#do they...not know how to write dialogue for esl characters or

[lisiprom]

Immortal Life- first impressions

Played a bit of Immortal Life, since the EA came out today.

First of all it's similar to RF/HM (or actually any other farming-life-sim). We play as cultivator who's invited to Guiyun Sect to take care of Mist Valley ( because the sect is more sword focused and they're bad at farming and our protag-kun is pretty good at it). Some unfortunate shit happens and sect gets razed to the ground, except of protagonist and guys that came to take entrance test to the sect. So now it's our turn to rebuild sect and probably figure wtf caused huge-ass meteor falling down ( or whatever it was).

Gameplay is pretty similar to rf/hm with tilling fields, mining rocks, cutting trees. Standard stuff. And then there is cooking, which instead of puuting ingredients together and getting food actually requires player to actually do stuff. Even more fun it reminds me a bit of those Delicious Emily games ( and I loved those games lol). It will probably take some time to get used to that kind of gameplay instead of put stuff inside cooker->get MORE stuff.

Haven't played enough to see how the combat is so I'm probably gonna write another post when I get more into it.

There's also a relationship system but I don't know if it's only friendship or if there are romance options available. Also you can choose either male or female protagonist. Both are cute but I kinda dig dude more.

I really like is graphic and sound. Environments are nice and give that comfy (maybe ven a bit nostalgic?) vibe. Also I really like characters designs( but that might be my inner danmei fan speaking) and their 3d models.

There are few things that are a bit of pain in the ass. First of all: it can only be played using keyboard and mouse. Also mouse is used mostly to continue dialogues and its kinda annoying that you can't just push enter to proegress the text. I hope we will get controller support beacuse it would be more comfy ( also because personally I have a bit of shit setup on desk and it's fucking with my eyesight lol). Second thing is the map. It's a bit hard to read also for some reason when I closed the map my protag got 'stuck' and only opening and then closing map again, helped getting 'un-stuck'. Third thing ( and it's a bit of my personal complain) it's that the day feels super short. Maybe I'm just too used to RF5 where day is long so you cram a lot of activities, but in Immortal Life it felt like I tilled the soil, got crops, caught two fishes, got through cooking tutorial and suddenly it's end of the day. Also saw that some tasks are going top be timed so it's already making me feel anxious lol. Another thing is that translation feel a bit stiff and wooden in places ( and I noticed it even though I'm ESL-chan so yeah..)

Eitherway it's been fun so far and I'm gonna play a bit more over the (long) weekend ( unless I get stuck in RF5 hell again ;).

#immortal life #pc game #vidya

[cxrnxticn]

✿ da rules ✿

Activity: The activity on here will be off and on; so don’t assume I disappeared off the face of the earth if I’m gone for several days. I have a life outside of this hobby, as we all do; so please be patient with me!

NSFW-ish: This is a semi-nsfw blog (tagged #❁ — n.s.f.w. and #❁ — n.s.f.w-ish) with brief mentions of bloody fights, childhood neglect, abandonment issues, and underage exploitation. Chances for naughty stuff are pretty slim compared to my previous activity. While Mari is sexually active, Mun is ace af (and 30+); so I’ll be limiting the dirty details to vague descriptions and fade-outs if it comes to that. Also, if there are any specific tags you need me to be aware of, let me know and I'll be sure to add it! Also also, minors: do not interact!!

Shipping: This is a multi-shipping blog where each one has their own verse separated from the other. Now, when it comes to shipping, chemistry is a thing that makes both romantic and non-romantic relations worthwhile. My muse is not a pro at handling in-depth emotions; so it will take a good amount of time for her to open her heart to someone; so unless we’ve settled on a pre-established relationship, don’t expect her to throw herself onto your muse right off the bat.

Length: You’re not obligated to match my writing length but again, effort matters. For instance, if I write a paragraph, please don’t fart out a single line of dialogue. That’s just poopy.

Initiation: Never hesitate to approach me if you wanna interact! Got any ideas for our muses that tickle your fancy? I offer you consent to invade my inbox, IM me, or just send in a meme. Hell, tag me in a random starter, and I’ll leap with joy!

Discourse: I’m very anti-drama and hivemind. It’s rare for me to take things personally, or get wrapped up in public discourse; so don’t feel like you need to walk on eggshells around me. I won’t bite your head off or use any forms of violence against you for being different from me but I also refuse to put up with harmful behavior. In the end, if it comes down to that, I’ll just block you. ✌

Following Conditions

Mutuals: I only follow mutuals for the sake of seeing their posts as they do mine vice versa. Simple as that lol.

Selectivity: I’m a bit selective. I welcome pretty much all muses as long as they have the necessary details down. The things I look for are clear and concise rules and bios for muses, as well as the consideration of how our muses will interact regarding verses and dynamics. Oh and I judge the Mun’s own character as well, whether or not I see any red flags popping up that could indicate any *sussy* behavior, that will determine my decision to follow or unfollow.

TMI: I will be discouraged from following those who regularly overshare personal information not related to their muses or roleplaying in general. If your rp blog resembles your personal diary, sorry but I’ll likely unfollow. Oversharing is an unhealthy habit; especially when you publicize it to a bunch of strangers. Please be careful with what you share!

Grammar: If you make constant grammatical errors and don’t bother proofreading your posts, I might find it cringe, and be motivated to unfollow you. Sorry but I treat the art of writing with dignity, and I hope you would put in at least some effort as well. If you’re ESL, I’ll be more forgiving but come on, native English speakers, try harder!!

Interaction: If neither of us even bother to reach out to one another for a good while, I don’t see any reason to continue following. Nothing personnel, kid.

F.U.N.: Above all, have fun! Don’t beat yourself up over a late reply or for not seeming as perfect as you wish to be. It’s called roleplay for a reason! Let’s enjoy it in the same carefree manner as the children we once were! 😊

#pls read da rules #and do not reblog <3

[crowclubkaz]

vanko, in iron man 2: if you make god bleed, people will cease to believe in him

vanko, 10 mins. later: what you want them do???

boy howdy the writers really just... did that huh

#do they...not know how to write dialogue for esl characters or #iron man 2 #ivan vanko #whiplash

[writingwithcolor]

How to Write Non-Fluent ESL English

@interneet​ asked:

Hey, I’m reading a story at the moment where immigrant characters speak in incredibly broken English. It’s really jarring. Is there a way to respectfully write characters speaking in broken/non-fluent English without it coming across unrealistic and racist or would you advise just leaving that out of your writing altogether?

This is going to turn into a bit of a guide…I’ll try not to get too carried away with linguistics stuff :)

A Note on Terminology

I’d definitely go with “non-fluent” over “broken,” as the term “broken” has quite a negative connotation that also tends to be used in describing stigmatized languages, language varieties, and dialects that are, in fact, used properly according to their own internal rules (AAVE and many Global Englishes, to name a few). 

Another term you should know for this guide is ESL and L1/L2. I’ll use L1 to refer to first language, L2 for second language, and so on—you can keep adding numbers. ESL is “English Second Language,” which is pretty self-explanatory, but there is a crucial distinction between that and dominant language. I myself am technically ESL, as I started learning English at around age 3. However, since I live in the US where English is the dominant language, I quickly gained in English proficiency and lost Japanese proficiency. While I still have around middle schooler proficiency in Japanese, English is my dominant language now. An immigrant character may be ESL but completely fluent in English.

Should You Write It?

It depends on whether or not the character’s English proficiency is plot relevant. Keep in mind that with writing non-fluent english, you don’t want to overload speech with mistakes, or make it incomprehensible. The most you should do is use it to establish character (say a character has just moved overseas, and in the story their English improves over time) or to further plot (maybe there is important info that needs to be communicated and there’s a barrier). If it’s not relevant, and it’s just in order to establish that they’re a foreigner, don’t do it. It’s Othering, and there are other ways to establish culture and culture shock. As I said before, not all immigrants have a poor command of their destination country’s dominant language. 

