#because they are very similar but definitely not the same

[thetreestumptherapist]

I don't really care about the font. As long as it is easily readable for me while I am working. I started some stories in Google docs, but moved them to Microsoft Word and am considering going back for convenience sake and I haven't touched them since I moved them partly because of the default fonts. (I am aware I could change them, but I am too lazy to do so) Maybe I do care after all...

I 100% could write it by hand, and have considered it. The only reason I don't is because editing is more difficult on paper.

I haven't been writing long enough to develop a specific ritual. So maybe my lack of ritual is the real curse?

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. That and Hippopotomonstrosesqippedaliaphobia. Yes, these are spelled mostly from memory. I checked the spelling for the phobia, I did not do so for the osis.

I don't know if it's a superstition really, but your characters are alive and will 100% change the story on you and there's nothing you can do about it if you want your story to come out good and cohesive.

I have two. That I will never get it the way I like it, (I know this is an unsolvable dilemma, but it's still a fear) and that no one will like it or even see it when I publish it.

Watching my story come together. As well as coming up with a solid idea for the next part of the story.

Dialogue, because I suck at it.

I do believe in ghosts. Probably not the ghosts you're thinking of though. As a Christian I do believe spirits do things we can't see, but not quite like the stereotypical ghosts in fiction. Although they are very similar.

Depends on your definition of haunted. Haunted as in I was horrified by it? I can't think of one right now, but I am almost positive it has happened. Haunted as in hung over my head because I haven't finished it yet? Yes, my own writing has done that. As have many stories that I need to finish reading.

I am not sure what that old advice is, and I don't know that I want to. Yes, I grieve the darlings lost. I have not yet killed a darling, but I am a sucker for pain and suffering. It just has to be handled correctly. So, if I ever kill a darling, believe me, it will be felt throughout the story and your life. A darling graveyard is a wonderful idea. Thank you for the suggestion. >:)

The Lorem Ipsum is a cruel and unusual punishment. As for the wishes, gaining the ability to actually finish my work, having the dialogue come out correctly, and having the writing be less awkward. I think those would be my wishes. The ability to finish my work could possibly be replaced with the ability to come up with ideas easier, like no writer's block or something. But they are essentially the same thing.

I don't know what subject I would have difficult writing about. Again, I haven't been writing very long or a lot, so I don't have much experience with it yet. Same with easy.

My lack of physical social life does not allow for me to easily lend books to people. But I can guarantee you I would know EXACTLY who had what book, but I probably wouldn't get them back because social anxiety.

Don't do it to my books and I will tolerate your book abuse. I would love to read in the bath, but I am scared of damaging the book.

The weirdest thing I've ever used as a bookmark would probably be a post it note, or gift card maybe, if I actually used a gift card for that. I am very boring with my bookmarks...

I cannot, to save my life, think of any details to tell you that won't make it into the text. I am sorry. I world build as I write and I'm still near the beginning of the story. My dnd campain tho? That would need a whole post of it's own. 👀

"Knowing how the Sangheili felt about their swords and other people using them, she hoped that given the circumstances they would understand her desperation. She picked two of them up while thanking the Sangheili, both for joining their cause and for the sacrifice they made. Then she left the battlefield, but not before paying respects to all the fallen soldiers, human and Sangheili alike. Some simple words of gratitude spoken over the battlefield was all she had time for." This is a passage from a Halo fanfiction I am writing. The story came about because I wanted to emphasize the Sangheili's focus on Honor and Respect and how their views of humans changed during their allyship with us. The MC's name is Emira (subject to change) and respect is also a core value in her morals. She has not gotten to respectfully return the swords to the Sangheili yet, but that will happen soon. If I can figure out how she is rescued or escapes from danger. The battlefield spoken about in that passage has already been left by the conflict and is inactive when she finds it. The Sangheili she thanks are fallen soldiers, and she took the swords from beside their dead bodies. The passage did not change much during its creation.

I started writing because I love making stories up in my head, but I wanted to share them. The bumps are I always picture them as movies in my head, so turning them into words and having it come out as a well-written story is difficult. I am currently writing fanfiction and short stories, but I would like to turn one of my stories into a novel. I just haven't figured out how and I don't know if I will try to get them officially published or not.

The one true love. Life gets lonely, and they can give me emotional support while I struggle with my writing skills.

I wish I could start. 💀 I have 3 WIPs, all my first stories that I actually started writing. (I consider my dnd campaign a WIP because I am considering turning it into its own fic and it is a joy to work on) I haven't published anything and am getting very annoyed by my lack of progress on all of them.

Another reason why I haven't touched my stories for awhile is because I liked Google Docs' organization abilities better than Word's. With Docs they have tabs inside the document so you can actually have your stories separated with in the same document. Whereas with Word, at least to my knowledge, the only thing separates them is the headings. I should go back to Docs...

My couch? And an ungodly amount of clutter? I watch tv in the evenings and sometimes I decide to write while I do so. I get my computer out and have it on my lap, while I sit on the couch and watch tv, ignoring the clutter caused by my undiagnosed ADHD and complete lack of motivation to do anything related to chores...

People put prep work into their stories? Like, they get prepared to write the story? I just sit down and write whatever I can come up with if it fits my current story. Sometimes I have to tweak things so it all fits together.

I haven't come up with any irrelevant details yet. Everything must be part of the story somehow.

Given that most of my characters are based on me, yes I very much regret going into their heads and I haven't come up with a way to get back out yet. Please send help. I think I took a wrong turn back at Imagination Avenue?

I can't think of a specific character that was stressful. The most stressful situation to write though, has been the wedding reception for my (healthy) romance story. I have no idea what to do with it.

My MC for the romance story has probably been the most delightful. Either her, or Nialith Madgarb, (pronounced nye-uh-lith Mad-garb) from my DND campaign.

My brain is a cesspool for the craziest ideas. I pull inspiration from everywhere. Sometimes I wish the inspiration well WOULD run dry so I could have a moment of peace and quiet, but nay, I am doomed to an eternity of infinite ideas that I simply must run with. I am exhausted.

I have not yet written my dreams, nor dreamed my writings.

