#honestly also if you find a quote and want to know the translator but don't know how to go about it just send us an ask

[classicslesbianopinions]

i hope people know that goodreads quotes are, like, user-submitted and often not very reliable. and particularly when it comes to quotes from translated texts and especially when those texts have multiple translations/adaptations, you will find quotes from various writers/translators all attributed unambiguously to one ancient writer. like, you can find at least one quote from the movie troy attributed to homer on goodreads. and if you've read any homer it's glaringly and wildly obvious that it's not homer, but obviously not everyone has read homer (and that's okay). but like. if you're looking for a quote for a tumblr post or edit or fic title or whatever else and you find a quote on goodreads (or on tumblr) attributed to an author who did not write in english with no translator in sight maybe give it a google to see if you can find the specific translation/adaptation it's sourced from. you won't always find it but you literally cannot trust goodreads.

[natsgrave]

YOU'RE LOSING ME | wanda maximoff

how can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dyin'? do i throw out everything we built or keep it? and you know what they all say, you don't know what you got until it's gone. i do not give permission for my work to be copied or translated on other sites. plagiarism is a crime!! masterlist whispers of heartache m.list

Y/N's POV

What are you really willing to do for love? For someone so important to you?

Well, for me, I'll do everything and anything for that person. Even though it hurts. So much.

I rolled to my side and smile instantly crept into my face. There she is, my girlfriend looking so peaceful. I admire her sleeping state and curved her figures inside my mind.

"You know, it's rude to stare." She suddenly spoke making me laugh.

"What? Can't I admire my gorgeous girl?" I teasingly asked.

She slowly opened her eyes revealing my favorite green eyes, "Good morning, Y/N." she whispered with a smile.

"Good morning, witchy." I softly said with a little laugh that I tried to hide causing her to throw a pillow at me.

I love morning like this. Just us not caring about the world.

Just like the clock works before we know it, we already have to leave the bed to face reality.

"It's nice to finally see you awake, love birds." Tony said as he took a sipped of his coffee.

"We're not love birds, Stark." Wanda replied with the roll of her eyes.

Ah, yes, we're secret because she said and I quote she's not yet ready to come out. I'd be lying if I said it doesn't hurt me one bit because it does. All I want is to love her, out in the open and not like this.

I felt a hand touches my shoulder causing me to go back to reality, I look infront of me and met Wanda's soft gazes, "Are you okay? I've called you so many times."

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry, I'm good." I breathed out and walked away not giving her any second glance.

I walked towards the kitchen and make myself coffee when Natasha spoke.

"Still keeping it a secret?" I didn't even notice she's here. And yes, she's the only one who knows about our relationship. We didn't tell her for the record, she just walked in on us… making out.

Anyway, I look up at her and gave her a defeated smile, "Isn't it obvious?"

"How long are you going to ignore that pain inside your chest?" she asked and I didn't answer because honestly… I don't know either.

"Y/N, when are you going to choose yourself? When are you going to see what your worth really is?" She continues holding my shoulder forcing me to face her.

"I love her." I whispered.

"And I know that, I can see that. Hell, you wouldn't even ignore and bare all this pain if you don't." Nat said and lift my chin, "You're like a sister to me and I don't say this often but I do love you, Y/N. I care for you and it's really hard seeing my little sister getting hurt whether she does it unintentionally." She softly added.

"Nat, I-" The words I was about to say instantly cut off when I heard Wanda's laugh ringing loud. I look behind us and see her laughing with Vision. The fucking red walking toaster.

"Are you sure the reason why she's keeping you both a secret is because she is not yet ready or…?" She asked trailing her last word knowing that I'll know it instantly.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." I reassured her but deep down, it was for me.

Days turns into weeks which also turn into months. Months and nothing changed, not even a single thing. Every time I try opening the subject to Wanda, she always find a way to divert it into different subject but today, I wouldn't let it happen. Not anymore.

"Wanda, we need to talk." I sternly said as I enter her room.

"Hi to you too, baby." she replied still sitting on her bed.

"We can't go on like this." I directly said starting the topic.

"Y/N, can we–"

"No, we can't. We're going to talk about this right now. God, we've been together for almost three years, Wanda. Three long fucking years and not even single effort you made to change our status."

"Y/N, you know damn well I'm not yet ready to make us public." She said nearly shouting.

"Three years is not enough for you? I didn't say that you make us public, all I want is for the team to know. Just them. I'm tired being your little secret, I'm tired of you being mine just around this goddamn four walls. I respect what you want and need, Wanda. For three years, I prioritized what you want, this, but you have to understand that I can't do this anymore. I can't live like this anymore. I kept pushing my needs aside because I love you, but I can't do it anymore. I want to love you, freely. I kept choosing you, I kept giving you all my best me's until there's nothing left for me. I can't choose you anymore." I ramble, on the verge of crying but I kept all my emotions under control.

"Y/N, I… I'm sorry." Wanda softly said standing infront of me.

"Are you apologizing because you're now realizing all of this or are you apologizing because you still can't give the only thing I want?" I asked quietly.

"I'm sorry because I hurt you and I keep on hurting you."

"THEN TAKE IT AWAY! MAKE THIS GO AWAY BECAUSE I DON'T WANT THIS! DO SOMETHING!" I shouted as my tears finally left my eyes.

"Y/N…"

"Wanda, I don't know anymore. Do I throw out everything we built or keep it? I'm getting tired. I tried, I keep telling myself to wait until you're ready but every time, this voices inside my head kept telling and asking me, are you even going to get there?" I cried out.

"Are you… Are you tired now, Y/N?" she shakily asked.

I nod and wiped my tears, "I'm so tired, Wanda. I feel so lost, this between us made me doubt myself so much. Am I not worth the risk for you? I'm tired of wondering how can you just pretend everyday like we're nothing." I sobbed and sat on the bed as I rest my face on my hands, "I'm tired of saying that I'm okay, that it doesn't hurt. I'm tired of pretending everyday. I'm tired of waiting for you to fulfill your promises. I'm tired of defending you against Nat especially myself. I believed in you, Wanda. I kept waiting but it seems like in this relationship, it's not us against the world. It's me against you." I said between cries looking at her to see her crying as well.

"Y/N, I know whatever I say right now wouldn't change anything. It won't take the pain that I've caused you but trust me, I love you. I really do. I can understand how hurtful it must have been for you. I know that I failed to treat you with the love and respect that you deserve. I am truly sorry for any pain or suffering that I have caused you. It was never my intention to hurt you, and I can only imagine the amount of pain that I have caused you. I want you to know that I am willing to do whatever it takes to make things right between us. I am willing to work on myself and our relationship to ensure that this does not happen again. I know that sorry is not enough to fix the mess I have made. I promise to do everything I can to show you how much I love and value you as my girlfriend." Wanda sobbingly said as she held my hand.

