#fogive me if i don’t say much more

[7000f1]

Are you okay? I heard word of the flooding in your country. I hope that youa nd your family are safe 🩷

Hello anon!! Thank you for your kind thoughts, luckily neither I or anyone I know has been affected by the floods 💜

It’s still a terrible situation and everyone in Spain has their hearts on those who lost everything in just a few minutes a week ago. It’s incredibly angering how it was and is being handled, I fear that there will be more casualties due to bacteria growing between the corpses and the mud

Thank you again for your kind words, they are very appreciated 💜

[be-side-my-self]

Rewatch of Only Murders In The Building to prepare for season 4 (II)

<Part I> Block #OMITBRewatch if you don’t want to read notes that will have spoilers up to seasons 3. Just to make it clear, while quoting, I use M, O, C for the main characters.

S1 E5

C: "You're a simpleton." O: "Damn it! I didn't get that! Can you call me a simpleton again?" C: "You're a simpleton." O: "Thank you!"

Oscar and Mabel meeting again! ... but certainly there could have been better ways than creepily following her in a bright hoodie. Well, at least it wasn't a black hoodie.

It is so cute how Charles wants to believe in Mabel. He is right though, but it certainly does not look like Mabel is innocent that moment. She is after all driving away with Tie-dye Guy.

New York traffic looks like hell.

Again, it's great that Charles wants to believe in Mable and Oliver is like "it has to be her!"

Oscar: "I saw you once with those guys that look like retired cops. Was one of them that Brazzos guy?"

O: "Search 'Charles-Haden Savage fat.' Ooh! Look at the ass on papa."

The car is really beautiful though.

So, why did the first call go on voicemail and the second one not? Didn't Mabel had reception? But why did Charles? ... shouldn't they all use the newest iphones?

O: "It's tough... to believe that she could be... this duplicitous, I know. Tougher because you're a closed-off person. And Mabel made you... open up and trust people for the first time. So now, the thought that she might not be who she seems has you questioning it all." O: "Okay, I gotta try that again. That was very fake sounding." C: "You fucker!"

Yeah well how could you have missed that, Mabel? You were sitting on the floor, surrounded by jewelry.

Charles and Oliver really are besties.

Lucius: "Sure I follow people all the time." - ... it surely will be fine...

Honestly though I celebrated Roy Wood Jr. having a small role.

Love how the two black guys show off to the two white guys.

Also I respect Oscar's dream of starting a Yoga-studio.

The scene in the tattoo shop is great... confusing and everything is happening at the same time.

S1 E6

Detective Williams... got it.

"Herman's Head" sounds like "Inside Out" ... I never saw " Inside Out."

The scene of the Detective and her wife is really good. Because the detective is a great character. She gets so many plus points later on. She might be one of my favorite characters.

Whoop Dee Doo, Mabels Mom

Mabels Mom: "Have you ever felt that there was something you screwed up so bad, you will never fogive yourself." C & O: "... well...." Mablels Mom: "For me it was letting her spend time at the damn apartment. Please let her be. Let her move forward. Not back."

Okay but maybe Mabel needs that as a closure?

M: "Don't do Tik Tok." <- Good advise for anyone!!

C: "You know it's a law of nature. Nothing good ever happens on Long Island."

You might not know each other a lot but you are still best friends, Charles and Oliver.

Mable had a crush on Stabler from CSI: SVU... i've watched a few episodes but I don't remember much.

M "Why was Tim after the ring that Zoe had on the night she died?"

Now I remember what happened. Sometimes it just takes some time.

Gotta say that the romance between Oscar and Mabel is cute... even if tragic. They liked each other before the whole awful thing happened.

Really... Jimmy Fallon shout out for the podcast. Everyone will go listen to it.

Teddy is hardcore... good character but holy shit.

O: "You know my phone settings... I am not a rando!"

They are besties!

Food is really the best peace offering.

M: "But you guys... Are you really gonna make me say it?" C: "I kinda like to hear the words, yes." O: "Also rank us. I'm dying to know who your favorite is."

It's Charles, Oliver. Mabel likes Charles more.

It's Tim Kono's phone!

C: "That is right, our prime sponsor is now our prime suspect."

S1 E7

Gosh, it's so sad and weird that Bobby tries to make Theo listen to music.

Because I was curious I looked up "Carousel" and it's a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

"My boy Bill, I'll see that he is named after me!"

"And you won't see nobody dare to try-- to boss him or toss him around. No pot-bellied, baggy-eyed bully will boss him around--"

The moment Bobby realises that he did exactly that to his son that moment.

And continues to do so.

I actually love the different perspectives... from Theo's point of view everything is muffled... and then he talks with the watchers. XD I'm just glad they translate the important parts of the ASL.

The whole episode is great because almost nothing or nothing is said?

Teddy is still bullying his son.

Teddy: "If there is a problem, I'll fix it."

I guess Zoe really was a troubled child...

"Scary" - "Sexy" - "Hard" - "Wet" - "Woody" - "Yum"

How to flirt with scrabble?

"Teddy is a Gray Roger!" - "Are you having a stroke?" - "Grave Robber! Teddy is a Graverobber!"

It was all an accident.

O. PUTNAM & MABEL - 78 Messages O. PUTNAM - 11 Missed Calls

I love that Charles has Oliver as O. PUTNAM in his address book.

Uh Oh.

S1 E8

Love that Jabouki Young-White is also having a part.

O: "Do you know that I was the first director to use areal cadaver on stage? In Tuesdays At Bernie's. It was my dual adaptation of Tuesdays With Morrie and Weekend at Bernie's." M: "What?"

Yeah, Teddy. I'm sure the deaf son was more responsible for the failing of your marriage than all the whores.

Lmao, Jen is a freak.

Jen: "Brazzos was our safe word." M: "And what's the safe word for me to get out of this conversation?"

LMAO... Detective Williams is so cool.

Incredible that Jen and Oscar get added to the roaster and then the fans too.

... it was not the Dimas'ses

I think I now remember who it was... though I though she was the one who did it in season 2? I got it all confused... that is why I need the rewatch. xD

[tsukidangaronpabrainrot]

I normally don't do this type of post because it wasn't my intention when I created this blog, however as it is related to danganronpa especialy shipping( of course it is ,well lets say this fandom is quite intense in the subject of ships to say the least) i feel this whas a nice space to this kind of vent.

