#i mean the first 'actually in quotation marks' dialogue

[smosh-fessions]

Most of the people who've written on AO3 for this fandom need a writing class and practice. Idk how it's been around so long and there are so few fics with good characterization, dialogue, and sentence structure. Of the twenty I've tried to read, I had to close out of seventeen solely due to dialogue structure and punctuation. If you want other folk to read it, please make sure it's actually legible.

You definitely could've worded this better, but I do have some writing advice I can share, at least.

🌟

Please learn how dialogue is supposed to be written before posting fic. It is so, so difficult to read when it isn't broken up properly. It's even harder to read when the author doesn't use punctuation correctly in relation to quotation marks.

Every time someone new speaks or the topic changes, you need a line break. You do not put two people speaking in the same paragraph.

It should not read like the following:

"Oh, good morning," said Janice as she spotted Kayla at the kitchen table. "Good morning," Kayla said back, giving a little wave.

It should read like this:

"Oh, good morning," said Janice as she spotted Kayla at the kitchen table.

"Good morning," Kayla said back, giving a little wave.

Punctuation also goes within quotation marks. If you are finishing it with a speech action, such as said/yelled/cried/shouted, if it doesn't end with an exclamation or question mark, you use a comma.

"Hello," Jennifer said.

If it ends without a qualifier, it uses normal punctuation and not a comma.

Jennifer nodded. "Hello."

You do not just go "Hey how are you doing" said Emily.

And do not make one giant block of text. Paragraph breaks are used when a topic changes or someone is speaking. Please also learn how commas are used. They are used for natural breaks in writing, such as right here in this sentence. They are not meant to be dropped around for emphasis. It halts the sentence and makes it very choppy and hard to follow.

As an author and as someone who took years of writing classes, I share what I write so that other people can also read it. To me it defeats the purpose of sharing your writing if it is nearly impossible to read. So many good stories go unread because the way that it's been written makes it nearly impossible to follow or comprehend.

And on self inserts, another writing tip:

Don't do the y/n thing. It deeply interrupts the flow. You can simply omit the name, or use something like: He called your name softly. "Are you awake?"  

Something like: "I love your e/c eyes." instead of saying "I love the beautiful color of your eyes." just has horrific pacing.

And don't be afraid to ask for a beat-reader, but make sure they know what they're doing first, and don't let them change anything permanently without your permission. You can work in a Google doc together for this. I edited someone's entire novel this way.

As the great Arin Hanson once said, "I ain't come out the fuckin' pussy paintin' Mozart." and he was right. These are learned skills that need practice. I've been writing since I was in second grade but that doesn't mean it was always good.

[pygmi-cygni]

WRITING TIP: grammar. good god.

just because it's tumblr doesn't mean you can throw grammar and spelling out the window.

COMMON MISTAKES:

Not indenting for paragraphs. I know tumblr doesn't have the 'tab' function, but at least do a paragraph break. When?

If someone new is speaking

If the setting/action has changed

a new thought

think of it like the camera angle changing in a movie. Would the camera break to another room? or would you watch five minutes of bouncing and spinning while the camera moves to the right location. (Hint: it's the first one)

Big blocks of text make me homicidal. Knock it off.

Apostrophes!

It's: it is

Its: belongs to 'it'. We think it can also be it's, but it's not (see what I did there huh huh hee hee hooo boy)

Possession: Jenna's, Jess', The Twins'. NOT Jennas', Jess's, The Twin's. If there is a group, put the apostrophe after the plural 's'. PLURALS DO NOT HAVE APOSTROPHES IF I SEE THAT AGAIN I WILL REVOKE YOUR LITERATURE LICENSE AAAAAH.

Punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. "Like this." "Not this".

Dialogue punctuation.

"If you're talking and something happens," she said, dodging past a car, "you'd punctuate with a comma and lowercase." See how I didn't capitalize the bold word, or put a period after 'happens?'

Don't do this:

"If you're talking and something happens." She said, dodging past a car, "You'd punctuate with a comma and lowercase."

bad. wrong. booo.

MISUSING SEMICOLONS.

; this baby. makes a cute face ;) but is also useful!

it explains a clause, like so (an excerpt from my drabble 'Deal With It, pls read xoxoxo): "it was cozy; you'd pulled a blanket over your head and your music played gently." I said something was cozy, and then I explained how after a semicolon. It's not just a fancy comma. Don't use it like a fancy comma. it's like commentary of the actual writing. Professional parentheses.

PARENTHESES.

Don't use them. It doesn't make any fucking sense. use a semicolon or a colon or a comma or hyphens or literally anything else. underscores, even. just not parentheses. it's so weird.

WRITING STYLISTICALLY

Bold, italic, all lowercase, that stuff. use it consistently! you don't have to follow the rules if you make it seem intentional and consistent.

Bold.

emphasis, intense, eye-catching. good for a groundbreaking revelation. not the strongest choice for anger. has a staccato feel to it. punctual, concise.

Italic

wistfulness, pause, contemplation, haunting emphasis. good for flashbacks, whispering, angsty emphasis. If you overuse it, it'll feel kinda weird. i know we love her but give her some space. Otherwise it feels like pumping the gas and slamming the breaks really fast during the sentence.

all lowercase.

she's cute, she's aesthetic, she can get confusing sometimes. we need Capitals so that we can identify the Important Things. names, places, proper nouns, I know you know 'em. if you wanna start ur sentence lowercase, okay sure, but it gets muddy if you do it everywhere.

ok byeee xox

[erraticprocrastinator]

More random writing advice: preventing yourself getting stuck

I want to preface this by saying that there's no way to fully prevent yourself getting stuck on a scene or an entire story. We're all prone to it, and sometimes you're unfortunately just going to have those WIPs that sit there for a while whilst you stare at them hopelessly. But I have noticed that since I started doing this it has happened to me way less often.

If you feel yourself getting stuck, never leave your WIP on a finished sentence. Always try and type the first word or two of the next one, even if you can't think of how to finish it or don't really know exactly what happens. If you know you want a character to do something, type a pronoun or their name. If you know it's going to be dialogue, type a quotation mark. Anything, just type it. When you come back to your WIP, sometimes seeing that start of the sentence can act as the prompt you need to get things moving again. Instead of coming back with absolutely no clue what happens next, you'll have the smallest of catalysts to spark you on. No, it doesn't always work, but it's definitely helped me in more than one situation where I know I would have otherwise gotten completely stuck, so it's worth giving a try.

*I'm not stuck on this one but here's an example of what I mean. I've actually gotten into the habit of doing it whenever I have to leave off on an unfinished paragraph and I swear it's helped.

[subskz]

do you have any tips on writing? i wanna start my own blog and start writing, but im not sure where to start and how to make it sound good.

ofc! i do wanna preface by saying i’m by no means an expert, and when it comes to writing (or any form of creative expression) a lot of it is very subjective, so there’s not really any set standard for your writing to be considered “good” outside of basic writing/grammar rules! that being said, here are some things i do!

first just a few basic rules:

1.) start a new paragraph each time someone different is speaking

e.g. “What’s that?” she asked, tilting her head in the direction of the other room.

He squinted, taking a moment to listen carefully before another dull thud echoed through the door. “Not sure,” he replied. “Let’s check it out.”