The How-To

There are two components that I’ll address: 

The types of errors to include, and

Writing accents (or not)

First, grammatical features are better to use than phonetic ones. We’ll get to why when we talk about accents, but for now, note that it’s more respectful to use for ESL errors than pronunciation. Here are some examples of grammatical features: 

Word order

Inflections (eg. the attachment of affixes like -s, -ed, etc. to indicate tense, person, number, etc. of a noun or verb)

The presence or absence of certain morphological constructs that appear in some languages but not others (eg. Japanese has topic markers like wa, and English doesn’t; English has definite/indefinite articles like the but Japanese doesn’t)

If you’re writing an ESL character, ask beta readers & mods on this blog who speak the character’s L1 to see if the grammatical features of your character’s ESL speech are consistent with typical English fluency errors. Here’s an ask I answered on Japanese, and Mod Rune gives a good example on Korean here: 

A Korean is more likely to try and put someone’s title behind their last name (e.g. Obama President rather than President Obama, Lestrade Inspector instead of Inspector Lestrade)

Second, we want to avoid in-dialogue portrayals of phonetic differences, which is also called “eye dialect.” Here are some examples from a piece of media many of us are probably familiar with, but I don’t think deserves a citation: 

“Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?”

“Eh? No, don' go! I've — I've never met another one before”

“Anuzzer what, precisely?”

“Another half-giant, o' course.”

Both speakers have an accent that is shown within the writing through misspellings of the words they’re speaking (one is French, one is West Country English). This is a stereotypical (and often hard-to-read) portrayal of accents that Others the speaker and unfairly puts either their dialect differences or their perceived proficiency in English at the forefront of their dialogue. And this is with European characters! Imagine how this would look on people from other parts of the globe. 

Another major reason why we want to avoid eye dialect is because of the racist history of (pejoratively) writing accents in literature. In early American writing, Black characters were written according to minstrel stereotypes, and with it, a stereotypical way of speaking that was emphasized through eye dialect. Here’s a thesis that explains the history of eye dialect in American literature to supplement that idea, if you want to learn more. In addition, unless you’re a linguist or dialect coach who is trained in the phonetic inventory of the L1 & speaker tendencies, you tend to perpetuate media stereotypes that may not be reflective of actual speech. This can be very harmful. 

Here’s a link on how to describe accents instead, and here are some good perspectives on being a 1st generation immigrant and struggling with accents (how that affects them when they’re teased for it, and also strategies they have taken to overcome a knowledge gap). 

In Conclusion

Before writing an ESL speaker’s English in a different way from the rest of the cast, consider whether or not this is really needed in your story.

If you do decide to write their speech differently, look at the grammatical features of their L1 and talk to real speakers of that L1 to get a realistic idea.

AVOID EYE DIALECT! 

Thanks for stickin’ with me, folks. 

~Mod Rina

#ESL #language #speech #immigrant #Othering #accents #description #asks

[wind-on-the-panes]

fic tag yay

Thank you @lantur!

How many works do you have on AO3? 10 lol. I have a few forgotten ones in FFN from when I was young. Royai forgotten ones.

What's your total AO3 word count? 99,498. Fair, considering I don’t write a lot.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Berceuse, a Pharmercy (Overwatch) fic in which Angela has a baby and is in hiding. I had planned nice things for it, but writing in English at the time was still a challenge for me, so I eventually stopped. Maybe someday I’ll pick it up again, because it’s close to my heart

Wrong focus, Symbra (Overwatch) fic in which I projected myself so much a doctor could use it to look inside me instead of an MRI

Let Us Be Lovers, We'll Marry Our Fortunes Together, Royai (FMA) canon compliant fic in which Roy and Riza get engaged when Berthold dies. It’s canon compliant :eyes:

Amiss, Symbra (Overwatch) fic oh look the author discovered they’re autistic and are dealing with it in fanfic. Look at them go. I hope they’re okay now

The flicker, Royai (FMA) fic that is a character study-ish of Riza growing up when Roy Mustang is living at her place. This is my current baby because I’ve always (as in: 15 years) wanted to write young Riza. Go love it

Do you reply to comments, why or why not? Yes, I try!! I’m so grateful for every one of them! But I’m often not eloquent enough to know what to say. I’m suddenly shy. 

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? N o n e. I stuff all my pain and suffering in the middle, where you’ll bite with more zeal.

No ok it’s Alleyways because my part is a flashback.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? By contrast, all of them are very happy (because the middle is pure pain), so I’m gonna go with the happiest of them all: Heat Pains and Team dynamics

Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've ever written? I’m not very interested in crossovers, actually.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? I need that achievement.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. I wrote a subtle, blink-and-you-miss-it sexual act in Wrong focus, and a full-blown smut fic in Heat Pains. It was M/F and cis and werewolfy.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Don’t think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated? ooooh I wish!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Alleyways was co-written with @dibujosdelcolibri​

What’s your all-time favourite ship? I do not have one. Seriously. I have many favorites.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? ..........Berceuse..... And the Dragon Age one....

What are your writing strengths? Prose. My mind goes places. 

What are your writing weaknesses? Everything else, pretty much. I’m here for the Pretty. But mostly it’s time-keeping within narrative. I’m working on it though. Also, grammar - I’d say it’s because I’m ESL but there are many ESLs who don’t struggle with it so I’ll just go cry over there call me if anything

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Know the language, or ask someone who does to aid you. When done naturally, it’s good!

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Monica’s Gang when I was a little child, and Digimon Adventure when I was 10.

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written? The flicker.

@brightoncemore, @songofsaraneth, @kinaesthetiquilt I choose you

#tag #meme #fanfic

[world-by-word]

Hi I have a question. I'm writing a fanfic with a character who is Lithuanian and they go to America. But they don't speak English so im wondering how to portray that? I know Lithuanian and English are very different

(cont.) same anon as before since i realized this is better phrasing. so i suppose what i'm wondering is how would you portray them learning esl as a second language? like especially when they're talking? i don't want to do it bad

Hi! I have never been in a situation where I'd be learning a language in a country where people speak that language while having to start from scratch and having no help whatsoever from someone who'd be able to speak both languages. However I have visited Norway and I'm in no way proficient in it, so in a situation where my poor Norwegian would meet another persons poor English (rather rare), we'd still have two languages somewhat in common to communicate in bits and pieces of sentences and body language and gesticulating with hands. Maybe that would be how?

I suppose it depends on your characters age, education and time period the story is set in, but I find it very hard to believe that this would be someone learning their second language from scratch unless they are younger than 7-8 years old (that's when we start learning English at school). If the story is set some time other than modern day, it would still be hard to find a person who wouldn't know at least one other language besides their mother tongue (if we're talking early 20th century, it would be Russian/German/Polish, if before that - Russian/Polish), which would make it easier to learn a different language and would also give the person a better chance to find someone who would speak some language they have in common and via that they could learn? Or, and this is kind of the most logical, they would take classes?

What I'm saying is, it's important to understand that due to the fact that Lithuania is a tiny country with around 3,6 million native speakers worldwide, every single person knows at least 2 languages (this is like, the bare minimum, most know 3). English is mandatory now (grades 2-12), so everyone has at least the basics.

Considering that this is a fanfic (and I'm assuming that you are not a native Lithuanian speaker), I would suggest writing the dialogues in English, just making them very simple, sentences short and to the point, sometimes using words that would technically be correct but have a much better synonym, adding pauses to indicate searching for the right word... Mixing up the word order wouldn't really work out as the languages have rather similar sentence structure. If you want the character to start from full on Lithuanian, you could try writing in normal English but cursive, and let people know that this is not said in English, for example:

"Sorry, are you looking for something?" the store clerk asked the customer. They looked clearly lost. "Oh, hello! I need.." They said, ignoring the clerks dumbfounded face, and looked around, for something to point at. "Well, like this, to cut." They made a snipping motion with their pointer and middle fingers. "Scissors?" The clerk asked, somewhat relieved that this game of charades was coming to an end. "Scissors! Yes!"

