#not me punctuating all my sentences with emojis

[wildernessuntothemselves]

The more I thought about it the more I realized there’s nothing to reveal as I only reblog 🧍‍♀️ anywho~

Please don’t feel inadequate 🥺 (easier said than done I know) but everyone’s their own worst critic. You’re honestly an awesome author, we all appreciate you 🥺💖

-Also the “face of rape” will never not make me upset bc fuck that whole situation🥊

- I am but a simple whore is the most relatable thing I’ve heard 😭 hence my name on here 😭🤣

-Guys there should be an official hashtag for ✨#mort appreciation✨

-I tried dashes so I don’t spam your inbox lmk if it’s better or worse 🥹 I’m leaning towards worse

Oh hey babe ❤️ you're definitely a familiar face

Thank you babe. It's just hard when you see the errors in front of you 😂

Idk the face of rape was just funny to me 😂

Hahha nah you guys spoil me a lot already 🥺

Dashes definitely work and make sense 👍

[love4culkin]

texting Leon headcannons!!

me and my friend were talking about this last night so I needed to share them...

🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

RE2R

☆ I feel like this is the most normal era of him texting??

☆ understands slang/phrases that are used to an extent, still gets a little confused sometimes and has to whip our urban dictionary...

☆ uses 'u' and 'r' (number letter homophones sorry I'm getting English language A level flashbacks)

☆ I feel like he likes to use emojis, not in every single message but he uses ones like ☹️💪😊, and then also maybe 🫶 if he's feeling affectionate

☆ if you're speaking on a platform where you can react to messages I feel like he heart reacts every message the closer you get, as if to show he's read it by reacting to it (definitely not projecting here oops)

☆ probably has you saved as a nickname, inside joke, or a shortened version of your name

RE4 (& any other older Leon tbh)

☆ be prepared for lots of 'ok' and 'right'

☆ definitely types like this.

☆ I feel like he'd type with proper punctuation and grammar??? lots of commas, ends every sentence with a full stop

☆ he will 'k' you with no shame at all, probably doesn't realise that it's seen as a negative thing until you jokingly bring it up to him (especially in an age gap relationship w/ older Leon)

☆ similarly to the K he will also leave you on seen, once again doesn't really see why it's considered a bad thing to leave someone on seen. "We were finished with the conversation so I didn't need to reply."

☆ I'm sorry but I feel like he has your contact saved as your full government name

☆ seen this headcannon around and its funny but yeah he's definitely a dry texter, probably doesn't realise it though oops

🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

[amorisastrum]

How to use tone tags! :D

Because @flaming-green asked and also neurodivergence !!

Long post woah

Commonly used tone tags:

/j = joke

/hj = half joke

/ly or /lyr = lyrics

/pos = positive

/neg = negative

/lh = light hearted

/nm = not mad

/s or /sarc = sarcastic

/nbh = no body here (this is used alongside a rant/vent that has not named a specific person- people may think you are talking about them and spiral)

/genq = genuine question

/nf = not forced

/plat = platonic

/r = romantic

/srs = serious

/t = teasing

Why use tone tags?:

Tone can be a very difficult thing to pick up, especially through text. Use of punctuation and capital letters and certain word choices can make a sentence seem completely different. For example, if I received a text saying "Come see me right now." I would instantly think I was in trouble and would panic. However, if I received that same message with a "/nm" I would feel much better about the situation. People use punctuation in different ways as well! I personally use exclamation marks to show how excited I am !! While for others, a multitude of exclamation marks could indicate sarcasm. Same with the use of emojis. I personally use some emojis to indicate sarcasm, but I know people who use those same emojis to indicate... Well, what the emoji is showing. So, to use a tone tag avoids any sort of miscommunication.

When to use tone tags?:

Deciding when to use tone tags can be difficult. I personally use tone tags when I reread a message and realise it is ambiguous in tone, or when I reread it, it sounds more aggressive or rude than I intended it to be.

If somebody asks you what you mean by a message, this is probably a sign that you need a tone tag of sorts. Not all people are going to interpret things the way you intend them to be, so tone tags as a whole are helpful to avoid miscommunication. Sometimes the context of the message being sent can change someone's perception so tone tags are not always needed e.g. "omg I love you so much! You're so awesome!" This may be seen as genuine, while "omg you're so awesome." Can be seen as sarcastic. It depends on how that person's brain works.

If you are talking directly with one person, or a small group of people, and you know their typing habits (such as using emojis for sarcasm or use of punctuation) then tone tags may be needed less! But if you are talking to a group of people, such as on Tumblr, it may be easier to use tone tags as more people will see what you've said and... Well people may not understand what you meant!

Some words may have different connotations through different contexts, such as the word "silly". But sometimes people may not understand that context. I typically use Silly in a positive way, but at one point I referred to a character I didn't like as a "silly man" with my friend who had no clue who this character was. To them, this meant I liked this character, which left them confused when I started talking about them in a bad way. So, I started adding "/neg" anytime I meant silly in a negative way to avoid confusion.

Other tone tag things:

Try and avoid piling of tone tags at the end of a message/post as this can be confusing. Id say try to use no more than 2, 3 at a maximum.

