#example phrases take a long time to come up with!

[3hks]

How to Write REALISTIC and SMOOTH Dialogue

In a story, dialogue is quite important, it helps the readers paint a picture of what's happening and the characters themselves. However, it can be difficult to avoid the unnaturalness and choppiness that comes with a lack of experience. But luckily, I have put together A LOT of advice on how you can get over that rockiness and improve!

*** KEEPING YOUR DIALOGUE REALISTIC, AND PACING ***

>> Keep your characters in character:

Dialogue is a remarkably quick way for readers to determine your character's personality. Thus, you want their speech patterns to remain fairly consistent so the audience won't get confused. If your character is more serious, then they will use less slang and perhaps a more impressive vocabulary. If your character is more relaxed, they will use more slang and compress the words. (such as "dunno," "kay," "y'know," etc.)

Basically, you want their tone to match their traits so the way that they talk is more realistic and personlized to themselves. If the way all your characters speak is the same, there's something wrong. A strong tip is to put yourself in your character's shoes and imagine how they would respond!

>> Take the situation into consideration:

This is another part of keeping your characters in, well, character. Different emotional situations will have a different effect on separate people, so make sure that you have an idea of how your character will act during stressful, irritating, and sad times.

If your character is normally cold, they will struggle if it comes to comforting other people because they have less experience in that field.

>> Don't take too long with their words:

Unlike when narrating something, most people talk just to get the idea across. They will be more specific and quicker with what they say. (This excludes any character who likes to talk a lot.) Unless it's on purpose, they won't dance around the topic. Think of when you casually chat with your friends; you're pretty unlikely to use certain words and/or phrases that might be common to use while narrating.

If you want to explain something complicated, instead of writing out a paragraph of just one person talking, use a question-and-answer prompt! This is where another character continuously asks related questions that get answered by another person, so you can indirectly reveal your explanation.

*** HOW TO WRITE A SMOOTHER CONVERSATION AND DIALOGUE TAGS***

>> Having a variety of dialogue tags:

This is a pretty basic thing to look out for if you're new to writing conversations. Using words like "said," every other sentence can easily make it feel choppy and robotic. Instead, use words like "murmured," "smirked," etc. to paint some emotion into their words. Additionally, vary the location of the dialogue tags! They don't all have to go after the statement, you can include something in the beginning or even the middle, too!

Examples:

Beginning - She tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

Middle - "Oh," he blinked, "I actually never thought about that."

End - "Wait up!" She exclaimed loudly, waving her hands around.

>> Using no dialogue tags to create a smooth conversation:

Having too many tags can also overwhelm your reader--remember, sentence variety is a crucial part of writing--so you can always drop them if they're unneeded. This applies when your characters (two is the suggested amount) are talking back and forth in a pattern straightforward enough for the reader to understand who's talking without it having to be labeled.

Dropping dialogue tags in these moments can create a smoother atmosphere during the conversation because the reader only has to focus on the talking present.

*** USING SLANG, STUTTERS, FILLER WORDS, AND PAUSES ***

Human speech is often not perfect; when talking, we often make mistakes such as filler words, grammatically incorrect phrases, etc. Hence, for more natural-sounding dialogue, it's important to incorporate some of these.

>> Pauses and stutters:

When reading dialogue, we read it at a steady pace unless it's written otherwise. However, that steady pace can soon get too robotic and too smooth. Luckily, there are several ways to change this! You can use dialogue tags, (ex: she quickly spoke) commas, and ellipsis (...). These are often integrated when the character is hesitant, nervous, answering something, or when they need to admit something. The same idea applies to stutters--they're mainly used to demonstrate anxiousness, which can be found in varying situations.

>> Filler words and slang:

Filler words can really just be used where you see fit. They may be used in the situations I previously mentioned (because it shows someone stumbling over their words) but it's ultimately up to you!

Slang, just like everything else, should not be used too often, or it will seem forced and exaggerated. The point is to sound natural, and increasing amounts of repetitiveness can ruin it. It's also important to remember that in real life, our conversations move slower; when someone speaks, another person usually doesn't respond quite literally, right after. However, in writing, dialogue can actually often seem that way, which is why using tags and these imperfections of speech is pivotal for building a realistic conversation!

*** CONCLUSION ***

Lastly, a key point when writing dialogue is to ALWAYS read the conversations! Whether it be in your head or out loud, it can often help you catch anything that seems off! Additionally, like I mentioned at the very beginning, write dialogue from your character's perspective! Imagine yourself as them and how they/you would talk. Try to keep your dialogue tags, sentences, and word use varied to create a natural conversation!

If you were struggling before, I hope that this (extra) long guide was able to really offer you some insight and useful tips! If you read this far, thank you!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

#writing #writeblr #writerscommunity #writing tips #creative writing #writing advice #writing inspo #dialogue #writing dialogue #writing dialogue tips #dialogue tips #how to write dialogue #how to write smooth dialogue #how to write natural dialogue #tips on writing dialogue #tips on writing smooth dialogue #tips on writing realistic dialogue #how to write realistic dialogue

[lactoseintolerentswag]

Rise Characterizations

Last month I did an in-depth re-watch of rottmnt s1 to take some notes on writing the characters of rise from their perspective and such. Figured I'd share what I found, but I'm also posting this bc my docs have a nasty habit of blipping out of existence.

We'll start with Raph bc he's the oldest of course, but I'll post the others sep. bc this is gonna get long!!

Raph Character Notes

Language Habits:

Catchphrases: "like a boss", "smash"

Verbalizes his attacks such as "smash", "knuckle sandwich", "power smash jitsu", "tonfa power jitsu", "mystic punch jitsu"

Uses older song titles for surprised exclamations or in place of cursing, most notably "jumping jack flash!"

Uses aave/bae, For example: 'em instead of them, 'ey instead of they, 'cause instead of because, forgoes the g in ing words (going becomes goin')

Uses less and less grammar the more he's stressed, and his voice will come to a higher pitch

Will speak in a softer tone to his little brothers if he's concerned about hurting their feelings. Aka babying them

Mixes up both metaphors and idioms. Would be one to say how the turn tables unironically

Does say "hero" a lot, lost count, especially in phrases like "hero town"

Refers to his brothers as "boys" or "fellas"

Refers to Splinter as "pop(s)" most often

Refers to strangers he's directly talking to as "bubs" or "hoss"

Personality:

Protective of his family

Plays up the hero act/has a strong sense of duty and justice

Impatient, rushes in without a plan (pre-movie), doesn't finish books until the end, falls asleep during "boring movies"

Oblivious, doesn't read into things beyond surface level. Struggles with empathy when something is beyond his understanding, but is still very emotional

Center of responsibility for his brothers, but also has a reckless sense of fun. As long as it's him doing the stupid unsafe thing it's fine

Carries the weight, in a literal sense he piggy backs his brothers, but will also use his body as a shield from danger. Unfortunately this also means he takes his brothers a little less seriously (Mikey the most common victim), and will try and either protect them from everything or as an oldest sibling everything has go "his way"

Doesn't do well in solitude. Needs to be looking after people to feel functional, and needs to be around people to feel safe

Clumsy, "takes horrible pictures", isn't very good at hiding, he's a big guy so it probably took a lot of time to find balance

A sweet guy who still won't shy from making fun of his family. Leo tends to be the brunt of his teasing since he is the most annoying, but he will also poke Donnie on his dramatics

Likes cute things!!! Has a teddy bear collection and loves animals. It's so cool how this isn't played off as a joke and he's still just as masculine for liking pink and cutesy stuff

Likes fighting!!! Gets a lot of energy out defeating bad guys (where he directs his anger towards), the one who is shown to train the most, and also weight lifts in his spare time

Doesn't do well under pressure, here the anger comes out the most. He gets stressed when it's all on him, especially since he tends to mess up the most in these moments

Miscellaneous:

Second to unlock mystic powers

Nicknames/codenames: "raph-a-doodle" by leo, "red rover" by april, "red king" by donnie

Teddy bear names: Doctor Huggenstein, Captain Snuggles, Cheech

Stinks: fear stink, amazement stink, sneaking up on people stink, victory stink

Seems to be less afraid of rabbits and more afraid of puppets

Went on his first solo mission at 13

Cannot lift a bus, at age 15

Thought about discussing fighting style, but I'm not as familiar with that concept and I've seen a couple posts dissecting such topic. So we'll end here for now. Hope this was helpful!!! I'll post the rest of the boys later and link here

Leo is up!!

Donnie is up!!

Mikey is up!!

Splinter is up!!

April is up!!

Cassandra is up!!

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt raph #rottmnt raphael #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #character analysis #long post #fanfic #writing #critter talks

[nwndrlndn]

Boyfriend

pairing : modern!anakin skywalker x fem!reader | wc : 3.4k  | 18+MINORS DNI

summary : A boring night unravels into something new during a movie night with your roommate’s ex. 

warnings : oral ( fem receiving ), semi public sex ( theyre in a living room ), big dick ani, suggested size difference, use of the phrase “my little champ,” unprotected sex, ani is weird

a/n : yes i do picture modern anakin as an angsty metalhead, covered in tatts and piercings. also song was partially inspired by boyfriend by ashlee simpson

In your apartment, there was a natural order to things: Padmé would things first, then Sabé, then you. Usually this worked in your favor with chores and responsibilities, but with other things, it didn’t. Prime example, Anakin Skywalker. When you met him at your college orientation, you both hit it off and started hanging out. At the time, he was still an awkward guy, with honey blond hair and an interest in becoming a pilot. But he already knew Padmé and asked her out halfway through the year and your time together dwindled. Even though you wished it was you with Anakin, you grew to accept him as Padmé’s boyfriend and not someone for you.

Anakin visited your apartment daily. At movie nights with Obi-Wan and the other girls in your apartment, Anakin’s usual spot was sandwiched between you and Padmé. He would take Padmé and Artoo on walks when it was your turn to walk him and fix your car at a discount whenever you had an issue. You saw him turn from a big eyed, chatty extrovert to his his more tired and reserved self, you even sat through his first tattoo with Padmé and Obi-Wan. Slowly, you felt like you had buried your crush and started seeing him as more of a brother, a constant figure in your life over the three years they were together. 

Thats why it was a shock when she dumped him last year. You thought it it would never happen, but when it did, you thought it would change everything. That was until you got home from work the next day to find him splayed out on your couch with Artoo on his chest as they both napped. Over the past year, Anakin and Padmé moved on and started seeing new people and having flings, but you couldn’t help the budding feelings of hope, coming back from you. Maybe you’re getting another chance.

Its late on a Friday and you had no plans. Well, scratch that, you had options, you just spent too long in bed to really decide. As you ready a bowl of cereal for yourself – at what 9:28 pm – you hear the front door to your loft apartment open. Without looking, you knew it was Anakin. He was as much a part of the house as Sabé and Padme’s nightly ritual of deciding what outfits they would wear the next day or Artoo’s zoomies whenever a guest comes over. As you stand at the kitchen, you think about all the times you walked in on Padmé and Anakin attempting to cook, more like Anakin teaching her how to cook because she never watched her personal chefs cook growing up.

You turn to face him and you notice Anakin is in a gray hoodie stained from his part time job at a mechanic shop and he still had his uniform shirt on. He slides his hoodie off and your eyes drift to the tattoos he has all over his neck and arms, you remember one summer a couple of years ago, when he was still finding ways to fill the gaps on his chest and back and you spent hours talking about it at Padme’s lakehouse. You smile at the memory, and by the time you come back to earth, Anakin is already sitting on the couch and smiling as he pets Artoo. His hair is a mess (as usual), the bags under his eyes are still there, and you notice a small bag at his side. Anakin’s presence was so normal to you that you forgot for a moment that you're still in a tank top and underwear. 