Just a suggestion, but you can surely find a way that works best for you!

#;answered #I mean I hope we were talking about spoken English and 'esl' in the second ask is just a typo and not meant to mean ASL #bc if so I have no suggestions #to be fair even these are somewhat subjective? it would be easier knowing the actual situation so anon if you're reading this #just dm me and I might be able to help better

[fedonciadale]

Any tips on writing skills ? When did you start writing ? Your command on the English Language is really great .

Hi there!

Thanks for the compliment!

I’ve always come up with ‘fanfics’ in my head ever since I began to read. And when I was young, I wrote a little bit of Arthurian and Tolkien fanfics  (in German). I started writing fanfic for real in 2016 when I fell into the Jonsa rabbit hole. The first chapter of “To go South” is my very first published fanfic - and boy was I nervous!

I used to tell my stories to my friends and siblings and I absolutely loved telling stories to my children. We had this game we played. They would each tell me two or three words and my part was to come up with a story, in which these words were used. The story usually involved dragons and knights and - surprise, surprise - a family in danger.

One thing I’ve also always done was to invent dialogues in my head, playing with my favourite characters.

So, in a way I have written stories long before I actually wrote them.

As for my English, I use English almost every day for my job. And I started reading novels in English ages ago. And I actually had good English teachers, believe it or not. I still make silly mistakes and you can tell I’m an ESL. But I’ve read so many novels in English, that I can’t imagine to write GoT or HP fanfic in German. Sometimes when @maybe-hufflepuff points out some of my mistakes when she does her alphabeta thing I could slap myself.

As for honing your own writing skills, I would say that the most important thing is that you start with something you like, maybe a favourite ship or a favourite scene. The most important thing is that you have fun. Write what you would want to read. You don’t need to cater to the preferred headcanons of your fandom, if you don’t particularly like that.

Find out what works for you: Maybe you want to start with your favourite scene? Maybe you want to prepare your favourite scene and work towards it? I usually postpone my fav scenes. I write all the chapters leading up to that and ‘reward’ myself with the scene I really want to write. One of my favourite scenes in ‘The Phoenix Potion’ was at the very end, and I really wanted to get there. So that was a big incentive. But some people start with their favourite scene and work backwards from there.

When you read something you should take note (not necessarily as in actually writing that down) if you like a story and then really think about why you like it. Do you like that particular plot twist? Do you like how the characters are written consistently? Working out why you like something, helps you to do that yourself, because you can look at your own writing and judge if you would like it as a reader. It also helps to take not of what throws you off.

Make notes on your characters, even if they are already fleshed out in canon. If your fic takes place ten years after canon, the characters should be slightly different. If you write canon bent, try to come up with a good reason why the canon is bent. What additional rules do you want to introduce?

Some writers like to plot, some writers like to take the characters and go for it, with only a vague idea. You won’t know what type you are, not in advance.

The most important thing is that you do both read and write. Be prepared though, that writing will change your reading experience  (as does studying literature). You probably won’t just ‘consume’ any longer. It can be  devastating experience, because your expectations may change as well as your level of involvement in a story. Your tolerance of writing errors might decrease. You might not be able to completely drown in a story any longer, unless it’s well written.

On the other hand, that might happen anyway. If you read a lot, that affects you and it affects your critical skills. I read differently ever since I’ve begun writing, but even before that the fact that I’m analyzing texts very frequently has changed my reading behaviour and my expectations.

The most important thing though, is to try it. Just try it. I did, in October 2016 and I’ve never looked back. I can’t imagine a life without writing fanfic now.

Thanks for your nice ask!

#anon ask #My fics #My writing #About writing #Jonsa #Dramione

[stvlti]

2020 Creator Wrap

I was tagged by @irolltwenties to do the 2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite Works tag! Thank you, lovely (*˘ ε ˘*)

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Before I begin, let me just tag some friends:

@reaperlight @3dnygma @drowthelynes @transdankovsky @fantomn @lawliyeeeet @dressed-to-keehl @setfa @0akdown @reidsnor @clubolive @mermaides

No pressure, but it would be fun if you guys share some of your works this year ( ˘︶˘ ) let’s see those fics and edits and artworks!! Get the clicks and views y’all deserve 💕 💕

And now, onwards to my 2020 Favorite Works List!

I didn’t write nearly as much as some of you guys did. And though I did exceed my goal of putting out 1 fic per month, I don’t have 5 solid ones I’m proud of. So I’ll just list 4 fics here:

01 // Growing Pains

I’ve always been very nervous about reccing this one, because it broaches a topic that I don’t really have a right to claim? I’m not transgender myself, but I simply adore the trans Dick Grayson headcanon so much it singlehandedly brought me back to the DC fandom and restarted my fanfic-writing habit for 2020 😂😂 plus the writing quality isn’t half bad, and I still really like the idea/metaphor this little story started with and grew from. 

Fave moment (besides the obvious):

"Ka-Pow!!" The boy ventriloquised. Lego Robin sailed through the air in his fingers. One stubby, outstretched leg made contact with a Lego henchman, knocking all the surrounding baddies over like bowling pins. "Sorry Mr. Bad Guys, guess it's way past your bedtime too!"

"Good job, Robin." The boy lowered his prepubescent voice and tried to affect Batman's gravelly timbre as much as possible. In his other hand, he walked Lego Batman across the floor of the crime scene. "How about we round them up and leave it for the Commish? It's getting quite late."

"Oh oh! Can I have cookies on the ride back?"

The boy swivelled Lego Batman's grinning face around. "I don't see why not."

Another night out in Lego Gotham City, another day saved by the Dynamic Duo. This called for a celebration indeed. The boy set the pair of heroes down by the Lego Batmobile and reached over to his own plate of Alfred's after-school chocolate chip cookies. He took his sweet time with the last piece, savouring each bite, sighing at the way it melted on his tongue.

02 // Transference 

This is my best-performing fic in terms of the kudos to hits ratio, so I feel validated in being proud of this one :’) It’s a pretty good marker of the distances I’ve covered since getting serious about reading the comic source material end of 2019, as you can see from the much broader and varied cast of characters I focused on for this story. It also definitely cemented - to me, at least - the fact that I can write action scenes. When I went into “Second Chances” (a fem Jay fic) earlier this year, I was so nervous about writing the action sequence there, because I’ve never written a serious action scene up until that point! To me, this fic definitely showcases the growth I’ve experienced as a writer this year ^_^

Fave moment: (CONTAINS SPOILERS, PLEASE READ THE FIC FIRST IF YOU HAVEN’T!)

When the trio return, Ivy takes her place at the meeting table with a severe expression on her face. She chooses her words carefully, when she speaks. "The odds aren't pretty. We just accepted 100 refugees over the weekend, and the Green is still repairing itself after last week's attack."

Rose exchanges a glance with Jason. He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze, though he's not looking any better than she feels.

"But, each and everyone of us stayed behind to defend the Garden, because we all believed in giving a sanctuary for the civilian survivors out there.

"So bring them here. I'll take them in."

No sooner has Ivy finished the sentence, than Zatanna and Constantine have fired up their teleportation portal, and Harley's cheerful "Good luck!" is lost to the mad dash off to the rescue mission. The rest of the Shadowpact scramble after Rose as she launches herself through the portal—

—and slams into Arsenal, pushing him out of the way seconds before a meteoric explosion of green fire incinerates the very spot he'd been standing in.