"Thank you for reading my stories. It means a lot to have people who enjoy my writing. Or are open to civil discussion about why they don't like it. I truly appreciate y'all"

Do deepfakes count? There is a series called "Master Chief teaches" and it's a bunch of videos of an ai recreation of Master Chief's voice and a script where "Master Chief" teaches you how to do stuff. In the video titled "Master Chief teaches you what to do when things go sideways" he says "adopting a solution-oriented mind helps you stay focused on what is most important during any crisis and that is taking action. Without action there is no movement, and without movement problems remain what they are" "Without movement problems remain what they are" is something I return to regularly when I start feeling overwhelmed by school, chores, etc. I could sit there and avoid the problem until it's so bad I can't anymore, or I could take action and make a move to fix the problem when I encounter it instead of sitting there overwhelmed and frozen. I recommend giving the video a watch, even if you don't play or like Halo.

I like to draw and paint (with watercolor, acrylic, and/or ink), and I have dabbled in cross-stitch, embroidery, and diamond art. I plan to draw some of the characters from my stories. I really want to paint Nialith Madgarb in my inks, but I am still working on mentally designing her character.

"Let's eat grandma"... Use the Oxford comma, people. It saves lives.

I cannot remember a single writing rule to comment on right now. If it works for your story and style, go for it. If it doesn't, yeet it into the abyss. Idk

I know an entire alphabet's worth of star wars character's and then some. This has nothing to do with my ability to write. Also, Halo 5: Guardians and Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out the same year, one in October, the other in December. Again, not related to my writing.

They wouldn't even consider me lol. And if they did, they'd think I was insane. And had severe ADHD. And they wouldn't be wrong...

My writing process is too slow and barely existing. Nothing about it is super weird except for the fact that I bounce all over the story and fill in the missing parts once I come up with a way to do so. As for the cats, they like to think they don't care about us, but they 100% do. And they would die of embarrassment if they knew we know they care.

Nothing. If I feel like giving up, I take a break until I inevitably come up with an irresistible idea on how to continue the story. Rinse and repeat.

I don't know if you mean a poem someone else wrote, or one I wrote, so I shall do both. Robert Frost's Stopping by woods on a Snowy Evening: Whose woods these are I think I know His house in the village though He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year He gives is harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake The woods are lovely, dark and deep But I have promises to keep And miles to go before I sleep And miles to go before I sleep. My poem: Where’s my Neverland?: Where’s my Neverland? I’ve got so much in my hand Meetings and school I know you do too We want an adventure But life forces expenditure Paying the bills By wasting our skills Wish I could read until 2 a.m. But, alas, an adult I am And my days are made up Of working towards a paystub I wish we were kids Lying down in our beds Looking out at the sky Where the stars are not shy People today are depressed and dismayed All the time worrying about being betrayed Worried about being laid off from work And still somehow not giving a "fork" Where is our Neverland? Where is our wish? Of fun-filled times and Mom’s favorite dish? Where’s our adventure filled with imagination and beauty? Of digging in sand to find pirate booty? The answer is simple, and yet oh so sad Those days are gone by, the best days we’ve had Those memories are all that we have Of those days made whole by a laugh But, worry not, for there’s always tomorrow So, please don’t obsess over yesterday’s sorrow Look straight ahead While lying in bed Dreaming of heaven Those days will be back soon I reckon Where sorrows will be traded for unending joy And kids in sandboxes again shout “AHOY” And we can always smell the finest of food And all work turns to play and we know that it’s good

I hope this answers all your questions and confirms that writers are in fact weird. :) And I hope the poetry was satisfactory.

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you've always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

30. Talk to me about the role dreams play in your writing life. Have you ever used material from your dreams in your writing? Have you ever written in a dream? Did you remember it when you woke up?

31. Write a short love letter to your readers.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

[thespianinthebackcorner]

PSA for the CCCC fandom

this isn't anything serious- I'm just making light of something I noticed and can explain that's pretty widespread from what I've seen. It's more of a nitpick than anything else, but as a writer spelling mistakes bug me, so I'm making a callout post about it lmao.

If you've listened to The Soul Eclectic and looked up the lyrics, whether you found them with google or genius or Spotify or whatever, you'll notice one of Soul's last lines is "Tridential regicide". Of course, that's the killing of a king via a trident, but the meaning isn't what I'm here for. It's the spelling.

All the sources I've seen relating to the lyrics- including Chonny himself, interestingly- spell it as "Tridential". But when you find the word individually for a definition or in a dictionary, it's spelt Tridental, no i. So why is it spelled wrong in relation to the song?

Simple- it's a spelling of a mispronunciation caused by accent. Let me explain (gods that sounds corny).

Chonny Jash is Australian and has an Australian accent. I have a very similar accent, despite being from a different side of the country, but that also means I know how to tick accent-specific sounds. And one of the things an AU accent does- British accents also do this, which is where it comes from- is turning sharp "t" sounds into soft "ch" sounds. British accents don't do this type of thing as much from what I know, but Australian accents soften almost every sharp sound in the English lexicon, it's part of why the accent is so distinctive. We're lazy, we soften sounds and shorten words. And part of that softening turns a lot of sharp Ts into "ch" sounds instead. You can hear it at the beginning, too- instead of "Tridental regicide", he says something more like "ch-ri-den-chal re-chi-side". it happens to the g in regicide too.

When translated into proper English grammar, "-chal" becomes "tial", because in English that's the easiest and most common way to verbalise the sound, and because the t to ch is derived from the British English accent, it's been around and integrated into the spelling system for a very long time. Even writing it as a "ch" sound feels a little strange, because it's been written differently for so long that the ch letter combination has become associated with a slightly different sound most of the time, unless you've grown up hearing the sound verbalised like that like I have- not only do I live in Australia where a lot of people I know have a similar accent, but one of my deadnames began with that "ch" sound, so for my entire childhood I heard ch verbalised like that. Childhood itself is a good example of the resulting sound when you put "Tridental" through an Australian accent.

So the word is spelled "Tridental", but Chonny says it "ch-ri-den-chal" and that gets misspelt as "Tridential" because that's the natural conclusion of spelling the sound that's made. I actually say it the way he does too! I do the same thing to a lot of my t sounds, and that's why I clocked the spelling mistake so quickly after analysing the lyrics for something I'm working on. It's not technically a mispronunciation- it's just accent leading to a misspell.

There you go, I guess. Moral of the story? It's spelled Tridental. Use that spelling going forward.

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

Hii ! Could you please do some husband/ father baji Head cannons. Tysm <33333333

Yeah, here are some for Baji!

Baji never really understood the whole wedding thing and what a big deal it was before he met you, then he suddenly realised how much he wanted it.