2.) when seperating dialogue, don’t capitalize dialogue tags, treat the text in quotations and outside of quotations as if they’re the same sentence. this is one i didn’t learn until quite recently actually…😭

e.g. “Oh my God,” she muttered. “Why are you so difficult?”

The exception to this would be if the dialogue is seperated by a different sentence!

e.g. “Oh my God.” She was clearly fed up, running a hand down her face with a huff. “Why are you so difficult?”

3.) when a character is quoting something within their dialogue, don’t use quotation marks (“”), use apostrophes (‘’)

e.g. “He told me “do what you want”, so I will.” (this is wrong)

“He told me ‘do what you want’, so I will.” (this is right!)

as for writing tips, these are just some things that i personally do when i write! they’re not necessarily the right way to go abt it, so only follow the advice you want! i also talked a bit abt motivation here

include actions w dialogue! this can keep things from getting monotonous (like a constant back and forth of “he said” “she said” with little in between) and can also emphasize what the characters are saying! for example, instead of writing “he replied dismissively” you could say “he replied, giving a dismissive wave of his hand” or instead of “she said in exasperation” you could say “she rolled her eyes as she spoke” just little things like that to enhance the dialogue. ofc, keeping it simple is necessary sometimes so don’t overdo this!

that brings me to another point, adverbs aren’t bad (i use them a lot!) but sometimes what ur trying to say could be better expressed with just one word. it can get a bit repetitive if things are always described like “said awkwardly” “laughed loudly” “touched softly” etc. you might be able to find a word that gets the point across better. for example, “said irritably” could be “huffed”, “walked casually” could be “sauntered”, “smiled brightly” could be “beamed” and so on. but there are plenty of cases where adverbs are super useful so definitely don’t avoid them altogether!! i just try to make sure i dont use a bunch in a row

simple dialogue tags like “said” “asked” “replied” are your friend!! don’t avoid using them just bc they might seem generic hehe esp if you’re substituting them w verbs that are less appropriate simply for the sake of not using “said”

sometimes, you’re better off not including dialogue at all! like the whole premise of “show, don’t tell”, spelling out every last thing for the reader can sometimes work against you. body language and cultivating an atmosphere is key here! if it’s an awkward situation, you could bring up someone averting their eyes, shifting from side to side, playing with their fingers etc. if it’s a serious situation, you could mention their tensed shoulders/facial expression, their jaw clenching, them pulling away when someone tries to touch them etc. that in itself tells a story! but once again, it’s just abt using methods like these at the right times. sometimes, exposition is necessary

if ur writing abt skz, or any muse really, i think including mentions of their features/habits makes it more fun to read! it can help immerse the reader if u bring up traits that capture the character’s essence, or speech patterns that capture their voice. it’s all fictional ofc and just based off our perception of them, but i like to write skz in a way that’s at least somewhat believable in accordance w their personalities! even little things like the way jisung talks through breathy giggles, binnie’s nose scrunches, how minho looks up when he’s thinking, or how jeongin ends his sentences with a cute nod sometimes. and ofc there’s physical details as well like binnie’s chin scar, chan’s dimples, hannie’s cheek mole etc

this one is probably obvious but paragraph breaks are very important!! both to prevent overwhelming the reader with a huge block of words, and for organizing events/building tension! a paragraph never strictly has to be multiple sentences, you can have a single isolated line of text if you want. timing paragraph breaks can be very effective for creating the right vibe! if something intense is happening, putting a break right after a serious action or putting a single line of dialogue on its own can make them stand out and really add to the drama of it all hehe

don’t worry too much abt using the same word multiple times!! it might feel a lil annoying when you have to repeat a word several times in a paragraph but sometimes that’s the only option there is. if you try to replace it w 10 different synonyms instead of just referring to a book as a book, then it might end up sounding even goofier haha…so try not to stress when you feel like you’re overusing a word!

if you want your writing to be more immersive, take all senses into account!! describe more than just the character’s actions—describe sights, smells, sounds, touch, how the characters are feeling, etc!

arguably the biggest piece of advice i could give!! having varied sentence structure/length is one of the most challenging parts of writing in my opinion but so so important. when smth sounds off in your writing, it could very often be bc of the way a sentence is structured, or bc several sentences back to back are similar in length/format, which makes it flow awkwardly. i think making sure ur sentences range from long, detailed ones w several clauses, commas, semicolons, em dashes etc. to short, direct ones keeps the writing engaging! sometimes combining 2 short sentences can make the flow sound better, and sometimes breaking down a long one does the same! it also makes it a lot more effective when you have a sudden short sentence amidst several longer ones, bc there’s a clear shift in tone! generally just try to avoid having an entire paragraph of sentences that go “she did this and then this. then she did this and then this. then she did this and said that.” the variety will work wonders for how it all connects together!

ofc there are some situations where you might be going for a certain feeling or tone w your writing, in which case it can actually be a useful tactic to have repetitive sentence length/structure. maybe you want a scene to feel overwhelming w several long, complex sentences or you want to really drive in an idea by using blunt, disjointed ones. it’s all abt what you hope to achieve w your writing and your personal preference!

i hope this helps!! once again this isn’t the be all end all, so please only follow what you see fit! if you have any other questions let me know, i’m wishing you the best of luck! ^_^

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for obsessing over someone for centuries?

I know it sounds bad but hear me out, this man (800+M) is the most perfect, special, noble individual to every grace the face of this sorry earth, and I've (800+M) looked up to him for years, ever since he was the first person to save me as a child. He's quite literally my reason to live (he told me so himself, even if he later said that was an arrogant thing to say)

Anyway, I lost track of this guy after dying a second time as a ghost (to clarify, my dying is perfectly fine because it was for him, and the first time I died was ALSO for him- don't blame him for it, he didn't know it was me) because I was kind of a mess of particles at the time, and I spent a bunch of decades under this big mountain (volcano) sculpting thousands of statues of him (10,000 to be exact) because I didn't want to forget what he looked like. Also, my beloved is like, kind of the best god ever, even if heaven is full of biased capitalists who kicked him out, so this can also technically count as a totally normal and not at all insane form of devotion and/or worship. It's just dedication, you see? Loving him is a full-time job and I am DEDICATED. This mountain had this whole Hunger Games with ghosts where you get stronger the more you kill, so I naturally decided to become the strongest ghost possible to protect this man. Naturally.

Cut to around 800 years later, I've carefully met up with this wonderful man in an acceptable disguise and things are going great! He knows I'm a ghost but that's about it, he doesn't know he's met me before and I'm not going to ruin his mood by reminding him of one little rat he happened to meet in the past. Just because we've been through some dangerous experiences with one another by now doesn't mean anything. I'm just happy to be here, doing what I do best (which is serving him).

Now, we go under this mountain, and, well... The thing is, I also did draw some paintings of experiences I've had with him, and one of just HAPPENED to be sexual because he was once hit with aphrodisiacs by accident in front of me when I was a soldier. Two of his idiot "friends" (I use quotation marks because these ungrateful pair of baboons left him) saw that painting and were all like, "Ohhh noooo you should get away from that guy, he's creeeeepy and a stalker". Like, I'm aware I'm disgusting, but nobody wants to hear that from the mouths of two dumbasses (both 800+ M) like that, come on.