03 // Paying It Forward

This one is important to me if only for the reason that it’s the first time I’ve written character dialogues that flowed. And I didn’t even need to plan them out meticulously beforehand! Do you know how rare that is for me as an ESL writer? Dialogues have been the bane of my existence since I started writing as a wee teen. Luckily, the Titans TV show has some solid character dynamics for me to fall back on. And from there I started reading NTT era Dick & Donna, and I just fell in love with their friendship. And now, I can turn to this fic as proof I still got it whenever I doubt my abilities as a writer c:

Fave moment:

Dick glanced at her, eyebrows raised. "She ran out on you?"

"No, no, we never really... I don't think it counts as running away if it never led to anything more."

"But you wanted it to be more." Dick paused, taking in Donna's silence, which would've fooled anyone else but him. "You still want it."

"I-- yeah." Donna sighed and held her hands up as if to say you caught me. "I'm... Sorry? For stealing your girl?"

Dick laughed, bemused. "She was never mine. She knew what she wanted, what she needed - and I wasn't in the right place to give her that."

"And you? You think I'm what she needs?"

"Better you than me. You're Donna Troy. Older, smarter, prettier..."

Donna gave him a deadpan stare.

"... And you know who you want to be. She likes that in a partner. I'm still figuring that one out for myself." Dick stretched his arms up and then leaned back into his seat, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stared up into the ceiling.

04 // When I'm down on my knees, you're how I pray

I’m including this one just to showcase I got the range, babey. And honestly, the fact that I was able to write this fic and actually receive positive reviews for it was a surprise to me too!! This was the first time I ever attempted to write a real darkfic with dead dove subject matters, and I managed to nail the emotional manipulation, somehow ;__; It was a real learning experience too, learnt so much about Catholicism just to write about Dick’s guilt issues in an AU setting nobody asked for 🤡

Fave moment: (dead dove warnings apply)

"Not at all, Richard," Roman said. The boy would come to him, eventually. "Now, it's getting late. If that's all, I'll have Jason fetch your room keys. Seven Hail Mary's before bed, and think about everything we've just discussed. Tomorrow we'll do a proper debriefing."

"I... Okay." For a moment, Dick sounded like he had more to say. Instead, Roman heard a muffled sniffle, one that Dick likely tried to disguise with a hand over his mouth. Silly boy.

"Thank you again, Father," Dick said, after a beat.

"All in a day's work, my child." Roman unlatched the door and stepped out of the booth. He nodded at Dick as the younger man ambled out of the booth after him. "Goodnight now, Richard."

As he set off for the living quarters, Dick called out. "Wait!"

Roman turned around, inclining his head.

"Will you stay?" The candlelight chased shadows away from Dick's face, and for one glorious moment, Roman could see the depth of the desperation shining in Dick's blue eyes.

"Guide me through my prayers. Please."

Roman smiled.

-

Oh did you think I was done? 😂 It did say Favourite Works and not just Favourite Fics, so I gotta include this one on the list too:

05 // 2020 Jason Todd Birthday edit

I said Robin Jason deserves better and I meant it! 👏👏 This edit took me 12 hours and 67 layers ‘cause I made a mistake on like my 8th hour into the editing process o__o but it ended up being my most popular serious graphic edit, so it was worth it. I guess! 

I mean the likes to reblog ratio is still fucked but hey, I broke 1k, which is more than I can say for any of my other edits

#tag meme #writerly things #long post #writerly tag

[redprotons]

Writing Tag Game

I was tagged by @kelkat9 Thank you :D 

How many works do you have on AO3? 3

What’s your total AO3 word count?

268,769

What are your top 5  3 fics by kudos?

1. Earth’s Secret Army  - Torchwood / Doctor Who / Sarah-Jane Adventures cross over / Ten/Rose reunion fic, using the Torchwood storyline ‘The Children of Earth’ as a base plotline. 

2. Hidden in Plain Sight - Another Ten/Rose reunion fic (hey, what can I say), involving a fob-watched Ten in 1913. It borrows a few things from Human Nature, but the story’s pretty different. 

3. Back to the Beginning  - A - sort of - follow on from Earth’s Secret Army. A sleep deprived Doctor is forced to live in the Tyler household for a few days. Found family, hurt/comfort fic. 

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes! But I tend to wait until I post the next chapter in the story to reply. 

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

None?? I’m all for a helping of angst, but it has to have a happy ending. 

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

Back to the Beginning?? But all of them end pretty happily. 

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

No, I only have room in my heart for one fandom obsession. 

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really hate, per se. But I have had some rather, harsh, nit-picky criticism, which I didn’t ask for on this particular fic.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No, not really. It’s not something my ace self tries to work into the stories I write. Nothing against it though.  

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. 

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope. 

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Tenth Doctor/Rose, basically all I write lol. 

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

The thirteen and fam, meets Ten, Rose and Jack story I’ve been stuck on for ages and haven’t touched in six months. 

What are your writing strengths?

Storylines?? I want to say. I’d like to think I’m good at linking characters and events together. And my ‘spin’ on things, I guess.  

What are your writing weaknesses?

SPELLING, GRAMMARRRAHH, STURUCTURAH! Not what you want to here from a ESL teacher, but I’m absolutely abysmal. Even putting the chapters through text to speech (which takes ages >:[) I always miss something. 

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

Pretty neutral as long as it’s not offensive. I’ve done it for a few words here and there, and plan to do it with a fake language in a future story of mine. 

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Doctor Who

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

...I think, Earth’s Secret Army? But I’m really enjoying a new project I’m drafting right now. 

I tag... anyone who wants to do it :) 

#random stuff #writing games

[velvetsehun]

What are your pet peeves as a writer and a reader? Also I am in love with BTD like it is one of the things making me go insane while still safeguarding my sanity💗💗

a lot of things lmao.. I don’t overstep my place as a reader but sometimes from a writes POV, stories can be very difficult to read for me! 

my pet peeves:

 i’m very much someone who needs to be gripped in the first chapter, i cant be reading through multiple chapters just to get to the good parts of your writing 

inconsistencies in writing, i can tell where you’ve REALLY tried in parts of your story and let the others fall off - it makes me feel like you’ve only planned scenarios and bridged them together rather than planned a cohesive plot

Grammar doesn’t bother me, but misusing or not understanding/not bothering to look up words does; do not use big words for the sake of making your writing sound more ‘educated’, it just looks flowery and out of place if you don’t know how to use the word your using, id rather a very well thought out and “basic” sentence than misusing something. It can also be very unhelpful to ESL people if you’re not using words correctly - don’t just use a thesaurus and hope for the best!

Characters doing things that are out of character just for the sake of a shallow “plot progression”, don’t misuse your characters because you didn’t plan - its infuriating to readers to see a character they’ve read for so many chapters just do something not like them without a VALID reason. 

I don’t like mary sues and thats that on it tbh, no one is unrealistically free of weaknesses. Stories are an escape, but idealised self-insertion doesn’t make an interesting story, believe it or not you’re human and you are not without faults. 

people that use ‘special fonts’ from fancy text generator in stories, its ignorant of people that use screen-readers, make your story accessible to everyone 

this may be extreme but nothing sets a fire under my ass and gets me heated like people who don’t use speech marks (””) for dialogue, don’t give my of this (,,”) or use (- [text] ) or even (‘’), please JUST USE SPEECH MARKS FOR DIALOGUE IT MAKES YOUR WRITING UNREADABLE

Trigger Warning....Using things like rape/non-con/sexual assault for a quick plot device, its distasteful to actual victims to reduce their problems as a quick plot trope that you quickly get over, this goes hand in hand with the mishandling/misunderstand of abuse/PTSD 

Romanticisation of toxic/abusive relationships, i’m not your mother but i will sit you down and explain why that isnt okay.