He's a very responsible dad, more responsible then his friends assumed he'd be but Baji takes raising a child pretty seriously, same as with his vet work.

Speaking of vet work, he did get a few things mixed up in pregnancy stage and asked questions about things that a human baby wouldn't do (after how many weeks will the baby open their eyes etc).

Tends to try to let you sleep if the baby or kids start crying in the night, he's always determined to try and deal with it himself (though he does need your help sometimes). 

Isn't afraid to tell his friends to shut up when the baby is sleeping (even if he accidentally wakes the baby up after doing this the first few times).

Struggles a lot to get out of bed in the morning when you're next to him, just wants to stay next to you. (You're definitely being forced to lie in with him on weekends).

He's pretty determined that his kid is gonna be strong too, like him. Will put his kid in martial arts classes (though if they show no interest in it he won't push them)

Is very protective as a partner, will constantly check your wellbeing and safety.

Is a very good mix of being strict and chill, actually a lot like how Ryoko was with him (his mother is his role model and he tries to parent in a similar way to her)

Puts in a lot of effort into all of your birthdays, doing his best to make the day perfect for you and the kids.

If Mikey has a kid around the same time then the two of them have a fun rivalry going, like who's kid will talk first etc.

Is a bit of a baby when it comes to taking medicines, doesn't like the way they taste and refuses to take them, you have to bribe him with other stuff he wants. 

Panics a bit when the baby first starts crying

Introduces his kid to all the neighbourhood cats and teaches his kid to feed them too.

Introduces you to all the neighbourhood cats too, he'll also occasionally bring one home and give you a pleading look as he asks if the cat can stay. 

Thinks men who won't change nappies or help out with the kids are weak 

Straight up congratulates his kid after they get sent home from school after a fight.

Tries to teach you a few self defense moves, just in case he can't be around. 

He's a very caring father who can be a bit strict at times but always does the best for his family

Your being married to Baji privileges includes being the only one allowed to touch his hair (at least while it's just the two of you).

Makes sure the two of you get plenty of dates (will spoil you a bit but he's denying it if anyone else asks)

Was so nervous about his wedding, Chifuyu and Kazutora had to reassure him a lot that it'll all go fine. 

Hates whenever he has to study long hours to become a vet because it means he gets less time with you and the kids. Promises to make up for it later though.

Being married to Baji also means having Chifuyu and Kazutora around a lot. Chifuyu especially does whatever he can for you, he respects you greatly for being the one Baji chose. They're also uncles to your kids and will argue about who the kids like more (it's Mikey because he brings them sweets)

Is very sentimental, keeps everything you and the kids give him.

As a partner he's very good at reading your moods and adapting to them. Your sad? Then he'll cheer you up. Stressed? He'll help you relax. Angry? Then he'll take you out somewhere to let that frustration out.

Is super glad when you get on well with his mother

He's a total family man, valuing you guys and his friends above all else. 

[meanbossart]

Hellow

I was catching up with the latest chapters of ANE before reading The Spice™️ and I was reminded of how well you build and describe the environment surrounding your characters. Which prompts me to ask:

1 Do you have any drawings/sketches of landscapes and places from ANE that you can/would like to share?

2 Any advice for someone (me) that isn’t really good at putting their characters in places? I always end up with either a ‘too crowded’ or a ‘too barren’ of a setting.

Thank you for reading and hopefully answering my questions byee:3

Hello!!

Thank you! I have no idea what I'm doing so I'm glad I'm able to paint a good enough picture 😅

I do have two VERY simple sketches of the house of blood/the compound that I made to compare against my boyfriend's mental picture of it, basically to see how well I had been able to describe it since it's by far the most challenging area to put down into text.

(everything is very boxy and not exactly the ideal proportion, but again, this was a very simple sketch I made to "aid" the descriptions rather than for it to stand on its own at all) Here you see the "apple core" of the hive with the drow settlement and all the precarious platforms that interconnect and spring out of it. The cabins you see are sometimes two stories high so the area us actually quite big! Which is how Do'zynge is able to walk across the support-beams on the underside of said platforms even though he's rather large for a drider. The catwalk pictured can be moved up and down to connect people to different floors a little faster.

Here's a similar sketch based off of an specific scene, this one focuses more on the walkways built into the walls. I'm not sure why I huddled the doors together so much, they should definitely be more spaced out.

Also, while I used the same shorthand for everything, the spawn living spaces are all wood and stone - from the doors to the floor and railings. While the drow settlement (where Dalyria is too) is mostly metal and well structured tents.

For your second question, that's rough because I am also never quite satisfied with my descriptions 😂but I think that's a part of it; you need to make peace with the fact that you will NOT be able to paint a perfect picture, and think of the whole process as less of a job that you must do alone, but rather a collaboration between you and the reader's own creativity! You have to be willing to put some of the onus on them to imagine what it is you're trying to transcribe, instead feeling under the obligation of giving them exact descriptions for every little thing.

I try to use words that evoke a specific style and mood - say that the room is ornamental, warm, say that it's all golden and red and six sentences from now mention that the couch your character sat in is velvety. Reveal things as they come into relevance instead of interrupting the pace for two entire paragraphs to describe the room your characters just walked into - when appropriate, consider what they would even pay attention to at all and maybe limit yourself to it. Set a rough base for your environment at the start of a scene and then sprinkle descriptors in throughout the prose, and always consider if you truly NEED to get into the specifics of something or if the reader can be left to their own imaginative devices.

Also, unless necessary or some sort of plot device, I find that trying to establish where things are in a room (doors, furniture, stairs) in a map-like manner is a waste of time. Just say "behind him", "to her left", "right ahead", I don't think being overly specific benefits anybody - your reader picturing this set of stairs facing the west rather than the east is unlikely to be consequential to your narrative.

That being said, don't shy away from pointing "unnecessary" things out when they help set a mood, or help in characterization. Way early in ANE there's a scene where DU drow walks into the room where him, Astarion, and Shadowheart have been staying and are now about to leave, he takes note of the fact that one of them made the bed - he doesn't say who, besides that it wasn't himself, but I put that there to hopefully establish from early on that one character's priorities had started to change. In the compound, Dalyria is described as collecting useless things she found in the underground and displaying them around the office - this, on top of her new look, outfit, and company should paint a picture. Irennor's living situation should say all there is to know about him, and the way DU drow dismantles his belongings after only what is immediately valuable instead of considering the historical significance of anything says something about him, too. That's my favorite way of setting scenes, by finding out how to say something about the people in it.

