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footballxposts · 3 years

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Begging - Jack Grealish

Prompt: Eye Contact at an event leading to a hotel room quickie

Listening recommendation: Beggin’ by Måneksin (Slowed).

Warnings: SMUT (18+ ONLY PLEASE), kinda fluffy ending !!!!

A/N: please only read if you are 18 or over, also Jack Grealish please rail me I am literally begging lmao

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beg

/bɛɡ/

verb

gerund or present participle: begging

ask someone earnestly or humbly for something.

Jack’s eyes studied you from across the room, arms crossed as he bit the side of the champagne flute in his hand with his teeth. Being the daughter of one of the Aston Villa coaches, you had gotten to know him very well, a little too well for your father’s liking. And tonight, as you amongst many other guests gathered together to celebrate the end of the season at an extravagant venue, you were going to make it your mission to get to know him even better.

Your eyes glanced at him looking you up and down in his expensive black suit, running his tongue across his teeth and shaking his head. You knew what he had on his mind and where he wanted to be right now. You raised your eyebrows at him and smirked, questioning his observation. He responded simply by biting his lip and nodding towards the nearest exit to the foyer of the hotel. Shaking your head and pulling the middle of your long red dress down to expose your cleavage some more, you turned away to face the others you had been speaking to previously. You knew he was turned on, so teasing him and making him wait would result in him wanting you even further.

Sarah, your friend and the daughter of one of club’s the physio therapists, asked if you would go with her to bar. Agreeing, you both made your way, watching Jack from the corner of your eye talking to Tyrone and Ollie. You could see him fixing the cuffs of his jacket’s sleeves, trying to escape the conversation. You stood at the bar giggling as Sarah placed a drinks order for you both, hearing a familiar Brummy voice sounding from beside you. Jack was now resting his elbow on the bar counter, pinching his bottom lip with his thumb and index finger.

“Y/N.” he said casually, his accent so alluring.

“Jack.” you replied, keeping your focus on the bartender in front of you.

“You not talking to me now?” he asked cheekily.

“Of course I am. Why would you think I’m not?” you added, now turning your head to look at him.

“Just asking.” he grinned, now chewing on a cocktail stick and looking like a true peaky blinder. “So are you too busy to get out of here and have some fun?”

You chuckled. “And who said I’m not having fun here?” you remarked smartly, now thanking the attractive bartender for the pornstar martini that was placed in front of you and winking at him. You could see envy building up inside of Jack as he looked at the man in front of you and then back at you.

“You all good for everything mate?” he asked Jack in a friendly manner, smiling back at you. Furiously, Jack responded.

“Yeah bro I’m fine thanks. I know exactly what I want and she’s standing right in front of me flirting with you.” As you gave the bartender who’s name read Kyle on his tag as sympathetic look, he nodded and awkwardly walked away. You rolled your eyes and shook your head at Jack who had now snapped the small piece of wood in his mouth in half.

“Oh come on!” you taunted. “As if the Mr. Grealish is getting jealous.” Jack’s face was priceless. He was so frustrated, both mentally and physically. You loved to see him get so riled up and he knew you weren’t one to give in easily. Coming closer to you so that his stature was now towering over you, you turned to face him properly and bit your lip. His hand closest the bar had now snaked around your waist, gripping you so that you could feel his bulge against you. You couldn’t begin to explain how he made you feel. He aroused you so much. Clenching his jaws, you could feel your heart racing, making you gulp.

“Enough with the games.” he said in a stern manner, his voice now deep and erotic. “Tell your friend you’ll be back in a while.” Nodding, he let go of you, so that you could turn to Sarah and give her the heads up.

Unlocking the door with his key-card, Jack motioned for you to go inside his hotel room. As you did so, he closed the door behind him and grabbed both of your arms pinning you against the wall. His breathe was warm on your face, fires blazing in his eyes. You couldn’t tell who wanted the other more. But right now, it felt like you who was longing for him. You looked down at his lips as he did the same.

“You’re such a tease, you know that.” he muttered.

Regaining a surge of confidence, you replied seductively, knowing it would edge him further. “And what are you gonna do about it?”

Begging him with you eyes, he took both of your hands above your head into only one of his own now, the other lifting up the bottom of your dress as he placed it underneath. He started rubbing your folds back and forth, making you breathe so heavily. Not breaking the eye contact, his fingers began pulling your thong down, now feeling you without the fabric. You wanted to moan so bad, but decided to make him wait for it. However, he was also making you wait. Closing your eyes, you practically implored him to be inside you.

“Tell me how much you want it.” he verbalised.

“Jack..please.” you sighed.

Teasing you even further, he eventually slipped his fingers inside, now playing with you, causing you to let out several soft moans. His thumb was rubbing your clit in a circular motion, edging you closer to your climax. Before you could reach it, he had stopped, pulling his hand out from underneath you, and letting your hands come down. Turning you around so that he could unzip your dress, you let it shimmy down your body. Doing the same with your underwear, you were now in front of him completely naked.

Straight away he cupped your cheeks, reconnecting your lips, tongues exploring each other. You began pulling off his jacket, shirt and tie, letting them fall to the floor. As he went to undo his belt, you stopped him and pushed him down on to the bed, deciding to give him a taste of his own medicine. Sitting on your knees as he sat in front of you, you began getting his belt off and undoing the zip on his trousers until they were off. You started lightly tracing the rim off his underwear and feeling his measure, watching as groaned at your touch. Once off, you set about licking his tip and sides until he was pleading with you to go down on him.

“Tell me how much you want it, Jack.” You repeated his earlier statement.

“Fuck I want you so bad Y/N. You don’t even know how much I want you.” he mumbled. Accepting his answer, you began giving him the best head you could. Enjoying it, he whimpered every so often. You stopped before he reached his peak just like he had done to you.

Standing up from your position, he did the same, grabbing either side of your arms and turning you so that you were now the one by the bed. Pushing you down gently, you lay there as he traced your body with his tongue. He gave you a short kiss, before putting a condom on and spreading your legs apart, lubricating your entrance. Teasing you with his member, he quickly looked at you for consent. You loved that about him. No matter how bad he wanted you, and all the stories you’d heard about famous footballers, he would always make sure to get consent off you before doing anything.

“Are you sure?” he whispered. Nodding, he placed himself inside you, the pair of you moaning deeply in the process. You arched your back and began clawing his back and hair, as he thrusted inside you. He pulled you closer to him by your leg, so that you could feel him completely. Legs wrapped around him, you both inched closer to your high points. Before you knew it, you had released as did he.

After quickly cleaning yourselves up and getting dressed so you could rejoin the other guests downstairs, you went to open the door of the room, but Jack had pulled you back and re-scooped your face in his large hands.

“What? What’s wrong?” you asked worriedly.

“Be mine.” he smiled, looking at your eyes then down at your lips.

You chuckled, almost scoffing at his request.

“Now Jack we both know you and I don’t do relationships. I thought you just wanted this to be something casual.” your eyes widened at him.

“Not anymore. I’m serious though. Be mine.” He shook his head, half smiling. “It’ll give them all something to talk about when we go back down there.”

Now letting a wide smile creep up on your face, you agreed.

“Alright.” you bit your lip.

“Good.” He smirked before placing his lips back on yours. “Just don’t let me be in close proximity to your dad when you tell him.”

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uzumaki-rebellion · 3 years

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Writerly Things #57: Editing Checklist

Angela James is an editor who offers a free self-editing checklist that I found helpful as a quick visual. I downloaded it to hang on my wall to remind myself of what to look out for as I was going through my indie book edits. I wanted to share it here because it’s a great tool to improve your fics if you are interested in becoming a better writer.

Happy writing!

Editing Checklist (Stuff to get rid of)

Passive Verbs: was, were, is are

Sense Words: look, notice, saw, heard, smell

Adverbs: quickly, angrily

Weak Verbs: walked, set down

Was + Gerund: was running (change to ran)

Verb + In Feeling: yelled in exasperation

That: I knew that he went…

Just: She just wanted…

Very: He was very upset

Felt: She felt sad.

Suddenly: Suddenly the door shut.

Action “AS”: He yelled as he jumped…

Began To/Beginning To: She began to open the door…

Unaware POV Slips: She didn’t notice…./He didn’t realize…

Pattern of Sentence Beginnings: She this…She that…She this…She that…

Too Many Past Perfect “Had”: She had gone and had seen, and had decided…

Greetings in Dialogue: Hello, good morning, how are you?

Speaker Tags: Use mostly “said”

Non-Contractions in Dialogue: “She is not here.” “I am hot.”

Overuse of Character Name: Use pronouns as much as possible.

Sentence Lengths: Check for a variety in sentence length and structure

Strings of Prepositions: By the river near the bluff over the mountain…

Multiple Adjectives: The dainty, elegant flower in the blue speckled shiny pot.

Exclamation Points: Limit to as few as possible

Long Paragraphs: Break up as appropriate

#Writerly Things #Self Editing

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insertmeaningfulusername · 3 years

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20 questions - writer's edition

Thank you for the tag @hellfre @lindstrom2020 and @lyricfulloflight 💙

How many works do you have on AO3?

109 are listed, but two of them are Syd's (I just did some moodboards for one and beta-ed the other) and some are art pieces, not writing.

What's your total AO3 word count?

528'522 words. More than 30k aren't from me though but from... Syd again adsfkjfdkz

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Around thirty-ish fandoms? Sometimes tagging is hard and 2019-me definitely overtagged. X-Men is the most prominent one, followed by the Alien prequels and Slow West. Then there are others like Wanted, Atomic Blonde, Sherlock (yes the BBC show I'm sorry, but there's also an ACD canon one), It (the Muschietti movies), Star Wars, some bands, etc.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

(blessed be AO3's statistics page; also, they're all Cherik - what a surprise)

1. Spätzünder

2. I Give You My Blank Heart (Please Draw on It)

3. Charles Xavier’s Cacti Collection on Erik Lehnsherr’s Gay Socialist Farm Island

4. Charles F. Xavier Unmuted

5. A Legendary Tale of Living-Room Furniture and IKEA Sharks

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah sure! When I comment I usually expect something to come back from the author, so the ones who comment on my fic get a thank you and so forth (except when they're being, like, weird or rude, then they get a weird or salty thing back).

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Probably that Cherik one with the MCD...

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Probably one of the Destique-on-Krakoa ones!! The wives deserve all the happy endings 🥺

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

Indeed, Syd and I are working on one (1) crossover series between Shame and Filth.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not as far as I can remember!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes 👀 Like, the explicit kind, wlw and mlm and sometimes other? Even a poly thing might have happened once or twice.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Hopefully not!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes :D

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Aye, sure did and still do - mostly with Syd.