"There, you're making promises once again. How many time did you promise me that you'll make it up to me? at first you'll make such effort but eventually, you'll stop and forget about it. I don't even know if I can trust anything that's coming out of your mouth right now." I said and walked away from her, "It hurts me to think that we can't share this part of our lives together with those who are important to us. Am I not important to you? Do you not trust me? Or is it just too scary to go against the norm? I can't keep pretending not to be in love with you when we're around others. I want to hold your hand, introduce you to my friends and family, and just be able to love you openly without any fear or shame." I added. "I don't understand." Wanda said. I chuckled, "I know you don't."

"Do you want to end this? Us?" She asked with fears in her eyes.

I stayed quiet for few seconds thinking what I really want before looking back at her meeting her eyes, "Yes." I husked out causing more tears to fall out of her eyes.

"I'm just so tired, Wanda. I'm tired of the stress and the pressure that surrounds us every day. I'm tired of asking 'how long?' I'm tired of feeling like there's never enough time to do everything we want to do. I'm tired of constantly feeling like we're not doing enough, or that we're falling short somehow. Most of all, I'm tired of feeling disconnected from you. It feels like you've been so busy, so caught up in your own life, that you don't take the time to connect with me. I miss those intimate moments where we could just talk about anything and everything, and I feel like we don't have those as often as we should. It has to be done and I don't want to place blame on anyone— not myself, not you, not anyone else." I walked towards her and wiped her tears before pressing our foreheads together, "I'm sorry, I never thought that this day will come. I'm sorry I got tired and couldn't wait anymore. I love you but I can't be with you anymore. My heart won't start anymore." I finished before lingering a long kiss on her head.

"I love you, Y/N. I'm sorry for not showing it enough. I'm sorry I failed us." She sniffles before looking at me and caressed my cheeks, "I love you… in every universe."

I finally understood that true love isn't always about being together; Sometimes, it's about letting go. Because love alone, wasn't enough.

Both ends of rope were held, but they were held by me, and only me.

I love her too much and that's my biggest mistake I'll never regret, and if I'd ever meet her again in another lifetime, I'll beg the god to let me have you this time.

[theroundbartable]

(sending hugs)

what are your thoughts about aithusa? personally i love her way to much, but she rarely comes up in fandom discourse

HEY :D Thoughts about AIthusa, huh? I have many of those. Thoughts, I mean. In my brain. They like to swim around and create a whole mess of things sometimes.

I think the reason why Aithusa doesn't come up in fandom discourse often is because there isn't very much to say. Aithusa was born, then color coded as a sign for the golden future of Camelot and was then abandoned by Merlin. Tortured by a crazy guy. Then raised by Morgana and used to create the sword that later killed Arthur. Whenever they come up in fandom discouse, it's mostly about Merlin doing his job as Dragon Lord right or wrong. But you wanted my thoughts, so I'm gonna allow my head to spin weird shit around the ungendered Dragon. (That is why I will use they/them pronouns for Aithusa.) When it comes to Aithusa's name, not the canon translation, I mean what it literally means, it's hard to find, since they used old English for the language of magic, and I think Greek for the language of the Dragon Lords (which doesn't necessarily have to apply to the Dragon names) and I haven't seen anyone make a post about it. All I get from Google translate is "Hey you" in Gaelic and that's a bit useless. Or well, this:

The automatic language recognition in Google would let me interpret Aithusa as a gift to the world. Or Arthur, depending on your shipping interests. Or, you know, if I could make up the Old English maybe pseudo-parts of the word (the writers were very lazy in BBC Merlin, they are literally quoting Beowulf when Merlin magics the blue ball in the poisoned chalice.). Something fitting I found in my old English dictionary is agan, meaning to possess, and to own, and thus (spelled with a thorn which my keyboard doesn't have) meaning as follows. So, in my absolutely amateurish and interpretational, and way too far reaching ways, I would say Aithusa could mean: A(gan) thus (a): To own the future.

(Again, you asked for my thoughts, this is not canon and probably pointless, I just needed to go down this route first.)

In the fandom wiki, we find THESE informations on Aithusa.

So, things we do know are very few

Aithusa is a baby

Aithusa was tortured and is therefore crippled

Aithusa cannot talk

Aithusa probably has Stockholm Syndrom because of Morgana

But you know, I think it's very interesting to know that Aithusa is the Light of the Sun, the literal sign for a Golden Future and that very sign can be hurt by a mere human. Not only does this mean that humans can kill Dragons (the Dragon lore doesn't make any sense, I swear to god) but it's also meant to be symbolism. Merlin, just like Arthur, is shown to be his own doom through Aithusa. They are hidden, tortured, kept from living their truth, abandoned by everyone who should be leading and protecting them.

With Aithusa being born it means that at that point, Merlin had already fulfilled his destiny. At this point in time, the golden age is already there and it should have been a sign for Merlin to speak up about his magic. He never did, that's why Aithusa remains mute. And just like magic itself, when harmed or in danger, Aithusa can easily be used for evil.

Apart from the symbolism and their part in Arthur's death, Aithusa doesn't contribute much to the story, I think. Yes, they console Morgana and they are like the continuation of the Dragon lineage, but that's ultimately pointless. Aithusa will be, inevitably, be the last Dragon. Which is honestly really cruel, but again, parallel to Merlin himself. That's where Aithusa's arc ends, unfortuntaley. Personally, knowing all that, I find Aithusa hard to use as the character they are in canon. With what little defines their character, you have to ultimately change everything about them to use them in fun fics and comics and stuff. That's why they end up as a little dog creature so often.

Don't get me wrong, I love Aithusa. But I love FANON Aithusa, just like I prefer fanon Sir Leon over canon Sir Leon. Because fanon Aithusa is like a domesticated chicken that Merlin keeps in his rooms or fights custody over with Morgana while Arthur is either oblivious, supportive, or being gaslit. But maybe I am overlooking a lot of things. So, if any of you like to disagree or add anything to my points, feel free to engage ^^

[project-sekai-facts]

out of curiosity, which parts/episodes have the bad localizationing for phoenix? I'm probably going to read the official translation on sekai.best since I don't like using youtube and i wanna know what to expect

here's my main issues with it in brief for now, but i'll probably do a longer post on the topic of ensekai's translations later

Rui: I guess this is what you want to do

first off from chapter 7, rui's observation of Tsukasa's breakdown. this is just weirdly casual and honestly ooc for Rui. as a director, he's observant, and he's trying to understand what tsukasa's going through and what he's trying to do. The fan translation i linked puts this as "As I thought, this is what you're going for", which is far better.

Rui: We should let Tsukasa be right now...

also from chapter 7 literally 4 lines later. while at first this might not seem that bad, and is fitting with the context, i much prefer the fan TL version which puts this as "This is something that Tsukasa needs". Like do you get how much the word "needs" changes this. "We should let him be" is kinda broad all things considered. Like it could mean he needs it, but it could also mean that someone on tiktok or twitter will probably misinterpret it as wandasho not knowing what to do or some other angsty thing like them not being good friends i dunno

Tsukasa: It's because "I" am not strong enough...