[genericpuff]

Apollo, buddy, that was not very supportive, caring boyfriend of you.

It wasn't, but in his defense, he is "trying", it's just that he and Kore don't really exist in the same worlds and their perspectives aren't manifesting in the exact same way.

Apollo is someone who's basically a celebrity, he's lived in Olympus virtually his entire life and in that time he's gone through more of his fair share of "social media drama" where he's now, by and large, desensitized to it. His response to Kore's concerns do come across as very flippant, because to him, the drama is inevitable and fleeting. He's blocked many people and BEEN blocked, so now whenever stuff like that happens to him, it rolls right off him - or at the very least, he recovers pretty quickly - because, well, it's definitely not the first time, and it won't be the last, so why worry? Why not just roll with it and maybe share in a laugh over some petty online drama?

By and large, his practical advice underneath all the teasing and laughter isn't actually incorrect - under normal circumstances (as those are the circumstances Kore and Apollo are both applying due to not being aware of other factors at play such as the eye-pulling) Apollo is technically right that if Alex - and subsequently, Hades - suddenly ghosted Kore out of the blue without explanation, then clearly it was a one-sided relationship and Kore shouldn't waste her tears over someone who could dump her so easily. Though he's coming across as very inconsiderate towards Kore's feelings, his heart is in the right place. Even when he asks "wait you're actually upset??" it's not him being deluded to Kore's feelings - it's him realizing that what happened is actually deeply affecting her, she's not talking about what happened to talk shit or "spill the tea", she's talking about it because she's looking for comfort and validation, something Apollo typically isn't looking for whenever he's going through fallouts in his relationships.

Through his eyes, someone blocking him randomly out of the blue simply communicates, "That person clearly isn't on my level, so I guess it's better for them to haul themselves out of my life willingly before I throw them out forcefully." But through Kore's eyes, she's seeing herself as the reason for her own abandonment. She's not accustomed to the superficial norms of social media (or the vanity of the Olympians) and how they differ from how people typically behave in the Mortal Realm. She's never really experienced someone just disappearing from her life, at least not in this way. She can't just say "bye Felicia" as confidently and arrogantly as Apollo can. Though it's a dick move for Apollo to immediately jump to joking around / laughing in her face over the matter, that's just the coping mechanism he's accustomed to and he wrongly assumed that it would translate to Kore's situation as well.

That said, that's also under normal circumstances. There are obviously more complicated factors at play here (none more so than the eye-pulling torture) that explain both Alex's and Hades' perspectives as to why they're distancing themselves from Kore without notice. From Kore's perspective though - and by extension, Apollo's perspective, framed by Kore - she's being cut out of people's lives for reasons she doesn't know, and it's drudging up a lot of anxiety and imposter syndrome and making her feel like it's all her fault.

And there's nothing worse than feeling like you're suffering consequences for things you aren't even entirely sure you did (or didn't do) in the first place.

Long tangent aside - Apollo is being supportive in the only way he knows how, and Kore is reacting in the only way she's ever known. Both Kore and Apollo have their own issues that they haven't healed from, issues that we'll be unpacking more as the series goes on. Though they both have similar trauma in regards to their past relationships and how they were raised, it's manifested in different ways - Kore is indecisive and terrified of committing to relationships out of fear of ruining them, while Apollo has built a shield of arrogant grandiose around him to prevent him from ever getting hurt again, even if it means looking/acting like an asshole.

This is also, by and large, why I don't make it a matter of "picking sides" when discussing Kore and Apollo. They both have reasons and explanations as to why they are the way that they are. They just aren't capable yet of bridging that gap and meeting in the middle - so it's currently creating a tense, unrecognized standoff between fight and flight.

[allllium]

Meet Cute

~ Spencer Reid x Barista!Reader

~ I hope this makes sense to people other than me 😭

~ Fluff, first seasons Spencer WC: 979

- You have a very cute customer -

Being a barista isn't the best job in the world but it definitely has a couple benefits. One being the cute boys that stop by everyday.

Well, only one boy.

He came in a couple months ago for the first time and has come in everyday since. His name is Spencer and unfortunately that's about all you know.

He comes in very early in the morning and orders multiple very different coffees. He seems shy but you haven't talked to him enough to really know.

The strangest thing about to it, is how he only comes in when you're working. According to all your coworkers when he comes in on your days off and doesn't see you, he leaves.

You want to believe that means something. Like he's only coming here for you. But that's just wishful thinking.

"Good morning." He says when he comes to counter. It's a couple minutes earlier than when he usually arrives, not that you're keeping track.

"Good morning." You smile at him.

"Can I get the same thing as last time?" He asks, unsurely. You best guess is he's trying to see whether or not you'll remember it. Does that matter to him? He's probably just trying to save time.

"Yeah of course. It shouldn't take too long."

"Thanks." He nods slightly as he says it. And you fall into an awkward silence.

"What are you doing up so early?" You ask, hoping the question isn't too invasive. It's not something you'd ask any other customers.

"Work." Is all he says. It answers your question but you were expecting more.

"Where do you work?"

"I work for the FBI, in the behavioral analysis unit."

"Really? That's so weird, usually I forget the FBI is made up of actual people and not just robot things."

"Why would they be robots?"

"Because they work for the government?" You phrase it as a question so he doesn't think you're crazy. You probably shouldn't have said that if being crazy isn't your goal.

"Y'know the conspiracy of robots being in the government without people knowing stems for the similar conspiracy that birds are robot spies for the government."

"I could see that. People are so suspicious of the birds it would be easy to sneak robots in as humans."

"Are you joking?"

"Partly." You laugh a little. "I don't actually think the government is making robots that are functional enough to behave as humans, they aren't smart enough for that."

"I could be." He states it as a fact.

"Are you building a robot army?"

"Not at the moment." His smile at you widens as your conversation progresses. He's very, very pretty.

"But in the future you might?"

"You never know." As you go to respond, your coworker yells over that the drinks are done.

"I hope you enjoy them." You say as you hand them to him.

"They're not all for me." He says quickly, "I get them for my coworkers."

"That's a very nice thing for you to do."

"Caffeine can be a very helpful thing for certain people when it comes to work productivity."

"Do you have lots of facts like that?"

"Yes."

