#Childrens Writers

[gone2soon-rip]

LYNNE REID BANKS (1929-Died April 4th 2024,at 94).British author of books for children and adults.Banks wrote forty-eight books, including the best-selling children's novel The Indian in the Cupboard, which has sold over 15 million copies and has been successfully adapted to film. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, published in 1960,was an instant and lasting best seller. It was later made into a movie of the same name and led to two sequels, The Backward Shadow and Two is Lonely. Banks also wrote a biography of the Brontë family, entitled Dark Quartet, and a sequel about Charlotte Brontë, Path to the Silent Country.Lynne Reid Banks - Wikipedia

[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

[help-alaas-family]

🚨URGENT DISTRESS CALL

400 Days Of WAR On Gaza, Palestine

My Account Was Verified & Listed #99

I'm Alaa Khateeb from Gaza, Palestine with 8 of my family among us 4 young Children under 10 years we lives a Dangerous WAR from 400 Days Ago feels like 400 years.

Please Read Our Story

Displaced From Our Home 7 Times & Now Living In A Tent That Lacks Of Life. We Lost Our Jobs, Salaries & Everything.

Pictures & Words Fail To Describe Our Situation🥹

Please Don't Leave Us Alone. Help Us Even With A Little, Because it's A Lot For Us.

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[thejadecount]

I had a vision

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Guide to Royal Children - Heirs and Spares

The lives of Princesses and Princes are of interest to most fantasy writers, it's where many of our heroes, side characters and antagonists hail from. But what is there life like? Is it always ballgrowns and servants? Or something more?

A Strict Order of Precedence

The first thing to know about royal children and siblings is that there's a very strict precedence of importance. Is it fair? No. But this is a system, it doesn't have to be fair. The heir comes first without argument. They are the most important child, they are always greeted first, they are the one to stand next to the monarch or their parents at occasions, they literally go first - and this doesn't change with age, if the heir is the youngest, they still have precedence over their siblings. After the heir, order of predence goes by age and the order effects the life of the children. For example, the older sister will marry begore any of her sisters. This order of deference will be so engrained in your character's life that they will believe it the norm and rarely question it, it probably won't spark any in-fighting.

Accommodation & Staff

Royal children are usually raised one of two ways. Either they are raised at court, in the same Palace as their parents or they are raised away from court under the care of trusted servants. Being raised away from their parents isn't a sign of remoteness or dislike or terrible parenting, it was a way of break a child into the constraints of royal life while giving them freedom of scrunity or danger. Usually these children are raised in the countryside for their health, as cities are usually cesspits for disease. Their parents would come to visit them or allow them to visit them at court. Children raised at court are raised with a higher level of scrunity and attention. They will be in the public eye.

Royal children will always be surrounded by staff. There will be nurses to wash and dress them, nannies to discipline and direct them, guards to protect them and usually, a guardian known as a governess to run their household and care for their needs. Staff are not allowed to hit royal children and must obey their commands. Some royal children were very close to their staff:

Kat Ashley and Elizabeth I

Baroness Lehzen and Queen Victoria

Klementy Grigorievich Nagorny and the Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich

Lala Bill and Prince John

However, some royal children faced neglect from their staff. George VI was abused by his nanny, who would pinch him during important occasions, openly favour his elder brother over him and deny him food, which many have been a cause of his speech impediment. After the Russian Revolution, another of the Tsarevich's nannies proved less loyal than the other. Andrei Yeremeyevich Derevenko abandoned his charge, but not before ordering the boy around and insulting him.

Day to Day Life

Royal children would be educated withing their home by tutors. They would usually take lessons all together (the heir may take other lessons). A royal child would recieve an education in languages, arithmetic, geography, etiquette, dancing, music, sports such as riding and literature. Sometimes they would even share lessons with the children of trusted nobles or their cousins. Only the heir will be taught statecraft and how to reign. There is no rhyme nor reason a spare would learn how to rule.