For reasons I can't understand (he implied something about trust?) he chose to RECIPROCATE my feelings? I had a whole entire script planned for the dialogue for when he would obviously choose to reject a loathsome creature like me, and this man?? Said all that needed to be said through a hug????

I nearly died a third time right there. I actually DID die a third time again but it was still sacrificing myself for him this time. Although, maybe I shouldn't do that again, because it made him cry and I hate to see that.

I just can't see what I did as "stalking" if I didn't know where he was. I was just looking for him. Am I deplorable? Yes. Pathetic? Also yes. See? I know exactly what and which accurate words to use to attach to myself, but a stalker? Come on. Are people just jealous I have this perfect man? And so what if I do? AITA for it? Smh.

[ephhemeralite]

writing pattern tag game!

post the first line of your last ten posted fics and see if there's a pattern! thanks for the tag, @ful-crum !!!!!

not quite sure how i got here, real glad i've got more than ten fics posted (if only barely), excited to see how it goes

"Aziraphale bustles back into his shop with all of the energy of a raccoon holding a goodie they never expected to stumble across." – no skin like the skin you woke up in (gomens canon divergence au)

"Ed has spent the vast majority of his life as a pirate. Get as old and experienced as he’s gotten – far older and more experienced than he ever expected, mind you – and you form some opinions, about salt and the sea and the way of things." – and i feel so proud when the reckoning arrives (this is two lines so it's cheating but whatever 💚. very dumb black sails/our flag means death crossover)

"The first time Dick notices himself call for Batgirl and the wrong sibling respond, he doesn't think much of it." – no difference between the past and the ground (dick grayson thinks he's going crazy until he realizes [REDACTED])

"Tommy thinks that finding himself stuck through the Blood God’s sword – stuck through – should come as more of a shock to him than it does." – this is mostly what happens in dallas (au of my dsmp hero/villain major character death series where the major character death doesn't happen but it's still not great! hence the wtnv if he had lived title)

"Wilbur drops onto the couch with a groan and some sort of weird, histrion-type flail." – a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun (dsmp hero/villain au, companion piece to the actual mcd, probably my best piece of posted writing)

"He isn't looking for trouble today, but he isn't surprised when the blade of a sword finds him regardless." – the truth is like a sickle (it'll cut you to the middle) (dsmp hero/villain au with the mcd)

"The flickering lights of the tavern seem soft, in the late hours of the night." – drunk in a field (on dandelion wine) (unfinished 5+1 from a folk witch!jaskier universe that i got super super attached to but eventually let go of because my life kept getting more insane and the concept more intricate)

"Peter had spent a lot of time trying to psychoanalyze Neal Caffrey before his capture." – acquainted with the saint of never getting it right (white collar/batfam crossover, dick grayson is neal caffrey, my most popular fic by a chunk)

"Geralt can already tell that Jaskier plans on dragging them both out tonight, probably with quilt, to force him into a night of 'stargazing and communing with nature like we used to!'" – it could feel like an end (to have to keep going) (immortal/modern times geraskier au fic i haven't read since i wrote and posted it in a day. i think it's contemplations on mortality, helplessness, and the climate crisis?)

"Briefly, he contemplates sitting up on the couch to give himself better lung capacity for his incoming tirade, but figures that he may as well put his vigilante training to good use, and continues to lay back." – more like me (less like you) (technically the second line of an emotional conversation between dick and jason, but the first line was dialogue and it is too early for me to mess with quotation marks like that)

so, full disclaimer that i don't post a ton (no skin was last updated in august of last year and more like me was posted in july of 2021) so a lot of this writing is kind of old, but! i did notice that i've tended to open in media res, but recently i have been incorporating more exposition. i've never tried to make my first lines great hooks — i'm honestly more concerned with giving myself a good jumping-off point than anything else. it also struck me how many fandoms i've written for that i no longer engage with, basically at all. maybe i've just been really focused lately, but i don't think a few of these fandoms would hold my attention anymore! ironically, i'm talking about the more recent fandoms like dsmp/gomens/ofmd and not the older stuff like the batfam or the witcher.

this was really fun, i loved looking back through my work like this!! thank you again ful-crum for tagging me :)! i'm gonna tag @doingthewritethings, @b10000p, and @alavenderleaf !!!!!!

[teecupangel]

Here for the same every week.

Pd: I was scared for the look in the face of Noah :(

My thoughts on Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

Official English translation (the free chapters anyway) here

So, before we get to the ‘meat’ of my thoughts for this chapter, Edward is doing good on his part but the mystery is mostly contained in the modern-day part right now so that’s where I will focus on.

I will have to ask, is this something that Edward knew on his own?

Or is this meant to be something Noa did that goes against history?

Are we saying Noa’s Animus has the ability to change the past as he sees it? (Not the real past though but the past that the Animus is loading)

Annnyywaaayyy…

My head pretty much hurt when I was reading the modern-day part because it sorta doesn’t make sense?

This dialogue makes it seem like rejecting the memories would worsen the Bleeding Effect but that’s not what happened to Cal’s father in the film. He went blind because he refused to cooperate with the memories yet there was no mention of how he suffered from the Bleeding Effect.

I supposed the film’s side effects would have less canonical standing than ‘Shimazu’’s words in the webtoon?

Also… this part…

Are we saying that Edward, who wanted to meet his daughter after learning about her, the same Edward who returned to London with her, the same Edward who made a name for himself as a noble and made sure to provide for both his daughter and his son…

We’re calling Edward a deadbeat dad???

Look… let’s be clear, Edward made grave mistakes. How he left Caroline is a big red flag that points at him being a deadbeat husband even if he says he’s doing it for them but the ending of Black Flag shows that he wants to be better, he wants to be a good father.

Edward: Will you stay with the Assassins? Anne: No. I haven't got that kind of conviction in my heart. You? Edward: In time, aye... when my mind is settled and my blood is cooled. Sailor: Sail ho! Coming into the cove! Anne: You're a good man, Edward. And if you learn to keep settled in one place for more than a week, you'll make a fine father too.

And Edward's part in this webtoon is set 3 years after Edward and Anne had this conversation.

Edward was a lot of things but I refuse to believe that he was a deadbeat dad to Jenny growing up.

Dude, don't do Edward dirty like that.

I think this is Noa projecting his hatred for his father but Edward is not the right person to be used for this entire thing.

Hey, Noa. Wanna know who fucked up the Kenway family so badly?

This motherfucker.

The whole Kenway family drama started when he had Edward killed, Jenny sold off and indoctrinated Haytham into becoming a Templar.

For all Edward Kenway’s shortcomings and foolish decisions, I refuse to believe that he was ever anything but a good father to his children and Noa’s words, while I know came from the eyes of someone who don’t know Edward enough and someone who has a very bad relationship with his own dad, still managed to irk me.

At least Desmond had an actual bad dad to push his daddy issues to with Haytham and we can't even really call Haytham a deadbeat dad since his 'lack of contact' is because he didn't even know he had a son in the first place.

I'm just saying the Kenway men (actually, the Auditore-Kenway men) are not the right people to call 'deadbeat dads' in this scenario. An argument can be made for 'deadbeat husband' for what Edward did to Caroline but NOT deadbeat dads.