What's your all-time favourite ship?

Raven and Irene :') Please let them finally have a happy ending during Inferno...

What's a WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

So many and yet so few to choose from 🤔 Usually when I think I'll never finish a WIP then I don't want to finish it in the first place, y'know? Like 2020's Cherik Big Bang.

What are your writing strengths?

My writing has been described as "poetic" or something like that.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Giving up on long fics when only two chapters in, never asking for a beta, regularly forgetting that certain WIPs even exist, and then probably some stylistic stuff - like using too many gerunds and writing in sentences that are too long and complex (though I'm working on that).

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Happy thoughts! It's always nice to have some authenticity in writing, even when it's only ("""only""") writing of the fanmade kind, and often people will put translations in the footnotes or something - and if not, there's always online translation. Also, if you got it, you flaunt it, at least when it comes to languages.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Unconsciously? Jean-Paul Sartre's Le mur. Consciously, but never posted? My Chemical Romance rpf. First fanfic posted, like, ever? X-Men.

What's your favourite fic you've written?

All the ones for which AO3 had to create a whole new ship tag 😂 Power to the rare pairs!

Tagging (as always no obligation, and my apologies if you've already been tagged and/or have done this) @lemonadegarden @adlerirene @fullmetalcarer @elimaryholmes @nextraordinaire @jackyjango @librata-laments

#tag game

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thebarkeepwrites · 3 years

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Look, am I having some anxiety today? Yes. Am I avoiding that anxiety by doing tumblr questionnaires? Sure. Will I apologize for that? Probably. I apologize for everything.

Tagged by @prettyinlimegreenboots

How many works do you have on Ao3? 6

What's your total AO3 word count? 230,095

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? Perhaps my first fandom had to do with a certain Orlando-based boyband, but I was in sixth grade, and I'd rather not talk about it. ;-) I dabbled in The West Wing and wrote for Rent for many moons, and now (after a long absence) Newsies. I'm also fairly certain that there is a single LOTR fic on my long-abandoned fanfiction.net account as well.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I Dream of You to Wake

for you are my fate, my sweet

In Defense of the Ocean

Best Laid Plans

When Dreams Do Show Me Thee

Yikes, my titles are pretentious...

Do you respond to comments, why or why not? Heck yes, I do. From what other source would I derive ridiculous inside jokes and actual conversation about my writing? I also like to acknowledge that someone took the time to say something when most people do not. People who comment have my undying gratitude, and they'll know it, damnit.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?I Um, so far, Best Laid Plans. The final chapter literally takes place graveside. However. my current WIP may be a bit angstier when all is said and done (although I've promised everyone a passably happy ending, so...)

Have you ever received hate on a fic? No, and why would anyone ever leave hate on someone's work? Fandom is a diversion, not a profession. If you don't like something, just don't say anything at all. Yeesh.

Do you write smut? If so what kind? Yes? Kind of? I don't know, I can write a good hot and heavy scene, but given the fandom I write for, I have definitely not made it super explicit (minors, minors everywhere). What on earth are the types? Haha.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I'm pretty sure someone ripped off one of my Rent fics once, but I couldn't even tell you which one, so clearly, it stuck with me.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes. A very angsty Rent story where we gave Mark a drug addiction for reasons passing understanding. We were teenagers with lots of feelings.

What's your all time favorite ship? I'm a new convert to the Javid train. But in all of fandom forever, Josh Lyman and Donna Moss. Fight me. And Anne & Gilbert, of course.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?Since I've started writing again, I've actually been very consistent. I don't have anything started that I don't intend to finish. That being said, every last multi-chapter story I wrote prior to the last year will remain unfinished forever, because I really just don't think I could finish something I started when I was 14, haha!

What are your writing strengths? I think I'm pretty good at dialogue/specific character voices. I've also been told recently that I am fairly good at pushing the envelope in terms of potentially upsetting content without going too far; I'll take it!

What are your writing weaknesses? Feeling confident about what I've written later on. Depending on gerunds more than the average bear. Using some of the same expressions and/or words over and over.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I absolutely will Google Translate that bitch.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for? Technically, the old Disney Channel show Flash Forward. I absolutely wrote what I didn't know was fanfiction for that and took it to a young author's conference when I was in elementary school. The gang went to Disney World. It was banging.

What's your favorite fic you've ever written? I'm having a lot of fun writing for you are my fate, my sweet right now, and I think it might end up being a favorite. But the official answer is In Defense of the Ocean. I'm just really proud of my writing in that one.

I always feel awkward tagging other people, but if you're one of my talented fandom friends, it would be fun to learn about you. :-)

#the barkeep writes #really i do #fanfiction #writing inspiration #avoiding existential dread

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bakugouscentedcaramel · 5 years

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Ah yes, the time has come.

It's time to get your pen and paper because class is in session!

There's plenty of things I could talk about and I pretty much covered the basics down below, but I'm more than willing to help y'all out with anything specific!

I have to preface that I'm not an English major by any means nor do I have any experience writing professionally, the things listed below are purely based on my opinions and submissions I have received.

Writing is forever a learning process, there really isn't a right way of writing but there are definitely some things that will hinder your readers. Here is a list that I compiled both with my own experiences as well as some user submitted issues when it comes to reading works:

•Big blocks of text

° Typos/wrong word usage

•Using the same words

°Too spaced out/not indented where needed

• Dialogue runs into normal sentences

° Speakers/POVs change without notice

• Inconsistencies, either in general or story inconsistencies

°Lack of description/Too much description

• Bland/Artificial actions/dialogue

° Misuse of punctuation/lack thereof

• Capitalization errors

° Long winded sentences

• Using italics for actions

° Confusing formating

• Changing in Tenses

° Using wrong tags/falsely advertising (ex. Reader x Blank should have Y/N, not an OC/Authors name)

• Author notes/comics/pictures in middle of fic

° "~This is a transition~"

• Forcing a character to be OOC for sake of story

° Filler characters

• Not sticking to a specific genre/jumpy moods

Now don't be intimidated by this list! Some of these are pretty self explanatory so I won't go into a few of them. There are plenty of ways to avoid these and in some cases it is perfectly fine to use any of the above.

Let's start off with the basics!

Sentence structure is the backbone of writing, but it's a very flexible rule. Obviously you have your subject, verb, object and whatnot, but the true art lies in word choice and length.

When it comes to sentences, size does matter. If your sentences are too short they will seem choppy and unfinished, whereas if they are long they will seem winded and unnatural. The biggest tool you can use to find out if a sentence is too short/long is by reading it aloud! If you run out of breath it's too long but if you finish abruptly it's too short.

Word choice is my favorite weapon to work with, I could describe a blue jay as a normal bird or as a mythical animal just by picking the right words!

"The blue jay flew across the field while it sang it's melody."

"A creature with wings made of clouds swooped across the field whilst roaring out a devilish tune."

Word choice can easily convey tone/feeling so it's definitely an important element to writing! If you ever have trouble finding that perfect word try googling for synonyms! Also this website might help you find that one word that you just can't think of!

Grammar is also a very important part of writing. Using the right words and punctuation can be difficult sometimes but there are some easy fixes!

Spelling is an easy fix, if you forgot/don't know how to spell a word consulting a dictionary or Google is a surefire way of solving your problem. You can even find synonyms if you feel like you've used a word too much.

Punctuation on the other can be a big more difficult, however.

Here's a couple of sentences that helped me learn basic punctuation:

A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink then leaves. Commas are a means of sewing two sentences together to form a compound sentence. These are mainly used to list out things and to add fluidity to your works so they don't sound as choppy.

A question mark walks into a bar? Question marks are pretty self explanatory. They either raise a question or form uncertainty.

Two quotation marks "walk" into a bar. Quotations are used for both dialogue and metaphors. I personally love using them for sarcasm!

A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to drink. This one is a tougher one that I personally never learned from any of my classes. A gerund is basically a word that can act as a verb or a noun which would be "drinking". An infinitive is the base of a verb, in this case it's "drink".

The bar was walked into by a passive voice. A passive voice is when you emphasize the action and object of a sentence rather than the subject. You can find that a passive voice tends to use past tense where as an active voice uses present/future tense.

Three intransitives walk into a bar. They sit. They drink. They leave. An intransitive verb is an action verb, expressing a doable activity like arrive, go, lie, sneeze, sit, die, etc.

Some other things that I commonly see are the wrong usages of words. For example:

They: a group of individuals/pronoun "Yeah, they said he'd be here thirty minutes ago."

Their: a possessive pronoun "Leave their stuff alone!'

There: location "What's that over there?"

Then: event/action "Val went to the mall then skittered to the park."

Your: possessive "Your self esteem is lower than the Mariana's Trench!"

You're: a conjunctive "you are"

Affect: caused by actions "The fallen french fry really affected Val's mood."

Effect: caused by events "Climate change has a negative effect on my Cheerios."

Peaked: a summit "Val has peaked at 10:19pm"

Piqued: stimulate interest/curiosity "You have piqued Val's interest by mentioning food."

Do time: "Val is fixin' to do time if she keeps slacking."

Due time: "Val will come with hydration in due time."

Per say: not a thing

Per se: by/in itself "She didn't write this late at night, per se…"

There are different tools you can use to spice up your writings, from metaphors to innuendos, all the way to zeugmas! Let's go over the basic definitions of these bad boys.

Metaphor: a figure of speech that is not literally applicable. "The darkness surrounded us like a shroud." Obviously the darkness can't physically shroud anyone.

Innuendo: a sentence with a hidden meaning "Is that a gator in your pants or are you just happy to see me~"

Zeugma: a sentence containing words that can be used literally and figuratively, like a love child of the two above. "Val and her coupon expired last week." This implies that not only did my Colgate coupon expire, but I died as well.

Paragraphs are a necessity when it comes to writing. Big blocks of text are an eyestrain to readers and it's easy to lose your place, even if it's only 150 words. It's always best to use Tab or at least 5 spaces when indenting. A paragraph should only be 5-7 sentences long, this is so it's not just multiple blocks of text

When to add a new paragraph:

° A new person comes in

• New idea/context

° Setting changes

• New person is speaking

° Time changes

• The "camera" moves

° Tone shifts

• 5-7 sentences has been reached

Paragraphs help you organize your work in a way and they make it easier for your readers' eyes!

POVs are also very important. First person and third person are by far the most common ones so I'll only touch on these two. It's very important to write a story in one strict POV as to not confuse the readers. You can however jump perspectives like Heroes of Olmpyus by Rick Rodian, as long as the ready can easily tell who is telling the story.