If you're cutting into the middle of a message with a tone tag, you can use brackets, but you don't have to! Do what makes you comfortable.

Use punctuation where you see fit.

You don't have to use tone tags for every message you send/everything you post! Use them when YOU think the tone could be ambiguous or if someone has directly asked you what you mean.

You don't have to know every tone tag ever. I've been using tone tags for a good 2 maybe 3 years now and I mainly use /nm, /j, /srs, /sarc and /pos.

I also use /silly, which I'm not sure is an actual tone tag. I use this if something I say seems passive aggressive or if I am in fact just being silly.

I hope this has helped! Tone tags are something that help me communicate with people and make me more comfortable! And I hope they can make it easier for you to communicate as well :]

Also sorry if this makes little sense it is 2am. Feel free to add any more information in reblogs or replies!!

[karalovesallthegirls]

Some Q's for youuu:

8. How slow is a slow burn? 🕒

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it. 📝

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again? 👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏻

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing? 🤓

30. Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't. 🪦🙀

I appreciate your dedication using the emojis, they enhanced the experience greatly!!!!

8. How slow is a slow burn? 🕒 

The hottest slow burn 2 me is one where they can barely even make eye contact for a solid 15k, let alone touch lips. I want them to go through every possible option and do every possible thing to avoid getting together for so long they’re practically pulling their hair out in the frustration of it. Their desperation for each other needs to be so unbearable that they truly genuinely lose their minds, and they then need to stay apart for a little while after that.

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it. 📝 “Alien…” she whispers, eyes wide with a terror so painfully familiar to Kara. “Oh, God.” “Miss Luthor, I’m not going to hurt you, okay? I just need the hard drive. That’s all," Kara says.

She tries to keep a soothing tone, but she’s so tired of this. She wants to be done. She’s so close to being done, too. The Luthor's eyes are intense and focused, studying Kara back just as deeply as Kara studies her. She’s beautiful, Kara thinks, and she’s scared. Everyone is always scared of the alien. The woman holds the device out with one hand and Kara can see the slight shake to it. “You won’t hurt me?” she asks again, and Kara smiles. “I promise,” Kara says. She grabs the drive but feels some resistance as she tugs. The other woman isn’t letting go. Kara looks at her again to find her smiling. “Funny,” Lena Luthor says. “Because I’m going to hurt you.” Kara’s head whips back with the force of the hit, blood splattering from her mouth as she falls.

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again? 👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏻

For me I fucking LOVE a multiverse like what do you mean they will find each other in every form, in every world, in every time??? What do you MEAN if there’s a version of one that exists the other must be elsewhere waiting for the chance and not knowing it?? What do you MEAN quantum entanglement?????

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing? 🤓

Don’t try to write it correctly the first round, just get material on the page. 

Write out your story concepts like you’re writing a transcript of your brain. You’re not editing or correcting or explaining meaning, just conveying exactly what is there as it is. My preferred method is just a big stream of conscious paragraph with no punctuations and often times looks like I’m describing drama to a friend via text - “[…] and then Lena was like Lex what the fuck!!!!!! bitch!!!!! and then Kara freaks out and grabs […] - and then just leave it for a little while. Come back to it later and divide them up into fragmented sentences and concepts and build from there. When I spend ages trying to think of the right way to write out my ideas more often than not I find I’ve written nothing, and the things left unwritten have faded away from my memory like they’d never been there at all.

30. Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't. 🪦🙀

I have a fic concept I flirt with sometimes where Lena is head of security for Luthor Corp distribution, which handles art and artifacts for hundreds of museums around the world, and she is forced to handle the chaos of some masked thief that keeps stealing things and returning them to their original cultures. Lillian is breathing down her neck to fix this, but no one ever seems able to even get more than a glimpse of the crook - until Lena does. 

And Lena realizes three things when she finally sees the masked Robin Hood rip-off:

1.) the thief is a woman, and somehow able to handle such massive robberies alone.

2.) The thief gets sloppy when Lena is there, nervous and bumbling and chatty. She acts like she’s never seen a pretty girl before. Like she wants to impress Lena just as much as rob her.

3.) Lena might not be able to stop the robberies with her wit, but she sure as hell can with her tits.

[neonfretra]

how i write alt text/image descriptions

these are written descriptions of media attached to posts, for those who may be unable to view them (primarily screen reader users, but this is also helpful for when images arent loading, explaining what is happening in an image, and so on), while fairly dauntin startin out its honestly a fairly simple process! :)

alt text can be added by clicking the meatball menu on attached medias (3 horizontally oriented dots, lower right corner of media in post editor), typically these would be a brief summary of the most important aspects of an image. alt text is embedded in the image.

image descriptions (sometimes shortened to id) are written in plain text like a caption. these may be longer/more detailed than alt text. typically, these are formatted with brackets to indicate when descriptions begin and end (i personally preface with "[Image description:" and close with "End description.]")