I quite loyal to my ships but i like to belive im pretty open to hear people out on their, to try to understand what is the apeal even if dont work for me, i just whant to see the positivy side of things however this day something happen that made me notice something about myself, idk if can explain correctly but when someone is so agresive with their shiping put other ship down to compare to their own i feel like any type of interest  that i had before in trying to like them myself get lost,especially if the shipp or ship fans in questions they  are puting down is one i like our im a part of, it make me feel so akward.

 Of course, this dont apply to criticism , everyone has the right of expressing their opinion and hearing where people are coming from overall enrich your visions make less one side even if you disagree with the persons take, im talking about the ones that are just hate like ''this ship suck'' , ''this ship i have is so much better than the other one''  our ‘’the fans of this ships are stupid’’ this just blatantly unnecessary mean. One argument i see being toss alot when people trying to justify this behavior is ''oh the fans of this ship were bad to me’’ with i  can see some point of it,i allways gona be agaist any type of toxic ship plus ‘’pettyness’’ is normal to have in time to time,yet  fogiveness if sound to harsh, but if act like they acted toward you repeating the circle you are not becoming the same level as they? Like you not doing any better being this whay generalizing a group of people and being nasty with them just becausa you had bad experiences in the past? Why compare to their ship in the firt place? why not focous on doing you own and the the positivy things than weaponize your anger?

I consider myself a pessimistic person, i allways think of the worst so i can just only hope for the best , however when i see any hate toward something i like i just whant to make more things of it to combat the negativity, i think if people did the same could be best for them mentally but made they and their ship become more approachable to people like me who whanted to give a shot, well as a friend of me sayed to me ‘’is their loss’’ so is better not cry over spilled milk ,is just quite disapointed is okay to have you taste though, if you dont like something i like is totaly valid just being so agresive about it is what feel weird, i just dont like this type of mentalitys. 

sorry for the long rant is definly not the normal type of post on this blog, but i dont know i feel quite relife in saying out lound  in a space that make me feel safe, maybe i can use this blog to tell things are on my mind related to danganronpa  the blog focous is not gona change stil i feel is a nice change of passing and maybe give people glimpse of the type of belifes and opinions i hold.

if you read this far, thank you for give me your time and stay safe <3 .

[luveline]

hi love!!! can i request bestfriend!james x reader where she tells him she’s never been kissed out of love and not just to start a hookup and he kisses her and tells her he loves her

hey! this is the cutest idea ever tysm for requesting my <3<3 i forgot the ily so pls fogive me

It’s a movie that does it. 

James is your best friend. You’d tell him anything without worrying too much about it, even the stuff that isn’t so pretty. 

“That must be nice,” you say under your breath, distracted by the couple on screen. The man is gentle, holding her hand in his as he leans forward. They kiss, passionate but contained, an ebbing and flowing. 

“What is?” he asks, leaning his shoulder towards yours to show he’s listening though his eyes stay glued to the screen. 

“You know, their kiss.”

You don’t know why you said it to begin with, content and always so comfortable with him. Now, you squirm, ashamed at your confession. James doesn’t seem nearly so perturbed. 

“You’ve never kissed someone?” he asks, sounding confused. 

“I mean. Yeah, I have, but…” They kiss again. You turn your face to look at James’ eyes in the dark. “Never- never just to be kissed. I’ve been seduced,” you say, laughing, trying to make light. “I’ve been kissed at the start of…” 

You feel abruptly embarrassed as James turns his face to yours. He’s pensive, reaching for words. “Do you want me to?”

You’re silent. He smiles reassuringly. 

“I’d love to kiss you,” he says warmly, “nothing else. If you’ll let me?”

You don’t realise how much you want it until you’re nodding, a lump of emotion in your throat like glowing coal. “Yeah,” you whisper. “Okay.”

The arm between you moves lightly over your ribs, the other twice as cautious as he raises it to your face. You close your eyes as his thumb ghosts under your eye. 

You don’t know how to be kissed. You sit very still as James moves in, the only indication of his proximity the sighing of his trousers as he moves. 

His lips are hot. It surprises you, the heat, the lack of fireworks. He breathes you in, encourages your face to one side and aligns his lips with a firmer pressure and- oh, you think. There’s the fireworks. Pinhead bursts of heat, dizzying warmth. You smile by accident, find his lips mirror yours. 

“Stop smiling,” he whispers, mock cross. “I can’t kiss you if you’re smiling.”

“Sorry,” you whisper back. 

He strokes your face and moves back in, that ebb and flow of affection you’d yearned for between you so completely unlike the crashing kiss of a hook up. Your chest feels light and your hands itch to be touching him. You’re not sure if it's okay when you reach for him, hesitant. 

The tip of his nose touches the side of yours as he pauses to say, “You’re alright, sweetheart. Here,” he takes your hands in his and situates them on his waist. 

One stays behind, holding your hand. The other returns to your chin, gently pulling your mouth open. The kiss changes, the intensity grows, and you can’t believe how much you like to be kissed. You grow a little more confident, find yourself pushing up into his mouth. 

Even the end of the kiss is nice. He slows, pauses, gives your damp, tingling mouth reluctant pecks like he doesn’t want it to end. His chin just towards his chest as the kiss ceases. You find his eyes are already open, looking at you with an unreadable emotion. 

“Was it as nice as you thought it would be?” he asks. The trace of worry in his tone hurts your heart.

“Yeah,” you say, nodding happily even as overwhelmed tears fight to well in your eyes. 

You blink rapidly and he sees this, hands nudging you forward. He wraps his arms around you, guides your head into his shoulder. You hug him gratefully. It feels nice to be wanted without being wanted. To be kissed with no need for a furthering of touches. James doesn’t want anything from you but you, and it aches. 

“Maybe you'll let me do it again sometime,” he says carefully. 

You smile into his shirt, trying not to sound overeager. “Sometime,” you agree. 

[wint3r-h3art]

Henlo! You are probably swamped with requests so please take your time! In fact is ok if you don’t get to it, is just an idea that can be bounced off!