I honestly have so many more... but ill keep it short and sweet 

im glad you’re enjoying BTD, dont worry it has the same effect on me ;) 

[docholligay]

Doc Loves Garbage: Overwatch

 Out of all the horrible things I love, this is the one I wish I perhaps didn’t so much. Which isn’t to say I wish I would stop writing it. YOU MIGHT, but not me, I love the little sandbox world I’ve created out of it, I genuinely get a lot of pleasure out of writing it and noodling on it, but only when I manage to convince myself that nothing the actual creators (or the fandom) say matters. 

BUT I CAN’T STOP MYSELF FROM WATCHING EVERY SHORT AND READING EVERY COMIC AND SHORT STORY THAT COMES OUT. I cannot let go of my love for every little nugget of the world, like it’s a grab bag of delightful things that I might want to sprinkle into my own interpretation of it, but like most grab bags, I find it’s generally just filled with cheap bullshit. 

THE TIMELINE. 

You would think that google wouldn’t be very difficult to use, but I don’t think they use it at Blizzard, as it took me all of about ten minutes to confirm that there was no way Lena could be a fast-jet pilot in the RAF, become a corporal (which in the RAF system is like being a section commander, admittedly that one took me more than ten minutes but it’s also not relevant to anyone but my overly-invested ass), get into OVerwatch, which we are meant to believe is an elite force, get lost in time, get brought back by Winston, BY THE TIME SHE IS 20. YOU CANNOT START FAST JET TRAINING BEFORE THE AGE OF 18 AND ON AVERAGE IT TAKES TWO YEARS. THIS IS WHAT THE ROYAL AIRFORCE FUCKING WEBSITE SAYS. 

And then when the fandom collectively was like, “Oh 26 is when she got lost in time and as a symptom of her condition and its treatment her body doesn’t age” they were extremely quick to be like, “Oh she totally ages normally we’re just idiots.” HOW DUMB DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO TURN DOWN A SOLUTION GIVEN TO YOU??? (I actually would like it if they would take what MUST be the implications of Lena’s disability more seriously, period, but that’s a personal little thorn in my fucking side) 

ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE KNOW YOU WILL NEVER ALLOW A WOMAN IN OVERWATCH TO AGE

It’s been more than seven years, since this must be before the SlipStream and Jack has gone completely grey, but Mercy looks the exact fucking same because reasons I guess oh wait all of them are “we need fap material” 

BUT I CAN’T BREAK UP WITH THEM!!! I CAN’T STOP MYSELF I NEED AN ADULT. 

QUICK QUIZ:

IF I COVERED UP THEIR FACES WOULD YOU KNOW WHO WAS TALKING? Write out the lines, put them next to each other. Could you possibly guess? I picked more extended conversations because obviously small sentences from person to person are often the same, but I feel like no one on Blizzard’s writing team has ever listened to a human being talk. I’m not even talking accents, I’m literally talking about sentence structure, word choice, personality. Even something like “In your prime minister’s infinite wisdom, he’s decided we’re not wanted there.” could be answered with “Well, I didn’t vote for him, did I?” and lend a million times more character to Lena (I KNOW I KNOW I’M GOING ON ABOUT HER LISTEN I LOVE HER AND THIS IS MY PERSONAL CROSS TO BEAR AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH) than anything she’s given. 

This is a consistent and constant problem all throughout the writing of Overwatch, with the exception of some of the earliest shorts. Winston shows an exceptional amount of personality in a 2 minute teaser:

But when it comes to the comics and short stories, everyone sounds like an American dude. Which makes sense, as Michael Chu, and likely whoever will be replacing him, is an American dude. But characters should not sound like the author, and this is where the trick of saying dialogue out loud as you write it can be a trap. If you only recognize your own syntax and grammar as “natural,” everyone will sound the same. (Also often, though certainly not always, ESL speakers will have interesting constructions, as well as the fact that Standard American English and Standard British English have some different constructions, but literally all I’m asking for here is that characters sound different from EACH OTHER) 

But here I fucking am lapping it up, I have read every single comic religiously, more than once, I have made notes, I do this like some day something is going to actually satisfy me and I will stop having to wander this desert endlessly. 

This isn’t even going into the fucking obsession with the original trio, which was supposed to be the past of overwatch and not its fucking future but I SWEAR TO GODS I DO AND DO NOT BELIEVE IN, out of the comics and short stories, 6 of 21 heavily involve/revolve around the old guard. That doesn’t sound huge, but wait, it’s 28% of the comics and short stories. NEARLY A THIRD. 

Hey remember when this came out, and we thought these were going to be our main characters: 

I actually came up with a whole little ficlet thing about each of them (That I had picked up for myself) and why that was their line, how it represented them. Remember when Pharah was supposed to be a main character? Wasn’t that a great time for all of us? ANd now she gets thrown over for her mother ALL THE TIME. Her character has been totally sacrificed in the name of Ana Fucking Amari, to the point that 75% (I checked) of the stories involving her are about Ana. Can she have a little intrinsic motivation? As a treat? 

BUT I KEEP GOING BECAUSE I AM SO FUCKING STUPID!!!! This is completely indefensible! I mean, i can paste up pictures of Tracer all “Do ir for her” but the story is no longer concerned with Tracer anymore even though she is literally the face fo the game and oh my god if Overwatch 2 kills Jack and Ana off and we can stop fucking thinking about them ever I will be so fucking delighted. But you know what? I still follow them! I know, I KNOW, that they will write up something and I’ll so dissect it, because I!! AM A STUPID PERSON!!! WHO DOES NOT LOVE MYSELF!!! 

I am not even going to go into the fucking asspulls they do and fandom letting them get away with it (pharah AGAIN, but others also) becaue I have bene at this an hour and I already want to die. WHY DON’T I LOVE MYSELF

#Doc watches Garbage

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

Teen Titans: Speech Quirks!

I came across a post yesterday that went into the dialogue quirks of a couple SU characters, and it made me realize just how much I wanted to analyze the verbal quirks of the core Teen Titans! (Taken from the 2003 cartoon, specifically.) I’ve always loved paying special attention to their spoken words while writing, but today, I’m actually going to compile the verbal trends I’ve noticed in each one. 

I’ve already gone into SO many details for my OCs, and maybe I’ll do one for them later. But for the canon Titans? Buckle up, kids, ya writer over here is HUGELY hung up on Characterization Through DIALOGUE!

Basic tl;dr: - Beast Boy has the “dude” thing, puns, quick emotional exclamations, and longer half-rambling speech when he’s excited. - Starfire has distinct ESL patterns (confusing idioms, mixing up similar words), Tamaranian vocabulary, and the (overused but still valid) insertion of an extra “the”. - Cyborg uses familiarity terms (”man”, “cool”, possibly AAVE?), technical phrasing, drops a “g” here and there, and the occasional emotional yelling. - Robin has a direct and decisive speech pattern, observations and follow-up questions, and directives/imperatives. - Raven uses brief/blunt phrasing, her mantra, succinct and honest commentary, sarcasm, dissembling, and the rare big word/concept.

(Commentary, sharing, and discussion are encouraged!)

And now for the essay portion of my treatise!

Beast Boy

Everyone knows about the “dude” thing. It’s probably the most iconic catchphrase of all, maybe tied with Raven’s “Azarath Metrion Zinthos.” ‘Dude’ is a lot more multi-purpose, used as a happy addition or a worried exclamation.

But he also uses a lot of other quick casual phrases, and slang (“My bad.” “No way!” “Nice one!”) He also makes a lot of quick not-really-verbal exclamations in emotional moments. (”Eek!” “Hey!”) Plus a lot of moans and groans rather than verbally professing his frustrations. He may not use a whole lot of words to talk about it, but he’s actually very emotionally expressive.

