of heart attacks as he appeared and disappeared seemingly at random.

She had finally gotten Andrew alone to ask, "Smith's quiet, non-intrusive." Andrew says with a shrug.

There's just something about him that makes the hair on the back of Renee's neck stand on edge and she hates feeling like she's the only one. She hates it even more that there's no real evidence that there's something amiss with this newest Fox.

So she settles in to watch.

They're out shopping and Allison is doing her best to get Neil a proper wardrobe with Andrew's considerable help, AKA nodding in approval when Neil comes out. She's not skimping on any of them but Neil is her main focus.

"Smith, what's a color you like?" Allison asks as she's looking at hoodies.

"I like purple." Smith answers and Renee barely manges to stop herself from flinching as his voice comes from right next to her.

"Pass." Andrew says as Neil comes out in a charmingly orange sweatshirt.

"I like it!" Neil argues.

"You have 10 sweatshirts that are that exact shade of orange." Andrew dismisses. "Try the blue one." he says pushing Neil back into the dressing room.

"Which one?" Neil asks.

Andrew sighs dramatically in a way that lets Renee know that he's doing exactly what he wants to be doing, "I'll show you." he says going into the dressing room with Neil.

"I still don't know how it took Baltimore for me to realize they were together." Nicky says as he's holding up two different purple sweatshirts to Smith's body. "You look good in a more purpley purple." Nicky says putting the more indigo colored sweatshirt back on the rack.

"Pants are coming up next, I'll get a lay of the land. I know everyone else's but Smith what's your height?" Allison asks.

"Five feet, nine inches." Smith answers as Nicky pushes him towards the dressing room. "Nicky it's a sweatshirt, I can put it on out here." Smith says.

"I know but I need an excuse to go back there and make sure Neil and Andrew aren't defiling a dressing room." Nicky says with a grin that implies he'd be more happy if they were.

"Gross." Aaron says as he takes a picture of himself to send to Katelyn to approve of the new outfit that Allison was pushing for him to get. "Wait," he pauses turning to where Allison was looking through various men's pants, "you know our heights? Like you've memorized them?" he asks.

"Yeah." Allison says looking at a pair of black slacks. "Everyone's measurements." she says nodding to herself.

"Even bust sizes?" he asks, voice not as quiet as he likely thinks it is.

"You're such a boy." Allison laughs not even looking up from the very different rack.

"How much longer are we going to be here?" Kevin asks with a sigh.

"Well, at least the time that it took you to ask that longer. We'll be done when we're done Kevin." Dan says long having given up on stopping Allison when the woman is on a spree.

"She knows that EXITES closes at 5 PM right?" Kevin asks.

"More importantly," Matt leans in, "that the LEGO store closes at 8 PM right?" Matt asks.

"How is that more important? The LEGO store is open later?" Kevin asks.

"Because we're not going to EXITES today, but we are going to the LEGO store." Matt says.

"If we don't spend the whole day here we can do both-"

"We're not going to EXITES today Kevin." Dan says with a sigh.

"But-"

"We're not going to EXITES today Kevin." Renee says with an apologetic smile.

"But-"

"Kevin, we're not going to EXITES today. Just sit down and let me find pants that'll make your pin-up days look tame in comparison." Allison says.

"That's not what those posters were!" Kevin argues with a blush on his face.

"Sure." Allison dismisses

***

Renee is quite happy with the sundresses she found even if they won't do her any good here in New York City during the Christmas break. Their next stop on their shopping day is over to the LEGO store where Matt makes no attempt to hide his enthusiasm as Aaron very valiantly does try to pretend like he's not utterly entranced by the sets and builds.

Renee thinks it's all very charming.

"We could have gone to EXITES." Kevin says with a frown as he looks at a build of an Exy racquet. "Can you take my picture with this?" he asks but he's not quite looking at Renee.

"Sure." Smith says from beside her, where he had apparently been.

"Thanks Smiths." Kevin says and stands next to the Exy racquet of LEGOs and crosses his arms and leans back.