typically i focus on these 4 elements:

media type photograph, tweet, art, scoreboard, news headline, etc important for me as someone who posts photos alongside art to specify this difference because i dont want to be responsible for implying my drawings are reality LOL other details about the type of media are helpful if relevant, like quality (poorly drawn, run through with jpg artifacting) or stylization (realistic, monochromatic, minimalist, significant color choices)

text a piece of advice i saw was that you wanna just transcribe all text in an image, this works for stuff like tweets and dialogue but this is a sports oriented blog, sometimes you will come up on text that is just completely incomprehensible to transcribe. a game clock, any score readings? i approach it like reading it out loud and instead structuring the information in sentences (the score is this, in favor of this team. probably the one that isnt the sharks LMAO)

subject usually this means naming players and sharing relevant information about them (are they on opposing teams, is the position they play significant)

action the whats goin on? again, as a sports oriented blog, this tends to look like a brief play by play. goalie makes this save, player dodges around another player. these guys are kissing nasty again. this can also include emotion and tone. this person is angry, this action is particularly noteworthy, this situation is funny.

its kinda like takin notes, i only focus on the important stuff! you dont really gotta the avatar of a user, what ad is on the boards, what color is the background for every single image.

when writing your alt text/image, it helps to keep in mind that these are intended to be read out loud. use punctuation, avoid excessive emojis. if something in the original text does something that affects readability, it helps to just type it in plain text and note what stylization is missing.

because its meant to read out loud, you also gotta order your stuff in what makes the most sense. group things in chronological order, what order the viewers supposed to be seein things in. i tend to write things in order of media -> subject -> action -> text myself!

and when in doubt just copy someone else LMAO of course theres always someone smarter than you out there, check out what other peoplere sayin on how to do it if this isnt doin it for you

happy description writing! :) its okay if you are unable to write your own descriptions for any reason, i for one skip some posts just because theyre wayy too much to write out HAHAHAHA

accessibility is a group effort and were all here to help each other out <3

[frownyalfred]

hi res,, im a huge, huge fan of your fics and i've been scrolling through your tumblr for the last hours/day while falling in and out of a weird stomach pain that is totally ruining my winter break! i also don't really know how tumblr works but i had to express my love for you, I feel so much better reading your stuff 😍 your tumblr posts are also amazing, thank you so so much for all your contributions to this fandom AND to ao3/fandom culture in general!! (wow that was a lot of exclamation marks, i swear i know how to end a sentence with other punctuation 😃 namely emojis 😃😃)

I had a question about your opinions on some ships, IF YOU'RE AMENABLE, feel free to ignore; i know you're a super busy person and this is going to be a long message, I'm overwhelmed looking at it myself 😅

Firstly, shipping the batkids together??? I've seen a few fics like that, especially the robins (e.g. dick/jason, jason/tim??) but I generally avoid them bc they make me feel uncomfy personally, even if they're not characterized as brothers/sisters in that particular fic - cuz i cant kid myself into thinking that i'll ever see them as anything but siblings 🥹

then there's also the stephanie/tim thing?? my understanding of stephanie's dynamic in the batfamily is limited since i got into the dc fandom mainly through fic, but i'm under the impression that some canons have that, and stephanie is not totally considered part of the batfamily (as in bruce's daughter). while other times it's tim/kon, and I'm very supportive of the increasing inclusion of queer representation in the "dc canon", but i guess it's just that the batkids all feel like children, like babies even 🥺🥺

yea so that was a pretty long winded explanation for a quick question😭 my bad

and finally, my otp, ghostbat 🥹🥰 i've never really seen you post anything about them, it is definitely a much rarer ship, but i'd love to know your opinion 💙 i would absolutely recommend taking a look into it if you haven't already, their dynamic is so unique (imo) and heart-wrenching! i havent found that much content about them, so if there are any suggestions for content for them, i will take literally anything 🥺

yeah so thanks for looking through all of this mess, i love you and your beautiful brain so much, sending positive vibes and well wishes your way <3

Hi anon! Thank you so much, and sorry you're not feeling well. Some quick answers to your questions below:

People do ship the batkids together, in a variety of related/not related scenarios. It's not everyone's cup of tea. Some people like it. Some people get very squicked by it. All reactions are valid. I am a big proponent of ship and let ship -- people are going to write what they're going to write. If you don't like to read that, hit the back button. Like you said, you have already identified that you don't like it, and now you avoid it. That's awesome!

Tim/Steph vs Tim/Kon can also be a touchy subject in fandom. Steph's inclusion in the batfamily depends on the fanon and/or canon. People have strong opinions about this. My reaction is always, teens have relationships. Messy relationships. Tim and Steph and Tim and Kon can all happen and it doesn't make anyone more or less deserving of love or a relationship. They're kids figuring themselves out -- it makes sense that it's messy.

I like ghostbat! I will admit I'm not as familiar with the ship as I could be. I mostly consume secondhand info here on tumblr. @allgremlinart's blog is a great place to start if you haven't already.

Hope that helps! Feel better soon, anon.