First person is a story that is told from first-hand experience. It's the same as if I told y'all the story on how I almost chopped off my thumb in woodshop class back in middle school. First person tends to use a lot of I's and my's

Third person is a story that is told from a narrators' point of view. Such as "Once upon a time" type of stories. I's and my's should only be used in dialogue

Dialogue is probably one of the most important features of any fic/story. Dialogue can push plots forward as well as add life to a character. Here's a simple exchanged:

"Hiya 'Splodey," Val chirped.

Katuski smirked, "M'dumbass."

Dialogue should always come with a pair of quotation marks. Commas and periods generally go inside the quotation marks whereas dashes, colons, and semicolons almost always go outside the quotation marks. Question marks and exclamation marks however can go either inside or outside, it goes by a case by case basis. Always indent whenever a different speaker is talking, running quotes into each other is a no-go because it causes confusion and eyestrain.

You have to be wary of using simple dialogue exchanges though, if they seem off try saying them out loud! Dialogue is one of my favorite things to write because you can weave personality into them, not to mention you can always hear people talking to get a better idea on how to write dialogue.

For example, I have a southern dialect, meaning I sound different than someone from the north! I use words like "y'all", "fixin'", "finna", "ain't" and have a different vocabulary than that of my northern friends. This means that the characters you're portraying should have their own way of speaking! This will not only add flavor to your dialogue but it also adds to their personalities/backgrounds.

Describing things can be just as valuable as dialogue, but it is a bit more complex. Sure we've all heard of the "show, don't tell" rule. Which is a good rule to follow, however too much showing is just as bad as telling. Again, reading out your work is a great way to tell if you're focusing too much on one thing. Another thing to keep in mind is importance, such as do we really need to know that the grass outside was bluegrass? Which in certain situations it would be! For example:

The grass around the disheveled house was brown and straw-like, with the exception of a ring of grass. Bluegrass. Which wasn't even native to this location.

This paints a pretty good spooky picture in the readers' mind and even adds the element suspense by the implied uncertainty.

I've only covered a small portion of writing so if y'all have any questions or need any help feel free to slide into my DMs or send in an ask! I love getting questions about writing and I'm always willing to help a fellow writer!

#valvent #ask val #writing help #writing tips #val explains writing #writblr #im serious y'all send in any questions!#these were just the basics but i can pretty much go in-depth if yall are struggling with something

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miraculousfanworks · 4 years

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Miraculous Fanworks’ Grammar Guide: Commas

Image credit.

Grammar. It’s confusing, isn’t it? English has so many rules to follow!

Well, worry no more. We here at the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server have got your back.

Here is the first section of the Miraculous Fanworks’ Grammar Guide, 24 Hard and Fast Rules for Commas--Miraculous Fanworks Style!

I just want to preface this by saying that it’s okay to break grammar rules in fiction writing for stylistic choices. Especially in dialogue.

But in order to intentionally break rules or guidelines, you have to recognize what they are and learn when it’s best to break them.

The Miraculous Fanworks’ Grammar Guide is a collection of basic rules of grammar and writing tips condensed into a single document, with examples from our very own Miraculous Ladybug.

If you have suggestions for the guide, feel free to join the server, DM me directly on Discord at @Cass6177, or drop a suggestion in my inbox.

Thanks, and enjoy!

-”Server Mom” Cass Maylis

24 Hard and Fast Rules for Commas--Miraculous Fanworks Style

1) Commas are all about authorial intent and indicate pauses. Basic rule of thumb: if your sentence needs too many commas, it needs to be rewritten and you probably have clauses in it that should be sentences on their own.

2) Never use a comma after "but" if it's the beginning of a sentence. This is actually because of commas as a clause separator. "But" can serve as a transition word to contrast against the previous sentence (this actually has some open grammatical questions as to whether or not it's completely precise), or it can be used in the middle of a sentence to conjoin two clauses. In the second case, you use a comma to separate the two clauses, but in the first case there is no clause to separate.

3) Using a comma before but in the middle of a sentence is only acceptable when the second phrase can stand on its own. For example, you wouldn't use a comma here: "Marinette was happy but also sad," because the second part isn't a complete sentence. But you would use a comma here: "Marinette was happy, but she was also sad," because the pronoun makes the second part of the sentence stand on its own. A sentence that can stand on its own is called an independent clause. This rule of thumb also applies to "and" and "or."

4) You need a comma before the word "too" if the word needs emphasized or requires a pause before and after it. Like, “Marinette, too, was Adrien." The commas are needed because the too interrupts the flow of the sentence. If the two doesn't come in the middle but at the end, then a comma isn't needed. Like, "Marinette liked bananas too." Too is all about authorial intent.

4a) From C-Note#9640: Commas surrounding "too" is actually a meaning thing. "Too" without commas means "in excess." ",too," with commas surrounding it means "also."

5) You always use commas to separate out things in a list. But how many to use and where to use them are subjects of contention. For example, in the sentence, "Marinette liked red, green, and blue," I place a comma after the word green and some people do not. This comma immediately before the “and” is called the Oxford comma, and it drives a lot of people up the wall. People get into fights over this, haha! I like to use them because it separates the words in my head. For example, someone saying, "Adrien owes $100 to Nino, Alya, and Chloe," makes the $100 owed to each of them. Whereas saying, "Adrien owes $100 to Nino, Alya and Chloe," makes Adrien owe Nino $100, and Adrien owes Alya and Chloe some other numbers making up 100, like 50/50. This is why I go to bat for the Oxford comma.

5a) Addendum to guideline 5: Lists are complicated, because you need a comma with three items but not two. Like, "Marinette likes red and green" does not need a comma, but "Marientte likes red, green, and blue" needs commas.

6) You need a comma before a dialogue tag unless you’re using an exclamation point or a question mark (or dashes, which indicate an interruption; more on that later). For example, “‘What?’ Marinette exclaimed” does not need a comma, where as “‘You have got to be kitten me,’ Chat said” does. Dialogue tags are also called attributive tags. They can even come in the middle of the sentence, in which case you need commas. For example: “‘You,’ Chat said, ‘have got to be kitten me.’”

6a) You need a comma after the word said or a dialogue tag if you're using a gerund (ing word). For example, "'Haha,' Marinette laughed, wrinkling her nose," needs a comma. But "'Haha,' Marinette laughed as she wrinkled her nose" does not need a comma. Does that make sense?

6b) In American English, commas always go before closing quotation marks. For example, “‘No freaking way,’ Marientte said,” requires a comma inside. But in British English, the convention is the opposite; the comma goes after the closing quotation mark. For example, “‘No freaking way’, Marinette said.” If you are writing for a British audience, use a comma after the closing quotation mark.

7) Using a comma after then is complicated. Here are some examples for sentences using the word then: http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/then

8) There are also things called compound predicates. From Grammarly, "You get a compound predicate when the subject of a sentence is doing more than one thing. In a compound predicate that contains two verbs, don’t separate them with a comma." For example, "Marinette smiled and waved" does not need a comma. But "Marinette spotted the man who entered the diner, and waved" does need a comma because we want to make sure the reader knows that Marinette waved, not the man. Make sure your reader doesn't misread.

9) Comma splices are interesting, too. When you're trying to join two independent clauses, you need a conjunction or a semi-colon. For example, "We were out of milk, I went to the store" is incorrect. You need, "We were out of milk; I went to the store," or "We were out of milk, so I went to the store."

10) Participial phrases that introduce a sentence usually need a comma. For example, "Grabbing her umbrella, Marinette left the house."

11) Interrupters and parenthetical phrases need commas. Interrupters are used to show tone or emotion. Like, "Marinette, sadly, went to camp." Parenthetical phrases are little pieces of information that don't affect the sentence as a whole, but give information. Like, "Adrien’s cooking skills, if you can call them skills, left something to be desired."

11a) Em dashes are interesting, because they're used to set off parenthetical phrases. If you use an em dash, you have to accept that what you place inside the em dashes is skippable. The sentence still has to make sense without the information contained inside the em dash. To use Treees' example from before (or something like it), "Adrien's car--a blue van--was a junkheap." The bit about the blue van is bonus information that the sentence doesn't need. But you also don't need an em dash in that sentence, a comma will do. As a good rule of thumb, em dashes are used when the bonus information phrase is super long. From Fight: "As soon as they were inside--a process Chat didn’t even pay attention to; one moment he was outside on her balcony, in the next he was standing in front of her on the floor of her room--Ladybug dropped her transformation."

12) From Grammarly: "A question tag is a short phrase or even a single word that is added to the end of a statement to turn it into a question. Writers often use question tags to encourage readers to agree with them. A question tag should be preceded by a comma." For example, "I think question tags are silly, don't you?"

13) When addressing someone by name, use a comma. For example, "Marinette, find your shoes." But not, "Marinette doesn't understand her letters yet."

14) From Grammarly: "An appositive is a word or phrase that refers to the same thing as another noun in the same sentence. Often, the appositive provides additional information about the noun or helps to distinguish it in some way." Appositives that are necessary for the sentence to function are called essential and do not need a comma, whereas unnecessary appositives are non-essential and need a comma. An essential appositive would be "Edgar Allen Poe's work The Raven is neat." The Raven is the essential appositive to the noun work. A nonessential appositive example is this: "My mother, Sabine, is a great cook." Sabine is the non-essential appositive to the word mother and needs a comma.

15) Commas in dates are tricky. Month-day-year formats need commas. "June 15, 2020." Day-month-year formats do not. "15 June 2020." If you are using a day of the week and a date, use a comma. "Tuesday, June 15, at three o'clock, ..." When referencing only a month or a year, you don’t need a comma. “June 2020.”

16) When using multiple adjectives to modify a noun, they might be coordinate, which means they are interchangeable and should be separated by commas. If a sentence still sounds natural (rhythm-wise) then the adjectives are coordinate. For example, “That man is a self-righteous, pompous, annoying idiot” vs. “That man is an annoying, self-righteous, pompous idiot.” If adjectives are not coordinate, don’t separate them with a comma. “The adorable little boy ate ice cream.” Little adorable doesn’t sound natural because of rhythm, so don’t use a comma to separate the non-coordinate adjectives.

17) Don’t separate a transitive verb from its direct object with a comma. A transitive verb is one that acts on an object. Similarly, an intransitive verb is one that doesn’t act on an object. Intransitive: “Marinette eats.” Transitive: “Marinette eats food.” Food is the object, so don’t separate the verb (eats) from the object with commas. Intransitive: “Adrien cleans often.” Transitive: “Adrien cleans his bathroom often.” Bathroom is the object being acted upon, so don’t separate the verb (cleans) from the object with commas.

18) From Grammarly: “A nonrestrictive clause offers extra information about something you have mentioned in a sentence, but the information isn’t essential to identify the thing you’re talking about. Nonrestrictive clauses are usually introduced by which or who and should be set off by commas.” For example, “The Agreste manor, which Adrien lived in, was freaking huge.” The clause, “which Adrien lived in,” is nonrestrictive because “Agreste manor” is already specific. The clause doesn’t add anything to the sentence; it’s just bonus information.