I was thinking Li Mei as a baby wearing a onesie for Christmas and holding a penguin (I love penguins too much for my own good) wearing the same thing!

Picture here: (probably the red and brown one cuz the orange one is Halloween hehe)

Mei Mei & Malvin | Dad!Shangqi & Child!OC

Summary: Shangqi and Li Mei is setting up the Christmas tree for the holiday, and Shangqi finally get to meet Mei Mei new bestie!

Warning: None, just fluff and Mei Mei being a chaotic child and Shangqi trying to be a good dad.

A/N: Just me trying to get back into my writing groove. I hope you like this little drabble of Holiday fluff. Your comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

Shangqi can feel a part of eyes staring at him intensely as he's setting up the Christmas tree in the living room. Occasionally he would glances over to see Li Mei watching him intensely while holding the penguin plushie that Katy has bought for her. He wants to laugh at how the plushie is almost as big as his child, and the fact that that share the outfit too, it's outright hilarious. She calls him Malvin.

Malvin, the penguin...Shangqi thoughts, almost giggling out loud as the finished with adding the little tree skirt at the bottom of the tree.

"Alright, Mei Mei. Want to decorate the tree with Baba?"

Mei smiles and hops off the couch before dragging poor Malvin with her, his face drag across the hard wood floor as she makes away to him.

"Can Malvin help too?" she asks as she set Malvin down next to his feet. Shangqi stares at the plushie, who is wearing the same red hoodie as Li Mei.

Shangqi stares down at his daughter then at Malvin, then at Li Mei again. "Uh...sure," he says as he hands the box of the plush ornaments to her. "Which one do you like?"

"This one," she giggles as she pick up a small, white baby seal plush ornament. Shangqi smiles before he picks her up and lets her direct him to where she wants to hang it. Then it's Malvin's turn.

"Alright, Malvin. Which one do you want?" Shangqi stares at the plushie, and the blank eyes of the penguin plushie are staring back at him. It sort of make him a bit awkward because he--a grown ass man, just talk to his daughter stuffed animal.

"Malvin only likes the moose one," you chimes in from behind as you slowly seat yourself on the couch carefully. The baby is supposed to come out any time now. It's just a matter of whether he wants to be early or late.

"You know what Malvin likes?" Shangqi is almost appalled at this.

"Well yeah? You don't know?" you tease, knowing full well that your husband is not home enough to play with Mei Mei and her stuffed plushie.

Shangqi makes a pouty face. "No...clearly not enough...."

"It's ok, Baba. Malvin fogives you," Mei Mei say as she pats his knee before she goes to pick up more ornaments from the box and talk to Malvin, completely ignore her clueless Baba.

"I--What?"

You laughs. "You'll get the hang of it, babe."

[otomelavenderhaze]

Sorry for asking so much AKSHSH If it doesn't bother you this is my last question!!! 🤞 Do forgive me, please

So, what makes you say Sayu is so interesting to play with? I mean what motivates you to pull for a character? To me it's their aesthetic, I saw Yoimiya and I knew she was the one, I mean I like her playstyle too, it's gonna be fun to have her :>

Look, never apologize for asks, I love answering them. Literally, ppl can send me anything and I will do my best to answer - I always did and I will always do. If I don't answer an ask, it's for specific reasons, never because it bothers me.

I will not forgive because there's nothing to ask fogiveness for uwu

Her E to me is a more fun version of Mona's and Ayaka's dash - and I don't have either Mona or Ayaka, so it would be a new mechanic for me to play with. I also love using Jean, so I feel like Sayu is a step up Jean in two aspects: a) how fash she is with her E despite being a small model character and b) the fact that her Q deals constantly damage as well heals (with one of her cons).

Jean's Q only deals damage if the opponent steps in and out, as Sayu's Q acts accordly with what is happening around it (applying heals or damage a little more consistently and adaptable for each situation) with no set back like Jean's have - and I guess this is why she got sold to me too, aside from the fact that she's a claymore user and I like claymore users.

I mean, I pulled for Zhongli and Eula because I liked them as characters - their story, their voice actors, their outfits and such -, but sometimes I go to those test runs for the characters of the banners and I end up really enjoying as certain characters play, which was the case for Albedo and Kazuha, so I end up pulling for them as well.

I'm not a huge meta fan. Personally I do not care if Tohma is going to be bad or good, I like him as character and the fact that he's a spear user just tells me that I will probably enjoy playing with him as well.

I mean, I think most ppl feel like how you and I feel: sometimes we just like the characters so much that we wanna pull for them and that's okay. Cuz in fact, there's no such thing as bad characters, any character can be build and work in a team in Genshin, that's the beauty of that game.

[five-nights-of-protagonists]

Okay so I wanted to write a few scenes from the cursed family involving shadow and Elizabeth. So what would Micheal and those of your choosing react to this memory of them? (I hope it isn’t so long to read)

Elizabeth looked onwards beyond the barrier looking at her … once family… they were having so much fun… her father… her uncle will… cousin Mike…. And many of her friends that died long ago…. She longed so much for that…. But she was on a mission, a mission to kill and torture them all… but deep down… that little naive girl that she once was pleaded …. It pleaded to stop this rampage of madness and vengeance … and forgive them .. it wasn’t their fault it said… Elizabeth pondered sadly remembering a conversation she had with a special someone before her fate of flesh and metal and demon energy….