Even if he’s the least serious character in the cast. You really can’t write Beast Boy without the jokes. Puns are basically a must. (”Cyborg can do the robot!” “the great blue-dini”)

Even when not directly in joke mode: he uses a flippant tone most of the time, making light of even the most serious situation. He uses a sillier, simpler sort of word choice, using more familiar and brief words befitting a casual conversation, even in the heat of a mission or distressing emotional moment. (”Not only that, but something about this place seems really familiar.” “...being a total GOOBER!” “Terra took you down. WAY down!”)

But when you get him really excited, he can launch into long-winded explanations, like when he makes pitches (for his bathtub tuba or stankball), or when he’s theorizing (on how/why Robin would be working with Slade).

Starfire

Her unfamiliarity with the English language is one of my favorite things to phrase! But for other writers, it might be hard to pin that unfamilarity down without knowing which complexities of the English language real-life IRL speakers get tripped up by.

- Similar sounding words (when she says “here here, Cyborg” instead of “there there”) - Different prepositions (ESL speakers sometimes use “for” when Native speakers use “to”, “of” instead of “from”, etc.) - Words that would typically be omitted remain used because it’s grammatically correct, technically (for example, her addition of articles like “the”. Which has become overused in a certain Flash-ified show to the point of wearing out its unexpected amusement factor, but it’s still valid to throw in a fic every now and again.)

+ IDIOMS! Oh my gosh, this one’s fun. I can’t think of any examples in the show off the top of my head (an expression she might voice as “from the surface of my skull”). But I once wrote her saying, “Perhaps she awakened on the wrong side of the pillow.” She has the general idea of the saying, but: 1.) while “awakened” literally means the same thing as “woke up”, the connotation is different, and she’s unfamiliar with the exact verbiage of the phrase.  2.) Mixing up the sleeping implements there (”pillow” instead of “bed”). These things combine so you still know what she’s trying to get across, but it’s received just slightly awkwardly.

Even when she’s using her own verbiage: There are subtle transpositions in the way she orders her words. Like asking questions: She’ll often start with the subject, then the whole verb phrase, then the details, and skip the contractions. A question an experienced English speaker might phrase as “Won’t that hurt her?” could be transposed to “Will that not hurt her?”

She also uses some Tamaranian words, of course! Like IRL ESL speakers, she uses them in emotional exclamations (”You are a KLORBAG VORBLERNELK!” “Somebody’s claws are on my grebnaks!”). And randomly peppered words in casual conversation. (“these tunnels go on for at least [measurement I’m not sure how to transcribe]”, “for your thoughts, I would give two [currency maybe?]”) 

But you can’t confuse Starfire’s linguistic slip-ups with a lack of thought and feeling behind them. She’s very PERCEPTIVE, especially of emotional subject matter; the girl’s got a wicked high EQ, and it’s a big part of her character. She’s very honest in what she says, and very sincere and open about it, as well as prone to vocal emotional expressions (like frightened squeaks, feral yells, and shocked gasps). She’s also VERY emotionally expressive; even if her sentence structure is plain and direct (”No she will not”), there’s a lot of feeling in her tonal delivery.

Cyborg

This one brings a little duality, because he comes off as calm and casual at some times, and intensely emotional at others. Cyborg is a character of BIG expressions-- he’s very emotional, and he seems to feel things with his whole being. And he’ll readily flip modes whenever a reason arises. (While playing videogames, and in the lead, starting off with a broadly-smiling cocky “You can’t pass me, you can’t pass me!” And then dropping to a disgruntled “You passed me”.)

He has a very technical vocabulary too, and while he won’t use Unnecessarily Educated Phrasing in most conversation (read: his casual demeanor), when it comes to something technological, medical, or scientific, he really knows what he’s talking about. 

While I think this one is more prevalent in the comics: He does drop some “g”s at the ends of verbs in the show, too. I can’t think of any specific instances, but it’s a subtle pronunciation that colors his speaking.

As far as the content of his dialogue, he actually throws in a lot of little asides, like additions or conclusions to someone else’s thoughts, or surmising and theorizing. (”Maybe he had an extra remote. I mean we got, like, nine.”)

And there’s another thing: “We got” instead of “we have”, or “we’ve got”. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that’s AAVE grammatical structure? While he doesn’t use it heavily, sometimes AAVE still comes through. (As I only have a passing familiarity with it, and I’m certainly not fluent in it, I can’t really go in-depth with the nuances of phrasing and grammar, but I know it when I hear it.) + And of course, the “like” in casual ~approximation~ usage.

Robin

His personality tends to come through very clearly in his dialogue. He’s very motivated and intense, and speaks mostly through ACTION. (What he’s doing, what someone else will do, how to respond, instructions, solution seeking, etc.)

He’s very analytical, very situationally aware, and makes a lot of verbal observations. And he’ll ask a lot of questions to deepen the subject, especially “why” when dealing with people, and “how” when dealing with missions. (Asking ”Why didn’t you tell us?” about a personal revelation, versus wondering how Slade returned to life.) He doesn’t give commands without having good cause.

He’ll often condense and recap mission objectives, and give directives with concise clarity. As the leader, naturally he gives plenty of instructions. Being a STRATEGIC leader (and person in general), he has a lot of reasons for what he’s asking or instructing, and will often share those reasons.

Sometimes he seems to talk more to himself than the others when he’s musing out loud, and we know (at least if the episode “X” is to be trusted) he has a rich internal narration going on, not just analyzing facts but also contemplating heavier subjects like morality and the consequences of his actions, and how it affects his friends/family.

His criticism can be heavy-handed too; especially in earlier seasons, he’s prone to angry or frustrated outbursts, and you hear a lot of grunting or sighing in those moments.

Raven

She’s my favorite to write dialogue for; Raven is very layered, often presenting the same in generally every situation, but when you manage to get her under emotional duress, you get a whole different array of speech modes.

Her default mode is very quiet, a woman of very few words. When she does speak, it’s sharp and to the point. (When she explained her adventure against Mad Mod by simply saying, “Gym.”)

She often makes sarcastic commentary (”A green mongoose is gonna blend right in”), speaking succinctly and bluntly. This side-commentary often comes with a critical attitude (”That would’ve been a lot more profound without the hat”). She’ll say what others won’t say, or face (”We cannot change the truth, no matter how much we dislike it”). 

As in that last quote, every now and again you’ll hear her spout a pseudo-platitude, the truth as she sees it, as a plain statement, 

But she’s also known to ask questions and make inquisitive commentary as well, also in few words but provoking much deeper thought.

She can occasionally be more verbose, particularly when she’s explaining something mystical, in her area of expertise (”Mixing my powers with his could destroy the dimensional boundaries and nullify all existence”). 

She’s also relatively verbose when she has something positive to say that someone needs to hear, too. (”Having that thing inside you doesn’t make you a beast. Knowing when to let it out is what makes you a man.”) 

For all her attitude and sarcasm, Raven can have some very heartfelt moments. They’re still pretty brief and succinct; even in softer happier moments, she uses poignant phrasing. (”So what’s the deal? Are we having a party in here or what?”)

I’ve also noticed that she has a habit of yelling out “NO!”, just a minor speech pattern worth noting if you plan to put her in a really stressful situation.

And of course: “Azarath Metrion Zinthos.”

~*~

As a parting note: I think it’s important to remember, when you’re writing dialogue, that every character’s mood, situation, and dynamic with the other character can change which speech mode they use. Raven and Robin have very different conversations from Raven and Beast Boy, and Beast Boy and Cyborg have very different conversations from Cyborg and Starfire. Robin yells out a delighted “Yeah!” at fireworks, but pulls out grunts and taunts in battle. Starfire is a pile of heartfelt mush around Robin, but a fierce kicker of ass in battle. 

These were just some generalizations of their individual trends, just as all communication in the world can change with mood, personality, and situation!