Some royal children are taught the value of their position. Many royal children will be raised strictly to adhere to their social standing and their place in it. Some children may be raised in isolation, kept from mingling and raised to think of themselves as higher than those around them. Some royal families preferred to raise their children as "normal" as possible. The last Romanov children slept in camp beds, with no pillows and we're expected to tidy their own rooms and help the servants. They didn't even use their proper titles, they were called by their names and given a tight monthly allowance to spend. Alexandra of Denmark and her sisters used to make their own clothes. Some royal children could even be encouraged to play with the children of servants and staff as well as nobility (Kolya Derevenko and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Winifred Thomas and Prince John). Companionship was a great honour for noble and common child alike as sometimes, they would be invited to live or be educated alongside by the royal children.

Royal children will not undertake royal duties until they are of age. Younger children be be present for large scale events such as jubilees but would not be expected to partake in any duties themselves. When they are of age, they will usually be granted an annual allowance, be invited to social events, invited to be patrons of charities and participate in royal duties.

Heir Vs Spare

Heirs have more responsibility, all the prestige, more power but they have less freedom, less room to explore their own lives and be expected to always be the epitome of perfect. Heirs will be given responsibilities in government, sitting in on state meetings or undertaking state duties.

Spares have little in the way of real power but have the ability to live less regimental lives and gave more agency in their personal lives. Spares may act as ambassadors to other nations or undertake state visits on behalf of the monarchy or even take positions in the army. Spares are encouraged to find positions to support themselves outside the family, either in a marriage or undertaking some service to the country. Spares who stay in the country, tend to act as unofficial advisers to their sibling when they become monarch.

All Grown Up

When royal children grow up, there are usually certain expectations and limitations.

Heirs will be married quickly, the lineage must be secure. Heirs will usually marry either as part of a political alliance or marry somebody suitable - from a good family, the right background, and able to fit into a certain mould (i.e malleable, amiable and loyal). They will be expected to focus on the country, it's needs and support the monarch at all times. Their social circles will be scruntised, their every move will be noted and remarked upon. Heirs will never gave to worry about funding their lifestyle, the Crown is their job and it supports them.

Spares can marry or remain single if they choose, (but if the monarch instructs them go marry they must). Spares can travel, they can be idle, they can even persue amusements not permitted for the heir. Spares can win glory on the battlefield and mix with all sorts of people. That isn't to say spares are useless, spares often occupy very important spaces in society and government. Spares will usually take these positions not for just status but also for the pay. This is why spares are granted royal titles such as dukedoms (they can make money off the lands, be able to build a dynasty for themselves and their heirs and gain status).

[littlefankingdom]

It's kind of annoying (and weird) how DC keeps trying to rewrite how Jason and Bruce met to paint Bruce in a worst light.

Originally, Batman finds Jason stealing the Batmobile's tires, the kid runs away, and Batman finds him. Discovering the kid is homeless, he gives him to the authority and Jason finishes at Ma Gunn's school. Ma Gunn is actually teaching the kids to be gang members, so Jason tells Batman. Together, they win again Ma Gunn, and Bruce takes Jason in because he sees himself in him.

Well, in Nightwing: Year One, they change it for "Batman kidnapped Jason when he found him stealing his tires and forces him to become Robin", with Jason ATTACHED AND GAGGED in the batcave. (I like this comic except for that because wtf)

In Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011), they changed it for "Jason stole drugs from Leslie and Batman was ready to beat and throw a young teen in jail, but Leslie begged him to give him a chance", which again, wtf. Batman beating up a child. Okay.

In Red Hood and The Outlaws (2016), they changed it for "Bruce put Jason in Ma Gunn's school because he couldn't handle him after taking him in". The only good addition they made is "when Batman caught Jason stealing his tires, he bought him food".

I do not understand why they need to make him awful to this 12 years old so bad. What do they want to make it as if Bruce forced that life on Jason but also didn't want to deal with him. Why they cannot let it as it is, with Bruce having fun dealing with this lil shit that stole his tires and being there for him when he needs him later on, until he finally craves and takes Jason home.

And that's why I am so critical on how Batman and Bruce is written in Nightwing and Red Hood stories, because the writers are incapable to make their main character have conflict with Bruce, without changing his character and their story to make him abusive. They need him to be the bad guy of Jason's, and sometimes Dick's, story because they don't know how to make you side and care for their character without making the other side a monster.

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

As if I wasn't already exhausted enough this morning...