Now this. This is a good line. Note the quotations around I. This is very important to Tsukasa's arc in this event of understanding the role of Rio and improving his acting. Note that here, the pronoun used is boku, when Tsukasa uses ore. Boku, or "I" here, refers to Rio, as in, Tsukasa is thinking as Rio. EN drops the quotations completely and translates it flatly as "because i'm powerless". He refers to himself in first person while thinking as Rio for the rest of the scene on EN though, so hopefully there won't be too many misinterpretations (but. you probably know what I'm vagueing about). Pronouns aren't used as frequently in japanese as in english so this is actually the first time he uses boku in this scene, hence the quotes. This is more nitpicky it's just something I thought was pretty cool.

Rui: Did you see that phoenix you were talking about?

one last Rui quote (rui im sorry ensekai can't translate you well). wow 3 out of four quotes here are rui in chapter 7 damn. anyway. the fan translation of this is "Have you finally found your Phoenix" which is SO much better with the context of the rest of the story. tsukasa decides that he needs to "find his phoenix" in order to nail the role, and this is correctly translated aside from this one line, which is arguably one of the most important uses of it. it's not just any phoenix, it's tsukasa's. his personal one, like a resolve of sorts. once again they made rui far too casual and he doesn't sound right.

yeah as i said i'll do something better another time, but he's my main nitpicks and complaints.

[feedthefandomfest]

I have a question because I want to comment but I feel nervous. It is very foolish but it is seriously something that prevents me from commenting-

So English is not my first language and I suffer from a disease known as 'fuck you all English leaves your brain when you tap on the comment box'. Like I'm fluent enough to write a fic but the comments break me and I can only do basic 'subject verb complement' and forget half my vocabulary because I'm so nervous, so it often ends up being broken English.

I back out of posting comments except 'i love this this is amazing thank you for writing I love it' because I'm too scared the author will take it badly ? Like, what if they find it annoying ? What if they believe I think they write bad English and I'm mocking them and they don't want me to ever read their works ever again ?

Anyways, my question is : Does it actually bother anyone to receive broken English comments? Do people find it annoying ?

I would never be annoyed by such a thing and I'm positive that's true of others as well. On the contrary, it kinda blows my mind whenever I stop to think about how members of fandom for whom English is not their first language are so often working in translation. Like the trickiest barrier I have to contend with when writing anything is sleep deprivation and your average writer's block 😅 so to imagine also rendering those words in a different language?? 🫠

To varying degrees, the tragic disease of "empty comment box = empty brain" can strike anyone, regardless of language. On the plus side, some of the tricks to break through the blankness are also broadly applicable, such as

drawing from a list of sentence starters like the ones offered here or here (the beginner bingo card also has similar tasks!!)

installing this handy script that generates a positive comment on demand, which you can modify or expand on as needed

using the floating comment box to track moments or quotes you want to compliment specifically, even with just a string of emojis 💕💕💕

I can recall a couple comments I've gotten where the person apologized or gave a sort of disclaimer that English wasn't their first language, and honestly it just made me even more appreciative of the comment? Because there are so many reasons that a reader doesn't comment, and a language barrier is the most understandable!! And yet here they are, making me smile with their words. I always want to reassure them in my reply that an apology/disclaimer isn't necessary, but I don't always know how. (And there's nothing wrong with acknowledging something you're self-conscious about, after all.)

The concept of "broken English" has also got me thinking, though... And since it turned into a bit of an essay I'll leave it under the cut. 💛

Because the term "broken English" has a lot to unpack, seeing as it's always unfairly positioned those who speak English as a second language imperfectly as lesser (broken = defective). And that strikes me as a bit ironic, considering the degree to which English is a Frankenstein's monster of a language—this conglomeration of every language it encounters and subsumes. In that sense, English itself is a broken language? Or rather the shards of numerous languages held together with duct tape and gum and a whiff of imperialism. Its usage is always in flux, always evolving as speakers adapt it to new circumstances, and those adaptations become dialects in and of themselves. There is no one English language.

I teach high schoolers, and I'm consistently struck by the growing chasm between the kinds of English I can speak and the kinds of English they can speak. And technically my job is to train them in how to use American Standard English and read literature written in American Standard English, but really I find that pretty limiting.

Take the tone of this response, for instance! The more I've leaned toward trying to articulate these complicated issues of language, the more formal my speech has become. Contrast that with the first paragraph, where I'm trying to get across this awkward earnest admiration for the extra effort required of some fans just to engage in fandom, and so I ended up using more casual phrasing and emojis in a way that (hopefully) conveys a certain warmth and self-deprecating humor and whatnot.

If I were to leave a comment on a fic that blew me away, left me in a state of awe or delight or anguish—just a puddle on the floor—I'd find American Standard English quite lacking. Downright restrictive. The unique jumbled babble of fandom-speak functions on breaking the standard rules in order to evoke an intensity of emotion that meets the demands of the moment.

Another thing about commenters who really commit to throwing the rules out the window in favor of vibes is that I get such a strong sense of personality beaming through. A distinct voice that's generated, an intense impression of there being an individual on the other side with a particular shape. And there's something delightful about that.

...I suppose this is all a very roundabout way of saying that if there's anywhere to just unleash, vocab and mechanics be damned, where it's more than okay to string together whatever words you can in service of how you're feeling, it's the AO3 comment box. 💛

[dangermousie]

This broke my heart. This is honestly where I started ugly-crying. As you can probably tell by my viewing habits, an angst junkie like myself has a super high tolerance for this sort of thing, but I think what got me was that they gave up, they were out, they were finally going to be free and happy and then...

Jialuo has utterly lost it - when I commented that he was Qing Javert, I was more accurate than I thought. And the thing is, perhaps Bufan couldn't have won against the squad with guns, but if he wasn't badly wounded and had his weapon, maybe there was a small chance. But as is, there is none, and Jialuo's crowning achievement ends up being gunning down an unarmed, severely injured man and a woman whose only crime was refusing to leave his side.

Huo Qin tries to explain that Bufan didn't do any of the murders himself etc but Jialuo's has lost his marbles so much they are in Australia somewhere and is of course not listening.

When she kneels I about lost it and the way Bufan kneels to lift her up because he won't have her kneel and also he knows it's pointless (side note - it kills me that from the moment he gave up on the sect, he's been calling her by her name, the way he didn't do the entire drama because of their respective positions.)

The way he wants to save her! He's accepted he's dead but he wants her to live.

Except Jialuo is all "sure fine if she walks away, if not it's an executable offense so I am gonna kill her too." Man is Javerting to his full capacity.

Indeed.

But she won't leave him.

The way he just walks away and Bufan tries the last ditch effort to have her leave.

And he finally accepts...

But the way he still tries to cover her tho it's futile...

And we end on shots and birds flying...

The overlap between people who've watched this drama and read Herve Bazin's Un feu dévore un autre feu is solely me but this made me remember Manuel and Maria's execution scene that ends that novel - the woman refusing to leave the man about to be executed despite his pleas and the soldiers going oh well then we will kill them both and the birds. I don't read French and can't find the quote in French anyway, but this is how the novel ends in Russian translation:

— Нет! — кричит Мануэль.