Now, for the other ‘main character’ of the modern-day era…

This line does not bold or add single quotation marks on the Shimazu so this could mean that she does believe she’s a Shimazu but the boss lady doesn’t believe she’s a Shimazu. Of course, this could also be an indication that the boss lady calling her ‘Shimazu’ with quotation marks was meant to show that she was stressing the name instead of implying she’s not a real descendant of the Shimazu clan.

Another thing… (this is more of a personal thing than anything so you can ignore this)

No.

God, no. Please don’t.

I already have a low tolerance for tsunderes in general, if this webtoon makes ‘Shimazu’ a tsundere with the development being she’d become more and more ‘dere’ for Noa, I’ll probably lose any interest I have in her. Tsunderes aren’t really my thing, especially if they physically abuse their ‘dere’ target which ‘Shimazu’ kinda did using the goons she had with her.

[midnightactual]

Tenshiheisōban is the Title of Only the Head of House Shihōin

Setting aside for a moment what the title means literally, and what it refers to figuratively, I'm going to further clarify something.

I'm going to directly reject the assertion that Tenshiheisōban refers to House Shihōin, as stated by both Viz in the manga in chapter 154, and in Viz's official translation of CFYOW, and in fanlations of the same (listed below in order). They messed up. It's that simple.

No, this is Yoruichi's title. I can actually prove it to you definitively.

In chapter 159, we can see that the term is being applied directly and specifically to Yoruichi. Viz's own wording of "That is the Tenshiheisōban" (emphasis mine) shows it. They could have written, "That is one of the Tenshiheisōban" had it been the case it applied to House Shihōin. This is even clearer in the Japanese:

What's written here, verbatim, is:

〝天賜兵装番〟 四楓院家の姫君だ

That is to say, "'Tenshiheisōban'. She is the hime-gimi of House Shihōin." First, you should notice that Tenshiheisōban is always put in double quotation marks in the Japanese dialogue. When things are being quoted by characters in Bleach they usually use single hook quotation marks. This usage of double quotation marks is extremely unusual. This is normally done to refer to quotes in quotes, or to refer to book titles, or text heard through a phone. Obviously none of those applies here, and a book title is the closest analogy. This presentation draws a tremendous amount of attention to this term.

Furthermore, the following remarks make it clear it is attributable to Yoruichi and Yoruichi alone. If the term applied to the entire clan, this scene would be like pointing at a specific American soldier and saying, "United States Army" or pointing at an American and saying, "United States of America." That would be bizarre. But we can go further.

In chapter 154, Soifon is insulting Yoruichi... but this is where Viz really makes their mistake. The same evidence could be used here of saying this conversation is specifically directed at Yoruichi, but maybe you find contextual arguments weak. So let's look at this in Japanese too.

What's written here, verbatim, is:

〝天賜兵装番〟の 四楓院家も 堕ちたものだ 旅禍に肩入れ したなどと知れたら 四大貴族の一角を 追われることは 確実だそ 志波家の 没落然り 名家の落皖れる様は 余り見栄えの するものではないな

Soifon says a lot here, but the important part is 〝天賜兵装番〟の 四楓院家も堕ちたものだ, and the real core element of that is 〝天賜兵装番〟の四楓院家. The clause of possession here, の (of), is actually directing you to read this as, "House Shihōin of the 'Tenshiheisōban'", or "'Tenshiheisōban's' House Shihōin". It's possessive.

House Shihōin belongs to the Tenshiheisōban.

(For a more complete context, this sentence and the next read as to the effect of: "'Tenshiheisōban's' House Shihōin has also fallen, participating in this Ryoka misfortune. When they find out you did something like this, it's certain you'll be chased out of the Four Great Noble Houses.")

It's made explicitly clear in Japanese that House Shihōin are not collectively the Tenshiheisōban. Rather, an individual, the Tenshiheisōban, owns House Shihōin. And who is the only figure who can claim to own a noble house? The person leading that noble house.

It is therefore explicitly clear that the status of Tenshiheisōban must be broadly coterminal with the status of being the head of House Shihōin. They mean the same thing, and that is the official title of that role. It does not make sense to imagine Yoruichi has some extra title that supersedes head of house status, or that the role moves around between houses or whatever else.

Tenshiheisōban is the official title of the head of House Shihōin. It's put in double quotes because it's the true name of the title, rather than merely an allusion to it like 当主, tōshu, “head of the house”.

This is confirmed by the fact that Yūshirō has the title on his introduction chapter 606 of TYBW (thanks to an anon for pointing this out):

This leaves open the question of when he assumed it if Soifon was teasing Yoruichi with the title while being herself a Shihōin retainer some 22 months earlier; that wouldn't really make sense if he'd already held the position for several years. So presumably he picked it up during the time skip.

Now, why we only learn this official title for the Shihōin, and not for the Kuchiki, Shiba, or Tsunayashiro, I couldn't tell you. They must each have their own specific terms reflecting their specific duties or specialties. The Shihōin one does indeed reflect martial prowess. We know that the Tsunayashiro record and "control" history, we can make some guesses about the Kuchiki and Shiba, and we know the final unnamed house is involved with Hell. Each should therefore have a unique rank title.

Do all other nobles have unique rank titles too? Or are they generic below the rank of Shōichī? I don't know.

[thr-333]

hi 👋!!! I LOVE your Tmnt mm x 2012 crossover so far! Please continue it!! Your art is also so good! While I’m asking got any writing tips for fanfics?

Ahhh thank you! Actually posted the second chapter just now so I will be continuing. As for writing tips I’ve never been asked that, so this is gonna come out rambly and very much neurodivergent.

I’ll first establish I have aphantasia, meaning I don’t ‘picture’ things so much as I think in words(and in abstract concepts of movement). So when I write I don’t spend much time describing what things look like, I can’t picture it so why would I spend time explaining what it should look like? This means my writing is very dialogue heavy. It focuses on what character are saying and how they sound and what they do when they say it(because of how I think about movement)

So one of my best writing tips is when I get stuck or am slowing down with a scene I’ll start jotting down the dialogue. No actions in between, no they said this or that, no quotation marks they waste time, usually I won’t even note characters names and trust future me to know. Or trust I've written the charcters with strong enough individual voices that it's obvious at least to me. For example later in the fic is this scene:

We actually don't have a last name

Not until we had to go to school then we had to choose one

We didn’t really know what to pick so we settled on Stockman!

Stockman

Yep that’s our cousins last name and Baxter Stockman technically created us so that makes him our uncle-dad

I see, here Baxter Stockman is an associate of the shredder

… yeah we learnt that yesterday, but our Baxter stockman never did anything really bad!

Unless you count animal extermination as bad

Which we do

It’s still better than going with something like Smith

Writing it like this means the dialogue flows better. It also helps my brain out since I don’t have to constantly switch tracks meaning I can write faster. Also lets me move onto other scenes I have the itch to make. Often I won’t come back and fill in the gaps until I’m editing.

Another thing that helps me is using the fact fanfiction comes with prebuilt stories to work on top of. I like having an episode with premade plot points to build off of. My best example of this is another fic I wrote, The Bat Trap which was based on The Parent Trap(a movie I love). In it I had a bunch of one liners and situations from the movie that I wanted to include, so I would follow(and adapt) the plot to fit and follow. While in other places I could go off script so I wasn’t following it word by word. To this day it’s the only longform fic I’ve completed and that's entirely due to following a movie plot, so I had an endpoint I could work towards. Instead of an overeaching storyline I made myself with no end in sight.