“I… I want to go there…. “

“You cant” a deep voice Startled her from her hiding and saw her new father figure, shadow, he who saved her, gifted her with his power and so much more…

“Why not?…. They seem to have so much fun…. They are happy…. I think they would like me too….. if we got them on our side then conquering the power you desire will be a slice of cake, papa…a happy family…” Elizabeth informed

“Do you really think THEY would accept us?… would they really accept you?…. Have you forgotten what got you in the state I found you in?…. how you got into hell? How you lost everything… how you lost baby….. your mother … your father’s love…” shadow said darkly and Elizabeth remembered the state she was in before shadow Saved her. She was in hell, she knew she deserved her fate but the worse feeling was that nobody else was with her… everyone… survived the fire… except for her and baby…. She died…. Baby died…. She was reconstructed by shadow but it wasn’t the same…. The chip was so broken… baby could only Obey Elizabeth but the way she does it creeped Elizabeth so badly…. They killed the one person she had through her hardest times, from the moment her mother died , through the abuse, the underground, through the fourth closet , through everything. It wasn’t fair. “Yes…. But what if they can help?… what if they can bring her back….” “Elizabeth stop with your nonsense…. They had many opportunities to reach you, Yet here you are as their enemy. This is what makes you weak… Your faith in those who broke everything you had… you are naive…. The moment you come out to them they will have their way with you and once you are useless to them.. they’ll execute you..” “but the other circus crew are there…” “they betrayed you… they left o you and baby on the streets to die , but your intelligence saved you both… don’t be a dummy….. come home now, leave them to their childish games , come to your father now ..“ shadow growled being very close to Elizabeth to an uncomfortable manner with his eyes glowing brightly as well as Elizabeth’s l, slowly entering her mind to control her.

Elizabeth felt something rebel against all odds and breaking shadows mágic “no! “ she yelled in defiance and turned to look at shadow standing her ground…

“No?….. oh….i see” shadow calmly chuckled, taking Elizabeth off guard. She expected a slap, a yell, anything of punishment for her defiance but all she got was a chuckle.

“Elizabeth know best, Elizabeth so mature now, such q clever grown up miss…” shadow mockingly making Elizabeth nervous and clearly scared as shadow touch her hair petting it before shadow slides his hand to Elizabeth cheek grinning and going away turning his back towards Elizabeth. “Elizabeth knows best, fine if you are sure know… go ahead and give them this!! “ shadow throws a box at Elizabeth , that she recognizes. “Where did you find it?!” Elizabeth demanded in tears looking bewildered “you really think you can hide this from me? This is what they want! The darkest desire you hold in that box is what they want from you! Don’t let them device you Elizabeth dear!” “They won’t! I know they won’t “ Elizabeth exclaimed desperately but her screams were nothing to shadow as he walked towards Elizabeth in a menacing manner making Elizabeth go against the tree.” Trust me my dear, that’s how fast they’ll leave you! I won’t say I told you so! Oh but Elizabeth knows best! So if they such a dream go ahead and put them all to the test!!! “ shadow growled at her as Elizabeth shook in fear and as shadow was leaving Elizabeth run towards him “papá! Papa wait im sorry!”

Shadow stopped Elizabeth looking at her “no no Elizabeth, I insist since you so badly want to throw away the life I gave you then go ahead and go to them for all I care, don’t come Crying if they end up betraying you like everyone ever did in your life…” Elizabeth hugged shadow making him pause. “I’m sorry… I won’t Defy you again… please don’t leave… “ shadow grinned as his eyes glow touching Elizabeth and taking control of her “good girl…. Let’s go home then….” Elizabeth open her eyes and they glowed intensely “yes father.” She said in a hipnotized state.

Michael was enraged. His eyes glowed a deep purple, as his hair slowly turned purple. He was beyond pissed. He had never wanted to murder anyone in his life so badly. The waves of the purple giy jr. Power coming off him were intense, and not even Cassidy dared approach him in this state. "If I ever find that bastard.... I will make him beg to whatever being he worships." He stated. "No... I will make him beg to me for fogiveness and mercy.... I willteach him to fear the Afton family name."

[archetype-online-blog]

Crash Course in Dialogue, Part I

Writers tend to stress a character’s actions as the most important way to show who they are, but creating effective, interesting dialogue is just as important to a great story. Good dialogue can illustrate interpersonal relationships, reveal fears characters don’t even know they have, show development, and so much more. At the same time—and maybe more importantly—bad dialogue sticks out like a sore thumb, making readers uncomfortable and unwilling to get invested in your narrative. Your prose might be amazing, but if your characters can’t communicate, it’s going to put people off.

But never fear! Here are a few handy tricks to writing amazing dialogue that will get your characters saying what they mean or misdirecting like a pro, all while drawing your reader successfully into the story.

Creating Unique Voices

When you start writing dialogue, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that your characters should all sound different from one another. Just based on their words alone, a reader should be able to tell whether your character’s personality is bubbly or gloomy, if they feel comfortable with the people around them, if they’re in pain, what kind of education they have, and so much more. You want these factors to be unique for each character, even if they were raised together or come from a similar background.

A great test is to write down only the spoken part of your dialogue, without any speech tags (he said/she said, etc.). Does each character sound distinct? Can you tell whose lines are whose just based on what they say, without the surrounding context clues?

If not, try some of the techniques below. There are so many ways to say the same thing differently—and reveal your characters’ history, personality, and quirks at the same time!

Techniques

Using lots of big words like abysmal, paramount, satiate, ubiquitous, etc.

This can make a character sound more educated, imply a wealthier upbringing, or show the care he puts into communicating. Or, it can make him sound pretentious, and become a trait that annoys your other characters. Just be careful your character doesn’t come off like a weirdo carrying around a thesaurus in their pocket (unless that’s what you’re going for, of course!)

Character 1: His rant was just the shameful rambling of a crazy old man. Character 2: The display was simply the ignominious drivel of a deranged geriatric man.

Using clipped speech—only a few words at a time, monosyllabic answers

Quiet characters, characters who don’t like their companions, characters who are in pain, and characters with something to hide might not want to have long conversations where they bare their soul to others.

Character 1: I really don’t think so. I’m sure I’d remember an intense reaction like that. Character 2: No.

Using terms of endearment or pet names—babe, sweetheart, bro, dude, pal

Depending on how these are used, your character can come across as warm and fuzzy, sarcastic, flirty, or evil and taunting.

Bonus: if your character is angry or distracted, they can leave off the pet names they usually call their friends. This is a good way to reveal to a reader—and other characters—that something fishy is up.

Character 1: Can you toss me that pencil? Character 2: Hey babe, be a sweetie and toss me that pencil? Character 3: Uh, that’s my pencil, pal. Character 4: Toss me that pencil, bro!

Speaking formally versus informally with contractions

Is your character uncomfortable around present company? Are they trying to act extremely professional to prove they’re qualified for their job, or still recovering from a strict, affectionless upbringing? If so, making their speech more formal can help convey what’s going on.

