#is certainly something alright

[rauferes]

(●'◡'●)

[psalmsofpsychosis]

You know, i've been thinking about the way Batman keeps danger and weapons so close to his body, so tight to himself, practically tied around his neck, that joker often has no way left but to grab for him if he wants something Batman has. Batman does not want to be left out of Joker's plans, his story, he wants in on Joker's narrative by any means he can make it happen. It's such particular "you take me with you wherever you are, it's your punishment, just as it's my punishment to take you with me wherever i am" statement. Batman actively leaves no choice for Joker but to get very very close to him and claim him as part of his win or his loss. I mean,

he didn't have to. he could've put the key in one of his waist pouches, push it into the back of his left boot, he could've tied it around his bicep, i dont care— he could've done whateverthefuck with it. But he had to put it around his neck, and intentionally invite Joker to "come and get it". Something something classic cliche of the way lovers' bond is signified by a necklace-adjacent item and the way they interact with it; hold unto it, toss it, tie it around their necks, giving it back, not giving it back, necklaces as items of reverance and revenge. Something something a tie around neck being a sign of being claimed and owned,

[kindahoping4forever]

RyanFleming: One of my favorite raw clips ⚡

@ ashtonirwin // 2019 WWJ Tour // @ 5sos

(Originally posted to 5SOS' IG Story 24 December 2019)

[seriousbrat]

What are your favourite telltale signs that a fanfic was written by an american?

Some that always sticks out to me:

- Characters drinking lots of coffee

- Tea with cream instead of milk (it’s not unheard of, but it’s not your standard cup of tea)

- People mentioning hospital bills

- Being unable to write smokers casually

- Sirius is salivating for a Harley Davidson and not a Triumph

Okay honestly the tea thing in general is a BIG one. I think people don't always understand the way tea is consumed in the UK, how ingrained it is in daily life. Ive basically got a rotating cup of tea all day. Growing up in my house, even when we lived in america, someone would offer to make tea basically hourly lol. There's different situations when tea is offered in slightly different ways, different ways of making tea like builder's tea, different things that are served with tea, tea meaning 'dinner' in some regions, and these customs are hard to understand unless you've lived them.

Often Remus is portrayed as a tea fanatic because he offers tea when Harry visits him, which is always funny to me because that's just the normal thing to do when someone's visiting.

Another tea-related one I encountered once (this made me laugh a LOT and I felt a bit bad for the author) was that Lily 'woke up to the smell of tea.' This is an instance I think using coffee would have been alright lol, they obviously just replaced 'coffee' with 'tea', not realising tea doesn't really smell much when you make it and definitely doesn't waft about the house like coffee does. James would have to be holding the cup under her nose or brewing several large vats of the stuff in the same room lol

I agree with the ones you've said. In what was once the most popular jily fic in the fandom, there's a whole thing with Lily somewhat righteously trying to get James to quit smoking when, in the 70s, everyone and your nan smoked, even indoors, and Lily herself probably would have too. In a lot of Europe young people from all walks of life will casually smoke. rah where's my baccy etc

Similar to the Harley thing, there's often a lot of American music/TV/food/pop culture used. Or anachronistic stereotypically British things like everyone being into the Beatles.

THE NAMES. Characters having surnames that are very much from America's immigrant heritage, polish or german etc, like 'Schneider' and 'Kowalski' and things. First names too, this is a bit less dire but a lot of names common in the US wouldn't have been given to a child in the 60s. Specifically aristocratic characters would have a particular set of names, although pureblood conventions are obv a bit different than irl.

Another one is general drinking culture. Like I mentioned the idea of, honestly, anyone who isn't an obvious child being asked for ID in a pub is very silly haha, unless maybe in a student area. Whereas in America they'll ask everyone for ID before they let them sit down. (even my 60yr old dad has been asked lol)

in my experience Americans have a strange relationship with alcohol in general, which is both slightly puritan and enthusiastic. My theory is that this is because of prohibition (I find this very historically interesting) and they aren't as prone to casual daily drinking as Europeans, rather they tend to go all out on specific occasions. I love an American house party haha, but I don't think Americans would go for work drinks at the pub as often.