Она подъезжает, соскакивает на ходу, велосипед ударяется о ствол дерева, и еще долго вертится вхолостую колесо и слышится заунывная песенка втулки. Я подарил тебе жизнь, ты даришь мне свою смерть — какая нелепица! Сделать все, чтобы этого избежать, и по странному стечению обстоятельств познать всю полноту счастья, познать минуту, ради которой стоило жить, и сознавать, что она последняя, — какая нелепица! Но это прекрасно! Мария лишь мимоходом бросила безразличный взгляд на машину. Она села на край скамейки, взяла руку Мануэля.

— Приподними меня, если можешь, — шепчет он.

Ветер, воспользовавшись долгим молчанием людей, отгоняет подальше пыль. Сержант звонит еще раз, рапортует. Наконец, откашлявшись, говорит хрипло:

— Вы меня как следует поняли? Они пытаются бежать. Мы вынуждены применить оружие.

— А девчонка? — спрашивает шофер.

— Что поделать! Она его сообщница, а мертвые молчат. Даже женщины.

Мануэль поднялся. Мария плечом подпирает его, чтобы он снова не упал. Щека к щеке, они закрывают глаза: то, что происходит перед ними, обоих больше не интересует. Мария так и не произнесла ни слова, только губы ее шевелятся. Сейчас из конца в конец площади прокатится эхо, кое-где задребезжат оконные стекла, и птицы вновь взовьются в серое предрассветное небо, продырявленное чередой вспышек.

That novel was one of formative novels of my teen years so this scene in the drama just went straight to my id in the most eviscerating way.

[coconox]

certified delulu post about nocti

a.n. this'll be a compilation of thoughts from my initial reactions to sands of wrath to his voicelines to literally everything about him. THIS WILL HEAVILY BE A NOCTI X SKK!READER KIND OF THING because i'm all in for a lil self insert to feed my delulu visions. also as a heads up i did read the story using google translate so if i quote anything it's basically what google translate told me but i edited it to make some grammatical sense. and yes there will be spoilers

a lot of context will be left out so if you don't wanna be confused by names check out this lore doc that gives a summary of er-5 or pgr lore in general, this post just talks about er-5 lol

EXHIBIT A: TRIGUN AU

have you seen trigun (ESPECIALLY trimax) cause if you have this makes so much more sense

noctis is vash and nigel is knives

both are brothers and have almost opposite ideologies

i did think of wolfwood and livio as another option but nigel does fit a bit closer to resembling knives

VASHWOOD (where nocti is vash and skk is ww (or the other way round, honestly either still works)

nocti: but you must promise me that you won’t die before i come back! no…. you’re not allowed to die even after i come back! i will definitely find a way to save you!

skk: of course, partner…..

this had me in TEARS I WAS NOT READY

nocti fist bumping you just made me think of this scene with vash and meryl

HE ALSO CALLS YOU PARTNER AS HE FIST BUMPS YOU the way i had this realization so late into writing all this

sands of wrath setting literally looks like a place you’d find in no man’s land

nocti’s voiceline telling you to smile more, similar to ww telling vash to smile more (and i mean their genuine smile, not the fake one they use in front of people)

EXHIBIT B: NOCTI AND SKK ARE MARRIED

they are married and own a bar together hear me out—

you two enter a town in which neither of you are welcome because you’re both from babylonia, the mayor decides to put you two in a hotel room till the harvest festival is over

you two are in separate beds, but neither of you can sleep, so you two do what any pair of roommates would do—

—have a 6 hr "light conversation" :D

first actual convo with nocti, you both take turns to ask questions about why they’re here, what’s going on, etc

nocti asks why you trust him so easily, you respond with “it’s intuition” which is a response nocti seemed to like

you also state how you hope he returns to cerberus and fall asleep. nocti in a way states he also wishes to go back to cerberus and sleeps as well

at some point nocti leaves the hotel room to find demont, who is the reason you two ended up working together in the first place, but there was an attack by hetero creatures and nocti swiftly got rid of them

after talking to the mayor, max, about wanting to be just a resident in town, he takes you to a bar, in which that’s where you find nocti

ya know he could’ve talked about ANYTHING and his drunk ass decided to talk about HOW HE PROTECTED YOU??? COINCIDENCE??? I THINK NOT

you find nocti and he offers his hand out to you to dance with him, you reluctantly agreed and you two end up break dancing together

this was him proposing to you i’m just sayin—

the night passes and you two begin living your lives as residents of new oakley

when he first calls you partner, it was originally solely because temporarily they’re no longer considered members of babylonia, and so to fit in with the whole wild west type style, nocti refers to you as “partner” and you agree to do the same to him

first time it’s used outside your interaction with him was when nocti has small talk with vann

vann: you’ll only obey orders from that commandant, right? these are the rules of the sky garden

nocti: i don’t listen to anyone’s orders, but if it’s a request from my partner, that’s a different matter

NOCTI WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT LIKE WE’RE ROMANTICALLY PARTNERS?????

this isn’t the first time he does something like that he’s very consistent about it

truly a devoted man

also “MY partner” ????? he also pretty much refers to you as his partner throughout the whole story i got whiplashed when we were back to being called skk in his affection story

after you and nocti find demont there’s a small good cop bad cop scene (which i found hilarious), but at the end demont couldn’t reveal much vital information due to dying from poison

nocti realizes this poison is something only nigel can control, and stormed out into the center of town in a fit of rage trying to find nigel

calming him down and telling him to retreat to not make a big scene was practically impossible, that is till you shout “trust me— partner!!” and nocti finally calms down and retreats

HELLO??? CALLING HIS NAME HE DIDN'T BAT AN EYE BUT BEING CALLED PARTNER MADE HIM ACTUALLY LISTEN??

i'm absolutely speechless

you two cook up a plan to find out what’s really going on +bonus hand holding at the end

your part was to just do your job as a bartender while nocti handles the investigating, and eventually nigel shows up

nigel asks what’s the difference between a human and a construct, you respond in a way a bartender would explain it, but nigel wants an answer from you as a commandant rather than a bartender

he ends up poisoning you and leaves, nocti arrives a little while later after discovering what the plan is for this town in the next few days

i remembered that before we split up i told him not to be reckless, but in the end i was the one that was careless and ended up in this miserable condition. i no longer had the strength to stand, so i could only slide down to the edge of the bar. at the beginning, i said big words that would make nocti return to cerberus in an honored manner… i didn’t expect to be the one to make him sad for his companions

skk: i'm sorry…. nocti….

nocti: HEY! don’t say such depressing things to me so quickly

nocti then enters a panicked state of not knowing what to do cause skk is poisoned and there's no known cure for it

nocti gritted his teeth. he didn't even know how to give first aid. he regretted not learning more about first aid from vera before

GOT ME SOBBING, EMOTIONALLY DAMAGED, SHATTERED INTO PIECES

you tell nocti to go help the mayor cause if the mayor dies the town will fall

nocti is in pure disbelief that at a time like this you're more worried about someone else and he refused to leave you here

after some reassuring nocti goes ahead and takes care of what's going on in town and immediately after checks if you’re still ok

he hears a painful scream in his communication device and he SPRINTS back to where you are and finds both vera and 21 there attempting to take care of you