“Hey Ani, is that a redbull or a monster?” You ask, sitting on the edge of the couch as you munch away at your cereal. You can hear the drums and guitar from whatever metal song he was listening to on his headphones as it rests on his shoulders.

“Neither, its reign.” Anakin answers before he yawns, he’s still focused on petting Artoo until he looks up and sees you. At first his tired gaze passes over you and when he notices your outfit, his eyes narrow a bit, drinking in your appearance. “Long shift.”

“I get it.” You say with a smile before you remember the note Padmé left on the fridge. “Hold on, you left a drink over last time.” You say, a smile growing on your face as you set down your bowl and walk back to the kitchen. As you do, Anakin’s eyes wander, tracing your chest as you lean forward, the curve of your back as you turn, then slowly dragging his eyes over your ass and legs as you walk back. For a moment, he lets his mind wander, tugging his lip between his teeth and tonguing at his lip ring.

“Oh really, thank you.” Anakin’s eyes widen a bit in surprise as you pull it out from the fridge and he gets up to meet you by the fridge. When he reaches out to take the beverage from you, he lets my hand linger on yours a bit longer than necessary for it to have been an accident and his smile turns a bit teasing.

“So, did Padmé invite you over?” You ask as you both walk back to the living room and to your original seats. 

Anakin laughs a bit nervously at the question before he answers slowly, “No actually, I dropped by just to see you.” He cracks open the drink you gave him, forgetting momentarily of the drink he brought with him. “Is that an issue.” He says it more like a statement than a question, because he already knew you didn't mind.

“No, of course not.” You answer quickly, maybe too quickly, watching as his lips curl around the can he’s drinking from, his lip ring making a soft clink against the aluminum. He lets out a groan as he finishes his sip and leans back, spreading his legs and settling into the couch. Your eyes are caught on him and you don’t even pretend to hide it. 

Once you snap back, you stand up. “Let me put on some real pants, okay? I don’t think you came to see me in my panties.” 

Anakin smirks and looks you up and down, letting out a small chuckle. “Yeah that might me a bit of a good idea” He makes a show of looking the rest of your body up and down again as you start to walk to your room, biting his lip. But thats exactly what he wanted, he wanted to slide that tank top over your head and let his tongue explore its way down, down your neck, over your chest a-

“Don’t go changing into anything too fancy…” He adds, taking himself out of his reverie.

“Don't worry.” You say, turning your head so he wont see you blush, waving him off as you go into your room and slide on some baggy pajama pants. You could hardly remember where you got them from, an ex maybe? As you take a moment to check yourself over, you call out to him “Wanna watch a movie or something?”

“Movie sounds great. What do you wanna watch?” He calls back to you, his hands squeezing at some random stress ball trying to resist the temptation to just sneak into your room after you. Once he sees Padmé’s contact info on it, he throws it across the room, and starts to pull up Netflix. As he scrolls through the selection a bit, a small smile plays at the corner of his lips when he sees a movie you like, his finger hovering over the play button. 

He turns to look to your room to try to see if he can catch you through your door, or if you’re about to walk back out. “Found one…”

“Good! Just gimmie one second.” You murmur as you come out of your room, smoothing your hair.

His eyes linger on your neck for a moment, before clearing his throat. “Right! Here we go…” He clicks play on the movie and sit down in the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table. “Come sit with me.” He whispers, giving you a charming smile and patting the seat next to him. And you take your seat next to him, resting your head on his chest as he puts an arm around your shoulders, getting closer still.

As the movie starts, some blonde is running from the killer and you both laugh. After a moment, you speak up, “Thanks for coming over. You know, if you didn’t come by, I was probably gonna send a message to this guy I’ve been talking to.”

He raises an eyebrow, one of his hands coming to rest on your waist. “Oh? Anyone I know?” As he is talking, he rests his chin on your head, almost touching you but stopping himself.

“Probably not, he’s a biology major.”

He puts an arm around your shoulders, while the hand that rested against your arm moves to rest on your stomach. “Oh yeah? You like a little brain with your men? I get it. So many girls I’ve seen on campus are so… air-headed.” He smiles before he adds, “But you definitely aren’t one of them.”

“I thought you liked airheads.” You tease, looking up at him with a smile. 

“A little. But I like a girl who can keep up with me intellectually, someone who won’t be so predictable. Someone who has drive and passion. Does that make you a little less predictable?” He runs his hand gently down your side, smiling.

“Definitely… Do you want a blanket? Pillow? Anything?”

“You’d do all that for me?” He scoots a little closer, letting his hand slide down to your thigh “I don’t wanna be a hassle…”

“I’m the host. I’m being nice to my guest, who is basically a squatter who doesn’t pay any rent.” You mutter and he laughs a bit at your words.

One of Anakin’s eyebrows raises suggestively “Well, in that case, it is rather cold in here…” He whispers as he moves his hand up your leg a little further. His eyes rest on a throw blanket on the other end of the couch. “And that blanket looks so very warm and cuddly…”

“Alright.” You whisper back with a smile, reaching over for the blanket that Anakin was eying and your shirt rides up a bit, and once he notices your shirt riding up, and his eyes linger there for a moment before he bites his lip.

“Here, let me just..” He whispers, letting his hand stay on your thigh while his other hand reaches up to your shirt, pulling it down a bit again, his eyes drifting back down to your legs. “Sorry, got a little too loose there.” 

You thank him and settle back down, covering both of you with the blanket and Anakin doesn’t bother trying to hide his staring this time. As you relax, you feel his hand slowly make its way up your thigh and slide behind, resting just under your ass. You fan feel your heartbeat in your throat as you wonder if its harmless, but as you look from the TV to Anakin, you see he’s unbothered and his hand still resting on your leg. 

As the movie continues, his hands wander. Anakin’s warm, callused hands absently rubbing the smooth skin of your thighs. When he notices you’re focused on the movie, he leans in near your ear and whispers, “Yeah? Well let me tell you something, your thighs are so soft. So, smooth.”

He moves a little closer, getting comfortable, and kisses you on the neck “And I know you have nice smooth skin too.”

You can feel your face heat up and Anakin presses his lips to your pulse point, breathing in your scent as he feels your racing heartbeat. He whispers softly to you “Would you show me some of it?”

You hesitate for a moment, your breaths quick as you try to focus on the movie again before you answer. “You can feel if you want. I trust you.” Your eyes are still focused on the movie as Anakin starts to slowly slide his hands up your arms, to your neck, to your shoulders. Slowly, he moves over your back, his hands moving down, caressing your lower back. He moves his hands up to the hem of your shirt, and slowly starts to lift, looking at you, waiting to see if you had any objections.

Your breath hitches and you shut your eyes for a moment, before you lift your arms and he slides your tanktop off. After a moment, he moved his hands back to your waist, and started to caress your skin, his eyes moving up at yours again, waiting to see your reaction before he dips his head, lips grazing against your sternum. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

The movie is quickly forgotten as he sucks hickies up and down your abdomen, littering your neck, before he leans in and pulls you in for a desperate kiss and you meet him with enthusiasm. As your tongues meet, you can still taste the taurine on him and it feels right, so accurate to Anakin. As he deepens the kiss, he slides you down against the couch and makes quick work of slipping down your pajamas and you let out a soft gasp as his hands move downward, taking a minute to kneed at your hips before he adjusts himself until his lips are lined up with your core. You lean back on your elbows to make eye contact with him and he lick a stripe up your core, nose bumping against your clit, making you jolt slightly. 

Just as soon as your legs start to move, Anakin’s hands are on your thighs and holding them open. “I got you, pretty girl, just relax.” He murmurs, his words sending a wave of heat from your head to your center. His eyes stay on yours as his tongue meets your clit and slowly introduce a finger to your hole. You moan and reach out and tug at his shaggy hair, earning you faster licks and a second finger. He moves away from your clit to kiss at your mound, sucking in a few more hickeys.

“What was the name of the guy you were gonna call?” He whispers, slowing his pace and making you whine. “I know a few bio majors… Is it Dimitre? Colaldo? Can’t be Brenjami, he’s not good enough for you.” Anakin punctions each name with a harder thrust of his fingers into your core and drawing out moans from your lips.

“How do you know who’s good enough for me?”

“You need someone who knows you like I do.” He carefully adds in a third finger, shushing you before you can whine from the pain by kissing you again. His skillful lips moving against yours as his fingers move in you, curling and hitting you in just the right spot. As you moan into the kiss, Anakin moves away from your lips to kiss at your neck. “Someone wants to take you where you want to go and wants what you want.” 

You feel a familiar pressure start to built up and Anakin’s pace doesn’t slow down but he leans in to your ear, nipping at your earlobe. “I know the perfect guy for you.” He whispers, his voice raspy from holding himself back.

“Are you gonna say you?” You pant out, and you can feel his smile and his lip ring as the cool metal drags against your ear.

“Winner winner.” He says with a smirk, then picks up the pace of his fingers as you gasp, moaning out before you finally cum. He keeps moving his fingers as he leans to your cheek and sucks a hickey into your cheek. You shut your eyes as you catch your breath, one of your hands clasped around his to try and stop him from overstimulating you. “I want everyone to see it. Want every one to know that I gave it to you. Will you tell them?” 

“What about Padmé?” You blurt out, feeling the heat rush to your face and Anakin chuckles.

“Fuck Padmé. Why are you thinking about her when you could’ve been focusing on how full I’m gonna stuff you?” He murmurs, pulling his fingers out of you and licking them clean. “Doesn’t matter.” Anakin rolls his eyes before he tweaks your cheek. “Just focus on the moment, alright?” 

He tugs his shirt over his head and your eyes trace his chest and smile where you see he got his friends named tattooed. As you reach forward and touch your name, resting just above his belly button, he doesn’t stop you, focusing on kicking off his socks and shoes and undoing his jeans. “What?” He mumbles, looking to where you're touching and smiles. “Forget about it? I used it for target practice, you know, some nights when all its just me and my right hand, I had a game where I-”

“Not sexy. Not at all.” Anakin laughs and you watch as his face crinkles and you cant help but smile back at him. As he calms down, he kicks off his jeans and settles between your legs again. As soon he frees his cock, you take a breath as you look up at his face, all. Wordlessly, he senses your discomfort and leans over, giving you a quick kiss before he lines himself with your hole with one hand, the other rubbing at your thigh slowly to comfort you. “You got this, you’re my little champ, right?” 

He slowly starts to slide his tip in, and hunches over you, nuzzling his head into your neck. As he continues to slide into you, he lets out a groan, muffling himself with your neck. As he keeps moving, you whine and try to pull away but he holds your hips, pausing for a moment. “You’ve got it, just a little more, okay? You can handle it.” His words send another wave of arousal through you and your nails dig into his back for support.

You nod and shut your eyes but he doesn’t move, instead Anakin nuzzles against your cheek and moves your hair out of your face, murmuring “No rush. Just tell me when you’re ready.” His words warm your heart and you give him the “go-ahead” after another few minutes, he starts to finish sliding himself into you, his thumbs tracing your hip bones. He lets out a grunt once he’s fully in you, and you hold his hips still, looking up at him. “See, you made it fit. Fucking perfect, you’re so good.” He murmurs, tracing your hip bones as he starts making light thrusts and your nails drag down his back. 

Your moans and his groans fill the room as he starts to pick up speed. Anakin’s grip on your hips are hard enough to bruise and his lips linger near your ear, quietly whispering for you to remember to breathe, as he continues to jackhammer into you. His thumb circling your clit “Good fucking girl.” He groans, his lips locking around one of your nipples, and one of his hands come up to tweak the other. 

You can see the red marks forming on his back from your nails as you try to hold onto him from support. “Gonna let me do this again?” You pant out a few times before you catch your breath and whine out a strained yes. He smirks and his lips move to your other nipple, licking and sucking at it. “You're gonna want this again?” 