Exaggerated distances between places. Working class families having multiple cars and big houses and driving everywhere even within London. Aristocratic characters doing things they'd never do and having things they'd never have. The Blacks are often portrayed as too fantabulously wealthy imo in a very Rockerfeller New England-y way. Also they wouldn't speak French to each other lol

In general class distinctions, which are very important in the UK, are difficult to understand from an outside perspective I think.

However, I think the main tell for me is usually dialogue, SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG:

This issue, tbf, is very understandable. It's very difficult to achieve natural-sounding dialogue for dialects that you're not personally familiar with. Tbh I think it's not always easy to achieve natural-sounding dialogue in general for anyone. I've lived in America too and now have lived in a non-english speaking country for many years, mostly speaking catalan/spanish on a daily basis, so I get confused too and I use american phrases picked up either during my time there or from the internet. Anyway point is I think about/notice dialogue a lot, so here are my thoughts.

There's often overuse/misuse of slang or certain terms that can end up being amusing, like that fan film using 'a row' constantly to describe a bitter fight to the death between sworn enemies haha. Over/misuse of things like 'bloody,' 'wanker,' 'twat' lol. Understanding what types of characters would say what, and in what situations, can be tricky. 'Pants' is a common mistake because in BrE it means underpants, not trousers. 'Restroom' is also very American. 'College' meaning 'university' ditto. 'Pissed' for angry rather than 'drunk,' 'mad' also to a lesser extent-- I'd normally understand 'are you mad' as 'are you crazy.'

I saw a tumblr post once, one I thought would be a bit mean to reply to directly, in which a character jokes to Sirius about 'doing fags' because he smokes cigarettes and is in a relationship with Remus. lmao. That's a good example of someone trying to use a slang term without understanding the way it's really used. Also a good example of someone gratuitously using a slur (which is more common in America anyway) for no reason lol oh well

In general, I think since Americans are used to hollywood portrayals of British characters who mostly use something akin to RP, even authors who are diligent about BrE can end up sounding a bit stilted and a bit pride and prejudice-y with their teen characters (except with 'bloody wanker!' sprinkled in occasionally.) And this is fine, I don't think it's fair to expect perfectly natural/accurate dialogue from fanfic authors all the time, wherever they're from. But a line like "Yes, it must have been nice" might sound more natural as "Yeah, must've been nice," though it depends on the character obv.

Personally I think I overuse contractions because I find them fun (I love a cheeky 'oughtn't' or a 'mightn't.' or 'shouldn't've' lol. tbh im always saying 'ought' and 'ought not' irl but that's just me being weird.) But contractions and dropping certain words is common in informal BrE, what's tricky is that if this is misused it also sounds odd. So it's a difficult balance to get right. For instance: 'it would be nice if they had' can become 'be nice if they had' but not 'be nice if they.' or 'be nice if they'd.' This was a professionally made video game rip but there's a character in Mass Effect who talks like that, it drove me mad.

I love to think about accents and dialects and dialogue in general (which is why this got so long sorry) and imo the key is just familiarising yourself with a dialect as much as possible and making sure you hear the accent in your head as you write. Using slang terms in ways you've heard them used before, and carefully. For younger characters you'll want to watch something like the inbetweeners rather than bridgerton haha. Or something like Would I Lie To You or Taskmaster where there's a variety of panelists and therefore of accents, both series are free on youtube and are excellent!

[triptychofvoids]

are u a medic fictionkin? /gq sorry im just really confused

there are some questions that science just cant answer-

[turtleplushi]

ok maybe i dont hate ibis paint

[universalthaumaturge]

so. chapter 5 huh.