21 comments on how nocti is a lot more powerful ITS BECAUSE HIS LOVER IS DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE WANTS TO SAVE THEM BUT DOESN'T KNOW HOW

there’s an encounter with the purifying force, wanting nocti dead since they believe he’s the cause of their aircraft crashing

you tell them that it isn’t his fault and after essentially a stare down between the purifying force and cerberus, the purifying force leaves you all alone since they trust you (thank the overlords for you working with them before and gaining a good work relationship)

you, cerberus, max, and vann think of a plan on what to do next now that you all know where nigel might be located

nocti will go and fight nigel alone since it’s the reason he even came here in the first place while the rest defend the town

you establish a m.i.n.d. connection with nocti, which in turn gives him the poison as well since you’re basically almost a walking corpse at this point

the fact that nocti, with NO hesitation, established a connection with you makes it LOUD AND CLEAR that he will stick with you no matter what even if it leads to his death

cue another hand holding scene, and nocti leaves

vera and 21 get very VERY concerned over your health, yet you’re still adamant about keeping the connection with nocti

21: they want to keep a deep m.i.n.d connection w nocti

vera: DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! if you're deeply connected, your consciousness will be completely bound to him…. if he dies, you also die

skk: he… needs….. me…..

this is LITERALLY a moment where one cares more about their partner THAN THEIR OWN WELL-BEING ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

transitioning over to nocti’s side, he finally confronts nigel

nigel mentions that in order to cure the commandant he needs to be killed, but just HEARING that name come out of his mouth made nocti more full of rage than he’s ever had

this part alone SCREAMED nocti being like "you do NOT have the right to say my partner's name after what you did to them, i am no longer doing this for myself, i'm doing this FOR THEM"

so anyways nocti gets his ass beat 💀💀, nigel lecturing him that he’s still confused and is only driven by anger

the cutscene if you wanna watch it

"commandant… you must be disappointed with me…. damn it… are you mad at me? haha.. me too…. leave everything to me from now on. let’s make that bastard taste our true wrath, partner..."

“i can’t die here yet…. my partner is still waiting for me to come back.”

similar to 21's comment earlier, nigel notices how nocti's steps aren't noisy and chaotic anymore, but steady, firm, and powerful now BECAUSE HIS PARTNER IS ROOTING FOR HIM TO WIN AND HE NEEDED THAT BOOST OF ENCOURAGEMENT... THAT'S WHY YOU WERE SO ADAMANT WITH KEEPING A M.I.N.D. CONNECTION WITH NOCTI

this whole fight scene had me SCREAMING

“my partner and i will use all our strength… to beat you to pieces”

if you still haven’t gotten it DO YOU SEE IT NOW??? HIS MAN IS FULLY DRIVEN TO HIS FULL POTENTIAL BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO.. NO... NEEDS TO COME BACK TO YOU

nocti wins and nigel essentially retreats but with a new found respect for his brother

but before he retreats he asks nocti the same question he asked you: what’s the difference between humans and constructs

he gives his own answer and guesses yours (since he was rather confident enough with knowing a lot on how you think) and it boils down to them having the same answer but different font

the place nocti and nigel were fighting in collapses, forcing nocti to leave and never see nigel again

you and nocti are back in the hotel room recovering, and a few locals come in to beg nocti to stay and not go back to babylonia

“but i made a promise with my partner, i want to return to cerberus in a dignified manner…”

after more silly banter everyone leaves you and nocti alone to rest, but neither of you can sleep

nocti brings up the question nigel asked him, and you gave him your actual answer, which is pretty close to what he guessed

nocti: haha… just as i thought, i know you better

skk: but maybe i know you better. for example, what you look like when you’re drunk

nocti: WHAT?! DID I DO ANYTHING WEIRD WHEN I WAS DRUNK???

skk: forget it, stop talking, i’m sleepy

nocti: HEY!! TELL ME NOW!!!!

he’s a literal blushing mess after you told him you saw him drunk

your honor this is literally a newly wed couple

gotta of course mention his affection story so read here for a summary of that as well

the way he ONLY uses the best quality and probably most expensive ingredients to make your food

nocti giving a damn about this whole pancake thing only because YOU care

LIKE HE'S PUTTING HIS PREFERENCES ASIDE TO MAKE YOU HAPPY

MORE HAND HOLDINGGG this time in the form of you helping him mold the pancake shape +bonus nocti blushing

both literally wanting to do the whole working at a bar thing together again in the future that is like PEAK ENDGAME for their marriage

+bonus boss being supportive and naming the new drink and dish that was made after you and nocti

the whole affection story just very clearly and vividly plays out nocti and skk working together flawlessly at the bar like their chemistry was SO GOOD !!!!

very sorry for any grammar errors i'm very hyperfixated on him rn and i needed to scream about it somewhere

anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk i will now think of nocti in a wedding dress /hj

[picturemecountingcards]

Do you have any Russian cartoons/series/youtube series you would recommend?

Sure thing!! Although I probably won't be able to find subtitles rn, at least not from my phone, sorry :( I'll link to the videos themselves though.

Not recommending metal family, since you're already on that, but just wanted to mention it bc yk. can't not

Anyway:

1. Смешарики

It's a kids show that gets very existential on a regular basis, but still manages to be goofy and fun for the most part (the passage of time and the melancholy associated with it is a pretty prominent theme). It's got great songs and the writing is genuinely really good. It's also given me some bonkers echolalia, thank god everyone around me understands what i'm quoting

Linking season 1, but the rest are available on the same site. There is an english dub and a german dub somewhere on youtube, but if you're able to find subtitles, I obviously recommend that

2. Падал прошлогодний снег

Not technically Russian, but Soviet, but it's my entire childhood, so i can't not mention it. Once again, fatal echolalia levels. Claymation, very cool looking and a fun ride with quiet existential moments near the end. I might be noticing a theme.

It's a short film, not a series, but i think it fits under the definition of a cartoon? I... might not know the exact definition of cartoons, actually, oops

3. Слова-паразиты

Ok, this one's less of a cartoon, more of a music video, BUT. It was featured in a pretty big indie animation festival when it came out. The band also played there and i'm so so bummed that i couldn't go. This one's probably easier translation vise, since all you need is the song translation

4. Приключения Шерлока Холмса и доктора Ватсона

If you haven't seen the Soviet adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, today's your lucky day, it's fully on youtube with English subs (linked above). The best existing adaptation imho, and since it's Holmes, it's obviously very gay :)

5. Ok, this one is more of a fringe suggestion, since they're movies, but I've been really into Майор Гром lately. They're based on comics that I haven't read yet, but I know that once I get around to them, I'll hyperfixate immediately. Both the comics and the movies are extremely gay, I'm honestly not sure how the fuck they're getting away with it. I'm not gonna link them here bc I really want you to see the extended version of the first one (it's gayer. that's the only difference), but i don't think i can find it from my phone, so if you're interested, please dm me, and I'll send you the links from the puter this evening (and maybe infodump a liiiittle bit. with pictures of fanart i bought).