19) Opposite from nonrestrictive clauses are restrictive clauses. Restrictive clauses offer necessary information about the specific noun you used. They are often introduced by that or who and are never set off by commas. For example, “The bakery that Marinette’s family runs is fantastic.” If you removed the clause about the Dupain-Cheng family, you’d have no idea what bakery this was talking about.

20) From Grammarly: “Correlative conjunctions are conjunctions that come in pairs (such as either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also) and connect words or phrases in a sentence to form a complete thought. Typically, commas are unnecessary with correlative conjunctions.” For example, “Either the black undershirt or the red sweater will look good with your jeans, Adrien.”

21) Parenthetical asides are used to give bonus info to the reader when a nonrestrictive clause would disrupt the flow of the sentence. Commas are placed after the closing parentheses, but not before either the opening or the closing parentheses. If the sentence would not require any commas if the parenthetical statement were removed, the sentence should not have any commas when the parentheses are added. For example, “After opening the new cookie tin (and eating several of the cookies), Adrien had a hard time replacing the lid.”

22) Don’t use a comma between an article and a noun. An article is a part of speech that indicates, specifies, and limits a noun (eg. a, an, or the in English). Incorrect: “I’ll eat an, apple.” Correct: “I’ll eat an apple.” Often times we pause when speaking and want to add a comma there in our writing to indicate the pause, but this is grammatically incorrect. If you want to indicate a pause between an article and a noun, use an ellipses: “I’ll eat an… apple.”

23) The phrase “as well as” doesn’t need commas unless it’s part of a nonrestrictive clause. For example, “Adrien wore a white overshirt as well as a black undershirt.” And also, “Adrien’s black undershirt, as well as his white overshirt, were garments he wore.”

24) The phrase “such as” requires a comma if it introduces a nonrestrictive clause. For example, “Coniferous trees, such as pine and spruce, smell great.” But if it introduces a restrictive clause, omit the comma. For example, “Trees such as pine and spruce smell great.”

#mod: cass #guide

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keitrinkomfloukru · 6 years

Text

In @entirelytookeen’s wonderful clexa fic "The White Queen Running", Clarke finds herself in a parallel universe where she's the queen of the Ice Nation instead of an Arker. Early on there's a conversation ostensibly in Trigedasleng, for which the author naturally used a translation convention. As practice, I decided to see if I could translate it into actual Trig.

There is a version here with side-by-side Trig and English parallel text. The English version is not @entirelytookeen’s original English dialogue, but rather a re-translation of my Trig back into English, because my translations couldn’t always be literal. The original fic can be read on AO3 here.

Clarke is opening her mouth to apologize for not knowing Trigedasleng when she suddenly realizes she does know it; has the whole repository of the main Grounder dialect at her disposal. That is never going to stop being unnerving. She switches with unthinking ease. "Moba, ai nou don ste figa en ai... bilaik hedswimen."

The girl shrugs, which is not exactly accepting the apology. "Chit yu gaf?"

Maybe she’s some kind of curator, standing guard and helping the curious. The lack of introduction is a little off-putting, but Clarke can’t imagine Ice Nation warriors are well received in the capital despite everything. "Nofodon. Won na led au poulis, tondisi, en stegeda mous raun der."

The girl rests one hand on her hip. She’s imposing, even without warrior’s clothing. She has no tattoos that Clarke can see, no weapons besides the requisite knife at her hip. Her presentation would be completely unremarkable, except for a large silver ring on her right thumb. Somehow, she still manages an air of authority that catches at Clarke’s attention. A whisper of deja vu. Clarke shakes free of it. There are more important things at stake.

(You wish to balance out the death you have brought into the world.)

"Yumi na hon dei kaina nofodon in?"

The young woman folds her arms. "Ron ai waines op."

"E, oso ste hukopon nau. En," Clarke rushes to add, "yu heda na gaf em in."

A dark look flashes across the woman’s face, and for a second Clarke is sure she’s said exactly the wrong thing. Then she gives a small sigh, shoulders slumping as the barely-concealed hostility leaves her frame. "Sin daun," she says, turning to the small stepladder and climbing up to the second row of hanging maps.

Clarke obeys. "Mochof," she says. "Ai's gei bilaik yu ste sisfou." The girl doesn’t turn from where she’s turning the sections. "Ai tagon laik --"

"Ai get in chon yu bilaik." There’s no more suspicion, she’s merely factual.

"Ait." Clarke licks her dry lips. "Yu mema tongkola kom azgeda klin seintaim."

"Ai don laik fossopa raun langeda twin yu tof en ain. Bilaik taim ai nou ge don frag op kos ai mema yu tongkola klin." She raises an eyebrow in Clarke’s direction, looking back over her shoulder. "Ba bilaik yu biyo, oso ste hukopon nau."

"Ou." Close proximity to the Ice Nation would go a long way in explaining her attitude, especially if she’d served before the Coalition was in place. Perhaps she could help Clarke to understand just what she’d gotten herself into. "Skyumi, ba hanch taim yu laik fossopa?"

Her hands pause only a moment in perusing the maps. "Fai yiron, kom taim ginteik kom chilnes."

"Ait." Clarke searches her memory. "Raun yiron kom gon."

This causes the young woman to stop and turn, giving her a hard look. "Tu yiron kom gon. Taim yu don kom au haiplana."

"Ait." Clarke agrees, trying to cover with a smile. If anything, the other girl’s expression grows more suspicious. Oh, screw it, Clarke thinks, and blurts out: "Chit don gon daun hashta naya?"

"Haiplana fou yu?" She turns her whole body, reaching up on either side to secure her perch as she faces Clarke, who can’t help noticing the gorgeous musculature of her arms. There’s definition all the way down to the precise turn of wrists. It draws Clarke’s attention to her hands and the unique shape of her ring: cut at an angle, so that a broader piece juts out above her knuckle before the band tapers around the base of her thumb. "Yu."

"Ai -- chit?"

"Yu gaf get in taim ai get sontaim in?" She turns back to the maps, movements jerky this time as she rifles through them at a slightly faster pace, even callous in how she flips from one to the next. "Embi ge maya op raun tagen podi kom ogeda fyucha azgedon. Yun ron skruwen op: taim hedplei kom naya ge foto en haken, yu na bilaik skrudon na lid yu kru in gon chilnes."

Lexa never talked about the Ice Nation -- not if she could help it -- but the other warriors had, in whispers and with warning looks. They were a strange people, they told the Arkers. They lived on the roof of the world, closer to the sky where spirits lived, and the whispers of those beings filled their dreams. Their lives were filled with rituals and prophecies and strange power. Clarke had only cared inasmuch as how effective that kind of psychological warfare must be, and how Nia must wield this fear like any other weapon.

"Yu renon don laik shouna kom naya en yu nontu don sad in na kod haiplana in ona disha mesej bilaik lomon. Em don vout in mebi naya na bilaik moubeda heda en den kep em zodon we. Steda, naya don teik bleirona gon em tombom en swega klin bilaik yu na ge wan op fou deimeika bag au dei sintaim." She finds what she’s looking for, starts to unhook the map from its securings.

Clarke knows she should be paying very careful attention right now, only her eyes keep snagging on the ring. There’s a pattern etched into the surface, on the broader section, but she can’t quite make it out from where she’s sitting. When the other girl lets the heavy map fall to the table it makes Clarke jump, and she ends up looking straight into the young woman’s eyes.

"Yu don teik naya daun snap," she says quietly. "Ai don sen in bilaik em wamplei nou laik sou snap." She turns back to the map and begins to unfold it to the full expanse, the oilskin rustling with each careful movement. "Haiplana klark kom azgeda: gada bilaik komba raun kom skaikrasha. Ai don tel yu op, ai get in chon yu bilaik."

Clarke searches the girl’s expression, taking in the strong line of her jaw, the tension in the way she holds it. "Ai get yu in?" she asks gently.

"Yumi nou don hit op nowe. Ba taim em don komba raun kom yu haisiden, em don tel ai op ogeda hashta yu."

"Em?" But she’s already looking down at the table, at the girl’s hand as it rests there, and the ring. Which bears -- not a pattern, a symbol. One she can never forget, even though she only ever saw it balanced between the eyes of a girl she knew for a handful of days.

“Yu laik kostia,” Clarke breathes, and the bottom drops out of the world.

Noncanon words used in this story are listed below. Some of these were coined for this translation, others were already in my noncanon lexicon.

bag … au [bæg … aʊ]: v. go to bed; from c. bag

embi [ˈɛm.biː]: n. augury, prophecy about a person's fate; from "MB (Myers-Briggs) type"

gei [geɪ]: adj. [predicative] happy, glad; from "gay"

haisiden [ˈhaɪ.sɪ.ɾɛn]: n. coronotion; haisidon op v. crown; ge haisidon op adj. crowned; from c. haisidon

hedswimen [ˈhɛd.swɪ.mɛn]: adj. disoriented, dizzy, faint; from "head swimming"

hukopon [ˈhuː.kɔː.pɔːn]: n. ally; from c. hukop

kod … in [kɔːd … ɪn]: v. to share; from "cut … in on" (USAGE NOTE: the direct object is the recipient, not the item)

langeda* [ˈlæn.gɛ.ɾə]: n. border, boundary; from "line-place"; langeden adj. bordering

led … au [lɛd … aʊ]: v. display, put on display; from "laid out"

lomon [ˈlɔː.mɔːn]: n. warning; from c. lom op

maya [ˈmæ.jə]: n. augur, oracle, soothsayer; from "Meyers-Briggs"; maya … op v. soothsay, cast an augury

nofodon [ˈnɔː.fɔː.ɾɔːn]: n. map; from "no-fold-one", lit. "thing that won't fold up"

podi [ˈpɔː.ɾiː]: n. ceremony, ritual; from "party"

renon [ˈɹɛ.nɔːn]: n. parent; from the nonbinary term "ren"; renonplei n. [gerund] parenting

skrud [skɹuːd]: adj. fated, cursed, destined, doomed, hexed; skrudon n. one who is fated, etc.; a "chosen one"; skruwen n. fate, destiny; from "screwed"

skyumi* [ˈskjuː.miː]: interj. excuse me, pardon me; from "excuse me"

tagon√ [ˈtæ.gɔːn]: n. name; tagen adj. naming; from c. tag laik, tag op

twin [twɪn]: prep. between; in the middle of; from "between"

waines [ˈwaɪ.nɛs]: n. intention, purpose, reason; from "why-ness"

c. canon Trigedasleng word * credit goes to Slakgedakru √ canonized

#trigedasleng #clexa #clexa fanfic #entirelytookeen #noncanon trigedasleng #slengswichen #awesome clexa fanfic #ai hod trigedasleng in #ai hod kleksa in seintaim #klark kom azgeda

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mittensmorgul · 7 years

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Is there anyone delving into the meta of Jack's name?