[soviet-siscon]

at least my cousin is back in the country for a bit, even if it is to see her awful mum

[gibbearish]

btw similar to the whole "if you try adderall at a party and it calms you down, get an adhd test" thing, if at some point in your life you try microdosing shrooms with a friend and end up feeling like a functional person for the first time in your life, get tested for depression. like yeah hallucinogens come with elation so youre probably gonna have some "this is the best ive ever felt in my life" vibes regardless, but like. if that in and of itself feels like finally breathing in for the first time in years, thats for sure a sign that something is up with your ability to process serotonin most of the time. feeling better than ever before should be a nice bonus, not a crushing weight off your chest

[rebel-sqrrl]

I've been reading Supposed to Be and have officially succumbed to Smoothbore brain rot. I want to add her to the Ward era Needlepoints-May homewrecker mess. Get all the girlies who are normal about skin in one room and prevent them from killing each other in order to produce results heretofore unimaginable to science

Hahaha, yes! 😈 Once Blake's in your head, you can't ever get her out, 'cause she's got a gun.

You gotta leave comments though! Kaiya loves responding to comments!

[fennthetalkingdog]

You know, when I was first researching neurodivergence (and autism and ADHD in particular) and wondering if I was, in fact, neurodivergent, I brought my conclusions to my mom and she said:

"I mean, you're gifted, right? So you already are neurodivergent???"

So here's to her (kinda) and her words. Giftedness is a neurodivergence, in my opinion. From what I've seen, a lot of the traits overlap with common autistic and/or ADHD traits too, especially regarding overexcitabilities, and a lot of researchers talking about the topic describe giftedness with the same kind of "your brain is just made differently" and "you're just wired differently" language as they use for other neurodivergent conditions. But I also say this because I've seen some gifted people who, while struggling with some "autistic/ADHD traits," don't have all the traits necessary for an autism or ADHD diagnosis. Giftedness is a label for them that encompasses the struggles they have without saying that they don't struggle enough or forcing them to try to fit into a mold that isn't them. And I get that; when I was first questioning, I didn't think I had enough autistic traits to count for a diagnosis either, so I took comfort in a "gifted" label. (Not to say that all gifted people are just autistic people and/or people with ADHD that don't realize, or that all gifted people are just people who don't have enough traits for a diagnosis! That was just the case for me and the folks I've been around, but I've also heard the case of it not being that.)

But if I am gifted, then I also have autism. A lot of my struggles are, honestly, just better described by autism than just by a byproduct of giftedness. My struggles with people and with "being too much," my sensory differences (and yes, sometimes issues), my stimming, and some of my executive dysfunction all sound like autistic traits to me more than a mix of psychomotor and sensual overexcitabilities and a whole bunch of coincidental byproducts of my being gifted and hanging out with nongifted peers. Don't get me wrong; based on my family history, background, and traits, I honestly probably am gifted lol. But it's not just that.

So this is me saying that if the people around you are saying that you're just gifted, you're free to look for other, perhaps better explanations for your feelings and experiences. But if you are just gifted, you're still free to call yourself neurodivergent! My gifted traits lead to me feeling just as ostracized sometimes as my autistic ones, so who am I to police that label?

[flowering-darkness]

A question for Miss Clio! Is there anything you've been looking forward to lately, or something you've been wanting to share? ^.^ I know you recently had an important day come up, I'd love to hear about that too, if you'd feel comfortable with it!

Clio: "Oh, hi!! How are you? Lots of questions - but I can definitely try and answer them!! Thanks for these!

Hmm.. Actually, I guess they all come together a bit! See- er, yeah, as you mentioned, I always make quite a big deal of this time of year, the end of March. Even this far down the line, it's just.. nice to be here and be proud of how far I've come, you know? Celebrate being who I am - and how I've been able to achieve that as I’ve gotten older. There was one point where I didn’t know if I’d ever get to have this, any of this.. But I’ve been luckier than most, and I’m really, really thankful for that.