And my best piece of advice! Give yourself a voice in your story. Especially if you’re doing something comedic. It’s all well and good to give your characters hilarious lines but ultimately only a fraction of your writing is going to be dialogue. Most of it is that connective tissue, what characters are thinking, where they are, what they’re doing. So think as the ‘narrator’ of these parts as a character equally capable of jokes. Such as my favourite technique the ‘smash cut’. My art for the first chapter is an example of that. 

“They will be fine”

“Mikey was not fine”

It’s a fun way to open a new perspective and I will use it at nauseum because it entertains me. Ultimately it’s fun! Have fun writing, undercut your serious scenes. You want to add something but it doesn't fit the tone? Screw that, write it anyway. It doesn't matter if people don’t like it, because you’re gonna spend a hell of a lot more time writing than they will reading. Eventually that becomes your writing style and people ask you for tips:P

[mekatrio]

a very curious part of itsv to me is this part bc truly what is happening... how is miles hearing the voices of characters who will appear much later in the movie?

i understand that this is his first activation of spidey-sense and spidey-sense is Kinda? clairvoyance in the way that it alerts someone of oncoming dangers. except its not really clairvoyance since its more heightened sensory perception paralleling a spider's (a spider's range of view is larger than a human's and all that) so like... what is all this abt?

some of the voices heard here will be played out immediately after this scene ("you're like me" "but i don't wanna be" between peter and miles), while some are from way later (gwen's and peni's "you're like me"). one is even from the past ("why is this happening to me!" happens when miles' spider power are causing him problems in school a few scenes ago). when i have time.. ill probably track down where each of these lines came from. but off the top of my head i cant recall a time when someone tells miles to look out.. and according to itsv's screenplay that doesnt happen either.. so 🤨🧐

i got three main ideas abt this scene. at first, i thought it was just a story mechanic. after all, in the opening of atsv, we can see quick flashes of events that will play out in atsv during gwen's opening intro. so i thought it was just that. except... that at the end of atsv, gwen's narration from the beginning of the movie is continued (and subsequently concluded). meaning, that the opening intro we saw of gwen is not coming from this pre-atsv events gwen that we're seeing, but rather a post-atsv events gwen who is reflecting on the events of the movie, imposed over an earlier version of her. and this isnt whats happening in this itsv scene. there is no imposing narration in itsv that takes place from another point in time. when the various spider-people of itsv narrate their backgrounds ("alright, let's do this one last time") it's always happening in the moment, while the movie is playing out. so this moment has to be more than a story mechanic.. miles is very much hearing voices from the future.

other ideas and speculation under a read more bc this got long heehee

so idea 2: maybe it's spider-sense mixing with the proximity to the collider that allows miles to hear dialogue from another point in time. after all, this collider is capable of messing with time's linearity. when gwen was thrown into miles' universe, she was thrown in a week further back than everyone else. we also know that this collider was turned on and tested before the events of this movie (when a friend of miles' from the beginning of the movie mention 'the earthquake last night'). so that might be it.

(but also hey now that i think of it... didnt the events of this movie kinda create a stable time loop? gwen only enters earth-1610 after 1610's peter parker is put into the particle collider. but this happens After we see gwen (who is from another universe) hanging out in earth-1610. so gwen is kinda in a stable timeloop or something..?!)

but anyways idea 3.. which is kinda an expansion of idea 2: is this possibly related to the scene in atsv, where miles' and spot's consciousness briefly overlap in mumbatan? there, when spot enters the collider and miles gets blasted away, miles is able to see snippets of the 'future'. future in quotation marks bc we havent actually seen any of this happen yet (aside from inspector singh's nearly dying), but all of miguel's talk in the movie does strongly lean to it all inevitably happening. anyways, both times when miles is able to have some kind of glimpse into the future, it happens in the proximity of an alchemax particle collider....

anyways speculation time. so my theory is this: in atsv he's doing a new thing with his venom powers, where he absorbs energy from something then sends it back. so maybe that aspect of his venom powers, of being able to absorb the energy of something, when combined with the proximity of the time-bending particle collider, is what allows miles to see further in the future. miles is able to somewhat absorb the time-bending properties of alchemax's particle collider, which we see lowkey it here in this scene, where miles is able to hear brief snippets from the future. then we see it highkey in atsv, when spot practically gets merged with the collider and miles kinda briefly shares consciousness with him, where miles is able to see inspector singh's demise (which unfolds just moments later), and the other events that spot is conspiring to do. perhaps that is whats at play here?

mumble mumble another speculation abt maybe miles possesses the power to alter canon events bc of this which is too long to get into rn bc this post is already long enough so ill post abt that some other time mumble mumble

also, seeing how the "miles, look out" line from this scene is not from itsv, if it isnt from atsv either (ill have to rewatch to check if it is), then i think that line will play a big role in btsv.

anyways, regardless of whether my speculations are actually accurate or just insanity, i do think that this scene is foreshadowing an important plot point in btsv, the same way the inconspicuously glitching spider in itsv (from just a few scenes before this one!) ended up playing a big role in atsv.

[demoonlady]

Chapter 209: Offering to the Unknown

// SPOILER WARNING!!! DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE CHAPTER YET. [Mind you, lengthy post!]

Opening words: “Going back in time to before Tsukumo's fight... the U.S. troops march into the colonies to hunt for jujutsu sorcerers!!”

[[OKAY WTHECK THEY’RE IN THE ZEN’IN ESTATE! Specifically the training & discipline room that’s filled with curses.]]

》 Kenjaku: "That random transfer/teleportation after entering a colony is not [disclosed] in the general rules of the Culling Game. Unless they respond to the Kogane's questions, that [random transfer/teleportation] won't happen."

I didn't like how the first sentence was translated in the officials, since the raws specifically mentioned that the transfer/teleportation wasn't [disclosed] in the Culling Game's general rules.

The kanji used in the second part of the sentence was 問いかけ (toikake), and it means interrogation, query, question, or inquiry. Not sure why the officials chose "call" instead.

》 Uraume: "This place would make a good “bath” that even Sukuna-sama [or Lord Sukuna] will be satisfied with."

The kanji used for bath, interestingly, is in quotation marks "浴" (yoku) so it *may* be referring to "ablution"/"bath" in Buddhism.

[[I'M LOSING MY MIND, IS THAT KIRARA ON THE RIGHT, IN THE TOP PANEL?!]]

》 Soldier Dude 1: "Well, that was easy. I don't know about this esper stuff or whatever, but.. what is the Lieutenant General so scared of?"

》 Soldier Dude 2: "He's a coward. Rumor has it that his wife's on his ass all the time."

Just wanna add that the kanji written was simply 小心者 (shoushin mono), which means a “coward” or “timid person". I'm not sure if "lily-livered" is actually a saying in Japanese, but if it isn't... why not just...

》 Soldier Lady: "Nah, there's more to it."

》 Soldier Lady: "At worst, we just gotta keep the brain unharmed... right?! Grenades weren't very effective and the taser gun couldn't even puncture him."

Not liking the official translations at all, so.

》 Soldier Dude: "Couldn't puncture him? You mean you missed your hit, right?"

Not that important, but I just wanted to point out that they excluded the first part of the dialogue which, imo, emphasized the comrade's disbelief. Before he goes to ask if she had possibly missed her mark.