#teen titans #tt fanfics #fanfics #communication #linguistics #rhs makes yet another post about teen titans #tt fanalysis #rhs personal teen titans

[mirjam-writes]

Thanks for @zadusk​ for tagging everyone who wanted to play! 1) How many works do you have on AO3? 

Just 8, soon to be 9!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count? 

64636

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

Good Omens and Sherlock (and also Harry Potter and Gravitation anime, but those are not in Ao3)

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

* It's finally Christmas * The Case of The Duplicated Detective * The Angel of Justice * Best Places to Hide a Body * It's not even my Birthday (sequel to It’s finally Christmas)

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yess! I do, I love every single one of them! And I don’t get that many of them, so it does not take much of my time. 

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? 

I tend to write happy endings, but maybe  Return to the Grave of Redbeard because the issues aren’t solved but they have a good potential to be solved?

7) Do you write crossovers? 

I wrote one a long time ago (not on ao3, not in english), and I doubt I’ll write another (but I don’t rule it out if the inspiration strikes, and all that.) Sometimes I include characters or places which I know are from another series, but I just don’t tell the reader that, so that might go completely unnoticed. Easter eggs, if you will!

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really, some unsolicited constructive criticism yeah, but I can live with that.

9) Do you write smut? 

I haven’t tried since I was a teen (and thank god those stories are lost in the internet void), not sure if I’d dare now...

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen? 

Not that I know of.

11) Have you ever had a fic translated? 

Does it count if I translated it myself? Otherwise no. 

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before? 

No, I’m not sure if I would survive the pressure to live up to someone’s expectations in a shared work. Maybe with a reeeeally close friend. 

13) What’s your all time favourite ship? 

Aziraphale and Crowley. 

14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? 

It’s our time - series. The story works as it is, and my ideas for the sequels are not as good as the first ones. It’s a series, and the fics can work stand alone, so is it really a wip though? And I’m still a bit wary of Sherlock fandom, so... who knows.  15) What are your writing strengths? 

I don’t know? I try to write realistic characters and not overdo the drama, but not sure if I actually succeed. 

16) What are your writing weaknesses? 

I’m ESL, so I’ll say it’s my english. Pronouns (my own language does not have gendered pronouns so I mess them up), articles (again, my own language does not have any counterparts to the, a and an, so I often forget those) and vocabulary, though I’m getting better at it.

Also TOO LONG SENTENCES. Prime example above.

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

If there are translations or it’s obvious from the context, why not! Used some when the characters were abroad, but it was actually part of the plot that they did not always understand each other. But if it’s overused, it gets tiring.

18) What was the first fandom you wrote for? 

Harry Potter. In English it was Sherlock.

19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written? 

I really like all of them in a way, though I really like how The Angel of Justice turned out. Writing Michael POV was a challenge! And I get absolutely giddy every time someone comments Best Places to Hide a Body and tells me that they figured it out before the reveal! The Case of the Duplicated Detective is my best casefic, though It’s finally Christmas has a special place in my heart because the characters visit my home country to solve a case.

I'm tagging anyone who wants to play!

#my writing

[canadian-riddler]

If someone hasn't already asked these yet: 2, 4, and 18.

2. Is there any specific ritual you go through while/before/after your writing? 

Nope, the main thing is that I sit my ass down and do it.  Not as much ass sitting happens as it should, hence why you get one fanfic every three months even though I have about thirteen on the go right now.

4. Are there any other fic writers you admire? If so, who and why? 

I have a list but I’ll see if I can remember them all off the top of my head (not tagging them because I don’t want them to feel obligated to acknowledge this):

- altairattorney: has mastered English as a second language better than I have as a first.  She is also a master of picking up the little things in stories and expanding on them in a way where it should have been obvious to us all.  She is better than I will ever be.

- enygmass: she’s not exactly ‘better than me’ but she is a lot better at descriptions and environments than I am.  I skip to the dialogue and the internal monologues too fast and I forget about everything else and when I remember I often am lacking in describing it.  Amy does that very well.

- waiting4codot: as we all know I can only handle two characters at a time - literally, if I have three I forget about one of them and it’s three chapters later when I remember ‘hey wtf is this guy doing’.  Codot can handle multiple characters at once and he can do it from a sort of a wide-angle lens, if you will; my stuff 90% consists of closeups, and when I try to get away from that I end up there anyway.

- yellowcandy: she wrote a handful of Scriddler fics and then went on her merry way, but they were all gripping and compelling.  They weren’t sappy, or full of internal thoughts; she was very good at showing things through behaviour.  Her fics were very exciting in a way I don’t find most fics are.  I also stole Jonathan Crane’s beatup old pickup truck from her so she is forever embedded in my canon.

- roll-n-riddle: another person who is ESL but has mastered it to a beautiful extent; I will say that her stuff does lean towards the overly sappy and romantic to where it’s good the first time or two but the next it’s like ‘this is a little too sweet wow’ so she’s like Amy in that regard.  She’s not bad but what she does is very specific, albeit beautiful for what it is.

18. How old were you when you started writing?                 

Um… I want to say thirteen or fourteen.  Something like that.

Thank you!!

#so says Indy #writing angst #thelilyofthevalley424 #asks #altair #yellowcandy #Mini #Codot #Amy

[funtubeweb]

5 Short Films to Use in the ESL Classroom

I like to start all my classes with a short film, a documentary, or even a news clip to give students the opportunity to work on their listening skills. This routine helps them switch their brains to English and gets them ready for the lessons of the day. I also use films as discussion starters, as support for vocabulary building or as a springboard to study broader subjects. I think it’s great that my students get to listen to different accents and expressions. It makes them bolder learners.

There are so many ways to include short films in the language classroom. If you’re ready to take the plunge, here are five short films that are great tools for learning in a second-language context.

Beginners of all ages / very young learners

At Home with Mrs. Hen

oehttps://http://bit.ly/2VQZy9f

This animated short film features beautiful images with soft pastel colours. Mrs. Hen has two young children, one of whom has temper tantrums. She does her best to raise the children by herself. Because there’s no dialogue in the film, it’s suitable for ESL students of all ages. I’ve created an activity in which students demonstrate their understanding of the plot while building their vocabulary. After the first viewing, we create a list of words that are needed to talk about the film. The next step is to describe what happens in the film. Another activity focuses on feelings by matching words to the corresponding character. The final component is to imagine what happens next to this family (in story, diary, comic strip, vlog or song format).

Elementary school

How Dinosaurs Learned to Fly

oehttps://http://bit.ly/2S6A3BP

This fun depiction of how dinosaurs may have evolved and not become extinct is hilarious. The film is perfect for a fill-in-the-blanks activity, since the pace is not too fast and it’s easy to follow the plot. I give students the script of the film to follow along. They practice pronunciation and record their own version of the voice-over. Students then discuss the validity of the hypothesis presented and come up with other creative or extravagant answers to explain what happened to the dinosaurs. The end product is a seminar where “experts” present their theories to fellow scientists.

I Want a Dog

oehttps://http://bit.ly/2VQZyWN

This film introduces a character who knows what she wants and perseveres to reach her goal. She’s willing to pretend she has a dog to prove her point that she’s ready to own a pet. This is a good starting point to talk about personality traits and to teach adjectives (adjective word order, compound adjectives, comparatives and superlatives). Students create posters presenting a desire they have and examples of what they’re willing to do to demonstrate how serious they are about it. They add pictures of themselves and a personal description with adjectives.