Okay, first off, friendo, are you somehow hacking into my search history, and into my chattybubble chats with @trisscar368 or @elizabethrobertajones? WELL ARE YOU?! If so, sorry about the spoilers about the fic I’ve been writing... but anyway, YES, in fact, I have been delving into it and just sorta... letting it all simmer...

I know we went into the meanings of Jack’s name back when we first learned he was going to be called Jack... but I went diving through my Jack tag and I just can’t muddle through all that early Jack speculation right now, so I figure I’ll just start fresh here. :P

trisscar368... see this is why i prologued with "meandering off to bed" because even to me i make no sense. Also "the jack" - playing card?

mittensmorgulACK sorry, I don't know if you already went to bed... But I was thinking "the jack" like a car jack, a mindless tool that enables a human being to raise a car off the ground...

trisscar368*blink*Oh that would make sense too

mittensmorgulor maybe (depending on perspective) a child's toy that really hurts when you step on it

trisscar368Fits with the tool imagesFor some reason my brain is stuck on the jack -> the knave -> the Fool

mittensmorgulor a big jack, like a caltrop

trisscar368YeahThat tooSo many options

I’d scroll back like three days to where I was talking about this with lizbob, because we kind of expanded on this a bit, but until tumblr makes it easier to search backward through chat logs it’s just too much trouble to dig back that far :P

Needless to say, this actually set me off looking for Meaning™ in Jack’s name. Because Jack can mean a lot of things. I’m just gonna copy/paste the definitions from google here, and then have some fun with this:

jack1jaknounnoun: jack; plural noun: jacks; noun: Jack1. a device for lifting heavy objects, especially one for raising the axle of a motor vehicle off the ground so that a wheel can be changed or the underside inspected.

I guess this was why my first thought was exactly the first definition of jack. :P Because how often have we been screeching about how Jack is in fact a mirror for all of TFW? How he’s literally a vehicle for Sam, Dean, and Cas to deal with their own personal issues, inspecting the underside, so to speak, being able to see their own issues that had otherwise been buried or unrecognized. Jack’s doing some pretty heavy lifting in terms of shining lights on aspects of all three of his guardians’ Major Issues, enabling us to shine a light up under there.

One thing I remember saying to lizbob when I explained this theory is that TFW is finally getting some fresh tires. :P

2. a playing card bearing a representation of a soldier, page, or knave, normally ranking next below a queen.

And here’s trisscar’s theory. I think this definition fit him more back when he was Intern Nougat, before he started seeking out his own hunts, and definitely before he went walkabout at the end of 13.06. But we shall see. He’s still trying to figure himself out.

3. a socket with two or more pairs of terminals, designed to receive a jack plug. synonyms: socket, outlet, plug, connection; "a phone jack"

Well, he quite literally acted as a jack in this sense in 12.19, when he plugged Cas into himself like some sort of cosmic toaster oven and used Cas to roast Dagon for him.

Unfortunately for Jack, Asmodeus tried to forcibly plug into his power (jacking jack, if you will... but you probably shouldn’t)

4. a game played by tossing and catching small round pebbles or star-shaped pieces of metal or plastic; a small round pebble or star-shaped piece of metal used in the game of jacks. noun: jackstone

And this is another one I’d come up with... Jack’s sort of at the mercy of the people around him, and the people trying to “scoop him up” in order to “win the game.” The angels, Asmodeus, Lucifer, and the Winchesters (including Cas) all have different motives for “winning Jack”

But heck, just thinking of a child’s game metaphorically here, Jack has been “playing” with his power for the most part. His first conscious use of it was to “jack” a vending machine to get free candy bars. Sam tried to encourage him to use the non-delinquent school-level performance of power in moving the pencil (still disappointed nobody’s actually said “wingardium leviosa”). But when he forgets, when he’s not keeping mind of his powers and they just sort of get tossed around willy-nilly, hooboy does it hurt when someone accidentally steps on it, you know? (the tattoo artist who got thrown into a wall, the poor security guard).

It’s not one of the official definitions, but since caltrops are also known as “jackrocks,” I’m assuming a connection here. Used in ancient times to slow the movement of troops (by injuring the feet of people, but especially of horses, etc.), they evolved into what we know as “spike strips” that puncture tires during police chases. They’re a vicious weapon, and nearly foolproof. No matter how they’re thrown, they always land with a pointy-side-up. Ouch.

I kind of think that this is how Jack thinks of HIMSELF right now, that no matter how much he tries to do good, all he does is hurt people.

5. in lawn bowling, the small ball at which the players aim.

Now this isn’t something I’m familiar with at all, but yeah. Going along with what I said under point 4 above, pretty much every player on the board right now is taking aim at Jack... poor kid.

6. US informal: used as a form of address to a man whose name is not known. NORTH AMERICAN informal: a lumberjack. archaic: a steeplejack. the figure of a man striking the bell on a clock.

Hit the road, Jack. Jack of all trades. In this sense, it’s interchangeable with such generic terms such as “Buddy,” “Pal,” (pal >.>) etc. But heck, Lumberjack. Now I kinda want the kid in plaid...

7.: a small version of a national flag flown at the bow of a vessel in harbor to indicate its nationality.

Union Jack, anyone? I have no idea how this relates to Nougat.

8. NORTH AMERICAN informal dated: money.

Well, this one must be REALLY dated, because I’ve never heard it before. But Jack and his potential power are certainly being treated like some sort of cosmic currency at the moment, no?

9. a device for turning a spit.

Wow these definitions are getting more and more obscure :P

Can we stick Lucifer, Michael, and Asmodeus on this spit and have a good old fashioned rotisserie? Please? Evil Colonel Sanders deserves no less.

10. a part of the mechanism in a spinet or harpsichord that connects a key to its corresponding string and causes the string to be plucked when the key is pressed down.

well alrighty, then. *thinks about randomly pressing down on Jack and seeing if that plucks his strings* *wonders if the result would qualify as “music”*

11. a marine fish that is typically laterally compressed with a row of large spiky scales along each side. Jacks are important in many places as food or game fish.

http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/tagged/the-fisher-king

12. the male of some animals, especially a merlin or an ass.

I was gonna just let the picture stand on its own, but heck, I looked up some info about merlins:

Merlins are small, fierce falcons that use surprise attacks to bring down small songbirds and shorebirds. They are powerful fliers, but you can tell them from larger falcons by their rapid wingbeats and overall dark tones. Medieval falconers called them “lady hawks,” and noblewomen used them to hunt Sky Larks.

and then for a sense of completeness, i looked up asses too...

Donkeys have a notorious reputation for stubbornness, but this has been attributed to a much stronger sense of self-preservation than exhibited by horses. Likely based on a stronger prey instinct and a weaker connection with humans, it is considerably more difficult to force or frighten a donkey into doing something it perceives to be dangerous for whatever reason. Once a person has earned their confidence they can be willing and companionable partners and very dependable in work.

And... okay both of these descriptions seem apt for Jack...

13. used in names of animals that are smaller than similar kinds, e.g., jacksnipe.

Well, he is the lil nougat son. The tiny smol giant manbabby.

14. short for jackrabbit.

aka, the hare. that’s a very long article behind the link. For anyone interested. Y’all who get a kick out of Wild Speculation of the “Red string tangles and wild eyed conspiracy theory” variety.

15. US informal: short for jack shit.

Whelp I think this one speaks for itself.

jack2, jak, noun historical noun: jack; plural noun: jacks

1.another term for blackjack (sense 4).

Riverboat gambling, anyone? Lizbob?

2.a sleeveless padded tunic worn by foot soldiers.

I just googled “jack tunic” at first and... then immediately added “historical” and came up with much more apt results :P Basically, it’s a form of padded armor.

jack3verb NORTH AMERICAN informal’ verb: jack; 3rd person present: jacks; past tense: jacked; past participle: jacked; gerund or present participle: jackingtake (something) illicitly; steal. "his MO in the studio remains the same—jack other people's tracks and present them in a new context" rob (someone). "they jacked him for his car"

We’ll see how this eventually plays out.

Honestly, I’m just waiting for someone to say they’ve got “Jack on Jack.”

I don’t know if this is the sort of thing you were looking for, but I had fun researching it all anyway. So, thanks! :D

#jack nougat winchester #what's in a name? well if you're a fictional character... potentially an awful lot #silent storytelling #Anonymous

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ruginite · 7 years

Text

Call Out Post - Bullying

bul·ly

ˈbo͝olē/

verb

gerund or present participle:

bullying

use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants."a local man was bullied into helping them" synonyms: persecute, oppress, tyrannize, browbeat, harass, torment, intimidate, strong-arm, dominate; informal push around, bullyrag "the others bully him" coerce, pressure, pressurize, press, push; force, compel; badger, goad, prod, intimidate, dragoon, strong-arm; informal bulldoze, railroad.

Now that we’re all on the same page as to what exactly the word bully means....

What the actual fuck is going on? When did such a noticeable chunk of the rp/tumblr community just up and decide that manners and respecting other people’s opinions and points of view isn’t a thing? Tumblr and the RP community isn’t fucking high school. It’s a community of people from all, I repeat, A L L walks of life. Of every race and creed.

It’s not okay to bully someone for something. Does it happen? Yes. Why? Because there’s insecurity in so many people, and they don’t know how else to handle it. Some people? Well some people are just straight up evil assholes, who take pleasure in other people’s pain and suffering. And all to often LOVE to be the one causing it.

That has got to god damn stop.

If you enjoy causing people pain? Maybe you should consider going to talk to someone. If you think the only way to feel better about yourself is to make someone else hurt. Maybe you should go and talk to someone. That’s not positive. You need to work through your issues and figure out what’s causing the abusive behavior. You need help. And that’s something you’d be able to see if you would stop tormenting others for five seconds and take a look at yourself and your actions.

Because whatever the reason is you’re doing it? I guarantee that if you got a taste of your own medicine you wouldn’t like it. You’d see ‘wow this shit sucks.’ But it doesn’t have to get to that extreme. You can stop yourself. You can seek help in a positive way. You can better yourself.

Now----

Everyone has a different opinion on anyone topic on until the universe ends. That’s just the way it is, because we are all different and unique individuals. (Yes even you guys that are acting like grade a assholes as of late). So here’s some ideas on how to peacefully go about your life here on tumblr.