"Good. I like facts." He leaves with both his drinks and a smile on his face.

The next morning is the same story. He comes in, way earlier than you deem socially acceptable to be awake, orders a couple coffees, the same ones every time, and gives you a random fact or two.

"Did you know that giraffes are 30 times more likely to get hit by lightning than people are?"

"No I didn't. That makes a lot of sense though, I don't know why."

And the next day,

"The electric chair was invented by a dentist."

"Were his patients pissing him off that bad?"

"He saw someone get electrocuted and it inspired him."

"Makes sense."

And obviously the next,

"Three presidents died on July 4th."

"Similar causes?"

"Different enough."

And the next day,

He didn't come.

For the next week that you worked, Spencer didn't come in. You don't understand why this makes you so upset.

You don't even know his last name. You don't really know anything about him, why does this matter to you.

Another week passes by, and when it becomes obvious he's probably done with whatever friendship thingy you thought you had. Oh well, you try to think but it's no use.

You really thought he was coming in for you. Well not for you, for the coffee. But also a little for you.

"Did you know dolphins name each other?"

"Are you saying there's a couple dolphins named Fred?"

"There could be." He smiles at you. Is it normal to feel a little angry right now? No it's not. You don't know this man. At all. He doesn't have any obligation to only get coffee from you.

"Where have you been?" You ask, trying to be super nonchalant.

"Work got really busy."

"Too busy for coffee?" You half joke.

"Unfortunately it's too long a walk from the hospital." He shrugs like it's nothing.

"You were in the hospital? Are you okay?" What is wrong with this man? Walking in here, announcing he was in the hospital like it's nothing.

"I'm fine now."

"This is not how I saw my morning going." You mutter to yourself.

"Do you wanna get dinner with me?" You freeze.

"Like a date?" You ask gently.

"Yes, it would be a date."

"Yeah," you agree softly, "That would be great."

"Good. Okay. I'll give you the details." Five minutes later he's walking out the door again, this time leaving you completely speechless.

"Spencer!" You call out to him before he can walk outside.

"What?"

"Why are you asking me now?"

"Lifes to short to have regrets." He explains simply and walks out. He never said why he was in the hospital.

[adobe-outdesign]

For a shiny review, could you take a look at the Golurk line's Shinies?

Golett: Golett's shiny is pretty neat. It swaps out the tertiary yellow for green, which keeps the same neon highlight effect and compliments the body nicely. It also swaps out the secondary teal color for a very dark, desaturated navy blue that gives the entire design some nice contrast. The body color has also been desaturated, and the color of the bronze straps on the power core have been desaturated down to a more brownish color as well.

The palette itself is very appealing, and everything feels natural given that it follows a similar color placement to the original. My only minor issue is that I do think the body color could've stood to be a little more different. It's not as noticeable on Golett here because it has a higher percentage of the dark blue than Golurk does, but it becomes more noticeable once it evolves.

Golurk: Golurk does a perfect job of swapping out the exact same colors as Golett, keeping the line nice and consistent. Everything that works for Golett works here—I like the palette, I like the contrast, and I like how natural it feels. Once again, my only nitpick would be that, while it's definitely not so similar to the original as to not appear shiny, it could've been just a little more different. I think in particular the blues could've been desaturated completely, like this:

Like I said though, that's very minor and not a big issue.

Overall: A strong line of consistent, appealing shinies with a good palette, with the only minor drawback being that the contrast with the original could've been just a smidge more pronounced.

[chaifootsteps]

i should've mentioned it when we were talking about tuca and bertie and them doing things right, but the arc bertie goes through with her SA and reclaiming it thru taboo fantasies is very similar to what ive been through, right down to a therapist opening me up to this new side of sexuality, and while it all happened to me years prior to the arc happening in the show, it broke me out of my anti shipper mentality that gave me this sense of justice and rigid rightness in what i was doing.

just thought now would be a good time to bring it up too because of the allegations against you and how what happened to max is basically the same thing that's happened to me. it's such an uncomfortable feeling to know someone who brought you into this world sees you like that, and having a fictional character similar to that person to self insert with in writing has helped far more then feeling disgusted with myself ever did or has, because i can stop anytime i want, or just get to a point where i move on completely from being able to gain anything from this personally. (which im leaning towards for now,) it's like bertie's therapist said, "because this time, you're in control."

i just wish antis could at least be more open to the idea that maybe, just maybe, shaming victims for coping this way isn't helpful, and that the lack of nuance implies shaming these uncontrollable fantasies (because you can't control your thoughts and like bertie's therapist said, "brains are weird!", although ive also heard the fear and arousal part of your brain is closely related which explains so many kinks to me tbh,) is the only form of healing and getting better, which it never will be. this kind of thing, of re-exploring your trauma thru fiction like this, definitely doesn't help certain people and that needs to be respected, but for anyone it does, they shouldn't just be written off as "normalizing their abuse", because im aware enough to keep this to myself, and to other people like me.

come talk to me about me "romanticizing" horrible things in fiction when you remember vivs shows have millions of views, and THATS why her writing like a fanfic author is bad - not because she inherently is one at heart. a large audience of adults should engage with these heavy topics, (and deserve to have them be written well, even if the stans swear they don't because nuh uh it's Da Best cuz mama viv made it,) not literal children. regardless of this unfortunate demographic that's naturally been formed and then unnaturally encouraged by the creator to line her pockets with their parents money, i think people have a moral obligation to tell a well written story about dark taboo subjects when they have such a large scale of production and connections like this, with some gray area in between, because theres some pieces of media that aren't as big as vivs creations or as small as fanfic writers (compared to other indie creations like video games or shows,) either, like mouthwash, or that one horror game with a sibling incest ending. that's what i mean when i said you aren't gonna make anyone want to fuck a lizard, but that vivs story's spread sentiment that would give 1970s victim blaming, "well, what was she wearing?" arguments a run for their money in how gross they are. i don't think max is gonna make anyone want to fuck their own dad either.

i hope this all makes sense! i think this is the most vulnerable ive ever been in your ask box. thank you for being someone who makes me feel strong enough to talk about this.

No, no, it makes perfect sense! Thanks for sharing your story, Anon...that was an incredibly vulnerable thing to talk about, and it couldn't have been easy.