Character 1: Admittedly, I have been wondering much the same thing. I will look into it. Character 2: Yeah, I’ve been wondering that too. I’m gonna check it out.

Swearing

Depending on context, characters who curse can sound meaner, rougher, cooler, more laid-back, and even funnier than the people around them who don’t.

When using curse words, be aware of your audience. If you’re writing for kids or younger teens, you may get some pushback.

Remember that these words are sometimes at their most powerful when they’re not overused. When your sweet character finally snaps and mutters something really strong under her breath, you’ll know she’s at the end of her rope.

Think of Simon finally confronting Martin in the movie Love, Simon—if Leah (who swears all the time in the book’s sequel) told Martin to f*ck off, it wouldn’t have anywhere near the same impact.

And yet, in The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, Ronan’s glee at swearing is one of the things that sets him apart from the more polite Gansey and Adam.

Try this:

Sit in a public place where people talk—a coffee shop, a food court at the mall, a break at school—and listen to a conversation. Write down what you hear—every little um or ah, pronunciations, pauses, stutters, repetitions. How do words, fillers, and phrases shape the distinct voices of the people you’re listening to?

Using Accents and Dialects

Another great way to make characters sound different is to give them accents or let them speak in dialects. If your character is from the South, he’d have a Southern drawl; if she’s from the India, she’s not going to sound like your classmates from Connecticut. But how can you capture a voice like that without making your writing sloppy or distracting (or exaggerating it into an offensive caricature)? Passages like the following, from Huckleberry Finn, certainly take a lot of concentration to read:

“Oh, Huck, I bust out a-cryin’ en grab her up in my arms, en say, ‘Oh, de po’ little thing! De Lord God Amighty fogive po’ ole Jim, kaze he never gwyne to fogive hisself as long’s he live!’ Oh, she was plumb deef en dumb, Huck, plumb deef en dumb—en I’d ben atreat’n her so!”

A general rule, using features other than phonetic spelling to show how characters speak differently can communicate the same information in a less distracting way:

Diction/word choice: Taylor from New York eats fries for lunch and chips as a snack, but Henry from London eats chips for lunch and crisps from the vending machine during his break at work.

Syntax/word order: Someone whose native language is English will likely say “the brown shoes” or “the white fence,” but if your heroine was born in France and learned English not long ago, she might say “I was wearing my shoes which are brown” or “the fence that is white stands behind the house”

Idioms: Different places have different expressions that mean more than what they look like. While you’d say you’re “buttering someone up,” someone who speaks Spanish might say they’re “stroking his beard.” Research idioms that would be a natural part of your character’s speech—or, make up your own!

Some phonetic spellings and slang, every once in a while, do a great job of signaling a continuing accent: s’pose, ain’t, ya, dahlin’. But if what you’ve written takes any amount of real concentration to decode, it’s going to be annoying, not helpful or cool. In other words, if your main character has a lisp, tharting every thentence like thith ith going to get really fruthtrating, really fatht. An’ writin’ an o’er-exaggera’ed Cockney accen’, owr a loooong Suthen draaaawl, is sure to get on your reader’s nerves as well.

If your protagonist’s baby sister with three lines has a lisp and says, “Thamantha, read me a thtory” or her great-auntie from Georgia bemoans, “Lawdy-me, it shaw is hawt in hea today” once in 300 pages, though, you’re probably good.

If you want an example of dialects and pronunciation done really well, check out the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness. Protagonist Todd Hewitt grew up in a primitive settlement and can’t read—while always completely understandable, he does say “ain’t” all the time, and occasionally throws in misspellings like “creacher” and “recognishun.” The sections narrated by his friend Viola are more grammatically correct, because while Todd was doing farm work, she was attending school. And people Todd meets with even less schooling than him talk like this: “Ah kin give y’all a ride thrus. If ya want.” (But these characters don’t pop up very often, so the style doesn’t become distracting—instead, it highlights the differences between outsiders and the protagonists.)

A note of caution:

Remember that African American Vernacular English, American Sign Language, and other variations/translations of English have their own complex rules. If you aren’t familiar with a dialect you’re writing, don’t just simplify standard English, throw in an extra “be,” or take out some helping verbs. If your character uses one of these, do some extra research to make sure your dialogue is accurate.

Include the Right Kind of Content

So now you’ve decided how your character talks—but what should they say? Here are a few things to avoid: small talk, excessive info dumps, drawn-out background information, and background conversations. (Like most rules of writing, these can and should be broken if you have a good reason, but in general, they can be helpful in moving a story along and keeping it interesting.)

Instead of the characters taking up valuable space and audience attention on pleasantries, focus on the real meat of the conversation. Alfred Hitchcock once said something to the effect of, “Drama is real life with all the boring parts cut out.” Which would you want to read about? A character describing her brunch of thick, fluffy pancakes to her mother in mouth-watering detail?* Or the moment she asks her mother for $500—the third time this month—to cover her outrageous credit card debts? As the writer, you have the privilege and responsibility to pick the important moments to pass on to the reader—the ones that are important to the plot later, that develop the characters, that are memorable and exciting. Be kind to them—and yourself—by carefully judging what’s worth everyone’s time.

This then gives you an opportunity to work something else essential into your conversation—conflict. It’s very hard to make a compelling conversation where each character agrees with everything said before them. Just because “yes, and” works for improv, doesn’t mean it’s the best strategy for dialogue in fiction—instead, put your characters against each other. If they have opposing goals, or even slightly different takes on a situation, you’ll be able to flush out both viewpoints and push them to an interesting breaking point much easier than if they simply build on whatever the other says.

It can also be tempting to save long, detailed explanations for dialogue—especially when it comes to worldbuilding in sci-fi or fantasy. If you have a physics professor who’s perfected time travel or an old witch who’s worked out everything about magic, it would be easy to give them a few pages to give the specifics to your clueless protagonist. But unless you can’t get your story to work any other way, try not to do this—long descriptions tend to end up pretty boring, and hard to follow and remember. Instead, let your reader pick up fewer details at a time from different people, or see how things work for themselves. In the first Harry Potter, Hagrid doesn’t explain everything about being a wizard to Harry—readers get to experience the many magical details firsthand through Harry’s eyes in Diagon Alley, and then later at Hogwarts.