》 Soldier Dude: "Or was he wearing a leather jacket?"

》 Soldier Lady: "Even a .50 caliber bullet couldn't go through. And I was hitting bare flesh."

Not that important again, but the dude was asking a question and not making a statement.

》 Soldier Dude: "Did that guy have an ID from Krypton or what?"

Written text: クリプトン星のID (ID from Planet Krypton).

》 Soldier Lady: "Moreover... He was a monster who could turn his head into a helicopter."

Officials forgot to include the fact that she labelled him 化物 (bakemono), which means "monster", along with how he was able to "turn his head into a helicopter". Plus, we only know of one dude with helicopter head thus far, so it should just be "he" instead of "their".

》 Soldier Dude: "...a helicopter?" 》 Soldier Lady: "It was a propeller. Propeller!! Like those on the Osprey and Chinook that we rode!"

》 Soldier Lady: "It means there are different kinds of these jyu-jyu-su-shi!! Some are like the weaklings you've kidnapped.. And some are monsters like those we've dealt with.."

The term for "jujutsushi" (jujutsu sorcerers) used here was written in katakana ジュジュツシ (jyujyusushi), which indicates a foreign accent, hence why I wrote it in that manner. Once again, she labelled the tough ones "monsters", but this time, the kanji is 怪物 (kaibutsu).

》 Uraume: "By pitting the Culling Game players against the armed non-sorcerers... in this case, soldiers." (...)

》 Kenjaku: "I'd give 60 points for that [guess]."

Kenjaku wasn't talking statistics, he was legit giving Uraume points for their guess/assumption.

》 Kenjaku: (...) "As insurance, I had the military from other countries sent into each colony. But I don't think the military VS sorcerers fight would be exciting."

Kenjaku mentioned "military VS sorcerers" in the raws, and that he didn't think it would be "exciting" [of a battle].

》 Kenjaku: "Incarnated players aside, it's the Awakened players that will probably have a hard time. To begin with, even if there are strong Awakened types, many of them are reluctant to kill."

As previously stated, I prefer the term "Incarnated" rather than "taken flesh".

》 Kenjaku: "If they suffer casualties to a certain degree, the military will retreat. And since non-sorcerers are worth fewer points, the players won't chase them without a good reason."

Nothing wrong with the official translations; I just wanted to share how the original sounds.

》 Uraume: "Even non-sorcerers release a large amount of cursed energy at the moment of death. Aren’t foreigners an exception?"

Uraume said "non-sorcerers", not soldiers. Also, instead of "non-Japanese", they used the term 海外の人間 (kaigai no ningen) which literally translates to "humans from overseas/abroad", or "foreigners".

》 Kenjaku: "Yes. Foreigners have no connection to cursed energy, but it's a different [scenario] when they die. “Death” inflicts enough stress to cause mutation in the [dying] brain."

"Death" was in quotation marks. Meanwhile, the kanji 変異 (hen'i) was used and it translates to (genetic) mutation so yes, this instead of "slight change".

》 Kenjaku: "So, from the beginning.. I had no intention to pit the sorcerers against the military. Even without such contest of power.. the "truth" is that the non-sorcerers cannot win, no matter how hard they try."

Should have said "from the start" instead of "at first", really. There was a mention of power comparison/struggle, so it should have been "contest of power". AND, I'm pretty sure this entire dialogue was spoken by Kenjaku, though some said the first half was by Uraume, then Kenjaku. Imo, it's more fitting if Kenjaku says it as it adds more weight to his already deranged character.

》 Megumi: "They're not Japan Self-Defense Forces!!"

》 Megumi: "What is their goal!? To protect the people inside the colonies?! But that was a stun—"

Closing words: “The jujutsu sorcerers' hunters close in!!”

—

My thoughts:

I remember that time when Q (somebody out there) asked me about the “bomb” that Kenjaku was planning to drop – many of us believed it was Sukuna. I thought of that too but then I really wanted it to be something else ‘cause I always enjoy the unexpected. So Q and I came up with more ideas, and one of them being a military invasion and the other was a more literal take - the use of conventional weapons against Japan. Although we didn’t get it exactly right (bc it was revealed that Kenny went around the globe and held meetings with world leaders, whereas Q and I assumed that the foreign countries got wind of things on their own via the news & media), I’m just glad to see that our assumption wasn’t entirely too far-off.

Kenjaku simply tricked - or I should say, lured - these foreign countries into Japan in order to accomplish his true goal – the massacre of foreign non-sorcerers conducted by Culling Game players & cursed spirits. They're about to get rekt! A few people still consider this military invasion thing as Kenjaku’s "contingency plan" just so he has something to fall back on in case things don’t go as planned with the Culling Game – true enough, the CE wasn't sufficient in other colonies. But in my opinion, getting the Incarnated & Awakened players to battle in the Culling Game is a pre-requisite, and the military invasion is most likely THEE plan from the very start. Just like that someone said...

Yes, I’m talking about the man Reggie Star! Much respect to this man ‘cause he literally unraveled everything that’s sketchy about the Culling Game, although he had no exact idea what that "bomb" could be. As he stated before, if the Culling Game’s objective had been to collect CE generated from the battles, then why is it that there were only 1 or 2 strong players in every colony? And if the goal was to take advantage of the players’ CE, you’d want the sorcerers to have “long and drawn-out battles” but instead, the Game has already reached a deadlock by the time Gumi first reached Tokyo No. 1 colony. Reggie further theorized that "taking advantage of players’ CE in the Culling Game is the secondary or tertiary plan", whereas the primary plan is the bomb. In other words, the players participating in the Culling Game is a pre-requisite for the bomb that will eventually drop later when "only the strong players are left" in each colony. And the bomb are these foreign military forces.

Kenjaku already foresaw that the CE generated from the Culling Game wouldn’t be enough to fuel the barriers and, as such, planned to use non-sorcerers/humans from other countries as additional fuel source (read: sacrifice), and thus went out of his way *months before* to meet and negotiate with the world leaders, tricking them throughout the process. As Kenjaku said, these non-sorcerers never stood a chance of winning. They're only needed to break the Game's long deadlock, as well as to generate additional CE. Simply put, these non-sorcerers are being served as "offerings". Hence, the chapter title!

[fagsystem]

Can DID form without ‘trauma’? Technically yes. Can DID be endogenic? No.

Confusing title, I know, but bare with me. I’m just trying to clear up some common misunderstandings I see surrounding trauma and DID.

TLDR: The definition of ‘trauma’ within the field of psychology is constantly being explored to determine the best use of it. There is no singular ‘correct’ definition, and it is important to consider the context in which its being spoken about. Within the context of DID, the idea that DID can be ‘non-traumagenic/endogenic’ is inseparable from the idea that it is not real/not a disorder. Even if someone with DID technically does not have ‘trauma’ by certain definitions, that does not mean that the label of ‘non-traumagenic/endogenic’ is appropriate, and labelling it as that has incredibly harmful connotations and perpetuates ableism against DID systems.

(Before we begin, a quick clarification on 2 things.

This post is about DID. DID and OSDD have a lot of overlap, but all of the scientific literature I have ever read has been about DID specifically. Therefore, I say DID here. If anyone has further information surrounding OSDD and would like to open up that dialogue, please do so.