I don't know if it's due to social media or what, but people have gotten really, really terrible at the concept of "I do my thing that works for me over here, you do your thing that works for you over there, and even though we don't understand each other, we mind our business about it." Like you said, it becomes a different conversation the more widespread and professional your piece of media is -- the same way that feeding 1,000 people a day is different than cooking for yourself -- but when we're talking about you and me and Max and all the randos on AO3? An appropriately tagged piece of work that makes a sharp distinction between fiction and reality is harmless.

What isn't harmless is telling someone that their intensely personal coping method is wrong and shameful and that they're a dangerous, evil person because it makes you uncomfortable, and that they're either a bad survivor or lying about being one.

Here's the scene from Tuca & Bertie, because it's so well done and always relevant.

[olenvasynyt]

26 for Lucien, Eris, Tamlin, Rhys, Feyre, Nesta (sorry lol I want to see you go on both rants and gushes)

For this character ask game

26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

Alrighty, get ready:

Lucien:

I will never ever ever be able to get over him and Jesminda and just his entire backstory. I love a good forbidden romance and unhappy ending, and I love young, rakish Lucien rebelling against Beron and the Autumn Court, him finding love in a dark time in his life, respecting and learning about lesser fae culture. And I just love how he is this rakish, charming and witty character who secretly has so much guilt and trauma. This quote I will NEVER be able to get over:

Eris:

Probably his whole past with Mor and why he left her on the border, and also his whole past in general. But specifically about his betrothal with Mor: I totally think Mor reminded Eris of his own mother, which is weird to say but Mor was in a very similar situation as LoA was with this betrothal.

Autumn and the Court of Nightmares are similar; misogyny is super prominent in both of these courts.  Females are suppressed, their virginity is sold; they are abused. Mor and the LoA are both huge examples of this.  They are two females with power who were sold to males: LoA comes from a very strong bloodline of fire wielders, and Mor has…whatever her powers are. 

And I’m not using this to compare Eris to Beron, but Eris knows how females are treated in Autumn, he sees it all the time with his mother.  Mor would be brought into the same court and High Family that abuses and suppresses Eris’ own mother.  So that in my opinion is probably one of Eris’ motives for refusing to take her in and instead leaving her there on the border.  She was one female that he could protect from Autumn and Beron.

This is actually something that Eris hints at here in ACOSF:

Chapter 14 of ACOSF: “I told you years ago what I wanted, High Lord,” Eris said. “To seize his father’s throne.  “Why?” Cassian asked. Eris grasped what he meant apparently, because flame sizzled in his eyes.  “For the same reasons I left Morrigan untouched at the border.” “You left her there to suffer and die,” Cassian spat. Eris sneered.  “Did I?  Perhaps you should ask Morrigan whether or not that is true.  I think she finally knows the answer.”

Cassian is like, “Why do you want Autumn’s throne?”  Eris answers, “Because the male currently sitting on that throne sucks and abuses females including my mother.”  

And this quote actually illustrates something I find frustrating.  Mor wanted to cancel the betrothal so she slept with Cassian to do so.  And Eris understood that.  When she was dumped at the Autumn border, he was like okay, I understand what you did. You slept with Cassian because you don’t want to be in Autumn.  I got you.  I won’t touch you, because then you’ll be my problem, aka Beron’s problem.  And that makes sense.  

And the IC is almost mad at him for that and it’s so jarring to me.  Because Mor is like I don’t want to be in Autumn, Eris is like cool, then I’ll leave you here and I won’t bring you into Autumn, and the IC is like “You left her there.  How dare you!” 

I am a huge Eris defender, as you can tell lmao. I love him.

Tamlin:

"MY SHAYLAAAA!😩 My Shayla🥺" I will never get over his past and his inherit goodness. He was raised in an abusive household: his father allied with Hybern; he grew up around slavers and murders and abusive people.  Amarantha, a mature, probably several hundred-year-old fae at the time, was lustful of Tamlin.  She was lustful over a child.  A fucking child.  That alone is evidence of how awful his childhood was if he was a child victim to a predator.

He most definitely hated his life and family.  He was ashamed of it, which I think is shown by how he did not want the title of High Lord, how he spoke badly about his brothers and father, and how he became friends with Rhysand, a male who sided against his father in the war.  And the fact that Tamlin grew up in an abusive household and found love and peace through music says a lot about his character.  He was still peaceful at heart and craved something else.  He wanted to join a traveling music band, for fucks sake.  He wanted to get out of his court so badly.

And when he became High Lord, it was violent and sad, and many people supported his father left. And I think Tamlin helped Spring grow a little softer after the Human War.

Rhys:

...you had to throw Rhys and Feyre in there lmao.

There are many things I can't get over when it comes to Rhys but I dislike him in ACOFAS with Tamlin the most. I will never get over him walking into Spring, seeing Tamlin in such a depressed state and Tamlin asking "will Feyre forgive me?" and he kicks him further into the ground. I thought it was so sad and horrible of him! T amlin told your mate to be happy, he SAVED YOUR LIFE, and he has went back to Spring and been in his depression by himself, not hurting you or Feyre or anyone else.

And I will be fully honest: if Tamlin was the one who had died and the High Lords were trying to bring him back, Rhysand would not have lifted a finger. And I think that makes Tamlin the better male than Rhys.

Feyre:

Like Rhys, there are a lot of things Feyre has done that I can't get over 😂😭. I wish Tiktok was still up so I could link the dozens of videos I made ranting about Feyre taking down Spring, or her being a shitty friend to Lucien. But I got this post on tumblr about Feyre being a shitty friend to Lucien, and I got this quote I can simply share:

Chapter 15 of ACOWAR: “Lucien was waiting in the sitting room when Rhus and I came downstairs at last… I fought my cringe as I halted at the threshold.  Lucien was still in his travel-worn, filthy clothes.  His face and hands, at least, were clean, but…I should have gotten him something else.  Remembered to offer him— The thought rippled away into nothing as Rhys appeared at my side.

AJFBEFERGUEVFBJWEFHIFEHJFVEKJHOIF

Nesta:

I just love how Nesta was written in ACOSF (did not like the book, I like Nesta) because I relate to her inner dialogue and self-loathing. She’s so sad and traumatized and that makes her relatable 🙃😂 and people hate on her for “being mean” but I personally love it, and she is (usually) only mean when she’s provoked. I will never get over this exchange with Mor in ACOWAR 😂

[erin-unknown]

Dalgar doesn't connect love or committed relationships with marriage and would rarely, if ever, think of marrying any of his partners. His surrogate parents within the Wardens were committed (and queer and polyamorous) but unmarried, so he learned from their example that simply choosing each other every day was what mattered.