[b1adie]

You should talk more about that like text to voice thing, I think it’s really interesting because I don’t do that, mainly just because my phone auto capitalizes but I do it on my pc even and that doesn’t

Like how a lot of people including me interpret a period at the end of a sentence as passive aggressive like it’s shutting down the conversation

yeah true. cuz like a sudden period at the end of a message when otherwise u have just been typing w no end punctuation gives the tone of like. someone saying smth sharply. but in longer messages like this here where theres multiple sentences its not as bad cuz its like serving its usual punctuation purpose, separating thoughts for readability, as opposed to its verbal translation of like. something stern

theres also the more obvious but i know one i like is how like, ppl will Capitalize words for Emphasis. which when you think about it we already had the formal writing variant of that with italics but a lot of places online including like regular texting, you cant italicize words, so we had to make Something work… i’ve also seen /this/ which i think is cute bc the slashes are there cuz theyre diagonal, indicating the text between them is intended to be slanted as well. dont see it much anymore but its endearing

hm what else. OH yeah,, the double comma. like we needed something that was less open-ended than no punctuation but not as harsh as a single period but not as melancholy as an ellipsis (and an ellipsis tends to imply a thought “trailing off” as well as melancholy). a comma is for a pause in a sentence and so a double comma ended up being like, the softer version of a period. end of sentence with perhaps some hesitation,, pronounced generally the same as the pause of an ellipsis but has a different tone. double comma feels more like a held breath and an ellipsis feels more like a sigh.

lots of little things like that .. i think theyre all very cute. i tend to do spaces around my punctuation and i like double periods. halfway between a finished thought and a trailing off thought. my own personal little flair 2 the world of typing … but i do enjoy a good ellipsis too. i am not picky. 🤸‍♂️ (the cartwheel emoji is to signify a fun silly little end to my thoughts like i am doing a funny little cartwheel away).

[vulcankin]

Quirk Mimicking

What is a Quirk?

Quirks in the context of Homestuck (and especially trolls) are a distinct way of typing that expresses the personality, interests, and individuality of a, well, an individual.

For trolls in particular, your quirk is as much a natural preference in speech as it is a traditional action related to troll culture. It’s as important as hemotyping (typing in a particular color, typically and traditionally the color of your blood/hemocaste) or the choice NOT to hemotype/go hemoanon.

While humans may naturally type in a particular manner, or choose to express themselves through a particular color medium, it often does not carry the same cultural connotations as a troll’s hemotyping and quirk usage.

For these reasons and others (comfort, habit, etc) dropping or breaking quirk can range from a little weird or awkward to upsetting or anxiety inducing for a troll.

On rare occasions [x][x] a troll will either drop or partly drop quirk for MAJOR emphasis or to show something is very important to listen to.

Quirk Examples

Sollux Captor:

TA: iim not 2ure why, but ii thiink iit2 liike...

TA: fulfiilliing 2ome requiirement for a true prophet of doom.

TA: iin order for the vii2iion2 two be riight, that ha2 two happen, and the uniiver2e wiill make 2ure iit wiill.

Sollux’s quirk has various elements.

First and foremost, he never uses capitalization unless for emphasis or when typing out his nicknames for people, and he only capitalizes those when in a good mood. There is a distinct lack of emojis or emoticons, outside of rare occurrences/duality puns. His speech is very straightforward and short, being sent in multiple pieces. This shows important aspects of his character such as aloofness, bluntness, and a lack of care for convention.

The use of double ‘i’s, his replacement of “to” or “too” with “two”, and ‘s’s with 2s are all both personality aspects and tradition aspects of his quirk.

The traditional reasoning is that they are a reference to his sign, Gemini, which is similar to the roman numeral 2.

Personally, they have a number of meanings. His dual colored eyes. His bipolarity. Referencing binary in connection to his skills with programming. His vision twofold.

He also types in traditional hemotyping for his bloodcaste, typing in gold.

Combined, these aspects all show parts of who he is, without needing to explain them, and make his unique mark in interpersonal communication.

After he dies his quirk changes (no double ‘i’s, no 2s, no ‘two’s; instead all ‘o’s are 0s) to show that he’s now “0kay” and no longer associates with his prior traits. However, his hemotyping remains gold.

Nepeta Leijon:

AC: :33 < *ac twitches her friendly whiskers at ct*

…-…

AC: :33 < i can tell you like to play games, d33p down you are a guy who likes to play games! 


AC: :33 < i can smell a guy who likes to play games from so fur away with this nose, you have no idea X33

Nepeta’s quirk is slightly more focused around her external connections than Sollux’s, but still expresses her individuality.

The header of her quirk is “:33 <”, which references her catlike nature/affinity, as well as having two mouths like her cat lusus, Pounce de Leon. This carries over into her emojis as well.

All of these relate two her sign, Leo, as relating to big cats.

Nepeta also does not use capitalization, and often does not use most ending punctuation. However, she makes liberal use of exclamation marks, comma and emojis. Her sentences tend to be compound, rather than short and simple. She uses cat puns whenever pawsible.

She also frequently roleplays in her speech, having a personal interest in it, and uses asterisks to denote roleplay actions.

Together, all of these things show her personality as creative, high energy, and fun-loving.

She also types in traditional hemotyping standards using her blood color, olive.