You nod, shutting your eyes as you hug his neck, you can feel him start to throb inside you and his hips stuttering. “Yes, Ani. We’re gonna do this again.” You desperately grind against him, feeling your coming release.

“Good girl, I knew you’d get the words out. Now let go.” He groans out, his thumb picking up speed and you come with a loud moan and after a few more thrusts, you feel Anakin fill you up and then he flattens out on top of you, shutting his eyes and pretending to sleep.

“Ani, you're crushing me.” You whine, pushing at his shoulders but he doesn't budge, his deadweight holding you in place.

“You’re a champ. Just stay still for a few minutes. Then we can go shower and get our round two.” He murmurs, his breath hitting your cheek and a sleepy smile lines his face. You can’t help but smile and you shut your eyes for a moment, one hand in his hair and the other rubbing his back.

#[ 🍒 ] — my works #[ 💫 ] — anakin #star wars anakin #anakin skywalker #star wars #anakin x fem reader #anakin #anakin skywalker x female reader #anakin smut #anakin star wars #star wars smut #anakin x you #anakin x reader #sw anakin #anakin skywalker smut #anakin x y/n #star wars x y/n #star wars x you #star wars x reader #modern!anakin #anakin skywalker x reader

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

I think Hobie brown is the one character I've seen written completely out of character the most

Like, he would NOT say that

He definitely is. I see people write Miles and Gwen as spot on (pun unintended). Miguel and Pavitr are usually butchered for linguistics reasons

But with Hobie, him being a punk - one from a very specific time - adds a whole new layer of difficultly and honestly. At this point, I can't even blame people.

I think Hobie's mischaracterization is caused by two primary things, one purposeful, and one not. Please allow me to rant.

Hobie Brown, Mischaracterization, and the Sanitization of Punk Culture

I think Hobie's characterization is the perfect example of the way media purposely deminished and trivialized the punk identity in order to erase it's political connotations.

In other words, people misunderstanding Hobie shows how the media warped and censored the definition of 'punk' in the last 50 years.

And that's on purpose.

Let's take the hippies for an example. When you think of them, what beliefs comes to mind?

Peacefulness, usually. Pot smoking. Music loving. And Anti-war. They love peace. The phrase 'Make Love, Not War' make come to mind.

But it's easier for the media to historically display hippies as people who were opposed to war - rather than people who were openly oppossed to the Vietnamese War.

As in, they weren't just opposed to war - which they were. They were also specifically opposed to the United States government crossing borders in order to push a capitalist agenda in Vietnam.

It's easy to say hippes loved communes - then to say 'Hippies were Communist'. With a couple words switched around - sanitization.

Punk is just like that.

It's easier to focus on the response rather than the source. It's easier to look at Hobie singing than to consider what he'd be singing about in those songs.

I feel like in the past 50 years the media has purposely centered the outrage of punk around music - as a targeted distraction, and a method of silencing. This goes from the outward hatred of Sex Pistols - to a President's wife literally taking a metal band to court in order to get the 'Explicit Content label' instated for the first time.(crazyyyy long story- crazy interesting. Google 'Mary Gore vs Twister Sister' - the videos of the band in court is hilarious)

But anyway the outrage of punk music in specific and the silencing of the message behind it kinda changed the way people viewed punks.

Media very much wanted to make punk something about senseless rebellion towards everything, the same way they tried to turn anarchy into 'unending chaos that never stops', when neither of those things are true.

Basically saying 'Oh, those people over there? They aren't angry oppressed people screaming and forming a community based around resilience, those are teeennagerrs. theyre just screaming cause theyre mad at their dads or something PLEASE dont look at them PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT CHECK IF WE'RE TELLING THE TRUTH'

And so people are presented with someone like Hobie, they see the loud music, but not picking up what he's saying if you get my drift.

And the other thing I'll try to keep short.

It's not purposeful, but I think it matters.

The Internet - Subculture vs Aesthetic

I don't think this is something that's been talked about yet.

But I feel like a lot of people misunderstand what a subculture is. So when they see Hobie, they see fashion, and music taste, and attitude. They instead perceive him as an aesthetic. Not someone who participates in subculture.

Subculture is a way of life. It encompasses not only your fashion and music tastes, but it can and usually extends to things like your morals, your behaviors, the spaces you exist in, etc.

Goth, Punk, Vegans, hell - even Nudists - are all subcultures. Because they effects the persons lifestyle. Subcultures are lifestyles.

Aesthetics are not.

An aesthetic is a (usually) visual ambience that is meant to evoke a specific emotion.

Aesthetics can extend to fashion, decor, and music taste - but not your morality or behavior.

E-girls, Emos, Hipsters, what have you - all aesthetics as they do not encompass morals, or behaviors.

And because of that - there are things that do or don't make you a punk. But there aren't really things that do or don't 'make you emo'.

Aesthetics don't have conditions, but subcultures do.

You have to be anti-government to be punk. You don't have to hate your life to be emo.

(Which is why when people bring this up, people are quick to call 'gatekeeping!' Because in the context of aethetics gatekeeping is seen as unneccesary, whereas in subcultures 'gatekeping' is more so protecting the underlying beliefs and motivations of the movement. People who see Hobie as an aesthetic will find these conditions odd because they're not seeing his punkness as a subculture.)

Today on the internet, it's a lot more common and easy to engage in an aesthetic. It's not uncommon for someone to purposefully pick an aesthetic - and go all out - simply because they like it. It's great. I engage with an aesthetic all the time.

But because of that, when people see Hobie it's easy to immediately be like 'oh okay hes doing it out of fashion hes doing it because he vibes with it cool.'

They look at Hobie the way they would look at an eboy (do those still exist).

______________________________________________

Sooo mixing the censored image of a punk along with the modern-day instinct to perceive something as an aesthetic rather than a way of life kinda causes.....this.

A Hobie tag were a lot of people completely misunderstand who he is as a person and his motivations as a superhero outside of 'I hate the establishment'.

Plus add in a dash of people just being totally blank on 70's politics. The Vietnam War, Margaret Thatcher coming to power, the IRA, etc. - all of those things I think tells us a lot about Hobie. I'm currently on a piece about that and an explainer of most of those events. Or if you want a brief rundown please feel free to ask, I'll do my best.

If you wanna know Hobie more - don't listen to punk music. Go read the lyrics, if you get what I mean. They truly do have something to say.

Hope this made some sense, thanks for reading if you made it this far :) also no proofread we die like kings but ill most likely do it later and delete this note.

#atsv anaylsis #hobie brown #spider punk #spiderpunk #across the spiderverse #spiderman #spider man

[mariacallous]

The great fault of the global left is not that it supports Hamas. For how could Western left-wing movements or left-inclining charities or academic bodies truly support Hamas if they were serious about their politics?

No one outside the most reactionary quarters of Islam shares Hamas’s aim of forcing the peoples of the world to accept “the sovereignty of Islam” or face “carnage, displacement and terror” if they refuse.  You cannot be a progressive and campaign for a state that executes gay men. An American left, which includes in its ranks the Queers for Palestine campaign group, cannot seriously endorse lethal homophobia in its own country.  They will turn a blind eye in Palestine, as we shall see, but not in New York or Chicago.

Finally, no left organisation proudly honours the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the fascist tradition that Hamas embraces with such sinister gusto, although in a sign of a decay that has been building on the left for more than a generation, many will promulgate left-wing conspiracy theories which are as insane as their fascist counterparts.

No, the problem with the global left is that it is not serious about politics. It “fellow travels” with radical Islam rather than supports it. The concept of “fellow travelling,” with its suggestions of tourism, dilettantism, and privilege, is well worth reviving. The phrase comes from the Bolsheviks. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 they looked with appreciation on Westerners who supported them without ever endorsing communism. Artists, writers, and academics who were disgusted with the West, often for good reason, I should add, were quite happy to justify Soviet communism and cover up its crimes without ever becoming communists themselves.

Leon Trotsky put it best when he said of fellow travellers that the question was always “how far would they go”? As long as they did not have live under the control of communists in the 1920s or the control of Islamists in the 2020s, the answer appears to be: a very long way indeed

W.H. Auden said, as he looked back with some contempt on his fellow travelling past, if Britain or the United States or any country he and his friends knew were taken over by a “successful communist revolution with the same phenomena of terror, purges, censorship etc., we would have screamed our heads off”. But as communism happened in backward Russia “a semi-barbarous country which had experienced neither the Renaissance nor the Enlightenment”, they could ignore its crimes in the interests of seeing the capitalist enemy defeated.

You see the same pattern of lies and indulgence in the case of Hamas. Journalists  have produced a multitude of examples of fellow travelling since 7 October but let one meeting of the Oakland City Council in the Bay area of San Francisco speak for them all.

A council member wanted the council to pass a motion that condemned the killings and hostage-taking by Hamas, who, in case we forget, prompted the war that has devastated Gaza, by massacring Israeli civilians. The motion got nowhere

According to one speaker Hamas did not massacre anyone, a modern variant of Holocaust denial that is becoming endemic. “There have not been beheadings of babies and rapings,” a woman said at the meeting. “Israel murdered their own people on October 7.”  Another woman said that calling Hamas a terrorist organization is “ridiculous, racist and plays into the genocidal propaganda that is flooding our media.” Hamas was the “armed wing of the unified Palestinian resistance” , said a third who clearly had no knowledge of the civil war between Hamas and Fatah.

“To condemn Hamas was very anti-Arab racist” cried a fourth. The meeting returned to modern Holocaust denial as a new speaker said the Israeli Defence Forces had murdered their own people and it was “bald propaganda” to suggest otherwise. A man intervened to shout that “to hear them complain about Hamas violence is like listening to a wifebeater complain when his wife finally stands up and fights back”.  

Anyone who contradicted him was a “white supremacist.”

Of course they were.

Now if theocrats were to establish an Islamist tyranny in the Bay area, I am sure every single speaker would scream their heads off, as Auden predicted. They can turn into fellow travellers as there is no more of a prospect of theocracy threatening them than there was of communism threatening readers of the left-wing press in the UK and US in the 1930s.

A serious left would have plenty to complain about. Consider the Israeli position after the breakdown of the ceasefire. The Israeli state is led by Benjamin Netanyahu, a catastrophe of a prime minister, who left his people exposed to the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. His war aims are contradictory: you cannot both wipe out Hamas and free the hostages.

Worst of all, the Israeli defence forces are to move to the southern Gaza strip where two million Palestinians are crammed. Just war doctrine holds that a military action must have a reasonable chance of success if the suffering is to be permitted. How, reasonably, can the Israeli army expect to find guerilla fighters hiding in a terrified population?  According to leaks in the Israeli media, Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of state, was warning the Israeli government that, “You can’t operate in southern Gaza in the way you did in the north. There are two million Palestinians there.” But he was ignored.  A radical movement worth having would surely be putting pressure on the Biden administration to force Israel to listen to its concerns.

The radical movement we have will not engage in practical politics because compromise is anathema to it. Any honest account of the war would have to admit that Israel has the right to defend itself against attack. It is just that the military position it finds itself in now may well make its war aims impossible and therefore immoral.

You can see why practical politics has no appeal. Where is the violent satisfaction in sober analysis,  the drama in compromise? Where is the Manichean distinction between the absolute good of the Palestinians and the pure evil of Israel?  

Meanwhile, ever since the Israeli victory in the Six Day War of 1967, you have been able to say that Jewish settler sites on the West Bank were placed there deliberately to make a peace settlement impossible, and ensure that Israel controlled all the territory from “the river to the sea” forever.