It's been brought to my attention that people are taking my fanfics, editing them, and sharing them around. I don't have the words to describe how not okay this is. If you don't like something about my fanfic, then I'm sorry to hear that, but there are a lot of other fics out there you can read instead.

I put time and effort and care into my writing, as does every writer. To take my work without permission and change it feels like someone just punched me in the gut. Frankly it makes me not want to share my work at all and to take down all the writing I do have up, because why should I share anything with people if all they're going to do is decide it's not good enough and they're going to do what they want with it and make it "better"?

And before anyone comes at me, this is not what a transformative work does. This is not the same as fanfiction. I'm fucking exhausted from working two eleven hour shifts over the weekend so my brain is not working so someone smarter and more articulate than I am can explain why. I'm tired.

This genuinely makes me want to take down all my works and not share anything new. It's very simple, kiddos: Don't like it? Don't read it. You will miss out on some fanfics that way, just like you'll miss out on some films, or books, or TV shows. I've missed out on really good fic, novels, films, etc, for the same reason. We all do. It's a part of life. Stuff will sometimes have things in it that you don't like. Skim those parts, fast-forward those scenes, grin and bear it, or just go and read/watch something else.

Normally I would make this post unrebloggable but I worry other writers in this fandom might experience the same thing and not realize it. So people are welcome to reblog this. Anyone who's an ass on it will be blocked, no second chances.

Just. Don't do this guys. Holy shit don't do this. What the actual fuck.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 337

Hear me out: Danny & Co in Gotham, but instead of getting found or adopted by the Bats, the Goonion is the one to find them. 

It’s not the first time any of them have stumbled across feral street children, but they’re getting flashbacks to a lot of their rogue bosses if they were like, mini. And a lot of them are just workin to survive, or for their families to survive. 

It should be easy enough to pspsp feral kids over right? Batman’s done it before and he’s terrifying so it should be- wait no, come back they’re trying to help-

[llamasofchaos]

I just saw a video saying that while op adored Percy and annabeth she couldn't forgive them for ruining so many lives on their quest for a happy ending?????

She was claiming that because they got to be happy they ruined, Rayna and her sisters life, Bianca and Nico's life, screwed over Calypso, and apparently every other character in the books with an unhappy life.

Like next time just say you didn't understand the story instead of trying to justify weird reasons to not like the main characters.

Because it was not Percy or Annabeth's fault that the choice they made to try and survive quests given to them when they were teenagers by the gods were one of the many things that led to bad circumstances for other characters.

Circe was a bad person and just because working for her was okay right then doesn't mean it would have stayed like that. But also it's incredibly stupid to say that Percy and Annabeth ruined the sisters lives when they were 13 and just trying to survive and find grover.

Calypso wasn't Percy's responsibility. He owed her nothing, it was out of kindness and a desire to make things better that he asked that the gods release her from her punishment. He had no idea that the gods would be petty and not tell her she was free. His not going back to get her because he was "so distracted being with Annabeth" isn't a bad thing because once again he didn't owe Calypso anything, he didn't promise her anything. Stop saying that she's an innocent victim because she was on the island for a reason and it is only due to Percy trying to make things better that Leo could swoop in like a knight in shining armor.

Nico and Bianca. This is probably going to make a lot of Nico fans mad but Percy held no responsibility for what happened to Bianca or Nico . Yes he promised to try and protect her however she made a choice that made it impossible for anyone to help her. She knew that and she still made that choice, something Nico does throughout the main and sequel series. Percy once again owes Nico nothing, he did his best to save Bianca, he tried to help Nico even when he wanted Percy dead, he doesn't owe him anything even if Nico liked him.

Stop blaming Annabeth and Percy for every bad thing that has happened in the Percy Jackson universe. Percy and Annabeth did not go on quests for years, fight two wars and suffer trying to save the world while losing friends and family just for you to say that other characters had it worse and it's their fault.

[maulfucker]

racism in star wars will have wikis saying shit like "this species that is inspired on a real life non-white people is just too stupid to use the Force"

[orbch]

selfcest yaoi for the soul

[thevoidstaredback]

Storyboard

I've decided to dump some stories here. Some will be crossposted to Ao3 at some point, and some won't. Regardless, I like writing and sharing my stories, so here's this, I guess.