Karkat Vantas:

KARKAT: AND AFTER A BREAKNECK WARP SPEED JOURNEY IN WHICH MY BEST FUCKING FRIEND *EVER* PSYCHED ME OUT INTO THINKING HE DIED *YET A FUCKING GAIN* BY EXPELLING LITER AFTER GRUESOME LITER OF GRUBSAUCE FROM HIS EVERY ORIFICE

KARKAT: WHAT DO I FIND HERE?

KARKAT: WHY, IN ADDITION TO A PAIR OF HUMANS DRAPED IN CIRCUSWEAR AND ALL THEIR FLIPPANT GIBES LOCKED AND GODDAMN LOADED

The main aspects of Karkat's quirk are the use of all-caps, run on sentences, general aggressive tone, and explicit language/gratuitous insults. He also types hemoanon, or in a light grey color that does not represent or reveal his blood color.

Asterisks are used sparingly for emphasis, and he occasionally "whispers" in parenthesis.

Karkat's quirk trends slightly away from the traditional, instead breaking tradition.

Use of hemoanon color typing is both a purposeful and practical rejection of Alternian tradition, to keep his mutant bloodcolor a secret and prevent himself being culled.

It can be argued that his all-caps, aggresive speech is "traditional" in keeping with his ancestor's rage in his final moments as well as his Vast Expletive, however it would be unintentional as Karkat is unaware of his sign's meaning/who his ancestor is.

More so, it's a representation of Karkat's generally heightened emotional and defensive state- usually angry, irritated or panicked. Living life under constant threat of death, he tends to the aggressive/defensive in his behaviors and speech. He is also constantly thinking of things that can go wrong, have gone wrong, or how much things/himself suck(s), and therefore has a habit of venting and speaking in a very ranting-like manner, even in general conversation.

What is “Quirk Mimicking”?

Quirk mimicking is a phenomenon in which a troll (or occasionally a human) will either purposefully or subconsciously adopt quirk traits/habits from another troll.

Similar to mimicry among humans, there are two basic forms of quirk mimicry among trolls- negative mimicry and positive mimicry.

Positive Mimicry

This most frequently happens between quadmates/couples (moirails and matesprits in particular), but can also occur between close friends.

Positive mimicry can latch onto any aspect of another troll’s quirk (or a troll latching onto a human’s typing style) but does *not* include mimicking their hemotyping.

This does not mean completely changing their quirk to match another’s, but more often incorporating small bits of each other’s quirk into their own. It can also be expressed by slipping near full into another’s quirk when in a particular mood state or when saying something in particular associated with that individual.

Examples:

When Sollux and Feferi are matesprits, Sollux occasionally uses fish puns in his speech regardless of who he is speaking to.

Eridan also often uses fish puns when speaking with Feferi, but only with her.

Adjacent:

While not part of quirk mimicry itself, quirk matching is a related phenomenon when two trolls in a quadrant together alter their quirks purposefully to match each others.

The main example of this is in the moirallegence between Nepeta and Equius.

The beginning/“header” of Nepeta’s quirk reads “:33 <“.

The beginning/“header” of Equius’s quirk reads “D - - >”

When the ends of these headers are put together it forms “<>” or a diamond, the symbol used for moirails.

Negative Mimicry

There are many nuanced aspects to negative mimicry.

For humans, negative speech mimicry is typically repeating what someone said in a nasty tone, or mocking someone’s speech patterns.

And while this can also happen in trolls, that’s not quirk mimicry in particular.

Much quirk mimicry is psychological in nature, with one troll mimicking another troll’s quirk in a way that a partner or close friend would, while knowing fully that they are not close enough to do so.

In this way, it’s being done purposefully to both make the other troll uncomfortable as a form of taunt or emotional harassment, almost in a gaslighting or sleezy sort of manner.

This sort of negative mimicry can also happen accidentally, though this is typically with other species outside of trolls, in a manner that is intended to be positive.

If a human (or cherub or otherwise) that a troll was not close enough to tried to mimic them in order to match their energy, or be cute, or thinking it’s something more casual like picking up a friend’s turn of phrase-

The troll they’re mimicking can experience the same negative effects/emotions from that mimicry as they would from a purposefully malicious troll negative mimicking.

(There are occasions where trolls who are very close with other species do appreciate mimicry from their friend/partner, namely when they are close as two trolls would need to be to mimic.

This can be seen with Vriska appreciating John picking up her penchant for 8 vowels and exclamation marks. [x])

***Please note this is not a complete explanation of quirk mimicking in its entirety, just a general overview.

***This is based on the experience/memories of me and a few other trolls (kin and fictive alike.) This may not be accurate for all.