1. Don’t like the way someone writes a character? Unfollow.

2. Don’t like the content of a blog? Unfollow or if they provide a specific tag, block the tag. Viola problem solved. (Which by the by you can also do on mobile now)

3. Are being harassed via anons? Turn anons off, either permanently or for a set length of time that is of your choosing. (and for god sake please for your own mental health delete the hate asks. There’s no reason to keep them. They’re bad juju and you just don’t need that baggage okay?)

4. Someone specific harassing you? Block their blog. That means you can’t see them and they can’t see you. (on the dash anyway) And they can’t send you asks anymore from the blog you blocked. It makes it harder for them to be mean.

5. Have an issue with an RP partner? Don’t vague post. Again this isn’t highschool. Instead, find or make the time to have an adult non-aggressive conversation with that partner. Find out what’s going on. See if there’s something you may have inadvertently done to create the problem. Or vise versa tell them what it is they’ve done that’s upset you. Give both of you the chance to calmly and peacefully work out the problem.

6. Sometimes the above just doesn’t work. When it doesn’t? Unfollow, block, etc. Do what you need to do to make yourself comfortable again. Just don’t be a dick about it. Some people just don’t get along. That’s life. Sometimes it really is just better to block and walk away.

7. I would wager a guess that about what? 80% of the people in the RP community (and tumblr as a whole really) have some kind of mental issue. Be that depression, anxiety, phobias, bipolar, etc. Please, please take this into consideration when you talk to people. Not just here but in your real life too. You have no idea what someone is going through until you ask. You have no idea what is or isn’t going on in their life. You have no concept of what it is to stand there in their shoes because you are standing in your own. Majority of people wear the ‘i’m okay’ mask. That doesn’t mean their okay. And one hateful comment or question or whatever it is, could be what breaks the camel’s proverbial back.

8. Remember the golden rule we were all taught in kindergarten. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Or at least give yourself the chance to come up with a way to make the negative words you have the urge to say, constructive criticism instead.

9. Some people are jealous of other people’s talents. That’s just the way it is. It’s been that way since the dawn of time. It’s not going to change. If people are hating on you? Brush your shoulders off, adjust your shades and keep moving forward. Don’t let the green get you down and keep you there.

10. In all harm none. --- Definition? Do what you do and do it with pride, in so long as it harms no one else, or yourself everything’s cake.

#[ I've been watching things unfold here on tumblr and in multiple places else where over the last few days of not being here ]#[ I had to get this out ]#[ This petty bully nonsense gotta stop ya'll ]#[ it's doing no body good ]#[ mobile post ]#Mind Out of Matter || OOC

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dramallamadingdang · 7 years

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Reply-o-palooza! :)

This is really long because blah blah blah, and it addresses numerous subjects. And some of these go back...*ahem*threeweeks*ahem*...because I’ve been a bad, bad blogger as usual. So these are for *deep breath* @princess-arystal21, @caticalcorrectness, @fuzzyspork, @digitalangels, @kayleigh-83, @holleyberry, @eulaliasims, @dunne-ias, @blackswan-sims, @didilysims, @webluepeace, @twofingerswhiskey, @deedee-sims, @declarations-of-drama, @getmygameon, annnnnnnnnnnd @freezerbunny-sims...

princess-arystal21 replied to your post “YAY, I AM FINISHED WITH MY SECRET SANTA GIFT! …Unless I think of...”

Please keep the discussion about Sims. Your Tumblr looks so much better when you talk about them instead.

“It’s my blog; I’ll put what I want on it,” is the usual reply, I think. And it’s true, too. My blog is probably 97% about Sims because I do prefer it that way, but sometimes I do talk about other, personal things, often silly, sometimes informational, very occasionally serious and real-world. Regardless of subject, if it’s not about Sims, it’s either tagged as “nonsims” or it’s behind a cut. Or both. So, people who use extensions that block tags they want to avoid can easily avoid all of it, if they choose. And when it’s not tagged, then people have to choose to read or not, since it’s behind a cut. I think that’s a reasonable solution when I feel a need to say something not Sims-related. Generally speaking, I won’t censor myself just to make other people happy, not in real life and not on a blog. Down that road lies madness.

fuzzyspork replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

If it wasn't for spell check I'd still be writing "bananna" which I still do but the red underline tips me off to it. XD Unfortunately spell check doesn't stop me from writing (and just then I just typed wiring...) homonyms of the word I meant to use. :/

Oh, homonyms are EVIL! Especially when using the wrong one makes you look stupid. Like when you use your/you’re or there/their/they’re inappropriately. I KNOW the differences between those words, but sometimes I type the wrong one and don’t catch it until much later. MAKES ME SO MAD! *stamps foot*

digitalangels replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

For some reason I always type word soul as "sould" and sometimes instead of writing "one" I write "wan". When I was little I struggled with my own name, it ends up in anna and every time someone asked my name I would reply like annannannaa so my grandparents nicknamed me "Nanna" they kept calling me that till they passed away.

I would bet that the “sould” thing comes from your brain thinking that you’re typing a word like “should” or “would” or “could.” I have the same sort of problem when typing a word that ends in “ine” because my brain thinks I must be typing a present participle or a gerund, words that end in -ing. So, “fine” becomes “fing.” “Tangerine” (another color name in the palette I made; I bring this stuff on myself!) becomes “tangering.” Very annoying.

And, ahhhh childhood mispronunciations! When I was a preschooler, I always pronounced “animal” as “aminal.” It’s STILL a family joke. I will NEVER live it down.

kayleigh-83 replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

I do it while writing by hand sometimes, I always want to write “with” as “withe” for some reason! Unconsciously trying to make it look old timey or something?

Maybe you were Chaucer in a previous life? :) I don’t do these things so much when writing on paper, because I’m much slower at writing on paper. My fingers don’t fly on ahead of my brain like they do when I’m typing at about 100wpm. :)

princess-arystal21 replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

I often accidentally type "teh" instead of "the," or "atmoshere" instead of "atmosphere," or "footprings" instead of "footprints." Not sure why *scratches head in confusion.*

The “teh” thing is pretty common, I think. I mean, it became lolcat language, after all. :) Or, depending on your age, maybe the lolcat influences your typing. :) The “footpring” thing is probably your brain being stuck on participles/gerunds, too, especially if you generally type fast. I have no explanation for “atmoshere,” though, unless you also mistype other words that use “ph” for f-sounds? :)

caticalcorrectness replied to your post “YAY, I AM FINISHED WITH MY SECRET SANTA GIFT! …Unless I think of...”

Oh thanks for that reply! In fact I didn't know anything about your election, but am mad about these mediastampedes I watched again and again - and people following that without trying to look behind the scenes. - Excuse me to not resist commenting. (oh that sounds weird, apologize for my poor english) - I DO understand you're able to think for yourself and you're not a part of any kind of 'Hexenjagd'.

Yeah, well, I know you’re not American, so I wouldn’t expect you to be up on the inner workings of our bizarre politics. :) But really, I think the problem isn’t the media in general so much as there’s just so much “media” these days, thanks largely to the internet, and some of it has a very definite agenda, which is often, frankly, subversive. (Lookin’ at you, Breitbart! :P) I mean, the press has always had a slant, even when it’s NOT government-controlled. The idea of the press being “unbiased” is silly; it never has been and, frankly, was never meant to be “unbiased.” The idea is that you get your news from various sources, being aware of each one’s bias, and then you use the brain and critical thinking skills that God gave you as well as a dash of common sense to filter out the bullshit (because there is always bullshit) and arrive at the (probable) truth.

The problem is that, more and more, people DON’T use their brains. They get their news from a single source -- one that agrees with their own biases, of course -- and swallow it whole and become part of the echo chamber that parrots and reinforces the unfiltered bullshit on a bunch of like-minded people. It’s quite ridiculous. And then, yes, the Hexenjagd begins. :) Critical thinking seems to have become a lost art these days, but I don’t blame the media. It just does what it does, at least when it’s not government-controlled. *I* blame people who don’t think for themselves and who willingly lock themselves in echo chambers, regardless of the slant of that echo chamber.

holleyberry replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

bananananananananana batman!

Hah! Well, I was a huge fan of campy Batman when I was a kid... :D

caticalcorrectness replied to your post “Replies!”

Just found your reply. - It's very interesting, because here it seems we germans not only stealing, but USING more and more english words instead of using our own. We're loosing our language bit by bit! - Btw. the french seem to love their own langage way more... but they (so far I know) using the word 'Waldsterben' :)

In truth, all languages borrow from each other. English has always been good at borrowing and incorporating words from other languages. It’s also flexible; it’s easy to create words in English by sticking together prefixes and suffixes in odd combinations that people will still understand. But it goes the other way, too. I mean, I’m pretty sure the word for “telephone,” an American invention -- in pretty much all languages is...well, “telephone,” just spelled phonetically in the local language. A quick glance at Google Translate bears this out, anyway. (Although... What’s up with Finnish? “Puhelin?” WTF? :) ) Of course, "telephone” is ultimately...Greek, I’m pretty sure, so... Well, anyway, English steals words from AND donates words to other languages. All languages do, really.

But yeah, I’m thinking that as the world becomes more interconnected, if English doesn’t just take over completely, eventually a common world language that everyone speaks will develop. I imagine it will be English-based because English -- thanks mostly to British colonialization amplified now by the internet -- is already the lingua franca, but with words borrowed from many languages...or at least from the dominant non-English languages on the planet, so probably Spanish and...transliterated Chinese, maybe? Or perhaps Arabic? I guess we’ll see. :) Anyway, my bet is that eventually there’ll be a “world language” and that people will still speak their own local language amongst themselves. Such as thing only makes sense as the world becomes progressively less insular. Plus, it’s already much that way, with English being the general internet language.

eulaliasims replied to your post “hey, im not sure if you know but the word 'gypsy' is a racial slur...”

I always call her the matchmaker too. Works just as well, or even better considering that it isn't a slur.

dunne-ias replied to your post “hey, im not sure if you know but the word 'gypsy' is a racial slur...”

I think just calling her the matchmaker works well though.

blackswan-sims replied to your post “hey, im not sure if you know but the word 'gypsy' is a racial slur...”

For what it's worth, I just refer to her as "the matchmaker."

Frankly, I don’t refer to the character much at all because she doesn’t really factor much into my game. I don’t use either matchmaking or potions in my normal game-playing, so the only function she serves in my game is dropping off genie lamps. So perhaps I’ll call her “the LDO” from now on: The Lamp-Dropper-Offer. :)

didilysims replied to your photo “What happens when you’re a family of four living in a one-bedroom...”

In the dead of winter no less!