"Kevin, stop posing like this will be for the cover of a Forbes Magazine." Andrew says with a sigh as he comes to stand on Renee's other side.

"Shut up, it's a picture for me!" Kevin says and continues to stand with his arms crossed.

"Oh, can you get a picture of me next Smith?" Neil asks coming up eyes shining in excitement as he looks at the racquet.

"Sure. As an apology for letting Nicky-"

"Don't talk about it." Neil and Andrew say at the same time.

Kevin gets his picture and then Andrew hands his phone to Smith for Neil's since Neil had broken the lens on his camera ages ago.

They wander around and Kevin finds a set to build the National Court that he grabs without a second thought. Neil and Andrew find a little LEGO man of Kevin that they buy as their 'preferred Kevin'. Kevin of course threatens to buy their LEGO figures once they have them and refer to them as his 'preferred Andrew and Neil'. A threat that neither of them comment on but Renee does buy the little Jean Moreau she finds. She'll paint it Trojan colors and send it over to him as a little gift.

As she continues to browse with her purchase in hand she hears Nicky, "Smithy, if you like it you should get it!" Nicky insists.

"Is it the price?" Allison asks.

"Yeah, I don't want to spend that much." Smith says with a nod expression still worryingly blank.

"When's your birthday? It can just be an early or a late present from me." Allison asks.

"March 1st, but really I'm fine not getting it." Smith shakes his head. "It's not that I'd like it just my little brother liked trains." he says and Renee watches Nicky's face turn from joyful teasing to intense determination.

"We're getting this set." Nicky says grabbing it and marching over to the counter even as Smith followed after him.

Interesting.

***

They finish off their day with some ice skating.

Matt, Aaron, Andrew, and Kevin all fall into the 'challenged' category.

They get on the ice and all four immediately fall. Renee stifles her laughter as Andrew and Aaron scowl. "Are you okay?" Smith asks and Renee almost loses her balance as he skates by her.

"Why the fuck are you good at skating?" Aaron asks scowling even as he takes Smith hand. Renee skates over and offers a hand to Kevin as Matt and Andrew are being helped up by their respective partners.

"Oh," Allison says skating by, "have you been up to Canada or something often?" she asks.

"I've been to Canada a few times. It's more that there was a rink I would go to every once in a while." Smith answers before turning back to Aaron, "I can help you keep balanced." he says offering his other hand.

"Smith, I don't want to hold your hand. That's kind of gay." Aaron huffs letting go of Smith's hand only to immediately beef it again when he tried to move forward.

***

Skating was fun even if Aaron kept blushing as Smith helped him skate since he never really got his 'ice legs'. The rest of them all more or less skated on their own by the end or, in the case of Andrew and Matt, seemed fine to keep skating while holding on.

Renee was warming herself by the fireplace in Allison's home enjoying some hot chocolate as Allison took a seat next to her. There was a lot of commotion in the kitchen as the team was working to make dinner together. Renee had excused herself after Smith had startled her while she had a knife in hand and she'd almost stabbed him on instinct.

She's just relieved that no one seemed to notice the near murder.

"You okay? You seemed tense in there." Allison asks.

Well, almost no one.

"Yes, I'm fine." she smiles and hopes that Allison will believe it.

Allison looks at her and Renee does have the benefit that Allison is slightly drunk since she was told firmly not to help with the cooking since she'd paid for the majority of the day.

"I'm glad I got you alone, there's something I want to hear your opinion on." Allison says deciding, apparently, to let it go for now.

Renee relaxes smiling at her friend, "What's that?" she asks wondering what purchase or thing unpurchased Allison was regretting.

Allison looks at Renee, expression utterly serious. "Don't you think there's something...weird about this kid?" she asks.

Renee straightens up glad that Allison had also felt like something was off with the kid that her friends had brought along. "What do you mean?" she asks wanting to hear what Allison thought.

"Look, he seems really nice. I mean a little too nice to be a Fox to be honest but I mean I guess you're a Fox as well so..." Allison rambles slightly taking another sip of her wine.