[yellowhollyhock]

vent post got long

there have been different experiences throughout my life that can make it hard to talk

difficulty with volume control. especially as a little kid (3-5); yelling when I meant to talk, talking when I meant to whisper, whispering when I meant to keep the thought in my head. I'm sure my memory is skewed but it felt like I was always in trouble for it, from peers as much if not more than adults

fast forward a few years, and for the biggest chunk of my childhood, it's thinking I'm projecting when I'm really not. No one can hear me. People are constantly frustrated with me for not speaking up. It's easier to just not speak.

theatre classes helped a lot. I started to love public speaking. Even started to not hate socializing quite as much.

then had to go to college. all the skills I'd built up for years seemed to disappear for no reason. looking back such a big change in all my environments and routines would of course cause skill regression. but I didn't understand anything about myself at the time, I thought I was just stupid. And everyone still expected me to be smart. When I tried to ask for help they'd remind me how smart I was.

and then recently, somewhere in the middle of all that--a string of roommates/co-workers/felt like everyone around me with no escape, had this attitude of perfectionism.

Sending a text? there are a thousand ways to make the person on the receiving end immediately assume you hate them because you didn't follow their made-up rules about emojis and punctuation (I would try to explain that not everyone is like that, and if someone misunderstands you can always clarify, but being surrounded by people who were in fact looking for reasons to assume your text had ill intent made it harder and harder to believe)

Making cookies for a friend? Well don't bring them over on a paper plate ugh if someone did that to me I would feel so insulted. We need to actually put effort in so they know we actually care.

Literally walking back to the apartment looking at the moon together, completely relaxed until suddenly I'm in trouble for apparently not being emotional enough about it? sounding bored or something? got teased about it for weeks, at least it seems that way when I try to remember.

Those are real literal examples. It was like that all the time I thought I was losing my mind. Reinforced a deep mistrust of my peers that I thought I had grown past (that I worked really hard for years to grow past in spite of being treated badly because I believed things would get better and that at least part of the problem was my attitude). I think some part of me expected that it'd get better because my peers had become adults. Stupid assumption

Had one roommate early on who wasn't like that. Fell in love with her--didn't know I liked girls before that--transferred schools (was going to anyway), lost touch

Writing is a coping skill I've relied on since I could write. Volume isn't a factor. How long it takes me to put together my ideas isn't a factor (in texting it sometimes is, but expectations are also lower for how coherent my ideas are--unless someone raises them again). Figuring out when it's my turn to talk is much less of a factor.

For the past like 3ish years I don't think I've ever had less than 50 unread texts. College and other experiences surrounding it absolutely destroyed the things I used to love about myself. I'm building back up. But it's hard. It's hard that everyone else perceives dropping out as the big problem when it's actually the first decision that felt like mine in a long time and the only reason I was able to start writing again. And start speaking again. I have shorter non-verbal periods and usually am able to string together adult-sounding sentences (I hate describing it that way but I don't know how else to explain. In college I would have a really hard time getting words out but didn't feel like not talking was an option, so I'd skip pronouns and prepositions, my pronunciation was slurred and my volume control was out of whack. This also only happened sometimes, and was really humiliating to get stuck in in front of people who were used to hearing me talk 'normal') (giving myself permission to use what my mom use to call 'baby talk' has been one of the hardest things and also one of the most helpful)

Anyway when I take forever to respond to messages I'm not ignoring and I'm not mad. it's probably because I've forgotten how to make feelings into words. It helps a ton that on here I'm talking about things I choose with people who are nice to me, but it still happens where I just get stuck thinking that anything I say will be taken as an insult and scared that I'm gonna sound stupid

[yume-x-hanabi]

Character ask game. You already got Gaius, let's do Wingul now, yeah? ;D

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Yesss :3

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

He looks like the meticulous type, so I'd say yes! Help me keep my place tidy please 🙏

13. An emoji that reminds me of him/that he would use.

🐦‍⬛ (too bad there's no seagull lol)

As for which one he'd use, I'm torn between headcanoning him texting full sentences, no emoji, complete with capitalization and punctuation, or him going full on gyaru text. Maybe he can do both depending on context 😂

25. First impression vs now

I gotta admit I didn't pay the Chimeriad much attention during my first playthrough. I was too focused on the main party, and up to then I was used to minor antagonists being villains who'd eventually die, so I didn't put too much focus into them. Well, I was right about them dying (😭), but once I started paying more attention to them as characters in subsequent playthroughs (+ reading more about them in guidebooks), I really fell in love with them (and also think they shouldn't have died, but that's a topic for another post). So Wingul followed that pattern, he was nothing more than a minor boss to defeat at first, and now he's my precious, must write all the fix-it fics :p

[euph0synee]

How i think Mahabharat ppl text Pt.1 :

➪ KRISHNA

- sends most random texts at most random times

- wants u to reply fast

- doesn't replies fast himself tho

- sends selfies of himself with demons he beat up with a proud smile

- uses so many emojis unironically

Krishna : hey do u think mermaids exists?

y/n : ?? idk u tell me U r the god NOT ME ??

Krishna : why would i tell u if mermaids existed? ur prolly gonna eat them u non-vegetarian bitch !!

y/n : send me another text and see how fast i block ur ass.

➪ BALARAM

- serious texter

- uses punctuation

- one word replies and at most he'll send a sentence that's it

- leaves u on seen

- can't take emojis seriously at all and thinks they're exaggerated and stupid

y/n : hey !! how r u?

balaram : alright.

y/n : oh...