A serious left might try to revive a two-state solution by building an international consensus that the settlements must go. Once again, however, that is too tame an aim. For the fellow traveller watching Palestine from a safe distance, satisfaction comes only by embracing Hamas’s call for the destruction of Israel. Some progressives try to dress up the urge to destroy by pretending that Jews and Palestinians will go on to live together in some happy-clappy, multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state. But most must know they are advocating a war to the death. What makes their position so disreputable is that, if they thought about it calmly, they would know it would be a war that only Israel could win. It is the Israelis who have the nuclear weapons, after all.

The worst of the global left is dilettantish. It advocates a maximalist position which has a minimal chance of success - just for the thrill of it. David Caute, a historian of fellow travelling with Stalin and communism said that the endorsement of communism by fellow travelling intellectuals in the West “deepened the despair” of Soviet intellectuals. “In their darkest hours they heard themselves condemned by their own kind”.

The 2020s are not the 1930s. I am sure that, if I were a Palestinian in Gaza, my sole concern would be the removal of Israeli forces that threatened me and my family. I would either not care about demonstrations in the West or I would receive some comfort from the knowledge that people all over the world were protesting on my behalf.

Nevertheless, a kind of betrayal is still at work. By inflaming and amplifying the worst elements in Palestine the global left is giving comfort to the worst elements in Israel, which are equally determined to make a compromise impossible.

The New Statesman made that point well when it ran a piece by Celeste Marcus.   She came from the Zionist far right, and was taught doctrines that dehumanised Palestinians. She grew up and grew away from the prejudices of her childhood and became a liberal. But after she moved into her new world, she “recognised immediately that progressive leftists feel about Israelis the way radical Zionists feel about Palestinians: these are not real people.”

The result is that for all its power on the streets and in academia the global left is almost an irrelevance.

“To influence Israel,” she writes, “one must be willing to recognise it. Since leftist leaders cannot bother to do this, they cannot be of real use to Palestinians. This is a betrayal of their own cause.”

The dilettantism of fellow travelling always ends in betrayal and denial for the reason Auden gave: terror is always more tolerable when it happens far, far away.

[rileyslibrary]

“You need to.”

“Need is a strong word, soldier; I need water, food, and sleep.” He states and points at the bunny costume you’re holding. “Now, this, I don’t need to do.”

“Come on, Lt., do it for the kids!” You beg.

He looks out the window at the funfair outside. Christmas, Easter, and Halloween festivities are held yearly at the local park, and the military base is expected to contribute somehow. Things like cooking and baking for example, or helping with the construction of the rides, and assisting with the general operations, were a few of the tasks you had to undertake. Apart from the famous egg hunt, the community has organized a variety of other activities this year, including egg and spoon races, potato sack races, and pony rides.

“Why don’t you put it on then if you care so much about the kids?”

“I’m on face-painting duty.”

“Why can’t I do the face-painting?” He asks, pointing at his black-painted, camouflaged eyes.

“We talked about this, Lt.,” you say and extend the costume to him, “you were the chosen one.”

The phrase ‘the chosen one’ was an exaggerated one but, in some ways, accurate. A few days before such events, the base held a raffle to determine who would perform as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. This year’s ‘lucky’ winner happened to be Ghost. You never did that for Halloween though, since there wasn’t an official ‘mascot’ apart from the pumpkins, and according to the Captain, “you were all monsters anyway.”

“I bet Soap planned all this,” he snaps, pointing to the fair outside, “I bet he rigged the raffle and wrote my name on every single ticket: Riley, Riley, Riley, Ri-”

He stops upon hearing your long sigh. “Soap would never do something like that,” you shake your head.

“Oh, yeah?” he asks, peering out the window again. “Where is he anyway?”

“He’s helping the kids at the shooting gallery,” you admit and quickly regret it.

“I’d be great at teaching kids how to aim!” he yells, raising both hands, “why does he get to do that?”

“You’d be the star of the show, Ghost!” you encourage him as you wiggle the suit. “The Easter Bunny!”

“I don’t want to be a star, soldier,” he snaps, shooing the costume away, “plus, I hate dressing up.”

“Um, Lt., sir?”

“Hm?”

“You’re wearing a mask with a skull on.” You murmur, raising your brows.

“That’s for a different reason, and you know it.” He stiffens and narrows his eyes at you.

You must come up with a solution quickly. There’s no way to persuade an grown ass man, especially a frightening one like Ghost, to dress up in a fluffy costume and cosplay as an imaginary character if he doesn’t want to.

“You can’t go outside with that cover of yours, especially on Easter,” you explain. “Now, this, on the other hand, comes with a full mask on...” You say and lift the bunny costume by the shoulders.

He groans and rolls his eyes. That’s his way of contemplating the idea.

You shrug and look at the costume. “I’d consider it a deal, to be honest.”

He looks at the costume, then back at you, takes the costume from your hands without saying a word, and goes to the toilet to get changed.

A short while later, he returns, this time in the form of a 6.5-foot-tall, fluffy, white bunny with pink ears. His hands—or rather, his paws—are hidden in the costume’s pockets, and he diverts his masked face away from you.

You swallow your laughter and nod vigorously in response.

“So, what do I do now?” he asks defensively. 

“Just act like the Easter Bunny.”

His ears and whiskers wiggle as he turns to face you. “How does the Easter Bunny act, soldier?”

That’s an excellent question. See, the Easter Bunny is cheerful and quite energetic. Ghost, on the other hand... well, let’s just say he’s doing a pretty good job on Halloween at the House of Horrors.

“J-just wave at the kids, Lt.,”  you shrug and hand him a basket full of Cadbury creme eggs, “and blow the occasional kiss.”

“Like this?” he asks naively and pats the mask’s buck teeth with his paw.

“Yes sir,” you reply, looking down at the floor to hide your smile, “exactly like this.”

#simon ghost riley x gn!reader #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley x y/n #simon ghost riley x you #simon ghost riley fanfiction #simon ghost riley fic #simon ghost riley #simon riley x y/n #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #simon riley #call of duty #modern warfare 2 #cod ghost #ghost cod #cod mwii #call of duty modern warfare #cod mw2 #ghost call of duty #call of duty modern warfare 2

[keepingsecretstokeepyoutk]

This is going to be very long and sound a little crazy at first, and maybe a little mean but please hear me out…

I’m convinced that Taylor sometimes purposefully includes one line or multiple lines of poorly written or clunky lyrics in specific songs to make a point.

We all have seen some version of this with bearding songs like London Boy, a simple bop whose lyrics were immediately detected as sounding disingenuous, even with the general population (the locations she was signing about were the most touristy and too far away from each other to visit on the same day, etc, basically implying that she doesn’t actually have a long term local bf there that she spends a bunch of time with exploring the city with, etc).

But just like everything else on the album, I think she’s doing maybe a more in your face version of that. No holds barred.

So High School is an obvious example of this, with all of the early 2000’s hs imagery, she seems pretty blatantly to be mocking the idea the public has of her “living out every American girl’s high school fantasy” of dating the tall popular football player. With lyrics like “touch me while your friends play grand theft auto” (barf), etc, shes being clear enough that this is not a serious song.

This is the possibly controversial part, but I’m so curious to see what others think about this - I think another iteration of this on this album is the title track, The Tortured Poets Department. Hear me out.

(First, I want to reassure you that there are lines in this song that I really like and think are well written, like: “you’re in self-sabotage mode/throwing spikes down on the road” and “but you awaken with dread/pounding nails in your head/but I’ve read this one/where you come undone/I chose this cyclone with you”. And I fully agree with the idea that these sentiments are from Karlie’s perspective. Basically, when you take out the chunks I’m about to talk about this song makes way more sense and has a beautiful sentiment of undying love behind it - which makes the following parts stick out that much more!)

The first time I listened through the album, and this was the second song, I got terrified because I didn’t understand its place in the whole narrative and when I heard the first clunky line “scratch your head like a tattooed golden retriever” I got the ick. Then the bridge with no structure and no wit and no clever turns of phrase, no metaphor, just “you put my ring on the finger people put wedding rings on” and “that was the closest I’ve ever been to my heart exploding”. So over simplified and cheesy, and doesn’t sound anything like her writing, especially the caliber of her recent lyrics

I know art is largely subjective, but I insist there is no way that the same person who wrote Cowboy Like Me wrote these lines into her title track if she didn’t have a reason and a point to make. To make it clear that this isn’t a matter of genre personal taste, because I know CLM is a very specific sound and a style that music snobs often take more seriously - I love SO many of her candy pop bangers, they are infinitely more clever, articulate, and overall works of art by a true wordsmith than this. Karma, The Very First Night, etc are all a master classes in clever words and tight writing being tucked into an “unserious” pop song.

The lyrics I cited above to me sound like what haters believe her writing sounds like, even fans who make little jokey TikTok’s about her and make up a spoofy something to sing while in character - that’s what these lyrics sound like.

Im worried im being too harsh, but please stay with me because the more I think about the more genius I think it actually is.

In the context of the themes of rest of the album, (her being trapped, miserable, manipulated, ready to burn it all down, screaming to be seen) this theory became clear to me. I think she’s leaning into her public persona (in more ways than one, we’ve already seen it with the stunting), in a way setting a “trap” for her fans and the public, that will essentially call them all out on how they ignored the real her in favor of her pr narrative, making the album about paternity tests, etc, all of which I’m guessing will become very clear in retrospect, possibly after she comes out? (Of course it’s already clear to us now, which is another purpose of the beard songs including clunky writing - to signal to us that these are not serious and that she knows that we know that she knows (like Phoebe on friends lol))

Ultimately, this is (along with So Highschool) a classic beard song. When she writes in this voice, she embodies the most extreme versions of her public persona, not just the one she has cultivated on purpose, but also the one that people have of her that don’t know her (as she did in Blank Space), including those that don’t take her seriously - because her identity as a boy crazy psycho ex girlfriend is directly tied to people dismissing her art as vapid because, they’ve only ever heard her singles, they don’t know the full her.

That voice is the straightest, the most boy crazy, the most one note, and sometimes the most unsophisticated writer version of her that people have in their minds, including her fans - the fans that refuse to see her as a whole person, the real, that believe she is head over heals for big football boy, that believe “he knows how to ball, I know Aristotle” is a romantic line about how opposites attract, the fans that say they don’t “get” some of her most beautiful and well-written songs, the fans that don’t see her and haven’t been seeing her.

They didn’t see giant Taylor on the eras tour, they refuse to see all of her queer signaling, etc, and I think she’s making the bearding songs obvious to underscore the difference between her Taylor(TM) and Taylor(person) personas.

She knows that despite the fact that the lyrics don’t even come close to measuring up to the rest of the album, the public, and many of her fans, will make this song one of the most listened to simply because they are looking for evidence of her relationships from the past year. We’ve all commented on how insane it is that this layered, complex, devastating album is being reduced to the usual paternity tests. This is currently one of the top songs precisely because it is “about Matty”. And of course, So High School is one of the tops songs along with it because it’s “about Travis”.

The juxtaposition of the bearding songs alongside her beautifully written poetry of Prophecy, Peter, Whose Afraid of Little Old Me, Cassandra, How did it end, The Albatross, etc mirrors the juxtaposition of her two selves during the Midnights era.

She has proven the point that if they think she wrote every line of this song completely in earnest, then they see her largely no differently than her haters do, as a subpar writer who writes absurdly cheesy love songs praising trashy to mediocre, problematic men. By eating it up they tell her that’s what she’s good for, for being the subject of tabloids and warring fans who make this entire album about two (purposefully) mediocre songs and the men who “inspired” them.

She has proven her point - that a subset of her fans will be distracted by a lesser song simply because they think it’s about one of the greasy men that’s she been seen holding hands with. That they will ignore once again all of her pleas to be seen, that she’s in pain and caged, and has been driven insane by their willful ignorance. That they don’t appreciate her full potential and talent, that they don’t even see it, and just want to be confirmed in their ideation of her.