Ao3

Crossovers:

Enough Caffeine to Kill an Elephant (DC x DP)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Ao3

Side Story

Morally Grey in a World of Black and White (BSD x BNHA/MHA)

Part 1 Part 2

Be Thou For The People (HP x FMA/B)

Part 1

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have (DC x DP)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Take Back Your Minx

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Reunion of Brothers

Part 1 Part 2

Single Fandom:

Bruce Wayne is Batman's Biggest Hater

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Cryptid Rules

Part 1

Random Shit:

DC Comics x Marvel Comics Writing Prompt

Unconventional Summoning

Movie Thought Processes

Secret Identities Writing Prompt (DCU)

Leave Your Fics Here

Superhero Hide 'N Seek Writing Prompt

Ignore this for now

Writing Prompts

Defiled Memories (named by @rin1sakami )

No Hospitals

Asks:

The Outlier

Jack Fenton's Obsession

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Speech & Language

Milestones Related to Speech and Language

Birth to 5 months

Coos

Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds differently (laughs, giggles, cries, or fusses)

Makes noise when talked to

6 to 11 months

Understands "no-no"

Babbles (says "ba-ba-ba")

Says "ma-ma" or "da-da" without meaning

Tries to communicate by actions or gestures

Tries to repeat your sounds

Says first word

2 to 17 months

Answers simple questions nonverbally

Says 2-3 words to label a person/object (pronunciation may not be clear)

Tries to imitate simple words

Vocabulary of 4-6 words

18 to 23 months

Vocabulary of 50 words, pronunciation is often unclear

Asks for common foods by name

Makes animal sounds ("moo")

Starting to combine words ("more milk")

Begins to use pronouns ("mine")

Uses 2-word phrases

2 to 3 years

Knows some spatial concepts ("in" or "on")

Knows pronouns ("you," "me" or "her")

Knows descriptive words ("big" or "happy")

Uses 3-word sentences

Speech becomes more accurate, but may still leave off-ending sounds. Strangers may not understand much of what is said.

Answers simple questions

Begins to use more pronouns ("you" or "I")

Uses question inflection to ask for something ("my ball?")

Begins to use plurals ("shoes" or "socks"; regular past tense verbs, "jumped")

3 to 4 years

Groups objects, such as foods or clothes

Identifies colors

Uses most speech sounds, but may distort some of the more difficult sounds, such as l, r, s, sh, ch, y, v, z, th. These sounds may not be fully mastered until age 7 or 8.

Uses consonants in the beginning, middle, and ends of words.

Some of the more difficult consonants may be distorted, but attempts to say them

Strangers are able to understand much of what is said

Able to describe the use of objects ("fork" or "car")

Has fun with language; enjoys poems and recognizes language absurdities ("Is that an elephant on your head?")

Expresses ideas and feelings rather than just talking about the world around him or her

Uses verbs that end in "ing" ("walking" or "talking")

Answers simple questions ("What do you do when you are hungry?")

Repeats sentences

4 to 5 years

Understands spatial concepts ("behind" or "next to")

Understands complex questions

Speech is understandable, but makes mistakes pronouncing long, difficult, or complex words ("hippopotamus")

Uses some irregular past tense verbs ("ran" or "fell")

Describes how to do things (e.g., painting a picture)

Lists items that belong in a category (e.g., animals or vehicles)

Answers "why" questions

5 years

Understands time sequences (e.g., what happened first, second...)

Carries out a series of 3 directions

Understands rhyming

Engages in conversation

Sentences can be 8 or more words in length

Uses compound and complex sentences

Describes objects

Uses imagination to create stories

NOTE

The ability to hear is essential for proper speech and language development.

Hearing problems may be suspected in children who are not responding to sounds or who are not developing their language skills appropriately.

The above are some age-related guidelines that may help to decide if your child is experiencing hearing problems.

It's important to remember that not every child is the same.