6. Алиса в стране чудес and Алиса в зазеркалье

The Soviet cartoon adaptation of Alice in wonderland, it's trippy and really really fun, the animation looks cool as hell. Also, Alice's design is pretty close to Lewis Carroll's illustrations!

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

Hey I'm really confused about this and thought maybe you'd have the answer?

In the relationship charts Gonta says—Quote—"I didn't want to!" To Maki of all people

The two hardly interact and his wording implies he did something bad that someone influenced or made him do to her(And it's in first person,,,)

His words to/about everyone else is about what he thinks of them(Or in few cases, Defending himself; Like to Tenko he reminds her that he's a gentleman)

Any clue what this means since you seem to know alot about Gonta?

Okay, I looked into this because I honestly have not looked at the artbook relationship charts too much

As far as I'm aware, there aren't any official translations of the artbook. I lost it now, but I found the version of Maki's relationship chart that you were looking at (with Gonta saying this), and some of the other's reactions were also kind of weirdly translated. I managed to find a different one which I saved:

(Sorry that the image quality so low! In case you can't read it, Gonta's says "Gonta didn't do anything!")

This translation seems more accurate to me, and I even asked my friend who has a copy of the artbook to send me a picture of it in Japanese:

Now my Japanese isn't Good but I do recognize the verb and did some quick googling vis a vis verb conjugations and I don't think it could translate to "I didn't want to!" So I think the translation of "Gonta didn't do anything!" is probably more accurate

In that case, I think what Gonta means here is that Maki is kinda cold to him, and he can't figure out why. Of course, she's just kind of that way with almost everyone in the part of the game that Gonta's around (Definitely on first impressions) but Gonta might have thought he did something wrong to make her act that way with him.

Those are just my thoughts anyway haha hope this helps!!

[wildflowerteas]

hella has officially joined the tsp book club! part 2 of our reactions pending lmao those were some very intense hours

if this was an irl socratic circle i would pay to be a fly on the wall. I FUCKED UP BY ADDING TWO MARGARETS THATS MY BAD. they'll be distinguished in upcoming dialogue. Brown goes by 'Maggie' n_n. Precinct 1 breakroom has seen some things. Also, yes! The DA prosecutes for the state! In a civil dispute, it's person to person going before a judge. But in criminal cases, the government is trying to put you away, not receive money/fair compensation for damages, so the DA does that work.

Your flabbers will be gasted 😭 might need to start using that.

BEAST tag is there for a reason! I only tagged it 'beast skk' so that people wouldn't expect the same dynamics or roles for the other characters ( like akutagawa sibling dynamic ), but of course, if skk is beast-au inspired it would naturally affect a few of the characters closest to them as well. Also, Skk is slowly but surely devolving into the aesthetic of their BEAST counterparts. Dazai hasn't been written in that brown coat for a good while now. The white suit at the New Year's party was also a deliberate choice.

never seen or read All my Sons all the way through, but i've encounted this quote in the wild:

“...he'll come back. We all come back, Kate. These private little revolutions always die. The compromise is always made. In a peculiar way. Frank is right-- every man does have a star. The star of one's honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it's out it never lights again. I don't think he went very far. He probably just wanted to be alone to watch his star go out.”

---and i absolutely loved it and have been influenced by it.

i would be sat for that essay honestly.

. . . yes. it's the same diner. implied only, but i do have art in the drafts of skk on a case-date of milkshakes and files with skk in the same seats to parallel it.

Kouyou's assimilation!!!!! I can't believe Rori noticed that!! yes, she's almost always mentioned in a kimono, tying an obi, or wearing her haori, and even needed Chuuya to translate for her during their first years together. but she's changing. super excited to introduce the Kouyou of the present ( yes, she's alive ).

Agatha Christie was. self indulgent.

Yep! Jouno! 😭 The hunting dogs have been in my notes-app plot web since the very beginning when I decided to write tachihara into this. Since I'm translating the insane post-war politics of canon BSD into this au, they were naturally going to find themselves written into it.

TV girl .. . save me TV girl.... taking what's not yours is tsp skk i will be adding this to my on-loop writing roster.

THE JOUNO/DAZAI DIALOGUE HELLA 😭 I ACTUALLY CHOKED.

Unlike canon, TSP fyodor would, in fact die if you shot him. Not that I'm planning on writing that . . .

Jouno and Chuuya was lovely to write. They will be interacting again, unfortunately, so expect some introductions to the other members of the hunting dogs as well.

Dazai in the spotlight for once! Now he knows what it's like to be under the stagelight with Chuuya in the audience.

Kousano! Yeah that ship is preparing to set sail. Whether it's still afloat is the question. A question that hasn't been answered by Miss Medical Examiner's presence in the 1978 timeline. Yet.

[true-blue-sonic]

Does Silver ever apologize for anything?

There is a couple of times, if I am not mistaken. I am certain I won't get all of them down, but I'm going to dive into the scripts of Silver's story in '06, Rivals 1 and 2, Forces, Runners, and TSR, as well as an instance I happen to remember from a Sonic Channel story. I'll either search for Silver's name if he doesn't show up a lot, or keywords "sorry", "excuse" and "apolog*". And that gave me a few instances:

In Rivals 1, specifically Shadow's story, in Death Yard Zone act 1, we get:

Eggman: Hoh ho ho! Are the two of you having fun? Shadow: Doctor! Good timing. I can hear everything I want straight from the Doctor himself! Silver: Sorry, but he's my target! I can't let you through!

However, this is only Shadow's story: in Silver's story, it instead goes like:

Eggman: Hoh ho ho! Are you two having fun? Silver: Eggman?! This ends now! I'm going to expose you for who you really are, no matter what it takes! Shadow: No! The Doctor's mine! Stay out of my way!

That is always the issue with stories from different perspectives: which one is the correct one?

In Rivals 2, the boss level of Mystic Haunt Zone, Silver's story, gives us:

Eggman Nega: Heh! Silver... you're too late! Shadow: You're Eggman Nega! You tricked me! Now you'll pay for it! Silver: Sorry, Shadow, but this guy's mine!

Which then does not show up in Shadow's story, haha.

Also, I recalled an instance from Sonic Channel 2021, where a Soleannan bridge collapses and Silver saves the day with his PK. The translation gives the following:

Feeling a presence approaching behind him, Sonic called out in a mischievous tone without looking back. “Hey, Silver. Is this how everyone greets each other in the future?” “Heheh, my bad. If I don’t do that, I won’t be able to stop you.”

And:

What on earth did Silver want to “stop” Sonic for? After a few seconds of silence, Silver scratches his head and bows his head slightly. “Let me apologize again. I’m sorry. Actually, I need a favor from you.”