When I look back at the way I used to feel.. the way I never used to feel happy about anything I was doing with myself.. I always used to get really attached to the heroes in fairytale stories. The knight in shining armour, riding in to save the princess - or the ordinary boy who suddenly finds out he’s special, and gets thrown into saving the world. I’d try to be them, and wonder how they could always save the day, and never lose hope - and maybe some of that was just ‘cause I was a kid reading kids’ books, but it’s not a bad outlook even though it’s childish, right? When I tried to be that way, and “be like them”, it always felt like I was just acting it out.. but then I realised each one of them was different, and there wasn’t any one way of doing it right. So I had to go with what worked for me - ‘cause my life wasn’t part of a fairytale story. And when I figured out the main thing in the way - as in, when I came out - that went a long way in helping me be more like.. a person I could aspire to, I guess. Someone my younger self would have wanted to grow up to be, if she’d heard of me already. I’m not saying I’m this big hero or anything - just that I want to be someone like that? Someone who helps the people around her and gets to make their days brighter, like the kids from the stories. Can’t exactly be the boy hero when you aren’t a boy, though, can you?

That’s sort of why I’m like this, I guess you could say - why I’ve always put my trust in luck, and why I’ve tried to help the people around me get lucky with what they’re doing. It was honestly purely by chance that I ended up settling on Clover, but.. it actually stems from me finding a spell that was meant to stop flowers from wilting, and remembering I’d managed to find a big patch of clover flowers one day. So I went out there, late at night, and I tried making a ring of them to test out the spell on. And while I was sat there, I thought more about them and what they meant. You might say it’s odd that so much of who I am revolves around something as small as the flower crown I wear through my hair every day.. but there’s a reason why I do that, and why I’ve always worn it since this time all those years ago. It’s so I can show that I want the luck I’ve had to get passed on to others, and maybe remind them if they need it that there’s always a chance things’ll get better for them.

It’s like if you’re stuck in the dark, and you can’t see. You’d need too big of a torch to make it look like daylight again, and no-one carries one ‘round with them that’s that massive. But a small light can be enough to let you figure out where you’re going, and not fall over something - which, in the end, is still enough to be helpful. So, what I’m trying to say is - I like getting to help people out by being myself, and being that little light for them, so they don’t have to go through the same long-winded process that I did. Does that make any sense?

I sort of lost the plot there, but- I hope it worked, for the moment. To go back to your actual questions - yeah, I’ve been looking forward to this whole weekend/start of the week for a while! Each time it comes ‘round again, my friends and I always try to do something together, like going out on the town or having a party - it’s almost like having another birthday in terms of what we do, which is fun. Means I usually spend my actual birthday with my family, so I get the best of both worlds! And when big days come around for my friends as well - whether it’s something like this, or some other anniversary or date that’s really important - I’m always up for making it as big of a thing as I can do, for their sakes. It’s just nice having stuff you can celebrate, you know? Especially when you get to do it with friends.

So, yeah, all in all, that’s been the main thing recently. Just.. looking back on where I was, and being happy I’ve made it to where I am now.

I hope that covers what you were asking, Hope! Sorry I lost the plot of it halfway through, but.. with any luck it’ll still have made some form of sense. I don’t know. It’ll be fine! I don’t mind talking about it, necessarily, it’s just.. hard to know how to word it all, generally speaking. But as long as you got something out of it, that’s the main thing.

Thanks again for stopping by! Have a great day~”

[silent-sentinels]

well. woke up. too worried to go back to sleep. too sleepy to do anything else. we'll be here i guess hgghf

[acaesic]

almost a week until gloom division. i cannot handle this omg

[topaztimes]

Hi this is a vent post! Continue scrolling if you'd rather not see that

[grinchwrapsupreme]

i'm watching season 8 of dexter for the first time and i'm only on episode 2 but i'm glad they're finally tackling the whole "dexter is a psychopath and psychopaths don't have empathy" thing by acknowledging that this dude does in fact have empathy i hope to god they come to the logical conclusion