Right? So, that mod that Gummilutt on MTS made that makes it so that Sims don’t freeze/overheat when sleeping tents is a godsend for me. :) I often use tents when families outgrow their houses because it’s often just (relatively) temporary, until some/all of the kids grow up and leave. Unless it’s an age-modded hood that greatly extends the child/teen lifestages, I don’t want to bother with massive remodeling or moving to a larger house which will quickly become an “empty nest,” anyway, since I don’t generally do multi-generational households in my game. So....tents it is when there’s an unexpected overflow! :D (I honestly thought that Sage would never marry, much less have kids! So, he just got a small, one-bedroom house.)

webluepeace replied to your photoset “Finished up this house. Have some interiors. There’s a furnished floor...”

Just curious, are you going to upload a furnished version? Because I really am in love with the interior!!

I don’t generally upload furnished houses because, frankly, I use a lot of Maxis recolors (98% my own) and repositoried sets (and don’t always use the master mesh on the lot) and custom objects of which I have a billion recolors. Maxis recolors don’t get included in lot packages. Neither do master meshes of repositoried sets when you don’t use that mesh on the lot. So for those, you have to hunt through your downloads and include a folder of separate files with the download. That is a time-consuming pain in the ass. And when you include a custom object on a lot, ALL of the recolors you have of that object package with the lot, too. So, for instance, I use Nengi’s rugs on pretty much all lots I build. I have about 200 recolors of those rugs. They all get sucked into lot packages if I include them and I then have to edit the package down to just the recolor(s) I used -- which, again, is time-consuming -- or else I’ll end up with 300MB lot packages full of unrelated object recolors, which I absolutely refuse to sic on downloaders. If I share a lot, I’m conscientious of including only what’s needed for that lot. Mostly because extra stuff pisses me off, when I download a lot from someone else.

That said, I have in the past uploaded a lot that is furnished and has custom meshes and walls/floors and such but that doesn’t include any recolors. So, it’s really ugly when you open it; it serves as a template of sorts to which you can apply your own recolors. If that would interest you, I could upload that house furnished, but you’d still have work to do to make it look exactly as I did it. That work will be easier if you generally download my recolors of things, but it’s not like you can’t do something equally as nice with entirely different recolors. Or maybe with no CC at all, who knows? I suck at CC-free, personally.

twofingerswhiskey replied to your photoset “OK, so the farmhouse I built turned out too big for the household it...”

this reminds me of tino's house in the weekenders!

I have no idea what you’re referring to, so I’ll have to take your word for it. :) And I have to hope that Tino’s house wasn’t an eyesore. :)

princess-arystal21 replied to your photo “What happens when you’re a family of four living in a one-bedroom...”

Reminds me of my first Asian family. Had them living in that tiny house that came with the IKEA expansion, and they ended up having 3 girls and a new floor being built.

Yeah, I rather enjoy cramming large families into small houses. :) I don’t really like playing large houses because the pixels get lost in them and I prefer to keep an eye on them. So, I’d rather cram a bunch of them in small spaces than let them spread out over a large space. They’re pixels; they don’t really care about personal space and privacy. :)

didilysims replied to your photo “Birthin’ time! And it’s another girl. Her name is Samantha.”

I may still call her Coconut. ;)

Thanks to you, that’s what I call her now, too. ;)

princess-arystal21 replied to your post “fuzzyspork replied to your post: I’m looking...”

I have issues with products popping up in weird spots outside the store, rather on the shelves where they belong. Then I find my stock person working way out in the street, or in the side-yards! Can't figure out how to stop that :/.

I can’t say I’ve ever had that issue, myself. But then, I don’t often have stores that sell stuff off shelves, mostly because I don’t like my Sims’ inventories becoming cluttered with a bunch of non-functional decorative crap. So, my owned lots tend to be venues or, if not, are things like salons, clothing stores, restaurants, electronics stores that sell video games and usable handheld devices, and grocery stores. Places that don’t sell useless non-functional crap, in other words. :)

Are you using custom shelves? Perhaps they aren’t really OFB-compatible as far as being used as store shelves, so the restock functions don’t work properly? Or does it happen when you’re using the Maxis shelves, too?

didilysims replied to your post “Does anyone know...?”

Does the owner have to be townified? You could move her out and never play her again and she would retain ownership. Or even stick her in an empty lot in the corner of the map somewhere out of sight if you don't want a cluttered Sim Bin.

Nah, the owner doesn’t HAVE to be townified; I just want them to be. :) I know it doesn’t really make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. The only real benefit is that when a playable ages up, the townified-playable will show up on the “Sims to age up with this Sim” screen. Non-played playables don’t. So, that’ll make keeping ages in sync a little easier. So I guess for my own purposes it’s really more of a symbolic thing than anything else.

But I do like the idea of the hobby leaders owning lots. Then playables can visit and do the hobby leader interactions and hobby-related stuff without having a membership card (although I think the Visitor Controller can filter by OTH, now that I think about it, which will be useful for this) AND without having to use (or bother with the hassle of making over/replacing) the fugly and often nonsensical Maxis stealth hood hobby lots. I can build better ones, keep them in my lot bin, and have the hobby leaders own them instead. :) Although I still have to test to see if that will work...

fuzzyspork replied to your post “Hey!”

omg I used to do cross stitch! So much so that I was part of a cross stitch forum online. I got rid of all that stuff the last time we moved since it had been about 6 years at that point since I'd picked up a project. Kinda miss it now...

deedee-sims replied to your post “Hey!”

I used to do cross-stitching too!

Oh, yay, fellow stitchers! :) I used to do it A LOT, and I’m having such fun with finishing this old project that I’ve ordered another little kit online, as a little XMas gift to myself. I don’t think it’ll consume me like it once did, but it’s fun to do when I don’t feel like...oh...Simming or doing Sims-related things.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Pierre the Maid Dude earns his pay.”

I wish we had small terrariums in TS3 like this :)

Yeah, the ones in TS3 are kind of big, aren’t they? :\ I don’t know if that one has been/could be converted for 3 and still be functional rather than just deco, but it might be worth it to look? It’s basically the standard TS2 womrat cage without the stand, and it can be placed on any surface.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Emmy popped with Vacation Baby. And then chilled in front of the nice...”

That's a lovely lounge! So many plants!

I have a tendency to overdecorate with plants. (And mirrors, being the child of the 70s that I am.) I think it’s because in real life I can’t keep plants. I like them, but I forget about them and kill them and then I feel terrible. So, most of the plants in my house are fake, the only exception being culinary herbs (including marijuana because it’s legal where I live) and giant aloe plants because they serve a purpose. (Respectively: I eat them and have an unfortunate tendency to accidentally burn myself. And I’ll also eat aloe -- and other cacti -- for that matter.) So, yeah, lots of plants in my Sims houses, where they can be pretty and I can’t kill them. :)

declarations-of-drama replied to your photoset “Random captured pics from Sage and Emmy’s Twikii Island honeymoon. 4...”

This makes me miss TS2 so bad! I used to love that charleton dude lol

YOU SHOULD PLAY IT! TS2 IS THE BEST! ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!

Nah, I kid. :) TS2 is my main squeeze, sure -- and IMO its remaining online community is the best -- but I do cheat with TS3 on occasion. I have no interest in TS4, though...

eulaliasims replied to your photoset “It was time for the twins to teenify. I decided that Allison needed...”

That hair looks really good on Allison!

Yeah, I thought so! I’m always leery of using dreads on my Sims because frankly, while many of them are dark-skinned, none of them really look “classically black,” if you know what I mean, since I use just slightly altered Maxis face templates. And while in my head my Sims world doesn’t have a concept of races of people, the online community is touchy on the subject and I’m not looking for drama. So, I weighed things in my head and eventually went, “Screw it. That hair looks better on her than any other style I have, so it’s what she’s getting.”

kayleigh-83 replied to your photo “And the penguin showed up to have a chat with the twins’ snowperson...”

My penguin almost exclusively has conversations about mathematical formulae. He’s a really well educated fellow and Plumbbob knows he won’t get intelligent discourse out of my Sims!

Maybe penguins are like Douglas Adams’s dolphins, with a comprehensive knowledge of quantum physics. :) So, if the penguins all suddenly leave the planet with a “So long, and thanks for all the fish” in penguin language, perhaps we’d do well to follow them. ;)

getmygameon replied to your photo “And the penguin showed up to have a chat with the twins’ snowperson...”

Gotta love those random wtf speech bubbles 'Did I tell you the time I found a stale croissant. STALE! humans can't cook worth a damn I tell you! How do they survive ?!"

The penguins often have either very profound or very silly conversations. Both are signs of high intelligence, so there we go... :)

freezerbunny-sims replied to your photoset “I finished up the restaurant in GilsCarburg that will eventually be...”

The gallery looks so cozy and it actually reminds me of some restaurants in the beach towns of my province.

Oh, that’s good to hear, thank you! Because GilsCarburg is supposed to be a “beachy” community. Not in the tropical/Caribbean sense, though. More like a temperate “Northeastern US/New England” sort of “beachy,” the kind of place that people go to on summer weekends to lay on beaches like landed whales in order to escape the heat in nearby large cities. I fear I haven’t generally succeeded at that “feel,” though...because I often forget that that’s what I’m going for. So, it’s good when I (accidentally) do something right. :)

holleyberry replied to your photo “And then it was Gwen’s turn to age up. No party and no retirement for...”

Congrats on this accomplishment! It makes me want to go start a legacy.

I never really have success with standard legacies, at least not in the sense of just playing one subset (the “heirs”) of one family. That’s rather boring, to me. But I DO play whole neighborhoods for as long as I can, with multiple families over many generations. So I guess in that sense I DO play legacies. Legacies on steroids. And crack. Lots of crack.

didilysims replied to your photo “Cherry retired from firefighting. Luckily, they won’t be relying on...”

Ha ha, good to see she saved up for her old age! What was her job that pays such peanuts?

:D She was in the NPC firefighter career from the set of NPC careers that I have, which I guess were originally designed to be given to married-in NPCs in the various service careers. They are much less lucrative than the standard careers. The level one jobs all pay $50 a day. And since Cherry never rolled any wants for any skill points, ever, she never advanced past Level 1. Hence, her gigantic pension. :)

#princess-arystal21 #caticalcorrectness #fuzzyspork #digitalangels #kayleigh-83 #holleyberry #eulaliasims #dunne-ias #blackswan-sims #didilysims #webluepeace #twofingerswhiskey #deedee-sims #declarations-of-drama #getmygameon #freezerbunny-sims #replies

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s-n-arly · 7 years

Text

Casting Call

Without characters you have no story. They function like objects in English language. Without them we simply have adjectives and adverbs, and the occasional gerund, verbing about in a field of pretty flowers, or a city, or on a spaceship, or another planet. Character development can mean the difference between the reader not finishing a story and thoroughly enjoying it.