Children reach milestones at different ages.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ On Children ⚜ Hearing ⚜ Children's Dialogue

[sbrown82]

“I remember an incident from my own childhood, when a very close friend of mine and I, we were walking down the street. We were discussing whether God existed. And she said he did not. And I said he did. But then she said she had proof. She said, ‘I had been praying for two years for blue eyes, and he never gave me any.’ So, I just remember turning around and looking at her. She was very, very Black. And she was very, very, very, very beautiful. How painful. Can you imagine that kind of pain? About that, about color? So, I wanted to say you know, this kind of racism hurts. This is not lynchings, and murders, and drownings. This is interior pain. So deep. For an 11 year-old girl to believe that if she only had some characteristic of the white world, she would be okay. [Black girls] surrendered completely to the master narrative. I mean the whole notion of what is ugliness, what is worthlessness. She got it from her family, she got it from school, she got it from the movies — she got it everywhere; it’s white male life. The master narrative is whatever ideological script that is being imposed by the people in authority on everybody else. The master fiction, history, it has a certain point of view. So, when these little girls see that the most prized gift that they can get at Christmastime is this little white doll, that’s the master narrative speaking: “This is beautiful. This is lovely, and you’re not it.”

Toni Morrison on what inspired her to write her first novel, The Bluest Eye.

[brainrotcharacters]

deadclaws where Logan is not at all, shut the fuck up why would you say that, jealous of the attention Wade gives Mary Puppins

[dipperscavern]

COMFORT - ROBB STARK

you’re afraid of thunderstorms — unlucky for you, they’re in season. luckily, your childhood friend & lover, robb stark, knows exactly how to comfort you during them.

robb stark x fem!reader (fluff), 2.3k words

“Relax your bow arm. Good.. pull with your back.”

bran huffs, drawing the arrow to his bow. he engages his back, as you tell him, simultaneously taking the strain off his arms. robb stands, arms crossed together, looking down at you and bran as you fix his form. he knows bran shoots worse when being watched, but he can’t help it.

earlier today bran, (the families worst archer) claimed the makeshift target you set up in the woods impossible. robb remembers the sly smile on your face as you then announced that you all would be heading to the wolfswood, and not leaving until bran shot the target.

robb thought it was cute, your determination to help bran. watching you with him made a part of him see the future; the future where you’re the lady of winterfell, belly round with child.

“Easy, now. The arrow goes wherever you’re looking.”

your voice brings robb back to reality as you continue your coaching. he watches as bran focuses on the target, an old piece of wood, strung by rope & hanging from one of the trees in the wolfswood, just outside winterfells’ walls. it sways with the wind, one of brans reasonings for not being able to hit it. you reminded him that as a knight, your targets won’t be still — they’ll move as fast as the wind.

bran focuses on the target, still for now and unaffected by wind, drawing his arrow tight.. about to let it loose-

“Any day now!”

theon’s voice startles all three of you, causing bran to let the arrow loose. it flies, lodging itself just below the bullseye of the target. bran sighs, and you whip your head around to theon and jon, standing a few feet away. they’ve quickly turned around, pretending that a tree in the distance has caught their attention.

“And which one of you was a marksman at ten!?”

you repeating his fathers words has robb looking down, trying to suppress the smile on his face. he huffs out a breath of laughter, making bran look at him, and smile himself. you shake your head at theon, before turning back to bran, wearing slight disappointment on his face. you run your hand through his hair.

“Don’t kick yourself over it. Theon doesn’t know his arse from a hole in the ground.” you put a hand on the small of brans back, turning & beginning to walk back to the horses. robb agrees with you.

“Aye. The first time Theon tried he nearly beheaded father.”

brans satisfied with that answer, giving robb a nod of his head as you three walk back to the others. theon glances over his shoulder, looking at you three, and then the target, swaying in the wind with an arrow near the bottom of it. he turns back, facing jon.

“At least he hit the target this time...”

jon fusses with the horses, pretending not to hear theon. it doesn’t work completely, he still has to bite back his smile as you, robb, and bran approach.

“Theon Greyjoy, everybody,” you say. “The most hilarious man in the seven kingdoms.” theon shrugs.

“The ladies seem to think so. Don’t you?” theon turns to jon, and jon’s half-smile is quick to disappear. it earns theon a smack on the back of the head from robb. theon rubs the back of his head, quick to look at his attacker. robb only smiles.

you take an arrow from brans quiver, pulling it to your bow & notching it. you aim for the swaying target, now much farther away than it was before. robb can barely spot it, the wood blending in with the trees. you release the arrow, and it lands with a thud, right into the bullseye.

you turn to theon, who now has decided that comedy is overrated. you offer him the bow, tilting your head. theon swallows, and opens his mouth to reply when ser rodrick approaches you all.