*Note: If your character is a cook and criticizes the pancakes because he could obviously do better, or if she grew up in poverty and is promising her mother she’ll move back home and take her to brunch every morning once she gets one more paycheck, this is obviously fine. So is her describing how great she thought the pancakes were if it turns out they were actually poisoned, and next thing she knows she’s waking up from a 10-year coma. And so on... Find exciting exceptions!

Try this:

Listen to a scene from your favorite movie and think about what’s included and what’s not. Do both characters greet each other and ask how the other has been, or do they jump right into the deal they need to make? Does one character agree with everything the other says, or do they disagree frequently?

Have more questions about writing dialogue? Leave us comments for Part II, coming soon!

[chillerhjemmeisak]

in your evak fanfic you called their son jonah and thats so cute because its so obviously because of jonas so i was wondering if you could writ something about the isak telling jonas that he was going to same his son after him pleaseeee

I loved this prompt and got super caught up in it! Sorry it’s so long but ENJOY

It wasn’t often thatIsak had the free time to do this; having the boys over had become ararity over the years.

So having them over while Even was at work was an unexpected but welcome development.

As each of them hadgrown older and grown apart, their lives had taken over. Adulthoodwas nothing like high school, with responsibilities around everycorner and not a moment of free time in sight.

Mahdi had briefly movedto Denmark after university before deciding that the language wasjust too “potato” for him to handle. When he had returned, he hadtaken to teaching, something that no one had really expected of him.But with the same sort of dedication he showed his universitystudies, Mahdi took to shaping the lives of little kids in Oslo. Hisjob meant that his only free days became the weekend, when the boys’regular jobs decided to be particularly busy.

Magnus was a proudwaiter. Where others had bullied him for such a minimalistic careergoal, Magnus had always enjoyed social situations and found hiscalling in attending to others. He never let dismissive comments gounnoticed and never allowed anyone to look down on him. Even oftenvoiced his praise for Magnus’ strength, something that had certainlytaken a long time to develop. Unlike in highschool, Magnus no longertook anyone’s crap.

Except the boys’. Hewould always be the punching bag of the group, whether he liked it ornot.

Jonas had become apolitician to the surprise of absolutely no one; fighting primarilyfor civil rights and against the seemingly endless stream of corruptpolitical influences. He had become as headstrong in his personallife as he was in his professional one, becoming a strict but lovingfather to his and Eva’s first child; Frida.

In the many years thatIsak’s busy career had threatened to sever the friendship he sharedwith Jonas, both men had changed and evolved to accommodate theirdeveloping lives. For not a moment had their friendship wavered.

And it was forprecisely that reason that Isak had asked Even if he could name theirsecond child. Even, having graced Belle with the name of hisfavourite Disney princess, had agreed immediately as long as Isakpromised their child would have a meaningful name. Isak had arguedthat, claiming that a Disney princess was hardly ‘meaningful’ butEven had remained ignorant.

Looking back, Isakcan’t help but wonder if Even had known that Isak was a sentimentalloser and wouldn’t hesitate to make their child’s name ridiculouslycheesy.

And so, just to proveEven sickeningly right, Isak had gone for as meaningful a name as hecould.

But where chosing thesappy name had been easy, the name coming without hesitation,delivering the news came as a struggle to Isak who, despite years byEven’s side, continued to struggle with displaying emotion.

Isak blamed his job;doctor’s were notorious for struggling with grappling basic emotions.He was no exception.

“Y'know, if you wentdown on her I’m sure she’d fogive you.”

Magnus’ words tore Isakfrom his train of thought and he immediately felt himself cringe.“Serr, Magnus?”

Everyone looked at Isakwhen he spoke for the first time in what Isak presumed was a longtime. Magnus looked confused by his outburst but Mahdi and Jonas weregrinning widely.

“What?” Magnusdemanded. “I was just telling Mahdi that if Isabel is pissed athim, maybe it might help.”

Mahdi rolled his eyesdramatically. “You really don’t get it to do?” he laughed. “Ican’t just go down on my wife and hope that’s apology enough, youidiot.”

Jonas snickered atMahdi’s words. “He’s right Mags. You’re married, surely youunderstand that women don’t drop things that easily.”

Magnus shrugged, “Vildealways forgives me if I go down on her.”

Isak gaped at them,shocked and confused by how their discussion about their kids hadsomehow morphed into him hearing about Magnus going down on Vilde. Asmuch as Isak loved both parties, he could survive withou the imagesplaguing his dreams.

Or should he saynightmares.

“You do it, rightIsak?”

Isak turned hisattention back to the boys at the sound of his name. “What?

“You must do the samething to Even right? If he’s pissed at you, he gets head. Right?”

If Isak thought Magnuscouldn’t have gotten more dense after high school ended then he wasproven severely wrong. Rolling his eyes and moaning exaggeratedly,Isak settled back into the chair and glared at Magnus.

“No Magnus”, hegroaned. “We talk it out. Like adults.”

“But then he gets ablowjob, right?”

The grin on Magnus’sface made Isak recoil in horror.

“Dude he’s nottelling you that”, Jonas piped up, his smile hidden behind hishand. Isak glared at him for daring to laugh.

Magnus sighed loudly.“Why does no one tell me anything?”

“We tell youeverything”, Mahdi defended. “Just not about blowjobs.”

“Or sex in general”,Jonas added.

Magnus’s frowndeepened. “But best friends are supposed to talk about that sort ofthing.”

Isak dropped his headinto his hands with a sigh. “Magnus”, he began, looking at hisfriend through the gaps of his fingers. “We would talk about thatsort of thing if you weren’t so damn interested. It’s kinda creepy.”

Jonas and Mahdi snortedat Isak’s words and Magnus looked away, offended.

“Anyway”, Jonaslaughed, clapping his hands together. “I have news!”

The room fellobediently silent as the boys looked expectantly at Jonas, who wasbeaming widely.

“Eva and I are havinganother baby.”