(seen)

➪ SUBHADRA

- sends cat memes

- replies fast

- literally the cutest texter using all those Koamojis

- never leaves anyone on seen

- always texting to check up on her friends

Subhadra : hi y/n ^^

y/n : hi subhadra !!

Subhadra : hru? just checking in~

y/n : I'm ok how about u?

Subhadra : I'm so good !!

➪ DRAUPADI

- texts only when she feels like it

- only replies to Arjuna and leaves everyone else on delivered

- always compliments her friends when texting

- always takes screenshots of convos in case she need them in future 💀

- doesn't has anyone's number saved except for krishna (he saved it on her phone bc he knew she wouldn't)

Draupadi : hey Arya, can u take the trash out of my room pls? (trash = duryodhan)

y/n : girl 💀 do u not even have ur husband's number saved?

Draupadi : who r u?

y/n : it's y/n 😭

Draupadi : oh. ok can u take the trash out? (trash = duryodhan)

➪ ARJUNA

- will literally ghost u

- replies fast when he does but then disappears for days, months even years

- would text a "lol i died" when he comes back again

- doesn't ghost krishna (bc krishna prolly shows up in his dreams chasing him down if he ghosts him)

- always has atleast 1000+ unread texts

y/n : can u send me the pictures pls?

Arjuna : ok hold on

thousands years later

Arjuna : hey srry i died !!

y/n : it's ok so did my grandma.

Arjuna : ?? what??

y/n : boy my grandma y/n has been dead for past 20 years !! ur too late.

Arjuna : damn 💀 rip tho ig

//lol i enjoyed making this. comment if u want part 2 too and send in request if u want any specific headcannons or fanfics lol !!

[billdenbrough]

🍏

🍏 Is there something you overuse, whether it’s a certain phrase, trope, or piece of punctuation?

so it goes like this:

i actually used to talk a lot about how i use ... counting? too much. like. "one, two, three." or "one beat. two. three." etc. idk if anyone else notices that! but i've always been really aware of it lmao whenever i spot myself using it i'm like oh here we go. pov character can count. what an achievement

more recently, i cannot shut up about the sun lmfao? (side effect of kevin day) i use the word "maybe" a lot, but like. at the end of sentences. (also AHAHA the start of this answer is a joke for this question LMFAO like i use that to the extent that one time rae tweeted smth abt loving when authors go "it goes like this" and i was like omg ... i did that ... and she was like jane i was trying to be subtle but this was about your bktd fic KHJSFDHJGAHJK)

i feel like if i keep throwing in answers to this, it's going to unravel all my idiosyncrasies abt writing and reveal how weird i always feel abt it (i say i Overuse a lot of things that mina argues w me is Good use so like. point of contention) so i'll cut myself off but general recurring themes include like. body parts. memories/flashback vibes built into a scene. a pause or a beat. specific words that i don't want to explicitly reveal here bc i feel like once i do, you'll never forget that i said that i use it too much and then you'll be afflicted with the same situation as me (full body cringing when you run into it). etc

fruit emoji ask game for fic writers

[professorspork]

Do you think Yang texts in shorthand? U, ur, r, 2 instead of to/too, etc or does she type it all out completely? There seems to be a fanon opinion of this that often contrasts Blake being a much formal texter it’s interesting to me lol

With Yang I find I often sort of start with drafting her texts as being very shorthand, and then pare most of it back and replace it with full words if/when it seems too over the top. I certainly write her as being less likely to capitalize starts of sentences/end sentences with actual punctuation, and more likely to use emojis and abbreviations than Blake is

but also like, anyone who discords with me often knows that *I,* the most verbose bitch in the world who has been told multiple times by commenters that my chapters taught them new vocab words, am also very keen on using shorthand -- w for with, v for very, abt instead of about, that sort of thing. for me it's both more convenient but also very much an affectation, right, it's a code switch I'm doing to be playful and approachable and ~internetty

I think Yang thinks about language that way a *lot,* even if she doesn't realize it consciously. she's always trying to make people laugh and set them at ease, and I think the way she'd type would be part of that. Yang doesn't "just type that way," she's typing that way on purpose because she wants to come off easy breezy casual

Blake's insecurities, on the other hand, would lead her to try and eliminate imperfections so I think when I show Blake getting looser with her texting, it's a sign of her comfort. definitely be on the lookout for Blake's use of emoji and emoticons because she doesn't drop those for just anyone...

[titleleaf]

🍌, 🍏, 🥝 for the ask game pls 😘

🍌 In your opinion, what’s the funniest joke/reference/pun you’ve made in a fic?

Oh no… unfortunately I think it's an excruciatingly dark and unpleasant joke in one of my Mindhunter fics, but referencing other Stephen King works in fic for The Stand (or frankly The Dark Tower) is one of life's great pleasures for me. In a pre-Captain Trips fic where Randall Flagg is sowing discord at a music industry party and chatting up Larry Underwood with evil intent:

"You've got what those guys had, except you're alive and kicking. What are they paying you these days, Larry? You don't have to tell me right now, but I know it's not enough. Right now at Columbia they're telling you you've been discovered and they think you'll be so grateful for anything at all — you're like the girl with pimples who gets voted prom queen. So happy to be up on that stage, she doesn't know the joke's on her, or she doesn't care. Do you really think you're getting what you're worth?"