“The sky tells me a storms comin’, lads. Best to start headin’ back.”

your stomach churns at the mention of a storm, anxiety trying to creep its way up your spine. you wave it off, silently cursing ser rodrick as he saves theon from embarrassment. you usher bran along, and robb and jon share a look before falling in behind you both. theon sighs in relief, silently thanking the gods as he moves to catch up with you all.

theon moves to his horse, standing next to jon’s, and he begins to untie it. jon turns to him with a half-amused smile.

“At least you almost touched the bow this time.”

꧁——————————————————꧂

the rain is loud, wild in its crashing against the castle- drenching the bricks laid so many years ago. only a few small candles are lit in the great hall, and it makes for a somber mood at dinner. various conversation ensues as the rain worsens, & already it makes you restless — unable to sit still. ned’s voice carries across the table.

“The maesters say the storm is only to worsen.”

you internally groan at the thought of a heavier storm, and arya’s face scrunches in confusion. “Don’t they deal with stupid ravens? What do maesters know about storms?

robb is quick to pipe up. “About as much as you know about maesters.”

“‘S not just ravens!” brans little voice joins the chaos.

catelyn sighs at her children’s inability to get along, and you & her share an amusing look at their behavior. theon laughs, while ned and jon both have a small smile on their faces. arya looks for explanation, and ned nods his head towards robb. robb looks at his father, before deciding to have mercy on his sister.

“Maesters know the weather as well as medicine. Who do you think confirms winters’ come and summers ended?”

arya looks at robb with disbelief. “Maester Luwin?”

aryas knowledge of maesters, or lack thereof, has everyone cracking up- you included. it temporarily erases the storm from your mind, and even ned shakes his head with laughter. everyone except for sansa, who doesn’t appreciate her sisters lack of knowledge.

“No, stupid!”

catelyns head turns to sansa. “Sansa, be civil, will you?”

jon shakes his head at arya as she sticks her tongue at sansa. “The archmaesters, little sister.”

you can’t help but laugh yourself at their antics. even so, your stomach churns at the thought of a heavy storm. you’ve never been fond of them, too dark & too angry for your liking, always causing you to lose copious amounts of sleep. winterfells’ walls are strong, you know this, but it doesn’t do much to soothe your nerves — and you suspect you won’t be getting much sleep tonight.

as if the gods can hear you, thunder loudly rumbles overhead. all conversation momentarily pauses at the table, everyone looking up & around them, as if expecting to see the thunder in the room. you pause with them, your breath quickening as a small dose of fear shoots through you. ned, ever the reassure, takes one look at his younger children’s fearful eyes and resumes the role of lord stark.

“Not to worry. Winterfells’ held against greater comings than late summers rain.”

their fathers words have rickon, bran, and arya relieved. smiles are shot their way in an extra coat of reassurance, and everyone returns to their food. almost everyone.

you think you do a good job of hiding it, but robb notices. of course he does. you’ve always tried to hide from him, the same way you do from others, but it’s never worked — he found you long ago. you find yourself under robb’s gaze, and you both share a look. you swallow, gaze dropping down to your food. you think it’ll be a long night indeed.

꧁——————————————————꧂

BOOM

lightning strikes, making you jump- almost dropping the book in your hands. you sigh, bringing a hand to your face to rub the sleep from your eyes.

in truth, even if you wanted to, there’s no way you could sleep in this weather. winterfells library provides for a nice distraction, a chance to catch up on the books you’ve been too busy to read — and a safe space. a small offer of solace during your living nightmare. you’ve never been a deep sleeper, and you’ve never been able to sleep through storms. well- except for one.

it was a small one, light in its rain and even lighter in its thunder. still, it had you on the edge of sleep, only to be yanked back to reality when thunder would rumble overhead.

you sighed, tossing and turning, desperately trying to find rest. you had a heavy day the following morning, and already internally dreaded working through your duties sleep deprived. a knock on your door has you alert, and pushing the blankets off your body to get out of bed. you’re vaguely aware of the sound of fire dimly crackling in the fireplace as you approach the door.

it opens to reveal robb. the sight of you is enough to have the corners of his lips quirk up in a smile.