Where moments ago theroom was silent, it suddenly burst into action. Isak propelledhimself towards his best friends, throwing his arms around him and helaughed wholeheartedly. “I’m so happy for you guys”, he cheered,patting Jonas on the back in affection.

Jonas laughed intoIsak’s ear, clearly elated. “Thanks bro, me too.”

“Move out the wayIsak!” Magnus complained, displeased that he hadn’t given Jonas ahug too.

Isak chuckled butpealed himself away from his best friend, moving back to his chair.He seemed unable to control the bouncing of his leg as he waited toshare his own news.

After a few minutesMagnus seemed to have his full and moved away, leaving Mahdi open topat Jonas’s back in a bro hug.

Jonas was beaming whenMahdi pulled away, his cheeks red with heat.

“So, how long?”Mahdi asked.

“20 weeks”, Jonassighed happily.

Isak immediately shot up. “Dude!Fy faen! Why didn’t you tell me!”

Jonas looked a littlesheepish at Isak’s outburst. “Because I wanted to wait to tell youso that I could tell you something else at the same time. You know,make it all dramatic and stuff.”

Isak rolled his eyes athis best friend but sat back down. “But I saw Eva like 3 weeks agoand she didn’t look 20 weekspregnant!”

Jonasshrugged, “It’s there but its small, you’re right.”

Isakcouldn’t help but feel a deep sense of betrayal at that, genuinelyoffended by his friend’s unwillingness to share the news. I mean,Isak had told Jonas about Belle the second their request to adopt hadbeen confimed, even though Jonas had been in Portugal at the time.The bill Isak racked up calling him had been well worth it.

Orso he thought.

Fora moment, Isak couldn’t help but scold himself for his dramatics.Were Even there, he would be rubbing a soothing hand across Isak’sback to calm him down. Imagining exactly that, Isak sighed andsettled back into his chair, looking expecantly at Jonas for anexplanation.

“Imean if we’re all sharing news without telling our best friends firstthen I guess I’m next”, Isak said when Jonas seemed too reluctantto speak, his eyes flitting about nervously. “The adoption wentthrough. We’re getting another baby.”

Jonas’spreviously torn expression transformed into one of sheer joy as hisface tore apart into a grin. “No way!”

Magnusscreamed, jumping from his chair. “You’re both having another kidat the same time?! This is some psychic shit!”

Mahdirolled his eyes, quickly reaching across to clasp Isak’s hand incongratulations. Isak nodded gratefully back. “I think that’sawesome Isak”, Mahdi beamed. “You guys are awesome parents.”

Isakgrinned smugly; of course they were.

“Areyou trying to steal my thunder or something?” Jonas joked, standingto walk to Isak. Isak chuckled as he stood to accept Jonas’s hug.

Jonassqueezed Isak tightly, to the point where Isak genuinely worried forhis spine, which felt about ready to snap. With another squeez, Jonasdropped his head to Isak’s shoulder.

“I’mso happy for you man”, Jonas sighed against Isak’s ear.

Isaksmiled softly, his arms tightening around Jonas reflectively.“Thanks”, he whispered back, eyes wet.

Jonasgrinned as he pulled away. He reached up to wipe away Isak’s straytear. “You’ll kill it, just like last time.”

“Sowill you”, Isak nodded firmly.

Themoment was broken, unsurprisingly, by Magnus. “You guys are socute! You’re almost as cute as ‘Evak'”

Jonasand Isak recoiled slightly. “Don’t compare our friendship to Isakand Even’s romantic and, more importantly, sexual relationship pleaseMags.”

Magnuslooked unphased. “Seriously, it’s awesome!”

Isakrolled his eyes at Magnus, who finally stood to hug Isak. Isakcouldn’t stop himself from squealing slightly when Magnus lifted himoff his feet in the hug.

“Dude!”Isak complained when Magnus set him down again.

Magnusignored his complaint. “When is Even getting home?” he askedexcitedly. “I wanna congratulate him.”

Isaklooked across at Jonas, exasperated. Depsite the years that hadpassed, Magnus was still just as taken with Even as he was the firsttime they met, and remained obssessed with him. Lucky for him, Evenfound it rather endearing and entertained Magnus’ affections kindly.

“Inabout two hours”, Isak said as he sat back down. “Anyway, Iactually have more news.”

Mahdithrew his head back. “You’re not like… having a third kid areyou? We can only deal with two baby announcements in one day!”

Isaksnickered but shook his head. “Not yet”, he said, ignoringJonas’s raised eyebrow and coy smile. “I actually meant I have somenews for Jonas, well… mostly Jonas.”

Jonas’ssmile settled at that and he sat forward in anticipation. “Just soyou know, I have to tell you something in a minute too.”

Isaklooked at Jonas in confusion.

“Isaid I waited to tell you about Eva for a reason. But anyway, I’lltell you in a minute. Tell me your news first”, Jonas saidexcitedly.

“Okay”,Isak began, clasping his hands together to fiddle with his fingersnervously. Looking at his best friend through his lashes, Isakblushed. “So, it’s a boy first of all.”

Magnuslet out a little cheer at that and Isak couldn’t help but smile atit.

“Andwell… since Even named Belle, we agreed that I’d get to name thisone.”

Jonasstraightened up slightly, his eyes widening and a smile spreadingacross his face. Isak cursed slightly, annoyed that Jonas had seemedto figure it out.

“AndI, uh… Well, I wanted to call him Jonah. If- if that was cool withyou”, Isak stuttered awkwardly. He could almost see Even rollinghis eyes in his head.

Jonassimply cocked his head, his eyes soft and full of affection. “You’ddo that?”

Isaknodded immediately. “Of course.”

Jonasgrinned, nodding too. “Jonas is a pretty fucking awesome name toget inspiration from I suppose.”

“Ass”,Isak chuckled, shaking his head fondly.

Aftera moment, Isak looked up at his best friend and saw a small butknowing smile on his face. Isak looked at Jonas, eyebrows furrowingin adorable confusion.

Jonaslooked almost close to tears as he chuckled, his smile affectionate.“I waited to tell you about Eva until we knew the gender; just so Icould get an idea and me and Eva could get a name.”

Isaksquinted in further confusion. “Why-Why would you need a namebefore telling me?”