...And honestly, this is all I found! Keep in mind I am only looking at the story scripts, so not quotes spoken in the games itself, as I do not have those all written out reliably. And I also skimmed over it more than giving everything a full read plus used keywords to find specific terms, so I could have missed instances. But I think it is clear Silver rarely apologises. He does have moments where he's a bit more vulnerable, like in Runners where Blaze can free herself without his help ("Whoa! That was pretty cool! I guess you didn't need my help, then…") or their conversation in TSR:

Blaze: What is going on with you, Silver? I can tell something is on your mind. Silver: I'm fine. It's just, something bad is gonna happen. I can't explain it. I just feel it. Blaze: Have your travels through time given you precognition? Silver: I don't know. Maybe they have. Or maybe I'm just thinking too much. Blaze: Either way, I trust you. We will be ready.

But genuine apologies for his rude behaviour and such? Seem to be nope and basically non-existent, haha. Silver doesn't ever seem to feel bad about his snappiness, or at least he doesn't apologise for it. When he's in a good mood and knows there's someone whose help he needs, like Sonic's in the Sonic Channel story, I figure he might present himself as a bit more amiable... but otherwise, he's blunt and to-the-point as can be, with apparently zero concern for his rudeness. And in the Rivals games, he only seems to apologise for taking the enemy away from Shadow and defeating it by himself, so I doubt he's actually particularly sorry.

So overall, I think we can conclude Silver doesn't really apologise much, if at all. But if I missed any instances, please let me know! I feel like I must have, for example in statements during gameplay.

[neristudy]

100 day of learning German: 2/100

Well, today was also not a really productive day. But every step is a nice step, haha. Also, now i will always point out the app that i use, just in case someone wants go give it a try as well! So, today:

> I played Gothic 4 Arcania, since honestly, I really love the game and the fact that it was, unlike Stardew Valley, created in German. So the Deutsch voice overs and text is really good, and do not suffer from Translate Syndrom (you know what I mean, when the original is obviosly in eng, and with translations they don't use fem ending in proffesions, etc. So frustrating sometimes!).

> I used Clozemaster in a way that prepares me to my future exam. In which way, you may ask? You see, in free version of Clozemaster, you can (for 1 lesson, but honestly it is quite enough for me) let 10 random quotes be played to you, and I use them as a training to understand stuff by hearing. Basically, i let it play, then write what i think i am hearing, and then check it out then and there with red pen. As you can see, i still have a lot to learn, haha. > I played a lesson in Babbel, as one does. And honestly, i find it quite interesting that Babbel is actually really close to the way we learning topics in my course. Useful! > I used Tutor Lily for a bit of a chat, as I am honestly still not quite comfortable in speaking in German to other ppl. It's an AI chatbot, and it has some really good questions on topics that i can then write and prepare the answers to when my exams will come. Also haha, i think i managed to catch a cold or something, i feel totaly drained and tired. Will do my homework for course tomorrow, hope i'll feel better then (. ͡ಥ ㅅ ͡ಥ.)

[kangpingyu]

Kang Hyungu really took one look at Jin Yonghoon and said I want this man to be the father of my children: A ONEWE means family shitpost, yongkang edition (more nonsense under the cut)

Honestly if you haven't, you should absolutely check out the whole video this gifset is from, but here's a 15 sec clip from the beginning of the video, where Hyungu & Yonghoon say they would want Giuk to be their son:

I decided to make this post because I came across this pic on twitter again and got emotional about the way Hyungu was looking at Yonghoon, like wtf hyungu what is that fondness on ur face. gross.

NOTE: the original pic comes from Yonghoon's aunt's insta (which I assume is public); I don't know her handle and don't want to, so you won't find it here. Sun emoji added bc I don't want to be spreading the kid's face around either :)

ANYWAY

then i started thinking about the rare times we've gotten to read / hear Hyungu talk about what a great hyung / leader he thinks Yonghoon is, and since sometimes new fans aren't always aware that Hyungu used to be the leader of MAS 0094 before they became ONEWE or why leadership was transferred to Yonghoon, I'm just adding a couple sources here where Hyungu does talk the things he admires about Yonghoon!!

This quote from Hyungu about Yonghoon comes from an olddddd article on MAS 0094, translated by studioweus here on tumblr. (check out the studioweus YT channel as well for amazingly subbed ONEWE / MAS content ^.^)

And a bit more recently we got this little blip from Hyungu in the ONEWE Defeat class president Yonghoon special video

BONUS: YH teasing / calling out Hyungu for being too sentimental

Lastly, even tho it's a bit silly, here's the clip where Hyungu says that knowing Yonghoon is as lucky as winning the lottery and also talks a bit more about how YH is a good hyung 🥹 (video / transl. cr tomoove on YT)

In conclusion, YongKang are married with kids. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[angria]

P (my new boss who was also just the previous interim rector at St. P's) wants to meet with me today to "get to know me." Which immediately raised flags for me. a) He already knows me from St. P's and b) there is nothing beyond my resume that you need to know about me in a professional setting. So what more do you want to know?

I talked to EM (youth minister) about his request to see if this was a normal ask from him. He looked at me confused and said he didn't do that while at St. P's. If anything, he left the staff alone. Idk...maybe because he is in a different role, both at spc and in relation to me? Honestly, he probably will start boasting about himself the minute the meeting begins, knowing him. He never asks how someone is doing or actually inquires about them.

Kind of got long, going off on a rant about him and his Catholic theology as well as me nerding out on a Gospel passage...CW for ableism and talk of sin/unworthiness

It's just weird. He is your stereotypical bumbling academic (at least the ones I encountered in Theology) who has zero social skills or tact. And repeatedly makes inappropriate comments about mental health...like how addiction "ruins" marriages more than infidelity ever does or blaming people for depression....what the actual fuck?! The bizarre thing is he is an Episcopal priest. Theologically and socially, he is straight up Catholic. There is a reason I left Catholicism because I don't want to hear ableist, stigmatizing shit like that, how my sin is the cause for my mental illness or how unworthy I am in relation to God.

The Catholic Mass recites, every Sunday, during the Eucharist "I am unworthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the Word and my soul shall be healed." What I find hilarious is this comes from the passage about the Centurion asking Jesus to heal his servant, which appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (I'm focusing on Mt 8:5-13). The Greek word for "servant" is actually "friend" (or even "beloved"), implying a relationship (also can be translated as "child" but must be based on context). It is theorized the soldier and his male "friend" were in a same-sex relationship, but that's a whole other discussion. The Catholic response in Mass quotes the Centurion's wording to Jesus. Jesus recognizes both Centurion and servant as Gentiles (non-Jews), who at that point in Mt were outside Jesus' ministry. Yet, the Centurion still calls him "Lord," describing how he obeys the chain of command as a soldier, thus acknowledging his position in relation to God's authority. All of this to say, the Centurion calls himself unworthy, as both a Gentile and solider, and acknowledges Jesus' authority out of fear of rejection in his request to heal his male servant (friend/beloved). Does Jesus deny him? No. He validates his faith and heals the servant in that moment.

Per usual, the Catholic understanding fails to acknowledge this context (as majority Catholics view this passage as evidence of human unworthiness and undeserving-ness, in my experience). The Centurion calls himself unworthy, not because God sees him as unworthy. The servant is healed, no questions asked. A biblical healing story that shows how there are no prerequisites or conditions to His love and healing.