"Yes, go on." Renee nods.

"Yeah, he seems nice and Matt said he's got his own stuff even if he didn't wanna go into what that stuff was." Allison continues and it's a good thing Allison is drinking white wine considering the white carpet and her gesticulations. "But...it's just.. okay you can't make fun of me. Even though this is about to sound crazy." Allison says.

"I would never do something like that." Renee swears.

"Promise me." Allison says expression grave as she lifts up a pinky.

Renee smiles despite herself and hooks her pinky with Allison's, "I promise to not make fun of you." she swears other hand over her cross.

"I think he's Justin Bieber."

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

[someonelookingpretty]

No, actually, I’ve decided I hate this now. Because I’ve mentally planned out the entire deck and now I will lie awake for eternity thinking of the way an actual aftg tarot deck would feel in my hands.

🌿 March Patreon print 🌿

My patreons this month voted for tarot cards so here’s a little lovers print. To get the March free print you can join my Patreon at either the Pomegrante and saffron tier (UK SHIPPING) or almond and plumb (INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING)

This print is available as an a4 and will be sent out around the 1st April. This is a Patreon exclusive and will not be published on the shop

(Though keep your eyes open for potential tarot card bunds!)

[godslittlesadge]

reading the sunshine court rn and you know i have never really thought of characters as poor little meow meows but my god if jean isnt peak poor little meow meow. i was gonna make a joke about a gust of wind being able to break him but that was an actual to god scene of the book

[aftgficrec]

Hi! It’s so nice to see you open! <333

So I'm looking for a fic where Neil and Andrew secretly got married. It all starts with the two of them going to the city hall to get married, and someone captures them on camera entering and leaving the building. But there's a twist: they brought Kevin as a witness, and when they entered the building, Kevin walked alongside Andrew, but exited next to Neil (or the other way around, I don't remember). That's why the whole world thinks that Neil and Andrew hate each other so much that it led to a court case. Then at some point, the three of them + Jean are invited to a TV show. And at some point, the host uses the word "elope," and Neil starts to panic and get confused in a game they were playing on that TV show.

I know exactly which fic you mean, your description is perfect!  It’s part 1 of the series below.  Funnily enough somebody else was looking for this fic quite recently, which just goes to show how popular it is.  Apart from ��Secrets and Honesty’ we’ve also included part 2 of this series, the prequel leading up to all the shenanigans, and part 3, a sequel featuring jerejean. - S

Better Together series by fullyvisible [Rated T, 70569 words, 3 complete works, 2023]

Part 1: Secrets and Honesty (42780 words)

Neil and Andrew aren't on the same professional teams, but that doesn't mean they're any less together. When a photograph gets taken out of context, they decide to go with it, as long as they're both having fun. And they are. Right?

Part 2: Five Weddings and a Proposal (12112 words)

Prequel to Secrets and Honesty. As Neil and Andrew attend and participate in their loved ones' weddings, they gradually realize they might like to have one of their own.

Part 3: Love and Competition (5677 words)

When Neil and Andrew kick off a new rivalry immediately following the resolution of their old one, Jeremy and Jean have no choice but to respond. After all, it's all in good fun . . . isn't it?

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Children's Dialogue

Language is extremely complex, yet children already know most of the grammar of their native language(s) before they are 5 years old.

BABBLING

Babbling begins at about 6 months and is considered the earliest stage of language acquisition

By 1 year babbles are composed only of the phonemes used in the language(s) they hear

Deaf babies babble with their hands like hearing babies babble using sounds

FIRST WORDS

After the age of one, children figure out that sounds are related to meanings and start to produce their first words

Usually children go through a holophrastic stage, where their one-word utterances may convey more meaning

Example: "Up" is used to indicate something in the sky or to mean “pick me up”

Most common first words (among the first 10 words uttered in many languages): “mommy,” “daddy,” “woof woof,” “no,” “bye,” “hi,” “yes,” “vroom,” “ball” and “banana”