🍏 Is there something you overuse, whether it’s a certain phrase, trope, or piece of punctuation?

Can't remember the term for it, but sentences with additional clauses offset by commas -- sometimes modifying the earlier sentence, sometimes just because I'm playing fast and loose with structure. Also like 60% of people on here it seems, em-dashes.

🥝 What’s your favorite trope/AO3 tag to write?

Consent issues! I also love to write pre-canon/post-canon fics, judging by my most used tags on AO3 itself, but that only feels notable if we're comparing and contrasting with someone who likes to do episode tags/missing scenes or something.

Thank you so much for sending me one of these! My God, there are so many fruit emojis.

[intertexts]

OH YEAH I SAID I WOULD BE IN YOUR INBOX ABOUT THIS. HOLDING OUT A REPORTER STYLE MICROPHONE. 🎤🎤🎤 roswell intertexts I challenge u to give me 5 things you like about your writing . metaphors u like or words u like using or piece of dialogue youre proud of.... ANYTHING. ABT ANY OF YOUR WRITING. but they have to be self compliments >:|

EVIL OF U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but u followed through so i guess i have to now >:(

man!!!!!!! ok. APPARENTLY i'm "good at characterization" but that literally just is me like. feeling my way through a dark room trying to figure out what all the furniture is in the dark so that doesn't count. <333 but i like the. umm. intentionality? of my syntax? i guess? sounds wild when i do in fact have Cannot shut the fuck up ever disease [see: how long this is LMFAO] but i love economy & density of language... there's one like, hemingway quote where he's like. you shouldn't be able to take any one word out of a sentence without changing the meaning of it. u shouldn't be able to take out a sentence without losing something important. which is smth i think abt frequently... different when i'm messing around in someone's pov bc people don't actually Think Like That? but. u know!! i like the way i put words together on the sentence-level. i think its good :]

what else... i enjoy writing dialogue & talking around elephants in the room & messy stilted communication. took "they would NOT fucking talk like they're in a therapy session" to heart!!! its fun when characters are trying to say things they don't have words for. & also i do think my dialogue reads pretty good by dint of "every single time i write dialogue i spend an hour saying it all back and forth in their voices in my head & if i can't picture/hear them saying it i change it & go over it for ages." <3

also i think my main objective usually is like, grounding character interactions in a physical setting? i fucking love when theres places. like. ashe sitting on the floor in wiwi's room & it's important that he's there, & it's a grey late winter afternoon light coming through the windows, & wiwi has a place hidden frm the window sight line & stuff, same w/ the post-grayscale fic in the bago. & i think i do pretty ok at that :] would love 2 get better n i think i am as i write more!! (<- wiwi mark fic is in the kitchen at like. 6am btw.)

i think my stupid fucking code switching when in the tranches vs doing Literally Anything Else is really fucking funny also <333 nice & thoughtful words reserved ONLY for gdocs everbody else gets 1 million slang & heart & kittycat face emojis & no punctuation!!! its fun. hehe. god. LAST ONE ok i think its just like. awesome that i'm writing again??? that i can??? regardless of quality or whatevr it's like, genuinely insane 2 me that i've written & posted >30k since may. thats fucking crazy dude. if u told a couple years ago me that i'd laugh so hard. being so serious when i say that i thought the long covid + insanely stressful three year Transitional Period + Other Horrors had fucked me up permanently i thought i was just like. Done being creative & my brain was going 2 be permanently foggy and sludgy and useless n stuff. fucking wild that its not!!! makes me so happy 2 be able 2 do this!!! :]]]]] also i love new haven wards & its so cool n fun n awesome 2 have a shared au that spams the serotonin button repeatedly & bounce shit back & forth w/ u n whiskey etc. not 2 be a weird loner or whatever but the last time i did anything like this was literally high school. so. yeag!!!!!!!!!!! <33333

[olderthannetfic]

i didn't know capitalization and punctuation was a big ick for ppl, i turned off predictive text and all that jazz on my phone because i like my typos fresh and organic lol

i guess being on anon in a fandomy setting also has that effect as well? i have a friend that always ends sentences with periods in chat, and a common complaint that my other friends make when they talk to him (because we're more terminally online than he is) is that he unconsciously sounds very serious, even though we know he's very goofy irl, the tone of his texting doesn't come off that way, when he's still probably in his silly/goofy mood while typing those messages... i guess it doesn't help that he rarely uses emojis aside from the regular smileys (which in internet speak is reserved for passive-aggressiveness?)

i think as a person that spends most of my time in a chat app that encloses text in bubbles, double and triple sending becomes the punctuation for me, grammar rules weren't exactly a very lengthy lesson in my schooling so i'm not as knowledgeable about styles and whatnot + english is my second language and i come from a country that has developed an egregious text speak lingo that i can't parse most of the time lol, it's definitely all those factors combined = why i type like this

--