Marriage is a different concept for Dalgar altogether; his birth parents were an arranged marriage between families from two different cities. Even when he was a small child he was vaguely aware that he should expect the same when he was of age. In his mind, I think marriage also assumes a need or desire (or even responsibility) to have biological children and, as a Warden, this is something he can likely never fulfill*. His perspective could definitely be changed.

If Dalgar imagined getting married as a child, he was mostly excited for the big party afterwards (he went to a cousin's wedding once and remembered colorful streamers, dancing, and eating himself sick on sweets). These days, he would likely picture something more understated for him and Neve**. A simple ceremony, very much deferring to her tastes, and a short guest list of close mutual friends. Catered by Hal's Fish Fry***.

*Dalgar is enthusiastic over the possibility of adopting kids. This man was born to be a dad (he's already got the jokes). Marriage just doesn't factor into this for him.

**Sadly, because of the whole "having kids" thing, Dalgar probably wouldn't consider ever marrying Lucanis (who might have a similar mindset, or be under some familial pressure to marry for political reasons and/or the prospect of children). Still, they all find ways to demonstrate their commitment without marriage.

***Literally just getting fried fish at Hal's afterwards.

Hey, hope you all had a good weekend! Unfortunately, it’s Monday =/ Fortunately, it’s time for Rook Intro Hour! 🍀🌺🌼🌸

How it works: I ask you a question about your Rook(s) and you answer it with as much brevity or verbosity as you desire. You can do this whenever you want, and I’ll reblog it + add some comments! There’s no time limit— if you want to do the older ones, they are collected here! (The post is updated on Fridays!)

Today’s Question(s): Does your Rook want to get married to their LI(s)? Do they care about where? Is there a specific tradition/traditions they want to follow, when they do? Who would they invite? What would they wear?

Have fun & thanks for sharing!

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 252

“Sir, we’ve… There’s been an encounter with a Reaper class entity.” 

There were several classifications for ecto-entities. Several ways the Ghost Investigation Ward classified each. Several common ones that they could easily destroy, easily study. Others however… others were dangerous. Incredibly dangerous. 

There’d only been two other Reaper-class entities confirmed before- both contained but barely. RP-1, a large knight-like entity seemingly made from shadows, and RP-2, a child-like creature that could near perfectly mimic a human. 

And now, there was a third. A third entity that could- and judging from the reports coming in had- killed. Had done so several times even. Which meant it needed to be contained yesterday. 

“Send out the teams- I want this thing in Site X Now!” 

[bigskydreaming]

Imagine looking at a character whose entire premise is that in every stage of his life, he's made every version of himself into someone that inspires people to such a degree that EVERY SINGLE VERSION OF HIM has people wanting to literally follow in his footsteps in some way or another.....

And coming to the conclusion that like.....the most important things about him are the sum of all his trappings. His entirely homemade developed from scratch could not exist if not for what he already was and brought with him BEFORE crafting this newest version of himself trappings, with his greatest trait throughout all of it being his adaptability; his ability and willingness to roll with the punches and not try to simply weather any opposition or changes to his life but instead reshape himself as needed to better fit INTO whatever new shape his life and the world around him takes. All while managing to carry the most innate, fundamental and necessary aspects of himself from one version to the next. Thus every single version of himself is different but simultaneously every single version of himself is also undeniably the same person.

The strength of this character, to me, will always be that he can be so many versions of himself, he can become so many things, all without ever actually losing or discarding any of the aspects of himself he considers most essential, the things he's not willing to lose or give up just to keep going. Finding that road not taken by most, usually because most never even think to look for it as an option. But one that he's always able to find because the one trick he's mastered in his tumultuous life is threading that needle of not just digging in his heels in an unproductive way but rather being selective about when and where he makes a stand and decides "this is not a thing I'm willing to compromise about" but here are places and ways I can and will change and evolve and adapt in order to make it possible for me to hold onto these parts and keep them as they are.

And that's why its always so mind-boggling to me that so many writers can't seem to think of anything else to do with Dick Grayson other than invent some new reason for him to just....not be that person, or to like just take the character whose most basic fundamental trait he's NOT about to compromise on is willingly giving up his spot in the driver's seat of his own life.....and make him just a passenger in his own life and stories.

Dick Grayson at age nine....at age nineteen...at age twenty nine....the one core thread running through all versions of him is the only way he's standing back and letting you call the shots for him or putting him on the sidelines in some way is over his dead body.

HOW he goes about that, what that looks like, who he becomes and what aspects of himself he plays up at some times and what traits he lets fall by the wayside at other times when they offer less in service to his primary goal here....that changes constantly. He changes constantly.

But those changes are almost always (or at least they used to be/should be IN MY OPINION) made with the intention of keeping certain things about him or his life as consistent as possible.

That's the duality of Dick Grayson that I'm here for. The inherent contradiction of him that COULD allow for endless conflict and breaking new narrative ground in all sorts of ways if mined properly:

His eternal willingness to compromise....but only ever in pursuit of doubling down on the ways he's not willing to compromise.

Forever walking that tightrope in ways that only a kid born and raised in a circus could ever hope to.

[dear-omen]

love this and would like to add (based on my experiences with Indonesian and Japanese):

-more like 70k+ glyphs imo (I think Japanese has like 100,000 ish kanji that are still considered in use? and the modern Japanese adult knows like 10k+ iirc.)

-a la the Japanese adopting Kanji from China, there is a period of history (probably during the language unification?) where the spelling is buck fucking wild because the glyphic system came first, and while individual glyphs have specific meanings they also have several associated phonemes (for alternate readings, compound words, etc). So when everyone was adopting the glyphic system they just spelled things out phonetically using the phonemes. And now 60+ million years later you gotta guess whether 紗霊鳩 and 佐例薬 are the same dynasties or different or like, different branches of the same dynasty orrrr

-and on that note, necrontyr historically had like, eight different names and a tendency to adopt new names upon reaching (sometimes arbitrary) milestones in life--for example, a childhood name, an "adult" name received upon coming of age, a courtesy name (for family/close companions), a nomme de plume bestowed by their teacher upon mastery of their chosen field, a formal name for when they're reigning patriarch/matriarch of their dynasty, a name for when they've retired from being patriarch/matriarch...