WORD MEANINGS

When learning words, children often overextend a word’s meaning

Example: Using the word dog to refer to any furry, four-legged animal (overextensions tend to be based on shape, size, or texture, but never color)

They may also underextend a word’s meaning

Example: Using the word dog to refer only to the family pet, as if dog were a proper noun

The Whole Object Principle: When a child learns a new word, (s)he is likely to interpret the word to refer to a whole object rather than one of its parts

SYNTAX

At about two years of age, children start to put words together to form two-word utterances

The intonation contour extends over the two words as a unit, and the two-word utterances can convey a range of meanings:

Example: "mommy sock" = subject + object or possessive

NOTE: Chronological age is NOT a good measure of linguistic development due to individual differences, so instead linguists use the child’s mean length of utterance (MLU) to measure development

The telegraphic stage describes a phase when children tend to omit function morphemes such as articles, subject pronouns, auxiliaries, and verbal inflection

Examples: "He play little tune" or "Andrew want that"

Between 2;6 and 3;6 a language explosion occurs and children undergo rapid development

By the age of 3, most children consistently use function morphemes and can produce complex syntactic structures:

Examples: "He was stuck and I got him out" / "It’s too early for us to eat"

After 3;6 children can produce wh-questions, and relative pronouns

Sometime after 4;0 children have acquired most of the adult syntactic competence

PRAGMATICS

Deixis: Children often have problems with the shifting reference of pronouns

Children may refer to themselves as "you"

Problems with the context-dependent nature of deictic words: Children often assume the hearer knows who s/he is talking about

AUXILIARIES

In the telegraphic stage, children often omit auxiliaries from their speech but can form questions (with rising intonation) and negative sentences

Examples: "I ride train?" / "I not like this book"

As children acquire auxiliaries in questions and negative sentences, they generally use them correctly

SIGNED LANGUAGES

Deaf babies acquire sign language in the same way that hearing babies acquire spoken language: babbling, holophrastic stage, telegraphic stage

When deaf babies are not exposed to sign language, they will create their own signs, complete with systematic rules

IMITATION, REINFORCEMENT, ANALOGY

Children do imitate the speech heard around them to a certain extent, but language acquisition goes beyond imitation

Children produce utterances that they never hear from adults around them, such as "holded" or "tooths"

Children cannot imitate adults fully while acquiring grammar

Example:

Adult: "Where can I put them?" Child: "Where I can put them?"

Children who develop the ability to speak later in their childhood can understand the language spoken around them even if they cannot imitate it

NOTE: Children May Resist Correction

Example: Cazden (1972) (observation attributed to Jean Berko Gleason) – My teacher holded the baby rabbits and we patted them. – Did you say your teacher held the baby rabbits? – Yes. – What did you say she did? – She holded the baby rabbits and we patted them. – Did you say she held them tightly? – No, she holded them loosely.

Another theory asserts that children hear a sentence and then use it as a model to form other sentences by analogy

But while analogy may work in some situations, certainly not in all situations:

– I painted a red barn. – I painted a barn red. – I saw a red barn. – I saw a barn red.

Children never make mistakes of this kind based on analogy which shows that they understand structure dependency at a very young age

BIRTH ORDER

Children’s birth order may affect their speech.

Firstborns often speak earlier than later-born children, most likely because they get more one-on-one attention from parents.

They favor different words than their siblings. 

Whereas firstborns gabble on about animals and favorite colors, the rest of the pack cut to the chase with “brother,” “sister,” “hate” and such treats as “candy,” “popsicles” and “donuts.” 

The social dynamics of siblings, it would appear, prime their vocabularies for a reality different than the firstborns’ idyllic world of sheep, owls, the green of the earth and the blue of the sky.

MOTHER'S LEVEL OF EDUCATION

Children may adopt vocabulary quite differently depending on their mother’s level of education.