This song is essentially the “forget him(her)” pill at the beginning of the fortnight mv, but it’s a sedative for the fans, who are addicted to her straight narrative. Similar to Willow’s 13 chants of “that’s my man” that started off evermore, casting a spell of heteronormativity over everyone who wanted it, so that they could choose to just completely ignore the following 14 gayest songs ever written. Don’t pay no mind to her singing directly about women with zero male perspective - she said “that’s my man!” We’re good! She’s still straight!

Taylor in the fortnight mv had to a take a sedative to be able to go into the next room and write her bearding songs - ie she self medicates to deal with keeping up the straight persona and to get through having to release dumbed down songs to feed the masses. (I also see the pill as something forced on her, I think it represents both layers)

From the first time I watched the music video I thought the writing Taylor looked so miserable and the bearding songs are why.

In this room she’s trapped, churning out the songs that her fans expect of her, the songs that make her team money, the songs that make her money, but that she has to compromise her truth to create.

But when she frees herself she’ll burn the stories that weren’t true, the filler that doesn’t represent her.

I’m curious to hear other’s thoughts on this - have you ever felt like Taylor purposefully inserts off-sounding lyrics that are written in a different voice to make a point?

I want to reiterate that it’s not the entirety of either song that I think is terrible, I genuinely love bopping along to both So High School and TTPD (track). Like I said above, when you remove the clunky lines from ttpd (track), the song has another layer and likely gives voice to some Karlie insight that is beautiful and tragically profound. It’s the red herrings, the pieces specifically meant to tie this song to a bearding narrative, that I’m dissing, and the only reason they are suspicious in the first place is because I know how gifted Taylor is with the written word.

Taylor is such a skilled writer that she can embody the voice of the bad writer that dismissive ignorant idiots believe her to be, just to make a point!

I even wonder if maybe there is a second version of this song locked away in one of those drawers in the fortnight writing room that leaves out the red herrings and is a thousand times better than the bearding version we got.

I hope one day we get to hear it.

#gaylor #kaylor #bearding #closeting #ttpd #so high school

[starhoppin]

pick a picture; their daydreams about you

pile 1 -> pile 2 -> pile 3

disclaimer; this is a general reading! these messages may not fit everyone. please take what resonates and leave the rest.

「pile one」

seven of swords (cb: queen of cups, two of cups), ten of swords (cb: page of cups rv, ace of swords), seven of pentacles (cb: six of swords rv, page of swords)

this person's daydreams are interesting... there's an overall energy of them daydreaming that you can't get them out of your mind. there's an element to their daydreams where they're coming in to save the day, but not in an overtly "knight in shining armor/guns blazing" kind of way. the queen of cups in this deck looks like a woman drowning; this person daydreams that you're almost struggling to get through the day without them. they daydream about you opening up to them, perhaps even crying that you need them in your life - that you're experiencing so much grief without them. they daydream about being patient, waiting for you to eventually change your mind and come rushing back in.

if this reading resonated with you, please consider leaving a tip!

「pile two」

four of pentacles (cb: three of swords rv, ten of swords rv), six of wands (cb: nine of swords, ten of wands), ten of cups (cb: ace of wands rv, the lovers)

your person embodies a "protector" image in their daydreams. they daydream about protecting you from harm, protecting your heart from those who wish to hurt you. they dream that they're the person that you rely on; you come to them and they help you through your problems. these dreams center around you struggling with a situation and they're the voice of clarity that allows you to overcome these obstacles. i heard the phrase "slowly, then all at once." this person daydreams that they slowly become an integral part of your life - that you slowly fall in love with them over time, but you end up head over heels for them. like you couldn't imagine settling down with anyone else because of how useful and reliable they are. the ten of cups and the lovers card in this deck both depict two people wearing blindfolds - that's the type of relationship that this person dreams about. they dream that you trust and love each other wholeheartedly. also, that quote is from john green's the fault in our stars - so that book/movie may be significant in your connection.

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「pile three」

six of pentacles rv (cb: ace of cups, knight of cups), ten of swords (cb: seven of pentacles, three of swords), page of swords (cb: king of swords, five of swords rv)

i'm not going to lie, i don't like this person's energy. they dream about giving to you, but it doesn't seem to be giving out of love - there are strings attached. they dream about giving to you in order to get something out of the situation. they envision coming forward with an emotional offer, but it's an energy of they want you to accept them because they view you as a challenge; you're independent, you don't need them. it's the thrill of the chase that seems to excite this person. this person may view you as a bit naive. they fantasize about convincing you that they're willing to put in the work long-term, but they're only saying these things in order to get what they want out of you in the short term, i.e., they could say that they want to spend the rest of their life with you, whilst only trying to get in your pants. (this is just one example - this doesn't have to be the case for all of you.) there is a lot of sword energy in this reading; they seem to be scheming rather than daydreaming about your connection. this person lacks maturity - they're really the page of swords when they believe themselves to be a king. they're under the impression that they will eventually get what they want out of you, as long as they're strategic about it. i usually don't include these side notes, but i feel the need to make an exception in this case. if you resonate with this pile, i would highly consider distancing yourself from this person. they have incredibly selfish intentions and they don't have your best interests at heart.

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tarot deck used in this reading: ostara tarot

#tarotblr #tarot reading #tarot readings #pick a pile #pac #pick a card reading #detailed pac #tarot #divination #cartomancy #pick an image #pick a photo #tarot pick a pile #free tarot #love tarot reading #love tarot #free tarot reading love #pick a card readings #love pac reading #love pick a card #love pick a card reading

[teacheesee]

Hi you, I'm writing to you from Belgium! Thank you so much for your work, omg I love your writing so much!!! (you managed to make me get SICK butterflies in my stomach on your fiction "i am your singer" -smut LMAO-)

I'd like to suggest a story idea for zoro, I dreamt about him yesterday and in my dream he always found an excuse to get into the rooms I was in (very often the bathroom… While I was showering of course…) (example: it's dinner time // we're looking for you everywhere, I wanted to make sure you were okay…) Would you be willing to smut this dream into reality? 💚

(of course, it's a proposal, you're free to choose! Thank you so much for reading! 🥰)

don’t bother knocking - zoro x reader nsfw

hiiiii tysm for the request this is lowkey one of my fav pieces for this blog yet lol. enjoy!!

warnings: oral sex (m receiving), unprotected sex, fem bodied reader, no pronouns used

1.6k words

You ran your hands through your hair, making sure all of the soap had been wrung out. Ears blocked by water, you nearly missed the squeak of the door hinge as it opened. Sticking your head out of the shower, you saw Zoro, leaning against the counter.

“Can I help you?” You drew back into the water.

“No,” he hummed, “Just wanted to let you know that dinner’s ready.”

“Alright, yeah, I’ll be out in a minute! Don’t let them all wait up for me, alright?”

He grunted in response, and it took a few more seconds for you to hear the door open and close again.

Weird. Whatever. You stepped out of the shower, spotting wet footprints across the bathmat as you dried yourself off.

Zoro’s been acting this way lately. Always seeming to be where you want to go. Always showing up where you are. You try not to read too much into stuff with Zoro, maybe it’s just his way of trying to be closer friends with you. He’s got so many lofty aspirations that it’s hard for you to justify what your heart wants and what the crew already sees unfolding: Zoro’s got a thing for you. He just doesn’t know how to show it.

You towel off your hair and make your way to the kitchen, where you take your seat next to Zoro. Luffy is lunging for everyone’s plates although they’re all almost done eating, Zoro included. You sigh as you start to eat, relishing in the taste of Sanji’s perfect meal, and you rest your head on your hand as you start to pick at the plate. Distracted by the dinner, you don’t notice how close your arm on the table has gotten to Zoro’s. The heat of the shower is radiating off of your skin and onto his, and the hair on his arms raises. He fights the blush that settles on his ears, making no effort to pull away from your touch.

He stays there long after he’s finished eating.

The knock on your door is most unexpected, at this hour. You get out of your bed, setting down the book you’d been reading, and peek through the sliver of the door. When you see who it is, you open it wider.

“Oh hey, what’s up?” Zoro avoids your gaze a bit. Not completely, just enough to notice. He shrugs.

“Was bored. Mind if I hang out with you?”

You lick your lips. Zoro notices.

“Yeah, come on in, I was just reading,” you back away from the door and fall back into place on your bed. Picking up your book, Zoro sits on the side of your bed.

“What’s this about?” You take the book from him and set it down on your nightstand.

“I don’t really know yet, just started it tonight. But the cover is pretty so that means its gotta be good,” you laugh.

“Pretty sure there’s a phrase advising directly against that way of thinking but whatever,” Zoro mutters. You lean against the headboard as you laugh.

“Right, yeah, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, well I happen to find that is the best method to finding anything good.”

“Is that right?” Zoro inches unperceptively closer to you, the arm bracing himself now over your legs.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Zoro licks his lips. You notice.

“What have you been doing hanging out with me so much? What’s the angle?”

“No angle.”

“No angle?”

“Maybe there’s an angle,” he smiles. His eyes dart down to your lips for a fraction of a second, but long enough to ignite a heat that’s started to burn in your stomach. Maybe, you realize, it’s been burning for a while now.

Zoro’s grown closer to you now, something you both realize. But the realization doesn’t make you pull away, not now that he’s got a hand cupping your jaw and tilting your face as if he’s practiced it a thousand times, just for this. Just for you.

You eyes close slowly as you feel the touch of warm, chapped, rough lips ghost your own. It’s as if he’s afraid to push too hard, to break a spell or scare you off, he touches you so dearly. The kiss deepens slightly, but never in a rough way, no, Zoro’s staked so much on this moment to ever make any motion that might scare you off.

You pull away, a giddy laugh making it’s way past your lips. Zoro searches your eyes for any trace of doubt or unrequited emotion, but he doesn’t find it. And he can’t help but catch that infectious laugh, that smile that cracks across your face with such abandon that it takes all of his efforts to not let it consume the entirety of his soul. It does anyway. You lean back up and let Zoro follow you down to where you sat against the headboard, and he moved to straddle you, running a hand through your hair and gently holding by the roots, committing all of these feelings to memory. He’s waited long enough to feel you, and now that he’s got you in his hands, he wants nothing more than to break down every wall you’ve built around yourself, to touch your skin, to sink into you.

He sinks his teeth, experimentally, into you. Not to damage, but to be able to look back tomorrow at breakfast and know that it wasn’t all a dream. Your fingers make his earrings clink as you run a thumb over them, tugging his ear close to your mouth.

“You wanna?” You whisper, the soft smile you’re wearing evident in your cadence.

“If you’ll let me,” he answers, trying not to give himself away. He does anyways. His hands, antsy to roam, have made their way down to your pajama pants and make a move to tug, but you pull away.

“Me first.”

You move to the floor, and Zoro’s hand flies to your nape, not wanting to lose touch with you for a second. His pants have pooled near you on the floor, and with it come his boxers. You lick your lips. And boy, does he notice.

The grip he has on your hair tightens, but is never harsh. Never with you. Even as your lips and tongue start to envelop and swirl around the tip of his dick. Never harsh. Even when his other hand clenches tightly into the mattress. Even as you take him further, noting every vein present and pulsing under your administrations. Even as he fights the urge to tell you every thought he’s ever had about you. Never harsh. Even when his hand leaves your hair to wipe tears brimming at your eyes, he does it with such tenderness that you start to question if the tears are from the gag at all.