The keystone of any character, protagonist, antagonist, primary, secondary, or cameo, is that they feel real. If your character has the depth of a cardboard cutout, your readers aren't going to invest in their success, struggle, failure, or demise. Physical description, personality, speech characteristics, back story, flaws and mannerisms are all elements that help make your character come alive on the page; any of these can be your starting point.

Description To write good description, you'll need some sort of picture (mental or otherwise) of the character. If you don’t know what your character looks like, how will your reader? Using real people as models can help when you’re in a bind. If you have a vague idea, try doing an image search online with the characteristics you do know (brown eyed man, tall woman, traditional dreadlocks, etc) and see if you find some people who can help you flesh out your character's physical appearance. An image search for animals and mythical beasts can be helpful in the same way if your characters aren't human.

Personality Some writers feel compelled to complete complex worksheets and essays prior to starting a story. If this works for you, it's definitely an option, but it's a lot of work, and it's not necessary for every character. You want a general feel for your characters' personalities, but you don't have to figure out their Meyers-Briggs placement or write lifeboat problem essays from their perspective. In the first draft, it's a good idea to be somewhat flexible on personalities in case you need to modify things a bit for the story to work. I find my characters' personalities develop the more I write them.

Dialogue and Speech How a character talks can tell the reader a great deal. Does the character favor any specific words or phrases? Are they using regional slang, oaths or incantations? The types of words we choose can color the opinions and biases of the characters we create. They also hint at the character's past and give hints about the world. The dialogue of each character should feel like something they would say. This doesn't mean you have to make super specific speech patterns for each character, because that's not how we talk in the real world. However, you should pick words this character would use, and build their sentence structure to match their personality, education, and background.

Back Story Believable characters generally do not spring fully-formed from the writer’s head to the paper like Athena from Zeus. Good characters have experiences that made them who they are at the time of the story. I'm definitely not encouraging you to write a whole detailed novel version of their back story (this only becomes a never-ending backward trip through time), but you should know the basics, and perhaps have some key events in mind. It’s noticeable when a writer knows more about the character than appears on the page; the story feels richer and the characters are much more dynamic and real. Back story includes everything in the character's life that happened before they showed up in the story. A character's past will influence their fears, hopes, speech patterns, and biases. Some pieces will be critical to the story, but others will just add flavor. For most characters, you just need a rough idea of where they've come from and why they're the way they are.

Flaws Characters who are too perfect are boring. We can't relate to them, and their conflicts and victories are dull when compared to characters who make mistakes and have room for growth. I have a short essay that goes deeper into character flaws, so I won't belabor it here.

Mannerisms These are the things that seem small, but add so much to making your characters feel real. How does this character act when they are excited, sad, or angry? While some characters may have some of the same reactions, they shouldn't all respond identically all the time, unless they're robots. There are a number of ways your character could fidget to display embarrassment or boredom. These are the little things you see in your friends and family while waiting at the doctor's office or riding the bus. Knee bouncing, hair twirling, nail biting, adjusting glasses, pushing sleeves up and down, lip biting, squinting, and slouching are all examples of things your characters can be doing. Better yet if these show up in small two to five word additions to dialogue tags or narration.

Once your characters have reached a point where you're happy with how they feel and look on the page, it's a good idea to record the essential bits somewhere. This is especially useful if you're working on a lengthy series or if you may have to set the story aside for long periods of time. This cheat sheet can get you back into your characters' heads, preventing jarring out-of-character actions. While character development is essential to any story, with less verbose versions required for shorter stories, don't get so carried away that you forget such things as plot, world development, description, dialogue, and voice. It’s been known to happen, even to the best of us.

#reflections from the sol #general writing #writing #character development

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engl699readingjournal-blog · 7 years

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A Dazed article comes across your Facebook newsfeed: “Photo Gallery Captures Berlin’s Booming Underground Queer Scene.” The photo gallery comprises 700 photos of thin cis white gays with shaved heads and stick-and-poke tattoos, dancing in runners and jockstraps. "In Berlin you can always expect the underground to be at the vanguard of European nightlife, especially in the queer community.” Some of the gays have on chest harnesses. No one has ever worn fetish gear before the men in these photos have. “This photo gallery of 8,000 identical thin cis white gays with shaved heads and stick-and-pokes and chest harnesses on Special K, dancing in an abandoned East Berlin S-Bahn station, wearing only runners and jockstraps, shows you just how dynamic the Berlin party scene is. Here you see four of them making out as a form of rebellion. Here you see six leather daddies tag-teaming a seventh leather daddy in a sling.” Your acquaintance, a permanent fixture in the DC club scene who doesn’t care about what pronouns you use in reference to him because he has smashed the gender binary by wearing lipstick, has shared the link, and that’s why you see it. “So who’s going to Berlin with me?” he asks. Vice has done it! Dazed has done it! It has captured the spirit of big-middle-finger queerness! It is thin, it is white, it got into Berghain, it is being penetrated at the glory-hole-wall.

“Queer” is a verb now, an action, something done unto, a process. It has been for some time. Spaces are queered, revolutions are queered, ideologies (or lack thereof) are queered, bodies are queered. It is also a gerund, implying a sort of peristalsis that indicates an ongoing undertaking. It is a participle adjective, implying that the done-unto noun has arrived at queer. It has been queered. Who is doing the queering? How is the queering being done? When has something been queered? Passive voice. In Berlin it often feels like a sticker slapped onto an electrical box by a bicyclist who pedals on without looking back. To queer is an infinitive applied to infinite done-untos, it is punk, to queer is a home-run sales pitch, to queer is a tourist attraction. A queered space – a museum, a bar, a club, a party, a café – can be queered in the same way that you can wake up one day and decide to go around telling people you’re an entrepreneur or a venture capitalist. Or a communist, or an opportunist, or a classical violinist. You repeat it until you’re convinced you’re understood, you’re believed. There is nothing different about you except that you are now this thing because you said you were. So let it be written, so it shall be queered.

This is the problem with many spaces in Berlin. Perhaps a fundamental difference in understanding of language is the core issue here, that many native-German-speaking peoples’ understanding of queer goes as far as “not gay as in happy but queer as in fuck you,” that queer sounds better than gay now because queer is the gritty anti-pride parade in Kreuzberg and gay is the ungainly lurching caravan of commercial excess that slogs down the Kurfürstendamm while blotto tourist twinks in sparkling fairy wings and assless underwear lie passed-out on the sidewalk. Christopher Street Day on the Kurfürstendamm. Me late for my shift at the Schwules Museum because I gave up on waiting for a bus from Zoo Station and sprinted to Lützowstraße, charging straight through the parade the twink in assless underwear and fairy wings having a pils dumped over him. A conspicuously sanitized funeral procession for politicized radical queer anything that plods past Nollendorfplatz and heads for the Siegessäule, a giant memorial penis a straight shot down the Straße des 17. Juni from the Brandenburger Tor, where the whole affair finally comes to an end. Straight through the Tiergarten, where you can still spot the cruisers strolling nude between the trees from the windows of a bus. Wraiths of cigarette smoke from the patrons of the Eldorado curl up into the sweltering blue sky as the apparitions of bygone Berlin look on, pink triangles, shaved heads, rough-hewn tattoos. Are they asking if this is what they were sent to Sachsenhausen for, to Dachau?

Over aluminum containers packed with basmati rice and Vietnamese curry, Tanno and I sat on the floor of the dining room and flipped through an issue of Siegessäule magazine, probably picked up from the counter at Silver Future, a dive we frequented on Weserstraße “for Kings and Queens and Criminal Queers.” Siegessäule is a monthly report on what all of the same people are up to: where is Alexander Geist performing tonight and which cultural costume will they be appropriating this time? Yony Leyser is making a new film. Any updates since we last spoke with him four weeks ago? Let’s see! Oh, look, he’s making a new documentary about what makes queer punk, or what makes punk queer, in which he interviews the same group of people he interviewed for his Burroughs documentary. Peaches was spotted going into the bathroom at veganz. Mika Risiko was at Berghain again, sauntering across the steaming pulsing dance floor in a rather aggressive faux-fur coat. “WE ARE QUEER BERLIN,” its audacious slogan, adorned the cover (are we?), as did the artwork of Stefan Fähler, a Berlin-based artist whose obsession with gaping mouths, anuses, staticky-surrealism-meets-confetti-butt-plug-themed-pop-art, made him a perennial figure in the scenesterkreis. He did artwork for all of GEGEN’s promotional materials, for Ficken 3000’s ICKY party. Wherever a phallus was needed, Stefan was summoned to render it in hues of in-your-face pink and radioactive green, erupting neon yellow and blue polka dots. Everything he drew, from dildos to tits, had a blood-red yelling mouth. Presumably yelling that we were queer Berlin. At the Schwules Museum I would perch on the stool at the cash register and flip through the latest issue, which was stacked alongside Exberliner and other Denglisch publications intended for the consumption of German-speakers and English-speakers alike, tourists or permanent fixtures of the city who could somehow navigate the bureaucracy without needing to speak any German. Every month the same cast of characters paraded across the pages: this one DJ’ing at Schokoladen, that one premiering a five-minute film at Villa Neukölln, another one grabbing a drink at Gelegenheiten. Some of my friends’ bands and art installations made it into the “shit you might be interested in doing instead if you can’t catch Mika slinking through Berghain this weekend, if you make it into Berghain at all” – Tanno’s band performing at Urban Spree, Nika’s show in Kreuzberg. They had made it to the fringe of the scenesterkreis.

I flipped to the back of Siegessäule, which included a large map of the city with an old-fashioned coordinate system and corresponding key below. Each queer establishment in the city was sub-divided into categories: bars, clubs, museums and cultural spaces, bath houses, darkrooms, sex clubs, cafés. I was struck upon realizing for the first time that many of the nightlife spaces were annotated with the Mars symbol, the Venus symbol, or both – demarcating which spaces were strictly male, which were strictly female, and which were open to both. I pointed this out to Tanno, who had also never noticed this: “I don’t even look at this part of the magazine. I flip through it and then just leave it on a table somewhere.” I reached into my bag and pulled out a pen and proceeded to circle each establishment that allowed only men; I marked the establishments that allowed only women with asterisks and underlined the ones that claimed to allow both. Most importantly, I squiggly-underlined the ones that claimed to allow both, but where I had personally felt uncomfortable or had heard from non-cis-male friends was an unwelcome space (Fran, a Canadian artist who had arrived in Berlin around the same time I did and returned to Canada earlier this year, told me that apparently Ficken’s resident rock-out-with-your-cock-out regular who sat at a corner booth stroking his erect cock the entire night was paid to do so in order to ward off unwanted visitors to the bar.

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