In American English, among the words disproportionately favored by the children of mothers who have not completed secondary education are: “so,” “walker,” “gum,” “candy,” “each,” “could,” “wish,” “but,” “penny” and “be” (ordered starting with the highest frequency).

The words favored by the children of mothers in the “college and above” category are: “sheep,” “giraffe,” “cockadoodledoo,” “quack quack,” the babysitter’s name, “gentle,” “owl,” “zebra,” “play dough” and “mittens.” 

BOYS / GIRLS

One area of remarkable consistency across language groups is the degree to which the language of children is gendered.

The words more likely to be used by American girls than by boys are: “dress,” “vagina,” “tights,” “doll,” “necklace,” “pretty,” “underpants,” “purse,” “girl” and “sweater.”

Whereas those favored by boys are “penis,” “vroom,” “tractor,” “truck,” “hammer,” “bat,” “dump,” “firetruck,” “police” and “motorcycle.”

Tips for Writing Children's Dialogue (compiled from various sources cited below):

Milestones - The dialogue you write should be consistent with the child's developmental milestones for their age. Of course, other factors should be considered such as if the child has any speech or intellectual difficulties. Also note that developmental milestones are not set in stone and each child is unique in their own way.

Too "Cutesy" - If your child characters are going to be cute, they must be cute naturally through the force of their personality, not because the entire purpose of their existence is to be adorable.

Too Wise - It’s true kids have the benefit of seeing some situations a little more objectively than adults. But when they start calmly and unwittingly spouting all the answers, the results often seem more clichéd and convenient than impressive or ironic.

Unintelligent - Don’t confuse a child’s lack of experience with lack of intelligence. 

Baby Talk - Don’t make a habit of letting them misuse words. Children are more intelligent than most people think.

Unique Individuals - Adults often tend to lump all children into a single category: cute, small, loud, and occasionally annoying. Look beyond the stereotype.

Personal Goals - The single ingredient that transforms someone from a static character to a dynamic character is a goal. It can be easy to forget kids also have goals. Kids are arguably even more defined by their goals than are adults. Kids want something every waking minute. Their entire existence is wrapped up in wanting something and figuring out how to get it.

Don't Forget your Character IS a Child - Most of the pitfalls in how to write child characters have to do with making them too simplistic and childish. But don’t fall into the opposite trap either: don’t create child characters who are essentially adults in little bodies.

Your Personal Observation - To write dialogue that truly sounds like it could come from a child, start by being an attentive listener. Spend time around children and observe how they interact with their peers and adults. You can also study other pieces of media that show/write about children's behaviour (e.g., documentaries, films, TV shows, even other written works like novels and scripts).

Context - The context in which children speak is crucial to creating realistic dialogue. Consider their environment, who they're speaking to, and what's happening around them. Dialogue can change drastically depending on whether a child is talking to a friend, a parent, or a teacher. Additionally, children's language can be influenced by their cultural background, family dynamics, and personal experiences. Make sure the context informs the dialogue, lending credibility to your characters' voices.

Sources and other related articles: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Writing Notes: On Children ⚜ Childhood Bilingualism More: Writing Notes & References

[joejhang]

thinking about numbers and symbolism in aftg. andrew (03) and aaron (05) being twin primes. 5 + 3 being 8 which is nicky's number. andrew being 03 which would've been neil's number if he was perfect court. jean being 29 in the trojans because renee was 09 and kevin was 02. and 2 + 9 adding up to 11 which is jeremy's number.

[starlonging]

All the things Neil felt were unimportant enough to gloss over in AFTG -

1. Andrew's candy drawer??

2. The fucking cheese drawer

3. Him driving Jean to his own dorm for the final Raven v. Foxes game

4. Poor Jean's breakdown there

5. Neil did not even bother mentioning that Jean wrecked their dorm 💀

6. The RUMOURS about Jean

but no, please let's just swing our feet, gaze at Andrew longingly, notice the way his hazel eyes seem aglow in the sunlight and the sturdiness and broadness of his shoulders and how much he can lift and the gold of his hair and—

(no really please do)