Zoro pulls away from you, clearly a motion of great strain, and he pulls you back up to the bed, where you finally kick off those damn pajama pants. Laying down, Zoro’s eyes ask an unspoken affirmation from you, as his fingers hook around the edges of your underwear. You nod, and the haste of which he pulls them down makes you laugh. His lips are back on yours, tasting your laughter, until he pulls away to cup a hand on your cheek, slipping his thumb into your mouth, greeted by an unexpecting hum. He draws it out of your mouth with a pop, and brings it down to your center, dragging it across your folds, holding you open. You take in a sharp inhale as he rubs his thumb across your clit in circular, steady motions. He smiles, watching as you start to clench around nothing, and all for him. His lips are back on your neck, kissing further down until they ghost over your chest, pause, and continue kissing over the cloth of your shirt. Your back arches towards his warm breath, the fire in your stomach reaching a blaze. Your hands are all over his back as he continues to work you open, steadily puting more pressure on your nerves. You groan at the feeling, impatience starting to wear you down.

Zoro hears the quickening of your breath, and decides to sink a finger into you, working it around to get you adjusted. You huff in exasperation as he pulls away, only long enough to get himself settled towards you. His hand is above your head as he angles himself, dragging his dick along your folds. You groan in unison as you feel each other’s warmth, the culmination of all this waiting paying off after all these years. He sinks in, slightly, not so much to satiate you by any means, no, but it’s enough to get you adjusted.

Zoro takes a deep breath, and lets it go as he slides fully, sheathed impossibly tight within you.

You take a deep breath, and you let it go as you’re filled, depths reached.

“Good?”

“Good.”

With your affirmation, he moves, slowly at first, and then picking up the pace. But never harsh, never abrasive.

Not tonight.

There will be other nights, nights with less on the line, where Zoro will allow himself to tear into you, to deny and restrain you, but not tonight.

Tonight, Zoro focuses on loving you, which comes easily, given that it seems as he was born to do just that.

_____

The warmth of the hot water soothes your legs as you bend down to turn the shower off. The cool air of the night hits you as you step out of the shower, not surprised to see Zoro leaning against the counter. He watches as you wrap the towel around yourself.

“Can I help you?” You muse, tucking the towel in and wrapping your arms around his shoulders. He smiles at you, resting his hands on your waist.

“Nope,” he presses a kiss onto your lips, “no angle here.”

a/n: hey everypony mwahahaha almost got carried away w this one it’s like one billion words. anyways school is still kicking my ass. sorry responding to this took so long!! hope everyone has a good day and eats good food! okay bye kitties meow

#zoro #zoro smut #one piece #zoro x reader #one piece zoro #one piece modern au #one piece fluff #one piece smut #zoro fanart #op zoro #roanoa zoro #sanji x zoro #roronoa zoro #zoro x luffy #zoro x sanji #pirate hunter zoro #zoro roronoa x reader #zoro x y/n #zoro imagine

[familyabolisher]

hi!! i hope you’re having a lovely day :-) i really enjoy reading your blog and how you pick apart Things & was wondering if you have any tips and guides for reading and analyzing poetry? ive always struggled w forming coherent thoughts abt poems and would love to know how you approach it. thank you sm for your time ✨

so the big thing that made poetry "click" for me was realising that i was trying to read it the way i might try to read a novel -- identify a discourse taking place, look for points in the text that supplement my argument, construct a position on what the piece is "about" based on these points -- all very undergrad essay-core and frankly a v boring way to think about novels as well, but like, completely mind-numbing when it came to poetry. i think a better approach is to interface with the poem at the level of language and technical construction. i find that it helps a lot to know the technical terms for particular phenomena in the language of poetry, but even without that shorthand knowledge, you'll get a lot out of poetry when you start looking at the choices being made at the level of individual words or even syllables. so instead of asking "what is this poem about?", we can start to ask, for instance:

what is the tone of this poem? is it sparing or loquacious? emotional or detached? asking questions or answering them? what's the vantage point - is this a detached omniscient third-person narrator making observations, or are we as the reader being guided towards a particular perspective on the part of the speaker?

what is the mouthfeel of this poem? can you find any 'shapes' -- any assonance, any internal rhyming, alliteration, anything that causes you to pay attention to particular words, phrasing, etc. why is your attention being called to those moments?

what is the rhythm of the poem? is it free verse -- if so, can you find any points in the piece where more or less attention to rhythm is being paid? why does the line break on this particular word? are the sentences short or long? how is the poet interfacing with their chosen meter? what does this meter lend to the poem? if you're reading multiple works by the same author, compare their use of meter -- do they use the same meter regularly or switch it up, and why were those switches made?

if you can annotate a poem, do so. note down anything which seems linguistically interesting, even if you don't know the "correct" technical word for it -- any clusters of words with similarities whose placement might be interesting (eg. what words are rhymed!), any noteworthy rhythmic discrepancies, placement of line breaks, anything that sticks out. i like to think of reading poetry as a playful exercise -- you're playing around with the words, seeing how they work, enjoying the rhythm and texture of the piece as it comes to you, and trying to construct "a reading" only after the fact.

i think there are times when the reading-for-a-discourse approach can be v helpful and illuminating, but it's best to stumble on those opportunities organically rather than focusing all your energy on trying to answer the "what is this trying to say?" question. if a particular discursive component of a poem sparks your interest (like eg. you read the rime of the ancient mariner and notice how the poem interfaces with contemporaneous abolitionist discourses as well as colonialist ideas about polynesia, just as an example), you've obviously got a compelling hook from which you can anchor a reading, but going in expecting such a reading to jump off the page will often just result in frustration.

this doesn't mean that we don't take the discourse of a poem seriously, or that we don't understand the "rules" of poetry to be postdiscursive phenomena highly contingent on social context. if anything, understanding poetry at a mechanical level opens up significant doors for answering these types of questions -- we can understand, for example, the reactionary nature of the academic revolt against free verse and the desire to return to metered poetry better once we understand the function of form and structure in fascist aesthetics. similarly, spending this kind of time with a poem makes it a lot easier to get a handle on what it might be "about," and what sort of choices are being made to render that "about"ness coherent.

also -- and this is true of anything, including poetry -- if a poet isn't working for you, try reading somebody else. a lot of poets that people will say are good and interesting are neither of those things. poetry has the advantage of being (usually!) a quick read compared to novels, so it's far easier to shop around, read widely, realise what you like and dislike, and engage accordingly.

one of my favourite pieces of literary criticism and examples of the value of this sort of reading practice comes from nabokov's epilogue to lolita, in which he both defends the novel in question against accusations of salacity and speaks very disparagingly of efforts to read a thesis statement into it. he writes:

Every serious writer, I dare say, is aware of this or that published book of his as of a constant comforting presence. Its pilot light is steadily burning somewhere in the basement and a mere touch applied to one’s private thermostat instantly results in a quiet little explosion of familiar warmth. This presence, this glow of the book in an ever accessible remoteness is a most companionable feeling, and the better the book has conformed to its prefigured contour and color the ampler and smoother it glows. But even so, there are certain points, byroads, favorite hollows that one evokes more eagerly and enjoys moretenderly than the rest of one’s book. I have not reread Lolita since I went through the proofs in the spring of 1955 but I find it to be a delightful presence now that it quietly hangs about the house like a summer day which one knows to be bright behind the haze. And when I thus think of Lolita, I seem always to pick out for special delectation such images as Mr. Taxovich, or that class list of Ramsdale School, or Charlotte saying “waterproof,” or Lolita in slow motion advancing toward Humbert’s gifts, or the pictures decorating the stylized garret of Gaston Godin, or the Kasbeam barber (who cost me a month of work), or Lolita playing tennis, or the hospital at Elphinstone, or pale, pregnant, beloved, irretrievable Dolly Schiller dying in Gray Star (the capital town of the book), or the tinkling sounds of the valley town coming up the mountain trail (on which I caught the first known female of Lycaeides sublivens Nabokov). These are the nerves of the novel. These are the secret points, the subliminal co-ordinates by means of which the book is plotted—although I realize very clearly that these and other scenes will be skimmed over or not noticed, or never even reached, by those who begin reading the book under the impression that it is something on the lines of Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure or Les Amours de Milord Grosvit. That my novel does contain various allusions to the physiological urges of a pervert is quite true. But after all we are not children, not illiterate juvenile delinquents, not English public school boys who after a night of homosexual romps have to endure the paradox of reading the Ancients in expurgated versions.

It is childish to study a work of fiction in order to gain information about a country or about a social class or about the author. And yet one of my very few intimate friends, after reading Lolita, was sincerely worried that I (I!) should be living “among such depressing people” —when the only discomfort I really experienced was to live in my workshop among discarded limbs and unfinished torsos.

#ask #also i know this approach is unbearable to some people. but truly it is what made poetry work for me. so!

[natriae]

Heyyy I wanted to ask if u have any WIPs ? If not can I pls request a smutty make out session with ushi gushi College au where and reader have dated for a while but not gonna more than kissing and he expresses he wants more and reader is kjke omg me too I was just waiting for u lol idk if that makes sense ahaha

A/N: Ushijima is so comfort man

"I want to kiss you," he states like that's something that comes up in normal conversation...especially in the library.

Since you began dating Ushijima times like these weren't uncommon, but they still catch you off guard. For example, when he took you to meet his highschool friends he straight up told them that the two of you have yet to have sex...with a straight face and no blushing. Then he was shocked that you began choking on your water.

At the beginning of your relationship you thought he was doing these things on purpose. A way for him to make you nervous and blush (not that it was hard for him to do that anyway... have you seen him), but it didn't take you long to realize that he has a hard time in social situations. He doesn't realize what is to honest, but you wouldn't change him for the world because he was right 'honesty is the best policy'. It was cute how he would say these child like phrases without batting an eye all because Tendou told him.

Never have you dated a man like Ushijima Wakatoshi, and you doubt another man like him exists. You assumed he was like a wall you would never be able to climb, but oh were you wrong. He says it exactly how he means it, so last night when he told you how happy he was to be with you, you felt a little zap in your heart. You really trusted with man with the world.

~last night~

The best part about college, getting to sleep in your boyfriend's dorm. Ushijima's volleyball scholarship allowed him to get his own room with a private bathroom all to himself. Every college kid's dream, and he got it for free :). So you were welcome anytime Ushijima allowed it. No worries about a roommate which allowed the two of you the alone time most college relationships didn't get. Even though you told everyone you wouldn't date till after college, a year and a half later here you are snuggled up next to your life size teddy bear. Ushijima laid on his back while you laid on your side with your leg hooked over his. Your right hand rested on his chest as you listened to his heart beat to lull you to sleep.

However, tonight you felt the rumble in his chest as he began speaking. He never spoke when it was time for bed, so you perked up to listen.

"y/n," he rumbled, looking at the ceiling.

"jima," you responded, watching his face to see any slight movement. Bingo. The corner of his lip twitched upwards. He may be stotic, but he wasn't allergic to happiness.

You feel his right arm tighten around your back before he continues, "Thank you for dating me," 'thank you for seeing past my mannerisms' he wanted to say, "and I really love you." i want to spend the rest of my life with you in my arms. You watched his eyes flicker down to yours before looked back up at the ceiling. He was nervous, so cute.