-10000% on the compound words. A cool/awful thing about Necron writing is if a word doesn't exist you can just...make one up.

-the phonetic writing system was invented way later, and for long periods of Necrontyr history was considered less refined/intelligent than the glyphic system

-the linguistic social stratification is real. Necron absolutely has keigo/son-keigo (basically, very formal polite speech where the speaker makes themself more humble while also elevating the listener/recipient).

-in formal speech, it takes f o r e v e r to say anything, especially if its a "no"

-generally, less formal = shorter verb forms, more contractions, etc

-re linguistic differences, drawing on Indonesia and its 700+ regional languages: definitely they are pretty much mutually unintelligible, especially if its two dynasties that were not literally next door to each other

-the unified language the Necrons eventually adopt was probably originally a lingua franca for trade with simplified grammar to make it easy to learn. Probably based off the Szarekhan language if the unification happened as the Silent King ascended to power

-there are definitely Feelings among the other dynasties about speaking "Necron" given its Szarekhan Depending on dynastic temperment, some did/do still primarily use their own dynastic language; others have switched almost entirely to Necron and the dynastic language is basically a relic

-that said, Necron very intentionally includes bits from other languages in an effort to make it more pan-dynastic (interesting anecdote: modern Indonesian is actually based on a language not native to Indonesia, and was specifically chosen during the country's independence movement to avoid favoring one ethnic group over others. I think Szarekh was trying a similar idea, but it ended up more like modern Filipino, which isn't technically Tagalog bc it has loan words and other changes, but also is like...95% Tagalog) ((I dont speak Tagalog so I may be wrong about this))

this is all to say nothing of linguistic evolution over the literal millions of years the Necrons have been kicking around. I will die on the hill that there is a huge gulf between the speech of Necrons who awakened early and those who are only just now waking up in the 40k verse.

...And now I want Awakened necrons desperately trying to remember how to speak Ye Olde Necron so they can read the notes about how to troubleshoot the goddamn canoptek scarabs when they start acting wonky

Linguistic Features I Think Would Be Rad/Horrible for the Necrontyr to Have

- Korean honorific system (bake respect into everything including verb conjugation)

- Formality is also shown often through word choice (e.g. "thing" vs. "item")

- And through codified body language - bows, salutes, gestures. And by where your eyes are pointing. And now by the intensity and pattern of your body's node lights. If you screw any of this up, you will start a five hundred year long blood feud, good luck

- Egyptian determinatives (tone tags and emojis all in one)

- Glyphic writing and character-by-character writing are completely different systems that have no correlation

- Glyphic and calligraphic styles are also completely different systems with no correlation. If you know both, you're either a nerd or a cryptek

- Highly polysynthetic. Big compound words. The proper translation of "gauss cannon" would be closer to "carryable straight distance middle spectrum magnetic anti stability beam launching weapon," to use the cryptek terminology. Which the Immortals abbreviated to "qo-ess," "green light." Which the Imperials transliterated as "gauss."

- Linguistic unification just before biotransference would not fix the accent differences born from languages split across an entire galaxy. Zultanekh should be nearly incomprehensible to Szarekh.

- Linguistic unification did zilch to fix their societal stratification. Imotekh should be nearly incomprehensible to his own court due to speaking with a soldier's dialect. Sure, he can train out of it, but the battlefield doesn't leave time for flowery language.

- Linguistic unification did zilch to fix the kind of person Trazyn is. If the language was supposed to be some reconstructed "common ancestral tongue," you can bet he'd speak the reconstruction version he personally finds the most accurate.

- Imperial humans who try learning the language from tomb carvings sound incredibly stilted and, somehow, too formal to a natural speaker. This is sometimes itself taken as mockery. Five hundred years blood feud upon ye.

- Nearly 200 phonemes. All the Egyptian, all the English, add Welsh and Nahuatl in there to cover Llandu'gor and Khatlan. Add space noises and robot buzzing now for good measure.

- The character writing system has 31 characters to cover these nearly 200 phonemes. Welcome to English, hope you like the taste of ghoti.

- The glyphic writing system has over 3000 characters to memorize. Not including diacritics.

- The calligraphic writing system is supposedly so graceful that a skilled poet can write an entire stanza with one figure. Zahndrekh is not a skilled poet. His works aren't just bad poetry, they're sprawling spaghetti that occasionally scribbles off into neighboring pages.

- Informal singing is done in whatever tongue you like. Formal singing, things like religious or fine art performances, are done in a melismatic language specifically reserved for the arts. This language is nearly dead in the 41st millennium except for, once again, Trazyn being a knowledge-hoarding freak.

[sesamenom]

some ideas from an au where maglor just keeps living in britain (/himring?)

especially in the earlier eras he had to put a lot more effort into styling/dyeing his hair to cover his ears & the blueness/Elf Sparkle. he also wore glasses for a while to dim the Treelight Eyes (because even as badly faded as he is, it's still really obvious with how old he is).

[mantisgodsdomain]

Now that we are being followed by people, we need to make some thoughts and opinions clear so that people are not later Shocked And Disgusted or whatever by thoughts we have held for many years. We think it's weird and also bad to treat queer people like they're a different species from cishet people, and we think that treating things like Having A Sexuality makes a character better than if they have a different sexuality is bad no matter what way you put it.

We also think that, if in your setting queer folks are widely accepted and straight isn't a "default", it may be worth noting that, say, a straight woman might need just as much self-discovery to work out she's straight that a lesbian does nowadays. In the same manner that, in Ace Attorney, Larry Butz needs to tell Phoenix that no matter how many photos of handsome men he shows him, he's tried, he's just not attracted to men,

[naivety]

very weird to frame your abuse apologia as being aware that the writers intended to illustrate a mutually harmful dynamic and not an abusive one. when the writers in question also wrote the line 'once you put it out there, they [the audience] decide what it is' because nothing you ever create has any innate definition. when the writers in question decided to racebend major characters and then showcase them being harmed by white or nonblack characters in a repeatedly racialized pattern when they Did Not Have To Do That and then genuinely or disingenuously decide to dialogue about their directly or indirectly illustrated racialized dynamic of intimate partner violence within and outside the narrative. like to be quite honest it does not matter what they intended because this is what they made and this is how it Looks to a notably large amount of people. who just happen to be interpreting it wrong? according to what metric? the very metric they say Doesn't Work in their own fictional creation? ok