Middle school

Harry Jerome: The Fastest Man on Earth

oehttps://http://bit.ly/2Di5eBH

This short film introduces the audience to a Canadian hero who overcame racism in the 1960s. It includes original footage of Harry Jerome himself combined with recently filmed commentary from teenagers. Students draw a timeline of the major events of Jerome’s life or write a short biography outlining why he’s a Canadian hero. They research other Canadian heroes and create a wall of heroes with pictures of the different people selected and their biographies. This becomes part of a unit on heroes, famous and unsung, or even on the everyday heroes around us. Students do a survey among themselves to identify people they consider to be heroes in their community. They write texts to praise and celebrate them (poem, thank-you letter, rap, speech, eulogy).

High school / adult learners

Flawed

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/flawed/

Flawed is a beautiful time-lapse short film about accepting one’s uniqueness. The narrator falls in love with a surgeon and starts a long-distance relationship based on postcards. When he tells her he operated on a young boy’s ears, she’s brought back to her own childhood and her struggle to accept her difference and learn to value it. I use the film to initiate debates about plastic surgery in our society or about standards of beauty and their impact on young people. The bonus short on the making of Flawed offers an interesting way of teaching students how to do time-lapse animation. They can create short films to present their arguments for or against the issues before holding debates.

I hope teachers will be inspired to use short films in their classrooms. I believe they have many benefits.  They provide authentic material and are often less overwhelming than texts to some learners. I believe they’re useful even when teaching little ones who can’t yet read. No matter what level you teach, it’s worth a try.

 Marilyne Bedard teaches ESL in high school in Quebec City. In the 16 years she’s been a teacher, she has taught English and French at all levels, from preschool to university. She enjoys creating learning units that combine different kinds of subject matter. Her interests range from history to YA novels, short films, documentaries, and playing board games with her family.

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[writemarcus]

Falling Forward with Athena Theatre at Symphony Space

Title: Help Who’s Next / Playwright: Kathryn Funkhouser / Actors: Shavanna Calder, Kelsey Peterson, Steve Hoose / Company: Athena Theatre

Athena Theatre develops off-beat, irreverent, thought-provoking and entertaining new plays that address modern issues. FALLING FORWARD: an evening of ten-minute plays by Athena Writes 2018, performed at Symphony Space on May 16, 2018, is another of Athena Theatre’s successful productions. Without being dogmatic or preachy, FALLING FORWARD’s plays broach topical issues, from guns and domestic violence to gender norms and marriage constructs, by making them personal. The surprising thematic through-line of the evening’s slate of plays, though, is our (we, humans’) aching need to be seen and known.

Thus far this year, there have been nearly 5,000 gun deaths, more than 18,000 gun incidents, and 100 mass shootings in the U.S according to the Gun Violence Archive.  It’s no wonder, then, that guns and/or gun violence feature in the plots of three of FALLING FORWARD’s plays: Help Who’s Next by Kathryn Funkhouser; Natural Selection by Marcus Scott; and Shooting Janine by Kate Thomas.

Help Who’s Next presents possible multiverses where a congressman, his social media manager, and a barrista repeatedly intersect after a mass shooting. Ms. Funkhouser’s various iterations of the scene reveal the characters’ inner lives and conflicting priorities, and the unexpected confrontations that result. The play’s final deconstruction of dialogue, where each character spouts snippets of lines and words previously spoken by a different character, is hauntingly moving, and was affectingly performed by Shavanna Calder, Kelsey Peterson, and Steve Hoose.

The eponymous Janine in Ms. Thomas’s play is the personification of a pink rhinestone girly gun. Janine is sexy, empowering, and deadly. And Janine aims to seduce the women who hold her to kill men. All men. Just ask the two sisters who’ve just met Janine in the woods: one of whom killed her shooting instructor at Janine’s behest, and the other may be inspired to kill her husband as soon as she gets home. Actors Lea Garcia-McKenna, Emj Nelson, and Estelle Bajou gleefully inhabited the characters of Shooting Janine, underscoring Ms. Thomas’s play with abundant physical humor.

The opening beat of Natural Selection introduces us to Troy, Trevor, and Travis, three young Asian-American men, as they’re comparing the size of their penises, and it gets a big laugh. But, once the threesome completes that task, the audience must bear witness to the boys’ plot to shoot up their school’s ESL (English as a Second Language) building. This act, they reason, is an expression of their patriotism and full assimilation as Americans. As their individual commitment to their plot wanes and waxes, we learn that, at the heart of their planned mass shooting, is these loners’ desire for fame and recognition.

Two of FALLING FORWARD’s plays explore the strains that absence and secrets place on a marriage. Martha Pichey’s Drowning on Dry Land introduces us to Eliza, a whaling captain’s wife, profoundly dissatisfied with the long periods of separation required by her husband’s profession. She defies societal and gender norms by studying to be a navigator during his absence. Upon his return, Eliza’s demand –that next time, they go to sea together– forces her husband to adjust his image of her (as a stereotypical frail woman), and accept her for the independent, smart (and sexual), partner she is. In A Departure, the playwright, Grant MacDermott, investigates the corrosive effect on a marriage of a spouse’s secret, and considers what is the effect if the other spouse knows the secret but chooses to hide that knowledge? How can either party be truly seen, truly encountered when so much is concealed. Anna Holbrook and Alan Simon portray the long-married couple naturalistically and humorously, but Ms. Holbrook’s performance of the wife’s monologue near the end of the play was breathtaking.

Freddie Jay Fulton’s portrayal of the teenage boy in boys don’t look at boys by Jeremy O’Brian was also impactful. In turns brash, funny, poignant, and vulnerable, Mr. Fulton fully embodied Mr. O’Brian’s multi-faceted, heart-wrenching character. boys don’t look at boys asks what does it take to truly see another? How can we encourage recognition of the vulnerable other, especially among boys and men who are socialized to use humor and a veneer of self-sufficiency to mask weakness? Does it take a crisis to lift the blinders?

In Waiting, or Something Equally Tragic by Leila Teitelman and The Marsh by Nora Sørena Casey, the plays ask: what is a person’s rock-bottom and what does one do when they hit it? Ms. Teitelman’s play deals with the sisterhood’s varying responses to domestic violence, and uses the characters’ waiting for a bus as a metaphor for the emotional reckoning necessary for transition. In keeping with the “failure-to-be-seen” theme of the evening, in both Waiting … and The Marsh, characters purposefully obscure parts of themselves, despite their desperate need for recognition, support, and kinship.

Photography by BittenByAZebra, Athena Theatre

Additionally, FALLING FORWARD presented: The Meadows by Isaac Allen Miller, imagining a future where submitting to medical trials is a means of obtaining healthcare and paying down consumer debt; Amuka by Judah Skoff, considering the draw of prayer as a means of pursuing one’s desires; and Out of the Box by Flo Ankah, positing that a young woman’s genius is the magical genie that allows her to be powerful, purposeful, and seen.

FALLING FORWARD, produced by Veronique Ory, Artistic Director of Athena Theatre, and directed by Veronica Dang, presented talented actors showcasing a group of formidable writers. Remember their names: you’ll see them in lights.

Sherry Bokser is a NYC-based playwright. Her plays include R/Evolution (Characters Ink), With the Best of Intentions (360 Repco), Sally and Sibyl (The Players), and collaborative work includes The Pulse Project (Steppenwolf Theatre/Judson Church); All Hail (360 Repco); and Marvelous Country (Great Plains Theatre Conference/WPIC Mumbai). Sherry is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the ICWP.

#ANNA HOLBROOK #ATHENA THEATRE #ESTELLE BAJOU #FREDDIE JAY FULTON #GRANT MACDERMOTT #ISAAC ALLEN MILLER #JEREMY O'BRIAN #JUDAH SKOFF #KAT FUNKHOUSER #KATE THOMAS #KELSEY PETERSON #LEILA ROSE #Marcus Scott #MarcusScott #WriteMarcus #Write Marcus #MARTHA PICHEY #NORA SØRENA CASEY #SHAVANNA CALDER #VERONIQUE ORY