"I love you to 'Jima. More than you'd ever know."

~~~

"you wanna kiss me 'Jima," you responded with a small smirk, trying to hide the blush that consumed your face. All he did in response was nod his head once and began packing up his things. "wait where are you going," you questioned.

"I will not kiss you in public," He responded in a way that if you were any other person you would feel stupid, but you know Ushijima doesn't mean it in that way. He just prefers his privacy. Packing up your things you follow him to his dorm.

You place your things down and go to rest on his bed with the thought in the back of your mind of when will he kiss you. The two of you haven't done anything more than just a peck, but something feels different. There's a thick tension in the air as Ushijima slips off his shoes and puts on his slippers. Walking over to his bed he leans down and leaves a light peck on your lips.

Was that all?

Seemingly unphased by your confused face he sits on the bed next to you and takes a deep breath before pulling you onto his lap. Now strattling him his face softens before speaking. But you can tell by the small twitch in his lip that he's nervous, but he doesn't want to scare you.

Your hands hold his face as your thumb caresses his cheekbone. "'Jima you can tell me anything," you whispered, even though it was just the two of you.

He blinks softly before speaking. "can i kiss you more?" I know you weren't exactly comfortable woth it before, He grunts out. Your lips turn up in a smile at how he says it so monotone, but his eyes and heart tell another story. He's freaking out inside.

Nodding your head you lean in till your noses are touching. Waiting for Ushijima to close the gap. He leaves a small peck on your lips one more time before kissing you deeper. Kissing your bottom lip then your top. Both of you turn your heads opposite directions to kiss deeper. Your hands fall to the back of his head and rake their way into his hair.

You feel his strong, manly hands hover over your waist not sure if he's allowed to touch. To him you're his most prized possession. Something expensive that he doesn't want to leave finger prints on. Something he doesn't want to break with his excitement.

You bring one hand down to his and press it on to your waist telling him it's okay and smile into the kiss.

Through the wet sounds of your lips colliding, the deep breaths, and quiet moans it was clear this wasn't just two college students making out. It was two quiet lovers who were trying to pour all their love into a kiss.

#haikyuu #haikyuu!! #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #ushijima x reader #ushijima wakatoshi #haikyuu ushijima #haikyuu ushiwaka #wakatoshi ushijima #ushijima #ushijima fic #hq imagines #hq headcanons #hq x reader #hq fluff #hq ushijima #hq #haikyū!! #haikyuu wakatoshi #wakatoshi fluff #wakatoshi x reader #my love

[chaisshitposts]

𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Have you ever found yourself feeling impatient about the 3D conforming to your desires? Have you ever wished that you could manifest anything you ever wanted in a certain time frame? Have you ever wanted to manifest anything you want just by doing 'normal' things?

Rejoice! It's time to take these matters into your own hands and make yourself a Manifestation Foundation.

What is a manifestation foundation?

It's just that! A foundation built of manifestation rules that you create for yourself, allowing you to manifest as you please without needing to worry about how long things will take or when they will show up/conform in the 3D.

How do I make myself a manifestation foundation?

Easy. Compile yourself a list of manifestation rules and affirm for each of them. They can be any rules you can think of or any kind of rules that resonate with you.

What if I don't want to affirm each of them individually? Is there a shortcut?

Absolutely there are, and one of them is something you may have heard of if you've been around my blog for a while— the list method. Once you've created your list of manifestation rules for your manifestation foundation, all you need to do is affirm that 'my manifestation rules are always true,' or 'regardless of everything, my manifestation rules are always true,' these are just some basic affirmations but feel free to create your own.

And if even that is too much for you, you also use code words // switch words. These are the same thing as the list method but usually shortened into one word or a few. Some say that code words // switch words are even greater to use because they move around the resistance you may have about a certain desires topic. If you decide to use code words // switch words for your manifestation rules, all you have to do is come up with a word of phrase that will connect your list to this specific word/phrase. Such as 'RULES' or anything else you can think of. Code words // switch words can also be useful for repetition because they are simple, quick, and easy to remember.

Can I create my manifestation foundation while simultaneously affirming for my desires?

Absolutely, I would even recommend that you do so because then that will aid in fully hardening your manifestation foundation into fact. While you create your manifestation foundation, it would be ideal to also manifest the things you'd like to happen in your life to provide yourself with proof.

Are there any example rules I could use for my manifestation foundation?

Every thought I have makes the 3D conform faster than the speed of light.

I can manifest anything and everything I desire in three days or less.

Regardless of everything, I can manifest anything I want overnight.

I can manifest anything I want overnight.

I can manifest anything I desire instantly, no matter what.

Everything speeds up my manifestations.

Every breath I take speeds up my manifestations.

Only my positive thoughts manifest.

Physical appearance changes are the easiest thing for me to manifest.

Manifesting people is the easiest thing ever.

Manifestation is the easiest thing ever.

All methods // techniques work [insert time] for me.

Everytime time I clap my hands, something good happens to me.

Subliminals grant instant results after a single listen.

The list of rules you could ever possible use are endless.

How long does it take to create a manifestation foundation?

Realistically, that depends on the person, but if one can manage to keep a decent mental diet and stay consistent, it shouldn't take that long at all.

Do I need a manifestation foundation to manifest?

Absolutely not! However, it can be helpful in the long run and can also allow you to fully embrace your birthright and power as a master of manifestation.

If I create a manifestation foundation will I be able to manifest anything I want, whenever I want?

Of course! Your manifestation foundation is all about you and what you want and how you want things to go. It'll eleviate the feelings of impatience many of may have and replace it with expectancy.

NOTES:

I hope that this will help you out in the long run. If you have any questions, feel free to comment on this post, message me privately, or send in an ask.

#law of assumption #loa #loa assumptions #loa affirmations #loa advice #laws of manifestation #manifestation method #manifestation

[sugoi-writes]

Suck It Up, Buttercup

Husk x GN!Reader Drabble

Haha-- It's the voice. The accent. DON'T JUDGE-- (No warnings, minus drinking mentions. Pure fluff!)

I miiiight turn this into a thing with multiple characters... a 'surprise kiss!' scenario with each of the main cast, just to practice writing for others. (I did similar things with KNY not too long ago). Not that I don't love Alastor, but I should try to mix things up a bit! If yall like this, let me know who you'd like to see next. Oh, and of course: please enjoy~

♥️♣️♦️

You groaned as you nursed your drink, cheek lazily smushed against the wood grain of the counter.

"Ughhnn.. shit, I passed out, didn't I?" You wince in pain from your throbbing headache, your vision slowly stabilizing as you took in your surroundings. Husk hums in agreement, coming out from behind the bar to your side.

" 'Sure did. C'mon, Buttercup. It's time to get you to bed." You whined, your flushed face giving away your drunken state," One more drink? Pleeeease..." Husk sighs, shrugging," A'ight, but it's probably a lil' too hard for ya." You stick your tongue out at him playfully, making him smile and shrug, both hands shooting up in his defense," Don't say I didn't try to warn ya..."

You felt your cheek press further into your eye as you watched Husk with a smile. You didnt bother to lift your head as you observed his movements. Quick, effortless, and cunning... despite his nihilist attitude, he always moved with a purpose while mixing drinks. He moved in ways that made what he was doing even more impressive to watch.

Once he was done, Husk made a big deal of sliding this 'concotion' towards you, your glass sporting a succulent lemon wedge on the rim. You felt a surge of energy enter you as you hastily took a gulp, before your expression soured.

"Water....? Husk, you said--!"

"Y'said to make you somethin' that'd make you forget somethin' else. That headache, for example," the cat demon chastised, before leaning forward," And you're gonna drink every last gulp before you carry your ass to bed. Got it?"

You groan again, rolling your eyes," Only if you'll carry me there~" You teased, shimming your shoulders. Husk narrows his gaze at you, his fur around his neck bristling," I ain't some powdered prince, y'know... and I don't do shit for free."

You sigh dramatically, leaning backward and arching your back over the counter," Ohhh, woe is me! I was convinced I finally found my knight in shining armor~!" At this, Husk snorts, leaning on his elbows and looming above you, his face hovering just above yours. For a moment, the two of you shared a laugh, then it grew stagnant... and then, there was a moment when you stared at one another, waiting for someone to move or say something. The tension that lingered felt heavy on your chest, as you felt your throat run dry. You open your parched lips slightly to say something, but your phrase died on your tongue, unable to leave.

Husk sighs, leaning down to kiss you gently on the forehead, officially breaking the silence.

"You're lucky you're a'ight to be around, otherwise I wouldn't be doin' this shit..." You barely had time to recover, your eyes wide with disbelief. Your fingertips ghosted over the pecked spot on your forehead, as if to replicate the feeling... before you felt yourself being lifted up. You fumble about in Husk's arms, clinging desperately to his chest. You were surprised with long, soft fur, a small mass easily being gripped and held in your trembling hands.

"O-Oh fuck I was-- I was jokin', Husk-- you can put me down!"

"An' risk you passin' out at my bar again? Fat chance..." A comfortable silence falls upon you both, and you can't help but lean into the cradle that Husk created for you. He was warn... exceedingly so. His breathing was slow, even, despite having to heave you around. You were surprised with how strong he was, not taking him to be the burly type. But all the same, it comforted you, and you swore that you heard a very subtle, deep purr as you smoothed your hand across his silken chest fluff.

It wouldn't be long until you've passed out again, head bobbing rhythmically as he brings you to your room. The stoic demon is careful when setting you down and tucking you in, a flash of sincerity crossing his stern features. He can't help the tired chuckle that slips out, leaning down to kiss your forehead again. A hand runs carefully across your crown, smoothing your hair back against your pillow, creating a halo around your sleeping face.

" ...'Night, Buttercup. I'll see you in the mornin'."

#husk hazbin hotel #husker hazbin hotel #husk x reader #husk x y/n #husk x you #husk hazbin hotel imagine #husk hazbin hotel fanfic #yahaha!!! #you thought i would only write for one person! #YOU FOOLS

[spanishskulduggery]

Just discovered while talking to someone in Spanish that "Adiós" is more of a permanent goodbye, something you might say to someone you expect to never meet again, like a stranger. Instead, he said I should use "nos vemos" when speaking with people I know, which makes sense. I was wondering what other goodbyes I could use that aren't permanent? Obviously there's "hasta luego" and "hasta mañana."

I wouldn't go that far necessarily, but yes adiós can be used for people you don't expect to see for a long time (possibly never again like sayonara means in Japanese)

Literally, adiós is "go with God" which would have been a lot more impactful in the time of needing to journey days/weeks/months to meet some relatives, and possibly having to deal with war, disease, wild animals etc

A lot of Western langauges have something similar, even "goodbye" is "God be with you/ye"

Some people do use it for a permanent goodbye. Others use it for an indefinite but probably long period of goodbye

And some people just say adiós as a standard goodbye with no deeper meaning other than "bye"

Note: You can also say adiosito which I wouldn't necessarily recommend outside of friendly conversation since it can sound sarcastic; it's like "toodle-oo" but it's literally a little goodbye

Note 2: If you vehemently hate someone and you hope to never see them again, you can say hasta nunca which is like "see you never" and I think that's beautiful

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Today people do use adiós just as "goodbye" though it can read as "we won't see each other for a while"

The more short-term is nos vemos "we will see each other"

Another variation is a direct object version rather than reflexive. You can say te veo pronto "I'll see you soon" for example, instead of nos vemos pronto "we will see each other soon", that sort of thing

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There's also hasta pronto "see you soon", hasta la próxima "see you next time"

And a lot of people have adapted certain words into Spanish like bye/bai or chau/chao for goodbyes

chau/chao in particular comes from ciao and is super common especially in South America

Another common one I say is cuídate "take care of yourself" / cuídese for polite, cuídense for plural

Depending on context you can also say ¡Suerte! "Good luck!" (or ¡Buena suerte! or ¡Que tengas mucha suerte! "Hope you have lots of luck" or te deseo mucha suerte etc)....

Another common one I say is ¡Ánimo! which means something like "Chin up!" but literally it's "energy" or "cheer"; if you're saying ánimo with someone you're essentially saying ¡Aguanta! or ¡Resiste! which is like "Hang in there!" or trying to pep someone up, where animar is "to cheer someone on" so it's all related there