“Robb?”

“Hey, pretty. Can’t sleep?”

you shake your head, stepping to the side to let him in. he walks in, and you shut the door behind him. that night you slept in robb’s arms. he spoke with you until his voice lulled you to sleep, and the comfort of his arms kept you there — all the way until morning. you remember that night during storms, or the rain you fear will turn into one. you remember it was all okay, and it’ll all be okay again.

selfishly, you start to hope for his presence during storms. robb, ever devoted, never disappoints.

BOOM

the sky loudly rumbles, bringing you out of your head (and your book). you decide on wanting to read something different, getting up from the uncomfortable library chair & moving toward a nearby bookcase.

your gaze is trained on the book in your hands. not looking where you were going, you collide into a wall of muscle. you’d flinch back, but strong arms keep you in place.

“‘S just me.” you quickly look up & are much relieved to see robb. you sigh, lightly thumping the book against robb’s chest in some (?) act of defiance.

“You scared me.”

“I wasn’t tryin’ to.” the way robb looks at you is genuine, his gaze flickering between you and the book you’re carrying. his hand comes to caress your arm, and you subconsciously relax, leaning into his touch.

“What’s all this? Can’t sleep?”

you grumble. “When can I ever?” you don’t mean to be snappy with him, but you’re frustrated. you want to sleep, but you can’t — and the lack of rest catches up with you, no matter how many times you’ve done this dance.

he doesn’t stop looking at you. “When you’re with me.”

you momentarily pause, looking up at him, then sighing, nodding your head in silent agreement.

“C’mon. Y’need sleep.”

you interject, not wanting to leave the sanctuary that had become of the library. “The storm is-“

“Passing.”

you’re stubborn. “My book…”

“My lady.” so is robb.

you groan, silently thankful of robb’s persistence. you turn, sliding your book onto the bookcase next to the both of you. robb offers his hand, but you pause, turning back to him with newfound confidence.

“‘M not afraid.”

“Course not.”

“Truly. I’m not even-“

BOOM!

lightning interrupts your sentence, making you yelp as you (on instinct) jump towards robb. a smile adorns his face as he accepts you with open arms, fighting the urge to laugh. you abandon all pride, clinging to robb as if he can hold off the storm by battling it. he would, if you really wanted him to.

“Okay, um, perhaps-“

“Uh-Huh.” he’s one step ahead, turning you both around & ushering you towards the exit, leaving both your fear & your books behind.

the walk to robb’s room is quiet. your hand on his bicep, letting him lead you through winterfells twist and turns. you grow more tired as time goes on, as if sleep couldn’t get into the library, and is now racing to catch up with you. you’re subconsciously leaning further & further into robb, who notices, but only finds it endearing.

by the time you approach robb’s door, your eyes are closed. fully relying on robb, it’s all you can do to keep walking. your eyes only open when he gently removes you from his side, opening the door & gliding a hand on the small of your back to usher you in the room before him.

you stop in front of the window, looking out as the rain beats against it. thunder rumbles, and you almost take personal offense.

“This storm is out to get me…”

“It would have to get through me first.” once again, at your side, he turns you, directing your path toward the bed. the blankets are warm & inviting, and so are the hands that have taken purchase on your hips.

“Defend my honor.”

robb nods. “To the death.”

once you’re comfortable, wrapped in his arms, he begins to talk. you don’t even need to ask, he just knows. he speaks of the bet with theon he made, bravely proclaiming that bran would hit the target. he did, and theon lost the next game he hunts. he speaks of the servants’ gossip he’s heard around the castle. apparently, arya is the servants’ favorite, and sworn to secrecy. she gets all the earfuls of gossip she wants, as long as it is never repeated. you almost ask how robb found out, but he beats you to it. he was sneaking into the kitchen late at night, then overhearing a few ladies in waiting speaking of their little starkling. you almost laugh, but the tiredness wins.

& the storm has lost. here you sit, curled up with your lover — who has promised that the storm will be at your mercy by morning. you thought you would be death on two legs on the morrow, scraping by until nightfall. but here you stand, bested. sleep comes instead.