Plural is an opt-in label for people to describe their personal experiences feeling like multiple people. Not every DID system identifies as plural, and not everyone who’s plural has a CDD. I have so much to say about this term PLEASE ASK but this isn’t the post for discoursing about terms. This is just to clarify how I view the term to avoid confusion.)

First, let’s look at the word trauma. There’s a reason I put it in quotation marks and that’s because I am referring to a very specific definition.

The DSM-5 defines a traumatic event as exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.

Yeah, so, a very strict and narrow definition of trauma. This definition does not include things like emotional abuse, neglect (that did not lead to/create concern of serious injury), robbery (that did not include serious violence/threats of serious violence). Even physical abuse that did not lead to or create concern of serious injury does not count as traumatic by this definition.

This means that it is possible for someone to develop DID without experiencing certain definitions of trauma. However, that does not mean endogenic DID exists.

(Note, it can exist I suppose in very specific circumstances of DID systems who were plural endogenically prior to having been exposed to the events that lead to the development of DID, but DID cannot develop endogenically.)

What does endogenic mean? Endogenic, in this context, tends to get summarised as ‘any system that forms for any reason aside from just trauma’. Which, when paired with the DSM definition for trauma, seems to encompass a lot of DID systems.

Except it is important to acknowledge that incredibly narrow definition of trauma is not the right definition. In fact, there is no ‘right’ definition of trauma in the same way there’s no ‘right’ definition of anything. However, in order to get as close as we can to right, its important to understand the context of the conversation being had.

When it comes to DID specifically, its important to recognise the context of what trauma means. Specifically the fact that the idea DID can form without trauma is rooted in things like the sociocognitive model of DID. This model is not saying DID is able to form without trauma, it is saying it’s not a real disorder and people are deluding themselves into believing they have it due to psychotherapy and media. It also says that those with DID who remember trauma are actually experiencing false memories caused by psychotherapy and media.

Pretty fucking ableist!

And the ‘natural multiplicities’ movement (the precursor to non-disordered plurality) was the exact same thing. Theorising that DID is actually a non-traumagenic and non-pathological experience, pushing for the demedicalisation of the disorder. You know, despite the fact that studies indicate it is a trauma response disorder and that, you know, it’s a disorder.

This is why people use ‘endogenic/non-traumagenic’ and ‘non-disordered’ interchangeably when speaking about DID, because it means the same thing in the context of DID. To say DID can be endogenic you’re saying DID can be non-disordered. You’re saying DID is not a disorder.

That’s why there’s such drama and discourse surrounding endogenics, because there’s a lot of really horrific ableism surrounding the idea of endogenic DID that a lot of the wider plural community perpetuates. Even just lumping DID in as inherently plural when plural is not inherently disordered pushes this same idea. That DID is not a disorder, that it’s just this natural thing or that people have been manipulated into believing they have it. It’s why people are so mad, because its perpetuating ableism we’re facing.

Do I agree with anti-endos? No! Because they all seem to further conflate DID and plurality which perpetuates ableism, and also a lot of them are jerks.

And like, look. Me? Personally? Not a big fan of the term traumagenic and I don’t use it to describe our DID. Not because our DID is non-traumagenic, but because it a) opens up the idea that non-traumagenic (and therefore non-disordered) DID exists, but also b) it creates this false understanding of how trauma relates to DID. It’s why we see that multigenic DID BS where people believe ANPs are non-traumagenic alters because they didn’t split from trauma.

DID is not traumagenic in the same way PTSD is. It’s a dissociative disorder that formed as a defence mechanism. I think the term adaptive is more useful in explaining it, but honestly there wouldn’t need to be a term if people stopped conflating the idea of being non-traumagenic with DID.

Even ANPs are adaptive, they’re there because they’re a part of the defence mechanism your brain adapted.

And also adaptive puts more emphasis on the fact that the disorder as opposed to the trauma that caused it. For some systems, uncovering blocked trauma memories and figuring out what caused their DID can be useful. For others, its seriously not. Like us, for example. Our psych has confirmed we show no signs of blocked or hidden memories in childhood, and we’ve figured out our DID probably formed primarily due to a lack of structure (or, as she put it, ‘chaos and discord’) in our life. Which was trauma because it seriously impaired our ability to develop as a child and caused us to have a life long complex dissociative disorder, but also is technically not trauma by things like the DSM definition. But regardless of what definition you use, it’s not appropriate to call it non-traumagenic or endogenic because that is synonymous with not-disordered when it comes to DID.

I swear this was meant to be more put-together than it is, but whatever. I hope this has clarified some shit for some people.

[aureatescars]

guidelines

ABOUT THIS RP BLOG & THE MUN: �� you can call me vii • mun/muse over 21 • mun is not a native speaker of English • replies may take a bit since I have work and uni • i also absolutely suck at reaching out first because I'm awkward af but I do try! > also once we break the ice you're not getting rid of me again :D IN GENERAL: • selective & private > I will only write threads with mutuals, but you may send in rp-memes regardless. • literate/descriptive/multi-para-style • open to asks from anyone, but not terribly quick about answering them • canon typical violence • plotlines of any kind are welcome, adventure, romance, crack, fluff, angst hit me up we’ll probably find some common ground •  I don’t queue replies, only aesthetic posts and so on > if I owe you I want you to get that reply as soon as possible • general warning: NSFW will occassionally occur and will be tagged #nsfw CONCERNING ALEXANDER’s PORTRAYAL •  I do not write him as a villain, nor do I intend to in the future. In my opinion in his canon verse he was a civilian forced into a war by grief and an overwhelming need for revenge for his fiancée’s death. He did not join the resistance for glory, out of patriotism or because he believed in the cause, even though he used these reasons as a front to hide from his grief and the guilt he felt for everything he did during the war. > that does not mean your muse may not perceive him as a villain if they know/or learn about who he is and what he has done before/ or during the plot of RE:Damnation. • This is more of a headsup - but since Alexander’s mother tongue is not English, yet I personally do not speak Russian, I handle him speaking Russian in threads either without outright dialogue by simply stating he tells someone something in Russian or by marking his dialogue with [ ] instead of the usual quotation marks to indicate that he is currently not speaking English. ABOUT RP-MEMES: • I don’t care how long ago I reblogged something - send the meme • I don’t care if our muses met before - send the meme • I don’t care if we follow each other - send the meme • I don’t care if we never interacted before - send the meme • I don’t care if you already send 52849412 memes - send the meme • I don’t care if we have 20 threads already - send the meme • SEND. THE. MEME. ABOUT ROMANTIC SHIPS: • multi-ship, but will not ship with multiples of the same muse. • I love ships and chances are I already ship our characters. So, lets go! • I mostly ship chemistry. meaning I’d like to see how our muses interact on a base level before jumping right into a ship, but if we’re mutuals feel free to send in shippy memes or random shippy asks regardless - just know that they will likely not immediately turn into threads with a fully established romantic relationship in threads if we’ve never interacted before. • I also headcanon Sasha as demisexual, therefore it will take him forming a deep bond with your muse first to actually consider a romantic relationship in any case. However he does perceive himself as straight initially, since he never even considered being anything other than that even after his fiancée died. SMUT: • won’t write smut with minors • it will be tagged nsfw • I’m game for rping most things, just ask, I won’t judge • BUT please refrain from writing: > spanking > your muse calling mine babe or baby in a context that isn’t crack. just. no. > other pet names are circumstancial and might need discussion since I often find them ending up feeling too ooc. VERSES: • canon verse and slight divergences preferred > meaning: I follow canon by default and it will take some serious plotting and just me vibing with you ooc for any plot to happen outside the canon/ or canon-adjacent universes TRIGGERS: • I don’t have any triggers • mention of torture will be tagged with “tw: torture” • mention of death will be tagged “tw: death” • also I’m not a fan of gore so please keep fights and injuries reasonable THINGS I WILL NOT RP: • scat/watersports • vore • explicit torture