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Also I know you said spoken but just in case, if you're signing off on a letter/email there are some basic phrases you can use:

saludos = (a generic kind of goodbye) [lit. "salutations" or "regards"] un cordial saludo = (something like "kind regards")

atentamente = "yours truly" / "sincerely" [lit. "attentively"]

estamos en contacto / estaremos en contacto = "we'll be in touch"

And if you're writing a friendly letter you can say abrazos or besos for "hugs" and "kisses" respectively; it's very common to say something like te mando un abrazo "I'm sending you a hug" or something like that

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Also, if you're at a party or something, you can say something like ya me voy or me largo or something like "I'm heading out"

I tend to say something like hora de irme "time for me to go" because in my English-speaking brain saying me largo feels awkward like I'm storming out but I know that's not what that always means

Additionally you can say debo irme "I should go", something along those lines is pretty standard

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If you're being funny, I think me piro vampiro is somewhat used in Spain (but maybe not so much now)... it's just there for the rhyme. Literally "I'm out, vampire" or "I'm leaving, vampire" [pirarse is an idiomatic way of saying "to leave"]

For Latin America, more common would be chao/chau pescao which is literally "goodbye seafood/fish" since pescao is an informal spelling of pescado where the D can kind of be aspirated

You may also see/hear chao/chau bacalao "goodbye cod"

Again, all for the rhyme. The equivalent of "see you later alligator" in English. Everyone loves a rhyme

But obviously only do this among friends because it's informal and a bit childish

#followers? #learn spanish #spanish #spanish vocabulary #langblr #language #languages #spanish language #long post

[not-poignant]

Raphael has a very poetic and grandiose way of speaking that is absolutely not the norm for day-to-day life. How do you get in the mindset to come up with his dialogues? They're perfection and I just can't even imagine how long it would take to do one paragraph of the way he talks, but you're writing an entire story with him...

Oh I love this question because I can answer it, lol sadlkjfsda

Okay so, Raphael's character is tough for me.

Normally I do a lot of dialogue research before starting to write a character in fanfiction and original fiction, but Raphael actually gets proportionately very few lines that really show his full emotional range (compared to say, Astarion), and he's got an incredibly specific way of talking that sounds similar to Astarion but at the same time is very different.

They share enough similarities (calling people darling and dear for example) that it's easy to fall into the trap of giving them the same 'voice.'

I find Astarion's voice a lot easier to 'get' and I feel like I can hear him better when I'm writing him. But Raphael I'm taking into emotional spaces we simply never see in the game, and then I have to really guess how he'd sound (like coming up with the idea that the theatricality vanishes when Raphael is genuinely panicking).

I ended up listening to a lot of interviews with Andrew Wincott, the Voice Actor for Raphael who is an incredible actor and extremely articulate. He was very clear in one of his interviews that one of the reasons he was selected to play Raphael was because, in part, he already sounded like him. Obviously there's differences / skill in changing cadence and more, but for the most part, Andrew Wincott uses similar vocabulary and talks in a similar manner to Raphael naturally, so I had an abundance of interviews that I could then listen to in order to get a feel for Raphael's voice. I picked the things that felt more 'Raphael' and added them to my dialogue notes.

I often have to go back and edit Raphael's dialogue. Sometimes it's very simple things, I had him say 'much more' in the chapter I'm editing right now, and I edited it to 'far more' because I think he'd just phrase it like that. Sometimes I expand a sentence into an entire paragraph.

I've also leaned a lot from Korilla's transcripts in the game, which have been super useful. They really cement, more than anything, how much he loves lullabies, nursery rhymes, children's tales and more.

HOW TO DO DIALOGUE RESEARCH:-

If you're new to dialogue research, it mostly involves listening to - and watching a character and then literally taking notes of how they talk. The things you observe are:

The tone of their voice - Fast or slow. Loud or soft. Musical or flat. Theatrical or matter-of-fact. High or low. Questioning or complete statements. Considered or hedging (i.e. very well constructed sentences, or a lot of pauses, ellipses, broken sentences). Rambling or concise.

How often they talk - Some characters actually say a lot with very little. Raphael is actually a lot of observation and facial expressions and eyebrow movements in between his dialogue. Little smirks, hand gestures and more. Do they interrupt or let people finish their sentences? Are they comfortable with silence? I find Raphael oscillates between long theatrical paragraphs, single sentences or words, and then a lot of silence. He's actually not very conversational, in that you can have a conversation with him, but I doubt he'd see the point of two hours of small-talk. (At this point you might be realising that dialogue research is also character research, how a character talks tells you so much about a character.)

The words (and metaphors/subjects) they use - This is a big one and I'm going to break this down a little bit more:

How they pause if they don't know what to say. Is it 'um' 'uh' 'ah' 'hm' 'mm' 'mn' or nothing at all (or something else) because they've mastered self-control over their dialogue? If Raphael says 'ah' he does so on purpose.

Filler words. Things like characters saying 'like' in a sentence. 'He was like, 'I can't believe it'' etc. This is very similar to how they pause, but it's the things people say to get from point A to point B. People who don't do this have often had training or think very hard about what they're going to say before they say it. But people say 'like' or 'and then' or 'well' or 'i realised that' or 'i thought that' etc. to carry them on. Some are more acceptable than others (people do just have realisations for example).

Profanity. How often do they swear, and how intentional is it? Some characters only swear when they get hurt or stub their toe or get angry. Some characters swear all the time for fun. Some characters only use some swear words and not others. Be specific. Be aware that some swear words are cultural! This includes blasphemy. In Faerun they use 'gods' and 'gods damn it' more often than we use 'god' or 'oh my god.'

Vulgarity. This is useful for Raphael (and Astarion) because he's very happy to be vulgar. This is like... how comfortable are they talking about sex, about sexual subjects, being crude, being seductive, flirtatious? And if they use it, do they use vulgarity to shock, seduce, scare, threaten, or for humour?

Salutations and farewells. How do they greet people? Silence? A calm hello? (A lot of greetings are omitted in dialogue but this is still good to know). How do they say hello, goodbye. How does that change between friends and enemies and strangers?

Single word sentences. This might sound weird, but sometimes when a character hears something that shocks them, or needs to acknowledge something, they may say anything from 'huh' to 'yeah' to 'fuck' to 'okay' to 'all right' to 'sure' to 'go on' to 'indeed' to just laughing out loud. The list goes on. Raphael is team 'indeed' lmao.

Sentence structure. Raphael's sentence structure is - when he's most comfortable - gently provoking, teasing, vaguely threatening, and makes liberal use of simile, metaphor, fairy tale, rhyme, sayings, colloquialisms and more. Raphael talks like someone who knows someone could quote him at any moment lmao. But from here, how a character structures their sentences can be helpful to know. Go back to 'the tone of their voice.' Those notes will give you an idea of structure.

Emotionality. How emotional are they? Do they have rage rants? Joyful giggling dialogue? Do they infodump with little emotion? Or with sheer excitement? Does their dialogue feel fake or real? Opaque or transparent? Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves, and others will never be able to say 'I love you' in anything other than actions. Raphael's emotionality in dialogue is more present in his anger and irritation, and also when he feels triumphant and/or turned on.

The symbols, sayings, colloquialisms and metaphors themselves. Not all characters use these. But some people/characters will talk through analogies, colloquialisms. This is actually Raphael's biggest dialogue departure from Astarion, imho, aside from the fact that Astarion is a lot more emotional with his dialogue.

Take into account their culture, ethnicity, conceits, upbringing, education and the people they're close to:

This one is vital. Firstly, some people tend to 'absorb' elements of those around them. A person raised by affluent people will often 'sound affluent' and a person raised in poverty will often have dialogue that reflects this and if they don't there will be reasons for that. It might be a conceit (some people self-teach themselves different accents), it might be education, it might be training, it might be the subculture/s they've entered into, and so on.

~

When doing this research, you'll end up with a kind of master-list of actual words and probably some sentences you've written down, along with a lot of notes. You can also do this for any original characters you're making at all, you're just then making it up based on the character, and this research will also give in many ways the shape of the character.

It's a fun exercise and I highly recommend everyone tries it literally for people who don't exist and also observe your friends and family, and do a dialogue cheat sheet for some of them. It's pretty eye-opening! Even one page will teach you more than nothing at all. You can go deep and write many pages, or you can do what I do and keep it lean at 2 pages. Anyone who struggles with characterisation I suggest at least try this exercise, because anyone can put on a YouTube video and/or streaming service or even a favourite Tiktoker and start doing dialogue research! It's a way of building a character from the top down while also getting information about their foundations.

#asks and answers #pia on dialogue #pia on characterisation #pia on writing #reference #on writing #writing techniques #writing advice #dodgy advice #i might just take the second 'how to' part and make it its own post #but anyway here's how to do it!

[sfstranslations]

how hard(?) would you say it is to translate? Ive been kinda curious about that, like does anything get lost in translation/ just not make that much sense without knowing the og language? or anything like that? 🤔

Hm, maybe 7 or 8 on a scale of 10? Though it can easily go higher at times, haha. (Always when Sung Hyunjae is in a scene because his name is a misspelling and it pisses me off.* This is a joke. Only half, though.) Basic word-by-word dictionary lookup is simple, which is why machine translators can do it well enough. But then you have to string all of it together in a sentence where you:

figure out and find a way to convey any difference in connotation between this specific chosen word and other words that mean the same thing (think the connotations of "regal" VS "royal" in English), and

do the same as above, but on a sentence-wide level translating the nuance of a particular grammar/sentence structure (thousand and one sentence endings in Korean, I swear -_-), and

make sure distinct character voices are retained or translated from the original Korean (think Song Taewon's stiff formality VS Han Yoojin's more casual speech VS Sung Hyunjae's middle-aged rich guy-type speech), and

make sure this sentence flows with the overall paragraph/chapter.

All those priorities have to be juggled throughout the chapter and add up to make it a fairly hard task. It definitely gets easier with practice once you're more familiar with the language (especially the nuance/connotation stuff), though, and I did get lucky in that my native language shares some aspects with Korean so the grammar is easier to intuitively grasp. Of course, I'm still learning, so I do have times I need to call in more experienced speakers for help.

(I definitely wouldn't say I'm good with the language period. Recently I've tentatively picked up a new novel—people following my personal blog will know which one—and it turns out I'm familiar with the way Geunseo talks and familiar with the vocabulary typical to dungeon fantasy novels, but kind of. Majorly hopeless when it comes to other stuff. The phrasing is juuust off enough that I keep getting tripped up and taking thrice as long to understand what's being said.)

There's definitely stuff that wouldn't make sense in English—certain idioms, cultural stuff, and all that, but that's why I try to localize wherever possible and add footnotes with relevant info/links if not. And there is stuff that gets lost in translation—you can look at the chapter titles from 302–307 for an example of that, where the joke is much more immediately obvious in Korean but had to be translated differently as chapter title VS in-chapter text messages and lost the clear parallel. I also remember being grumpy back during the virtual reality dungeon arc because Yoohyun would use 네놈 (ne-nom but typically pronounced ni-nom, a derogatory way to say "you", LMAO) towards Sigma and there was no concise way to get that across in English except having him be aggressive and direct. Especially since he isn't the type to swear by word of god, so I couldn't have him addressing him with "asshole" or "jerk" to convey it.

TL;DR: Fairly hard to translate, but gets easier with time, and there is stuff that's lost or difficult to understand, but I do what I can to make it understandable in English!

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* Sung Hyunjae uses "ae" at the end, but that implies it's 성현재, which is wrong—the correct spelling is 성현제, which should be "Sung Hyunje". (If you wanted to go the full Revised Romanization route, it'd be Seong Hyeonje, but I've weathered my share of name changes and that's a step too far even for me.) I've been meaning to make a poll about changing it like with the Lauchitas spelling, but I keep forgetting.

#not update #ask #anonymous