So no, I don't want to hear that unworthy shit anymore. Also the reason I couldn't stand P at St. P's. He was spouting off about unworthiness to me just this past Friday. Stop, I don't care anymore. Beyond the fact, I already know the theology you arrogant ass. You know damn well I have two degrees in this and taught it.

[quinloki]

Hihi, just curious but do you have any advice on writing dialogue in general??

I'll do my best!

First and foremost, while writing often wants/needs/should/is expected to feel "formal" and "proper", dialogue does NOT have to follow this rule.

People don't normally speak properly. Native speakers can have word combinations that only make sense locally - and in some cases as an author you have to be careful to avoid local idioms, unless you're utilizing them to set someone apart.

Read your dialogue out loud. You won't have to do this for forever, but doing it while you're first learning and writing dialogue helps limit the stilted feeling you can end up with.

Speech can be messy, it's okay to shake it up a little bit, just make sure you're not writing an accent or drawl with such accuracy that it's impossible to read it.

"That's not a bad plan, don't you know?" <- not wrong, but a little too formal for, say, a northern Minnesota accent.

"That's not a bad plan, don'tcha know?" <- closer, and honestly, good enough.

"Thass nodda bad plan, don'cha know?" <- phonetically accurate, but really hard to read.

Nothing will pull a reader out of a story more than needing to decipher a sentence. If someone has a unique dialect, you can write it out, but offer up an translation from another character, or provide the translation to the reader. You want to avoid leaving your audience in the dark 9 times out of 10.

I tend to write out some vocalizations in my stories - especially during spicy scenes, and I'll vary how I write out stammering too. I'm not 100% consistent with it, but it adds some flavor.

You can write it: "I c-can't do that!" (generally read as kuh-can't) "I ca-a-a-n't do that!" (generally read as kuh-aaah-n't (or kah-aaah-n't depending on your region))

Either is fine, but sometimes I just write it out "I kuh-can't do that!" if I want more of a stutter.

and "ca-ah-n't" or "ca~an't" or hell "ca-ahhh♥-n't!" if I'm going for more of moan, whimper, or whine.

I suppose that's another thing - have fun with your dialogue. Put a heart in there to emphasize someone's euphoria, add in a smiley face if you want. I wouldn't do it ALL the time, not even once a chapter, honestly, but sprinkled into 2-3 places over a longer fic, or once in a one-shot for a punch, works well.

And said.

Said.

Said.

Look.

If we're talking dialogue, we're talking dialogue markers.

For one, unless you're remembering something, or looking back on something, my advice is use "says" for starters, and I think that will help in finding other words to use as markers.

He hisses. She growls. They intone.

"Don't quote me!" He bellows.

is different from

"Don't quote me!" He calls out with a smile.

I didn't even have to mention how he's red in the face with anger in the first one. Bellows gets me there. Not all dialogue markers are straight forward though.

"cries" has a lot of flexibility depending on the situation.

Most people who purr in your ear are either being intimate with you, or offering you a deal you should probably turn down. Or worse, offering you a deal you can't afford to turn down.

But also? Said/Says isn't a dirty word. Don't fret so much that it stops you from writing. If you can't find a word that gives you the vibe you're looking for, say is fine. Say is GREAT for neutral.

A low stakes random conversation between friends? Say/said is going to be used a lot. Anything else carries some level of emotion, and if you're having a no-stakes conversation while you're, I don' know, peeling potatoes, then you'll use say.

Maybe the farm boy down the road has dusty brown hair like potato skins and you sigh wistfully thinking about him.

Sometimes it's not what you say, it's how you say it. ~_^

[affectionatelyrs]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank u to @read-and-write- @daisymae-12 @inexplicablymine @happiness-of-the-pursuit and @kiwiana-writes for the tags! :) I loved reading all of y'alls answers heheheheh

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

6 and i'm proud of each one even though this is somewhat of a small number

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

33,929

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Red, White and Royal Blue as of now - I would like to maybe write for Heartstopper one day but we shall see

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

You Came Out of Nowhere (And You Cut through All the Noise)

All of This Silence and Patience (Pining and Anticipation)

Far too Enamored to be Content Now

King of My Heart

Baby, You're Gonna Lose Your Own Game

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

YEAH ALWAYS! :) Comments are one of the top things that keep me motivated bc just knowing that ppl read my writing and like it enough to tell me? Yeah.... that's insane and they genuinely mean so much to me

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't think any of them do? If anything maybe my most recent one Help Me Hold On to You because it's more of a hopeful ending

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All of them do but a genuine happy ending that I adore and always makes me smile and giggle and kick my feet would have to be All of This Silence and Patience (Pining and Anticipation) (I honestly just love a great mutual pining reveal and the giddiness that comes with it)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No and thank goodness for that

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do indeed.... heheheheh - idk what to even say as for what kind but I will say that I am seemingly incapable of not adding a lot of feelings to my porn as of now (even my one quote unquote enemies fic had some internal what's going on feelings in there) y'all can ask @read-and-write-

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don't

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of but I think it would be so epic

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet but me and @inexplicablymine have a very silly idea in the works that i'm very excited for

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oh goodness I have hyper fixated on many but I would honestly say FirstPrince and Narlie are pretty close to one another

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don't want to say any of them bc I genuinely love all of the ideas that I have and I would love to see all of them get written

16. What are your writing strengths?

Prose and introspection seems to be my loves at the moment - I think I'm pretty great at writing very descriptively, using literary devices, and getting into character's minds

And feelings.... simp action for everyone all around (but I've also apparently made ppl cry so there's also that)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Maybe dialogue? I think it's just a part that I need to practice more so that I personally feel more confident in my ability to write it

Also (sorry if this sounds so faux interview of me) but I think I write too much sometimes maybe? Like I cannot find it in me to be succinct. I want to try to write fics that are more plot oriented and whatnot but I have to figure out how to not end up writing 8-10k for just one day/night first

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'm not the most confident in my abilities to do so but @read-and-write- has helped me whenever I wanted to include spanish in my fics

I also like the idea of pet names in other languages so I would incorporate those too

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Red, White and Royal Blue

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

If I include two.... no I didn't (yeah I did) but I love them for seperate reasons

You Came Out of Nowhere (And You Cut through All the Noise) - It's just so so so so special to me. It's so soft and sweet and fluffy and I love writing flustered Henry and confident and snarky Alex and mutual pining and boys hiding in a small closet together and and and and (and I'm writing a 3+1 companion fic for this one soon too which I'm so excited for)

Help Me Hold On to You - My most recent fic. Hurt/comfort, very cathartic to write, genuinely means so much to me, I got to write so prosey and use all the literary devices that I wanted to use (the bees.... the bees) and get into my Alex's mind more and many people have sent me love for it which makes me incredibly happy

I had a lot of ppl tag me in this so let's see I'm going to tag @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @welcometololaland @hypnostheory @sherryvalli @tintagel-or-cockleshells @littlemisskittentoes @14carrotghoul @cricketnationrise and anyone else who wants to do it