Mahdisnorted beside him and Isak shot him a look in surprise. Mahdi lookedat him pointedly before rolling his eyes, nodding back to Jonas. Isakturned to him, his confusion palpable.

“We’recalling him Isaac, dude.”

Isakgaped at his best friend. “Wait, what?”

“Withtwo As though”, Jonas continued unbothered by Isak’s surprise.“Y'know, the English way. Just so there’s less confusion I guess.”

Isakremained frozen and when Jonas failed to get a response, he finallylooked over at Isak. “Isak?”

Noddingslowly, mouth hanging open in shock, Isak met his eye. “You- you’recalling him- you’re naming him after me?”

Magnuslaughed sharply. “This is getting too weird man!”

“ButI’m naming Jonah after you”, Isak continued uninterrupted.

Jonasshrugged. “And?”

“AndJonah is only inspired byJonas but you’re literally naming your son after me! I feel like ashitty friend now!”

DespiteIsak’s obvious distress, Jonas stared in shock. “Isak”, hedeadpanned. “Are you serious?”

Isaknodded rapidly.

Jonastried to refrain from rolling his eyes lest they fall into the backof his head. “Isak, there aren’t many names similar to yours thataren’t just Isak.”

Isakshook his head. “That’s a lie, there’s tons. Like…”

Silencesettled around them as Isak paused, and Jonas looked at him with aface that clearly said ‘I told you so’.

“Shutup”, Isak said, pointing a finger at him. “I’ll think ofsomething!”

“Itwont be a nice name”, Jonas promised, sinking further into hischair as he relaxed as though just to spite Isak, who was sitting onthe edge of his chair.

Mahdilaughed wholeheartedly. “Isak just give up now.”

Isakshook his head vehemently. “No, he can’t give the baby my name whenmy son only gets a similar name.”

“Thenjust name your son Jonas”, Magnus chirped up cheerfully.

Isakdidn’t even look his way as he spoke. “Even doesn’t like thatname”, he said, waving his hand dismissively.

“Hey!”

[connectacttransform]

I awoke extremely early this morning with this song “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” playing over and over in my head... I obviously had active dreams last night, though I don’t remember the details of who I was with or what I was doing... When this type of thing happens, I take it as a sign to reflect on the message, as something may be brewing from my subconscious mind which wants to be addressed or emerge. “Hard to Say I’m Sorry”...

This Valentine’s Day was heavily focused about self love and acceptance and FORGIVENESS... forgiveness of others and forgiveness of myself for all the things in the past that I have done or that I failed to do. Forgiveness is an act of unconditional love.

I grew up in a household which was not heavy on issuing apologies... If something happened which was wrong or hurtful, there was a lot of sweeping it under the rug and letting time pass until everyone pretended like nothing harmful happened. Apologies were heavily laden and associated with shame... It was not something that I ever wanted to do, because I felt even worse about myself. I already felt “less than” for being less than perfectly well behaved and for causing harm to another person. That was bad enough and I was already crucifying my own self. As an Irish Catholic girl, I was raised feeling like there was a punishing God which condemned sinful acts and that there was zero tolerance for such violations... So to issue an apology, it felt like an extra layer of pressure of admission of how I wronged... As a result, I had developed a very bad pattern of being stubborn and not properly issuing an apology after harm was caused... to others nor to myself. Instead, I stuffed those shameful feelings and moved on... it was very hard to say I’m sorry...

I eventually learned that things which are hidden do build up and fester if they are stuffed away in the dark... It eventually made me feel heavy and dark and yucky, like it needed to come out with a shining light to be purged and cleansed... all my sins and harms caused to myself and to others... enough was enough... time to face the shadows and the yuckiness and begin the healing...

The big lesson that I had not learned, what I hadn’t fully grasped nor understood, was that when I owned up to my mistakes and expressed my genuine and sincere, heartfelt feelings in apology it can be extremely healing and liberating and freeing for all parties. Sometimes I caused harm intentionally to others, though more often there were circumstances which were not intentional... it doesn’t matter why. Whatever the cause or reason, it felt better when I learned to own up to my actions and to sincerely express myself and say I’m sorry. How freeing! Whether or not that other person accepted my apology or not is completely outside of my control. I’m ok with that. I hope they feel better after I at least validate the harm that I may have caused them. I hope they choose to fogive me, though some may not. That’s their choice. At least I can sleep at night knowing that I tried my best to try to resolve it.

I now realize that issuing apologies and forgiving are liberating acts which serve to resolve and free others and myself from mistakes made and harms caused, whether intentionally done or innocently executed. I am still working on forgiving myself for things I have done in the past... but I need to remember that I behaved in a manner that was based on the knowledge and information I had at that time... I have grown and learned since then. We grow when we make mistakes and then learn from them and move forward. We have to face them and own them and apologize and learn so we then know how to do things better and kinder, with more compassion next time. If we don’t learn the lesson, we are destined to continue repeating those mistakes until we learn the lesson...

“Do I want to be right, or do I want to be happy?” Someone once shared that question with me and it made so much sense... everyone has their own perspective. Just because I may think I’m right or think the other person is wrong, it doesn’t matter in the end... I want to be happy and I want to be free. I don’t want to carry the burdens or hurt or darkness of carrying around bad feelings or hurting others... I choose to own up to my mistakes and moving forward and growing and forgiving myself and others... it’s easier and lighter.

In the song lyrics, it says “after all that we’ve been through, I will make it up to you... I promise you”... I know that this begins with me, forgiveness begins with myself. Letting all of that burden go so I can move forward freely with the lessons learned. I’m wiser and more experienced now and I have the choice to make different decisions moving forward. I choose (to try my best) to engage in honest, compassionate and transparent communication, to take responsibility for my words and actions, to interact with others in an open-minded and compassionate manner. If I offend or hurt someone, I try to remedy that quickly and apologize in a genuine fashion. As a result, I’m happier and lighter... I’m most definitely a work in progress, but I’m making progress. If I caused other people harm or offense, I apologize and I ask forgiveness. If you ever want to talk with me, please know that I’m here to listen with an open mind and heart. We’re human and we are all god’s children,... perfectly imperfect. It’s part of our journey and growth.