[timetravelingpigeon]

Excerpt: The Life and Life and Life of a Time Traveling Pigeon

In Which Everyone Finally Speaks Up

[[PREVIOUS | INDEX | NEXT]] [ 31 / 33 ]

After scanning the area with her phone’s light one last time, she swore as loud as she dared (and, even then, flinched at the sound of it.) Then, she said:

“What do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Dr. Tanner replied, casting another worried glance towards the entrance. “I’m sort of making this up as I go along.”

With a long, exhausted sigh, she slumped against the wall beside me, briefly wiping at her face.

“Jesus,” she said, “who the fuck were those people?”

“BlueCell,” he answered, and I immediately started branding that name into my memory. “They’re some sort of… I don’t know. Some sort of top-secret spec ops organization.”

“Is that what they’re called?” Both of them turned to look at me, almost as if they’d forgotten that I was here. “I’ve actually seen them before.”

“You have? Where?” he asked.

“I… okay. Riley, you know how I was telling you I’m a time traveler? I’m a time traveler.”

In unison, they replied, “Bullshit.” Like brother, like sister, I guess.

“I mean it. I’ve been seeing them all over the city tonight. Usually,” I pointed to Dr. Tanner, “shooting at you. Without a care in the world for collateral damage, might I add.”

“No, that’s complete bullshit,” Riley protested, whispering harshly. “You’ve been with me since five-thirty!”

“They’re right, though,” said Dr. Tanner. “That did happen.”

(By the by, that wasn’t the pronoun he used for me at the time, but I’m the one writing this story, so I get to edit that shit in post.)

“They could have just guessed. Those fuckers weren’t exactly happy to see you, either, so it’s not much of a leap to assume that they want your ass, too.”

“That’s not all I’ve seen.” 

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, tilting my head back and trying my damnedest to radiate as many “I’m a fucking oracle” vibes as I could.

“It’s a little after ten-thirty. I’m at the intersection of Fortieth and Seventh, standing in a comic book shop, and I start hearing this awful commotion heading my way.

“Enter: you, Doctor Tanner. You’re sprinting down the street, with a military helicopter right behind you, firing wildly. It launches a shot, a rocket. It doesn’t hit you dead-on, but it almost sends you sprawling all the same. In response, you decide to throw a taxi at the dang thing. It crashes, creates a big wreck in the middle of the street, and you high-tail it out of there.” I opened my eyes. “I spot you intermittently from there on out until about eleven-ish, then you drop off my radar.”

Again, in unison, they gave a soft, “What the fuck?” (albeit likely for subtly different reasons.)

Tag list

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[she-who-fights-and-writes]

Hi! My question's a bit odd. I know how to write dialogues such that they don't sound forced or like a string of words put together between quotation marks. But my problem is that I don't know how to make small talk between two characters. For example if A and B are friends waiting for a bus, I can't think of anything for them to talk beyond the weather and a few small things. I've seen my friends write endless (and often entertaining) conversations between two characters. Any tips?

How to Write Small Talk

Dialogue can be tricky, we all know that, and small talk is the worst out of all of it.

Small talk somehow manages to be difficult not only when it comes to real life, but also when it comes to writing. After all, if you're not that good at making small talk in real life, how can you possibly translate that to the written word?

And even if you are good at small talking in real life, there's a whole lot that goes into it that's difficult to describe in words, especially when it comes to talking to strangers.

Here are some tips and tricks that you can use if you're having trouble writing good small talk! (If you're looking for general dialogue tips, check out my post here!)

1. Understand that You Don't Need Small Talk to Pass Time

The first and foremost thing you should understand, especially in the example you're describing with the bus stop, is that you don't have to write small talk to fill the silence.

If you're having trouble writing small talk while trying to get from one narrative beat to the other, you can simply write "they talked until the bus came."

A lot of writing advice blogs will tout "show don't tell" until the day they die, but issues with small talk are definitely exception. Simply saying that they talked and what they talked about can be a perfect substitute for dialogue that seems to fluffy or forced.

And if anything, if it's really hanging you up, it'd be best to write "they talked until the bus came" as a placeholder until you get some better ideas rather than to let it grind your writing to a total halt!

2. Try to Make the Small Talk Mean Something

If you're having trouble writing small talk, try to make the small talk important, if only a little bit! People can sometimes get stuck on small talk because they're not sure what kit's supposed to accomplish; you can't write something that you're not sure about the purpose of.

It doesn't have to be some earth-shattering plot point, just a small goal that can help you get through the conversation. With a goal in mind, it can be much easier to formulate what the characters should be saying to get there.

These goals can be any of these, ranging in importance:

Find out one of the characters' likes/dislikes (In the case of the ask, this could be something as simple as: "Ugh, I hate waiting for the bus")

Learn a fun fact about one of the characters

Make the characters grow closer

Reveal a part about a character's past

Foreshadow a future event

Introduce a plot point/important object or person, briefly, so that it's not so much of a surprise when they're completely introduced later in the story.

3. Keep it Brief

The important thing about small talk is that it's small. You don't want to be rambling on for pages and pages about a character's likes and dislikes. That's when it becomes a matter of writing actual concrete dialogue and driving the plot forward.

Also, trying to push the dialogue to stretch thinner than it needs can also cause a massive pushback of writer's block, simply because you're trying to push something that doesn't need to happen.

Hope this helped, and happy writing!

[binch-i-might-be]

I'm reading the free first chapter of The Fucking Book on rowling's website and it's,,,,,, uh.

first of all, this is more a formatting thing but it's annoying me to a near comical degree: the dialogue isn't "written like this" it's 'written like this'. girl what's up with that, can you not afford proper quotation marks for your thousand page book????

also her dialogue tags are SO nerve-wracking to me, she keeps saying "said [this person]" instead of just "she said" and it's so unnecessary because!! they are only two people of opposite genders talking!!!! she could just say "he/she said" and the reader would know who she means!!!! also the fact that she keeps putting "said" before the name instead of after. why. I hate this

oh and the entire first chapter is just the two protagonists sitting in the ritz, getting drunk, and sharing anecdotes from their lives. I cannot express to you how useless and boring that information is, and they speak exactly the same, so it's not even entertaining to read

anyway the two main anecdotes of the night include Female Protag™ explaining that her father is professor of sheep shagging or something and Male Protag™ recounting the humourous tale of how he was sexually assaulted by his future mother in law when he was 22 and both her husband and his former fiancée blamed him because he didn't lock his door. also he talks about the husband's cock, which he glimpsed. this is entirely portrayed as a funny haha story. Female Protag™ is laughing the entire time!

yeah so maybe rowling has never been a good writer actually lmao